the Adventures of Anchorgirl: More adventures in Baños

I meant to post sooner: I guess “living in the moment” has it´s drawbacks… I am sorry for any typos, grammar mistakes, and scattered thoughts. My internet time is limited!

The Sunday before last (the 14^th), I breakfasted with a local friend on cow´s tongue at his mother´s restaurant (a creepy texture but chewy and muscular, but very savory – a Baños local dish). I was full of energy on the tongue, and rode around town for a bit in his “antique car” (which, to start, required some uphill pushing).

Then, by rented bicycle, I started down the Mountain road to Puyo, a town 63 km away, located on the edge of the Amazon. It was super hard to make an efficient trip of it, because there are so many amazing views and interesting attractions along the way. I crossed the river in a cable car for some soaring views (though avoided the bridge-jumping with climbing ropes that is popular around here and the “canopying” as well), and was surprised on the other side to find that I had to hike back. I also visited a crazy hundred foot thundering waterfall called “the Devil´s Cauldron” which took a 30 minute hike each way to reach. These attractions are popular to Ecuadorian and other South American tourists as well, and I was surprised to find octogenarians limping their way up and down these steep trails, often on the arm of a loving relative. Though I don´t tend to see Ecuadorians “working out”, the average Ecuadorian is super rugged compared to the average American.

The roads here are not the safest, to say the least, yet people are pretty trusting and cavalier about the whole affair of driving. There are speed bumps as the main road heads through each town, but no street lights, and vendors (often in multiples of the exact same goods, usually farm-fresh fruit) set up right next to the speed bumps in hopes of a sell, often sitting with their feet in the road. In town, pedestrian crossings are ignored, and cars speed up to discourage crossers on foot. Happily stray dogs, well fed on chicken scraps, sleep in the road, unafraid of passing cars. I witnessed a very old dog walking head-on toward a car as it rapidly pulled over, completely unconcerned that it would be run over. The drivers are constantly honking – and it´s not rude… it´s a warning that they are coming through. And then there´s the passing. Though there are two thick yellow lines as far as the eye can see on these twisty mountain roads, often with a cliff on one side and a precipice on the other, people pass head-on pretty much anywhere, often challenging other drivers to pull over, slow down, or face a head-on collision. It can seem really reckless and scary at times, but also the level of intensity seems somehow to lend a patina of safety to the enterprise; it seems that everyone – pedestrians, dogs, drivers, passengers - pays much more attention than in the United States, because they have to constantly be aware of all the possible variables in the road.

Well, the attractions got to me; the sun had set as I arrived in Shell, a measly 6km from Puyo. Sadly, I had to admit defeat or risk the craziness of the road – in the dark. Unfortunately, navigating the busses back on a Sunday night proved a challenge, even more so, because I was hungry, and my Spanish skills, I am finding, are not the best when I am hungry; in Shell, there were no more tickets back to Baños, so I decided to take a bus to Puyo and get a ticket back there. The process there was no easier, even for the native speakers. I fell in with some kids from Ambato who were also stranded and shared a Coke and some street fries and some jokes as we waited (inexplicably) several blocks from the bus station on a curb for an hour. They were great companions for the ride back as well. It is not hard to find friends here for an evening with a bit of charisma and some Spanish!

I went on more hikes and visited the church this week (see pictures).

I decided to move from my host family´s house to a hotel on Thursday. I really enjoyed my time with the host family, but I was feeling really isolated from them living upstairs alone. Family values are very strong here in Ecuador, and I can´t help but feel like an outsider. I have always enjoyed my time with my extended family so intensely in Seattle, and I would love to be a member of a strong nuclear family or a large extended family here. I was starting to get that familiar feeling I had in Anchorage of yearning to invest my energy in something I can´t attain right now. So I moved on, with a bouquet of gratitude and much thanks for their hospitality.

Still, I wouldn´t trade my time with the family for anything. There were jokes, companionship, and good home-cooked Ecuadorian food, but I also learned much about Ecuadorian culture. My conversations with Lorena, (the aunt) on the economic situation and culture values here in Ecuador were particularly insightful. I was rather hoping that the kids here would like to be more involved with me, but their lack of interest also told me a lot. They are very focused on school, glued to their computers like American kids, and resistant to speaking English at all (I didn´t realize that I had expected them to be interested until I was surprised that they weren´t). Both of the older children seem to have no desire to travel outside of Ecuador, and, though I see many children adopting American fashion, generally, it seems that Ecuadorians are not really interested in visiting the United States. And here I thought we were so cool!

In a hotel, I am feeling more aggressively independent. I have more time to explore without the walk into town, and I do not have to eat at regular hours or report to anyone.

My classes this past week became more difficult as Marcelo started reviewing past lessons in addition to the new information. I can´t seem to memorize enough verbs and rules. I am finding myself more tired and less effective at learning Spanish… I just want to lie in the sun in the mornings. However, when, I get tired, Marcelo swiftly switches our lessons to Spanish conversations centering on history, and political and cultural issues, and my interest piques once again. On Friday, Marcello introduced me to the churango, the traditional 10-stringed instrument of the Andes. Amazingly, it is tuned almost exactly the same as the ukulele (just double-stringed with the same four tunings, with one extra set). SO I CAN PLAY THE CHURANGO. He taught me a traditional broken-hearted song from Perú called “Ojos Azules” and we jammed out (recording to follow).

In the next installment: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

More on politics, history and culture of Ecuador

Getting lost in the mountains

A weekend in the Amazon

Cow´s tongue with rice and my breakfast companion, Sam(antha)!

M.A.´s rig.

My trusty bike for my ride to Puyo.

The view from the cable car

Cable car

Feeding a friend in need on the hike back. This guy was tethered to the trail.

Nicer pavement than AK!

Can your grandma navigate this?

So I took a video of the Devil´s Cauldron, but had trouble capturing it in still: my facial expression trying to smile within 20 feet of it will have to suffice to demonstrate the force of the thing.

Some areas are paved with cobblestones.

A bit closer to the Amazon.

Approaching Mena, near Shell. The edge of the Amazon

A typical stand in Baños: among her wares are sugar cane to chew on in chunks and Baños taffy... special stuff.

MARCELO, the man.

Leaving school. Dreamy afternoon Baños.

Sun is setting... oops. It sets so quickly here, I often get caught in the dark. Note the cute dog who is hiking with me, the pet of an old indigenous farming woman living just off the trail, who implored me to be careful descending in the dark alone.