Life in Atahualpa, Ecuador

I wake up every day around 4:30 AM. In the pale gray early morning, roosters are crowing and dogs are barking. At 6:30 I get up, make my bed meticulously (yes Mom and Dad, it's true!), and head to the kitchen. Breakfast usually consists of eggs, bread with cheese or jam or butter, fresh hot milk with chocolate, and some kind of blended fruit drink. By 7:30, I've got my work boots on and the dishes washed and I'm ready for the day. I bring a backpack with me filled with sun screen and bug spray and snacks and a rain jacket and band aids and etc. At 7:35, a truck comes to pick me up. This is possibly one of the most enjoyable parts of my day, as I ride in the bed of the truck, which is most entertaining. We are up in the mountains of Ecuador and the scenery is so beautiful. By 8:00 AM, we have arrived at our work project. Depending on the day, our work project could consist of climbing over waterfalls, creating trails, building a greenhouse, or going to local schools and talking about what we are doing in the community. Jordan Doce creates many obstacles for our group throughout the day. We jokingly refer to our more physical work projects as Fat Camp because they are demanding and we struggle. We arrive back in town around 12:45 and eat lunch with our host families, which generally consists of rice, some type of meat, some type of vegetable, and some yummy juice. At 2:30, everyone meets at the community center for seminar. Our seminars so far have been based on resources and the environment and how society impacts natural resources. Before and after seminar, many snacks are consumed (chips ahoy, oreos, cua cua, etc.), which is also why we are referring to this as Fat Camp. By 6 or 7 PM, we have returned home to eat dinner-bread and cheese and tea-and sleep. My bedtime here is between 8-9:30 PM. Then I get up and do it all over again. Life here is simple and beautiful and calm.

Quito, Ecuador

 

Quito has been amazing and so busy! Walking around the Old Town, taking Spanish lessons, lectures on the history of Ecuador, watching Top Gun, and game nights...I will miss the city, but I can't wait to start the adventure in Atahualpa! Leaving today at 2:30! 

Creativity in Quito

Having a blast in Quito! Ecuador has such a rich history and culture. This morning a few of us decided to add some flair to the work boots we will be using at work sites.

Costa Rica

More to come, stay tuned! Pura vida!

So Ready!

Three Days Until Departure!

“These are not cultures destined to fade away. On the contrary, in virtually every instance, these peoples are being torn from their past and propelled into an uncertain future because of specific political and economic decisions made by powerful outside entities. The ultimate tragedy, as anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis has written, is not that archaic societies are disappearing but rather that vibrant, dynamic living cultures and languages are being forced out of existence. It is not change that threatens the integrity of cultures; it is power, the crude face of domination. Genocide, the physical elimination of a people, is universally condemned by all nations. Ethnocide, the destruction of a people’s way of life, is too often embraced as appropriate development policy.”

—	Wade Davis  Book of Peoples of the World: A Guide to Cultures