Reflection: Quito, Two Years Later

This week I entered a photo competition coordinated by my friends Jenn and Gabrielle (through their organization The Spotlight Project) for which the theme was “Show us your neighbourhood’s personality”. Dan and I both submitted photos which you can see in the online gallery here. Looking through the entries got me thinking about my neighbourhood here in Quito and how it has gradually, imperceptibly, become a part of me.           

            When I think of what defines my community here I think of the taxi drivers who have engaged me in fascinating, educational conversations, and others who have seen my gringa face and done their best to swindle me. I think of the graffiti that covers the abandoned buildings and walls of the city- it is sometimes political, sometimes crude, and often very beautiful. I will remember Quito through the lens of Parque Carolina on Sunday afternoons, filled with amorous couples, soccer-playing families and endless children. Unfortunately, what I will also remember is the sight of Styrofoam containers, wrappers and empty pop bottles that overflow out of the garbage cans and coat every free spot of grass. I will remember the grinding poverty reflected in the faces of the kids juggling limes at intersections. I will think of salsa music, ceviche, empanadas, and the warmth of the people who have made us feel at home here. 

I have to wonder: to what extent do the places in which we live become a part of us? When we leave, how much of our experience lingers – what do we take with us? More importantly, perhaps, what do we leave behind? 

Reading my friend (and co-worker) Holly's recent blog post made me realize that what matters most about our experience in Quito may be the relationships that have grown during our time here. Living and working in a culture that is sometimes delightful and sometimes baffling has caused us teachers to forge a deep bond built on shared experience (dare I compare it to a soldier at war?) I hope we will all keep in touch - but the truth is we will all move on to vastly different experiences and, Facebook and Skype notwithstanding, those relationships will change. 

In school, likewise, I am sure some students will forget our names by September, but perhaps there will be one or two who will have been changed in some way, who will remember me or Dan as a person who made an impact on their life. I hope so. In a life and a world that is so transient, I like to think that a human connection is what makes life meaningful, and what helps us appreciate the here and the now. I hope that over the next few weeks I will remember to cherish this place- and the people that populate my little world here - to the fullest.

Pictures from Mompiche (see previous post)

This guy was racing us as we sat in holiday traffic on the way to the beach

On the road to Puerto Quito as the sun was setting...

A car that was worse off than ours...no rear windshield, broken windshield and windows,  a piece of metal hanging off the bottom and the passenger door was falling off!

Mompiche Beach

Mompiche...the view  during breakfast

Local kids playing on the beach

Relaxing in front of our hotel, Hostal Gabeal

Sabrina and Mike

Dan and his sandy toes relaxing after breakfast

Breakfast, plus a cheese empanada, scrambled eggs and a coffee, plus a coconut with a straw...$3.00

Mompiche

It's amazing what a couple days at the beach can do for your soul! After a hectic week of marking at the end of the grading period, we had a four-day weekend for the Carnaval holiday. Dan was craving a last chance to surf here in Ecuador, and I was craving some beach time, so we decided to head to Mompiche, a scruffy and charming little beach town in the Northern province of Esmeraldas.

We hadn't been to this part of the country yet, and it was interesting to see the differences between the North Coast and the South Coast, where we spent several weeks last summer. We only went to Mompiche and a nearby beach called Portete, but I found the area to be much more lush, clean and more beautiful than those further south. The beautiful weather helped, of course!

The food was incredible - I believe I ate shrimp in a different form for every meal: fried, in ceviche, encocado (cooked in a rich coconut sauce), al ajillo (cooked in a buttery garlic sauce). And a platter of fresh fruit for breakfast everyday! We definitely ate like kings.

Our friends Sabrina and Mike joined us for the long trek from Quito, which included an overnight stop in the jungle-y town of Porto Quito, where we found a hotel with an incredible pool and jacuzzi, yet no toilet seats. Our dinner there was frequently punctuated by dive-bombings by the largest (flying) grasshoppers I have ever seen - Dan estimates they were eight inches long! 

As we drove through the cloudforest by Mindo to get to Porto Quito the rain poured down in buckets and we passed an enormous mudslide, which we were fortunately able to pass without a hitch. However, we realized a little too late that the straps holding Dan's surfboard to the roof made the Bug a little less than waterproof. Mike tried to combat the water sliding down the straps into the backseat but by the time we arrived we were all damp, to say the least, and there was a sizable puddle throughout the car. 

The next day we heard a strange rattling in the car and decided that we needed to get it checked out before we went any further; the car turned out to be okay but the delays landed us in the traffic we had tried to avoid by leaving on Friday. Fortunately, we had downloaded about fifteen old podcasts of CBC's The Vinyl Cafe, which helped pass the time. Also, we never went hungry thanks to the many young entrepreneurs in the small towns we passed through, who brought baskets of homemade treats to sell to the drivers.

All in all, it was an interesting time getting there, but it was worth it for the perfect vacation we had in Mompiche. It felt so good to slow down for a couple of days, and take the time to float in the warm ocean, indulge in rich seafood and watch the pink and orange sunsets over the Pacific.

Christmas Carols...en espańol

Last night we trolley-hopped down to the "old city" to see "Navidad en el Sucre", a free Christmas concert at the Teatro Nacional Sucre. The show featured two children's choirs accompanied by professional musicians, including an Andean instrument ensemble and a guitar ensemble. The Andean flutes were particularly impressive, some being over five feet tall (only a few inches shorter than the musicians in most cases)! An Andean flute looks like this and produces a beautiful, soothing sound.

We enjoyed listening to Spanish Christmas carols, including classics such as "Rudolfo el Reno de Nariz Roja" (who, in some versions, has a nose like a tomato) and "Blanca Navidad." Here is Andrea Bocelli's rendition of "White Christmas" in Spanish:The Christmas concert was a great way to kick off our Christmas holidays, which started today. We're both looking forward to a relaxing break (not to mention sleeping in past 6 a.m.) and the chance to get a glimpse of a few Quiteńo holiday traditions. Here is some information on what Christmas is like in Quito.

Above: Dan's photo of the exterior of the theatre. History of Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito

Ciclopaseo

Every Sunday in Quito, cyclists, pedestrians and rollerbladers reclaim Amazonas Avenue, one of the longest streets in the city. One half of the road is closed to motorists for the Ciclopaseo, and its a great way to see the city. We rented bikes for a couple hours and cycled out past the airport and back. There is more info on the project here and a map of the route here. I would love to see an initiative like this in Canadian cities in the summer.
Along the way, we stopped to watch this artist spray-painting graffiti on the last remaining space on a wall in a residential neighbourhood. I really love the graffiti in Quito - it seems to be embraced as a valid art form here, and public spaces often feature creative murals and surprising impromptu collages of anything and everything including cartoon characters, religious figures and bold political statements.

This artist, who goes by the moniker Starman, told us that a group of graffiti artists organized a street art event on this spot during Fiestas de Quito. The idea was to create a forum for artists to present their work while also creating an alternative activity for young people, since the Fiestas de Quito weekend tends to be dominated by heavy drinking and partying. The alcohol-soaked weekend is becoming a problem for the city. This year there was a big push city-wide to "party healthily", and yet we saw drunk men swerving around on the sidewalks in the old city as early as 10 a.m. The graffiti event was sponsored by the municipal government and a spray-paint company (their symbol is the crown in the picture above). Apparently it was a very successful event. Interesting to see street art as a vehicle for social change - and endorsed by the government too.

A photo a day...

Check out Dan's photos at the 365 Project. He will be posting a photo every day for a year!

Cotton candy, Abba and Elderly dancers: Fiestas de Quito!

Today, December 6th, marks the anniversary of the founding of Quito in 1534 by the Spanish conquistador, Sebastián de Benalcázar. It was interesting for me to see that while the country celebrates its independence from Spain every August, the city of Quito celebrates, with equal enthusiasm, the conquering of this city by the Spanish in the 1500s. 
We decided to stay in the city for this long weekend and check out the festivities - and I'm glad we did.
Some highlights:

• A 6-hour long parade along Shyris, one of the main avenues, featuring marching bands, Flamenco dancers, papier-mache giants and an endless number of merchants selling homemade ice-cream, potato chips, and cotton candy (on enormous poles, of course).

To blog or not to blog?

      So, it has been more than a year since I last posted on this blog, and I'm wondering if it is worth reviving it or if I should just let it go. Upon awaking from its coma, my blog seems to be having an identity crisis - should it be a travel blog, a diary, a photo gallery, a place to write...I'm really not sure. I guess I need to figure out what I want to say - and what people want to read. It seems pointless to write a blog if no one will read it. After all, the whole purpose of blogging is to communicate something. But if people who write about how often they change their baby's diapers can get people to read their blogs then I'm sure I can think of something that people will want to read!
     I was interested to discover that one website that provided traffic to our blog is http://remroom.ru, which appears to belong to a family-owned Russian real estate company. Since I can't read Russian (if it is indeed Russian) I can't figure out how that page links to mine. I do like the log cabin they've got at the bottom of the page though. Maybe it's fate.

    Anyway, after a brief stint last year with some freelance writing, which I had to stop after getting in over my head with planning and marking, I feel inclined to be writing again. But writing about what we are doing here is a little boring right now since we are mostly working all of the time! Perhaps having a blog would motivate me to get back out into the wilds of Ecuador and start travelling again.

Any thoughts? Anybody out there? Send me a message if you want this blog to live!

October at the Centre of the Earth

In October we:

bought some sweet Ecuadorian wheels (circa 1981), taught with no electricity (there was a cowbell though), and celebrated my birthday with 3 cakes and flaming sushi (thanks for all the birthday wishes from afar)!

We also enjoyed delicious guaguas de pan and colada morada (a hot sweet fruit drink) at a school fiesta for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead),

soaked in thermal hot springs in Papallacta, and explored the 'middle of the world' just outside of Quito.

Note the streamers of bras suspended from the Mitad de Mundo monument (for a breast cancer event). A nice touch!

Anyway, it's been a great month and we're looking forward to many more!

Hiking up Pichincha

Today Dan and I decided to get up and out of the city - and I am so glad we did. We headed West to the teleferico (i.e. gondola) that takes tourists and locals up to the base of Pichincha, a volcano on the edge of Quito. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Pichincha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pichincha_Volcano

The most recent major eruption was in 1999. But don't worry- due to the geography of the area, the lava flows down the other side, away from the city - so an eruption doesn't pose a danger to the inhabitants of the city. In fact, one of our colleagues was telling us about watching Pichincha erupt through her kitchen window while she was eating breakfast! Apparently the only major concern with Pichincha is that a layer of ash covers everything for days after an eruption. 

 The hike up to Pichincha was breathtaking. All along the way there were striking views of the city and the valleys beyond on both sides - the pictures we took don't do it justice! 

  

We met so many friendly strangers along the way - and we also quickly learned that the 'end of the trail' was a subjective concept. After two hours of hiking we started asking returning hikers how much further we had left. The first few people we asked told us we had half an hour left, then later we were told we would be 'there' in ten minutes. Just as we thought we were reaching the end, the next group told us we had an hour and a half left! We kept walking...and the trail became increasingly uncertain. After spending quite a lot of time scrambling up rocks, we asked another group and discovered that there was another hour more to one end point, and another four hour trip to the spot we had been aiming for - where you could see into the volcano. 

At that point, we decided that the spot where we stood would be our 'summit' and we promptly turned around! Anyway, it was a fantastic day. I'm pretty happy with how far we walked, considering the high altitude and the fact that Dan sprained his ankle a few days ago (by falling in a hole in the road...but that's another story). 

I also surprised myself by how much I enjoyed hiking today - it was actually really fun! Who knows? Maybe I'll become a hiking buff after all.

 

Nuestra Casa!

Nuestra Casa!
Originally uploaded by LibbyS-L

Here is our humble abode..its pretty amazing!

Pictures above: views from the rooftop of La Merced, countryside on the way to Otavalo, at a park near Otavalo, preparing the bisquechos in Cumbaya

The last three days have been incredible, to say the least. We have been so impressed with how our school's staff has welcomed us to the city and helped us to make a smooth transition into Quito life.We arrived late at night on Wednesday after a Toronto - Miami - Quito trip with our new friends & colleagues Mike and Tanya. As we exited the plane we wondered to each other where we would sleep that night and what was going to happen to us. Fortunately, we we

re delighted to find several Einstein teachers waiting for us with a big sign and bigger smiles! After meeting the nine other new teachers who had recently arrived from Canada, the U.S and Israel, we headed off in our school bus to a beautiful hotel in downtown Quito where we found a roomy suite with a stunning view of the Pichincha volcano (a bit of a step up from our previous residence)! 

On Thursday and Friday we got to know the rest of the staff better, began to get our 

bearings in Quito and looked at apartments along with our helpful 'buddies'  Sandy and Barbie. On Friday afternoon we all herded back onto the school bus for a customized Einstein city tour. Our guide, Julio, showed us around  La Merced, La Compania de Jesus and La Iglesia de Santo Domingo, three of the most striking churches in downtown Quito. We had the oppor

tunity to explore several areas that are usually closed to the public, including the ro

oftop of La Merced, a church built in the 1700s. From here we had a panoramic view of old Quito, distinguished by an enormous statue of the Virgin of the Americas (that can be seen from almost anywhere in the city) and the seven 'sacred mountains' that shape its skyline. 

We also had a peek at La Ronda, a restored colonial neighbourhood with long, winding streets and a distinct, bohemian feel. Hidden behind each tiny street entrance, we discovered a maze of treasures waiting to be discovered: cafe's, artisan shops, music-filled bars, an open-air theatre...who knows what else? While walking by the window of a bar, a few of us sampled some canellazo, a traditional hot drink made with cane liquor, sugar, cinnamon and na

ranjilla juice. The taste? amazing. The price? 50 cents.

The evening ended with a wonderful dinner with new and old teachers at a restaurant that sat atop a huge hill, offering beautiful views of the city lights from all sides. We're both really looking forward to working with this group of open, friendly people!

We haven't stopped moving since we arrived in Quito - there is so much to do and see! Yesterday we left the city and explored the countryside with two families who invited us to come along on their daytrip to Otavalo. Otavalo is an unbelievable market and 

we enjoyed haggling in Spanish and seeing the incredible craftsmanship reflected in the jewellery, rugs, paintings and clothing that stretched over eight blocks of the town. On the way there we stopped in Cumbaya, a small town that is famous for its bisquechos y queso. Of course, we made sure that we sampled the local (delicious) fare. 

 It was so special to share in this experience and also to benefit from the local knowledge of our hosts! 

Today we are moving into our beautiful new apartment, which goes far beyond our expectations with a gorgeous view, a great terrace and a backyard for Soon-day, who arrives tomorrow (fingers crossed). 

I think that's as quick a summary as I'm capable of, given how much we have seen and done over the past few days! Looking forward to hearing from you all soon.

~Libby 

The countdown begins...

Well I can't believe it but its less than two weeks before we hop on a plane to Quito. We've both had an amazing year in Toronto and I've loved being able to catch up and hang out again with the friends we missed when we were in Korea (and Halifax). I feel so lucky to have spent a year living next door to Geoff and Bev and having Mom, Dad and Nana just a half hour drive away. And it was great to reconnect with Dan's family when they came up for the big graduation (and the lobster feast wasn't too shabby either)! 

Our trip details are starting to come together and Soon-day's complex international travel plans seem to be working out. After a flurry of packing today I'm feeling a little more prepared to take off (thanks Mom) and Dan is ready to go with all of his new MEC gear (except maybe the ridiculous-looking joggers' fanny pack...that might not find its way to the plane...). 

Overall, I'm sad to leave but excited to go - isn't it always that way?

We're both really looking forward to some quality time up at Liz's cottage and Rockwell Island over the next week and a bit. The last few days are always the sweetest!

Until next time,

~Libby