Dos Chefs en Paute

Ben has finally earned a chef’s hat!  But more on that later.  We sign up for a day trip organized by Luisa from our Cuenca church - ICC. 17 of us board a small bus Wednesday morning for the hour drive to the small town of Paute.  A little history lesson puts some things we learned into context.

In 1993, heavy rainfall triggered a massive slide of a mountain undermined by illegal mining. The landslide completely blocked the Rio Paute, created a huge dam and flooding the town. A thousand homes and 100 lives were lost.  The waters eventually backed up to the suburbs of Cuenca, destroying homes built in the 1600’s and causing unbearable anguish. International engineers arrived to work on the crisis, including the US Corps of Engineers.  Ultimately, the disaster led to reforms in Ecuador and a crackdown on illegal gravel mining, but the heart of Paute was broken.

This leads us to Patricio.  Patricio is the owner and chef of a popular Paute restaurant, Corvel.  Patricio is also a local activist working to improve society and the environment.  He is a founder of the Callimanta Collectiva, a group of 10 families who are growing organic herbs, packaging and marketing them with hopes of developing a national and international kmarket.  Anita is the farm manager and was wacking cherimoyas out the the trees when we arrived.  Anita and I walked along together to see the gardens and she was quite patient with my halting Spanish.  She even told me my Spanish was good, which is such a cordial lie.

Besides herbs, they make flavored liquors, quinoa granola and more.

We get to sample apple, mixed fruits and menthe liquors.  This trip is definitely fun :)

Patricio asks if anyone wants to volunteer as sous chef - I give Ben a little shove forward.  Now Ben is in his element, he just never got the hat before.  With guidance from Patricio Ben expertly cracks four eggs into the bowl of quinoa batter. Patricio is demonstrating how to make a stove top pizza with a quinoa crust.  Quinoa is another product Patricio is pushing in Paute - because it is healthful and popular outside Ecuador.  

The crust is essentially a batter of quinoa, quinoa flour, eggs, cream and herbs.  Once cooked on both sides Patricio gives it the usual pizza toppings.  We are all quite impressed with the tasty result.

A relentless promoter of Paute and social improvement there, Patricio also shares about another of his “pet” projects - a spay neuter effort for the dogs that roam the streets, often neglected.  He sees these projects as “demonstrations” to the local citizens and a way to educate people about ways to improve the community.  Another one is a reforestation project - the mountains around Paute have been heavily deforested, adding to the landslide risk.  For a $20 donation, we can buy a tree to be planted and receive a Panama hat in exchange.  Ben now has two hats. All of these programs share a theme of local economic empowerment combined with social improvement.  Patricio tells us that Paute lost its drive and sense of independence along with the flood.  All his projects emphasize taking responsibility for one’s community.

Next stop is his restaurant for a lovely lunch in the courtyard.  There’s more opportunities to buy the collective’s products too.  We can’t possibly resist.

After lunch, we visit some shops, including the tienda of these two sisters who produce amazing canned fruits and vegetables.  We buy pears and pickled veggies.

Our final destination is a tiny roadside restaurant for a choclo tortilla demonstration.  These corn pancakes are made on small grills all over Cuenca.  Ecuadorians are really fond of picking up snacks like these  throughout the day.  The batter is basically masa with dots of large rehydrated corn kernels and formed around a filling of a cheese and something very yellow.  

We all get to make one - mine is on the upper left, perfected formed, I must say.

Just to backtrack a little, back in town David in our group started chatting with these school boys, who had greeted his with “hellos,” David asked them how long they had studied English and they answered, “one year.”  He then teased them heartily about not knowing more than “hello” after one year, threatening to talk to their teacher.  The boys loved this teasing and stopped by our bus as we were leaving to say goodbye.  Personally, I related to how tongue-tied they felt when pressed about their language skills.  So often I want to say something to people, but I struggle to get started.

We’re grateful to Luisa at the ICC Church for planning this educational day for us.  We really appreciate Patricio and Anita and all the people we met for their passion for Paute and rebuilding the pride and spirit of their town :)

Vivida Vilcabamba

We hear great things about Vilcabamba, known as “The Longevity Valley,” for it’s reputation of sustaining a healthy long life for its residents.  A little research reveals scientific doubts about the claims of 100+ year old citizens, but one can be a believer anyway based on a visit!

To get there we endure a 4 hour ride in a van in what feels to me like break-neck speed on twisting mountain roads.  The experienced other riders in the van assure me our driver is much safer than past ones.  Great.

So it really does feel stress-free to finally pull into the flower lined drive at Hostel Izhcayluma.  The view pictured just above is breath-taking and the hostel is friendly and beautifully maintained.  Martin, an engaging German employee, shows us to our cabana, replete with a balcony and mountain view....

...and a hammock for Ben to study Spanish verbs in.  

Owner Peter is a German who obviously has a passion for hospitality and creating a fun retreat for all ages.  He’s quite unflappable and very willing to chat and fill us in on local culture and goings-on.  We have heard on the van that there have been some hold-ups of hikers on the trail to the highest peak.  This worries us a bit, but Peter assures us the trails they maintain are safe.

The German influence is evident in their own crafted beer and German menu items.  Those ladies put out a wonderful breakfast of fantastic fruit, granola and yogurt.  

Our first morning we set out on one of the approved hikes.  We will skirt around the town of Vilcabamba, then head in eventually to find the acclaimed French bakery - Ben’s real goal for the hike.
This feller is busy trimming the fence line.

Our path follows the water delivery system for a while.

We stop to admire the bricks being made by hand. About 3 miles later we arrive in Vilcabamba and find the central plaza.  The plazas are always an object of local pride - landscaped, shaded and a nice place for kids to play in the fountain or friends to visit.

A church facing the plaza is essential.  On this Friday, folks are scrubbing down the steps and plaza in preparation for a wedding.  There’s a lot of fun being had as buckets of water are aimed at the helpers as well as the pavement.

On a corner across from the plaza is a whole different scene - the organic Friday market outside the juice bar is crowded with sellers of New Age potions and products.  This string of cafes is frequented by tie-dye wearing young ex-pats and older expats sporting flowing vests and feather earrings.  There’s a bunch of young gringo families on this corner buying and selling.

Everything in Vilcabamba is color saturated.

I succumb to the lure of an açaí bowl from the cafe of an enterprising Ecuadoriana, who has sized up the tastes of the gringo population.  Açaí bowls originate in Brazil but have certainly made a splash in California for their deliciousness and health claims.  No evidence of them in Cuenca, but wait a couple of years. Ben returns to the French Bakery for a sandwich.

 Come evening, we head back to town with our friend Sonja from the Cuenca Spanish school for dinner.  We have heard raves about the small Turkish restaurant next door to the church. It is raining cats and dogs when we hop out of the taxi.  We peek into the church and see the flowers being arranged for the wedding.  The restaurant has a covered patio in the garden and we settle into comfy seats safe from the pelting rain.  Our host tells us his story.  He left Turkey to join a friend to travel in Uraguay.  He no sooner arrived and his friend told him he was leaving - heading back to Turkey!  Adrift in Uraguay, he heard some people were headed to Vilcabamba.  He tagged along.  He then fell in love with a beautiful Ecuadoriana, got married and opened this wonderful restaurant.  Fate!

At the hostel a great way to begin the next day is a free yoga class at the Yoga pavilion with yet another incredible view.

Namaste and then some.

We study the hike options again and Martin tells us Hike A is the easiest.  Sounds good.  We head downhill and find the trailhead just before town.  The hike follows the water canal which supplies the community.  Only disturbing sight along the way is a woman washing clothes right in the canal.

Heavy rain makes the trail muddy but we manage and enjoy the vistas.  About mile 4 I start to get a little concerned because we are not anywhere near the little village destination.

We keep following the green arrows and markers that denote “easy” Trail A.

Can you see the trail?  Neither can we at times and it requires careful footing in essentially a rocky creek bed. A mile later we come to the road.

It looks sort of promising - the footbridge over the river and a sign for the village.  But there is no village, only a gravel road climbing up and down another mile.  Ben keeps hopefully asserting we are “almost there.”  At mile 6 I sit down and refuse to budge until a taxi comes along. In a few minutes one appears and we clamor in.  It’s another 3 miles back to Vilcabamba, well worth the $2 taxi.  

I am so grateful to get back to the hostel and just smell the flowers.  When I complain to Martin that the “easy” hike is almost 9 miles long, he says, “Oh, you should have taken the path below the footbridge.” But they haven’t yet gotten signs up for that.  He shrugs and says, “It’s not a hard hike just a long one.”  Hmph.

It is great to be back and get to relax the sore muscles!  The massage yesterday is a nice memory but needed more today.

 One more relaxing evening at Izhcayluma to enjoy the rain washed flowers, the interesting guests and colorful birds and take some Ibuphrophen. Longevity?  Who knows... but definitely Loveliness in abundance.

Feliz Dia De La Mamá

Dia de La Madre is in full swing beginning Friday.  Cuecans really know how to throw their mom a party.  There are red roses everywhere.

My Spanish teacher fills us in on Ecuadorian traditions.  Moms here not only get flowers, gifts and family parties, they are also serenaded.  Friday evening we hear Mariachis singing to a table of rather serious abuelas in a restaurant we are passing by.

A few blocks later these appreciative moms are also being sung to by these teens.

No one here could forget Mother’s Day.  

On Saturday a group of five of us from the Spanish school hire a driver and van for a trip to some well known small towns in the mountains near Cuenca.  Ben and I met the driver, René, as he was our taxi driver from the Supermaxi.  He was a good driver (Ben liked that he flipped off a reckless driver) and a good salesman for his van services.  We went to Sig Sig, Chordeleg and Guaclaceo, all towns know for various local crafts.

The road is slow and windy and we have lots of chugging trucks to pass, but the countryside is gorgeous.

Our first stop is a guitar maker.  He is outside spraying lacquer with a kerchief over his face.

He has been making guitars for 45 years. 

He shows us the tiny layered wood pieces he makes as the basis for his inlay designs.

None of us are guitar players so no sales take place.

The towns all have a craft specialty and they all have attractive old plazas, but none of us are avid shoppers.  It’s nice though to have a leisurely day and see the mountains.  I stop in this bakery to admire the colorful cakes.  Notice the theme!

This mother is always on a pedestal!

Saturday morning Ben sneaks off to the flower market by the cathedral and gets me these lovely roses.  There’s good reason he’s the father of my children.

Sunday morning we head downhill for the 40 minute walk to church. Last minute shopppers are toting large flower arrangements and gifts for their mothers and we notice that many are getting TVs or washing machines for Mother’s Day.

Buses of soccer fans are arriving for the big match this afternoon.  We have arranged with our school friend, Heather, for her to buy our tickets early.  The stadium is on the way to the church and she sees us and runs to catch up.  She is wearing a Cuenca jersey she has bought on the street for $7.  Ben and I decide we need them too.

We get to church early enough to chat and find people just as friendly as before. The kids sing a song for all the moms and give all of us red roses.  The.minister gives a good sermon on the theme of “Forgiveness” and shares a very entertaining story of his start as a 60’s campus radical agnostic who went to seminary to avoid the draft.  Seminary changed him.

We swing by the stadium on the way home and are quite surprised to see police on armored horses and a lot of security.  We buy our jerseys - two for $12.

We are really glad we splurged on the $20 tickets for the covered section.  It will pour rain on this game.  The cheap seats are completely exposed and chock full of wild and crazy fans.  The Cuenca fans at our end of the field never let up their cheering and horns.  At the far opposite end, hundreds of Guayaquil fans in yellow are just as passionate and noisy.  Policia are everywhere.  There are riot police down near the field.

The first half of the game Cuenca dominates and has many shots on the goal, but their shooting is not their strong suit and the Guayaquil goalie is huge. No one scores.  The second half, Cuenca is losing ground and the game is turning mean with a a few yellow cards and two red cards - for each side.  With just minutes left, Guayaquil scores a goal and their fans go crazy while the Cuenca fans fume.  With only a minute to go, a melee breaks out on the field between the teams.  It is way down the field from us so we dont’t know exactly what has happened.  However, even before this, the riot police move into position guarding each end zone - presumably from fams leaping on the field for justice.  Now as the fight ensues, police and officials rush out towards the fight.  We decide it is probably a good time to exit the stadium ahead of the emotional fans.

It’s been quite a Mother’s Day!  Earlier each of our kiddos have called on WhatsApp to chat :) I think next year they should consider a serenade...