The Last Days

Well, this is the end of the journey...for now. We all have one last night in Ecuador and then we leave for Miami in the morning. Ecuador, you have treated me well!

After finishing up school, we had some vacation time in Baños and and Chugchilan. Baños gets its name from the volcanic hot water springs that are mineral-rich and plenty hot! It was a perfect place to be for a few days after school was over. The locals like to get the local hot spots when they open at 4:30 in the morning. I experienced the hottest water in the baths at that early morning time...stars and planets shining and the sun making another run at feeding the earth.

But first I must backtrack....



Me and my host family, from left, Jose, Anita, Fernando, Magus, and Lu Rodriguez. They were super sweet folks and I send many thanks their way for the warm hospitality and loose reins!



We went to la cascada de la Virgen de Agua Santa, basically a gorgeous waterfall named after the Virgin Mary, who was supposedly spotted there by people in this quite Catholic town. As usual, the pictures do not do the truth any justice.



This is one of the pools filled with hot mineral water. It is just below/beside the waterfall that you see in the above pics. A truly blissful place to sit as the stars glow and the waterfall lulls people into more relaxation.



One day, Sheena, Jenny, Nick and I hiked up a steep trail that led to the cafe del cielo (cafe of the sky/heavens)...on the way, we saw some gigantic ferns that are the size of trees...these fiddle heads were huge!


This is a shot from the trail, and if you click on it to enlarge you can pick out the old and new football fields, the church, and even, just under the tree on the left, the UFO Disco tower...that is, unfortunately, not in business. What a shame.



This is a shot looking west-ish from the cafe on the mountainside.



Back in town, overlooking the el Rio Pastaza...the sheer drop-off you see here was very common geography for this area, and really most of Ecuador.


Sheena and I rented bikes and headed east along a steep and curvy route that showed us lots of deep gorges and far-falling waterfalls. A memorable and invigorating day, to be sure.



After leaving the bubbly bath town, we headed deep into the countryside and had the pleasure to stay at a well-known eco-hostel called the Black Sheep Inn. This place sits in Chugchilan, about 1.5 hours from Zumbahua. This radical solace had composting toilets, super awesome vegetarian food, and wonderful wood-work and art....and they conserve, re-use, and care about water and waste...rare in this country!

Here is a shot of Sheena tugging back the zipline...the property is set on a nice hillside and they have probably 10-12-15 buildings, mainly for lodging, but also gardens, greenhouses, a sauna and kiddie hot tub, kitchen and a yoga studio....a truly beautiful place.



This is the nicest pic I have put up yet, me thinks...thanks to Sheena for her little Fuji!
This is Lago Quilotoa, a volcanic caldera created some 3,000 years ago by a huge explosion and then a massive collapse....it is still active and Sheena, Nick and I swam over to some bubbling warm water, after swimming through frigid sulphury/salty water.... The hike down was steeeeeep and the hike up, with a pack full of lunches and rain gear, was sweaty and slow.


The aliens must like this place for its ability to reflect their shimmering space signals.




And to complete the travels, we went to the market in Zumbahua and got to witness the neatest market to date; mainly indigenous people and anything from music to clothes, yarn to tostados (my favorite), live chickens to very dead bull testicles...the list goes on. I was psyched to see so much bustling commerce and a seeming bounty of fruits and vegetables...and, yes, an array of flesh, as well.

OK, I hope that this overwhelming last post can be enjoyed. I am anxious to get back to the snowy mountains and be with family and friends! Take care and enjoy the winter...and if you are going to visit Ecuador and want to ask some questions, fire away!

North America, here we come, rejuvenated and enriched!



Much Love!

Cory

Time flies....

We have been having fun! Apologies for not posting in a while...I feel less motivated with no camera and classes slowly coming to an end..."if there was ever a time, now would be the time to see your time here is limited..."

My sweet girlfriend, Sheena, arrived last Monday and has been adjusting quite well to the new place, the language, the altitude and the food and water. She showed up to an insane bunch of kids scrambling to make a garden project more than a big mess of dirt and in between that a Thanksgiving dinner with the students and their families. I felt for her because at a few moments she was obviously not very excited to be speaking Spanish to people...on her second day here. Two thumbs up for her ability to roll with the punches, though!

Here are some pics and short explanations:

We stayed a weekend in San Juan, outside of Riobamba, and view from our rooms was gorgeous rolling farmland and view of Mt. Chimborazo (Thanks Leigh/Ash), the mountain peak that is the furthest from the center of the earth...thus closest to la luna as well. According to one engineer/surveyors calculations, Mt. Chimborazo reaches 1.5 miles higher than Mt. Everest, into space that is...Everest is still higher from sea level.

This is the oldest shurch in the country, La Iglesia Balbanera, or the Balbanera Church, which was founded on the 15th of August, 1534! It was a strong little stone building with neat architecture, and Chimborazo can be partly seen behind it. We met our train/bus chiva just across the street from the church. ¡De la iglesia primera en Ecuador a la nariz del diablo! From the first church in Ecuador to the devil's nose!

We hopped on this chiva and rode it into la nariz del diablo. Bascially a little party bus converted to tun on train tracks with seats and ponshos on top...nice countryside! Below is a view from the bu...if you click the pic or look closely, their is a little diamond in the tracks and another bus waiting for us to come down so that they can start back up the mountain. We got some good views but I was looking forward to more excitement..maybe some boulder falls or a hold up by armed robbers...alas, it was very safe.

Now we move on more peaks in Ecuador....





Mt. Cotopaxi is the second highest volcanic mountain in Ecuador. Some of us hiked up to the shelter that you see in the picture above. I nabbed a pilsener and made a few boot turns in the sunny snow. Sheena and I just missed the view of the mountain as the clouds rolled in...standing next to the Avalanche Danger sign...

Later, the group rode bikes down the "washboard" road from Cotopaxi and across the barren bouldery park and through some pleasant farmland. Thanks to the Biking Dutchman for some good bikes to rip on, a nice bumpy Land Rover ride, and a stellar vegetarian lunch...and brownies!!!



Always smiling...Cotopaxi is hidden in them there clouds!



This is blackmail, eh? Prof. Biddle sampling the fine wears being peddled at the gate of the north entrance to the park....a "west coast hippie" head band for his granddaughter...¡qué lindo!




Leigh in perfect style....can you tell what is on the table?




¡El grupo!

We ran into some local traffic on the way back to Quito...amazingly, these mellow creatures casually made their way past us in about one minute or so...



The leader of the cows was a tranquil looking young lady, and her horse was petite and gorgeous.




The next day some of us went to the most important national football game of the season, the number two team, La Liga, versus the number one team, S.D. Quito. Team Quito has not been the champions in over 40 years! They won the game 2-0, a good win. Talk about team spirit and fanaticism, these people know how to do it! The fowl language never ceased, the ticker tape and confetti flew through the air constantly, and when a goal was scored everyone was sure to get soaked in beer....truly a strange spectacle to behold! Notice the obscene amounts of basically reciept paper on the ground...



It was quite packed! More than 35,000 people in attendance, and we found our little seats on the stairway...something that probably rarely happens in the rule-obsessed USA. One wild fan broke past the police on the field and ran for the crowd of people surrounding some star players...they should consider him for the team...he can at least run like a rabbit and dodge past opponents (the cops) quite well.


A goal was scored....the crowd roars and more paper soars.

Well, I have three more days of classes and then some time to explore more of Quito, say goodbye at the end of the week to my gracious host family, and then we all have some time in Baños and some other more remote places to chill out before heading back to the USA. I realize that I have included little about my studies in this weblog...but who wants to know about how neo-liberalism crushes cultures, how capitalism is deeply flawed and leading to serious global problems, or how the governments of the USA throughout the decades have played big daddy with Latin America and, for the most part, made things worse for everyone???

If that sounds interesting...it is. But I only found the tip of the iceberg, even though I would love to chat about it all! I am off to bed and, maybe, preparing for some final exams, papers and presentaions.

Take care,

clc

Oh yes, want to see more pics? Check out Renatas Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79494&l=53a98&id=703542603. Thanks!

Los Colibríes

This is a stellar view of Nanegal (thanks to pbase), where Arik, Lindsey and I rode the bus to from Quito and met with Doña Norma (below) and Cecelia for a short drive into Santa Marianita. It is a sweet and fun place that seemed to be living on "island time", only in the mountainous cloud forest.

Here is a view of the town square...basically surrounded by small houses, one small general store, a school and a church. This picture is old, so the grass is short. When I was there this past weekend, the grass was about six inches high and was not cut beacuase there is only one weed whipper in the village and the last time they cut it, the grass was so high it damaged the whipper. So, it sits as it is and is still played in. When I asked why people did not play much futból ("soccer" to the silly gringoes) the Peace Corps volunteer, Jeanette, said that it rains too much. The sport of choice? Volleyball! Under a roof, of course...


After one morning in the garden, we got to see the inner workings of Las Colibrís Womens Artisan Cooperative, the joyería, or jewelry shop (colibrí = hummingbird). Doña Norma, who met us in Nanegal, is seen here sawing materials for the many crafts and jewelry made in this small shop.The large seeds on the table are tagua, a type of palm tree seed. It is also called vegetable ivory...the reason is obvious, as it is a very strong, polishable, and, eventually, white seed. These seeds come from these huge, gnarly, spikey clusters the size of a basketball, and the seeds are removed from that big cluster. (Thanks to Mary Finn for this pic and the those following, RIP camera.)

Below are some polished tagua seeds that are fashioned into salt and pepper shakers.



Tagua is used for a lot of things...these ladies make what you see above, earrings, necklaces, keychains, candle holders with coco, or coconut, as a base, and containers (salt shaker minus holes...). Below is a picture of the tagua seed in raw form, husk removed, slightly polished, etc....



Doña Norma was super friendly, accomodating, powerful, and creative. Here she is holding some of the home-made paper that they make into cards and also use to display and sell earrings.



Arik and Lindsey, my friends form West Va. that are on their luna de miel, or honeymoon, were entranced by this gorgeous little town. Had they not made prior commitments, they would have stayed here for another week! I would have done the same...but classes are a bit of a priority!

We went to the river on Saturday, where the locals have a few thatched rooves to cook food and eat, a few big swings in the trees, and, of course, a volleyball court. It is all situated on a small island that is surrounded by a swift, chilly, and beautiful river. Sorry, no pics...yet!

We had some time to play with the local children. If your heart is cold, they can melt it!!! Arik an I had a game of basketball with some locals...good for the heart, and later we went to a lucha de gallo, or cock fight, and got a good taste of local happenings.....and some mighty delicious local liquor, flavored with piña, pineapple, and heated to a nice toasty temperature. One dollar for a large beer bottle full....not bad. Miguel, a little pal I met whose papa had a cooster fighting, got some blood on his hand and showed it off like a trophy. It was quite gruesome but I sat through it more for watching the people get so into the scene.

The next day, Arik and Linds had to leave early and I stuck around and got into the jewelry scene. Doña Norma, on her day off, got me set up, with another Canadian lady, Alexandra, sawing tagua and polishing them into the beauty that lies beneath the crud....hmmmm, kind of like a human heart and mind. Lots of potential for shining grace, if we would only pick up our internal tools and patiently put them to meaningful work...as Wendell Berry puts it: ...for patience joins time to eternity... (thanks Chipop). What better time than NOW. What only time but now!

Alexandra had been there for two weeks, and 14 year old son asked, for the second time, to stay another week there! Nice place, to be sure.

Well, off to class. Keep in mind that you have those tools within your Self. Use them and see what you can dig up.

Adios,

Cory

Some dead, most grateful

Howdy doo daa daaaaaay,

Late on posting these pics from last weekend. The date above is incorrect since I am basically editing an old post. Sorry 'bout that! Heading out for the weekend to a place called Colibris, with two friends that I met in Otavalo who are from WV...it should be great. Glad to know that we have our first non-white president in office but we will see just how white he performs. Oh, the times they are a-changin'.... Here are a few pics, CELEBRATE LIFE:



Edwin took us to the local indigenous cemetery on Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead. It was crowded with people sharing food and drink, local food and industrial food. What a mix!

Classmate Tim, Professor Nick, Local Edwin and I at the cemetery. It was actually a little muggy that day...

The night before the Day of the Dead Tim had some cuy ( sounds like "coo-ey"... it is guniea pig) and loved it...even the eyeballs, yum! It has been said..."you are what you eat." Is there a resemblance? Maybe just the teeth?

We picked up trash nearby Cotacachi, where Tim and I stayed for our first week. I found some small treasures along the way...and I made a little collage. Dweeb? Yes. Still like small things/trashy treasures? Oh, yes! We were all a bit tickled when the local barefoot childrne chipped in to help us collect trash...and wanted to come home with us. ¡Qué bacan!

Chillin' at the club with Obama on TV......Me, Ash, Jenny, and emo-rocker Leigh (es un chiste, Leigh!)

More Day of the Dead pics: Guaguas de pan...basicaly bread in the shape of children. Traditional food often eaten with the delicious colada morada (see story below).

A shot of the locals and a cloud covered mountain outside of Otavalo.

Tim, Edwin and the multitudes...

Abuelas serving up the colada morada for the families. All of the indigenous women wear similar white blouses with embroidered (by hand, sometimes) flowers, a dark dress, gold necklaces (that are imported....from somewhere in Asia, I think?) and other things like the head wraps and scarves.

And here is the old post:

I had a quite interesting weekend. My friend Tim and I were pick-pocketed on the Trolley during the the ride to the bus station that would then take us to Otavalo. I had been checking for my wallet literally every ten seconds....and, lo and behold, Tim said....Someone stole my wallet. I thought, man that sucks!....and I reached to feel my pocket....and it had no bulge and felt like flattened box....no wallet! No debit card anymore....tricky!

We know who did but it was too late, they had gotten off the trolley before we noticed...shucks!

We proceeded to the bus station and, once on the bus, a few people tried to befriend us, tell us the buses were totally safe (HA! see earlier post about theft of camera and iPod...) and then eye our things like hawks....hmmmm, is it obvious who the thieves are now?

My friend Jenny, bless her heart, went and pushed past these three guys that were lingering over a gringo like a rain cloud, and told the gringo man to watch out for his things....the thieves got the drift and got off the bus soon after...with his camera lense. Not a total victory for them, I guess.

Luckily for me, I did not put all of my eggs in one basket, so I had some money for the weekend, which was excellent.

We all stayed in a sweet and simple little hostal with a very pleasnt breakfast each morning. The boys, Prof. Nick, Tim, and I stayed there for two nights, while the girls all stayed with families in nearby Cotacachi.

The first ngiht we were there we met a few locals who were VERY interested in the girls and also in learning English. This fellow Edwin ended up hanging out with us that night...he and his friends were drinking aguardiente, the local firewater, which had done them in quite well! Edwin was " A little drink, I am only a little drink..." He meant "drunk" and we corrected his English; he was thankful for the lessons.

Despite having little trust in people who were seemingly friendly to us, I soon realized that these kids were not out to steal anything. Edwin was/is seriously in love with the English language and wants to live the dream in either LA or NYC....American culture strikes again!

We saw Edwin the next day and he wanted to take us to a hookah bar. We had eaten there the day before but did not object to goaing again since there was an open mic night happening on this Saturday night. Now get this people, I sat down and scanned the room....and recognized someone nearby. I then eventually saw the man sitting next to her and realized I knew them both...from Morgantown!!! I later proceeded to say hi and, although we were not too well known to each other, the memories came back and we kept these two poor travellers, Arik and Lindsey, up waaaay past their bedtimes! What a lovely small world it really is, did you know that? Our professor, Nick, connected them to our weekend adventures and I think that we will be seeing them in the cloud forest very soon...yeeeeha! Dub V connection!

Edwin invited us to come to the cemetery with his family and friends for theDay of the Dead the next day, Sunday. I was psyched to be able to go with a local indigenous person and so we made plans and met up with him the next morning.

The cemetery was PACKED with people...and I must say it was a very unique experience. People literally walk and climb ALL OVER the gravestones and graves....so I felt a bit odd stepping right on the graves. The other odd thing is that there are people vending cotton candy, ice cream, soda pop, and strange blow-up power ranger toys the entire time. Corporate blending into culture....as usual? We had some of the traditional colada morada, a sweet fruity drink made of raspberries, pineapples, and other types of fruit, and shared some food with Edwin and his sisters. Edwins mother died five years ago of lymphoma. He did not seem to be very upset that day....a celebration of life and a day to pay respects.

The boys and I were there for a couple hours and then we proceeded to get ready for the busride back to Quito. It seems obvious that the thieves are riding the bus from Quito to...Quito. They get out before even leaving the city...so if you see somebody on a two-hour busride with just a small pack or nothing, beware. I don't want to make people paranoid but also don't want to have the same things happen to them!

Many thanks to Edwin for being so interested/ing and for the invitation to the graveyard. It was a pleasure to join him. I hope to meet him again in the US, or very soon when Sheena comes for a visit!

I hope that all is well with everyone. Hugs and love!

Cory

Howdy ladies and gentlemen,

A temporary, or perhaps permanent, solution to my photograph problem has been reached. Many thanks to Renata, my classamate, for letting me use some of her photos for my blog.

So, as I mentioned in the earlier post, the museum called Capilla del Hombre was quite dazzling. The centerpiece of the whole large building was a dome painting of suffering mine workers reaching for the light. The picture below is shot from the bottom floor looking up...to the light!

This is a picture of the sketch used for the much larger painting. So much suffering portrayed in his work....heavy. The painting is unfinished due to the death of Ecuador's most famous painter, Señor Guayasmín.

At the smaller museum Renata snapped this good shot of a sculpture of the artist, and one of his many multi-plate super-intense paintings. I think this is "The protestors hands", or at least the last one on the bottom.

Out of the deep and emotional art and into the light and flightyness of hummingbirds!

At Milpe, in the Cloud Forest, we were surrounded by so many birds! It was a thrill, as in Canaan Valley we have maybe 3-5 birds at a time...on a good day. Here, our host said that for every bird there are something like twenty more of the same species...or did he say forty? This pic might show the point.

While playing cards for a few hours we all noticed some lovely little buggers that also wanted to join in on the festivities. Awww, ho cuuute! (remember, you can click on the pics for a zoom in)

And what better way to end this post than with a nice view from the place that we enjoyed some lunch, in Los Bancos. West Virginia, I miss you...

Still have not made it to a football game here...but it is on the agenda. I like not having much time to do all the things on the list of desires. It is MUCH better than the opposite: numbing boredom. ¡Carpe diem! I have been enjoying the comments and I hope that you all are enjoying the blog. My first shot at it so please criticize.

Love to all,

Cory Lyle