The octopus and its master...
It’s 12:30 am now and the band on the street is still playing, probably for a few more hours. The night life here in Quito where the hostel is located is very much alive …restaurants, night clubs, coffee bars etc….a cool hang out place for youngster predominantly. We left Tena around 7:ooam to visit the site and head back to Quito. Well, aside from the scenic drive back to Quito...we stopped by at Edwin’s house (Oswaldo’s friend) for his pirate themed birthday…and we had a great time just hanging out and tasting local food prepared by his wife and mother-in-law and a few other helpers….we then had a pirate treasure hunt where we were given clues to locate the prize….everyone received a cd at the end from our host Edwin. I had also won the prized toy octopus from the pirate fencing competition where players are randomly selected for a duel and winners of each round will be fighting again with other winners until the final duel...with wooden sword….and YES! I was crowned as the Pirate warrior of the evening. The game was simple…just fight until you get the other person and if you get the other person’s leg you will be limping with only one leg, of you get the arm then you will have to fight with the other arm…hmmmm…probably if both arms were disqualified. ..maybe using the mouth will be the last resort...or just limp away as fast as possible...well it’s complicated so I will be posting a video for everyone’s viewing pleasure soon…..Mee leng and I had so much fun.
We were so tired today as we also tracked down the site and believe me...it is pretty wild down there…..crazy insects that bites, thorny scrubs and uneven terrain with mud pits…thinking that going down is hard but compared to climbing up….it is even tougher…..but the site visit confirmed the design of the Kallari chocolate factory’s identity and I’m very confident that the design on the new site will be more meaningful and contextual…and also conveying the vision of the Kallari organization to be the leader and model for the other communities, within Ecuador and around the world…from their words over and over again..’ we want to have a top notch facility where our vision can prosper the region’….they obviously have a great group of leaders and also the help from volunteers around the world to assist them in the path of success…we are proud to be a part of it!In a few more hours…I will be meeting with heather and Veronica...(a local architect that is interested to start an AFH chapter here in Quito)...around 7:30am then rush back to meet with the group at 9:00am to head to Otovalo…a celebrated market town of Ecuador…to experience the local culture …for myself personally…its crucial to absorb as much as possible with the visit that will help in the enhancement of the project….but at the same time probably getting some indigenous handicrafts as souvenirs…so I will be reporting tomorrow night about the trip …..so till then I will try to get some sleep….
- Mee leng and Teo -