Papallacta & Cuicocha

My first field trip with Volcanology!

and it was AWESOME!!!! We were promised that we would go home dirty, and we did. Although, not as dirty as Theo (my professor) would have liked because it hadn't rained recently so there was barely any mud.

If you know me, you'll know I have serious difficulties telling stories in chronological order. But I took notes from my pictures, so hopefully I'll stay in line. If not, there's nothing you can do about it :)

So, I took a taxi to the Olympic Stadium, where we were meeting the big tour buses. Although the stadium is pretty close, I didn't want to risk missing the trip, waiting for a bus to bring me there. So I sucked it up and paid the $3 at 6:40 am. (the next day it was only 2, too bad I didn't know better the first day).

Luckily I got on the same bus as Theo (with the better TV of course), so he had us pick the movies first and of course we watched Que Pasa Anoche? commonly known as The Hangover. I had the pleasure of using the facilities on the bus-very exciting on the curvy mountainous roads with an Ecuadorian man driving. After about 3 hours, we made it to our first stop: the middle of nowhere. We were literally stopped on the side of the road, and then walked through the mist to a spot, like the rest of the way, with a large rock wall. We had a mini lesson in Spanish of which I barely understood a few sentences, dodging cars on one side and being careful not to fall off the cliff with a small waterfall on the other.

My partner Jessica and I didn't really know what we were doing, but we crossed the street with everyone else, and waited to use a hammer to break off a piece of rock. Well, I did more than get a piece of rock. I also broke half the hammer! oops.

We continued down the road, only to find out that we were supposed to have gotten 2 different rocks! we scrambled to find one, but Theo said it wasn't a big deal, he wanted to continue to the next stop. On the way I picked up a big black rock just in case it was the right one, and it ended up being the next one! So at least I got a little bit ahead of the game.

We packed back onto the bus, watched another movie, and arrived at a new place, near a beautiful river. We first climbed up a hill. And not just any hill, one filled with really loose dust so it was realllll interesting. I can only imagine what this would be like if it had been muddy. Well, I can more than imagine. This girl here walked a little bit off to the side, and lost her shoe in the mud. Awesome. 

The next rock we had to get is a green one, and we had to climb down a huge hill to get to the river. These are the types of paths that don't exist. When you're driving or walking somewhere, and you see a really steep hill with lots of plants and prickery things and bugs, you don't go there. Well, not with this class. After a solid few minutes walking down, it started to get buggy. And I mean seriously buggy. I am SO GLAD I took Theo seriously and wore my raincoat even though it was hot and not raining at all, because I zipped it up over my hat, with my sunglasses, and felt a little safe. There were so many bugs. They almost looked like lightening bugs, that sort of cylindrical shape but were a little bigger and all black. and they were EVERYWHERE. people were swatting like crazy, but I just kept looking for the green stone and I FOUND ONE! But, as you can probably guess, I wasn't sure if I actually had the right one. All I heard from my professor was rock near the water, green, roundish. and I found a beautifully round one but it seemed like not many other people did, especially since most of my class didn't make it past the water.

But alas, I will now get 2 or 3 extra points on my report because I found a gem!

More driving/movies/looking at the gorgeous view, and we came to a tiny little town. We walked down a road, past what used to be a soccer field and is now being dug up for rocks and who knows what, plenty of dogs and chickens, and some locals staring at us strangely. We had to walk in between roped off barbed wire, which was a little unnerving, down some more hill, and then came the fun part. I promised myself I would stay close to my professor, because he told us you get the most information and the biggest adventure when you stick with him. Since I also had my camera at the ready, he gave me a task: film everyone crossing the bridge. I had no idea what he meant by this, until I saw it. 

This old, dilapidated bridge was next to a newer, safer one. But of course, everyone except for me taking a video and another student taking pictures, had to run across it. It was really amusing to watch, but I'm part relieved and part sad that I wasn't involved.

After everyone got across (one kid fell right at the end) Theo just took off and sprinted across a field. Odd. We followed, and then we began our hike into the wilderness, legit.

We walked a bit, through wet grassy lands, no big deal. Then we stopped, and Theo pointed to a wall and said. ok we're going up there. We weren't sure if he was serious, because he jokes a lot but he's also crazy. Well guess what: he was serious.

I was the first one behind him, and after I got up 5 feet, it got a little easier, until the ground underneath me started moving a lot, and all the brush above us had been cut away, so everything we pulled at for leverage fell behind us. Theo went to try something all the way to the right and around a corner, and another student tried to reach a tree to the left. In the end, we went all the way to the right, and I had to step on a girl's leg to get up and over a hump in the wall. With my professor cheering me on to hurry up, I made it all the way up. He's pretty good with names-really eager to learn them, andddd I have the same name as his daughter. The pic below is WAY clearer then our first trail. I tried to take pictures but it's hard to capture the wild jungle that it was with a picture.

After we made it to the top, we just went down, but a different way. A much slippery, slope kind of way. Oh by the way, a stray dog had been following us the entire way up, and now was going down. But he kind of got in the way a bit, but still managed to stay with us the whole time we were at this stop.

People were slipping a lot, and Theo was yelling at us in a nice way, and if we took too long he would pull us down. legit. We got to a little brook, and I had someone take a pic of me. The first one I look better in, but of course these 2 crazy Ecuadorian girls who were not dressed at all for this trip completely blocked the water, and I kinda look a little dazed in this one, but that's okay...

I wish I was better at describing things. buttt we had to walk up another dangerous looking hill, and the girl in front of my slipped a bit so I just pushed her up by her butt, and a kid behind me pushed my foot up for me. It's pretty cool helping people out even though you don't know their name, what they look like, or what language they speak. But when they're about to slip down the hill in front of you, you'll do anything you can to boost them up.

Since our professor was now at the back of the group, we weren't too sure where to go, especially since there's no trails. So we kind of just kept walking, until we saw a hugeeeee rock wall, with some pretty chill people climbing it. We walked past them to get out of their way, and waited for our professor to come back. We got a little mini lecture from the other professor that came on the trip with us, and I have to be honest I really don't know what he said, but we found another rock and headed back down a different path, very open but also very muddy. Again-I wouldn't want to walk through that after a big rainfall.

We returned over the safer bridge, and back up the hill which felt a lot steeper and longer after all the traversing in the wild we just went through, and got back on the bus to stop at a waterfall, walking through shallow water, where apparently when there's been more rain you walk through a foot or so of water-that would have been interesting.

It was time to split up: those who wanted to go back to Quito/home on one bus, and those who wanted to get to the Hot Springs on another. Of course I was going to the Hot Springs-there's no way I'm going to miss out on any opportunities here if I can help it!

It cost $7 and I only brought with me my change of clothes, because I didn't want to leave my camera and other things in a basket along with my towel on the side of the pools. We moved around from hot, to hotter, to hottest, with a few splashes of lake water-my own Penguin Plunge! There's part of the lake where Theo challenged us to do a push up in so that we could get our whole body in-I went in 3 times, and there's also a little pool where you can jump into or step down on stairs-I went in about 4 times in there too. The hot parts though are crazy in the other pools, because there's a little waterfall where it comes out and it is STEAMING. Theo had us go into a little cave behind the waterfall, which was cool. When we were in a kiddie pool size one, they were starting to drain the water so that it would soon enough be fresh water, but it started getting reallyyyyyy hot, because as the old water drained, all that was left was fresh hot water, and even the locals started to relocate.

It was a great experience, and I chatted with my professor a lot, along with some other Ecuadorian students who convinced me that however awkward it might be I need to try harder to make Ecuadorian friends! I wish it wasn't so cloudy, because apparently it's beautiful, sitting in a warm pool with the mountains all around you. Although it's probably better that it wasn't and that it was later, because with such high altitude I could have become a serious lobster.

After over an hour of relaxing, we changed and headed back to the bus. I'm really glad I'm a punctual person, otherwise Theo may have left without me. He doesn't do head counts, so you're on your own, and could potentially be left somewhere. It almost happened at a rest stop!

Cuicocha!

Sunday, we were off to Cuicocha, and we started the day with Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. So American but I loved it.

Cuicocha is a beautiful spot, made up of a collapsed volcano that filled with water...I need to read up on it a little bit more but you should check it out because it's gorgeous. It's named after Guinea pigs, because apparently the islands in the middle resemble the little animal (a delicacy here) and there are lots of guinea pigs on the islands! Which is funny to me, since I always had a guinea pig growing up (as a pet, not dinner).

We got off the bus and didn't knowwhat to do-the view was breathtaking. A HUGE lake surrounded by mountains, and we were right in the middle of it. We walked down closer to the water, and put on some pretty sweet life jackets, then clambered into small boat. This all without real direction, I just kind of followed the person in front of me and hoped for the best.

Some more kids got into a second boat, along with Theo. I was upset that I wasn't right next to him as I had been the day before, but I had a seat on the edge so I had the perfect spot for picture taking. 

We went deep into the lake, and slowed down near the edge of one of the islands. I wasn't quite sure what was happening. There was no dock, and if we were going to walk on the land here we would need to wade into some serious water. Theo told us we could dress normally today, so I was not exactly ready to hop on into the water.

Theo's boat came up next to us, and after rocking his boat back and forth to make everyone nervous, he started a mini lesson about the area. There was a chunk of rock missing behind us, which created a "Tsunami" of 15 centimeters. If more rock had fallen, it would have been a much more serious event.

The water here bubbles, because there is a lot of magma deep under the surface. 

The book my professor wrote about Cuicocha says, "The volcano can reactivate at any time. Therefore it appears that tourists are visiting the volcanic caldera of Cuicocha to enjoy the marvelous area in the same way a bird (in order to find some food or a place to rest) is stepping into a crocodile's mouth...

After we learned a bit more (again, I need to read and complete my reports on the field trip before I'll really know what he was saying) we backed up and headed through some reeds in between the two islands, Little Mermaid style. 

We headed back to shore, and received delish warm beverages as a thank you for the boat ride. As I was enjoying it, I figured it was because Ecuadorians probably freeze on that ride, since it was pretty windy. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was delish with or without sugar. Canalaso? I don't know. Oh but a little girl put one on the banister above where I was sitting and it fell onto my back. That was fun.

There was a man playing peter pan style pipes (didn't realize my trip was so Disney themed until now) to compliment some Ecuadorian and some American songs, it was pretty amusing. I can't remember all of them, but he was definitely playing Toto by Africa! I was going to buy his CD, but my favorites were separated by 3 different CDs, $5 each and I didn't think it was worth it. So instead, I made a video. Africa: Pipes style

I went up to check out the mini market stalls-but it was junk compared to Otavalo. Everyone basically had the same thing, and nothing really caught my eye. Except this of course

one of those toys that you squeeze so the figurine dances, they also had spiderman and other random American cartoon characters.

I chatted with some Ecuadorians and Americans from my class, and when the second group of students returned, we loaded back onto the bus...only to get out literally 5 minutes later. We got a little speech about the rocks there, and then had to grab a small one. We got back on, and headed a little over an hour away until we stopped at a small gas station/restaurant. I was going to get a quesadilla, until the girl in front of me did and it was a package of 4 plain rolls of bread. I'm glad I made my own peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I also got a ghetto orange juice that was reallyyy sugary. For some reason the intense desire for Tropicana Orange Juice has settled with me again, and I really want some!

We almost forgot 3 students who had crossed the street to go to a different spot, and then were on our way to begin drawing faults with our nice computer paper and sharpened pencils that were handed out during lunch.

We had climb up through dirt and prickly trees, and draw faults in 5 minutes. I made it all extra beautiful and added extra drawings and labels, only to find out that he wouldn't be collecting this drawing. On our next location, we needed to draw 5 faults and 5 pliegues, which are basically big Us in the rock. I think mine came out pretty well, especially since our professor threw a rock across a highway to show us one of the faults he was talking about when he was explaining them. He's crazy!

Next stop: more drawing, this time a quiz. and none of us knew what we were doing. We had to walk through barbed wire and lots of trash to get to the spot, and then it started raining so we really had to rush! It was the first time I had heard thunder since in Ecuador!

We headed back home after this, and got back much earlier than Saturday. I went into the big mall QuiCentro to look for a place to clean my camera lens-it's filthy and scratched. I was given an address of another place, so i might wait until my host mom can come with me so I don't hand over my camera to a stranger and not really know what will happen to it.

I also found a candy store! and stocked up on my treats, as well as bought white chocolate to make my infamous cookies n creme fudge---tho i'm having serious difficulties figuring that out, because since white chocolate chips are impossible to come by here, I bought bars- but according to the calculations of ounces to grams, I need to buy about 20 bars of chocolate to make up for one and a half bags of chips i would use in the US. sooo i need to think about what i'm going to do.

I thought I knew where I was going on the way home, but I didn't exactly. I called my host mom to let her know I was on my way, and walked a few blocks to another main road where I can take one straight bus home, and started my insane amount of work that night, staying up the latest I have since in Ecuador aside from my very first night.

I hope to do a blog about my life in general here. I know my adventures are exciting, but my day to day life is pretty sweet too, as is my service that I'm just starting to dive in to!

Thanks for reading and comment lots!!!

Otavalo

So, my first real excursion and it was fabulous! With a few small things that went wrong, of course. 


After leaving much later than planned Saturday morning, we took a 2 hour bus that cost about $2.50, which is about A LOT LESS than a 2 hour ride would be at home.


7 of us crammed into the back. There are apparently assigned seats on long rides like this, but people kind of sat everywhere and we wanted to be together. I luckily got a window seat, which was interesting because the window went all the way down to my waist so I'm glad I have good birthing hips otherwise I would have been worried about falling out!


Of course, the view on the way was out of the world. 

We took a taxi to our hostal, because the streets were absolutely covered in market goodies! I'm telling you, it was wild. There's no way a picture could do it justice, but believe me I tried. You could get lost if you walked 10 steps away from your friends, it was that crowded. Even without people near you, there's so much stuff hanging on display that I got lost really easily, and of course it's impossible to know what street you're on with all of the craziness. Our taxi cost $1, so we each put in a quarter which is just wild to think about on its own. He pointed us in the right direction, we found the hostal, and waited for the 2nd taxi. We went up to our rooms after paying $6 per person for the night (you're jealous!) and settled in. After we emptied our bags to make room for all the new stuff we were about to barter for, we were off! I bought lots of cool stuff and i won't lie almost all of it is for me! Presents for friends and fam later haha...but check these out! $2.50! 

I really want a hammock, but I ran out of money and couldn't give up the idea to buy a chair hammock with wooden parts for only $20 just yet, so I'm going to ponder how ridiculous that idea is and maybe buy a hammock later, because apparently there's a market in Quito in Carolina Park that has basically the same stuff.
I also got a sweet tapestry, and a sickkk gypsy-esque jacket that I can't wait to wear in the States and look ridiculous while doing so!


PS...anyone need some undergarments? Sold off the street?

I had read about a delicious pie shop that made sandwiches so I convinced everyone we should go there. We ordered sandwiches, not knowing that one order comes with two! Chicken salad with fresh tomatoes and avocados, right after Zannah mentioned she still hadn't eaten an avocado since arrive in Ecuador!  I ate both, after two men had been chatting with us and joked that we wouldn't be able to finish our lunch AND a piece of pie, but obviously we did. Among all of us we shared a few slices of lemon meringue, apple, and delicious blackberry. They were huge and warm and came with ice cream. Of course at this point, I had run out of money and my ATM card refused to work, so the borrowing began. I almost went home because I had enough for the bus back to Quito and a taxi home, but thankfully the girls convinced me to stay...wait til you here what else we did!

We returned to our hostal for a bathroom break and to get ready to set out for a walk. We were in two different rooms, so after my room had gotten cleaned up we went upstairs to get the rest of the crew. We ended up chatting for a few hours, until after dark. So much for walking off all that chicken and pie. We grabbed an extra layer and headed out to find something for dinner, since we really had been inside for a while and figured we should get something before it got too late. We walked around, found a gorgeous plaza, and began the search for the cheapest dinner possible. After talking about how much we don't love Hollister Abercrombie and other such stores, we found those exact places! Complete with Indigenous women standing in the doorway-I'm honestly not sure if they are the paid greeters or not! It was weird to see such commercialized places in a location that I was expecting to be completely remote and Indigenous. Tourism. 


We also ran into the main square, which was barely recognizable because it wasn't covered in stuff! We didn't even know there were these white posts that are numbered so vendors can create trails within the square. We also heard what reminded me of an ice cream truck song....except that it was the garbage truck! We think it's so that the store owners know that the garbage ppl are coming so get ready! but still, it was funny. We also heard a city bus with what seemed to be a recorded cat call whistle...you know what I mean, the whistle you do when you're checkin someone out, only I swear it was played from a sound system off a bus!

Dinner consisted of bread and cookies from 2 different bakeries, squeezable jam and a jar of honey spread with plastic spoons from the grocery store (Kara bought a whole pack, in pink of course) and a big jug of water that we poured into our own bottles. We got crumbs all over the floor, but that's okay, and then we played "hot seat" to get to know each other, since we all agree how much we hate "never have i ever". We still need to get to know Susanna and Kathryn though, because we were falling asleep and wanted to get up early for our next adventures!


I love our hostal-It was nice, and the woman who worked the counter was really sweet and let us check out but keep our bags safe so we didn't have to trek around with them all morning. But they might want to revisit their English translations...

Really though, if you go to Otavalo stay here. 6 bucks and it was close to everything!


We ate Sunday breakfast at a cute little restaurant after we couldn't find "Casa de Fruta" anywhere. 3 American girls suggested the Tradicional, which came with cantaloupe juice, coffee or tea, bread, and eggs. Everyone got that but me, because I think my parents and Alliot make eggs a bit better thank Ecuador sometimes. I got a delish fruit yogurt granola combo and it was delish with seeds as the granola, a bit different but good, and there was some sort of marmalade that came with the unlimited bread that was to die for. 

Well, since we were once again running late, we thought it would be a good idea to check out of our hostal so that we wouldn't come back late and our stuff would be safe. So we did, and ran into this awesome man in the bus station that helped us find a bus to the waterfalls!

It was a short bus ride, but complete with a few musicians that could have had a bit more talent, singing and playing a mini guitar type thing. 

We made it to Peguche, where there were gorgeous waterfalls!  The 2nd pic here is  me and Hannah, in a different pic we posed as if we were filling the waterbottle from the falls, but the person holding my camera didn't have a good angle. The other one is me in front of another waterfall. We climbed up stairs-may I remind you that Ecuador is already at a higher elevation, as is the town where the falls are, so climbing was an adventure on its own. Anyway, after we got to the top of the falls and explored a bit, I climbed through a tunnel that you could see a second waterfall, or I guess a first one since it's higher up, so we took off our socks and shoes, rolled up our pants, and adventured in! i was a lil nervous because the rocks were slippery and I had my camera around my neck, but everything went smoothly and I grabbed a rock to remember Otavalo and the Peguche falls!


There wasn't a bus when we were ready to leave, so we figured we would start walking and catch one on the way. Well, we ended up walking the whole way back, but it was a gorgeous day so it was great! On the way we walked through a neighborhood that was a mix of really fancy and really poorly taken care of or abandoned homes. Everyone here uses broken class instead of spikes on the top of fences, and I captured a lil slice of America from this fence.

And here's where the best part of the trip comes into play!
We got back to Otavalo, and found stuff for a picnic lunch-aka bread (what else?) mozzarella cheese, and 2 giant and 1 small avocados, 3 for $1 from a sweet lady off the street. We found our trusty bus man again, who got us a driver to bring us to the lake and back, and wait for us for an hour and a half, all for $25. He stopped to get gas, and look Dad-Shell is everywhere! there was an awesome old school painted sign of "formula shell" closer to my house, but I never have my camera and it's not a very good area so I might never get a pic of it. But I thought you'd like this. (the pecten is next to HELIX)

Well, what a ride! We sat in the back of a covered pickup truck, and I was lucky enough to be right on the end and had one of the best views. There are so many pictures from the ride, but I thought these were some of the best to capture the overall idea. It was amazing!

I'm so mad though-there would have been some great shots of people: an old couple sitting together on the porch, a woman sifting rice out of a wheelbarrow, a man herding his cattle, but I didn't want my camera battery to die so I wasn't always at the ready! 

There was plenty of time to get good landscape shots, since we were riding constantly uphill for 45 minutes on a bumpy, dusty, windy, cobblestone road. 

We were dropped off at the lake, but decided to walk a bit more to find a quiet spot for our picnic lunch. We walked for a half hour, stopping to take pics and whatnot. Oh and we ran into our friends-some guys on motorcycles that had hung behind the truck long enough to give us thumbs up!

The lake was HUGEEE and it's called Mojanda Lake, more than 14,000 feet above sea level! The view was breathless, and we would have loved to climb higher up where other people were, but that would have taken hours with the altitude and we didn't have enough time or probably enough energy either.

We hunkered down into the grasslands to have our lunch! Some of us were a little hesitant going down, because the ground wasn't very tough and we slipped a bit but it was so worth it! We kept saying how cool this was. Legitimately, the best adventure I've ever had so far! Susanna used her Swiss Army Knife to open the avocados and cut the cheese (haha) and since I stole a cool looking spoon (NinetyNine! for my smc friends) from our breakfast, we had plenty of tools to eat lunch with! Zannah tried to throw the avocado pit into the lake, and we thought it was going in but it was a few feet short. Oh well.

The ride back down to Otavalo was gorgeous as well, but a lil uncomfortable as I gave up my good seat and had to hold on for dear life in parts. We grabbed our stuff from the the hostal, got delish ice cream, and found our bus man to lead us back to Quito. It was only an hour and a half back, and I took the longest shower in Ecuador yet! It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad I have such a great group of girls here with me!

A few random things...especially food!

Last night I ate a Tamal-it's a popular Ecuadorian meal, wrapped in a corn husk or giant leaf. I don't really know all that much about it but it's delicious! i was going to find a picture of it on the internet, but when you google Tamal+ecuador very different things come up that look way weirder than what I had yesterday. I also had a granadilla...that was delicious! but real crazy. It looks kind of like an orange on the outside, but with a flatter surface. you cut open the top kind of like what you would do to a pumpkin, and eat the inside. The inside looks like tiny sunflower seeds but are encased in blobs of goop. It's really sweet, and when you start eating more, the inner layer of the skin kind of looks like those little things that sway underwater in reefs. Here's the inside!

in fact, I'm eating my granadilla right now!

Yesterday my host mom made strawberry juice, and she sent me to school with some! sooo good. except, i lost my juice sometime during the day before I got to drink any:( I also lost my favorite SMC sweatshirt somewhere on campus, no idea where, as well as my only SMC pen that I had in my backpack, and one of my penguin earrings that i was gonna rock on the day of the Penguin Plunge. Never in my life have I lost so many things in such a short time period!

Also last night, my host mom came in with my dinner plate (it's totally normal to watch tv and eat dinner, and it's always presented on a wooden platter with a cloth doily). Every cup has a dish, and the other day my host sister brought my a banana on a dish! ok anyway, last night, dinner: my mom came in with chicken with peppers and apples (curious mix, i know) and then "white carrot" but told me the Spanish name so I could look it up in my dictionary...I wish i hadn't because it was PARSNIP! I mean it tasted great when I first tried it, but after she told me what it was, I had that weird feeling that I "knew" I wouldn't like it only bc it's parsnip

The other day my host mom made me crepes for dessert after a huge, delicious lunch. They were with apples and lemon juice and were SO GOOD. I told her i absolutely needed to return to the states with that recipe, among others of course.

My host mom asked if I like tuna (it's my fav, in a can) but I'm a little worried because she said she's gonna make it into something that sounded strange, but we'll see. Since Ecuador is pretty Catholic, it's common for people to eat fish every Friday, not just during Lent.

ok, moving on for now

the bus: Ecua busses have right of way, and if you try to mess with them you will get smushed. It's scary riding the bus to school, on winding hilly roads. I can't imagine what it will be like when we start taking long adventures across the small but wild country. it's 25 cents everywhere, and even though i originally thought the bus to school was 26, the sign is wrong it's only 25. so every day i spend a dollar going to and from school, and depending on where my service is i might have to spend more for traveling.

i like sitting in the front because then i can see when i have to get off the best, but it's really nerve wracking because you can see how badly the drivers tailgate! they are so close to little cards and other buses, and weave in and out through the lanes as if they are a single person on a motorcycle.

earlier this week on my way to school, i had to stand in the doorway and hope i didn't fall out! the bus is SO PACKED from my house to the bus station, and i finally just sat down on the step because I was nervous i would fall should my foot slip the tiniest bit. Granted we were still in the city so it wasn't all that fast or scary, but still, it was an experience.
I also don't love the act of leaving the bus: because I go to to the Rio Coca station, everyone on the bus leaves to catch a different bus. everyone pushes past each other and wants to squirm to the front. It's not so much fun walking an entire bus' length trying to squeeze my way through people. Believe me, I'm a city girl at heart when it comes to walking and getting around, but I also like to respect the order of exiting, and I wish Ecuadorians would let the last rows exit and go in order! especially because people like to get so close to you already.

sneezes: my first day on the bus, the bus driver sneezed, and even that sounded non American! no one hear says bless you or "salud" as we used to always say in Spanish class. you don't even get acknowledge, and i feel rude not saying bless you! one time my sister sneezed, so i said salud, and 5 minutes later she said it to me but in a funny like "you said it to me so i'll say it to you back now haha" way.

there's always bugs! ughh ok so im always hot, so i like to keep the windows open. only the thing is, there's no screens on the windows. and since its dark at like 6-6:30, i need to have the lights on. therefore, lots and lots of little gnat like flies are in my room. seriously, i think they multiply. When im sitting in my bed, reading or something before i go to sleep, they flock to my night table, and it's gross. i feel like i kill 10 every minute, and they especially like the odd looking bear lamp on the table, and i have to spin the bear around to find more! I might tape some screen to the window if my mom ever gets a chance to send me a package/the ecua post gets it to me before i leave.

right now i'm sitting in the lib. my 2nd class of the day was cancelled, and i need to buy a CD with all of the articles for my class but it's not ready yet. and since no one is online, i've been wandering the internet aimlessly. earlier, the power went out. now this is a kind of crazy occurrence. Ecuador is used to it, due to the lack of rain lately they don't have a lot of energy so the power gets shut off a lot around here. Luckily schools and hospitals etc are on generators, but it's still so funny sitting inside when it goes off and no one does anything. In the States there might be a few screams, groans, ppl moving quickly etc, but here it's totally normal. I almost hope for the power to go out when I get home, just so I can act like an Ecua and feel reverse culture shock about something so silly.  The power also went out when I was in the hospital for my checkup, and same thing-no response.

Ok one more thing for now-it's always funny to use your vocab that you learned in school when you get to the native speaking country, only to find out that what you studied so much is completely wrong or never used here. ojos del sol: i believe i learned these were sunglasses, but my mom had a field day laughing at me on the bus, as i'm sure others did if they overhead. here they're something like gaffas, not "sun eyes". oh well. at least i keep learning new things!

The Beginning

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Hey friends!

I made it to Ecuador! So after losing 3 pounds of nervousness the morning before I left home, I met up with my brother Bill, Kristine, and their daughters Lauren and Allison at my favorite bagel spot before the airport, and then Mom and Dad took me to JFK. We cried a lot, but the person who checked my bags was Ecuadorian! I was there WAY too early, but used the time to talk to friends and nap a little on the lovely airport floor. I would have tooled around on the internet, but since Delta is so ancient they don’t have outlets accessible in the terminals.

The flight to Atlanta wasn’t too bad, my neighbor and I slept a lot.  Georgia’s airport is crazy, with trains to different concourses. I grabbed a sandwich and a banana since I hadn’t really eaten all day, and chatted with my sister Tricia and my parents. I barely had enough time in the terminal, trying to charge my phone & computer, figure out my internet because I think I messed it up, all while chatting with a man in the US Air Force waiting for his flight to Afghanistan. He kept asking me questions and didn’t know how to pronounce Quito, it was really amusing. His friend was not enjoying our conversation at all, which made it even funnier. I cried some more on the phone, and then was on the plane to Quito. I had missed a call from Trish so I called her while getting settled, and for me, the sound of a familiar voice sends me to pieces lately. The girl next to me, Tamara, said “I don’t know you but I’m giving you a hug.” We chatted a lot, and I found out that she teaches in Ecuador and still gets homesick, so was glad to have someone to talk with to keep her mind off things. She kept having to pee because she had 2 of her favorite coffees on her last day in the States, and the man in the aisle was very kind and didn’t mind, just joked about it. I watched My Sister’s Keeper and played bookworm with Tamara. A kid also going to USFQ (my university) helped us find some words towards the end of the ride! He was sitting in the row behind us and all of a sudden started to give us ideas. That’s what happens when you’ve been sitting for 5 hours.

Tamara and I stayed together through customs and baggage claim, and an older woman fainted from the altitude. I found my bags and got myself settled before going through the doors, to find those who were waiting for me. My new host mom was there as was Sharon from my program. They took me outside, and were shocked I was only wearing a long sleeve shirt-they were in winter coats. It couldn’t have been under 55 degrees. They tried to help me with my heavy suitcases, but since they are such small women it was more hindrance then helping-I was afraid I would demolish their fingers. Sharon took my passport, which was very unsettling as I had only just met her, and my mom locked me in the car while she went to pay the parking ticket.

We drove home, and my host mom right away dove in to help me unpack. This was also awkward, here’s a woman I don’t even know wanting to hang up my clothes and touch all my stuff. She asked if I was hungry, and since I was she made me a sandwich. She asked if I wanted mustard or “salsa de tomate” and I said oh Si, Salsa por favor! Well friends, salsa isn’t the salsa we know. It’s ketchup. And I don’t know about you but I don’t so much enjoy ketchup on my turkey. Oh well.

She realized I was tired, so told me we would finish unpacking tomorrow. I went to take a quick shower because airports and planes are dirty and my sister Trish always talks about that so now it’s in my head, and so I went into my own private bathroom-something I have never had in my entire life. The water was chilly, and I couldn’t figure out how to make it warmer but I was already naked and awkward and didn’t want to ask, so I jumped in, just to rinse off. My mom called in if I wanted help, and wasn’t it cold. But I said I was going to shower again tomorrow.

I spoke with home so they knew I arrived safely, and went to sleep. Thank goodness for my family, they are keeping me sane right now and I am so appreciative.  There was a note on my pillow that said welcome and happy new year, with a red star and a piece of chocolate. I got to sleep in for as long as I wanted on Saturday, and after we went to take the bus as a practice round, and then visited my host mom’s sister. They have a bit of a fancier apartment, but we had lots of chocolate, chatted, and ate dinner together.

Sunday I woke up early to go to Mass with my mom. A lot of people here bring their own baby Jesus to the altar and leave Him with the Nativity Scene. It’s a really nice tradition, and everything was so beautiful. We came back to have breakfast, and my host mom made delicious tomato juice-something I would NEVER drink at home, but it was really good. It’s almost closer to brown than red, and not nearly the same consistency as one would find from a can in the States.

We went to “el centro historico” where the President’s Palace is and lots of elaborate churches. I tried to get a picture of La Compania, a church of gold, for Kendra. The first guard said if we came back after Mass was over we could take pictures, but when we got there they told us no. I tried to sneak one anyway, but the flash went off and I only got the floor. Fail.

There are beautiful stories about the church and certain saints, but I’m already talking a lot so I’ll try to say a little of everything I did! I also saw a picture of Ecuador’s version of the Virgin Mary, along the lines of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And of course, took a pic of Saint Michael.

Monday was Orientation for USFQ-University San Franciso, Quito. We took the bus together (the girls in my program and one of our advisors). I take a bus to the Rio Coca station, and from there a bus to Cumbaya, a shopping center 5 minutes from the campus. The view on the way is gorgeous-mountains, valleys, so much sky. The campus is like a palace. It has a pond, trees, and ornate buildings. There are lots of awnings and breezeways, and everything is very fluid and open because of the year-round warm weather. I had a mediocre tour guide, but saw some of the buildings on campus and they have a funny looking gym and outdoor volleyball nets!

One day I will be an embarrassing tourist, wandering the school taking plenty of photos! I need to do the same for my house and neighborhood.

The girls in my program are really awesome. We all want to travel, and get along well so far. We are from a variety of places in the US and will all be doing different service.

Monday afternoon my host sister came back from the beach. We said hello, and she let me nap a bit. When she saw I was up and reading, she invited me into her room to watch TV. I had just read about how Ecuadorians watch TV as a family, and it’s good to bond even if you don’t like what’s on (and I hate watching TV!) So we watched Star Wars in Spanish, and had candy that I brought with me (kudos to Trish, they love candy!) so we shared a Twix and then some Doritos. It’s always awkward eating out of a snack bag with a person you don’t know, but she was really sweet. My host mom was so excited that we were chatting when she came back home. It was such an American sponsored hang out session, but with Spanish language.

The school sponsored a get together at Mulligan’s, an Irish-American bar downtown.  After much hesitation a bunch of us took a taxi together and went. We had fun, but after I came home and went to sleep, I woke up with terrible news. Something did not agree with me. If you read my e-mail, there’s plenty of fun details.  I was terribly sick, could barely move, and had to forget about privacy with my host mom. I went to the hospital many hours later, missing my Program Orientation for 2 IVs, 1 IV of pain meds, a shot of pain meds, and some pedialyte. It took all morning but finally I could return home with two kinds of medicine in hand. I also missed my first day of classes on Wednesday, spending all day reading up on cultural issues, culture shock, and language barriers from both SMC and my program here. I watched some TV, and didn’t nap all day because my host mom woke me up at 7am to take my medicine and I couldn’t fall back asleep. My host mom and sister were at work all day, and I was painfully bored. The power also went out, because here the government shuts off the power periodically to save money.

Wednesday night I translated some of my resume into Spanish, and my mom helped me with corrections. It was a little difficult, but good in the end because now she knows a little more about me.

Thursday I went to class, and it was nice to have my new friends so worried about me and glad to see me. My jewelry making class will be interesting, because I have to buy supplies at a store and I don’t understand everything my professor says. When they speak a different language, you can’t just look around the room or stare at a fixed point and listen. For me, the best way to focus is read the person’s lips and listen to what they say, but you really have to pay attention and it’s really tiring after a while. Especially at 8:30 in the morning. My volcano class is going to be AWESOME. We go on so many trips, the professor is hilarious, and he will supply us with all of our materials! After, I spoke with my other program advisor Tania about what I had missed on Tuesday, and cried some more. We talked for over an hour, and then I met up with the girls from my program. They took me to the store so I could buy a cell phone, and then we rode the bus home together.

Thursday was also my first time with internet I believe, and I walked wayyy further than I meant to in order to find an Internet Café. I found some closer to my house on the walk home, but they are still further than what my friends have to go to. Oh well, I definitely can survive without it, it’s just gonna take some getting used to.

Friday I had a checkup at the hospital, and found out I lost 7 pounds from being sick. All in all, I’ve lost 10 since coming to Ecuador. In a week. Sheesh!  I met up with the girls and went to el centro historico. We had a very questionable lunch, and then went to get “ice cream” that was more like creamy Italian ice. We walked around a bit, but since none of us knew what to do or where to go, we decided to go to the movies and saw “The Princess and the Frog” or “La Princesa y la Sopa?” then we ate dinner at a place Suzanna had been to many times before. I called my host mom to let her know, and she told me watch what you eat! Dinner was an interesting experience. After we ate, I asked a worker what the address was so I could call a taxi. He said he would call one, and then was looking at two phones. I felt weird, so we said no thanks! He tried to give me a flower made out of a napkin, but I also said no thanks and we walked back near the movie theater to call cabs.

Saturday we met at Hannah’s to go to the equator! We took the bus to “El Mitad del Mundo” (the middle of the world) and went to the main attraction location. Not a lot of people wanted to go into the monument/museum, so we just took the generic pictures posing over the line. Hannah and I mailed postcards home with stamps that cost $2 and we tried to go to a museum of a miniature Quito and other main cities, kinda like Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, but that was closed. We saw some dancers, and ate lunch in a cute little spot. The waiter told us how to find the original monument (they moved the first mitad del mundo monument, which is smaller, to a different location) The bus was a little questionable, with the drivers having no idea what we were talking about. We got off the bus, in seemingly the middle of nowhere. Luckily a woman also got off with us, and told us where to go. We found it! And then took the bus back immediately after taking more pictures. Including that of a cow lying under a tree.

We’ll have to go back though, because I really want to see those museums, and there is a crater from a collapsed volcano that has lots of beautiful plants and multiple species of birds. There is also supposedly the sight of the real equator line a few meters away from the tourist one.

Saturday afternoon/night was awesome-I watched TV with my mom, organized my pictures on my computer (one of those things on your to do list that never get done because it’s not really all that important) and chatted. My mom made an omelet, French fries and rice for dinner, and had me try a type of fruit to help my stomach. She took the seeds out of it after I didn’t like it, and added sugar, but it still tasted really weird and gross. I tried some though! Then my host sister came home, and we talked a lot about making dessert-I’m gonna bake with them hopefully soon! I showed them pictures of my family, and we had some cookies that Suzy (my host sister) brought home. Then I called home to tell them about the equator and went to sleep…I’m having trouble sleeping lately even though I feel more settled. It’s hard to fall asleep, and I wake up a few times.  It could also be because one of the dogs, Auto, basically lives outside my window and is always jumping up against the gate.

Sunday I went to Mass with my mom again, and then had a nice long nap.  I caught up on my reading for school, watched more TV of course, and had a DELICIOUS lunch! Sunday is a big lunch day, and since lunch is already the biggest meal of the day they really meant business today. My host mom made some sort of potato pancake type thing, although it was more like a thicker squished ball of potato, a salad made of green peppers, cucumbers, tomato and avocado chunks, sausage that looked like hot dogs but tasted way better, corn with really big kernels, and mango juice. Oh and for dessert, freshly made crepes with apples and lemon juice. SO GOOD.

We went out for Kara’s 21^st birthday, and I finally ran into Alicia Pacelli, a girl from SMC who studied in Ecuador last semester and stayed for another. I had a really good chicken/mushroom sandwich with juice and shared a brownie. Then we went to a different spot so Kara could get her first ever glass of wine, and she probably drank about a half inch, but it was well worth it.

Okay that's all for now. I'll send my address in an e-mail later so that it's a bit more private.

I'm still really homesick, and I unfortunately never experienced that "honeymoon" feeling when I first arrived. I know I will love it I just wish that love came right now.

I miss my gypsies! and all that Vermont snow and chilly weather! feel free to comment or email me at my smc account for more info or lovin!