Did you know lupines are nitrogen fixers?

When I was little, mi madre read me a story called The Lupine Lady. It was a lovely little book about a woman who made the world a better place by planting lupine seeds everywhere that she went. On a short morning hike, I was running up the trail singing "The Sound of Music," when I reached the ridge and the memory of that childhood story hit me in the face. On the other side of the ridge, there were blue lupines everywhere. The romantic side of me went crazy, fancying how appropriate it was to be making the world a better place while working in a setting that evoked the very notion! Albeit, composting toilets have not the same beauty that flowers do (don't tell Chuck I said that), but it is still quite an inspiring location.

Black Sheep Inn

We stumbled back down the ridge, our prof Chuck loping gracefully ahead of us. On the way, Sarah S. helped me with my Spanish...which is good considering that our host families will likely not speak English (I saw a picture of them today! I have a family with two teenagers that seem to be about my age, I am so excited!). I can feel the altitude when I run here. Ashwin and I spent lunch (cheese sandwiches, oatmeal cookies, bananas, and popcorn) enjoying the picture perfect scenery, talking about the nature of human culture, and dreading today's poetry class (to be held in Black Sheep Inn's yoga studio).

It is time to go and start streaming Edgar Allen Poe.

The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Moooing

Hola!

Chiming in finally from the Black Sheep Inn, in the quaint village of Chugchilán, Ecuador where the altitude is 10,500 ft. For you Seattleites that is just 200 ft. shy of Mt. Baker's altitude! Being up this high makes you out of breath a bit more often, but you get used to it quickly. Cows occupy steep slopes in every direction that are reminiscent of the Swiss Alps. The sleeping arrangements are much better than 2 days before, where staying in the depths of the Amazon, critters the size of my hand made me anxious enough to wrap myself like a mummy in my covers and slowly drift off in the humid night air hoping none of them shared the bed with me. My fear of large arachnids was quickly relieved by the wide variety of other creatures, including this little guy:

Tonight, I hope to take a picture of the Milky Way finally. It's amazing how bright the stars are with a lack of light pollution. Adios for now!

A Long Day on the (Struggle) Bus

Seattleites know what rain is, right? Well, I would like to see our local hipsters wandering hoodless/umbrellaless in the Amazon rain. We woke up early to said pouring rain...rain that continued for the entire 2 hour canoe ride back to Coca. Someone spilled water all over that Bob Ross painting, and if getting all of us shivering and soaked was its way of convincing us to leave, the Amazon is a master persuader. Thanks to the confusion added by the rain, we were all "struggle bussing" this morning. For those of you that aren't streets ahead, "struggle bussing" is Allie's term for really failing at life.  Although this morning, it was more like struggle canoeing, we are all looking forward to the stability that is awaiting us at Black Sheep Lodge.

Again, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Kevin on the flight back to Quito. We combatted our extreme hunger by discussing the fabulous events of last night over peach and orange juices. As it happened, last night was not only our last to be spent in the Amazon, but that of the group of Ecuadorians. They held a bonfire and told us stories. We were told of how the sun and moon combined, and...something about a bird that I couldn't understand (sigh, only three weeks left to get this Spanish thing down), as well as a story about how some dude's penis became all of the Anacondas in the Amazon...charming, right? And, as fate would have it, 2 victims from the crowd were required to dance for one of these stories (and no, not the penis one, so get your mind out of the gutter)...and guess who they were?! That's right, your two favorite indigenous dancers: me and Nikki! We rocked it yet again. Then a man named Diego got everyone up to dance and played a Spanish song that eventually faded into "I'm sexy and I know it." Michelle has befriended one of these Ecuadorians...so hopefully he will send her some pictures from our last night together. I will definitely go back someday, but for now, I would like to let my 28 bug bites go away. Chuck claims that he has a device that can make these bites go away, but it is not FDA approved and involves a minor electric shock, so I will make him try it first.

Now we are winding precariously through the Andes. The road is narrow, the tour bus is a little unwieldy, and I am focusing on this so that I do not have to look over the steep drop off. The kiddies here have some awesome sledding hills come winter, although I am fairly sure that these slopes surpass the threshold of what one would call "fun" sledding hills. I bet if you took the cows here and put them on flat ground, they would be critically lopsided. In fact, I can hardly understand how any farming here is done at all. The land flattens out and we come across a small town that is reminiscent of the one Belle lives in in Beauty and the Beast. Clothes hang on bushes and roofs, probably only acquiring a fresh splash of mildew rather than drying, as it is quite misty up here. Only a short time to the inn now and I am getting used to the slopes enough to not need this for a distraction, so...hasta luego people!

"The Heat and the DEET." ~Sarah E.

6:30 am- breakfast of scrambled eggs or oatmeal and fresh passion fruit juice

Traditional breakfast with baked plantains, peanut sauce, and an egg

7:00 am- the morning hike commences. Toucans whistle in their quirky voices and steamy fog rises from the canopy on the distance. There is slick clay everywhere and plenty of climbing to do, but it is worth it just to feel a part of some prehistoric era.

10:30 am- a short canoe ride to the house of a local shaman. He was...reticent, and definitely not the type of person that you would think of as a voodoo medicine man. He was kind, as were his wife, sons, and flock of free roaming chickens, and he taught us how to use a blow dart and to throw spears. We would all fail at life in the jungle...except for our boat captain, Marco. Marco is a man who I would want on my side in the case of the apocalypse. He and our guide Louis are pretty cool.

Our guide, Louis, showing us a young palm leaf

1:00 pm- shrimp ceviche and yuca with a view of the Napo river in the background. Accompanying us was a feisty parrot named Yolanda, who roars like a little dinosaur when you deny her your food.

3:00 pm- we go to learn how to pull the gold from the sandy banks. I have so many bites from bugs in that sand...I do not know how our instructor had managed it for 8 hours a day for the past 36 years. This is no job for those who like instant gratification.

4:00 pm- on a set of inner tubes all tied together, we float down the Napo River...some fierce paddling to shore was required to ensure that we did not happen to float all the way to the Amazon.

7:00 pm- spaghetti for dinner! How...Ecuadorian, right? We had a fruit called babaco for dessert. It looks like a star fruit and tastes like...nothing I can really explain...maybe a cross between a pear and a papaya? Anyways, it was yummy, and I now have to trek back to my cabin alone in the pouring rain (I can only get wifi here in the dining room)...the things one does for Internet.

And so, the Internet didn't work anyways...pouring rain for nothing...this post belongs before the latest one.

'twas brillig...

I am like Alice in Wonderland, and I have just consumed a large portion of the shrinking potion...I feel so small. Everywhere I look are enormous trees, and their ribbed leaves make the sky look even farther away. Down on the earth, there are little cotton candy pink mushrooms that have the shape of tiny satellite dishes, impervious to the acidic clay soil that bears bright flowers and billions of ants. I feel prepared to spot the Jabberwocky, but instead we see a group of monkeys. At this point I had given up on seeing a monkey, but then again, I had given up on seeing a tarantula too, and ended up backing away as one scrawled across my place at the table this lunch.

Rubber Tree

After a nice and early three hour walk in the jungle, we came back to the lodge for a cooking class. How to eat larvae: 1) bite the head off and spit it out (otherwise it will bite you) 2) chew and swallow...and try to ignore the fact that you are eating something alive 3) be like me and wait until after it is cooked and crispy to try it...Amanda, Kevin, Chuck, and Taran (the brave members who followed steps one and two) can all assure you that step three is considerably more appealing. We also learned to steam fish in palm leaves, prepare heart of palm, and fry yuca. Who knew I had signed up for Amazon Cooking 101?

Toad--I couldn't tell you the name, but he makes cool noises

Lunch was very exciting! We got to mix with the Ecuadorians who are also here...I believe that they are training to become guides. And yes, it is true that I speak little Spanish, but one of them spoke French! We had a fantastic conversation, and it felt so good to be understood in a language that was not English. I tried talking in spanish with another man about soccer, but accidentally gave him the impression that I liked to kick the other team's players off of the field...not the ball...no wonder they think that us gringos can't play soccer!

More walking in the afternoon (this is my kind of place!) brought us to the Yachana school. It is supported by this lodge, and is of considerably better quality than the public school. There are even dorms for students who live far away, and would otherwise need to walk miles just to get to and from. It is a beautiful program...maybe one worth applying to teach at in the future? ...as long as I get over my fear of tarantulas, that is. We came across a baby monkey while traversing the empty campus (they have summer break, too, claro) and a local informed us that it was alone because it's mother had been killed by a poacher. If you could hear this guy scream, your heart would break. He was so lonely, and clung himself desperately to Amanda's neck. After watching him eat a chocolate granola bar, I decided he was one of the cutest things I have seen in my life.

It is time to get some packing in before dinner. The next post should be from the Andes!

Our other cute animal friend at Yachana...ok, so she's not endemic, but JZ is a boss!

Living in a Bob Ross Painting

The air plane ride from Quito to Coca was brief and pleasant, and thanks to a little luck, I happened to sit next to Kevin. I learned that He is in the market for a hedgehog...if anyone is in to that sort of thing :P Stepping off the plane may as well have been like stepping into a swimming pool, but I welcomed the mugginess as a nice contrast to the thin, dry air of Quito.

That short air plane ride brought us to a 2.5 hour boat ride up the Napo River. The boat itself was more of a glorified canoe with a roof that didn't stop the rain from pouring in from the sides. All the same, I have to say that I didn't mind because as we drifted along, it felt as though we were being propelled into a Bob Ross painting. The water is naturally brown, and is skirted by sand banks and a rustic rainbow of rocks. Banana plantations glide by with tiny yellow crescent moons of bananas peering from the leaves. These are not your average grocery store bananas, they are about a third of that size, and three times as sweet...a little thing that I learned while snacking on one from within the canoe. 

Our Prof, Chuck, lost his hat in the river and has triumphantly retrieved it

Today is June's 20th birthday! Yachana Lodge (the place that we are staying at in the Amazon), helped us celebrate by baking her a cake. And, as is tradition here in Ecuador, June got her face pushed into said birthday cake. But all was well, because the group of Ecuadorians that is staying here simultaneously came over to dance and sing for her, and to fashion her a fake cake out of a dinner roll frosted with salsa...she and the rest of us stuck with eating the chocolate one.

Our canoe ride to Yachana

Now is is time for a night hike. Tarantula sightings to come? TBD...but I will be sure to let you know if their are.

We and the Cuy

So about that dancing...those local boys got a big kick out of us gringos. Pablo sends his regards...even though the extent of his English seemed to be the phrase "you are very beautiful." We had a fantastic time getting a taste of Quito's nightlife and thanks to Sarah's remembering to take home a taxi with an orange license plate (taxis with white plates are generally not trustworthy) we made it back exhausted and safe.

This morning meant an early wake-up for a 2.5 hour bus ride to Otovalo to visit its famous mercado. I am now the proud owner of an awesome blue alpaca poncho...and the not so proud owner of some terrible haggling skills. I spent most of the time meandering the market with Michelle, who happens to be excellent at haggling.  The only problem is that both of us only took French in high school, so communicating with the vendors was entirely dependent upon my caveman Spanish.

Nikki (our TA), and professors Elena and Chuck--who could ask for cooler teachers?

From there, we headed to lunch, which was avocado salad, steak, figs/cheese, and let us not forget the tomato juice (and no, I do not mean those disgusting V8 things, but Ecuador tomato juice, which was more like tangy heaven in a cup). And yes, the moment you have all been waiting for...we had cuy! That is the spanish word for guinea pig. Is it at all a surprise that it tasted like chicken? I just wish they had taken off the head and the little paws...

Ashwin, Kevin, and Me!

From there, we stopped briefly at another market, one that sold mostly leather products. Then, of all coincidences, we found ourselves in the middle of the annual "take the square" ceremony.  This age old ceremony is done primarily for its tradition's sake more than anything, because it is entirely gruesome. The different villages try to take over the central square of the town, as such an action symbolizes triumph.. The members of these villages begin with dancing, drinking chicha (the standard alcoholic drink of Ecuador), and parading through the city with pikes and rocks, all the while making an eerie, pulsed whistling sound. Then the fighting begins. No guns are allowed (they are completely illegal here in Ecuador) but sticks and heavy rocks are fair play. James decided it was like the Ecuadorian version of The Hunger Games because sometimes the people fight to the death while trying to win the square for their village. The winning village is held in high esteem for the next year, until the battle repeats itself all over again.

We would later learn that 2 people died during this year's events

Before things could get too violent, we left the "celebration" and took a trip up to the volcanoes. A short walk following a ridiculously bumpy bus ride brought us to one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. Two volcanoes, one relatively close and one in the distance, overlooking an enormous cerulean lagoon with a hill of an island poking though the center. I have been told that my picture did not upload on the last post...so I will take the first opportunity with dependable internet that I get to put some of Patrick's pictures on so that you can at least begin to comprehend how majestic it all is.

Tomorrow we leave for the Amazon, and I have to say that we are all rather sad to part with both our tour guide and our bus driver. Each were beautiful people with an extreme interest in connecting with us and sharing the vast extent of their knowledge. I am sure that it can be quite harrowing to have to put up with American tourists for a career, but this did not stunt their overwhelming amiability.

Okay, time to go take a malaria pill...talk to you from the Amazon!