San Clemente

I have found myself not wanting to blog. Maybe it is because I am comfortable here now or maybe it is because I'm just lazy.



Last Wednesday I took a class "field trip". We began our journey by first going to a town called Cotacachi which models a great deal of its politics after Cuba. There was actually pictures of the town's leader in Cuba with Fidel. It was surprising that with a town this small Fidel would recognize its intent to become more of a communal community. Here the leader of the town does not make the decisions the townspeople do. They sit together in large gatherings making decisions communally. Then they work on the projects as a community. Then whatever they work on (school, library, park) becomes community property. Because they put so much sweat into their work the infastructure becomes their own. They have much pride in what they do. Unlike the US where we vote for certain initiatives and wait and see what happens (whether they happen or not who really knows because as citizens most really have no part or ownership in building the infastructure). I believe the US should have more community projects. We would gain much more pride in our country and actively be a part of its betterment.



Then we went to a small indigenous village called San Clemente. When we first arrived there it was a bit scary because we were going to be staying with host families but as soon as we got there we felt like home. The families were so nice and their homes were beautiful. They were built from brick and were over looking a valley. From the community one could see for miles and miles. I don't think I have ever seen such an ever expanding mountain range.



We ate dinner which was amazing and sat by their self built fireplaces that heat the homes. There was a bedroom and a bathroom for me and my friend Robyn on the bottom floor. That is also where the dinning room and kitchen was. I don't really think they lived most of their lives in the bottom level. I think that was solely for tourism purposes. There was a total of five in the family. I only saw two of their sons but i believe they all shared the upper level. We later learned a bit more about the community. During the year 2000 when Ecuador became dollarized due to severe economical problems (mainly debt) it left a great deal of the country in financial crisis. Especially indigenous communities like San Clemente. Manuel (a man from the community) thought it might be a good idea to allow tourist into the community to experience at full their culture and customs. This idea grew and now is in full swing. Each person who is participating in the ecotourism aspect of the community has western amenities (16 families) and even before ecotourism came into play each family or grouping of families were responsible for a certain aspect of the community. For instance one family is responsible for raising chickens and collecting eggs, another for growing potatoes and corn.. so on and so forth. San Clemente is a communal living experience where everyone prospers from everyone else's success.

Anyways, they make a total of $25 from tourist for one night. This includes 3 meals and a great deal of learning.

While we were eating dinner they explained the roles of each family member and about their marriage customs. It was so interesting. The process of being completly married takes almost a week!

After dinner we got dressed in traditional San Clemente garb (there are and will be more pictures on facebook) and had a little fiesta. We danced and sang and had an amazing time.

The next morning we woke quite early to help make breakfast. We made flat bread on and out door stove made of fire and a flat-ish ceramic bowl. It was soo good. Im not sure if I will ever have anything like it again because in order for it to be good it has to be made on the special stove top. We then learned many interesting things including how to identify medicinal plants and their uses and about their out door calender.

I loved every min of it. Doing this was something I could have only dreamed of. It was such and enriching beautiful experience.