Happy Halloween!!

Update at last:

For those of you who have been checking our site looking for an update, we apologize for the delay. We have spent the past two weeks in Jima, and our now finally made our way to Cuenca and to the internet. We actually have written these entries in Jima, and as I write, I’m (Casey) battling my first bout of diarrhea. Nothing to make a person miss home more than spending the better half of a morning on a cold toilet chasing what is leaving with rehydration solution, which basically tastes like a sweet version of sea water. At least I don’t feel that bad, actually almost normal except for the occasional stomach cramp followed closely by a quick dash across hard woods with slippers to “el bano.”

Exploring the Area:

After flying back into Quito, I stopped by the Military Institute of Geography and purchased some topographical maps of the surrounding area of Jima, as well as some around Cuenca in Cajas National Park and some detailing parts of the Inca trail. According to our map, and our best guesses at reading it, Jima is about 9,500 feet above sea level.

Lara and I started exploring almost immediately with a 10 mile walk and over 2000 of vertical feet on the Saturday the day after I got back. It was pretty amazing even to just walk the roads as we would have miles between little villages. We even found a beautiful spot on a river to have a picnic lunch. We headed in a north easterly direction on the main road to the town of Cushig and got within a few miles of the town, prompting those in Jima to think we were crazy when we told them about it…as apparently we are the only ones…ever…to go on such long crazy walks purely for the enjoyment of it. We didn’t have much trouble with dogs, as we both now carry large sticks (mine is 6 feet tall and Lara’s 4 feet) with us wherever we go. I must say, the vicious dogs really respect the stick, and a rock held high. Whenever we go for our walks, besides the sticks I also take a handful of rocks for my pocket. In the past week we have gone on 3 long walks, or hikes exploring 3 different directions. The second walk, it was extremely wet and we decided to head south east on the road that winds its way over the continental divide and into the rain forest…of course we didn’t make it nearly that far but it gave us some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys, as well as built our leg strength as we each were carrying about 1 pound of mud on each boot. The 3rd walk we headed north along our trusty running trail, which we normally do about 4 miles and over 600 feet of vertical feet. We passed our normal turning back point where the River Moya meets up with the main road. The road then became flat, with exceptional scenery and we found another beautiful picnic spot, at least that is until the local ranchers brought their cows down for a drink of the river. The cows besides gulping the water used the river as a bathroom, which has Lara and I rethinking our plans of swimming in the large pools below some of the rapids.

Paqueri or Paqi for short, our dog, one of only two white dogs in Jima (how fitting) loves to follow us on our hikes. He pees about every 15 feet marking everything, which ticks off the local dogs, prompting me to lower the stick and raise the rock every so often. He sprints around in circles everytime we stop near water, whether it is a river, reservoir, or big mud puddle.

Cuenca:

Oh boy. Lara and I are very excited to head into town. Nice showers, good food (maybe a Burger King Whopper for me), internet, and of course wine. It actually should be pretty fun, because it is the Independence Day of the city of Cuenca and there is a big fiesta, which has been talked about in the local papers for weeks. We are going to stay in a different hostel for $3.50 per night with other “ The Organization” volunteers who are coming in for the fiesta. Should be a good time. Lara and I might head back in on Nov 4th so that we can follow the election on cnn.com and watch the wonderful dividing of our country into red and blue in real time.

Panama Hat:

Just writing about this might get me into trouble with Lara as she is tired of me bugging her about the hats, but I figured you’ll see it in some pictures and it needs some explaining. The guide books we read prior to our visit to Ecuador kept talking about the Panama Hat or the fashionable straw hats worn by Al Capone and other more politically correct dignitaries, that are so misnamed and are actually from Ecuador. Once in Quito, I actually found a book at the English Bookstore called Panama Hat and for a mere $5 was able to borrow the book. The book traces the history and making of these hats and explains how the hats and those involved in their making, selling, and exporting have played roles in the shaping of Ecuador. For example one of the first major exporters actually bankrolled a civil war with the proceeds and the industry of making hats actually transformed Cuenca from a religious center to a wealthy city back in the day. Needless to say, because I’m such a big dork, I have been constantly bugging Lara about these hats. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for Lara who has a strong dislike for the hats, in Quito and Cuenca they are quite expensive. However, I was able to find a cheap, lesser quality version of a cowboy hat here in Jima and for $10 I couldn’t resist. It is actually a practical addition to our long hikes as it shades my entire head from the strong sun, unlike my American baseball cap, which leaves my ears and neck open to abuse from the sun. The $10 purchase is worth it just for chuckles I get from Lara every time she looks at me with it on!

Tiger Stripes – The $1.50 Haircut:

After my visit to Missoula, I’ve decided you can tell a lot about a place from barbershop. In Wallingford, at my usual spot, the “stylists” sport a minimum of 15 tattoos, have dyed hair, pho-hawks, and all play in bands. While cutting my hair they blast music, complain about his/her boss or how they are getting evicted from their place of residence and they charge extra for washing my hair. Haircut = $20 + tip. Now in Missoula, you get a drink of your choice (including beer, wine, cocktails) while you wait on the most comfortable couches imaginable while watching sports (Euro 2008 while I was there) on a giant plasma screen. The barbers/barberesses (?) are the friendliest down-to-earth people imaginable talking about their families, friends, and the on-goings in town. Included in the $20 is a single-blade shave, a warm towel for your face, and a hair wash. You can even grab another beer and continue to watch the game afterwards! Now in Jima…wow. So apparently after stopping by for 4 days in a row, it is only open on Sundays, although there is no sign indicating such. The ceilings must be no more than 6 feet 2 inches from the floor, with a dangling not-working light dangling to about the middle of my forehead, which does smart a bit. When we got their (Lara for moral support) we either third in line or second in line with one of the men representing a kid who was already getting his haircut with one of the 2 women who where cutting hair. As far as we could tell they were almost done with the two kids who were getting their haircut so we figured it wouldn’t be more than 20 minutes, which was confirmed when another man walked in and was told that it would be 20 minutes for him. Well after 20 minutes, they still weren’t done with the two whom they had been working on when we arrived, and now there was at least 5 people waiting. When they finished with one of the kids, all 5 waiting people (except me) stood up as if they were next. After some confused looks, a few Ecua-wines (Lara’s favorite as she gets this nearly constantly from her kids….it is short for Ecuadorian wining) one of the persons who was there prior to us did take his place in the chair. Something Lara and I are learning is whether waiting for a bus, to pay for food, or whatever, there is no concept of a line in Ecuador. Anyways, finally I was up and got the old switch-aroo, as the woman who was cutting the other guys hair stopped halfway through and came over to cut my hair. I was probably still a foot taller than her when I was sitting down, so I had to slouch in order for her to reach the top of my head. After a quick once over with a #2 guard on the electric razor the second switch-aroo was made with the woman who passed on my hair at the beginning stopped with the other guy and came back over to me. She proceeded to shave my neck and sideburns…so I was thinking okay, specialization of labor, one is better at using the electric razor and one is better at shaving the neck, except after paying the $1.50 and leaving the dark room and into the bright sun light, it was obvious that electric shaving was not the specialty of the first woman to cut my hair because their were stripes all over my head.

Farming

Man can these people work! Lara and I were invited to help work the garden on the property of the clinic here in Jima. The plan is to use Jima, which has the central clinic in the area, as having the central garden for which they grow natural medicines and then can give seeds to the other surrounding towns so they can grow some of the natural medicines as well. We aren’t exactly sure what specifically they will be growing, but I’m sure it is the same stuff that they brought with them when I went to Zhamar and they taught the mothers how to make the elixir. Anyways, the area they are going to use as the garden was basically a maybe 40 yard by 20 yard area of grass, mud and trash. When we got there at 9:30am in the morning there were already 8 or so volunteers from the community already working on the area. They handed both Lara and I hoes and told us to turn up the soil. We worked until about 12:00, both Lara and I aching in our backs, hamstrings and hands…oh the hands. I had 4 blisters open up with another 8 blisters on my fingers and Lara had at least 3-4 blisters on her hands. We then went out to lunch at our normal restaurant with all of the other volunteers, paid for by the Ministry of Health.

The Virgen Rosaria

Starting on Tuesday this past week Casey and I have been woken up in the middle of the night to firecrackers in preparation for the fiesta and rodeo on Saturday. Casey and I were on our way to breakfast Friday morning and all along the road were passed out men from the night before. It was so funny and then at breakfast teachers that I work with were taking shots before school. There are four big fiestas in Jima and the whole village just totally cuts loose. Friday night Casey and I went to mass. The village brought the Virgen into the church in a big parade with everyone dressed in traditional clothes on horses. Then Saturday was the rodeo and a big fair. It was a lot of fun. I will post pictures when I get a chance.

One week in Jima

So Casey and I arrived in Cuenca yesterday to stay Saturday night and today in Cuenca. It feels so weird to leave our village which seems like ages away from the rest of the world. One week without the internet felt like an eternity. We both feel like we have been in Jima for much longer than one week because already everything seems strange.
This past week has been amazing and frustrating at the same time. I started teaching which was fun but a whirlwind. In the States kids get so excited and talk so fast when they feel something so you can probably imagine that craziness in another language. ¨So and so took my pencil, he hit my arm, she cut in line, I have to go to the bathroom!!¨ They are typical kids and I can´t understand a word they are saying. At this point I can get my point across in the worst grammar possible (oh and all in present tense!!) but trying to understand responses is impossible because they use so much slang. Ecuadorians put ïto/a¨at the end of everything. My name is Larita and Casey is Casito. Just as I feel I am getting a grasp of the language I go to school and try to talk to people and realize how little I know. I will be starting at the high school next week which should be more my element. I am really looking forward to teaching at the high school.
Casey had a great week at the clinic as well. He gave vaccinations and TB medication and it looks like volunteering at the clinic is going to be a great experience for him. He is really getting a lot of responsibility but he is reluctant until he learns the language better. Both of us have been trying to study as much as possible.