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Published: January 12th 2012
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Wow. Where did we leave off? Oh yeah, i just been on the beach and
then had a wonderful time in Cuenca.
First of all, fun fact of the day. Ecuador is not a place which is
well known for its punctuality. In fact, it is typical for people to
be up to 30 minutes late for an engagement. To combat this, a group
started a Punctuality Campaign a few years back. After all, economists
had realized that businesses were losing significant amounts of money
based on this cultural norm! So the group chose the Olympic
Speedwalking champ of Ecuador to be the spokesperson for the campaign.
I mean, who better than this guy who can get places really, really
fast? The best part of this story is that they threw a huge pro punctuality public event. And the president was late.
So, after i left Cuenca, i beelined it to Banos, which literally
means ¨Baths¨ in Spanish. Banos is an amazing little town nestled in a
tiny valley up in the mountains. There are hot springs there (hence the name) as well as
amazing hiking and this thing called ¨Puenting¨whereby one swings from
one bridge to
Parade
This is from the day before christmas parade in Banos. another, kind of like bungie jumping but without the jolt. I met my good
friends Kristen and Kenzie the day before Christmas. We hung
¨stockings¨, which were really just the cleanest socks we had, and we shared small
gifts, ranging from a roll i had in my food bag, to the free soap that
was in the bathroom. It was nice.
Post Baños, we headed back to Quito, but kept on passing through, to
the town of Pifo. In Pifo lies one of the most amazing pieces of land
i have seen in Ecuador. It is a 100 acre farm that Outward Bound comes
to when they do the Ecuador section of the Semester course (80 days
long!). The family that owns this plot of land is a group of the
coolest people you have ever met. Two of the brothers are married and
BOTH built their own amazing houses on the land. The brothers have
been mountain guides in Ecuador for years, worked with OB, lead trips
for a company from NH called Kroka, and also help their father
maintain an amazing organic farm, complete with cows, llamas, a dairy,
and fruits and veggies. The pictures enclosed can
Woman and Child
The lady is wearing the typical garb of mountain peoples of Ecuador. Dress, Fidora, and a sweater. Generally, a beautiful peacock feather is tucked into the hat. It is a beautiful style. kind of give you a
sense of how great this place is, but can´t fully capture it.
After a day in Pifo, checking out the farm and inspecting the amazing
structures the brothers built, we headed back to Quito. New Year´s was
fantastic. As is typical in Ecuador, people built Año Viejos, which
are essentially paper mache effigies of bad things from the last year
(the president of Ecuador, Smurfs, you name it) and these are burnt in
the middle of the street on new years eve to signify the transition into the new year.
Fireworks were also in excess, adding to the general aire of ¨Throwing
caution and or any type of regard for public safety to the wind.¨
Following an entire day of sleeping, I beelined it to Canoa one more
time to visit my good friends Ryan and Garret. Well, I should say i
attempted to beeline it, but was slowed down a bit. I made it to
Pedernales ok. Pedernales is 5 hours West of Quito, but 3 hours north
of Canoa. A kind bus station attendant tried to explain to me that the
bridge 10 minutes south had been fully washed out and
Banos!
Ths is the view from near my hostal of the mountains of Banos. that i would
need to go with this family who lived in Canoa in a truck. I did not
understand this in the least, but did understand that i needed to
follow this family of 5 (to whom he kept pointing) if i wanted to get where i wanted to go. And
they needed help because it just so happened that they chose this partcular day to
move 4 large trash bags and their daughter´s wooden bed (frame, not
mattress). I hopped in a truck with the family, and we went about 10
minutes south before stopping. The road was indeed washed out, and
people were being shuttled ACROSS in a boat. Not really having much of
a choice, i forded the river with the family, and we continue hoofing
it on the other side. I realized about a quarter of a mile down the
road, carrying both my backpack and a heavy child´s headboard that
sometimes these things just happend when you are travelling. If I were
to take a photo of the situation (a lanky gringo helping an Ecuadorian
family move things via truck, boat, and foot), it would look
absolutely absurd. But given the circumstances, that´s just
Kristen and Kenzie
Just stretching it out on a hike near Banos... what had
to happen. After getting a ride to Canoa, i wished the family good
things and crashed out for the evening.
I spent the last week in Canoa. I surprised Ryan and Garrett by
showing up at their school. I then logged a few days of surfing, as
well as helping Ryan construct some ¨SOMA¨ cubes for his students.
These cubes are kind of a 3D Tannegram puzzle. It was nice to be in a
woodshop working with the hands. A few more days of reading, surfing, relaxing,
and reorganizing life before the USA has me back in Quito for now.
Friday is laundry and logistics day, and then i fly out Saturday
morning!!
Overall, it has been an amazing trip filled with incredible places,
wonderful people, some Spanish acquisition, and some serious personal
growth.
Thanks for the kind notes along the way. Can´t wait to see yáll back in the land of the free, home of the brave.
Much love,
Matt
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