La Selva- an adventure like no other

After the “big decent” from our time in Quilotoa, we boarded another bus on our first time east of Quito, to the Orient of Ecuador- the jungle! We traveled for 9 hours, from dawn ’til dark and finally arrived at our hostel, La Mission, where we had what felt like a first class experience. There was an amazing pool with a really fun water slide and spider monkey’s everywhere were kept as pets.

the view from our hostel

The monkeys LOVED Rachel's backpack!

and they learned pretty quickly that Mary was in charge of the food bag that day!

After playing with the monkeys all morning, we boarded a fast canoe to take us along the Napo River and into the heart of the El Pilche community, where we would be working at a school the following day.

Here are some photos of the boat ride:

walking down to the boat

mystery fruit

high water along the napo

saying goodbye to some boat friends, who we meet again tomorrow at the school

After the boat ride, we walk for about 15 minutes to the other side of this bank to get to the lake where we met another set of canoes who take us to the lodge:

the walk to la selva

Jesse and Mary, with Leslie at the front, on the canoe ride through to La Selva

Finally, we made it to the beautiful La Selva Jungle Lodge!

The Beautiful Lodge

We were greeted with an amazing spread of delicious foods and didn’t stop eating amazing foods for as long as we were there! Soon after our arrival, we met our guide, Rodrigo, who took us immediately on a hike through the forest and on another canoe ride to a place where he *I’m not kidding* CLIMBED UP A TREE TO POKE A SLOTH WITH A STICK SO THAT IT WOULD MOVE AND WE COULD SEE IT- I knew right then, this was going to be an adventure like no other!

zoom in

the trees Rodrigo climbed to poke the sloth

We talk about Rodrigo’s climb in the play, “Flight 360″, and people may have doubted the reality of that story- but it was true! Every word.

The play also talked about our adventure with the El Pilche community school. We were originally brought in to help the community in a medical area, that’s what they so desperately needed. The WMN foundation, which supports the community through the help of La Selva Jungle Lodge, asked us to bring supplies for the village, as they live 2 hours down river from the nearest town, Coca. We collected 237 toothbrushes thanks to Dr. Simon Rosenburg and his gracious staff for dumping one of their drawers full of toothbrush give-aways into our DAT tote bag!

We arrived in the El Pilche community full of questions- how are we going to make this workshop work?

We only have one day to:

-share a hygiene play we created to teach the kids how to brush their teeth.

-send all 100 children into the medical clinic to get measured for future doctor visits.

-uh… do our normal workshops?

How were we going to accomplish all of that? Well, Jesse, our director, came up with a great plan. We were armed, we were ready… then our Meir presence made the plan not executable. Everyone wanted to come see what these crazy visitors were up to! It was mass chaos- we did the play twice because some kids came and more came later, we tried to workshop our normal exercises, but it became too difficult with the age group because we had kids from 3/4 all the way up to 16. Luckily, the most important task was complete- all 62 of the children present, including the babies, were seen by Carmen (leader of the WMN foundation and our guide and supporter) Leslie and Lydia (who helped in the clinic) and now all 62 children have the beginnings of a medical chart.

For this fact, and because the kids are just so darn cute, we will be traveling back to La Selva with the ACTion:Ecuador next year with the students. We hope to continue the work we started with the community on an artistic and a health level, bringing supplies (and hopefully a doctor) as well as getting to know the children and learning from them.

Here are some photos of our crazy day at La Selva:

Carmen applies toothpaste so the kids can brush their teeth

What 'cha writin' Leslie?

Leslie tells the best stories

Lydia watches the kids brush

Jesse leads a warm-up

Mary and Jesse pow-wow *this isn't working, we have to adapt"

Rachel checks on Lydia and Leslie working in the clinic

Mary fills up her water bottle in front of an interested audience

Jaime was really friendly, but she didn't want to come home with us :

Jeremy spotted an anaconda! (but don't tell Rachel! ~It was only a branch Rach!~)

Group Shot- with a lot, but not all, of the attendees

A thank you to Dr. Simon Rosenberg for all his support

Dr. Simon Rosenberg

After our amazing day with the El Pilche community we went back to La Selva Jungle Lodge for another day of exploring in the jungle. Our guide, Rodrigo, grew up in this area and was a great resource for our play, what were the issues facing this part of the country. One underlying theme reoccurred here- emigration. The people are leaving, they are finding their way to bigger cities where they can make money, and in the process, they are losing their unique skills.

Rodrigo had skillful eyes, he could see things in the jungle and point them out to us.

He taught us to climb trees

Found crazy animals to show us

Gave us crazy tattoos with a piece of fruit

Took us piranha fishing

And we got to eat piranha for lunch!

We had such an amazing time in the jungle, and we really can’t thank La Selva Jungle Lodge enough for all of their support and guidance. They gave us an opportunity to travel to a place that seemed unreachable, helped us reach communities in a way that seemed impossible and was only possible because of their support. We can never thank them enough for giving us a chance to open our eyes to this unique community.

DAT will return to La Selva in June and July of 2009 with ACTion:Ecuador, the student project. If you’re interested in the La Selva portion of that trip, click here.

Contact DAT

Quilotoa- the big climb

Our last day in Esmeraldas was full of fun. After working with Teatro La Catanga, we were invited to the directors house for a lovely lunch of home made Esmeraldian fare. It was great to spend more time getting to know these people. The girls had their hair braided by a friend of one of the actors, and we relaxed while watching some videos of their plays.

Jeremy and Rachel (the fighters) goofing off while we were vegging out

Our meal was over, and we still had to wait until our bus departed for Quito at 11 pm. So we had our first (and possibly only) “veg” day. We were ready to move on to our next adventure, but we were tired and had experienced so much already. Although Rachel and Leslie continued to venture out in the city, the rest of us hung out in a hotel room, pigging out on junk food and watching episodes of American Idle with Spanish subtitles. That was a rare treat, as it was hard to find TV with English subtitles even.

At 10:30 pm, we finally walked the few blocks to the bus station and boarded our overnight bus that would take us to Quito where we would catch another bus to Quilotoa. We cuddled up with our blankets to sleep the night away. Those of us who could sleep did, until the bus was stopped at about 3:30 or 4 in the morning. The police came on the bus and made everyone get off… we didn’t, we just stayed still and waited for further instruction. Apparently it was only a routine check point, and we were just asked to show our id’s, which was fine, except Rachel had left hers under the bus in her backpack. It turned out fine, the police didn’t even make us get it, but we learned a good lesson- keep your passport on you at all times when you’re traveling.

Mary, sick over the edge, while Jesse looks back at Lydia (taking the photo) probably trying not to laugh at this craziness.

We learned an even harder lesson that night. You know how people talk about altitude sickness? Well, let’s just say, that’s not a joke. We weren’t feeling well before we left Esmeraldas, and after climbing 13,000 feet in about 12 hours- we were feeling much worse.

Unfortunately, because of our big climb up to Quilotoa, we all felt a little sick during the whole time we were there.

BUT, that didn’t take away for one second, the richness of our experience there. We met some of the most amazing people and we were welcomed with open arms, and our cause was supported by everyone we met. (Except maybe the old woman with the sheep who cursed us in Quechuan when someone took out a camera… yikes.)

Leslie, the playwright, teaching the basic elements of a story

During our time there, we taught Engish for four days to a secondary school about 2 miles away from the actual town of Quilotoa, and we mixed some theatre terms and skills in with the teaching. The children we so eager to learn, it made our jobs much easier. We even learned some quechuan words from them, with the use of the childrens game “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”. It was a lot of fun!

We also had a short opportunity to work with another school in the area, a little closer to the main town of Quilotoa. It was fun too, the students caught on so quickly and we so smart! On a more somber note- it seems that these are the kids who would probably leave this small town for college and eventually life in a bigger city, such as Quito. Hopefully the work on the Quilotoa Community Center can, in a small way, prevent some of that from happening.

Quilotoa was such a fun community, with so much happening while we were there!

First: THE BULL FIGHT

The Boys (Tim in Black, Jeremy in Green, and Jesse in Gray) in the pit with the bulls

The Girls in the ring with the bulls- spelling D A T (from left, Leslie, Lydia, Mary, Rachel)

THE MASKED DANCE

Jesse played along

Mary tried not to play along.

THE WILD DOGS

Rachel and Leslie show the tools they used to defend themselves from their wild dog encounter

THE BEAUTIFUL QUILOTOA CRATER LAKE

an evening shot of the lake

visit the website to find out how you can get involved!

We experienced so much in Quilotoa and can’t wait to get back next year for the ACTion: Ecuador Project. The students will be helping to build a community center for the Quilotoa community that will house medical facilities as well as an artistic and educational learning center. The people of Quilotoa have asked us to return to help them in this endever and we are more than willing!

If you’re interested in the Quilotoa portion of the ACTion: Ecuador Project, click here.

Contact DAT

Rockin’ out in Esmeraldas!

After having a great time in Otavalo, we took a long bus ride down to the coast to warm up a bit… and boy was it hot! The whole team lives in New York City, so we’re used to hot and humid summers, but after almost 2-weeks in the Andes, the humidity of the coast was a shock to our system.

The colors of the town of Esmeraldas are so vibrant. They were unlike anything we’d seen on a building in Ecuador. Every bit of building was painted a different shade of excitement. The structures wear the personalities of Esmeraldians on their walls, and it’s lovely to experience it!

We did so much in our short week in Esmeraldas- it was finally time to get to “work”. First, we were interviewed by a local newspaper and television station.

Then we workshoped with students from the Unidad Educativa Bellas Artes school for the arts, with the help of our translator, Holly.

Man oh man, it was hot out there on the pavement!

And we collected their stories.

We also worked with Teatro La Catanga, a local professional theatre company with fantastic ideas and vision, with the help of our translator Edwardo.

We met so many interesting people in Esmeraldas.

Including this man, who was painting a naked women from head to toe.

And this sweet puppy!

Who Mary had to get out of the cage!

We also took an overnight trip to a beach town in Sua.

We drank fresh juice every day made of amazing fruit we’d never heard of.

And danced as much as we could to the fantastic Marimba and Salsa music coming from every speaker in the whole city!

We really had an amazing time in Esmeraldas. We plan to return with the ACTion: Ecuador Project next summer, the students are bound to have a blast!

If you’d like to find out more about the Esmeraldas portion of the ACTion: Ecuador Project, click here.

Contact DAT

OH Otavalo!

Well, we made it through our first week in Quito, we can say a few more things in Spanish after our wonderful class with the best teacher in the world, Aurra! We then journeyed to the beautiful mountain town of Otavalo.

Otavalo is known for the enormous Saturday Market. This is a photo of the Market, which continues all week, on a Sunday. On Saturday, however, the streets put this amazing site to shame.

Men, Women, and children line the streets, selling their goods to locals and tourists alike.

The markets stretch throughout the town, winding down every road, on every available space.

They sell everything imaginable, from fruits and veggies, to basic household needs, gifts made of wood, metal, fabric, plastic- if it’s available in Ecuador, you’ll find it in Otavalo!

We explored the market all day long, meeting people, taking pictures, buying gifts.

We even ran into our translator, Tim, among the crowds of people. We had left our cell phone on the bus, and he was unable to call us, but he walked around the market and walked right up to one of the groups. It was truly shocking, and was a behavior we came to expect from Tim. Without warning, whenever we needed him, he’d be there. He became more than a part of our group. He became a part of our family. Here he is admiring a gift, a doll purchased for his niece.

We also ran into Mary’s future self:

After the Market, we had a chance to go and visit our first (of many) crater lakes.

We climbed almost half way around the opening before our director, Jesse, found a nice little spot for rehearsal.

After the rehearsal on the rim, we went to dinner at this little spot overlooking the crater. Jesse and Tim decided to split a dinner… this is what they picked… guinea pig!

Also in Otavalo, Jeremy spotted a nice little hippy breakfast joint (pun intended). We ate there twice and it was delish!

We only spent 3 days in Otavalo, but they were a blast, and we really learned a lot about Ecuador… and it’s tourists. Can’t wait to get back!

Quito, Quito

We first landed in Quito, Ecuador on April 30th. Full of excitement, we were unfortunately split up at the airport to stay in different houses… this just couldn’t be! Although we loved our hosts, we wanted more than anything to spend time getting to know these strangers we would be spending 55 days with.

In broken spanish, we told our new Ecuadorian families that we would have to part, and after two nights in the city, moved into the Hostal Rincon Familiar, a place where we would call “home base” for the next two months.

This photos is a night time view from our Quito Home.

And oh, oh, oh-no the RAIN! It rained like clockwork at 2:45p.m. every day, we were caught in the rain everyday for the first four days, that is, until we started learning the pattern.

We visited old sights like The Virgin of Quito (the only image of the virgin that depicts her with wings

The San Francisco historic Monosory and Catholic Art school

Teatro Bolivar

The Basilica (ask nicely and we’ll get a piece from Leslie illustrating her account of being saved from death by a friendly Ecuadorian in the Basilica)

We took some time to meet with Ana, an actor from El Patio de Comedias. We saw a show a few days later and it was very fun to see what’s happening in the theatre world in Ecuador right now. Even though we didn’t speak spanish, we were able to understand the meaning without needing the words, which makes for some wonderful theatre!

We had a great time in Quito and enjoyed stopping there in between everyone of our other adventures. Stay tuned for more!