Mindo

Kirjutatud nädal tagasi, postitada jõudsin alles nüüd...

Eelmisel nädalavahetusel õnnestus meil lõpuks Mindo’s ära käia! Olime juba mitu nädalavahetust plaaninud Mindo’sse minna, ent muud plaanid tulid vahele. Laupäeva hommikul sisenesime lõpuks kokkulepitud bussi, millest mõned meist muidugi maha jäid, ja asusime Mindo poole teele. Sõit kestis veidi üle 3 tunni ja magada ei saanud, kuna oli ju vaja aknast välja vaadata J Kohale jõudes oli meile vastu tulnud hostel Rubby omanik. Nime oli hostel saanud omanike esimese poja järgi. Hostel oli pisike, ent armas. Võrkkiikedega nagu siin kohane.

Jätsime asjad hostelisse ning jagasime hosteliomanikega renditud autot seitse kilomeetrit eemal asuva koseni. Koski olen ma siin veedetud kuue nädala jooksul näinud vist küll rohkem, kui terves oma elus kokku...  Eriti meeldejääv oli see kosk aga seetõttu, et seal oli üks kalju, millelt sai jõkke hüpata. Kalju oli 9 meetri kõrgune ja vool üsna tugev. Mina ja Tuve olime need vaprad, kes pärast juhendaja käest mitmeid kordi üle küsimast et kaua ta seal on töötanud ja et kas kõik hüppajad on ikka elus, ka ise hüpata otsustasime. Veepinnale tulles ootas meid juhendaja, kes meid turvaköieni aitas, mida mööda me siis end ükshaaval jõest välja tirisime. Kuna me olime muidugi nii targad, et ükski meist ei võtnud rätikut kaasa, siis jalutasime 7 kilomeetrit Mindoni läbimärgadena. Meie õnneks paistis päike ja kilomeetrid möödusid kiirelt.

Tagasi Mindo’sse jõudes olime ülimalt näljased, leidsime ühe tüüpilise Ecuadori restorani ning nautisime päevamenüüd, mis koosnes supist, praest värske kala ja salatiga ning mahlast. Kõik kokku maksis umbes $2.50. Seejärel suundusime šokolaadi  ’tehasesse’. Teatavasti on Ecuador üks maailma suurimaid kakaoubade kasvatajaid ja parimad Euroopa šokolaadid on just Ecuadori kakaoubadest tehtud. Ringkäigu alguses tutvustati kakaopuu vilja, mida me ka maitsta saime, samuti proovisime kuivatatud kakaoube. Ehtne mõru šokolaad ilma grammigi suhkruta! Edasi nädati kuidas kulgeb protsess ubadest šokolaadini. Samuti kasvas aias taim, mida kasutatakse diabeetikute shokolaadides, ehk et looduslik magustaja. Samas majas valmistati ka erinevatest puuviljadest õlut ning šokolaadist veel vaha, mett ning erinevaid küpsetamiseks mõeldud kastmeid. Ringkäik lõppes šokolaadi brownide ning samas majas tehtud šokolaadi jäätisega. Nämm!

Õhtul istusime veidi veel meie nädalavahetuse lemmikuks saanud mahlabaaris, kus ligikaudu 30 vilja seast sai valida mahla ja batido(piimaga) vahel, ise samal ajal kiigel õõtsudes. Proovisin ka avokaado batido’t, mis oli justkui piimakokteil ja seejuures väga maitsev. Õhtusöögiks sõime küpsetatud banaane juustuga ja 12 paiku suundusime tagasi hostelisse.

Pühapäeval oli meil varajane äratus. Hosteli perenaine oli juba kell 5.45 meile hommikusööke ette kandmas ja kell 6 väljusime, et minna hosteli peremehega linde vaatlema. Kolme tunni jooksul nägime nii öökulli, papagoid, rähne kui ka pisemaid linde. Kokkuvõttes kõigile meeldis ja mõnel meist õnnestus läbi teleskoobi mõni neist suisa pildile jäädvustada.

Linnuvaatlemise käigus olime taaskord umbes 5 kilomeetrit kõndinud, ning kuna asusime canopy kohale üsna lähedal, otsustasime ka canopy ära proovida. Canopy tähendab mööda trossi ühest otsast teise lenneldes kulgemist. Rada koosnes 13nest sellisest trossist, mõni niest oli kiirem, mõni aeglasem. Samuti õnnestus meil ära proovida ’batmani’ ja ’mariposa’(liblikas, pea alaspidi) asendites lendamist. Väga vahva oli! Sealt tuli meil taaskord mõned kilomeetrid tagasi Mindoni kõndida, et siis liblikamajja minna, kus meile liblikate eluiga ja arengut tutvustati. Hiljem saime mööda ruumi ringi käia ning liblikaid imetleda. Samas kasvanduses olid ka orhideed ja koolibrid, viimaseid neist oli ülimalt raske pildistada, kuna nad ei püsinud üldse mitte paigal...

Nädalavahetus kujunes seega ülimalt tihedaks ja teguderohkeks, pühapäeva pärastlõunaks olime kõik  väga väsinud ja ei suutnud tagasi Quitosse jõudmist ära oodata. Nüüdseks oleme kõik taas välja puhanud ja uuteks seiklusteks valmis. Üksnes sügelevad sääsepunnid tuletavad meelde, et veel mõned päevad tagasi olime metsade ja jõgede keskel.

Nüüd aga salsa tundi. Pikast pidustusterohkest nädalavahetusest juba üsna pea!

L.

Teel kose juurde/On our way to see the waterfall



Hüppasime sealt, kus inimesed seisavad/We jumped from where the people are standing

 

Kiik :)/A swing :)



Kakaopuu vili ja kakaooad/Cocoa fruit and cocoa beans



Öökull/An owl




Tuukan/Toucan



Meie(4 Saksamaalt, 1 Islandilt, 1 Austriast, 1 Šveitsist, mina ja giid) varajastel hommikutundidel/ Us(4 from Germany, 1 from Iceland, 1 from Austria, 1 from Switzerland, me and the guide) early in the morning

Levinud liiklusvahend/ A common view

'Mariposa'

'Batman'

Liblikas/Butterfly



Leia pildilt koolibri/Find a hummingbird



Mindo

Tüüpiline maja, ootamas teist korrust/ A typical house, waiting for the second floor to be built

This was written about a week ago, but I never had time to post it...

We finally managed to organize a trip to Mindo last weekend. We had been planning it for a while, but there was always something that came up at the same time. We started our trip on Saturday morning, of course some of us missed the bus J It took a bit more than 3 hours to get to Mindo and it was impossible to sleep, because there was so much to see on the way. We were greeted by the owner of the hostel where we stayed at as soon as we got off the bus. The hostel was called Rubby(as was the name of the owners first son) and it was small, yet clean and cosy. With hammocks, as almost all the hostels here.

We left our luggage to the hostel and shared a rented car with the owners of the hostel to a waterfall, which was seven kilometers up the mountain. I think I’ve seen more waterfalls within the six weeks here than in all of my life together... I’ll remember this waterfall though, because it had a cliff, which was 9 meters high, where it was possible to jump into the river. Me and Tuve were the brave ones who decided to jump. Of course we asked our instructor tons of questions before we actually jumped, just to be sure it was safe. He insured us that within the 5 years he had worked there there had been no accidents and he also agreed to jump first. He waited for us in the river to lead us to the rope which we had to use to pull ourselves out of water because the stream was quite strong and there was a waterfall just 20 meters from us. We had all left our towels to the hostel and so we dried ourselves with a 7 kilometer walk back to Mindo. J

We decided to have some lunch as soon as we got back to Mindo since we were all starving. We soon found a typical Ecuadorian restaurant and enjoyed the lunch menue, which consisted of some soup, a main meal with fresh fish, rice and salad and a juice. It all only cost around $2.50. We also went to a chocolate ’factory’. Ecuador is known to be one of the biggest exporters of cocoa beans and the best chocolates in Europe are made of Ecuadorian cocoa beans. We were shown the fruit of a cocoa tree, which we could also try. We also had a chance to taste the roasted cocoa beans, which tasted like pure dark chocolate without any sugar. From there we were given a tour of the small factory and we were shown the various steps of chocolate making. There was also a garden where they grew a plant which they used in chocolates for diabetics, the leaves of which were increadibly sweet! Besides chocolate they also made various kinds of beer (of different fruit), honey and various sauces of chocolate. The tour ended with chocolate brownies which were accompanied by homemade chocolate ice-cream. Yumm!

We decided to spend the evening at our favorite juice bar, where it was possible to order a juice or a batido(with milk) choosing from around 30 different fruit. And there were swings instead of chairs! I tried avocado batido for the first time, it was a lot more tasty than I thought it would be. Just like a milkshake J We had baked bananas with cheese for dinner and returned to the hostel at around 12.

We had an early morning on Sunday. The hostess had our breakfast ready by 5.45 and we left the hostel at 6AM to go bird watching. We walked around for 3 hours and saw an owl, parrots, woodpeckers and some smaller birds. We were all happy we went and some of us even managed to capture some pictures of the birds through the telescope.

The next up was Canopy(zip-lines), since we finished bird watching about 5 kilometers from Mindo and it was really close. There were 13 zip-lines, some of which were slower, others faster. We could also try flying in a ’superman’ and ’mariposa’(butterfly, upside down) poses. It was a lot of fun!

We had to walk a few kilometers back to Mindo from the canopy place and decided to go to a butterfly house when we got back. We were told about the development of butterflies, after which we had some free time to have a look at all the butterflies, orchides and hummingbirds. It was incredibly difficult to take pictures of hummingbirds, since they were just so fast and restless...

We had all together a very intense weekend and we were all very exhausted by Sunday afternoon. But we’re all well rested again and ready for new adventures. Only the itchy bug bites still remind us that we were in the middle of forests and rivers just a few days ago...

I’m off to a salsa class now. Will write about the long Carneval weekend soon J

L.

Sünnipäevad/Birthdays

Eile otsustasin, väikevennale mõeldes, shokoladimuffineid küpsetada. PALJU ÕNNE, OLIVER! J Loomulikult seisin taaskord nõutult küpsetustarvete leti ees. Muffinivorme oli ainult kahes suuruses: väiksed ja üliväiksed... Võtsin loomulikult väiksed. Ecuador on üks maailma suurimaid kakaotootjaid, ent shokolaadi valik on siin küll ilmselt üks maailma nigelamaid. Otsustasin taaskord retsepti veidi muuta, valge shokolaadi asemel olin sunnitud ostma valge shokolaadi õhitud riisiga ja mõru shokolaadi asemel piimashokolaadi.

Küpsetama hakates tuli Ailin, Omari 7 aastane tütar joostes kööki, haaras tooli ja lusika ning teatas, et tema tahab aidata. Ütles, et võtab suisa kokandustunde ning et viimane kord õpetati neile kuidas riisi keeta. Hädavajalik oskus Ecuadoris! Nii ma siis juhendasin teda, tema muudkui segas tooraineid kokku, luges igasse vormi täpselt ühe tüki shokolaadi ning kolm mandlilaastu ja panime muffinid ahju küpsema. Järgmine kord lubasin Ailin’iga pannkooke küpsetada J

Muffinid läksid asja ette, kuna lisaks mu väikevennale Eestis, oli ka Hannese, töökaaslane Rootsist, ning ühe rentniku sünnipäev. Hommik algas seega puuviljasalati ning tüki koogiga, jätkus tööl sünnipäevalaulu ja muffinitega ning pärastlõunal India restoranis lõunatamisega! Lisaks sain õhtul teiste vabatahtlikega Mehhiko restoranis kokku. Nimelt on mul iga kuu esimene teisipäev kalendris tähistatud kui vabatahtlike kogunemise päev. Tavaliselt sööme õhtust ühes pizza restoranis, seekord otsustasime aga suure nõudmise tõttu Mehhiko restorani kasuks. Seega õnnestus mul täna riisi söömist vältida J Ehkki Esthela valmistas meie eilseks õhtusöögiks pasta bolognese kastmega!

Muudest uudistest niipalju, et pühapäeval õnnestus mul mu telefonist ilma jääda... Mindo’st bussijaama tagasi jõudes(rohkem juba järgmises postituses) sõitsime umbes 15 minutit metroobussiga ja selle 15 minuti jooksul mu kulunud töötelefon maagiliselt haihtuski. Mu ülemus ütles juhtunust kuuldes, et , Liis, mul on väga kahju, aga tere tulemast Ecuadori! Jaanuaris Ecuadori jõudnud vabatahtlikest on umbes pooltelt juba midagi varastatud, seega oli üsna tõenäoline, et minugagi midagi juhtub.

Kõige koomilisem oli aga see, mis täna hommikul juhtus J Ütlesin eile Xime’le(mu töökaaslane Ecuadorist), et tulen veidi hiljem, kuna teadsin, et lõpetame täna hiljem. Mu ülemus oli aga unustanud, et mainisin seda juba eelmisel nädalal ja oli seega jõudnud helistada nii mu Ecuadori perele kui ka Tove’le(vabatahtlik Rootsist, kes minuga samas majas elab). Ühesõnaga umbes 40 minutit hiljem tööle jõudes olid kõik paanikas ja üllatunud, et ma ikka tööle jõudsin. Pean kiiremas korras uue telefoni hankima J

PS: käisime eelmisel nädalal taaskord projekte külastamas. Ühes neist oli ühel õpetajal pisike imik. See ei seganud teda aga tunde andmast! Nimelt kussutas ta lapse vahetunnis magama, seejärel klassi sisenedes palus kõigil tasa olla, pani lapse vankrisse magama ning alustas tundi. Oi, Ecuador J

L.

Muffinid/The cupcakes



Vahetunnis/At the lunch break



Vabatahtlike ja õpilastega ühes projektis Põhja-Quitos/with volunteers and students at a project in the Northern part of Quito

I decided to bake some muffins yesterday, since it is my little brothers birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVER!:) It was, of course, difficult to find all the ingredients  and utensils. The cupcace forms were only available in two sizes: small and extra small... I took the small ones, of course. Also, Ecuador is known to be one of the biggest cocoa bean producers, yet it probably has the smallest variety of chocolate available. Thus, I had to adjust the receipe, I used white chocolate with rice instead of plain white chocolate and milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.

Ailin, Omars 7 year-old daughter, came running to the kitchen as soon as I started to bake. She grabbed a chair and a spoon after which she announced she want  to help me. Ailin told me she takes cooking classes and that the last time they were taught how to boil rice. An essential skill in Ecuador! So I guided her whilst she mixed all the ingredients, counted exactly one piece of chocolate and three pieces of almonds for each cupcake, after which we put the muffins in the oven. I promised her to make pancakes with her the next time J

It turned out to be great that I baked cupcakes since it wasn’t just my little brothers birthday in Estonia, it was also Hannes’s(Swedish volunteer, who works with me at the office 2 days a week) and one of the womans birthday who rents a room at our house with her family. Thus, I had a great breakfast that consisted of fruit salad and some cake, after which we all sang at the office for Hannes and ate cupcakes and then we went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. I also met some other volunteers at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Namely we have a meeting every first Tuesday of the month. We usually go to a pizzeria, but this time we went to a Mexican restaurant since lots of us wanted to have Mexican food instead. Thus I was able to avoid eating rice today J And Esthela also made pasta Bolognese for us yesterday!

My phone was stolen on Sunday... we were on our way from the bus station(because we came back from Mindo, I’ll write more about it in the next post) to my house. We took a metrobus and it only took us 15 minutes, but somebody managed to somehow steal my phone within these 15 minutes. My boss said, when she heared what had happened, that, Liis, I am very sorry about what happened, but welcome to Ecuador! Around 50% of the volunteers who arrived in January have been robbed already so it was just a matter of time when it was going to happen with me.

The funniest thing was what happened this morning though J I told to Xime(my coworker from Ecuador) yesterday that I would come a bit later today since I knew we would finish later. Gina, my boss, had forgotten that I mentioned it to her last week though and so she had managed to call to my hostfamily and Tove(Swedish volunteer who lives at the same house with me). So, everybody was panicking by the time I got to work. I need to get a new phone asap! J

PS: we visited some more projects last week. There was a teacher who had had a child a few months ago in one of the projects, it didn’t disturb her to give classes though! She walked around with the baby at the break to make her fall asleep, then asked the students to be quiet when she entered the classroom, put the baby into the buggy and began with the class. Oh, Ecuador J

L.

Töö/Work

Nagu lubatud... Töötan sellises organisatsioonis nagu VASE(Voluntariado para la Ayuda Social del Ecuador ehk vabatahtlik töö Ecuadori sotsiaalsete projektide tarbeks), mis on MTÜ, 4 aastat tegelenud mujalt maailmast tulnud vabatahtlike vastu võtmise(Enamasti USAst ja Euroopast) ning Ecuadori vabatahtlike muudesse riikidesse saatmisega. Mina tegelen peamiselt Ecuadori saabuvate vabatahtlikega, kuna suhtluskeeleks on peamiselt inglise keel, ehkki kasutan igapäevaselt ka hispaania keelt.

Iga päev on erinev ja see ongi asja juures kõige vahvam!  Isegi tööaeg, mis on enamjaolt 10st 4ni on projekti külastuste käigus isemoodi. Mõned korrad olen kodust näiteks kell 6 hommikul väljunud... Oma esimese kolme nädala jooksul olen veetnud tunde bussides, et külastada vabatahtlikke ja uusi projekte. Suhelnud nii praeguste kui ka tulevaste vabatahtlike, nende perekondade ning projektidega. Lõbustanud lapsi projektide külastustamise käigusJ. Samuti olen kontoris abiks olnud paberimajanduse, raamatupidamisega ning muu vajalikuga, rääkimata vabatahtliku külastamisest haiglas. Tean nüüdseks oluliselt rohkem samalaadsete ettevõtete tegevusest ja rahastusest.

Lisaks on käsil mitmed kreatiivsed ettevõtmised. Minu ja Hannese, vabatahtlik Rootsist, korraldada on ´flash mob´ ja homsest hakkan erinevates projektides filmima ja vabatahtlikke interviueerima, filmimaterjalist saab hiljem Hannese abiga VASE’t tutvustav video kodulehe tarbeks. Olen ka ICYE kodulehel  VASE informatsiooniga tegelenud, siia saabudes oli see oluliselt nigelamas seisus...  Minu ja Xime (Xime on Ecuadorist, töötab ka Ecuadori saabuvate vabatahtlikega)  korraldada on ka kultuuriüritus vabatahtlikele ning suurem üritus kõigile praegustele ja endistele vabatahtlikele ning nende peredele.

Eelmine nädal võtsime Xime’ga vastu uue vabatahtliku Taanist. Tutvustasime talle ta perekonda ja projekti ning viisime läbi saabumisjärgse koolituse. Täna viisin üksi läbi vestluse ühe vabatahtlikuga, kellel on pool vabatahtliku ajast läbi saanud. (Vabatahtlikele organiseeritakse tavaliselt saabumisjärgne koolitus, vestlus/koolitus pärast poolt aega ning lahkumiseelne koolitus). Ja me rääkisime hispaania keeles! Ja nii tund aega järjest! Lootust on, et saan ehk ikka keele suhu J

Ma olen veendunud, et paljud tegevused jäid mainimata, sest asju, mida teinud olen, on lihtsalt nii-nii palju. Aga just nii mulle meeldibki! Eks näis mis homne päev toob...

L.

Orbudekodu Ambato's, 3 tunni kaugusel Quito'st. 2 last magavad, üks hüppab :)/ An orphanage in Ambato, 3 hours from Quito. 2 children are asleep, one is jumping on the bed :)

Sama orbudekodu, suuremad lapsed/The same orphanage, older children

Hobused hüpoteraapiaks ühes puuetega lastele mõeldud keskuses Ambatos/Horses for hypotherapy at a center for disabled children in Ambato

Laamad mahetalus, Tabacundo lähedal/Llamas at an organic farm near Tabacundo

Merisead mahetalus. Merisiga on Ecuadoris üks traditsioonilisi roogi/Gunea pigs at the organic farm. Guinea pig is a traditional dish in Ecuador

Mahetalus/At the organic farm

Lasteiaialapsed Collaqui's/Kindergarten children at Collaqui

Lapsed: ´´Preili Liis, üks pilt veel. Palun, palun...´´/Children:´´Miss Liis, one more picture. Please, please...

Vabatahtlikega Collaqui lasteaias/At Collaqui kindergarten with some volunteers



Collaqui kool. Lapsed kohe algavaks võistluseks harjutamas/ Collaqui school. Children getting ready for a competition that's about to begin



As promised... I work at an organization called VASE (Voluntariado para la Ayuda Social del Ecuador, which means voluntary work for social help in Ecuador), it's an NGO and it's been sending and receiving volunteers from all over the World (mostly from the US and Europe) for the past 4 years. I mostly work with the incoming volunteers, thus I mostly have to communicate in English, even though I also use more and more Spanish every day.

Every day is different and that’s the best part of it! Even my work time, which is mostly from 10AM until 4PM varies during project visits. I’ve, for instance, sometimes left home at 6AM... I’ve done so much during the past 3 weeks. I’ve spent hours on buses visiting volunteers and new projects. Communicated with the current as well as future volunteers, their families and projects. Entertained children during project visits J. I’ve also helped at the office with the paperwork, accounting and other things that have needed to be done, not to mention visiting a volunteer at the hospital. I know so much more about these kinds of organizations and their funding now.

Furthermore, we have some creative projects going on. Me and Hannes, a volunteer from Sweden, have to organize a ´flash mob´ and as of tomorrow I’ll begin filming in different projects and start interviewing the volunteers. Hannes will later put it together and make a film for the webpage. I’ve also worked on the content of the information about VASE on ICYE webpage. Me and Xime (my Ecuadorian co-worker who also works with the incoming volunteers) also have to organize a cultural event for the volunteers and a bigger event for all the past and current volunteers and their families.

Last week me and Xime welcomed a new volunteer from Denmark. We introduced him his host family and his projest, after which we organized him an on-arrival training. Today I had a midterm meeting with one of the volunteers. We spoke in Spanish for the whole time! I’m so proud of myself J There’s hope for me being fluent in Spanish after 6 months in Ecuador.

I’m sure I forgot to mention some of the things I’ve done because there are so many. But that’s the way I like it! I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings...

L.

Meie kriimud ja ümbruskond/ Our kitties and the neighbourhood

Meil on 4 piiksuvat kassipoega, üks armsam, kui teine (just nagu mu kassil Eestis, kellel on nüüdseks juba mõned päevad 4 kassipoega)J Nad on umbes 5 nädalat vanad ja kahjuks juba mitmendat nädalat orvud... Nimelt sündisid nad umbes nädal enne minu saabumist ja neil oli üleni must ema, kelle nimi oli Kass. Just täpselt, Kass nagu kass eesti keeles J Nime pani talle üks eelmistest Eesti vabatahtlikest, Hannes, kes mõned aastad tagasi EVS’i raames samas majas elas. Mulle tegi algselt palju nalja, kui Ailin, Omari tütar, ning ta poolõde mööda maja ringi jooksid ja muudkui ’Kass, Kass’ hüüdsid. Kahjuks leidis meie tänava valvur Kassi ühel pärastlõunal, üleni verisena, tänavalt . Keegi ei tea mis juhtus, arvatavasti mõni koer ründas. Lapsed olid nii kurvad ja kiisud nutsid samuti mitu päeva ema taga. Meie muidugi toitsime neid kordamööda pipetiga. Süüa nad ju vaesekesed alguses ei osanud. Muidu on nad rõõmsad, kalpsavad mööda sisehoovi ringi ja ajavad üksteist taga. Nüüdseks juba nädal aega söövad ise ja oskavad trepistki üles-alla joosta J

Natuke ümbruskonnast ka... Elan Quito põhjaosas, ehkki mitte väga kaugel kesklinnast. Lennujaama on umbes 7 minutit jala minna ja lähim suurem pood asub lennujaamast üle tee. Meie tänav asub aia ning turvamehega turvatud alas ning väravast välja minnes, umbes 50m kaugusel, on pisike park ja kirik. Üldiselt on Quitos nii, et keskkklass ning kõrgem klass elavad põhjas, madalam klass lõunas. Seega on Quito põhjaosa ka oluliselt turvalisem, ehkki päris turvaline ei ole Quitos vist kuskil. Lähim ’bussipeatus’(peatuseid kui selliseid siin ei ole, tuleb lihtsalt käega vehkida ja loota, et buss peatubJ) asub samuti umbes 100 meetri kaugusel. Seega kõik oluline on käe-jala juures. Töötan umbes 6 km kaugusel, ent tööle minemiseks, koos läbi pargi jalutamisega, kulub umbes 40 minutit, kuna liiklus on siin üpris tihe. Minu tööst ja tegemistest aga juba järgmises postituses.

L.



Kass ja kassipojad/ Kass and her kittens



Kiisud/ the kittens



Söögiaeg. Kes hiljaks jääb, see ilma jääb! Kõik kassipojad vajavad vannitamist pärast söömist :)/ Dinnertime. The last ones get left nothing... All of the kittens need a bath after eating :)

Pisike tiiger/little tiger

Minu Ecuadori kodu/My Ecuadorian home

Minu tänav, maja on vasakult esimene. Pichincha vulkaan, pooleldi pilvedes, on tagaplaanil./My street, my house is the first one on the left. Pichincha volcano, the tip of the mountain in the clouds, is at the background.

Park maja lähedal, maja on tee lõpus, kirik paremal/The park near my house, my house is at the end of the path, Church is on the right

Kirik maja lähedal/The church near my house

We have 4 cute kittens (just like my cat in Estonia, who has had kittens for a few days now) J They are about 5 weeks old and unfortunately orphans for almost 3 weeks now... They were born about a week before I arrived to a cat who was called Kass, which means cat in Estonian. She was named by a previous EVS volunteer from Estonia, Hannes, who lived with the same host family a few years ago. I was quite amused to hear Ailine, Omars daughter, and her stepsister run around the house calling for Kass J Unfortunately, she was found by the security guy one day, lying on the street covered in blood. Nobody knows what happened, but Omar thinks a dog attacked her. The children were very sad, as were the kittens. We, of course, took turns on  feeding them with a pipette, because they didn’t know how to eat to begin with. Nevertheless, they are happy now, they run around the quad and chase each-other. They’ve been able to eat on their own and run up and down the stairs for about a week now J

Also a bit about my neighbourhood... I live in the northern part of Quito, although not too far from the center. It takes me about 7 minutes to walk to the airport and the supermarket is just across the street from the airport. Our street is behind a gate and is quarded by a security guy 24/7. There is a church and a small park just outside of the gate. Middle class and higher class usually live in the Northern part of Quito and lower class in the southern part, which is also why the North is a bit safer, although it’s not entirely safe anywhere in Quito. The closest ’bus stop’(there are no bus stops like in Europe, you just have to stand on the side of the road, wave with your hand and hope that the bus stops J) is only about 100 meters from my house, thus everything is relatively close. I work about 6km (4 miles) away from home, however, it takes me about 40 minutes to get there, together with crossing a park, since there is lots of traffic here in Quito. More about my work in the next post.

L.

Rahe, maavärin ja 4 nädalat riisi/Hail, earthquace and 4 weeks of rice

Ilm muutub Quitos tormilise kiirusega ehkki tuult siin praktiliselt ei ole. Hommikuti tundub alati, et on jahe. Keskpäevaks võib päike aga välja tulla ning olla nii soe, et mõtlen miks ma taaskord pikad püksid jalga olen pannud. Õhtuti on tavaliselt samuti jahe. Seega tuleb kodust välja minnes kindel olla, et kotti said nii päevituskreem kui ka vihmavari. Lund siin ei saja (ehkki vulkaanitipud on lumega kaetud), rahet aga küll. Eile sadas suisa hernetera suuruseid jääpalle. Vaatasime kontoris üksteisele imestunud nägudega otsa, sest rääkida oli võimatu. Lihtsalt ei kuulnud midagi!

Paar päeva tagasi tundsin, et maja värises veidi. Mõtlesin, et ju oli bussist või millestki muust tingitud. Kontoris on ju alatihti tunda, kui buss on just mööda sõitnud. Tuli välja, et oli hoopis maavärin. Minu päris esimene maavärin Ecuadoris :)

Üleeilseks olin Ecuadoris olnud täpselt 4 nädalat ja üleeile oli ka see päev kui ma esimest korda siinoleku ajal kartuleid keetsin. Siiani olen iga päev  2 korda päevas tublisti riisi söönud, välja arvatud üks kord, kui makarone sõime. Pisut üksluine või mis... Kartuleid söövad kohalikud enamjaolt vaid tortillas (Hispaania omlett kartulitega) või suppides. Supid on siin muidu maitsvad, igasuguste ubade ja läätsedega. Täna näiteks sõime mingit suppi mis oli taaskord tehtud millestki, mida Euroopas ei leidu J Suppi sõime paukmaisiga. Omamoodi, aga sobis imehästi!

Toiduga seoses meenus veel üks naljakas juhtum. Küsisin oma Ecuadori perelt, et kas oleks võimalik saia asemel hommikuti putru süüa (esialgu ei olnud neil muidugi õrna aimu millest rääkisin, kuna sõna, mida hispaanias pudru kirjeldamiseks kasutatakse, kasutatakse siin hoopis millegi muu kirjeldamiseks...). Selle peale küsis Omar, et milleks süüa putru? Meil on ju Machica... Machica on ilmselt midagi kama ja pudru vahepealset, aga oluliselt peenem puru. Machica segatakse kuuma piimaga ja lisatakse suhkur. Maitseb nagu pudrustatud lögased kellogsid sooja piimaga J Järgmine hommik keetsin juba putru...

Hasta luego,

L.

Vaade kontorist/View from the office

Rahe/Hail

Supp paukmaisiga :)/Soup with popcorn :)

Porgandikook, mille sünnipäevaks küpsetasin/The carrot cake I baked for my birthday

RIIS-minu Ecuadori pere ostab riisi 50 kilo kaupa...väidetavalt jätkub umbes kuueks kuuks/RICE-my Ecuadorian family buys rice in bags of 50 kg... They expect it to last for about six months.

The weather changes unbelievably fast here in Quito, even though there is almost no wind. It’s always a bit chilly in the mornings, but it usually gets very warm by midday. Evenings are also rather cold. Thus I have to make sure I have an umbrella and some sunblock with me every time I leave the house. It doesn’t snow here (even though the highest volcanoes have some snow at the top), however, it does hail. It hailed yesterday, the ice balls were as big as peas. We had just arrived to the office and were looking at each other trying to figure out what was going on. It was hailing so heavily that we couldn’t even hear each-other!

It felt like the house was shaking a few days ago. I thought it must have been because of a bus that had passed or something, because I can usually feel when the busses pass at the office. It turned out it was an eartquake instead. My very first earthquake in  Ecuador J

I had been in Ecuador for exactly 4 weeks by the day before yesterday, it was the day when I bolied some potatoes for the first time here. I’d been eating rice twice a day every day by then, except for one time when we ate some noodles.  A bit monotone, I think... The locals eat potatoes mostly only in tortillas (Spanish omelet with potatoes) or in soups. The soups are quite tasty here though, with all kinds of beans and lentils. Today, for example, we had some soup for lunch, which was again made of something that we don’t have in Europe J And we ate the soup with popcorn. Different, but delicious!

 I remembered another funny story regarding the food. I asked my Ecuadorian family if it would be possible for me to have porridge for breakfast instead of bread (they couldn’t understand what I was talking about to begin with since they don’t use the same word for it here as they do in Spain). Omar, my hostbrother, couldn’t understand why I wanted to have porridge for breakfast though, because we have Machica instead, which is supposed to be better. Machica is some sort of a powder that you have to add to hot milk with some sugar. It tastes like warm, soggy cornflakes that have been mashed J So the next morning I decided to make some porridge instead...

Hasta luego,

L.

Ookean/The Ocean

Taaskord üks suurepärane nädalavahetus täis seiklusi ja avastusrõõmu! Reede õhtuks polnud ei mina ega Tuve veel kotti pakkinud, rääkimata sihtpunkti välja valimisest. Mõtlesime minna Esmeraldas provintsi Ecuadori loode osas ning esialgu mõtlesime Tonsupe nimelisse linnakesse sõita. Kui meie kohalik pere sellest kuulis, siis hirmutati meid õuduslugudega röövimistest ja muu kohutavaga. Omar on sealsetes kalurikülades nimelt mõnda aega elanud ja oskas soovitada, kuhu minna. Uueks sihtkohaks sai niisiis Mompiche, mis pidi olema surfilinnake, oluliselt pisem ja turvalisem.

Sääsetõrjevahend ja head soovid kaasa antud, asusime bussijaama poole teele. Kuna eelnevatel kordadel ei olnud piletitega probleeme olnud ning kohalike väitel tuleb piletid ette osta vaid suurte pühade ajal, siis me ei muretsenud ja arvasime, et küll pileteid jätkub... Tuleb välja, et mõnikord tuleb Põhja-Euroopalik etteplaneerimine aga kasuks... Kohale jõudes väideti, et ühtegi piletit ei ole ning, et võib-olla suuremas bussijaamas, mis on tunni kaugusel, on pileteid, aga kuidagi kontrollida pole võimalik. Isegi telefoninumbrit ei osatud anda. Kuna kell oli aga juba 10 läbi, ning viimased bussid väljusid 11.30 paiku, siis langes see variant ära. Selle asemel otsustasime minna ühte teise bussifirmasse, mis asus mõne tänava kaugusel. Ohutuse mõttes jagasime kohaliku perega taksot, ent ka teisel firmal polnud kohti. Selleks hetkeks olime natuke nõutud, mõlemad olime ju lootnud vihmasest Quitost päikeselisele rannikule pääseda.

Alla aga ei olnud me nõus andma ning suundusime tagasi esimesse firmasse. Teenindajal sai ilmselt kõrini meie lõpututest küsimustest, või vabanes tõepoolest 2 piletit, aga bussi peale me saime! 6 tundi hiljem olime juba Esmeraldas, ootamas järgmist bussi, kuked bussijaama teises otsas kiremas ning päike parasjagu tõusmas. 3 tundi veel ja buss sisenes mööda liivast teed Mompiche’sse. Kusjuures väljuma pidi sama teed pidi, kuna selles külas oli vaid üks tänav. Kui Baños’es oli umbes iga kolmas hoone hostel, siis Mompiche tundus elatuvat üksnes turistidest ning kõik majad olid kas hostelid või restoranid. Kõik need umbes 15 J

Aga Mompiche oli ilus! Pisike ja armas, just nagu Omar oli meile rääkinud. Küla oli täis surfilaudu kaenlas tassivaid turiste ning rannas võis näha mitmeid kaluripaate ning linde, kes juba paatidesse püütud kalu endale püüdsid saada. Ajal oli seal hoopis teine tähendus. Kohalikud lapsed mängisid hommikust õhtuni liivastel tänavatel ning turistid veetsid aega võrkkiikedes või rannamõnusi nautides. Nõnda suundusime ka meie randa. Õhk ning vesi olid meeldivalt soojad, ehkki oli pilvine. Pärastlõunaks tuli ka päike välja ning mereande sõime juba varju all. Hiljem sõitsime, mõlemal kookospähkel süles, paadiga mööda rannikut. Nägime musta liivaga randa, linde, kes väidetavalt üksnes Mompiche’s ja Galapagosel elutsevad, ning kõige lõpuks käisime keset merd ujumas.

Õhtu veetsime samuti rannas J Kuna parasjagu oli mõõn, siis oli rannajoon nihkunud mõnekümne meetri võrra mere poole. See ei seganud aga turiste, kes õhtustes lainetes mõnulesid ning surfamist harjutasid. Meie Tuvega otsustasime surfamise pühapäevaks jätta. Muidugi sadas pühapäeval terve päeva vihma...ehk mõni teine kord.

Tagasiteel Quitosse otsustasime ka Atacames ära käia. Atacames on tuntuim rand selles piirkonnas ja nagu oligi arvata oli see paksult inimesi täis. Lisaks tundus linn räpane ja kommertslik. Sõime vaid küpsetatud banaane juustuga ning mõned kookosest tehtud maiustused ning sõitsime edasi Esmeraldas’se. Bussis põrkasime kokku ühe siinse vabatahtliku Hannesega, kes meiega koos Quitosse sõitis. Minu kõrvale juhtus bussis aga istuma üks 10 aastane poiss, kes terve tee juttu rääkis. Hispaania keelest saan muidu üldjuhul juba aru, aga ta rääkis nii kiiresti ja rannikul levinud aksendiga, et võttis aega, et tast aru saada. Õpetasin talle natuke inglise keelt ka ja leppisime kokku, et mina õpin hispaania keele selgeks, tema aga peab inglise keelt harjutama. J

Tagasi Quitosse jõudes küpsetasin järgmiseks päevaks porgandikoogi ning jäin oma tuppa jõudes kohe magama. Uus töönädal ootas ees!

Suurepärast nädalavahetust soovides,

L.

Mompiche

Mompiche



Mompiche



Vaatepilt rannas. Augud on krabidele, keda rannas ohtralt leidus/ At the beach. The holes are for the crabs and there were lots of them.

Hommikune saak ja linnud kalu pätsamas/The birds stealing the fish

Tuve kookospähklit söömas/Tuve eating the coconut

Mompiche

Mõõn/Low tide

Atacames

Atacames

Küpsetatud banaan juustuga(sarnane Parmesanile)/Baked banana with cheese(similar to Parmesan)

Another great weekend full of adventures and discoveries! Neither me nor Tuve had decided which beach we wanted to go to by Friday afternoon, let alone had we packed our bags. We thought about going to Esmeraldas province in the Nort-West part of Ecuador and possibly to a town called Tonsupe. Our hostbrother wasn’t very happy to hear it though since he had lived in various towns in this region and new how dangerous they can be. So, he recommended going to Mompiche instead, which is known to be a surf town, a lot smaller and safer.

Omar gave us some insect repellent, wished us good luck and we left the house. We didn’t worry about bus tickets since we had never encountered problems with tickets before and the locals had said that the tickets have to be bought in advance only during big festivals. It turned out that sometimes it helps to be as organized as people usually are in Northern Europe... We were told that there are no tickets for thet night when we got to the bus station, they also didn’t know whether the bigger bus station, which was about an hour away, had any or not. Neither could they give us a number to call to. It was already past 10 PM by then and we knew that the last buses left around 11.30, thus there was no point in going to the other bus station. We went to a different company, which was only a few blocks away, instead. We shared a taxy with a local family, to be safe, but the other company had no tickets either. We were a little disappointed by then since we had both looked forward to escaping rainy Quito and spending the weekend at the sunny coast instead.

We weren’t ready to give up though, so we returned to the first company. The ticket seller had either had enough of our questions or some people actually did cancel two tickets, but we finally got on a bus! 6 hours later we found ourselves in Esmeraldas waiting for the next bus. The bus station was almost empty, besides the roosters who tried to get attention on the other side of the bus station J We got on the next bus soon and 3 more hours later we entered Mompiches sandy roads.

Mompiche was marvellous! Small and cosy, just as Omar had told us.The village was full of tourists who were heading to the beach with surfboards and there were lots of fishing boats and birds who tried to seal the fish that the fishermen had cought. Time had no meaning in Mompiche. The local children played on the sandy streets all day long while the tourists were resting in hammocks or enjoying the warm water and the sun at the beach. It wasn’t very sunny at the beginning, but the air and water were nevertheless warm, so we decided to head to the beach. The sun came out in a few hours and it was so strong that we decided to eat some seafood in the shade. We also tried the local coconuts and went on a boat trip to see a black sand beach, some birds that were told to live only in Mompiche and Galapagos. Furthermore, we went for a swim in the middle of the sea. It was great!

Surprise-surprise, we spent the evening also at the beach J The coastline had shifted by about 30 meters since it was low tide, but the tides were higher than before, which also meant that there were more surfers in the water. We had decided to leave surfing for the next day, but unfortunately it rained on Sunday...next time perhaps.

We also spent an hour in Atacames on our way back to Quito. Atacames is one of the most famous beaches in the province, and it was thus full of people. In addition, the city seemed dirty and commercial. We ate some baked bananas with cheese, some coconut dessert and took the next bus to Esmeraldas. We met another volunteer, Hannes, on the bus, who was also on his way back to Quito. There was a 10-year-old boy sitting next to me, who spoke the whole time. Even though I already understand a lot of Spanish, it was hard to understand him because he spoke so fast and had a typical accent to the coast. I taught him a bit of English and we agreed that I will learn Spanish and he has to learn English J

I baked a carrot cake once we got back to Quito and then went straight to bed to rest for the new week.

Have a great weekend!

L.