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Finally an evening on the foothills of the Andes

Working on the artichokes for our morning exercise

Hello, everyone!

It’s been a busy week, as we’ve been very invested in wrapping up our academics and preparing for our next and final expedition. After this “last push”, as Marcela and Mathias refer to it, we’ll head back to New Hampshire. It’s surreal to think that, in just three weeks, we’ll all be home. When I spoke to my mom yesterday, I had to admit that Ecuador feels like my real home now.

Having settled back into farm life, we spent Tuesday preparing a theatre piece we’re planning to perform for the graduation. I won’t give away any secrets, but I know those of you who plan to attend will enjoy learning about our lives throughout the semester via these short scenes. That same day, Hannah Billian, a student of last year’s Ecuador semester, arrived in Palugo, where she will be apprenticing for a few weeks before venturing off to work on farms throughout South America. She stepped into our camp with a big smile, announcing to all of us that she had brought a sheep hide to work on with Deborah. Less than an hour later, we got wind that a cow had fallen in a ditch and died on the farm, so we all went to help deliver it to a customer. It seems Deborah has found a fellow for her passions; she and Hannah made friends for life when they decided in unison to cut off the heifer’s horns and forge them into cups.

Felting with Marcea, to get nice hats for the expedition

The following several days we really set into our projects. Deborah and Marcianna passed the time working with Thomas, stretching and brain-tanning the cow hide (in case you didn’t know, each animal has just enough brain to tan its own hide—a very sustainable and easy alternative to the use of industrial chemicals). The work was very laborious, but it was immensely interesting to watch them set up a frame, stretch the raw hide, and apply the brains on it for 4 days in a row. Scott, Nadino, and Samuel, on the other hand, worked intensely to carve out “penco” trunks and form them into drums. (Penco is the plant we use for the drum.) Meanwhile, Mathias and I put some quality time into the solar water heater, while the remaining members of the group felted hats and gloves from Alpaca wool.

Aroma is what it is about!!!

Saturday brought along an event we had all been anticipating: a trip to Pepenico’s coffee roasting workshop. Excitedly, we all crowded in a bus after breakfast and made the drive to “Pepenico,” a cousin of Mathias whose real name is José and who can be held responsible for the fabulous coffee we’ve been drinking for a little while now. It was a fairly short drive; within less than an hour, we found ourselves walking through a gorgeous, eucalyptus-laden property, and being greeted by a very friendly, skinny, really-cool-glasses-wearing host. We liked him immediately, and sat in a content circle on the grass to hear a little bit about the production of this world-wide delicacy.

We were not let down by José, who filled our heads with many interesting new facts on the subject of coffee. What an amazing plant! We were shocked upon learning that the chemical make-up of this incredible seed is so complicated that it contains the tastes of other foods without extra tastes having to be added chemically. Like wine, this is a large reason that coffee has risen so high on the gourmet market. Another fact that stands out to me especially: human beings have lost much of their sense of smell. The average person, apparently, can distinguish about 2,000 different scents, whereas people who have trained themselves can distinguish over 7,000! The lecture had a special impact on Samuel and Nadino, who live in the tropical regions where coffee is actually grown. That evening, Nadino expressed to all of us in a heartfelt voice how intensely he believed his community could be affected by this amazing opportunity. “Resources get taken away from indigenous people,” he said, “but this is something we could grow and use ourselves.”

Following our pleasant talk with Mr. “Pepenico,” we walked up to his infamous roasting workshop. As I stepped through the doorway, crowded with grain sacks that spilled over with raw coffee, my nasal senses eagerly began their training. The group soon huddled around the immense roaster as Jose poured a large amount of still-green coffee beans into a metal mouth at the top. The beans were tousled and roasted, and finally spit out at the bottom for us to grind. We left that afternoon feeling very satisfied with our experiences at Pepenico’s (not to mention the many bags of delicious ground coffee we were allowed to bring home).

On the way back to Palugo, we decided to stop for a lovely dinner of local food: roasted pork, soft corn, and empanadas. When we arrived back to Palugo and circled up for our nightly check-in meeting, Mathias and Marcela notified us of a surprise: we were to go for a one-day vision quest the following day, and would return Monday morning. As we were meant to fast and spend some time without distractions from ourselves, the decision was made that the only belongings we could bring along during our little adventure would be sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a plastic trash bag, and enough clothes to keep us warm.

Commencing at about four in the morning, Sunday meant intense personal time for all of us. After walking to our individual solo sites, we laid down our sparse belongings and began the difficult task of, well, doing nothing. Since I obviously wasn’t around anyone else, I can’t speak for the rest of the group as to this experience. I personally spent the first few hours watching the sun come up, making a little crown of flowers, and then running out of ideas. It was just me and my mind after that. The next morning, I walked back to camp feeling rested, but strangely exhausted, and very, very hungry. As we sat around our communal table for breakfast, I did hear a little bit about my peers’ solos. I now know that Scott, for instance, waged a war on an infantry of mosquitoes, while Raina listened to the sounds of milking in the morning and Katie sang very loud to the empty ravine before her.

A local dinner gives everyone a smile

We took most of that morning to rest and put our things back in order. Apparently, I was not the only one who had been left strangely fed yet drained from our day of solitude. By the afternoon, however, most of us were back to go-mode, and we thus headed down to the beautiful, self-built home of Adela and Francisco (Mathias’ parents.) There we met Chino, another Dammer uncle, who gave us a talk on Ecuadorian and U.S. politics, as well as an overview of the current economic crisis. A truly brilliant man, his words inspired all of us to pay more attention to current issues. We were happy knowing that, as Chino said, we had been living a lifestyle that matches up with our beliefs.

After collecting the ceramic bowls Adela had baked for us, we settled into one of our favorite Ecuadorian activities: eating with the Dammers! The food was amazing, and so was the chance to sit in front of the fireplace, singing, playing, and listening to Francisco play his beautiful classical guitar.

That’s about all I can recall for now. I hate to admit it, but I believe I’m speaking for all of us when I say that our minds are currently pointed towards this next expedition. It’s going to be intense to climb the tallest active volcano in the world, not to mention Antizana, one of the highest mountains in Ecuador. Stay tuned and you’ll hear all about it! Until then, ciao.

Community News

• Semester took over the farm to allow all the farm crew to go for a day of thermal baths and relaxation. Thanks jovenes!!!
• Novi sends a happy birthday wish to her cousin - enjoy and smile.
• Hannah Billian, Ecuador Semester ’07, arrived at the farm and will spend a few weeks working here.

Semester recipes - yummy! By Raina

Leftovers Soup: From Michael one night when he cooked dinner for us

• Have semester students cook way too much rice and burn beans the night before
• Put both in a pot, add any spices you can find plus some water
• Add potatoes and any vegetables around
• Buy bread in a rush
• Serve to ravenous semester students

Environmental Tip

Try composting your poop, known as “humanure.” It sounds bad, but think about how nasty it is to flush poop into our drinking water! If you compost correctly, it will decompose properly and turn into beautiful soil. Not only will you save huge amounts of water, you are also putting viable nutrients back into the earth instead of flushing them away. If you are interested to join this movement, check out the Humanure Handbook for more information.
-Raina

If you live in the city, grow plants on your terrace or in your house—as many as you can. My dorm in college was an ecosystem of its own, and it saved me from buying a lot of food plus taught me a lot about the uses of plants.
-Katie

Academics

Coffee - “a world wide delicacy,”
according to José