Greetings from Ecuador!

Wow! We are finally in Ecuador and we are all loving it. We arrived after a twenty-two hour traveling day. This day started with a 4:00 AM wake up, in the darkness of the pre-dawn hours. Everyone packed into the Kroka van, all tucked into sleeping bags for just a few more hours of sleep. The sun rose as we made our way to Boston. When we arrived at the airport it became a hectic affair, we each had a hiking backpack, personal day backpack, and one out of the 24 group gear bags. Checking into our flight was no easy task for our Logistics master Olympia, but she handled it with ease. We got through security with a few bumps. The first was skepticism of our snack jars filled with nuts and chocolate, but thankfully they were let through. The second was Alessio and Colton opting out of the X-ray security gate, instead insisting on being patted down, to protect from the X-ray waves. It was comical for the semester students that had already passed through security to watch them be patted down. The rest of the traveling was uneventful. During our layover in Miami, Florida, Alessio read our current literature book, “The Last Algonquin,” and he did so loudly, so that everyone in our gate could hear the story. We sat on the floor eating bagels covered in cream cheese, enjoying the silliness of our strange airport classroom.

         

We finally landed in Quito around 12:00 AM after the second leg of a restless flight. Francisco and Adela, who are the parents of Thomas, greeted us at the airport. We bundled into the waiting van. Even though it was way past our normal bedtime of 8:30 PM, we were all awake during the drive to Palugo, staring out the windows, oohing and awing at what scenery we could make out in the dark. Eventually we made it to the farm, greeted by our two new Semester students, Christian and Jonathan, and a warm cooked meal, which we were grateful for after the interesting plane food.

         

We settled in during the next few days, yet we are all still in awe of the beauty of the mountains such as Cotopaxi that surround the farm off in the near distance. The volcano is constantly smoking, as a signal to show that it’s alive. At 10,000 feet, we are all way above what we’re used to, even Colton, who is used to the peaks of Colorado. Some people are feeling the altitude more than others, but all of us are feeling almost 100% now, two weeks in.

Finishing school work while Tashi serenades us      

Palugo is a farm set in the town of Pifo, about thirty minutes away from Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Francisco, and his three sons, Thomas, Michael and Mathias, run the farm. One day this week, we were invited to go to Francisco's home and learn about the history of the farm as we sipped tea by the fireplace. The farm is based on agricultural sustainability, and is now completely organic, with a wide range of horses, cows, chickens, pigs and even guinea pigs! These sources of meat, along with vegetable gardens supply a 30 person CSA once every week. The gardens grow in terrace style, due to the sloping land. We have been so grateful to be eating beautiful fresh vegetables, fruits and meats for every meal.

         

Morgan and Marcea, evaluating student work, planning, and enjoying the sun shine

The past week here has been a wonderful blur. We wakeup at 5:00 AM, the girls hustling over to the boys dwelling to sing them awake as the sun begins to rise over the mountains. We workout- either running, biking or doing yoga together, or we have a lesson run by Thomas. So far, one of these lessons was pattern observation with the horses, in which we used our bodies as fences to guide them into new pastures. Colton even successfully tamed a beautiful jet-black horse! After the morning workout, we head off to chores. Some of us chop firewood, splitting the tough, strong grained, eucalyptus trees; others work with the farm animals or simply complete general maintenance of the camp. After breakfast is when we split off into various projects. On one particular day, we were lucky enough to tour Pifo and Quito, eating the traditional meals in restaurants off the main roads. During out lunch in Pifo some of us were brave enough to eat the fish eyes left in the fish, an extra crunch..Yum! During the rest of the time in Pifo we broke off into small groups in the bustling market place to complete a grocery list for various types of fruit we were asked to purchase. We used our basic knowledge of Spanish and lots of hand gestures to help us barter our way to lower prices, mostly relying on the real Spanish speakers, Alessio, Colton, Christian and Jonathan to help us communicate.

        

In Quito, we were fortunate enough to have Michael and Marcella (one of Thomas’ brothers, and his partner) guide us around the city on bikes. We hadn't been on our bikes since our last expedition in New England so it was a thrill to be riding around. First stopping at the central park's biking track, complete with jumps, steep ramps and big curves. Off we all went, bombing down the steep start, some luckier than others about weight distribution over the bumps. After our nice warm up we set off biking through the city, which generously blocks off some of the busy roads for bikers on Sundays! What a treat to bike freely in the street with no worries about the cars. We stopped at a shop in the middle of Quito, where we bought fried donut balls, a Columbian specialty. It was a nice treat that strayed from our normal diet of vegetables. As we biked further into Quito, the houses began to get lower and the landscape began to stretch out in front of us. Beautiful rolling mountains spanned out in the distance. We had made it to Old Quito, a beautiful city full of culture and gorgeous landscapes. We biked up a big hill, panting from the altitude and up above on the top of a mountain stood the Virgin Mary statue. It would have been a breath taking moment, but our breath was already gone! The rest of the day was filled with amazing museum and church tours. The culture was exciting to see, the church was hundreds of feet tall, the inside completely covered in gold, shining from every angle. Every one dispersed, to take it all in on their own. The outing to Quito was truly unforgettable- packed with culture, sights and amazing sounds, making it one of our favorite days of the semester thus far.

         

Besides exploring the culture around us, we have been working on handcrafts as well. We started our knives earlier this week, each person crafting their own to fit their personality, some handles having more curve, or finger placeholders. Other pieces of wood having personalities of their own. Tashi’s piece of handle was home to a surprised worm, which she relocated to a new greener home. The wood we are using in our knife handles is from a cherry burl from back home in New Hampshire.

Tashi begins work on her knife

Students begin working on their sheath knives, with the help of expert craftsmen

Our knives: wood from New Hampshire, steel made in Sweden, and leather from Ecuador!

Looking forward- we are currently packing up for a expedition that is 25 days filled with biking, hiking, climbing, and rafting. Stopping in villages along the way for home stays, basket making and insight in the indigenous culture of Ecuador.

Packing out for expedition! 

We are so happy and excited to be at this point in our journey as a group, and are so happy to welcome the two new Ecuadorians into our family. Our updated return date is November 4th. We look forward to sharing about our second expedition with you then!

Your scribe,

-Rosy