Mindo is Lindo

For nearly three months, the gringos of Omnibus 106 had been an omnipresent presence in Tumbaco. Although we tried to blend in, a group of 62 foreigners in a relatively small town will undisputably make quite an impact. Thus, while the majority of Omnibus 106 ventured to their sites immediately after swearing in, those in TEFL remained in Tumbaco for another week in order to host a summer camp for area children. The three day event brought more than fifty youngsters to the compound for some English classes, relay races, mask-making, and other such debauchery. I, of course, ended up working with the youngest campers. Ostensibly, all should have been at least six-years-old since we only invited those over the age of six, but I somehow ended up with a raucious group of 15 or so youngsters ranging from 3-7. Needless to say, mayhem ensued. I hope they learned something; I certainly learned a lot...most importantly how to cajole farmers herding livestock down the street into allowing children to put their herds and how to (unsuccessfully) try to rent a pig.

Before the insanity commenced, Manny, Jarrett, Elizabeth and I went on a weekend jaunt to Mindo to relax for a bit before venturing to our sites. We left the compound shortly after lunch on Friday, expecting to arrive at the terminal about 1 hour later. Thus, imagine our surprise when the bus stopped roughly 10 minutes from the training center and the driver proceeded to lay down and take a twenty minute nap. This was no cat nap; the man was snoring. WTF? Once again, life seems to prove that anything can happen in Ecuador.

By 6:30, we had ventured deep into the cloud forests west of Quito and arrived in Mindo. After several weeks of the intense training regime, we welcomed the chance to relax, enjoy a good meal with friends, and spend the evening relaxing amid the chirping of insects and rustling of the breeze in the jungle leaves.

Early Saturday AM, we crawled out of bed after a sleepless night spent listening to roosters crowing (they start about 4 hours before dawn), drunk men bickering in the street, and mosquitos buzzing near our heads to venture around town. 1 treehouse, 1 abandoned house, and 3475938475 pictures later, we were sipping coffee and plotting the day's adventures.

After walking slightly outside town, we hired an ice cream vendor to take us to the cascades. Once we arrived at the park, we spent the day frolicking in waterfalls, meandering through rainforest vegetation, and hurtling over canyons in metal cages similar to telefericos. By nightfall, we were returning to town, gourging ourselves on another delicious meal, and relaxing in our hostel, refreshed but not quite ready to return to the real world and Peace Corps Summer Camp the next morning.