So I spent a couple of weeks in a small town (so small I could hardly find it on maps) called Pucara, in a ruggedly mountainous region called Intag. I stayed with the Flores family, Eladio, Consuelo and their 4 sons Cristian, Dennis, Rommel and Carlito. They and their extended family were very hospitable. They took us (myself and some other volunteers) to local hot springs, waterfalls, sunday market, and Jaime took us on extraordinary forest hike in the mountains to collect hanging vines (can´t remember the name) which his wife uses to make baskets etc. He decided to take short cuts and went THROUGH.. as in cutting the path with a machete. It felt like those native jungle docos you see on tv. So much work goes into these products and it´s unfortunate that families producing these baskets etc only get a few cents or dollars for them.
So the living was semi rustic.. I slept on a hard bed and shared the room with a REALLY irritating mouse rat thing that made scratching noises under my mattress. I was so sure it was going to gnaw it´s way through and eat me alive. The shower is a shower head outside connected to a hose. No walls.. not even a bush like in the islands. Mountains on one side and the kitchen window on the other. Didn´t want to ask how that worked. Luckily I heard about the house up the road which had a comparitively luxurious hot water shower so I traded a $1 bottle of disgustingly potent alcohol called Puro (locals call it Jugo de Intag - juice of Intag) for use of their shower. Consuelo fed me well and I was served huge portions of food. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg again, and hot fresh milk which I´m getting a bit attached to.
While in Intag I became addicted to crocheting. I worked with a local material called cabuya which is rough and a bitch to weave. The local shop owner (of the only shop in Pucara) taught me and for three days I sat on her shop porch weaving like an old lady. It turned out to be a very interesting place to sit because the locals all like to come there for a gossip. So I ended up greeting most the locals.. in the country you say Buenos Dias etc to EVERYBODY and shake their hand.
Oh yeah, and I got to eat the Ecuadorian speciality.... cuy (guinea pig)!
