Ecuador Weekend Trip to Mindo!!

Austin Cogswell canyoning a 75m waterfall in Mindo, Ecuador! We started off our weekend excursion with a 5-hour hike/canyoning journey through the wilderness of the Andes.



PD Brock, an expert of canyoning and not wearing a shirt, shows off his flawless repelling techniques.



Natalie Rubel repels the third of the waterfalls which was measured at 80m! After we repelled down all of these waterfall, we had to cross a fierce river lead by our daring guides before climbing straight back up the mountain to head home.



The next day we headed to a zip-lining course which comprised of 10 different zip-lines all differing in length. Jackie Menk shows off her excitement!



While the weather wasn't great, the view was spectacular every time!



Some people decided to be a little adventurous while zip-lining including PD Luke who wanted to try it upside down.



Hannah tries zip-lining Superman!



A view of the Cloud Forest.

Post by Carter Galbraith, Ecuador Spring Break participant

Oh, hey 301 stairs...

View of central hill of Quito from the Basilica bell tower. This hill is the highest point in Quito and is the site of the Virgin of Quito, which looks toward the Basilica. This is also the site of the ancient Inca sacrifice grounds.

This morning we woke up somewhat well rested after being exhausted last night. Don Pablo (the rooster) woke Jackie and me up for the first time this week. Gandalf was up to his usual antics of jumping on Katie. We left the house at 8:30 and took the bus into Quito. The plan was to see two churches and the Plaza Grande.


Quito Basilica


Quito Basilica


Inside the Basilica

The first stop was the Basilica, which was built in the late 1890's and finished in 1906. We all discovered that the altitude was definitely more of an issue when you're attempting to climb 301 stairs to the top of the towers than at other times. We were able to climb both a clock tower and the dome. But we all made it, even PD Luke, who is afraid of heights! On the way out of the Basilica, we had a special tour of the cemetary where four previous presidents of Ecuador are buried. Before leaving the complex, we also grabbed some popsicles for a quick snack. Katie and I highly recommend the orange popsicles with ice cream filling.


Walking on the bridge to the dome over the Basilica


View from the dome


Our group on top of the dome


View of towers from dome

We then went to Plaza Grande, which has the Presidential Palace and the National Cathedral (the oldest church in South America). The Plaza has extra meaning now because it was the site of the September Police Coup that was attempted in response to Correra changing police contracts. He addressed the mob outside the Palace from a window ledge...if you're still interested, check out YouTube videos like we did tonight. It really puts a lot more emphasis and meaning behind the location.


Monument in Plaza Grande


Presidential Palace in Plaza Grande

We stopped by a small church (also beautiful) on the way to lunch. The Cafe had legendary Empanadas. After taking a poll of the guys who ordered both Carne and Pollo, the Carne wins, although the Pollo was excellent as well. After dinner, we stopped back by the Jesuit Church. No postcard pictures could capture the intricate gold leaf throughout the church or the intricate carvings. The tour guide took us around the church, the fallen belltower from the 1800s, and showed us the paintings located around the church. The most interesting thing I found was in the front where there was a real spiral staircase and a painted one because the Baroque style requires symmetry. The painted one is also supposed to symbolize the stairway to heaven.


Jesuit Church in Quito. The interior is entirely gold, but we weren't allowed to take pictures.


After leaving the church we left Quito to head back to Rumiloma to meet up with Christian and Laura from Añamisi. We went to a woman's garden to help her do some of planting, weeding, and bean picking. She works on it with her children and produces lots of vegetables for both consumption and to sell. We split into groups to work on planting onions, picking beans, and pulling weeds out of the beet rows. We had worked for a little while when a huge storm started up and drove us all inside, ending our work for the day. The woman had cooked up corn on the cob from her garden, which was absolutely delicious. We ate it with salt, Ají sauce (Austin's favorite), and cheese (traditional to eat with corn). I loved how the corn came off the cob so clean, unlike the corn in the US, and the kernels were huge. It was great talking to the lady through Christian as a translator about her life and family. She had a great time joking with us about if any of us were single for her sons!


The rows of onions we replanted and the rows of corn and beans.


All of us with the family and Christian and Laura with the impending storm in the background.

We went to Christian's house to hang out, eat some more corn, and talk about different cultural differences between Ecuador and the United States. Then, we came back to the house and convinced Brock and Luke to let us have breakfast for dinner (a collective favorite). I'm wrting this now while Austin and Morgan cook in the kitchen (pancakes, yummm) and Brock shows off his blog to Katie, Katie Beth, and Carter.

Off to dinner, then Mindo tomorrow! Ciao!

Post by Ashley Miles, Vice President Fundraising

Day 3

Our day started out with a nice little wake-up call from Brock, one of our PDs, at 8 o'clock on the dot. Aside from the other mini wake up call we received from the rooster (Don Pablo), and Gandalf the three-month-old kitten, it was a perfect morning for going to the Centro (the library that Manna operates). The wonderful and cheery neighbor of the Manna House, Cesar, gave us a ride to the Centro and kept yelling "Vecino!" at our group. "Vecino" means "neighbor" en espanol. We arrived at the Centro and immediately went upstairs to begin painting the workout room/kitchen/preventive health clinic/english classroom. The colors the PDs chose were a a light green and a deep blue. Painting was fun because we had good jams and great chemistry. Everyone here really gets along well, which is awesome considering we all didn't really know each other before the trip.


Women's exercise room before we painted


Painting the women's exercise room


The finished product!


Yoga mat holder for women's exercise that we made

Anyways, after taping up the room and painting it, a few of us went downstairs to play with the children who arrived at the Centro around 2:30pm. One boy in particular, Estiven, was very sweet as well as mischievous, considering he had to be tickled to death for something he did. All in good fun, of course. After mingling with the children and attempting some broken Spanish, we headed over to a local panaderia (a store that sells baked goods) to get some good eats. After that we hopped on the bus back to the Manna house and got in the showers for our night out in Quito.


The girls all ready for dinner in Quito!


The boys before dinner in Quito!


Some of the group at Vista Hermosa!

After we all got beautified and cleaned up, we were actually a pretty good looking crowd. We hopped on a bus and then a taxi to head to Vista Hermosa. Vista Hermosa (which means Beautiful View) was quite possibly one of the most beautiful (and delicious) things we have yet to experience in Ecuador. The view was insane and seemed to stretch on for miles. The churches were lit up beautifully and we all had a great time, with great food, great music, and a great view. One of the PDs was actually there separately celebrating her birthday. We got to sing to and embarrass her a bit. We got in a taxi, everyone in a food coma, and came home. After a quick little discussion we went to sleep. Overall, another amazing day in Ecuador!

Post by Natalie Rubel, a volunteer for UGA Manna

Day 2

Painting by Guayasamin

Day 2 in Ecuador started out bright and early at 7 in the morning. After a quick breakfast of Zucaritas (Frosted Flakes Hispanic style) the group took two different buses to the city of Quito to go visit the infamous Guayasamin museum, a museum dedicated to the paintings of the famous native Ecuadorian who depicted South America in general through his works. Now, let me be honest here. I get as excited to go to museums as little children do to eat their vegetables. It is just something that does not interest me. So when I got chills after the first few paintings, I gotta say I was impressed. Guayasamin does an impeccably excellent job of capturing true suffering of the indigenous people not only of his country, but around the South Ameican continent. He really draws you into the paintings. So after the tour of the museum, where little replica painting souvenirs were purchased, and a visit to his house, which included us asking little Ecuadorian children to take pictures with us because yes, apparently we are creepy, we left for the city to do a little bit of shopping.


Dome of Guayasamin's Chapel of Man


View of Pichincha volcanoes from the Chapel of Man


Guayasamin's painting of the Pichinchas


Guayasamin's house

Around noon we ate at a delicious little open restaurant in town. Now while many of us got watermelon juice and chicken sandwiches, the rest purchased hot chocolates with grilled mozarella cheese sandwiches to dip them in. Uhm. I am never eating hot chocolate without a cheese sandwich ever again. Delicious. So after that awesome meal we did what all the girls, and probably guys too but they won´t admit it, have been anxiously awaiting. Shopping. We had one hour to go around to all the little shoppes and bargain the heck out of prices until we got a decent price for our item. Super successful. I got about 20 Ecuadorian gifts for 60 dollars for friends and family members back home. After that we were taken to a DVD store where movies were sold for a $1.50. Old and new, even ones that were still in theater. Needless to say the day in Quito was a highly successful bargain hunting spree.

After all that activity we went to the El Centro de Manna to see what we could do. Some played games with the kids, while I helped out Hannah, one of the MPI leaders, teach basic English to a class of about 12 children. They were restless and tired from already having gone to school earlier that day but watching them practice their English and see how excited they got when they got the answer right was probably one of my favorite experiences in Ecuador. They were hilarious but very bright. After class was done they all scattered around, many begging to play UNO games while others asking you to color with them. Playing with the kids was probably the best part of the day.

The hardest part would have to be the exercise class that Natalie Rubel, a fellow UGA Manna volunteer, and I agreed to participate in to help the participants see what they were supposed to do. Let´s just say we could barely keep up, much less raise our arms after the class was over. It was a great class and it´s an awesome way for the local women to have a little time to themselves and also to socialize with each other in their busy schedules. After the exercise class, around 8 at night, we headed back home to a delicious dinner of beans, sausage, and rice and relax and chat around the kitchen table. All in all, an excellent day.

Post written by Ana Lopez, a volunteer for UGA Manna

Ecuador Day Uno!!

Luke and Brock making breakfast

Today started out with a lazy morning at the house. Luke made French toast and Brock made eggs, both of which were delicioso! After breakfast and showers we dragged chairs out into the lawn for an orientation and discussion about Ecuador and Manna Project´s role in the country. An interesting note from our discussion is the difference between the goals of Manna Ecuador and Manna Nicaragua. While Manna Nicaragua works to fill basic needs in the community such as basic health care and vitamins for children living in La Chureca (the city dump), Manna Ecuador is more focused on education and nutrition. The Ecuador group runs a library that serves a community on the outskirts of Quito while also serving as an area for Program Directors to teach English, children´s art, women´s exercise, cooking and nutrition classes.


Manna Ecuador house

After lunch at the house we all hopped on a bus up to Rumiloma where we got a tour of the library Manna Ecuador runs. The library is on the third floor of the building, with a teen room and children´s art area around the corner. Upstairs is the exercise room and where the Program Directors teach women´s exercise and cooking classes (complete with a tiny oven and stove). We headed up to the roof for some incredible views of the surrounding mountains and the nearby plateau that Quito sits upon.


El Centro sign


Our group on top of El Centro


Mural in the teen center


Library


Library

We headed down the street to Fundacion Añamisi to work in their organic garden. A group the week before had cleaned up the front garden, so we headed out back and ripped out weeds, trowled the dirt, and reorganized the rows. We made quite a dent on the work that needed to be done helping out Laura and Christian, the organization´s leaders. Afterwards we headed inside for a discussion of the organization and how they got started in a country that doesn´t practice sustainable agriculture. The organization helps out local farmers by selling their organic produce in Quito and through an internet ordering service. They are quite an impressive pair, and they even showed us a video of Rafael Correra (the president of Ecuador) congratulating them for winning a competition. Check out their website http://delamataalaolla.wordpress.com/ !


Working in the organic garden

After snapping a few pictures and chasing down a bus, we headed back to the house for taco dinner and went on a walk to get some empenadas. We finished out the night with a discussion of our activities and some brainstorming about how we can bring the goals of Manna Ecuador back to Athens. Tomorrow starts bright and early, since we´re headed into Quito for the morning!

Post written by Morgan Ackley, Vice President of Public Relations

Travel Day to Ecuador!

Our lovely day started out bright and early at 7:30am at the Hartsfield Jackson airport. Of course it is just our luck that today also happened to be Day Light Savings, so it felt like 6:30. Our first hurdle was realizing that everyones passports had to be valid for the next six months. We ended up losing two people because their passports expired before six months, but we´re hoping they can go to the Ecuadorian consulate tomorrow morning and get visas to be able to meet up with us.


Ashley with the small plane


After much discussion and concern, we finally headed into the main airport to get breakfast and get to our terminal. Of course our flight to Miami was delayed for an hour, but we finally boarded the SMALLEST commercial plane I have ever been on. One side only had one seat, and the other side had two seats per row. We probably got wayyy too excited about the small plane, but it was rather amusing.

We finally get to Miami and met up with Ana, who had taken an earlier fight there. We rushed around to find lunch, and rushed back to our terminal to board the plane. Finally on the plane, all pumped up, looking like we´re on time, even had to turn our phones off, and then there was a maintenance issue. I fell asleep while we were on the tarmac, and woke up two hours later to find us STILL sitting there. Our flight scheduled to leave at 3:10 finally left after 5.


Flying over Quito at night


So we FINALLY make it to Quito, Ecuador (hooray!!!) and meet up with our trip leaders, Brock and Luke. We put all our luggage in the back of a truck and squeeze into another bus for the 40 minute ride to Sangolqui, where the Manna house is. After chowing down on some Ecuadorian Chinese food, we get the ground tour and some of the group takes a walk around the neighborhood. After everyone returns, we settle down for some introductions, Catch Phrase, and general chatting.


Meeting Brock and Luke in the airport


Excited about getting to go to the farm tomorrow afternoon!!

Post by Morgan Ackley, Vice President Public Relations