Mindo.

It's currently 9pm and I'm about to pass out on my bed. I just had the most INCREDIBLE weekend and I want to write all about it before I forget any details!!! Because this post turned out really long, I added subheaders if you want to skip around.

I. EL VIAJE - ON THE WAY THERE

On Friday after class, I met up with some friends and we squished into a taxi and joined the others at the Ofelia bus station. We bought our $2.50 bus ticket to Mindo and a 4pm we were on our way. We were 11 of us - 4 guys and 7 girls. The trip took about 2.5 hours and went down the mountain the whole time... more harrowing drops and turns that made me close my eyes and hold my breath. I sat with my friend Tyler and we talked the whole way so time flew. Mindo is called a "cloud forest" which wikipedia defines as follows: A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. As we were descending, we really experience this - everything became cloudy and rainy the vegetation seemed to become greener and fuller. Almost like we were in the rain forest but not really.

II. THE HOSTEL

We arrived and it was nearly dark and POURING down rain. We didn't know where we had been dropped off exactly, but we soon found Marcelo, who owned the hostel we reserved, waiting for us with a giant van. All 11 of us jumped on and took the 3 minute drive to the hostel, luckily nice and dry. Hosta Rubby was very cute - it was made of creaky wood and had a really nice balcony with hammocks. Most of us stayed in the loft, where there were real beds and a few smaller mattresses on the ground and 2 hammocks hanging up. Three of the guys stayed in a room on the 2nd floor. There were 2 usable bathrooms, and Marcelo's wife Norma insured us there was hot water but it was really unreliable. If anyone else was using water there was nothing, and even the faucets wouldn't work. Not really a big concern though. Marcelo and Norma, their kids and her mother, all lived either on the first floor of the hostel or in the adjoining house. They were really friendly but always hanging around, eating or playing so it was awkward at times; I thought so at least. The others didn't seem to mind.

III. DINNER IN MINDO

So, we all claimed and a bed and lied around for a little bit, sort of planning for the night. We got a recommendation for a restaurant and headed out, with only half of us wearing raincoats. I'm so glad I invested $10 at Walmart before leaving!! The town of Mindo is really cute - it feels more like a small pueblo than a small city like Otavalo. We jumped over puddles and got lost and asked for directions from the locals and eventually found the main road and restaurant. We all looked like a bunch of silly gringos (this feeling does not go away, tell you more of why later.) I ended up eating delicious pizza with tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano, and garlic, fried plantains and a beer. Delicioso! Everyone was in a good mood, laughing and excited despite us all being soaking wet and kind of tired. When the meal was over we went over our usual torturous ordeal of figuring out the check - they never split the check and in Ecuador there is apparently a shortage of change, and so trying to pay is always hell. We also do remarkably well considering how many of us there are! I think I ended up paying $6, which is the most I've paid for a meal yet, I think.

IV. OLD OBNOXIOUS MAN

We returned to the hostel a little before 9 and everyone gravitated towards the loft, getting comfortable and with everyone getting a little something to drink. We stopped at a tienda right before coming back and got some stuff, knowing it would be much cheaper than a bar. Ally and I split this peach licor stuff... $4 total. Amazing deal. Anyway, we got comfortable and were laughing and talking and having a good time when we hear a banging coming from below us. It was 9:45pm at this point and someone points out that an older guy was apparently staying below us and told him he was going to bed soon. Sure enough at 10pm he opens up the trap door to the loft and ask, "Any of you speak English?" so of course, we all say yes and he starts telling us how we need to be more considerate of others and we are not the only ones in the hostel and how he was getting up at 4 to birdwatch. He even told us obstinately "It is nearly TEN PM" and our group of 11 college students couldn't hold back our laughter.... 10 pm on a Friday. In a hostel that he was paying $8 a night for. What the hell was he expecting?!!? Anyway, we are all reasonable people so we decided to put our rain jackets back on and find out what the nightlife was like.

V. NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN

We went out and found a little bar playing only really terrible Spanish salsa/electronica music (?!). I really like Spanish radio but this was pretty bad. We sat down right away and I'll admit, I was bored. It was too loud to talk and we were the only gringoes... feeling really obvious again. Finally some of us girls decided to dance for a lack of anything else to do, and pretty soon this cute guy I noticed earlier asked me to dance. He was really nice and cute but so much freaking shorter than me! So we started dancing and talking - his name was David and he wasn't really a good dancer and neither am I so it was just incredibly awkward and funny. We talked a little and he was like asking me things like, what do you think of American guys? ("they're kind of boring") what do you think of Latino guys? ("so far so good!") etc. Fifteen minutes of dancing and my friends were ready to try another place so I said goodbye to David (he kissed me on the cheek! cuuuute) and we left.

We ended up at another place, called the Reggae Bar (something like that) and it was this awesome open air place, with cool garden decor and reggae music and an awesome bartender who everyone befriended. Even the bathrooms had a large window around chest-height looking out into the forest! Very cool. The guys all got more drinks (at this point they were all getting pretty tipsy) and we just hung out and talked for a few hours. There was no one else at the bar but it was so chill and fun. At around 1 some of us walked back and went to bed, and the others came back a little later.

VI. ZIP LINING ADVENTURE!

Unfortunately I didn't sleep much at all that night :( Just one of those nights... nothing to be done. We got up early to get breakfast at 8. I tried to get to the bathroom to take a shower to find we had no electricity and therefore no hot water.... so I dunked my hair in the cold water and shampooed and figured that was good enough. Breakfast was eggs, coffee, bread, blackberry juice and pineapple... included in our $8 bill. Afterwards, another van was waiting and took us up a winding road up the mountain to the canopy, where zip lining awaited. We paid $13 (and apparently overpaid because it would have been $10 if we showed our CENSO) and suited up and got to do THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE. Everybody who gets a chance to zip line, DO ITTTTT. I can't even explain to you. I doubt I'll ever find it so cheap in my life... there were 13 different lines so we payed a dollar for each line. There exists no better value in life. Anyway, it was really safe. We had helmets and were strapped on, and 2 guides came with us. I can't really describe more than just saying - you were gliding at times nearly 100 feet above the canopy... everything was beautiful... it felt like flying! And at one point, they asked who was adventurous and wanted to try a different move (the mariposa or the superman - basically on your stomach or upside down.) I of course stepped up and did the superman... they moved the chain to my backside and the guide came with me and held my legs as I spread my arms wide and pretended to fly!!!! Absolutely disconcerting but the most amazing feeling in the world. Flying! As close as I'll get!

VII. BREAK: LUNCH

At this point, it started raining a bit and we were covered in mud and dirt and sweat... but no one cared. We kept climbing and gliding and some of the lines were faster and some were slower. We eventually sadly reached the last line and then it was over... back in the van, down the bumpy mountain and back to the hostel. We grabbed our raincoats and headed back into town for lunch - delicious cheap almuerzo which for all of us included chicken, rice, fries, and lentils. And Coca-Cola out of a glass bottle, obviamente. We must have been a sight again, covered in mud...

VII. TUBING DOWN A RAGING RIVER

We discussed at lunch our plans for the afternoon... we all wanted to go tubing down the river, even though it was suddenly pretty chilly and still raining pretty hard. We decided to do it anyway. Another truck came to pick us up... this time we were standing in the back in the bed, holding onto these large metal bars, stomach and shoulder height. We were all wearing our bathing suits at this point and we drove into town to get tickets first. People were eating and staring... again, probably thinking gringos estupidos! It was freezing and were were wearing nothing. We paid $6 and then jumped back on the truck. The trip to the river could have been worth the money... we were holding on for dear life over the bumps and screaming and FREEZING cold!!! With the rain and cold wind... whew. But we had no idea what we were in for.

We got dropped off and were told to wait about 5 minutes... the guy was going to come back with the guides and the tubes. As we waited, shivering in the rain, we all wondered out loud what in the world we were thinking. The river was CRAZY - white with rapids because it had been raining so much. The group before us was a bunch of 12-year-old girls so we were convinced if they could do it we should just man up, but we were all pretty terrified anyway. Finally, the guides came and we all put on jackets and helmets and sat on the tubes. The tube was comprised of one giant middle tube and 5 attached to it on the outside. They showed us how to sit and which ropes to grip. All the guides had gigantic muscles and didn't wear helmets. We were split into groups of 4, 4, and 3.

Before we knew it, we were off. THE WATER WAS FREEZING!!! And it was still raining and all of a sudden I was holding on for dear life. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life!!! And so cold, and gripping with all my might. Every single second we crashed over a new wave or a rock, slamming and getting jerked around and thrown around. The guides were incredible - they knew the river and would jump out at times (it was fairly shallow) and somehow guide this giant contraption to one side or the other. Even the guys were unabashedly impressed with how freaking manly these guides were. They did at times push the tube over the bigger rocks, trying to improve the experience but making it of course all the more terrifying. The whole time were were just yelling at each other "WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING" and "I THINK WE NEED TO REEVALUATE OUR LIFE CHOICES!!!" and the guides didn't understand much English but they did all burst out laughing when we crashed over a wave, and I, completely hysterical and exaggerated, yelled, "JESUS CHRIST!!!!" They were just enjoying the ride and I was thinking about land and how much I love freaking earth. Solid ground. Anyway, around this time, we hit a pretty bad rapid and my feet slid through the tube I nearly got swept away but luckily, our 3 guides were on me in like 0.3 seconds and I was fine. Unfortunately the same thing happened to another friend on another raft and she actually fell through... the guides on the raft behind them ended up grabbing her. Terrifying.

Around this time, I asked the guide how much more we had and he said 30 minutes... I could have died!!!! Come to find out that normally the ride last 30 minutes... but since the water was so rough on this particular day it lasted literally 10. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT MESS! But we did it. I got off the tube, shaking and freezing and everyone else was pretty hysterical too. We all laughed at how in the US you would literally never find a river rafter place that charged six dollars and that didn't make you sign any waivers anything... and certainly not that freaking rough!!! Anyway, we got back to the hostel and all took our turns taking warm showers and trying to relax. I was exhausted. Too much adrenaline for the day. Of course half of our group was gushing and how fun and amazing it was, but I couldn't even lie - I was terrified and probably would not do that again. The fact that the water was like 40 degrees and the sun wasn't out didn't help!

VIII. ANOTHER NIGHT - BARS AND FOREIGNERS

Anyway, we relaxed, had dinner, returned to our cozy loft and hung out some more (this time without the old man interrupting!!!). We laughed a lot and told stories and I reveled in the amazing group we had together. So compatible and fun. We eventually went out again to join up with others from our program at the same bar. We also invited some German girls who were staying downstairs to come with us. They had been doing volunteer work in Quito for about 5 months now and just visiting as well. Then at the bar, I met these two girls from Sweden who were also volunteering and were the most awesome girls to talk to!! They only spoke English but they had some good stories and were unbelievably friendly.

IX. LAZY SUNDAY

Finally, we went back and went to bed. Half of our group decided to go birdwatching in the morning... waking up at 5am. It was a little expensive so I decided to sleep in instead. 5 of us stayed behind, and in the morning only 3 of us girls ended up getting up and eating breakfast together. I tried unsuccessfully to take another shower... this time no water came out of the faucet at all so I just gave up on the idea today. We took a quick walk just to do something other than sit around. The other group came back SO late - at around 11 - and so by the time we ate and came back we had no more time to do anything organized. We decided instead to walk back to the river - and today, by the way, the sun was out and hot and beautiful! So we went to the river and sat on the rocks and basked and then came back and got our stuff then headed to the bus stop. We got some snacks, loaded up, and got cozy for the 2 hour ride.

X. REFLECTIONS

So now I'm back in my room. Absolutely exhausted. It took me more than an hour to write all of this but I want to remember everything. Mindo as a town was so cozy and so quintessential South America, but without the bustling craziness that is Quito. There were dogs and chickens everywhere, just running around, and half the time we just were just on hammocks looking out on the road and watching them or looking at the beautiful mountains. We were woken up by roosters everyday, who crow every freaking 10 seconds, and I GOT TO SEE A CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD. I laughed for like 5 minutes. It came out of nowhere and ran right across. Anyway, also as always there was some friend drama but I'm not going to post it on here. Let's just say it was the same as always.

Anyway - overall, most amazing weekend ever. I genuinely did not want to leave. I love staying in hostels in big groups, walking to bars, going on adventures. And the climate is beautiful and I didn't even mind the lack of running water at times. I'd love to go back but there are so many other towns I can't wait to visit!! I have no idea what's next. All I can say is that for $55 that might have been one of the coolest weekends of my life. I'm so glad I picked South America... when in the world will I ever get to experience any of that again!?!?!?

On a side note... everyone kept making fun of me because I kept stopping and saying - "just take a moment - do you guys realize we are [on a mountain/in a hostel/on a terrifying river] in SOUTH AMERICA in a little town in the middle of nowhere!??!" and they all laughed but I know they all agreed. How crazy cool and amazingly lucky we are.

So that's it for tonight. If you didn't read all of this, that's perfectly fine. When I get this book printed and bound, I'll be happy for all the details. They're more for me than for you :)

Anyway, I hope I get to speak to everyone soon! I'm going to figure out a way very soon to get pictures together. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Cynthia

PS. AFTERTHOUGHTS

I JUST REMEMBERED! We had a friend visit us during our stay. The first night we were hanging out and Powers screamed at one point that she saw a giant black rat along the windowsill then run out through this apparent crack between the window and wall! We all believed her but the rat didn't come back that night. The next night someone saw it again, and finally on Saturday when we came back at midnight, Julie and I were getting our stuff together when all of a sudden it runs out from behind her bag and jumps through that same freaking hole!!!!! That was literally a foot from my bed, which was one of 3 on the floor. We put a towel near the hole, and I was so tired I just passed out anyway. But in the morning the towel had fallen to the floor... maybe our friend visited again during the night!?! Anyway, wasn't even freaked out, despite its size! Ha.

Vida con mi familia.

Hola amigos (y sin duda mamá y papá...) ;)

Ahora quisieria hablar un poquito de mi familia anfitriona. Pasé mi fin de semana completa con ellos. Estaba muy divertido - había dos fiestas para amigos y parientes y aunque yo no decía mucho, me divertí mucho.

[Hello friends (and mom and dad, without a doubt) ;)

Today I'd like to speak a little about my host family. I spent my whole weekend with them. It was really fun - we had 2 parties here for their friends and relatives and although I didn't say much, I had a lot of fun. ]

I wrote my last blog on Friday night, and unfortunately that whole night I was up every hour, sick as a dog. I woke up Saturday morning, feeling completely wiped out and barely able to get downstairs. Luckily, with the help of my host family and my friend Powers and her host mom, I was able to drink lots of Gatorade, delicious oregano tea, soup, and bread, and then last night, had THE MOST INCREDIBLE sleep of my life. Understandably. But I slept for 12 hours straight and woke up feeling amazing. I still took it easy today but I'm feeling almost as good as new now, about 48 hours later :)

I have a new idea of why I was sick, thanks to Sarah S and Powers' mom - apparently the strawberries here are dangerous to eat if not washed really well, and so there's a pretty good chance that's why I became so ill. Anyway - now I know! And now I've been sick at least once, maybe it won't happen again.

Anyway, the parties were fun this weekend. Yesterday was just friends of the family. I got to talk a little with a few girls my age; we went outside and chatted for a bit as they smoked (which is so interesting too by the way - so many people my age here smoke! I'm really not used to that.) Then we came back and ate and talked, and the kids mostly hung back and listened (and by kids I mean we were all around 20 but still jovenes) to the adults joking and laughing. We played a few party games and then everyone ate - all sorts of sausages, beef, chicken, potatoes, salads, guacamole, drinks galore, etc. I had bread and a few potatoes and water. Around 8 I escaped, exhausted, and spent a few hours here.

This morning I woke up, finished East of Eden and got ready for another party, this time with my host parents' brothers and sisters. They served all the leftovers from last night and I yet again got to stare lustfully at all the delicious food I couldn't eat. Anyway, this time I mostly did and said nothing for a long time, but laughed quite a bit at one of the cousins - she's 12 and kept going up to the parrot to get him to make noises. I've never seen Juanito so crazy about a person! She started doing her homework at one point so I got mine out too. I helped her with her math and she helped me figure out the difference between preterite and imperfect in my grammar homework! Later, one of the uncles was trying to teach me how to conjugate and he wouldn't stop talking longer enough to listen to me say that my homework wasn't about conjugating, it was about learning about the 50 millions different ways to use the verbs conocer, saber, echar, fallar, faltar, etc. As in - much more difficult than conjugating! But he was really nice at least.

So I had a good time. I was secretly relieved all weekend that I didn't have to go anywhere or that I wasn't exploring the city. My friends here are always so ready to go and do things, whereas I need time to myself to relax. So maybe being sick was a blessing in disguise?

While I was sitting at the parties, I kept looking around the room thinking - this a family, these are good friends, they've known each other forever... I don't know. It was funny comparing all of them to my own family and friends of family, of course feeling a little sad about it but also how cool it is that there are groups like this everywhere. Anyway, mostly I was just thinking about how great Christmas was and how lucky we were to spend it with everyone in Canada and how much I love my family. And how happy and grateful I'll be when I get back. It takes an afternoon or two of feeling like you really don't belong somewhere to remind you of where you do belong and where you'll always be the happiest and most comfortable.

Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. I miss everyone a lot but my thoughts just now were less about missing everyone but more about gratefulness and being happy because I know what is waiting for me when I get back. In the meantime, I think I owe it to everyone to do as much as I can while I'm here and have a great time :)

I would like to say though - tonight, my host sister Estefy came to my room to borrow my nail polish and we talked for a good half hour! My Spanish has improved so much in two weeks. My use of the past tense has improved the most - I'm using it more and thinking about it less. It's very encouraging. My classes are great so far and are going to be very helpful, but I can't imagine my Spanish improving without living here with a host family. At school, it's too easy to speak English with my friends and come home and read my favorite English books. But forcing myself to converse has been the most helpful so far. And people - often perfect strangers keep telling me that I speak really well so I ought to not worry. When I get really discouraged, I tell myself I only started taking Spanish classes a year and a half ago. There are some people in my classes who've taken Spanish for 7 or 8 years now and we're about on the same level. There are people here even, who are here only to travel and enjoy themselves - which is great and in a way I am too - but my priority is learning Spanish. So unlike the others, I'm challenging myself through classes and homework but hopefully the reward will be great too.

Also - shhh don't tell anybody - I've been in my classes, especially grammar, evaluating exactly how I'll be teaching my own Spanish and French classes the same topics. Cue my mom rolling her eyes as she reads this ;) If anything, that sort of thinking is encouraging me to think harder about the concepts so it doesn't hurt.

Well, time to do some more homework. Chau!

Cyn

Day & Nightlife.

Another week of school done - can you believe it?? It's been a good week. My classes are all finalized - Ecuadorian culture, intermediate conversation, advanced grammar (all of these are pretty much for international students), feminine/feminist literature (I'm one of 3 international students! terrifying) and basic weaving (am the only foreigner, that's fun :) ) It's a great balance - literature is a lot of work and I'm still very intimidated to say much in class. The others are designed for us foreigners though so their emphasis is learning more vocabulary and improving our grammar - exactly what I need. And weaving is weaving, in other words - AWESOME.

I hadn't been out on the town at night yet so that was what I did last night! Everyone else had already been out so it was nice to just go and follow the others. I shared a cab with a friend of mine and met in La Mariscol, which is the party center of the city on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. We went to a bar called Strawberry Fields Forever, which was Beatles-themed and incredible!! It wasn't busy and we sat cozily in the back, taking in all the Beatles memorabilia and music. It was Julie, Lauren, Powers, Alli, and I. We stayed for an hour or so, just relaxing then decided to join some of our other friends at a discoteca!

So we went this place called Bungalow, which had no cover and was pretty well-divided between foreigners and Ecuadorians. They were playing great music and we all just danced and enjoyed ourselves!! There was some friend drama going on - never fun - but I managed to just ignore it all and dance. Ended up dancing with this guy who eventually introduced himself as Alejandro, to which I burst out laughing. He said "nice to meet you" and kissed my hand! Ahaha. Anyway, danced with him for a bit then just danced crazily with my friends. There was this creepy older man who kept hovering around our group and eyeing Julie, who is blonde and thus attracts lots of attention here. He kept trying to get behind her and dance and she kept inching away, absolutely freaked out. He would not leave her alone! Finally, later we were standing TO THE SIDE, not dancing anymore and he literally comes up behind her and puts his hands around her!!! I got SO mad and pushed him and yelled NO and told her to leave her alone! He freaked out - looked sooo angry and I thought he was gonna hit me but I stood my ground and he left. You don't even know how proud I was of myself :D Fearless little chica en Sudamérica!

Anyway, then some salsa music started playing and guys kept coming over asking to dance - I said no to 2-3 then one guy just had the best smile and ended up being so nice. He tried to no avail to teach me how to salsa and I was just terrible so I let my friend dance with him instead. My other friends are apparently masters at salsa already!! And I'm pretty sure I was born without the ability to remember sequences of movements in any form. But it was really fun. By then it was late, so we hailed another cab and headed home.

Was in bed by 2 and had to get up at 8 to get ready for class, which was good. Unfortunately in weaving I started feeling terrible and had to run to find the bathroom. Not a hangover no worries - realized later my strawberry daiquiri (my only drink of the night!) was blended with ice and so I found the cause for my illness. So today's been fun........ everyone's been picking on me and my need to stay in proximity of a bathroom.

Anyway, after class I returned with Powers to her place - which is absolutely beautiful. Her host mom is an ARTIST and there apartment is straight out of everything decor-related I've ever posted on tumblr. Absolutely gorgeous!!! We hung out all afternoon which was really nice... me fighting bouts of terrible nausea - then went out for Colleen's birthday tonight. That was a really nice dinner with everyone too! Took a cab back - got to meet this cab driver that my friends always call. His name is Carlos and he is so sweet. He has a wife and newborn and is learning English. He'll wait on the curb to make sure you get in your house and everything - basically just the nicest guy and best part is that we can absolutely trust him. Very nice to know. So he drove me home tonight and we had a great conversation in Spanish!

This weekend I'm going back to the Centro Histórico and then the Teleférico on Sunday, which takes you up the mountain!! I'm exhausted though so I'm gonna get some sleep and see how I'm feeling in the morning.

So that's been my week! Been fighting bouts of homesickness and real sickness but school has been and will be a great distraction. Am learning about all of the other places I'll need to visit soon so that's really exciting too.

Alright good night everyone :)

Otavalo!

I just returned from the most amazing trip!

Friday after class, 5 of my friends and I met up at a bus terminal near here and grabbed a bus to Otavalo. It's two hours away and cost us $2. The ride there was incredible. We passed through winding roads in the Andes mountains, looking out over plummeting drops and ravines, rivers, mountains... beautiful.

We arrived before dark, hailed 2 cabs to bring us to a hostel my friend Julie reserved for us the night before. As we were driving there, we all started wondering if this was a good idea, because the taxis took us far out of town and onto a terrible cobblestone road, with speed bumps and indigenous people walking along the sides in traditional garb. Right at the point where we thought were done for - we were in the middle of nowhere! - they pulled over and we walked out onto the most adorable perfect hostel you could image. We climbed up a hill and saw all of these beautiful cottage-like buildings, with PERFECT views on either side. The owner of the hostel was the sweetest lady who spoke English and gave us a tour and made sure we had everything for the night. For $10, we stayed in this guest house, with plenty of beds and 2 bathrooms, and were served breakfast in the morning. She even gave us a lift to the market in the morning, too.

We took lots of pictures of the amazing vista and then hailed another 2 cabs and went downtown to a restaurant recommended by the cab drivers. The place was Gringo-infested but it was very traditionally-decorated and a band was playing music in the background. Everyone had a good meal and we all toasted to the randomness of taking a trip like this and so far it going splendidly. Otavalo at night was kind of sketchy - we were walking around a little after that but quickly settled into a little bar where a traditional Andean band would be playing at 10. Soon enough that place was pretty full too and when the music started playing, the whole place just felt alive. Andean music is so cool!! The band was great and one of the musicians alternated between playing Andean flute, regular flute, and the violin and I couldn't take my eyes off of him - he was so talented! He was getting into it more than the others too, jumping around and looking like he loved what he was doing. It made us all happy :)

We came back and went to bed, and we all noted how we felt like we were at camp, with 6 of us getting comfy in beds in the same room, deciding on the bathroom schedule etc. We had a good laugh because (as is normal in Ecuador) we weren't supposed to flush any toilet paper down the toilet, but just put it in the wastebasket. One of the girls, Julianna, had never heard of any one doing this and absolutely refused - she was so freaked out!

Anyway, we went to bed and woke up around 7 to get ready to go to the market. After our delicious complimentary breakfast, the nice hostel owner dropped us off first at the animal feria, where all the natives come to buy and sell animals. It was pretty smelly, understandably - there were cows, pigs (SO MANY), chickens, roosters, guinea pigs, sheep, dogs (which just run around everywhere anyway), and vendors along the side, roasting pigs and chickens that you just knew were alive like 2 hours before. Obviously we weren't there to buy anything but we were told it's just something to see at least once. And it was worth it.

From there we walked to the artisan's market and started shopping (the whole point of the trip!) Otavalo is known for its Saturday market.... streets and streets of stalls selling beautiful scarves, jewelry, paintings, blankets, you name it. You're also expected to haggle which was so much fun, and seems silly because everything is already so cheap. I bought SO MUCH... but everything was between $1-4, but also A PONCHO SWEATER WITH ALPACAS which was only $15, made of real alpaca wool. I also bought socks, a painting, a small women tapestry, a red coral bracelet, a woven beaded bracelet, like 4 friendship bracelets, a gourd carved into an owl, and a beautiful scarf. I didn't bring too much money with me on the trip, so it made me laugh as I left the last stall, realizing I was completely out of money. Anyway, I only needed two more dollars to get home :)

But first!! We took a local bus to Peguche, where you walk up a cobblestone path to a beautiful waterfall. After the bustling market (and even being used to Quito), it was so nice to walk along a nature path and behold the falls. We took lots of more pictures and walked along a path to the top, which was awe-inspiring and also exhausting. Standing in front of the falls on this bridge thing was wonderful - the chutes were spraying water and it felt great because it was so hot out! We had a nice break here. After, we took a bus back to the terminal and took a bus back to Quito.

We were all exhausted - you'd think the story would end here but while on the bus something really interesting happened and we didn't put the pieces together until we got off. We all sat near the back of the bus, and since there were six of us, these 3 guys moved seats so we could sit together. I noticed (without even thinking) that 2 of the guys sitting ahead of us stuffed a jacket between the seats, meaning we couldn't see them (I of course wasn't thinking that at the time.) The third guy was just standing up which is pretty normal, though it was a 2hr trip. From the side, apparently the guy was holding up a newspaper, also blocking the view into their seats, and also stuffed a jacket between the seats ahead of them, where Julianna and a nice older English man was sitting. I guess the whole time, the guy ahead of me was working under the seat, slashing the old man's bookbag and robbing him, while we had no idea! The standing guy was keeping watch. My friends apparently even saw him pay off the bus attendant a few times to not say anything! The whole time I was just talking to Lauren completely oblivious. We were told a million times to keep our backpacks on our laps for that exact reason. By the time we realized what happened the guys were long off the bus and the old man was somewhere else in the terminal.

All that to say - it sounds all scary to be warned that we might be robbed, but it made me realize that there are specific circumstances where it happens. And now that I've seen this - well, it seems SO obvious now. But we weren't in any danger of being robbed anyway because we knew what we were doing (also I had literally 75 cents left..... so yea)

Anyway, I'm back now. My host family is at a wedding tonight so I'm left alone to rest which is really nice. I'm very happy - the weekend was incredible and made me feel so much more at ease with traveling and rolling with things and getting around. It was all so easy, and so cheap!! And of course, you always have to be careful but between the 6 of us, we were definitely covered.

That's it for now :) I barely took any pictures because everyone else whipped out their camera every 3 seconds, so I'll be stealing theirs from Facebook very soon. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend as well!

Love, Cyn

clases!

Just a quick blog post before my telenovela starts. I've had 2 days of classes so far and so far, everything seems pretty under control. Yesterday I had yoga and advanced grammar. Yoga - surprisingly - I hated. It was in a classroom, with a dingy smelly carpet and no room to move, the professor, though smiling and super nice, told us this class wasn't for relaxing - there was an intensive gym portion where we would be sweating, a lot. Then he had us do a bunch of poses and it just felt wrong - hectic, uncomfortable (because we were all wearing jeans! no one expects to do stuff on the first day of a gym class!) and I decided, if I didn't love it then why keep it.

Instead I'm going to take a feminine literature class that my friend Powers is in. She said it sounds intensive, but I love literature and I'm not afraid of working. The grammar class seemed pretty good as well - I know how much I need the practice.

Today, my conversation class was cancelled and so was my ecology of the rain forest class. I did have Ecuadorian culture though, which is already really great. Its aim is to help us get accustomed to life here and explain why things are the way they are. Then I took a psychology of adolescence class and didn't like it much either... sounds silly but the topic of teenagers actually doesn't interest me much. From the lecture today, everything seemed obvious and kind of trite. Also I don't need the class for credit which is as good a reason as any. Between me & my readers, another international student and I were talking after and she was absolutely appalled that for our assignment for the next class, we had to write 2-3 pages about our experiences in adolescence. She would not stop going ON about it, like it was absolutely outrageous to demand such a thing, and in Spanish. I basically scoffed in her face. Is that horrible? I'm sorry, we are enrolled in a university IN FREAKING ECUADOR. She was like "this will take me at least an hour and a half..." (ay dios mío!) I'm not sure what she was expecting. Dear mom and dad, thank you for instilling in me an apparently great work ethic and a desire to learn and excel in academics, regardless of personal cost.

To change the topic completely and to make that last statement seem obsolete, I'd just like to say - my host family has a maid and oh...my...gosh. It was really disconcerting at first, but when I came back today, saw my sheets changed, my laundry basket emptied, clean laundry on my dresser, the trash taken out, my toiletries organized neatly, the hair cleaned off of my hairbrush! I gotta say... I'm converted. It's amazing. Also in the morning, my breakfast is waiting for me on the table. I feel like a queen.

Not much else to say. I'm getting used to the bus - not always pleasant but I've made it home just fine every day so I can't complain. Might be traveling this weekend with some friends! Not too far but I'm excited.

Ahh! Es el tiempo para Floricienta. Nos vemos :)

Cyn

PS. I just want to say that although my speaking abilities are still really lacking, my comprehension is GREAT. Anything I miss is just because I don't know the vocabulary. I find this so exciting! My Ecuadorian studies prof told us to become completely fluent we need to spend at least 7 hours every day doing something in Spanish. Estoy lista para este desafío.

Highs and Lows

Sunday morning, last day off before classes begin. My day began normally enough but somehow I became really sad and felt absolutely terrible. Everything was making me tear up and reminding me of home - and I've been gone less than a week! Anyway, what's more quintessentially me then crying at the drop of a hat? So anyway, it was a tough morning but I knew the best way to cure homesickness was to do something, anything to distract me.

I helped my host mom take down the Christmas decorations and felt very useful for once. Afterwards though, my host dad and I went for a tour of the city. I can't even tell you how much better I felt after that!

The first place we stopped had the most incredible view I've literally ever seen in my life. I was absolutely in awe. Here's a photo...

A picture could never really capture it. We proceeded to go down the mountain by these terrifyingly steep roads (a trail taken by Spanish conquistadores apparently) and visited the church that you see at the bottom of the picture.

Afterwards we went to the artisan market downtown and looked through everything. I seriously almost died of pure joy - absolutely beautiful pieces made/being sold by indigenous people and so so so cheap. Scarves, bags, PONCHOS, shirts, bracelets, earrings, silver rings, everything made of leather............. basically heaven. I didn't buy anything but I learned to haggle and learned from my host dad were some good materials (stones that are actually red or black corral, bull tusk!, a purse made from woven cacti reed things). Next time though, all bets are off and I'm getting... everything.

As we were leaving this area, back in the car, I saw a man on the a street corner eyeing these two blond women, one of which was fishing through her purse to find her keys. Then I saw him stick his hand straight into her back pocket!!!!! She didn't even know he was behind her. I freaked out but I could point out six things off the bat that that lady was doing that we weren't supposed to. So.

We kept driving, I felt much better. Came back, kept reading a little (I've been reading Las Brujas - The Witches by Roald Dahl in Spanish!) and then had a good small dinner. I'm remarkably used to having my meals at 2pm and 8pm. Imagine :)

Anyway, toda está bien ahora. See why I chose the title for this blog? For my mood and also because of all the crazy hills we climbed today in the car. Haha. Class tomorrow. Suerte...

Cyn!

Orientación & el Centro Histórico

Hola!

The last two days have been great. Orientation at USFQ was yesterday morning... my host mom dropped me off and I met up with my already-good friends and took a

seat in the giant auditorium. We received several different talks from different representatives within the university - on getting acclimated, on the history of Ecuador, on health and safety. The speakers were all really nice and really funny, but we all pretty much left with our tails between our legs.

But no worries! A large group of us decided to eat lunch in Cumbayá, which is where the campus is located (down the valley from Quito) and we got seated and ended up with two other USFQ students as well. We four UNC students made it through a good hour of conversation and laughs and had a delicious criollo pizza, which is an Ecuadorian specialty with bacon and a type of corn - muy delicioso :) Here's a picture of us:

It was so nice to be out with people my own age and feeling really independent! Except not really - because the two nice USFQ students ended up ordering for us and when I went to purchase my cell phone afterwards, my friend Julie pretty much did all the talking. But still. I went home afterwards.... first time taking the bus alone and I made it. I was soooooooo scared. But I put on this ugly angry brave face and everyone left me alone haha.

So today!

Julie, Lauren, and I decided to explore part of the Old Town of Quito - el centro histórico. We left a little late and spent a lot of our time planning, but this allowed me to pretty much memorize the map and so I'm feeling great about orienting myself :) So after taking 2 buses, we made it and here are some pictures of our day...

Here is a glance at an amazing church - el monastario de San Francisco. Absolutely stunning carvings and attention to detail. Everything is painted gold and unfortunately the front is being renovated so there is a canvas you can see in the pictures.

After this we were a little hungry, so we spotted a little restaurant en frente del monastario. For $2.80, we got soup, french fries, a giant piece of chicken and a coke. And I could have salad too (but I turned it down since it probably would have made me sick). But I was stirring my soup and lo and behold - I found a chicken foot. And then another. Gives a new meaning to chicken noodle soup huh? (I didn't try it, sorry.)

We returned to the plaza and took a few more pictures. Here is Lauren and I (in front of that same monastary):

And here is Julie and I, looking cute sitting next to a fountain:

Though this area had a few tourists, we all still felt very much out of place. Everyone looks at us and it's pretty intimidating! You don't know whether to feel on guard or just flattered because of the stares. Anyway, SO many people were in the old town today. And there are so many indigenous people selling things and little kids running up to you asking if you want to buy something or if they can shine your shoes. You just have to say "no gracias" and keep walking.

I really want to come back. Everything was so cheap! This one woman was selling beautiful scarves, 2 for $5... and there were boots and shoes and beautiful things. But I held back. I'd love to go to a market soon anyway :)

So I'm back home now. No plans for tomorrow but who knows. Feeling much more comfortable now, even though I'm still skittish about certain things. I can't wait to be working again!!!

Also, there are more pictures to be put on facebook.

Adios :)

Cyn

so much to try!

Day 2-

My host mom and I went out again today - this time by car and she drove all around the city. You know how in the US we joke about the difficulties of being a cab driver in NYC? Well I dare any NYC taxi driver to come over here. It's ridiculous!!! All you do is swerve because the roads are not well-marked and cars are parked everywhere and come out of everywhere, and as for my comment about horns yesterday -well I get why everyone uses horns all the time. Anyway, we visited the entire city and I got a better look at all the breathtaking views as well as the beautiful parks and also a MALL -complete with a Sbarro's, Subway, and a store that was playing Rascal Flatts.

Anyway, I'm most interested right now in the food - food is SO cheap: a good meal can be bought for $2-3 and I'm looking forward to trying different restaurants every day at school for lunch. I can't wait to meet up with my friends tomorrow at orientation and make some plans to visit the city a little. When I get comfortable with that, I can't wait to expand my borders and choose either the rain forest, the beach, or the underwater volcano lake thing. I'm doing all 3, I just have to plan accordingly.

Otherwise, this morning I tried to teach Juanito, the parrot some French (sin exíto) and now I'm about to watch my new favorite telenovela Floricienta.

That's all for now! If you can't tell, I've been writing because I have a lot of idle time.

Orientación mañana!

cynthia

Estoy aquí....

Hola todos!

I am officially in South America. My flight yesterday went pretty well - literally 5 minutes in Miami and we found all the other UNC kids in the program, plus another girl who goes to NC State. The second plane was fun - they played Eat, Pray, Love, which I thought was symbolic and then served a delicious meal of pasta and chicken, salad, bread, and juice. Unfortunately, the turbulence was terrible and I ate way too much and I started feeling sick.... I jumped out of my seat and ran to the back, but both bathrooms were occupied and lo and behold, I could barely mutter "I'm gonna be sick" to the flight attendants and promptly threw up a few times. They managed to get a bag in front of me kind of in time. Gross. Anyway, I felt great after that and landed and found my host family, who are so so so nice! They live right in the city in a beautiful house which is, like all other houses around here separated from the road by a large wall. The house is really big and gorgeous and I have my own room and bathroom! I feel so spoiled. I even have my own TV in my bedroom, and wifi which is how I'm writing now.

I was a little sick last night and starting to feel a little peaky again. I've been drinking out of my super filter water bottle but it may have failed me, who knows. This morning I slept in late, completely exhausted and also scared out of my mind because I realized I was in South America but while I was asleep I could pretend I was back at home and cozy. So I kept closing my eyes again. But when I got up, I got ready, ate breakfast with my host family, and then my host mom Maggie showed me how to use the bus system. It seems doable but a little daunting... those buses take off whether or not all your limbs are on the inside! And they creak and lurch and everybody here honks their horns all the time!

But the views are absolutely astonishing... just the bus ride to my campus had me holding my breath in sheer wonder - the mountains are giant and the vegetation is just different enough to keep your attention. And even the city itself, though not super picturesque, has so much to look at. Absolutely fascinating. Luckily since I dyed my hair dark before coming, I fade in quite nicely, except when I open my mouth, and as I've discovered my Spanish is seriously lacking. But I'm trying everything - new words, new foods, and I've only been here one day.

It's gonna take a while to get used to everything. Everything is great so far but it's so different that I know how happy I'll be when I return. Anyway, school hasn't even started yet, that's going to keep my attention for a good long while.

Also, I found out the Galapagos Islands class I'm taking has a field trip..... after the semester is over :( So it just doesn't seem to be an option right now. I'm gonna try to figure something out.

Later:

Okay, so I just had merienda (dinner) with my family... we had ceviche y juego de tomates - delicious soup and "tomato" juice but what they call tomatoes here actually sweet fruits. Really tasty:) My host dad showed me an Ecuadorian cookbook and showed me all the things he wants me to try... including cuy and caldo de patas (guinea pig and cow hoove's soup.) BRING IT ON!

Then I gave them my gifts and told them a bit about Carolina del Norte and then we took a bunch of pictures. Coming soon :)

Anyway, it's time I posted this. Can't wait to hear from everyone!

Adios :)

Cyn