Hola mi familia y mis amigos,
I know these are few and far between but I’m trying and I will try harder. Our last excursion was to the Amazon outside the town of Tena in the province of Napo. We did all typical things you do in the Amazon like take motorized canoe rides up and down the Napo river (aka the head waters of the Amazon), played with the pet monkey of the owner of the lodge, listened to several speakers about shamanism, conservation, pottery, and did a visit to a local indigenous community. We went to an eco-lodge that was owned by a former Peace Core worker. He has pools of turtles and fish on his land because he is trying to reintroduce sources of protein into the local people’s diets. They have depleted their sources of protein by using dynamite that is sold under the table at hardware stores to “fish.” He provides the pools and the first year of stock in the communities agree to stop dynamite fishing. Muy interasante no?\ I moved in with my new family in Quito and all of them are really nice, my host mother hugs me every time she sees me or I’m leave to go somewhere. My father is a civil engineer who works a lot. My 22 year old sister Daniellita has a one year old and I also live with the 6 year old grandson of their son who I have yet to meet. Every thing in this family has –ito/a added to the end meaning little. Augacita, Cafecita, everything. Classes started and we listen to 2 speakers talk about various topics from indigenous communities, women’s movements, economy, the poor, the U.S. embassy, etc. My Spanish is getting better but it is really frustrating at times because I really can’t convey my personality with my limited Spanish vocabulary. Last night I went to a synagogue with the Jewish people in the program, quite the mixture of cultures and languages. Hebrew, Spanish, English, Quiteno culture, and this jewish-ecuadorian sub-culture. When we arrived they needed a copy of our passports, check us with metal detectors, and they have 24/7 security. After, we were invited to a Shabbat dinner at this really old woman’s house and there were Jewish travelers from all over the world. Been taking a few salsa lessons, found another place to take painting classes if I have time, been going to this little market that is a co-op of all sorts of strange products from Ecuador. Write you all again when I get back from the coast, I leave this Wednesday (if I didn’t already mention that). I’m going to get my identification card to day and hopefully later go to a place with micro-brews, all they drink down here is Pilsner. Love you all.
Mere