Blog #6 To San Clemente and Back Again

We are invigorated, excited, and ready to ride!

Upon our arrival to Palugo this week, we felt nostalgic as we look at the distant horizon, reviewing our roads traveled. The last time you heard from us we were bathing in the pools of Papallacta and celebrating tricks and treats because it was Halloween! We went to sleep with a few spooky dreams, resting our bodies before jumping back on our metal broomsticks.

We began our bike expedition with a climb through the challenging Paramo. Hills that made your heart drop gifted us with gratification beyond words. It has been amazing to feel our bodies adjust and evolve to what the world brings; it is freeing each morning to feel your butt get less and less sore. Now, we look at massive uphills with great determination, and we don’t stop. We are one with our bikes. Most days we spend as leaders of our own route, navigating our way through flat Ecuadorian highland and valleys.

Emma in the Ecuadorian flats

We’ve adjusted to the term “Ecuadorian Flat” which means all uphill and downhill. It refers to the fact to you may be at your ending elevation, but you, in fact, have a giant quebrada (ravine) or rolling highlands to cross before actually arriving.

 

Savanah admiring a giant quebrada (ravine) or rolling highlands to cross before reaching town

Each day, one of the students has the opportunity to be a leader of the day. We worked side by side with student navigators and communicated with instructors through radios as they rode ahead or behind us, giving us the chance to make real decisions and open our eyes to each meter gained and each turn taken.

Quotes and Why: To be a leader

When you are a leader, you choose a quote from our quote book to bring to the group during the evening meeting. Then you have the opportunity to reflect in your journal on your quote and what leadership is beginning to mean to you.

Emma: “Being a leader was like being placed in the center of all the complex strings that make up our group with absolutely no experience. Now that I have more practice from our days on the trail, I appreciate it so much more when I get to exist as a thread of the complex web.”

Mailey: Mi dia siendo lider fue un poco complicado por que casi no hablo ingles y era dificil para comunicarme. Pero al final, fluyo bien encontramos un campamento comodo y todos pudimos dezcansar bien.

Leaders of the day, Maily and Charlie, seek input from Roberto

With each new environment, new foods and water sources we have also learned that our bodies are strong but not impenetrable. A day on trail never fails to include conversations about what we are taking into our bodies and what is coming out at any given time.  We are very lucky to have had steady health this whole expedition, but we can’t help but laugh at the little ups and downs of our stomachs in Ecuador. For example, on our way up to Casa de Cerro, Robert’s family project, we dropped 500 meters, in order to climb 500 meters in the dark with our headlamps. We had to hike-a-bike up the steep cobblestone road, with catzo beetles flying at our faces, and a drizzle blurring any hope of night vision. We walked our bikes up the hill in solidarity as Charlie, whose bowels we all may know the most about, went to examine the plant life (and leave a little bit of Charlie behind) every so often.  We toughed up the relentless hill and from that experience, we now know that as a group we can push ourselves up any mountain, in whatever conditions. We were promised a warm meal at the top of the climb, which absolutely helped. But with or without the reward, we made it to the top as one, and our bellies were filled with warm soup. Even Charlie was happy to taste food again (and he is feeling much better!).  A grand fireplace warmed our wet toes and we all slept too well, expecting to be woken up at any moment to keep peddling up the rest of the mountain.

"We now know that as a group we can push ourselves up any mountain, in whatever conditions."

Spanish nicknames:

Misha – Mich

Charlie – Carlitos

Rubey – Rubiana/Rubanita

Fiona –Fiona Maria

Sofia – Sofie

Emma – Emita

Roberto – Robert

Blake – Bloque

Edie – Edita

Liam – Just Liam…

Maily – May (Mai)

Rye – Ryenitos

Lucy – Lucita

Morgan – Morganita/Morgancita
Savannah – Sabanita

Favorite Spanish words:

Misha – zanahoria

Charlie – Tranquilo

Rubey – Pacha Mamma

Fiona -Mariposa

Sofia – Empalaga (too much sweet stuff)

Emma – Trompeta (trumpet)

Roberto – vaminos!

Blake – Cuchillo

Edie – Mantequilla

Liam – cuchillo

Maily – maybe (favorite English word!)

Rye – hipo

Lucy – cebolla

Marcela – scrumptious (favorite English word!)

Lourdes – my love

Sanvannah – Paramo

In the days we spent at Casa de Cerro, we woke every day with Imbabura towering over us. We picked mortiños (blueberries) off the mountainside, taking deep breaths of Ecuador’s sacred mountain. One epic morning, we ate avena (oatmeal) by candlelight and set off at 4 A to climb Taita Imbabura. A 1,000m elevation gain from where we started, the mountain asked for a slow pace and good concentration in tricky, rocky parts. On the way up we passed our saludos on to Cayambe, Antizana, Cotacatchi, and the kilometers of trail and road we had crossed to arrive here. As we neared the top, we entered the cloud of the high altitudes, and all took silent sit spots on the summit, listening to the sound that comes from being so high up and so insulated by the mist and cold.

Yummy mortiños

Rye smiling big and Liam staying focused as they listen to the sound that comes from being so high up and so insulated by the mist and cold

 

The group taking in their alpine environment

After returning from the climb, we jumped on our bikes, but for a change of pace, we had only downhill for the day. We flew down to San Clemente**, where we had Mamas and Taitas (dads) and our homestay families awaiting us with open arms. For the next few days, we split off into small groups of 3 or 4 and were immediately immersed in the San Clemente home life. We feasted with our family en casa, participated in food preparation, slept with pillows, and woke up to restful mornings. During the day we gave back to the community, utilizing our many hands and eagerness to share any skills we have. Projects included moving full Eucalyptus trees out of a forest to help in the building of a house in the community and pulling down one huge Eucalyptus tree, tug-of-war style, for firewood for many of the homes.  The second day we got dirty: smushing and dancing a whole pit of mud to make adobe bricks for Roberto’s future home. Occasionally you had to watch for flying pieces of mud from the Taitas who clearly wanted to have a mud fight!

Eucalyptus tree tug-of-war

As part of our work with our house Mamas, we learned a craft the people of San Clemente are well known for, embroidery. We saw our Mamas and sisters dress in the most beautiful hand embroidered traditional clothes and we too got to test our hand, self-designing and stitching our own linen shirts.

Our last night in the community, we got to try out those beautiful traditional clothes for ourselves – our Mamas dressed us up in traditional skirts for ladies and ponchos for the gentleman and we made bread and coolada for our celebration. Giova and Valdi, Roberto’s brothers, brought their band and played cumbias and San Juan rhythms, and plenty of dance music. Music notes and colorful twirling skirts filled the space and filled us with pure joy and gratitude. Our celebration was complete with a soup feast and colada morada, a traditional drink of blueberries and other fruits of the season typical on the Day of the Dead.

Joining hands with the Mamas and Taitas

Everyone joining in on the fun

An interview with Misha Brackman

What was it like to play music with the band the night of our celebration in San Clemente?

At first, when I was volunteered to play, I was too nervous to play alone. But Giova and his band graciously offered to join in. They handed me a guitar and I realized it would be difficult to translate my understanding of chords to theirs. But they picked up the chords quickly and one by one joined in until the violinist picked up the melody of a song we learned here at Palugo “Altisimo Corazon.” We smiled at each other while playing because even though we had trouble speaking with words, music was the form of communication we had in common.

Misha’s chords: A B C D E F G

Giova’s chords: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

Misha playing music with Giova and his band 

All of us felt we gained a home as we left San Clemente. And we can’t wait for our next return.

We are nomads though and we set off on our bikes for Otavalo after days of cozy living. We made it to the big city just in time to visit the market. We spread out among vendors and llama wool, our eyes wandering to silky ponchos and beaded gifts for our family members. Like travelers heading for new trade routes, we found the things we sought and kept moving on.

Rubey Grace and Sophia indulge in some snacking to fuel the ride home

We encourage each other at every hill

Savanah and Emma biking in rhythm 

From the city to the subida, we once again were face to face with the Paramo. The Paramo always holds the unexpected, whether it’s a burst of cold easterly winds or the quick and blinding embrace of the clouds. We passed through volcano craters, met fellow explorers, and inhaled our final moments in this humbling landscape. This visit was only a farewell, and we descended gently down to the rolling highlands, that almost feel flat with our new strength and technical skills. Along the way, we have been collecting avocados, even sleeping with them in our sleeping bags to hurry up the ripening and taste their creamy sweetness. We have really improved our bike knowledge, as we were tested every day with a new mechanical problem to solve and longer daily distances to cover; we are getting used to settling up camp in the dark!

 

Everyone smiles big for their San Clemente family before heading home to Palugo

Queen of Water Reflection by Savannah Shulkin

Up in the Paramo, through the jungle, and in the hot springs of Papallacta, we have traveled alongside a young indigenous girl, Virginia. Her life story has been told under meager tarps, shielding us from rain and sun and while wrapped up in sleeping bags to chase away the chills of the Ecuadorian Highlands. Her tale has brought on laughter and crying by students and mentors alike as Virginia has gone through the intense struggles from her beginning as a young girl in her rural, indigenous community to her enslavement as a young adult by a mestizo family, to her triumph as a voice for all young people struggling with identity. The Queen of Water tells the complex but gratifying story of Virginia’s life and the trials she experienced when her indigenous family gave her away at the age of 7 as a servant to a mestizo family far away. Throughout our expedition, we have been reading and absorbing this story of courage, growth, and understanding of one’s self and one’s heritage. In the city of Otavalo, under the branches and flowers of an open-air courtyard, we had the great honor of meeting the girl, now a woman, who we had come to know in our imaginations on so many starry and stormy nights. We met Virginia! Through this amazing experience, we learned more about the story that has inspired growth within ourselves and that has exceeded our expectations of what we as individuals can accomplish if we only try.

The last days of biking have flown by. Now, equipped with enough muscle memory of climbing hill after hill and enough understanding how to ride, how to break, and how to enjoy each other’s company in rain or shine, we have been nourished by the rigid roads of Northern Ecuador.

The whole group rejoices in their success as they return to Palugo

It is time to rest and debrief here at Palugo, and be ready for more. At this moment, we are preparing to step out of the group and embark on a great solo expedition, right here in our sit spots. We begin our 3-day solo spots in and around Palugo farm and will be peddling less but contemplating and digesting more. We have less than a month left in Ecuador and we are working towards being mindful and present in each moment.

Gracias por su apoyo y amor. Un abrazo fuerte a todos!

Your scribes,

Rubey Grace and Blake

Rubey Grace and Liam enjoy some mortiños

Making bricks in San Clemente

Berries serve more than just our bodies they serve our spirit

Amazing life above the clouds

Edie and Rye take stock of the bike fleet

My feet are sore, my heart is full!

**San Clemente

San Clemente is an indigenous community that formed a sustainable alternative to conventional farming and jobs in the city through community eco-tourism.  After the 2000 economic crash in Ecuador, the community lost the strands of income they thought sustained their lives, and dug into their many gifts as individuals and came up with the community tourism project. Starting from two or three families, the cooperative now has 19 families hosting tourists, sharing crafts, and shining a light on traditional indigenous customs of the region. The project has brought in more than an income, it has reinvigorated a re-learning of traditions and practices that had been nearly lost to years of government assistance and cultural discrimination.

The Ecuador team have been working with the community of San Clemente since the early days. Roberto was one of the first students from San Clemente to participate in the semester in 2009 and year after year young people from the community come to take this journey of the semester. Every year, semester feels the warmth and love of homestays in the community and we have so much gratitude for the experiences shared!