Beaching It

One should never be stressed on the weekends, especially when the weekend involves a beach. However the lack of time to use the Internet definitely drives gets to me just a bit. Luckily once I´m back out hearing the waves and drinking fresh juice, life is smooth again. Anyway, enough rambling about the Internet; I better spend my time writing a quick entry before breakfast.

Canoa is home on the weekends. It´s so relaxing and peaceful-especially this weekend. Starting Friday, alcohol has been banned to keep people from getting drunk before going to the poles. Today is a major election day. Surprisingly enough, the bars are actually closed, stores are not selling any booze and restaurants are also pretty much following the order. Tourists are here this weekend, but everyone is taking it easy.

Just so I can put up a photo or two, last weekend I went with a few friends to Isla de la Corazon. The island is well-known in the area for it´s mangroves and bird population. I think it has one of the largest frigate bird colonies in the world. We took a motor boat to the island, then took a canoe through a mangrove tunnel. We saw lots of frigate birds, herons and red crabs. Later in the tour, we walked along a raised pathway through the mangroves and up to a lookout point. Our guide, Francisco has worked hard to make Isla de la Corzon known as a tourist destination, partially as a way to save the mangroves. He is a very personable guy and completely self-taught. We ended the morning with a juicy snack of fresh pineapple slices and bananas. So tasty!

Sporting the Sexy Life Jacket

Mangrove Tunnel

Short story from this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I finally found time to hit the beach (the morning was filled with breakfast-which takes a while here, a trip to Bahia to stock up on snacks and mola, and the Internet). I was happily reading on a towel, soaking up the suns rays when suddenly I was overcome with salt water. I grabbed what I could of my stuff and ran for dry ground. The whole situation was so weird. With the crash of one wave, the tide briefly rose 25-30 feet. My friends, who were sitting under a cabaña in front of me were even worse off. Thankfully, my camera was in a ziploc. My clothes, towel and leather flip flops and daypack were a sandy mess (I pulled 3 handfuls of sand out of my daypack later on). The most unsettling part of the whole scenario for me was the fact that I was reading a friend´s book that is actually on loan to him from a professor. It survived, but I might be paying for new book in the future. Andres on the other hand, may have lost the use of his cell phone. And his beloved Panama had was ruined.

Dinner at Cafe Flor

Farm life is still a blast. This week as part of my course I transplanted basil, built a hot compost, made a small double-digging plant bed, and learned about various compost methods, ways to created plant bed and natural fertilizers. Every morning this week I was on pig duty. The poo is not the most inviting way to start the day, but I do love waking up to cute piglets. During the hours that did not involve animals or the course, I weeded beds, painted a cart and put soil into bags which will be used to grow seedlings. During the cultural afternoon I made my own mate bowl. It´s such a unique souvenir to take home, but it was definitely hard work. So the bowl doesn´t rot, I had to make sure every last bit of the flesh was extracted. Then I sanded the inside of the bowl and created a personal design on the outside.

Last night´s sunset

Okay...gotta run to breakfast. Hope there aren´t too many spelling or grammar errors. I also added a few pictures to last week.

Becky

This is the Life!

It´s kind of surreal being here in this moment. I´m at home in my mind, but really so far away. As I start this blog (in a notebook) it´s 8:30 on Sunday morning. I´m sitting on the sand, surrounded by small fishing boats and listening to the waves crash in front of me. I love being at the beach again, and when the cloud cover melts away, it is more beautiful than Virginia Beach (where my parents reside). I´m soaking up my last few hours of weekend relaxation in Canoa, a toursity, but quite sleepy town 10 km outside of Rio Muchacho farm.

Rio Muchacho has proved to be an amazing experience so far. The owners, Dario and Nikola, are very dedicated and truly know about farming sustainably.

On Sunday night, I took an overnight bus ride from Quito to Bahia. I arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning and took a tricycle taxi to Guacamayo Tours. I basically camped out on the sidewalk for a few hours until the tour company opened. Throughout the morning, other volunteers filtered into Guacamayo as well. By 2 pm, when we left for Rio Muchacho, there were five of us in total. Our journey started with a boat taxi from Bahia to San Vicente. Once on the other side of the water, we found a Rio Muchacho truck and jumped on board in the back. Nikola had warned us that these trucks seem to be able to hold ridiculous amounts of people and stuff. She was right! There were 12 people (at least), water jugs, hiking backpacks, boots, and bags of fruits and veggies spilling out the sides. I never thought for a moment everything would make it to Rio Muchacho (the community). For the next hour, we revelled in the beauty of the ocean and surrounding vegetation. I wanted to pinch myself...this place is far removed from the Ecuador I´ve lived in for the past two months.

Andres and Me on our way to Rio Muchacho

Rio Muchacho (the farm) is located next to Rio Muchacho (the river). However, right now, the river looks more like a creek. The rainy season is supposed to last until the end of April, but in reality, there haven´t been strong storms since February. And yes, the crops are suffering. Just to give you a taste of what we have at the farm...the garden is filled with peanuts, turmeric, ginger, papaya, bananas, sesame seeds, pineapples, lettuce, sugar cane and peppers (the spicy kinds of course). I´m sure there are other crops, but my mind is in vacation mode right now. Not all are producing fruits right now. In fact, we just planted the lettuce this week.

The accomodations are basic but surely nice. It kind of looks like we are living in a tropical paradise...wooden houses with thatched roofs amidst palm trees and other flora. I live with three students, all of whom are studying some form of science for a semester in Ecuador. The entire farm uses composting toilettes. Kind of neat and they really don´t smell badly...at least so far. Kind of odd because on the farm the toilette paper goes in the toilette, whereas elsewhere the toilette paper has to be put in a trash can.

Compost Toilette

All the meals at Rio Muchacho are vegetarian except for eggs and the occasional tuna or sardines from a can. As much as I like vegetarian food, I haven´t had much of an appetite this week (to be explained later). As other blogs have disclosed, breakfast is the best meal. We always have fruit salad with granola and some sort of other carbohydrate...pan de yucca, polenta cakes, polenta with egg or (so I´ve heard) french toast. Lunch and dinner always consist of rice with salad and a protien (often in the form of nuts or nut paste). Soup and juice is served at lunch too. We eat out of bowls and drink from cups made from the Mate fruit. Our ¨spoons¨are made from the fruit as well.

My initial inclination is to say that Rio Muchacho will probably be my favorite volunteer experience in Ecuador (when talking about the work/education). I do, however, miss my friends from La Hesperia. I actually speak a decent amount of Spanish on the farm, which is a nice change. I´ve also started a part-time farming course, taught by Nikola. She is a wealth of information about all kinds of farming. The course runs 4 hours a day for 3 weeks.

Every week, the morning job rotates. We start the day at 6:15 am. This week I worked with 4 other volunteers to cut a high-growing form of grass (they call it pasto here), sugar cane and corn, which we then shredded for the hourses and cows. We also had to clean out the droppings and old food from the stalls. Oh, I think it should be mentioned...all the animals at Rio Muchacho are used for their excrement (in various compost systems). Baby pigs are sold in the community, but we don´t eat the animals. After breakfast, at 8:30, I take the farming course. Those not in the course, head to the garden to work in agriculture. Following lunch, the people taking the course head to agriculture jobs, while the other volunteers often work on special projects near the main house (painting, sanding, building, working at the local school).

Guinea Pig Compost System

Okay, I think that´s enough for the first week. However, there is one update from the last blog. After dealing with the ¨suicide plant¨rash for over a week, only to watch it expand to other areas of my body, I decided to see a doctor on Easter. The rash, as it turns out, was not caused by a plant but rather by some abnoxious bacteria. The doctor thinks it entered my system through a cut. I am currently on meds four times a day. The downside of the med is that it takes away my appetite. However, for the most part, the rash started to go away immediately. The only issue is that as the bacteria rash seems to be subsiding, another one (or two) are making their presence known. I´m guessing the one on my hand is some form of poison ivy, but I´m not sure about the one on my forearm and legs. I´m definitely frustrated with all this itching and much to my dismay, there really aren´t many doctor options around here.

Hasta Luego,

Becky

Randomness

Time to add a little randomness to this Blog´s life. Yesterday, I packed up again and headed to Quito. My second month in Ecuador has come to a close, which means a quick descanso (break) before heading to my last volunteer stint in Canoa. Now seems like a good time to follow up on other blog entries and post my extraneous thoughts about La Hesperia. So, here it goes...

Showers...
Last week Raul, an electrician from Spain, showed up at the steps of the volunteer house. Next thing I know, the showers switched from freezing to usually warm. My last shower was a joke...warm turned freezing, but I´d rather have that any day to the initial shock endured by jumping into what feels like a melting glacier.

Bug Bites...
I quickly realized that the bug bites were going to take over not only my waking hours but also my precious sleep. As much as I despise using Deet everyday (even after showers) and wearing long sleeves and pants (or occasionally, the all-too-stylish capris with long socks and flip flops) in warm weather, there was no choice. The bugs won this war. The weekend I went to Baños was a welcome break from itching, but the mother-load of the itching wars was still to come (see below).

The Suicide Tree...
No, that´s not the real name, but that is what many locals call the tree that silently attached my skin recently. Last Saturday while enjoying a nice meal in Santo Domingo, I noticed mini bumps forming on my arms. Over a few days, those bumps became red, and turned into what appeared to be mini water blisters. An oh my, the itching sensation that followed was intense. While the bug bites could be tamed by some Caladryl, the Caladryl only worsened this itch. Cold water, as suggested by the volunteer coordinator, did the trick for a little while, but I needed something more. Thankfully, a miracle was sent in the form of a college guy from Italy named Thomas. He happened to have a rash cream that saved my sanity the last few days. Some of the bumps are going away now, along with the itch. However, the allergic reaction continues to show up in random patches. Living life in short sleeves bearing slightly puffy, purplish-red, bumpy arms among other volunteers is one thing. Doing the same in Quito where the Suicide Tree isn´t prevalent just feels a bit odd---like I have leprosy or something.

The Initial Stage

Hike Numero Dos...
On April 3rd, we embarked on my second group hike around La Hesperia. This time, to a waterfall. The adventure began with the all too exciting trek down the main hill (hint of sarcasm there), which takes about 30 minutes. After walking along the main road for a few minutes, we ducked behind a restaurant and the next thing I knew, we were among a lush, almost jungle-like forest. Crazy how much the scenery changed in a few moments. Due to the heavy rains in March, the river was flowing rapidly and much of the path was muddy. In my opinion, that made the journey more fun. We zigzaged back and forth through the river, climbed over logs and rocks, and shimmied our way over narrow paths (grabbing onto anything sturdy to keep us from falling in the river). The waterfall pounded down, but a few brave souls decided to climb the bottom half for a quick swim. In my opinion, treking back is soaking clothes didn´t make the quick dip worth it. Returning to the volunteer house from the waterfall was a crazy experience. Two words to describe it...straight up. It was almost like rock scrambling but instead of rocks, we had mud, dirt and vines to grab onto. Exhilirating, if a bit nerve-wrecking too. All in all, three hours well spent.

Coffee...the Real Thing...
One day this week I took the mule down to deliver our milk to the milk man. On the way back up the hill, I had the chance to pick a bag of coffee beans. They are taken off the trees when the skin has turned red. The old-fashioned machine below sheds the skin for us, so the beans can be dried and then roasted.


Fenologia...
Ever heard of this word...I hadn´t. Basically what we did on Fenology days was trek to various parts of the forest to observe the growth and fruits of hardwood trees. It was fairly laid back work and interesting. Along the way, we picked up seeds and seedlings to plant in the viverio/ nursery.

Lorna, Kate and Me

Mushrooms Anyone?

El Dispensario...
Even though my first week at the clinic was a bit disappointing, something about being in the medical mindset kept drawing me back. The doctor never took me under his wing, so to speak, so Nurse Nelly was really my mentor. On any given day we only saw a handful of people at the clnic, so there is till heaps of information for me to learn. However, I took advantage of every task, even if it just meant filing papers.

I started out every day sweeping the floors and cleaning a little here and there. As patients arrived, I often took their weight, height, temperature and occasionally, blood pressure. Everything at the clinic is old-fashioned...bathroom scale, measuring tape on the wall, mercury thermometers and ancient blood pressure cuff with stethascope. Nelly would really like to get some digital thermometers and blood pressure machine, but the goverment doesn´t outfit these smaller clinics with new equipment often. I watched and assited with intermuscular injections on a regular basis. And, finally, on my last day, I observed an intraveneous injection. Other than those activities, I spent my time doing basic office work, speaking Spanish and studying from my Spanish for Medical Professionals book.

I never expected it would be hard to leave on the last day. After all, I was only at the clinic for a few weeks. However, I found myself dragging out the final morning-waiting to say goodbye at the last minute. Of course I would have learned more if I´d had the opportunity to observe a doctor at a larger clinic. But something about this basic, sterile, quiet clinic will stick with me for a long time.

Nurse Nelly and Me

Cheers to La Hesperia...
The photos I have don´t really do it justice. One thing I will truly miss about La Hesperia is the scenary. Imagine waking up every day to view miles of lushly covered mountains. Sometimes I´d sit at the bench outside my room, gazing at the clouds rolling over the landscape, thinking about how lucky I was to be in the moment surrounded by such magnificence.

I found myself comparing Santa Martha to La Hesperia quite frequently. That´s good and bad I suppose. At least it means that both places had some great qualities (and some not so perfect ones too). At La Hesperia, I felt at home instantly. The group was inclusive, fun and overall, a bit more mature. The volunteers at Santa Martha seemed more hard-core and dedicated, but I think that had a lot to do with the expectations of the volunteer coordinator. I really enjoyed the variety of activities La Hesperia had to offer. I preferred the jobs that were either relaxing throughout (like making food) or were easy-going for portions of the day with hard work mixed in. For example, when planting trees, it was hard bringing the trees into the forest. However, once the planting began, the work was a bit less toiling. Same with weeding around sapplings at higher altitudes. A hard climb at the beginning, but the actual weeding wasn´t so tough. Plus, being in the middle of the forest was great! The volunteer coordinator at Santa Martha provided us with more background information about how and why we were doing certain tasks. Plus, she gave us feedback each day about our work. That was always nice. However, the laid back attitude of the coordinator at La Hesperia meant that we didn´t have to backtrack and redo our work ever at La Hesperia. I loved the group meals at La Hesperia even though sometimes we were too tired to talk much. The meals weren´t always perfect, but overall the variety and flavors were satisfying. It was hard to keep to my ideal no-wheat diet, especially when homemade bread and pizza taunted me. However, I was good about limiting it.

Well, it´s time for me to run (or literally, take a taxi) to the bus station. I´m going to meet my friends from La Hesperia in Otavallo for an overnight trip. Saturdays in Otavallo are market days. Too bad I have no room for souveniers right now. I´ll have to return once I´ve dumped my work clothes for good in Canoa.

Hasta Luego Friends,

Becky