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by VT-Ecuador Semester students…

Community Update… by Marion Lang, Semester Scribe This week we have been getting used to the rhythm of bursts of glorious sunshine in the mornings followed by rainy gray skies in the afternoon. It is delightful to smell the wafting eucalyptus breezes and to see the fields becoming greener every day. We continued our work on projects this week, and finished the solar electric system which signifies that we now have light in our lodge and kitchen! The oven is now complete, except for a door, and we have begun working on a littler oven whose sole purpose is to bake small items such as cakes. I have definitely discovered that our group delights in good food, especially desserts. In this last week, we have made some kind of cake almost every night and each one is originally individual. We had three yoga lessons this week taught by our Ecuadorian climbing and yoga friend, Nikki. She taught us a routine designed to help us train for our climb up Cotopaxi. The routine focused on energy flows and we learned a new breathing technique called “fire breathing.” Fire breathing is very rapid inhalation and exhalation through the nostrils, done in several positions. The breathing sounds quite bizarre and entertaining when we all do it, and thus it is sometimes hard to perform it seriously. We went on an outing Friday, to the house of a cousin of the Dammers. His name is Jose and he is a coffee roaster, who roasts fine organic coffee from local farms here in Ecuador. We had lots of fun learning about the whole process of coffee, roasting and grinding, while rocking out to Jimmy Hendrix. We were all very excited to take several bags of coffee home for our upcoming expeditions. To top off an already spiffy day, we stopped by a small local restaurant for a lunch of traditional food and pork. We all enjoyed the juicy meat tremendously! Another project we have been working on is harvesting a cactus-like plant called the Penco. We are going use these plants for making our drums. Marcea gave us an herb lesson and it was very interesting to walk around and learn about the local herbs everywhere. The sun was very warm and bright at the time and it was fascinating to see how many plants around us are good for curing stomach problems and soar throats, among other ailments. Later that same day after the herb walk, we had a theatre lesson with Marcela. We warmed-up with several fun games including full body massages, and then we prepared a performance. We performed a myth from the jungle, told to us by Nadino. We performed it in candlelight with several musicians playing guitar and drums. It was really fun because our mini play was not very structured and we were free to move around any way we wanted with the music, while trying to express the themes of the myth. Another outing we went on this week was to shear llamas at Marcela’s house. Many of us helped her parents plant Guava trees while the rest of us sheared the two llamas. It was really funny to see the llamas hairless because they looked like deer with kangaroo heads. We had a yummy supper in Marcela’s parents, Ines and Antonio, warm and beautiful house. After dinner, we were relaxing by the fire drinking black tea and many of us were dreading the long walk down hill in the cold rain. We were pleasantly surprised, however, when Marcela’s parents offered us the use of their truck. The ride was still cold and rainy but we were in high spirits as we did not have to walk and we had black tea in our systems. Whenever we go anywhere these days, we ride in the back of a pick-up truck. It is really fun to be able to see all around us and feel the wind rushing through our hair. On Sunday afternoon, we went to visit Quito. We walked around downtown colonial Quito, looking at all the beautiful old lit-up churches and government buildings. We had a traditional dinner in the main square as we had a lesson from Marcela on Ecuadorian government and presidents. In this next week we will prepare to go on our first expedition to the highlands. We are going to travel on bus north-east of Palugo. First, we will split-up and stay with different families in the village of San Clemente. I think we will learn a lot about the culture from these families and I am very excited to have this type of cultural experience. We will also travel around and visit a couple other villages, learning crafts such as making shoes or bags out of leather, embroidering blouses and probably much more. Unfortunately, on our travels we will not have access to a computer and the next update will not be sent until October 26th…. See you soon! Aprendamos Kichwa… por Abdala Calapucha “Pachamamaka `nukanchipak wasimi, wayraka `nukanchipak samaymi, yakuka `nukanchipak kawsaymi; Chay rayku tukuylla kuyrashunchik”. Español: “La Madre Tierra es nuestra casa, el aire es nuestro oxigeno y el agua es nuestra vida; por eso entre todos cuidémosla”. Semester recipe… yummi! by Hannah B From chifles to chapatis and chocolate cake to sauerkraut, it is the night before our first real expedition here in Ecuador and exciting concoctions are bubbling away in the kitchen. We are up to our ears making rye sourdough bread, cheese and granola, as well as drying pineapple, bananas and beef. Although all of these dishes are scrumptious, we wanted to share our most recent recipe with you which was actually made about thirty minutes ago by Charlie and Isaac. This lively sauce (that is currently marinating our beef jerky) was truly made with incredible improvisational cooking skills, so I highly recommend that you try to make your own sometime! This is how it’s done: “Dank Sauce” Mix together 1 cup soy sauce Juice of 4 limes 1 tablespoon curry powder 3 tablespoons oregano 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper And any other herbs you wish Thinly slice your favorite kind of local raw meat and set in sauce to marinate. Dry using the power of the sun, fire, or your own meat dehydrator. Environmental tip… by Donovan, Wilderness Master! One very generous plant native to Ecuador is the Penco cactus. A member of the Agave family, the penco has many uses and has been used historically by native peoples and early settlers. Unfortunately the advantages of this plant have been forgotten by most. Ashandra getting ready for a long jump…!!! Ufff! El Español para la semana… por Ari, EL GURU! Vamos en un expedición! Cada persona vivirá con un familia diferente, entonces necesitamos practicar español para comunicar sin ayuda. Que suerte para Nadino y Abdala.