I am currently in the city of Otavalo in Ecuador, staying at the Hotel Indio Inn and they have wi-fi! I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to share a bit more of journey with you and specifically the most important part of the journey which was the visit to the amazon community of Pakay Chicta.
We arrived in this community on Friday. We brought with us four suitcases filled with supplies for the school children and their teachers. However, the more rewarding part was he service we were able to preform for them and the relationships we were able to build in that short time. One of my contributions was building two bookcases, one of which is pictured with some supplies that I placed on the shelves.
Please allow me to share a few pictures now with greater explanations to follow once I have a better wireless connection.
Thank you to Lynne and Katelyn for helping to build the bookcases. We could not have done it if it were not for Segundo!
On February 13th I left Boston to begin my Ecuador Adventure. I am sharing this trip with 21 educators from Massachusetts. Our first day was a long day of travel. We flew out of Boston with a connecting flight in Houston before arriving in Quito, Ecuador. Our first night was spent at the Hotel Isabel Reina in Quito. After a quick 5 hour sleep, we were back on the road to head into the Amazon.
Our drive into the Amazon was an interesting one. The roads were windy with many changes in elevation. The bus ride took over 5 hours, but we did stop for lunch along the way. Our lunch started with soup made from chicken, plantains, and yucca followed by rice, lentils, and flank steak. They had a wonderful hot sauce that complimented the soup and steak well.
We arrived in Tena by the Napo River late in the afternoon. We then took long boats down river to the Bosque Protector, an animal rescue center. Our boat ride was rather eventful as we were stuck for a few moments on rocks in a rapid and we almost tipped over in another rapid. We went into the rapid sideways and a wave came over the edge. A few of us, myself included, got a it wet.
When we finally arrived at the rescue center, we were able to tour the AmaZOOnica to see and learn about what animals they were helping. The birds were numerous, ranging from parrots to scarlet macaws. Many of the birds were pets that were found in restaurants or left behind in homes or hotels. Some of the birds had their wings clipped and were unable to fly so they have no chance of being able to leave the center and return to their natural habitat. We saw many other species of animal as well. There were many turtles, some in pens but many were roaming about the trails in the center. In addition to the turtles were saw woolly monkeys, spider monkeys, cayman, and more.
I will update about the school visit the next chance I am able to access wi-fi.
Well it is February 12th and I am about 15 hours away from beginning my Ecuador Adventure. The countdown clock is certainly starting to tick a little louder as my departure time approaches! My excitement about this trip is building more with each passing second. I am all packed and ready to roll!
I am eager for so many aspects of this trip, but none so much as being able to visit a school in the Amazon. I have so many questions going through my mind about this leg of the trip. What does the school look like? What resources do they have? Do they have schedules similar to ours? What are the relationships like between the teacher and the students? I just want to be a fly on the wall and observe what a normal school day looks like for these kids. I am sure that our visit will interrupt their day, but I hope to be able to see and feel what their days are like.
I have visited schools outside the United States before. The one that struck me most was in the interior of the Dominican Republic. My husband and I went on a tour in which we stopped at two different schools. The obvious take-a-way from this was to compare these schools to the good ole U. S. of A. and focus on what these schools did not have. However, that wasn't my take-a-way. I struck by what they did have. They had rich learning taking place with eager students and great teachers. It reinforced with me that educators are capable of having a profound impact upon their students no matter the conditions or resources available. Great teacher are great ten days out of ten, as our friend Todd Whitaker would say.
I am looking forward to visiting the school in the Amazon. I am sure that it will impact me just as much, if not more, than the school in the Dominican and empower me to do even more for the students and staff of the Middleborough Public Schools.
In preparation for my trip to Ecuador, I thought it would be wise to check out the technology that I am bringing with me. I am bringing my iPad in it's keyboard portfolio, Nikon Coolpix s9100 digital camera, and an adapter to connect the camera to my iPad. I want also wanted to make sure that I can use the Blogger app to post and publish my uploaded photos.
If all goes well, you will see images I took this morning of the front of my house and down my driveway. The wind and snow from winter storm Nemo took a toll on fir trees. We actually went out during the storm on a couple of occasions to get as much snow as we could off the trees, but they still took a beating. We are luckier than many however. I know that there are families out there without power, and thus many without heat, since Friday night.
It appears that my iPad is easy to use to blog and upload pictures. I hope that I will have intermittent access to wifi on the trip to share my story and images, if not you will have to wait until I return!
I wanted to share with you all some of the areas that I will be able to visit during my trip. I expect to be able to update this a bit more with some specific information as time goes by.
I happened to catch part of an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman and by chance he was in Ecuador! Please access this link for a synopsis of the episode. You can also download the episode from iTunes for $1.99 or get segments of it on YouTube, like the one below.
I didn't catch the whole episode but I did learn about two items: cuy (guinea pig) and an aloe vera vitamin drink. As you can see in the video above, cuy is slow cooked on a spit over hot coals. According to Andrew, the cuy meat is sweet and tender. Even with his rave review, I am not sure that I would be able to take part in sampling cuy without thinking of my 4th grade class pet!
The aloe vera vitamin drink was found at the market in Otavalo, which is north of the capitol of Quito. This vitamin drink is intended to help with digestive process. It is a rather viscous and bitter beverage, according to Andrew in this episode. Check out this YouTube video which is narrated in spanish.
I decided to consult my Insight Guide on Ecuador to see what I could find out more about cuy and other foods items. I read that cuy was the main source of meat in the Andes prior to the arrival of Europeans to Ecuador. All families had guinea pigs running around the house and many still do. The guide went on to say that cuy is eaten on special occasions, like at Andean Festivals. I did not find anything about the aloe vera drink, but there many other bebidas (beverages) to read about. They have the obvious items such as coffee (café), tea (té), soft drinks (gaseosas), and mineral water (agua mineral). However there are many that are unique to this country. There is api which is a hot, thick drink made from ground corn or chicha morada, a sweet drink made from purple corn.
In two of our pre-tour sessions we had learned about a unique beverage called chicha. It is a fermented beer made from yuca which is a potato like vegetable. Chicha is made using a unique process. Women take and chew pieces of the yuca, using the enzymes in the saliva to aid in the fermentation process by breaking down the starches in yuca to simple sugars. They spit the resulting juice into a jar and add yeast or bacteria to continue fermentation. After sitting for some time, the fermented beer or chicha is ready for consumption.
I hope this post does not scare one from traveling to and enjoying the foods and beverages of Ecuador. I wanted to share some of the unique items that are part of the ecuadorian culture. No matter where you travel there will local dishes or beverages! This makes me think of the senior trip to Florida where the students and chaperones got the opportunity to try alligator. Part of the fun of traveling comes from enjoying the foods, beverages, and customs of the area you are in. We will see what opportunities arise for me on this trip to consume the unique foods and beverages of Ecuador. I will keep you posted!
Today I visited the Travel Clinic at South Shore Hospital for my vaccinations and necessary prescriptions for my travel to Ecuador. When I had signed up for the trip, I had no idea about that this course of medical treatment would be necessary. I just figured that I would need a few items such as aspirin and sunscreen, but come to find out I need to vaccinations for yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A, and then prescriptions for Cipro (antibiotic) and malarone (malaria pills).
Initially I was nervous about needing these vaccinations and such. However after thinking about it, I realized that I am traveling to a location that is over 2,900 miles away from here. I am going to be exposed to different conditions in a country with a variety of levels of infrastructure. I am going to be in 5 different ecosystems: cloud forest, rain forest, dry forest,paramo, and volcanic archipelago. Just think of the various biotic and abiotic factors that I will be exposed to...
So I am nervous...perhaps, but more so I am excited. I am about to embark on a a journey that will enhance my global awareness and continue to peak my curiosity with science. I am going to be able to experience the people, culture, sounds, foods, habitats, and so much more about the country of Ecuador. So after updating my vaccinations and filling a few prescriptions... I am ready to experience all that I can about this South American country. I am even more excited to share my journey with you.
Since the purpose of this post was to share my travel clinic visit, please visit this link to read about health information for folks traveling to Ecuador.
