Un Trozo de la Vida

Once again it has been forever since I have updated this blog. I feel like I never have time- I’m always adventuring on the weekends and durring the week while in Lumbisi I don’t have easy access to internet and whil eI’m at school I’m always catching up on work or in class...those are my excuses for not keeping this updated...

Okay, where to start? Two weekends ago I went on an Andinismo excursion to the oriente (jungleish). We hiked through the jungle until we reached the base of a volcano called Reventador (we were still pretty far from the volcano). The hike was pretty steep with lots and lots of mud ( my new favorite accessory are rain boots that I bought for $7). The landscape reminded me of a Dr. Seuss illustration. Everything was really mossy and greenish yellow-y with random boulders scattered around. The vegetation is like this because the reventador last errupted in 2002 so everything is just now beginning to grow. So we set up camp and just chilled for awhile- then it started to rain so we all went to our tents and slept. The next morning we headed back down the same path we came which was so much harder becasue it was super slippery and all downhill...but finally we made it to the road and hailed down a bus to adventure back home.

So then I was back in Lumbisi/cumbaya/quito area for two days and then I adventured to the Galapagos islands with three of my friends from the University of Illinois. The Galapagos are INCREDIBLE! I want ot go back and explore all of the other islands. So we left super early on Wednesday and took a flight from Quito to Guayaquill to los Galapagos. Everyone who enters the Galapagos has to pay an entrance fee and it was really awesome because since we are students living in Ecuador we didn’t have to pay the extranjero (foreigner) fee of $100 but instead only had to pay $25! Wooo...andways then we went to the island of Santa Cruz where we spent 2 days. The first day we visited the “Estacion Darwin” which is the main base for the researchers on the islands. They have lots of Iguanas, Turtles and finches in this area- so we just kind of wanered around and took lots of pics of the animals. We visited “Lonesome George” who is the last turtle of his kind and is being forced to reproduce. After wandering around this area we found an agency that organizes day trips and set up our next day’s tour.

On Thursday morning we met up with our tour guide (it was just the 4 of us with our own private tour guide) and got on a boat to go to various parts of the island. We went snorkeling and saw the most amazing fish ever...I honestly felt like I was in an aquarium. A huge sea turtle swam by us along with sea lions and ather awesome fish. We hiked around on land a bit and saw some sharks and then hiked to las Grietas which is “a water filled crevice in the rocks” (Thanks Lonely Planet). It was awesome for cliff jumping but I wans’t in the super adventurous mood so I only jumped off of a low rock. Kevin and Nick both jumped from much higher. It was pretty awesome. Our tour guide was really funny and called us “United States” the whole time- I don’t know why this was so funny but I think it’s because he was speaking in spanish and then would be like “vamos United States.”
So then we headed back to our hotel, got a bite to eat and then headed to the highlands for a tour of the highlands and lava tubes. Funny story time- So it happened to be Yom Kippur on Thursday and I decided not to fast because I didn’t feel like passing out in the Galapagos. We had an extra person join us for this part of the tour. So we start talking and it turns out that he is a religious Israeli soldier who is of course fasting for Yom Kippur. He totally made me feel so bad for not fasting and I think it was god’s way of spiting me for not thinking about the holiday more... Anyways, he ended up coming out with us that evening and breaking his fast with us. He was quite a character and believed that it was possible to salsa dance to every single song in the world.

Friday morning we ventured to Turtle Bay which is an incredible beach with huge waves and the most perfect sand ever. We only spent about 2 hours on the beach adn then had to catch our boat to Isla Isabella. The boat ride was 3 hours long and kind of aweful. It was a tiny boat with too many people piled in. Of course we ended up with the four seats right in front of the motor so the smell of the gas from the motor practically fumigated all of us. Other than getting really wet I was fine, but that wasn’t the case for everyone. So we finally made it to Isla Isabella and there was a guy waiting for us to take us to our hotel. We got really, really lucky with our hotel. We made the reservation the day before and ended up with a suite that had 2 rooms, 4 beds, a bathroom and a kitchen all for $10 a night/ person. It was a pretty awesome deal. We were exhausted and got some food and talked to Andres (our tour guide) about plans for the next day. We assumed that the island would have an ATM but it didn’t so we had to hard-core bargain due to our lack of money. On Saturday morning we headed to Volcán Sierra Negra which has the 2nd largest crater in the world. The hike was pretty incredible and the view was amazing! After the volcano we got a quick bite to eat and then got on our tour guides boat (which looked a little like the mystery mobile from Scooby Doo) and ventured to an area with lots of iguanas and adorable sea lions. We got to see penguins and blue footed boobies along with flamingoes. By that evening we had basically no money left so we just bought some bread and tomatos for dinner and hung out in our hotel room. Andres came and hung out with us for a bit which was pretty chill.

Sunday morning we had to wake up super early in order to et the boat back to Santa Cruz at 6am. At the port to get the boat we had to pay a $5 tax that none of us knew about/had the money to pay- so we practically had to beg the woman to let us through explaining that we would pay when we got to the other island. Somehow it worked and we goton the boat, which once again was too crowded. There weren’t enough seats so Kevin and I ended up sitting in the bottom part of the boat with our luggage. I’m not sure which is a better location, next to the engines or underneath where every single wave feels about ten million times bigger than it actually is. It was quite a boat ride. We made in back to Santa Cruz and then ventured back to the airport and flew back home with no problems. Overall it was an amazing trip- I only wish we could have spent more time there!

Que más?- basically our entire group from University of Illinois took a trip to Atacames- which is a beach about 8 hours away. We stayed at Maria Teresa's cabana which is a little bit removed from the main beach, and much quieter. It was really nice and relaxing and just an all around great escape from life here. Lots of awesome waves and sleeping on the beach while drinking Caipirihna's! We went out dancing the one night which was a lot of fun- there is just a line of bars along the beach each playing a different type of music. We ate yummy Ceviche- which is a cold soup with sea food of various sorts. It was a really fun trip- but then I got sick afterwards, probably from eating street food- but it was worth it.

Alrighty so now I’m back at school, and have lots of work to catch up on. I had my first midterm today in Social problems of Ecuador which went pretty well ( I think). Tomorrow I have my meeting for independent study which is awesome. Basically I read lots about indigenous/mestizo communities, mingas, and the elderly in Ecuador and then discuss the readings with my professor. She is coming to Lumbísi on Friday in order to observe me doing my community service. I’ve made a new anciano friend. Her name is Clara and she is somewhere between 90-99 years old. She lives basically right across the street from my house so I wheel her up to the comedor whenever I go. Wheeling her up there is not an easy task, a wheel chair is not made for unpaved Lumbísi roads. But she is a really sweet woman and I am hoping to spend some more time with her. She lives alone but she does have a daughter who lives in Lumbísi. Rumor is that when her daughter doesn’t bring her food and she doens’t go to the comedor she doesn’t eat. It’s relaly sad and makes me wish I didn’t have to go to school so that I could spend more time with her- but unfortunately I do have to go to school. Que será será.

So this is super long and I have so much more to write about but I doubt anyone is still reading by this point. I think this weekend I’m going to stay around here and explore quito/catch up on work...it will be good for me. I hope all is well at home! Keep me posted!

Peace,
Steph

Once again it´s been forever and a day since I´ve updated this blog. I finally have a schedule- but basically have no free time with internet. Classes are going well. I understand more everyday and can contribute a little more to discussion each day so that´s definitely a positive. I am really enjoying the volunteer work that I´m doing in Lumbisi. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I work in the organic garden in the morning and then help out with the elderly until about 1. The organic garden is hard work but fun work and I get to practice my Spanish a lot with the person who runs the garden. Working with the elderly is alright, but hard because they are really really difficult to understand. I basically serve food to them and attempt to have conversations that end up with them making fun of me...it´s actually pretty entertaining. I have to go around and get everyones name at the beginning and I know about 5 of them now- their are pretty much 4 different last names and three Maria Theresa Quishpe´s. Today I asked how many Quishpe´s are in Lumbisi and I got the response of ¨Bastante¨which means ¨enough.¨ I thought that was pretty entertaining.

Some random info about Lumbisi/ politics of Ecuador. Lumbisi has a monthly town meeting and this month a woman came to talk to the town about voting. She compared the town to the retarded child that every family has that everyone protects and told them to vote yes if they want to be protected by the government. I thought that was a very interesting, awful comparison...but unfortunately many people in Lumbisi believe whatever they are told and will be voting yes just because this woman told them to. I asked Hugo (the person who works in the garden with me) what he thinks about the constitution and his response was that he likes it because it creates more jobs. His families moto is if you want to eat you must work- obviously employment is super important to him. I also founf out that Lumbisi is $2000 in debt from having Rafael Correa (president of Ecuador) come and speak. The campaign is making Lumbisi pay even though it was a huge propaganda fest. I think that is completely ridiculous.

Basically during the school week I just to volunteer work, go to classes, and then end up somewhere to do work after class. On occasion we will do something exciting but usually I´m exhausted by the time classes are over. I have no classes on Friday so Thursday is usually an evening for fun. Last week Lisa and I went to this place called Mono Dedo to go Bouldering. Bouldering might be the most difficult thing I have ever tried- but it´s really fun and I am deff going to go back. Basically if you imagine a short basement (like 511´s) with rocks on all of the walls and ceiling at different angles that is what mono dedo is. We met some really cool people and afterwards went to this hot dog place with a group of them who are all cousins. They told us that the hot dogs were the best and we were both skeptical but I totally agree now. The hot dog had chips and pineapple marmalade on it along with lots of other normal hot dog condiments. It was sooo goood. After Mono Dedo we met up with some of the other University of Illinois kids and went to a disco still dressed in our climbing clothes. It was a good time.

This weekend we went to Otavalo market, which is about 2 hours away from Quito. On our way we stopped at the equator which really isn´t that exciting but still something that needed to happen. Otavalo market is a huge market that sells everything from textiles to jewlery to instruments. It´s probably the best place to stock up on gifts. It´s expected of you to bargain which is fun but I am absolutely terrible at doing. I bought a pretty awesome hat that I will be wearing when I work in the Organic garden and for bonaroo next year. I also bought some yarn and various other little things. I figured I will be back so I didn´t go too shopping crazy.

After the Market we went on a hike to an incredible waterfall in Peguche. It was freezing cold and none of us had bathing suits but we all went in anyways- including my camera. I accidentally dropped it into the water and now it´s not working...so I might not have pictures for the rest of the time I am here:/. But despite that the waterfall was incredible...it was so powerful that I wasn´t able to go underneath it because the pressure of the water was too strong.

On Sunday we visited a small indigenous house and learned how to make a woven tapestry. I bought lots of yarn for super cheap! We also went to a place where they make indigenous instruments such as rain sticks and flutes. It was a nice weekend- and now it´s hard for me to get back to work.

Okay time to go read about 18th century Ecuador. I miss you all and hope all is well!
peace,
Steph

Hola Todos!

I feel like it's been awhile since I have done a blog so this is probably going to be a very long one. Classes started last week...I think they are going to be pretty hard. Here's an overview of my classes:

El Boom Latinoamericano- Literature class about the boom period. It's going to be a lot of intense reading...including 100 years of solitude and 2 other novels along with lots of short stories. I really like the boom style so I think I'll liek the class but it's deff going to be rough.

La Illustracion en el Ecuador- the teacher didn't show up the first day so I really am not sure what this is going to be

Problemas Sociales de Ecuador- pretty self explanatory- social problems of ecuador. I think it should be really interesting

Conversacion Avanzada- Spanish Conversation...I definitely need this class!

Andinismo- This is going to be a really fun class- we meet once a week and learn random backpacking skills and then go on camping trips on the weekend.

So those are my classes. I only have 12 credits but i might pick up a weaving class...I'm on the waiting list so we'll see.

This weekend we went on a group trip to a Farm in Machachi. The farm is family run and is at the moment being converted into a hotel type place. They family that lives there is incredibly nice and the entire experience was really fun. I think that we were the guinea pigs for some of the programs that they are developing for tourists. The farms main product is cheese so we learned all about the process of cheese and ate lots and lots of it...which was delicious. We rode horses and did lots of hiking.

The first day we hiked the "ruta del oro"... basically we roll played and were the incans es caping from the Spaniards. Their wasn't actually a trail at all and we ended up getting attacked by rasberry prickles and having to scoot around on our buts to got through certain areas. It was really fun and entertaining. For half of the trek we had a llama with us but we had to leave him behind. The myth of the "ruta del oro" is that the yellow flowers that are similar to dandelions were pieces of gold left behind by the incans. When we got back from the hike people dressed in traditional outfits were dancing to the traditional ecuadorian music. The song playing was the one from our dance so we joined in and they were all impressed!

Before the hike we were given a ridiculously huge meal that included Mote with fried pig skin, soup made with potatoes, cheese and avocado, meat and salad. It was way too much foood and after the soup i couldn't eat anymore. That evening for dinner we learned how to make tortillas con queso. Basically you wrap cheese up in corn tortilla dough and the fry it. They are delicious but awful for you.

Sunday morning I woke up super early along with 4 other people from my group and we learned to milk a cow. I tried but was pretty unsuccessful, only getting a few droplets out. After breakfast we drove to the Paramo/ which is a specific type of climate with lots of spungy vegetation and spiral moss. It was really really beautiful and we could see cotopaxi from a distance which was incredible. The hike was really difficult partly because of the altitude and partly because of how wet everything was. All of my clothes were completely covered in mud by the end.

After the Hike we headed home. The three of us who live in lumbisi got a ride back in a truck from our touguide. It was pretty entertaining because there were four of us smashed into a tiny little truck but we made it work. By the end though I was happy to be home. |

So now i'm back to school...I start volunteer work tomorrow!

peace,
Steph

For my volunteer work here I´m going to help start a library in Lumbisí!!! I´m super psyched

I tried posting pictures. It´s was pretty unsuccessful- let me know if you can see the pics

My phone number is posted on facebook so if anyone wants to call me it will charge you whatever your international plan costs. Also if you don´t have facebook but want to call me e-mail me and I´ll give you my number.

peace,
Steph

So the Lumbisi festival was definitely a cultural experience. The town is usually so quite and peaceful despite the stray dogs and chickens. But that was not the case this weekend.

The Lumbisians love parades and costumes and there was at least one parade of scary clowns and people in various masks marching around with a mariachi band at least 2 times a day. Sunday morning the parade came by my house at 8am. So people are dressed in all sorts of costumes to represent everyone in the society. It was actually very racist. All of the people with black faces as masks were the bandits. They carried around bottles of the worse alcohol I have ever tasted in my life (worse that vlady) and forced us to drink by holding a machete to our throats. Then there were the people who had on white masks and gave us goose eggs to hold while patting us down with herbs. There were also people dressed as wolves who tried to give us corn and bread. It was quite a cultural experience. It started raining really hard around 10 so I guess the festivities weren´t as crazy as usual. I was really exhausted and went home to try to sleep.

It was practically impossible to sleep because about every ten minutes a firework would go off. They aren´t really fireworks though- it´s actually just a really loud boom and nothing else. But so I woke up in a really grumpy mood on Sunday because of these fireworks and the mariachi band and all. I helped clean my house because it was a disaster from all of the visitors who were in town and then I met up with my group so get ready for our dance. WE got dressed up in the traditional outfits. These consist of long skirts with white embroidered bloused and a shawl for the girls. The guys wore furry pants with a white button down shirt, a poncho and a hat. We practiced out dance and had random people taking pictures of us. Once we were ready we eventually made it up to the stadium where the show was to take place. There were 12 acts in total and it took forever because we were the last to go on. WE were waiting for at least 3 hours! While we were waiting we ate lots of doughnuts and chifles (banana chips) which were delicious. People walked around giving us glasses of Chicha which is a drink made of corn. For the festival huge vats of it were made and each day that it sits around it ferments more and becomes more alcoholic. I really really don´t like it. I also tried Mote which is a type of corn with huge kernals. It´s really good. Anyways we finally danced and it actually went really really well considering. I think that the town enjoyed our attempt- and didn´t laugh too much at us

Today was my first day of official orientation with all of the international students. It was pretty boring because we have already gone over everything that was covered. Classes officially start on Wednesday.

peace,
Steph