skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Last weekend will remain among the most diverse, eventful, and thrilling weekends of my life. On Friday promptly after class, our group took off in “the party bus”. Along for the ride on our 25-seat tour bus were Patricio (very cool) and our chauffeur, who had a sophisticated appreciation for mid-90’s dance-pop hits such as “All That She Wants”, “Where do you go? (My Lovely)”, “I Come From A Land Down Under (techno remix)”, “What Is Love?”, “Tonight is the Night of Love”, and more. We rocked out to that cd at LEAST ten times on Saturday. I’m not complaining.
¡Mindo!
While driving around Mindo, which I didn’t know was called “Mindo” yet, I saw “Mindo” written on tons of shops and signs. I didn’t get it, so I asked everyone on the bus, “Does anyone know what “Mindo” means in Spanish?”. Right.
We arrived around 4pm on Friday. The 15 of us stayed at the best place I’ve probably ever stayed as far as lodging is concerned. And by best, I’m not referring to luxury. We walked upstairs to find an open deck overlooking a forest fruitful with colorful plants and murmuring with about 30 hummingbirds. As everyone claimed their beds, I immediately dismissed the idea of a “room” and called dibs on one of the two hammocks on the deck.
We commenced downstairs and watched the hummingbirds, only feet away from us in the garden. We took a little nature walk through Mindo and then went to dinner. One of my favorite foods so far is fried plantain prepared as Plátanos Maduros; they’re soft, self-caramelize, and are cut in thin, long strips. SO good! After hours of group bonding at the hostel, I fell asleep to a steady, heavy rain as I watched lightening bugs from my spot in the hammock outside on the deck. Gloooorious.
Bugs, Water, Fruit, Botany
Saturday morning we arose bright and early and headed to a Mariposario around 8am. The Mariposario is unique to Mindo, it’s not like they have these everywhere in Ecuador. I was actually really scared about going because of my ridiculous entomophobia (phobia of insects). I pictured flights of mariposas (butterflies) landing on me, getting in my hair, finding their ways into the folds of my clothing, etc. But it was not nearly as frightening. It is more like a zoo for mariposas in which they are studied from cocoon to full growth, and there were not an overwhelming number of insects flying around my head. But there were the largest butterflies I’ll probably ever see, called “Ojos de Búho” (Owls’ eyes), which describe the large circular markings on their wings. I have a picture of one here…they are really ugly and look really moth-y and when they fly around they are bird-like and completely terrifying. Ha.
Then we headed up a mountain and took a ride on a cable car across a chasm between two mountains. I’d say we were about 200m or higher above the forest floor. It’s…interesting...how many times in the last three weeks I’ve realized how quickly and easily I could die. I haven’t mentioned the driving yet…that’s a whole other story… We got to the other side and took a 30-minute hike that ended at an amazingly powerful waterfall; hiked back, ate a grilled platano (delicious!), headed back to the bus for more Ace of Base, lunch, and it was 1pm. It felt like 6. Sidenote: For lunch we headed to our new hotel to eat. When we arrived we noticed what appeared to be a business meeting of some people who obviously had money by how they were dressed, etc. They left within 10 minutes of our arrival. This little detail is significant because attending this meeting was President Correa’s wife. Just another celeb connection to add to my list.
Next on our itinerary was Puerto Quito, about 2 hours away. When we got there we toured a Chocolatería…a little shack in the woods where we made chocolate! It comes from the Cacao fruit. It has this fleshy white coating around hard seeds that you can suck on and then spit out, like candy – it’s really sweet. So to make the chocolate, we took the seeds (the ones we didn’t put in our mouths…) and put them in a wooden bowl over a little fire. 
We cooked them until all the white coating was gone and continued to roast them. Once roasted, we took the roasted shell off of the seed. At this point we could eat the hot seeds and they tasted and smelled like what most know to be chocolate, but very bitter, because obviously no milk had been added. After removing the shells, we grinded the seeds into a fine powder (very rich, like the shavings found on fine cheesecakes, etc) and then melted the powder in our bowl on the fire. We enjoyed our hot, thick chocolate over bananas. Mmmmmmm. They also made us some herbal tea with fresh canela (cinnamon) before we toured their garden of medicinal plants.
I got to touch and smell fresh aloe vera, the plant they use to make licorice, basil, and so much more – I wish I could remember everything. The most interesting for me was the “rubber tree”, Pará, which can grow up to 30m tall and very large in diameter. The tree, when cut, leaks natural rubber, which is used to make TONS of products including the recina I use to mix my paints. Additionally, it’s good for wounds. Another similar tree when cut looks as though it is bleeding because it drips a dark red fluid from its cuts. I collected some of the liquid drops and applied them to my mosquito bites and a few cuts I had acquired because it’s a natural healer.
After the garden we were off to a cascada (waterfall). 
We hiked for about 40 minutes, and then all raced into the cool water that flowed below the 12m waterfall at the end of our path. It was really beautiful. Within minutes we discovered a barely-there path that lead up to the top of the fall (Dad, you would not enjoy it), and our guide said it was safe to jump in. From about 20 ft. up the fall on an extremely vertical and slippery rock, I looked down on yet another thrilling opportunity. Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous about jumping - less about the waterfall and more about hitting the rocks on my way down. But I launched myself out on the count of “3” screaming all the way into the water. The whole screaming business didn’t help considering when I broke through the surface and was plunged deep beneath I got tons of water in my mouth and nose and couldn’t breathe when I came back up. Oops. I lost my hair-tie, my breath, and almost, my bathing suit. But it was worth the rush. We hiked back at night…THAT was fun. Really was though. We sang “Hakuna Matata” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” the whole way back. I even broke out a little “Africa”. Good times, good times.
When we returned to the start of the trail we made FRESH SUGAR CANE JUICE with this huge device made out of trees that literally just juiced the wood. It was AMAZING.
La Pelea de Gallos
In the bus on the way home I spotted a bunch of people sitting around and wondered what was going on over there…and about 5 seconds later Patricio was like “Turn the bus around! I haven’t seen one of these in years! Wanna go to a cock fight?!” Hahahaha. So we went to a cock fight. 
Some of the guys placed bets and won, I enjoyed a refreshing Pilsner. It was brutal. Kristen, I have no idea what you would’ve done if you were there. They cut off the back claws of the roosters and replaced them with metal spikes. The feathers of the roosters quickly turned red with blood. They shave the legs of the roosters to make them tougher and rub lemon on them. When the “ref” calls a time out once the fight starts getting really violent, the owners pick up the roosters and suck the blood from their heads into their mouths and then spit it out to help cleanse them. We left right before they put the all-white gallo into the circle. We named him “gringo” before we left and everyone there thought that was hilarious. Then back to the party bus.
Roughing It
We returned to the hotel for dinner and a short salsa lesson. The fruit juice we had with our cena was the best I’ve tasted yet and is my new favorite fruit: arazá – it’s yellow and relatively small, tastes similar to a peach but better – more tart and also a little sweeter. We saw a Kinkajou (which I just spent about an hour google-ing because I had no idea what it was) climbing up a tree late at night after salsa. I took this picture off the internet…
The cabinas we stayed in were not so awesome. There was a cockroach in our shower. I didn’t know it was a cockroach because I haven’t exactly seen a whole lot of cockroaches, but after asking Katie to get rid of it for me and she told me what it was, I got even more freaked out. So not taking a shower Saturday night was the lesser of two evils. We barely had screens on our cabinas…anything or anyone could’ve easily entered. I slept under a mosquito net and wrapped myself up in a blanket as to avoid any creepy-crawlers, but despite my horror, after such a full day I inevitably fell into a deep sleep.
Sunday we woke up early again and went to another waterfall. This one was a lot bigger and so powerful we had to wear life jackets. Then we took the most beautiful scenic drive back to Quito. Everything for the next two hours literally looked like it was straight out of Jurassic Park.
“On Driving in Ecuador”
That was my amazing weekend. But about the driving in Ecuador: the requirements to get a license are only 2-3 weeks of practice and a test with only 2 hours a day. Nobody follows the rules…ever. If there is a stoplight or stop sign, it only merits a “yield”. People constantly cut each other off, motorcycles go wherever they need to regardless of what else is going on, cars drive practically underneath buses and trucks, and nobody stops for pedestrians. Every man for himself. Offensive driving. If you need to go somewhere or do something or cut someone off, you give a few beeps and keep going without hesitation. I’m seriously scared I’m going to get in an accident just being on a bus or in a taxi. I could never drive here because I would be driving their way and would immediately get hit. It’s insane.
Love the Fam
I made cookies for my fam last night. I made brownies today but I burnt them because I always forget when I put stuff in the oven. The only reason the cookies made it was because Yolanda reminded me. And the only reason the brownies didn’t start on fire was also because Yolanda reminded me. It’s the thought that counts? I plan on making my spicy pasta sometime this week for dinner.
Carnaval is this weekend and it is going to be ridiculous. The plan is to go to Manta, where my family is originally from, on Friday and Saturday, and then head to Guaranda on Sunday and Monday and return on Tuesday. Manta is on the coast – I’ll be going with Christine and we’ll be staying with Carlos’ s family in his house. He’ll be there, too, and Gabriel and Freddie are coming to meet up on Saturday. Guaranda has the reputation of the best Carnaval town in Ecuador as far as water and flour and egg fights go, which is what I’m looking for. I cannot WAIT. Expect a fun-filled entry next week and cross your fingers that my camera doesn’t get stolen in Guaranda!
Note: Thanks to Bridget Wiersema for the use of her photos on this post! I unfortunately left my camera at home for this trip.
All is well in Quito. Actually that's a horrible statement to make - all is probably not well in Quito...but I suppose most is well for me.
I really like my school. All of my teachers are excellent. I'm taking 3 Spanish classes to finish up my minor, experimental drawing, experimental painting, and - for the first time in 7 years...piano lessons! My favorite without doubt is my painting class. My professor is teaching me how to mix my own paints and is really helping me expand my creativity. I had drawing for the first time this Monday and when I rolled into class the new Radiohead was playing - one of the students' cds - it was so comforting to hear "my" music not through an iPod for the first time in 3 weeks. I realize that probably sounds lame, but it remains a highlight of this week.
The one frustration I am having is that it is difficult to make Ecuadorian friends at school. Our group from U of I has gotten really close and we've made some good friends from Madison (WI), but the Ecuadorian students are generally not all about branching out of their cliques to befriend Americans. Mind you this is also the upper-tier of Ecuadorian society, so there are designer labels staring me in the face in every hallway, high-heels, designer sunglasses, etc. - and while I'm not one to necessarily rule people out because they're clad with labels, I wonder and perhaps hesitate that they might not accept my plain t-shirt that, despite the fact that it is FROM American Eagle doesn't yell "AMERICAN EAGLE" across my chest at everyone I pass. It's also difficult because all the students in my Spanish classes are gringos. I'm really glad that I have the boys my age in my family to talk to and hang out with when I come home...but I really want to meet more people at school.
Speaking of home, my brother Gabriel came home two Thursdays ago. We hit it off right away when I took him out to La Mariscal with some friends that night. We get along really well, play Fifa '08 soccer on Xbox, have similar musical tastes, and he helps me translate things. He and Carlos came out with me last night again to La Mariscal and we had soooo much fun. It's awesome that so many boys here can dance so well - they're teaching me, for once, how to move my hips. And I'm getting pretty decent at, at least, following their lead. I'd love to take some dance lessons so I know what exactly it is that I'm doing.
A ton of our monsterous U of I/UWMadison group took a trip to Atacames this past weekend. It's a beach on the coast in the province of Esmeraldas - almost directly west from Quito. After the 7 hour bus ride from 11:30 at night until 6am, we were so excited to get on our feet again. The stops that the bus made to let people off were hilarious. Apparently they were scheduled and were at designated locactions, but many of them seemed to be no more than random stops on the side of the road. I was really curious about where those who hopped off were going and how they were going to get there at 4am. One time these two guys got off and pulled this HUGE cooler out from the bus storage, threw it in the back of a pickup truck that was already waiting on the side of the road, jumped in the truck, and drove off. Interesting.
While driving along as the sun came up I felt like we were approaching the edge of the world. Although it had been dark early on in the ride I could distinguish really thick brush along both sides of the "highway". But eventually the heaping palms and ferns thinned into flat terrain with an occasional tree or shrub and bunches of shack-like shops and hotels scattered along the road. As we got closer to Atacames I swear I could feel the ocean. We arrived at the desolate bus station at which there were tons of guys swarming around us to get us in their taxis to take us to our hotel. So we took probably the most laughable mode of transportation ever to our hotel - motortaxis, which consisted of either a bike or a motorcycle in either the front or back of a open-air metal cart with a little leather seat to sit 2-3 people and a joke of a tarp over our heads. I took a video on the way to our hotel - this is one of the main strips of the "town", so you can get an idea of how intimidatingly large and busy it is.
We slept for a few hours and then headed to Beach Sua (of the town adjacent) all day. It was so much fun! We went on this banana boat ride (a giant blow-up banana that seats 6 and is pulled by a boat) and got thrown off it a bunch of times...someone has pictures of this, I'll put them up if I get them - it was funny. There were crabs all up and down the beach. And actually, for dinner I ordered Cangrejo (crab) and had my first pound-it-out whole crab (actually 2) and it was really, really good. That night we just stayed in at our hotel (there were about 16 of us) and everybody got thrown into the pool in their clothes. Luckily I was not one of the ones who had already gone to sleep and got pulled out of bed and thrown in :)The next day we went to Atacames Beach, which was a lot larger, with a lot more people and a lot more shops, and Reggaeton playing all day long. I almost got pulled into the ocean forever because the rip tide was so powerful; I was swimming as hard as I could in place for about 2 minutes, but I finally got out of it. And I wasn't even far out. It was an extremely strong undertow - it was like, if you couldn't touch the bottom, you probably shouldn't be there, and even if you could touch the bottom, it would still pull you. Three other people in my group got "rescued" by a boat because they couldn't swim back a little bit later...haha...kindof. Lots of other funny things happened. Lauren ordered a rum and coke when this guy came around asking us for drink orders, and he returned with a fifth of rum and two liters of coke...hahaha. But we weren't exactly upset. These little kids befriended us and stayed by our chairs the whole day - 5 little kids all about 8 years old. We wrestled and played all kinds of games with them, and then after 5 hours of fun they started crying and begging us for cookies because they said they were starving (they were obviously poor/homeless) so Lauren and I went and bought them this huge thing of cookies for 90 cents - big deal, right? One of them was at the beach bar we went to later that night (the whole coast was lined with bars, music, dancing) just chilling out watching everyone on a barstool (odd?) and we shared our potato chips with him.Tuesday I started volunteering at a school in Lumbisi - an indigenous village near Cumbaya (where my University is) - about an hour away after I get on the different buses I need to. When I got there they just said to me "You can teach music, right?", handed me a drum, a xylophone, and 5 recorders, gathered "the band" - eight screaming, running, frantic 8-year-olds - and led me to my room. I was never introduced by the administration to "the band" or given any instructions, so...I just...started. After I finally convinced "the band" that they had to stop playing the noise they were making (with the instruments they had grabbed as soon as I had set them down), I had their attention for a little while. It's difficult to explain to them that they should probably know the basic components of rhythm, counting, and how to read a little bit of music before they can produce actual melodies. They just want to play SO badly that they are nearly unwilling to sit still and listen for even five minutes. Their logic is pretty frustrating. But when I start playing a little bit they get really excited, really quiet, and will sit and watch and then listen to my lesson because they want to be able to do it too. It also didn't help that there was no supervision at the school to help control the herds of out-of-control kids who decided to run into my room and start banging on things and fighting my students during recess. I quickly figured out to put together the phrase "Silencio, o afuera!" (Be quiet or get out!) But I did gather a crowd of about 15 "good kids" who came in from recess and just sat and watched filled with wonder - probably 50% at the fact I was teaching music, and 50% because I am white and have blond hair. A bunch of kids would just come up to me and touch me and try to hold my hands and the girls would tug at my hair. I'm going back today (after I finally get to sleep) for my second exhausting yet rewarding day.The greatest lesson I've learned so far is to stop thinking, and just feel. The first day my painting teacher told me that to let my creativity go was to - "No pensar - solo sentir" (It's not about thinking - just feel). Since then I've tried with more purpose to stop being so ridiculously analytical about everything and go with what seems natural.
¡Bienvenidos a Quito!
[La estatua de Independencia, 10 Augusto, 1809 en el centro de La Plaza de la Independencia, Quito - old town]
After getting out of the hour-long line to check my passport/visa and finally meeting my family at Quito´s airport, among the first words out of their mouths were "Hace frio! Hace frio!, ¿No?" and I was like "Are you kidding me? ¡Soy de Chicago!" Haha. It couldn´t have been any less than 60 degrees in Quito. Perhaps cool weather for them, but what a warm greeting for me.
Miriam and Said are entirely nice. They asked me if I wanted anything to eat and if I was exhausted, and under normal conditions I probably would´ve been, but I had no appetite and could´ve stayed awake for hours exploring the city right then. I kept myself halfway sane and opted to stay inside the new apartment and arreglar mis cosas, as it was about midnight by the time we reached what is now my home for the next 5 or so months.
Miriam and Said live in a more upscale apartment in Quito. I have internet access in the apartment (uncommon) which conveniently allows me to keep up my posts, and all the pictures you see are ones I have taken; and we have a maid, Yolanda. One of their sons, Gabriel, 20, will return from Guayaquil (on the coast) on Wednesday and the other, Said also, 26, will return from his 7-year move to New Jersey in March. Their two nephews, Freedie and Carlos, both in their twenties, live in the apartment just downstairs with Yolanda, where we go to eat our meals. It´s nice to have people my age around and everyone is so hospitable and welcoming. I am the 8th student Miriam and Said have hosted, so I´m sure everyone is used to it by now. They said I have an advantage because my Spanish is more advanced than the students they usually host (who knew?) and I´ve had no troubles communicating with them or anyone else yet. I just need to improve my gringa accent, and my verb tenses have been a bit off, but hey, it´s only been four days. The other day I couldn´t even fall asleep for my siesta because I was continuously and very involuntarily translating all of my thouhgts and songs in my head into Spanish. Miriam made fun of me about this...
I´ve spent the last few days figuring out the public transportation (buses, taxis) and getting accustomed with the layout of the city. It´s so large, and because the height of the buildings is nothing compared with those in Chicago, it seems that much larger, because especially when at a high point, I can literally see houses and shops go on for what seems like forever. Fantastic.
When I woke up the morning after my arrival, I thought I´d check out the view from my pretty huge bedroom window - a view prohibited by the darkness of the previous night. I opened the blinds completely and wham!
Breathtaking. A direct view of Pichinca, the main mountain to the East of Quito. I was so wowed that - typical tourist, and only in the apartment! argh... - I grabbed my camera to capture the view. Miriam made fun of me about this all day, which I was totally fine with, because if my new family hesitated to make fun of me, we would have a very, very awkward relationship. Haha.
On my first full day I had the pleasure of visiting one of their friends´properties in Tumbaco, a city in the valley just about 30 minutes from Quito and next to Cumbaya - where I will be going to school. He has a nice patch of land up on a hill where he resides and grows all kinds of trees and fresh fruits when he´s not at work in the city. Very chill. I´m jealous. And a spectacular view, but so does everywhere I´ve been - every minute I turn around there are the greenest hills, mountains, a volano or two, trees, and flowers galore. So much greenery. So much life.
I had my first orientation at the La Universidad San Francisco de Quito on Friday. It´s so much more beautiful than the University of Illinois, and all the buildings are much closer. Then again, these buildings are only 10-15 years old and there are only about 2500 students, of which 200 are international. There are 14 in my group from the Illinois program; the majority (10) are chicas, and 4 are from other schools who are joining us through the Illinois program (Rice, 2 from Penn State, and University of Oregon). Everyone seems pretty outgoing and so far we all get along with each other very well...no snobs, thank god :)
Yesterday we took a tour of the old town Quito (I live in the new town, to the North) in which we toured all of the very well preserved Colonial architecture. Iglesias, plazas, estatuas, el Centro Cultural Metropolitano (some great digital photography of the volcanoes, the amazon)
- so much to take in. The highlight for me was la estatua de La Virgen del Panecillo (Panecillo is the hill on which this statue was constructed), a 134.5´ statue visible from most of southern Quito. It is constructed on this hill and is so large such that its silhouette is ever-present and remarkable in contrast to the sky behind it. Mesmerizing.
And today is Sunday, my day of rest. So I get a chance to work on this little blog and watch some Simpsons and Saved by the Bell (The College Years) en Español. Haha. The altitude is quite high in Quito (avg. 2850 m, or 9350 ft), so my body is taking some time to adjust (shortness of breath, sometimes I feel a little faint), but other than that I´m faring well. The food is delicious! Fruit all the time. The juice here is literally made by putting, for example, a mango in the blender with a little bit (and I mean a little bit) of water and sugar, and then, bam! there´s a mango in your cup (err...with a little bit of water and sugar). Lots of exotic fruits, lots of veggies, lots of seafood - love it all. And everywhere has its house version of "aji" (pronounced "ah-HEE"), a spicy sauce that usually includes oil, onions, garlic, and hot pepper. Could I ask for more?
Such is Quito. International student orientations en la Universidad are tomorrow and Tuesday. Voy a descansarme un poquinto más, porque, pues, es Domingo, ¿no? Ya me encanta Ecuador.
All you can think of any more has been taken care of in the last two weeks.
After the most ridiculous semester ever, I wanted nothing but to sleep for a good 96 hours straight upon my arrival back to Lombard. But after getting back in town on the 17th, it was straight to the Ecuadorian Consulate's office on the 18th, followed by vaccinations, all the documentation for my Gilman Scholarship (woot woot), power of attorney, backing up 20 gigs of music to make more space for pictures, etc., etc.
And on top of that, it still seems there has not been nearly enough time to spend with friends and family before the 2nd. I hope in a way this can narrow the gap between Chicago and Quito (and for some of you, California, Milwaukee, New York...) for the next four and a half months.
Pending on the internet connection I can find in La Mariscal (en el centro de Quito, which is a hot spot for internet cafés as far as I have read), I'm hoping this will be successful.
It's been bitter saying goodbyes to all of you. But without question I know it will be sweet hearing from you and am already awaiting the excitement of getting to see you again.
Nevertheless, I cannot wait to escape and explore!
Cinco días hasta Quito!
Last weekend will remain among the most diverse, eventful, and thrilling weekends of my life. On Friday promptly after class, our group took off in “the party bus”. Along for the ride on our 25-seat tour bus were Patricio (very cool) and our chauffeur, who had a sophisticated appreciation for mid-90’s dance-pop hits such as “All That She Wants”, “Where do you go? (My Lovely)”, “I Come From A Land Down Under (techno remix)”, “What Is Love?”, “Tonight is the Night of Love”, and more. We rocked out to that cd at LEAST ten times on Saturday. I’m not complaining. 
We arrived around 4pm on Friday. The 15 of us stayed at the best place I’ve probably ever stayed as far as lodging is concerned. And by best, I’m not referring to luxury. We walked upstairs to find an open deck overlooking a forest fruitful with colorful plants and murmuring with about 30 hummingbirds. As everyone claimed their beds, I immediately dismissed the idea of a “room” and called dibs on one of the two hammocks on the deck. 
Saturday morning we arose bright and early and headed to a Mariposario around 8am. The Mariposario is unique to Mindo, it’s not like they have these everywhere in Ecuador. I was actually really scared about going because of my ridiculous entomophobia (phobia of insects). I pictured flights of mariposas (butterflies) landing on me, getting in my hair, finding their ways into the folds of my clothing, etc. But it was not nearly as frightening. It is more like a zoo for mariposas in which they are studied from cocoon to full growth, and there were not an overwhelming number of insects flying around my head. But there were the largest butterflies I’ll probably ever see, called “Ojos de Búho” (Owls’ eyes), which describe the large circular markings on their wings. I have a picture of one here…they are really ugly and look really moth-y and when they fly around they are bird-like and completely terrifying. Ha. 
Then we headed up a mountain and took a ride on a cable car across a chasm between two mountains. I’d say we were about 200m or higher above the forest floor. It’s…interesting...how many times in the last three weeks I’ve realized how quickly and easily I could die. I haven’t mentioned the driving yet…that’s a whole other story… We got to the other side and took a 30-minute hike that ended at an amazingly powerful waterfall; hiked back, ate a grilled platano (delicious!), headed back to the bus for more Ace of Base, lunch, and it was 1pm. It felt like 6. Sidenote: For lunch we headed to our new hotel to eat. When we arrived we noticed what appeared to be a business meeting of some people who obviously had money by how they were dressed, etc. They left within 10 minutes of our arrival. This little detail is significant because attending this meeting was President Correa’s wife. Just another celeb connection to add to my list. 
We cooked them until all the white coating was gone and continued to roast them. Once roasted, we took the roasted shell off of the seed. At this point we could eat the hot seeds and they tasted and smelled like what most know to be chocolate, but very bitter, because obviously no milk had been added. After removing the shells, we grinded the seeds into a fine powder (very rich, like the shavings found on fine cheesecakes, etc) and then melted the powder in our bowl on the fire. We enjoyed our hot, thick chocolate over bananas. Mmmmmmm. They also made us some herbal tea with fresh canela (cinnamon) before we toured their garden of medicinal plants. 
We hiked for about 40 minutes, and then all raced into the cool water that flowed below the 12m waterfall at the end of our path. It was really beautiful. Within minutes we discovered a barely-there path that lead up to the top of the fall (Dad, you would not enjoy it), and our guide said it was safe to jump in. From about 20 ft. up the fall on an extremely vertical and slippery rock, I looked down on yet another thrilling opportunity. Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous about jumping - less about the waterfall and more about hitting the rocks on my way down. But I launched myself out on the count of “3” screaming all the way into the water. The whole screaming business didn’t help considering when I broke through the surface and was plunged deep beneath I got tons of water in my mouth and nose and couldn’t breathe when I came back up. Oops. I lost my hair-tie, my breath, and almost, my bathing suit. But it was worth the rush. We hiked back at night…THAT was fun. Really was though. We sang “Hakuna Matata” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” the whole way back. I even broke out a little “Africa”. Good times, good times.
Some of the guys placed bets and won, I enjoyed a refreshing Pilsner. It was brutal. Kristen, I have no idea what you would’ve done if you were there. They cut off the back claws of the roosters and replaced them with metal spikes. The feathers of the roosters quickly turned red with blood. They shave the legs of the roosters to make them tougher and rub lemon on them. When the “ref” calls a time out once the fight starts getting really violent, the owners pick up the roosters and suck the blood from their heads into their mouths and then spit it out to help cleanse them. We left right before they put the all-white gallo into the circle. We named him “gringo” before we left and everyone there thought that was hilarious. Then back to the party bus. 
Carnaval is this weekend and it is going to be ridiculous. The plan is to go to Manta, where my family is originally from, on Friday and Saturday, and then head to Guaranda on Sunday and Monday and return on Tuesday. Manta is on the coast – I’ll be going with Christine and we’ll be staying with Carlos’ s family in his house. He’ll be there, too, and Gabriel and Freddie are coming to meet up on Saturday. Guaranda has the reputation of the best Carnaval town in Ecuador as far as water and flour and egg fights go, which is what I’m looking for. I cannot WAIT. Expect a fun-filled entry next week and cross your fingers that my camera doesn’t get stolen in Guaranda!
