So... i'm back already, but i wrote this when i was in quito and didn't have any internet to send it with... sooo it should be in the past tense but.. we’ll see what happens.
Lenin Pavon is a friend that my brother Charlie met through casa Victoria. He lives in a little village called “235.” It’s name comes from the fact that it is the two hundred and thirty fifth kilometer on an old disbanded railway. Lenin invited us to come and stay at his village for a night and meet all his relatives (keep in mind that his mother comes from 14 and his father, 11. So suffice it to say, he has a lot (about 150) cousins. There’s only about 120 people that live in the village so most of the people in the village are actually related to Lenin in some way shape or form.. it took us 5 hours on a bus ($3.50!), and a 45 minute hike to make it to 235. We were greeted by a number of old codgers, young children, and a whole lot of animals. Now keep in mind, I was the only one new to this village, Oscar, Char, Seth, and obviously Lenin had already been there so they knew everyone and they introduced me as we went along. One of the guys I met was named “Loco Willy” (crazy willy) and I later came to find out that he was the town’s supplier of “El Beso De Diablo” a very, very strong homemade whiskey sort of drink. All of these people had one thing in common: they didn’t speak a lick of English. They never could really understand why I had a hard time understanding them because Char and Seth are so talented with their Spanish speaking abilities. A few things stood out to me about 235: the hospitality, the tranquility, and the sheer beauty of the place. You know when you say “make yourself at home?” well when Lenin said it to me (about 10 times during the course of our stay) I would immediately feel that his comment was genuine, he really meant it, they all really meant it. We were fed constantly, whether it be chancho (pig), papas (potatoes), or yuka (an awesome potatoe-like root) there was always food on the table.
This place was so tranquil. Most of our time spent there consisted of just Sitting. Watching. Maybe walking. I’ve really never been to a place where that’s all they needed to “do.” I tried to explain to them that what they do all day is so rare in the united states. There’s always something that needs to be done, people running this way and that, things beeping, making sounds, lighting up. There was none of that in 235. Ha, now for the crazy part: one night I decided to go to bed early (10) because I was wiped out from translating all the Spanish they spoke into English on the fly. One thing lenin’s family loves to do is dance. They turned the music all the way up at about 10:30pm. The stereo was right on the other side of the wall that my head was next to. I would estimate that I woke up 10 unduvidual times during the course of the night. One time was everyone who lives at lenins house (about 10) coming into the room I was in, flicking the lights on, and just…. I don’t know laughing and talking about who knows what… Another time I was woken up was at 3am by the gosh darn Gallo (rooster) who decided that everyone should be awake for about an hour… another time was when one of Lenin’s brothers (who had had a little too much of “El Beso De Diablo”) came into the room, flicked on the lights, and repeated “Todo Bien?” (everything’s good?) about a million times at 5am. Now keep in mind they had been dancing this whole time (Oscar was up till 6am dancing with them!) so the music was about the 6 other times I was woken up. Anywho, other than that night 235 was super relaxing.
The village is placed precariously throughout the winding paths of a monstrous river and the dilapidated train tracks. Over the years the river had cut a huge valley through the mountains in which the village is located. One day we hiked through this valley a little ways until we came across a few farms that some of the villagers own and work on. One of the farms was so steep that the farmer had cut steps into the dirt so he wouldn’t slide down the slope into the river; they just used whatever was available to them. The view from the farms was simply breathtaking; we were able to see all the way down the valley and all of the huge mountains that rose up on either side as well.
The time in Lenin’s village was so amazing, eye opening, relaxing. Ha, oh yeah and the only thing his dad could said in English was “ohhhh myyyy gaaaad.” And every time us “gringos” (white people) were around he would just repeat that over and over again to get a rise out of us. Classic.
The rest of the days I spent at casa Victoria consisted mostly of spending time out and about doing tourist-esque things and just relaxing at the house. We cleaned the house a few times after the niños came to the house to participate in homework club, or after we had painted a wall or something of that nature. A few times we actually set up a projector in the house and watched some dvds we had bought earlier that day for $1.50 each. Crazy! That was one of my only departures from this 3rd world country, and I was glad for it. Oh and i almost forgot, we got to hang out with the ex president of ecuador for a bit in his house in quito. The guy is classic. He just starts talking about what he's been up to lately and what he's done in the past and we even got a chance to see his mini presidential library. There was things like a christmas card signed by george bush senior and the keys to about 10 cities among other cool stuff (pictures attached)
At times its been overwhelming, at times it’s been beautiful, at times it’s been absurdly ridiculous, it’s quito. I’m stoked I came, it’s been eye opening to say the least. Visit the place if you can. Especially Casa Victoria. We're livin' the dream!
-RossMoney
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