Whew! This week has flown by! Each week seems to go by faster and faster. Today marks 3 weeks that I have been here. I am heading out soon for a weekend at the beach, so I thought I should write about last weekend before I get too behind. Sorry for my tardiness!
If I thought I was stepping way out there in Otovalo, little did I know what was in store for me. A group of us took a 4 hour bus to Baños, definitely my favorite place so far. The town is known for being touristy, full of activities, and for its hot springs, or Baños, baths. It was a touristy town but not without losing its Ecuadorian charm and authentic feel. Baños is in the middle of a gigantic valley, so the little town sits nestled in mountains with the Rio Negro (a river that dumps into the Amazon) nearby.
Our whirlwind of activities began Friday morning with renting bikes ($4 for the day, no helmets…) to ride down a road where you can see the river and many waterfalls. The road goes all the way to a town called Puyo, 60km away. We went as far as 20km to the biggest waterfall, Pailon de Diablo, which we hiked into and then could climb a narrow crevice to get behind. Gorgeous! Along the way, we had some fun at a bridge where you can go “Pendulum jumping.” This entails standing on the edge of the bridge with a climbing harness on, attached to a long rope that is attached to the bridge and diving headfirst off the bridge railing. After the dive, you come upright and swing like a giant swing (pendulum) under the bridge. Josh took the first plunge! After watching most of our group go, the guy who was harnessing people up came to me holding out his harness and said, “No piensalo!” or “Don’t think about it!” So, in my life’s biggest moment of spontaneity and daring, I harnessed up! The guy at the bridge who helped you dive off said he would count to 3 and when he said 3, I had to dive. In my head the only thoughts were, just pretend you’re diving into a pool, and don’t think about it. …1…2…3…and I dove! It was an amazing feeling, such a rush! I still don’t think I could jump out of an airplane but this was a crazy fun experience. Can you believe it?!? I have video proof, if you don’t!
Upon returning from our biking/hiking/bridge diving/death defying morning jaunt, Josh and I rented 4-wheelers to drive up the nearby mountains. We zig-zagged up a dirt road, finally reaching about 11,000 feet to a beautiful view of the nearby volcano, river and Baños. The guy in the rental shop must have sensed that I had never driven a 4-wheeler before, so mine was somewhat “The Little 4-wheeler That Could.” I would have the gas all the way down going uphill and simply roll along while Josh blasted up the turns. He would have to stop every so often so I could chug up and meet with him, pretty funny.
After all that excitement, we cleaned up and then had a fantastic dinner at a tiny Argentinean restaurant filled with charm. For $14, we had salad, potatoes, corn, 4 types of sausages, 2 types of pork, chicken breast and a beef fillet. SO much food! The funnest part was forking it out of the big wooden bowls they brought everything out in onto our wooden cutting boards that served as plates. Delicious!
Saturday, Josh and myself plus 4 girls from our group headed out to go white water rafting. We rode a chiva, a truck with rows of benches in the back, to the river, got a lesson in paddling and headed for our Class 3+ and 4 rapids. Our raft was being mocked because Josh was the only man, all the other rafts maybe had 1 or 2 girls, and everyone was teasing us about flipping or falling out. I’m proud to report that our boat was the only one that didn’t have any problems! It was a total blast!
After all this hard, physical activity, Josh and I decided to go to the Baños to relax our sore bodies. Haha, picture a motel pool like setting with tons of little kids running around and water that is brownish yellow with “minerals.” Ick! Highly disappointing and un-scenic, so we left after 10 minutes. Basically, don’t go to Baños for the baths, ironically!
As much as I loved all our activities, Sunday was my day, spa day! See, I haven’t changed much. I scheduled us for the Baños de cajon and hour long massages. Upon arriving, we found out we had to go on some sort of nature walk before beginning out treatments. It turned out to be a bizarre, spiritual kind of metaphor walk during which we had to walk barefoot across rocks and gravel, scream from the top of a set of stairs and finally, crawl on our hands and knees in a circle 3 times. So weird and hilarious at the same time! The spa experience was worth the strange prelude, though. For the Baños de cajon, you sit in a wood box that only allows your head to stick out. The bottom is covered with amazing smelling leaves and junk and you turn on really hot steam- ahhhh! Felt so good! Then, they take you out and douse you with freezing cold water – yikes! You go back in, then when you’re done, you stand in a corner and they spray you with a garden-style nozzled hose. Sounds painful but it felt so cleansing. Then, our massages were divine, with some hot stone massage at the end. All this for $50, total! If only spas were this inexpensive in the US…
So, that was my weekend last weekend! A super fun time, I hope the beach can live up to its competition. I’m really having a good time, finally feeling more settled and adjusted. Also, my host mom keeps commenting on how my Spanish is improving and I am talking to her more than I used to. Yay!
I hope you are all doing very well! I think of home and my family and friends often. No adrenaline rush or incredible spa day can replace the feeling of the people and places you love most. Sending all my love!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Adventures abound
My past weekend in Otovalo held many firsts for me. Where to start?!? The hostel, the cock fight, the 3 hour hike at 11,000 feet or the ride in the back of a pick up truck?
My steps outside my pretty little comfort zone began at 6:15am Saturday morning as Josh and I waited on the side of a major road in Quito waiting for the bus that my host mom had told me supposedly stops there on its way to Otovalo. Sure enough, after only a few minutes waiting, we jumped on for the 2 hour ride thru the Andes. Arriving in Otovalo, we headed to the hostel where a few of our friends had stayed Friday night.
Sidenote: we stayed in Quito Friday night to go to dinner at Josh’s host parents’ house. The menu: tacos! Slightly different than in the US and probably from Mexico, although I’ve never been. Taco meat with bacon bits anyone?
We got una habitacion con bano privado, meaning a room with a couple beds and our own bathroom. Hey, I was staying in a hostel for the first time and for 2 bucks more, I could have the luxury of my own bathroom. It was a cute place with a little square in the middle with hammocks hanging throughout the trees and all wood and jungle-lodge like. Really not bad at all – I think the saying is “lots of character.” After dropping off our stuff, we headed to the sprawling market that has put Otovalo on the tourist map. It was HUGE with loads of alpaca sweaters and blankets, Panama hats, wood carvings, colorful beaded jewelry, bright paintings and tons more trinkets. I definitely honed my bargaining and Spanish speaking skills while buying souvenirs. Once we had spent all our money, we headed for almuerzo (lunch) in the rain that had begun pouring down. The rain didn’t let up the rest of the day so we played cards and hung out with our friends.
Then, that night came my scariest moment yet in Ecuador, really not that bad but in the moment, freaky! We decided to go see a cock fight, about 8 blocks away. Not far, but when you don’t know which streets have lights and which don’t, you may end up walking through a completely dark street and thinking, this is the kind of street they warned us about getting robbed on. And, once arriving, finding out that the cock fight doesn’t start for another hour or two and having to walk back. We were 3 guys and 3 girls, so the odds were good but I’m not one who enjoys the thrill of a good dark block of walking. Anyways, I’m here and fine!
The cock fight was an experience, for sure. We were close up to the action, sitting in the front row with a 3 foot wall separating us from the most vicious looking roosters you’ve ever seen. It was not as gruesome as I thought it would be. None of the roosters actually died from the fights. Everyone in the audience except girls from our group was men. They were crazy into it, yelling out the designated color of the rooster to egg it on (haha, no pun intended). So seeing a cock fight is now on my list of things done in life and also on my list of things not to do again.
Sunday, we woke up bright and early to a much nicer day. Our group wanted to visit Lagunas de Mojando, a lake, about 9 miles away. I spoke with the receptionist woman at our hostel to figure out the most economic way to get us there and back: una camioneta – a pickup truck! $55 for the guy to drive us there, wait 3 hours and bring us back, divided by the 8 of us was an awesome deal. So, we piled in! I had read earlier in my Lonely Planet guidebook (thanks Michelle!! My almost Bible here!) that taxis charge extra for “wear and tear” on the drive. Picture a narrow, cobblestoned, windy road climbing a thousand feet. And, as I spoke with the driver on our way up, he mentioned that he hoped the road wouldn’t be washed out from the rain the day before. Hm, yo tambien (me too)!! Finally, we arrived at a gorgeous royal blue lake surrounded by green Andean hills. So picturesque! We all hopped out and started hiking down the road that lead around the lake. I’ll make a long story short to say that after about a 45 minute hike, I was ready to head back while the group wanted to hike the rest of the way around the lake and after going along with it for another hour or so, I was about to cry at the unendingness of the hike and Josh and I turned back before I broke down. All in all, I’m glad I went and got to see this beautiful place. I could’ve just appreciated it from all the angles I saw in the first hour =) Finally heading home, we arrived back at our hostel, sore, sunburned and starving. Josh and I changed (I was a bit muddy from falling), ate some food and trudged our tired selves to the bus station for Quito. Despite the crying baby, repetitive and loud Spanish music playing, and erratic movements of the bus, I crashed almost the whole way home.
So, our first weekend trip! Full of firsts and challenges for me, but I kept telling myself that’s why I came here, to challenge myself, grow, see and try new things, expand my view of the world. Well, then by that measure, I feel I am succeeding. Next weekend, maybe the spas and hot springs at Banos…
My steps outside my pretty little comfort zone began at 6:15am Saturday morning as Josh and I waited on the side of a major road in Quito waiting for the bus that my host mom had told me supposedly stops there on its way to Otovalo. Sure enough, after only a few minutes waiting, we jumped on for the 2 hour ride thru the Andes. Arriving in Otovalo, we headed to the hostel where a few of our friends had stayed Friday night.
Sidenote: we stayed in Quito Friday night to go to dinner at Josh’s host parents’ house. The menu: tacos! Slightly different than in the US and probably from Mexico, although I’ve never been. Taco meat with bacon bits anyone?
We got una habitacion con bano privado, meaning a room with a couple beds and our own bathroom. Hey, I was staying in a hostel for the first time and for 2 bucks more, I could have the luxury of my own bathroom. It was a cute place with a little square in the middle with hammocks hanging throughout the trees and all wood and jungle-lodge like. Really not bad at all – I think the saying is “lots of character.” After dropping off our stuff, we headed to the sprawling market that has put Otovalo on the tourist map. It was HUGE with loads of alpaca sweaters and blankets, Panama hats, wood carvings, colorful beaded jewelry, bright paintings and tons more trinkets. I definitely honed my bargaining and Spanish speaking skills while buying souvenirs. Once we had spent all our money, we headed for almuerzo (lunch) in the rain that had begun pouring down. The rain didn’t let up the rest of the day so we played cards and hung out with our friends.
Then, that night came my scariest moment yet in Ecuador, really not that bad but in the moment, freaky! We decided to go see a cock fight, about 8 blocks away. Not far, but when you don’t know which streets have lights and which don’t, you may end up walking through a completely dark street and thinking, this is the kind of street they warned us about getting robbed on. And, once arriving, finding out that the cock fight doesn’t start for another hour or two and having to walk back. We were 3 guys and 3 girls, so the odds were good but I’m not one who enjoys the thrill of a good dark block of walking. Anyways, I’m here and fine!
The cock fight was an experience, for sure. We were close up to the action, sitting in the front row with a 3 foot wall separating us from the most vicious looking roosters you’ve ever seen. It was not as gruesome as I thought it would be. None of the roosters actually died from the fights. Everyone in the audience except girls from our group was men. They were crazy into it, yelling out the designated color of the rooster to egg it on (haha, no pun intended). So seeing a cock fight is now on my list of things done in life and also on my list of things not to do again.
Sunday, we woke up bright and early to a much nicer day. Our group wanted to visit Lagunas de Mojando, a lake, about 9 miles away. I spoke with the receptionist woman at our hostel to figure out the most economic way to get us there and back: una camioneta – a pickup truck! $55 for the guy to drive us there, wait 3 hours and bring us back, divided by the 8 of us was an awesome deal. So, we piled in! I had read earlier in my Lonely Planet guidebook (thanks Michelle!! My almost Bible here!) that taxis charge extra for “wear and tear” on the drive. Picture a narrow, cobblestoned, windy road climbing a thousand feet. And, as I spoke with the driver on our way up, he mentioned that he hoped the road wouldn’t be washed out from the rain the day before. Hm, yo tambien (me too)!! Finally, we arrived at a gorgeous royal blue lake surrounded by green Andean hills. So picturesque! We all hopped out and started hiking down the road that lead around the lake. I’ll make a long story short to say that after about a 45 minute hike, I was ready to head back while the group wanted to hike the rest of the way around the lake and after going along with it for another hour or so, I was about to cry at the unendingness of the hike and Josh and I turned back before I broke down. All in all, I’m glad I went and got to see this beautiful place. I could’ve just appreciated it from all the angles I saw in the first hour =) Finally heading home, we arrived back at our hostel, sore, sunburned and starving. Josh and I changed (I was a bit muddy from falling), ate some food and trudged our tired selves to the bus station for Quito. Despite the crying baby, repetitive and loud Spanish music playing, and erratic movements of the bus, I crashed almost the whole way home.
So, our first weekend trip! Full of firsts and challenges for me, but I kept telling myself that’s why I came here, to challenge myself, grow, see and try new things, expand my view of the world. Well, then by that measure, I feel I am succeeding. Next weekend, maybe the spas and hot springs at Banos…
Friday, January 16, 2009
New posts
See my two new posts below!
Just so you all know how much keeping you updated means to me, I stepped in a HUGE pile of dog poo in my hurry on the way to the internet cafe. That´s how much I love you all! Let me know how you´re doing and what you´re up to too!
Just so you all know how much keeping you updated means to me, I stepped in a HUGE pile of dog poo in my hurry on the way to the internet cafe. That´s how much I love you all! Let me know how you´re doing and what you´re up to too!
In case I was missing winter in Seattle...
Well, the last 24 hours have definitely cured any homsickness I had for Seattle – only the city of course, and not all you wonderful people who make it my home! I still miss you tremendously!
Last night, the power went out twice. No one I have asked is quite sure of the reason but all parts of the city were down at various times and even as far out as into Columbia. The first power outage was at about 5:30pm. Since there were no lights and it gets dark here around 6pm, I thought I might as well take a nap. After a long day of school, Josh and I had riden up the Pichincha Mountain on the TeleferiQco, a tram that takes you up from Quito’s 9000ft elevation to close to the top of Pichincha at 13,500ft. And I thought I was getting acclimated! The funniest part of the trek was the couple people smoking at the top. Since your lungs aren’t struggling already…Anyways, the lights came back on by the time I woke up from my nap but went out again while we were eating dinner a bit later. They popped back on a bit later but by that point I had been frightened enough by my host parents who said it’s super dangerous to go out if the power is going out since then there are no streetlights. So, I had a nice night studying Spanish and reading books.
Today, we set out for our city tour under a mass of grey clouds. The rain held off until we went inside for lunch and had stopped by the time we came back out. Then, on my way home from the school, while waiting on a street corner for the bus, the rain came. Home sweet home Seattle-like rain – bouncing off car windshields and making bubbles in the streets rain. Along with the rain pounded down thunder and lightning, which seems much louder at 9,000ft closer to the sky.
I thought I came here, in part, to get away from the Seattle winter. So, for all of you out there who think I am basking in a tropical jungle paradise, let me tell you, you’re picturing it all wrong. If I can’t have the people I’m missing at home here with me, at least I have my good old familiar and comforting friends rain, clouds and winter power outages. Thanks for sending them my way to lessen my homesickness, but I think I’ll send them back up to you now.
Hope you’re enjoying the posts. I’m heading to Otavalo early tomorrow morning for the famous market there and whatever else the wind blows me towards. Check back Monday for a review of my trip!
Ciao!
P.S. The thunder just set off about a dozen car alarms…
Last night, the power went out twice. No one I have asked is quite sure of the reason but all parts of the city were down at various times and even as far out as into Columbia. The first power outage was at about 5:30pm. Since there were no lights and it gets dark here around 6pm, I thought I might as well take a nap. After a long day of school, Josh and I had riden up the Pichincha Mountain on the TeleferiQco, a tram that takes you up from Quito’s 9000ft elevation to close to the top of Pichincha at 13,500ft. And I thought I was getting acclimated! The funniest part of the trek was the couple people smoking at the top. Since your lungs aren’t struggling already…Anyways, the lights came back on by the time I woke up from my nap but went out again while we were eating dinner a bit later. They popped back on a bit later but by that point I had been frightened enough by my host parents who said it’s super dangerous to go out if the power is going out since then there are no streetlights. So, I had a nice night studying Spanish and reading books.
Today, we set out for our city tour under a mass of grey clouds. The rain held off until we went inside for lunch and had stopped by the time we came back out. Then, on my way home from the school, while waiting on a street corner for the bus, the rain came. Home sweet home Seattle-like rain – bouncing off car windshields and making bubbles in the streets rain. Along with the rain pounded down thunder and lightning, which seems much louder at 9,000ft closer to the sky.
I thought I came here, in part, to get away from the Seattle winter. So, for all of you out there who think I am basking in a tropical jungle paradise, let me tell you, you’re picturing it all wrong. If I can’t have the people I’m missing at home here with me, at least I have my good old familiar and comforting friends rain, clouds and winter power outages. Thanks for sending them my way to lessen my homesickness, but I think I’ll send them back up to you now.
Hope you’re enjoying the posts. I’m heading to Otavalo early tomorrow morning for the famous market there and whatever else the wind blows me towards. Check back Monday for a review of my trip!
Ciao!
P.S. The thunder just set off about a dozen car alarms…
Megadiversity of Ecuador
So, some info on my school…After all, I suppose I am here (in part) to go to school and learn!
There are 5 students in my Spanish program, including me and Josh. So far, my Spanish classes are my favorite, even though we have only had one. Our “professor” is Luis or “Beto,” which is the nickname for all names –berto (Alberto, Roberto, etc.). Of course he will be teaching us but he is very laid back and more wants to be a friend to us than above us in the teacher sense.
Tuesday afternoon we had an amazingly knowledgeable and English-fluent speaker on the megadiversity of Ecuador. It was by far the most interesting and impressive seminar we have had, and the most understandable! Here are some incredible facts about the environment of Ecuador:
¡ First, 10% of the world’s surface holds 70% of the world’s diversity in plant and animal species.
¡ Ecuador is not first in terms of number of different species, although it is up in the top 3 or 5 for most. What is truly astounding is the number of species per 1000 square kilometers – Ecuador ranks first by this measurement in almost every species group. For example:
o Plant: 19,000 species or 74.11 species/1000km2
o Mammals: 389 species or 15.17/1000km2 (of mammals, 170 are bats!!! Only 3 bats here are blood eating and only 1 of those goes for large mammal blood; the other 2 eat fish or other bats)
o Reptiles: 14.5/1000km2
o Amphibians: 15.68/1000km2
o Butterflies: 8.58/1000km2
o Birds: 1600 species
**sidenote: a kilometer squared is about 3000 square feet. That means in an average size house in the US, the different species you would find include 74 plants, 15 mammals, 14 reptiles, 15 amphibians, 8 butterflies and a ton of birds. Full house?! Just to put that in perspective.**
¡ Why there is so much diversity jammed into a country the size of Nevada:
o Location: on the equator, a tropical belt plus the Andes mountains
o Geography: some many types of environs; altitudes ranges from 0-20,700ft
o Climate: more intense sun gives a higher amount of energy to each square of earth here (see Exhibit A: my forehead)
So there’s your biological and ecological lesson for the day!
There are 5 students in my Spanish program, including me and Josh. So far, my Spanish classes are my favorite, even though we have only had one. Our “professor” is Luis or “Beto,” which is the nickname for all names –berto (Alberto, Roberto, etc.). Of course he will be teaching us but he is very laid back and more wants to be a friend to us than above us in the teacher sense.
Tuesday afternoon we had an amazingly knowledgeable and English-fluent speaker on the megadiversity of Ecuador. It was by far the most interesting and impressive seminar we have had, and the most understandable! Here are some incredible facts about the environment of Ecuador:
¡ First, 10% of the world’s surface holds 70% of the world’s diversity in plant and animal species.
¡ Ecuador is not first in terms of number of different species, although it is up in the top 3 or 5 for most. What is truly astounding is the number of species per 1000 square kilometers – Ecuador ranks first by this measurement in almost every species group. For example:
o Plant: 19,000 species or 74.11 species/1000km2
o Mammals: 389 species or 15.17/1000km2 (of mammals, 170 are bats!!! Only 3 bats here are blood eating and only 1 of those goes for large mammal blood; the other 2 eat fish or other bats)
o Reptiles: 14.5/1000km2
o Amphibians: 15.68/1000km2
o Butterflies: 8.58/1000km2
o Birds: 1600 species
**sidenote: a kilometer squared is about 3000 square feet. That means in an average size house in the US, the different species you would find include 74 plants, 15 mammals, 14 reptiles, 15 amphibians, 8 butterflies and a ton of birds. Full house?! Just to put that in perspective.**
¡ Why there is so much diversity jammed into a country the size of Nevada:
o Location: on the equator, a tropical belt plus the Andes mountains
o Geography: some many types of environs; altitudes ranges from 0-20,700ft
o Climate: more intense sun gives a higher amount of energy to each square of earth here (see Exhibit A: my forehead)
So there’s your biological and ecological lesson for the day!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
My first days in Quito
Buenas dias de tu amiga en Quito! Good day from your friend in Quito!
It’s been a whirlwind few days getting settled here so I am finally getting a chance to post. After the slight detour I wrote about, we made it to Quito on Thursday afternoon. We went to our hotel, ate a real meal (pizza, por supuesto! Of course!) and got to know the other students. Josh and I ventured around “Gringolandia,” as it is called, basically white people land to buy Ecuadorian cell phones and water. For those of you who know my American cell phone, I got a major upgrade for only $50! Haha! I rested before we all ate dinner at the hotel together. Then, we all had a fun time getting to know each other and went to a “regaton” dance club.
All my peers in the program seem really cool, fun-loving and easy to get along with so far. I don’t think they’ve quite figured out the situation between me and Josh and it’s kind of entertaining. I’m sure the cat will be out of the bag soon, but for the beginning it’s good to all hang out as a group and not have people think of us as being separate and a couple.
Friday was a looong day: orientation at CIMAS (our school) – todo en espanol y fue dificil escuchar por muchas horas! (all in Spanish and it was difficult to listen for many hours!) Then, the BIG moment of meeting our host families. I found mi mama Elsa y hermano (brother) Sebastian who rushed me with big hugs and helped me lug my life in bags for 3 months to their car (gracias a Dios que no tuvimos que ir en el bus – thank God that we didn’t have to go on the bus). As we headed to our house, Elsa pointed out different things and we chatted about the basics of me. Our house was surprisingly nice and my favorite feature, SO safe! (Mom that’s for you!) It has a garage gate/wall thing that we pulled in to plus a heavy-duty gate across our front door. I have 3 keys and even with those things I have a hard time opening the locks sometimes! The downstairs is the living room, kitchen, dining room and office. Upstairs is my bedroom, and their two bedrooms plus my own bathroom, with plenty of hot water (a luxury in Ecuador). Elsa immediately made me feel at home. She is super hospitable and kind and warm. Continuing, we took Sebastian to karate (go figure, haha). Elsa and I walked around while we waited and I ate my first empanada (basically an elephant ear sans cinnamon) and morchada (a hot milk drink with morchada, a rice like grain) from a street cart. I prayed I wouldn’t be running to the bathroom in a half hour…and I was fine! The rest of the night I got settled in mi casa nueva (new home).
Saturday was a brand new day! Elsa, Sebastian and I walked around Parque La Carolina (park). We all kicked around a soccer ball (futbol here) and then Sebastian tried to play volleyball with me despite my best efforts in Spanish to tell him I was terrible. Well, language barriers are beaten down by actions and he quickly realized what I had told him. We also walked around a centro commercial (mall) which was pretty American, minus the prices, so cheap. They have tons of TGI Fridays, KFCs and McDonalds here! In the evening, Josh and I met up for dinner and then went on to meet our friends in “La Mariscal Sucre” aka Gringolandia. It was really good to reunite with Josh because the first couple days felt like a time warp with so many new things to absorb. For all you Huskies out there, we basically found an Ecuadorian Earl’s called Sutra, made much classier-seeming by the salsa dancing in one corner. $1.50 vodka tonics that seemed to lack the tonic part!
Sunday was a full but awesome day. Josh came to my house and all four of us went to the Centro Historico (Historical district). Elsa and Sebastian waited with us in line to go into the Palacio Presidential ( I bet you can figure that one out…) but Elsa forgot their IDs so they couldn’t go in with us. So, after asking her about 8 times to make sure I understood how to get back home, they left and Josh and I walked around. There are gorgeous churches galore, government buildings, open squares – like you would expect to see in a European historical center. Beautiful, especially compared to the general run-downedness of Quito. After a lunch for $2.50 each (Dad you would love it here!), we visited the most thrilling place of the day – La Basilica. A HUGE, no longer in use, church where you can climb to the very very top. And climb we did! We went to the very top of the tower, right under the steeple point which is at 78 meters (about 250 ft). And people, this is not America or Europe in terms of restoration and upkeep. There were chunks of the wall ornaments on the ground and one “floor” we came to was only made of beams and rebar. In another part, we walked across the tops of the pointed ceilings of the main part of the church on a suspended wooden board “bridge” to reach the far tower. Really, you have to see the pictures and even then, I don’t know if they do this justice!
After plenty of exploring, our last brave act for the day was attempting to get the bus back to my house. Buses here don’t really like to stop all the way and a guy leans out of the doorway and yells where the bus is going. We hopped on when it came by, almost leaving Josh halfway between the platform and bus steps. I nervously peered out for our stop and when I saw it coming, we jumped out of our seats and flung ourselves down the bus steps. Thankfully, there were a number of people getting off so the bus pretty much did stop. Quite the adventure!
Back at my house, Elsa was thrilled to meet Josh. She taught us to make empanadas. I tried not to watch while she put huge chunks of butter in the dough! Que rica! (Literally, “how rich” and what people say when something is yummy!) It was a blast, great memories. Elsa loves Josh and says we are “una pareja muy linda” or a beautiful couple. I was nervous about how my family would react to me having a fiancé here and wanting to hang out with him but it turned out perfectly. Elsa wants Josh to be a part of our family too and come over whenever, like it was his house. Like I said, she is so kind-hearted and genuine!
I know this has gotten super long, so I will wrap up. So far, it’s been a great experience. I’m much relieved to have a family that I click with and feel so comfortable with. It’s definitely an adjustment and way different place here. Just being in a place that is so poor opens your eyes. I’m looking forward to getting into a routine with school and traveling to all the amazing places around Ecuador on the weekends. More on all those to come! I miss you all and hope you’re all well!
Un besito! A little kiss!
It’s been a whirlwind few days getting settled here so I am finally getting a chance to post. After the slight detour I wrote about, we made it to Quito on Thursday afternoon. We went to our hotel, ate a real meal (pizza, por supuesto! Of course!) and got to know the other students. Josh and I ventured around “Gringolandia,” as it is called, basically white people land to buy Ecuadorian cell phones and water. For those of you who know my American cell phone, I got a major upgrade for only $50! Haha! I rested before we all ate dinner at the hotel together. Then, we all had a fun time getting to know each other and went to a “regaton” dance club.
All my peers in the program seem really cool, fun-loving and easy to get along with so far. I don’t think they’ve quite figured out the situation between me and Josh and it’s kind of entertaining. I’m sure the cat will be out of the bag soon, but for the beginning it’s good to all hang out as a group and not have people think of us as being separate and a couple.
Friday was a looong day: orientation at CIMAS (our school) – todo en espanol y fue dificil escuchar por muchas horas! (all in Spanish and it was difficult to listen for many hours!) Then, the BIG moment of meeting our host families. I found mi mama Elsa y hermano (brother) Sebastian who rushed me with big hugs and helped me lug my life in bags for 3 months to their car (gracias a Dios que no tuvimos que ir en el bus – thank God that we didn’t have to go on the bus). As we headed to our house, Elsa pointed out different things and we chatted about the basics of me. Our house was surprisingly nice and my favorite feature, SO safe! (Mom that’s for you!) It has a garage gate/wall thing that we pulled in to plus a heavy-duty gate across our front door. I have 3 keys and even with those things I have a hard time opening the locks sometimes! The downstairs is the living room, kitchen, dining room and office. Upstairs is my bedroom, and their two bedrooms plus my own bathroom, with plenty of hot water (a luxury in Ecuador). Elsa immediately made me feel at home. She is super hospitable and kind and warm. Continuing, we took Sebastian to karate (go figure, haha). Elsa and I walked around while we waited and I ate my first empanada (basically an elephant ear sans cinnamon) and morchada (a hot milk drink with morchada, a rice like grain) from a street cart. I prayed I wouldn’t be running to the bathroom in a half hour…and I was fine! The rest of the night I got settled in mi casa nueva (new home).
Saturday was a brand new day! Elsa, Sebastian and I walked around Parque La Carolina (park). We all kicked around a soccer ball (futbol here) and then Sebastian tried to play volleyball with me despite my best efforts in Spanish to tell him I was terrible. Well, language barriers are beaten down by actions and he quickly realized what I had told him. We also walked around a centro commercial (mall) which was pretty American, minus the prices, so cheap. They have tons of TGI Fridays, KFCs and McDonalds here! In the evening, Josh and I met up for dinner and then went on to meet our friends in “La Mariscal Sucre” aka Gringolandia. It was really good to reunite with Josh because the first couple days felt like a time warp with so many new things to absorb. For all you Huskies out there, we basically found an Ecuadorian Earl’s called Sutra, made much classier-seeming by the salsa dancing in one corner. $1.50 vodka tonics that seemed to lack the tonic part!
Sunday was a full but awesome day. Josh came to my house and all four of us went to the Centro Historico (Historical district). Elsa and Sebastian waited with us in line to go into the Palacio Presidential ( I bet you can figure that one out…) but Elsa forgot their IDs so they couldn’t go in with us. So, after asking her about 8 times to make sure I understood how to get back home, they left and Josh and I walked around. There are gorgeous churches galore, government buildings, open squares – like you would expect to see in a European historical center. Beautiful, especially compared to the general run-downedness of Quito. After a lunch for $2.50 each (Dad you would love it here!), we visited the most thrilling place of the day – La Basilica. A HUGE, no longer in use, church where you can climb to the very very top. And climb we did! We went to the very top of the tower, right under the steeple point which is at 78 meters (about 250 ft). And people, this is not America or Europe in terms of restoration and upkeep. There were chunks of the wall ornaments on the ground and one “floor” we came to was only made of beams and rebar. In another part, we walked across the tops of the pointed ceilings of the main part of the church on a suspended wooden board “bridge” to reach the far tower. Really, you have to see the pictures and even then, I don’t know if they do this justice!
After plenty of exploring, our last brave act for the day was attempting to get the bus back to my house. Buses here don’t really like to stop all the way and a guy leans out of the doorway and yells where the bus is going. We hopped on when it came by, almost leaving Josh halfway between the platform and bus steps. I nervously peered out for our stop and when I saw it coming, we jumped out of our seats and flung ourselves down the bus steps. Thankfully, there were a number of people getting off so the bus pretty much did stop. Quite the adventure!
Back at my house, Elsa was thrilled to meet Josh. She taught us to make empanadas. I tried not to watch while she put huge chunks of butter in the dough! Que rica! (Literally, “how rich” and what people say when something is yummy!) It was a blast, great memories. Elsa loves Josh and says we are “una pareja muy linda” or a beautiful couple. I was nervous about how my family would react to me having a fiancé here and wanting to hang out with him but it turned out perfectly. Elsa wants Josh to be a part of our family too and come over whenever, like it was his house. Like I said, she is so kind-hearted and genuine!
I know this has gotten super long, so I will wrap up. So far, it’s been a great experience. I’m much relieved to have a family that I click with and feel so comfortable with. It’s definitely an adjustment and way different place here. Just being in a place that is so poor opens your eyes. I’m looking forward to getting into a routine with school and traveling to all the amazing places around Ecuador on the weekends. More on all those to come! I miss you all and hope you’re all well!
Un besito! A little kiss!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Estoy in Quito, I am on Quito
Hello. Just want to give everyone an update that I made it to Quito and am doing very well. I wrote a long post about my time here so far but it is on my laptop and I a writing now from an internet cafe with no way to transfer what I wrote. WiFi is not common here and my host family has a 15 year old computer with no internet. Thankfully, this cafe is only 70 cents an hour so I can get my technology fix for cheap. I will post the longer post from my school tomorrow.
Quito is very interesting and very different from the US. Itçs taking some adjusting and by the end of the day I am exhausted from trying to speak and understand Spanish. But that is what I came here for. Everyone here is super super kind and hospitable, my host mother and the staff at the school. I feel very safe and that I have lots of people to help me with whatever I need.
At our first day of school today, we had a very interesting speaker who astounded me with some facts about Ecuador. Here are a few...
Unemployment is 10 percent but subemployment, people who do little jobs or work on the street selling junk and begging basically, is 60 percent. So, there are 70 percent of people without real jobs here in Ecuador.
From 1996 to 2006 they had 8 dofferent governements. And from 1979 to 1996 they had 17 different governments.
The current president has basically denounced old debts as being illegitimate because past governments did nt use them for the people. So, he wonçt pay their huge debts to the International Monetary Fund.
Watch for my post on this past weekend tomorrow.
Much love.
Quito is very interesting and very different from the US. Itçs taking some adjusting and by the end of the day I am exhausted from trying to speak and understand Spanish. But that is what I came here for. Everyone here is super super kind and hospitable, my host mother and the staff at the school. I feel very safe and that I have lots of people to help me with whatever I need.
At our first day of school today, we had a very interesting speaker who astounded me with some facts about Ecuador. Here are a few...
Unemployment is 10 percent but subemployment, people who do little jobs or work on the street selling junk and begging basically, is 60 percent. So, there are 70 percent of people without real jobs here in Ecuador.
From 1996 to 2006 they had 8 dofferent governements. And from 1979 to 1996 they had 17 different governments.
The current president has basically denounced old debts as being illegitimate because past governments did nt use them for the people. So, he wonçt pay their huge debts to the International Monetary Fund.
Watch for my post on this past weekend tomorrow.
Much love.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Darn Fog!
As soon as it seemed we were going to land in Quito last night, the fog deterred our landing. We were re-routed to Guayaquil (40 mins flight south of Quito). After waiting for 2 hours to see if the weather would clear, it didn't. So, we were all bused to a hotel for the night. As much as I would love a cultural experience and don't want everything to become Americanized, thank America for Hiltons!! I had a 4 hour nap and am now back at the Guayaquil airport - free Wifi! Hopefully we can take off soon...hasta luego!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Packing to go!
Welcome to my blog!
I will try to update this regularly about my travels in South America this quarter. I will be based in Quito, Ecuador for my study abroad program. So far, I know I have a host mother, Elsa, and host brother, Sebastian, who is nine years old. I will be studying spanish language and Ecuadorian history and culture. At this point, that's pretty much all I know! I have no idea what to expect so stay tuned for my adventures...
I will try to update this regularly about my travels in South America this quarter. I will be based in Quito, Ecuador for my study abroad program. So far, I know I have a host mother, Elsa, and host brother, Sebastian, who is nine years old. I will be studying spanish language and Ecuadorian history and culture. At this point, that's pretty much all I know! I have no idea what to expect so stay tuned for my adventures...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)