I made it. Saying my goodbyes was a bit tough at the orphanage and with my host family. But I am home sweet home in a house filled with Christmas cheer. A lot of exchange students from my classes were on the same flight as me which was a great way to end the experience. We all were able to be together until the very end.
Thanks for keeping up with my blog for the past 4 months. I have learned some Spanish, lived in a huge city, made some great friends, learned a little about the Ecuadorian culture, scuba dove with manta rays, rafted through the Amazon, jumped of waterfalls and bridges, zip-lined through cloud forests, saw monkeys, blue-footed boobies, tried ceviche and guinea pig, took salsa lessons, went to a world cup elimination soccer game, attended a bullfight during las fiestas de Quito, and had a blast lovin’ on little babies at Para Sus Ninos.
Although this wasn’t easy, here are my top five favorite trips (#1 being the bomb-diggity:
5. Whale watching off the coast of Puerto Lopez
4. Horseback riding to a waterfall in Baños
3. All-day Whitewater rafting trip in Tena
2. Bike riding along the mountainside in Baños
1. Scuba diving in Puerto Lopez with giant manta rays
Top five experiences in Quito:
5. Exploring Centro Historico, admiring all of the colonial architecture
4. Taking a month-long salsa class at a studio in the city
3. Being one of 45,000 people in the national stadium to see the Ecuador vs. Uruguay futbol game
2. All the coffee dates with Kristen and Mateo
1. Spending my last few weeks at Para Sus Niños
Thanks for tuning in. But now I am signing out. Who knows, maybe this won’t be the last of my Ecua-adventures. Till next time
Merry Christmas,
Carrie
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Last week in Ecuador
Hola!
So the blogs haven’t been coming quite so quick these days. Probably because I stopped traveling and taking pictures. Classes are over. Kristen flew away. I’ve only got 4 days left in this foreign land. It feels like the end. I think I could be ready to go home in 4 days; the thought of la navidad gets me really excited, and Sean coming to visit for New Years. Since last post, what have I been up to? Studying hard for exams, went to a bull fight during Quito’s independence week, been volunteering at Para Sus Niños (an orphanage).
The bull fight was “a cultural experience.” The second we walked through the gates, we could tell that there was a lot of tradition tied to bull fighting in Ecuador. Why is everyone wearing panama hats? Why is everyone drinking wine out of leather satchels? It’s just…tradition. The event reminded me in one way of Elon football games; everyone was dressed up. Take away the Lily Pulitzer and add stiletto leather boots.
Kristen, Lauren, and I were lucky enough to sit by a group of older men who were bull fighting aficionados that were thrilled to enlighten us on the ends and outs of bull fighting. During the whole event, I got a full play-by-play, which I didn’t mind at all. Watching the first bull, out of six, get killed was the hardest, because he was so gosh-darn-cute. You could see that he was panicked and breathing hard. The others were huge, black, muscular, angry bulls, so it wasn’t so bad. The scoring in bullfighting is as follows: one ear means you did alright, two ears means you were great, two ears and a tail is unbelievable, and if you receive nothing it basically means get out of the ring. The day we went was particularly eventful because the revered “Juli” (supposedly one of the best in the world) got nothing both times. And Sebastian Castela performed so well in one of the fights that the he received the highest honor, two fake ears and a tail, and the bulls got to live to see another day. The group of old men had never seen this happen before so it must have been a big deal. Who knows. The bull fighters, toreros, are funny looking to me. Their stance is so erect that they are actually leaning backwards and they were gold jackets and pink spandex.
Que mas? Ever since classes ended I have been spending my days at an orphanage, Para Sus Ninos (PSN). I don’t have much experience with babies or with special needs children so the learning curve has been steep, and wonderful all the same. The orphanage started 20 something years ago by a young married couple from California who went to Ecuador on a church trip, and decided to dedicate the rest of their lives to abandoned Ecuadorian children. Pretty sweet huh? I am very impressed with the facilities: lots of land, beautiful houses, a pool (you never see those in Ecuador), and they even have a pet llama! I was sweeping the sidewalk the other day and right in front of me a llama head popped up out of the bushes, scarred the ba-geezes out of me, but now we’re friends.
PSN is a well-oiled machine that is doing incredible things but the “Tias” (all the women that take care of the kids, means aunt in Spanish) deserve the most credit for all the love, time, and energy they pour into each kid, whilst cleaning, cooking, doing endless loads of laundry.
They have four houses, one for little babies, one for 2-4year olds, one for the kids older than that, and one for special needs kids that are as old as teens. I have spent time in all the houses playing, dancing to Barney songs, feeding them, bathing them, etc. I have spent most of my time with the baby house which I love. All the babes have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, forms of communication and I am slowly learning all that. The littlest one Felipe, not quite crawling yet, has been hard for more because he cries and gives me looks of disgust whenever I got near him. BUT, today I made him giggle. What a great day.
Being in an orphanage can be tough. These kids are cute, reaaal cute. And somehow they got the bad end of the stick and are parentless. The little ones don’t understand, but the older ones do. It’s a tough reality to face as a little kid.
I am really appreciating being at PSN, little tots are just so new to me. I not sure how I am going to be able to just pick up and leave on Sunday, after being there for only a couple weeks.
So the blogs haven’t been coming quite so quick these days. Probably because I stopped traveling and taking pictures. Classes are over. Kristen flew away. I’ve only got 4 days left in this foreign land. It feels like the end. I think I could be ready to go home in 4 days; the thought of la navidad gets me really excited, and Sean coming to visit for New Years. Since last post, what have I been up to? Studying hard for exams, went to a bull fight during Quito’s independence week, been volunteering at Para Sus Niños (an orphanage).
The bull fight was “a cultural experience.” The second we walked through the gates, we could tell that there was a lot of tradition tied to bull fighting in Ecuador. Why is everyone wearing panama hats? Why is everyone drinking wine out of leather satchels? It’s just…tradition. The event reminded me in one way of Elon football games; everyone was dressed up. Take away the Lily Pulitzer and add stiletto leather boots.
Kristen, Lauren, and I were lucky enough to sit by a group of older men who were bull fighting aficionados that were thrilled to enlighten us on the ends and outs of bull fighting. During the whole event, I got a full play-by-play, which I didn’t mind at all. Watching the first bull, out of six, get killed was the hardest, because he was so gosh-darn-cute. You could see that he was panicked and breathing hard. The others were huge, black, muscular, angry bulls, so it wasn’t so bad. The scoring in bullfighting is as follows: one ear means you did alright, two ears means you were great, two ears and a tail is unbelievable, and if you receive nothing it basically means get out of the ring. The day we went was particularly eventful because the revered “Juli” (supposedly one of the best in the world) got nothing both times. And Sebastian Castela performed so well in one of the fights that the he received the highest honor, two fake ears and a tail, and the bulls got to live to see another day. The group of old men had never seen this happen before so it must have been a big deal. Who knows. The bull fighters, toreros, are funny looking to me. Their stance is so erect that they are actually leaning backwards and they were gold jackets and pink spandex.
Que mas? Ever since classes ended I have been spending my days at an orphanage, Para Sus Ninos (PSN). I don’t have much experience with babies or with special needs children so the learning curve has been steep, and wonderful all the same. The orphanage started 20 something years ago by a young married couple from California who went to Ecuador on a church trip, and decided to dedicate the rest of their lives to abandoned Ecuadorian children. Pretty sweet huh? I am very impressed with the facilities: lots of land, beautiful houses, a pool (you never see those in Ecuador), and they even have a pet llama! I was sweeping the sidewalk the other day and right in front of me a llama head popped up out of the bushes, scarred the ba-geezes out of me, but now we’re friends.
PSN is a well-oiled machine that is doing incredible things but the “Tias” (all the women that take care of the kids, means aunt in Spanish) deserve the most credit for all the love, time, and energy they pour into each kid, whilst cleaning, cooking, doing endless loads of laundry.
They have four houses, one for little babies, one for 2-4year olds, one for the kids older than that, and one for special needs kids that are as old as teens. I have spent time in all the houses playing, dancing to Barney songs, feeding them, bathing them, etc. I have spent most of my time with the baby house which I love. All the babes have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, forms of communication and I am slowly learning all that. The littlest one Felipe, not quite crawling yet, has been hard for more because he cries and gives me looks of disgust whenever I got near him. BUT, today I made him giggle. What a great day.
Being in an orphanage can be tough. These kids are cute, reaaal cute. And somehow they got the bad end of the stick and are parentless. The little ones don’t understand, but the older ones do. It’s a tough reality to face as a little kid.
I am really appreciating being at PSN, little tots are just so new to me. I not sure how I am going to be able to just pick up and leave on Sunday, after being there for only a couple weeks.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Oh hey blog?
Hello! I must have lost the blog fever for a bit. Gosh it's been a while. Let's see what has happened...
Had a Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, mash potatoes, caseroles, pumpkin pie....the works. Might have been my best meal all semester, no offense Ecuador. It was quite a quest finding all the ingredients, for example there is no such thing as canned pumpkin filling in Ecuador.
Katie came for a whirlwind tour of Ecua-life. We saw a bit of Quito, my school, my pals, the market, and spent a night in the beautiful pueblo of Mindo. I got to do another round of ziplining, waterfall jumping, and butterfly watching, which was just as awesome as the first. We even went to a "frog concert" where we were walked around a pond and forested areas led by a man with a flashlight and a recorder with all the different frog sounds. There was a constant hum of creatures of the night (owls, frogs, crickets..) and saw a handful of froggies during the walk, but the coolest thing we saw was glow-in-the-dark fungus decomposing a branch. very cool.
I had my first legal glass of wine last night. My closest friends and I went to a wonderful restaurant famous for its view for my birthday dinner. Mateo and Kristen made me a homemade strawberry cheesecake which was a real treat.
My time here is drawing to a close. One of my classes even ended today. The countdown is on but there is still more fun stuff to come in the next couple of weeks. Bull fight. Cotopaxi. Volunteering. It ain't over yet!
Had a Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, mash potatoes, caseroles, pumpkin pie....the works. Might have been my best meal all semester, no offense Ecuador. It was quite a quest finding all the ingredients, for example there is no such thing as canned pumpkin filling in Ecuador.
Katie came for a whirlwind tour of Ecua-life. We saw a bit of Quito, my school, my pals, the market, and spent a night in the beautiful pueblo of Mindo. I got to do another round of ziplining, waterfall jumping, and butterfly watching, which was just as awesome as the first. We even went to a "frog concert" where we were walked around a pond and forested areas led by a man with a flashlight and a recorder with all the different frog sounds. There was a constant hum of creatures of the night (owls, frogs, crickets..) and saw a handful of froggies during the walk, but the coolest thing we saw was glow-in-the-dark fungus decomposing a branch. very cool.
I had my first legal glass of wine last night. My closest friends and I went to a wonderful restaurant famous for its view for my birthday dinner. Mateo and Kristen made me a homemade strawberry cheesecake which was a real treat.
My time here is drawing to a close. One of my classes even ended today. The countdown is on but there is still more fun stuff to come in the next couple of weeks. Bull fight. Cotopaxi. Volunteering. It ain't over yet!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tena
So I traveled west to Tena, the gateway to the Amazon, this past weekend. It was a brief but beautiful adventure. After a hilariously disgusting (odd adjective combo but it really is the perfect description) bus ride, we made to Tena, which was nothing like the grass huts that I had envisioned. Near the end of the long bus ride after alternating who gets the floor and who gets our one seat, Kristen and I discovered a mysterious goo all over our backpacks and my shoe and my thigh after putting my backpack on it. Our first thought was, is there really poo all over our stuff? But after laughing until our sides hurt, it was confirmed after the sniff check that it was in fact vomit. How wonderful right? After some cleaning up at the hostel we went to a great restaurant owned by a chipper old German where the rest of the bunch met up with us.
Bright and early on Saturday morning we began our whitewater rafting adventure, one of my greatest Ecua-experiences to date. River People, the rafting company, was run by two Irish brothers (not really what I was expecting in the Amazon) that had lived in Ecuador since they were kids. The all day trip was absolutely incredible, packed with class 4 rapids, lots of splashing and swimming, a homemade lunch made by their mom, and even a jungle hike. One of the rapids was too big to raft so we hiked up one of the steep sides of the river and then repelled back down once we got past the rapid. It was the jungliest of all jungle hikes for me. And no jungle experience is complete without tripping and falling on a poisonous plant from the Amazon. The stinging went away after a couple hours though, no worries. The untouched rainforest that surrounded us was out of this world: lots of little waterfalls, vines, green parrots, and tropical foliage. We didn’t get many pictures after Mateo’s camera got too cold from the water or something, but here’s a few!
Bright and early on Saturday morning we began our whitewater rafting adventure, one of my greatest Ecua-experiences to date. River People, the rafting company, was run by two Irish brothers (not really what I was expecting in the Amazon) that had lived in Ecuador since they were kids. The all day trip was absolutely incredible, packed with class 4 rapids, lots of splashing and swimming, a homemade lunch made by their mom, and even a jungle hike. One of the rapids was too big to raft so we hiked up one of the steep sides of the river and then repelled back down once we got past the rapid. It was the jungliest of all jungle hikes for me. And no jungle experience is complete without tripping and falling on a poisonous plant from the Amazon. The stinging went away after a couple hours though, no worries. The untouched rainforest that surrounded us was out of this world: lots of little waterfalls, vines, green parrots, and tropical foliage. We didn’t get many pictures after Mateo’s camera got too cold from the water or something, but here’s a few!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Quito-ing
Hello all,
This has been one of my more academically challenging weeks, hence no new posts. I am coming down to the homestretch in my classes, so the professors are piling it on. I don’t mind too much, that’s what I am here for right?
Brief update on Ecua-life:
Blackouts
Lately we have been experiencing “rolling blackouts.” Ecuador mostly runs on hydro-power but unfortunately the rains just didn’t come this year. What does that mean? There isn’t enough power to go around. Fortunately they have started to give us warnings so we can be ready for the 4hr blackout in our homes. Aside from the hassle of complete darkness at times (my host fam does seem to want to invest in some candles) it has been kind of fun. I always liked power-outages when I was younger because that meant the normal routine was put on hold for a little while. And everything was so quiet. I went out to eat the other night and they had a fire in the fireplace and candles on all the tables, who wouldn’t love that?
Protests
College students across the nation that attend private universities are not happy. The president has recently passed a law making all universities public. It will surely change a few things. In a country that is becoming more and more socialistic, the government will have a much bigger role in the curriculum, manner of teaching, etc. They can even go as far as deciding how many students can have a certain majors. For example, if there are plenty of filmmakers or ecologists in the country then they will not allow more students to study those subjects. It seems like their freedom is slowly being taken away from them.
Correa
The friendship between President Correa and Chavez is making Ecuadorians a little uneasy. Chavez tells Correa to buy weapons from Russia; Correa buy weapons from Russia. Chavez doesn’t like Columbia; Correa doesn’t like Columbia. Chavez thinks the US is evil, Correa thinks the US is evil. Correa likes Chavez a little too much. 'Nuf said.
Update on my Ecua-happenings
The photos below are of my previous weekend around Quito. The last one is a view from my apartment. There is a HUGE statue of an angel in South Quito way up high that we made the trek to see. The stairs to get up to her were endless but the view of the city was great. I leave tomorrow for Tena, the closest I will get to the Amazon. Hopefully by next post I will have gone white-water rafting and spelunking.
Ciao,
Carrie
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Rio Verde
Just got back from a beachy weekend in Rio Verde with some amigos. This weekend getaway was much more tranquilo than the others. We went to the beach, a whole 50 yrds from our room, spent time with the owners, which was Mateo’s host family, went on a short little boat ride up a river out to sea, ate some delicious ceviche, and not much else. I have had an immense craving for ceviche ever since the first bowl. Something about the combination of seafood, lime juice, cilantro, red onion, tomatoes, and salt just seem to work. Add some patacones (fried bananas) on the side and you’re in heaven.
Life in Rio Verde is much more simplified than what most of us are used to. Many live in huts along the river, fish for sustenance, play a lot of soccer, and pass the day with their families and neighbors. Most of the citizens are black and I think for some of the lit’uns, it was their first time seeing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed person. We only saw a couple other tourists throughout the four days, so needless to say we stuck out a little.
Our beach hardly had a soul on it. We spent hours swimming in the warm ocean (Mateo kayaking and Kristen and I bobbing around in child-sized inner tubes) and walking alone the shore with nothing around us but the vast Pacific and the wide sandy beach. It was a dream. I knew it would be last time at the beach in Ecuador so I tried to soak it in as much as I could.
Well this five day weekend has come to a close. Back to the books! 46 days left.
Life in Rio Verde is much more simplified than what most of us are used to. Many live in huts along the river, fish for sustenance, play a lot of soccer, and pass the day with their families and neighbors. Most of the citizens are black and I think for some of the lit’uns, it was their first time seeing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed person. We only saw a couple other tourists throughout the four days, so needless to say we stuck out a little.
Our beach hardly had a soul on it. We spent hours swimming in the warm ocean (Mateo kayaking and Kristen and I bobbing around in child-sized inner tubes) and walking alone the shore with nothing around us but the vast Pacific and the wide sandy beach. It was a dream. I knew it would be last time at the beach in Ecuador so I tried to soak it in as much as I could.
Well this five day weekend has come to a close. Back to the books! 46 days left.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Baños
Hola once again,
I am just sitting here recuperating after a looong day with my wonderful host family. What started out as a quick hello at my 3 years old host-nephew’s birthday party this afternoon turned into an all day family bonding session. I met more relatives than my brain could really process; I ended up all over Quito in various houses of tios, abuelos, sobrinos; I even attended a Catholic Mass this evening….as if it wasn’t hard to follow already, try it in Spanish. The highlight(s) of the day would have to be Sophia (2yrs), Daniela (5yrs), and Valeria (8yrs). By the end of tonight they were using me as their personal jungle gym while their mom was trying to get them to go to bed. I think kids help break the ice in awkward situations with their crude honesty and silly antics, so I was thankful to have them around today while I was trying to survive a day full of strangers that don’t speak my language.
So what else is new? I decided to stay here this weekend and save some money after last weekend’s escapades. I went Baños; and no I didn’t go whitewater rafting or swimming in hot springs like I had intended…but I did have a remarkable weekend with Kristen and Mateo. We went on the greatest bike ride of my life on a road that ran along the tropical mountainside through tunnels, past waterfalls, across bridges. We thought it would be a good idea to jump off one of the bridges after some locals holding ropes asked us if we wanted to “saltar” (jump). You could compare what we did to bungee jumping, except the rope wasn’t stretchy. I had to swan dive out as far as I could and then it turned into a swinging motion. For $10 you too can cheat death and jump off a bridge in Baños. ¿Quieres saltar? The road also lead us to a grandisimo waterfall that would make even Yao Ming feel small. Later that afternoon I finally tried cuy (guinea pig). It was….ok. Kind of like gamey dark turkey meat.
The next morning we went horseback riding up to another waterfall with a local guide. I may have thought that I knew how to ride horses but I quickly found out that I had no clue what I was doing. That whole trot motion takes some practice! And at some points we were in full a gallop and I am sure I looked like a newb. But despite the steep learning curve, I was lovin it. A couple hours later we hopped on a bus back to Quito and my great weekend ended very abruptly….vomiting more than 25 times in a bag on a bus will do that to you. But why dwell on food poisoning when the demon seed is already gone?
Hasta luego,
Carolina
I am just sitting here recuperating after a looong day with my wonderful host family. What started out as a quick hello at my 3 years old host-nephew’s birthday party this afternoon turned into an all day family bonding session. I met more relatives than my brain could really process; I ended up all over Quito in various houses of tios, abuelos, sobrinos; I even attended a Catholic Mass this evening….as if it wasn’t hard to follow already, try it in Spanish. The highlight(s) of the day would have to be Sophia (2yrs), Daniela (5yrs), and Valeria (8yrs). By the end of tonight they were using me as their personal jungle gym while their mom was trying to get them to go to bed. I think kids help break the ice in awkward situations with their crude honesty and silly antics, so I was thankful to have them around today while I was trying to survive a day full of strangers that don’t speak my language.
So what else is new? I decided to stay here this weekend and save some money after last weekend’s escapades. I went Baños; and no I didn’t go whitewater rafting or swimming in hot springs like I had intended…but I did have a remarkable weekend with Kristen and Mateo. We went on the greatest bike ride of my life on a road that ran along the tropical mountainside through tunnels, past waterfalls, across bridges. We thought it would be a good idea to jump off one of the bridges after some locals holding ropes asked us if we wanted to “saltar” (jump). You could compare what we did to bungee jumping, except the rope wasn’t stretchy. I had to swan dive out as far as I could and then it turned into a swinging motion. For $10 you too can cheat death and jump off a bridge in Baños. ¿Quieres saltar? The road also lead us to a grandisimo waterfall that would make even Yao Ming feel small. Later that afternoon I finally tried cuy (guinea pig). It was….ok. Kind of like gamey dark turkey meat.
The next morning we went horseback riding up to another waterfall with a local guide. I may have thought that I knew how to ride horses but I quickly found out that I had no clue what I was doing. That whole trot motion takes some practice! And at some points we were in full a gallop and I am sure I looked like a newb. But despite the steep learning curve, I was lovin it. A couple hours later we hopped on a bus back to Quito and my great weekend ended very abruptly….vomiting more than 25 times in a bag on a bus will do that to you. But why dwell on food poisoning when the demon seed is already gone?
Hasta luego,
Carolina
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