Elections, coffee, and potatoes

Rain always makes me think of home, which makes me want coffee, which is how I arrived in the only local-style bakery with an espresso machine in town. Supposedly the coffee I'm drinking comes from the Intag valley, just on the other side of the Andes. It tastes like that's probably true. Unfortunately locally sourced coffee is pretty hard to come by, as the vast majority gets exported, local communities being priced out by higher paying coffee lovers (ie seattlites). There does seem to be seedlings of a movement toward locally sourced goods; you often see government stickers saying "made in Ecuador is the best", a push by the socialist government to continue boosting exotic growth.

Harvesting Quinoa in Panikindra

The economy has grown significantly and fairly consistently over the past couple of years, a reality that has been interesting to see play out in the nationwide election (that took place this passed Sunday) for local mayors, councils, and community/regional leaders. The president's party campaigned like crazy, with public money, though a handful of opposition parties were also very visible, with obnoxious parades and flags throughout all the rural communities. Voting is mandatory here, making every household worth the trip, an interesting dynamic coming from the often politically apathetic USA. It reminded me of growing up in a house engaged in local politics - I thought every 6th grader new about the city council exit polls.

Locally the president's candidate lost, due to what seems like backlash from the party in power changing the rules so as to remain in power longer (very familiar story, though a lot of people maintain the president is still helping the country tremendously). The impact of the election on my host family will likely be negligible, though potential exists for a massive change - my mom gets a
monthly govt check for having children attendnig school, my father works in construction on projects ubiquitously funded with govt dollars (yes the economy is US dollarized) and various candidates promised a paved road coming up through Gualsaqui, which would drastically reduce travel time, though impact on ability of community members to afford a car would be nill.

Harvesting taters

My last week, really just Sunday and Monday (now two weeks ago) epitomizes the divergent life experiences I see as I move from my host family to more urban areas. On Sunday I stayed at home and helped harvest potatoes all day. Aside from getting eaten alive by tiny black devil flies, it might have been my favorite day thus far in Ecuador. We stopped for a lunch (of potatoes plus some avocado) neighbors came to help out, and we all ended the day exhausted and very dirty. On Monday I accompanied a volunteer group coordinator to Quito to scout out activits for a group coming for a couple weeks. We perused the botanic garden and then made a reservation and tried out a super swanky Italian restaraunt, where the patrons and staff alike were perplexed by two very dirty gringos. The neighborhood, the menu, the whole day was so very far removed from my host family's conception of Ecuador. It left me thinking about the extreme economic stratification in the states, and wondering how the socialist politics of the current president will play out for both the monied many with private businesses as well as persistently impoverished indigenous communities that the government seems intent on courting and supporting in their culture practices, if only to appeal to tourists.

In Panikindra with Mercedes

On Tuesdays I have been shadowing Mercedes, this inspiring and badass nurse who shifts seemlessly between chatting in Kichwa with indigenous midwifes to policy talk with the health ministry. Last week we ran around, serendipitously catching rides to different communities to convince local healers to attend a training in a few weeks. Many people thought we were Mormon missionaries when they saw us walking up the hill, kind of hilarious, kind of terrifying. Yesterday we went to some of those same communities with a mobile Pap smear van to do cervical cancer screenings, an outing funded by a local branch of the soroptimist foundation.

School in Achupallas

With the promise of beers with Tandana friends in the afternoon, I set off to teach nutrition class with a peace corps volunteer in Achupallas, a community 2hrs up the hill from me. Every other time I've made ascent I've been able to hitch or pay for a ride, however no such luck this time. Aside from the altitude, a couple pretend attack dogs really got my heart racing. However the morning hike was well worth it, as the dogs were all kept at bay with pretend rock throwing, the kids were really sweet as usual, and I got to translate American disco songs for the teacher carpool on the way back to town.

Some of the bounty/bane of my existence

Finally, amidst taking pictures of my adorable host siblings, I often end up thinking about the potential and very real negatives of my presence in my family and community as a stereotypically Western face who is only staying for a couple of months. I just stumbled across this article on facebook - https://medium.com/p/b84d4011d17e - and it articulates very well this phenomenon, something I have and continue to think about a lot inlight of continuing to be a white face in a developing community with the Peace Corps in June.

Feeling fruity

My supervisors were joking that they structured my whole time with Tandana as a prep course for the Peace Corps, and though it was obviously not their intention to have me bouncing around health centers without much to do, I do think these couple months in Ecuador will prove very relevant to my placement in Belize. Lacking in much of the experiential substance I was hoping to get from volunteering here, I am learning a lot and really enjoying day to day routines in and around Otavalo, largely because I know I´m only living this way for a short time - in mid-March we run two+ weeks of health clinics and then I´m taking off to travel.

The main square in Cotacachi

This past weekend I stayed around here, splitting my time between my host family, tackling Peace Corps logistics, and local eateries. The picture on the right is from Cotacachi, a neighboring town that is an American retirement hot spot. I overheard to men with thick southern accents discussing their gold mining endeavors here. Strange.

Granadilla = nectar of the gods

The food here has potential to be amazing; the land is incredibly fertile and the variety of fresh fruits and veggies that come from within a few hours is astonishing. That being said, starches reign supreme at most dinner (and breakfast and lunch) tables. One day I had spaghetti with potatoes and a bit of meat, served on top of white rice, with bread as a side, with myself to blame for that part as I had bought rolls in the hopes of eating them for breakfast. Needless to say it did not work in my favor. Aside from expanding my stomach and increasing my potatoe eating abilities, I frequently have cheap and delicious smoked pork, awesome fava beans, endless avocadoes, and a variety of fruits leaving my taste buds confused but wowed.

Appreciating my host family continues...

The awesome Oyagata Manuela family

Otavalo

The hair braiding fun never stops

To anyone who reads this today - happy valentines day! I am celebrating by trying to bake banana bread in my family´s oven which has no temperature gauge. I hope everyone is feeling loved today, and everyday. While treating myself to a tourist-spot crepe with chocolate and fruits, I overheard a couple (from Seattle, such a small world) talking rather pretentiously about how much travelling has changed in the last 20 years, how hard it is to go anywhere without seeing tourists. I´ve been thinking a lot about my Peace Corps placement in Belize, how I expected anything other than being sent to a country with English as the official language and world class scuba diving. Is it the exotic nature of a place or moment that makes it special? Related is how often I reflect on what I expected from these few months in Ecuador and what I am experiencing, and how the rapidly and rather effectively developing government, and more specifically health infrastructure, play into that. At the end of the day I keep coming back to the unique qualities of every experience, both determined by the context on that given day and the person at the helm driving the whole thing. Had to blabber a bit... Anyways, wish me luck with completing health tests here in Ecuador - I have already had the pleasure of visiting the smallest exam room on planet, so we´ll see what the next round of appointments hold.

A lot of America in my last week (in the best ways)

Pretty street art in Otavalo

I keep writing in my journal how wonderful and helpful it is to return to a house full of children who respect neither claims of exhaustion nor excuses about being busy. As many of you have already heard through the grapevine, I accepted a placement with the Peace Corps in Belize as a community health volunteer, set to leave at the end of June. I got this news while checking my email at my Spanish teachers house, 5 minutes before my bus was set to leave. I literally ran out the door after reading the email and was a bundle of nerves and excitement for the next 30 minutes of bumping and jostling on the commute back home. Had I been left to my own to devices I would have spent all evening thinking about what this meant for my future etc. etc.(don´t worry, I have freaked out plenty that I am committing myself to one place for over two years) but instead I returned to my siblings wanting piggyback rides, thumb wars, and endless hugs.

Even prior to the news the Peace Corps, my host family has been an important grounding force for me here, which is funny to say given how difficult my first couple days felt in their home. My position as the public health intern for the Tandana Foundation has not been realized as smoothly as one would hope, but it is not for a lack of effort on the part of other Tandana compañeros. Though not ideal, attempts to find more fullfilling and active positions for me has facilitated a lot of exploring in the area.

Partera Training

Yesterday I went with this awesome community nurse to a training for parteras, traditional healers often times working like a midwife, though they all have different stories of how they learned their trade. The women wore their traditional clothing, which is a bit different from the anako worn in the communities where I am, immediately surrounding Otavalo. Different communities have different dress styles, all of which are beautiful particularly in contrast with the same 3 ratty outfits I wear day in and day out. The women at this training were a riot, cracking jokes and really fiesty. They also talked about issues with firefighters and other people of authority respecting their use of medicinal plants, in conjuction with referals to health centers. These complaints proved pertinent as the latter part of the training was an exercise on how to better speak in public and with people of authority. Many of the women who were boisterous and charismatic amongst themselves became timid and uninspiring when placed in a more formal situation - a universal phenomenon I think, and a good reminder of the variety of ´skills´we can develop to work toward change.

In a totally different vein, I used the excuse of needing to make a trip into Quito for visa logistics to stay with Claudia, a friend from Pomona, over the weekend to watch the superbowl. So different from the community feel outside of Otavalo, it was a blast for a short weekend. Because it was Sunday the bar was to close at 4, though the game didn´t start til 630. So speakeasy style two rooms full of tourists from around the world jammed into this 'irish' bar for two sweaty hours before the game even started. I found a couple fellow seattlites who had come prepared with face paint, Claudia and I got a betting pool on the score going, and I met some great British and Australian folks who had never really watched American football. I was dismayed I couldn´t celebrate in the strees with everyone back home but so so proud to be from Seattle.

Top of Imbabura

The previous weekend I went on a gorgeous and difficult hike to the top of Imbabura, one of the volcanoes I see everyday. I went with two doctors who were down here for a  month and have now departed and a guide/friend of Tandana, Benicio. The top is at 15,190ft and Benicio said that the trail was only 4km - I dont believe him, but it was pretty much straight up the mountain with a bit of 'exciting' vertical rock climbing at the end. The clouds dance through the crater and over the peak, changing radically as we made our way to the top. As always, with the mix of exhaustion, triumph and probably a bit of altitude sickness at the top, out picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches and overly sugary juice tasted phenomenal.


With those same doctoritas the following Monday and Tuesday we ran an open clinic for community members in Mojanda. The preschool group of 1 and 2 year olds was by far the cutest group of patients anyone will ever see and I was elated by the lunchtime volleyball circle.

More to write soon, particularly about the incredible quantity of starches I am consuming and hopefully a rafting trip. Best to everyone and thanks for all the emails - I love hearing what everyone is doing in their corner of the world!