Los Jordan Polings Vamos al Ecuador

                                        It is almost orange season again, and probably past time to update you on our family's designated expert Ecua-orange peeler, Dillon. Lucky us, Dillon is amazingly willing to peel an orange for just about anyone who wants one. The video speaks for itself. 

We finally made it to Mindo --  recognized internationally as one of the best places in the world to see tropical birds, winner several years in a row of the annual Christmas Bird Count, a birdwatcher's mecca.                                          The first best part of our week in Mindo was a reunion with Elise, Jeff and Mason Sullivan, straight from cold-Craig-Colorado, at a bus station in north Quito. It was so nice to see them! The Sullivans joined our traveling crew for their week-long spring break. And then we were twelve.  Researchers estimate that humans need at least 200 hours of shared time together to develop an intimate friendship. Elise, Alana, and I are all colleagues from family medicine residency, and I can tell you that in the first few months of working 80+ hours per week in the hospital as brand new stressed out doctors-in-training, we quickly surpassed the 200 hour minimum. I count them as two of my closest friends and confidants and getting to be with BOTH o

We were lucky to have a full docket of visitors during the month of March!  Dillon, Jonah, Brynna, Zulay (center), Ella & Joni After our visit to Chugchilán, we spent five days in early March with my dear friend, Alana, and her family in Otavalo, a small indigenous city two hours north of Quito. We stayed together at the home of a lovely Otavaleña woman named Zulay, who was a kind and generous hostess. Despite the ways in which Airbnb creates challenges in communities -- most notably by diverting housing that would otherwise by available for local people-- it can offer unique opportunities for connection. This was definitely one of those times.  The Otavaleño people of the northern highlands of Ecuador are considered one of the world's most successful and prosperous contemporary indigenous communities in the world. They have been farmers and weavers since pre-Incan times. Their textile industry flourished even during Spanish colonialism, and, despite modern challenges that have