me voy

Tomorrow early in the morning I’m headed off to Bua de los Tsáchilas, a community about 45 minutes in from Santo Domingo. I’m still unsure how long I’ll be there- it depends a lot upon how much I can get done, and what kind of contact I have with community members there. I’m hoping to meet up with Rafael, apparently the main organizer of their cacao growers association, and hopefully I’ll get to help with the cacao harvesting process as well. Also on the agenda is a trip to Finca Sarita, an organic permaculture farm that serves as an example to lots of farms in the area. I’m pretty excited to get out of Quito for a bit and to make the connection to the communities. It does mean that I will be out of email contact for a while (there’s no electricity in Bua let alone internet), but hopefully I’ll avoid dengue, malaria and parasites, and I’ll let you all know when I’m back safely in Quito.

Also today I tried a granadilla fruit for the first time and it was deliciosa. It’s kind of like a pomegranate. Outside of the delicious fruits, Ecuadorian food isn’t anything special. Lots of rice, beans and bananas (8 varieties!), and lots and lots of Nescafe. Since moving into my hostel I’ve been making my own food, so I’ve been eating vegetables and peanut butter, which is lovely.

Much love and good luck to everyone back home. I hope everyone enjoyed Father’s Day and was able to celebrate with their fathers more than I was! (but we’ll celebrate more when I get home.)

Amor

M