Update 6

Dressed up in the traditional clothing of San Clemente

Expedition Mode

Our quote of the week: 

“We’re here to climb mountains yeah, but the mountains we are truly here to climb are the mountains inside, that’s what really matters… the other mountain matters too, cuz we have to get to Papallacta.” – Michael Dammer

Zoe, Siena, Nicole and Ciara

For the last month and a half we have created a rhythm, a heartbeat, a kind of clockwork in which we revolve. It is not perfect, it is not the most efficient system, but it is our own, and in its construction we control its constant ebb and flow. We have created this beat, this energy, this sound; so that we can move, so that in a time of fatigue and sickness, we can fall back on its velvety cushion, we can feel the support of its many hands and use its strength to feel a pant of our soul that may be waning.

We are embarking upon the second week of our first expedition and we are beginning to truly appreciate the connections and relationships we have with each other, with the land, and ourselves. We started by going to the community of San Clemente, the wonderful and inspiring home of our friend and teacher Tupac. There we were able to live, learn and immerse ourselves in their families. We spoke Spanish (as much as we could), we prepared food, worked in the fields, and began to understand how these people live with such connection to the pacha mama (earth mother.)

I am so appreciative of how these families welcomed us into their homes, how they shared their culture with us, and of how they dressed us up in their beautiful clothing and danced us into the night with their wonderful music.

"Where are we going?"

Early Saturday morning we rose, our San Clemente Mamas made us a delicious breakfast, then we split into two groups and began solo. One group, cleverly named the “Mushpas,” took a route through rivers and ravines to the base of Cubilche, and along the way many adventures took place. Tommy had a digestive situation after drinking most of a bottle of strongly fermented juice (and has fully recovered since). This group, consisting of Ayere, Malcolm, Phoebe, Shai, Tommy, Meredith, and Mateo, walked an extra 4k after a change in the meeting spot, but all’s well that ends well, especially thanks to their well cooked food. The party of the “Alpacas” were not as fortunate. After some fire problems Zoë, Charlie, Kat, Nicole, Churo, Ciara, and Siena hiked from San Clemente over mountains and into “The Forbidden Forest,” tailed by our faithful and loving companion Paca. Paca followed us all the way from San Clemente.  Paca is now back home, though greatly missed. He’s a black furry ball of cuteness, commonly known as a dog.

Heading towards Cubilche

After both groups reunited and a short rest we began the next chapter of our expedition. We packed our bikes with panniers and set out to traverse the Ecuadorian highlands. I’m not going to be passive here and say that this was easy; it was quite honestly one of the most challenging things I’ve done, but also one of the most rewarding.  It is amazing for me to look back and remember our sweat, our work, the landscape and the people. To know that with each peddle revolution your body gains a new kind of knowledge. Some of us are sick, many are tired, but still we go on holding each other in the creases of our hands.

Now as I sit at this little wooden table in a small wooden hut somewhere in the Andes, the lights are off and I can see only by the luminescence of a headlamp that’s not mine.  A moth is incessantly buzzing and it mixes with
the snores of Charlie, the deep breath
of Zoë, and shuffle of the various sleeping bags. I hold Nicole in my thoughts, as the rest of us surely do in their dreams. She is safely back at Palugo recovering and resting from her intestinal struggles, and I send her my love. It is not the same without her.

Tomorrow we shall rise and shine again, and feel the burn and the love, and the love and the burn. In the evening we will bathe in the hot springs of Papallacta and clean ourselves from the hardships of the highlands, from sickness and fatigue, and from those waters we shall draw out strength, courage and wisdom.

Lots of love to you all,

Hasta pronto, Siena Powers.

Update 5

A day at Tatoo

Dear Readers,

Our arrival to Ecuador marked a new period within our journey, and in a way it feels like a completely different life than before. We have been here for a little over a week now and have begun to feel its rhythm working within us. The first few days we took slowly to acclimate ourselves to this new culture and take in the amazing sights around us. As the week set in we began to pick up our work and set into motion the activities at hand. Our biggest project has been working on our knives, a tool whose countless uses will aid us for the rest of our lives (unless of course we loose them). Other than a few finishing touches the knives are now all done and it continues to amaze me how different and unique each one is. It was quite a process making them, and I know better than most the irksome feeling of not only having to redo something once, but countless times.

Hailstorm in Palugo

We have also been spending much of our energy learning new phrases in Spanish; Tupac has presented himself as quite an adequate teacher. Last Monday the more advanced Spanish speakers among us put on a glorious production, in which Nicole was a popular yet frustrated teenage boy who Phoebe was in love with. Malcolm was the proud and beautiful mother and Ciara made quite the Papa. All in all it was the production of the year. This introduction lended itself well to the theatre class we had with Marcela later in the week. It was wonderful to hear a little bit of her past and how art and creative expression has weaved its way through her life in such a thoughtful way.

Ayere at Tatoo

Apart from that we have been knitting up a storm, making pants at Tatoo, learning about the digestive system and nutrition, the geology and geography of Ecuador, running in the mornings, and practicing our skills at yoga. We have continued on with morning chores as usual but the experience is quite different here than it was in New Hampshire. For some of us the day starts at 3:45 when we rise to milk the cows. Personally I love milking the cows, it’s a somewhat serene way to start your day, but for others I know it’s a little harder to rationalize the early start. We still work on the farm, in the gardens, chop the firewood; the cooks prepare the meals and the Hormigas continue to sterilize the poop bucket.

Navigation class in the Highlands

On Thursday we had our first experiential navigation lesson out in the Ecuadorian Highlands. We left Palugo around 11:00 am and drove up, up, up and up in the backs of the farm trucks until we reached the mountains. When we got there it was sunny and clear, and you could see for miles. The mountains seemed to spread out under your feet like a colossal cloth of blue and green silk, it draped itself across the landscape and with its ripples it created the drastic edges in which we explored. We split up into smaller groups and began our quest using only a map, a compass and our amounts of knowledge about navigation. At this point in our hunt we became familiar with why it is so difficult to navigate in the highlands. As we looked out at our course, preparing to take our bearing, a thick sheet of fog and scattered rain descended on our clear, crisp day, leaving us on, what looked to be, the edge of the world. Now all we could do was hope we didn’t fall off. Our goal was to complete a treasure hunt of sorts in which we had to find various pieces of wood that were stuck in the ground, with the words “Kroka” eloquently carved onto them. My group (which consisted of Ayere, Malcolm, and Nicole) succeeded in finding the first marker through the fog, and afterwards as the weather once again shifted course, leaving us in a cool, but clear, fall day, Mathias decided to change our course. We were instructed to find a seemingly mythical lake, which was of course quite visible on the map, but nowhere to be found in the landscape. If we asked Mathias if we were headed in the right direction he would shrug his shoulders and smirk, he really was quite helpful. After many adventures, that included Malcolm halfway down a hole and our attempted escape/ sprint up a hill that nearly sacrificed my lungs forever, we found the forlorn lake tucked away in the rocks. Although we could not physically go to it due to the extensive time we took to find it, we feasted our eyes upon its sight from a nearby peak. Its watery depths were well worth some thorns in Malcolm’s feet, I don’t know if I would say the same if they were mine. When we finally returned to the group at the end of the day, everyone was bursting with their own stories and jokes, and one could see how ready we are to be out on our own, traveling through Ecuador.

Meredith knitting her hat

Now, as we prepare ourselves in as many ways as we know how, our first major expedition draws closer with the minutes. On Wednesday we embark upon a month long journey up into the mountains where we will stay with the community of San Clamente, and down into the rivers and jungles to the community of Shivacocha. We will travel on buses, bikes, rafts, and our own two feet all the while observing and learning the land, the people, the plants, the earth and ourselves. Afterwards with weathered hands we shall return to this place of growing abundance and rustic charm with a gift that is for now unknown.

Hasta Pronto, lots of love to you all,

  -Siena Siesta Emily Kate Flower Powers-

Kat’s reflection on herbs:

It is amazing that I have been here for three days and I did not realize the amount of herbs that I am surrounded by. An array of lavender, rosemary, and more exotic herbs lay right outside my door. I enjoyed learning all of their different uses. It’s almost like God or some higher being put these plants on Earth for the sole reason of healing, and we are neglecting the gift. People choose to take pills to nourish their bodies when they could walk outside to their own medicine cabinets. The world offers an immense amount of resources that are unknown to people. I’m very glad that I took the time to learn about them.

Nicole

“The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives”

-Native American Proverb-

“To gain knowledge, acquire something each day. To gain wisdom, eliminate something each day.”

-Lao Tzu-

Zoë would like to say a very happy birthday to her mum, Meg. Shai would also like to say Happy birthday to her friend Naomi!

Recipe for Tiesto Tortillas:

Measure out however much flour you want depending on the participants who will be eating. Add a few tbsp of baking powder. Melt a lot of butter, as Julia Child said (imagine in high voice) “The more butter the better”. Heat up some water and dissolve some salt (kinda a lot) into it. Combine said ingredients until you have a good texture, buttery, doughy, shouldn’t be too flaky or crumbly. Pack into little balls and roll out into circles that are about 4x4 inches. Cook on a wok like pan - handmade of clay - over campfire, Enjoy your creation with butter or any type of delicious concoction you can think of!

Churo and Phoebe

Tommy is getting a haircut with a machete

Charlie with "Rabbit Ears and Ciara

Update 4

 Dear Readers,

When you have grown up somewhere there is no need to picture yourself on a map. You have formed yourself around the world you live in, and in that way you know it. You may not be conscious of every tree you pass, you may not know its name but you have seen it before. You may not know each person you encounter, but in a way they are familiar even if their face is new. You become so comfortable within an environment that you can become complacent. You no longer notice the small nuances that make a day beautiful, a song that someone is playing, a mountain that embodies the countless thoughts of wonder that run through your head.  It’s a strange feeling to be suddenly plucked out of this environment, as if you were a ripe apple, and dropped into the basket of something so new, so different, so beautiful that you cant help but catch every detail, see every mountain and listen to every sound. In a way it can be distracting from going on with life. You think of yourself as a pair of eyes that has forgot their body. You can not help but stammer at the feeling of being oceans away from the place where every detail has been memorized, that is why you have grown to pass them by. As you feast upon this wonderful change, you come to remember where you came from with a resurrected light; you think about all the things you may have missed all the memories that make it your home. Suddenly you realize that this new, exciting place is not so different, the people are still humans, and the land is still the same earth. The sun that sets every evening is only a messenger that will shine upon the place you have left, and in time will return to you with the same everlasting light as before. In a way you have gone nowhere because you have not left yourself. You have not left the people you came here with and within their dynamic there is a quality that cannot be named, a quality that creates a nomadic peace.

I would like to thank our new teachers who have been so wonderful about coming in at this stage of our journey; Mathias and Lisl have been so great! We also have welcomed in a new apprentice teacher to stand by our lovely Raina, Tupac is an amazing addition to our growing community. We hope you are all doing well; we certainly are at our new home in Ecuador. Lot’s of love to you all.

-Siena Powers.

Happy birthday to Mateo he turned 19 on the 27^th! The day we flew to Ecuador (we got donuts in the airport, along with some strange looks)! Meredith would also like to say a happy 17^th birthday to Ali!

` Te de la semana: fresh ginger chopped into slices, with lemon grass leaves. Put in hot water let steep! Another good one is dandelion root; dandelion is one of the best cleansing herbs and is great for the liver. You can also eat the leaves in salads with some clover flowers that add some nice color and are a blood-purifying herb that is filled with vitamin C.

-A thank you to Marcea for teaching us about herbs and making salve with us, it was amazing!

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, if a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are we make them worse, if we treat people as they ought to be we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

-Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe