Loofahs and other things

LOOFAHS!!!!!

I am leaving tomorrow to visit the Intag region of Ecuador, it’s probably about a 2 hour drive from Quito and there are several work placements available there. On Monday I will travel another hour or so by pick up truck or donkey to the Valle de los Manduriacos where the loofah cooperative is. I am looking forward to finally meeting the women who make the loofahs. The loofah cooperative is a possible work placement for me, and I am very excited to check it out. Back in Canada, Savon Poppulaire is interested in our loofahs, and if everything goes well I should be shipping out their order by the end of next week. This is really exciting because Savon Poppulaire has many stores in Quebec, Ontario and some on the east coast. Although this shipment will only be sold in one or two stores, it’s still a great stepping stone.

Transformers are Taking Over My Life

Yes, I have seen the Transformers movie 8 times in Spanish. My host brother Alex, who is three loves this movie and insists on watching it 3 times a week. In fact we just finished watching it; or rather Alex fell asleep so I turned it off. He also recently got a new toy, a yellow transformer I don’t know what its called but it has several buttons and when you push them they makes all kinds of noise. This new toy eats with us as well; luckily it sits next to me at the table. I don’t mind it, although I did like it better two weeks ago when Spiderman was cool because then I got to wear my Superman costume when we played super heroes.

Benny el Perrito

Benny the dog has had two baths this week. He is a white mix of some sort (kind of resembles Cookie, only white and about 5 pounds bigger) and he insists on digging holes in the backyard daily. He actually likes the sweater that I got him, and he wears it all the time. We also tried to take him for a walk the other day because Alex wanted to show people Benny’s new sweater. When we opened the gate Benny just stood their terrified. He has never been outside of the gate, although he does spend a good 2 hours a day barking at the other dogs in the street. Personally I think he is scared of the street dogs and likes to be safe hiding behind the gate. So my host mother bought a leash for Benny (it’s very rare for dogs to have leashes in Ecuador) and we are going to try to go for a walk again tomorrow.

Field Trips are F-U-N!!!!!!!!!!!

This past Sunday we went on a field trip. It was very exciting, 12 students crowded into a tiny van and we went to visit an Indigenous Quechua community where our Quechua Professor is from. It was very beautiful, and we learned all about the plants that grow naturally here in Ecuador that can be used as herbal medicines. There’s this giant plant that has spikes on it, and it kind of resembles an aloe vera plant and you can drink the juice from it and eat its heart and it’s full of protein and gives you lots of energy. It tasted kind of like water and sugar with a hint of onion and a tangy after taste.

We also visited this “Casa del Cultura” that is trying to preserve the Quechua culture. The house is a community centre and it hosts weekly Quechua classes. It also has an amazing organic garden and a green house and all of the meals that are made there come entirely from their garden. We had a very delicious meal consisting of potato, quinoa, and onion soup, a tomato, lettuce and thyme salad, and a desert made from comates. There are four people who live in the house and they built it without the help of any real construction workers (and used only recycled wood) they use carbon and sea salt to brush their teeth, and they eat out of handmade clay bowls with hand carved wooden spoons. It might sound a little strange but it was really nice. They are trying to go back to their roots and live off the land, growing their own food, eating traditional meals and avoiding capitalist society. It was the closest thing I have seen to a functioning commune, and it is surrounded by the Andes. Very inspiring.