Towns that begin with the letter 'H'

We took an overnight bus from Mancora to Trujillo on Tuesday night and arrived about 7:30am Wednesday morning. The next bus to Huaraz wasn't until Wednesday at 9pm so we had some time to kill. We had been advised to spend it at the nearby beach town of Haunchaco instead of in the City of Trujillo and so we checked our baggage at the bus depot and headed out to Huanchaco by taxi.

Huanchaco is a beach town operating mostly on tourism and fishing if I had to guess. The waves in the open water were the biggest I have ever seen. Rolling in one after the other with ridiculous force and power! Even the smaller waves, in what i would call the surfing area for the semi-sane people, were massive in comparison to Mancora and the water was wetsuit-cold. However, neither of these factors were enough to deter Troy from renting a surfboard and a wetsuit and heading out into the ocean. The sea was angry that day my friends...but Troy put up a valiant effort!

We headed back into Trujillo at about 8pm and made it in plenty of time for the bus but just barely alive after riding with a maniac taxi driver. I seriously considered asking to be let out on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

We arrived in Huaraz at about 7am this morning (Thursday) and spent the day getting our bearings in this new City and resting up since we are now back at altitude and spent a sleepless night on the bus. Exploring a town and getting my bearings and the feel of a place is one of my favorite things to do upon arriving in a new location. We found the important things first, grocery store, fresh food market, and mountain bike shop.

The only thing more traumatizing to Troy in the fresh food market than the whole guinea pigs sliced open and displayed on their backs in all their hairless glory were the fuzzy little guinea pigs, eyes open and alert, sharing a potato sack with 8 of their buddies. We almost acquired pet guinea pigs. I had to explain to Troy that we couldn't save them all.

It is great to once again be surrounded by mountains and snowy peaks. Three mountain ranges surround Huaraz, the Cordillera Blanca, the Cordillera Negro, and the Cordillera Huayhuash. The first day feeling of this new place is that it's a keeper.

Holy Hammocks Batman!

We ended up spending nine sunny (aka 'scorching hot' if you ask Troy) days in the small surfing/fishing town of Mancora Peru. We were eager to test out our surfing skills and the four of us each took a surfing lesson bright and early on our first morning. We spent about two minutes on the beach stretching, practiced jumping up from our bellies to our feet about once and then it was into the water! Yep, it was just the way we like it, none of this 'classroom' stuff, on to the 'practical'! Sink or swim...or SURF!!

And surf we did :). As long as standing up on the board, long enough to wonder if you look like a surfer yet, counts. It was a blast so we ofcourse decided to repeat the routine the following morning. Us gals were to take another lesson and Josh and Troy would take a shot at doing their own thing on rental boards. To our disappointment, the waves weren't great the next morning and the tide was low so after sustaining my very own 'surfer injuries' which included scraped up toes, fingers, and arms from the rocks, we hung up our surfboards for the day.

The next seven days are a blur of activity in slow motion. Tanis and I shopped the strip, testing our bargaining skills (the best tactic seemed to be Tanis pleading language ignorance and just handing them what she thought the item was worth), Josh and Troy did a lot of reading (codeword for napping) in hammocks...

...we surfed, we sunned, Tanis and I baked yummy treats (I know, who knew?) in exchange for the boys playing games with us, and the boys chefed up fabulous meals in exchange for us tolerating their hammock obssession.

Tanis and I took one additional surfing lesson and even rented our own boards one afternoon to test our skills. Very fun. We looked something like this, only in the water :)

Feeling quite successful at surfing, we decided that we should take it easy and that boogie boarding might be fun to try. We were wrong. It was a comedy of errors from the get-go as we strapped the leashes to our ankles (only to find out later they belong on your arms) and headed out into the waves. It only took one good wave to rocket us both back onto the beach flayling as we attempted to stand up and walk in our flippers... After having provided entertainment for the people on the beach, we decided to retire back to sunning and swimming.

The boys on the other hand, were quite dedicated to mastering the surfing thing and would get up early in the mornings to give it a go (both to catch the best waves and also to get some practice time in when few other people were in the water, safer for everyone that way).

While it was difficult to get any good 'action' photos so-to-speak, they did look awful cute trying and experienced more than a few successes by the end of the week!

Thanks Josh and Tanis for all the fun!

catching up

I enjoyed the slower pace spent in Mancora this past week and was able to do some catching up including going through some photos and realizing all the things I wanted to remember but that I had never written down. The following is a collection of some of these thoughts. It is incredibly long. I got carried away.


Looking back at Ecuador...

Though it seemed daunting at first, I came to look forward to the walk up the hill to school each day, though it never seemed to get any easier like I thought it should. (It reminded me of when I decided to take the stairs up to the fourth floor Bunt office for a year, that never got easier either).

Though such a trivial event, the walk before and after school provided, in addition to the following highlights, an opportunity to reflect on days past and plan for the days ahead…

Clear mornings, with the clouds high above both Volcan Imbabura and Volcan Cotocachi, were a special treat providing great views from the school yard which, in a strange way, seemed to bring such a positive energy to start the day…..

The ‘flower girls’, as we came to call them, would meet us each morning heading down the hill as we were going up and heading up the hill each afternoon as we were coming down, and though they were very shy, would always giggle and be excited to shake our hands, ask us our names, and hand us big, bridesmaid caliber bouquets of flowers they had collected…

The woman plowing the steep hillside, breaking new ground for a crop with nothing but a hoe, wearing her skirt and of course her rubber boots (often chatting with a man sitting nearby, watching) inspired us and I think reminded us to push ourselves a little faster…

These two trusty mules, patiently waiting to be collected by their owners at the end of the day, would greet us at the bus stop at the bottom of the hill every afternoon…

The only thing I won’t miss about the walk is the dead animal sightings. The most horrific being a donkey...being eaten by a dog. Don’t worry, no photo.

The volunteers I had the pleasure of working with at Larcacunga were dedicated to the project, to working hard, and most of all dedicated to having fun! The number of volunteers at Larcacunga varied throughout my time there. We were four when I started, peaked at about 9 somewhere in the middle, and were down to being only myself and one other (Eryn) by the time I left. Eryn was the only one there for the duration of my entire stay, having arrived a few weeks before me and having left one week after. I will sure miss her!

The volunteers specific to each of the four schools all seemed to bond well and at one point, we instituted a Larcacunga dress code… Note the matching scarves below :). Yeah, that’s right, all women. Troy’s school was the only school with male volunteers during our stay, and you guessed it, they did not have cool matching scarves… When our Larcacunga numbers were many, the weekly Tuesday ride in the back of the pickup truck with the groceries was…cozy. On pickup truck days, the kids would wait to hear the truck come roaring towards the school yard and then from out of nowhere would jump on the back for a ride. Always nice to be greeted with such style!

The kids actually really loved to jump on any moving vehicle with something they could grab on to, the gas truck, the bakery truck, the garbage truck... It always scared the crap out of me when they would go running down the hill behind a truck to try to jump on as it left the yard. I often had to stop myself from shouting out any warnings or cautionary words, as the teachers themselves didn‘t seem to mind.

Because some of the things that seem perfectly acceptable here would not be allowed at home, I came to question everything before acting on an impulse. For example, one day I came to school to find the kids had started a small fire in one corner of the school yard. It was a cool morning so although my initial reaction was that fires and small children are a bad combination, I actually considered the possibility that this was allowed and even consulted the teacher before learning that, in fact, it was not. Chasing cars, yes. Starting fires, no. Got it.

The kids were kids though, often doing things I would have done as a kid, like eating kool-aid type juice crystals until their palms and tongues turned red…..

…like swinging in the playground…

…or just kicking around a soccer ball (much to their delight we brought them this shiny new one on my last day). And then they would turn around and surprise me with things I never would have done, like collecting giant bugs to allegedly take home and fry up for a snack… Boys will be boys though and there was a phase where they brought these giant bugs to school every day. I don’t know what they were called but their feet were like velcro so when they weren’t pretending to eat them raw, they were sticking them to our clothes. Squealing only encouraged them so I actually grew to accept the little velcro buggers as long as they just clung to me and didn’t try to move… The novelty of squealing volunteers would eventually wear off and their limbs and wings would be removed (the bugs’ not the volunteers’) and they would be deposited into backpacks to be fried up and consumed after school.








Though I can’t attest to the flavor of the bugs, I did get to enjoy another yummy favorite, Fanesca! The preparation of this traditional easter meal was a joint effort prepared at the school. Each family contributed. From eggs and beans, to potatoes and milk and everything in between that went into this delicious soup. Everyone had something to share.

Fanesca is basically a big soup with twelve grains, one to represent each disciple. What a feast it was. Everyone got their hands in the pot, literally. From shucking beans and removing curnels of corn from the cob, to frying bread balls and keeping watch over the giant pot.

It was truly a group effort. Definitely the hardiest of all meals I consumed in Ecuador, I never knew ‘soup’ could be so filling. And while I couldn’t have imagined eating another bite, even the littlest tummies went back for seconds. Enjoying the fruits of their labour to the fullest :). As teachers, our creativity was tested daily as we strived to come up with activities to entertain. Physical activities ranging from the lime and spoon race to the now famed ‘chair game’ were a big hit.

While crafts including people art, bracelet beading and paper mache masks tested their craftiness.












And crafty they were, at both the expected and the unexpected. When the intern (aka me) locked the keys inside the school on a no-teacher day, we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. But not for long as the resourceful little minds needed only a chair, a broom, and a flexible child to, well, break in. It was sad to say goodbye to these kids and it was a strange feeling to acknowledge that I had spent so much time in a place to which I will sadly not likely return. I really enjoyed the time spent at Larcacunga as it was both positive and challenging. It won’t soon be forgotten.

Outside the classroom, over and above our mountain climbing trips, our weekends in Ecuador afforded us the opportunity for various other side trips. There was the trip to Mindo for tubing and zip-lining in the cloud forest canopy….. …horseback riding to a waterfall on these trusty steeds…

…and I learned all about SATs, american colleges, and boys from these freshmen-to-be, Eryn and Katie, while hiking the five hours around Cuicocha Lake (this, incidentally, was the day before the Imbabura saga).

These gals were great stand-ins for my sisters for a little while (It was fun to be the big sister for a change) and they even humored me and my need to take charlie’s angels photos at almost every opportunity. Except they made me be in the front. I hate being in the front.

I leave you with one last photo as it seems a fitting photo to signify ‘THE END’ of our adventures in Ecuador :).

Chillin´

Hey There,
I know it has been a while but we have been on a bit of a wirlwind tour here and sitting down to write has not been easy. I know, I know, you all feel terrible for me and share in my pain and for that I thank you. Nic and I are currently in Mancora, Peru. We are enjoying the beautiful weather and beaches and having a great time surfing and relaxing with Josh and Tanis, two friends from back home. It sure is great to see a couple familiar faces and we have been having a great time. It has also been great to get off our feet for a couple days and just relax with nothing to worry about.

Surfing is a blast, it is as hard as hell but man is it ever a good time. I haven't quite reached the level of pro yet but having a great time learning nonetheless. It is stinking hot here and we have had to get used to it as it was freezing most days in Ecuador. An adjustment both Nic and I are willing to make. We are staying at Pilar's Laguna Surf Camp and it is amazing here. Pilar is super fun and really quite amazing. Besides owning the surf camp, she was once the female world surf champ, owned a bakery for four years (had her mango cheese cake today, wow) and still manages to raise her two children and get in a surf or two almost everyday. So yeah, she is pretty much the coolest chick ever (next to nic...ofcourse).

As of now we are just flying by the seat of our pants as we have no schedule until we have to be in Pisco on the 16th of May to start our volunteering. So our next stop is as much of a mystery to us as it is to you. I am leaning towards mountain biking and hiking in the Andes but everyone here keeps on talking about this place called "Machu Pichu" that we should visit but I am pretty sure you can't mountain bike there.

As we have had time to relax here we have also had time to reflect on our time in Ecuador. I've been thinking long and hard about what to write about, I've been wondering how I can explain to you my experience or what these kids mean to me. And then I realized that I can't and it wouldn't be fair to try. I can tell you this though, I sure am going to miss those little bears. I have never seen such joy, I have never heard so much laughter and I have never enjoyed myself more. I know it is cliche and I have probably said it before myself but honestly, these kids taught me more than I could ever teach them. So I leave you with a few photos and the names of the kids from the school. And I leave them with a thank-you. Thank-you, you little bears, I had an amazing time and I will miss you all very much but something tells me, this won't be the last time we will meet....

Grade 1: Kuri Carlos, Nusta, Rosita, Monica and Jose Luis

Grade 2: Tupac, Sisa, Brian, Luis and Alex

Grade 3: Arillo, Jefferson, Byron, Norma, Miriam, Irma, Nancy and Raimy

Grade 4: Cesar

Grade 5: Inti and Henry

Grade 6: Nancy, Norma, Blanca, Veronica and Christian

Grade 7: Freddy, Edgar, Sisa, Sisa and Lucila

Simply Amazing!