So I know this is pretty late, but I'm trying to use Jeff's cancelled flight as an excuse to update my blog. I'll start with Otavalo and see how far we get...
We spent a weekend in Otavalo, about an hour or so outside of Quito and it was definitely an experience! Everyone, students and RDs included, was assigned to an indigenous family for the weekend. I have to say it was better than I expected. I really thought we'd be sleeping on dirt floors, but no, we all stayed in cabins next to or behind the houses. There werre three of us all told in my "house", myself and 2 other students. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Before we arrived in Otavalo we stopped in a house to see how the weaving of tapestries and clothes is done, and that's where the adventure began.
As most of you know, I like my high heels and hiking isn't something I would do for fun. Well, we stopped on our way to Otavalo at a waterfall (absolutely beautiful, but of course my pics were somehow deleted) for lunch. One of the students came over and said he had discovered a path to the top of the water fall and so a group of about 5 of us began climbing. It was okay at first, but then it went from light hiking to literally scaling rocks to make it to the top. I thin my favorite part was crossing a strip of land maybe 5 inches wide that was directly over the waterfall in order to continue higher. Seriously, I could have peed my pants. I have no idea how, but they found a cave, and not to be outdone by my students, I, too, crwled, perhaps shimmied would be a better word, into the humid, tiny, dark cave. Luckily, there were no bats (that I saw anyway) and it opened up directly over the waterfall which was pretty cool. I thought I was making peace with nature, until later that night that is.
After lunch, we drove a little further and all got off the bus in front of a house where we were supposed to try cuy (guinea pig),and Mario, our guide and one of the profs at the school, spoke with the home ownersto verify we were in the right place. Shortly thereafter we filed into the backroom of a tiny little house, all 28 of us. We thought it was kind of odd that they put us in a room like that, not to mention the fact that there were icons, crystal balls (I'm not kidding) and various dolls all over the only table in the room. Mario continued to ask the man about the cuy, and he said that of course, he could use the cuy in the ritual cleansing and then asked if all of us were there for a "cleansing." At that moment we realized we were at the house of a shaman and not at the place where cuy would be served, and we moved pretty quickly out of there and onto the bus.
When we finally made it to the right house, we all took turns at weaving (I'm awful, go figure) and then they dressed up 2 students in the traditional clothing of otavaleños. The women wear dark blue long skirts with a peasant looking top, necklaces and bracelets of coral, slippers (kind of), and a sash that is theirs and theirs alone. Meaning, sisters and friends don't swap.
From there they took us to the families' houses. I won't lie, I was apprehensive. Oh, I did I mention it is even colder there than in Quito--like 2 sweaters, 2 pairs of socks and jeans cold? Yeah, that part I wasn't entirely ready for. Our family was very nice, although didn't want to talk too much. The daughter (Ira) and mom (Rosa) spoke both Spanish and Quichua and tried to teach us a few words/phrases in quichua but we couldn't do it since the sounds are totally different than Spanish, and well, it was just hard. We dropped our things off in the cabin and went to the house to help with dinner. The house...how to describe the house. If you were facing the house from the cabin and went to the left, there was an eat-in kitchen with electricity and a gas stove. If you went to the right you either went into the mother's-in-law room, which was 3 walls with blankets on the floor for a bed. She was a character! I think she had to be 85 yrs old, she was tiny, tiny, walked around barefoot, spoke only quichua, and could move around faster and with more agility than I could even on my best day. I'll come back to that in a second. Off the side of her room was the bathroom--totally without door or ceiling. I can only imagine how cold that must be.The third option for entering the house was to proceed straight in where you would find the daughter's room, much like hte mother-in-law, and connected to that was the parents' room. There was, however, a small TV in their room which surprised me, although overall, everything was stripped down to the basics. Between the house and the cabin was a pen with guinea pigs, and further back was a field with their cows.
To help with dinner we had to go on a hike to another field nearbyish to get the cows and maiz. The mother-on-law made it up and down the hills (which were pretty steep) without a problem, while I ws sliding and constantly loosing my balance (no, I was not wearing heels, BTW). She thought that was hysterical and laughed it up long and hard. We got bck to the house and I was given the responsibility of stirring a pot with who knows what in it, but apparently they could see that I am lacking in kitchen skills, because after maybe 30 seconds they asked me to have a seat. It got dark pretty quick and that was when the bitter cold kicked in. I have no idea how Rosa and Ira did--neither complained about the cold and they were in skirts and slipperlike sandals! Anyway, dinner was great--soup (locro), an omlet with veggies from the garden, rice and a small salad. The only nonvegetarian student in my group had cuy as her main course, but she did a good job! No faces or complaints, at least at the dinner table. We went to bed right after dinner (8:30) but not before Rosa lit a fire in the fireplace for us in the cabin. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it went out pretty quickly. I was okay more or less with the cold, but then at around 3 AM I was awakened with a chorus of roosters, literally a chorus. There were a few nearby that would call out and then some further away would respond. This went on AAAALLLLL night. I love animals and everything, being a vegetarian I would never wih them harm, but I was ready to go rooster hunting by 7AM. The shower was an experience--it ws electric instead of gas! The first mornign I oculd not get it to work so a very cold shower (no, really, ice cold) complemented my long, cold night.
Breakfast with the fam was great--Rosa made a type of fried bread (the best bread I have ever had in my life), eggs and salad. The bus with the other students arrived pretty quickly after that and took us to Otavalo itself, a town know for its artesanias, made by people from the area. It was tent after tent for block after block of people selling everything from blankets to jewelry, bags to pottery. We could have stayed there all day, and easily have spent hundreds of dollars. I realized I'm awful at bargaining, and overpaid on pretty much everything, but it was worth it.
We went back home to the families that evening and the 3 of us (myself and the students) went for a walk. We saw more roosters (argh!), mounds of cow poop the likes of which I had never seen before (don't worry, I didn't take pics of any) :), and spectacular views of the mountains and evening sky. We got back and found Rosa and Ira embroidering blouses. They showed us 2 they had just finished, and I almost bought one, but it was $40. They can ask so much one because I'm a girnga and two because it was very detailed and all sewn by hand. One of the blouses took 3 months to make!
After dinner we went back to the cabin and Rosa agan lit a fire for us, this time a strong one. Unfortunately, we realized after about 20 minutes that the room was filling rapidly with smoke and that the chiminea must have been blocked. We put the fire out and ended up sleeping with the windows wide open. It was a cold, long night. Of course, I can't say it was lonely--the gallos started again at 3AM!
All in all it was an awesome expereince. I know that I could never live like that--2 and a half days nearly broke me. I guess my aspirations of going to Guatemala and living in a tiny pueblo are out. It really drove home the fact that we lead rather privileged lives in the US. I never thought I'd be so grateful for hot, running, potable water in my life. I guess it's just the little things like that that aren't actually so little for so many people, that I no longer take for granted.
As a final note, the 2 students who stayed in the house got horribly sick (diarrea, gas) on Sunday night. I was wicked gasy, but luckily it skipped me somehow. Hopefully, the next update will be that Jeff is either en route or already here! It's already been 53 days...
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Cayambe
Well, today we were supposed to go to Cayambe and Mitad del Mundo (Ecuator), but as they say, in Ecaudor, anything is possible adn nothing is certain! Did that ever ring true today! I was supposed to take a bus at 7AM to go to Cayambe to see a parade and then another bus to Mitad del Mundo, but I woke up late and James' family decided they wanted to drive there. The kicker is they wanted to leave at 6:45AM and I had just finished showering at that point. I opted out and was going to take a bus later in the day to meet them at Mitad del Mundo, but that didn't quite turn out. Stela offered to go with me on the bus because she had never been to Cayambe. Easy enough. So we looked up the bus schedules and info online and went happily to the bus stop, thinking we had all the time in the world. Well, we waited 30 min and the bus never came, so we took a taxi to what we thought was a bus stop for Cayambe, only to get there and have the taxi driver tell us they changed the schedule 2 months ago and the bus no longer stops there. He told us another way to get to a different stop, so we hopped on the Ecovia, took it to the end, and then were told that no, there are no buses to Cayambe from there. So we hopped on 2 more buses, asked help from fellow bus passengers and final made it to the terminal, after 3 hours of wondering around Quito.
When we arrived to Cayambi, we tried to meet up with James and his family, but the place was crazy! The parade had started 2 hrs late so it was still in full swing and most of the streets weren't passable. We eventually tried to work our way through the crowd and thought we found the plaza where they were at, only to discover that we had gone in the exact opposite direction of where we needed to be.
Anyway, we all did meet up and left after the parade ended and went for lunch. I was super pumped because they had a locro and cheese soup (potato, avocado, cheese) which I've been dying to try. When it came to the table I took a couple of bited only to discover that there were pieces of shredded chicken in it! So much for that idea. James' family drove, so we piled in the car after lunch and went around trying bizcochos at different places throughout the city. Bizcocho is kind of like a biscotti, but has more flavor. En route, we stumbled upon a place that served chicha, an alcoholic bev made from a plant that I had heard lots about but was hesitant to try. Well, Mario, the house dad ordered a pitcher of it, so we all had 2 small glasses...it was different. It's a creamy white color and the one we had was fairly sweet and sour at the same time. Apparently in the Amazon the chicha is chewed up, spit into a container and then passed around--oh, and it's really rude not to take a sip. I have that to look forward to in August, although this experience was nothing quite like that. Glad I tried it, don't need to do it again!
The family gave Stela and I a ride home (it's about 75 min or so from Quito without traffic) and on the way back we stopped at the original, indigenous Mitad del Mundo. We stayed in the parking lot though because they wanted to charge us to enter. I have some pics that I'll put up later. We also stopped to take photos of some incredible views (Cayambe is higher in elevation than Quito). Mario was a rito--he's been a bus driver for years, has the gift of the gab and knows stories about everything, everyone and can show you places a little more off the beaten path.
Other than that, a pretty chill weekend. I made dinner on Friday night (chinese noodles with veggies and a peanut sauce) that Stela liked so much we made it again for lunch on Saturday. Oh, Friday we took the students to a mercado artesanl about 7 blocks from the school. They have everything there--clothes, coffee, souveneirs, jewelry, pottery. I picked 2 sweaters for 10/each that have already come in handy considering how cold it has been here. I held myself back though since we're going to Otavalo this weekend.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Abrazos muy fuertes!
When we arrived to Cayambi, we tried to meet up with James and his family, but the place was crazy! The parade had started 2 hrs late so it was still in full swing and most of the streets weren't passable. We eventually tried to work our way through the crowd and thought we found the plaza where they were at, only to discover that we had gone in the exact opposite direction of where we needed to be.
Anyway, we all did meet up and left after the parade ended and went for lunch. I was super pumped because they had a locro and cheese soup (potato, avocado, cheese) which I've been dying to try. When it came to the table I took a couple of bited only to discover that there were pieces of shredded chicken in it! So much for that idea. James' family drove, so we piled in the car after lunch and went around trying bizcochos at different places throughout the city. Bizcocho is kind of like a biscotti, but has more flavor. En route, we stumbled upon a place that served chicha, an alcoholic bev made from a plant that I had heard lots about but was hesitant to try. Well, Mario, the house dad ordered a pitcher of it, so we all had 2 small glasses...it was different. It's a creamy white color and the one we had was fairly sweet and sour at the same time. Apparently in the Amazon the chicha is chewed up, spit into a container and then passed around--oh, and it's really rude not to take a sip. I have that to look forward to in August, although this experience was nothing quite like that. Glad I tried it, don't need to do it again!
The family gave Stela and I a ride home (it's about 75 min or so from Quito without traffic) and on the way back we stopped at the original, indigenous Mitad del Mundo. We stayed in the parking lot though because they wanted to charge us to enter. I have some pics that I'll put up later. We also stopped to take photos of some incredible views (Cayambe is higher in elevation than Quito). Mario was a rito--he's been a bus driver for years, has the gift of the gab and knows stories about everything, everyone and can show you places a little more off the beaten path.
Other than that, a pretty chill weekend. I made dinner on Friday night (chinese noodles with veggies and a peanut sauce) that Stela liked so much we made it again for lunch on Saturday. Oh, Friday we took the students to a mercado artesanl about 7 blocks from the school. They have everything there--clothes, coffee, souveneirs, jewelry, pottery. I picked 2 sweaters for 10/each that have already come in handy considering how cold it has been here. I held myself back though since we're going to Otavalo this weekend.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Abrazos muy fuertes!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Esmeraldas
Well, this past weekend was our first excursion as a group, and to be honest, I feel like I am in dire need of a vacation, sans students. The bus trip to the beach was about 5 or 6 hours long, although the incredible countryside and views made it go by pretty quickly! I took some photos but they didn´t turn out as well as I would have liked. Regardless, I´ll post them later this week.
Anyway, the bus trip itself was uneventful--everyone felt pretty queasy from the trip (the lanes were narrow and winding), but no one become seriously ill. We stayed at a private beach, Same, at the hotel Casa Blanca (yes, White House). The groungs were expansive, and it took 5-10 minutes to get to the beach from where we were staying. There was a small supermarket next to the hotel which was nice, considering any food or drinks would have had to been bought on the beach. The rooms were just okay, in spite of it being a four star hotel. Honestly, I think they skimped on some things because they knew we were with college students. For example, shortly after we arrived I wanted to take a shower. I turned the water on and the shower head went flying across the room and water flooded out of the pipe. Also, the fuse had been blown so the lights in the bedroom didn´t work. We were supposed to have a table and chairs on the balcony, but they weren´t set up either. Oh well. It was good at least to get out of Quito for a while! There was a pool there and the windows had screens, so I can at least be grateful for that! :)
Th beach itself was great! The water was warm and the sand clean. It was interesting though, I´ve never seen sand like that before. It was like a dark brown mixed with gray so that when you came out of the water your feet were covered in dark gray sand. The only real down side of the trip (other than essentially babysitting) was that it was cloudy the whole time! The sun peaked out for maybe an hour on Saturday, but that was really it.
On Friday night we had a bonfire on the beach which was pretty cool! Mario, one of the profs at the school and the guide for the trip, tried to teach us how to salsa, and sadly I´m starting to think I´m a lost cause. Even after trying to maneuver the basic steps for several minutes I couldn´t get the rhythm down. It was pretty awful. Regardless, James and I are going to look into salsa lessons here in Quito so that doesn´t happen again!
Saturday we went whale watching which was pretty neat, although we never saw more than the tail and the top part of the body. The boat trip out there was pretty brutal. We traveled for an hour in a rather ancient speed boat, chased whales for about 30 minutes and then had an hour trip back. Unfortunately, one of the students became very sick, but there was nothing we could do in the middle of the ocean. After that experience most of them bailed on the second boat trip scheduled for later that afternoon. We were supposed to take a big boat out (one with bathrooms, food and drinks) to see the other beaches in the area and some caves. Only 4 students were interested so we took the scary speed boat again. The second trip (in spite of the discomfort and yes bruises it caused on my derriere) was probably my favorite part of the trip. We more or less skipped the beaches and came to shore near some caves that were pretty incredible. After seeing the film The Descent I knew better than to go into the caves very far, but what little I did see was amazing. As you got closer to the caves, it seriously looked like they were alive--there were crabs and centipedes and I´m not sure what else crawling in and out of the pourous crevices. Creepy, but very cool!
Saturday night we went to Atacames, a popular beach town not too far away (30 min on bus). It was insane! There were people everywhere and it was almost impossible to make it from one place to the next. It was kind of like being on the Ecovia or the bus, but instead of being enclosed were were trying to cross sidewalks. We finally ended up at a discoteca on the beach which was pretty fun. They tried to teach me the salsa and merengue, but to no avail. Probably the most shocking part was that there were families at these clubs with their kids, like 4 yr old kids! That was a first for me. I told Stela and Fernanda about it and they were as surprised as I was, so I´m guessing that is not the norm. The DJ fell in love with one of the students and followed her around, dancing with her and then asking all the girls in the group to dance with him, too. I hid in a corner, praying to God he would not see me, but of course, he did. And inevitably, all the students saw him ask me to dance and began cheering and what not. Needless to say, after my dancing experiences in Ecuador I was not interested, but I eventually gave in and ´danced´ for all of 30 seconds with the little man and then quickly exited the makeshift dancefloor. We herded everyone out and got them back to the hotel by about 11:30 or midnight, although I think most continued partying until the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say there were some ashen faces Sunday morning at breakfast.
Sunday we tried to go to a river that had fresh water and was supposedly beautiful. Unfortunately, we drove around for a while trying to find it and when we got there it was nothing like what we were expecting. It was pretty dirty and polluted and swimming was out of the question. On a different note it was my first time in a town or a community so small and so impoverished. There was no running water and many of the little kids were bathing and brushing their teeth in the river. Th houses (which was commonplace to see on the trip to the beach) were built on stilts, often times with wood that was wider than bamboo, but just barely. It made me realize just how privileged I am living in the U.S., or even with the family in Quito.There was also a bridge that ran from one side of the river to the other. It looked like the other side was where they had crops of some kind. Only one person could cross it at once, and with the way it bowed and bounced, I decided against it.
After the river we went back to Atacames to pick up souveniers and look around. Most of the things for sale were kitsch-y--necklaces and earings and bracelets that were kind of tacky and a little over priced. It wasn´t as cray as Saturday night was, but it was still pretty hopping. Just so you can get a feel for it a little more (since I don´t have a picture), on either side of the narrow sidewalk were vendors. On the beach side of the sidewalk people were selling jewelry and the like, while the street side was packed with food vendors. Just past the jewelry stands were the hundreds upon hundreds of discotecas. So even though there weren´t as many people out on Sunday morning, it was still crazy!
Unfortunately, the trip ended on a low note for me: they served us lunch at noon, but the only vegetarian option was white rice (I ate more rice this past weekend than I would like to think about!). So I went to the store and made a meal out of Pringles, Oreos, a dark chocolate candybar, a juice box and a croissant. I was queasy the whole way back!
All told, is was good to come back to Quito where at least it´s usually sunny in the morning and the food is good! This week is pretty chill in terms of excursions (grading will be another story), although we´re talking about going to Cotopaxi this weekend so I can use my hiking boots at least two times while I´m here!
Anywa, hope everyone is doing well and I´ll post the pics later this week!
Un abrazo fuerte!
Anyway, the bus trip itself was uneventful--everyone felt pretty queasy from the trip (the lanes were narrow and winding), but no one become seriously ill. We stayed at a private beach, Same, at the hotel Casa Blanca (yes, White House). The groungs were expansive, and it took 5-10 minutes to get to the beach from where we were staying. There was a small supermarket next to the hotel which was nice, considering any food or drinks would have had to been bought on the beach. The rooms were just okay, in spite of it being a four star hotel. Honestly, I think they skimped on some things because they knew we were with college students. For example, shortly after we arrived I wanted to take a shower. I turned the water on and the shower head went flying across the room and water flooded out of the pipe. Also, the fuse had been blown so the lights in the bedroom didn´t work. We were supposed to have a table and chairs on the balcony, but they weren´t set up either. Oh well. It was good at least to get out of Quito for a while! There was a pool there and the windows had screens, so I can at least be grateful for that! :)
Th beach itself was great! The water was warm and the sand clean. It was interesting though, I´ve never seen sand like that before. It was like a dark brown mixed with gray so that when you came out of the water your feet were covered in dark gray sand. The only real down side of the trip (other than essentially babysitting) was that it was cloudy the whole time! The sun peaked out for maybe an hour on Saturday, but that was really it.
On Friday night we had a bonfire on the beach which was pretty cool! Mario, one of the profs at the school and the guide for the trip, tried to teach us how to salsa, and sadly I´m starting to think I´m a lost cause. Even after trying to maneuver the basic steps for several minutes I couldn´t get the rhythm down. It was pretty awful. Regardless, James and I are going to look into salsa lessons here in Quito so that doesn´t happen again!
Saturday we went whale watching which was pretty neat, although we never saw more than the tail and the top part of the body. The boat trip out there was pretty brutal. We traveled for an hour in a rather ancient speed boat, chased whales for about 30 minutes and then had an hour trip back. Unfortunately, one of the students became very sick, but there was nothing we could do in the middle of the ocean. After that experience most of them bailed on the second boat trip scheduled for later that afternoon. We were supposed to take a big boat out (one with bathrooms, food and drinks) to see the other beaches in the area and some caves. Only 4 students were interested so we took the scary speed boat again. The second trip (in spite of the discomfort and yes bruises it caused on my derriere) was probably my favorite part of the trip. We more or less skipped the beaches and came to shore near some caves that were pretty incredible. After seeing the film The Descent I knew better than to go into the caves very far, but what little I did see was amazing. As you got closer to the caves, it seriously looked like they were alive--there were crabs and centipedes and I´m not sure what else crawling in and out of the pourous crevices. Creepy, but very cool!
Saturday night we went to Atacames, a popular beach town not too far away (30 min on bus). It was insane! There were people everywhere and it was almost impossible to make it from one place to the next. It was kind of like being on the Ecovia or the bus, but instead of being enclosed were were trying to cross sidewalks. We finally ended up at a discoteca on the beach which was pretty fun. They tried to teach me the salsa and merengue, but to no avail. Probably the most shocking part was that there were families at these clubs with their kids, like 4 yr old kids! That was a first for me. I told Stela and Fernanda about it and they were as surprised as I was, so I´m guessing that is not the norm. The DJ fell in love with one of the students and followed her around, dancing with her and then asking all the girls in the group to dance with him, too. I hid in a corner, praying to God he would not see me, but of course, he did. And inevitably, all the students saw him ask me to dance and began cheering and what not. Needless to say, after my dancing experiences in Ecuador I was not interested, but I eventually gave in and ´danced´ for all of 30 seconds with the little man and then quickly exited the makeshift dancefloor. We herded everyone out and got them back to the hotel by about 11:30 or midnight, although I think most continued partying until the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say there were some ashen faces Sunday morning at breakfast.
Sunday we tried to go to a river that had fresh water and was supposedly beautiful. Unfortunately, we drove around for a while trying to find it and when we got there it was nothing like what we were expecting. It was pretty dirty and polluted and swimming was out of the question. On a different note it was my first time in a town or a community so small and so impoverished. There was no running water and many of the little kids were bathing and brushing their teeth in the river. Th houses (which was commonplace to see on the trip to the beach) were built on stilts, often times with wood that was wider than bamboo, but just barely. It made me realize just how privileged I am living in the U.S., or even with the family in Quito.There was also a bridge that ran from one side of the river to the other. It looked like the other side was where they had crops of some kind. Only one person could cross it at once, and with the way it bowed and bounced, I decided against it.
After the river we went back to Atacames to pick up souveniers and look around. Most of the things for sale were kitsch-y--necklaces and earings and bracelets that were kind of tacky and a little over priced. It wasn´t as cray as Saturday night was, but it was still pretty hopping. Just so you can get a feel for it a little more (since I don´t have a picture), on either side of the narrow sidewalk were vendors. On the beach side of the sidewalk people were selling jewelry and the like, while the street side was packed with food vendors. Just past the jewelry stands were the hundreds upon hundreds of discotecas. So even though there weren´t as many people out on Sunday morning, it was still crazy!
Unfortunately, the trip ended on a low note for me: they served us lunch at noon, but the only vegetarian option was white rice (I ate more rice this past weekend than I would like to think about!). So I went to the store and made a meal out of Pringles, Oreos, a dark chocolate candybar, a juice box and a croissant. I was queasy the whole way back!
All told, is was good to come back to Quito where at least it´s usually sunny in the morning and the food is good! This week is pretty chill in terms of excursions (grading will be another story), although we´re talking about going to Cotopaxi this weekend so I can use my hiking boots at least two times while I´m here!
Anywa, hope everyone is doing well and I´ll post the pics later this week!
Un abrazo fuerte!
Monday, June 23, 2008
A very cold summer weekend...
So, as you´ve seen, I finally figured out how to post pictures! James is sending me some more that he took inside the church, la Compania de Jesus which is pretty impressive, and I´ll try to post those later.
So, as usual with me, I am my father´s daughter, let´s talk about the food! It was an up and down week(end). Thursday night I had pea soup with popcorn literally in the soup. Um, it was okay, but as I´m not too hot on the peas, I could go without it. Friday night though was awesome and more than made up for the pea/popcorn concoction! The students had an exam and James and I stayed near campus to grade all day. We started out at a cafe, I Road, which was really nice with some interesting combinations like a Banana Mocha or a Strawberry Mocha, but the prices were akin to those at Starbucks. And you couldn´t smoke (I know, I should quit). Anyway, from there we went to our favorite gringo restaurant near the school, the Magic Bean Cafe. I don´t think I mentioned this before, but the whole neighborhood where the school is located is known as Gringolandia because of the amount of tourists and well, gringos. Anyway, we finally left there around 8 and on our way out ran into all the students, literally all 25 of them. They were going out to celebrate 2 students´ birthdays and so we tagged along for a drink. Before I say anything else, it was so cute that they were all together--the cliques and rivalries have yet to begin, which is a wonderful thing. Anyway, we went to Mulligan´s, yes an Irish bar in Gringolandia. It was weird, one to be out with them and two to be in Ecuador at an Irish pub (although they told me today there´s another one they like more, Fool McCool´s or something ridiculous like that). Anyway, we stayed for maybe 10 minutes and had to take a cab back to my house because Stela was preparing Brazilian food. It was fantastic! She made everything by hand and they were like pastries that looked like miniempanadas filled with cheese, something that looked like a flat muffin filled with choclo, and something else that looked like minicheese sticks filled with yuca. She also made fresh ahi. It was fantastic!
On Saturday James, Fernanda and I went to the Museo Guayasamin in Quito. I picked up a couple posters of some of his work (Ternura and Nina llorando)--you should check his work out on Google images if nowhere else. Alot of the pieces at this particular museum were about suffering, not just in Latin America, but all over the world. There´s a small fire/flame that is lit and stays lit in the middle of the museum, too. It´s spectacular. Hands are also a really big thing in his pieces, be it the fist, the clenched hand or the outreached hand, they were everywhere in his works. Anyway, we took a cab up some pretty winding hills to get the museum, and the view was breathtaking. I included the photos from where the museum was in the slideshow, although the fog was so intense that day, that by the time we left the museum you couldn´t even see the mountains anymore! It was a total white out.
Later we went to the music fest (too tired to go on Friday) but we didn´t stay too long. First of all it was FREEZING! I had on jeans, 2 sweaters, gymmies and I was still cold. Secondly, the music went from okay to yuck. There was a hip hop performance going on when we got there and they were actually really good. The next group though was irritating--the lead singer sang off key more often than I do. (No, I´m not exaggerating!) It was a pretty small event, but it was still good to go. Fernanda´s boyfriend met up with us there and the four of us headed over to Gringolandia for drinks and cards (yes, that´s where the picture is from) and then to a Mongolian BBQ restauran (fine, I´m almost as bad as the students). All told, it was a pretty quiet night.
Sunday I tried a new fruit juice, taxo. Stela makes a fresh juice almost everyday and it was really good--pretty thick and creamy, but refreshing nevertheless. That afternoon she, James and myself went to the Brazilian fest which was kind of a bust. The only vegetarian dish they had was white rice :(, and shortly after the performance/play began it started storming. We hung out under the tents trying to wait it out, but it was pretty relentless and cold (again). I´m going with Fernanda this week to Forever XXI to pick up some more sweaters. The weather has just been too crazy--warm in the morning and then it cools off as the day goes on! Oh well, this weekend we go to the beach so hopefully it will be sunnier and warmer there!
Sorry for the randomness--I´m kind of all over the place lately. Anyway, hopefully by the next time I post I´ll have tried locro! Un abrazo fuerte!
So, as usual with me, I am my father´s daughter, let´s talk about the food! It was an up and down week(end). Thursday night I had pea soup with popcorn literally in the soup. Um, it was okay, but as I´m not too hot on the peas, I could go without it. Friday night though was awesome and more than made up for the pea/popcorn concoction! The students had an exam and James and I stayed near campus to grade all day. We started out at a cafe, I Road, which was really nice with some interesting combinations like a Banana Mocha or a Strawberry Mocha, but the prices were akin to those at Starbucks. And you couldn´t smoke (I know, I should quit). Anyway, from there we went to our favorite gringo restaurant near the school, the Magic Bean Cafe. I don´t think I mentioned this before, but the whole neighborhood where the school is located is known as Gringolandia because of the amount of tourists and well, gringos. Anyway, we finally left there around 8 and on our way out ran into all the students, literally all 25 of them. They were going out to celebrate 2 students´ birthdays and so we tagged along for a drink. Before I say anything else, it was so cute that they were all together--the cliques and rivalries have yet to begin, which is a wonderful thing. Anyway, we went to Mulligan´s, yes an Irish bar in Gringolandia. It was weird, one to be out with them and two to be in Ecuador at an Irish pub (although they told me today there´s another one they like more, Fool McCool´s or something ridiculous like that). Anyway, we stayed for maybe 10 minutes and had to take a cab back to my house because Stela was preparing Brazilian food. It was fantastic! She made everything by hand and they were like pastries that looked like miniempanadas filled with cheese, something that looked like a flat muffin filled with choclo, and something else that looked like minicheese sticks filled with yuca. She also made fresh ahi. It was fantastic!
On Saturday James, Fernanda and I went to the Museo Guayasamin in Quito. I picked up a couple posters of some of his work (Ternura and Nina llorando)--you should check his work out on Google images if nowhere else. Alot of the pieces at this particular museum were about suffering, not just in Latin America, but all over the world. There´s a small fire/flame that is lit and stays lit in the middle of the museum, too. It´s spectacular. Hands are also a really big thing in his pieces, be it the fist, the clenched hand or the outreached hand, they were everywhere in his works. Anyway, we took a cab up some pretty winding hills to get the museum, and the view was breathtaking. I included the photos from where the museum was in the slideshow, although the fog was so intense that day, that by the time we left the museum you couldn´t even see the mountains anymore! It was a total white out.
Later we went to the music fest (too tired to go on Friday) but we didn´t stay too long. First of all it was FREEZING! I had on jeans, 2 sweaters, gymmies and I was still cold. Secondly, the music went from okay to yuck. There was a hip hop performance going on when we got there and they were actually really good. The next group though was irritating--the lead singer sang off key more often than I do. (No, I´m not exaggerating!) It was a pretty small event, but it was still good to go. Fernanda´s boyfriend met up with us there and the four of us headed over to Gringolandia for drinks and cards (yes, that´s where the picture is from) and then to a Mongolian BBQ restauran (fine, I´m almost as bad as the students). All told, it was a pretty quiet night.
Sunday I tried a new fruit juice, taxo. Stela makes a fresh juice almost everyday and it was really good--pretty thick and creamy, but refreshing nevertheless. That afternoon she, James and myself went to the Brazilian fest which was kind of a bust. The only vegetarian dish they had was white rice :(, and shortly after the performance/play began it started storming. We hung out under the tents trying to wait it out, but it was pretty relentless and cold (again). I´m going with Fernanda this week to Forever XXI to pick up some more sweaters. The weather has just been too crazy--warm in the morning and then it cools off as the day goes on! Oh well, this weekend we go to the beach so hopefully it will be sunnier and warmer there!
Sorry for the randomness--I´m kind of all over the place lately. Anyway, hopefully by the next time I post I´ll have tried locro! Un abrazo fuerte!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
And so it has begun...
It´s only Weds, but it feels like the weekend should already be here! James and I were at the airport again on Sunday night until 1AM and then I had to be up by 5:30 Monday morning for the first day of class. But, all of the students have arrived safe and sound, and there won´t be any more airport visits until August. Thank goodness!
Monday was a crazy day--we had to move a student to a different family (there had another international student there which is against the rules and had a liking for KFC that was more than excessive). We took the students to El Jardin, a mall sort of close to my house to get cell phones and school supplies. Not too exciting, just a mall, although it was one of the biggest malls I´ve seen. It gave Easton a run for its money! I gave Stela and Fernanda gifts from the states (a picnicish blanket and some lotion) and Stela surprised me with gifts from Brasill--a bracelet and key chains and a headband. Que chevere!
I am slowly becoming accustomed to public transportation here, although cossing the street is reminiscent of Frogger! I was finally able to maneuver both bus lines near me house to get to and from school all by myself! Although on Monday, one of the bus lines, the Ecovia was sooo packed you couldn´t move at all! I´m not kidding. The bus was starting and stopping pretty abruptly and I accidently hit a woman in the head with my elbow. I apologized profusely but it didn´t seem to help the matter any. I will say I like the Ecovia because it has definite stops, but it´s always super packed. The other line is nice becasue it´s closer, but it doesn´t always come to a complete stop when you try to board or exit the bus. At any rate, my arms are developing some srious muscles from hanging on to the rails for dear life as we stop and start on both routes! :)
The pollution and altitude have finally begun to affect me. I had an awful headache all day today and felt short of breath. And the smog is really bad in the morning and evening during rush hour traffic. The other evening, James and I were exploring the city, walking around for a good 2 hours and by the time I got home I felt like I was covered in soot and had a hard time breathing. I suppose smoking doesn´t help, ubt it does keep me sane(ish).
Speaking of sanity, classes are in full swing and the students have been very, um, needy. I was working with 2 yesterday from 5-8PM and again today from 4-7:30. The days have been very long and exhausting. I miss the first couple of days when I could sleep in (okay until 8 or so), drink coffee and just chat with Stela and Fernanda. At least the weekend is almost here!
I think Stela wants to make me gain some weight with the amount of food she is serving me. A couple nights ago we had fake meat patties that were, well you could so very tough, (although Italian dressing can make everything better) with rice and veggies. Last night we had a soup with kale and choclo, which reminded me of garbanzo beans, but lighter in texture and color. Okay, I know that doesn{t sound like a ton of food, but I came home for lunch today and she served me a huge portion of rice, an even larger portion of mashed potato, and a bean salad. I was grateful for the fiber, but, wow, I felt like I needed to go up at least one size in my jeans after that! The food is really good, in spite of the ridiculously large portions, even for me!
This weekend we are going to a music festival on Friday nt and a museum and the music fest again on Saturday. On Sunday there is a Brazilian festival, and Stela is going to take James and I to that. We might also go to the Brazilian embassy to hear a lecture and receive a book from a noted Brazilian author on Friday.
In terms of the excursions, some like the Galapogos, are still up in the air. Several students are not going, although I heard them discussing other places they would like to visit that week on their own. All of that to say if they all leave Quito, I get to leave, as well. Keep your fingers crossed! I do get to go on the trip to the coast, specifically to Esmeraldas, next weekend, which I have heard amazing things about. When Jeff comes in August we´ll both go with the school to the ecuator and to Mindo, a butterfly reserve that also has some outdoor sports. It will be good to have him here to experience all these things with me, as well as just to see him again. I haven´t been too homesick, it´s been too busy for that to happen just yet. Nothing like my experiences in Spain or Mexico where I was pretty homesick for large parts of the trip. Ah students, a curse and a blessing!
I´ll upload pictures next week from the visits to Centro Historico and the festivals so everyone can at least have some idea of what I´m talking about, and maybe decide she or he really wants to come visit...
Monday was a crazy day--we had to move a student to a different family (there had another international student there which is against the rules and had a liking for KFC that was more than excessive). We took the students to El Jardin, a mall sort of close to my house to get cell phones and school supplies. Not too exciting, just a mall, although it was one of the biggest malls I´ve seen. It gave Easton a run for its money! I gave Stela and Fernanda gifts from the states (a picnicish blanket and some lotion) and Stela surprised me with gifts from Brasill--a bracelet and key chains and a headband. Que chevere!
I am slowly becoming accustomed to public transportation here, although cossing the street is reminiscent of Frogger! I was finally able to maneuver both bus lines near me house to get to and from school all by myself! Although on Monday, one of the bus lines, the Ecovia was sooo packed you couldn´t move at all! I´m not kidding. The bus was starting and stopping pretty abruptly and I accidently hit a woman in the head with my elbow. I apologized profusely but it didn´t seem to help the matter any. I will say I like the Ecovia because it has definite stops, but it´s always super packed. The other line is nice becasue it´s closer, but it doesn´t always come to a complete stop when you try to board or exit the bus. At any rate, my arms are developing some srious muscles from hanging on to the rails for dear life as we stop and start on both routes! :)
The pollution and altitude have finally begun to affect me. I had an awful headache all day today and felt short of breath. And the smog is really bad in the morning and evening during rush hour traffic. The other evening, James and I were exploring the city, walking around for a good 2 hours and by the time I got home I felt like I was covered in soot and had a hard time breathing. I suppose smoking doesn´t help, ubt it does keep me sane(ish).
Speaking of sanity, classes are in full swing and the students have been very, um, needy. I was working with 2 yesterday from 5-8PM and again today from 4-7:30. The days have been very long and exhausting. I miss the first couple of days when I could sleep in (okay until 8 or so), drink coffee and just chat with Stela and Fernanda. At least the weekend is almost here!
I think Stela wants to make me gain some weight with the amount of food she is serving me. A couple nights ago we had fake meat patties that were, well you could so very tough, (although Italian dressing can make everything better) with rice and veggies. Last night we had a soup with kale and choclo, which reminded me of garbanzo beans, but lighter in texture and color. Okay, I know that doesn{t sound like a ton of food, but I came home for lunch today and she served me a huge portion of rice, an even larger portion of mashed potato, and a bean salad. I was grateful for the fiber, but, wow, I felt like I needed to go up at least one size in my jeans after that! The food is really good, in spite of the ridiculously large portions, even for me!
This weekend we are going to a music festival on Friday nt and a museum and the music fest again on Saturday. On Sunday there is a Brazilian festival, and Stela is going to take James and I to that. We might also go to the Brazilian embassy to hear a lecture and receive a book from a noted Brazilian author on Friday.
In terms of the excursions, some like the Galapogos, are still up in the air. Several students are not going, although I heard them discussing other places they would like to visit that week on their own. All of that to say if they all leave Quito, I get to leave, as well. Keep your fingers crossed! I do get to go on the trip to the coast, specifically to Esmeraldas, next weekend, which I have heard amazing things about. When Jeff comes in August we´ll both go with the school to the ecuator and to Mindo, a butterfly reserve that also has some outdoor sports. It will be good to have him here to experience all these things with me, as well as just to see him again. I haven´t been too homesick, it´s been too busy for that to happen just yet. Nothing like my experiences in Spain or Mexico where I was pretty homesick for large parts of the trip. Ah students, a curse and a blessing!
I´ll upload pictures next week from the visits to Centro Historico and the festivals so everyone can at least have some idea of what I´m talking about, and maybe decide she or he really wants to come visit...
Sunday, June 15, 2008
My first weekend!
So I´ve survived my first few days in Ecuador and I love it! Granted, everytime I leave my house I get lost, but I´m more or less familiar with the area around the school and taxis are super cheap (it doesn´t cost more than $2 to get almost anywhere)so that helps.
The flight here was una locura--I have never experienced turbulence quite like that before. HOnestly, I thought we were going to crash, but we made it okay. My house mom, Stela, and her daughter, Fernanda, were waiting for me at the airport and brought me back to their house. I was terrified in the taxi on the way to their house--it seems like the lanes are more for show than anything else because our taxi driver was riding in between two of them for a good part of the time, and almost took out a few pedestrians on the way! Stela is from Brazil and has been in Ecuador 23 years or so and Fernanda is about 19 and attends the university. Their apartment is fantastic! Bright and airy with a view of the mountains. They know I´m vegetarian and have been more than accomodating. Neither of them eats meet frequetly so it wasn´t a big deal having me there. Also, Stela makes an amazingly strong and bitter coffee for me in the morning--it´s not the iced mocha Jeff and I always make but it´s super good and does its job. For lunch on Friday I had corn on the cob, cheese, potatoes that were round, bolied and seasoned and abas--they are similar to edamame in that you bite off the top and squeeze out the bean inside, although they were oval and a grayish brownish color. Different but good. :)
Friday was my first experience with the buses here. Stela took me to the stop and rode with me so I would be able to figure out how to get to school. Honsetly, even the el at rush hour can´t compete with the amount of people crammed into the buses! And before crossing the street I say a little prayer and hold my breath, although I´m slowly getting used to the traffic/roads here. In a few weeks I probably won´t notice it.
We had a meeting at the school on Friday and all the profs seem very nice. Apart from the planned excursions to Esmeraldas, Otavalo, Mindo, the rain forest and Galapogos, we´re taking the students to several mountains, salsa lessons, to see an afro-ecuatorian group, among other things. I´m very excited!
Saturday we went to the Centro Historico in Quito. The roads there are teeny tiny and it´s packed with museums and churches. The colonial influence is impressive. One of the churches, La Compania has gold on the walls, ceiling, everywhere! It was breathtaking. Unfortunately, we weren´t allowed to take pictures, but I have a pamphlet with some photos and a picture of the outside that I´ll post later this week. From there we (James, the other Resident Director) and I went to the airport to begin meeting the students. Unfortunately we were there until 1AM and then had to meet the students at 10:30 the next morning to see how their first night was and grab lunch. There are 25 students, a huge group, but a good group. Unfortunately, we needed a restaurant that could accomodate all of us that was nearby, so we grabbed pizza across the street from Parque Carolina, where we all met. The pizza was pretty good, although the best part was ahi (aji?), a spicy condiment less chunky than salsa, but really, really good!
I think other than the traffic, the biggest adjustment has been the bathroom. If you don´t know, look it up! Erin gave me a heads up on it, but I didn´t completely believe her. I do now!
This week will be pretty busy with classes starting at 8AM tomorrow, but I think keeping busy has helped distract me, at least so far. Anyway, I´ll write more later this week.
Un abrazo fuerte!
The flight here was una locura--I have never experienced turbulence quite like that before. HOnestly, I thought we were going to crash, but we made it okay. My house mom, Stela, and her daughter, Fernanda, were waiting for me at the airport and brought me back to their house. I was terrified in the taxi on the way to their house--it seems like the lanes are more for show than anything else because our taxi driver was riding in between two of them for a good part of the time, and almost took out a few pedestrians on the way! Stela is from Brazil and has been in Ecuador 23 years or so and Fernanda is about 19 and attends the university. Their apartment is fantastic! Bright and airy with a view of the mountains. They know I´m vegetarian and have been more than accomodating. Neither of them eats meet frequetly so it wasn´t a big deal having me there. Also, Stela makes an amazingly strong and bitter coffee for me in the morning--it´s not the iced mocha Jeff and I always make but it´s super good and does its job. For lunch on Friday I had corn on the cob, cheese, potatoes that were round, bolied and seasoned and abas--they are similar to edamame in that you bite off the top and squeeze out the bean inside, although they were oval and a grayish brownish color. Different but good. :)
Friday was my first experience with the buses here. Stela took me to the stop and rode with me so I would be able to figure out how to get to school. Honsetly, even the el at rush hour can´t compete with the amount of people crammed into the buses! And before crossing the street I say a little prayer and hold my breath, although I´m slowly getting used to the traffic/roads here. In a few weeks I probably won´t notice it.
We had a meeting at the school on Friday and all the profs seem very nice. Apart from the planned excursions to Esmeraldas, Otavalo, Mindo, the rain forest and Galapogos, we´re taking the students to several mountains, salsa lessons, to see an afro-ecuatorian group, among other things. I´m very excited!
Saturday we went to the Centro Historico in Quito. The roads there are teeny tiny and it´s packed with museums and churches. The colonial influence is impressive. One of the churches, La Compania has gold on the walls, ceiling, everywhere! It was breathtaking. Unfortunately, we weren´t allowed to take pictures, but I have a pamphlet with some photos and a picture of the outside that I´ll post later this week. From there we (James, the other Resident Director) and I went to the airport to begin meeting the students. Unfortunately we were there until 1AM and then had to meet the students at 10:30 the next morning to see how their first night was and grab lunch. There are 25 students, a huge group, but a good group. Unfortunately, we needed a restaurant that could accomodate all of us that was nearby, so we grabbed pizza across the street from Parque Carolina, where we all met. The pizza was pretty good, although the best part was ahi (aji?), a spicy condiment less chunky than salsa, but really, really good!
I think other than the traffic, the biggest adjustment has been the bathroom. If you don´t know, look it up! Erin gave me a heads up on it, but I didn´t completely believe her. I do now!
This week will be pretty busy with classes starting at 8AM tomorrow, but I think keeping busy has helped distract me, at least so far. Anyway, I´ll write more later this week.
Un abrazo fuerte!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I'm leaving in 8 hours!
Okay, I'm totally new at this blogging thing, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I hope it's an effective way to keep in touch with everyone. So anyway, here goes...
Well, it's almost time to go and I think I'm ready. At least in terms of the seemingly endless vaccinations today--I don't think I have ever had so many shots at once in my life! I'm excited about the trip, although I'm a little nervous, and more than a little sad about leaving. I know once I get there and classes start it'll be crazy busy and, actually, I think that's a good thing.
I'll try to post again over the weekend or early next week with a more interesting update, I'm just too tired for much else right now.
Well, it's almost time to go and I think I'm ready. At least in terms of the seemingly endless vaccinations today--I don't think I have ever had so many shots at once in my life! I'm excited about the trip, although I'm a little nervous, and more than a little sad about leaving. I know once I get there and classes start it'll be crazy busy and, actually, I think that's a good thing.
I'll try to post again over the weekend or early next week with a more interesting update, I'm just too tired for much else right now.
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