This morning we visited Palacio Real, a community of 400 indigenous people (100 families) living in the Andes. We hiked up to the Mirador, the community's look out point where we were surrounded by the Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Altares volcanos. A breathtaking view.
Manuela came with us. Who is Manuela you ask? A llama! She was a great companion and we took turns walking her along. Rosario, our guide for the day, discussed many plants, their medicinal as well as culinary uses. The love of the land and everything it gives to the indigenous communities cannot be overlooked.
We then visited El Museo de Llamas. Rosario demonstrated different sounds made by llamas, talked about the four different types of "camels of the Andes" and much more. We were getting a bit tired at this point, and were looking forward to playing some soccer with local kids after lunch.
But first, we went to the market where 35 local women sell their handmade scarves, sweaters, gloves etc. Each tag had a price, type of fur used and the woman's name. All the people in the community help out one way or another and this was a demonstration of how these particular women contributed.
For lunch we had... llama. We were a bit concerned we ate our friend Manuela but we saw her after dinner and she was alive and well. Some students had quinoa for the first time as well. We had seen it earlier on our hike and now it was on our plate. This community definitely brings the whole farm-to-table idea to another level.
We went to play soccer but at first only one kid showed up. We quickly named him Messi, he was so so good! Watching him score on our very tall high schoolers (and do it with style!) was very cool. Others came by to play but our little Messi (real name: Eric) made our afternoon. His little sister Estefanie had a great time with Nicholas on the swing and the see saw as well.
We left the community at around 4 pm and went to the center of Riobamba. I offended a guy for taking a selfie (didn't mean to, I promise!) and then we got kicked out of the central church. An event was going on and we weren't very welcome. Instead we bought some yummy street food (tortilla de verde, papi huevo, salchipapas) at the main plaza and went back to the bus. Destination: shopping mall!
As you recall, we got some incredible donations through our fundraiser drive in April. My original goal was to use the funds for the victims of the April 16th earthquake but we are not visiting any area affected by it. So, just like in the past, I've asked the tour director to find us a school that would need some school supplies.
We got to the mall just to discover that markers are $10 and erasers are $3. We had about $8 allotted per student and at no point did I expect such crazy prices. Fabian decided to take us to a family run small papelería to see if the local brands would be cheaper than the expensive stuff at the mall. Was he right!!!
The papelería was a family affair and we spent over an hour getting all the materials we need. Each of the 158 kids we will visit tomorrow is getting a set of colored pencils, pencil sharpener, set of markers, coloring book, notebook, scissors, glue stick, set of paints, 2 pencils, eraser and a ruler. And we still have money to spare.
(One of two huge boxes of supplies)
Together, we chose the items, loaded them up onto the bus and brought them to the hotel. There, we created 158 identical baggies of goodies. I'm so excited to see a local school and have our Logan students have a non touristy experience which undoubtedly will create a special morning.
We did journals after dinner and possibly practiced a song we *may* sing at the school tomorrow. We have one more trivia night left but I decided to leave it for the long bus ride to Quito tomorrow.
One more full day of adventure and then we wrap up this incredible experience. Time has gone by quickly and I can't believe we are almost at the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment