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Ecuador Update 4: A very special birthday celebration (2.15.07)

I barely slept last night. Shortly after going to bed, I started getting a sinus headache that only got worse as the night went on. By the middle of the night, my head hurt so bad that I was nauseous. Because I was on the top bunk of a tall bunk bed with no ladder, in a strange place, in the dark, in a room where Mike, Jay and Jeff Erwin, our videographer were asleep, I couldn't bring myself to get up, get down and rummage around looking for medicine.

With twelve people needing to get showered and dressed in two bathrooms (and one of the bathrooms is outside), to breakfast by 7:30 a.m. and on the road by 8:00 a.m., Mike got up in our room at 4:00 a.m. to start the shower rotation. Jay followed. By 6:00 a.m., I finally got out of bed to find some medicine. Mike was awake and kind enough to hand me a flashlight to aid my search.

As more people were getting up, I found others were experiencing similar symptoms, if not to the degree of mine. About forty-five minutes later, I started to feel the first tinges of some relief. The jarring rides, the dust, the altitude and the lack of sleep must be taking their toll.
We gathered for breakfast. On the table were cups of fresh fruit Margarita and Marco had prepared for us. Also on the table were bread rolls, butter and something new to most of us for breakfast - fresh homemade caramel to spread on the rolls. After everyone finished off some scrambled eggs, we said our goodbyes to Marco and Margarita and their Akita puppy Eva. Eva didn't pay us much attention, as she was chewing on a small lamb's skull. Life is just different on the farm! Our time at La Posada was a joy, and a bargain at only $22 per person, including meals.

We hit the road to return to Pujili to convene before leaving for the next stop. As slow and arduous as the climb up to the Salamag community was, the journey down the mountain would blow away any theme park ride for speed, turns and near misses. Even Ellie our local interpreter was getting car sick.

After a quick stop in Pujili and a stock up of more soccer balls to give away, we took the thirty minute journey to the Insinch de Tovares Infantes community. We arrived a little early and more buses of kids arrived after we did. The purpose of today's event was a birthday party for World Vision sponsored kids in this community. One day each year, World Vision hosts this party, which included some games, a DJ playing some traditional music, a clown show, a short performance by Big Daddy Weave and gifts. We met Pilar, the World Vision director for this community, who gave us a rundown for the afternoon.

The guys kicked a soccer ball around with some of the kids until it was time for things to start. All the kids were then gathered around for Big Daddy Weave to play them a few songs. A good time was had by all.

While the kids watched the clown, we went into one of the community buildings to be shown an economic development project World Vision was doing there. Sophia, a university intern majoring in Industrial Engineering, joined by another intern Santiago, demonstrated a process where they are making honey and other products from the cuyabo plant. The cuyabo plant is similar looking to an aloe vera plant, but is very large - five to six feet tall. It can have a flowering stem in the center that reaches a height of twenty feet and contains the seeds for the plant.

A hole is bored through the base of the plant, above the ground but just below the base of the leaves. Liquid gathers in this cavity. This liquid is gathered through the hole and cooked to make the products. A large rock is inserted into the hole until it's time to gather liquid again.
In the community kitchen, Sophia and the ladies from the community who do the processing showed us how they cook down the juice and what they make from it. The first is a honey product. They made some waffles for us to dip into the honey for tasting. The honey is sweet and dark, a bit like a thin sorghum. We then tasted a jelly they make spooned on to some graham crackers. This was very popular! Second and third samples were taken. Finally, we were offered small cups of a cider type drink with what appeared to be oats in the bottom of the glass. Again, it was sweet, very delicious and the oats added a nice texture and nut flavor to it.

After congratulations to all for their innovations, we headed outside. It was time to distribute the gifts. Jeremy and Jeff climbed into the back of a pick up truck to hand out back packs to all of the kids. It was a fitting last experience with the kids of Ecuador.

Instead of staying for lunch, we decide to head out so that we might have time to see the equator and buy some gifts for our families. For lunch, we stop at Gus, a local fried chicken chain. Gus can make some chicken! It was very fine fast food and hit the spot.

Passing through Quito, we make it to the equator. We enter the park around it, do a little shopping and take some pictures on the equator line in front of the monument. You could feel everyone starting to relax and recover a bit.

That night, we returned to the first place we arrived when we landed at the beginning of the week, the Hotel Dann Carlton. We dropped off our things and meet in the hotel restaurant for a final dinner with our hosts from World Vision.