A quick update - more to come
I've been working closely with an advisor in FONAG, the organization I'm working with in Ecuador. We've agreed that it's best to approach the communities through the community leaders first, so that they may disseminate information to the community members, so that they may expect us for group interviews, etc.
I've also had the opportunity to go on several trips to choose my three community study sites. I've decided to make things simpler and will be working with three communities in two watersheds important for FONAG that are southeast of the city. Through the interviews I want to capture a bit of diversity in geographical location - that is proximity to the city. So, I've proposed to work in:
Chaupi - the furthest from the city. It's located almost directly south of Quito. The primary livelihoods are agriculture and cattle ranching, though the center is relatively well built-up. It takes about 1.5 hours to reach the town from the FONAG office in the west-center of Quito. We were able to establish good connections here with the local community junta (governing group) and a man who works closely on water-related issues (as well as with the junta) and is very disposed to work with us.
Barrio Santa Rosa in Cutuglahua - the closest to the city. It's neighborhoods were consolidated within the last twenty years. Its population's livelihoods are students, some professionals, commerce with some subsistence agriculture (in the backyards). It takes about 45 minutes to arrive here from the FONAG office. We've been able to contact the President of the Junta de Agua (governing group for water managment) in this neighborhood.
San Fernando - a rural community just south of larger urban areas in the Los Chillos Valley which is southeast of Quito. In this area the people are dedicated to agriculture, cattle ranching, in addition there are those who work in Quito since public transportation to Quito is very reliable. It takes about 1hr. to arrive here from the FONAG office. We've talked with the President of this community who has invited us to return for the monthly community meeting on July 5th. He's also expressed that he is very willing to help us by encouraging the community members to participate in the interviews.
The gradient that these three areas represent in terms of geographic distance from the city and livelihoods is what I was hoping for. Also, their population sizes are relatively similar - around 1,000 each. For the interviews, I'll be working with households (rather than individuals), thus hope to be able to cover a decent percentage of the population in each community. The commonality I see between them is their location in the same sector southeast of Quito.
For the interviews with officials of relevant organizations in Quito (e.g., Department of Public works, Department of Planning, etc.), I've decided to wait until I'm further along in working with the communities. I believe this will allow me to develop more insightful and probing questions, based on what I will be learning from the communities.
Overall, research progress is going well. I've gathered a good amount of digital data, but continue working on acquiring that information I still lack. And of course, I've already run into the "we can't give you this info without your organization submitting official requests and signing a million different contracts for it." For the most part though, everyone has been wonderful in helping me out.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Feria del Ambiente, Quito
Some photos from the first ever Feria del Ambiente in Quito June 14-17. FONAG (the organization with which I work, Fondo para la Protección del Agua) staffed a stand among other organizations throughout Quito and Ecuador that work on environmental issues.Wonderfully, throughout Ecuador there are many organizations that concentrate on everything from air quality, trash collection, environmental education to reforestation, indigenous communities and university environmental studies. Unfortunately, not many work together to synchronize their efforts – they continue having their own isolated niches, whether thematically or geographically.
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Picture 1: A view from the second floor of the Feria (Centro de Exposiciones en Parque La Carolina). The blue truck with the balloons on the hood is FONAG's mobile education center - replete with posters, a giant puzzle, and other environmental education materials.
Picture 2: Some of the FONAG team. From left to right: Mattias (from France, working with FONAG and IRD on agricultural themes in Tabacundo, northeast of Quito), Veronica (local university student doing her thesis on hydrologic modeling in Cuenca de Río Pita), Galito (messenger/supporting manager for FONAG), Nicólas (half Ecuadorian-American, doing a brief internship on reforestation), Jaqueline (my in-country advisor), me! In front of us is a model of the Cuenca de Guayllabamba - the major river that passes through the Metropolitan District of Quito.
A dónde se fueron las frutas y verduras?
Arroz, papas, fritada, pescado y carne – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yummy! For the first few days or so.
Ecuador is a country with one of the greatest variety of climates. Like other tropical Latin American countries it grows citruses and other fruits needing warm humid climates. But in the Andes, it also produces grapes, apples, tomate de arból, and other colder weather fruits and vegetables.
So why does Quiteño cuisine only give minimal space in its platos for such wonderful and delicious variety? You’ve got me.
Seeking them out on a daily basis is not that hard – the local supermarket, convenient store or indigenous vendor on the corner is stocked full of them, and they are wonderfully inexpensive.
I will say that the one redeeming quality are the jugos naturales and batidos (milkshakes) of any and every fruit available in this country. Evidently, quiteños prefer to take in their essential vitamins and minerals via straw.
Ecuador is a country with one of the greatest variety of climates. Like other tropical Latin American countries it grows citruses and other fruits needing warm humid climates. But in the Andes, it also produces grapes, apples, tomate de arból, and other colder weather fruits and vegetables.
So why does Quiteño cuisine only give minimal space in its platos for such wonderful and delicious variety? You’ve got me.
Seeking them out on a daily basis is not that hard – the local supermarket, convenient store or indigenous vendor on the corner is stocked full of them, and they are wonderfully inexpensive.
I will say that the one redeeming quality are the jugos naturales and batidos (milkshakes) of any and every fruit available in this country. Evidently, quiteños prefer to take in their essential vitamins and minerals via straw.
La Dueña del Primer Piso
Did you know? Baking powder = polvo de hornear and Baking soda = bicarbonato.
While the first can be found in many grocery stores, the second is much harder to come by here. That is, until I found out that Ecuadorians just don’t use it in their cooking.
I was on a mission. A banana bread mission – to thank my hosts for their hospitality – and it called for bicarbonato. That’s how I met the dueña de la tienda en el primer piso del edificio donde vivo con Bárbara y Santi.
She sells just about anything and everything in her small corner store. From rice to candy, shampoo products to plastic cups and cigarettes, every item has its own little nook and cranny, small aisleways are about 2 feet wide and the lighting a bit dim. I had come looking for toothpaste and left 1 ½ hours later with bicarbonato and having had the pleasure of a good conversation with her and her two sons (standing in front of the cash register with my groceries in tow).
While the serranos are not necessarily as outgoing as their costeño counterparts, I’m finding that given the opportunity, they’ll talk to you for hours...especially if they find you have something interesting to say and can make them laugh. (Being able to laugh at and make fun of yourself is a quality most Quiteños respond well to. No perfectionists, please).
While the first can be found in many grocery stores, the second is much harder to come by here. That is, until I found out that Ecuadorians just don’t use it in their cooking.
I was on a mission. A banana bread mission – to thank my hosts for their hospitality – and it called for bicarbonato. That’s how I met the dueña de la tienda en el primer piso del edificio donde vivo con Bárbara y Santi.
She sells just about anything and everything in her small corner store. From rice to candy, shampoo products to plastic cups and cigarettes, every item has its own little nook and cranny, small aisleways are about 2 feet wide and the lighting a bit dim. I had come looking for toothpaste and left 1 ½ hours later with bicarbonato and having had the pleasure of a good conversation with her and her two sons (standing in front of the cash register with my groceries in tow).
While the serranos are not necessarily as outgoing as their costeño counterparts, I’m finding that given the opportunity, they’ll talk to you for hours...especially if they find you have something interesting to say and can make them laugh. (Being able to laugh at and make fun of yourself is a quality most Quiteños respond well to. No perfectionists, please).
El Cafetón Cubano
On the corner of Veintimilla and Río Amazonas just inside la Mariscal, I highly recommend this unassuming café.
It’s a nice taste of costeño of a different variety – not because of the food, rather because of the dueños and those who frequent it – Cubans living in Quito.
Conversations touch on Cuba, fiestas, bailes, comida and much more. It’s a nice escape from this ciudad serrana – which at times can feel a bit could-shoulderish.
For example, the other day I received an abbreviated history of Cuban independence movements – a conversation that meandered from being able to tell Cubans apart from other Latin Americans in a café (apparently they use a ton of sugar, all of which ends up in the bottom of the cup – and according to the dueño, leads to ‘ability’ problems for Cuban men over 45...warning for all you male sugar-lovers) to how to properly use a machete as both a tool and a weapon (whoa!). The conversation made complete with the wrist-flicking-finger-snapping motion from them both.
(Cuban anecdote – rationed meat in Cuba allows only so much per person per month, and to get it, you have to stand in line. Often arriving at 5am to be one of the first, hard or unusual times/practices may characterize this island. But standing in this line vas a morir de risa, porque la gente se reúne para hacer estas filas y empieza a hacer bromas y reír de las peculiaridades del país y de sus mismos. Imagínate! Haciendo cola para obtener carne o pollo o cualquier cosa para comer por el mes y disfrutando del buen humor de los cubanos todo el tiempo! Esta manera de deshogarse de los cubanos es uno de sus valores. Como me dijo el dueño del café – los psicólogos morirían de hambre en Cuba).
Like I said before, don’t have any plans and talk with them about anything and everything. They’re up for it.
So far it’s the best coffee in town for me – coffee and good company and relatively free of tourists (go figure, it’s not listed in the Lonely Planet guidebook).
Una troza de advice – don’t trust the LP. The maps are handy, but as far as restaurants, hotels, etc...be adventurous and discover the non-LP Ecuador. It’s a much more interesting experience.
It’s a nice taste of costeño of a different variety – not because of the food, rather because of the dueños and those who frequent it – Cubans living in Quito.
Conversations touch on Cuba, fiestas, bailes, comida and much more. It’s a nice escape from this ciudad serrana – which at times can feel a bit could-shoulderish.
For example, the other day I received an abbreviated history of Cuban independence movements – a conversation that meandered from being able to tell Cubans apart from other Latin Americans in a café (apparently they use a ton of sugar, all of which ends up in the bottom of the cup – and according to the dueño, leads to ‘ability’ problems for Cuban men over 45...warning for all you male sugar-lovers) to how to properly use a machete as both a tool and a weapon (whoa!). The conversation made complete with the wrist-flicking-finger-snapping motion from them both.
(Cuban anecdote – rationed meat in Cuba allows only so much per person per month, and to get it, you have to stand in line. Often arriving at 5am to be one of the first, hard or unusual times/practices may characterize this island. But standing in this line vas a morir de risa, porque la gente se reúne para hacer estas filas y empieza a hacer bromas y reír de las peculiaridades del país y de sus mismos. Imagínate! Haciendo cola para obtener carne o pollo o cualquier cosa para comer por el mes y disfrutando del buen humor de los cubanos todo el tiempo! Esta manera de deshogarse de los cubanos es uno de sus valores. Como me dijo el dueño del café – los psicólogos morirían de hambre en Cuba).
Like I said before, don’t have any plans and talk with them about anything and everything. They’re up for it.
So far it’s the best coffee in town for me – coffee and good company and relatively free of tourists (go figure, it’s not listed in the Lonely Planet guidebook).
Una troza de advice – don’t trust the LP. The maps are handy, but as far as restaurants, hotels, etc...be adventurous and discover the non-LP Ecuador. It’s a much more interesting experience.
How to make friends in Quito
Answer: Don’t have any plans, wander around, talk to the locals.
I find that the most interesting people I’ve met so far (e.g., the family from Esmeraldas, university students, working professionals in the city) have been through random conversations at local cafes, on long bus rides, in the Centro Histórico and in other odd spots throughout the city.
I find that the most interesting people I’ve met so far (e.g., the family from Esmeraldas, university students, working professionals in the city) have been through random conversations at local cafes, on long bus rides, in the Centro Histórico and in other odd spots throughout the city.
TeleferiQo - The city from above
A huge investment from the city that is barely able to suppor
t itself (that is, come out in the positive each year), it’s an incredible ride. It starts at the base of Volcán Pichincha west of the city. The cable car climbs the 2.5km route rapidly to reach 4100 meters at the top of Cruz Loma (the valley of Quito is at 2800m).
The view is incredible from the car, though the tiny space between my eyes begins to ache as the pressure decre
ases with increasing altitude. As we climb, the city takes shape – I can see the valley in which Quito lies along with adjacent valleys to the east, slowly succumbing to the pressures of urbanization and associated land conversion.
Out beyond la mancha urbana de Quito (literally “the urban stain”) agricultural fields hang onto steep hillsides. Then again, from several points within the city, at ground-valley level, I can see distant agricultural fields along the slopes of surrounding hills...and the houses that are slowly creeping up them.
t itself (that is, come out in the positive each year), it’s an incredible ride. It starts at the base of Volcán Pichincha west of the city. The cable car climbs the 2.5km route rapidly to reach 4100 meters at the top of Cruz Loma (the valley of Quito is at 2800m).The view is incredible from the car, though the tiny space between my eyes begins to ache as the pressure decre
ases with increasing altitude. As we climb, the city takes shape – I can see the valley in which Quito lies along with adjacent valleys to the east, slowly succumbing to the pressures of urbanization and associated land conversion.Out beyond la mancha urbana de Quito (literally “the urban stain”) agricultural fields hang onto steep hillsides. Then again, from several points within the city, at ground-valley level, I can see distant agricultural fields along the slopes of surrounding hills...and the houses that are slowly creeping up them.
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Picture 1: View of Quito from inside the TeleferiQo cable car. Barely visible are the father and daughter who accompanied us (Bárbara, Santi and I) up on the 2.5km ride.
Picture 2: Me at the top of Cruz Loma. Hacía tanto frío y viento!! Y que cansancio de caminar a esta altitud con solamente 5 minutos para acostumbrarme.
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