So apparently Grace Unruh thinks I should post things more often on my blog. I said that she probably didn´t want to hear about the boring day-to-day stuff, and just to show her that I´m right, I´m going to tell you about Tuesday, January 25 (Two months until my birthday). Oh, and Grace, if you do end up liking what I´m about to post, I´m sorry because I don´t plan on blogging about my life every. single. day.
Woke up at 7:00. Got dressed. Put in my contacts. Ate a breakfast that consisted of banana, apple, milk (cold), pancakes with syrup, and a fried egg. Brushed my teeth. Applied sunscreen. Packed my backpack. Left the apartment. Walked to the bus stop (it only takes me two minutes to get there). Hopped on a green bus to Cumbayà. Got off at the bus stop and walked through the bank parking lot and across the street to school. Headed to my Advanced Spanish class at 8:30. We spent the period discussing the uses of el presente de subjuntivo. Went to Intermediate Conversation at 10:00. Right now we´re working on knowing the differences between the various meanings of a single verb or when to use which verbs that have basically the same meaning. We had written sentences for homework and so we just read those out loud. Then some girl (Allison, i think) presented an article about Obama improving relations with Cuba. I didn´t really understand what she was talking about so when she asked the class three questions at the end of the presentation, I had nothing to say. Neither did a lot of other people. Class over. Walked to Supermaxi and got a couple pieces of bread for 69 centavos. Also had a banana from home. Ate it. Accompanied some people to the sandwich store where they ate lunch, then to a little store to get 30 cent bottles of water. Improvisation class at 1:00. Did a warm-up game where we walked around the room and shook people´s hands and smiled and stood like two inches away. Invasion of my personal space and pretty uncomfortable. But Daniel (the prof) has this goal that by the end of the class we will be able to feel comfortable in the uncomfortable. Then we worked on narration, which was hard because it was in Spanish. we went around the circle and everyone had to add some lines of narration to the story. I didn´t understand half of what was going on and I was the first gringa to go. By the time it got to me, the story was that Daniel had rescued a street dog, Daniel had a knife in his neck, and the neighbor lady was running around outside naked. I didn´t know what to say so I followed up with "El perro hizo caca." (The dog pooped. basically). Got a good laugh out of the class with that one. Then we split up into groups of three and I was luckily with 2 other gringas. Daniel let us play the games in English because he said this isn´t a language class. whew. We played "Si, y" (Yes, and). You just go back and forth, but you always have to start your sentences with Yes, and. Then we played the question game where you can only ask questions. Finally, we had to go up in front of the class in pairs and play one of the games. I was with Hannah, another gringo, so we got to play in English. We played Yes, and. The situation was that we were cooking and one of us is vegetarian and the other isn´t. Pretty ironic because the situation was suggested by a classmate who probably doesn´t know that Hannah actually is a pescatarian (sp?) and that I cannot survive without meat. But for the fun of the game, we switched roles and I was the vegetarian. Pretty fun, and a whole lot easier in English. Class over. Changed into soccer clothes and hung out with Wesley until we were picked up at the university by Galo. Went to Tumbaco to volunteer with the kids. Practice supposedly starts at 3:30, but we didn´t have enough kids until like 4. Ecuadorian time. Stretched, did some drills. Played against some older guys who were hanging around the field. Andres and another volunteer played with the big boys, while Galo, Wesley, and I played on the kids´ team. Pretty fun. We lost, but some of those youngsters can really hang with the older ones. It was impressive. Lots of running, though. And polvo (dust). Went home, ate supper, did some homework. A friend of my mom´s came over with two of her young daughters (los monstruos as my mom would call them). Always asking questions, wanting to play with chiquito Bibi, etc. They weren´t too bad. Entertaining at the very least. After about an hour they left. I went to take a shower and realized my underwear had been inside-out all day. Perfect. Did some more homework. Went to bed at 10:30.
The End
(Happy Grace?)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
¡Que lindo Mindo! and an Eventful Sunday
Went to Mindo on Friday with some other BCAers. Caught a cab with Julie, Ashley, and Alex to get to the Estación Ofelia. Our cabbie was quite the talker and we ended up talking a lot about Quito and los Estados Unidos. Then he went on a vocabulary rampage and was asking us what all these Spanish words meant in English. Grande = big. Mercado = market. Chico = boy. Hermosa = beautiful. Then we got to the word chica, which means girl. the Spanish language doesn't have the guttural sounds that you find in "girl." We kept repeating the word, but he refused to say it. He kept on gaping at us and asking us to repeat it. He was like "No puedo. no puedo." (I can't. I can't.) Haha. At one point he told us in Spanish "Let me arrange my throat first." Haha. We never got him to say it, but it was by far the best cab ride. Ever. Got to the bus stop and met up with some other BCAers. Set up camp in the back of the bus and settled down for a 2 hour bus ride to Mindo, NW of Quito. Drove past some pretty sweet cloud forests.
Got there and our hostal host was waiting at the bus stop for us. We walked about 5 minutes to the hostal, which we had all to ourselves. The two boys stayed in a room on the second floor and us girls had the whole upper floor to ourselves. There was an open area with 7 beds and then three private rooms. A balcony with hammocks, and a bathroom. After we dropped off our stuff, our hostal host walked us back into town where we ate at a taco restaurant. Then we went to the park where we proceeded to be "those annoying gringos." We played Never Have I Ever aka 10 Fingers, which brought up some interesting conversations. Played Big Booty, too. Then we played Zip Bong (the game where you can't show your teeth). Man was that entertaining. Haha. Good times. Good times. Met up with Kaitlin and Vince in town (they came on a later bus), and then headed back to the hostal where we proceeded to get ready for bed and have girl talk. Ashley didn't want to sleep by herself with all the bugs. If there were going to be bugs in her bed, she wanted someone else to be there too, so she came and slept with me. Haha.
Woke up when the sun did...and the roosters. Hard to sleep past sunrise here at the equator. Ate breakfast at the hostal. Delicious and nutritious...and filling. Then we headed out to go canopying! Let me tell you. Best. Idea. Ever. Nine of us went out there. $10 for 13 lines, which took us at least an hour and a half. Totally worth it. Just the rush you get when you're soaring over the forest which is meters and meters below you and you are only suspended by some ropes and metal pieces that connect you to a cable. Awesome. The first few lines we did normally, but then our guides gave us the option of Mariposa (butterfly) or Superman. To do this, you went with one of the guides. Keita was the first one to brave the Mariposa. Basically, what it looks like is imagine you're standing. Now turn yourself upside down and spread your arms and legs out so they look like butterfly wings. Yep. That's it. Then there was Superman, which was the one I did. They hook you to the cable by the back or your belt and then you wrap your legs around the guide who is behind you and hold your arms out in front of you. It's an ab workout, but it's a thrill. After that we went tubing down a freezing cold river. They had 7 inner tubes tied together and they had you sit on the spaces where they were connected, not in the tubes because then you might get some nasty bruises from the rocks. Luckily there were two guides that went along to steer the tubes around most of the rocks. Had they not been there we would most definitely have lost some lives. Don't worry, Mom. I'm here safe and sound. $6 for 20 minutes and a whole lot of group bonding as we bounced around on top of each other and proceeded to freeze our toes off. Cleaned up at the hostal and then went back into town for lunch. Afterwards, Ashley, Joy, and I headed back to the hostal while the others went around town. The three of us decided we had done all that we had really wanted to do in Mindo and we didn't want to pay for another night in the hostal, so we took the 5:00 bus back to Quito.
Went to church on Sunday. Gringo David gave the sermon about what it means to be a Mennonite. Mucho más fácil entender y muy interestante. (A lot easier to understand and very interesting.) Went home and then my mom, brother, grandmother, and grandmother's friend went to a restaurant way south. It was a very nice restaurant. I ordered fritada, which consisted of carne, llapingachos, avacado, fried bananas, mote, and some other sides. De-licious. Everyone else ordered the locro (soup) and it came with, I don't know how to say it....congealed cow's blood? I think. Strange. Then we headed to Quicentro, the mall in South Quito. We just wandered around the place, checking it out. I thought I hated shopping in the States. It's crowded like Christmas here 24/7. Ugh. Got some ice cream at one of the 2,749 ice cream shops in the mall. Headed to Tumbaco to drop off Grandma and her friend. Got to Grandma's house and saw that there was an accident on the corner. So of course we had to go see what happened. No deaths, but one of the cars looked pretty bad. Broken glass everywhere. Turns out this has now been the third accident I've seen in Quito. I guess they do happen. Went home, did some homework, and got ready for another week of classes.
More later,
Lizzie
Got there and our hostal host was waiting at the bus stop for us. We walked about 5 minutes to the hostal, which we had all to ourselves. The two boys stayed in a room on the second floor and us girls had the whole upper floor to ourselves. There was an open area with 7 beds and then three private rooms. A balcony with hammocks, and a bathroom. After we dropped off our stuff, our hostal host walked us back into town where we ate at a taco restaurant. Then we went to the park where we proceeded to be "those annoying gringos." We played Never Have I Ever aka 10 Fingers, which brought up some interesting conversations. Played Big Booty, too. Then we played Zip Bong (the game where you can't show your teeth). Man was that entertaining. Haha. Good times. Good times. Met up with Kaitlin and Vince in town (they came on a later bus), and then headed back to the hostal where we proceeded to get ready for bed and have girl talk. Ashley didn't want to sleep by herself with all the bugs. If there were going to be bugs in her bed, she wanted someone else to be there too, so she came and slept with me. Haha.
Woke up when the sun did...and the roosters. Hard to sleep past sunrise here at the equator. Ate breakfast at the hostal. Delicious and nutritious...and filling. Then we headed out to go canopying! Let me tell you. Best. Idea. Ever. Nine of us went out there. $10 for 13 lines, which took us at least an hour and a half. Totally worth it. Just the rush you get when you're soaring over the forest which is meters and meters below you and you are only suspended by some ropes and metal pieces that connect you to a cable. Awesome. The first few lines we did normally, but then our guides gave us the option of Mariposa (butterfly) or Superman. To do this, you went with one of the guides. Keita was the first one to brave the Mariposa. Basically, what it looks like is imagine you're standing. Now turn yourself upside down and spread your arms and legs out so they look like butterfly wings. Yep. That's it. Then there was Superman, which was the one I did. They hook you to the cable by the back or your belt and then you wrap your legs around the guide who is behind you and hold your arms out in front of you. It's an ab workout, but it's a thrill. After that we went tubing down a freezing cold river. They had 7 inner tubes tied together and they had you sit on the spaces where they were connected, not in the tubes because then you might get some nasty bruises from the rocks. Luckily there were two guides that went along to steer the tubes around most of the rocks. Had they not been there we would most definitely have lost some lives. Don't worry, Mom. I'm here safe and sound. $6 for 20 minutes and a whole lot of group bonding as we bounced around on top of each other and proceeded to freeze our toes off. Cleaned up at the hostal and then went back into town for lunch. Afterwards, Ashley, Joy, and I headed back to the hostal while the others went around town. The three of us decided we had done all that we had really wanted to do in Mindo and we didn't want to pay for another night in the hostal, so we took the 5:00 bus back to Quito.
Went to church on Sunday. Gringo David gave the sermon about what it means to be a Mennonite. Mucho más fácil entender y muy interestante. (A lot easier to understand and very interesting.) Went home and then my mom, brother, grandmother, and grandmother's friend went to a restaurant way south. It was a very nice restaurant. I ordered fritada, which consisted of carne, llapingachos, avacado, fried bananas, mote, and some other sides. De-licious. Everyone else ordered the locro (soup) and it came with, I don't know how to say it....congealed cow's blood? I think. Strange. Then we headed to Quicentro, the mall in South Quito. We just wandered around the place, checking it out. I thought I hated shopping in the States. It's crowded like Christmas here 24/7. Ugh. Got some ice cream at one of the 2,749 ice cream shops in the mall. Headed to Tumbaco to drop off Grandma and her friend. Got to Grandma's house and saw that there was an accident on the corner. So of course we had to go see what happened. No deaths, but one of the cars looked pretty bad. Broken glass everywhere. Turns out this has now been the third accident I've seen in Quito. I guess they do happen. Went home, did some homework, and got ready for another week of classes.
More later,
Lizzie
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Weekend zoo trip, church seeking, and volunteering
Last Saturday seven of us (me, Ashley, Wesley, Rachele, Hannah, Kaitlin, and Julie) went to the zoológico en Guallabamba. Fifty five cents for an hour bus ride. Twenty five cents to take the truck taxi to the zoo. Four dollars entrance fee. Totally worth it. The zoo was big enough to keep us interested, but small enough to...well, keep us interested. Haha. There were paw prints painted on the sidewalk so we knew exactly where to go and didn't miss anything. That was really nice. All but two animals in the zoo (lion and kangaroo) were native to Ecuador. Chévere. The first exhibit had monkeys, wombats, and squirrels. Interesting combo. There were like 10 tortoises there, but we'll get to see those in the wild in the Galapagos. And my absolute fav...tapirs!
There are tapirs in the background, btw. I know, hard to see, but super chévere.
After we took the truck taxi back to the main section of Guallabamba, we walked around a little bit looking for a place to eat. We ended up at a pretty "fancy" restaurant. By "fancy" I mean that it cost more than $1.50 for an almuerzo. The town is apparently known for their locro, which is like potato soup. So Rachele and I shared the soup and a main course. The soup came with a side of avocado and cheese and boy was that stuff delicious. Total, the seven of us ate heartily for $23.50. Pretty chévere. We were also told by Daniel and Martha that we had to try out this thing called "custard apples." Turns out what they were referring to is a fruit that it is neither an apple, nor is there custard involved. It's a fruit called chirimoya. You break it open and there are large, fruit-covered seeds. It was pretty good, but almost too sweet for my liking. We finished out the trip at the ice cream store and then headed home. All in all I think I calculated the cost of the trip to be less than $12. Worth it? Heck. Yes.
Then on Sunday I walked to the Mennonite Church for their 10:30 service. It only took me 20 minutes to get there. Not too bad. Arrived a little early and didn't really know what was going on, but people could tell I was a gringa and it was my first time. They were all so very welcoming. There's another gringa there through Mennonite Mission Network. There's also a gringo there. I have no idea if he's there through a program or just for the heck of it, but he is one of the two guitarists in the church. The service was a lot like a typical Mennonite service. Singing, introductions, responsive reading, scripture, sermon, joys and concerns, etc. Turns out that the couple that founded the church and are the normal pastors are in the states right now studying at seminary somewhere. Couldn't understand everything that was happening in the service, but the atmosphere felt good. I knew this church was the one for me in Quito when we ended up singing "Tú has venido a la orilla," which is what us cousins sang at my Grandpa's funeral a little over a year ago. What are the odds? I'm definitely going to go back to that church throughout the semester.
Made it through another week of classes. Rearranged my schedule a little bit again. Dropped Social Problems in Ecuador. It's full of gringos, but basically everyone is International Relations/Studies. I'm just Biology. It was a little too much politics for me and the language was a little more advanced than what I was used to. I couldn't think of things fast enough to actively participate in class. I mean I don't really understand politics in English let alone Spanish. Haha. So I dropped it. Then I transferred from Advanced Conversation to Intermediate Conversation. It's been so long since I've actually taken a Spanish class that I find myself hesitant to talk because I don't want to make mistakes, even though I know that mistakes are the best way to learn. Anyway, Advanced Conversation sounds intimidating enough already that I thought that would be a bad way to start out. Intermediate Conversation fits in my schedule where Social Problems used to be, so now my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as well as my Wednesday afternoons are open to volunteer.
Man, am I excited to volunteer, or what?!?! That is not sarcastic font. I am being completely serious. I am volunteering three afternoons a week in the valley of Tumbaco with an after-school soccer program for young boys anywhere from the age of like 10-18. It's the same program Greg worked with when he was there. Wesley, another girl in the BCA group is volunteering as well. On Tuesday the program director, Galo, took us on a tour of the area in the town where we will be volunteering. It is a very low economic section, but Galo said he doesn't like calling the kids poor because somewhere they have parents that are working and the kids have futures. He doesn't want to label them because they might feel hindered by a label. Very cool ideology. What's also cool is that the program is in the midst of doing paperwork that will officially make them a club! The program doesn't get any money from the players which makes it hard to buy equipment and rent a field, so their facility right now is a dirt field. When we were taking our tour, Galo would stop the car every now and then, honk, and then greet the kids who came out of their houses. He told them all that practice would start Thursday, and then the parted with their secret man handshake (manshake). I knew right then and there that dedicating three afternoons a week to this program would be well worth my time and effort. I wanted to be a part of this.
So I went to volunteer today after school. Galo and the trainer (coach), Andres, picked me up from the University and took me to the field. Andres is from Colombia and let me tell you, they have a way different accent from there. I can understand Ecuadorians. They talk slowly enough and enunciate. I had to have Andres repeat like everything. Same goes for the kid from the Dominican Republic. Couldn't understand half the things he said. That's OK, though. I'll get better. We ran around the field for warm up, stretched, and then did some basic passing and shooting drills. Then we scrimmaged for about an hour and I got to play with them. It was so much fun. They have so much energy, and some of them are quite talented for their age. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and I am super excited to continue to work with this program. Daniel warned me that sometimes they can be a little disorganized because Galo is involved in like a bazillion other projects, but I'm flexible and patient so it'll be cool.
Going to Mindo this weekend.
Lizzie
There are tapirs in the background, btw. I know, hard to see, but super chévere.
After we took the truck taxi back to the main section of Guallabamba, we walked around a little bit looking for a place to eat. We ended up at a pretty "fancy" restaurant. By "fancy" I mean that it cost more than $1.50 for an almuerzo. The town is apparently known for their locro, which is like potato soup. So Rachele and I shared the soup and a main course. The soup came with a side of avocado and cheese and boy was that stuff delicious. Total, the seven of us ate heartily for $23.50. Pretty chévere. We were also told by Daniel and Martha that we had to try out this thing called "custard apples." Turns out what they were referring to is a fruit that it is neither an apple, nor is there custard involved. It's a fruit called chirimoya. You break it open and there are large, fruit-covered seeds. It was pretty good, but almost too sweet for my liking. We finished out the trip at the ice cream store and then headed home. All in all I think I calculated the cost of the trip to be less than $12. Worth it? Heck. Yes.
Then on Sunday I walked to the Mennonite Church for their 10:30 service. It only took me 20 minutes to get there. Not too bad. Arrived a little early and didn't really know what was going on, but people could tell I was a gringa and it was my first time. They were all so very welcoming. There's another gringa there through Mennonite Mission Network. There's also a gringo there. I have no idea if he's there through a program or just for the heck of it, but he is one of the two guitarists in the church. The service was a lot like a typical Mennonite service. Singing, introductions, responsive reading, scripture, sermon, joys and concerns, etc. Turns out that the couple that founded the church and are the normal pastors are in the states right now studying at seminary somewhere. Couldn't understand everything that was happening in the service, but the atmosphere felt good. I knew this church was the one for me in Quito when we ended up singing "Tú has venido a la orilla," which is what us cousins sang at my Grandpa's funeral a little over a year ago. What are the odds? I'm definitely going to go back to that church throughout the semester.
Made it through another week of classes. Rearranged my schedule a little bit again. Dropped Social Problems in Ecuador. It's full of gringos, but basically everyone is International Relations/Studies. I'm just Biology. It was a little too much politics for me and the language was a little more advanced than what I was used to. I couldn't think of things fast enough to actively participate in class. I mean I don't really understand politics in English let alone Spanish. Haha. So I dropped it. Then I transferred from Advanced Conversation to Intermediate Conversation. It's been so long since I've actually taken a Spanish class that I find myself hesitant to talk because I don't want to make mistakes, even though I know that mistakes are the best way to learn. Anyway, Advanced Conversation sounds intimidating enough already that I thought that would be a bad way to start out. Intermediate Conversation fits in my schedule where Social Problems used to be, so now my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as well as my Wednesday afternoons are open to volunteer.
Man, am I excited to volunteer, or what?!?! That is not sarcastic font. I am being completely serious. I am volunteering three afternoons a week in the valley of Tumbaco with an after-school soccer program for young boys anywhere from the age of like 10-18. It's the same program Greg worked with when he was there. Wesley, another girl in the BCA group is volunteering as well. On Tuesday the program director, Galo, took us on a tour of the area in the town where we will be volunteering. It is a very low economic section, but Galo said he doesn't like calling the kids poor because somewhere they have parents that are working and the kids have futures. He doesn't want to label them because they might feel hindered by a label. Very cool ideology. What's also cool is that the program is in the midst of doing paperwork that will officially make them a club! The program doesn't get any money from the players which makes it hard to buy equipment and rent a field, so their facility right now is a dirt field. When we were taking our tour, Galo would stop the car every now and then, honk, and then greet the kids who came out of their houses. He told them all that practice would start Thursday, and then the parted with their secret man handshake (manshake). I knew right then and there that dedicating three afternoons a week to this program would be well worth my time and effort. I wanted to be a part of this.
So I went to volunteer today after school. Galo and the trainer (coach), Andres, picked me up from the University and took me to the field. Andres is from Colombia and let me tell you, they have a way different accent from there. I can understand Ecuadorians. They talk slowly enough and enunciate. I had to have Andres repeat like everything. Same goes for the kid from the Dominican Republic. Couldn't understand half the things he said. That's OK, though. I'll get better. We ran around the field for warm up, stretched, and then did some basic passing and shooting drills. Then we scrimmaged for about an hour and I got to play with them. It was so much fun. They have so much energy, and some of them are quite talented for their age. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and I am super excited to continue to work with this program. Daniel warned me that sometimes they can be a little disorganized because Galo is involved in like a bazillion other projects, but I'm flexible and patient so it'll be cool.
Going to Mindo this weekend.
Lizzie
Monday, January 10, 2011
My weekend in Otavalo
I'm actually going to start this post a bit before our trip to Otavalo. Friday evening I went with my brother Sebastian and his friend Christian to el cine (the movies) to see Tron in 3D in Spanish. I understood most of what was going on and the special effects were super chevere. The whole movie experience was different though. The lines to get tickets took forever. Then, our tickets said 8:45 so we had to wait outside the theater (not the building, just the theater) until they opened the doors at 8:45. Weird. Anyway, it was really cool.
On Saturday, all the BCA students met at Rio Coca at 7:30 AM to head off on our grand adventure to Otavalo. We rented a bus so it was nice to have just BCA people on the bus. We drove for about an hour and then stopped on a hill where we could see a rock formation that sits right on the equator. After we were done taking too many pictures, we continued on to las piramides de cochesqui. These pyramids aren't like the Egyptian ones. They are flat on top and are covered in grass and were built by a pre-Incan community. One of the pyramids had an excavated lunar and solar calender as well. The hike around the site was quite tiring because we were at an even higher altitude than we are in Quito. When we were done with the tour, we hung around and fed the llamas. They keep llamas there as natural lawn mowers and there's a guy who knows how to whistle to get them to come. It was pretty intimidating to see a herd of llamas running over the hill. Daniel brought salt so we all got to feed them. Some of them are pretty greedy. As far as I know, no one was spit on. When we were done there, we visited the only monument in Ecuador dedicated to the equator. They have a tall cylindrical metal centerpiece that has a mirror on the bottom. At 12:00 on the equinoxes, the sun shines directly over the cylinder so the reflection off the mirror goes straight back up. And something I learned was that when you're at the equator, you can see all of the constellations all the time. Sweet! Off course we had to take several pictures there as well because being in both hemispheres at the same time is awesome. Finally we were on our way to the market of Otavalo. And what a market it is. So much artistry and colors and food and bargains! Daniel told us we should never really have to pay the first price they offer, so we had to learn how to bargain. I was actually a lot better at it than I thought I would be. I'm going to go back to the US though and not want to pay full price for anything. Haha. I bought lots of cool things for myself and lots of gifts for some people back in the states. I definitely want to go back though, because there was so much more I wanted to buy. It was really cool though to walk around and see things that Greg brought home for us. It makes it a little harder for me to buy presents, too because I want to be original. Thanks, Gregorio. Haha. Jk. Once we were shopped out, we went back to our hostal in Otavalo and chilled until supper. We went out to a pizzeria and they had live indigenous music during our meal. Those guys were quite talented! Went back to the hostal and went to bed.
At the pyramids:
Breakfast at the hostal at 7:30. On the bus by 8:45. We headed off to las cascadas de Peguche (waterfalls). We took a short hike which included a short rock climbing experience to get to the waterfall. Once we got to the top of the water fall, we had the opportunity to get in and head farther upstream to another waterfall about 20 yards further away. The current was powerful and the water was pretty cold, but with determination and a lot of teamwork we made it to the waterfall. Once in a lifetime opportunity. Totally worth getting wet for. We hiked back down, changed, and then headed off to a Condor Rehabilitation Park. It was raining, but we got to see lots of varieties of condors (i.e. hawks and owls and such). The owl who played Hedwig in Harry Potter is a resident of this park! Que chevere! Our last stop before lunch was the house of some people who make musical instruments. They weren't home, but our tour guide who came with us who works at the hostal we were staying at knew enough to teach us about the instruments. Unfortunately he didn't really know how to play them. Haha. Oh well. Then we all got to try them out. I'm not very good at playing them either. Then we headed back to the hostal for a traditional Ecuadorian meal of llapingachos, empanadas con banana inside, carne, and verduras. Then we were off again to the house of an old indigenous couple that takes alpaca wool and makes their own yarn with it to make scarves and sweaters and blankets. It seemed like very intensive work. I think they said a scarf takes them 3 weeks to make. All by hand. And a poncho takes two months. Incredible. In case you couldn't tell, BCA likes to jam pack our field trips with activities, so once again we were off to a small leather market where we stopped for about 20 minutes. There were lots of goods like we saw in Otavalo, but there were also lots of leather purses, wallets, coin pouches, bracelets, and such. More bargaining. Finally we went to a lake that had formed after a volcanic eruption. El Lago M-something. My memory isn't that great. The scenery was awesome, though! There's a large island in the middle of the lake and BCA used to have picnics there until someone (not from BCA) forgot to put out their fire and burned the whole island. Nobody is allowed over there anymore. At 5:15 we packed up the bus and headed back to Quito. Got home around 8:00, unpacked, shared my pictures with my family, and headed to bed. It was a fun, but exhausting weekend.
Whew,
Lizzie
La cascadas de Peguche:
Hedwig:
El Lago M-something:
On Saturday, all the BCA students met at Rio Coca at 7:30 AM to head off on our grand adventure to Otavalo. We rented a bus so it was nice to have just BCA people on the bus. We drove for about an hour and then stopped on a hill where we could see a rock formation that sits right on the equator. After we were done taking too many pictures, we continued on to las piramides de cochesqui. These pyramids aren't like the Egyptian ones. They are flat on top and are covered in grass and were built by a pre-Incan community. One of the pyramids had an excavated lunar and solar calender as well. The hike around the site was quite tiring because we were at an even higher altitude than we are in Quito. When we were done with the tour, we hung around and fed the llamas. They keep llamas there as natural lawn mowers and there's a guy who knows how to whistle to get them to come. It was pretty intimidating to see a herd of llamas running over the hill. Daniel brought salt so we all got to feed them. Some of them are pretty greedy. As far as I know, no one was spit on. When we were done there, we visited the only monument in Ecuador dedicated to the equator. They have a tall cylindrical metal centerpiece that has a mirror on the bottom. At 12:00 on the equinoxes, the sun shines directly over the cylinder so the reflection off the mirror goes straight back up. And something I learned was that when you're at the equator, you can see all of the constellations all the time. Sweet! Off course we had to take several pictures there as well because being in both hemispheres at the same time is awesome. Finally we were on our way to the market of Otavalo. And what a market it is. So much artistry and colors and food and bargains! Daniel told us we should never really have to pay the first price they offer, so we had to learn how to bargain. I was actually a lot better at it than I thought I would be. I'm going to go back to the US though and not want to pay full price for anything. Haha. I bought lots of cool things for myself and lots of gifts for some people back in the states. I definitely want to go back though, because there was so much more I wanted to buy. It was really cool though to walk around and see things that Greg brought home for us. It makes it a little harder for me to buy presents, too because I want to be original. Thanks, Gregorio. Haha. Jk. Once we were shopped out, we went back to our hostal in Otavalo and chilled until supper. We went out to a pizzeria and they had live indigenous music during our meal. Those guys were quite talented! Went back to the hostal and went to bed.
At the pyramids:
The llamas:
Me at the equator:
Breakfast at the hostal at 7:30. On the bus by 8:45. We headed off to las cascadas de Peguche (waterfalls). We took a short hike which included a short rock climbing experience to get to the waterfall. Once we got to the top of the water fall, we had the opportunity to get in and head farther upstream to another waterfall about 20 yards further away. The current was powerful and the water was pretty cold, but with determination and a lot of teamwork we made it to the waterfall. Once in a lifetime opportunity. Totally worth getting wet for. We hiked back down, changed, and then headed off to a Condor Rehabilitation Park. It was raining, but we got to see lots of varieties of condors (i.e. hawks and owls and such). The owl who played Hedwig in Harry Potter is a resident of this park! Que chevere! Our last stop before lunch was the house of some people who make musical instruments. They weren't home, but our tour guide who came with us who works at the hostal we were staying at knew enough to teach us about the instruments. Unfortunately he didn't really know how to play them. Haha. Oh well. Then we all got to try them out. I'm not very good at playing them either. Then we headed back to the hostal for a traditional Ecuadorian meal of llapingachos, empanadas con banana inside, carne, and verduras. Then we were off again to the house of an old indigenous couple that takes alpaca wool and makes their own yarn with it to make scarves and sweaters and blankets. It seemed like very intensive work. I think they said a scarf takes them 3 weeks to make. All by hand. And a poncho takes two months. Incredible. In case you couldn't tell, BCA likes to jam pack our field trips with activities, so once again we were off to a small leather market where we stopped for about 20 minutes. There were lots of goods like we saw in Otavalo, but there were also lots of leather purses, wallets, coin pouches, bracelets, and such. More bargaining. Finally we went to a lake that had formed after a volcanic eruption. El Lago M-something. My memory isn't that great. The scenery was awesome, though! There's a large island in the middle of the lake and BCA used to have picnics there until someone (not from BCA) forgot to put out their fire and burned the whole island. Nobody is allowed over there anymore. At 5:15 we packed up the bus and headed back to Quito. Got home around 8:00, unpacked, shared my pictures with my family, and headed to bed. It was a fun, but exhausting weekend.
Whew,
Lizzie
La cascadas de Peguche:
Hedwig:
El Lago M-something:
Friday, January 7, 2011
Things I've learned in my first week
1. People here drive like maniacs, but I guess they are all trained to drive like professional maniacs so there actually aren't a lot of accidents.
2. Men greet women and women greet women with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. This is WAY different from los Estados Unidos, but I love it! Watch out Kansas. When I come home be prepared to be greeted Ecuadorian style.
3. Drinking age is 18.
4. You have to throw your toilet paper away after it's been used because the water pressure and pipes aren't of good enough quality. We had to do this when my family visited Bolivia, but I hadn't really thought about the probability of having to do this in Ecuador until I actually got here.
4 Part 2. In some public bathrooms, there is a toilet paper dispenser OUTSIDE of the stalls. Don't forget to bring some toilet paper INTO the stall with you.
5. Kansas might have bipolar weather, but Quito is also pretty variable. Wake up, need a jacket. 10:00, don't need jacket. 12:00 hot as heck. 2:00, clouds and chilly. 4:00, sun's back out. 6:00, cloudy and rainy. 8:00, definitely need a jacket and maybe an umbrella if it hasn't stopped raining.
6. Don't forget sunscreen. It's incredible how much closer you are to the sun when you're on the equator. You know how you can feel it when you're getting burnt? Well, when the sun is not blocked from any clouds, you take one step from the shade into the sun and BAM! you can feel yourself roasting already.
7. USFQ is a liberal arts college where the professors ask you to call them by their first names. Just like Bethel!
8. My host brother is studying English so he can go to England! Unfortunately, if his visa is approved he leaves at the end of April. So I will be without my host brother for the last 2 to 3 weeks of my time in Ecuador :( I'm happy for him, though.
9. Yep. Just like I was warned, they serve their milk warm here. Had to clarify with my mom that I enjoy my leche fria (cold).
10. Complete strangers can be so personable, but also, those whom you least expect can be the bad ones. Not trying to stereotype, but generally I assumed the pickpocketers would be male. We were on the very crowded Metrobus the other day, though, and some lady tried to pickpocket me and Wesley. Luckily, Daniel had taught us proper bag security, but Wesley's purse was slashed and one of my zippers was half open (I'm happy to report that nothing was missing from either of us, though.) Just can't let your guard down.
Well, that's all I have for now. BCA is off to Otavalo this weekend. Classes start Monday. Oh yeah, these are the classes I'm taking:
Advanced Conversation
Advanced Spanish
Soccer
Social Problems in Ecuador
Botany
Improvisation (This class is with Daniel and will definitely push me out of my comfort zone, but that's good for me, right?)
Anyway...more later,
Lizzie
2. Men greet women and women greet women with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. This is WAY different from los Estados Unidos, but I love it! Watch out Kansas. When I come home be prepared to be greeted Ecuadorian style.
3. Drinking age is 18.
4. You have to throw your toilet paper away after it's been used because the water pressure and pipes aren't of good enough quality. We had to do this when my family visited Bolivia, but I hadn't really thought about the probability of having to do this in Ecuador until I actually got here.
4 Part 2. In some public bathrooms, there is a toilet paper dispenser OUTSIDE of the stalls. Don't forget to bring some toilet paper INTO the stall with you.
5. Kansas might have bipolar weather, but Quito is also pretty variable. Wake up, need a jacket. 10:00, don't need jacket. 12:00 hot as heck. 2:00, clouds and chilly. 4:00, sun's back out. 6:00, cloudy and rainy. 8:00, definitely need a jacket and maybe an umbrella if it hasn't stopped raining.
6. Don't forget sunscreen. It's incredible how much closer you are to the sun when you're on the equator. You know how you can feel it when you're getting burnt? Well, when the sun is not blocked from any clouds, you take one step from the shade into the sun and BAM! you can feel yourself roasting already.
7. USFQ is a liberal arts college where the professors ask you to call them by their first names. Just like Bethel!
8. My host brother is studying English so he can go to England! Unfortunately, if his visa is approved he leaves at the end of April. So I will be without my host brother for the last 2 to 3 weeks of my time in Ecuador :( I'm happy for him, though.
9. Yep. Just like I was warned, they serve their milk warm here. Had to clarify with my mom that I enjoy my leche fria (cold).
10. Complete strangers can be so personable, but also, those whom you least expect can be the bad ones. Not trying to stereotype, but generally I assumed the pickpocketers would be male. We were on the very crowded Metrobus the other day, though, and some lady tried to pickpocket me and Wesley. Luckily, Daniel had taught us proper bag security, but Wesley's purse was slashed and one of my zippers was half open (I'm happy to report that nothing was missing from either of us, though.) Just can't let your guard down.
Well, that's all I have for now. BCA is off to Otavalo this weekend. Classes start Monday. Oh yeah, these are the classes I'm taking:
Advanced Conversation
Advanced Spanish
Soccer
Social Problems in Ecuador
Botany
Improvisation (This class is with Daniel and will definitely push me out of my comfort zone, but that's good for me, right?)
Anyway...more later,
Lizzie
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Orientation and my new familia
Left KCI January 1st at 11:00 AM. Got into Atlanta around 2:30 with the hour time change. It was raining. I grabbed some grub and headed to the gate from where my plane to Ecuador was leaving. That was where I met Julie. We were the first two there. Then Keita, and Wesley, and January. Then everybody kinda came at once. We left at 5:30. They had individual TVs on the back of the seats. They were touch screen and you could choose from movies and TV shows and you could play games. They also had a bunch of music and you could make your own playlist. Technology sure has come a long way. I watched Easy A, an episode of Psych, and Going the Distance. For those of you who know him, Mike Birbiglia made a short appearance in that last one. Pretty cool. We landed around 11:00 and we exited the plane via a staircase where we were ushered into a bus and taken to the airport. Half an hour later we made it through the immigration line. Then we got our bags, went through customs, and met Martha and Daniel (the program directors) by the airport exit. Once we were all together, we loaded the bus and headed to Hostal La Carolina. Random room assignments put me with Sophie from MD. By the time we got to the hostal, it was 1:00 AM so we just basically went straight to bed.
The next morning we had jugo de piña y huevos revueltos (pineapple juice and scrambled eggs). The mountain Pichincha is to the west of Quito and we could see it out the windows of the hostal. We did some orientation stuff in the conference room in the morning, and then Daniel walked us to the mall, Jardín for lunch. In their food court they have things like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC. They also play North American music like Michael Buble and Katy Perry. Es interesante. Then we took a bus up to the statue of la Virgen de Panecillo located just above el centro historical de Quito, which at that altitude gave us a great view of the city. Quito is HUGE! It is fairly thin east to west, but muy larga north to south. Even at our altitude above the city we weren't able to see the end of the north or south edges. We rode back down to el centro historico and toured some churches in the area. Then we ate a three course meal at a restaurant near our hostal. I had a chicken empanada, llapingachos (potato pancakes - not latkes, though) and fruit salad. I also had jugo de mora (blackberry) y fue delicioso. That one was just for you, Gregorio. Haha. We took taxis home in groups of four. We were supposed to try to bargain the cost down to $2, but it was after 8 and pouring rain, so we paid $3. That's still pretty cheap for a taxi, though. And bus rides only cost 25 centavos! Very cheap. But then you start acting like a penny pincher because you know just how far every cent can get you. Oh well.
Day two of orientation included more breakfast (jugo de piña y panqueques) and more orientation stuff in the conference room. We were on our own for lunch again and so a few of us returned to the mall for the second day in a row. In the afternoon we took the green buses down to the valley of Cumbayá where the university (USFQ) is located. Martha bought us all ice cream cones when we stopped and I had mora (of course). Then we toured the campus. It is extremely gorgeous, but a little confusing. It doesn't seem to big, though (especially the soccer field) so I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around. We had two tour guides, Kelly, a BCA student who studied at USFQ last semester, and Miguel, a USFQ student who studied at Messiah College through BCA and now studies at Iowa State University. Apparently he knows many former BCAers very well, including mi hermano, Gregorio. He couldn't believe I was Greg's sister and kept saying "Qué chévere. Superchévere." Haha. He also called me Greg Jr. several times. There is a small pond on USFQ campus and Miguel had our tour cross the pond on some very slippery stones. We all thought he was kidding, but he insisted we do it. USFQ is also apparently big on pirates so they have pirate ship wreckage in the pond. After the tour we went to an indigenous vegetarian restaurant that is big on nutrition and food preparation. They served lots of quinua and also had apple-oatmeal juice. It wan't my favorite, but it was interesting, and parts of the meal were pretty enjoyable. After supper, Miguel invited us to the Mariscal, which is an area of restaurants and such to go to a bar and hang out. Got back to the hostal around 9:45, went to bed.
Last day of orientation. Jugo de piña and french toast for breakfast. Then we spent the day talking about host families and health while in Ecuador. For lunch, some of us went to a restaurant that specializes in yogurt and pan de yucca, but they also serve lots of other things. I had an empanada de pollo (chicken). At about 3:30/4:00 we were given information sheets about our own specific host families. Until then we had no idea who we were going to live with. I have a host mother and a host brother and a teeny tiny host doggie. My mom, Sol, works in the Japanese Embassy and makes jewelry in her spare time. My brother, Sebastian, is 18 and is studying English in a nearby university. He is also in a band and can play the guitar and piano. My doggie, Bibi, is a French toy poodle. I live in a very nice and secure apartment complex. My room is small and I share a bathroom, but my family is very sociable. I have a great view of Pichincha from the living room window, and my apartment is only a block and a half from the Rio Coca, which is the large bus stop here in Quito. They picked us up at 5:00 from the hostal. We were halfway through pairing families with students in the lobby when the power went out. Haha. Guess that's Quito. We got my things home, I unpacked, I was fed supper, and then we sat around talking, watching telenovelas, and looking at my host mother's facebook pictures. It was a long day, but things are looking pretty good.
More later,
Lizzie
The view from my living room window:
The next morning we had jugo de piña y huevos revueltos (pineapple juice and scrambled eggs). The mountain Pichincha is to the west of Quito and we could see it out the windows of the hostal. We did some orientation stuff in the conference room in the morning, and then Daniel walked us to the mall, Jardín for lunch. In their food court they have things like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC. They also play North American music like Michael Buble and Katy Perry. Es interesante. Then we took a bus up to the statue of la Virgen de Panecillo located just above el centro historical de Quito, which at that altitude gave us a great view of the city. Quito is HUGE! It is fairly thin east to west, but muy larga north to south. Even at our altitude above the city we weren't able to see the end of the north or south edges. We rode back down to el centro historico and toured some churches in the area. Then we ate a three course meal at a restaurant near our hostal. I had a chicken empanada, llapingachos (potato pancakes - not latkes, though) and fruit salad. I also had jugo de mora (blackberry) y fue delicioso. That one was just for you, Gregorio. Haha. We took taxis home in groups of four. We were supposed to try to bargain the cost down to $2, but it was after 8 and pouring rain, so we paid $3. That's still pretty cheap for a taxi, though. And bus rides only cost 25 centavos! Very cheap. But then you start acting like a penny pincher because you know just how far every cent can get you. Oh well.
Day two of orientation included more breakfast (jugo de piña y panqueques) and more orientation stuff in the conference room. We were on our own for lunch again and so a few of us returned to the mall for the second day in a row. In the afternoon we took the green buses down to the valley of Cumbayá where the university (USFQ) is located. Martha bought us all ice cream cones when we stopped and I had mora (of course). Then we toured the campus. It is extremely gorgeous, but a little confusing. It doesn't seem to big, though (especially the soccer field) so I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around. We had two tour guides, Kelly, a BCA student who studied at USFQ last semester, and Miguel, a USFQ student who studied at Messiah College through BCA and now studies at Iowa State University. Apparently he knows many former BCAers very well, including mi hermano, Gregorio. He couldn't believe I was Greg's sister and kept saying "Qué chévere. Superchévere." Haha. He also called me Greg Jr. several times. There is a small pond on USFQ campus and Miguel had our tour cross the pond on some very slippery stones. We all thought he was kidding, but he insisted we do it. USFQ is also apparently big on pirates so they have pirate ship wreckage in the pond. After the tour we went to an indigenous vegetarian restaurant that is big on nutrition and food preparation. They served lots of quinua and also had apple-oatmeal juice. It wan't my favorite, but it was interesting, and parts of the meal were pretty enjoyable. After supper, Miguel invited us to the Mariscal, which is an area of restaurants and such to go to a bar and hang out. Got back to the hostal around 9:45, went to bed.
Last day of orientation. Jugo de piña and french toast for breakfast. Then we spent the day talking about host families and health while in Ecuador. For lunch, some of us went to a restaurant that specializes in yogurt and pan de yucca, but they also serve lots of other things. I had an empanada de pollo (chicken). At about 3:30/4:00 we were given information sheets about our own specific host families. Until then we had no idea who we were going to live with. I have a host mother and a host brother and a teeny tiny host doggie. My mom, Sol, works in the Japanese Embassy and makes jewelry in her spare time. My brother, Sebastian, is 18 and is studying English in a nearby university. He is also in a band and can play the guitar and piano. My doggie, Bibi, is a French toy poodle. I live in a very nice and secure apartment complex. My room is small and I share a bathroom, but my family is very sociable. I have a great view of Pichincha from the living room window, and my apartment is only a block and a half from the Rio Coca, which is the large bus stop here in Quito. They picked us up at 5:00 from the hostal. We were halfway through pairing families with students in the lobby when the power went out. Haha. Guess that's Quito. We got my things home, I unpacked, I was fed supper, and then we sat around talking, watching telenovelas, and looking at my host mother's facebook pictures. It was a long day, but things are looking pretty good.
More later,
Lizzie
The view from my living room window:
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