Los Jordan Polings Vamos al Ecuador

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is, at last, a drop which makes it run over; so, in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.”   Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 There is nothing like being far from home for an extended time to fill our hearts with longing for those we love. So too, there is nothing like the laying down of fresh roots to open our hearts to new connections.  We have been blessed these past few months with visits from many friends from back "home", and we have had countless moments of shared experiences with our new friends here in La Josefina. Below are some images from just some of those moments. Evan and Dillon, boogie boarding in Olón in the surprisingly warm waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.  One of our favorite hikes, El Guadual Waterfall, with Erica Leyver, Brynna, Dillon, Joan, and Jonah eating claudias (Ecuadorian plums)  Post-river swimming or

       One of the most abundant and staple foods in the tropics of Ecuador is the plantain, a starchy fruit related to the banana, but distinct. Plantains are larger than bananas and are never consumed raw. They are cooked in a plethora of ways -- boiled, fried, baked, roasted, and even barbecued -- and in different regions of Latin America, the same plantain dish can have different names. For example, a savory preparation of plantain called  patacones  in Ecuador is called  tostones  in Puerto Rico. Plantains are harvested when mature and are eaten in two main stages of ripening: green and yellow. Green plantains are called  verdes  in Ecuador. More ripe, yellow plantains are called  maduros , meaning mature. Regardless of their ripening stage, plantains are harder to peel than bananas, usually requiring a knife to open.  Verdes  are not sweet at all; they are starchy, and often play the role of understudy to the potato in Ecuadorian dishes. They can be boiled, mashed, and seasoned in

I have shared on several occasions that our family has fallen deeply in love with the birds of Ecuador. This is not a particularly surprising or unique love affair, as Ecuador boasts 1,600 bird species and the world's highest density of bird species per acre. There are so many shockingly beautiful birds; once you start looking and listening for them, an entirely new world unfolds. I am happy to report that many of our local neighbor children are well aware of our familial bird obsession and regularly come running up our front stairs to report their recent bird observations,  borrow the binoculars, and verify which specific bird they spotted in our well-worn bird book. In this way, bird watching has become yet another a community-building experience.   I am sitting on our front porch this very instant, watching a rufous-tailed hummingbird zip across the path and go gangbusters on our banana tree flower. On the wire above my head, two very loud house wrens are singing to each other.

                  Despite having grown up Catholic, I was not exposed in my youth to the raucous  fiestas  that precede Ash Wednesday and Lent in predominantly Catholic countries. I was, however, thoroughly imbued with forty days of Lenten deprivation -- giving up chocolate one year, ice cream another, and, of course, meatless Fridays. Much of Protestant US does not celebrate this point in time before Lent, but in French-Catholic New Orleans, the celebrations are famously called  Mardi Gras . In Brazil, Ecuador, and the rest of Latin America, the  fiestas  are called  Carnaval  (note the slightly different spelling than the English "carnival").  Source: www.etymonline.com In reading about the origins of  Carnaval , I learned that the etymology of the word  Carnaval  (now obvious) is " carne" , meaning meat or flesh, both of which are important during this time of the bawdy, bodily, and revelry, not to mention, the impending compulsory meat restrictions of the Cathol