Tena, On the Way to the Jungle

We had a four day weekend for Carnival two weeks ago ( which was especially wonderful for me considering most of my weekends are one day), and my friends, Carmen and Katie, and I decided to make the most of it and visit somewhere we couldn't normally go. We decided to go to the jungle, usually called simply "el oriente" here, since I hadn't been in three years, and Carmen had never been. Since time was still limited, and the oriente is far away, we chose the closest of our many options, Tena.

Leaf bug at Liana Lodge

Tena is a small city and one of the most important and pleasant in the oriente. It's only about 5 hours from Quito on the bus (go to Terminal Quitumbe in the south of Quito and ask for a bus that goes to Tena; Transporte Pelileo and Expreso Baños are two companies among many) but we were lucky going there because a student of Katie's was also going to Tena Saturday morning and offered to take us in her car with her husband. It was so sweet of them; she even gave us sandwiches, which actually resulted in some clandestine activities in the back seat. Carmen is a vegetarian, and, like almost all sandwiches in Ecuador, these sandwiches were ham and cheese. So Carmen had to sneak her ham out of her sandwich and into mine in order to avoid seeming ungrateful. She was a good sport though and she ate the cheese and bread sandwich even though it had once housed ham.

Our trip took about 4 hours in the car, crossing over the mountains and through the paramo near Papallacta (my auntie and I are going to Papallacta when she visits soon), and down into increasingly wetter, more humid, tropical forest. On the way we listened to a mix of hipster music and Mana, which was perfect in my opinion, and we chatted about the family home in the Galapagos. As we got lost elevation and got closer to Tena, we saw several people bathing in a waterfall by the road wearing underwear and decorative head wear. Katie's student told us that they were performing a cleansing ritual in the water, sort of like the rituals that include cleansing with smoke, eggs or cuyes.

Tena differs from Coca, an oil town in the north, in that it has a much more home-town, family sort of feel. Coca, on the other hand, caters mostly to oil workers or oil executives which, as you might imagine, doesn't provide the sort of dining and entertainment options a young woman would be interested in.

Outside of Coca. photo from HECUA

Tena is very much geared towards the local families and to the tourists stopping by on their way to the jungle. We saw millions of adorable children, but you will not see pictures here because I still don't know how to approach strangers to ask to take their picture. We had two odd encounters with aggressive children also. The first was a pair of children playing Carnival, which involved throwing water on or spraying foam on random passersby. Most people outside of the Carnival hot spots (including Ambato, Baños, and the beach) are decent enough to only play with other people who are playing. These children apparently hadn't heard that guideline though because they ran up and around us, managing to squirt Carmen and Katie with their little water guns. Then, the next day we were walking to breakfast down a sort of side street, just minding our own business, and as we approached a store, a small child, maybe four years old, hopped up, ran over, and hit me in the hip! It was completely unexpected, and I sort of pushed him away as he turned back to the store. He sort of stumbled and fell over the curb, but I don't feel as bad as I should because I figure I taught him a little lesson about hitting random strangers. The strangest part, as Carmen pointed out as we walked away, was how completely silent the entire transaction was: the little boy gave no war cry, I didn't yell in surprise, and the boy's grandfather was completely devoid of admonitions to his erstwhile grandson. Altogether, a very odd situation. So, be careful of adorable, violent children in Tena.

We stayed at Hostel Acurios, which was hosting several Ecuadorian families at the same time. It was pretty decent for the price ($12 per person, no breakfast), and had clean comfortable beds and a very effective fan. It also had a hot shower but I don't think any of us used the hot water because the humidity was killing us. The shower itself looked like it could use a good scrub, but otherwise the hostel was quite pleasant.

View from Chuquitos of Bella Vista Pizza and Cafe Tortuga, partially hidden by the tree.

As far as food went, we mostly followed the recommendation of my guidebook, The Rough Guide to Ecuador. We ate at three places in Tena: Cafe Tortuga, Bella Vista Pizza, and Chuquitos. The pizzeria was not my favorite. The pizza was perfectly fine, but Carmen and I ordered iced mochas, and they were very disappointing, almost no coffee at all. Also, I felt a little funky after eating there, but that could easily be from traveling in general. At night we ate at the place with the view of the river. There was a gentle breeze off the river and the fried fish was great; it tasted just like fish and chips and came with a little salad. Carmen and I each got beers to reward our hard work in the Cavernas de Jumandy (more on that next week), and the meal wasn't too expensive. I think including drinks we each paid $10-12 which is expensive for Ecuador, but I'm happy to pay that for a yummy meal that doesn't make me sick (I have discovered through living in Ecuador that I have a very weak stomach). On Sunday we went to Cafe de la Tortuga, which is a cute little cafe by the river, attached to a hostel, and completely geared towards tourists. There was a silly group of older Americans (at least one Texan who looked like Willy Nelson) at a table near us talking with their guide about their tours/trip. They tried to order some things in Spanish including an egg "over easy" which, if memory serves, they translated to "sobre facil." I frankly don't think that over-easy eggs exist in Ecuador. You usually have three options: frito, revuelto, or duro. the breakfast was very good, with fresh coffee and everything. Carmen and I ordered the crepes with fruit and yogurt which was delicious, especially with a little marmalade dapped on too. The crepe was thick and spongy and about the size of the bowl and the fruit consisted of grapes (with seeds), pineapple, banana, and strawberries. Overall, I would definitely recommend it for breakfast, but we were underwhelmed with the lunch options when we returned later that day.

I tried to find a decent map of Tena online to post here but there really weren't any great options, so I will just recommend that you take a guidebook with a map because it'll make it a lot easier to find your way around. The bus terminal is at the southern end of the main street, 15 de noviembre, and has a lot of bus company options. We bought our tickets back to Quito when we arrived on Saturday so that we wouldn't be left without a seat, and we got the Expreso Baños leaving at 3:15. It got back to Quitumbe at 8:15, so it was exactly 5 hours.

Next week I'll fill you in on our trip to las Cavernas de Jumandy, the big park in Tena, and our bus trip to the canoe stop on the side of the road to Liana Lodge.

Daily Life

Today is the first day of the cycle for teachers and students but I have been working for a week and a half already. Today I am going to make potato leek soup and wash some shirts. Then I'll go to work, come home, eat soup, and skype with my auntie. This is daily life living in Quito...

Back to work

After having a wonderful trip home, I'm back in Quito and back at work. Things really built up while I was away, so I had a lot to do this week. I had to set up for and run an activity called "Interclass" which I had never done before and was really nervous about getting right. I spent all of Wednesday afternoon setting up the big room we use for the activity. Luckily, I had some help from some nice teachers who helped me figure out where everything was supposed to go. On Thursday we had the activity, in which multiple classes come together and basically do an elaborate role play to get the students talking. It all went pretty well and I sat down afterward and wrote the instructions for how to set it all up so that I have them for next cycle.

Andres took some vacation time this week, so it's been really nice to see him in the mornings before I go to work. Also, he's been doing all the cooking which has been awesome because I've been so tired from traveling and from work.


Speaking of cooking, I think I want to get back to trying new things, particularly vegetarian meals. This is a little tricky because Andres doesn't like some of the more hearty vegetables that are a good substitute for meat, but I don't want to cook meat or chicken right now because of all the added hassle in thawing and washing up. So we'll have to be a little creative. I think I'll start with trying to make a potato curry and see where things go from there.

Over and out

The Country comes to the City

So I have been walking to work every day this cycle which has helped me get in shape, avoid the bus, and get to know the city a little better.

Like every city, Quito has it's own distinct culture, with lively things and unpleasant things. I quite enjoy walking through the streets and people-watching (except when people walk incredibly slowly and don't let me pass! That's part of my culture clashing with theirs.). In general, Quito is everything that you would expect a modern city to be. It has plazas and parks, government and giant businesses, hordes of business people dressed in their finest, street vendors and countless other things.

But the other day when I was walking to work, I passes under the over pass in one of the busiest parts of the city, and what should I see but a gaggle of geese! This particular gaggle was accompanied by a man herding them gently with a stick and carrying several cages of ducks and chicks! I was so startled that I actually stopped in my tracks to register the whole scene. Where was he going? Where did he get the geese? Is there a market for live geese in Quito? Alas, all of the questions remain unanswered, but I was struck by the sensation that I had just walked through a little piece of rural life on the dirty sidewalk of a busy Quito street. But then, that occasional bump with the rural is part of the unique metropolitan culture that Quito calls its own.

#OnlyinQuito

Cooking!

I have been cooking! Those of you who know me well will recognize this as a big accomplishment for me. I used to say I didn't like cooking because I was always so nervous about screwing it up. Well, thanks to only cooking for myself and Andres (a very supportive eater!), I've been able to experiment more and figure out that I really am capable of following and even, gasp!, modifying a recipe.

There are several cooking challenges that I'm trying to navigate right now. Perhaps the biggest is that I am not in my own country and sometimes things that I expect to be two-second purchases at the grocery store turn into hour long endevors and making things from scratch (read: enchilada sauce). Also, my eczema has been giving me trouble so I'm trying to cut out dairy to figure out if a food allergy might be part of the problem. Giving up cheese was much easier than expected (probably because Ecuador has inferior cheese to Minnesota, Wisconsin's neighbor), but finding recipes that don't use any cheese, mayonaise, milk, butter, sour cream, or cream cheese has proved a little bit difficult. Now, I hear some of you protesting "but there's tons of great recipes that don't use dairy!" And that brings me to my last big challenge, which is finding recipes suitable for freezing. Now that I'm teaching two classes during the week with a sub period and starting coordination on Saturdays, I have way less time (and energy) to cook during the week. So I've been investigating freezer cooking so I can cook just once, on Saturday or Sunday, and have yummy nutritious food all week long.

Last Sunday I made minestrone soup, beef and potato casserole, and enchiladas. It's all been yummy, but pretty dairy-heavy. So I'm looking for alternatives for cooking this weekend. Which brings me to the reader participation section of this post! I invite you to share any freezer recipes with low/no dairy that I can try out! I'm waiting with baited breath!

Help Jerry Get Life Altering Procedure

Dear friends and family,

I just got back from my weekend in Otavalo with my friend, Katie, and we had a wonderful time. However, I will have time for a post devoted completely to that trip later. I want to focus on something more important for this blog post. Many of you probably already know the story of Jerry MacCallister's terrible motorbike accident a few years ago. It left him paralyzed and dashed his life-long dream of becoming an astronaut. You can read the full story at http://www.followingjerry.blogspot.com/. Jerry is hoping to undergo stem cell therapy in Thailand in July, but the costs of the procedure are incredibly high. Therefore, his family, friends, and other supporters are working to raise money for his therapy in the hopes that it will help him walk again. There is currently a gofundme campaign online at http://www.gofundme.com/2t32nw and I would urge all of my readers to consider donating. I know Jerry and his family and they are amazing people. I am donating to help send Jerry to Thailand. Please search your budgets to find a way that you can too.

Love,

Ramona

Family trip to Cotopaxi

So if you remember my post from a few days ago, there's a picture of a beautiful Andean peak called Cotopaxi that is visible from my bedroom window. It's about 2 hours away, and when Mom and Dad visited I really wanted to take them there since they are such devoted mountain people.

Unlike many places in Ecuador, Cotopaxi is pretty difficult to get to on the bus, so we decided to get a tour guide. Funnily enough, we had the same guide that Dana and I had 2 years ago! As we drove out of the city, Mom and Dad got to ask about every mountain and town they saw, so hopefully that gave Mom more of the "lay of the land" kind of feeling she's always going on about!

When we arrived, we stopped at the entrance and disembarked to use the bathroom. That's when we realized that it was freezing cold! Luckily, we had brought some warm clothes, but by the end of the day I definitely found myself wishing I had brought more. A short drive into the park we stopped again, this time to check out a small lake and it's accompanying birds.

Mom and I all bundled up, taking a little stroll
around the small lake at the base of Cotopaxi

Mom and Dad showing off their fine rain gear.
Dad was fascinated by the plants around this lake. You'll have to ask him for the details.

Then, after we tore Dad away from the plants (I think there were some unexpected ferns?) we piled back into the car and continued on our way to the mountain. By this time it was drizzling lightly and I was starting to get anxious about all the cloud cover. What if Mom and Dad couldn't see the Andean peak I had brought them to, even when they were standing on its slopes??

This is what the mountain looked like from the parking lot when we were
 getting ready to walk up to the refuge. Hint: that is not all there is to the mountain.

So I was feeling anxious, but Mom kept reassuring me and saying that they were mountain people and they know that mountains attract weather and not to worry and that sort of thing. So that was nice but I was still worrying.

Then, following our fearless guide (I think he does this like 4 times a week), we began trekking up the side of Cotopaxi. The drizzle that we had encountered down below turned into blowing snow and as we climbed the switchbacks, my face and the back of my legs were alternately exposed to the elements (jeans were NOT enough protection).

Climbing the switchbacks. Mom looking cheerful as usual.

I don't remember how long it took, but I was definitely hoping for the end long before it arrived. We had to plod along at a glacial (haha) pace so as not to tire ourselves out at such high elevation. But finally we saw the small refugio coming up on the horizon! But before we could enter it, we had to take a picture to prove how intrepid we were.

At the sign for the refugio. That says 15,953 feet!

And we felt awesome because we got to 15,953 feet! But we also felt tired because we'd gotten to 15,953 feet. Then we went inside and ate some cookies and drank some hot chocolate. While we were munching, Dad asked our guide if it would be possible to climb another 50 feet to get to 16,000 even, and he said of course! But what we didn't realize is be had signed up to go all the way to the first glacier.

So we set out again and began plodding along, even slower now than before. We were getting more and more tired and starting to think about asking if we could turn around. But then, up ahead, we saw the glacier and it was magnificent! I don't think I would say beautiful, but imposing and awe-inspiring for sure. So we kept walking.

Finally we made it! Here we are, standing on a real live glacier (or something like that)!

Then, as we looked down from our perch on the glacier, we realized that the clouds were starting to clear and the view was opening up around us. Mom rejoiced, "The mountain gods are rewarding our intrepidness!"

Down the mountain to the valley below. The side are that beautiful red color from the old lava.

Antizana from the slopes of Cotopaxi

So then we felt really good about having made it that far. But by that point I was starting to feel a little queasy from the altitude so we started our decent.

This is us at the sign after going up to the glacier. Now you can see the summit in the background.

After we clambered down off the mountain we were feeling tired and exhilarated and definitely accomplished. We figured we had really gotten the most out of our day trip to Cotopaxi. But we were rewarded again on our drive down! This beautiful creature was standing next to the road! Our guide told us it was a lobo del paramo, or a highland wolf! It was definitely the icing on the cake of a wonderful day.

Lobo del Paramo

The view of the magnificent Cotopaxi on our drive out.