NHESP 2011 Update 6

Dear readers,

On Wednesday, October 3, our band of merry travelers departed the warm comfort of our home at Palugo to experience, in its intricacy, the various climates and cultures of Ecuador—highlands, mountains, jungle. Our first destination was San Clemente, a small village nestled in the mountains. It was also a special destination as it is the home of our dear group member, Roberto. After catching a bus in Pifo and enjoying a very long, very bumpy bus ride, our group arrived in San Clemente and departed to the various families who were kind enough to welcome us weary vagabonds into their homes. Hila and Hytham resided with Jorge—an excellent local baker. One morning Hila and Hytham were even able to awaken to the pleasure of making bread, digging their fingers into the soft flour of the bread dough as they learned to bake bread following Jorge’s own, unique recipe. Kestrel and Clayton stayed with Juan, where they had the firsthand experience of living on a small family farm in Ecuador. Zoe, Robert, and I all lived with Jaime and Maria, who manage their own small farm, as well as a small store, “for the community,” as Jaime said. And finally, Nelly, Leah, Leo, Noah, Ezra, and Isabelle (now affectionately known as Isa), stayed with Naty, in the house that commonly became known as the party house.

            For the next three days we were truly immersed in the culture of San Clemente—sharing and aiding in the creation of each meal with our families, until, by the end of our stay in that incredibly special, beautiful village, we felt as though we had each gained an entirely new, Spanish-speaking family in the highlands of Ecuador. We even were able to all join together to play futbol (soccer) at the local escuela (school)—a game during which Thomas and Marcea showed no mercy.

            One of the highlights of our stay in San Clemente, however, was the opportunity to learn embroidery from the women of the village, who were quite skilled at the craft. At the end of the day, thanks to the patient guidance of our host mothers, we were able to embroider the shirts we will be wearing for graduation. All are adorned with symbols that we hold close to our hearts.

            At the conclusion of our stay, we formed a goodbye circle with our families at Roberto’s parents’ house and departed for our next destination—the base of Imbabura. We spent the majority of the day climbing up and up and up, and despite the heaviness of our packs, we arrived in time to set up a beautiful camp next to a water source fed by the mountain. The site was nestled in a pine grove at the bottom of a small valley. Although making a fire at such high altitude was certainly more difficult than doing so back in Palugo or at Kroka in New Hampshire, we were able to enjoy a warm dinner that night during which we learned of our next challenge as a group—a group solo. During this undertaking , our dear teachers, Thomas and Marcea, would be departing from us, and we would be on our own, deciding where to adventure to next; a choice entirely our own as long as we were able to reach Zuleta, the next village we were to visit, by noon two days later.

            In the end we chose to hike Cubilche, a beautiful dome-shaped mountain, and set up our home for the night at its summit. Although the day was a long one, interspersed with periods of both chilly rain and the scorching heat of the sun, as well as the fact that we were not able to keep an adequate cooking fire burning because of the lack of dry wood, we enjoyed a meal all together, snuggled up under a tarp staked down by our machetes, next to a lake on the top of a volcano surrounded by the cloud—we felt happy, we felt loved, we felt at home.

            We spent all of the following morning navigating our way through mountains, fields, and farms to Zuleta, the village of German,* a master leatherworker and close friend of Marcea and Thomas. Along the way, we had to ask directions from a few friendly horsemen, farmers, and fellow travelers, but eventually we reached our destination. We enjoyed a lunch, reunited with Thomas and Marcea at German’s*, and settled into our second round of homestays. German helped us make the sheaths for our knives, which all turned out very beautiful, if I may say so myself.

            Although it is now a few days since our stay in Zuleta, and we are currently in a place far from there, I must draw this update to a close because of the full life of our group on expedition and leave you all in a state of wondering as to our current whereabouts. But be assured that we are happy, we are together, we are one in heart and soul.

*Yes, that is really his name.