Vida Verde - Life in Green River

The alarm rings at 6:30 am and we hit snooze, once….twice…three times before we finally roll out of bed and hustle to get dressed – breakfast was the usual fried eggs and rice, so we didn`t miss much by ¨sleeping in¨. Our last day at El Placer (the school we`ve appropriately named ¨el zoologico¨) has arrived. We should have worn pads under our clothes to prepare for the borage of students who nearly held us captive at the end of the day. ¨No se vayan – Don`t leave!!!!¨ they pleaded.

We could have never predicted how a small town teaching experience would be. The teachers were kind and fairly helpful when it came to disciplining the students, who treated us like most students around the world treat substitute teachers. Having received no grades from us whatsoever, the incentive was personal for each child and depended on their individual motivation to want to learn the language – a skill that could potentially earn them job security in the future. We found the best teaching method was through play, by relating a new language with fun tasks such as mask making, color-by-numbers, songs, useful dialogue and fortune tellers, of course all in English. In the short month we´d hoped to have left the students with a basic knowledge of the language, but primarily attempted to peak their interest while exposing them to a new culture.

Our instincts were right on when we chose to volunteer for a month in Rio Verde. By doing so, we achieved a middle ground between travelling and living, having unpacked our bags and left our Lonely Planet to collect dust in the corner. In exchange, we picked up local friends and a family. We had a home and a job with responsibilities, but still managed to get off by 1 pm, at the latest, to enjoy the same freedom we had before as travellers.

Daily treks down the lengthy trail to El Pailon, with its picturesque ¨Land Before Time¨ feel, irresistibly delicious food, and great company, got us ready for the upcoming Inca Trail hike. Irma and Diego, two amazingly friendly Argentines who ran the restaurant ¨El Otro Lado¨, offered us a second home by allowing us to stay gratis (free) in their exotic cabañas in exchange for lending a hand in the restaurant during busy weekends. Claire took full advantage of the opportunity to waitress in español, while Ryan did his best to avoid taking photos every 2 minutes of the ¨straight-up-Sidhartha surroundings¨. Bonnie would have been in heaven, gardening in an ideal year-round climate and cooking up her famous Chick-a-Curry for an international crowd. Maybe she can take over the lease when the Argentines finish in August.

The longest friendship we had in Rio Verde, having been established on our first visit there as tourists, was with two artesanos: Oscar from Ecuador and his novia (girlfriend) Ruth from Germany. Their caring personalities not only showed through in the custom-made necklaces they crafted for us, but also in the form of generous tidings of homemade strawberry marmalade and garlic butter—which we took the utmost pleasure in accepting. They were such kindred spirits, helping us feel like a big part of their lives even if our stay was short.

Above all, the long nights with these amigos spent storytelling about travels and adventures will remain the highlights of our time in Rio Verde. As the following Oda al Rio Verde states, we`ll be near at heart even with continents between us, and awaiting future visits with open doors.

As for us, we`re on our way south to Peru, stopping off in Cuenca and Loja to take in more mountain scenery before dipping down to the coast for a 20+ hour bus ride to Lima. The grand finale of our journey: the 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. See you all soon to do more story-telling in person!!

For more Rio Verde photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/clapoma/RioVerdeII

Reun-IAN and Rio Verde

Upon returning to Baños, we realized we had both on the same night dreamt of running for our lives from an exploding Tungurahua, a week before the evacuation!!! Talk about Claire-voyancy! We`ll be sure to post any foretold disasters on the blog in the future. But the volcano wasn`t all bad....

It brought us back to Quito, where we reunited with our international amigos at Casa Bambu, a hostel that seems to grab you and makes it tough to leave the capital city. The biggest reunion yet came that Tuesday evening, when Ian, Ryan`s roomate, lived up to his word and arrived to spend a week with us during his own travels through Central and South America. It was a week of unplanned perfection which began with fiestas and parillados (BBQ´s) at Casa Bambu and ended with us back in Rio Verde to begin our month of volunteer teaching. The week was a much-needed reminder of our beautiful friends and family, as well as an opportunity to show Ian the best of our home for the past two and a half months. Between heavenly hikes and high altitude beer pong, cook-offs and concerts with compañeros, the short stay was over before we were ready to say goodbye. However, seven days were better than nothing and we split paths with Ian as he traveled to Argentina in search of work teaching English; us on the other hand, began our job that very next day.

Despite many materials and weeks of anticipation, we could have never predicted how the first week would go. Upon arrival we had the slightest hesitation about the prospect of living under another family´s roof at our age and after having graduated college. But our worries were immediately extinguished by their generosity and warm hearts. Polivio, his wife Luisa, and family take genuine interest in us and are so great at giving us the respect and freedom we deserve as adults. The apartment-style living situation allows us our own cuarto con baño privado (room with private bathroom) and door of entry to come and go as we please, as well as provides us with a communal kitchen to interact with the four families that share the living space. We are also fortunate to live with a small number of our students, including our host ñaños (brothers and sisters) and cousins who have taken interest in learning guitar and acting as guides on nature excursions around the area.

Speaking of which, we forgot to mention that Rio Verde is the ideal location for two nature-loving Oregonians (don`t worry, it`s a safe 20 miles from Baños!). Endless layers of clouds dance between steep mountains; intersecting rivers and numerous waterfalls careen through narrow passages to collide with the Rio Pastaza`s brown and white churning water. The pueblito (small town) is home to roughly 1,300 residents, all of whom are unbelievably amable y tranquilo (kind and peaceful) because of having been raised amidst such scenic surroundings. We find it impossible to adequetly describe the various natural wonders of Rio Verde. Among them the ¨Garden of Eden¨ and ¨Pailon del Diablo (Ecuador´s most famous waterfall)¨ are two of our favorites places to unwind with quality journaling and pleasure-reading after a long day of teaching.

The students... oh the students..... Each week is divided between three schools in two towns: El Placer, appropriately named ¨the Pleasure¨ as most families have at least 6 children (one with 13!), La Escuela Puerta Dorada in Rio Verde, and la Guardaria (daycare) our ¨favorite¨ part of the week. The estudiantitos (little students) do not hesitate to envelop us in a borrage of hugs every morning when we arrive. A chorus of assembled ¨good morning, teacher!¨ or ¨Profe, profe!¨ compete for our eyes as we arrive at 7:30. At any given moment, a five-year-old is pulling our shirts from behind, a 12-year-old wraps completely around Ryan´s waist, a seven-year-old offers Claire a soggy breakfast cookie with one hand while the other clings to her leg, and a curious nine-year-old pets Ryan´s blonde arm hair and searches for his remaining unoccupied fingers.

The first week was beyond successful: We initiated mask creation for all grades from Kinder-7^th, resulting in monkeys and cats of vivid colors prouling around both towns after the dismissal bell rings. We hope the students also gained an understanding of the English language, having used games and songs to review colors, animals and computers. Perhaps by the end of the month we will have also allowed them a broader perspective of the world, slipping in lessons that include nature conservation tecniques (¨Your trash goes in the garbage can!¨,) as well as cultural differences (¨Not all of what you see in Hollywood movies accuratly portrays the U.S.¨). However, not all was completely successful: Our attempts at teaching English to a group of 25 energetic three and four-year-olds proved frustrating this Friday afternoon. A needed break for the poor teacher, the hour and a half-long locura (craziness) makes us so glad for the weekend.

Last, but certainly not least, wonderful new friends have been easy to come by. Chats with neighbors delay arrival to any destination around town, with five-minute walks taking upwards of an hour between dozens of ¨buenas tardes¨ and sonrisas (smiles). The artesanos (artists), who set up shop above the entrance of the main attraction, make a meager living off their beautiful jewelery and handbags. We enjoy afternoons sharing music and travel tales with these international amigos. Two young Argentines also welcome us into their home, the restaurant that they manage (which doubles as a living room and jam spot) and overlooks the raging Pailon del Diablo. The mix of mellow music and rushing water compliments the amazing food they dish up, a much-needed break from the typical (but delicious) Ecuadorian beans and rice served at ¨home¨.

We´ll be sure to post again before we finish teaching in mid-March and begin our trek through southern Ecuador and into Peru, to ascend Machu Picchu by way of the 4-day-long Inca Trail! And then home early April, just in time for spring.

For photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/clapoma/QuitoAgainReunIANBaOsRioVerde

Mushroom clouds mi culo: Volcanoes don´t scare us!

The rolling green mountains and rushing rivers have earned Baños the name pedazo de cielo, piece of heaven. What better place to recoup from our ayahuasca experience than a somewhere appropriately named ¨baths¨ or ¨bathroom¨, a spot we still visited frequently throughout the week?

An onslaught of internationals litters the city, creating a diverse ambiance that helps a traveller feel at home. With book exchange cafés, murals on corner shop walls and a variety of world foods to pick from, Baños felt like a little Eugene nestled in the mountains. Except the Baños equivalent of Spencer’s Butte, Volcan Tungurahua, shoots four mushroom clouds an hour that cover cars (and contact lenses) with ash. In case you hadn’t heard in the news, since the end of December, Tungurahua has been it’s most active since 2006, when the city of Baños was evacuated. This info didn’t faze us; we spent 5 full days hiking, cycling, waterfall-watching, grubbing on EXCELLENT comida, and bathing in the local hot springs. While mingling with locals in the neighboring town of Rio Verde, we picked up some custom-made jewellery…. And the volunteer opportunity we’d been hoping for.

What fell into our laps was the chance to teach English and Computers in a small school located 15 minutes by bus from Baños. Without such topics currently being taught, the children in Rio Verde are at an extreme disadvantage once they begin High School in Baños. Rather than paying the thousands of dollars volunteers have paid before to teach in Rio Verde through a foundation in Quito, we will be able to stay with a family for the month and receive food and board for a few hundred dollars. Looks like we’ll be extending the trip for at least a month, doing what we’d hoped we would once we made the right connections and found an ideal city to set up shop in….. a place close enough to paradise but out of the reach of lava flows, falling rocks, or anything else the volcano may spew in the next few weeks.

By the time we boarded a bus to Ambato, Baños´ tourist population had dropped significantly. With every rumble from the mouth of the volcano, we were happier to be on our way north. A night in Ambato with an amigo Ecuatoriano whom we met at the Gran Ritual, had us celebrating local-style. He helped us find a classical guitar to purchase, the one missing element of our trip up until now, and we strummed it in the woods with him and his band mates (yes, reggae DOES exist in the sierras of Ecuador), smoked hookah and stopped by a live hip-hop concert. Next month, Jorge is putting on an international music festival, in which his band, Pan de Agua, and many others will jam. We can’t wait.

The following day brought by bus through the clouds to a small town at 3854 m. (about 11,500 ft.) called Quilatoa. The pueblo`s population isn’t listed in Lonely Planet; it was created by an increasing number of tourists coming to the Laguna Quilatoa, Crater Lake’s rival which rests at the town’s edge. A 4 hour hike around the rim brought us to the conclusion that it wasn’t as big as Crater Lake, but equally as beautiful. The emerald green water reflected the steep, heavily vegetated slopes leading up to jagged peaks, which we struggled to climb at such an altitude. After a chilly night’s sleep, we returned to Quito to feast on sushi (that’s right, SALMON in Ecuador!!!) and rest up before heading to Mindo, a tiny, saturated town in the rainy cloud forest 2 ½ hours north of the capital. A high-altitude jungle, the cloud cover holds in heat and creates a tropical environment which keeps you moistly comfortable. It has rained non-stop since we got here, providing us hours of mud-stomping…errr…hiking through beautiful forests. It also hums us to sleep at night, along with the never-ending drown of birds and insects. We continue to rest our soggy bones here before heading back to Quito to stay in a house with some friends we met in Quilatoa, followed by two weeks returning to the Amazon to volunteer at Yachana with the FUNEDESIN Foundation.

The photos say it better than we can:

http://picasaweb.google.com/clapoma/BaOsLagunaQuilatoaAndMindo