A new and a wonderful experience in my life: Lupinus trip

Well, all this adventure started when we investigated about chocho. At first, I didn’t know that chocho had other names, like lupinus, tarwi, altramuz or tauri; and while I was searching for information, I also found that chocho flower has different colors like pink, yellow or purple, and that it’s seeds can have different forms. Something that amazed me was the chocho’s disease, which name is Antragnosis. I also knew that Incas ate it a lot in the past, and that it can be used in many recipes.

After doing this, we discussed in the class about this product that has many benefits for us, because it has proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, iron and vitamins. Each student put a characteristic of lupinus on the board, and we could learn more characteristics about chocho, the ones which we didn’t find.

Having all the theory in mind, we continued with the third part of the project, which consisted of creating something amazing with lupinus. In this activity we used lupinus with Antragnosis and lupinus which were in a good condition. We knew that lupinus with the disease could be used to create wonderful things, even though it can’t be eaten by us. So, we started to create something amazing; but the previous day, Pame and me didn’t know what to do. In the afternoon Pame told me that we could create a doll with a chocho’s cob, and I agreed with that because it was an original idea. So, in class we pasted all the lupinus that were in a good condition on the cob, and for the nose we pasted one seed of lupinus with Antragnosis; for the skirt we pasted on the leaves of the cob some brilliant figures and for the eyes and the mouth we used a pink glue. We also put on the doll a ‘scarf’, which was actually a ribbon. Everyone liked our project and they said that it was beautiful and amazing. All the students created beautiful wonders as you can see in the pictures. There were bottles, dolls, an angel and also a notebook.

The final part of the project was to cook a dish with lupinus, so the first Monday of December we did this. Chemistry people and Socials got together in the lab, and we started to cook. Everyone was doing something: some were cutting tomatoes; others were squeezing out lemons and oranges. In my group were working Pame, Dany and me, ande we decided to prepare ceviche of lupinus. We used oranges, lemon, tomato, tuna fish, pearl onion, salt, pepper, ketchup, pop corn, ‘tostado’ and obviously chocho. We had a fun time that day. And finally, each group tried all the dishes that were prepared, and obviously ALL OF THEM WERE DELICIOUS!! But in my opinion, our recipe was the best because it included many things and it had a great taste.

In conclusion, in this project I learned many things, for example the uses of chocho, its benefits, the history of it, how it is also known, and more things. But I also learned how to work in a group, how to search information, and also how to cook and create a different recipe. So I thank you Monica for giving us this project to do. It was an amazing experience, because we shared a great time with our friends and also with our teachers.

San Luis Shopping, a simple place but I always have fun there

One of the places I like the most is San Luis Shopping. This place is well known in Quito and is located in Los Chillos Valley. Many people go there to watch a movie, to eat something or just to get together to talk about what they have done. But the reason that I like this place is because I have fun with my friends every time I go there. For example, one day I went to San Luis Shopping with Pame, Cami and some friends more. We got together in front of Megamaxi, but Pame was late, so until she came we decided to go shopping, and when we went upstairs, we saw two men acting like if they were ‘cavemen’. Cami was so scared and also my other friends. Suddenly, one of those men came and started to bother us, but it was funny because even my friends were scared, they started laughing. Then Pame arrived, and we went to buy some candies. They were delicious and we took many pictures with them, we love doing this. Finally, Cami went home with her mom and we stayed in San Luis Shopping three more hours with one friend that arrived later. We were laughing and laughing.

I also have more wonderful experiences in this amazing place, like meeting new people or joking and bothering others like a friend that I have in Movistar, because my friends and I bother him every time we go to San Luis, but he also bothers us so we laugh and we also help him in his business. But the most important experience for me is when I met my boyfriend, because the first time I saw him was in this shopping centre. San Luis Shopping has many places, ones for eating, others for buying clothes, and others where people, especially young people, get together on Fridays and Saturdays.

An amazing trip to the Amazon region

Well, another place I like the most is Puyo city. I went there when I was 13 years old, and it was an unforgettable trip. Everything started when my family and me went to Ambato to visit my grandparents, and when we arrived, my cousin told us about the Amazon region, so we decided to go there. We got our backpacks and we got into the car. Before we arrived to a hotel in Puyo city, we had travelled 3 hours and we were really tired. The hotel was really nice, and at night we went to see the city. We ate some ice-cream and we walked along the streets watching and learning more about this culture. Some minutes later, we returned to the hotel.
Next day, we saw a little monkey in the restaurant, and it was really funny because he jumped from one table to another. Having breakfast, we decided to go to the zoo that was located some kilometres before Tena city. When we arrived, two German people attended us, and they showed us all the animals that lived in the Amazon region, like monkeys, the “danta”, big and small snakes, parrots, and a large diversity of butterflies. Having visited this amazing zoo, we travelled to Archidona, a small town before Tena city. Some people told us to visit the “Archidona Caves”, and when we got there, we put our bathing suits on and entered into the caves. It was really nice, but at the same time I was afraid because I thought I was going to fall down. We were able to see some bats and a small cascade in the cave; we also had to swim through a small lake to continue with the trip. After some hours, we got out of the cave, we ate some fruits and we continued with our adventure. Then, we went to a big lake and an old man drove the boat while he was explaining us about Archidona. We could see some vultures eating dead animals in an isolated part of a small island in the centre of the lake, and when we got back to the car we ate some meat and potatoes. That afternoon we returned to Ambato to tell my family about the great adventure we had in just 2 days!
It was an amazing and unforgettable experience because we learned new things about the people in the Amazon region, we saw animals that I had never seen in my life, and also we made new friends, like the German people and the old man that helped us driving the boat. We also had a really good time with my sister and my cousin, because while my dad was driving the car, we said hello to the people in Tena and Puyo cities.