Blog Post May 7, 2014

Fourteen years ago in August of 1999, when I left my home in Boulder, Colorado after twenty years I had it in my head that I wanted to travel and experience as much of the world as I could. I had a one to five year plan, enough time to really know each place but not more than five so that I could have as many experiences as possible. It’s so strange to me that now in 2014 I am still on that trajectory. When I moved to Brazil in 2009 I started writing about my experiences because they were so unusual, so bizarre that I wanted to share what I was learning and seeing with my friends and family. But when I moved to Northern Ecuador in 2012 I didn’t find it to be so unusual that I wanted to write friends and family about it. It seemed too normal in comparison, so regular and unexciting. It’s taken me two years to see that living on the equator in the Andes mountains is indeed quite a different experience than life in America. Of course the world I grew up in as a child is NOT the world of America in the 21st century. My god, has everything changed.

Just recently I left my home of fifteen months in a small indigenous village in Northern Ecuador to move to the mountains of southern Ecuador. Upon reflection I think it’s time to record some of my observations and experiences. I know that I had some revelation after returning to the states from Brazil that I wanted to be less public and more private about my exact whereabouts, what with all the surveillance on the internet. Not that I had anything to hide, but more on general principal. Facebook became so popular and it bothered me that it was being used as a spy tool by the NSA (national security agency) to know the exact details of each of it’s citizens (shall we say chattel) Who knows who, what are the connections, what are their leanings and persuasions, what causes are they standing behind, how can they hurt or expose our agenda to keep them totally enslaved???) Besides that, on my own personal spiritual path at that time I was learning to bypass the self, lose all attachment and identification, so it seemed somehow wrong to write publicly about my inner feelings and my outer experiences. That being said, however, I enjoy writing. I like sharing the experiences I’m having with my friends and family who would otherwise not have the opportunity to know some of the other places and people in the world outside of the US. And not only that, it helps me to remember where I’ve been and what I learned, long after I’ve moved on to the the next new place. I suppose I’m not destined to stay in any one place. After all, I set myself up with a one to five year plan, didn’t I?

Now that I have changed locations from the north to the south, not just of Ecuador, but also hemispheres, crossing the equator, I have some comparisons I can make. I am still high in the Andes mountains as I was when I was in Cotacachi, but several thousand feet lower in altitude although you’d never know it if you stepped outside my door and looked off the edge of the mountain top I’m living on. I was just a few minutes north of the equator there, not even a full degree of latitude, but none the less, I was in the northern hemisphere and thought that a very unwise place to be considering the radiation continuing to leak out of Fukishima, spreading radiation around the globe. Mostly that is hovering in the northern hemisphere and anyone who knows this and has the means to relocate would certainly do that...if only to survive a few more years free of that potentially fatal and certainly, if not fatal, ill health affects over time. Why stay if it were possible to leave? That was my main motivating factor. I also thought that if I were ever to have my own place again, a little piece of land where I could build my own house,(I admit this has been a dream of mine for a long time - my ultimate art project) that it made no sense at all to do that in the northern hemisphere when I could in just a few hours time be in the southern hemisphere.

But there was more motivating me. In this part of the country where I live now, the landscape is more mountainous, has more trees and rivers and is less populated. It feels more like being in the country and reminds me of Vermont in some ways. The climate is warmer and sometimes I really like that. In the evenings I can walk outside and look at the stars without even grabbing a sweater, let alone a coat. I watch the sunsets here, which each night blow my mind at the beauty and the difference from one night to the next, but in the north, the temperatures dropped so significantly as twilight approached that the retreat indoors to start a fire in the fireplace was more compelling. Granted it does get too hot here on sunny days and I don’t like that at all, but given another fifteen minutes on most days a weather front rolls in across the range that separates me from the Oriente (The Ecuadorian Amazon rain forest) and the cloud cover makes the temperatures pleasant again. Just now as I write there is a strange new weather pattern rolling up from the valley, creating a white fog outside the window.

It’s hard for me to get just how exotic this place is because my experience all along since I got here was (as Paul has always liked to say) like living in Toledo, Ohio. Just days after we arrived here, two and a half years ago, we met a man at breakfast (we were sitting at an outdoor cafe eating blueberry pancakes in an American restaurant with our little dog Rocket on a leash) who liked us well enough to tell us that there was a house for rent next to his. Within four days of arriving and living in a hotel, we moved into an American style house inside a small walled community of four houses with a gardener and caretaker. You’d never know you were anywhere but Toledo, Ohio. (By the way, I’ve never even been to Toledo, Ohio) When we were home, we might as well have been anywhere in suburban America...we had all the conveniences we’d known existed there, even if we’d personally never experienced them. In any case, the house was lovely and comfortable and surrounded by beautiful flowers well kept and maintained by someone other than us. But when we left the walled enclosure, for sure we were not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Cotacachi, Ecuador is a fantastic place to expat to, especially for the uninitiated (meaning those who have never lived outside of the US, especially in a 3rd world country.) I wrote a lot about “losing your American eyes” when I moved to Brazil and I think this is an important distinction to know about for people who’ve never travelled much outside the US. In America everything is whitewashed, meaning it’s clean, well maintained, kind of sterile and un-lived in, in a strange sense. Hmmm, it’s like what I call white bread, washed out, like everywhere you go, you see the same architecture, the same chain restaurants and big box stores....there’s no variation, no character...no more mom and pop stores....same same.....Do you know what I mean? It’s not the America I remember from my youth. But I’m almost sixty now. I was born in 1954. Things have changed a lot since then. Maybe my kids won’t even remember when you could go on a vacation to another place and actually see different things, houses looked different from one town to the next, there was different merchandise in the stores, there was a variety of stores to shop in and different restaurants to eat in....now its exactly the same everywhere you go. Now, I know that some people take comfort in the sameness. You don’t have to take any chances...you can order the same meal wherever you are and it will taste exactly the same as it did last time. It’s safe. But back to my point about American eyes. It’s clean and tidy in America, it’s not so much in other countries. It’s poorer. There are less resources to tidy everything up. And houses, for example don’t ever get finished being built, as they wait for more money to build the next story. I learned something I found quite interesting about that though. Quite often people will never finish building (you’ll see rebar extending out the top of one story, waiting for the next floor to be built) because the property taxes don’t take effect until completion. Great way to outwit the authorities! But again I digress, because of this unfinished, kind of dirty quality (a lot of times it actually is muddy because of lack of money to pave the roads and the resulting mud from the rains) it seems depressing because of the value judgement added...oh, how sad, there is such poverty..... But when you get beyond the value judgement and see the beauty of the simplicity and the humble quality of life, you can lose what I call your American eyes. Of course it depends where you are, some areas are more affluent than others. Cotacachi, for example is quite an affluent community. The streets are not only paved but paved in beautiful mosaic patterns with designs that reflect their reverence for the sun, as depicted in their eight pointed star/sun symbols which are crafted into sculptures and street designs.

Cotacachi is a tourist town. It is a town of leather workers, hosting a college that teaches the craft and the streets are lined with shops selling beautiful handmade leather handbags and belts and clothing of every kind, even saddles for horses and bridles and reins, hassocks and hide rugs...if it’s made from leather, they make it and sell it. So it attracts tourists from all over Ecuador and it attracts foreigners who come there to live. The coolest thing about it though, in my opinion, is that the population is 85% indigenous Kichwa (Quechua) indians whose culture has survived (mostly) intact for thousands of years. These folks are said to be the most prosperous indians in the world. They are industrious and very hard working. And they are the most delightful group (race) of people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. They are light hearted and funny, welcoming and accepting of other people of every nationality, generous and loving and friendly. I felt absolutely honored to live in their presence and be welcomed into their community.

I actually lived for fifteen months outside of town right in an indigenous village (or rather on the edge of the village) and got to know first hand a little of their culture. Now the rest of the Ecuadorian people, those who are not referred to as indigenous, are what are called Mestizzos, meaning mixed. They are of Spanish descent or mixed with Spanish descendents....They are more difficult to get to know than Brazillians (my point of reference, since these were the first people from a Latin American country I got to know and love) At first impression, they seem reluctant to know and accept and befriend us, whom they call Gringos. They seem skeptical and resentful of the disparity of our lifestyles....Afterall the American dream has been held up as something to aspire to all over the world, through the television media and product placement. Speaking of product placement just for a moment, very little is manufactured in Ecuador, everything is imported from China and we get the worst of the worst here, probably the rejected seconds (or thirds or fourths) that no other country will accept! It’s just cheap crap and it breaks before you even get it home from the store. But everyone desires what they see on TV, like the clothing for example, the nike shoes......So bringing it back to where I was going, Americans and all foreigners have so much more than the local Ecuadorians and there is some resentment about that, or at least some perceived resentment and some degree of theft by those who have less from those who have more. For this, people who expat to third world countries have to take extra precautions, but so does everyone else. People build walls around their houses and keep dogs in the yards or on the roofs (here in Ecuador) to protect their stuff, not just foreigners, everyone. And expats tend to build small gated communities where they surround themselves with other expats and hire security. That was never my cup of tea, but I can certainly relate to wanting to be in a comforting setting surrounded by like minded individuals.

Cotacachi also offered something that does appeal to me in the form of other English speaking people and a choice of businesses, particularly restaurants catering to the English speaking residents. It is nice to know you can always go out and find not only something familiar and thereby comforting to eat but also someone to talk to in your native language, especially when you’re new to a place and need to know where stuff is.

And then there is another thing which is quite lovely about living in an expat community, the email list. Both places have one, where I live now and Cotacachi did as well. Anytime one has information to share, whether it be a question about where to find something, including health care alternatives or something to sell, or a new service being offered or an event to advertise, the news comes through via the email list. It’s so convenient and it’s instant community.

But the very best thing about living in Northern Ecuador, in particular the Cotacachi-Otavalo area, for me, was the community of Kichwa (Quechua) indians and their culture. Here’s a culture which has survived almost intact for many generations. Although many are quite successful in their industrious endeavors, whether artisans or craftsman or retailers , others live quite simply and humble-y off the land and whatever odd job they can pick up. Starting at dawn, most are at work by 7am, working quite diligently at often quite physical work, taking an hour for lunch and working until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. On the equator we’re talking about daylight from 6 or 6:30 until the same time 12 hours later and its wonderful to drive through the village just before twilight and see the whole family outside, enjoying one another or visiting with neighbors. Homes can be rather modest and anytime spent outside is often preferable before darkness and the chill in the air beckons one in. To make a little extra cash, you’ll often see some families setting up an outdoor grill and preparing food for the neighborhood for anyone who happens by. And these folks love to dance and have a good time and parties, which are often weddings that last 3 days go into the early morning hours. Now weddings are an interesting custom. On day one, either the brides family or the groom’s family hosts the festivities, cooking for the friends and family, on day two the other side (I can’t recall if there is a specific order, but if it were first the brides family, then it will be the grooms family and friends. On day three the entire village is invited to attend. Gifts are always baskets of food, traditionally. And music and dancing last all day and all night.

But dancing can happen for no reason at all and we were once invited to a family’ s home for dancing one evening. I can’t say that it is always like this because I know for sure there is often live music, but on this occasion, tunes were selected on the computer and we drank beer and shuffled around the room till we were so tired we had to stop.

But there was many a night Paul and I would lay awake, unable to sleep because the music from somewhere in the village was too loud, too monotonous and lasted way too long, often, in fact more often than not, still playing at dawn when we would wake after a fitful hour or two of sleep.

South America is definitely a noisy place, between the barking dogs and the all night music....its a wonder people get up and go to work in the morning, but then it’s entirely possible they never went to sleep at all. White noise helps! I am celebrating the fact that the new place we’ve just recently moved to is for the most part very quiet. Usually the wind blows in a different direction or something because we rarely hear a sound from town or from the faraway neighbors, but it is true that sound rises and tonight there is a strange sound wafting up. Some days lately I’ve also heard the sound of marching bands or drumming, but never barking dogs, unless it’s mine barking at the bull who wanders up occasionally on the other side of the barbed wire fence that divides our property form the steeply descending land on the other side of the cliff.

In most towns there is a Sunday Farmer’s market where all the locals who care to, show up to sell their products. The price is right and for the most part (at least this was true in Cotacachi) most everything costs a dollar. It’s simply a matter of how many you get for a dollar, and that might depend on what’s in season, for example in season, you can get 3 mangoes for a dollar but only 2 out of season. The reason I bring this up, other than to brag about how cheaply I’m eating (and how good (and real) the food is) is that were the dollar to ever collapse, I don’t think it would be a problem to easily switch to an arrangement of trade or gifting. I give you 10 lemons and you give me 3 mangoes. And here’s another unusual fact, you don’t have to have land to have farm animals. If you have a cow which needs to graze, you put it on a rope and you walk it to the nearest patch of grass and stake it out. You’ll probably want to hang around nearby to make sure no one else walks off with your cow though. But if you have a cow, you don’t need to be off working for someone else, because you have all the milk you need and later you might sell it or have it butchered and fill your freezer. Now if someone were to steal your cow, for example, and you were indigenous and lived in your home village, you probably wouldn’t call the police, you and your neighbors would take appropriate actions to retrieve the cow and reprimand the thief. Sometimes lashing with whip like weeds is in order. The person is outcast and unwelcome in the community. Many times the elders of the different communities meet to decide on the best course of action, leaving the “authorities” completely out of it. I heard a story once about a woman and her son who stole a cow. After they were caught, the community decided that the son should be forgiven for this trespass and be rehabilitated and given another chance, but the mother was beaten by lashing and forced out of the community. Another time a young man was caught stealing and the community blocked the road and would not allow the police to come into the village to take action, but the community felt that this person could not be allowed to continue to live and they burned him. I think deviant actions that harm others are simply not tolerated. But this makes them sound evil and unforgiving and I don’t believe this to be the case at all. It is simply to illustrate that the community governs itself and not by hiring authorities to take on that role, but by community consensus about what they deem appropriate.

The community also meets to decide what is needed in the community and has what are called mingas. These are work parties when everyone is expected to show up to participate together to accomplish the agreed upon and necessary work project. If a community member does not show up, they are fined $10. Ten dollars is quite a lot when a monthly salary is just over $300. Here an average daily working wage is $18. 

One last thing that I’d like to describe before I call it a night is the clothing my indigenous friends in Cotacachi and in Otavalo wear. The women are so beautiful and so classy. The traditional dress which is still worn today just as it was several generations ago, consists of an ankle length wrapped double layered skirt, generally black but sometimes a dark blue wool fabric over a cream colored underskirt, which shows through at the side. A white blouse with an intricately embroidered floral design across the bust and neckline, with some lace trim, sleeves that gather just above the elbows and flare out to midway between the elbow and the wrist. And to cinch the skirt at the waist, a colorful wide embroidered sash wraps several times around the waist and tucks. Several strands of gold beads around the neck, gold drop earrings and an orange beaded bracelet that wraps tightly around the wrist about twenty times. The shoes are flat woven soled, cloth across the toes with an elastic strap over the ankles. A simple cloth of dark wool drapes over one shoulder and ties behind the neck. Many wear a folded cloth of the same fabric on the head which can be wrapped in an assortment of different styles, my favorite being the one that covers the head and ties behind the neck, but most commonly it is folded in a square and simply perched on top of the head. The men traditionally wear white cotton trousers, a button down shirt with a dark blue wool poncho and a stylish hat, similar cloth shoes. Incredibly handsome and classy! But these days most men (especially the younger ones) are simply in jeans and t-shirts.

Well, I suppose I might leave my description of Cotacachi at that for now. It was a very special place and in many ways I was sorry and hesitant to leave it. Paul felt that it was the ONLY place in South America that he liked. To him it seemed more reminiscent of Europe than it did of the rest of South America. It was a very classy little town, very clean and well kept and best of all, the folks who live there were incredibly friendly and welcoming to us as foreigners. In fact the longer we stayed the more people liked us and the friendlier they were.

But now that we have moved once again, we are the new comers and many of the locals seem wary and distrustful of us here. But I suppose they have good reason because of the very special history of this place. Once known as the valley of longevity because the folks that have inhabited this valley for centuries were known to live very long lives, well past one hundred years of age. They say that was because of all the Wilca trees here which apparently highly oxygenate the air. In days past I suppose there were not many cars on the road and there is still little to no industry here, so the air was fresh and clean and very  full of oxygen. Also it lies in a valley that is bordered by a very large uninhabited national park which separates this valley from the Amazon rain forest. As I sit on my hilltop, I look across at a mountain range that is always shrouded in mist. Some days it rolls into the valley and blankets it in a white misty cloud cover that often looks from up here like a large body of water down below. So that being said, no toxins in the environment makes for a much healthier life. It is primarily agricultural land here and what with such a hospitable climate, just about everything grows and it grows year round. So because of its natural beauty, many foreigners have come to settle in this place.

But not all the foreigners were happy here. They wanted to build the same kind of homes they were used to in their former homelands and fill their homes with the same king of furnishings they enjoyed, only on a grander scale because they could afford here what they may not have been able to afford in the countries they left behind. And they expected the same level of service and work ethic they were used to, albeit at a much cheaper price. So, for many, they experienced a huge sense of dissatisfaction at not being able to recreate the same situations they left behind and they were disgruntled and bitchy. Well who could blame the local people for being annoyed at having their community “invaded” by such an unpleasant group of people. Many of the new comers didn’t even bother to learn the local language and thus be able to really get to know them and politely seek what they were looking for. So in my opinion many misunderstandings occurred and created a bad atmosphere for all who followed. Since the early days many have come and gone, and many of them with a bad taste for the place. I think now that each new person who comes and settles here (either temporarily or permanently) has to overcome this general distaste for “gringoes.” Now in my experience, the more times a shop keeper, for example, sees me, the friendlier they get. They can see that I am polite and try to speak their language. They can see that I am not demanding and unpleasant and as time goes by they see that I am still here (not a tourist passing through) and treat me with more kindness and consideration...so it gets better with time. 

And then there is another very important factor to consider. When foreigners come and settle in a country such as Ecuador, in fact in any third world country, they are bringing an economy which far exceeds the local one, enabling them to pay FAR more than the local buyer would be able to pay, so the prices go way up. Now this is not the sole fault of the buyer. Obviously the locals are taking advantage of the situation by charging way more than they ordinarily would. But the outcome is bad for everyone because now the children of the families who grow up can not now afford to buy land and build their homes near their parents like they always did and have to go far off to a place that has not been “invaded” by “rich gringoes.” So that leaves a bad taste in their mouths for those like us who want to come and live in their country. We (in one way) ruin everything. But in another way we bring more affluence and spend our dollars in their local economy supporting their little tiendas (shops.) Unless of course we take all our dollars to the big city and buy from the giant mega stores (which many foreigners do.) That not only doesn’t help the local economy and only supports the rich fat cats but just recreates the same scenario we all left behind to come and have a good simple life where there are still mom and pop shops.

Okay, enough for now. I know this was quite a long post, but since I haven’t written regularly for such a long time, I had a lot to say. I may continue to write more regularly, but I have many projects now. If you haven’t visited our other blogs, please do. We are maintaining our newest blog: http://pineconeutopia.yolasite (not blogspot, the older one) on a regular basis, especially the “UN-University” page where we post links to amazing new information we discover daily. We have just added a new page called “Paul and Mindy’s Entertainment Channel” where we post links to music videos, comedy sketches, films, old TV shows and documentaries we watch, just for fun. We are recording an hour long radio podcast for Going Beyond Radio which also gets posted on YouTube and on the “The World Beyond Belief Podcast” page. Hmmmm, what else? Oh, after years of putting it off, I am writing a book about Brazil and Paul has just recently written a fabulous book you wont want to miss called “Belief Magic: Decoding the Belief Matrix” available from our blog and also from Amazon. We continue to research daily all the events transpiring behind the scenes and share through our various outlets what we are discovering, so stay tuned!

Signing off now from Southern Ecuador......be nice to each other.

Mindy