Yep, I'm back in Quito. We went for the last two days to a pueblo called Tabacundo, within which was Hacienda Guachala, built in 1583, where we stayed the night. It was a trip that really made me think. The first thing we did yesterday was visit a flower plantation, where we were brought on a tour by one of the owners (I think) who painted a very rosy (it's a pun...) picture of the floricola industry for us. The next thing we did, though, was walk through one of the last remaining agricultural areas with a farmer, who told us about how the industry ruined the community that once existed in Tabacundo. See, the people in the village used to be much poorer but they had community that was there when things were bad, so everyone pretty much came out poor but surviving. Now, there are the flower plantations and the community is broken down because of the nature of work in a factory and because there is now a lot of immigration from Colombia and the coast and emigration to Spain and the US. Plus, health conditions are much poorer because of all of the pesticides being put on the roses that affect workers and their babies. And there is a lot more divorce and girls having babies. So from a monetary perspective, people are richer, but from a community perspective, the people are much poorer. Now just try to get that out of our head the next time you're buying roses for that someone special. Sorry.
After all of that, we spent the night in this ancient hacienda. Let me tell you, it's pretty freezing up in the mountains at night. We all had fireplaces in our room though, and I pulled out my good old outdoor winter survival skills and built one. Unfortunately, the flames only lasted about 20 minutes but the effort put into building the fire warmed me up and was enough to get to be comfortably. My question, though: who decided that central heating (or space heaters, for that matter) do not belong in Ecuador? It may be on the equator, but there are lots of chilly spots. And they make me curse Quito every time I go to bed and it is 62 degrees in my room.
Okay, that's all for now. Quito, I apologize, I really do love you, I was just kidding.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Viajes, viajes, viajes...
Hola to all! Sorry I haven´t updated in so long. The last two weeks have been filled with trips to every geographical region of Ecuador. The first was to the sierra (the mountainous region), to a town called Baños, which is my new favorite city in Ecuador. To say that there is a lot to do in Baños is an understatement, and to say that said things to do are inexpensive is also an understatement. In Baños, we stayed in a great little hostal called Hostal Plantas y Blanco with the best showers I´ve taken in Ecuador so far as well as the cleanest rooms I´ve found in a hotel for $6 per night. We went for two nights, and in that time we took a three-hour hike in the mountains, went to the hot springs after which Baños was named, and took at 13-mile bike ride past seven or so waterfalls (and under one waterfall) to a huge cascade called el Pailon del Diablo. The bike seat was pretty uncomfortable but that was one of the most breathtaking bike rides I´ve ever taken. Though the bike ride was a little scary because we had to ride through a dark tunnel intended for cars and screamed the whole way through, praying that 1) we would not hit something in the dark, fall, and die and 2)something would not hit us in the dark and kill us. That and we biked on roads with approximately 200-meter drop-offs with little but a 1 foot guard rail to keep us from falling to our deaths. That said, the bike ride was so incredibly worth it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. And we bought freshly pulled taffy in flavors such as Guanabana (a fruit you can´t find in the states), blackberry, and avocado-mint, and ate at a bunch of really great restaurants.
Then on Thursday the 15th, I went to my summer internship site with the other girls who will be there. The location is Tena, in the oriente, which is hot, sticky, and jungle-y. The town is about 40,000 people and seems really friendly. Everyone walks around at night, which I took to be a good sign because that doesn´t happen in Quito. I will be working in a hospital there, likely three weeks in pediatrics and three in obstetrics/gynecology. I also met a woman who can potentially be my host mother, and her husband owns a jungle tour company. Turns out, Tena is world famous for its rafting, and she says her husband should definitely take us out while we are there. We came back on Friday (6 hours each way) and I packed to go to San Vicente.
San Vicente was the last location, and we went there for Carnaval between Saturday and Tuesday. I did not very much enjoy San Vicente (thanks, Kristin). It was the beach location, and on Sunday I ate some bad mariscos and spend Sunday night ill and Monday in bed, weak. I never want to see or smell seafood again.
And now we are off to another viaje, up in the mountains, so I´ve got to go! Adios!
Then on Thursday the 15th, I went to my summer internship site with the other girls who will be there. The location is Tena, in the oriente, which is hot, sticky, and jungle-y. The town is about 40,000 people and seems really friendly. Everyone walks around at night, which I took to be a good sign because that doesn´t happen in Quito. I will be working in a hospital there, likely three weeks in pediatrics and three in obstetrics/gynecology. I also met a woman who can potentially be my host mother, and her husband owns a jungle tour company. Turns out, Tena is world famous for its rafting, and she says her husband should definitely take us out while we are there. We came back on Friday (6 hours each way) and I packed to go to San Vicente.
San Vicente was the last location, and we went there for Carnaval between Saturday and Tuesday. I did not very much enjoy San Vicente (thanks, Kristin). It was the beach location, and on Sunday I ate some bad mariscos and spend Sunday night ill and Monday in bed, weak. I never want to see or smell seafood again.
And now we are off to another viaje, up in the mountains, so I´ve got to go! Adios!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
¡Futbol!
I went to my first pro-futbol game last night, Ecuador vs. Paraguay, and it was amazing. We bought the more expensive seats for the game ($8.50) because we´d heard that the cheap seats ($5.50) could be dangerous. It was a little sad, because when we got in there we wished we had saved the three dollars. In the cheap seats, it was constant fight songs and people threw toilet paper onto the field at every goal, and someone had a smoke machine... It looked incredibly fun. I want to know all of the fight songs now. We kind of learned one, but it´s hard to make out lyrics when they are being shouted by a crowd of thousands. There was one really amazing goal, where one of the players did a back flip more or less and kicked the ball into the goal while upside down. Wow. I am now a futbol fan. Even better, Ecuador (called Liga) won, 3-0.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Oops, it´s been awhile.
I am in an internet place called Papayanet right now, typing for a dollar an hour. Here is what has been happening:
Yesterday, Grace (a friend who is a nursing student at the UMN), Nora (a Grinnellian from Virginia) and I went to the Teleferico, which is this gondola that goes to the top of the highest mountain in Quito and that overlooks the whole city. Mom and Dad, when you are in Quito I am sending you there because it is one of the most beautiful views I have ever soon. That said, It was COLD up there and poor Grace didn´t realize how cold it would be so she just was wearing a T shirt and skirt and pretty much everyone else was wearing winter jackets, more or less. After she was sick of freezing her ass off, we went into a cafe and got a coffee with cream and amaretto for $2. It was so worth it. Then, we went to Gringolandia and ate some dinner at a place where I got an amazing falafel sandwich for $1.50. Also worth it. That night in the Mariscal (=Gringolandia)we found a bar called Shooters which had a five liter thing of beer for $10 which was shared amongst 5 people. Except I´m not that big of a beer person, so, again Mom and Dad, I definitely didn´t drink my two dollars´worth. The company was nice, and I got to chatwith people I hadn´t bonded with before. After that, we pretty much went home.
Today Cecilia took me to the Mitad del Mundo, and it was alright because it had a pretty cool museum about the indigenous in Ecuador, but was mostly memorable for its delicious ice cream that rivaled Sebastian Joe´s, or at least I´ll tell myself that to make it taste better to me. Then I got home and my mom fed me Chinese food that really tasted like American Chinese food. Which was so surprisingly pleasant because it reminded me of Chuong Garden.
Which brings me to now, in the Papayanet, with the Superbowl pregame show playing on the tv. Wahoo! I´m not going to watch it though. I have a lot to read tonight and I have to write a paper in Spanish about one Ecuadorian custom that has changed over the years. I think it will be both boring and hard to write because things change slowly here. And because I really I am still learning about Ecuadorian culture in the first place. So I´d better go write.
I miss you all, and hope to hear from you soon!
Yesterday, Grace (a friend who is a nursing student at the UMN), Nora (a Grinnellian from Virginia) and I went to the Teleferico, which is this gondola that goes to the top of the highest mountain in Quito and that overlooks the whole city. Mom and Dad, when you are in Quito I am sending you there because it is one of the most beautiful views I have ever soon. That said, It was COLD up there and poor Grace didn´t realize how cold it would be so she just was wearing a T shirt and skirt and pretty much everyone else was wearing winter jackets, more or less. After she was sick of freezing her ass off, we went into a cafe and got a coffee with cream and amaretto for $2. It was so worth it. Then, we went to Gringolandia and ate some dinner at a place where I got an amazing falafel sandwich for $1.50. Also worth it. That night in the Mariscal (=Gringolandia)we found a bar called Shooters which had a five liter thing of beer for $10 which was shared amongst 5 people. Except I´m not that big of a beer person, so, again Mom and Dad, I definitely didn´t drink my two dollars´worth. The company was nice, and I got to chatwith people I hadn´t bonded with before. After that, we pretty much went home.
Today Cecilia took me to the Mitad del Mundo, and it was alright because it had a pretty cool museum about the indigenous in Ecuador, but was mostly memorable for its delicious ice cream that rivaled Sebastian Joe´s, or at least I´ll tell myself that to make it taste better to me. Then I got home and my mom fed me Chinese food that really tasted like American Chinese food. Which was so surprisingly pleasant because it reminded me of Chuong Garden.
Which brings me to now, in the Papayanet, with the Superbowl pregame show playing on the tv. Wahoo! I´m not going to watch it though. I have a lot to read tonight and I have to write a paper in Spanish about one Ecuadorian custom that has changed over the years. I think it will be both boring and hard to write because things change slowly here. And because I really I am still learning about Ecuadorian culture in the first place. So I´d better go write.
I miss you all, and hope to hear from you soon!
Monday, January 29, 2007
¿Internships?
Hey everyone! Clearly I´m making up for not updating for a week (yeah, Kristin, I´m talking to you) by updating twice in the span of two days. For a quick read, I´m bulleting. Since Saturday evening I have:
-Gone to a bar with live music called Bogarin. The music was really great, and so was the margarita I drank. I wan´t such a fan of the $4 cover, but that´s mostly just because I´ve become a cheap Gringa in this town where my amazing ham sandwich (not an oxymoron, I promise) that I ate for lunch today cost me $1.50. Anyway, the bar. We went as a total of 8 or 9 students, and sat and listened to a couple of Ecuadorian singers. There were two guys who sang together, and a bunch of Latinos/Latinas got up and started dancing and made we wish that I could dance, but of course I can´t because I´m a gringa. But that´s ok, I still want to take dance lessons. At only $4/hour for private lessons, why not?
-Got a fever and so had to go home at midnight. Mom and Dad, don´t worry, it was only 99.4 F and I think it was because I was dehydrated because the next morning I felt great.
-Went to Quito Antiguo, the "Old Town" for you English speakers (¿how are the Spanish lessons so far, Dad?). We went to one huge and awesome cathedral and two churches. And when my family asked me what they were called I had to go by description because I had no clue. It went a little like this:
Cecilia: ¿A que catedrales fuiste?
Me: Uhh... Uno era cubierto en oro. Y uno era enorme, y caminamos al parte mas alta del catedral. Y uno era muy antiguo y tenia un olor de cosas viejas.
Cecilia: Oh, to fuiste a (insert names of cathedrals here), pero todos los catedrales son muy viejos.
We never really figured out the name of the third church. But by "un olor de cosas viejas" I meant that it smelled like Grandma Werner´s basement. But older. But apparently that doesn´t translate well into Spanish.
-Went to an amazing panaderia with Becca and Nora called HONEY & Honey (but everyone here just calls it "honey honey" and drank some badly needed black tea and pretended to do reading. The waiter flirted with Becca like crazy and gave her a long stemmed rose when we left. We´ve got to go back there, if for no other reason than because it´s highly entertaining.
-Helped make a collage for my oldest brother´s two year old (my oldest brother is in his 30s and married and so doesn´t live at the house) and played with said adorable two year old. He´s SO CUTE and when he left with his parents, he cheek kissed me but wouldn´t cheek kiss his aunt. I´ve got a new best friend. That´s right, a two year old.
-This morning, a really awesome historian/journalist talked to us about "Ecuador Hoy". He is my new favorite professor.
-Looked at some internship possibilities. I REALLY want one in Tena, a town in the oriente, which isn´t what I expected, but it allows you to explore OB/GYN, Peds, Internal Medicine, and Surgery, all of which I am considering doing, without actually risking my life. Awesome.
¡Hasta luego!
-Gone to a bar with live music called Bogarin. The music was really great, and so was the margarita I drank. I wan´t such a fan of the $4 cover, but that´s mostly just because I´ve become a cheap Gringa in this town where my amazing ham sandwich (not an oxymoron, I promise) that I ate for lunch today cost me $1.50. Anyway, the bar. We went as a total of 8 or 9 students, and sat and listened to a couple of Ecuadorian singers. There were two guys who sang together, and a bunch of Latinos/Latinas got up and started dancing and made we wish that I could dance, but of course I can´t because I´m a gringa. But that´s ok, I still want to take dance lessons. At only $4/hour for private lessons, why not?
-Got a fever and so had to go home at midnight. Mom and Dad, don´t worry, it was only 99.4 F and I think it was because I was dehydrated because the next morning I felt great.
-Went to Quito Antiguo, the "Old Town" for you English speakers (¿how are the Spanish lessons so far, Dad?). We went to one huge and awesome cathedral and two churches. And when my family asked me what they were called I had to go by description because I had no clue. It went a little like this:
Cecilia: ¿A que catedrales fuiste?
Me: Uhh... Uno era cubierto en oro. Y uno era enorme, y caminamos al parte mas alta del catedral. Y uno era muy antiguo y tenia un olor de cosas viejas.
Cecilia: Oh, to fuiste a (insert names of cathedrals here), pero todos los catedrales son muy viejos.
We never really figured out the name of the third church. But by "un olor de cosas viejas" I meant that it smelled like Grandma Werner´s basement. But older. But apparently that doesn´t translate well into Spanish.
-Went to an amazing panaderia with Becca and Nora called HONEY & Honey (but everyone here just calls it "honey honey" and drank some badly needed black tea and pretended to do reading. The waiter flirted with Becca like crazy and gave her a long stemmed rose when we left. We´ve got to go back there, if for no other reason than because it´s highly entertaining.
-Helped make a collage for my oldest brother´s two year old (my oldest brother is in his 30s and married and so doesn´t live at the house) and played with said adorable two year old. He´s SO CUTE and when he left with his parents, he cheek kissed me but wouldn´t cheek kiss his aunt. I´ve got a new best friend. That´s right, a two year old.
-This morning, a really awesome historian/journalist talked to us about "Ecuador Hoy". He is my new favorite professor.
-Looked at some internship possibilities. I REALLY want one in Tena, a town in the oriente, which isn´t what I expected, but it allows you to explore OB/GYN, Peds, Internal Medicine, and Surgery, all of which I am considering doing, without actually risking my life. Awesome.
¡Hasta luego!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
I´m here, alive, and well!
Hola de Ecuador!
Finally I´ve gotten a chance to update. It´s been really hard to get on computers, because the computers at CIMAS are ridiculously busy all the time and it´s nearly impossible to get a turn. Anyway, I´m here and my family seems nice. So far it seems like my mom is talkative, smart, and very nice and my dad is a little quiet. He is a retired military man, and now he has a cow farm (finca de vacas) in the mountains where he spends about three days a week. My mom stays at home and cooks and cleans, and unlike many families we don´t have a maid. I feel a little awkward around my family around mealtime, because the families here don´t seem to eat together, which is a big change from home. And whenever I want food, my mom tells me to sit down and gives me SO MUCH FOOD. Either they eat a lot here, or they think Americans eat a lot and they give us a lot to eat. Pretty much every lunch and dinner there is soup, rice, some type of meat, sometimes salad, bread, juice of some type (this morning it was naranjilla, an orange-like fruit that we don´t have in the states), jelly, sometimes coffee (yes mom and dad, I am starting to drink coffee). Breakfasts are equally huge, with eggs, fruit, juice, coffee, and bread. The coffee they have here is very different, because here they heat up milk and add coffee crystals, so it is much less bitter and much weaker than in the US. Think a weak Cafe au Lait, and that´s what you get here. OK, more about my family: I also have a 26 year old sister, who is writing her thesis for her architecture masters or doctorate, I´m not sure which. And I have a nearly 22-year-old brother who is in college studying music, though I think he studies fiestas more than musica. So far my sister is my favorite; she always seems happy to see me and chats a lot, though she doesn´t go out or do very much other than work, study, and do things with their church (My family is evangelical, though they don´t try to convert me :) and I don´t think they drink at all because there hasn´t been any alcohol in the house).
The last two days we spent at an Ecoresort called Sapos y Ranas in the town of Bancos, which is bonitisimo. We hiked through the jungle and swam in a river, as well as in a swimming pool, and made bread and juice from sugar cane and lime and milked a cow. One thing I really liked about Bancos is there there are chickens wandering all over the place, though they are very colorful with brown and red feathers or black and white spots. I took a few photos of them. When we were milking the cows, a few of the brave chickens would come up to the cows and start trying to eat their food, and then the cows would moo at them and kind of shoo them away with their heads and the chickens would all scatter. It was pretty funny.
Today, we went to the mall to look around and so I could buy shampoo and a razor, which I forgot to pack, and now Becca and Nora Skelly and I are in an internet cafe. So everything is pretty cool. Tonight we´re going out somewhere to dance or something. Tomorrow we´re going to go to Quito Antiguo around the churches. They close off the roads on Sundays so people can ride bikes around the markets. I think I´ll try to attend some of the Catholic masses around here at the old churches so I can see them and see what mass is like here, and see if I can follow it en español!
I´ve got to go, I would love to get replies to my posts so I can keep up with what you guys are doing! Adios!
Finally I´ve gotten a chance to update. It´s been really hard to get on computers, because the computers at CIMAS are ridiculously busy all the time and it´s nearly impossible to get a turn. Anyway, I´m here and my family seems nice. So far it seems like my mom is talkative, smart, and very nice and my dad is a little quiet. He is a retired military man, and now he has a cow farm (finca de vacas) in the mountains where he spends about three days a week. My mom stays at home and cooks and cleans, and unlike many families we don´t have a maid. I feel a little awkward around my family around mealtime, because the families here don´t seem to eat together, which is a big change from home. And whenever I want food, my mom tells me to sit down and gives me SO MUCH FOOD. Either they eat a lot here, or they think Americans eat a lot and they give us a lot to eat. Pretty much every lunch and dinner there is soup, rice, some type of meat, sometimes salad, bread, juice of some type (this morning it was naranjilla, an orange-like fruit that we don´t have in the states), jelly, sometimes coffee (yes mom and dad, I am starting to drink coffee). Breakfasts are equally huge, with eggs, fruit, juice, coffee, and bread. The coffee they have here is very different, because here they heat up milk and add coffee crystals, so it is much less bitter and much weaker than in the US. Think a weak Cafe au Lait, and that´s what you get here. OK, more about my family: I also have a 26 year old sister, who is writing her thesis for her architecture masters or doctorate, I´m not sure which. And I have a nearly 22-year-old brother who is in college studying music, though I think he studies fiestas more than musica. So far my sister is my favorite; she always seems happy to see me and chats a lot, though she doesn´t go out or do very much other than work, study, and do things with their church (My family is evangelical, though they don´t try to convert me :) and I don´t think they drink at all because there hasn´t been any alcohol in the house).
The last two days we spent at an Ecoresort called Sapos y Ranas in the town of Bancos, which is bonitisimo. We hiked through the jungle and swam in a river, as well as in a swimming pool, and made bread and juice from sugar cane and lime and milked a cow. One thing I really liked about Bancos is there there are chickens wandering all over the place, though they are very colorful with brown and red feathers or black and white spots. I took a few photos of them. When we were milking the cows, a few of the brave chickens would come up to the cows and start trying to eat their food, and then the cows would moo at them and kind of shoo them away with their heads and the chickens would all scatter. It was pretty funny.
Today, we went to the mall to look around and so I could buy shampoo and a razor, which I forgot to pack, and now Becca and Nora Skelly and I are in an internet cafe. So everything is pretty cool. Tonight we´re going out somewhere to dance or something. Tomorrow we´re going to go to Quito Antiguo around the churches. They close off the roads on Sundays so people can ride bikes around the markets. I think I´ll try to attend some of the Catholic masses around here at the old churches so I can see them and see what mass is like here, and see if I can follow it en español!
I´ve got to go, I would love to get replies to my posts so I can keep up with what you guys are doing! Adios!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
6 days and counting!
Wow! Ecuador is really sneaking up on me. It's starting to get overwhelming everything that needs to be finished before I leave (summer research applications, about 100 pages of pre-departure reading, finishing compiling clothes and things, all of my packing, paperwork, throwing my dad a birthday party, wedding dress shopping with my to-be sister-in-law, finding out who my host family is, buying a gift for my host family...). I'm sure it will all get done in time. It's just become this countdown, and it seems like it will be very relieving when I finally arrive and can say to myself "Okay, its time to have a new adventure."
I just got an e-mail from my good friend Maggie, who just arrived in India, and everything sounds so exciting! Her family, judging by photos, looks so nice and like she will fit in well. And Zach also seems to have the greatest Denmark family ever. I am really hoping that everyone in our program has a good family experience. Now if only we knew who our families will be...
I just got an e-mail from my good friend Maggie, who just arrived in India, and everything sounds so exciting! Her family, judging by photos, looks so nice and like she will fit in well. And Zach also seems to have the greatest Denmark family ever. I am really hoping that everyone in our program has a good family experience. Now if only we knew who our families will be...
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