Otavalo

Otavalo is an indigenous community about 2 hours northeast of Quito.  It is a picturesque little town, nestled between 3 volcanoes, with several crystal clear lakes nearby.  Otavaleños are famous for textile production and the central market of Otavalo, Plaza de los Ponchos, is known far and wide for its handcrafted wears.  I was lucky enough to have the representation of an acclaimed Ecuadorian lawyer (my host papi, Alfredo) as I haggled for the lowest possible price on various souvenirs.  
Sample interaction:

• Me:  How much does it cost?
• Vendor:  Normally $15, but I will give you a good price.  $12.
• Alfredo:  Ahhh so expensive?  I know what you're up to.  You see that she is a gringa and you take advantage.  Well, I am a native of Otavalo [note: not at all true] and I know that this neckalace is only worth $2.
• Vendor:  I will give it to you for $5, no less.
• Alfredo:  Bahhhhhhhh!  [begins to walk away]
• Vendor:  Fine, fine, $3.

Pretty slick, eh?  Well, here are some pictures.  

La Mitad del Mundo AND MORE!

Left foot Northern Hemisphere, Right foot Southern

      In case you didn't put two and two together, "ecuador" means equator in Spanish!  And guess what!?!  The equator runs straight through Ecuador!  Knowing that fools like me can't resist the opportunity to take a photo with one foot in each hemisphere, savvy Ecuadorians have constructed a small village of tourist attractions along the equator, roughly 15 minutes north of Quito.  
      My friend Henry offered to take me sightseeing on Saturday and, rather admirably, did not rescind his generous invitation when I suggested that we take in this geographical phenomenon.  We had initially planned on visiting THIS Mitad del Mundo ("The Middle of the World"), the better known attraction, complete with a grand (actually, pretty ugly) monument, museum, and cultural displays.  This "official" attraction marks the site of the equator as defined by some French scientists in the lat 18th century.  Not surprisingly, though, THE FRENCH GOT IT WRONG!  GPS reveals that the true equator lies a several hundred meters away.  French incompetence aside, when we arrived at said attraction, it was closed.  Hordes of angry tourists in fanny packs stood-by incredulously as a man explained that, in typical Ecuadorian fashion, the park had closed its doors for the day in protest.  (Employees felt that the entrance fees demanded by the Provence of Pichincha were prohibitively high for everyday Ecuadorians.)
      Rather than admit defeat, though, we walked down the road a bit to the Intiñan Solar Museum, supposedly located along the true equator.  This place was straight up crazy.  There was an exhibition about indigenous peoples of Ecuador, along with shrunken heads and many, MANY taxidermied animals.  On the equator itself, the tour guide presented us with several demonstrations of physical phenomena, nearly all of which were of dubious scientific merit.  If I am to believe what he told us, it is easier to balance an egg on a nail along the equator and more difficult to walk a straight line.  He also tricked me into believing that toilets REALLY DO flush in opposite directions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  FALSE!  In the end, though, I must say that I give this museum GLOWING reviews.  The kitsch factor was undeniable.  
      From the museum, Henry and I went to a nearby health club with pools, waterslides, saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs.  It was fun and relaxing, but, rather unfortunately, when I close my eyes and think back on the afternoon, all I see is a montage of overweight, hairy, middle-aged Ecuadorian men in impossibly small Speedos.  
      We ended the day at a Chifa, a Chinese restaurant.  Chinese food is quite popular here and somehow gets away with promoting itself as incredibly healthy.  Ecuadorian people, thus, can enjoy a guilt-free plate of fried rice with a side of french fries.  We should all be so lucky.  

Mindo Lindo

Last Sunday, I had the chance to go on a day trip to a place called Mindo with my friend Ilse from the Foundation.  Mindo is a cloud forest (kind of like a rainforest, but at a high elevation) about 1.5-2 hours northwest of Quito.  It's very green and lush and exotic looking and, as such, has gained a reputation for ecotourism in recent years.  I'm told it's of particular interest to bird enthusiasts, as it is home to a huge diversity of species. (I'm looking at you, Dad.)  During my day in Mindo, I visited a butterfly/hummingbird sanctuary, went for a hike in the cloud forest to look at waterfalls, went zip lining, and visited a chocolate factory (Ecuador is known for its cocoa).  All-in-all, a day well spent!  Here are some photos.

 magic butterfly.

 hummingbird...very difficult to photograph

 waterfall at the end of our hike

pre zip-line

cocoa beans

Meet the Abuelitos

Last week, I asked some of the abuelitos* if I could take their pictures.  They were more than happy to oblige, on the condition that I bring them prints at some point. Many of them don't own pictures of themselves, a fact that is hard for me to imagine.  Having grown up with a snap-happy mother, every moment of my childhood and awkward adolescence was painstakingly documented.  Now, living in the age of Facebook and digital cameras, it's hard to avoid pictures of myself. Anyways, it struck me at that moment how very different our lives are, at least on certain levels.  When I look at the portraits, though, I am reminded of the humanity we share.

*Clarification:  It has been drawn to my attention that the translation of "abuelito" is not clear to all.  Abuelito is an endeared form of the word for grandparent, abuelo.  One can use the word as a familiar way to refer to any elderly person, however, and not just one's own grandparents.  

Rumiñahui's Revenge

Rumiñahui was a great Inca warrior and Ecuador's last line of defense against Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadors.  All you need to know, though, is that he is the closest thing to Ecuador's equivalent of Montezuma.  Whether Rumiñahui is having his last laugh or I drank some bad water/ate some bad fruit, all I can say is that my feeble gringa bowels have fallen prey to the illness delicately referred to as "traveler's sickness."  And it is not pretty.  Why do I admit to having such a filthy illness before the entire blogosphere?  Think of it as a public service announcement: traveler's diarrhea is as real as you and me, kiddos.  Also, I have no shame.  Before I am tempted to go into further detail and/or wallow in self pity, I will leave you with a good ol' fashioned poop joke:
"Hey!  Did you know that diarrhea is genetic?  
...Yeah, it runs in your jeans (genes)!"  

grab bag!

Okay.  In lieu of a more structured blog entry, here are some little stories you might enjoy.  

• Once, I sneezed while walking on the sidewalk.  A man leaned out of a bus to yell "cheese!" to me.  Yes, in English.  I could tell he was pretty proud of himself too. 
• Remember how I explained that my bus is always filled far, far over capacity?  Though I kissed any need for personal space goodbye on perhaps my second ride on the TransFloresta and have since adopted a very "Cumbayá" attitude about the whole situation, I cannot say the same for my fellow travelers.  Each day, as the driver invites ever more people onto the bus to stand in the aisle, I feel the frustration radiating from other seated passengers.  Old women grunt, rap the side of the bus with their fists, and scowl at the driver, jowls aquiver.  Earlier this week, a chubby businessman made an impassioned speech, the central thesis of which was "¡No somos papas! ¡Somos adultos!  ¡Seres humanos!" - "We are not potatoes!  We are adults!  Human beings!"  A noble attempt, sir, but the driver could care less.
• On a related note, once, my bus driver had so many people on board that he no longer had sufficient horsepower to climb the mountain and carry us to Quito.  Everyone had to get off and wait for the next bus.
• You know how some people in the states say "sugar!" rather than utter a more vulgar word?  Well, here people replace that same nasty word with "mierrrrcoles!" - "Wednesday!"
• I caught the cook at the Foundation scrubbing out a large pot with an old shoulder pad the other day.  Waste not, want not!
• Until today, I had been very confused about a recurring problem with introductions. Sample conversation:
• person: "¿Y…Cómo se llama Ud. nena?" - What is your name, dear?
• me: "Kate." - Kate 
• person leans in and enunciates as if talking to the hearing impaired: "Digo...CÓMO SE LLAMA UD.?" - I SAY, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
• me:  "ehhh....Kate.  Me llamo Kate." - errrrm...Kate.  My name is Kate.
• person:  "ahh.  cake."  - "ahh.  cake" 

          So, clever readers, explain to me why people always ask me for my name multiple times.  Give up?!?!  It's because my name sounds VERY MUCH LIKE "¿Qué?" - Spanish for "Whaaaat?"  THEY  THINK I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEM!!!! SO THEY REPEAT THEMSELVES!!!  CASE CLOSED.  

• One of the abuelitas, a sweet old woman of about ninety, asked me how I'd slept the night before.  As a follow-up question, she asked "With how many?"  She laughed like there was no tomorrow and explained to me that laughter is the secret to old age.  
• Another abuelito speaks a little English and likes to practice with me.  Before he leaves the Foundation each day, he takes my hand and tells me "You are the best star in the sky."  Quite the charmer, that one.  

El TelefériQo

Yesterday morning, Katia called and asked if I'd like to hang out again.  We met in Quito and had lunch at a 1950s-style soda fountain.  Afterward, Katia and Miguel accompanied me to one of the hottest tourist attractions in Quito: El  TelefériQo.  The word "teleférico" means gondola lift.  For publicity's sake, they stuck a "Q" for "Quito" into the word.  BAM.  TelefériQo.  The TelefériQo was built in 2005 and was meant to be hot stuff.  They built shops and restaurants and a sad little amusement park called "Vulqano Park" (you guessed it!  "volcano" with a Q!) at the base of the gondala lift.  While the gondala ride continues to be popular and lucrative, attracting HORDES of gringos on clear days like yesterday, all of the other little ventures have shut down, leaving a creepy ghost town with tinny amusement park music drifting through empty buildings.

Though the TelefériQo may cost a pretty penny, it's definitely worth the ride.  The gondala carries you from northern Quito (elevation ~9,000 feet) to a point called Cruz Loma (elevation 13,400 feet) on the side of the Pichincha volcano.  From there, you can see nearly all of Quito and the surrounding mountains on a clear day.  There are several hiking paths and lookout points from which to take photos.  Pretty neat stuff!

El Centro Histórico de Quito

First, a quick geography lesson:  Quito is a very long, narrow city, built in a valley between mountains.  North to South, the city is divided into three distinct districts.  The northern part is modern and wealthy, home to the financial district, hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, and middle/upper class housing.  The southern part is industrial and residential, with many working class neighborhoods and some of the poorest neighborhoods.  Most of the abuelitos live in Southern Quito.  Central Quito is comprised of the colonial old city, El Centro Histórico de Quito.  

From the mid 1500s until 1822, Quito was a major center of Spain's colonial empire in the Americas, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.  From Quito, Spain administered its religious, political and economic policies for the region.  In El Centro Histórico, one can see the vestiges of this empire.  According to UNESCO, Quito has the largest, best-preserved, and least-altered historic center in Latin America, despite several earthquakes. In fact, it was the first city to be inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage List.  After lunch last weekend, I had the opportunity to stroll around the old city with Katia and her son Miguel.  Here's some photo evidence.  

Un Almuerzo Ecuatoriano

The much awaited food post!  Last weekend, a woman named Katia (the niece of my grandparents' Ecuadorian golfing friend, Pachi) was kind enough to invite me to her home in Southern Quito to shop for, prepare, and enjoy a typical Ecuadorian almuerzo (lunch).  Here, breakfast is light (toast, cereal, etc.) and dinner is kind of a snack (una empenada, un sandwich) eaten around 8 or 9 PM.  So lunch is the big guns. People eat a large, multi-course meal around 1 or 2 PM.  Food here is hearty and very starch-heavy, made with the freshest ingredients imaginable.   

la sopa: un locro de papa y espinaca - a potato, spinach, and cheese soup

Ecuadorians eat a bowl of soup, usually potato-based, nearly every day

el segundo/el plato principal: arroz, patacones, y pescado

the main course: rice, fried plantains, and fish 

a typical segundo consists of starch (potato or rice), protein, and vegetable

el postre: dulce de higo con queso

dessert: figs in a sweet syrup made from natural sugar with cheese

A wide variety of delicious fruits are grown here in Ecuador.

¡Ojo! MAKE NOTE OF THIS IF YOU EVER PLAN TO TRAVEL TO LATIN AMERICA

I learned recently that in Ecuador, one does not flush soiled toilet paper into the sewer along with waste, but rather places it neatly in a garbage can adjacent to the commode.  This knowledge was quite timely, as I’m sure that I was only a few flushes away from clogging the plumbing.  Had this happened, I would have MORTIFIED, caught in a literal sh*tstorm of embarrassment.  Furthermore, learning this was quite the revelation for me as

1. I had marveled previously at the thickness of the paper, a luxurious 20 ply, I would say, and
2. the trashcan next to the toilet seemed needlessly large and
3. there is always a bit of an odor in the bathroom that I share with Josina (the Dutch volunteer).  It pains me to admit to having made some snap judgments about the source of the smell, based almost entirely on stereotypes of European hygiene.  

¡Hola, Abuelitos!

Having now finished my first week at FABC, I want to share a bit about my day-to-day activities at the Fundación. This week, I did a bit of everything so that I could get to know the Foundation and eventually make a more fixed schedule for myself.  I arrive at the Foundation at about 9AM each day and stay until 2 or 3 PM (essentially, the hours that the abuelitos are there, plus a little extra for clean-up or office work).

La Fundación serves breakfast and lunch to the abuelitos Monday through Friday, rain or shine.  It is the only organization in Quito, and perhaps in all of Ecuador, to feed senior citizens so reliably.  Anywhere from 50 to 150 abuelitos come each day to eat.  Given that FABC receives only limited government funding, has modest facilities and only 6 paid employees (most of them part-time), this is no small feat.  Nearly all of the food comes from donations from local supermarkets (one of which is called “Supermaxi,” with a sister store called “Megamaxi”...I think the feminine hygiene connotations are lost on the Ecuadorians).  Much of the food is partially rotten and no longer fit to sell.  Maria, the cook, sorts out the inedible donations and does wonders with the remaining food.   She rules the kitchen with an iron fist to make sure that the food is edible and plentiful, all the while singing along to saucy ballads on the radio. Breakfast tends to consist of bread and a hot cereal.  Lunch is soup, some kind of starch (pasta, rice, or potatoes), vegetables/salad, meat, dessert, and freshly prepared juice. No abuelito leaves hungry.

Aside from feeding the abuelitos, a dentist, physical therapist, doctor, and nurse keep regular hours at La Fundación and medicines are dispensed free of cost.  La Fundación also provides entertainment for the abuelitos: drawing, painting lessons, callisthenic exercises, games, etc.  There’s an allotted period of time for prayer each day, during which the abuelitos sing the Lord’s Prayer to the tune of  “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkle.  Well, in theory.  Mostly they great each other at inappropriate volumes and tell stories while the woman leading prayer time sushes them.  On Wednesday, I got join the abuelitos in playing “pin the cane and fedora on the old man.”  Pretty rich.  My favorite activity BY FAR, though, has been “payasos” – CLOWNS!  But it's not REALLY clowns.  It's just old folks CLOWNIN' AROUND!!!  There was singing, story telling, and (best of all) group dancing.  I think it's supposed to motivate self-expression and provide some exercise and range of motion to the old folks.  Mostly though, it is just a HOOT!   It was a moment of complete bliss for me, and I think abuelitos really got a kick out of my attempts at ethnic dancing (they all were doing some sort of fancy cha-cha-cha step that I really. REALLY could not replicate).

                                                          abuelitos at play

mi viaje diaria - my daily commute

      Hello there. Today is Saturday- a good day for blogging. Well, at least until my social life picks up!
      Each morning, I wake up around 7AM, shower, eat breakfast, and walk fifteen minutes to the market in downtown Cumbayá, where I wait in line my bus: the Transfloresta.

      The bus is quite petite so as to navigate the narrow, winding road from Cumbayá to the Floresta neighborhood in Quito. Though there are only seats for about 30 people on the bus, conductors typically allow passengers to stand in the aisles and spill out of the doorway (unless the local police happen to be monitoring the bus route), thus carrying 40-50 passengers per trip. Each passenger pays 25 cents. Buses are often decorated with the adornments one associates with El Caminos: dangling rosaries, velvety curtains, and portraits of various patron saints.
      As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cumbayá lies about 2000 feet below Quito, in a river valley.

View of Quito from Cumbayá 

      The bus makes a winding ascent into Quito, on bumpy cobblestone roads. Often, the window on one side of the bus is filled with the steep incline of mountain, while the window on the other side looks out over a sheer cliff, into the river valley below. The views are incredible.

      The road is narrow enough that I nearly broke out into a cold sweat the first time we passed another bus en route. Also, one must get used to the speed bumps scattered along the way. They are about four feet wide and two feet high and drivers rarely slow down enough to prevent unsuspecting gringas from flying out of their seats.
      Once I arrive in La Floresta, I walk about 20 minutes to FABC. I should mention that walking in Quito (and, to some extent, in Cumbayá as well) can be a bit of a death trap. The sidewalks here are very uneven, often with gaping holes right in the middle of them. As I am a very clumsy person to begin with, I must be hyper vigilant or risk falling flat on my face several times each day. Moreover, I've had to completely reassess the way I comport myself as a pedestrian. I've always been one of those people that walks boldly into the street, taking for granted that cars will brake with time to spare. This sort of behavior would, quite frankly, get me killed here. Cars do not stop for pedestrians under any circumstances and crosswalks are something of a local joke. One must either wait until the street clears, or hope for a traffic jam and weave through the stopped cars.
      Between buses and walking, the commute takes about an hour and I arrive at the Foundation by 9AM, just in time to greet the abuelitos and do some morning calisthenics with them.  

Cumbayá My Lord, Cumbayá

Hola amigos. I am writing to you from my bedroom in my host family's home in Cumbayá, a suburb of Quito. My host father, Alfredo, picked me up at my hotel Monday and took me on the first of many Quito-Cumbayá commutes. Cumbayá sits at an altitude of 7218 feet, much lower than Quito's 9350 feet. Because of this, Cumbaya is significantly warmer and more vegetated than Quito.

The house is very large and is part of a gated community near to Universidad San Francisco de Quito, one of Ecuador's premier universities. Our neighborhood has the feel of an American suburb, with many restaurants and stores within walking distance.

Mi casa en Cumbayá

Marcela, my host mother, is the founder and director of La Fundacion de Abuelitos y Abuelitas de la Calle. She is a driven and passionate woman who has worked for more than 10 years now to provide reliable food and healthcare to Quito's elderly. Alfredo is a lawyer and a retired professor of law at La Universidad Católica de Quito. He’s published several books on law and helps with the Foundation when he can, providing legal counsel to the abuelitos. Alfredo and Marcela have a daughter and two sons, all grown and married, and two grandchildren. I briefly met their daughter, Patricia (Pati), with whom I’ve been exchanging emails since this time last year (she works part-time as an administrator for the Foundation). Abuelitos seem to be the family business.

Since their children moved out, Marcela and Alfredo have opened their doors to houseguests. In addition to me, they house a Dutch woman named Josina who also volunteers with the Abuelitos and three students from the University.

Finally, I must say that it gives me great joy to leave bustling Quito at the end of the day and come home to this peaceful oasis. I put on a wool sweater and some earthy sandals with thick socks underneath and drink a mug of herbal tea in the garden. Ooooh looooooord, Cumbayá.

Hola, Quito

Hi.  Guess what?!?!?  I'm in Quito!  Everything went quite smoothly travel-wise, a fact that the airline flight attendants drove home at the end of each leg of my trip: Otro vuelo seguro y a tiempo con TACA! (Another safe and on-time flight with TACA Airlines!)  We landed in Quito just after 12 AM last night in dense rain and fog.  All my bags made it and customs and immigration were relatively painless.  All in all, I have A LOT to be grateful for.  THAT SAID, here are a few minor gripes.  

1. So far, upon seeing my white, white skin and red/blonde hair, people immediately commence speaking to me in English, despite my efforts to carry out our business in Spanish.  I'm hoping that this problem will go away as I move off the beaten path and out of tourist terrain.  
2. EVEN THOUGH I was on a flight from El Salvador to Peru (neither of which even HAVE a legal drinking age, for all intents and purposes), the flight attendant refused to serve me wine during the beverage service, as I am still (two months) under 21.  WHAAAT?  Not a big deal, but combined with point #1, I felt coddled and grumpy.
3. On my flight from Lima to Quito, the boy sitting behind me decided to kick my seat and mess around with the tray table straight through the last hour of the flight and for the thirty minutes we had to wait on the plane for our gate to open up.  This, combined with my head-splitting migraine and mounting nausea, had me about ready to snap.  Before things got ugly, though, the sweet little Brazilian girl sitting next to me started softly singing the Justin Timberlake classic "Where is the Love?" The red haze clouding my vision cleared.   Thank you Justin.  Thank you little Brazilian girl.  

I took a taxi from the airport to a hotel in downtown Quito and have pretty much been here since, sleeping, getting oriented, and taking advantage of the free wifi.  I will soon stroll over to FABC, which, unless Google Maps deceives me, is only a couple of blocks from my hotel!  Later this afternoon, my host family will pick me up and drive me to my home for the next 7 weeks in the earthy-sounding suburb of Cumbayá. 

I'll leave you with a picture taken from my hotel window.  Peeling back the curtains to snap this little honey was the most adventurous thing I've done yet!

Goodbye [United States of] America, Hello [Latin] America

I'm sitting in hotel room in Chicago with my family right now, taking care of some last minute details before flying out of O'Hare airport at 9AM tomorrow morning.  I'll arrive in Quito just past midnight, after three flights and two layovers (in San Salvador, El Salvador and Lima, Peru).

How am I feeling on the eve of my adventure?  A little spooked and a lot excited.

Blog you later,
Kate

vocabulario clave - key vocabulary

Hi.  Happy New Year!  As promised, I'll give you a bit of background on the organization I'll be working with in Quito, La Fundación Abuelitos y Abuelitas de la Calle (FABC).  The Foundation's name essentially translates to "the foundation of little grandparents of the street."  It supports marginalized elderly people, often living without the support of families, income of any sort, and government aid. FABC provides these people with the resources to better their own quality of life, addressing health and social needs through programming. I'm planning to volunteer with the center's medical staff, working in the free clinic and doing public health outreach.

This project has a lot to do with the fact that I worked as a nursing assistant in an assisted living facility in my hometown two summers ago.  Through the course of that summer, I really grew close with the residents, largely because of my (let's go ahead and say it) DOWNRIGHT UNCANNY ability to make small talk with the elderly.  For whatever reason, my day-to-day interests and concerns line up quite tidily with those of my senior brethren.  

Small talk is the stuff of life, a stepping stone to any and every worthwhile interpersonal relationship.  And it just occurred to me that I'm heading to FABC with a substantial handicap:  all of the weapons in my sizable talking-to-old-people arsenal are useless if I cannot say them in Spanish.  So.  Join me as I review words and phrases that I expect to be absolute LIFESAVERS in the coming weeks.  


WEATHER

• ¡Dios mío!  ¿Puedes creer este tiempo? -Jeez!  Can you BELIEVE this weather?
• Se puede sentir este frío bien hasta los huesos.   -You can feel this cold right down to your bones.
• ¿Sería un poco de sol demasiado para pedir? -Would a little sunshine be too much to ask for?
• Ay!  ¡Me tengo lástima a la mujer cuya menopausia decide darse guerra en ESTE calor! -Schwew! I pity the woman whose menopause decides to act up in THIS heat!
• No me malinterpretes…la artritis no es nada fácil. ¡Pero debe ser algo bueno saber cuando  viene una tormenta! -Don't get me wrong, arthritis is no walk in the park.  But it must be neat to know when a storm's a'brewin'. 

GRANDCHILDREN

• ¿Cuántos nietos tienes? -How many grandchildren do you have?

BOWELS

• No he comido suficiente fibra recientemente y ahora lo siento mucho. -I really haven't been getting enough fiber lately and BOY HOWDY AM I PAYING FOR IT!
• ¿Cuánto tiempo ha pasado? ¡¿¡¿¡¿CUÁNTO?!?!?! -How long has it been?  HOW long?!?!?!
• ¿Como bolitas, dices? Esto no es ninguna manera de vivir. -Like marbles, you say?  That's no way to live.
• ciruelas - prunes    
• salvado - bran    
• laxante -laxative

Okay so CONFESSION: the Spanish translation is perhaps not perfect and is CERTAINLY not as jazzy as the English.  SO SUE ME.  Anyways, let me know if I've missed any major topics of conversation.