Ciao Sayausi

June 1, 2010
Tuesday,7:54pm
Bayville, NY
Post-Thunderstorm

Well after 27 months in Ecuador Peace Corps has officially come to a close. We have spent the last month job hunting and visiting family and are now back in New York getting ready for our upcoming work in the Yukon Delta this summer (more details in a future post) before moving to Maine in the Fall. This will be the last Ecuador post and it will be a collection of events that took place during our last few months of service (somewhat of a potpourri).

We hope you enjoyed seeing, perhaps a bit too much of, our lives in Sayausi during the past two years! (and thanks for all of the comments, we have loved reading them)


Iliniza Norte: February 3

In combination with one of many trips that we had to take to the Peace Corps office in Quito we decided to try our luck at hiking up yet another Ecuadorian Volcano, Iliniza Norte. Surprise, we didn't make it to the top (see earlier posts regarding Volcan Cotopaxi, and Volcan Chimborazo). Once again we remembered from our training as Wilderness EMTs that preventing an emergency is always the preferred option, and given the strong winds that were blowing I had no interest in experiencing the part of the mountain known as "Paso de la Muerte". We had planned to spend the night at 4,800 meters above sea level, but after a delayed departure from Quito, two buses, and 6hrs of hiking uphill we realized that we were not going to find the shelter before dark. (for those of you who have never experienced it, searching for a hut in the dark on the side of an Andean volcano is not fun) So shortly before sunset, and in the middle of a vertical scree field with swarming clouds and menacing weather, we decided to turn around and head back to the hostal in the nearest town even though we had enough food to last us two full days on the mountain. The decision was a good one as we both survived, enjoyed the sunsetting on the nearby glaciers of Cotopaxi, and the hot showers and warm tea felt great even though it was after midnight by the time we reached the hostal and were able to enjoy them.




Carnaval: February 6

What is February without Carnaval...check out last year's post for in-depth coverage on Carnaval Festivities. This year we were up at Maribel's house again and "played carnaval" with all sorts of food, ice cold water, corn starch, and foam. We also "played carnaval" the day before with my soccer team but didn't bring the camera as the festivities took place along the shore of the rived that runs through town. Imagine what you see in the pictures below but instead of a kitchen full of Maribel's family, visualize my soccer team, the mens' counterpart to my soccer team, lots of soot from the meat that was grilled, mayonnaise, mustard, and lots of dunking people in the river.



"Playing Carnaval" with syrupy fig juice for "la foto"

"Playing Carnaval" with whatever was within reach

Banana?


Good Fanesca Friday: April 2

Our landlady Dona Carmen invited us to her house for Good Friday. It is tradition to make a HUGE meal for Good Friday and invite as many people as you can afford to feed. Dona Carmen prepared an eight course meal (she said she used to make eleven but nobody would eat the last few courses) including the ever famous fanesca. Fanesca is a soup made with at least nine different grains and reconstituted salted fish a.k.a. bacalao. One spoonful of this soup is enough to satiate the hungriest of stomaches. We were served a giant bowl as the fourth course in the Good Friday feast. It was all I could do to stir the fanesca around in the bowl a few times, take a bite, and politely say, "ya."

During the meal there was a HUGE hail storm to go along with the HUGE meal, so of course I took some video.



Semana Santa procession

more proceeding

Good Friday Hail storm

When it hails it hails

Have you ever seen hail bounce off of an Andean Papaya?


Happy Birthday Mary and Norma: April 3

Norma and I share the same birthday, so the family was planning a big bash for the fifth. When we told them we were leaving the fourth they rescheduled and had us up for a cuy-eatin', cake smashin'time. The party was great, the food was delicious, and I learned one more Ecuadorian tradition on the way out.

The birthday person is invited to take a bite out of the cake after they blow out the candles. I had seen this before and noticed that someone comes up from behind and pushes the birthday person's face into the cake. Now, when I have seen this on previous occasions the push only results in a small amount of cake on the nose of said birthday person. So, when my turn came to take a bite out of the cake I was expecting a small, gentle push from behind. Long story short, the only reason it looks like a gentle nudge from behind is because the birthday person uses all their might to keep from getting their face completely shoved into the lovely cake in front of them. I, not being prepared to brace myself for what I thought would be a little push, got my face smashed into the cake! I am quite sure there was more cake on my face than was left on the table.

So, one more lesson learned, one more birthday celebrated, and one last cuy eaten before our departure from Sayausi. Not bad for one day.




Saying Goodbye: April 4

We had originally been scheduled to depart Ecuador on April 23rd, but for medical reasons (happy side note, the amoebas are finally gone!!!) we left a few weeks early. This came as a huge surprise to us and our friends in Sayausi. For the past year they had been talking about our goodbye party, and they were all disappointed that we were going to be leaving in such a hurry. Even though they didn't have any time to plan, that did not stop them from giving us an incredibly sweet send-off that we will never forget.

Needless to say there is no way to describe what it is like to leave a place you have come to know as home and people that have become your family. Viva Sayausi!



Wine for everyone (so what if we are in a moving van)

Tu eres mi gran amigo

van entering bus terminal