I have now been in Quito for more than five weeks, which I find pretty exciting. In that time I feel I have done a lot, and learned a lot. Last weekend I went to Baños with most of the group from WU for a couple days. It was beautiful there, and we had a lot of fun. Baños is a small tourist town about 3.5 hours out of Quito, that is tucked away in the mountains. We got there on Friday night and then on Saturday we did tourist things. We took a 22km bike ride to see waterfalls, which were beautiful, and the ride included riding behind and under some of the small ones. Some people in our group went white water rafting in the afternoon. I opted not to, but that meant then, that I got to go over to the natural hot springs, which were also amazing. I left early the next morning to go back to Quito and do homework, where we also celebrated my Ecuadorian sister's birthday.
This week, I finished my intensive Spanish class at ACLAS, which meant final exams, two papers, and two presentations. I'm happy it's done! On Friday afternoon, our entire group went to a town named Otavalo for the night. On our way there, we stopped in Calderón, which is famous for wood carvings. Otavalo is a town that on the weekends, has a huge open air market. There are tons of venders and everything is cheap, but you have to barter for it. We were in the market from 8 am until 12 pm, where we all spent a lot of money, but also got a lot of amazing stuff, and finished our Christmas shopping. After the market, we went to Cuicocha for lunch. Cuicocha is beautiful. It is also in the mountains, as most things are here. What makes Cuicocha special is that there is a big crater at the top, and there is a lagoon in the crater. After Cuicocha, we went to Cotacochi, which is a town famous for the things they make out of leather. Leather is not something that really intrigues me, but they did have a lot of beautiful things there. Then we headed back to Quito, making one last stop in Cayambe. Cayambe is a tiny town, that is only on the map because they make fabulous biscocho (which is like biscotti) and cheese.
Although my experience in Quito has been mostly positive, I did also have my first really negative experience this week. I was in the mall, Quicentro, with a friend one day, getting lunch in a cafe there. While I was at the counter, a guy came up to my friend and pointed out that she had something smeared on her backpack and jacket,a nd offered to help her clean up. He took her to the employee bathroom, which led me to believe he was an employee, and she left her backpack on the floor and asked me to watch it. I was standing by her backpack when the guy came back and told me that my friend wanted her bag, and picked it up. I started to tell him that I could take it to her if she needed it, but then somebody else tapped me on the shoulder, which instinctively made me turn around. When I turned back the guy and the backpack were gone, for good. It turns out this is a pretty common scam, including putting something on somebody's jacket so you can help them clean up, and having another person there to distract anybody that might be getting in the way. It was a very frustrating and upsetting experience, but it definitely taught everyone in our group to be more careful with their things, and be aware of their surroundings.
As we are now done with our classes at ACLAS, we go to the Universidad de San Francisco tomorrow for orientation, and then start classes on Wednesday. We will also soon be starting our social service job soon. I will be working in a with cancer patients in a childrens hospital for low income families, which I'm sure will be hard, but also an enriching experience. All in all, I am looking forward to what will be coming my way in the next four months.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
First Full Week
Well, today marks the end of my first full week in Quito. It went pretty well. I am enjoying my classes at ACLAS (Andean Center for Latin American Studies) so far, and I am figuring out how to get around Quito a little bit. Also, I am starting to understand more of what my family is saying, so that makes me very very happy.
This week, I learned to use the bus. Depending on what time of day you use the bus, it´s not so bad. There are times though that it can only be described as an experience. There is another Willamette student living across the street, Kayla, so luckily we learned to use the bus together, and her host mom, Maria Eugenia, showed us how to do it on the first day. In the morning, it is rush hour time. We leave our houses at about 7:45, walk down a big hill, so we get to the bus ¨stop¨ at about 8. There are some actual bus stops but you can pretty much wave down any bus, and just hop on as it drives by. When we get on the bus in the morning, there are usually 100+ people on it already. This makes it very difficult to move. I have found the best way to move through the crowd is to grab the overhead bars and just pull myself through non-existent spaces, because there really is no other option. There is even a man who has the job of standing at the open bus door to make sure nobody falls out. In the afternoon though, it´s not so bad.
At ACLAS, where all of us Willamette students are studying this month taking Spanish classes, we have also started taking dance classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We are learning to Salsa right now, and later on, we will learn to Merengue. We will try at least. There are 17 of us, and we are all taking the class. The problem is that there are 13 girls and only 4 boys, so it makes partnering up a little bit difficult. We are working around that issue though, and it has been a lot of fun.
On Friday, a few of us went to a part of Quito called Mariscal, or Gringolandia. Kayla, Stephanie and I went earlier than most people to take some time to walk around, and eat dinner there before the night life starts up. We enjoyed are time, although we did end up getting kind of bored between the time that we finished eating, and things really start happening for the night. Gringolandia, true to it´s name has tons of gringos, and once it gets dark, the streets are completely full of people. We did meet up with other people from our group eventually, but by that time Stephanie and I had decided that as it was our first night out, we didn´t want to make it too late, and we both headed home at about 11, which is really when things are just getting started. It was a fun night though.
Today, I went to a country-ish part of Quito with my family and Kayla to see my brother Jaime´s house. He has a house, that is not completed yet, that has horses, and an amazing view of the mountains. My family, by the way, is something like this:
Papa Fausto, Mama Beatriz (who I won´t meet until Wednesday, as she has been in Argentina with my sister), my brother Fausto, his wife, Deseña, their baby, Mariapaz, Deseña´s mother, abuelita Carmen, my brother Jaime, my sister Maria Isabel (who is in Argentina right now) and today I met two more people, my niece Maria Elena, and my nephew Juan Jose. They are all very nice people, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better of the next few months. My niece and nephew are five year old twins, and they are adorable, so I can´t wait for them to come back again. Right now though, I have to study for a quiz that I have tomorrow. Chao!
This week, I learned to use the bus. Depending on what time of day you use the bus, it´s not so bad. There are times though that it can only be described as an experience. There is another Willamette student living across the street, Kayla, so luckily we learned to use the bus together, and her host mom, Maria Eugenia, showed us how to do it on the first day. In the morning, it is rush hour time. We leave our houses at about 7:45, walk down a big hill, so we get to the bus ¨stop¨ at about 8. There are some actual bus stops but you can pretty much wave down any bus, and just hop on as it drives by. When we get on the bus in the morning, there are usually 100+ people on it already. This makes it very difficult to move. I have found the best way to move through the crowd is to grab the overhead bars and just pull myself through non-existent spaces, because there really is no other option. There is even a man who has the job of standing at the open bus door to make sure nobody falls out. In the afternoon though, it´s not so bad.
At ACLAS, where all of us Willamette students are studying this month taking Spanish classes, we have also started taking dance classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We are learning to Salsa right now, and later on, we will learn to Merengue. We will try at least. There are 17 of us, and we are all taking the class. The problem is that there are 13 girls and only 4 boys, so it makes partnering up a little bit difficult. We are working around that issue though, and it has been a lot of fun.
On Friday, a few of us went to a part of Quito called Mariscal, or Gringolandia. Kayla, Stephanie and I went earlier than most people to take some time to walk around, and eat dinner there before the night life starts up. We enjoyed are time, although we did end up getting kind of bored between the time that we finished eating, and things really start happening for the night. Gringolandia, true to it´s name has tons of gringos, and once it gets dark, the streets are completely full of people. We did meet up with other people from our group eventually, but by that time Stephanie and I had decided that as it was our first night out, we didn´t want to make it too late, and we both headed home at about 11, which is really when things are just getting started. It was a fun night though.
Today, I went to a country-ish part of Quito with my family and Kayla to see my brother Jaime´s house. He has a house, that is not completed yet, that has horses, and an amazing view of the mountains. My family, by the way, is something like this:
Papa Fausto, Mama Beatriz (who I won´t meet until Wednesday, as she has been in Argentina with my sister), my brother Fausto, his wife, Deseña, their baby, Mariapaz, Deseña´s mother, abuelita Carmen, my brother Jaime, my sister Maria Isabel (who is in Argentina right now) and today I met two more people, my niece Maria Elena, and my nephew Juan Jose. They are all very nice people, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better of the next few months. My niece and nephew are five year old twins, and they are adorable, so I can´t wait for them to come back again. Right now though, I have to study for a quiz that I have tomorrow. Chao!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Galapagos
I just returned from an AMAZING week in Galapagos. It went something like this:
On Sunday, we boarded AeroGal, flew from Quito to Guayaquil, and then to Baltra Island. Baltra Island is a tiny island that has an airport, and a base for the Navy. From the airport, we took a bus, to a ferry, which took us across a canal to Santa Cruz island, where we got on another bus, that drove us to the other side of Santa Cruz, where we got on a panga (which is like a dinghy) which took us to our cruise ship where we were staying for the week, Coral 1. From Coral 1 we got back on the panga, and went back to shore, where we got on another bus that took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station. That is where we first got to see Giant Tortoises (Tortuga). Our naturalist guide took us through the station to see all the different places with tortugas, including the babies, and Lonesome George. There is good news for Lonesome George though! Currently, he has three eggs, that may or may not turn into little George babies. We will just have to wait and see. Instead of getting back on the bus to leave the station, we walked through the town to do some shopping and such. Then we got back on the panga, and went back to the boat, concluding our first day.
On Monday we disembarked at Española Island. Españonla is one of the best places in Galapagos to see sea lions, Blue Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, marine iguana, and albatross. Also, on Española, you can find the blowhole, which creates a great picture opportunity. When we got back from Española we went swimming off the back of our boat, although I didn´t swim for long because the current was much stronger than I was in that area. Later on we went to Gardner Bay, which is on Española, and went snorkeling for the first time. They didn´t do any sort of teaching for how to snorkel, so it took me some time to figure it out, but from then on I had a great time! The snorkeling was beautiful, on the first day, my favorite thing that I saw was many different kinds of parrotfish. We were also able to walk on the beach there, which was covered by sea lions.
On Tuesday, we went to Floreana Island. Floreana is the last island in Galapagos where flamingos can be found. We did find them. Not close enough for good pictures, but close enough for us to see. We went snorkeling there also, which was where we saw our first shark - a white tipped reef shark. After lunch, we went to Champion Island, which is very close to Floreana, for deep water snorkeling. Deep water snorkeling was terrifying at first, and then amazing. And that was where we saw our first sea turtle. In the afternoon, we went back onto Floreana to go to the Floreana Post Office. The Post Office was created in the days of whaling ships. Men would leave letters for their families there, and the next person who came by was honor bound to take them back to deliver them if the address was anywhere near where they lived. The post office is still functional, although it is being used in the same way today. You can put in a postcard, and whenever a group comes through, you go through to see what the addresses are, and if you can, you take a letter to deliver in person. After we saw the post office we went snorkeling again. This time we saw dozens of sea turtles, and rays, as well as playing with sea lions in the water, all in all, making it an amazing day.
Wednesday we started off by going to North Seymour Island. This is a great place to find Frigate Birds, as there are many nesting areas there. There are a lot of nests for Blue Footed Boobies as well, and we saw many adorable baby birds. On Wednesday, some of the other people that had been on our cruise ship with us departed. While they were doing that, we went back to the beach at Baltra Island for some relaxation. In the afternoon, we went back to Santa Cruz Island to see land iguanas.
Thursday we went to Rabida Island in the morning. Rabida is the only island with a red sand beach. And we were able to go snorkeling there. In the afternoon, we went to Egas Port on Santiago Island, which has a black sand beach. There we saw adorable baby sea lions, penguins, tons of marine iguanas, and Darwin´s Toilet, which is a formation in the rocks on the coast. We also saw fur sea lions there, which is the second species of sea lion in Galapagos.
Friday we went to Fernandina Island in the morning. We saw three sea lions right away that had been born that morning and were tiny and incredibly cute. Fernandina Island is composed in large part of lava, so it was a really good chance to see two different kinds of lava. We were taking a group picture at one point when Eugenia, one of our ACLAS directors, lost her hat to the wind. It flew down into a crack in the lava. We had a rescue mission that was unsuccessful, but our guide told us he would get it when they came back the next week, so it won´t stay there forever. Afterwards, we went deep water snorkeling again and saw five sea turtles, and beautiful sea stars. In the afternoon, we went to Tagus Cove on Isabela Island. First we took a panga ride around the cove to see penguins, and then we took a hike up to the view point of Darwin Lake, which involves 170 stairs or so. Also that night on the boat, we celebrated crossing the Equator.
Saturday morning we went to Bartoleme Island in the morning. We were going up about 380 stairs to see the very famous and beautiful view of Pinnacle Rock. It was amazing, but it was a good thing we did that in the morning because the afternoon would have been too hot. When we came back down we went snorkeling where we saw a lot of beautiful fish, sea stars, rays, and a shark. We were very excited to see the shark as it was only our second one. In the afternoon, we went to Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz, where we rode in the pangas to see sea turtles. There were lots of them, and they were all very beautiful. We all tried to take good pictures but I´m not sure how many turned out.
Finally, there was this morning, Sunday morning. We woke up early, and disembarked at Santa Cruz again, where we took a bus to the highlands where we were able to see more tortugas on a wildlife reserve. We were all dressed for the sun still, but instead, it rained, so we made ponchos out of blue plastic trash bags. We were all looking very stylish in our trash bags, shorts, and rubber boots that we had to wear there. It was a lot of fun though. Then we boarded the plane and came home. All in all, it was an amazing week and I can´t wait to go back someday!
On Sunday, we boarded AeroGal, flew from Quito to Guayaquil, and then to Baltra Island. Baltra Island is a tiny island that has an airport, and a base for the Navy. From the airport, we took a bus, to a ferry, which took us across a canal to Santa Cruz island, where we got on another bus, that drove us to the other side of Santa Cruz, where we got on a panga (which is like a dinghy) which took us to our cruise ship where we were staying for the week, Coral 1. From Coral 1 we got back on the panga, and went back to shore, where we got on another bus that took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station. That is where we first got to see Giant Tortoises (Tortuga). Our naturalist guide took us through the station to see all the different places with tortugas, including the babies, and Lonesome George. There is good news for Lonesome George though! Currently, he has three eggs, that may or may not turn into little George babies. We will just have to wait and see. Instead of getting back on the bus to leave the station, we walked through the town to do some shopping and such. Then we got back on the panga, and went back to the boat, concluding our first day.
On Monday we disembarked at Española Island. Españonla is one of the best places in Galapagos to see sea lions, Blue Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, marine iguana, and albatross. Also, on Española, you can find the blowhole, which creates a great picture opportunity. When we got back from Española we went swimming off the back of our boat, although I didn´t swim for long because the current was much stronger than I was in that area. Later on we went to Gardner Bay, which is on Española, and went snorkeling for the first time. They didn´t do any sort of teaching for how to snorkel, so it took me some time to figure it out, but from then on I had a great time! The snorkeling was beautiful, on the first day, my favorite thing that I saw was many different kinds of parrotfish. We were also able to walk on the beach there, which was covered by sea lions.
On Tuesday, we went to Floreana Island. Floreana is the last island in Galapagos where flamingos can be found. We did find them. Not close enough for good pictures, but close enough for us to see. We went snorkeling there also, which was where we saw our first shark - a white tipped reef shark. After lunch, we went to Champion Island, which is very close to Floreana, for deep water snorkeling. Deep water snorkeling was terrifying at first, and then amazing. And that was where we saw our first sea turtle. In the afternoon, we went back onto Floreana to go to the Floreana Post Office. The Post Office was created in the days of whaling ships. Men would leave letters for their families there, and the next person who came by was honor bound to take them back to deliver them if the address was anywhere near where they lived. The post office is still functional, although it is being used in the same way today. You can put in a postcard, and whenever a group comes through, you go through to see what the addresses are, and if you can, you take a letter to deliver in person. After we saw the post office we went snorkeling again. This time we saw dozens of sea turtles, and rays, as well as playing with sea lions in the water, all in all, making it an amazing day.
Wednesday we started off by going to North Seymour Island. This is a great place to find Frigate Birds, as there are many nesting areas there. There are a lot of nests for Blue Footed Boobies as well, and we saw many adorable baby birds. On Wednesday, some of the other people that had been on our cruise ship with us departed. While they were doing that, we went back to the beach at Baltra Island for some relaxation. In the afternoon, we went back to Santa Cruz Island to see land iguanas.
Thursday we went to Rabida Island in the morning. Rabida is the only island with a red sand beach. And we were able to go snorkeling there. In the afternoon, we went to Egas Port on Santiago Island, which has a black sand beach. There we saw adorable baby sea lions, penguins, tons of marine iguanas, and Darwin´s Toilet, which is a formation in the rocks on the coast. We also saw fur sea lions there, which is the second species of sea lion in Galapagos.
Friday we went to Fernandina Island in the morning. We saw three sea lions right away that had been born that morning and were tiny and incredibly cute. Fernandina Island is composed in large part of lava, so it was a really good chance to see two different kinds of lava. We were taking a group picture at one point when Eugenia, one of our ACLAS directors, lost her hat to the wind. It flew down into a crack in the lava. We had a rescue mission that was unsuccessful, but our guide told us he would get it when they came back the next week, so it won´t stay there forever. Afterwards, we went deep water snorkeling again and saw five sea turtles, and beautiful sea stars. In the afternoon, we went to Tagus Cove on Isabela Island. First we took a panga ride around the cove to see penguins, and then we took a hike up to the view point of Darwin Lake, which involves 170 stairs or so. Also that night on the boat, we celebrated crossing the Equator.
Saturday morning we went to Bartoleme Island in the morning. We were going up about 380 stairs to see the very famous and beautiful view of Pinnacle Rock. It was amazing, but it was a good thing we did that in the morning because the afternoon would have been too hot. When we came back down we went snorkeling where we saw a lot of beautiful fish, sea stars, rays, and a shark. We were very excited to see the shark as it was only our second one. In the afternoon, we went to Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz, where we rode in the pangas to see sea turtles. There were lots of them, and they were all very beautiful. We all tried to take good pictures but I´m not sure how many turned out.
Finally, there was this morning, Sunday morning. We woke up early, and disembarked at Santa Cruz again, where we took a bus to the highlands where we were able to see more tortugas on a wildlife reserve. We were all dressed for the sun still, but instead, it rained, so we made ponchos out of blue plastic trash bags. We were all looking very stylish in our trash bags, shorts, and rubber boots that we had to wear there. It was a lot of fun though. Then we boarded the plane and came home. All in all, it was an amazing week and I can´t wait to go back someday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)