El Cuento de Rodger El Borrego

After venturing hugely out of my comfort zone to Dunkin’ Donuts, Chili’s and then Insurgent on Friday, I was feeling very American and was ready to go kill and eat my lunch the coming Sunday. (har har)

I awoke the next morning eager for our journey back to San Clemente. On the way we stopped by the huge Saturday market about two hours outside of Quito to haggle for presents and souvenirs. The vendors can tell I’m a foreigner from a mile away, but I got some decent prices once they figured out I knew what was up.

Finally we made it into Ibarra and then up into San Clemente (and no our taxi driver did not know how to get there and yes we did follow the wrong taxi into a sketchy looking wooded area until having him turn back towards the main-ish road). But alas, we made it and were greeted by the ever sarcastic and hilarious Martina who welcomed us warmly and showed us to our rooms. It was getting dark by then and as soon as we all settled by the fire, Martina appeared and asked us if we’d like to go see the sheep. 

The sheep. Quick backstory for those of you who didn’t read my about my first experience in San Clemente (never fear you can read it here if you wish). Long story short: a few of us played in a soccer tournament with the San Clemente community against another indigenous community nearby. We won the tournament and thus we won the sheep. We had been invited back by Martina to kill and eat the sheep we had won.

Martina led us up a short path to a small field next to her house and there he was. Right away Sarah began calling him Rodger and for whatever reason the name stuck. We were all slightly giddy but also concerned as we watched him run frantically about while still attached to a tree by his rope. Martina eventually grabbed the rope so she could move him, but not before he could go careening up the hill to where a cow and her calf were grazing. That cow wanted nothing to do with Rodger so she quickly, efficiently, and very unceremoniously head-butted Rodger off the cliff like ledge and back onto the field. Poor Rodger. Honestly it was hysterical, but poor guy nonetheless. We had a good laugh and spent more time taking in the fact that we had helped win this sheep and the next day he would be on our table. At one point while I was playing sheep whisperer the rope snapped in such a way that hit my head and left me with two welts that I can still feel. Let’s just say I wasn’t too sad when I left knowing the next time I’d see him, he’d be on my plate.

Except, the next time I saw him, he wasn’t on my plate, he was in my bowl and that was a bit more of a shocker.

But first, the next morning after a delicious breakfast Lilly and Sarah went to go watch the process of Rodger turning into lunch. I knew that if I was going to eat him later, I probably should not watch the process. As cold-hearted as my facebook posts may have seemed, I don’t think I can watch something die. I would add more opinions to that about the meat industry and vegetarianism and all that, but I’m not about to turn this into a political blog.

So! After a post-breakfast nap and then finally getting up to do homework and take a preciously hot shower, it was finally time for lunch. I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by Martina’s husband asking which of us didn’t eat peanuts. Since that person is me, he happily handed me not a plate, but a bowl. The bowl I had not anticipated. A bowl of Rodger’s intestines. Oh but no worries, there weren’t any peanuts or chochos in it, just the guts of an animal… I tried it, but I’ve already been given sheep intestines by my host family and it is just one of those foods I cannot do. More than anything, it was the smell. Oof. No, I don’t even want to write about it. It seemed as though Rodger had gotten his final revenge until when we were presented other plates. This time, it was more of what I expected: potatoes, corn, cheese, and a big ole’ slab of Rodger. 

Truth time here: despite the wonderful seasoning added by Martina and her husband, I was still not a fan. I ate what I could and then immediately went to brush my teeth. Sheep leaves a sort of dry paste all over your mouth. The cheese was delightful though!

Shortly afterwards, we thanked Martina and said our goodbyes to the lovely community once again before heading into town to get world famous Helado de Paila and then getting on the bus back to Quito.

Here is where I must say: the act of winning the sheep, the knowledge of having won a sheep, and the idea that we would get to eat it is infinitely more enticing than the actuality of sitting down to that meal. What an experience though. I never thought I’d be able to start a story with “well, one time when I was in Ecuador, I won a sheep…”

Las Islas Galápagos (o: mis padres en el ecuador)

Well I’m back on the mainland again and as I upload my photos from the week in lieu of beginning my homework due Tuesday, I do believe that it is high time for another blog. [note: first draft was written Sunday night upon my return, I realize that it is now Thursday, but on the plus side, I did get my Tuesday homework done in time].

I have a bunch of stories to share from the past month (holy moly it’s been over a month since I blogged?!), but we’ll have to see about whether they will make it on the blog. (Don’t worry Grammy, I always write down a reminder in my notebook and then put the whole story in my journal so that I won’t forget to tell you). This blog, is about Las Islas Galápagos!

My parents arrived in Quito nearly two weeks ago and after dragging them around Quito to show them my stomping grounds, we woke up early Wednesday to catch our flight to the Galápagos. Flying in over mini islands that looked like they’d been carelessly dropped with nothing but the vast expanse of water and other such islands surrounding them created the sense of going somewhere deserted and prehistoric. That sense only grew stronger the longer we were there.

After landing on one island and taking a ferry to another, we were driven to see our first giant tortoises (aka los galápagos) of the trip. I thought maybe because I knew what they were I wouldn’t be shocked by them, but I was wrong. They’re giant. I realize that’s a silly thing to say, but they are. They basically own the islands as well, which is great. No one is allowed to stop them from going where they please (unless they’re in a breeding center) or stop them from eating what they like etc. Looking back, those were some of the smallest giant tortoises I ended up seeing, which is absolutely crazy to me. From that point we were driven to the port, ate lunch, and then got on the two-hour speedboat to the next island of our trip, Floreana.

I was a little surprised when we arrived because the beaches were black with lava rock (huh lava rock on an island created by volcanoes???) and I realized quickly we were the only non-natives staying on the island, which I didn’t mind at all until I heard the history of the island from a native… but that’s another story. When I say I was surprised, please note there is no negative connotation. It was amazing regardless of what I had conjured in my head (without knowing it) before arriving. We were greeted at the dock by sea lions happily basking in the sun. I have since renamed sea lions in my head to “sea dobbys” because they remind me so much of my little dog as they were lying happily in the sun anytime I saw them. Also on the dock was a huge lizard looking creature. Turns out it was a marine iguana. I knew then, if I hadn’t already known, that I’d like it there.

me and Claudio

On Floreana we stayed in cabins owned by a man, Claudio, whose father moved to Floreana in 1939, when there were just 11 other people living there. How lucky we were to end up in his care. He was delighted that I could speak Spanish (unlike our tour guide who was weirdly dismissive about that whole thing) so he would pull me aside during our hikes to show me a plant and tell me all about it or show me a spot where something significant happened in the islands history. I loved it. We were also lucky because he and his sisters fed us all of our meals for nearly three days. Fresh meat, seafood, fruits, coffee, etc. taken directly from their farm (well, the seafood was from the ocean) on the island. Soooo delicious.

Aside from learning the history of the island, we hiked, kayaked, stand-up paddle boarded, swam, snorkeled, visited Claudio’s farm, saw the tortoises of Floreana – including one that had been given to Claudio’s dad as a gift - and a whole host of other things. I was slightly apprehensive to snorkel because I’d done it when I was about 9 and hated it (classic Jordan… you were 9, let it go!) anyway, I decided to try it out again and ended up enjoying it immensely. At one point I was swimming around looking at some brown fish and trying to gauge where my mom was when I saw movement. I turned, thinking it was my mom, but to my great surprise I found that I was face-to-face with a huge sea turtle. It was a beautiful shock and I watched it for a little while before popping up to try to get my mom and dad to come over and see it too. I ended up snorkeling with sea turtles twice more during the trip, but it never got less shocking or less fascinating.

One of my other favorite stories on Floreana happened the first night. My dad and Claudio were bonding [via hand gestures and my attempts at translation] over the excitement of the rain (those ranching folks ya know) when my mom added excitedly, “I wonder what cool animals the rain will bring out!” Some sassy comments about spiders and such popped into my head, but I held them in and we soon headed back to our cabins. As I waited for my mom to brush her teeth and get her book and such together to come sleep in my cabin (no I was not about to walk the 10 feet to my cabin all alone!) I casually conversed with my dad as he got settled in his bed. No sooner had he pulled up the covers of his bed than a black scorpion scuttled across his blanket-covered chest. My memory is a little hazy at this point because I was scared out of my mind that it would sting my dad, but I ran over and communicated hurriedly (there may have been screaming, ask my parents, I genuinely don’t know) about what was crawling on my dad. Fairly calmly (with maybe one explicative) my dad killed the beast with the tissue that had been next to his bed and then killed it again when it proceeded to not actually be dead from the first killing. He was laughing by then and I might have been too, but by the time I got back to my own bed I was scared witless again. How’s that for animals coming out in the rain Mom?? In the morning we asked about scorpions on Floreana were told that not only are they extremely rare, they were not poisonous here. Sure, they’d give you a nasty spider-bite typed deal, but nothing serious. When we told Claudio, he told me that we’d killed his pet and would have to buy him a new one.

On Friday, after inviting Claudio to the ranch, we moved on to Isabela. On the ride over I saw a whale and a flying fish. I know I should be more excited about the whale, but holy cow that fish was literally FLYING! Did you know they did that?? It stayed in the air next to us, and we were on a speedboat, for a long time! Crazy. The whale was awesome too, especially because it isn’t whale season, but OH MY GOSH THAT FISH WAS FLYING.

Isabela greeted us with white sand beaches, a small beach town vibe, and white tourists talking too loudly (it’s not even the most touristy of the islands). Isabela is lovely. It was on Isabela that I got to see Blue Footed Boobies (thanks to our mostly Spanish speaking tour guide who excitedly exclaimed things like “I just love it when there are big boobies in my face!” – and yes, my mom and I giggled like 13-year-old boys), Frigate birds, Humboldt Penguins, more sea lions [dobbys], marine iguanas, etc. It was pretty neat. (‘cause, you know, NEATure). One very cool thing about the wildlife on the Galápagos is that the animals have always been treated well by the humans (minus the poor tortoises) so they aren’t frightened by people in the slightest. I would stand or kneel right by any number of creatures and they would just continue their sunbathing or eating or whatever they were doing. 

Besides more snorkeling, seeing more tortoises (including babies!!), staring at marine iguanas swimming [not obsessed…] I got to do one of my favorite things in the world: sit on the beach and read all day. I started and finished reading The Girl on the Train in less than a day and made some fantastic progress in Nick Offerman’s Paddle Your Own Canoe. I have been made fun of for this, but trust me; there is little I would have rather done.

It was a beautiful trip and I feel very lucky to have known a paradise like this one. Boarding the plane to leave was tough, although part of that was knowing I’d have to say goodbye to my parents soon after returning to Quito.

As I’ve sat in class this week it’s hard not to think, “oh wow, just a week ago I was in warm turquoise water with a sea turtle,” but I have many adventures to come. For instance, remember the sheep I helped win via our soccer game in San Clemente? Well, we’re headed back there to kill and eat it this weekend. And then, the weekend after that? ¡Vamos a la Amazonia! And there, there are these fish that swim directly up your… well… I’ll just see what happens and then recount it.