I WENT TO THE JUNGLE!!! Wooohoooo!!!
Last weekend, the Ambateñitas and I journeyed east into the Oriente for a jungle trip organized by the volunteer who lives there, in the town of Tena. We met some other Quito volunteers there, too, so it turned out to be a group of 10. The bus ride there was one of my least favorite so far...the "road" between the cities of Puyo and Tena is less than pleasant. Some sections are basically just a path of dirt and rocks, with some occasional cliffs that we thankfully did not fall off. On top of the bumpy and HOT ride (this is where being on the Equator sucks), we had probably 100 people on our bus. At one point, the bus driver´s assistant who collects the money was hanging out the front door holding the bus with one hand and a kid in the other. There were pregnant women galore on the bus, and it really made me wonder about the availability of contraceptives. I´m pretty sure the population of Puyo and Tena and all the town in between is about to multiply tenfold.
Anyway, once we got to Tena on Friday night, we found our hostel and hung out for awhile. We played cards and sat on the patio talking. Once we got hungry, we found a restaurant and did a little exploring. Last weekend was the city festival of Tena, so there were a ton of people out in the streets and music in the main plaza. We went out for a drink at night and hung out with some other gringos who were living in Tena as part of a study abroad program.
Saturday, though, was the best part of the adventure. We went whitewater rafting! We hit up the class III section of the Rio Jatunyacu, which means "big water" in Quichua and ended in Rio Napo. Due to our ever-present separation anxiety, all of the Ambateñas were in one boat, with a friend of a friend who also joined our trip. Our guide, Tarquino, was incredibly awesome and definitely a big part why we had so much fun. I was pretty sure it was going to be a good trip when I met him and he was singing Michael Franti songs. During our 26 kilometers of rafting, I´m pretty sure we spent as much time outside the boat as we did inside the boat, both from flipping our boat in the rapids and being pushed out by our friends and Tarquino.
We had time to swim in the river when we stopped for our lunch on a beautiful secluded beach. We also played a game of ultimate frisbee in the sand and used our paddles as goal markers. I don´t know if it was just because I was starving, but we had the most delicious lunch of vegetarian burritos and fresh fruit and cookies. All of us ate until we couldn´t eat anymore, and I´m pretty sure our boat sat a little lower in the water after lunch. The only downer of the lunch stop was the amount of bug bites that we all got, even after applying a cancer-causing level of DEET bugspray. Sand flies are nasty and each of us had at least a little bit of allergic reaction to them, some worse than others. It was totally worth it though!!
After lunch we got back into the boat to paddle down to Puerto Napo, which took another 3 hours or so. We carried up all our gear and then were rewarded by ice cold beers. I´m definitely going to head back there for another trip soon. Hopefully next time I can try river kayaking, because that looks amazing. I´m sure it´s much more challenging than the rafting, but it´s probably a great experience too.
We spent the evening walking around the town to see the festivities and drank a little bit more. I think it was Kat who had the ridiculous idea to ride this gusanito (little caterpillar) train ride through the streets of Tena. It was a children´s ride that was out of control! The driver had his cart on 2 wheels as we are going through the city streets, which were not closed, and still had regular traffic on them. Another Quito vol and I were in a card with some little Ecuadorian boys who were having a great time and making dolphin noises. It was definitely worth the 75 cents for a 20-minute crazy ride! We left the festival becuase it was so crowded and went to hang out at a little street vendor with tables to drink a few beers. We crashed early and we were all so exhausted that we slept through the ridiculous amount of noise happening outside our window.
On Sunday we headed to Misahualli, which is a tiny little jungle town on the Misahualli river. We went to the mariposario, or butterfly house, and saw monkeys on the river beach. Our trip back was uneventful until the last half hour, when a whackjob took a contraband Amazonian bird out of cardboard box and let it roam free on the bus. When he attempted to strike a conversation with us, we all just pretended that we didn´t speak Spanish and artfully avoided the situation. There was also a man yelling at the bus driver to stop the bus because his 10-year old son was puking, and mentioned something about how us "tourists" wouldn´t like it because it didn´t smell like perfume. Still not exactly sure what was happening, but there was a lot of yelling, vomiting, and wildlife around us. Needless to say, we got off at the first stop possible and left that bus behind.
With all the good and the bad and the weird, it was pretty much a typical Ecua-adventure. This week I´m heading to another indigenous market and then looking forward to our Thanksgiving celebration that is being hosted here in Ambato. I can´t believe my classes are wrapping up in just 2 weeks...I have a lot to get done before then! I´m off to do some lesson planning and grading. I do have a job here, too, you know!
Chau!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Review
OK, so it´s been a long time since I´ve written an entry about my adventures...but that´s because I´ve been out travelling and having fun!
Two weekends ago, I went to Salinas de Guaranda, which is a small little town at the foot of the Chimborazo volcano. I went with one of my Ecuabuddies and we met his friends there, who were awesome. They showed us around the mountains and we got to go on a long hike. There were caves, a beautiful waterfall, an owl in our path, and I even learned how to make a dandelion whistle. Once we got back to the town, we toured the chocolate and cheese factories - which Salinas is famous for - and sampled the local product. I met the peace corps vol there and she gave me some magazines in English, which was a nice taste of home. We were going to meet up at a festival the following weekend, but it was cancelled due to assasination threats on the leader of the parade.
Soooo, the Ambateñitas and I decided to head to Baños instead, which is just a 45-minute bus ride from Ambato. There I did a zipline over a river canyon and flew superman-style for about 400 yards. We also had a contest to see who could find the coolest thing for a dollar. JC and I won!! And we still haven´t been compensated...hey girls, you owe us some beers I think.
The other super exciting thing that I was lucky enough to watch here in Ambato was the US election coverage. One of our vols has super-cable, which includes CNN in English, so we all gathered at her house until 1a.m. watching the live results. It was a very different experience for me to watch the 08 presidential election, because 1) I was actually excited about the results, and 2) being outside of the country gave me a different perspective on the whole thing. How cool is it that we can change governments just like that. No fighting, no riots, no military coups...awesome! When the constitutional election was happening here, we were advised to not even go out in the city because there are so many protests and dangerous things happening in the streets. Luckily, everything turned out okay, but it remains to be seen what will happen with Correa´s politics in the future, and if he can live up to all his promises.
Those were the 3 main things of the past couple weeks, except for my amazing jungle trip, which I will write about in the next post....read on, friends!
Two weekends ago, I went to Salinas de Guaranda, which is a small little town at the foot of the Chimborazo volcano. I went with one of my Ecuabuddies and we met his friends there, who were awesome. They showed us around the mountains and we got to go on a long hike. There were caves, a beautiful waterfall, an owl in our path, and I even learned how to make a dandelion whistle. Once we got back to the town, we toured the chocolate and cheese factories - which Salinas is famous for - and sampled the local product. I met the peace corps vol there and she gave me some magazines in English, which was a nice taste of home. We were going to meet up at a festival the following weekend, but it was cancelled due to assasination threats on the leader of the parade.
Soooo, the Ambateñitas and I decided to head to Baños instead, which is just a 45-minute bus ride from Ambato. There I did a zipline over a river canyon and flew superman-style for about 400 yards. We also had a contest to see who could find the coolest thing for a dollar. JC and I won!! And we still haven´t been compensated...hey girls, you owe us some beers I think.
The other super exciting thing that I was lucky enough to watch here in Ambato was the US election coverage. One of our vols has super-cable, which includes CNN in English, so we all gathered at her house until 1a.m. watching the live results. It was a very different experience for me to watch the 08 presidential election, because 1) I was actually excited about the results, and 2) being outside of the country gave me a different perspective on the whole thing. How cool is it that we can change governments just like that. No fighting, no riots, no military coups...awesome! When the constitutional election was happening here, we were advised to not even go out in the city because there are so many protests and dangerous things happening in the streets. Luckily, everything turned out okay, but it remains to be seen what will happen with Correa´s politics in the future, and if he can live up to all his promises.
Those were the 3 main things of the past couple weeks, except for my amazing jungle trip, which I will write about in the next post....read on, friends!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Ride of a Lifetime
Saturday brought one of the most interesting and authentic adventures yet...
One of my students invited me and Emily to his friend´s farm in the small countryside pueblo of Tisaleo, about 45 minutes away from Ambato. This past weekend was their annual festival, though we saw nothing of it except a crazy old deaf man lighting rustic (to say the least) bottle rockets in the middle of the town square at 9 a.m. Instead of watching bulls run through the plaza trying to kill drunk people, we were high up in the mountains on horseback.
We arrived to the farm around 10:30 to meet our host, Darwin, and choose our horses. They were all saddled up and ready to go, so it was just a matter of deciding who would get what horse. We discussed our experience levels and Darwin assigned us accordingly. I was pretty much the only one with ¨experience¨ (which includes 3 weeks of riding horses when I was ten and eleven years old and once again when I was probably 16). I tried my best to remember everything I learned at horse camp, but knew that I was probably in over my head. Getting on an unfamiliar horse always makes me a little bit nervous because you are never know if you´re going to get a docile and agreeable horse or completely untrained and wild beast. Unfortunately, I got the latter.
With my entire 3 weeks of childhood experience, I was the first to mount the horse. Bad idea. Mihija, as I´ll call her, just couldn´t wait to go and took off galloping. I wasn´t really that nervous because I knew the rules about how to direct a horse with the reins. I held onto the saddle with one hand and yanked the reins back hard with my other hand and said WHOA. Well, apparently this horse didn´t speak English or respond to the vigorous rein-pulling and kept sprinting, a toda vela, for about 100 yards. We finally slowed and when we did, the saddle was no longer on top of the horse, but on its side. I, with the saddle, was also hanging off the side of the horse, and then finally just fell to the ground. The other 3 watched from afar, then made their way over to ask if I was okay, then laugh at me. I was in pain but also laughing and wishing the whole thing had been caught on videotape. Lesson learned: adjust your own saddle before mounting the horse.
I had a little talk with mihijita and then got right back on to head into the hills. Darwin tied mihiita´s lead to his horse and we rode together for awhile until I got my confidence back. After about a half an hour, we broke free and mihijita turned out to be quite easy to ride. I think she was just testing me from the beginning to see if I was worthy of riding her. We walked mountain trails and got to see an amazing view of the fields and the far-off city of Ambato. As we got further away, there were no more cows and horses and crops, just pure nature. The landscape, called páramo, is completely different than anything I´ve seen. It looks a little bit like the alpine landscape of the high Rockies, but the ground is like sponge. The vegetation collects all the water when it rains, which is later extracted and utilized by the towns at lower altitude for their water supply. We had to climb some steep hills and bushwhack through a few patches of trees, but finally came upon a ridge that looked down into a beautiful, lush, green valley at the foot of Carihuairazo, which rises about 5000 meters or 16,400 feet. The whole scene was absolutely gorgeous.
We descended down the steep terrain into the valley (on horses) and this is about where the story turns slightly bad. What we had intended to be a short 2 or 3 hour trail ride to view the landscapes and breathe the fresh air soon turned into a 7-hour adventure. In Ecuador I have taught myself to expect the unexpected, but even I was unprepared for this trip. It turns out that our descent was exceedingly steep in some parts, causing us to have to dismount our horses and walk them for safety reasons. Once we got onto flat land, we got back on the horses and started to ride...until the leader sunk into about 6 feet of mud. This vegetation, called pantano, is essentially like a bog and couldn´t support the weight of the horses. We were looking for alternate routes, but it was all too soft. We finally decided that we had to go back the way we came. The route was impossibly steep to go down, and all the same, impossibly steep to walk up. The guys each took two of the horses and walked a slightly longer but a little bit flatter route, while Emily and I climbed the ridge a different way. It took an uncountable number of switchbacks and sustained rests (remember, we´re almost 3 miles up from sea level here) but we finally made it back up to the top of the ridge. As we were waiting for the guys and horses, a man on horseback came up behind me. I was definitely not expecting to see anyone, so I was a little nervous, especially considering he had a badass sword protruding out of his boot, but he turned out to be quite a nice man who was just out for a long and peaceful ride on his white horse. The man from Mocha, as he is now known, and I shared some peanuts and talked about the countryside of Ecuador until the guys came up about 45 minutes later.
All of us and all of the horses were exhausted, but we were still about 2 and a half hours away from home, so we got on the horses and decided to ride back. We could see the town of Tisaleo way in the distance, but getting there was going to be a challenge because there were patches of dense forest, uncrossable ridges, rivers, and barbed wire fences. We did our best and finally came across and indigenous man working in his field who helped us find our way back. The way back was not without incident, either, as one horse was very tempermental and refused to walk, JC flipped over the horse when trying to mount it, and Darwin´s horse almost bucked him off when something was wrong with its bit. It was cold and we were tired, but as we always do, we just laughed it all off and prayed that we made it home before dark. We rolled in at about 6 (it gets dark at 6:15) and dismounted. All of us walked out of there like ducks, our backs, legs, knees, and feet hurting pretty bad.
We finally made our way back into the city and went for pizza at an Italian restaurant (we never ate lunch during our viaje on horseback) then to a little cozy bar for hot wine. Emily and I were filthy - mud on our pants, leaves in our hair, etc. - and smelled like horses, but luckily our friends didn´t mind. I am still sore from the whole thing, but we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes and made some new friends, so it all turned out alright. I think I´ve satisfied my desire to ride on horses for a little while, but at the same time rediscovered how much I love it. I´ll keep you updated if I decide to go on another cabalgata anytime soon.
SM
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Lessons in Appreciation
My time in Ecuador so far has given me adventures, new friends, laughs, confusion, and a new perspective about the world. I have also come to appreciate several things more than I ever thought possible. Here is a list:
1. Eyelashes - What a great job these do at keeping volcanic ash and dust out my eyes here in Ambato. I still have a cough from breathing in the terrible air here, but my eyes feel fine!
2. Animal Control - Stray dogs are out of control here and it´s always a challenge to complete a journey without facing off with a hungry or crazy street dog.
3. The value of a scarf - Here in Ecuador scarves are immensely practical. A simple $2 scarf can serve its original purpose as a neck-warmer for those cold morning and evenings, as a gas mask (again, the pollution), or very frequently as a baby carrier (there´s really no such thing as strollers here). A lot of indigenous people also use scarves or blankets to wrap up their market goods and haul them on their back to wherever they are headed.
4. Quick-dry clothing - My credit card bills before I left reinforced my belief in performance fabrics and wow, I am glad to have these things now. It is almost always damp here, which, without a dryer, can make getting dressed not the most fun part of my day. Quick dry clothing is also awesome for jungle trips and travel in general. Thank you REI and Campmor.
5. A feeling of personal security - I definitely took this for granted in the United States. Here it is something that is always on my mind. Who is around me? Where are my things? How am I going to get home after dark? Is this taxi part of a cooperative or a pirate? Etc, etc...I feel relatively safe when I take the necessary precautions, but again, I´m always thinking about how to keep myself safe and healthy in this different society.
6. The ability to say what you mean - The language barrier hasn´t caused any major problems for me so far, but it is frequently irritating to not be able to say exactly what I mean.
7. Mail and E-mails and blog comments from friends - With no internet at home and slow internet downtown, its often a hassle to keep up with daily communication. But when I check my post office box or Gmail or blog and find notes from friends and family, it really makes my day. Thank you for that, and please know that I am doing my best to reply.
8. Sueltitos - This means small change in Spanish and it is necessary to have it with you at all times. No one has change for anything, it seems. For example, I mailed a letter at the post office for $1.54 and paid with a $5. It took the clerk 2 trips to the back room and begging co-workers for sueltitos to give me my correct change.
9. Empathy - Being part of the WorldTeach group and having other volunteers to share my experiences with has made the transition so much easier. Especially the ladies in Ambato, who have listened, talked, complained, and laughed about so many of the differences that we face every day. It would be much harder for me without their support and for that I thank them, too.
10. Cultural Exchange - I have encountered so many friendly people in Ecuador who have taken me in to live with them, to stay with them, to eat with them...I had a wonderful trip to Ibarra thanks to a former student´s family that I had never met, but who treated me like their own daughter for a weekend. One of my students brought me colada morada and a guagua de pan to introduce me to the traditional foods that are eaten around this time of year, specifically for dia de los muertos. Another one of my students is a tour guide who foten tells me about places to visit, festivals, and things to do in Ambato. Another invited me to eat cookies with him in the school cafeteria to talk about his life and goals and ambitions, just because. My host families have also, of course, provided the most in-depth cultural exchange and I am thankful for their hospitality and concern for my wellbeing.
I try to always remind myself that wherever I am, there are always things to appreciate, even if sometimes they are not what they seem at first glance. These were just a few examples about the wonderful country of Ecuador, but for those of you in the United States, remember what a wonderful life you probably live. Keep enjoying it and I´ll see you when I return! Thanks again for reading.
XO Sara
1. Eyelashes - What a great job these do at keeping volcanic ash and dust out my eyes here in Ambato. I still have a cough from breathing in the terrible air here, but my eyes feel fine!
2. Animal Control - Stray dogs are out of control here and it´s always a challenge to complete a journey without facing off with a hungry or crazy street dog.
3. The value of a scarf - Here in Ecuador scarves are immensely practical. A simple $2 scarf can serve its original purpose as a neck-warmer for those cold morning and evenings, as a gas mask (again, the pollution), or very frequently as a baby carrier (there´s really no such thing as strollers here). A lot of indigenous people also use scarves or blankets to wrap up their market goods and haul them on their back to wherever they are headed.
4. Quick-dry clothing - My credit card bills before I left reinforced my belief in performance fabrics and wow, I am glad to have these things now. It is almost always damp here, which, without a dryer, can make getting dressed not the most fun part of my day. Quick dry clothing is also awesome for jungle trips and travel in general. Thank you REI and Campmor.
5. A feeling of personal security - I definitely took this for granted in the United States. Here it is something that is always on my mind. Who is around me? Where are my things? How am I going to get home after dark? Is this taxi part of a cooperative or a pirate? Etc, etc...I feel relatively safe when I take the necessary precautions, but again, I´m always thinking about how to keep myself safe and healthy in this different society.
6. The ability to say what you mean - The language barrier hasn´t caused any major problems for me so far, but it is frequently irritating to not be able to say exactly what I mean.
7. Mail and E-mails and blog comments from friends - With no internet at home and slow internet downtown, its often a hassle to keep up with daily communication. But when I check my post office box or Gmail or blog and find notes from friends and family, it really makes my day. Thank you for that, and please know that I am doing my best to reply.
8. Sueltitos - This means small change in Spanish and it is necessary to have it with you at all times. No one has change for anything, it seems. For example, I mailed a letter at the post office for $1.54 and paid with a $5. It took the clerk 2 trips to the back room and begging co-workers for sueltitos to give me my correct change.
9. Empathy - Being part of the WorldTeach group and having other volunteers to share my experiences with has made the transition so much easier. Especially the ladies in Ambato, who have listened, talked, complained, and laughed about so many of the differences that we face every day. It would be much harder for me without their support and for that I thank them, too.
10. Cultural Exchange - I have encountered so many friendly people in Ecuador who have taken me in to live with them, to stay with them, to eat with them...I had a wonderful trip to Ibarra thanks to a former student´s family that I had never met, but who treated me like their own daughter for a weekend. One of my students brought me colada morada and a guagua de pan to introduce me to the traditional foods that are eaten around this time of year, specifically for dia de los muertos. Another one of my students is a tour guide who foten tells me about places to visit, festivals, and things to do in Ambato. Another invited me to eat cookies with him in the school cafeteria to talk about his life and goals and ambitions, just because. My host families have also, of course, provided the most in-depth cultural exchange and I am thankful for their hospitality and concern for my wellbeing.
I try to always remind myself that wherever I am, there are always things to appreciate, even if sometimes they are not what they seem at first glance. These were just a few examples about the wonderful country of Ecuador, but for those of you in the United States, remember what a wonderful life you probably live. Keep enjoying it and I´ll see you when I return! Thanks again for reading.
XO Sara
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