Days 14, 15, and 16

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Day 14: Quito

Breakfast this morning was tea/coffee, cantaloupe, a hot sandwich with Crema Fresca and pineapple jam which I really liked, and guava juice which I didn't love. We had been planning on going to the botanical gardens in the park with some friends, but it was raining all morning. So Kim and I had a slow morning which was a nice break. We watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off which I hadn't seen in a while. Our family was gone, but Marian took us to a cheap nail place close to our house so we could get our nails done, but no one was there so we just came home. Kim and I played some cards before lunch. Mama came home from the hospital to eat with us. We had a cooked plantain with cheese, meatloaf with bacon on the outside, rice, and purple cabbage that was sweet. We also had a chocolate cake with dried fruit and nuts for dessert. Unfortunately, we had to eat rather quickly so that we could make it to ACLAS in time. There we started our image project presentations but didn't have time to finish. We took the normal bus to Pacari, a chocolate store where we had a tasting. We learned about how they make their chocolate, their company, and some other fun facts. The chocolate was really good! It is organic, vegan, and they treat their employees well, keeping them involved in the process. I learned that cacao can absorb the scent from other plants around it to get flavor which I thought was really interesting! They had a lot of options and have won a lot of awards since they started in 2002. Kim and I took an Uber home with Brianna and Halie since it was getting late and looked like it might rain again. For dinner, we had a casserole type dish with potatoes, spinach, meat, and cheese, as well as rice. Mama and Zully both ate and talked with us. After we cleaned up, Zully drove us around to a different part of the city to see what it's like at night. Back at home, Kim and I watched some Friends before getting ready for bed.



Day 15: Quito

For breakfast, we had tea/coffee, tamales (corn base with cheese and pork). We had our last walk to ACLAS where we had the pre-trip information for the next week. It was a lot of information, but we will be gone the whole time so we needed to cover the basics. Then we finished up image project presentations that we ran out of time for yesterday. Afterward, we took Ubers to Teleferico. There we took a cable car up the mountain for about 15 minutes. There were some great views of the city! There were also a lot of clouds so it was misty and sometimes you couldn't see very far. Most of us hiked up a path a little farther to a lookout with swings. We were 13,130 feet above sea level! Luckily I didn't really feel out of breath or lightheaded. We took turns on the swings and took pictures before hiking back down. We were allowed to leave when we wanted to so Kim, Daniel, Matt, and I Ubered back to ACLAS after riding the cable car down the mountain. We were all very hungry as it was about 2:00 pm. A couple people went home for lunch or ate a packed lunch and some of us went to the food court in Quicentro. I got a cinnamon roll from Cinnabon and it hit the spot! At ACLAS, Dr. Reyes' host father who is a lawyer in family law talked to us about what he does and the cases he works with. Mostly, it is fathers who are not paying child support for their kids. It was interesting to hear about this aspect of life here and the effects of machismo culture. I also learned that they have orphanages here and there is not foster care at all. Then we split into two groups for salsa lessons! It was actually really fun. I wasn't sure what to expect but I had a good time. We don't have a lot of guys on the trip so I ended dancing with Kim and I think we did very well for just an hour-long lesson. On the way home, Kim and I stopped in Quicentro to use the ATM to get some extra cash for the next week, just in case.



Day 16: Cotopaxi/Baños

This was our last morning with our host families! For breakfast, we had quimbolitos, apples, bananas, and tea/coffee. Kim and I finished packing up our belongings and loaded up the car. Mama drove us to ACLAS for the last time. We said our goodbyes and it was sad! We realized after Mama left that we never got a picture with her which was sad. Once everyone had arrived and said their goodbyes, we loaded up the bus and drove for about 2 hours to Cotopaxi. There we went into a National Park and walked around a lake. It was pretty but also colder since we were at a higher elevation. Toward the end of our hike, it started to rain and hail a little off and on. Right as we got to the end of the trail it started coming down harder, so we quickly piled into the bus and had lunch. Kim and I had a ham and cheese sandwich, plantain chips, and tea. We drove down the mountain a bit and stopped at a museum and gift shop to look around. We drove for about an hour more before stopping for ice cream popsicles which were traditional for that area. They were really good but hard to eat. We ended up licking them like you eat corn on the cob. Another hour of driving brought us to our hotel. It was nice and there were a lot of plants! Kim and I were in a room with Mack. After settling in, we went for a group walk around the town of Banos, which isn’t that big. It reminded me of a beach town. When we got back, it was time for dinner. We sat at a really long table altogether. It felt like a big family reunion meal. We had soup which had some herbs, chicken, and rice in it. The main dish was beef with a mushroom sauce, fries, and a salad. Dessert was some sort of cake. Toward the end of dinner, my stomach wasn’t feeling great, but I felt better after a little bit. We had a group debriefing of the past week, discussing what we're thankful for and what we had struggled with. I went up to a lookout with a couple people to see the city at night, which was a great view. It was a long day, so we turned in earlier.



Relational Level Reflection:

It was really sad to say goodbye to our host family this week! It caught me a little off guard because the trip was three weeks, but we were only in Quito for two of those weeks. Our Mama was also sad to see us go. She kept telling us that we were beautiful girls and had great hearts. She hugged us multiple times and told us to send her pictures when we made empanadas. When my family has hosted, we have been sad to see students go as well and saying goodbye is hard no matter where you are. However, we typically mention how we will miss their presence and doing activities with them. To me, this was a different focus than with our Ecuadorian host family. This is interesting to me because what our Mama told us seemed more like an individualistic culture than collective culture, and vice versa. I wonder if she said this because she wanted to appeal to our cultural norms. However, she did also want pictures of the food we made once we were back home. Mealtimes and food have been important to the families here. It is a time to spend together, converse, and reconnect throughout the day. It is more than just getting nourishment for your body. It is about relationships and community. I think our Mama wanted us to bring that back to our families at home. I think that my family tries to have meals together as much as we can, but it has definitely been harder the older and busier we get. Being in Ecuador reminded me of the importance of community during mealtimes.

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Photos

Pacari chocolate
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Comments

[LYNETTE NISLY]

Day 16
I think you felt a little sick on your stomach because of the mushroom sauce! ;)