Unpaved Paradise

Hola Todos!  I spent the last few days of my summer break on a great vacation at Río Muchacho Organic Farm with 10 other girls from the BCA program.  We set off on an overnight bus from Quito to the seaside town of Canoa on Tuesday night.  The curvy mountain roads and loud techno music playing rendered the first three hours rather unpleasant.  However, the music was eventually turned off and the roads mellowed out, so the following five hours were bearable and we arrived in Canoa at 5:55am.  Luckily, we were able to leave our bags in the Río Muchacho office.  I went on a morning run down the beach and then spent the day relaxing.  It was cloudy, but still a lot of fun.  We met two Germans and decided that a Germany v. US soccer game was in order.  Even though the Germans were outnumbered 2-4, they still won (maybe if we had been playing field hockey I would have had a chance…)  So far, I have met people from England, Ireland, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel!  It is amazing how many people you meet when you travel.

The beach in Canoa

That afternoon we rode in the back of two pickup trucks to the veritable paradise of the Río Muchacho Organic Farm.  We entered the compound to find lots of tropical trees, rock-lined paths, natural wooden buildings, and lots of hammocks!  It was absolutely wonderful.  It was very relaxing to be out under the stars with the crickets and cicadas and away from the cars and crowds of Quito!  We spent the next three days at Río Muchacho helping with farm work, hiking, making jewelry, learning about the farm’s sustainability mission, and eating delicious food.  Some highlights included making chocolate from cocoa beans, visiting a 130-year-old strangler fig, swimming in a jungle waterfall, and carving myself a cup out of a large mate fruit.   I returned to Quito on the Saturday night bus very dirty, very tired, and very happy.

Very old tree

CHOCOLATE!

Rings from Palma Real seeds

The Río Muchacho farm was founded based on principles of environmental sustainability and awareness.  Quito’s coastal regions were once mostly dense forest, but in the early 1900s much of the land was cultivated to grow shade-grown Arabica coffee.  However, rising popularity of robust coffee from other regions caused the coffee industry to decline, and the cattle grazing industry to increase dramatically.  Unfortunately, this meant major destruction of the native ecosystem via slash and burn land clearing.  Many areas are now suffering a lack of almost any vegetation due to very poor soil; however, at Río Muchacho native forest is flourishing.  Water is collected and filtered from rain or the river.  Most of the food is grown in the garden, which is helped by abundant compost from the pigs, horses, and cuyes kept on the farm.  Humans help with the composting too because all the toilets are dry compost!  There is even a mobile “reforestation” toilet.  All in all, the farm produces less than 2lbs of inorganic waste per week.  

When we arrived at the farm, Dario (the founder) told us, “You can rest easy during your trip here.  While living at Río Muchacho, you don’t need to feel guilty, because you are leaving almost no footprint on the environment.”  I immediately thought, Should I be feeling guilty for how I live when I am not at Río Muchacho?  I think of myself as an environmentally conscious person, but am I really doing all I can to promote sustainability?  My trip to Río Muchacho was full of questions like these.  During our stay we watched three documentaries: “The Power of Community,” “Food Inc,” and “Dirt!”  These are all excellent films and I highly recommend that everyone watch at least one of them!  The take home message from my whole experience is that our society leads an extremely destructive lifestyle.   We are quickly draining the Earth’s oil reserves, inflicting incredible damage on the atmosphere, and changing the climate – with devastating effects.  We continue to wipe out native ecosystems in order to make room for mega-farms to produce our genetically modified food.  In order to exploit Earth’s natural resources we are actively destroying our planet.  What does it matter if one or 100 or 10,000 species are wiped out in the process?  What does it matter if we change the climate forever?  After all, it is “our” planet, isn’t it?  Earth was made for man and man reigns supreme, superior to all other life.  Sure, technically we’re ‘animals’ but we are not the same as all those other wild creatures.  We have the power to manipulate the environment to suit our needs and we have the right to do so at the expense of everything else that lives on our planet!

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?  This is the message our culture sends, and if you do not actively speak out against it then you are sending the same message.  This is a finite lifestyle.  One day we will wake up and the oil will be gone, our crops will fall to disease (since they’re almost all the same this is not far fetched), the rainforest will be eradicated, the oceans will be polluted, the soil will be barren, and we will be left unable to repair the damage we have inflicted – unless we change how we live.

I recently read Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.  I definitely recommend reading this!  The book deals with the themes I’ve touched on, such as western culture’s (the “Takers’ ”) destructive norms: 

"And every time the Takers stamp out a leaver culture, a wisdom ultimately tested since the birth of mankind disappears from the word beyond recall, just as every time they stamp out a species of life, a life form ultimately tested since the birth of life disappears from the world beyond recall."

Some food for thought.

¡Buen Provecho!

I hope nobody's hungry, because today we are going to talk about FOOD!  Luckily for me, Ecuadorian food is not extremely different from what I generally eat in the States.  The diet here is based largely on corn, potatoes, breads, fruit and meats, and is very mildly flavored (unless you add ahí - then it is spicy).    Usually the largest meal is lunch, eaten in the late afternoon, while dinner is often a late sandwich or bread with coffee or tea.

Traditional Almuerzo (Lunch)

A traditional Ecuadorian meal always starts with a soup.  There are no exceptions: today we ate at a chinese restaurant and started the meal with chicken soup, and KFC includes soup in all their combo meals.  The soups are very filling and often could be a meal in themselves!  They are one of my favorite foods here.  I have had all kinds: chicken, pork, beef, corn, lima bean, noodle; they are all excellent!  However, soup has still managed to "culture shock" me.  Yesterday at a country restaurant with my family, I plunged my spoon into my soup and pulled up a nice steaming chicken foot!  Ok, Kate, it's just a foot, it's fine.  I took a deep breath, set it aside, and pulled up another spoonful.  This time I pulled up some dark looking meat.  "Oh, you have to try the chicken kidney, it's very rich!" my grandmother said happily, as two chickens with very intact kidneys and feet wandered in through the open door.  Oh my.  However, the broth and vegetables were very good and I tried the kidney; it mostly just tasted like meat!

Candied figs with cheese

 Every traditional meal has a large portion of rice, and usually some kind of meat or fish (many of you know that fish and I don't usually get along, and will be surprised to hear that I have eaten fish here twice).  The corn in Ecuador is very different from the midwestern sweet corn I am used to.  Corn, or Maíz, has large irregular kernels that are thick and not very sweet at all.  Maíz comes in many varieities, such as choclo (on the cob), mote (cooked kernels), tostado (roasted dried kernels), and canguil (popcorn).  Often people eat their choclo with mayonnaise - a custom in which I do not take part.  Another staple is freshly juiced fruit of almost every kind imaginable: orange, tangerine, peach, tree tomato (it is sweet), papaya, pineapple, raspberry, taxo, guanabana, and more.  The juices are delicious!  Other components of traditional meals include potatoes, small vegetable 'salads,' plátanos (another favorite of mine), and empanadas filled with potato, plátano, or cheese.

"Snot Fruit" - it's better than it looks!

Breakfast foods are very similar to those in the US, but more substantial than a normal weekday morning in the states.  For example, for breakfast I might have sliced fruit, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, fresh fruit juice, and a croissant with mozzarella.  The breads are fresh and delicious!  We often eat them with breakfast or with dinner (or both).  I have to restrain myself from eating 4 croissants a day!  The fresh coffee is excellent, but unfortunately we don't usually have any in the house.  Another warm drink I enjoy is "avena," which is blended oats sweetened with fruit juice.  There are two main beers in Ecuador, Pilsener and Club, both very light bodied.  They aren't the most interesting, but they are pretty good.

Although there have been a few things I dislike, such as drinking jello with dinner or putting mozzarella cheese in hot chocolate, these foods are few and far between.  Overall, I am very happy with the food in Ecuador!  I think it's time for some warm avena and bread!

Plátano, llapingacho (potato with cheese), pork,  choclo, and veggies

Photo credit for the figs and snot fruit goes to Katie Appleby.

Of Markets, Waterfalls, and the Middle of the World

The beautiful view

I am now well practiced in the art of negotiating prices!  I spent the weekend with the BCA group in Otavalo, which is a well-known market town about 2-2.5hrs north of Quito.  At 7:30am on Saturday we set off in our bus, crossing the Equator five or six times during the trip due to the winding mountain roads!  On the way, we stopped at a beautiful overlook before arriving at our first destination: the pyramids of Cosachquí.  At first I couldn’t find the pyramids, then I realized that the large mounds of earth all around WERE the pyramids.  They were built during the years 500-1500 by the (pre-Incan) Quitu Cara culture, and through time were covered in almost a meter of dirt and grass.  While it was very cool to be in such an important ancient site, the herd of llamas that lives there was much more tangible, and may have been my favorite of part of the visit.  We forged friendships with the llamas through peace offerings of salt.

The next stop was at the middle of the world!  We visited a site on the Equator with a huge tower in the middle of a circular plaza that serves as a solar clock.  On the spring and fall equinoxes at 12 noon there are no shadows anywhere on the line!  I plan on making a return trip.

I am in the South, Alyssa the North

From there we drove to our hostel in Otavalo (which was very cute; the rooms reminded me of summer camp), dropped our bags, and headed to the market!  We mostly stayed in the large Poncho Plaza, which was filled with stalls, although the market extended in all directions through the streets.  I really loved all the colors.  The sheer volume of products available is overwhelming!  I spent the first 40 mins simply walking around looking at everything; then commenced with the bartering.  I bought a handful of things, including a sweater (which I needed; it gets very chilly here at night) and some stripy overalls!  Most of the market was clothing and jewelry.  While much of it could have been handmade, there were a lot of things (such as synthetic scarves and other souvenirs) that clearly were not made locally.  I was disappointed by the clear commercialization.  There was a time when all the goods in the Otavalo market were handmade by indigenous artisans, but this lifestyle is slowly being lost for the sake of survival in a market economy.  I’m not sure if this is progress or the opposite.

So many stripes!

Sunday was another full day!  Throughout the day we visited the homes of two indigenous artisans to see their work.  This was very interesting!  We learned about the process of weaving, starting from sheep’s wool and ending with a sit-down loom, from an elderly man, José, and his wife, Maria.  I bought one of José’s scarves to keep me warm and cozy during PA winters!  We also went to the home of a family of indigenous musicians and instrument makers.  My favorite instrument is the rondador, which is a type of panpipe native to Ecuador with a very rich sound.

Also on Sunday we visited a small town, Cotacachi, that specializes in leather goods where I bought a much-needed new belt, and a beautiful nearby volcanic lake, Laguna Cuicocha.  We went to el Parque Condor where we saw many majestic eagles, hawks, owls, and condors.  But the highlight of the entire weekend was our visit to la cascada de Peguche!  This is a huge waterfall tucked a short hike back in the mountainous Andean forest.  All I can say is, “Wow!!”  What a great hike and what an amazing sight.  There are actually two falls, first the smaller then the larger, and the best part is that we were able to wade back to the smaller waterfall and walk behind and beneath it!  The water was about thigh high and pretty cold, and it was only about 62°F out, but it was well worth the cold!  There was so much water crashing down around me!  I cannot remember ever doing anything so exhilarating in my life. 

This Friday is Ecuador’s Independence Day, so it is a national holiday, and I am going to la playa in Esmeraldas province for the weekend with my family!