Quilotoa and Study Abroad Assignment

A couple weeks ago, I went with my friends Megan and Stephanie to a lagoon in a crater in a volcano called Quilotoa. To get there we took the bus to Latacunga, and then took another bus to a tiny little town called Zumbahua. From Zumbahua, we hired a ride to take us the rest of the way to Quilotoa. This ride was a fun experience as there were four of us squeezed into the front of a truck (somebody got to sit on somebody's lap each way), for a very bumpy ride, in the rain, with no windshield wipers. We got to the Lagoon safe and sound though, and then started a little walk down a very muddy trail to get a view of the lagoon. The trail was actually very long, but we did not go the whole way. Just to a nice view point, or, what would have been a nice view point if you had been able to see anything through the very dense fog. We decided to hang out at our view point for a little while, eat some fruit, take some pictures, and during this time, the fog started to clear. So then we legitimately took pictures as the view continued to improve. It was rather cold though, so after awhile we headed back up the trail and went to a little café where we had soup and tea, and then got back in our crazy truck to go back to Zumbahua. It had stopped raining while we were at the lagoon, but it was raining again when we arrived in Zumbahua. We then got to spend an hour in the rain waiting for a bus to come through that was going back to Latacunga. When we finally got on that bus, there weren't enough seats, so I got to stand the whole time. With the buses in Ecuador when traveling outside of the city, the way the prices generally work is that it costs $1 an hour. The man collecting money on the bus told us that it was going to be $1.25. We were okay with this, but then the people around me started telling me that it was actually only $1 and he was trying to rip us off. So we questioned him, at which point he told us flat out, foreigners pay more.
We got back to Latacunga, and then got another bus back to Quito. On the way into Quito we passed by the trolebus station and Megan and Stephanie both got off there, and I kept going to Terminal Terrestre to get a cab. At Terminal Terrestre, there are lots of cab drivers there waiting for the people to get off buses, but they always want to rip you off. Especially because they know you don't really have another option, especially at night, as it's not the safest part of Quito. I had spent more money than I had planned during the day and only had $3 left. So I got off the bus and a guy asked me right away if I needed a cab, so I told him I needed to go to Mariana de Jesus and asked him how much that would cost (you can barter for prices when leaving Terminal Terrestre as they don't use the meters then). He told me $4, and I told him I had $3, and we went back and forth for awhile. He told me $4 was a fair price (which it's not), and even got his other taxi driver friends to tell me that $4 was a fair price. But we did eventually settle on $3, and walked over to his cab. Which turned out to be an unmarked car. Although not my smartest decision, and not something I would do again, although it worked out fine this time, I got in. He turned out to be a nice guy and we talked on the way home, mostly about Ecuador and places I've been. He's from Riobamba. He also told me how difficult it is for Ecuadorians to get Visas to go to the US, but he really wants to go. He asked me how I like the food here, and I said I loved it, and he said that there are a lot of really good meats here, at which point I told him I was vegetarian, which he found hilarious.
All in all, it was a good day, and a good adventure.
As part of being abroad, I have some questions to think about and answer in terms of life in Ecuador, so I am going to try to answer those now.
One of the things I did for my assignment was talk to the nanny who works in my house, Mirella. Mirella is 23, has 3 kids, and is a single mother. She lives at my house Monday through Friday, and the whole time I've been here, I've been feeling sorry for her because she only gets to see her kids on the weekends. I recently found out though that her kids live in Cuenca with their grandmother and the rest of her family. This means that she does not get to see them most weekends as Cuenca is an 11-13 hour bus ride, or a plane ride away, and she does not have the money to go see them more than once every month or two. She stays here though because she has a job, and in that particular sector of jobs, it is hard to find work, and harder to find work with decent pay. Ecuador has a machismo culture, which translates to families as well. Men are not required to help in the situations of single mother, or a family that gets divorced. The kids are the mother's responsibility, no questions asked, and the father has no obligations either in the legal sense, or what is culturally acceptable. Mirella told me that once she asked the father for help, but he said no, and in such a rude and mocking way that she will never ask him again. This is a part of her life that is determined by culture.
Mirella is one of 13 kids, and she is the only one who does not live in Cuenca. In Ecuador, families tend to stay close, even once they have married and have families, or have moved out of the house. My host brother Fausto lives with his wife and child in an apartment that is attached to my house, and my 28 year old sister still lives at home. This is VERY normal. So Mirella really branched out by going to Cuenca, and she does miss her family, especially her kids, terribly. She plans to never leave Ecuador as that would be far, too far, away from her family and she can't imagine living her life like that. This is both culture, and her own personality. My host sister on the other hand, has broken the cultural norms in that she is very independent. She loves her family very much of course, but also loves to travel and has traveled all over Europe, and various other places as well. When I got here she was in Argentina where she was living for 6 months. She was there for work, but it was not a great sacrifice to her. She is also looking for an apartment to move into, which makes my host mom very sad as she is "only" 28.
The other thing I'm going to address is perceptions of the US in Ecuador. First let it be said that no Ecuadorian likes George Bush and there was A LOT of excitement here when Obama won the election. In general though, the US is seen as a place of opportunity for Ecuadorians. For instance, my taxi driver who desperately wants to go to America, and asked me, half joking, if there was anyway I could take him back with me. Gringas in Ecuador attract a lot of attention, and part of the time, especially with the more serious people who hit you up as you walk down the street, you know that the reason is a chance at America. It's the Green Card effect. Another reason though, that gringas draw a lot of attention, is from the people who believe stereotypes about American girls, such as that they are all easy, and all rich, either of which could result well for the guys calling out to them. There is an overall perception that Americans are rich, which you find in situations such as bartering, when the prices start WAY too high. It's kind of a shock to a lot of people that I work, let alone that I work more than one job, when I'm at home, because they don't think of Americans as having to work that much. And I for sure, am not rich. The most common question that I hear though when people here I am from the US, whether it be from my family, a street vendor, a security guard, etc. is, "Have you been to/are you from Florida/Miami or New York?" These are the places that most Ecuadorians have been if they have been able to get to the states, or they know somebody there, or their cousin has a friend there, or they once worked with a guy who's brother had a friend who went there. I have met one man who went to Oregon though. These are the general perceptions about America, life in America, and people from America.
I will be posting another blog in the near future about my AMAZING trip to the rainforest, and then, in less than a month, I'll be home!

Ecuador is not always fun . . .

I wrote the story about the backpack getting stolen where Kayla and I were in the mall. Well, last night we got robbed again. We were at a birthday party at ACLAS and we left at about 7:30, Kayla and I, and another girl from our group named Hilde. We had just left ACLAS and were no more than 50 feet from the building still when a couple of guys in the street pulled guns on us and demanded our bags. We gave them to them of course, and then they drove away, and we ran back to ACLAS and called the police. We were able to give them the license plate number and description of the car, but they were not hopeful about anything coming of it. I would have to say that this was my least favorite Ecuador experience.

Saraguro y Cuenca

About a week and a half ago, we went to a city in the south of Ecuador called Cuenca for an ACLAS sponsored trip. We flew to Cuenca on Friday morning and from there went to a town called Saraguro. Saraguro is a town with an indigenous population, what interestingly enough, I had just read about in my Andean Anthropology class. On our first afternoon in Saraguro, we went on a Chiva ride to see the population of Gera (another indigenous population). A chiva is kind of like an open bus. There are bench seats and no walls so that you can see everything as you go on your ride, and you can also ride on top. The ride through Gera was beautiful. Lots of mountains and scenery. At one point we drove a school and all the kids ran after us, and followed us all the way to the end of the road we were on, which was a good distance from where they started. Once they had caught up to us though and we were stopped they were very shy. We were told that the indigenous children tend to be very shy of gringos and cameras. They were very cute kids. We went to see a little museum that was near where we stopped as well as the Gera church. At the museum, another girl in my group named Kailey, and I made friends with a few of the little girls that had followed us. Although they don't want to have their pictures taken, they are very curious about digital cameras and were enthralled with looking at the pictures that Kailey and I had taken. After this we went to the home of our guide where we drank a traditional beverage that I have no idea how to spell the name of. It is fermented cactus juice made from the plant Penko Mexico, and we learned how to toast by saying "ishkandi ishkandi".
On our second day in Saraguro we made the climb to see "Banos de los Incas" which are the Incan baths. The climb was hard and muddy, and the added altitude caused a challenge but the view from the top was incredible. At the top, we were also able to take part in traditional healing/cleansing ritual, which was very interesting. After the ritual, we walked over to see the actual baths, which consist of waterfalls and pools, and then we made our way back down the trail. At the bottom of the trail we went to a house where there is a family who hand weaves purses, blankets, hats, etc. And after spending some time there, we went to another community where we had a traditional lunch including trigo, mote, and cuy (wheat, corn, and guinea pig). After lunch we made the 3.5 hour bus ride back to Cuenca where we would stay for the rest of the weekend.
We got to Cuenca when it was already dark and went out for dinner and ice cream. That weekend was a holiday in Cuenca so there were lots of street performers out and about and we got to watch a really cool performance by a few guys that spun fire, juggled fired, juggled other things, and were really fun to watch. We even took a pitcture with them because they were so cool.
On Sunday we went to El Cajas Parque Nacional, which is famous for the hundreds of lagoons that can be found there. We went an about a three hour hike there, which was beautiful, and then went back to Cuenca for a city tour. Cuenca, like Quito, is an international heritage site, and has beautiful historic buildings, especially in the Historical District. Once again, we had the evening free and I went out with my friends. First we got colada morada and guaguas de pan, which are the traditional drink and food for Dia de Difuntos, which is like Dia de los Muertos. Colada Morada is delicious. One of my new favorite drinks, but it is really only made at the time of year, so I am not likely to get to have it again. We made it in my house also, and it was very good. It has about a dozen different kinds of fruit in it and spices, and can be had hot or cold, although I prefer hot. On Sunday night it rained so there weren't performers out in the streets again, which was disappointing. We did make a friend named Rueben though. He was a street vendor by the ice cream place we went to, and he made my friend Stacey and I presents.
On Monday, our last day, we headed out to Canar, which is home to Incan ruins. On our way there, we stopped in Biblian where there is a cathedral in a mountain and we went to see that. The ruins in Canar were beautiful, and amazing to see. In the afternoon, back in Cuenca, we went to a Panama hat factory, where we tried on many many hats, and learned a little about the hat making process. From there, we went to the airport, and said good-bye to Cuenca.
Cuenca was a beautiful city, and I liked it more than I like Quito. If I were to live in Ecuador one day, it might be in Cuenca.

Riobamba and Cotopaxi

Many more adventures have been happening in Ecuador. Here are the adventures of Riobamba and Cotopaxi:

Riobamba:

It started on Saturday morning getting to Terminal Terrestre to catch the bus
to Riobamba.  I went with Stephanie, from Willamette, our friend Victoria,
and her friends Laura and Emily.  Stephanie and I met on the trole so we
were together, which was good, and we were going to meet the other three
at the terminal.  We got a call from Victoria though that she was going to
be late, so we were not going to be able to leave as early as we had
planned.  Stephanie and I took the trole to La Marin, which is in south
Quito, and somewhere around there you can catch an Ecovia to the terminal,
but we weren't sure exactly where that was, and we had extra time, so we
decided to just walk to the terminal.  In retrospect, this was not the
smartest idea as the south, and especially near Terminal Terrestre, is not
a safe area for gringos especially to be walking in, but we made it there
unscathed.  Then we waited for Victoria and her friends and we finally
left at 9:45.  Then it is a 3.5 hour bus ride to Riobamba, which is
directly south of Quito.  We got to Riobamba and went for lunch, then went
to find the place where we could buy our train tickets for the next day.
We wanted to take the train to see Nariz del Diablo.  You can sit on the
top of the train for this, so it's pretty cool.  We bought our tickets,
and then paid another dollar to reserve a spot on the roof and to rent
cushions to sit on.  Then we went to find a hostel to stay at.  We ended
up finding a nice place called Hotel Whymper that was $10 a night, but we
bartered it down to $8.  The next thing we were planning to do was go to a
town just about five miles away from Riobamba called Guano.  I mostly
wanted to go because it was called Guano.  There is somewhere in Riobamba
that you can catch the bus to Guano, but we weren't sure where that was,
so we went and asked the guy working at the hotel where it was, and his
mother was there, so she offered to drive us.  She was a very nice woman.
So we took the bus to Guano and looked around a little bit and then headed
back to Riobamba.  Riobamba has a big fruit market on Saturdays so when we
got back, we went to the fruit market to buy food for the next day.  Then
we tried to find our way back to our hotel, which we did, eventually.
Then we went to dinner, and came back to call it an early night because we
had to be at the train at 6 the next morning.  All in all, Saturday was a
good day.
Saturday night is when it turned bad.  I woke up for the first time at
about 11:30 and my stomach kind of hurt, and there was a kareoke bar
somewhere near us that was very loud, and I was not pleased with either.
But I fell back asleep after awhile.  But I kept waking up off and on, and
at about 2 I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep.  The kareoke was still
going and my stomach was still feeling bad.  I finally got up to go to the
bathroom, and decided maybe I didn't feel as bad as I thought and tried to
go back to sleep again, and finally did at about 3.  At four, I woke up
again and decided maybe I really did feel that bad and ran to the
bathroom.  At about 4:30, I started throwing up.  I was very annoyed as I
was supposed to be getting on a train in an hour and a half.  I stayed in
the bathroom until 5:15 or so and then laid in my bed until 5:30 when it
was time to get up.  I decided to still go on the train anyway - at that
point, why not.  So I took immodium, and off we went.  We got to the train
at six to get our seats on the roof.  By seats, I mean there's a roof, and
you sit on it on your cushion.  There aren't actual seats.  It's pretty
funny.  The train actually pulls out at 7, and by this time I was feeling
a little less horrible, so that was good.  The first stop on the train was
at a little town called Guamote three hours later.  I felt very bad again
by this time, and had to go pay 20 cents to use the bathroom so I could be
sick and throw up some more.  We got about 20 minutes in Guamote before we
got back on the train.  So I took more immodium and just laid down as much
as I could on the train, and tried to keep still.  I finally decided to
take some Pepto Bismol, drink just a little bit of water, and then I
bought Sprite from one of the vendors who walks around on top of the train
selling snacks.  These things helped some.  I still mostly was just trying
to lay down and relax though.  This is how I got my face sunburned.
Sleeping on the train.  Face includes eyelids.  I sunburned my eyelids.
When I woke up a couple hours later though, I felt more better again.  The
reason I woke up though was because the train derailed.  It took some
time, but they fixed it, and we started going again.  And then the train
derailed again.  And then it took more time to fix it.  During this time,
Victoria, Laura and Emily got off the train to stretch a little bit and
were interviewed by the people there from ABC Nightly News, or whatever
their night program is called.  We thought this was funny.  They fixed the
train, we went a little ways, it derailed again, we waited, and then we
finally left for good.  And stayed on the track.  Shortly after that, we
pulled into a town called Asauli where more people got on the train, and
then began the final part of our journey to Nariz del Diablo.  This part
is very very pretty and I was glad I was feeling well enough to sit up and
enjoy it.  The first few hours of the trip had been very very cold, but
now it was hot.  We went down into a canyon to see Nariz del Diablo, which
was very beautiful.  We stopped for some amount of time at the end of the
trail so people could get out and see and I went back to sleep, and then
ended up sleeping most of the way back to Asauli.  We got off the train at
Asauli, and then we had to catch a bus to Riobamba to we could catch a bus
to Quito.  We were about 20 minutes, by bus, from Riobamba when the bus
stopped with a traffic problem.  We figured there had been an accident
ahead and that it must have been pretty bad as neither side of traffic
could get through.  After sitting there for about 20 minutes the bus
driver told us to all get off the bus and walk, so we did.  It turns out
that accident that had happend was with another bus, and it had flipped
over.  This is a difference between America and Ecuador - we walked
through the crash site.  Through the broken glass and paint that had
smeared on the road when the bus skid on it's side, close enough to touch
the bus.  Everyone did.  So we walked for awhile until we were able to
catch another bus into Riobamba that took us to the terminal there, and we
bought tickets for the 6:30 bus which was the next one to leave.  We had
been hoping to leave Riobamba at about 3:30 to get back to Quito at about
7, but that is not how the day worked.  Finally, we got on a bus and went
home.  I got to my house at about 10:15, talked to my family a little and
then collapsed in bed.

Cotopaxi:

I went to Cotopaxi a few weekends ago.  I ended up not being able to go all
the way up to the base camp because it was too expensive, because you have
to hire a driver to take you there, and the people I was with did not have
enough money though.  It was still very fun though.  I went with
Stephanie, Stacey, Aimee and Kayla.  When we got there, we got off the bus
at the park entrance, and then there is a little information station right
there.  They do tours, and they try to make it look like they're actually
associated with the park, but they're not.  They told us that cold talk us
to the refuge for $20 a person to which we said heck no.  So then they
offered ten, which I could have done, but other people couldn't.  Then
they told us that there was no way for us to really get anywhere if we
didn't go with them, and we said, well, we'll try our best anyway, and we
started walking.  We had walked for about a mile or so when we met another
guy who takes people there and we convinced him to take us to a lagoon and
back for $25 (total) roundtrip (la ida y la vuelta).  He was a really good
choice of people to go with and very nice.  We were with him for about
three hours, which is pretty legit for $25, and although he didn't have to
do anything but drive us, he told us helpful things, and acted like a tour
guide, and even took us to a museum.  He also took our picture for us, and
offered us some of his potato chips.  Very nice man.  His name was Alonso.
The drive was really pretty, and the lagoon was pretty.  It was all
pretty.  There were quite a few clouds so we didn't always have a great
view of Cotopaxi, but we did have a nice one at times.  We also saw other
pretty mountains so that was cool too.  Then we came home and went on the
most exciting trole ride any of us had been on yet.  Somebody stole a
cellphone, and the lady realized her cellphone was stolen, so she started
yelling, and she though she knew who had done it so she was yelling at
them to give back her cell phone, it was a new phone, etc.  And then
everybody started yelling.  And then everybody in the whole trole was
yelling, so the trole driver stopped, and the transit police got on.  Then
the transit police took the lady and the guy she said took her phone off
and it was crazy.  And people were pounding on the doors and stuff, and
when we stopped it wasn't at an actual trole stop, so it was weird.  Very
exciting.