To add to your bucket list...

There Kevin stood, poised for the throw-in, hesitating as he tried to determine who was on his team. We were all in that boat, because our little pick-up game at the local school's concrete pad had attracted so many local guys so quickly that it was almost impossible to remember who was who. He throws the ball in to Sarah E. and then the insanity begins. I have never been part of a more exciting soccer game. These guys here really take their soccer seriously and most of them are incredibly good...and I am pretty sure they were laughing at us, because not only were some of them better players, but they were also used to the altitude and therefore weren't ready to die after a few minutes of playing. This is one of the few places where the language barrier doesn't matter as long as you speak soccer (which Michelle and I only pretended to, although she proved herself to be quite the goalie) and are good at exaggerating your injuries. If you like soccer even just a little bit, put it on your bucket list to play a pickup game in Ecuador (or probably South America in general, but I can't really speak for that), it is mucho worth it.

Today, in honor of the 4th, we all get to eat meat...which while the vegetarian food is okay, who is going to pass up locally made sausage? There will also be fireworks, so we all get our own little 4th of July after all!  This morning, half of us went for a hike, and the other half went horse back riding. Since I opted for the hike, I don't know how the horses were, but the scenery that we came across was absolutely stunning. We tried taking pictures at first, but then realized that we were not capable of doing the Andes any justice. A picture may be a thousand words, but standing there immersed in it all is utterly ineffable. We walked along the ridge to where the Cloud Forest begins (we will be going there tomorrow) and could only see a thick mist. To be honest, the image evoked a memory of my childhood favorite "The Land Before Time." It is as if the cloud forest is the "mysterious beyond" and we are all staying here happily in the "green valley."

It may be hard to believe that sitting here in this hammock in the yoga room is teaching me anything, but all of us cannot stop talking about how much we are learning about our world by being here. It is hard to notice the poverty sometimes, because people act as happily as of they had the whole world. And perhaps, by not having much of that world at all...they do have it...they understand life in a way that I cannot despite my 14 years (and counting) of education. This truly is a beautiful place.

One night while staying in Chugchilán we were treated with the music of the locals, a magical and timeless performance with flutes, a bass drum, a guitar, a ukelele, and several women wielding shakers. It just becomes so much more unique and special when you consider that this type of music has been sung in this way for so many generations. The ladies enter with very high-pitched vocals and sing in a mixture of Spanish and Quechua songs that must have been older than anyone I have ever met in this life. Everything is tranquil and smooth as all their instruments work in a different sort of rhythm than my Western ear is accustomed to.

The result is a beautiful combination of sounds that stick with me for days to come as I hike about the Andes and gasp for breath at the 10,000+ foot altitude that is not easy to acclimate to in only several days time. This brings me to my other favorite experience of the Andes, the hiking!
The next day at the Quilotoa Crater situated at 12,500 feet, I really felt like I was near the top of the world. Although many peaks in our close vicinity tower near 20,000, they are so far in the distance and shrouded by clouds that we truly felt as though there was no where we could go that would really feel that much higher. I did some push-ups to really feel that lack of oxygen, and boy did I feel it. From this view we could see the quaint village of Chugchilán, our destination, from across a valley with its white buildings. It seemed like an incredible distance to hike in one day but somehow we all made it (barely). We had to descend all the way to somewhere around 9,700 feet before climbing back the other side of the valley another 800 feet or so. That last 800 feet was some of the most difficult hiking for me and most of the rest of the group as well since it was after hiking for a good 9 kilometers down from Quilotoa. Following? Regardless, it was an excellent work-out and invigorating experience that made me craving to hike something even more difficult. To get an idea of the scenery here is a view from around that area of a farmer tending to his crop in the foggy Andean countryside:

Miss America Makes Toilets and Wears Alpaca Sweaters

I am of the belief that Miss America should look exactly as I did a few hours ago. In other words, her shoes should be flecked with wet cement, her makeup should be all over her face, her back should hurt a million times more than it does after those Women's Health Mag workouts, and she should just have finished with helping to build a composting toilet. Ashwin, Patrick, Amanda and I were the first of our group to help Andres (the original founder of Black Sheep--he has done absolutely fantastic work for the Chugchilan community), his workers, and a few members of the PTSA (a compulsory program here, in exchange for the free education) build a composting toilet for the local school. This will save water, money, and help to teach the students about sustainability.

Also, I learned Quechwa today...well, at least a little bit of it. I was just going to keep it in my journal, but when Elena asked for a copy, I decided I would type it up for everyone (with some pronunciation help if I can correctly remember) Son listos?

Quechwa 101

Quechwa	English	pronunciation
imanalla	how are you?	ee-mah-nah-ya
sumak	good	sue-mock
mana alli	bad	mona-ah-yee
ima shutikanki	what is your name?	ee-mah-shoe-tee-kahn-key
ñuka shutimikan	my name is...	ñew-kah-shoe-tee-me-Kahn
alli puncha	good morning	ah-yee-poon-cha
alli chishi	good afternoon	ah-yee-chee-she
alli tuta	good night	ah-yee-too-ta
ñuka kuyani	I love you	ñew-kah-kwee-yawn-ee

Misi.	cat	me-see
ashcu	dog	awe-shhh-coo
llama	lamb	yama
Kuchi	pig	coo-chee
atallpa	chicken	ah-tay-pah
Kaya kama	see you tomorrow	kay-ah-kah-mah
yanapaway	please	yah-na-paw-way
Yupaychani	thank you	you-pay-chaw-née
nima	you are welcome	knee-mah
imapacha kan	what time is it?	ee-mah-paw-cha-kahn

Those were some of the basics that I got. Juan Manuel, my teacher, is very very kuyla, which is the Quechwa word for "nice." His wife also happened to be selling the most fantastic alpaca sweaters and when I saw there was a green one...you know how it is. Allie is trying to ensure that everyone comes home with an alpaca sweater and after only one week in, I think we have all been converted. And before you say that we all have no fashion sense, I can assure you that we are all Miss (or Mister) America status in alpaca print.

Chillin in Chugchilan

Considering that today was a day off for all of us, and that one of the most exciting parts of it was eating pancakes for breakfast (Sundays are jazz and pancake days here at BSI), I should probably focus more on what happened yesterday. But before I backtrack, I would like for all of you to vicariously meet Paola, Juan Fernando, Israel, and Lucas. They are all of the adorable children of some of the staff here at the inn. Juan Fernando speaks impressive English...and after failing at asking him a few basic questions in Spanish, I just stuck with my muy biens. They taught us a game called Tingo, Tingo, Tango. It is like hot potato, where players pass a ball around in a circle as one person repeatedly says "Tingo."  When the person says "tango," the person with the ball has to do what ever the tango-sayer says. Michelle had to sing I'm a little teapot and Sarah E. got picked so many times that she did everything from singing to running mini time trials. Kevin and I tangoed, and I received a request to sing Shakira. The kids, who are originally from Quito, had no shame, and entertained us by dancing like Michael Jackson and singing some of their nursery rhymes.

Taren, Lisie, Ashwin, Amanda, June, and Kevin in the lodge

Yesterday we went on a 6.5 mile hike from the Zaumbhua Market back to the Black Sheep. The only way that I can really think to describe the landscape to you is to describe it like a big, glamorous cake. Red velvet has been more or less shaped into craggy hills and canyons. A creamy fondant has been carefully patted down around it. Green frosting trees have been piped along the slopes, gingerbread houses are nestled at any place they will not fall down an incline, and licorice cows meander with marshmallow sheep as light rain tops off the confection like sprinkles.

The market is authentic in its lack of authenticity. Many of the items have clearly been made in China. It almost seems as if these people are preserving their culture solely for the tourists, because they seem to buy a lot of imported items. If you ever long to feel like some sort of specialty act, dye your hair blonde and go to South America. If I had a dime for all of the moments I have caught people taking pictures of me...either from afar, or because they were polite enough to ask, I would be rolling in those lovely blue alpaca ponchos.

Quilatoa

Later on that night, after a dinner that included the most wonderful freshly made tortillas and some papaya rum flan, Edmundo, the owner of Black Sheep, opened the doors to a group of local musicians. Three women sang in very nasally and yet somewhat appreciable voices to the strumming of a guitar, a 12 string ukulele like thingy, two wooden flutes, and an enormous drum (played by a very not so enormous drummer). The group offered us some lessons on their culture, so within the next week, I plan on learning how to weave and how to speak a little bit of Quechua (have fun trying to decipher that post hahahaha).

The Ecuadorian Musicians

Tomorrow I have to wake up to help dig a composting toilet, buenas noches!