Culinary Adventures

We are back from our first official field visit, which was very successful. I will post more about that later. For now, I wanted to catch you up on the interesting (and sometimes unexpected) culinary adventures I have gone on in the past week.
Adventure number 1: goat ear. It is very common for most restaurants to have set lunches. You come in, ask for the set lunch and typically get a big bowl of soup, a glass of horchata (a local specialty tea similar to hibiscus), and then a plate with rice, plantains, beans, and a type of meat. Some of the restaurants offer a choice or meats, while others only have one. I have eaten the fried trout, beef, and pork, so I thought that I would be adventurous and go for the goat. The piece of meat was not very big, and it was only after I could see the cartilage that I realized that I had in fact eaten goat ear meat. It tasted like most other red meats!  For dinner, I was looking for some soup to try and get over a cold I have been fighting. I ended up with chicken feet soup. This too tasted like chicken soup- the only difference is that you have to suck the little bit of meat off of the feet, you cannot really bite it off. Lunch the next day was another adventure- this time I got to experience pig skin. The taste was fine, but the texture was about all that I could handle (imagine eating raw bacon)- but I mixed it up with all of my rice and it went down just fine. While in Oña, taking a break from our research we grabbed lunch at a small two table restaurant. The soup this time had not only chicken feet, but chicken gizzard, and chicken throat. Both Veroníca and Rossana (our research partners) laughed when I called it chicken feet soup! While doing an interview with a cuy (guinea pig) farmer, I could not help but look at all of the chickens running about around my feet and hope that the ones I had just eaten were well cleaned! Cuy of course was the next item on my lunch menu. They too taste like any other red meat, but if you are really hungry be sure to order more than 1/4 of a cuy because they really do not have much meat! Today, Jaz and I went out to lunch with two professors from the University of Idaho that are flying out tomorrow. None of us are exactly positive as to what we were served, I am the only one that finished it, and am most certain that it was tripe!
We have been eating about a new fruit a day. I cannot remember the names of all of them, but will admit that some of them have some very interesting flavor. Still one more meal left in the day...the adventure continues! 

Road Rules?

Well I tried to post last night, but the Andes have been throwing some pretty good weather our way and the internet connection was spotty at best. There is a bit of blue sky this morning- so there is still hope for a bit of a river tan this summer!
The trip to Peru was fabulous- not that you could call 18 hours on a bus in 3 days anything short of fabulous....well actually I am sure that I could come up with a lot of interesting descriptive words, but I will spare you for now. Most of the weekend was spent relaxing- something that I do not remember doing since December!

Rafael and Elena enjoying a relaxing Sunday morning.

Yes, we did get out of the house- but I will have to admit that I think I enjoyed the couch time more than anything! Well the great company could not be beat! Rafael, Elena, and baby are doing fantastic. Their apartment is adorable and life in Piura is well life in Piura- not much has changed. Even at 17 weeks I think that their little niño is all ready full of piss and vinegar just like Elena. They will hopefully get to find out the sex of the baby this week, but the baby has been giving them a bit of attitude during their last several doctors visits and literally turns it's back on the camera! 

Enjoying a little Peruvian ceviche!

These guys come in and out of the apartment all of the time.
I woke up to this guy hanging out next to my head. Elena says that
they eat all of the bad bugs- not a bad pet at all!

Before the invasion of the Spaniards and the subsequent conversion to catholicism, there were numerous "religions" celebrated by the indigenous peoples of South America. A lot of this religion was/is dominated by a lot of rituals and superstitions. While I am not a religious person myself, it is still interesting to observe the behavior of others and their social practices. It is common practice in Peru to either wear or decorate your home with a local seed that is said to provide good luck and protect you from the envy of others. Given the string of "bumps in the road" that Greg and I have experienced recently I thought "what the heck," and when Elena, Haley, and I went to the beautiful markets in Catacoas I bought a necklace and a couple of bracelets made of these seeds. Beyond their "protective" properties, they will look great with my black dress. 

Now on to driving. As mentioned before, living down here is somewhat reminiscent of  living in one of the fast and furious movies. There really are no road rules. What we consider to be a two lane highway in the US can easily become a 4 or 5 lane highway down here- without any warning. I should not say that there is not warning, as everyone uses their horns down here with the intent of telling the other driver "I am making my move, what are you going to do about it?" A pedestrian right away is a fantasy down here- absolutely non-existent. Rafael and I were watching some news footage from Lima and in a 45 second vignette, probably saw 20 people catapulted through the sky after being hit by a vehicle. Raw footage, no editing. Thus as our bus was weaving its way back to Loja, winding through cloud forests on a one lane dirt road, driving in excessive speeds, and being passed in every way imaginable- I could not help but take notice of how the locals were fairing the ride. Every church or cross the bus passed (which was a significant number), the passengers that were awake would all make the traditional cross across their body. While I am sure that there is some religious merit to that action- the majority of me believes that they too are aware of the ridiculous road rules of the country and will do anything for a little peace of mind. 

Paramo, blisters, and extreme driving!

Well it has been an eventful few days! Vilcabamba was beautiful- though a lot of strange individuals live there. Veronica's family's house is absolutely beautiful, and walking along the small river that flows near town reminded me a lot of evening walks along the Little Salmon. I saw my first Ecuadorian scorpion, which are small and very similar to the scorpions on the Bruneau River. They are not deadly, but according to Boris , Veronica's husband (who speaks from experience) they pack a very painful sting. Boris and I scooped the little guy up and put him outside. We went to a very neat open air bar, which was quite enjoyable if you could get past the extreme drunkenness of the locals and the tremendously loud music that they were booming through the speakers. Upon returning from the bar I saw my first lightning beetle. Not sure what the scientific name is, but it is about the size of a fingernail and when threatened emits a very bright neon green light. It was a bit startling entering the dark house to see this flashing green light move across the floor. Too bad I did not have the video camera with me!  The Vilcabamba journey did not end so well for me, as something that I ate while we were there did not agree with me at all! For the next two days I could not keep anything down or in, but am now recovered for the most part.

The view from Veronica's front porch!

A praying mantis hanging out on a plant on the porch.

Some beautiful flowers from our evening hike along the river. 

Monday and Tuesday were very productive days on campus. We are getting our interviews, mapping dialogue, and questionnaires finalized and ready for translation. On Wednesday, we went on a "Greg style" adventure and drove/hiked up to Las Tres Lagunas. These are the lakes that the entire research team is working to try to obtain Ramsar protection for. It was really wonderful to see them, the new dirt road that now dissects them, and their potential uses. It puts things into perspective for us as we prepare to talk to the area communities about them. The road is thankfully not that great and construction of it has been temporarily blocked by the federal government. Driving in South America is a lot like living in one of the fast and the furious movies on a daily basis. I was riding in a vehicle that Veronica was driving (a female driver in Ecuador is a bit rare, but Veronica is one of a kind) and she is a safe driver for Ecuadorian standards, but still provided excitement for us. After a river crossing, several necessary pushes through mud patches, and quality driving over/around wash outs, the road became so bad that we had to hike the rest of the way. Jaz and I loaded our packs with food and other equipment that the aquatic team needs for their studies of the lake and began the trek.

Finally at Las Tres Lagunas!

The road dissecting the lakes.

Up in the paramo and cloud forests of Ecuador- where they receive 14 meters of precipitation in an average year!

The social science research crew: Jess, Veronica, Rosanna, and Jaz.

A few views will hiking back down to the vehicles.

A bromeliad- common food for the Andean Spectacled Bear. 

A part of the road.

Turns out that I did not break in my Asolo boots as well as I had thought- and proof that gorilla tape is just not the same as duct tape!

Once back to the vehicles the drive out went as smooth as could be. We then drove into Ona where we talked with several local government officials that were very glad to be of any assistance. As we were walking back to our car we passed by a couple of street vendors grilling whole cuy (guinea pig). It smelled delicious and Jaz and I were very hungry, but we pushed on. We all ate at a small little restaurant and enjoyed our chicken, rice, and beets. Ona is quite small, and finding a hostel for the night proved difficult. We ended up driving back to Saraguro (I will tell you the history of these people in another blog) where we took the last two rooms available in town. The 25th of May is a holiday here in Ecuador when they celebrate their day of independence from Peru. Thus everyone was coming to town for the long weekend and the celebration. This also means that we do not have to work and get a three day weekend. To avoid the non-stop fireworks and drunken debauchery of the city Haley (one of my roommates) and I are headed off to Piura, Peru to visit one of my best friends Elena. We leave for the 9 hour bus ride tonight at midnight! Buenvenidos Peru!

Finally a morning to sleep in a bit. The faculty from UTPL took us out on the town last night. It was a great time for all, and funny to listen to all of our Spanish after a couple of drinks. The local drink canelazo is made from sugarcane and served like a hot toddy made with hotwater, aguardiente, lemon, and canela (cinnamon)- it is quite potent! Last year one of the students earned the nickname of Sr. Canelazo after an eventful night out on the town. Last night was not that eventful, but I did wake up with quite the headache this morning- even after just sipping one shot of canelazo last night.
This morning Megan and Haley headed up into Podocarpus National Park to start working on their Andean Bear Plots. Mikaela (my other roommate) and I walked around downtown for a bit. We found a great market that is just a couple of blocks from our house. I am sure that I will be visiting this market frequently in the next two months.

A couple of the fruits I brought back from the market. The large prickly looking fruit is a Guanabana. The fruit is white and pulpy and has a taste similar to a pineapple strawberry combination with a very perfume aftertaste. The other fruit is a  guaba. The pulp is white as well and very tasty!

The inside of the Guanabana.

Now we are off to Vilcabamba with Veronica, my mentor at UTPL. Her parents have a house there, with a pool! It is 45 minutes outside of Loja- a favorite retirement location for Americans. It is also famous for its drinking water which is suppose to lead to a long fruitful life. Some residents claim to be 120 years old! Have a fabulous weekend!

Welcome to Loja!

Here are a few shots of my new home! My room with a small balcony and lots of fabulous light!

The living room

The family room

The kitchen with a breakfast nook. A large formal dining room is adjacent to the kitchen.

The main balcony

Spacious rooftop "deck"

Looking onto the UTPL Campus from the bus stop.

Looking over the city of Loja

Bienvenidos a Loja!

  

Haley and I shared a cute little converted attic room at the hostel in Quito where we spent our first 2 days. It was in a very quiet neighborhood and had numerous adorable patios for relaxing and taking in the views. It even had a relatively normal looking shower, though as typical in South America the hot water only trickled for 3 or 4 minutes. It is funny how much I missed the smells of the hostel, the fresh squeezed juice (passion fruit for our first breakfast), and other little details that I would have never considered.

Quito is a beautiful city nestled in the mountains. We toured Quito for a day venturing to several beautiful churches, the presidential palace, the angel that overlooks the city, and of course the center of the world! At the equator we watched water drain in opposite directions, saw some impressive scientific specimens from throughout Ecuador, and even tried to balance an egg on a nail- (Daniel was the only successful one)!

This morning we flew from Quito to Loja, which is a valley of such beauty- I all ready feel like I could spend the rest of my life here! Haley, Mikaela and I are all living in the same house, and our host mother Maria is fantastic. I will post photos of our house and hopefully some of Loja tomorrow. The Universidad Particular de Loja is truly one of the cleanest most beautiful campuses that I have ever been on! Pictures to come tomorrow. Buenos noches mis amigos!

I have arrived- and it has all ready been quite an adventure. At 8pm the night prior to departure my computer decided to crash while downloading ArcGIS for my research down here in Ecuador. Thankfully I have a loving partner that let me take his brand new computer (purchased so that he could Skype with me while I am down here). He also worked fervently to get mine fixed in 1 day in attempt of having a UI professor that is traveling down here deliver it to me. Unfortunately though, even after the overnight repair fees, the professor did not have room and thus Greg is stuck with the now partially functioning computer. Not the most pleasant way to start out a trip!
Greg dropped me off for our bus to the Spokane Airport at 2:45am on the morning of the 14th. I will have to admit that this time has been the hardest goodbye that I have ever had. Leaving the boys and my 4 legged furball Talus has been much more difficult than I anticipated. Either way, we made it to Spokane only to be faced with more complications. I was asked to check one of the aquatic research team's equipment bags as it was believed that we were each allotted two checked bags. Thus, I stuffed my one bag to the gills. Upon arrival we found out that we had to pay for the second checked bag, plus any baggage that was overweight. All in all the baggage dilemma cost me $350, which the program director "hopes" will get reimbursed to us. I sure hope so too! We then boarded a few planes and flew from Spokane to Salt Lake to Atlanta and finally in to Quito. We arrived at La Pasada del Mapel at around midnight, but we had finally arrived!