When using just one computer, Sugarsync was a decent service. But as soon as I added multiple computers, I began getting improperly synced files, backups of backups all over the place, and it soon became unmanageable. For lack of a better solution, I stuck with it for some time, and used backup drives. Ultimately though, I was unsatisfied with these solutions.

Dropbox came around a few years ago and I began to play with their free plan. I finally subscribed to a 50 GB plan a few months ago, and it has worked flawlessly since then. If you’re looking for an online storage solution that’s easy to use, reasonably priced, and will work across all your devices and operating systems, I recommend Dropbox.

Fortunately, here in Ecuador there is no evidence of child labor or slavery being used in cacao production, though there are many, many families who make a subsistence living, if only that, by growing and harvesting cacao beans, banans, rice, and other tropical crops. Small farmers with small plots of land, usually five hectares or less, make up the bulk of Ecuador’s cacao production. If you are buying single origin Ecuadorian chocolate, you can be comfortable in the knowledge that it was not produced under duress.

If you are buying an everyday chocolate or a blend, it was probably made with beans from the West African countries of the Ivory Coast or Ghana. You may be buying a product whose ingredients were produced in less than ideal conditions. While Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and other certifications may add a “feel-good” stamp for the consumer, the issues are much more complex than advertised. A good source to read more about Fair Trade labeling is on thechocolatelife.com here. In Ecuador we are now producing gourmet, fine chocolates for export, and they will be available in the US in the coming months. The chocolate is made from pure Nacional beans and we know it’s produced under excellent conditions, as we have visited the farm where the beans are growing. Stay tuned, and make sure your Valentine’s Chocolate is made under conditions you’d be happy working under!

From today’s LA Times…Ecuador’s war on the media.

I came across this article the other day, and I’m still not convinced Ecuador is really the “most radical place on Earth.”

The article starts out  ”Just 10 years ago, Ecuador was more or less a basket case, a quintessential “banana republic” (it happens to be the world’s largest exporter of bananas), characterized by political instability, inequality, a poorly-performing economy, and the ever-looming impact of the US on its domestic politics.” Is that to say Ecuador now has little political instability,  a strong economy, and little or no impact by the US on domestic politics? While the administration has brought a semblance of political stability to the country, one must ask at what cost?

No organized opposition even comes close in numbers or political power to Correa’s organized base, but not just because he is so popular. Current polls recently gave him a 55% approval rating after five years in power, in contrast to the 70% rating asserted by the article. But he has taken draconian measures to squash the voice of opposing views, taking especially harsh measures against the press that have been internationally condemned-just look up the TeleAmazonas and El Universo cases. In five years here in Ecuador, the only real change I have witnessed in the economy is a continuing boom in construction; in all likelihood another bubble, some of it likely funded by dubious means (i.e. money laundering), and most of it not accessible price wise to the majority of Ecuador’s citizens. There is certainly no economic boom going on here, nor is there a flood of foreign investment as the country continues a number of policies that scare off foreign direct investment. And last year, Ecuador let the APTDEA lapse for a brief period, seriously damaging Ecuador’s ability to export to the US, and only recently restarted diplomatic relations with the US, posting a new Ambassador to the US just weeks ago. Finally, there is no mention of the increasing insecurity and violent crime, especially in Quito and Guayaquil.

While, as the article states, Ecuador has favorably renegotiated many of the oil contracts with multinational companies, the bonanza from these new revenues are being used to support the system of bonuses and welfare the government of Ecuador is providing to the masses, in turn serving Correa’s popularity, not for long term critical investment. While social spending has increased, quality of service in many areas has not. Healthcare and education still have a long way to go, and public services such as business start-up, registration and licensing are still extremely onerous, time-consuming, and a heavy burden to business operators. “Expanding direct public employment,” in what is an already bloated and overstaffed bureaucracy is difficult to imagine as a radical, forward step.

Anyone who was in Ecuador and was able to read the Referundum questions and understand them clearly deserves an applause. The questions were so lengthy, verbose, and convoluted that even well-educated Spanish speakers couldn’t clearly understand the issues being addressed.  Just because many of the policies that were put through by vote doesn’t mean they were truly approved with a clear understanding. It’s a sweeping generalization to assert that because the policies were approved, there is a clear and popular understanding and approval of them. Rather, I would assert that the questions were written to obfuscate from the public the proposed changes.

There is little to be said for radical in Ecuador, except for the mistakenly inward looking policies being practiced. Many of these policies, such as import-substitution and high tariffs on imported goods only drive up the cost and drive down the quality of good for local residents. When Ecuador joins the rest of the world by offering a stable judicial framework for foreign investment, a freer trade regime, and less onerous business regulations, only then will we be able to say Ecuador is Radical!

I can now better appreciate the frustration, pissy attitudes, and short-tempers of chefs who want things done right, want them done NOW, and want them done to some exacting standard that no one else can define and that can’t be explained in words. They want all these things because their job, their income, and often their business depends on numerous things being done right and regularly to specific, exacting standards. That’s where I stand right now. But I’m trying not to be the short-tempered management nightmare that so many chefs can be. I think it’s a good challenge, one that will help me grow and be a better teacher/chocolatier/instructor.

This broken leg thing has laid bare just how much the business depends on me, and while that’s a nice feeling, it would be even better to know that the business can run, in nearly its entirety, without me around at all. So that’s where I’m headed. I will still have to help prioritize, manage orders, and other administrative stuff, as well as set the pace in the kitchen. But when these 8 weeks or so are up, I expect to have increased my employee’s knowledge of chocolate making to the level that she can carry out 95% of the production without my assistance.

We just returned earlier this week from Hakuna Matata-not the Disney movie nor the phrase meaning “No Problem,” but the name of the fabulous jungle lodge in the Amazon.

Just about 3 hours from Quito, the lodge is nicely removed from the main highway just after the town of Archidona, a few kilometers off the main road. You drive through some small native communities, cross a swinging bridge just wide enough for your vehicle over a big river,

and end up at the lodge entrance. You hear nothing from the highway, so the only sounds to fill the nights are the bugs and the heavy rainfall if you’re lucky. We had both, and it was a great way to get a restful sleep.

Upon arriving that afternoon, we headed down to the “beach” on the shores of the Inchillaqui River that is on the extensive property.

Rudy and Marcelina, the Belgian owners, are delightful people and have trained their local staff extremely well. The food is first class, mainly continental European style simple and classic dishes, executed well. We were served sliced pork loin in red wine marinade, scalloped potatoes, and a vegetable the first evening, simply prepared. They have smartly carved out small logs, placed gravel inside, added a wire grate on top, and use tealights inside to keep additional portions warm for you tableside. The portions are more than generous. Since it was our son Sebastian’s birthday and we had let them know ahead of time, they even baked a simple cake for him, and presented him with a t-shirt, wrapped in an orignal and elegant style inside a banana leaf, tied off and adorned with a  local flower. The staff is attentitve without being overbearing, and very polite.

On the second day I unfortunately had an accident you can read about here, but the staff, my wife Maria, and my kids took good care of me. We were served first an appetizer of pork and chicken liver paté, with a cornichon, white onion, and orange marmelade, then for the main dish chicken in white wine sauce, pommes frites, and fresh carrots and peas on our second evening.

But before the fall, we visited the Ranarium, or frog area. It’s a small, screened in greenhouse with a variety of different types of poison frogs, which the guide will clearly tell you about and answer all your questions, including methods of use for the poison, mating habits, habitat, etc. The guides were very knowledgeable and friendly.

While I recuperated from the fall, Maria and the kids took a one hour hike through the jungle with the guide. More on that adventure in the next post!

Earlier this week we headed out to Hakuna Matata for 3 days and two nights. It was my son’s eighth birthday and we wanted to take him to the jungle, and he wanted to go. And more importantly, experiences will far outlast any gift we could have given him.

On our second day there, I made a misstep in the jungle mud, just feet away from our room, slipped and twisted my ankle brutally, and fell. My first reaction was “something’s broken.” I couldn’t feel  a thing, there was no pain, just the clarity of being…there-sitting-on-the-jungle-floor. One of the guides came and helped me up and my wife came immediately, but I couldn’t use my right leg. He helped me over to our room. As Maria, my wife, was opening the door and I was standing with an increasing fog around me, things just went black. It was only for a second or two, but before I knew it I was sitting on the ground, again. Maria and the guide got me into the room and onto the bed, and then the real pain started. It was the closest thing to shock I’ve experienced. Shivers and shakes, cold, trouble breathing normally, it lasted a good 30 minutes. By the hour, the ibuprofen had kicked in and the pain was bad, but not too bad.

The good people at the lodge,, which I’ll write about later, and my wife Maria, helped me out with anything I needed and two of the guides even schlepped me down to the restaurant area in the afternoon. I spent the rest of  it in recovery mode and stayed through dinner. During my wait, a doctor from Tena, the nearest town, came out to see me, gave me an analgesic, and thought it was probably just a major sprain. Well, I wasn’t so lucky.

We drove back to Quito the following day, and I had an x-ray this morning. Some minor fractures in the tibia and a fracture in the fibula, so I’ll be having a screw put in tomorrow morning. If there’s on thing I can’t complain about, it’s the lack of bureaucracy in medicine here. I got an x-ray of my ankle in the morning without a Dr. ordering it, saw the Dr. 30 minutes later. He ordered another x-ray of another part of my leg, which I had done in the next two hours,  and I saw the Dr. again at 4 when he read the 2nd x-ray . He said he could operate tonight or tomorrow, so tomorrow at 3 they’ll do the outpatient surgery. Talk about a lack of hoops to jump through!

Hopefully I’ll be patched up tomorrow and then on the 6 weeks to recovery with a cast. Meanwhile, I will work on the next post about Hakuna Matata Lodge, a great place to visit in the Amazon!

It´s that time of year again in Ecuador, when the effigies of all the year´s characters, real or not, are created out of papier mache to be sold to the public and burned at midnight tonight. As you can see from the photos, there is not a lot of copyright protection going on. This (the lack of copyright protection) and the making of the effigies is a long-standing tradition in Ecuador, a symbolic way of putting the last year’s events behind and ringing in the New Year. I still haven’t found out the history behind how the male tradition of dressing up as a female widow and asking for money on the streets came about, but you’ll see many men all over Quito on street corners in transvestite gear saying “adios” to the death of the past year, often as a mourning widow, and begging for change!