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
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Settling In...
Hello again...
Not too much to report this week, but I am starting to feel kind of settled in Ambato, which is a good thing. Last weekend I took a short trip to Banos with a few friends, which was relaxing. Jess and I took a "chiva" tour of the many waterfalls in that area. A chiva is a typical bus where you can sit inside or on top of the bus and they play music...really fun! We got to hike down a very steep path to a gorgeous waterfall. Jess has the better picture of that location, but I am posting a picture of a different waterfall. Notice that cable car flying across the gorge. It's hard to see, but that tiny little orange thing...yeah, we fit 8 people in that and flung ourselves over the river to get closer to that waterfall. I was slightly terrified but it turned out to be a great experience! And I lived! Always a plus.
I came back Saturday morning to spend time with my family and get some work done, then went out on Saturday night with all 3 of my host sisters and some of their friends. Once we all got ready to go, we met downstairs and realized that we were all wearing the exact same thing...haha!! Check out the picture below. You can see my 3 host sisters (Alicia, Ruth, and Andrea) and Alicia and Andrea's husbands (Raul and Jason). The only one not wearing jeans and a black shirt is Emily, my host neice, who is Raul and Andrea's daughter. She's really cute and fun to play with even though my vocabulary is a little but lacking to speak to a 3-year old. (Sad, I know haha) On Saturday night I also met a friend of my sister who teaches salsa, so I'm considering starting lessons...I think it's only $2.50 for an hour lesson every week. Awesome!
Today is a big soccer game between Ecuador and Venezuela, so I cancelled my evening class. Before you get all wound up (mom) and start to think that I'm slacking with my teaching, this option is much more practical here in Ecuador. It's easy enough to make up the hours by having them complete a project and no one would come to class anyway, so it would just be a waste of my time as well! My director warned us the first day that this would happen, so I'm just gonna roll with it. With this time free, I am going to watch the soccer game until 9 and then head over to another vol's house who gets CNN in English to watch the presidential debate. I feel pretty out of touch with the latest US politics, so this should be a good chance to catch up and just hang out with friends. I did send my absentee ballot in this week, though! Go Obama!
I'm kind of brain-dead today so I will have to write a more entertaining post another day. Hope everyone in the states is enjoying the change of seasons...I think that's one of the very few things that I genuinely miss living here in Ecuador. If anyone has any beautiful fall foliage pics, send them my way! Ciao for now.
Not too much to report this week, but I am starting to feel kind of settled in Ambato, which is a good thing. Last weekend I took a short trip to Banos with a few friends, which was relaxing. Jess and I took a "chiva" tour of the many waterfalls in that area. A chiva is a typical bus where you can sit inside or on top of the bus and they play music...really fun! We got to hike down a very steep path to a gorgeous waterfall. Jess has the better picture of that location, but I am posting a picture of a different waterfall. Notice that cable car flying across the gorge. It's hard to see, but that tiny little orange thing...yeah, we fit 8 people in that and flung ourselves over the river to get closer to that waterfall. I was slightly terrified but it turned out to be a great experience! And I lived! Always a plus.
I came back Saturday morning to spend time with my family and get some work done, then went out on Saturday night with all 3 of my host sisters and some of their friends. Once we all got ready to go, we met downstairs and realized that we were all wearing the exact same thing...haha!! Check out the picture below. You can see my 3 host sisters (Alicia, Ruth, and Andrea) and Alicia and Andrea's husbands (Raul and Jason). The only one not wearing jeans and a black shirt is Emily, my host neice, who is Raul and Andrea's daughter. She's really cute and fun to play with even though my vocabulary is a little but lacking to speak to a 3-year old. (Sad, I know haha) On Saturday night I also met a friend of my sister who teaches salsa, so I'm considering starting lessons...I think it's only $2.50 for an hour lesson every week. Awesome!
Today is a big soccer game between Ecuador and Venezuela, so I cancelled my evening class. Before you get all wound up (mom) and start to think that I'm slacking with my teaching, this option is much more practical here in Ecuador. It's easy enough to make up the hours by having them complete a project and no one would come to class anyway, so it would just be a waste of my time as well! My director warned us the first day that this would happen, so I'm just gonna roll with it. With this time free, I am going to watch the soccer game until 9 and then head over to another vol's house who gets CNN in English to watch the presidential debate. I feel pretty out of touch with the latest US politics, so this should be a good chance to catch up and just hang out with friends. I did send my absentee ballot in this week, though! Go Obama!
I'm kind of brain-dead today so I will have to write a more entertaining post another day. Hope everyone in the states is enjoying the change of seasons...I think that's one of the very few things that I genuinely miss living here in Ecuador. If anyone has any beautiful fall foliage pics, send them my way! Ciao for now.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ibarran Adventure #1
This past weekend, the Ambateñitas and I took a trip to northern Ecuador to experience a festival that one of my Ecuadorian friends from UB told me about this summer. The trip to Ibarra is six hours from Ambato, but worth every second in my opinion. The area is absolutely beautiful (see photo below) and I had the opportunity to stay with the most welcoming and friendly family.
My friend Emily and I arrived on Friday afternoon and met up with the other vols who live in Ibarra for dinner. Then, we went to meet my friend Miguel´s family who lives in Ibarra. They were kind enough to host us for the weekend and I couldn´t thank them enough for their hospitality. They took us out to dinner - yes, we ate dinner again - and we hung out in a the town square where there was singing and dancing. Then they gave us a tour of the city and told us all about the Casería that was to happen the next day.
The main event is all day on Saturday, so we all went to the parade around 10a.m. Anyone who has a horse can enter the parade for a small entrance fee, so it is a massive parade of horses and people with money. Kind of like the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby, ecua-style. The parade lasted forever, but we cooled ourselves down with some beer and ice cream. After the parade, we got ice cream, then lunch, then headed for the La Laguna Yaguarcocha where the horse races take place. As the people switch locations, the jinetes (horse-riders, if that´s how you say it in English) walk through the mountains and descend a very steep hill. They rest for an hour or so, and then the races begin. There are several divisions of riders by age and gender, but in each race there is a Zorro (last year´s winner) who is chased by other riders. If a rider can catch the Zorro, they pull a tail off of his costume and parade it in front of the crowd.
I found my Quiteño host brother Sebastián in the crowd and we left the races when they were over. It is almost impossible to get a taxi and the busses are even more overcrowded than usual, so we decided to hitchike in one of the million trucks that were headed from the lake to the centro. All five of us hopped in the back of a truck and very shortly after we were headed down the road, it started pouring rain. We were soaked, but having a great time anyway, so we all went downtown to eat and drink and party all night.
Even though the festival on Saturday was really interesting and enjoyable, it was Sunday that was my favorite day of the weekend. Miguel´s family took me to their farm in the countryside, which is absolutely gorgeous. It was awesome to have some fresh air and a peaceful quiet. We toured the property and I helped pick granadillas, uvillas, tomates de árbol, pepinos, pimientos de ají, and mora. These are all fruits native to Ecuador that we don´t have in the US, except for blackberries, which aren´t even close to as good in the US, unfortunately. We gathered all of this fresh produce and ate it along the way (maybe that´s why I don´t feel so great today), but it was so delicious. Also on the farm are ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, cows, and horses. I rode a horse around a paddock for a few minutes and it was so relaxing! We left the farm to eat cuy and then I had to catch a bus back to Ambato. Again, the family was amazing and I was so thankful to be able to spend the weekend with them.
Now I am back to teaching...Friday is a holiday, but since I never work on Fridays anway, it´s not such a big deal for me. I need to spend this weekend organizing my curriculum and getting together some lesson plans for the upcoming weeks, just in case I have the urge to travel to another part of Ecuador soon. I don´t have any big plans coming up, but I´m sure there will be more interesting things to write about in this always entertaining country. Til then...
My friend Emily and I arrived on Friday afternoon and met up with the other vols who live in Ibarra for dinner. Then, we went to meet my friend Miguel´s family who lives in Ibarra. They were kind enough to host us for the weekend and I couldn´t thank them enough for their hospitality. They took us out to dinner - yes, we ate dinner again - and we hung out in a the town square where there was singing and dancing. Then they gave us a tour of the city and told us all about the Casería that was to happen the next day.
The main event is all day on Saturday, so we all went to the parade around 10a.m. Anyone who has a horse can enter the parade for a small entrance fee, so it is a massive parade of horses and people with money. Kind of like the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby, ecua-style. The parade lasted forever, but we cooled ourselves down with some beer and ice cream. After the parade, we got ice cream, then lunch, then headed for the La Laguna Yaguarcocha where the horse races take place. As the people switch locations, the jinetes (horse-riders, if that´s how you say it in English) walk through the mountains and descend a very steep hill. They rest for an hour or so, and then the races begin. There are several divisions of riders by age and gender, but in each race there is a Zorro (last year´s winner) who is chased by other riders. If a rider can catch the Zorro, they pull a tail off of his costume and parade it in front of the crowd.
I found my Quiteño host brother Sebastián in the crowd and we left the races when they were over. It is almost impossible to get a taxi and the busses are even more overcrowded than usual, so we decided to hitchike in one of the million trucks that were headed from the lake to the centro. All five of us hopped in the back of a truck and very shortly after we were headed down the road, it started pouring rain. We were soaked, but having a great time anyway, so we all went downtown to eat and drink and party all night.
Even though the festival on Saturday was really interesting and enjoyable, it was Sunday that was my favorite day of the weekend. Miguel´s family took me to their farm in the countryside, which is absolutely gorgeous. It was awesome to have some fresh air and a peaceful quiet. We toured the property and I helped pick granadillas, uvillas, tomates de árbol, pepinos, pimientos de ají, and mora. These are all fruits native to Ecuador that we don´t have in the US, except for blackberries, which aren´t even close to as good in the US, unfortunately. We gathered all of this fresh produce and ate it along the way (maybe that´s why I don´t feel so great today), but it was so delicious. Also on the farm are ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, cows, and horses. I rode a horse around a paddock for a few minutes and it was so relaxing! We left the farm to eat cuy and then I had to catch a bus back to Ambato. Again, the family was amazing and I was so thankful to be able to spend the weekend with them.
Now I am back to teaching...Friday is a holiday, but since I never work on Fridays anway, it´s not such a big deal for me. I need to spend this weekend organizing my curriculum and getting together some lesson plans for the upcoming weeks, just in case I have the urge to travel to another part of Ecuador soon. I don´t have any big plans coming up, but I´m sure there will be more interesting things to write about in this always entertaining country. Til then...
Monday, October 6, 2008
A few pictures for now...and a new post coming soon!
Finally, some pictures....
Looking terrified riding in the back of a camioneta with my host brother Sebastián...it started pouring rain about 10 seconds after we took this photo
Getting my hair done (in the middle of the mall haha)
Eating cuy (guinea pig) with the head and claws
Beautiful countryside of Ibarra
Looking terrified riding in the back of a camioneta with my host brother Sebastián...it started pouring rain about 10 seconds after we took this photo
Getting my hair done (in the middle of the mall haha)
Eating cuy (guinea pig) with the head and claws
Beautiful countryside of Ibarra
Saturday, September 27, 2008
A Week of Change
This past week has brought several big changes...the end of orientation, the move to Ambato, the beginning of my teaching duties, and a crazy new haircut.
I was really sad to leave Quito, but my stay there ended with one of my best days in Ecuador so far. On Thursday morning, I went to my host brothers´ salon in the upscale Quito mall to be a hair model. I wasn´t exactly sure what this was going to entail, but I found out as the day went on, for 5 hours. In the morning I got my hair chopped off to just above shoulder length and colored. I went back in the afternoon for a makeup session. Then, I was led down to a stage on the main floor of the mall, where I sat in a chair and let the stylist cut my hair. While half the mall is watching, this woman is cutting my hair (without a mirror for me to see what is happening) and people are making surprised and happy faces. And, of course, there is commentary from the 2 MCs who work at the salon. I got a little nervous when I saw a 4-inch piece of hair fall to the ground, knowing that she had already cut about 6 inches off earlier that morning. (Ecua-snap!) Whoooaaa it´s crazy! I came out of this hilarious experience with a super modern, assymetrical haircut with blonde highlights and makeup that kind of made me look like a hooker. HAHA! The things I do for my host brothers...unconditional love, as Alex calls it. I have since washed the makeup off my face and have come to really like my haircut. I will put up pictures as soon as I get my camera cord in the mail. I also got a gift certificate for the salon as a thank-you, though I´m not sure I´ll be able to use it for much, considering that I think my haircut cost around $200 at a normal price. EEK!
That evening I cooked dinner for 7 people in my family and we had a really nice time. I made asparagus, goulash, and apple crisp. I realize that those things don´t really complement each other, but they are just 3 things that I eat in the US that I wanted to share with my Quiteño family. Pablo brought wine, I was thoughtful enough to decorate the table with some beautiful flowers (so cheap in Ecuador!!), and Alexito brought the most amazing macadamia-walnut cheesecake from Casolette again. I had a chance to show them some of the photos I brought from the US and I was so happy that everyone could come and share a final meal with me and the fam.
Friday I came to Ambato and I´m still getting settled in. My room is awesome - I have the whole third floor of the house with my own bathroom and a big bed. My family is very sweet and it´s fun to get to know them. Emily, my three year old host neice is really entertaining and I think I will have a lot of fun with her over the next year. I have already started my duties at SECAP by giving the entrance exams yesterday. There is a huge range of ability in a group of about 35 people, whom we will split into 2 intermediate and 2 advanced classes. I will teach advanced (level 6) and then move up with my students for 2 more semesters until they finish the 8-level English program. I´m pumped to get back in the classroom, though there are certainly going to be some challenges at SECAP because they are completely disorganized. On the plus side, though, the other volunteer and I have pretty much total control of the English program there and are free to do whatever we want.
For my cultural experience of the week, I went to the market today. It was Saturday morning so it was especially crazy!! The way it works is that you get a big grated bin that you set in the middle of floor and then pick through all these stalls and bags of fresh produce to find what you want. Nothing is processed or even given a cursory washing before hitting the store, so you just pick through a bunch of dirty boxes and bags. At first I was terrified because it´s a total madhouse and definitely not up to American sanitary standards (think whole pig roasting what is essentially a tin garbage can, intestines piled in a non-refrigerated dish, and sausage hanging from the pipes on the ceiling) but it was kind of refreshing to see everything in a more natural state. Definitely will be sure to wash, peel, and boil all that stuff!! As you get closer to filling your bin, it moves down the line and market workers start assessing how much you bought. Everything is by appearance, not weight, so I was told to pack the green beans tightly into the bag so it looked like there were less. We got probably 25 pounds of fresh produce, everything from sweet tomatoes to potatoes to carrots to bananas for $13.70. Awesome! We caught a ride home from a man who works at the market. His truck is at least 30 years old and really small, so I sat in the back and held on tight as we drove over the cobblestones back home.
Tonight I´m headed over to another volunteer´s house for board game night. Woo! All 5 gringos in Ambato in one place! We are opting for such a tame gathering because this weekend is a dry weekend. From noon on Friday to noon on Monday it is illegal to buy or consume alcohol, due to the referendum that will happen tomorrow. If anyone is caught under the influence in any way, they are put in jail and fined, apparently. I am pumped to see how all the political activity develops over the next couple of days! I´d be interested in seeing if any of this makes US news, so shoot me an e-mail if you see anything about the consitutional referendum or Rafael Correa´s successes or defeats to come.
Again, thanks for reading.
I was really sad to leave Quito, but my stay there ended with one of my best days in Ecuador so far. On Thursday morning, I went to my host brothers´ salon in the upscale Quito mall to be a hair model. I wasn´t exactly sure what this was going to entail, but I found out as the day went on, for 5 hours. In the morning I got my hair chopped off to just above shoulder length and colored. I went back in the afternoon for a makeup session. Then, I was led down to a stage on the main floor of the mall, where I sat in a chair and let the stylist cut my hair. While half the mall is watching, this woman is cutting my hair (without a mirror for me to see what is happening) and people are making surprised and happy faces. And, of course, there is commentary from the 2 MCs who work at the salon. I got a little nervous when I saw a 4-inch piece of hair fall to the ground, knowing that she had already cut about 6 inches off earlier that morning. (Ecua-snap!) Whoooaaa it´s crazy! I came out of this hilarious experience with a super modern, assymetrical haircut with blonde highlights and makeup that kind of made me look like a hooker. HAHA! The things I do for my host brothers...unconditional love, as Alex calls it. I have since washed the makeup off my face and have come to really like my haircut. I will put up pictures as soon as I get my camera cord in the mail. I also got a gift certificate for the salon as a thank-you, though I´m not sure I´ll be able to use it for much, considering that I think my haircut cost around $200 at a normal price. EEK!
That evening I cooked dinner for 7 people in my family and we had a really nice time. I made asparagus, goulash, and apple crisp. I realize that those things don´t really complement each other, but they are just 3 things that I eat in the US that I wanted to share with my Quiteño family. Pablo brought wine, I was thoughtful enough to decorate the table with some beautiful flowers (so cheap in Ecuador!!), and Alexito brought the most amazing macadamia-walnut cheesecake from Casolette again. I had a chance to show them some of the photos I brought from the US and I was so happy that everyone could come and share a final meal with me and the fam.
Friday I came to Ambato and I´m still getting settled in. My room is awesome - I have the whole third floor of the house with my own bathroom and a big bed. My family is very sweet and it´s fun to get to know them. Emily, my three year old host neice is really entertaining and I think I will have a lot of fun with her over the next year. I have already started my duties at SECAP by giving the entrance exams yesterday. There is a huge range of ability in a group of about 35 people, whom we will split into 2 intermediate and 2 advanced classes. I will teach advanced (level 6) and then move up with my students for 2 more semesters until they finish the 8-level English program. I´m pumped to get back in the classroom, though there are certainly going to be some challenges at SECAP because they are completely disorganized. On the plus side, though, the other volunteer and I have pretty much total control of the English program there and are free to do whatever we want.
For my cultural experience of the week, I went to the market today. It was Saturday morning so it was especially crazy!! The way it works is that you get a big grated bin that you set in the middle of floor and then pick through all these stalls and bags of fresh produce to find what you want. Nothing is processed or even given a cursory washing before hitting the store, so you just pick through a bunch of dirty boxes and bags. At first I was terrified because it´s a total madhouse and definitely not up to American sanitary standards (think whole pig roasting what is essentially a tin garbage can, intestines piled in a non-refrigerated dish, and sausage hanging from the pipes on the ceiling) but it was kind of refreshing to see everything in a more natural state. Definitely will be sure to wash, peel, and boil all that stuff!! As you get closer to filling your bin, it moves down the line and market workers start assessing how much you bought. Everything is by appearance, not weight, so I was told to pack the green beans tightly into the bag so it looked like there were less. We got probably 25 pounds of fresh produce, everything from sweet tomatoes to potatoes to carrots to bananas for $13.70. Awesome! We caught a ride home from a man who works at the market. His truck is at least 30 years old and really small, so I sat in the back and held on tight as we drove over the cobblestones back home.
Tonight I´m headed over to another volunteer´s house for board game night. Woo! All 5 gringos in Ambato in one place! We are opting for such a tame gathering because this weekend is a dry weekend. From noon on Friday to noon on Monday it is illegal to buy or consume alcohol, due to the referendum that will happen tomorrow. If anyone is caught under the influence in any way, they are put in jail and fined, apparently. I am pumped to see how all the political activity develops over the next couple of days! I´d be interested in seeing if any of this makes US news, so shoot me an e-mail if you see anything about the consitutional referendum or Rafael Correa´s successes or defeats to come.
Again, thanks for reading.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A Great Weekend
Woohoo, this weekend was awesome.
Our trip to Papallacta was very relaxing. (Except for part of the bus ride where we were on what should have been a one-lane dirt road with a rock wall on one side, a cliff on the other, and a semi truck barrelling down towards us. Somehow the drivers of each massive vehicle managed to figure it out, but it was craaazy!) We did a short hike when we got there, which was kind of like walking through a fairy land with all sorts of vegetation and a beautiful river set in between huge green mountains. Then we went to the hot spring baths to hang out for awhile. Awesome! There is also a spot where you can jump in the river that comes down from the mountains, which I´m going to guess was about 45 degrees. We did that twice and then immediately ran back to the hot springs. After our baths, we got dressed in our comfy clothes and headed down the street for dinner. There are a couple cheapy restaurants in the town that the other vols said were delicious, but my host brother invited me to eat at a nearby hotel, which was more expensive but a great choice. Trout is the main cuisine there, so I ordered trout with a garlic sauce that was amazing. It also came with really fresh vegetables, wine-soaked cabbage, and seasoned potatoes. The mora-guanabana juice was also fantastic. Our meal was about $10 a person, which is total baller style in Ecuador. Usually our almuerzos cost somewhere between $2 and $4 with everything included.
Today I had more delicious food, thanks to the same host brother, Alex. After we played basketball, we decided to save the pan de yuca and yogurt for another time and went to one of his favorite restaurants. We ordered pizzas, salads, and desserts to go and took them back to Alex´s apartment to share. We had a perfectly seasoned and not too heavy white pizza; a pizza with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic; a salad with mango, ham, carrots, and several different types of lettuce; and a mexican-style salad with tortilla chips, black beans, and cheese. For desert we got 2 cheesecakes: almond-macadamia and blackberry. HEAVEN. It was another expensive meal ($25 for four of us, oh my god) but it was absolutely the best food I´ve had in Ecuador and still some of the best food I´ve had anywhere so far in my life. Sure beats an almuerzo of chicken and white rice, which is the standard here.
Basketball was really fun again today and I actually scored some points, which of course made the day even better! I was sad to miss a trip to Ibarra with Jenny and Pablo (my host parents) today, but such is life. Now I have the rest of the day to relax and I think I will watch some good old American TV - we have super cable here! - and read for awhile. The upcoming week is our last of orientation! It´s hard to believe that I have been her for almost a month already. My friend Jess and I, along with our field director, are going out with a bang though. Next Thursday we are all going to a salon that Alex and Javier (again, my host brothers) run/own/I´m not quite sure...to be haircut and makeup models. Should be really really entertaining!
I´m going to attempt to make some more phone calls, since no one out of 5 people answered the first time around. RAWR! But keep reading. Miss you guys! Come visit! Ecuador rules!
Our trip to Papallacta was very relaxing. (Except for part of the bus ride where we were on what should have been a one-lane dirt road with a rock wall on one side, a cliff on the other, and a semi truck barrelling down towards us. Somehow the drivers of each massive vehicle managed to figure it out, but it was craaazy!) We did a short hike when we got there, which was kind of like walking through a fairy land with all sorts of vegetation and a beautiful river set in between huge green mountains. Then we went to the hot spring baths to hang out for awhile. Awesome! There is also a spot where you can jump in the river that comes down from the mountains, which I´m going to guess was about 45 degrees. We did that twice and then immediately ran back to the hot springs. After our baths, we got dressed in our comfy clothes and headed down the street for dinner. There are a couple cheapy restaurants in the town that the other vols said were delicious, but my host brother invited me to eat at a nearby hotel, which was more expensive but a great choice. Trout is the main cuisine there, so I ordered trout with a garlic sauce that was amazing. It also came with really fresh vegetables, wine-soaked cabbage, and seasoned potatoes. The mora-guanabana juice was also fantastic. Our meal was about $10 a person, which is total baller style in Ecuador. Usually our almuerzos cost somewhere between $2 and $4 with everything included.
Today I had more delicious food, thanks to the same host brother, Alex. After we played basketball, we decided to save the pan de yuca and yogurt for another time and went to one of his favorite restaurants. We ordered pizzas, salads, and desserts to go and took them back to Alex´s apartment to share. We had a perfectly seasoned and not too heavy white pizza; a pizza with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic; a salad with mango, ham, carrots, and several different types of lettuce; and a mexican-style salad with tortilla chips, black beans, and cheese. For desert we got 2 cheesecakes: almond-macadamia and blackberry. HEAVEN. It was another expensive meal ($25 for four of us, oh my god) but it was absolutely the best food I´ve had in Ecuador and still some of the best food I´ve had anywhere so far in my life. Sure beats an almuerzo of chicken and white rice, which is the standard here.
Basketball was really fun again today and I actually scored some points, which of course made the day even better! I was sad to miss a trip to Ibarra with Jenny and Pablo (my host parents) today, but such is life. Now I have the rest of the day to relax and I think I will watch some good old American TV - we have super cable here! - and read for awhile. The upcoming week is our last of orientation! It´s hard to believe that I have been her for almost a month already. My friend Jess and I, along with our field director, are going out with a bang though. Next Thursday we are all going to a salon that Alex and Javier (again, my host brothers) run/own/I´m not quite sure...to be haircut and makeup models. Should be really really entertaining!
I´m going to attempt to make some more phone calls, since no one out of 5 people answered the first time around. RAWR! But keep reading. Miss you guys! Come visit! Ecuador rules!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Post for Mom
My mother has declared that it is time for a new post, so here I am. I came to the expensive internet cafe today because I wanted to load my pictures and this is the only one I have found so far that has an SD reader in the computer. On that note, I have a confession to make. For those of you who had commented on my previous picture about how beautiful and warm Ecuador looks...sorry, but that was in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago. Now, with my upated blog photo, you can see what Ecuador has to offer on the Equator line. We had a great visit to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world) and that day it was warm enough to wear a short sleeve shirt. Don´t be fooled though; because Quito is at 9000 feet, it´s not hot. The days can be sunny and in the 70s, but nights get down to around 50. The Quiteños have a saying that the weather is like a woman - it changes its mind every 5 minutes.
Anyway.....
Last weekend was our first real free time during orientation, so I finally had time to relax. I got to sleep in, eat lunch at home with my family, and then my friend Jess and I went over to the house where some of the other volunteers are staying. We played cards and watched Flight of the Conchords and I was asked to stay for dinner. So much fun! Every night they have at least 10 people at their dinner table. The food was delicious and it was great to feel at home with another really sweet Ecuadorian family.
Sunday was another awesome day. I got some good exercise playing basketball with a bunch of other people for about 3 hours. Every weekend my host brother organizes the ´´baller´s club´´ at a court near my house. It was entertaining probably only because most people were just as bad as me. It was a ton of fun though, and I can´t wait to play tomorrow. After our game we are going out for pan de yuca (yuca bread) and yogurt. The variety and flavor of fruit here is amazing and so is everything that has fruit flavors in it, so I´m pumped to try guanabana and granadilla and taxo yogurt. After basketball last weekend, I was Ecua-napped into going to the peluquería with my host mom, Jess, and Jess´s host mom Myriam. (Ecua-napped is a term we use to describe when we just get taken somewhere by our families, generally have no idea what is going on, and it usually takes about 5 times as long as you expect. It happens all the time here and almost always ends with a good story.) Our Ecuamamas brought in their box of hair dye and colored their hair while Jess and I got manicures and pedicures, for $2 each. My nails now look ridiculous, painted bright red and with some flower designs, because in Ecuador you HAVE to get designs. I think the woman would have been offended if I said I just wanted a plain color!
Monday came and it was back to orientation, so life was hectic again. Even though I am exhausted when I get home at night, I really enjoy sitting and talking with my host family. My host mom is so goofy and fun and often talks in Spanglish to me. Her boyfriend Pablo kind of acts as my host father. He is really smart and knows a lot about politics, so we have some interesting discussions. There is quite a bit going on politically in this country and region right now, so I love to get an insider´s perspective. I´m sure the US news hasn´t spoken a word about the Ecuadorian referendum coming up that will either legitimize President Correa or deny him his biggest effort - a new constitution - and probably cause some unrest in the government. Maybe US media picked up on the situations in Bolivia and Venezuela, where they kicked out the US ambassadors. Correa has stated his nominal support for the decisions of Morales and Chavez, but Pablo seems to think that nothing like that will occur in Ecuador. There is no violence and anti-American sentiment seems to be very minimal in my experience. Life is generally quiet and calm in Quito, but there is political propoganda everywhere and people are excited to see what will happen in the referendum next week.
What else?? Oh, yesterday I had a classic Ecuadorian cultural experience. It was the last day of classes for my practice teaching at SECAP in Quito. Naturally, we had a party. Complete with boxed wine in class. HAHA!! We prepared an amazing version of Donna Summer´s ´´I Will Survive´´ for the talent show and rocked the auditorium. I had a great group of students and I will miss them for sure. As we handed out their certificates of completion for the course, I said thank you to my students and told them I was proud of their efforts and progress in the very short 2 weeks. While I was talking, my 70-year old student ran up to the board and wrote: Dear Teacher, Our Eternal Greatful. Definitely love those kind of moments. We stayed until about 10:30 and danced and drank and had an awesome time! I hope my students in Ambato are just as fun!
That´s probably enough for now. I am headed to Papallacta in about an hour for a day trip with some other volunteers. It is a little ´´resort´´ type of town about 2 hours east of Quito that has gorgeous hiking and hot spring baths that you can swim and relax in. Will write again soon!
Anyway.....
Last weekend was our first real free time during orientation, so I finally had time to relax. I got to sleep in, eat lunch at home with my family, and then my friend Jess and I went over to the house where some of the other volunteers are staying. We played cards and watched Flight of the Conchords and I was asked to stay for dinner. So much fun! Every night they have at least 10 people at their dinner table. The food was delicious and it was great to feel at home with another really sweet Ecuadorian family.
Sunday was another awesome day. I got some good exercise playing basketball with a bunch of other people for about 3 hours. Every weekend my host brother organizes the ´´baller´s club´´ at a court near my house. It was entertaining probably only because most people were just as bad as me. It was a ton of fun though, and I can´t wait to play tomorrow. After our game we are going out for pan de yuca (yuca bread) and yogurt. The variety and flavor of fruit here is amazing and so is everything that has fruit flavors in it, so I´m pumped to try guanabana and granadilla and taxo yogurt. After basketball last weekend, I was Ecua-napped into going to the peluquería with my host mom, Jess, and Jess´s host mom Myriam. (Ecua-napped is a term we use to describe when we just get taken somewhere by our families, generally have no idea what is going on, and it usually takes about 5 times as long as you expect. It happens all the time here and almost always ends with a good story.) Our Ecuamamas brought in their box of hair dye and colored their hair while Jess and I got manicures and pedicures, for $2 each. My nails now look ridiculous, painted bright red and with some flower designs, because in Ecuador you HAVE to get designs. I think the woman would have been offended if I said I just wanted a plain color!
Monday came and it was back to orientation, so life was hectic again. Even though I am exhausted when I get home at night, I really enjoy sitting and talking with my host family. My host mom is so goofy and fun and often talks in Spanglish to me. Her boyfriend Pablo kind of acts as my host father. He is really smart and knows a lot about politics, so we have some interesting discussions. There is quite a bit going on politically in this country and region right now, so I love to get an insider´s perspective. I´m sure the US news hasn´t spoken a word about the Ecuadorian referendum coming up that will either legitimize President Correa or deny him his biggest effort - a new constitution - and probably cause some unrest in the government. Maybe US media picked up on the situations in Bolivia and Venezuela, where they kicked out the US ambassadors. Correa has stated his nominal support for the decisions of Morales and Chavez, but Pablo seems to think that nothing like that will occur in Ecuador. There is no violence and anti-American sentiment seems to be very minimal in my experience. Life is generally quiet and calm in Quito, but there is political propoganda everywhere and people are excited to see what will happen in the referendum next week.
What else?? Oh, yesterday I had a classic Ecuadorian cultural experience. It was the last day of classes for my practice teaching at SECAP in Quito. Naturally, we had a party. Complete with boxed wine in class. HAHA!! We prepared an amazing version of Donna Summer´s ´´I Will Survive´´ for the talent show and rocked the auditorium. I had a great group of students and I will miss them for sure. As we handed out their certificates of completion for the course, I said thank you to my students and told them I was proud of their efforts and progress in the very short 2 weeks. While I was talking, my 70-year old student ran up to the board and wrote: Dear Teacher, Our Eternal Greatful. Definitely love those kind of moments. We stayed until about 10:30 and danced and drank and had an awesome time! I hope my students in Ambato are just as fun!
That´s probably enough for now. I am headed to Papallacta in about an hour for a day trip with some other volunteers. It is a little ´´resort´´ type of town about 2 hours east of Quito that has gorgeous hiking and hot spring baths that you can swim and relax in. Will write again soon!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
La Vida Quiteña
Hey Hey Hey...
The days have been busy in Quito lately. I wake up around 5:30 am to get to my spanish class, have orientation for the majority of the day, then teach from 6-8 pm and get home around 9. So forgive my lack of a new entry, but finally I have a moment to update everyone. Thanks again for the comments, its really awesome to hear from everyone. It also makes me feel like writing this blog is not a waste of time.
First, before I forget: I know my contact info now, for those of you who want to spend your energy and money to get ahold of me in some other way than the internet. I have no idea what it would cost for you to call me or mail me a letter, but it´s free for me, so I support your efforts fully. In Ecuador, we keep it simple:
Sara Maki
Casilla 18-01-1164
Ambato, ECUADOR
Phone number (from the US): 011 +593 (9) 548-4529
Highlights from the past week...
1. Went to a World Cup qualifier soccer game between Ecuador and Bolivia, which was fun! I learned lots of bad words and how to use them.
2. Got an orange peel thrown at me by a bus driver (what??? haha) and mustard squirted on my backpack (robbery scam avoided!!). In Quito, you just gotta roll with whatever, even though its so ridiculous sometimes.
3. I´ve been teaching an ESL class of about 20 students, which has been awesome. I looove being in front of a classroom and I can´t wait to move to Ambato where I will have my own students for a whole semester. (To my UB ELI students....I miss you guys!!!)
4. I learned that apparently grocery bags are dirty and you can only put them on the floor.
5. Got offered tongue for lunch, yikes.
6. Sat in a little tienda for about 4 hours and learned Spanish from my 3-year old host neice in Ambato. Not the best plan, since she says ¨puta¨(bitch) instead of ¨fruta¨(fruit). Still, though, her books are great resources and she actually speaks in Spanglish like me now.
7. Am trying to learn the Ecuadorian snap, which is impossible considering that its yourindex and middle finger that have to hit together when you flick your wrist.
8. Went to the Equator and took some excellent tourist-y pictures. Also saw a volcano crater that is north of the city.
I think those are the main things I can think of right now. And I have to get to orientation classes! Talk to y´all soon.
The days have been busy in Quito lately. I wake up around 5:30 am to get to my spanish class, have orientation for the majority of the day, then teach from 6-8 pm and get home around 9. So forgive my lack of a new entry, but finally I have a moment to update everyone. Thanks again for the comments, its really awesome to hear from everyone. It also makes me feel like writing this blog is not a waste of time.
First, before I forget: I know my contact info now, for those of you who want to spend your energy and money to get ahold of me in some other way than the internet. I have no idea what it would cost for you to call me or mail me a letter, but it´s free for me, so I support your efforts fully. In Ecuador, we keep it simple:
Sara Maki
Casilla 18-01-1164
Ambato, ECUADOR
Phone number (from the US): 011 +593 (9) 548-4529
Highlights from the past week...
1. Went to a World Cup qualifier soccer game between Ecuador and Bolivia, which was fun! I learned lots of bad words and how to use them.
2. Got an orange peel thrown at me by a bus driver (what??? haha) and mustard squirted on my backpack (robbery scam avoided!!). In Quito, you just gotta roll with whatever, even though its so ridiculous sometimes.
3. I´ve been teaching an ESL class of about 20 students, which has been awesome. I looove being in front of a classroom and I can´t wait to move to Ambato where I will have my own students for a whole semester. (To my UB ELI students....I miss you guys!!!)
4. I learned that apparently grocery bags are dirty and you can only put them on the floor.
5. Got offered tongue for lunch, yikes.
6. Sat in a little tienda for about 4 hours and learned Spanish from my 3-year old host neice in Ambato. Not the best plan, since she says ¨puta¨(bitch) instead of ¨fruta¨(fruit). Still, though, her books are great resources and she actually speaks in Spanglish like me now.
7. Am trying to learn the Ecuadorian snap, which is impossible considering that its yourindex and middle finger that have to hit together when you flick your wrist.
8. Went to the Equator and took some excellent tourist-y pictures. Also saw a volcano crater that is north of the city.
I think those are the main things I can think of right now. And I have to get to orientation classes! Talk to y´all soon.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Life is Good
WOOHOOO I was so pumped to see that I had 6 comments on my latest blog post. (Yes, mom and dad, I got your ¨test¨ posts.) Thanks guys!! =) Life is still great here in Ecuador.
Today I had my first bus ride commute through Quito...que loco!! My Ecuamami (host mother) walked me and another voluntaria to the bus stop this morning and yelled to the bus driver to tell him exactly where to stop for us. The ride there was only about a half hour, but the ride home was about an hour, including the time that we walked, which was about a third of the way.
A quick FYI for those who want to see some fotos de Ecuador: I forgot my camera cord. I am so used to just putting the SD card right into my computer that I didn´t even think about it. But I promise that as soon as I receive that from the US I will post some pics. Hopefully I will go back to my Ecuafriend Alex´s apartment soon so I can take a picture of the view from his place. It´s absolutely the most beautiful vista I´ve ever seen and I doubt that a picture will capture the beauty of Quito, but it is worth a try. The mountains are awesome....
Speaking of los montañas, I got my ass kicked by the altitude yesterday at our host family picnic. We had a great time playing frisbee and a bit of Ecuavolley, but once the soccer started I was wiiiinded. I really thought I was going to die, but I had to keep playing hard because the loser had to buy the beers. Needless to say, my team won! Ganadores!!! My host brother must not be too enojado still, because I think I am going out for drinks with him tomorrow.
Also mañana I will get my cell phone. I also got my address in Ambato today, though I forgot to bring it across the street to the internet cafe where I am sitting. More info to follow soon. I also need to set up a skype account. They have headsets here at this cafe so that will be okay sometimes! E-mail is so easy though.
I am gonna head back to mi piso to eat dinner, but will check in again soon. Hasta pronto.
Today I had my first bus ride commute through Quito...que loco!! My Ecuamami (host mother) walked me and another voluntaria to the bus stop this morning and yelled to the bus driver to tell him exactly where to stop for us. The ride there was only about a half hour, but the ride home was about an hour, including the time that we walked, which was about a third of the way.
A quick FYI for those who want to see some fotos de Ecuador: I forgot my camera cord. I am so used to just putting the SD card right into my computer that I didn´t even think about it. But I promise that as soon as I receive that from the US I will post some pics. Hopefully I will go back to my Ecuafriend Alex´s apartment soon so I can take a picture of the view from his place. It´s absolutely the most beautiful vista I´ve ever seen and I doubt that a picture will capture the beauty of Quito, but it is worth a try. The mountains are awesome....
Speaking of los montañas, I got my ass kicked by the altitude yesterday at our host family picnic. We had a great time playing frisbee and a bit of Ecuavolley, but once the soccer started I was wiiiinded. I really thought I was going to die, but I had to keep playing hard because the loser had to buy the beers. Needless to say, my team won! Ganadores!!! My host brother must not be too enojado still, because I think I am going out for drinks with him tomorrow.
Also mañana I will get my cell phone. I also got my address in Ambato today, though I forgot to bring it across the street to the internet cafe where I am sitting. More info to follow soon. I also need to set up a skype account. They have headsets here at this cafe so that will be okay sometimes! E-mail is so easy though.
I am gonna head back to mi piso to eat dinner, but will check in again soon. Hasta pronto.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Game On
Hey all,
I´ve arrived in Ecuador and life is good. I just ate my first comida típica for lunch, so we´ll see how my stomach is feeling in about an hour. It was a tiny little place that looked like a garage, but the soup was good and I also had a delicious plato de pescado (fish) for $2. Everything is pretty cheap here, but then I remember that I´m also not getting paid so I guess it evens out...to a net loss, haha. So far so good, though.
A few things I´ve learned about Ecuador so far....
1. Toilet paper is scented and can not be thrown in the toilet, or it will result in a major plumbing disaster.
2. Red lights are optional. Don´t ever drive in Quito.
3. Sometimes marching bands roll through the streets in the evenings...AWESOME!
4. Dogs bark at all hours of the day and night and typically live on the roof.
5. At 9,000 feet, you get winded after climbing 5 flights of stairs. Like, really winded.
Even though it´s different, I´m really loving it so far. My fellow volunteers rule and orientation has already been a blast. Already, people call me Smaki. Tonight we will move to our Quito host families´houses, so it will be sad to be split up, but orientation will continue until almost the end of September. I am placed in an apartment complex where there are 2 other vols, so the first day of travel should be a bit less daunting. We´ve had basic health and safety and culture and time to acclimatize thus far, but will get into Spanish lessons and practice teaching very soon.
I guess that´s the basic story so far, but I´ll keep in touch. Thanks for the comments already...it´s awesome to read that stuff from far away.
XOXO - Sara
I´ve arrived in Ecuador and life is good. I just ate my first comida típica for lunch, so we´ll see how my stomach is feeling in about an hour. It was a tiny little place that looked like a garage, but the soup was good and I also had a delicious plato de pescado (fish) for $2. Everything is pretty cheap here, but then I remember that I´m also not getting paid so I guess it evens out...to a net loss, haha. So far so good, though.
A few things I´ve learned about Ecuador so far....
1. Toilet paper is scented and can not be thrown in the toilet, or it will result in a major plumbing disaster.
2. Red lights are optional. Don´t ever drive in Quito.
3. Sometimes marching bands roll through the streets in the evenings...AWESOME!
4. Dogs bark at all hours of the day and night and typically live on the roof.
5. At 9,000 feet, you get winded after climbing 5 flights of stairs. Like, really winded.
Even though it´s different, I´m really loving it so far. My fellow volunteers rule and orientation has already been a blast. Already, people call me Smaki. Tonight we will move to our Quito host families´houses, so it will be sad to be split up, but orientation will continue until almost the end of September. I am placed in an apartment complex where there are 2 other vols, so the first day of travel should be a bit less daunting. We´ve had basic health and safety and culture and time to acclimatize thus far, but will get into Spanish lessons and practice teaching very soon.
I guess that´s the basic story so far, but I´ll keep in touch. Thanks for the comments already...it´s awesome to read that stuff from far away.
XOXO - Sara
Monday, August 25, 2008
Almost There
And so the journey to Ecuador is about to begin....
On Thursday 8/28, I will head to Miami to meet up with the other WorldTeach volunteers. I am so excited to get to know everyone! Then, very early 8/29 it's on to Quito. Orientation will be held there until 9/24, where we are bombarded with a ton of information, including teacher training, Spanish language training, cultural awareness, and health & safety info. It will be a tiring 4 weeks, but hopefully it will also be quite helpful. On 9/25, I will move to Ambato, Ecuador and teach at SECAP, a quasi-governmental organization with vocational institutes all over the country. I will teach 20 hours a week, which is a little bit less time than I was putting in at University of Bridgeport. Though it seems like a part-time job, lesson planning and grading will definitely turn the position into a full-time gig. It's only been 3 days since my UB classes ended and I'm already really missing it, so it will be great to get back into teaching.
Ambato is a city of about 300,000 people located right in the center of Ecuador. It's in the Andes mountains, so even though I'll be close to the equator, temperatures are pretty mild up at 2700 meters (almost 9000 feet). The location makes it a great jumping-off point for weekend travel or longer adventures. I'm also very much looking forward to the city's annual Festival of Fruits and Flowers, which coincides with Carnaval. Ambato has little tourism, so I'll be much more in tune with true Ecuadorian culture - for better or worse. The past volunteers found it to be a great home, though, and I couldn't be happier with my placement.
I'm down to the last 2 days at home in CT, so I've started packing and trying to tie up loose ends. There is definitely a lot to think about before moving abroad for a year! The next few days will be frenzied, but I will be back to blogging once I am settled in Ecuador. Hopefully for the next post I will have some good Ecua-stories to tell. Thanks for reading!
On Thursday 8/28, I will head to Miami to meet up with the other WorldTeach volunteers. I am so excited to get to know everyone! Then, very early 8/29 it's on to Quito. Orientation will be held there until 9/24, where we are bombarded with a ton of information, including teacher training, Spanish language training, cultural awareness, and health & safety info. It will be a tiring 4 weeks, but hopefully it will also be quite helpful. On 9/25, I will move to Ambato, Ecuador and teach at SECAP, a quasi-governmental organization with vocational institutes all over the country. I will teach 20 hours a week, which is a little bit less time than I was putting in at University of Bridgeport. Though it seems like a part-time job, lesson planning and grading will definitely turn the position into a full-time gig. It's only been 3 days since my UB classes ended and I'm already really missing it, so it will be great to get back into teaching.
Ambato is a city of about 300,000 people located right in the center of Ecuador. It's in the Andes mountains, so even though I'll be close to the equator, temperatures are pretty mild up at 2700 meters (almost 9000 feet). The location makes it a great jumping-off point for weekend travel or longer adventures. I'm also very much looking forward to the city's annual Festival of Fruits and Flowers, which coincides with Carnaval. Ambato has little tourism, so I'll be much more in tune with true Ecuadorian culture - for better or worse. The past volunteers found it to be a great home, though, and I couldn't be happier with my placement.
I'm down to the last 2 days at home in CT, so I've started packing and trying to tie up loose ends. There is definitely a lot to think about before moving abroad for a year! The next few days will be frenzied, but I will be back to blogging once I am settled in Ecuador. Hopefully for the next post I will have some good Ecua-stories to tell. Thanks for reading!
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