One month in Vilcabamba - Valley of Longevity

We spent one month nestled between the mountains that create the valley Vilcabamba sits in.  We rented an apartment from a nice family - there were about 10 houses down a little alley that one family owns, lives in, and rents some out.  Our neighbors were locals and also a few expats from the states.

Vilcabamba smells like earth and farm, sounds like children laughing and donkey's honking, and looks like a town from a western film -- with the addition of some hippies and conspiracy theorists.

In one day I could be drinking coffee on my front porch with the neighborhood dogs running around me and in my house, then walk down one hill and up another to take yoga class in a pyramid shaped bamboo construction, and then walk to a one hour Vipassana meditation.  -Break for lunch at the house- Then take a hike with Jesse into the forests or down to one of the rivers.

After one month of being in Vilcabamba, the community knows you... from the ice cream man to the person you pass by the bridge everday, to Lee who runs the book exchange.  Our friends we saw day in and day out were Shehan (from Australia/Sri Lanka), Ali (from the Oregon to NY), 3-dogged Will (San Francisco), Professor Will, Peaceful, Stephanie, Bailey, Mariah, Fran, Larry, and on and on.  It was a great time.

I was able to take dance classes at the Vilcabamba Community Center... between 15 and 30 people between the ages of 7 and 70 would show up for this music pumping, booty shaking dance class.  It was a community all in itself.  People would come and stand around the room just watching... the instructor would yell out "lista" and "eso" and more and more encouragements inbetween his own bouncing energy-fueled dance attack.

I also took part with the Vilcabamba dance collective, Hearts in Motion.  A group of 15 - 20 people join together every other week to dance their hearts out.  Each week a person leads the group, and I was honored to be able to the lead the group and teach some improvisational techniques on my last day in Vilcabamba.

Jesse found his creative niche, building slingshots, making bowls out of coconuts, and silverware out of bamboo.  He would go on 'scavenging' hikes, looking for natural materials for inspiration.  He enjoyed having conversations with Shehan, and studying the building and farming around us.

Vilcabamba offered a lot... I hope that you all can enjoy it one day too.

Horseback riding with Chocolate

Church nearby - "I Love You" on the pole

A typical scene in Vilcabamba

Jesse's handmade bowl and silverware

Astronaut Leary's house - a work of art

My Spanish conversation class - more than just talking Spanish

The Pyramid of Mandango - different events here, but I attending yoga in this alignment

View from a hike

Touring the beer brewery

Hearts in Motion - dance class

Hiking our hearts out

Meditation hall

Mr. Susie who always had a lemon in his mouth and a wag to his tail.

Life is good

Life in Vilcabamba is good.

Lots of walking, hiking, talking, time without the internet.

I, Kristine, go to the meditation center most days 12 - 1.  I also attend conversation Spanish classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

There is a lot that we do in and around the town - hiking the numerous trails through hills, valleys, river beds, etc.  It is endless here!  Today, we hiked for about 12 km finding along the way new plants, trees, ways of being.  It was beautiful!  Also, we go to movie nights hosted at neighbors houses.  We watch people, talk to people.  We cook good food.

At our house and on our street we have 2 cats, multiple dogs, lots of chickens (1 that comes around daily is now named Goldy Locks) lots of insects, spiders, strange creatures... and a donkey.

Here are photos:

This is my walk back to the house from the meditation center.

Another part of my walk home from meditation.

The river by our house

Looking from our driveway toward town

Our driveway

From the hike today - direction is SE of Vilcabamba

While walking, a running cow.

Hiking today

Donkey on hike, packing dirt

In Vilcabamba!

We have arrived in Vilcabamba, and within 24 hours of being in town we have an apartment and are moved in!  It is a small village... we have great neighbors... and there is a lot to do for a town this size!  Here are photos of where we are living and the a little of the town.  More to come later.

Visiting the Orchidarium - Cuenca

Today we went to the Orchidarium.  We walked down the main river a few miles, and then started asking around for the location, we found it eventually and weren't far off.  For $1 we got a tour of the whole facilities by the doctor himself.  There are multiple green houses for different stages of the orchids.  The even harvest the soil with tweezers from tree trunks.  There is one plant here which is the last of it's specific kind. It is very precise, and I understand why people working there wear lab coats!  Here are some of the beautiful orchids we saw, and some photos of our visit.

The Doctor of Orchids

Monkey Face Orchid

In one of the greenhouses

Lady Slippers

Raw material for planting

La Mercado - especially Feria Libre in Cuenca!

MERCADO DAY!!

So, we do about 90% of our grocery shopping at the Mercado, which is a lot like a gigantic farmers market.  I am so sorry to say, but the markets in Latin America really do put to shame any Portland Farmers Market.  The reasons are because of availability, bargaining power, and accessibility (money). To buy 90% of your grocery at a farmers market in the states, we would have been broke and in the red.  I still love them, but it's all about accessibility.  What is typical of a grocery store in the states, here, is called a maxi, tia, or supermaxi.  They often won't have fruits/vegetables/meats, only the really big ones.

Here, in Cuenca, (and Latin America in general) you go to the Mercado to get you fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, seafood, meats, animals, etc.  They have the stalls elaborately set up with beautiful color arrangements and buckets of produce ready for you to take home.  It's local, it's usually the farm's family selling, and it's fresh.  Onions skins are peeled off, garlic cloves separated and peeled, corn husked, peas shelled, fava beans shelled, and the fruit tastes unbelievable!

We wanted to share our list from the market shopping yesterday.  This was our 'big' market day (Wednesday) when the market is the biggest (at least the size of a football field jammed with food and people).  We also cook almost every meal for ourselves, going out only once every 5/6 days, and that's really just for the social and learning aspect.

Here's our "Gringo" Pricelist, based on yesterdays market trip, pictured above:  (since being here, some prices have been cut in 1/2 or reduced by some cents, and we think it's because we don't appear so 'green'... also it helps to go back to the same people)

There are even daily markets JUST for flowers!
This one is about 200 feet from our front door.