Joy has asked me (Andrew) to do a guest post and I am happy to provide one. My week in Ecuador felt like it went by quick, but we did a lot and I had a ton of fun. I tried to be succinct for this post, but I felt like I was missing things, so this post is a long one. I apologize for that. For pictures to accompany and give context to this wall of text, see this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.rehn/Mar282011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKOhwKXJw8HOcg&feat=directlink
Monday
On Monday, Joy just settled me in to Ecuador. She showed me around Lumbisi (the village where her host family lives) and USFQ (the college she is attending there). Lumbisi is an incredible little community. The description in Joy's Mom's post is better than anything I could write, but I will give it a shot. Joy's family lives on the second story of a house that they own in Lumbisi. The first floor is rented out to another family. Chickens and two puppies live in the yard outside the house (Joy finds the chickens to be hilarious. A chicken strolling around doing its thing will start Joy giggling). Joy's host family lives down the road (literally downhill) from the park, which is the commercial center of Lumbisi. Most of the homes around the park have converted their first floor into small stores or internet cafes. The stores there support the needs of the community, but aren’t big enough to attract people from outside Lumbisi. I suspect the people of Lumbisi prefer it that way. The park is also where we caught the buses to get to school. The bus took us from Lumbisi to school in Cumbaya for just 20 cents each.
USFQ is a beautiful school. I wish I had taken more pictures. It reminds me of Florida or the resort I went to in Mexico: lots of palm trees, a lake with a pirate ship, and a fountain-wall that would work occasionally (hopefully Joy can load a picture of that sometime). The different buildings of the school all connect in strange ways, giving it a maze-like feeling that all schools worth their salt have. I still can’t quite figure out how everything was connected in my head. I attended some of Joy’s classes, but didn’t understand a thing (I was usually reading a book anyway). When not in Joy’s classes with her, I was at one of the computer labs using the internet or using Joy’s computer. The entire school has wireless internet access. We ate lunch at this really cool restaurant that has a different set meal each day. Lunch was just $2.50 for soup, the entrée, a drink and desert!
That night, I gave Joy’s host family the gifts I had brought for them. For the parents, I brought a bottle of 312 and some Frango mints. The parents were really excited about the 312 bottle which shows the Chicago skyline. Later they asked Joy and me what 312 stood for and we told them it was the area code of Chicago. For the boys (ages 15 and 12) I brought Uno cards and Pass the Pigs. We played a few games of Pass the Pigs they were extremely entertaining. When Carlos pigged out, he would cry out and fall on to the couch dramatically, and Josue wouldn’t stop rolling until he pigged out. For the little girl Genesis, I brought two mechanical hamsters called Zhu Zhus. She seemed to enjoy playing with them a lot. However, the make a lot of noise so I hope they don’t start to annoy her parents too much.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I went with Joy to school again. That night, Joy and I played Bananagrams with the members of her study abroad program. We had a lot of fun. For those of you who haven’t played it, Bananagrams is like scrabble except you have your own board and race to use all your tiles. It is a lot of fun and I suggest any Scrabble-lover to try it. We played Spanish Bananagrams first. It was difficult for them to play and impossible for me to play (knowing only a handful of Spanish words). We switched to English Bananagrams and things got really competitive.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Joy and I went to Quito to see the Basilica. You can see some of the picture of the Basilica on the picasa link. I would like to say that we climbed to the top, but I was not able to make it that far. For some reason, my fear of heights got the best of me that day. We climbed almost to the top of the clock tower, but I couldn’t do the other end of the basilica where the climb was on the outside of the building. On the way down, we stopped at a café in the basilica to have a milkshake (it was more like chocolate milk) and talk for a while. We came back home to Lumbisi for dinner and then went back out to Quito that evening with the rest of her program to go salsa dancing. It may not shock you that I do not know how to salsa dance and am certainly not a natural. However, Joy was forgiving and we had a good time. After a bit of salsa, some of us went to another bar that was trying to be an Irish pub. We had a few drinks and talked. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It was late when we got back, but one of the puppies woke up Juan Carlos and he met us at the door to say good night.
Thursday
On Thursday, Joy took off classes so that we could spend more time in Quito. We rode a cable car to the top of Pichincha Volcano. The cable car took us up to 4100m above sea level (from Quito which is 3000m). By the time we got to the top, both Joy and I had a little altitude sickness. Nonetheless, the view was marvelous. On the ride back down, we could see the basilica from our cable car. We got back down to the bottom of the mountain just before it started pouring rain. To escape the rain, we took a taxi to the market in Quito with some friends we met on the ride down from the mountain. Joy and I got lunch at a restaurant where we had cheesy potatoes with an egg on top, a delicious but strange dish (it’s called llapingachos!). Afterward, we stopped by a market to buy Ecuapants (the blue pants I am wearing in the zip lining pictures). Later, Joy’s host family told us the Ecuapants are very popular thing for tourists to buy, but Ecuadorians don’t wear them. Indeed, didn’t see a single Ecuadorian wearing them, but I saw a few tourists wearing them on the plane ride home.
Friday
On Friday, Joy and I went to Mindo with some friends from her program. Mindo is a small resort town in a cloud forest in Ecuador. We got in around 6pm and by the time we settled in to our Hostel it was around 7pm. The hostel was fantastic. It had an open to the elements feel to it while still being comfortable. The people who ran the hostel were extremely helpful. They even completely changed the locks on the door when we thought someone had broken into our room (nothing was stolen)! We got dinner at a delicious local place with an open grill. We ate rice, beans and chicken. I also had a plate of corn, cheese and mayo. It sounds like a strange combination but it was surprisingly good. That night we went to a club with some of the locals (we were the only gringos there). It was a lot of fun, but our night was cut short when some of the locals started fighting each other (we think they were fighting over a dance with a girl). We got out of there ASAP. None of us were hurt or even directly threatened. However, we decided to call it a night.
Saturday
On Saturday, we got breakfast at the hostel and then took a taxi (back of a pick-up truck to be exact) to Mindo Canopy Adventures, a zip lining company. I think we went down 11 different zip lines. The zip lines went over ravines in the forest and we were well over 100 feet in the air at some points. On one line, I was able to go with a guide and do the mariposa (butterfly in Spanish). Basically, the guide held my feet in the air and I went down the zip line upside down. It was a lot of fun, but really scary. I couldn’t bring myself to bring both hands off of the harness. After zip lining, we went back to the hostel to change into our swimsuits and then went tubing down a river (even though it was raining a bit). It was really really cold at first, but once we got used to the water it was a lot of fun. At one point we went under a bit and I thought the tubes were going to flip. We were tubing down the river for about twenty minutes. Afterward, we dried off at the hostel and got a late lunch at a pizza place in town (delicious Hawaiian pizza). Then we took the bus back to Quito then home. All together, the trip cost about $40 each. Try going zip lining, tubing and staying the night somewhere in the States for that price.
Sunday
On Sunday, Joy and I decided to take it easy. After a long week, a day of rest seemed appropriate. We watched a movie (The Town) and went to a soccer game that her host dad was playing in. He is a member of the Lumbisi intramural league. That night, I said my goodbyes and thank you (muchas gracias) to the family, and left for home.
La Joy
Given all that, my favorite part of the trip was being able to see Joy. The people were fantastic, the food was delicious, and the places we traveled were spectacular, but being able to see Joy again was like a long awaited breath of fresh air. While it had only been three months since I had seen her, I had forgotten so many wonderful things about Joy. I forgot how incredible her smile and laugh are. I forgot how much I love talking with her about little things and life's big philosophical questions. I forgot how she always looks good, no matter if she is at the breakfast table after she just woke up or going out for a night of dancing in Quito. This trip made me remember all these things. I can’t wait to see her again, but I hope she enjoys her remaining time in Ecuador. She is doing quite well for herself in classes and with her friends. More importantly, I can tell that her host family really loves her. In just a few months she has become part of their family and developed a bond with them that will last a lifetime. Before I left, they made me promise that I would look after Joy when she got back to the states. That’s a promise I intend to keep.
[I have such a wonderful boyfriend, who was willing to travel all the way to Ecuador to see me and write a post. It was great having Andrew here for his Spring Break. I couldn't help myself, the italicized comments are my additions. Hope you all have enjoyed the guest posts as much as I've enjoyed my guests!]
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Vamos a Mindo
It's been a while. I went to Otavalo with my program last weekend and this week has been busy! Otavalo was fun, we talked to some locals in a town called Peguche. I also tried a traditional Ecuadorean drink known as canelazo (warm, cinnamon drink with a bit of alcohol) when we ate dinner at the hostel. I'm not a huge fan of the drink, I think I underestimated the alcohol content. I spoke to some tourists from China (in Chinese!) while we were sight seeing. He seemed surprised to see another Asian person, who wasn't part of his group. Also, he seemed to think it was strange that we had chosen to study abroad in Ecuador. On Sunday we took a slightly miserable boat ride in the rain around a large lake. It was hard to see anything with the large plastic sheet around us and the cold rainwater spraying onto our legs. We did get to see some tiny bubbles, which were caused by the lake being located near a volcanoe (which we couldn't see since it was so cloudy out).
Also, I have another wonderful visitor here, who said he's willing to do a guest post, so keep your eyes out for that next week :) I will get back to posting more regularly soon, also I am quite behind on my pictures, but that will be fixed.
A couple of us are taking a trip to Mindo this weekend. I'm hoping for fun times ziplining and minimal mosquitoe bites!
Also, I have another wonderful visitor here, who said he's willing to do a guest post, so keep your eyes out for that next week :) I will get back to posting more regularly soon, also I am quite behind on my pictures, but that will be fixed.
A couple of us are taking a trip to Mindo this weekend. I'm hoping for fun times ziplining and minimal mosquitoe bites!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Joy in Lumbisi: Guest Post by Julia Yang
Joy in Lumbisi
Lumbisi is a small and rural town 30-60 minutes drive away from the Quito airport.
I came to visit my daughter, Joy, who is studying abroad with the University of San Francisco in Ecuador. I stayed with her host family for the last 7 days. Joy asked me to write a post for her blog. Here I am doing my homework while flying back to Chicago. Warning: long reading to follow...sorry the flights were very long.
Can you see Lumbisi in your imagination?
I was first impressed by the beauty of Ecuadorian mountains I saw while riding buses. Each mountain seems to be embracing and nurturing her people and their homes in the hills. The snow covered volcano Joy can see through her window is a quiet spiritual symbol for the highlanders. Lumbisi is surrounded by high mountains all around. A hike with the family allowed me to overlook the beautiful village with a landmark of a Catholic church steeple. While main streets were paved with bricks, there were many dirt roads traveled by residents, cars, dogs, sheep, and chicken. The hilly streets, tall corn in the backyards of the colorful houses, and children of all ages playing soccer formed the foreground of the grand mountain views.
The indigenous and the authentic encounter
Most residents of Lumbisi are indigenous Ecuadorians who are very humble, friendly, expressive, and hard working. Their family closeness, content, and kindness and the seemingly hardship they endure in their everyday living gave me a portrait of courage, the title of a book I published last year. I cannot help but to compare such outlook to the high stress, depression, and anxiety we see in the American society and the social problems that come along. Joy's host sibling told me that he was not aware of any parental divorce among his peers. Lumbisi is only one only bus away from the affluent communities yet it appears unconcerned about the worldly interest. I appreciated the community pride I saw in the parade that 60 uniformed soccer teams of all ages from Lumbisi marched around the stadium where traditional music was shared generously with the whole valley. While for a international traveler like me, the world is outside of me to get to, the world is in the heart of these people who may never travel outside of Ecuador! For some reason, the image of lily in the valley comes to mind as I write now.
Lumbisi people are the blessed ones who know the richness of living simple.
I met the exchange program director, Maria, who is also a local community advocate for Lumbisi. Many U.S. college students have been placed in Lumbisi over time and participated in many community, preschool, and gardening projects. I met two young individuals who returned to Equador after their study abroad program. I asked them, why? Their response was identical: the people. Lumbisi reminded me much of how I grew up in Taiwan. It felt at home to me: temperature, people, and the plentiful buses that take you anywhere you need to go. Last night, Joy's host family gave me a beautiful hand carved wooden tea box. As we said farewell, the boys and the father began to cry. I cried more when my husband phoned me from Chicago. I am indeed speechless about this authentic encounter...
The joy of Joy
I must stop writing soon as Joy always would apologize for a long post. This post cannot be complete without me saying something about Joy. I thought I knew my daughter well all the time. It is not so! I marvel at her ability to navigate in a totally foreign system: language, foods, transportation, relationships, etc. Her adjustment from the carpeted floor to the cement floor, driving to walking, some make up to no make up are all impressive. Most importantly, the Ecuadorian experience brings her majors to life: Global Studies and Spanish. It looks like she has worked hard to keep her straight A record here while she joined several tours to see the many faces of the country. I cherished every moment we had together in these 7 days. Joy by definition means pleasant surprises--what my Joy has brought me all the time. I grow as she continues to develop. Joy, also means the longing that something nice is going to happen. I cannot explain but this is what I walked away with from visiting Joy. I hope by this time I have shared with you enough about my true Joy in Lumbisi.
Blessings,
Mama Joy
P.S. For the record, the following is a log of what we did together during this visit.
3/10 Arrived in Quito, long custom wait, met Joy's host parents, Rosa and Juan Carlos.
3/11 Greeted by a snow covered volcano in the window view, many chicken and two
sheep in the morning. Dozed off in Joy's class. Met the host siblings, Josue (15),
Carlos (12),and Genesis (5). Met Joy's program director, Maria. MANY street
dogs.
3/12 Took a 2.5-hour plus bus ride to Otavalo, the "must go" market of crafts by the
indigenous people.
3/13 Enjoyed the annual Lumbisi Parade of 60 soccer teams in the stadium
surrounded by beautiful cloud topped mountains. Had crabs Rosa bought from
Quito one hour bus ride each way.
3/14. Toured Quito. Coffee and brownie with Joy. Climbed to the top of the cathedral. Hit
the bells three times. Showed pictures of the young Joy to the host family.
3/15 Visited a church in the deep mountains with Rosa and Gensis. The statue of Jesus
was brown that reminded me of in 1999, I encountered a black Jesus in Mexico
City. Edited the video and pictures and put them in a jump drive for the family.
3/16 Departed. Due to the delay of luggage in Huston, had to go through security,
check in, and run through 2 terminals to catch the connecting flight all in 8 minutes
[I'm blessed to have a mother who writes this well. She is a published author, and I must say if you liked this post you should check out her book: The Psychology of Courage: An Adlerian Handbook for Healthy Social Living. I don't know how to italicize the "Joy" in the title of the post, but that's the real title.]
Lumbisi is a small and rural town 30-60 minutes drive away from the Quito airport.
I came to visit my daughter, Joy, who is studying abroad with the University of San Francisco in Ecuador. I stayed with her host family for the last 7 days. Joy asked me to write a post for her blog. Here I am doing my homework while flying back to Chicago. Warning: long reading to follow...sorry the flights were very long.
Can you see Lumbisi in your imagination?
I was first impressed by the beauty of Ecuadorian mountains I saw while riding buses. Each mountain seems to be embracing and nurturing her people and their homes in the hills. The snow covered volcano Joy can see through her window is a quiet spiritual symbol for the highlanders. Lumbisi is surrounded by high mountains all around. A hike with the family allowed me to overlook the beautiful village with a landmark of a Catholic church steeple. While main streets were paved with bricks, there were many dirt roads traveled by residents, cars, dogs, sheep, and chicken. The hilly streets, tall corn in the backyards of the colorful houses, and children of all ages playing soccer formed the foreground of the grand mountain views.
The indigenous and the authentic encounter
Most residents of Lumbisi are indigenous Ecuadorians who are very humble, friendly, expressive, and hard working. Their family closeness, content, and kindness and the seemingly hardship they endure in their everyday living gave me a portrait of courage, the title of a book I published last year. I cannot help but to compare such outlook to the high stress, depression, and anxiety we see in the American society and the social problems that come along. Joy's host sibling told me that he was not aware of any parental divorce among his peers. Lumbisi is only one only bus away from the affluent communities yet it appears unconcerned about the worldly interest. I appreciated the community pride I saw in the parade that 60 uniformed soccer teams of all ages from Lumbisi marched around the stadium where traditional music was shared generously with the whole valley. While for a international traveler like me, the world is outside of me to get to, the world is in the heart of these people who may never travel outside of Ecuador! For some reason, the image of lily in the valley comes to mind as I write now.
Lumbisi people are the blessed ones who know the richness of living simple.
I met the exchange program director, Maria, who is also a local community advocate for Lumbisi. Many U.S. college students have been placed in Lumbisi over time and participated in many community, preschool, and gardening projects. I met two young individuals who returned to Equador after their study abroad program. I asked them, why? Their response was identical: the people. Lumbisi reminded me much of how I grew up in Taiwan. It felt at home to me: temperature, people, and the plentiful buses that take you anywhere you need to go. Last night, Joy's host family gave me a beautiful hand carved wooden tea box. As we said farewell, the boys and the father began to cry. I cried more when my husband phoned me from Chicago. I am indeed speechless about this authentic encounter...
The joy of Joy
I must stop writing soon as Joy always would apologize for a long post. This post cannot be complete without me saying something about Joy. I thought I knew my daughter well all the time. It is not so! I marvel at her ability to navigate in a totally foreign system: language, foods, transportation, relationships, etc. Her adjustment from the carpeted floor to the cement floor, driving to walking, some make up to no make up are all impressive. Most importantly, the Ecuadorian experience brings her majors to life: Global Studies and Spanish. It looks like she has worked hard to keep her straight A record here while she joined several tours to see the many faces of the country. I cherished every moment we had together in these 7 days. Joy by definition means pleasant surprises--what my Joy has brought me all the time. I grow as she continues to develop. Joy, also means the longing that something nice is going to happen. I cannot explain but this is what I walked away with from visiting Joy. I hope by this time I have shared with you enough about my true Joy in Lumbisi.
Blessings,
Mama Joy
P.S. For the record, the following is a log of what we did together during this visit.
3/10 Arrived in Quito, long custom wait, met Joy's host parents, Rosa and Juan Carlos.
3/11 Greeted by a snow covered volcano in the window view, many chicken and two
sheep in the morning. Dozed off in Joy's class. Met the host siblings, Josue (15),
Carlos (12),and Genesis (5). Met Joy's program director, Maria. MANY street
dogs.
3/12 Took a 2.5-hour plus bus ride to Otavalo, the "must go" market of crafts by the
indigenous people.
3/13 Enjoyed the annual Lumbisi Parade of 60 soccer teams in the stadium
surrounded by beautiful cloud topped mountains. Had crabs Rosa bought from
Quito one hour bus ride each way.
3/14. Toured Quito. Coffee and brownie with Joy. Climbed to the top of the cathedral. Hit
the bells three times. Showed pictures of the young Joy to the host family.
3/15 Visited a church in the deep mountains with Rosa and Gensis. The statue of Jesus
was brown that reminded me of in 1999, I encountered a black Jesus in Mexico
City. Edited the video and pictures and put them in a jump drive for the family.
3/16 Departed. Due to the delay of luggage in Huston, had to go through security,
check in, and run through 2 terminals to catch the connecting flight all in 8 minutes
[I'm blessed to have a mother who writes this well. She is a published author, and I must say if you liked this post you should check out her book: The Psychology of Courage: An Adlerian Handbook for Healthy Social Living. I don't know how to italicize the "Joy" in the title of the post, but that's the real title.]
Monday, March 14, 2011
Mama joy en Ecuador
Short post today, my guest "blogger" will hopefully be ready to post tomorrow. My mom got in safely last Thursday. Everything has been going well. Rosa told me about the earthquake in Japan first thing Friday morning. On this end Ecuador did not have major problems with the tsunami. From what I heard Taiwan did not have problems either. Praying for Japan.
On a different note, I found out this morning that my mom has been using my toothbrush since last night because she thought it was hers. O.o Time to buy a new toothbrush.
I'll save what we did this weekend for my mom to write about. Right now she is walking around campus taking pictures, let's hope she remembers how to get back to where I am! Until next time :)
On a different note, I found out this morning that my mom has been using my toothbrush since last night because she thought it was hers. O.o Time to buy a new toothbrush.
I'll save what we did this weekend for my mom to write about. Right now she is walking around campus taking pictures, let's hope she remembers how to get back to where I am! Until next time :)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Baile de Paraguas
Edit: I finally posted pictures from Tiputini, you can find them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=627651&id=774675412&l=47111360e0
I had some problems when I uploaded them, so some might be missing.
Fun fact, I still don't have my Ecuadorian cellphone number memorized. Perhaps I should work on that?
Carnaval weekend did turn out pretty relaxing. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't have a more exciting weekend, however, I'm glad I got some time to rest and catch up on some homework. Some highlights:
Saturday I ate a delicious Ceviche lunch with my host family. Ceviche is a typical seafood dish served in Ecuador, especially on the coast. I had a kind with shrimp and fish. We ate it with popcorn and tostada which is similar to un-popped kernels of popcorn but more edible. In the afternoon I watched my host family play in a soccer game against another family. I managed to talk Genesis out of throwing flour on me, success! At night I went to Quito with some friends who also stayed local for Carnaval. We went to a club with live Ecuadorean folk music. It was much fun, and the staff there was really excited to have people from the States.
Monday we went to Ambato, a town nearby. Ambato is known for its wide varieties of fruits and flowers. Instead of playing with water, people in Ambato supposedly play Carnaval with fruit and flower. The bus ride to Amabato was 2 and 1/2 hours, for only $2.70. A bus ride like that in the States would be over $20. Anyway, we didn't see anything too exciting. We went to a Carnaval fair, they had a lot of different stands, and a best cow competition. We visited Ambato's indoor market to eat some delicious (greasy and questionably clean) llapingachos, typical dish with fried mashed potatoes and cheese. Then we sat in the park and watched people play Carnaval with foam. We only got sprayed with the foam once while waiting for the bus. The major parades in Ambato happened on Sunday and would happen later Monday night, to my disappointment. The journey back to Lumbisi was long, but we did see people covered in flour (and extremely drunk). On our bus ride back to Quito from Ambato they showed the movie Speed. A comforting bus movie for sure.
That was about as exciting as things got. I do have 2 Genesis stories:
On Thursday morning Genesis broke off the bud of one of the flowers sitting in a glass vase on the coffee table. Rosa was very upset about this. The next afternoon I looked at the flowers to see that only the green stems were left, still in the vase. Apparently Genesis had beheaded and taken all of them so that she could play Carnaval with the flower petals. Pobres flores.
Yesterday, Genesis was dancing with her newly bought child-sized umbrella. [Tangent, I don't see many people using umbrellas here, even though it has been raining a lot] The dance was completely crazy style, twirling, stomping, twitching... everything. There was no music, except for whatever she was hearing in her head. Rosa looked over at her daughter and told her, "Not like that! That's so ugly. Be careful, you're going to blind la Joy!" Then Rosa took the umbrella from Genesis and did a little dance of her own to show Genesis how she should dance. I could not stop laughing.
The next post may be from a guest writer if I can convince her to write one... :)
I had some problems when I uploaded them, so some might be missing.
Fun fact, I still don't have my Ecuadorian cellphone number memorized. Perhaps I should work on that?
Carnaval weekend did turn out pretty relaxing. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't have a more exciting weekend, however, I'm glad I got some time to rest and catch up on some homework. Some highlights:
Saturday I ate a delicious Ceviche lunch with my host family. Ceviche is a typical seafood dish served in Ecuador, especially on the coast. I had a kind with shrimp and fish. We ate it with popcorn and tostada which is similar to un-popped kernels of popcorn but more edible. In the afternoon I watched my host family play in a soccer game against another family. I managed to talk Genesis out of throwing flour on me, success! At night I went to Quito with some friends who also stayed local for Carnaval. We went to a club with live Ecuadorean folk music. It was much fun, and the staff there was really excited to have people from the States.
Monday we went to Ambato, a town nearby. Ambato is known for its wide varieties of fruits and flowers. Instead of playing with water, people in Ambato supposedly play Carnaval with fruit and flower. The bus ride to Amabato was 2 and 1/2 hours, for only $2.70. A bus ride like that in the States would be over $20. Anyway, we didn't see anything too exciting. We went to a Carnaval fair, they had a lot of different stands, and a best cow competition. We visited Ambato's indoor market to eat some delicious (greasy and questionably clean) llapingachos, typical dish with fried mashed potatoes and cheese. Then we sat in the park and watched people play Carnaval with foam. We only got sprayed with the foam once while waiting for the bus. The major parades in Ambato happened on Sunday and would happen later Monday night, to my disappointment. The journey back to Lumbisi was long, but we did see people covered in flour (and extremely drunk). On our bus ride back to Quito from Ambato they showed the movie Speed. A comforting bus movie for sure.
That was about as exciting as things got. I do have 2 Genesis stories:
On Thursday morning Genesis broke off the bud of one of the flowers sitting in a glass vase on the coffee table. Rosa was very upset about this. The next afternoon I looked at the flowers to see that only the green stems were left, still in the vase. Apparently Genesis had beheaded and taken all of them so that she could play Carnaval with the flower petals. Pobres flores.
Yesterday, Genesis was dancing with her newly bought child-sized umbrella. [Tangent, I don't see many people using umbrellas here, even though it has been raining a lot] The dance was completely crazy style, twirling, stomping, twitching... everything. There was no music, except for whatever she was hearing in her head. Rosa looked over at her daughter and told her, "Not like that! That's so ugly. Be careful, you're going to blind la Joy!" Then Rosa took the umbrella from Genesis and did a little dance of her own to show Genesis how she should dance. I could not stop laughing.
The next post may be from a guest writer if I can convince her to write one... :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Un Fin de Semana Tranquilo?
There was a change of plans because bus tickets were sold out, and here I am in Lumbisi for the weekend for the first time in two weeks. When I first found out I was actually relieved and slightly disappointed. I think I really need a break, so this should be good. I took a nap yesterday afternoon and then joined in some Carnaval festivities with my Ecua-family.
I changed in preparation to start playing, and headed outside to help Rosa with taking the kernels off of the corn (is there a verb for this?) Anyway, it started with Genesis... she took a handful of flour and put it on her mother's head. Then she slowly approached me while looking at her mom. Rosa told her not to do it, but she came closer, and I was like... whatever, it's okay. So I got some flour on my head. The next thing I know Carlos has an egg in his hand and Rosa is yelling at him. Having an egg smashed open on your head is a really interesting experience, I can now check that off (twice) my list of things to do in life. [Rosa was half yelling at her children "DON'T TAKE THE EGGS, THOSE ARE FOR BREAKFAST! Ay pobre Joy"] It escalated to throwing buckets of water at each other. Josue was cheating and locked himself on the terrace, he dumped buckets of water on me. Rosa, like her usual ninja self, busted out an "Espuma," which is foam, and started spraying the boys. I ran up to my room and grabbed my Espuma that I had bought earlier in preparation. It was a very intense waterfight, the most intense one I've experienced. I kept getting water dumped on me by Josue... I kept thinking I was out of range, only to be surprised by very cold water. There was also some grabbing and dragging people to the sources of water. By the end of it I was completely soaked and my shoes had small puddles in them. I left trails of water to my room and the bathroom. I might as well have jumped, fully dressed, into a pool. The boys are very good at dodging the water, I guess they've had years of practice.
After I got cleaned up, I sat down with Rosa for a nice little afternoon hot chocolate and tea. It's like we weren't madly attacking each other with water and foam just an hour before. Rosa told me that the Carnaval we just played is considered "tranquilo" or peaceful here. If grabbing people, rubbing foam into their faces, and cracking eggs on their heads is considered peaceful, I'm not sure I want to participate in the other forms of Carnaval. Apparently, on Monday and Tuesday most people stay inside. Young guys will walk around in groups looking for victims to soak. Girls are the usual targets. I might have to stay on my roof to observe the festivities. It's definitely an interesting holiday.
In Lumbisi today there is a Carnaval dance. On the large banners posted in public places, it advertises raffles, awards, fun music, and a wet t-shirt contest. Yes, you read that correctly. I went for a walk with Rosa and Juan Carlos yesterday, we ran into their pastor. We were standing by one of the banners and he read the description outloud. Then he turned to Rosa and jokingly asked her if she had her T-shirt ready... Awwwwkward. I probably won't make it to the dance (which is almost an all day event, 1pm to 12am), since tonight I plan on going to Quito to hear live Ecuadorian folk music.
That's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more Carnaval stories as the weekend progresses.
I changed in preparation to start playing, and headed outside to help Rosa with taking the kernels off of the corn (is there a verb for this?) Anyway, it started with Genesis... she took a handful of flour and put it on her mother's head. Then she slowly approached me while looking at her mom. Rosa told her not to do it, but she came closer, and I was like... whatever, it's okay. So I got some flour on my head. The next thing I know Carlos has an egg in his hand and Rosa is yelling at him. Having an egg smashed open on your head is a really interesting experience, I can now check that off (twice) my list of things to do in life. [Rosa was half yelling at her children "DON'T TAKE THE EGGS, THOSE ARE FOR BREAKFAST! Ay pobre Joy"] It escalated to throwing buckets of water at each other. Josue was cheating and locked himself on the terrace, he dumped buckets of water on me. Rosa, like her usual ninja self, busted out an "Espuma," which is foam, and started spraying the boys. I ran up to my room and grabbed my Espuma that I had bought earlier in preparation. It was a very intense waterfight, the most intense one I've experienced. I kept getting water dumped on me by Josue... I kept thinking I was out of range, only to be surprised by very cold water. There was also some grabbing and dragging people to the sources of water. By the end of it I was completely soaked and my shoes had small puddles in them. I left trails of water to my room and the bathroom. I might as well have jumped, fully dressed, into a pool. The boys are very good at dodging the water, I guess they've had years of practice.
After I got cleaned up, I sat down with Rosa for a nice little afternoon hot chocolate and tea. It's like we weren't madly attacking each other with water and foam just an hour before. Rosa told me that the Carnaval we just played is considered "tranquilo" or peaceful here. If grabbing people, rubbing foam into their faces, and cracking eggs on their heads is considered peaceful, I'm not sure I want to participate in the other forms of Carnaval. Apparently, on Monday and Tuesday most people stay inside. Young guys will walk around in groups looking for victims to soak. Girls are the usual targets. I might have to stay on my roof to observe the festivities. It's definitely an interesting holiday.
In Lumbisi today there is a Carnaval dance. On the large banners posted in public places, it advertises raffles, awards, fun music, and a wet t-shirt contest. Yes, you read that correctly. I went for a walk with Rosa and Juan Carlos yesterday, we ran into their pastor. We were standing by one of the banners and he read the description outloud. Then he turned to Rosa and jokingly asked her if she had her T-shirt ready... Awwwwkward. I probably won't make it to the dance (which is almost an all day event, 1pm to 12am), since tonight I plan on going to Quito to hear live Ecuadorian folk music.
That's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more Carnaval stories as the weekend progresses.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tiputini
First, I just took an epic Art History exam in which I attempted to memorize 60 pieces of artwork/churches, the painter, place and the date. There were only 2 of the 60 on the exam, but we had no idea which ones would be there so we had to study all of them. Good news, I recognized both, and remembered all of the relevant information!
Onto more interesting things. This is the real post to Tiputini. It was quite the adventure.
We left Lumbisi at 6:30am by taxi on Friday morning. We took two taxis, the taxi that I was not in ran out of gas in the middle of the highway. Here the fun begins.
First, the airport security in Quito for a national flight was very slack. I didn't need to provide any sort of identification. I could bring liquids and keep my shoes on through security. The plane ride was 30 minutes. Then we took a bus for 15-20 minutes to our boat. The boat ride was almost 2 hours. Then we took a Chiva which is an old bus that does not have windows or doors, open air! About 2 hours later we arrived and took another 2 hour boat ride on the Tiputini River (It's a tribute to the Amazon River). Finally we arrived at the biodiversity station. Throughout the boat/bus ride(s) everyone found creative ways to sleep.
We stayed in cabins with four people each and one bathroom. There were 9 girls on my program and in a series of events I ended up being the 9th, so I roomed with 3 girls from North Carolina. I almost roomed with 3 boys from North Carolina, so it could have been worse. The 16 students who were at Tiputini had to split up into groups of 8, and I ended up going with North Carolina folks. I enjoyed making new friends, but at the time it was a little awkward not being with people from my program. Flexibility is part of being abroad and life in general.
Outing number 1: Our group took a boat to a lake. Then we all crowded into a tiny canoe to go around the lake. It was a bad decision, so half of us got out and we took two trips. We saw many species of birds. Afterward, we walked back to the station. Along the way I ate some (3) ants. They were special ants that live in a type of bush. They had a nice limey taste. We saw several species of monkeys, a large centipede (that our guide picked up), a large spider, and many trees/ vegetation.
Outing number 2: The watch tower. It was 45 meters tall. We climbed a metal stair structure and hung out on a wooden platform for about an hour. We saw macaws, toucans, hummingbirds, and monkeys. On our walk back we saw pocket sized monkeys. Josue asked me why I didn't bring one home, and I told him that I'm a slow tree climber, the monkey escaped me.
Outing number 3: The canopy walkway. The walkway consisted of hanging bridges above the trees, about the same height as the watch tower. We had harnesses in case the bridge broke... amazing views. We also climbed a ladder up 10 more meters and sat on a tiny one person wooden platform.
Outing number 4: Boat ride and swimming/floating down the Tiputini river. It was incredible, and incredibly cold. Also, swimming against the current to get back into the boat was very difficult.
Overall, a really cool trip. Now I can say that I've traveled to the three main regions of Ecuador: the coast, the sierra, and the amazon. We went home the same way that we came. The taxi drivers wanted to charge us $15 to get back to Lumbisi (we paid $10 to get to the airport). But we've been in Ecuador long enough so we bartered it down to $12.
This week has been crazy busy for my classes. Hopefully things will slow down a little bit. Wishful thinking perhaps, since I already have plans to go to the beach this weekend for Carnaval (remember the water balloon festivity?) It should be fun though! I'll work on posting pictures soon :)
Onto more interesting things. This is the real post to Tiputini. It was quite the adventure.
We left Lumbisi at 6:30am by taxi on Friday morning. We took two taxis, the taxi that I was not in ran out of gas in the middle of the highway. Here the fun begins.
First, the airport security in Quito for a national flight was very slack. I didn't need to provide any sort of identification. I could bring liquids and keep my shoes on through security. The plane ride was 30 minutes. Then we took a bus for 15-20 minutes to our boat. The boat ride was almost 2 hours. Then we took a Chiva which is an old bus that does not have windows or doors, open air! About 2 hours later we arrived and took another 2 hour boat ride on the Tiputini River (It's a tribute to the Amazon River). Finally we arrived at the biodiversity station. Throughout the boat/bus ride(s) everyone found creative ways to sleep.
We stayed in cabins with four people each and one bathroom. There were 9 girls on my program and in a series of events I ended up being the 9th, so I roomed with 3 girls from North Carolina. I almost roomed with 3 boys from North Carolina, so it could have been worse. The 16 students who were at Tiputini had to split up into groups of 8, and I ended up going with North Carolina folks. I enjoyed making new friends, but at the time it was a little awkward not being with people from my program. Flexibility is part of being abroad and life in general.
Outing number 1: Our group took a boat to a lake. Then we all crowded into a tiny canoe to go around the lake. It was a bad decision, so half of us got out and we took two trips. We saw many species of birds. Afterward, we walked back to the station. Along the way I ate some (3) ants. They were special ants that live in a type of bush. They had a nice limey taste. We saw several species of monkeys, a large centipede (that our guide picked up), a large spider, and many trees/ vegetation.
Outing number 2: The watch tower. It was 45 meters tall. We climbed a metal stair structure and hung out on a wooden platform for about an hour. We saw macaws, toucans, hummingbirds, and monkeys. On our walk back we saw pocket sized monkeys. Josue asked me why I didn't bring one home, and I told him that I'm a slow tree climber, the monkey escaped me.
Outing number 3: The canopy walkway. The walkway consisted of hanging bridges above the trees, about the same height as the watch tower. We had harnesses in case the bridge broke... amazing views. We also climbed a ladder up 10 more meters and sat on a tiny one person wooden platform.
Outing number 4: Boat ride and swimming/floating down the Tiputini river. It was incredible, and incredibly cold. Also, swimming against the current to get back into the boat was very difficult.
Overall, a really cool trip. Now I can say that I've traveled to the three main regions of Ecuador: the coast, the sierra, and the amazon. We went home the same way that we came. The taxi drivers wanted to charge us $15 to get back to Lumbisi (we paid $10 to get to the airport). But we've been in Ecuador long enough so we bartered it down to $12.
This week has been crazy busy for my classes. Hopefully things will slow down a little bit. Wishful thinking perhaps, since I already have plans to go to the beach this weekend for Carnaval (remember the water balloon festivity?) It should be fun though! I'll work on posting pictures soon :)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tiputini (pre-post)
This doesn't count as a real post, just a brief update. I am back from my trip to Tiputini with limited bug bites (the 40 bites on my feet no longer itch!) and no sunburn. It was incredible. I saw 5 different species of monkeys and almost 20 turtles on our journey back. It's basically midterms week here, so I'm going to get on with my homework and studying for exams. A real post will happen soon :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)