Blog # 10 : Crafts & Preparations

After our legendary Thanksgiving feast last Sunday we took a few days to continue work on leather bags and the construction of Mathias’ house while packing and planning our trek to Antisana and Cotopaxi. The atmosphere here at Palugo is full of preparations and energy as we prepare for our final expedition together and the Dammer brothers organize all of the safety management for the Adventure Race World Cup, which began today. Thursday night Misha and Miron flew in to help with the World Cup, and hopefully they will be able to climb Cotopaxi with us.

With so much activity around us we took the beginning of the week pretty easy and worked on academics and other projects. On Thursday we decided to visit the obsidian mines, so we spent about six hours hiking through the grassy highlands of the Paramo as we practiced navigation and patience. We saw many many cows (and two bulls), jumped a few streams, slithered under every barbed wire fence we came across, watched a huge eagle soaring below us, and marveled at the mountains and the clouds and the sheer amount of tall grasses in our path. The mines themselves were spectacular when we finally got there. What appeared at first to be simply a few boring boulders in a grassy plateau beside a steep, rocky cliff turned out to be a treasure trove of shiny black and red rock. Laurel collected the most to take home to Hans but Roberto had a piece the size of his head which he carried all the way back to the truck on his shoulder.

Friday some of us finished our leatherwork and we had an English class with Marcea in which we drank rooibos tea, talked about filler words and the importance of spoken language, and discussed good books. We came away with a lot to think about and a two-page list of book recommendations.

On Saturday we awoke early, ate some delicious squash for breakfast and headed off to Quito to visit the factory of Tatoo Adventure Gear. There we made, or watched being made, our very own quick dry pants. It was so cool to see all the little pieces we had cut out becoming pants before our very eyes as the ladies of Tatoo skillfully sewed them together.

We left Tatoo in the afternoon and after a quick ice cream stop we arrived back at Palugo to prepare for Bethany’s birthday dinner. The meal was a huge success with “ Kroka fried Chicken,” coleslaw, mashed potatoes and fried plantain, because who doesn’t eat plantain with fried chicken?

This morning, Sunday, we got up extra early and ate a quick breakfast before driving to the start of the Adventure Race World Cup. It was awesome to see teams of four from all over the world ready for 6-10 days of nonstop running, biking, paddling and mountaineering. We were home before lunch, and are spending the rest of the day preparing to leave on expedition tomorrow!

Hasta Luego,

Mary Kate

  

Reflections

Reflection from Solo

It’s a dream that faded too soon

A wave that washed in too quickly

A beat up soul

With eyes much too old

It appears to be up in space

But it’s deep down inside

The beginning of knowledge

The very starting point,

Of truth

But what good is truth

When it’s all too sad?

When it tears you away

From the choices that make you alive?

Truth is like death to me,

Perfection, destruction,

A wall to keep me from eternal ease

~ Emma

Montana

Caminando sobre mis negras arenas, asolos con mis penas, con mis alegrias, con todas mis fantasias he llegado ante ti.

Cuando llega la nube el cielo, pero tu belleza de belleza resplandes ante todas blanca. Que bella eres montana blanca, anti alzo mis ojos al cielo sorprendido ante tu poderio. Camino hacia ti, y me veo transportado a lo mas bello de este mundo, dejarte me es dificil, te dire un hast pronto a tu limpia belleza y a tu avantica hermosura.

~ Wicho

Reflection on Tatoo

In high school I realized how little I knew about where our things come from. My notebooks and shoes?  I have no idea. We’ve separated ourselves from the making of anything and everything. Even the thread at Tatoo, where does it come from? When we make our own things, or know who made them, we learn the amount of time and effort that goes into something. I would like to believe that if people saw how much work goes into making a pair of wool socks they would respect their socks more. Making my own things has taught me that things should not be disposable but cared for, that someone, somewhere made it. Everything has a history.

~ Mary Kate

Adin cutting our his quick dry pants with help from a Tatoo professional.

Emma cutting out her pattern at Tatoo.

Working hands with leather.

Isaiah's incredible leather work.

Lara makes friends with a Tatoo professional.

Lucas working on his pattern.

The summit!

Rose learning from a Tatoo professional.

Wicho sewing his quick dry pants with help from a Tatoo professional.