Time for an update

As it's been a very long time now since I've posted anything, I thought maybe it was time for an update. A lot has happened since August. I've been more places, and done more things, such as go to my host brother's Ecua-wedding, and of course, learned more Spanish. I have started classes, and now been in classes for awhile, at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which is a private university that is actually a little bit outside of Quito in a town called Cumbaya. I am taking a Spanish conversation class, which is fun - it is good practice, with a good teacher, and other study abroad students from various places in the world, and also Antropología Andina (Andean Anthropology) which is a challenge, but has been going pretty well so far.

I went to Atacames, which is on the coast of Ecuador. This was a trip that everybody in my study abroad program went on for the weekend. It was a beautiful beach, although in my heart it didn't compare to Oregon. Atacames is a pretty touristy town, but we went after schools in Ecuador had started so it was not as crowded as it often is. There were little market areas in the town and lots of open air bars. Also, Atacames is where I discovered batitos, which is a beverage that is like a mix between a smoothie and a milkshake, and is amazing. And they're giant, and they only cost $1.00. I do not look forward to prices in the states once I get home because everything will seem so expensive. Overall, Atacames was a lot of fun. It was good to walk on the beach again, and play in an ocean that is not cold!

For part of my study abroad program, I am doing trabajo social (volunteer work) and I am working in Hospital de los Niños Baca Ortiz. It is a children's hospital for low-income families. I am working in the oncology ward, which is of course hard, but also very rewarding. The kids are incredible and I really enjoy spending time with them. The parents are usually there too, as many of the kids are not from Quito but came here for the hospital, and therefore their families don't have anywhere to stay here. Officially, we finish with our trabajo social at the end of November but I plan to keep working at the hospital up until it is time for me to go home.

Ecuador had an election! It was very exciting, in the times leading up to it. The election was to vote on a new constitution as the constitution had been suspended by the president, Rafael Correa. People tended to feel very strongly either Sí or No, including people within the same family. In my family, Papá Fausto, Deseña, María Isabel and Norma were all No, and Mamá Beatriz and Jaime were Sí. Fausto was undecided so everybody in the family was trying to persuade hime to vote their way. There were lots of political demonstrations in the days leading up to the election. I went to an Arkabuz concert (they are a band from Galápagos who was in Quito for the release of their first CD) at Plaza del Teatro in Centro Historico where there were demonstrations going on on the other side of the plaza. Centro Historico had lots of demonstrations as that is where many of the government buildings, including the president's house, are located. The election was on a Sunday, and Ecuador has a few rules about voting such as, it is illegal to not vote. Also, there is no drinking the weekend of the Election. That weekend is known as "La Seca", seca meaning dry. Starting Thursday, it becomes illegal to sell alcohol after 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and then it is also illegal to consume alcohol, even in the privacy of your own home until Sunday night. This includes to foreigners also. It is a very strict rule and police were out in full force to "enforce" it, although really, they were looking for bribes to not enforce it. In the end, the Sí won with some 70% of the vote.

This weekend is a holiday so everything was closed on Friday to celebrate the Foundation of Guayaquil. On Friday, I went to Mindo, which is about 2.5 hours outside of Quito. Mindo is the cloud forest and is a very beautiful place to be. Our whole day there was an adventure. We started off on a kind of sketchy bus that everytime we went around a curbe that made the bus lean to the right, it made a really bad sound, and then an equally bad smell. When we got off the bus at Mindo, we saw that the wheel was pressing against the wheel well, especially badly when making turns, so, we were lucky we didn't have any problems that came from that and we made it there safely. Then we ate lunch, and headed out. By the time we finished lunch, it was raining. We took a cab down into Mindo, and then up to the waterfalls. To actually get to the waterfalls, you go across a canyon in a metal box connected to a cable - it's kind of like ziplining in a box. Then you must hike to the waterfalls. The hike was really beautiful, as was the ride over the canyon. It was also pouring down rain though, so by 2:30 we were thouroughly drenched, as was the trail we were walking on, so our goal was not to fall in the mud. We made it to see two of the waterfalls before we went back up the trail to catch a bus back to Quito. We had been told that the last bus to Quito left at 6:00, and we got to the bus station at about 5:15. There they told us that the last bus for the day had left at 4, so we got a ride back up to the highway to catch a bus as it drove by. We stood by the highway for about 30 minutes with no buses having gone by when one of the cabs that takes people down into Mindo offered to take people back to Quito. It was truck, so about 15 people piled into the truck, and then the back of the truck. We stood there and thought about getting in the back of the truck with them, as we had seen no sign of a bus coming. Then we noticed that the truck had a flat tire and decided to just wait it out. At about 6:15, we noticed that there was a beautiful sunset, and went to take pictures. At this point, a bus came, so we ran, sprinted, over to the bus and hopped on. Luckily, the bus was almost empty. We had been figuring that we would have to stand all the way back to Quito, but we had seats, and a karate movie. We were of course still wet and cold, which was rather uncomfortable and the 2.5 hour bus ride, but we survived. We got back to Terminal Terrestre, which is the bus station in the south and were looking for a cab. A cab is always going to be a rip off from Terminal Terrestre, and especially at night, but it's the only safe way to get out of there. Almost right away a driver came up to us and offered to take us for $6, which is 3x more than it should cost. We said now to $6, so he offered five, and we told him it would only cost $2.50 at the most if he was running the meter. To this he offered the logic of, there are four of you, so if you went in two cabs and it was $2.50 each, then it would still be $5. Knowing we weren't really going to get a better deal we decided to just do it, and started walking over to the line of cabs that were waiting. He waved us over in a different direction though, so we followed him. It turned out his cab was a truck, so three of us got to sit in the back of a truck for our cab ride home, which we really found funny more than anything, especially as we were cold and wet still. I enjoyed the view out the back of the truck though as we drove through Quito, and did finally make it home, safely.

There are many more Ecua-adventures to come, including, Cuenca, Riobamba, and the rainforest. I will try to be better about updating this come those times.