Estoy tan triste en este momento. No puedo creer que en doce horas, me voy de este país maravilloso. El tiempo se fue volando y mañana tendré solamente mis recuerdos de mi viaje, de mi familia anfitriona, y de muchos de mis amigos increíbles. Lo bueno es que voy a regresar a mi familia real y mi vida real - con la comida que me hace falta mucho y con todas las experiencias americanas que no he experimentado por cinco meses. Pero bueno - esa es la vida. Todo está siempre cambiando y las cosas siempre serán así. No me puedo quejar... (translation at the bottom)
The past few days have been so nice but so sad. On Thursday night, we went to Lauren's roof one last time to eat pizza and say goodbye. Some of our friends were going to Galápagos, most of the others (including me) were just going to be busy with our host families for the next two days. We went to Huaina one last time, listened to all of our favorite Ecuadorian pop songs (and American ones too) and enjoyed our last night "out on the town" - just sitting, but still. Going home, another cab driver tried to rip me off but this time I batted my eyelashes and told him it was my last night in Quito (almost true) and he let me go.
On Friday, I stayed at home all day. At my last request of things to do in Ecuador, my host dad agreed excitedly to have cuy for lunch - guinea pig - an Andean specialty! If I hadn't tried this before leaving, I really would have been disappointed because it's so traditional and the thing to "do" in South America. Anyway, I got to see Anita, our maid, prepare it (pictures coming soon!) and then did a whole photoshoot with my host dad, making a big show of taking a big bite out of it. In actuality, we split it into three - I got a thigh and leg. My thoughts?? Cuy is... weird. The taste was fine, mostly because of the seasonings, but the meat is so tough, especially the skin, and I couldn't not tell myself that I was gnawing on a small rodent. Also, my host dad insisted I eat the paw (nails and everything) because you do that apparently. So I ate the nails and foot of a guinea pig and all I can say is that is was really crunchy and I'm now considering vegetarianism....
Just kidding. But not really...
Anyway, it was fine. I packed mostly on Friday, apart from the essentials I'd need until departure. I actually didn't do much else except watch Dead Poets Society and a couple episodes of Bones.
Today, I got up early and met Ally (from Chicago) at the Ecovia station. From there, we headed to the market one last time to get a few more little souvenirs and have one last morning together. I love all of my friends here but I was so happy to have a morning with Ally - she really is one of my favorites and so it was a great morning. We ran into a few other people at the market we know - everyone is leaving soon so also grabbing things they need. Anyway, I got all my stuff, said a tearful goodbye to Ally, and took the 6 de Julio Ecovia bus home, one last time.
At home, I came just in time for almuerzo, which of course was extra special today. Andy's girlfriend came over and we ate chicken, steak, and sausage with potatoes, guacamole, and mote (different types of corn) and of course, with ají, my favorite sauce. After dinner, we took lots of pictures all over the house (again, coming soon - have to come home first to get pictures off my camera) and the mood was really nostalgic.
After lunch, everyone went back to their rooms and I was tired so I just watched TV all afternoon (shocker) but tonight, at dinner, I gave my gifts - a large wind chime, with suns and stars and bells on it, and some chocolate. Everyone was so grateful and saying how much they loved having me and it made me so sad. Then they gave me a gift - a beautiful set of handmade Christmas ornaments - absolutely gorgeous and irreplaceable. I gave them the letter mom and dad wrote - they absolutely loved it and I think it meant so much to them to read it.
That pretty much leads to now (I'm sorry I'm being so detailed - I'm sure most of you don't really care about this stuff but I really don't want to forget anything sooo...). I'm sitting on my bed once again, packed and ready to go. I already said goodbye to Andy because he's going tonight and I'll be saying goodbye to Maggie and Estefy when they go to bed, because Joddy is bringing me to the airport. We're leaving here at 6:15, so I can be at the airport 3 hours early (recommendation of the airline.)
I'm so sad. I absolutely love this family who opened their doors to me four and a half months ago, and it's really strange to think in a few hours, all of this will be gone. I've seriously had the most incredible time of my life in Ecuador - might have been the best decision I've ever made. Maybe it seemed a little silly a few months ago - moving to a third-world country for a few months, with a language I barely speak, and a family I've never met. But thanks to this amazing trip, I have seen and done things I never would have dreamed of before and probably become a much better person as a result. Where do I begin? I got to visit the Amazon rain forest, swim in the tributary of the Amazon river, see the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life, went ziplining in a cloud forest, went white-water tubing and was so thankful for my life thereafter, I jumped off a giant bridge, went repelling down waterfalls, rode horses in a beautiful mountain, took baths in natural hot springs, got sick with every illness possible (digestive and others), saw countless beautiful historic monuments, got to stand 4000m above sea level, got to visit a market town and see all the indigenous people, got to witness what the "third world" part of this country really looks like, while living in an environment that is so ridiculously first-world, I got to experience the crazy buses of Ecuador, learned to bargain and argue for everything in Spanish, I went to crazy Liga fútbol games, I got teargassed out of one of them, I made the most amazing friends, American and Ecuadorian, became part of an Ecuadorian family, represented them and totally dominated at kareoke at a party, became an expert at splitting bills of $68.45 into 10 or 11, learned to apologize for giving $20 and learned love getting small change back, I managed to pay for a $0.25 bus ride on Thursday with 15 pennies, which was one of my proudest moments, and learned to navigate a giant city and learned how to get myself just about anywhere for less than $0.50.
Oh, and did I mention I went to class too, sometimes? :) No, no... en serio, I managed to do all of those things and only missed as many classes as I was allowed, made great grades, did all my homework, and still managed to read 17 books this semester for fun. I also had so many awesome nights in Quito, hanging out with friends at their houses or in bars, dancing, having fun. And, managed to sneak in a few flings while I was at it. Not to mention the whole point, which was to become fluent in Spanish. I'd say I'm 85% there and can't wait to prove myself back in the States. Not bad for a semester, right?
Okay - my point being: this has been wonderful. Surreal. Absolutely unforgettable. And come tomorrow, it's all over.
Much love,
Cynthia
PS. I reread what I wrote and I'd also like to say that I can't emphasize enough how much I have missed my family in the past few months. American life, food - I could do without that, but I don't know how much more time I could go without my amazing parents and brothers. So I'd just like to say that despite everything I've written up until now, you can't possibly imagine how overjoyed I am at the thought of them waiting for me at the airport tomorrow. Guys, seriously, I can't wait. I love you so much and it's only down to hours now... <3
Translation from above:
I'm so sad right now. I can't believe that in 12 hours, I'm leaving this wonderful country. Time has flown and tomorrow I'll have only memories of my trip, my host family, and many of my incredible friends. The good part is that I'm going to return to my real family and my real life - with the food that I miss so much and with all the American experienced that I've not had for five months. But hey - that's life. Everything is always changing and things will always be that way. I can't complain...
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Final Days in Quito.
I wish I could say this last week is flying by but the truth is that days are trickling by. What's happened since I last posted?
First of all, I got really sick (surprise!) after coming back from the beach. I think my body reacted to the malaria pills because my throat started hurting unbearably (specifically my lymph nodes were very swelled and inflamed) and the my digestion system went crazy again and as soon as that got better, I came down with something that was probably a sinus infection. Luckily, I took a Cipro after a few days of suffering and it all got knocked right out!
So for the first time in weeks, I'm healthy right now. Who knows if it will last the meager 5 days until I'm home (probably not.) Probably helping in this is that the arrival of May (literally, day of) brought a halt to the rainy season. Now the sun shines all day long and though clouds roll in, the weather has been half-decent. I went through my last classes, took exams in all but one course, and said goodbye to my professors.
On Thursday night, we decided to go to one final Liga game, in the stadium in the North of Quito. We got there an hour or so early and bought tickets from a scalper, then got in line. Things got crazy really quickly. The area surrounding the stadium was packed, both with waiting fans and policemen, including many on horses. We got in line, which became crowded with people pushing and shoving nearly immediately. At least that much was to be expected. We were all in a pretty good mood, but all of sudden Lauren starts swearing because she realized she had been robbed. For reasons unknown to the rest of us, Lauren had pretty brought every last valuable thing with her - her new camera from the black market, her Blackberry from the US because her other phone had been lost, $40, her American license, and her Censo (the card we get from the government here and need to leave the country). Thank goodness she gave her iPod to Julie to hold because she didn't have enough room in her purse. Anyway, though there was a latch on her little leather purse, someone just opened it and grabbed everything. To everyone but Lauren this was not surprising or unexpected but of course, that didn't make her feel better at all.
Anyway, everyone felt a little bummed after that and suddenly, the line got crazy and people were pushing so hard to get in. I was so crushed I could barely breathe and started panicking and hyperventilating. Every psych class I've ever taken popped into my head - this is how people die - they get trampled, they asphyxiate - uncontrolled crowd situations are just so dangerous! Anyway, we all were hanging on to each other and after about 15 minutes of panic, we managed to get in. A guy I was squished against was laughing because apparently what I consider to be life-threatening and terrifying is normal there. Anyway, we finally got in and found our section. We noticed right away how it was full of die-hard fans - all singing, and yelling, full of spirit, so it was relatively exciting.
At some point in the game, we noticed that separating us between the next section in the bleachers (which were just concrete steps - another gross architectural fault - I saw that documentary about killer stadiums and how that's the worst way to control people...anyway more on that later) was a line of police men, each on a step, with the masks, and poised for duty. Kind of freaky until I realized the other side had people supporting the other team.
Didn't think too much of it until later - the other team had already scored the only point, and everyone was kind of yelling things over to the other side. Finally, the other team scored point 2 and all hell broke loose. Half the people were pushing through to leave, the other half was yelling and throwing things to the other side, flares, bottles, etc. Everything happened in a blur - my friends were yelling at us to LEAVE GO NOW and all of a sudden I was coughing and I thought that was weird until I realized the police had started spraying tear gas and forcing us all out. At this point, it became even crazier, with people pushing and swarming down the steps - I had my jacket over my mouth and nose and was being pushed everywhere and was the last of my friends to get out. Luckily I grabbed my friend Kevin who is like 6'2 and blond and he was literally able to pull me out. By then I was tearing up and panicking, but as soon as we left the bleachers, everything was fine. We left the stadium, unable to believe what had just happened. Found out one of my friends got hit the forehead with something, so she was kind of freaking out too.
Found out the next day what we did wrong - I was expecting the whole thing to be in the news, in the paper, or at the very least to tell my host mom and have her be shocked and worried. Instead, she just laughed. Apparently, that section is known for that kind of riot-like ending. People who go there go to fight and freak out, which would have been nice to know beforehand. I don't regret the experience - because it was exactly that - an experience like everything else here. But I maintain that nothing like that could have ever happened in the United States, what with better-designed stadiums and a little less rowdy fans. But true - that's what fútbol in Sudamérica and Europa is all about, right?
Anyway, the next night, we had a surprise party on Lauren's roof for our friend Brein, which was fun for me but the others were admittedly being a little whiny. On May 7th (Saturday) the country had what they call the Consulta Popular, which is a giant referendum which is mandatory for all Ecuadorians to vote in. The government enforces what they call the ley seca starting noon on Thursday until midnight on Sunday, meaning it's illegal to buy or consume any alcohol. We heard that even as foreigners, if caught drinking, we could be sent to jail. Deciding we reaaaally didn't want to risk going to Ecuadorian jail, we told all of our friends they couldn't drink at the party. We heard later from some Ecuadorians that this rule is really not enforced so a few of our friends were being jerks and complaining the whole time how they could be drinking. Lo siento - I spent like 18 years of my life having fun without drinking - I was able to spend one night sober just fine. I guess the others aren't so lucky. I actually ended up bringing my guitar and serenading everyone so that was pretty fun. No one here has heard me play yet, so that was cool.
Anyway, it's little stuff like that that's been wearing on me. I've been spending a lot of time with the same people and they're all driving me a little bit crazy in their own ways, regardless of how much I love them.
I spent the weekend with my host family. Saturday we went to my host mom's brother's house overlooking the valley of Cumbayá (absolutely stunning) and stayed there until almost midnight. I really didn't talk much with anyone (as usual) but we did kareoke for like, 4 hours at night and then they finally noticed me. I got more perfect scores than anyone! On Sunday, we went to my host dad's sister's place and had lunch there. I actually did have a conversation there, which was nice. Mostly though I was just bored. I get resentful of my host siblings because they both are addicted to their Blackberries (like every other well-to-do Ecuadorian teenager) and are literally on it the whole time. But it would be rude for me to pull out a book.
Anyway, yesterday I went with Julie to the Botanical Gardens in Quito - very pretty and just nice excuse to get out.
First of all, I got really sick (surprise!) after coming back from the beach. I think my body reacted to the malaria pills because my throat started hurting unbearably (specifically my lymph nodes were very swelled and inflamed) and the my digestion system went crazy again and as soon as that got better, I came down with something that was probably a sinus infection. Luckily, I took a Cipro after a few days of suffering and it all got knocked right out!
So for the first time in weeks, I'm healthy right now. Who knows if it will last the meager 5 days until I'm home (probably not.) Probably helping in this is that the arrival of May (literally, day of) brought a halt to the rainy season. Now the sun shines all day long and though clouds roll in, the weather has been half-decent. I went through my last classes, took exams in all but one course, and said goodbye to my professors.
On Thursday night, we decided to go to one final Liga game, in the stadium in the North of Quito. We got there an hour or so early and bought tickets from a scalper, then got in line. Things got crazy really quickly. The area surrounding the stadium was packed, both with waiting fans and policemen, including many on horses. We got in line, which became crowded with people pushing and shoving nearly immediately. At least that much was to be expected. We were all in a pretty good mood, but all of sudden Lauren starts swearing because she realized she had been robbed. For reasons unknown to the rest of us, Lauren had pretty brought every last valuable thing with her - her new camera from the black market, her Blackberry from the US because her other phone had been lost, $40, her American license, and her Censo (the card we get from the government here and need to leave the country). Thank goodness she gave her iPod to Julie to hold because she didn't have enough room in her purse. Anyway, though there was a latch on her little leather purse, someone just opened it and grabbed everything. To everyone but Lauren this was not surprising or unexpected but of course, that didn't make her feel better at all.
Anyway, everyone felt a little bummed after that and suddenly, the line got crazy and people were pushing so hard to get in. I was so crushed I could barely breathe and started panicking and hyperventilating. Every psych class I've ever taken popped into my head - this is how people die - they get trampled, they asphyxiate - uncontrolled crowd situations are just so dangerous! Anyway, we all were hanging on to each other and after about 15 minutes of panic, we managed to get in. A guy I was squished against was laughing because apparently what I consider to be life-threatening and terrifying is normal there. Anyway, we finally got in and found our section. We noticed right away how it was full of die-hard fans - all singing, and yelling, full of spirit, so it was relatively exciting.
At some point in the game, we noticed that separating us between the next section in the bleachers (which were just concrete steps - another gross architectural fault - I saw that documentary about killer stadiums and how that's the worst way to control people...anyway more on that later) was a line of police men, each on a step, with the masks, and poised for duty. Kind of freaky until I realized the other side had people supporting the other team.
Didn't think too much of it until later - the other team had already scored the only point, and everyone was kind of yelling things over to the other side. Finally, the other team scored point 2 and all hell broke loose. Half the people were pushing through to leave, the other half was yelling and throwing things to the other side, flares, bottles, etc. Everything happened in a blur - my friends were yelling at us to LEAVE GO NOW and all of a sudden I was coughing and I thought that was weird until I realized the police had started spraying tear gas and forcing us all out. At this point, it became even crazier, with people pushing and swarming down the steps - I had my jacket over my mouth and nose and was being pushed everywhere and was the last of my friends to get out. Luckily I grabbed my friend Kevin who is like 6'2 and blond and he was literally able to pull me out. By then I was tearing up and panicking, but as soon as we left the bleachers, everything was fine. We left the stadium, unable to believe what had just happened. Found out one of my friends got hit the forehead with something, so she was kind of freaking out too.
Found out the next day what we did wrong - I was expecting the whole thing to be in the news, in the paper, or at the very least to tell my host mom and have her be shocked and worried. Instead, she just laughed. Apparently, that section is known for that kind of riot-like ending. People who go there go to fight and freak out, which would have been nice to know beforehand. I don't regret the experience - because it was exactly that - an experience like everything else here. But I maintain that nothing like that could have ever happened in the United States, what with better-designed stadiums and a little less rowdy fans. But true - that's what fútbol in Sudamérica and Europa is all about, right?
Anyway, the next night, we had a surprise party on Lauren's roof for our friend Brein, which was fun for me but the others were admittedly being a little whiny. On May 7th (Saturday) the country had what they call the Consulta Popular, which is a giant referendum which is mandatory for all Ecuadorians to vote in. The government enforces what they call the ley seca starting noon on Thursday until midnight on Sunday, meaning it's illegal to buy or consume any alcohol. We heard that even as foreigners, if caught drinking, we could be sent to jail. Deciding we reaaaally didn't want to risk going to Ecuadorian jail, we told all of our friends they couldn't drink at the party. We heard later from some Ecuadorians that this rule is really not enforced so a few of our friends were being jerks and complaining the whole time how they could be drinking. Lo siento - I spent like 18 years of my life having fun without drinking - I was able to spend one night sober just fine. I guess the others aren't so lucky. I actually ended up bringing my guitar and serenading everyone so that was pretty fun. No one here has heard me play yet, so that was cool.
Anyway, it's little stuff like that that's been wearing on me. I've been spending a lot of time with the same people and they're all driving me a little bit crazy in their own ways, regardless of how much I love them.
I spent the weekend with my host family. Saturday we went to my host mom's brother's house overlooking the valley of Cumbayá (absolutely stunning) and stayed there until almost midnight. I really didn't talk much with anyone (as usual) but we did kareoke for like, 4 hours at night and then they finally noticed me. I got more perfect scores than anyone! On Sunday, we went to my host dad's sister's place and had lunch there. I actually did have a conversation there, which was nice. Mostly though I was just bored. I get resentful of my host siblings because they both are addicted to their Blackberries (like every other well-to-do Ecuadorian teenager) and are literally on it the whole time. But it would be rude for me to pull out a book.
Anyway, yesterday I went with Julie to the Botanical Gardens in Quito - very pretty and just nice excuse to get out.
Botanical gardens
Today, Julie, Alli and I went to the Teleferiqo, which is the cable car thing that brings you to the top of Pichincha, the mountain/volcano thing overlooking my window. It was absolutely beautiful up there - the view was like none other and the oxygen was certainly lacking. We had to stop literally every 10 steps for Julie to get her breath.
Quito!
Anyway, we spent a nice couple of hours up there, then came back, came home, and now I have a test to study for and a party to attend tonight. What a life, right?
That being said..... five days. Five days. Five days. I'm going to miss this place undoubtedly but time, fly, please.
That's all for now. Chau mis amigos.
Cyn xxx
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Puerto Lopez.
It's Saturday morning and I'm officially back from my last big trip in Ecuador. It all started last week, running all around to Quito buy bus tickets and trying to figure out exactly who was coming. On Monday night, after a dinner of macaroni and cheese with my host family (WIN! first time we eat this here), I met up with my friends Lauren, Alli, Milijana, and Juliana at the Reina del Camino bus station in Quito and we embark for the 10 hour journey.
Unfortunately, it was my most miserable bus journey to date :( The trip down the mountain to the beach is extremely curvy and the bus driver is constantly braking, making sleeping impossible. About 2 hours in, I became so carsick that I had to sit up and breathe and look straight out the window at all times. To make things worse, we had the first five seats in the bus and the bus driver so nicely insisted on blasting music all night long. It was enough to put everyone in a terrible mood. Anyway, we finally arrived at around 7am and found our hostel.
Instead of going straight to bed for a nice nap, we met up with some friends who had arrived the day before and they advised to go to the beach for an impressive sight. We sleepily followed her and found the entire Puerto Lopez cove filled with fisherman boats, bringing in catches, cutting them up, selling them. It smelled horrible, obviously, but it was pretty cool. Apparently 80% of the economy of Puerto Lopez is based on this business. The one dismaying realization was how gross the beach was as a result - were we supposed to spend our day here?
We went back and napped until 9am, when breakfast was served. The hostel was amazing... there were tons of cute cozy rooms surrounding a giant courtyard of trees, hammocks, porches - absolutely precious. The hostel owner Gladys was so sweet, always answering any questions we had, letting us use her computer, and even lending us a DVD player one night to watch a movie. Each bed had a mosquito net, which I didn't use any of the nights we were there because there were no mosquitoes in our room (and I was taking malaria medication anyway). Obviously one of the biggest differences between Quito and the coast is the climate - I'm used to going to bed with 3 blankets and still shivering myself to sleep in Quito, whereas on the coast the rooms are warm and humid and you fall asleep with as little clothing as possible. I managed to sleep incredibly well regardless.
We had a tasty breakfast provided by the hostel and then set out for the day. Lauren had a phone interview for a summer internship, so she and I waited around for that while the others set out for the beach, los Frailes, which is in a national park about 20 minutes away in a taxi moto (as we found out, this is where most people go to the beach, not the fishy Puerto Lopez). When Lauren finished, she and I set out to join them. We had heard that a bus would drop us off right there so we found a bus and paid, telling the driver where we wanted to go. About 15 minutes later, a lady sitting next to us let us know we had passed los Frailes a while back, so, frustrated, Lauren and I run up to the front of the bus, where the driver unapologetically let us off. We were in the middle of nowhere...... there were small shacks and men lying in hammocks, roosters and chickens walking around.... We were pretty sure another bus would be coming soon but felt like sitting ducks as 2 gringas alone. Many trucks went by and slowed down offering us rides, and we were almost considering ride on the back of a semi back into town when a bus finally appeared. When we climbed on we could see all the sideway smiles - they all must have been thinking, "what in the world are these girls doing?!" (I'd also like to mention that I was only wearing my bathing suit.... a tankini and skirt, pretty modest, but still attracting wayyyy too much attention.)
Anyway, I asked the driver three times to let us know when we were at the park, which he did. We paid $2 to get into the park and walked for a bit, almost immediately finding ourselves at a crossroads - we could either take a pedestrian path or continue to the parking lot. We picked the path and started walking. It was hot, uphill, and deserted. We walked for nearly 2 hours.... Lauren and I managed to keep a good humor but we were both getting tired and discouraged - it was quite a hike and we were in flip flops and bathing suits. There were quite a few beautiful sights along the way, overlooking the beaches all around, but mostly it looked like we were walking through bushes in the desert. There were tons of little lizards scurrying around and cacti.
Finally, we ran into a beautiful deserted black sand beach. It was in a sort of inlet and therefore the water was calm and shallow. On the beach there were dozens of little crabs scuttling about. We jubilantly ran into the water and relaxed for a little bit. The stupid trek seemed worth it, if even for a few minutes. We decided to continue the path after that, seeing from the map that 2-3 beaches were on the way. The next beach was pretty close but there were signs posted warning us not to swim because the drop-off was too sharp. It was beautiful though - how often does one stumble upon clean, untouched, isolated beaches!?!
From here, we continued along shore, climbing over rocks and trying not to freak out because hours had gone by without finding our friends and not knowing where the path went. Lo and behold, about 15 minutes later, we found the path and immediately found our friends. Turns out... they had taken a taxi moto which brought them to the parking lot and the first beach, where they had been chilling for the past 3 hours. I was so frustrated at our luck, but happy we finally found them. We went back to where they had spent the day and spent the next two hours just lying out in the perfect sun and finally relaxing.
At around 4pm, we headed back, showered, and found a little restaurant to eat. I ordered arroz con camarones (yellow rice with shrimp) which is possibly my favorite dish in Ecuador. We came back to the hostel and watched the Blind Side in our room and went to bed.
The next morning, as organized by Gladys, we got up early, had breakfast, and were lead to the beach by our tour guide for the day. About 45 km away in boat there is an island called la Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver/money - so called for several reasons, one of them being that hundreds of years ago Sir Francis Drake hid a bunch of stolen Incan treasure there) which is known as the "poor man's Galapagos." The ecosystem there is known as a tropical dry forest and is the home to many of the same birds and plant species as the Galapagos islands themselves. (This week, most of my friends are actually at the Galapagos, which I decided not to do because it cost too much...) We walked back through the fish market to get to the tour boat. On the way, I got to see a shark being dismembered - they were cutting off the fins because they are worth a ton of money apparently. They also cut off the head and pulled out all the insides. It was so cool to watch. Anyway, we finally got on the boat and got on our way.
The Isla de la Plata tour was awesome, if not extremely tiresome. We were a group of 16 and our tour guide led us on a 2 hour trek, up and down the island. We got to see tons of blue-footed boobys, which are the famous birds of the Galapagos, right up close because they are not scared of humans. From up-top, the island had the most incredible views, so we took lots of pictures. We talked a bit to the other tourists; there was a couple from Italy, some German guys, and a family who lived an hour north of Toronto. The daughter had spent her year in Ecuador and so her dad was visiting. He's been skiing in Bromont apparently, so he knew where Farnham and Cowansville was!! I was pretty excited. Anyway, by the end of the hike, we were all exhausted and parched, but luckily the group provided a delicious lunch, which we ate on the boat. After eating and resting, they passed out snorkeling gear and we jumped into the chilly water and got to see the wildlife below the surface. We saw 2 giant turtles, a school of giant clownfish ("como Nemo!" said our guide), white corral, and a school of thousands of tiny fishes. It was pretty awesome. We all just hung out on the boat for a few more minutes, climbing to the top and jumping off, and finally set off to go home.
We found out more of our friends had arrived at Puerto Lopez, so we joined them for dinner that night, then drinks on the beach. Puerto Lopez is certainly not a party town like Atacames or Montañita, but there were a few places to sit on beach chairs and relax. We had a good quiet night with our acquaintances (I'll be completely honest - I actually can't stand most of them so it was interesting...) and then eventually went to bed.
On Thursday, we went to los Frailes again (this time without any trouble) and relaxed, soaking up the sun. Lauren, Juliana, and I were swimming in the clear-blue waves for quite a while, when all of a sudden, I felt the most horrible burning stinging pain on my wrist - I got stung by a jellyfish!!! A wave had just been crashed over me so it dragged along for a couple of inches. I ran out of the water and was yelping because it hurt so badly!!! I think most people know what the cure for the pain of a jellyfish sting is - and let's just say this: I love my friends who in a moment of crisis will do anything for me. ;) After a few minutes, it no longer hurt though I did have giant welts on my hand and wrist. It didn't stop me from getting back in the water later, though I was admittedly pretty paranoid... Now I just have a few nice little red streaks on my arm, which I'm pretty proud of.
We spent a few more hours in the sun, and I sadly got a pretty bad sunburn. Later in the night, we went back to the cabana tents on the beach to hang out and eventually found a group of people dancing and hanging out on the beach. They started playing salsa music and another guy tried fruitlessly to teach me the steps (it's never going to stick! I promise!). After that, I sat down in the sand with my other friends, and this other guy who sat next to me struck up a conversation. I'm so weary of creepers at this point, but this guy was actually just nice and chill, and we talked about Ecuador, dancing, and music. I had to convince him that I hated Justin Bieber and tried really hard to explain the differences between the dancing in the US and in Ecuador. I had a good time, but eventually we headed back and went to sleep.
On Friday, we didn't do much at all. I just wanted to lie around at the hostel and finish my book (Sophie's Choice - so sad!) We remembered the royal wedding was on so Lauren and Milijana and I sat down and watched the replay on Gladys' computer, with the picture freezing up every 5 seconds but at least we got to see it. Afterwards, we were told about a cool river just a quick bus ride away, so went there but were pretty disappointed. The river was nothing too impressive, but we did get another reminder of how Ecuador really is a third-world country - clay houses with holes for windows, women doing their laundry in the river, no electricity. It was quite something.
We headed back, found some food, and just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. I bought motion sickness pills and we packed up. After dinner, we headed to the bus at 8pm, where we were ordered to go the police station so they could check our bags. After that interesting process, we got settled in and I took my medication and was pretty much knocked out for the entire night. The voyage was only 8 hours this time, so we arrived in Quito at 4:30 am. Lauren and I split a cab and after dropping her off, we were driving and suddenly saw tons of cars with their caution lights on parked next to an overpass. We actually stopped and got out, Mr. cab driver and I, and stood with the other gawkers - a car at some point during the night had broken through the guardrails and wrecked pretty horribly below. There were firetrucks and ambulances and the car was absolutely totaled, but they were talking to the person inside, so I guess he/she was okay! It was a stunning sight.
Anyway, at that point, I was dropped off at home and passed out in bed until 11:30 am. I've already told my host family all my stories and we will be eating soon, I imagine. This weekend, I have lots of studying and essay-writing to do but I hope that means this week will fly by. I have exactly 15 days left in Ecuador and though it's bittersweet I am DYING to get home. So by keeping busy and going through my final to-do list, I imagine these days will fly by.
So there it is. I'll be around all weekend so I'd love to talk to everyone at some point! Hope you're all doing fantastic :)
Love, Cyn.
Unfortunately, it was my most miserable bus journey to date :( The trip down the mountain to the beach is extremely curvy and the bus driver is constantly braking, making sleeping impossible. About 2 hours in, I became so carsick that I had to sit up and breathe and look straight out the window at all times. To make things worse, we had the first five seats in the bus and the bus driver so nicely insisted on blasting music all night long. It was enough to put everyone in a terrible mood. Anyway, we finally arrived at around 7am and found our hostel.
Instead of going straight to bed for a nice nap, we met up with some friends who had arrived the day before and they advised to go to the beach for an impressive sight. We sleepily followed her and found the entire Puerto Lopez cove filled with fisherman boats, bringing in catches, cutting them up, selling them. It smelled horrible, obviously, but it was pretty cool. Apparently 80% of the economy of Puerto Lopez is based on this business. The one dismaying realization was how gross the beach was as a result - were we supposed to spend our day here?
We went back and napped until 9am, when breakfast was served. The hostel was amazing... there were tons of cute cozy rooms surrounding a giant courtyard of trees, hammocks, porches - absolutely precious. The hostel owner Gladys was so sweet, always answering any questions we had, letting us use her computer, and even lending us a DVD player one night to watch a movie. Each bed had a mosquito net, which I didn't use any of the nights we were there because there were no mosquitoes in our room (and I was taking malaria medication anyway). Obviously one of the biggest differences between Quito and the coast is the climate - I'm used to going to bed with 3 blankets and still shivering myself to sleep in Quito, whereas on the coast the rooms are warm and humid and you fall asleep with as little clothing as possible. I managed to sleep incredibly well regardless.
We had a tasty breakfast provided by the hostel and then set out for the day. Lauren had a phone interview for a summer internship, so she and I waited around for that while the others set out for the beach, los Frailes, which is in a national park about 20 minutes away in a taxi moto (as we found out, this is where most people go to the beach, not the fishy Puerto Lopez). When Lauren finished, she and I set out to join them. We had heard that a bus would drop us off right there so we found a bus and paid, telling the driver where we wanted to go. About 15 minutes later, a lady sitting next to us let us know we had passed los Frailes a while back, so, frustrated, Lauren and I run up to the front of the bus, where the driver unapologetically let us off. We were in the middle of nowhere...... there were small shacks and men lying in hammocks, roosters and chickens walking around.... We were pretty sure another bus would be coming soon but felt like sitting ducks as 2 gringas alone. Many trucks went by and slowed down offering us rides, and we were almost considering ride on the back of a semi back into town when a bus finally appeared. When we climbed on we could see all the sideway smiles - they all must have been thinking, "what in the world are these girls doing?!" (I'd also like to mention that I was only wearing my bathing suit.... a tankini and skirt, pretty modest, but still attracting wayyyy too much attention.)
Anyway, I asked the driver three times to let us know when we were at the park, which he did. We paid $2 to get into the park and walked for a bit, almost immediately finding ourselves at a crossroads - we could either take a pedestrian path or continue to the parking lot. We picked the path and started walking. It was hot, uphill, and deserted. We walked for nearly 2 hours.... Lauren and I managed to keep a good humor but we were both getting tired and discouraged - it was quite a hike and we were in flip flops and bathing suits. There were quite a few beautiful sights along the way, overlooking the beaches all around, but mostly it looked like we were walking through bushes in the desert. There were tons of little lizards scurrying around and cacti.
Finally, we ran into a beautiful deserted black sand beach. It was in a sort of inlet and therefore the water was calm and shallow. On the beach there were dozens of little crabs scuttling about. We jubilantly ran into the water and relaxed for a little bit. The stupid trek seemed worth it, if even for a few minutes. We decided to continue the path after that, seeing from the map that 2-3 beaches were on the way. The next beach was pretty close but there were signs posted warning us not to swim because the drop-off was too sharp. It was beautiful though - how often does one stumble upon clean, untouched, isolated beaches!?!
From here, we continued along shore, climbing over rocks and trying not to freak out because hours had gone by without finding our friends and not knowing where the path went. Lo and behold, about 15 minutes later, we found the path and immediately found our friends. Turns out... they had taken a taxi moto which brought them to the parking lot and the first beach, where they had been chilling for the past 3 hours. I was so frustrated at our luck, but happy we finally found them. We went back to where they had spent the day and spent the next two hours just lying out in the perfect sun and finally relaxing.
At around 4pm, we headed back, showered, and found a little restaurant to eat. I ordered arroz con camarones (yellow rice with shrimp) which is possibly my favorite dish in Ecuador. We came back to the hostel and watched the Blind Side in our room and went to bed.
The next morning, as organized by Gladys, we got up early, had breakfast, and were lead to the beach by our tour guide for the day. About 45 km away in boat there is an island called la Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver/money - so called for several reasons, one of them being that hundreds of years ago Sir Francis Drake hid a bunch of stolen Incan treasure there) which is known as the "poor man's Galapagos." The ecosystem there is known as a tropical dry forest and is the home to many of the same birds and plant species as the Galapagos islands themselves. (This week, most of my friends are actually at the Galapagos, which I decided not to do because it cost too much...) We walked back through the fish market to get to the tour boat. On the way, I got to see a shark being dismembered - they were cutting off the fins because they are worth a ton of money apparently. They also cut off the head and pulled out all the insides. It was so cool to watch. Anyway, we finally got on the boat and got on our way.
The Isla de la Plata tour was awesome, if not extremely tiresome. We were a group of 16 and our tour guide led us on a 2 hour trek, up and down the island. We got to see tons of blue-footed boobys, which are the famous birds of the Galapagos, right up close because they are not scared of humans. From up-top, the island had the most incredible views, so we took lots of pictures. We talked a bit to the other tourists; there was a couple from Italy, some German guys, and a family who lived an hour north of Toronto. The daughter had spent her year in Ecuador and so her dad was visiting. He's been skiing in Bromont apparently, so he knew where Farnham and Cowansville was!! I was pretty excited. Anyway, by the end of the hike, we were all exhausted and parched, but luckily the group provided a delicious lunch, which we ate on the boat. After eating and resting, they passed out snorkeling gear and we jumped into the chilly water and got to see the wildlife below the surface. We saw 2 giant turtles, a school of giant clownfish ("como Nemo!" said our guide), white corral, and a school of thousands of tiny fishes. It was pretty awesome. We all just hung out on the boat for a few more minutes, climbing to the top and jumping off, and finally set off to go home.
We found out more of our friends had arrived at Puerto Lopez, so we joined them for dinner that night, then drinks on the beach. Puerto Lopez is certainly not a party town like Atacames or Montañita, but there were a few places to sit on beach chairs and relax. We had a good quiet night with our acquaintances (I'll be completely honest - I actually can't stand most of them so it was interesting...) and then eventually went to bed.
On Thursday, we went to los Frailes again (this time without any trouble) and relaxed, soaking up the sun. Lauren, Juliana, and I were swimming in the clear-blue waves for quite a while, when all of a sudden, I felt the most horrible burning stinging pain on my wrist - I got stung by a jellyfish!!! A wave had just been crashed over me so it dragged along for a couple of inches. I ran out of the water and was yelping because it hurt so badly!!! I think most people know what the cure for the pain of a jellyfish sting is - and let's just say this: I love my friends who in a moment of crisis will do anything for me. ;) After a few minutes, it no longer hurt though I did have giant welts on my hand and wrist. It didn't stop me from getting back in the water later, though I was admittedly pretty paranoid... Now I just have a few nice little red streaks on my arm, which I'm pretty proud of.
We spent a few more hours in the sun, and I sadly got a pretty bad sunburn. Later in the night, we went back to the cabana tents on the beach to hang out and eventually found a group of people dancing and hanging out on the beach. They started playing salsa music and another guy tried fruitlessly to teach me the steps (it's never going to stick! I promise!). After that, I sat down in the sand with my other friends, and this other guy who sat next to me struck up a conversation. I'm so weary of creepers at this point, but this guy was actually just nice and chill, and we talked about Ecuador, dancing, and music. I had to convince him that I hated Justin Bieber and tried really hard to explain the differences between the dancing in the US and in Ecuador. I had a good time, but eventually we headed back and went to sleep.
On Friday, we didn't do much at all. I just wanted to lie around at the hostel and finish my book (Sophie's Choice - so sad!) We remembered the royal wedding was on so Lauren and Milijana and I sat down and watched the replay on Gladys' computer, with the picture freezing up every 5 seconds but at least we got to see it. Afterwards, we were told about a cool river just a quick bus ride away, so went there but were pretty disappointed. The river was nothing too impressive, but we did get another reminder of how Ecuador really is a third-world country - clay houses with holes for windows, women doing their laundry in the river, no electricity. It was quite something.
We headed back, found some food, and just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. I bought motion sickness pills and we packed up. After dinner, we headed to the bus at 8pm, where we were ordered to go the police station so they could check our bags. After that interesting process, we got settled in and I took my medication and was pretty much knocked out for the entire night. The voyage was only 8 hours this time, so we arrived in Quito at 4:30 am. Lauren and I split a cab and after dropping her off, we were driving and suddenly saw tons of cars with their caution lights on parked next to an overpass. We actually stopped and got out, Mr. cab driver and I, and stood with the other gawkers - a car at some point during the night had broken through the guardrails and wrecked pretty horribly below. There were firetrucks and ambulances and the car was absolutely totaled, but they were talking to the person inside, so I guess he/she was okay! It was a stunning sight.
Anyway, at that point, I was dropped off at home and passed out in bed until 11:30 am. I've already told my host family all my stories and we will be eating soon, I imagine. This weekend, I have lots of studying and essay-writing to do but I hope that means this week will fly by. I have exactly 15 days left in Ecuador and though it's bittersweet I am DYING to get home. So by keeping busy and going through my final to-do list, I imagine these days will fly by.
So there it is. I'll be around all weekend so I'd love to talk to everyone at some point! Hope you're all doing fantastic :)
Love, Cyn.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Chiva, Otavalo (part deux), floods, and fanesca
Buenas días mis amigos :)
What is new? Well, on March 8th, we celebrated our friend Julie's birthday. After a delicious meal at Chipote Chillon, a great Mexican restaurant, we headed downtown and found the birthday chiva, which we had reserved. A chiva is basically a party bus, with open sides, music, and lots of canelazo! (Canelazo is hot alcoholic cider... delicioso y caliente!) They just pumped up the music and we all danced as the bus wove through the streets of Quito. It was quite a night... we were dancing, waving to all the pedestrians on the streets, and eventually we stopped in the historical district. Everyone got out and all the boys had to dance with Julie and we had to vote on who would be her "king" for the night. Afterwards, we piled back in and they dropped us off in the Mariscal, the district where all the bars are. We danced for a while and eventually split up and went our separate ways for the night. What a night, though! :)
The next night, Julie, Joe, Lauren and I met up at Lauren's apartment and we spent a relaxing evening, hanging out on her roof. The view of the city is spectacular from up there... there is nothing I love more than city lights at night. Unfortunately by that time, I had started feeling really sick. Between the weather in Quito (cold...wet...windy) and being out on the chiva all night without a sweater, not sleeping much... anyway, I got a really bad cold that resulted in me losing my voice again and having to stay in bed all day Saturday. My digestive system was also messed up because of the one margarita I had at Chipote (blended ice!!! lesson learned.) My host mom forbid me to go out, which was terrible because my friends were going to the Liga match and then having a party that night :( But I stayed in like a good girl, read Bridget Jones and moped, basically.
On Sunday, Julie came with me to the medical clinic in Cumbayá, because I was pretty convinced I had pneunmonia or bronchitis or at least pink eye. Anyway, the doctor prescribed me stuff but convinced me that I had no terrible illnesses, so that was good. Out of the 4 things she prescribed me, I could only find 2 of them, and I went to three different pharmacies. Ecuador... go figure. One of them was Claritin D, though, which I guess you need a prescription for here! Anyway, with only 2 of the things listed, I recovered. My cough is almost completely gone now (but not quite... going on three weeks...)
The next week went by uneventfully. On Friday, I got up early and met Julie, Ally, Alli, Brein, and Stephen at the bus station and we headed to Otavalo. In case you've forgotten the name, this was actually the first place we visited in Ecuador, but most of this group had not been, and Julie and I needed to buy a bunch of gifts. First though, we found a bus (and a truck) that would take us to Cuicocha, this beautiful crater lake, at the foot of a volcano. A long time ago the volcan errupted and basically imploded, creating this lake, which is the most beautiful shade of blue and has no wildlife living in it. We took a boat tour around the lake, bundling up because it was very chilly, and reveled in the beauty of it all. Afterwards, we redeemed our "free canelazo" that came with the boat ticket and headed back to Otavalo.
We got dinner at Mi Otavalito again (the same restaurant as the first time) and then searched the local corner stores for snacks for the night - basically, the ingredients to make smores. Back at the hostel (also the same as the first time) we lit the fire in the fireplace downstairs, put in a movie, and curled up because it was freeeezing.
What is new? Well, on March 8th, we celebrated our friend Julie's birthday. After a delicious meal at Chipote Chillon, a great Mexican restaurant, we headed downtown and found the birthday chiva, which we had reserved. A chiva is basically a party bus, with open sides, music, and lots of canelazo! (Canelazo is hot alcoholic cider... delicioso y caliente!) They just pumped up the music and we all danced as the bus wove through the streets of Quito. It was quite a night... we were dancing, waving to all the pedestrians on the streets, and eventually we stopped in the historical district. Everyone got out and all the boys had to dance with Julie and we had to vote on who would be her "king" for the night. Afterwards, we piled back in and they dropped us off in the Mariscal, the district where all the bars are. We danced for a while and eventually split up and went our separate ways for the night. What a night, though! :)
Our group in front of the chiva - Julie, the birthday girl, being picked up!
The next night, Julie, Joe, Lauren and I met up at Lauren's apartment and we spent a relaxing evening, hanging out on her roof. The view of the city is spectacular from up there... there is nothing I love more than city lights at night. Unfortunately by that time, I had started feeling really sick. Between the weather in Quito (cold...wet...windy) and being out on the chiva all night without a sweater, not sleeping much... anyway, I got a really bad cold that resulted in me losing my voice again and having to stay in bed all day Saturday. My digestive system was also messed up because of the one margarita I had at Chipote (blended ice!!! lesson learned.) My host mom forbid me to go out, which was terrible because my friends were going to the Liga match and then having a party that night :( But I stayed in like a good girl, read Bridget Jones and moped, basically.
On Sunday, Julie came with me to the medical clinic in Cumbayá, because I was pretty convinced I had pneunmonia or bronchitis or at least pink eye. Anyway, the doctor prescribed me stuff but convinced me that I had no terrible illnesses, so that was good. Out of the 4 things she prescribed me, I could only find 2 of them, and I went to three different pharmacies. Ecuador... go figure. One of them was Claritin D, though, which I guess you need a prescription for here! Anyway, with only 2 of the things listed, I recovered. My cough is almost completely gone now (but not quite... going on three weeks...)
The next week went by uneventfully. On Friday, I got up early and met Julie, Ally, Alli, Brein, and Stephen at the bus station and we headed to Otavalo. In case you've forgotten the name, this was actually the first place we visited in Ecuador, but most of this group had not been, and Julie and I needed to buy a bunch of gifts. First though, we found a bus (and a truck) that would take us to Cuicocha, this beautiful crater lake, at the foot of a volcano. A long time ago the volcan errupted and basically imploded, creating this lake, which is the most beautiful shade of blue and has no wildlife living in it. We took a boat tour around the lake, bundling up because it was very chilly, and reveled in the beauty of it all. Afterwards, we redeemed our "free canelazo" that came with the boat ticket and headed back to Otavalo.
Cuicocha - que hermosa la vista!
We got dinner at Mi Otavalito again (the same restaurant as the first time) and then searched the local corner stores for snacks for the night - basically, the ingredients to make smores. Back at the hostel (also the same as the first time) we lit the fire in the fireplace downstairs, put in a movie, and curled up because it was freeeezing.
Typical night :) Also ps... see my alpaca socks!?!
The next day, we got up early and headed to the market. At this point, everything was a huge flashback. We saw the animals, we bargained, we even got ice cream at the same shop. We went to an almuerzo place and paid $1.75 for lunch (soup, rice, chicken, and juice!) and then found a bus and headed home. The trip was a little over 24 hours but it was relaxing and fun.
Back in Quito, it was raining (big surprise!) but when I got on facebook and saw all my friends here freaking out, I realized something was a little different. There had been SO much rain on Saturday, plus crazy thunderstorms and hail. Also found out a main water line broke and so many areas around here were flooded. These pictures tell it all :
This was taken about a block away from where I take the bus to Cumbayá everyday! (Ave 6 de Diciembre y Granados)
This is a bus on the Trole line... basically there were people in there and the water surged so quickly no one had time to get out!
I talked to my host family though and apparently these kinds of flash floods are more or less normal during the month of April when it rains EVERY SINGLE DAY. It sounds innocuous but I'm sick of waking up in the morning with the beautiful, warm sunshine and walking home in the afternoon in the freezing rain. It's starting to be a real downer! Supposedly "summer" begins in May, meaning no more rain.
To finish this off, Sunday was spent at home here. Everyone came over to eat fanesca, which is this crazy soup. It takes dayyys to make because it's supposed to have 12 types of grains in it (corn and grains that are really only consumed here... choclos and cho-chos and things like that that require hand-shelling) and because it's so much work they have to make a lot of it. We had 20 people over and only ate half of it, and almost everyone had 2 bowls. It was made with 8 liters of milk if you can imagine that!!! Anyway, it was delicious but very heavy on the stomach so it's literally all I ate yesterday. Not exactly what my digestive system needed, though, might I say.
I actually had a great time because I talked with a lot of the relatives, then hung out with my host siblings and their little cousin, who is adorable and funny. Later, another host cousin came by, who was actually really cute, but I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw he was wearing an NC State hat!!! Apparently one of his friends studied there and gave it to him. What a weird coincidence though right!? Anyway, we also celebrated my host sister's birthday, also it's officially Wednesday so tomorrow I'm going to go out and find her a good gift.
It was a great day, but as family reunions here always do, it made me miss my own awesome family. I can make pleasant conversation with strangers but it's nothing like cracking jokes with the people you know better than anyone else ;) Just made me a little more anxious for my return in less than a month, but also made it a little more bittersweet because I'm feeling very much a part of this family too.
Oh well - two more days of classes then it's Semana Santa - the religious holiday preceding Easter, then my spring break, when I'll be heading to the beach again with my friends! I have exams after that but so far it's looking like they'll be extremely easy so I'm not really concerned at all.
I hope everyone is doing well! I'm trying to stay updated on all the scary news from North Carolina... the tornadoes were on the news here in Ecuador :( So that's never good. Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Cynthia
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Black market, Basilica, and the Equator!
It's Wednesday but I'd like to take a few seconds to write about my weekend!
I heard a few weeks ago about this elusive place in Quito, aptly named the black market, where my friends bought some replacement phones and computer chargers for cheap. Before saying anything else, it must be mentioned that buying anything in Ecuador that was made elsewhere is insanely expensive. Import taxes are jacked up, making the clothes and electronics heres absurdly expensive, especially when you know how much you'd pay back home. Unfortunately, sometimes spending is inevitable and for that reason, we were all happy to find out such a place as the black market existed.
My friend Lauren and I went on Saturday. No, it's not a back alley where shifty-eyed vendors covertly pull their jackets to the side to show you the goods. Nor does it feel remotely illegal. It's in this "shopping center" - called el Centro Comercial Montufar and it's 4-stories of small shops with normal-looking, friendly(-ish) vendors. The catch is that nearly all the merchandise is stolen. You can tell by the some of the worn edges of cell phones, the fact that nothing comes in a box, or like in Lauren's case, when iPods still have music on them from the previous owner. The suggested prices by the vendors were nearly always market value in the US, but of course, that's considerably cheaper than anything you'll find here for new. So Lauren bought a camera and an iPod - we negotiated each of those down $10 and she was happy with her purchases. I asked around...there were iTouches for $150, and cheapo phones like we bought here for $30 (we payed $60). It was a great place to find! I think I may go back because I need a new memory card and will surely pay less there. And that might actually be new...
On a funny side note, we only roughly knew where this place was. We were at the right bus stop, right in the middle of the historical center of town, but decided to ask around. Of course my friend Lauren goes straight to a cashier and says, "Donde está el mercado negro?" to which the lady just laughed, shook her head, and walked away. I laughed soooo hard. I'd imagine you don't go to New York City either, clearly a tourist and ask a stranger, "Excuse, but where is the black market?!" With a little more tact, I asked some men in the bakery where we were snacking if they knew where we could buy electronics, like a camera? One man caught our drift and nicely walked us there, warning us that there are lots of thieves around so to be careful. So side note - be subtle when looking to buy illegal things.
After our adventure at the black market, we joined our friends at the giant beautiful basilica a few blocks away.
I heard a few weeks ago about this elusive place in Quito, aptly named the black market, where my friends bought some replacement phones and computer chargers for cheap. Before saying anything else, it must be mentioned that buying anything in Ecuador that was made elsewhere is insanely expensive. Import taxes are jacked up, making the clothes and electronics heres absurdly expensive, especially when you know how much you'd pay back home. Unfortunately, sometimes spending is inevitable and for that reason, we were all happy to find out such a place as the black market existed.
My friend Lauren and I went on Saturday. No, it's not a back alley where shifty-eyed vendors covertly pull their jackets to the side to show you the goods. Nor does it feel remotely illegal. It's in this "shopping center" - called el Centro Comercial Montufar and it's 4-stories of small shops with normal-looking, friendly(-ish) vendors. The catch is that nearly all the merchandise is stolen. You can tell by the some of the worn edges of cell phones, the fact that nothing comes in a box, or like in Lauren's case, when iPods still have music on them from the previous owner. The suggested prices by the vendors were nearly always market value in the US, but of course, that's considerably cheaper than anything you'll find here for new. So Lauren bought a camera and an iPod - we negotiated each of those down $10 and she was happy with her purchases. I asked around...there were iTouches for $150, and cheapo phones like we bought here for $30 (we payed $60). It was a great place to find! I think I may go back because I need a new memory card and will surely pay less there. And that might actually be new...
This is what it looked like inside.
On a funny side note, we only roughly knew where this place was. We were at the right bus stop, right in the middle of the historical center of town, but decided to ask around. Of course my friend Lauren goes straight to a cashier and says, "Donde está el mercado negro?" to which the lady just laughed, shook her head, and walked away. I laughed soooo hard. I'd imagine you don't go to New York City either, clearly a tourist and ask a stranger, "Excuse, but where is the black market?!" With a little more tact, I asked some men in the bakery where we were snacking if they knew where we could buy electronics, like a camera? One man caught our drift and nicely walked us there, warning us that there are lots of thieves around so to be careful. So side note - be subtle when looking to buy illegal things.
After our adventure at the black market, we joined our friends at the giant beautiful basilica a few blocks away.
Me & the front door
The inside was very impressive. We got to climb to the top, up several scary ladders, but the view was so worth it.
View from one tower of the other two
Stephen, Brein, me and Lauren
After, we had dinner in a small restaurante right outside the basilica and then returned to Lauren's house to watch a movie. We flipped channels on Directv for a while, and settled on Taken, which was terrifying!! Not the type of movie to watch while living in a foreign country, not to mention being a 20-year-old girl! Regardless, we had a fun night.
On Sunday, I met up with Lauren, Molly, and Joe and we went to Mitad del Mundo (literally: middle of the world) - in other words, we visited the Equator. It took about 2 hours of transit time for me... 3 different city buses then the 22 km bus ride to Mitad, north of Quito. We did the typical tourist thing and took pictures on the line...
Lauren and I
Molly, Joe, me, and Lauren (picture taken by some people from Alabama... also fun and unusual to meet Southern tourists...)
So that took all of 10 minutes. The fun was kind of lost too, knowing the ACTUAL line is about 240 meters north (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitad_del_Mundo) No worries though. We got lunch then wandered around, buying souvenirs at the shops and listening to the live music. Finally we found a playground and decided we were 12-years-old again, and played on everything. It was decidedly the most ghetto playground we'd ever encountered - the swings were made of old tires, the teeter-totter didn't have anything to hang on to, and half the games were not even recognizable. Oh well, fun times.
This is just me looking cute.
After this fun, we went back home... another 2 hours of crowded buses, getting uncomfortably close to sundown (when we're not really supposed to be out) but I made it home just fine. On our second bus, a guy our age whispered to us in English to be careful because the guy next to him wearing gloves was a thief. Nice warning - no one lost anything that day :)
Unfortunately, by the time I got home I was freezing and felt like another cold hit me. Since then I've been coughing and plagued with a sore throat, so that's no fun. Seems I'm always sick here, one way or another! Anyway, this week has been easy enough so far. Tomorrow night we are going out on a chiva for Julie's birthday (a party bus! with room for 30 so hopefully all of our friends come out!) No real plans for the weekend yet either, but we're not going too far away if we do figure something out.
So that's all the news for me! Hope you guys like the pictures on this one! I think I'm going to go back and add some to my previous entries too. Later though, now it's time for bed.
Good night!
PS. Ohhhh right. I can see who reads this blog by country and I just want to know... my reader in Russia... who are you???? Please comment or something I am so curious :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Atacames.
Here I am again, exhausted lying in my bed, ready to update the world on my amazing weekend. Thursday night, 16 of us got onto a bus at 11:15pm, headed towards Atacames, a beachside town on the Pacific Ocean! Night buses are not my favorite but I was ready and the night went by pretty quickly. I was freezing in Quito but as soon as we began descending the mountain, the humidity sank in and the bus became hot and muggy. We arrived in Atacames at around 5:30am and a handful of taxi-motos were waiting for us at the station (and by station I mean street corner.) Taxi-motos are motorcycles with benches attached on the back and they are ubiquitous in that town. With 16 half-asleep gringoes, they drove us to our hostel, which thankfully let us to our rooms and we got to actually sleep for a few hours.
At around 9:30, everyone started stirring. We walked to the beautiful beach and took a few quick pictures. These were my first steps in the Pacific Ocean!
Some of us went to breakfast - a little cute place where they served a "desayuno americano" (American breakfast) for $2.00 - eggs, bread, jam, fruit juice and coffee. Delicious. Of course, then we headed out to the beach to settle for the day. It was a bit cloudy but we immediately ran into the water and luckily, the water was actually fairly warm. I spent several hours jumping waves with some people, while some others only lied on the beach, reading or tanning. The sun came out eventually and it was HOT. Not much to say about this - we hung out all afternoon, mostly in the water or making sandcastles. When the sun was setting, I went walking along the beach with my boys - Joe, Stephen B, and Stephen H and walked all the way to the deserted end of the beach. It was beautiful except there was a lot of trash on that end, floating around in the water. We ran into a group of younger kids poking a giant beached fish - it was CRAZY-looking - white with some sort of a blue beak thing. So weird. Anyway, when we get back, I found out that 4 of my friends were walking, all girls, with one of them in the middle holding her camera. Apparently some guy had been walking along with them for a while, just behind them, when suddenly he runs up behind her, holds her back as he grabs her camera and starts running away. Of course all the girls freaked out, and the police immediately came and tried to find him. Unfortunately they couldn't and the cops started hitting on the girls instead. Welcome to Ecuador - this is so typical you can't even understand. What sucks is that Juliana had had her camera stolen at the fútbol game and her parents has just spent a ton sending her a new one. She'd received it in the meal 4 days earlier :/ Anyway, there was nothing to be done.
Unfortunately around this time I started feeling really sick. We went to dinner and after eating my meal I had to have someone walk me home because I felt so horrible :( I spent the rest of my night in bed, running to the bathroom. Luckily another friend didn't feel like going out, so she kept me company and we talked a lot. Finally started feeling a little better by the time I went to bed.
I felt a lot better in the morning and we went back out to the beach, a little later this time. This day happened pretty much the same way. We had pizza (which I had the night before) and yet again it was some of the best pizza I've had in Ecuador. The waves were a lot crazier on Saturday... as in, much more fun.
Throughout the weekend, there were always people walking the beaches, selling things - for example, there were always kids selling sliced mangoes for a dollar, which is officially my favorite treat in the world. There were also woman walking around offering to braid hair or put in string extensions. I forgot to mention that everyone did this on Friday, except me and a few others. There are also men walking around, trying to get people to take boat tours or go out on the tubes on the ocean, etc. So on Saturday, a friend of mine set up a half our boat tour for us (for $3 each!), to take a tour of the rocks in the distance, where there are cool formations, caves, and blue-footed boobys (the birds!) It was pretty awesome... the driver thought it was hilarious to make the boat rock nearly completely sideways so I was sitting there absolutely freaking out. But anyway, we did a tour, then they stopped the boat in the middle of the ocean and we jumped out and swam for a bit. It was really cool!
After this, we took a bunch of pictures as the sun was setting. Here are a few that are already on facebook;
After this, we returned to shower and get ready, then set out to find food again. We ended up eating at this large outdoor communal market food area, where grills were set up all along the side and merchants selling their street food. Everything was great and cheap.
We hung out at the hostel for a bit after that, then headed out to the beach again to explore the nightlife. Atacames is full of tiki-hut style bars, all open-air and all blasting music 10 feet from each other. There were SO many people out! We headed to a place to dance but no one really felt like dancing, so we ended up just sitting on the beach hanging out. A few of my friends who'd be drinking all night kind of felt asleep so of course we started covering them in sand. I didn't drink anything because I had been so sick, so I was just hanging out there when this young cute kid comes up and says something. I felt like being silly so I invited him and all of his friends over. He does and I find out he's 13 (if he's not lying, which he may have been) and I laugh and laugh because that kid had GUTS - he asked me to go dance and told me I was the prettiest girl among all my friends (to which I thought, haaa I need to keep this kid around!) We talked for a while, then a few of my new guy friends came to sit down with us and started egging this kid on. Finally, he asked if I could have one of my bracelets that I bought in Otavalo to remember me by. It was so cute; I had to say yes. Then my guy friends were like, "Ohhh ella quiere besarte!" to the kid, meaning "ohhh she wants to kiss you!". Of course, I was like NO but after being told repeatedly how it will absolutely make that kid's life, I let him kiss me on the cheek. He looked so smug; it was the cutest thing ever.... so now I have a 13-year old novio in Atacames, who has a bracelet and a kiss to prove it.
Lots of other cute and cool stuff happened. Stephen B. made a friend - this adorable puppy came over and they just sat together forever. Unfortunately he went to grab a stick to play fetch with the dog and he got scared and ran off! We were told at orientation that to pick anything up and pretend to throw it is a great way to fend off errant dogs, because so many of them have been abused. Also, at any given moment, if you looked out to the sea, you saw about 6 men at a time, standing the surf, peeing. It's legal to pee outside :) and hilarious. Also, a friend of mine and I were sitting and talking (I think any witnesses would have called this flirting) for a while, and ending up covering each other in sand and throwing it at each other the entire night :) He was really cute so this was a rather enjoyable part of my night...
I went to bed at around 2 but didn't sleep until maybe 6 which sucks and explains why I can't keep my eyes open. Besides, our hostel was so close to the beach, you could hear all the music blasting the entire night, and then early in the morning as well. Where we stayed was cheap and clean though, so I couldn't really complain. No hot water, but it was so hot and sticky that this didn't matter at all either.
We had about 2 hours left on the beach in the morning, I was the only one who went in the water, and everyone else just lied there on the sand. Finally, we got our stuff together, checked out ($7 night! booyaa), had lunch, I bought a few things from the market and then we took the taxi-motos to the station and we were on our way. It took closer to 7 hours. We watched two movies, one about a killer crocodile in Australia and was Blue Streak with Martin Lawrence. The movies were dubbed in Spanish but I could understand most of both of them :) After that, they turned off the TVs and started playing this god-awful Spanish music that is pretty common here. It was basically 5 hours of the same melody and bassline... my own personal hell. Finally got back to Quito at around 9, talked with my host family and got back on the computer!
I'm not sunburned too badly; just a little bit on my back. I'm so tired from not sleeping too much last night and unfortunately have class again tomorrow. Am happy though because on Thursday I bought myself a cheap little guitar which I'll be playing tomorrow! I love it! I've also been teaching myself German to keep busy as having a project keeps me from feeling homesick.
Anyway, that's what's new with me! I can't wait to go to the beach again... spring break!! So in exactly a month. Also, did you know I have less than a month and a half until I come home? It's going to be so bittersweet.....
Buenas! Cyn
At around 9:30, everyone started stirring. We walked to the beautiful beach and took a few quick pictures. These were my first steps in the Pacific Ocean!
Some of us went to breakfast - a little cute place where they served a "desayuno americano" (American breakfast) for $2.00 - eggs, bread, jam, fruit juice and coffee. Delicious. Of course, then we headed out to the beach to settle for the day. It was a bit cloudy but we immediately ran into the water and luckily, the water was actually fairly warm. I spent several hours jumping waves with some people, while some others only lied on the beach, reading or tanning. The sun came out eventually and it was HOT. Not much to say about this - we hung out all afternoon, mostly in the water or making sandcastles. When the sun was setting, I went walking along the beach with my boys - Joe, Stephen B, and Stephen H and walked all the way to the deserted end of the beach. It was beautiful except there was a lot of trash on that end, floating around in the water. We ran into a group of younger kids poking a giant beached fish - it was CRAZY-looking - white with some sort of a blue beak thing. So weird. Anyway, when we get back, I found out that 4 of my friends were walking, all girls, with one of them in the middle holding her camera. Apparently some guy had been walking along with them for a while, just behind them, when suddenly he runs up behind her, holds her back as he grabs her camera and starts running away. Of course all the girls freaked out, and the police immediately came and tried to find him. Unfortunately they couldn't and the cops started hitting on the girls instead. Welcome to Ecuador - this is so typical you can't even understand. What sucks is that Juliana had had her camera stolen at the fútbol game and her parents has just spent a ton sending her a new one. She'd received it in the meal 4 days earlier :/ Anyway, there was nothing to be done.
Unfortunately around this time I started feeling really sick. We went to dinner and after eating my meal I had to have someone walk me home because I felt so horrible :( I spent the rest of my night in bed, running to the bathroom. Luckily another friend didn't feel like going out, so she kept me company and we talked a lot. Finally started feeling a little better by the time I went to bed.
I felt a lot better in the morning and we went back out to the beach, a little later this time. This day happened pretty much the same way. We had pizza (which I had the night before) and yet again it was some of the best pizza I've had in Ecuador. The waves were a lot crazier on Saturday... as in, much more fun.
Throughout the weekend, there were always people walking the beaches, selling things - for example, there were always kids selling sliced mangoes for a dollar, which is officially my favorite treat in the world. There were also woman walking around offering to braid hair or put in string extensions. I forgot to mention that everyone did this on Friday, except me and a few others. There are also men walking around, trying to get people to take boat tours or go out on the tubes on the ocean, etc. So on Saturday, a friend of mine set up a half our boat tour for us (for $3 each!), to take a tour of the rocks in the distance, where there are cool formations, caves, and blue-footed boobys (the birds!) It was pretty awesome... the driver thought it was hilarious to make the boat rock nearly completely sideways so I was sitting there absolutely freaking out. But anyway, we did a tour, then they stopped the boat in the middle of the ocean and we jumped out and swam for a bit. It was really cool!
After this, we took a bunch of pictures as the sun was setting. Here are a few that are already on facebook;
We hung out at the hostel for a bit after that, then headed out to the beach again to explore the nightlife. Atacames is full of tiki-hut style bars, all open-air and all blasting music 10 feet from each other. There were SO many people out! We headed to a place to dance but no one really felt like dancing, so we ended up just sitting on the beach hanging out. A few of my friends who'd be drinking all night kind of felt asleep so of course we started covering them in sand. I didn't drink anything because I had been so sick, so I was just hanging out there when this young cute kid comes up and says something. I felt like being silly so I invited him and all of his friends over. He does and I find out he's 13 (if he's not lying, which he may have been) and I laugh and laugh because that kid had GUTS - he asked me to go dance and told me I was the prettiest girl among all my friends (to which I thought, haaa I need to keep this kid around!) We talked for a while, then a few of my new guy friends came to sit down with us and started egging this kid on. Finally, he asked if I could have one of my bracelets that I bought in Otavalo to remember me by. It was so cute; I had to say yes. Then my guy friends were like, "Ohhh ella quiere besarte!" to the kid, meaning "ohhh she wants to kiss you!". Of course, I was like NO but after being told repeatedly how it will absolutely make that kid's life, I let him kiss me on the cheek. He looked so smug; it was the cutest thing ever.... so now I have a 13-year old novio in Atacames, who has a bracelet and a kiss to prove it.
Lots of other cute and cool stuff happened. Stephen B. made a friend - this adorable puppy came over and they just sat together forever. Unfortunately he went to grab a stick to play fetch with the dog and he got scared and ran off! We were told at orientation that to pick anything up and pretend to throw it is a great way to fend off errant dogs, because so many of them have been abused. Also, at any given moment, if you looked out to the sea, you saw about 6 men at a time, standing the surf, peeing. It's legal to pee outside :) and hilarious. Also, a friend of mine and I were sitting and talking (I think any witnesses would have called this flirting) for a while, and ending up covering each other in sand and throwing it at each other the entire night :) He was really cute so this was a rather enjoyable part of my night...
I went to bed at around 2 but didn't sleep until maybe 6 which sucks and explains why I can't keep my eyes open. Besides, our hostel was so close to the beach, you could hear all the music blasting the entire night, and then early in the morning as well. Where we stayed was cheap and clean though, so I couldn't really complain. No hot water, but it was so hot and sticky that this didn't matter at all either.
We had about 2 hours left on the beach in the morning, I was the only one who went in the water, and everyone else just lied there on the sand. Finally, we got our stuff together, checked out ($7 night! booyaa), had lunch, I bought a few things from the market and then we took the taxi-motos to the station and we were on our way. It took closer to 7 hours. We watched two movies, one about a killer crocodile in Australia and was Blue Streak with Martin Lawrence. The movies were dubbed in Spanish but I could understand most of both of them :) After that, they turned off the TVs and started playing this god-awful Spanish music that is pretty common here. It was basically 5 hours of the same melody and bassline... my own personal hell. Finally got back to Quito at around 9, talked with my host family and got back on the computer!
I'm not sunburned too badly; just a little bit on my back. I'm so tired from not sleeping too much last night and unfortunately have class again tomorrow. Am happy though because on Thursday I bought myself a cheap little guitar which I'll be playing tomorrow! I love it! I've also been teaching myself German to keep busy as having a project keeps me from feeling homesick.
Anyway, that's what's new with me! I can't wait to go to the beach again... spring break!! So in exactly a month. Also, did you know I have less than a month and a half until I come home? It's going to be so bittersweet.....
Buenas! Cyn
Friday, March 18, 2011
St. Patrick's Day & a lovely week in Quito
I've had a wonderful week here in the city. It started off more or less normally, then on Wednesday we had a teacher workday, so NO CLASS :) I went to Julie's apartment for the day - we walked down to Mega Maxi (the Ecuadorian version of Wal-Mart), bought some Kraft macaroni and cheese, fresh bread, and ice cream. I've been craving mac-n-cheese and also the fact of making my own food so I was pretty excited! We indulged while watching Glee and after, Moulin Rouge. Julie and I have been hanging out a lot lately - she goes to UNC and we are so similar, in tastes and humor and nostalgia about home... so I had a great time. I was invited by my boy to hang out at his house and watch movies - tempting offer but I told him maybe tomorrow. I was also invited by my friends Lauren and Brein to take some salsa classes but I had an essay to write and exam to study for so I headed home for the night.
On Thursday, after a ridiculous partner exam in my conversation class and a typical boring Ecuadorian culture class, I had lunch with everybody and then headed with my friend Juliana to the market in downtown Quito (she needed to buy some ecua-pants - those awesome fast-drying cotton pants I wore when I went to the rainforest - she's going this weekend). In Cumbaya, the valley where our school is, it was SUNNY and warm and beautiful. Back up in Quito, as if on cue, at 3:30pm it started pouring down rain so we hopped puddles on the way to the market. On our way back, I called everyone back on campus and heard they were all chilling in the same restaurant where we ate for lunch, having a beer for St. Patrick's day. Although it would take me another 50 minutes on the bus, I decided to go back an join them. Had a great time - met a few new awesome Ecuadorian friends and felt pretty cool indeed, drinking beer at 5:00pm - still daylight! - on St. Patty's day!
We hung out for a bit then decided to head back up to Quito. I followed Lauren to her house, where I left my stuff, fixed my makeup, then met up with Joe and Julie at an Indian restaurant for dinner. The Indian place was cute, but packed with people watching the Liga game - Quito's team was playing a huge rival. Futbol here is so exciting! Anyway, we won 5-0 so the restaurant was abuzz with energy and excitement. Afterwards, we headed to Mulligan's, one of two Irish-themed pubs I know of here. We bought a ridiculously overpriced green beer and listened to the live music, while Lauren tried to hunt down a green balloon-shaped hat for herself that everyone else seemed to be wearing. From this point on, we bar-hopped a little and went to the Boot and then Chupito's, which only plays Ecuadorian music so we decided to settle on Bungalow, which plays American music, reggaeton, and salsa, and was giving out green Jell-O shots! Ran into Powers and her friends, and also my friend Amanda and her crew, who actually went to the Liga game. It was great, hanging out in this dance club and knowing half the people on the dance floor! Danced with my boy for a bit, then had to run make sure one of my friends was feeling okay after drinking a littlee bit too much. As we were sitting, getting ready to go, this Ecuadorian guy sits down, introduces himself as Christian we start talking. He speaks a bit of French and is a biologist - really interesting guy! He was actually genuinely nice and not creepy - he told me where I could buy a good guitar in Quito and then we talked about oil companies invasion of the rain forest and politics. Found out he was actually 28 - which would be creepy but he admitted that he thought we looked around 25. It was getting late so we said goodbye and headed home.
We grabbed a cab (Julie and I) and agreed on a price - $5 for the both of us. She gets dropped off first and then when we stop at my house, the cab driver asks for $3 more, because apparently the $5 was only up to her place. I got angry and firmly was like - no! we agreed on that price! But he was adamant, so pissed off I paid him and slammed the door. It's the second time this week that happens! Seems like every week brings different taxi drama.
Today, I stumbled out of bed and made it on time to my 11am weaving class. It was nice, though, I was tired because I have a friend in the class from Ecuador and we always speak Spanish together. She's so nice and funny and it's always a great to start the day. My second class was canceled! I curled up and read for a little bit on a couch in a lobby and waited about an hour for Julie to get out of class. We had lunch together and then (listen to how amazingly nerdy we both are...) went to the library for like a half an hour just ogling the books and pouring over our favorites. I checked out a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover and we went to the amazing frozen yogurt place across the street that we just discovered and talked for another couple of hours. Such a nice afternoon!
Finally, we went home and I settled in with my book for a bit. Tonight, after dinner I went with my host mom to pick up my host sis and enjoyed the ride around the city and talking about everything. It's raining still, which is beautiful because I'm currently back in my bed. I don't think I could handle this climate all the time... I like my rain very periodic, like in the South ;) Also happy to stay in tonight because my digestive system is being mean to me again so I'm feeling the whole under-the-covers, night-in thing because my stomach hurts and that's no fun. My host mom brought over a copy of The Tourist so I'll be watching that tonight too.
I tried to write this entry in a way that really captures what my daily life is like, with all of its little perks and downfalls. I'm realizing this week what awesome friends (and more than friends?) I've made here and how it's helped me so much at having the great time I'm having. I love that I have enough spare time to do things I really enjoy, like reading, but also that I'm really going out and making the most of nights on the town. And I'm trying not to worry too much about taxi drivers or my aching stomach or the rain because these are all pretty normal at this point. Anyway, this weekend we might be exploring the town again - looking for this bookstore the nice couple in Cuenca recommended and doing more touristy things. And finishing my books, of course :)
That's it for me. Have a nice weekend everybody!
Cynnnnnn
On Thursday, after a ridiculous partner exam in my conversation class and a typical boring Ecuadorian culture class, I had lunch with everybody and then headed with my friend Juliana to the market in downtown Quito (she needed to buy some ecua-pants - those awesome fast-drying cotton pants I wore when I went to the rainforest - she's going this weekend). In Cumbaya, the valley where our school is, it was SUNNY and warm and beautiful. Back up in Quito, as if on cue, at 3:30pm it started pouring down rain so we hopped puddles on the way to the market. On our way back, I called everyone back on campus and heard they were all chilling in the same restaurant where we ate for lunch, having a beer for St. Patrick's day. Although it would take me another 50 minutes on the bus, I decided to go back an join them. Had a great time - met a few new awesome Ecuadorian friends and felt pretty cool indeed, drinking beer at 5:00pm - still daylight! - on St. Patty's day!
We hung out for a bit then decided to head back up to Quito. I followed Lauren to her house, where I left my stuff, fixed my makeup, then met up with Joe and Julie at an Indian restaurant for dinner. The Indian place was cute, but packed with people watching the Liga game - Quito's team was playing a huge rival. Futbol here is so exciting! Anyway, we won 5-0 so the restaurant was abuzz with energy and excitement. Afterwards, we headed to Mulligan's, one of two Irish-themed pubs I know of here. We bought a ridiculously overpriced green beer and listened to the live music, while Lauren tried to hunt down a green balloon-shaped hat for herself that everyone else seemed to be wearing. From this point on, we bar-hopped a little and went to the Boot and then Chupito's, which only plays Ecuadorian music so we decided to settle on Bungalow, which plays American music, reggaeton, and salsa, and was giving out green Jell-O shots! Ran into Powers and her friends, and also my friend Amanda and her crew, who actually went to the Liga game. It was great, hanging out in this dance club and knowing half the people on the dance floor! Danced with my boy for a bit, then had to run make sure one of my friends was feeling okay after drinking a littlee bit too much. As we were sitting, getting ready to go, this Ecuadorian guy sits down, introduces himself as Christian we start talking. He speaks a bit of French and is a biologist - really interesting guy! He was actually genuinely nice and not creepy - he told me where I could buy a good guitar in Quito and then we talked about oil companies invasion of the rain forest and politics. Found out he was actually 28 - which would be creepy but he admitted that he thought we looked around 25. It was getting late so we said goodbye and headed home.
We grabbed a cab (Julie and I) and agreed on a price - $5 for the both of us. She gets dropped off first and then when we stop at my house, the cab driver asks for $3 more, because apparently the $5 was only up to her place. I got angry and firmly was like - no! we agreed on that price! But he was adamant, so pissed off I paid him and slammed the door. It's the second time this week that happens! Seems like every week brings different taxi drama.
Today, I stumbled out of bed and made it on time to my 11am weaving class. It was nice, though, I was tired because I have a friend in the class from Ecuador and we always speak Spanish together. She's so nice and funny and it's always a great to start the day. My second class was canceled! I curled up and read for a little bit on a couch in a lobby and waited about an hour for Julie to get out of class. We had lunch together and then (listen to how amazingly nerdy we both are...) went to the library for like a half an hour just ogling the books and pouring over our favorites. I checked out a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover and we went to the amazing frozen yogurt place across the street that we just discovered and talked for another couple of hours. Such a nice afternoon!
Finally, we went home and I settled in with my book for a bit. Tonight, after dinner I went with my host mom to pick up my host sis and enjoyed the ride around the city and talking about everything. It's raining still, which is beautiful because I'm currently back in my bed. I don't think I could handle this climate all the time... I like my rain very periodic, like in the South ;) Also happy to stay in tonight because my digestive system is being mean to me again so I'm feeling the whole under-the-covers, night-in thing because my stomach hurts and that's no fun. My host mom brought over a copy of The Tourist so I'll be watching that tonight too.
I tried to write this entry in a way that really captures what my daily life is like, with all of its little perks and downfalls. I'm realizing this week what awesome friends (and more than friends?) I've made here and how it's helped me so much at having the great time I'm having. I love that I have enough spare time to do things I really enjoy, like reading, but also that I'm really going out and making the most of nights on the town. And I'm trying not to worry too much about taxi drivers or my aching stomach or the rain because these are all pretty normal at this point. Anyway, this weekend we might be exploring the town again - looking for this bookstore the nice couple in Cuenca recommended and doing more touristy things. And finishing my books, of course :)
That's it for me. Have a nice weekend everybody!
Cynnnnnn
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Big list of little things.
In the two months I've lived in Ecuador, I've noticed plenty of little peculiarities that this country holds that I'll want to remember someday, or that you all might find interesting. It's usually never enough to make a whole blog about, so I'm going to make a list and add to it as I think of more.
Cyn
- Change shortage - They warned us about Ecuador not having change but this is interesting when put into practice. First of all - I never use my debit card here which is weird in itself. But $20 are sometimes not even accepted so you have to get in the practice of breaking big bills when you can, usually with the cashier making a face or groaning at you. We use American currency here, but they've added gold dollars and large 50 cent pieces. It's like a private joke between exchange students about how excited we get when we get all of our change in coins, sometimes $10 worth. Makes everything so much easier.
- Lack of animal control - There are homeless dogs everywherrrre. They roam the streets, ribs visible and usually just having had puppies. It's so sad, and watching them avoid the crazy cars here is especially harrowing. I've not really encountered a dog that was particularly violent yet, they mostly just walk by. Especially sad is if you need one to get away from you, you can raise your arm like you're going to throw something and they'll back right off, proof they've all been abused as well. :/
- Buses - Buses here are an experience in themselves. You ride them to get everywhere. Some are owned by the government, others just by some people trying to make a living. These last ones may be adorned with religious figures and posters, or just about anything else. Every bus costs a quarter and bus stops exist but you can get on and off anywhere, if the driver feels like stopping. For girls they mostly stop completely but sometimes you have to jump on or off of it while it's moving. Tripping or being thrown across the bus is extremely normal and there's no point being embarrassed. On government-run buses like the Ecovia or Trole at rush hour - seriously I can't tell you how crowded these buses get. It's more crowded than being crushed again the front row of a concert, against the gate. You have a human touching every side of your body - your legs could give out and you go nowhere. Of course, this is why it can be so dangerous - very easy for people to slash your bag if you can't move.
- Crime - You can't really avoid it here. The idea of getting robbed scared the crap out of me when I came here - it's not like I'm not a little freaked out by now still but a little time here helped. People in the US commit violent crimes - in a bad neighborhood at night, you're afraid for your life and less for your iPod. Here, people are just poor and that's what motivates their larcenous behavior. I never take my iPod out of my house or carry more than $30 with me (unless I'm traveling). I only take out my debit card if I need to get money from the ATM. In general, they tell you to not wear too much expensive jewelry or take out your electronics because it makes you an easy target. Since I've been here, I've known a handful of people whose purses have been slashed in buses (while holding them or while on long trips with the bag on the ground), scammed in the historic area, pickpocketed in crowds (such as the fútbol game the other day) or actually been cornered at night and robbed. Unfortunately, escopolamina (commonly known in the US as a date rape drug) is also sometimes used to rob people - in powder form, it can be absorbed through the skin and the effects are the same. I've heard of people accepting flyers from strangers, then drugged, willingly went with the robbers to his house and helped them remove all the valuables from it. Scary stuff! Apart from that last one, it's fairly easy to avoid sad losses - don't carry expensive stuff or appear rich. But also don't be surprised because the people here do it for a living and they know what they are doing.
- Machista culture - As a young, foreign woman in this country, it's completely normal to expect men to whistle, make comments, or holler at you while out in public. Younger guys of university age are usually more respectful but older men, not so much. This one guy leaned out of his truck window to holler at me while I was waiting at the bus stop. Hair and skin color makes a giant difference - if you are blonde, pale, and skinny you get it the worst (my poor friend Julie is an example of this). I've actually noticed more comments as my dark hair dye has slowly faded out (and also on days I wear more shapely clothing). Just in general though, it's interesting being in a society where my appearance is the minority - definitely an experience.
- Almuerzos - I love little almuerzo places! Almuerzo means lunch, and if you go to a cute little lunch place, you sit down and the meal is ready and brought to you - soup, main dish, fresh juice, and sometimes dessert. It's never more than $2.50, but sometimes only $1.50. It's always typical Ecuadorian food, and hot, and delicious.
- Taxis - Another thing I was terrified of before I got here. I had never ridden one in the states so I can't very well compare them. I do know they are fairly cheap and that you can haggle like crazy. To go to the bar/dancing part of town at around 7 or 8pm, I can haggle to around $3 to get there; later at night to come home, it's around $4-5. The other night, we went from one end of the city to the other, something that could cost an upwards or $10-12 if you don't know to haggle, and we got it for $5. Being better at Spanish now helps a lot. Taxi drivers will sometimes talk and sometimes not - I always try to talk because it's great practice. Of course, this week was terrible because both cabs I've taken have ended with the cab drivers trying to get with me or at least get my number, and once even being a little afraid he wouldn't actually bring me home. I was ready to jump out - kind of scary. But it was fine and it makes me wonder if in the future I should just shut up ;)
- Hot water - Everyone has a different experience with bathing here - most people complain about how sporadic the hot water can be. We definitely have it but depending what anyone is doing the hot water may disappear, or the pressure. Or become scalding. Makes showering an experience, for sure.
- Toilet paper - Small detail: can't flush it. Just kind of a curious thing - apparently because the water pressure is too low for the plumbing to really work correctly if you flush things. Pretty easy to get used to for me but I had some friends who were horrified by the concept...
- Getting sick - I won't go in too much detail for this except by saying that it's the most normal thing in the world here to have digestive issues if you're a traveler and to have conversations about it, without being too embarrassed. It's usually impossible trying to figure out what made you sick in the first place, though you can usually guess it's water/juice/fresh veggies, but apparently stress can play into as well. Luckily, Cipro (the medication they prescribed before I came here) is a serious miracle worker. The first time I was really sick, I pretty much spent my night in the bathroom, stubbornly refusing to take it. Next time, the issue was resolved in an afternoon and I couldn't believe I could have prevented hourrrs of misery.
- Living with a maid - Very cool at first, but I have to say, after 2 months I'm done with it. Ours is very sweet so it's not about that - it's just awkward as hell and I prefer doing everything myself. She cleans everything, does dishes, laundry, cooks 2 meals a day (soups made from scratch, freshly-squeezed fruit juice), takes care of the pets, WILL COME IF SUMMONED BY HER BELL (for breakfast in bed for my host family, for example), how ridiculous is that!?!?! She makes my bed and if my stuff is too messy she organizes it. It's too much - you think it'd be nice to be waited upon like this, but it makes for a weird kind of tension. And I like making my own food, eating when I want, cleaning my clothes when they are dirty, keeping my room how I want it, etc. But I am living here and I'm very grateful so for while I am here, it's fine. Maids here are fairly cheap and I think the culture reflects the need to have one - not like the rich people are lazy - but.... kinda yea, that's exactly it. On weekends, when ours doesn't come, we eat takeout.
Cyn
Cultural Adaptation.
I'm writing today because I remembered this chart they showed us at the study abroad meeting. Let's see how I compare:
1.) Predeparture ups and downs - To be honest, I had no giant illusions about the semester. I knew it would be very difficult so my excitement was always tempered by my nervousness about living in a 3rd world country in a language I sort of speak.
2.) Honeymoon phase - Pretty sure I skipped this and went straight into Culture Shock and Acute Homesickness.
3.) Culture Shock and Acute Homesickness - The first week was rough. I definitely wasn't the only one who thought this - before I got into the swing of school and taking buses, I questioned why I was even here! Didn't seem worth it but I also knew going home wasn't an option. Lots of things made me cry. Not a fun time but inevitable.
4.) Adaptation - Wheeeeeee! That's where I am now. Am used to everything - living with another family, getting around the city, balancing work with fun - it's like I've always been here. Except that there's a lot I miss, and I realized that this week marks the halfway point for me! Which also means I'm feeling these Pre-return Ups and Downs coming. I'm already missing a lot of things, excited to come back but knowing it's going to be weird leaving this place I'm coming to love.
Will update about the remaining steps later :)
So that was my cute entry about Cultural Adaptation. Have done nothing of interest this weekend - just relaxing and going out, and today I need to do some homework. Big surprise - don't feel like it at all :) I also have a blog I wrote a few days ago that I'm going to publish because I can't think of anything to add to it.
Chau amigos!
Cynthia
1.) Predeparture ups and downs - To be honest, I had no giant illusions about the semester. I knew it would be very difficult so my excitement was always tempered by my nervousness about living in a 3rd world country in a language I sort of speak.
2.) Honeymoon phase - Pretty sure I skipped this and went straight into Culture Shock and Acute Homesickness.
3.) Culture Shock and Acute Homesickness - The first week was rough. I definitely wasn't the only one who thought this - before I got into the swing of school and taking buses, I questioned why I was even here! Didn't seem worth it but I also knew going home wasn't an option. Lots of things made me cry. Not a fun time but inevitable.
4.) Adaptation - Wheeeeeee! That's where I am now. Am used to everything - living with another family, getting around the city, balancing work with fun - it's like I've always been here. Except that there's a lot I miss, and I realized that this week marks the halfway point for me! Which also means I'm feeling these Pre-return Ups and Downs coming. I'm already missing a lot of things, excited to come back but knowing it's going to be weird leaving this place I'm coming to love.
Will update about the remaining steps later :)
So that was my cute entry about Cultural Adaptation. Have done nothing of interest this weekend - just relaxing and going out, and today I need to do some homework. Big surprise - don't feel like it at all :) I also have a blog I wrote a few days ago that I'm going to publish because I can't think of anything to add to it.
Chau amigos!
Cynthia
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Cuenca.
It happens to be Wednesday afternoon, but my weekend ended this morning at 6am. Long story...where shall I begin?
Well, Carnaval was this weekend, which meant there were no classes on Monday and Tuesday. In Ecuador, Carnaval is kind of like Thanksgiving, in the sense that everyone does something or goes somewhere. Typically, people go to the beach, but many just spend the weekend with family, relaxing. Every city has a different tradition, variations of the same. In Quito, people throw water; in Ambato, they spray silly string. In Cuenca, where I ended up spending my weekend, they throw waters balloons and buckets of water from cars and windows!
We were warned to plan our trip for Carnaval early because hostels and buses fill up, but between most of us going to the rain forest last weekend and our friends not taking initiative while we were away, we settled on Cuenca and had to take a bus on Saturday night - not really ideal but fine for what it was worth. The other option was paying $20 a night at the beach, and so I definitely wasn't feeling that one.
Anyway, so 10pm Saturday night we all meet at the Panamerica Internacional bus station and settle in for the 10 hour bus ride. We were 9 of us again. I got to see Iron Man 2 in Spanish and managed to sleep a little bit in the night. We arrived at 8am and took a cab to the hostel, where we put down our stuff and then set out to explore and find some breakfast. We did a pretty quick round of the main part of the city and realized nothingggg was open because it was. a) Sunday b.) Carnaval. c.) 8:30am. Luckily there was a cute French crepe place across the street so I had some quiche and coffee and was ready to go.
We walked around some more in the afternoon, visiting churches and the market. My friend Milijana and I bought some toy water guns and as we walked, we were all on our guard because at any given moment, water balloons would fly from cars or rooftops, or kids would come running out of houses with their silly string. It was pretty sunny, which was great because we got soaked several times. It got to where the sound of a car or children laughing would send us all running!!! But it was so fun - these kids got us this one time and the sound of their laughter absolutely made my day. I would have loved to be a kid in Cuenca during Carnaval - pelting unsuspecting Gringos for 3 days straight sounds like the best time ever! :)
Anyway, we walked and walked. Sat by the river, played in the park. We came back and relaxed for a bit, then searched for somewhere to eat. Not exactly a lot to choose from, but we settled on this Mexican restaurant. We were a party of 10 by that point so they seated us in this back room with couches and a large coffee table in the middle - it felt like we should have been smoking hookah or something in there, not having dinner. It ended up being delicious - best guacamole I've had in Ecuador (which is saying a lot since I eat avocados with everything) and I annoyed everyone by playing question games, like going around the room and asking everywhere what their favorite thing in Ecuador has been so far, etc. They were picking on me but I know everyone secretly was happy at what a great group we have :) After leaving, we performed what became a ritual for the next night as well: stopping at a little store to buy some beer and we hanging out on the hostel patio until we went to bed. Because we arrived so early, all of our meals were a little off, so it was literally only 7:30pm and some of my friends were veryyy tipsy. We had a great time though, and were all in bed by 10 (:
The next morning, we got up early went to the bus terminal. After a 2-hour bus ride (can you believe I'm not sick of buses yet?!) we arrived in El Tambo, where we dodged more water balloons and hailed a truck/cab to bring us to Ingapirca, the oldest Incan ruins in Ecuador (part of the Incan trail). We spent a few hours here; the ruins were awesome and we took lots of pictures. Didn't pay for a tour guide so I know very little about the ruins, just that they are ruins and I went there. We had a $1.50 almuerzo (lunch) and took a short hike to see this rock along the mountain that looks like a face and then I called back our cab/truck driver, Ricardo, who picked us up and brought us back to town. Ricardo was so sweet - I sat up front with him and we talked the whole way about languages and his crazy experiences when he hopped the border in Texas, trying to get work in the US. It ended up being great that I befriended him because when we got back to town, we realized there were no buses going back to Cuenca. We negotiated and he drove us back for $30... such a typically Ecuadorian experience as I'm coming to realize - sitting in the back of a truck with 8 other people ("like a bunch of immigrants" as Ricardo said) for an hour and a half, trying to get back to a hostel, 10 hours from where I'm actually living in this country. We were back before we knew and found another restaurant for dinner, more beer for dessert ;) and played card games in the hostel until midnight.
Oh! When we were walking back from the trip to Ingapirca, we saw that a store 2 doors down from the hostel was actually open - it was called Carolina Bookstore and it had used books, so of course I was like, "VAMOS!" Come to find - the owners are a retired couple from Hickory, North Carolina!!! They couldn't believe 80% of our group was from NC so we spent a good hour there, talking to them, browsing books, getting recommendations for things to do/eat. What a small world!!! They were so sweet - one minute we're discussing classic literature and the next we're discussing the scores of the Duke/Carolina game. Love itttt.
Anyway - we had such high hopes for Tuesday but they mostly all fell through. We had a good breakfast at Coffee Tree then checked out of the hostel, then walked around the city pretty much all day. We wanted to go to the museum and discovered - surprise - it was closed! And so was everything else. We had a late lunch, took lots of pictures of the beautiful buildings here (which really can't be under-emphasized - this city is AMAZING - the buildings are ancient and beautiful, and with the blue sky in the background, absolutely jaw-dropping.) Of course - suddenly the sky turned grey, rain started falling, and rain turned into hail! We made it back to the hostel just in time. Though we had checked out, we were allowed to chill there for a while, so we hung out in the giant living room and met all these other people staying there - a guy from Vancouver, London, New Zealand, Louisiana, and Barcelona - all there for various reasons and all super friendly. Some of them left and we got cozy watching TV. I felt like I was back at home - we watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory and Friends as the rain poured and people in the background played cards. Typical hostel, right!?
We finally got hungry and went to the same restaurant as the night before, and hung out there until around 9. We went back to the hostel to get our bags then hailed some cabs to bring us to the bus station. The bus again left at 10pm, but we arrived in Quito at 6am, so it was shorter and gave me time to sleep a little at home and make it to class (almost) on time. I slept a lot on the bus though, so the time pretty much flew by.
Class was normal and easy, and now I'm in my bed, in pajamas, very sleepy and happy to be home. It was an awesome weekend - different again from any of the others before it and exactly what I needed - a very chill and relaxing couple of days with my good friends. We were kind of disappointed that everything was closed but we still got to enjoy the beauty of the city and some greaaat food. And it was cheap since there were no crazy stunts or activities to do ;)
So that was my weekend! This weekend I'm happy to say I'm doing NOTHING. Maybe little things around Quito, who knows. I feel like reading and watching movies so that's my plan. Hope to talk to everyone soon!
Love, Cyn
Love, Cyn
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tiputini (the Amazon)
Amazing weekend!
I realize it's Thursday - things have been pretty busy all week so I'm gonna try to update the best I can about my weekend in the Amazon rain forest!!!
I skipped classes Friday and my host mom dropped me off at the airport at around 7:10am. Immediately spotted the group I'd be going with - we were about 16 and so we went through security (which is significantly less harrowing than in the US, especially with this being a domestic flight) and waited around for about an hour, sleepy and trying to find breakfast. The flight was so short - barely 30 minutes and we landed in Coca. Here we waited for those who checked bags and then got on a little bit, which drove through town to a little riverside hostel. From here we got on a boat which had lawn chairs and sat for 2 hours. The river looked more like a lake - veryyy big but this is where we got our first glimpse of the forest. Beautiful. They passed out a good bagged lunch and we bundled up because the wind made it chilly.
After 2 hours, we got out at this little oil company place, where we had to present ID and scan our bags, and here we got on a chiva, which we rode for maybe an hour and a half. (A chiva is an open-air bus, if you don't remember.) Around this oil place we weren't allowed to even take out our cameras because apparently nearby there is one of the largest illegal animal markets around (apparently totally sad and cruel) and in the past they've had some issues with tourists taking pictures. Anyway, we got off the chiva, climbed down the side of this river and jumped on another giant boat. 2 hours later, we come into site of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. By this time, you can imagine, you're seriously in the middle of NOWHERE. There is no way to get back except by boat.
We climb up the pier and they give us a quick tour. There is large open air "comedor" which is the dining hall, then you walk through the forest using these makeshift steps, made by wood they bolt down to the ground (otherwise you'd be traipsing through mud all the time) which leads to the lab/library (the only air conditioned building) and the you continue and reach the cabins where we stayed. Instead of walls, we had screens so it really felt like we were sleeping outside. We only had electricity from 10-2 and 6-9:30. There was no hot water and we were expected to be quiet at 9:30. Also, breakfast was at 6:30am every day so you pretty much wanted to sleep that early.
The first night we just ate, got a presentation about current projects then we went to bed. They have what they call "camera trap" put up everywhere (sponsored by National Geographic) which snaps pictures when motion is detected. They've gotten thousands of pictures so far, sometimes of animals never before photographed. This way they can keep track of the wildlife, including jaguars!!!! Also giant anteaters, deer, tapirs, monkeys, etc. It's an amazing project.
Next morning, we had our delicious breakfast and split into two groups. They gave us rubber boots (heaven-sent seriously) and we set out. Oh also, we soaked ourselves in bug spray.... very important. Our group took a boat upriver, disembarked then just followed the guide as he searched for things to show us. If I can for a second reiterate - WE WERE IN THE RAIN FOREST. That fact alone made the walk just incredible. Of course it was hot and humid, and there were so many species of plants and bugs I'd never seen. And birds. And MONKEYS! We were always running around trying to spot monkeys in the canopy - ended up spotting 5 of the 10 kinds that live there.
You'd think the rain forest would be super dangerous but as far as I can tell, the worst is these giant black ants that are pretty common - they bite you and apparently you experience the worst pain for nearly 15 hours. If more than one bites you, you get a fever and shivers, and more than that you could just die. They were pretty easy to avoid though. There are jaguars, anacondas, crocodiles, manta rays, and tarantulas but of these I only saw one tarantula (story later). Sort of disappointing.
In the afternoon, we climbed a giant tower and stood basically above the canopy. We saw lots of birds (like macaws!) and saw some monkeys pretty close up. What a view though - it was so high up and a seriously incredible feeling to see everything from such a private view. You also truly realize how you are in the middle of NOWHERE.
On Sunday, we climbed up another tower, but this time we had to harness ourselves in and we got to walk on these bridges from platform to platform. This was the same kind of canopy-excitement effect, which lottts of ants. From here you actually got to climb up a ladder and sit on a platform EVEN higher, which was terrifying and awesome. The harness didn't reassure me too much here.
Anyway, we came back, had another great meal and commented on how ridiculously hot it got. Of course, within 2 hours it was pourrringggg down rain and we gather for the next event completely soaked. Luckily, we were just going to go swimming in the Tiputini river, which is a tributary of the Amazon. We waited until the rain stop and jumped out. It was colddd, maybe because we were cold from the wind in the boat. The water was pretty swift so we got carried downstream for around an hour, the boat close behind. So while we were floating and making noise and generally being obnoxious, 2 of my friends start screaming because 3 feet from them was a tarantula, floating on water!!! It was squirming and kind of moving. So apparently they can swim, didn't know that.
At one point, it got dark, windy, and rainy again so we got back in and returned. I was so happy to put on real clothes and eat some more delicious food. Another quiet early night. We got up early again the next morning, had breakfast, and resumed the longggg voyage home. Seemed even longer - we left at 7:30am and I walked in my front door at 6pm. In Coca this time, we chilled for a bit at the resort, got to see peacocks, I gave food to a cute monkey and a bird, and there was a giant turtle too. Pretty exciting.
Anyway, of course I got home and passed out after doing a little work. Didn't do too much this week except go on a date last night (that was fun!) and TONIGHT was crazy too.
I went with Julie to el Centro at around 7 to support her art teacher's art exhibit. He was legit - he stayed with us and explained his art while we sipped wine. Felt so sophisticated. A little later, we argued with a cab and went to the other end of the city and get to watch LIGA play someone Independencia in fútbol. That's Quito's team and of course everyone gets crazy here. It was an exciting game - we won - but unfortunately 2 of my friends didn't enjoy it too much because were robbed! Someone stole Juliana's phone and camera from her jacket pocket (outside - which is sad because it's kind of a 'duh' thing - never put them in a jacket pocket!) But then my friend Stephen had his wallet and camera on an inside pocket of his jacket, with a zipper!! And someone jacked that as well. They were so upset but what are you gonna do!?
So that was my week - I'm exhausted. We're going to Cuenca for Carnaval, but the buses only leave on Saturday night so we'll be coming back probably Wednesday. We get Monday an Tuesday off and the bus to Cuenca lasts around 10 hours. But we're going on a night bus so I can sleep I guess. I'm pretty excited - Cuenca looks beautiful and fun. I'm happy to have Saturday off too - I just need to chill, seriously.
Anyway, I am SO tired. I love you all and miss you!
Cynthia
I realize it's Thursday - things have been pretty busy all week so I'm gonna try to update the best I can about my weekend in the Amazon rain forest!!!
I skipped classes Friday and my host mom dropped me off at the airport at around 7:10am. Immediately spotted the group I'd be going with - we were about 16 and so we went through security (which is significantly less harrowing than in the US, especially with this being a domestic flight) and waited around for about an hour, sleepy and trying to find breakfast. The flight was so short - barely 30 minutes and we landed in Coca. Here we waited for those who checked bags and then got on a little bit, which drove through town to a little riverside hostel. From here we got on a boat which had lawn chairs and sat for 2 hours. The river looked more like a lake - veryyy big but this is where we got our first glimpse of the forest. Beautiful. They passed out a good bagged lunch and we bundled up because the wind made it chilly.
After 2 hours, we got out at this little oil company place, where we had to present ID and scan our bags, and here we got on a chiva, which we rode for maybe an hour and a half. (A chiva is an open-air bus, if you don't remember.) Around this oil place we weren't allowed to even take out our cameras because apparently nearby there is one of the largest illegal animal markets around (apparently totally sad and cruel) and in the past they've had some issues with tourists taking pictures. Anyway, we got off the chiva, climbed down the side of this river and jumped on another giant boat. 2 hours later, we come into site of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. By this time, you can imagine, you're seriously in the middle of NOWHERE. There is no way to get back except by boat.
We climb up the pier and they give us a quick tour. There is large open air "comedor" which is the dining hall, then you walk through the forest using these makeshift steps, made by wood they bolt down to the ground (otherwise you'd be traipsing through mud all the time) which leads to the lab/library (the only air conditioned building) and the you continue and reach the cabins where we stayed. Instead of walls, we had screens so it really felt like we were sleeping outside. We only had electricity from 10-2 and 6-9:30. There was no hot water and we were expected to be quiet at 9:30. Also, breakfast was at 6:30am every day so you pretty much wanted to sleep that early.
The first night we just ate, got a presentation about current projects then we went to bed. They have what they call "camera trap" put up everywhere (sponsored by National Geographic) which snaps pictures when motion is detected. They've gotten thousands of pictures so far, sometimes of animals never before photographed. This way they can keep track of the wildlife, including jaguars!!!! Also giant anteaters, deer, tapirs, monkeys, etc. It's an amazing project.
Next morning, we had our delicious breakfast and split into two groups. They gave us rubber boots (heaven-sent seriously) and we set out. Oh also, we soaked ourselves in bug spray.... very important. Our group took a boat upriver, disembarked then just followed the guide as he searched for things to show us. If I can for a second reiterate - WE WERE IN THE RAIN FOREST. That fact alone made the walk just incredible. Of course it was hot and humid, and there were so many species of plants and bugs I'd never seen. And birds. And MONKEYS! We were always running around trying to spot monkeys in the canopy - ended up spotting 5 of the 10 kinds that live there.
You'd think the rain forest would be super dangerous but as far as I can tell, the worst is these giant black ants that are pretty common - they bite you and apparently you experience the worst pain for nearly 15 hours. If more than one bites you, you get a fever and shivers, and more than that you could just die. They were pretty easy to avoid though. There are jaguars, anacondas, crocodiles, manta rays, and tarantulas but of these I only saw one tarantula (story later). Sort of disappointing.
In the afternoon, we climbed a giant tower and stood basically above the canopy. We saw lots of birds (like macaws!) and saw some monkeys pretty close up. What a view though - it was so high up and a seriously incredible feeling to see everything from such a private view. You also truly realize how you are in the middle of NOWHERE.
On Sunday, we climbed up another tower, but this time we had to harness ourselves in and we got to walk on these bridges from platform to platform. This was the same kind of canopy-excitement effect, which lottts of ants. From here you actually got to climb up a ladder and sit on a platform EVEN higher, which was terrifying and awesome. The harness didn't reassure me too much here.
Anyway, we came back, had another great meal and commented on how ridiculously hot it got. Of course, within 2 hours it was pourrringggg down rain and we gather for the next event completely soaked. Luckily, we were just going to go swimming in the Tiputini river, which is a tributary of the Amazon. We waited until the rain stop and jumped out. It was colddd, maybe because we were cold from the wind in the boat. The water was pretty swift so we got carried downstream for around an hour, the boat close behind. So while we were floating and making noise and generally being obnoxious, 2 of my friends start screaming because 3 feet from them was a tarantula, floating on water!!! It was squirming and kind of moving. So apparently they can swim, didn't know that.
At one point, it got dark, windy, and rainy again so we got back in and returned. I was so happy to put on real clothes and eat some more delicious food. Another quiet early night. We got up early again the next morning, had breakfast, and resumed the longggg voyage home. Seemed even longer - we left at 7:30am and I walked in my front door at 6pm. In Coca this time, we chilled for a bit at the resort, got to see peacocks, I gave food to a cute monkey and a bird, and there was a giant turtle too. Pretty exciting.
Anyway, of course I got home and passed out after doing a little work. Didn't do too much this week except go on a date last night (that was fun!) and TONIGHT was crazy too.
I went with Julie to el Centro at around 7 to support her art teacher's art exhibit. He was legit - he stayed with us and explained his art while we sipped wine. Felt so sophisticated. A little later, we argued with a cab and went to the other end of the city and get to watch LIGA play someone Independencia in fútbol. That's Quito's team and of course everyone gets crazy here. It was an exciting game - we won - but unfortunately 2 of my friends didn't enjoy it too much because were robbed! Someone stole Juliana's phone and camera from her jacket pocket (outside - which is sad because it's kind of a 'duh' thing - never put them in a jacket pocket!) But then my friend Stephen had his wallet and camera on an inside pocket of his jacket, with a zipper!! And someone jacked that as well. They were so upset but what are you gonna do!?
So that was my week - I'm exhausted. We're going to Cuenca for Carnaval, but the buses only leave on Saturday night so we'll be coming back probably Wednesday. We get Monday an Tuesday off and the bus to Cuenca lasts around 10 hours. But we're going on a night bus so I can sleep I guess. I'm pretty excited - Cuenca looks beautiful and fun. I'm happy to have Saturday off too - I just need to chill, seriously.
Anyway, I am SO tired. I love you all and miss you!
Cynthia
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