Landslides and Empanadas in Ecuador

LANDSLIDES - A GREAT MORNING WORKOUT

I forgot to mention that while we were creeping and crawling our way BACKWARDS down the descent of El Nariz del Diablo, the train came to a screeching halt. Heavy rains from the previous night caused an impressive landslide and was blocking our route. Edgardo, our jovial trainmaster, asked for volunteers to help shovel and manually dig the rocks out the way. There is nothing more invigorating as a morning work-out than digging massive, slimy rocks out of a muddy pile of dirt with your bare hands, throwing them over your shoulder, and listening to the rocks crash....oh, about a thousand feet below. Worse, we just happened to be on the part of the train tracks that were only barely a foot or so wider than the tracks themselves, so those of us who had offered to help dig out were precariously balancing ourselves on a strip of dirt that had nothing but crisp cold mountain air separating us from dizzyingly steep canyon walls. Just another typical day of research and development for work...

Note to self: Add landslide evacuation specialist to list of skills on resume.

HOW TO COOK AN EMPANADA ON TOP OF A VOLCANIC ROCK

1. Go to Ecuador, or any other country that seems to have a high density of volcanoes within its borders.
2. Go to Chimborazo and locate the oldest, highest train station in the country, perched at just about 11,000 feet above sea level in the desolate, windswept foothills of the Andes.
3. Be hungry. Know how to say that in Spanish - "Yo tengo hambre." Don't say, "Yo tengo hombre," because that means I have a man, and if I had a man, he'd be feeding me right now. Since I don't, I have to say, "Yo tengo hambre." Such is life. The wild-haired, arthritic cook in the kitchen of the oldest, highest train station in the country, not having seen anyone except his decrepit smiling wife and their balding but joyous three-legged dog for the past two weeks, will gladly make you a snack.
4. Stoke up the cast iron stove until it is blazing hot.
5. Place sacred black volcanic rock on top of cast iron stove. Said piece of black volcanic rock, according to legend, must be dug out of the ground only at the deadest part of the night; if the rock should see sun, it will not be happy and will not heat properly.
6. Sear empenada on both sides til nicely browned.
7. Top with aji, the succulent hot sauce so prevalent in the country - a tomatoey, onioney, peppery concoction that should properly light your tonsils on fire.
8. Eat.
9. Sigh.
10. Ask for more.

by Allie Almario
Vice-president - Myths and Mountains
Journey Of A Lifetime