Welcome to the Jungle! (part 1)

Hello all! I realize it has been long time no blog for me. My first few weeks back I tried to do some exploring, but never got around to blogging, and then my position as Social Media Captain for Sawah Bali (see my earlier post here) really began to take over. We have been working hard to start our crowd funding campaign as well as getting together the first news letter. Oh and I still have my day job of teaching too...

no electricity has never made
me more thankful for
my headlamp

As many of you may know, I will be returning back to the US in just two weeks now (at the end of this cycle). Before my time with Ecuador comes to an end, I tried to make a sort of Ecua-bucket list, or really places I felt I needed to see before I left.

This past weekend was Carnival meaning that we had a long weekend. I decided I would take this opportunity to get back into NATURE! I planned myself a trip to the jungle. I found an amazing jungle lodge called Cotococha right outside of Tena, which is about 5 hrs (by bus) east of Quito. This lodge has no electricity in the cabins and no wifi, so it sounded like just what I needed. (Though I would have liked to go deeper into the jungle, the four days off wasn't enough time to go out to a place that would involve about 10 hours of travel each way.) The saga of booking could be another blog post all together, feel free to ask if you really want all the (typical) details (of struggle).

I was extremely excited for my vacation. We had work on Friday, so I decided to leave very early Saturday morning. Turns out this was totally the way to do it since travel was CRAZY on Friday with everyone trying to escape the city (most people head to the beach for Carnival). I arrived at the south bus station around 6:30 and was able to hop on a 7:00 am bus direct to Tena.

I had typical bus company. A few screaming children, people trying to sell things, and my personal favorite: the woman and her teeny black toy poodle sitting next to me who I watched share breakfast.

I got to Tena around 11:45 (we made really good time, minimal traffic luckily), and before heading off to the lodge I went in search of some food. I will say it's a completely different feeling wandering around in one of the smaller cities. With my big back pack and painfully pasty white skin. I clearly stick out as a tourist, but there is not the same type of anxiety you feel when in Quito. I wandered up a main street for a while and found a small shop where I got a yuca pastry filled with cheese and a HUGE orange/carrot juice. This is when I was reminded of how EXPENSIVE living in Quito is (in comparison to the smaller cities that is). After I hopped in a cab (once again, any cab is safe, not the same sense of big city danger) and took a 20 minute ride to my secluded jungle lodge.

When I arrived I was greeted by the very small and friendly staff. I was given the whole lowdown (they asked English or Spanish, I said Spanish. It was a good weekend of practice!) I was shown to my cabin and told that if I wanted to shower I should use the biodegradeble products available to me (part of the reason I chose this place was because of how ecologically friendly it seemed).

I was exhausted from my week and all my early mornings so naturally the first thing I did was take a nap...

...but then I woke up and decided it would be a good time for me to take the self-guided walk around the grounds. I walked down the river (about 50 steps from my cabin, though I did not have one of the cabins ON the water), and then headed into the jungle. It felt so good to breath in REAL air again!

Of course there were some questionable parts of the path, not limited to the "bridge" above, but over all it was a nice little loop.

I will truly miss the creative translations

I headed back to my cabin to grab my kindle (that and my camera were the technology I brought with me), and headed into the main meeting area to settle into seat before dinner and get some reading done. The noises proved we were truly in the jungle, but natural noises are so much easier to deal with than honking cars and sirens!

Dinner was at 7:30 each night. The food was always very beautifully presented. The first night I ate turkey, which I considered to be extremely un-Ecuadorean, but good none the less!

After going to bed at 9 (ohhh it felt SOOO good), and being woken up in the middle of the night by POURING rain (in the jungle for sure), I woke up at 7 the next morning for breakfast (all meals included as part of the weekend) to go on my first day of adventure in the jungle...

Shameless Promotion of Sawah Bali

As many of you may be aware, my mom Phyllis (Phiphi) Kaplan has moved to Bali, Indonesia full time to start an NGO called Sawah Bali.

Being Social Media Captain (as I have been named) I feel it is my job to promote this wonderful cause through any means that I have. Check it out! Read about it! Like us on our Facebook page!

Some Food Porn for Your Viewing Pleasure

Today is my friend Anna's birthday. A few months ago we had stumbled upon this great little restaurant (right at the top of the hill to go down to Guapulo) called Warmi. We happened to come upon it on a Sunday around 1, and discovered their fabulous brunch menu and artisan beer! They also sell many types of jams, sauces, honeys, spices, teas, deserts and more, which are all locally made (many in house!) We were informed that they also do nice SEVEN COURSE DINNERS with WINE (reservation only) on the weekends. I am very glad Anna decided it would be a good place for her birthday dinner last night!

I promise to try to remember what everything is and describe it so that you ALMOST can taste it (I wish I could eat it again that's for sure!)

1. We started out with an avocado, tomato, and pepper salad, topped with arugula, and with a acidic tomato lime broth poured over it.

2. Next came roasted tomato, eggplant, and a portobello mushroom, topped with prosciutto and asparagus and balsamic reduction.

3. Seared tuna with a peppercorn crust and homemade mustard. 

4. Tuna tartar with MINT mixed in. Also topped in the homemade balsamic reduction. I too was skeptical at first of the tuna/mint combo, but WOW was it delicious!

5. I will admit by this point I was SO EXCITED about the food I spaced out and didn't fully listen...but this was fish marinated in herbs and on top of mashed...well it was delicious.

6. Now we were unsure if it was going to be 6 or 7 courses, so this was exciting when it came out. We also agreed that we were all a bit hungry, that is until we were served RISOTTO! This was a cheesy fish risotto served with shrimp. Yes it looks like mac and cheese, and honestly it sort of tasted that way too and was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

7. Finally we made it to our 7th course. This desert was homemade yogurt on the bottom and then a chocolate cookie and...honestly I don't remember what was on top. It was really good though, and not too sweet, which was perfect. 

It was by far the fanciest meal I have had here in Quito. Everything was extremely fresh and well prepared, and it was nice to return to my foodie roots!

A return to Ecuador

After 4 lovely weeks of vacation, bouncing around from California, to Vermont, Boston, Bard and NYC, and seeing more people from all walks of life than I could have planned on seeing, I am back in Quito to continue teaching.

It was rough to get back into the swing of things at first, but I definitely feel like I have learned a lot since last cycle. I have recycled my lesson plans, while changing them in certain places to make them more effective. I have 3 new classes (so about 45 new students). It will be a new challenge, but I feel much more prepared! 

Last weekend I went on a small adventure down to Guapulo, which is a small section of Quito set down a hill. One of the most famous parts of Guapulo is the church pictured below. From my apartment to the top of the hill where the road starts is about a 15 minute walk.

The walk down is a windy cobblestone road, but it is full of impressive graffiti at every turn. The road is lined with businesses. There are actually quite a few artists co-ops down this way. The walk back up was ROUGH. My lungs lost their 10,000 ft conditioning!

The church was closed to the public for the day, but the entry way was still open.

And alas, one of the best ways to remind me that I am back in Quito is that THE FRIDGE IS BROKEN AGAIN!!!!!! By now I have become a master, and here is a creation of a lentil stew/soup with zucchini, purple sweet potato, and tomatoes. It got covered in sriracha sauce, which is one of the few food items (including maple syrup and earl grey tea) that I brought back with me because it was simply too hard to live without. 

Happy Thanksgiving from Ecuador!

I didn't know what to expect when I knew I would be spending Thanksgiving in Ecuador, but Fulbright threw us quite the swanky Thanksgiving feast.

when we first walked in we were greeted with these adorable turkey pins!

there was lots of salad, which is always exciting here!

and then of course there were all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes

and WAY more kinds of desert than any one could imagine!

of course we tried to take a nice group picture...dysfunctional as always

and here are Chuckie's angels

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A much needed trip for relaxing: A trip to Papallacta

  at fulbright we really can never take a proper picture...whether it is 730 am on a bus or not

This past weekend, right before finals, I was lucky enough to be part of the Fulbright Teachers' retreat. I say this because this retreat only happens once a year, so I really lucked out only having to brave one cycle before getting the royal treatment! :)

This year we voted to take a day trip to Termas Papallacta, natural hot springs turned resort about 2 hours away from Quito.

views from the road

view of the town of Papallacta

always swag for sale of course

my favorite sign...sometimes things get  bit lost in translation

 When we got there (around 9) we had the option to go for a hike. A few of us were wise enough to know that once we got into those springs we wouldn't be getting out, so we took the nice short hike.

start of the hike

amazing looking garden

once again...some translation issues....also the B/V confusion

view of the garden from above! yes I think I have finally transformed into the Vermont hippy my mother has always wanted me to be. I kept getting excited that we were in NATURE!

Now that I am in South America, I have become truly obsessed with llamas. Here is a small sample of the massive ton of llama photos I took.

I think this photo proves unicorns exist....
we were just confused by thinking they were horses
...this llama clearly had a horn

always a cross in Ecuador

follow the path!

GO!

mid hike break

and we're off again!

barbed wire so that you don't slip...I still slipped

and more llamas 

our trail

one of the pools

more pools

and again

After the hiking and the soaking in the pools it was lunch time. Typical almuerzo of course with soup, main dish, dessert and juice.

TROUT 

getting home this adorable tree greeted us in
the lobby

ahh yes, attempting to take a group photo

I promise to take anyone who comes to visit me to this amazing place :)