¡¿Mamí?! ¿¿No hay cola??

After a fairly uneventful week we decided to go geocaching in the Parque Metropolitano in Quito. For those of you who don't know, geocaching is like a treasure hunt with a GPS. You log on to the website, look up the geocaches in your area and plug their coordinates into your GPS. Then you use the GPS to help you find the treasure hidden in the park or wherever. When you find it- usually a tupperware-sized container but they can be smaller or larger- you can take or leave any little trinket inside as well as sign in saying you found it. Easy. Well, it's not so easy when you don't have the GPS...which we didn't.

Given a Google maps image of the park, we figured out where the several caches should be and figured we should be able to find them- and by 'we' I mean Kevin who has, apparently, done this before. So Kevin, Danielle, and I got off the bus and started climbing the mountain to the park entrance. The streets were wind-y up the hill so a seemingly short distance on the map took forever. Finally we got to the entrance and it turned out that Emily, Mary and Chris- who had taken a cab- were on the opposite side of the park. After a lot of searching we found them, on a playground. By the time we had played on the playground to our content it was starting to get dark so we gave up on the geocaches.

The following Sunday we had a group trip to Papallacta, hot springs like Baños but much smaller. It was a very short ride but we took the nicest bus we had taken all semester! Before going in the hot springs we went on a hike- which we had to PAY for. The hike was nice, if a little treacherous, taking us up, over, and back down a small river. After our hike we went to the hot springs which were much nicer than the ones we went to in Baños. There were several different pools at varying temperatures and you could even go in the freezing river! Several people took a little dip in the river when the hot springs got too hot but I passed. We marinated for a while in the communal bathtub until we noticed that the water was slowly draining...so it was time to go.


We all changed and had lunch at the restaurant by the pools. On the menus they had "milkshakes" including a chocolate option. Since none of us had had one in a long time, most of us got chocolate shakes. Unfortunately they were more like chocolate milk than anything so we'd have to wait until getting back to the States before getting a real milkshake...


The next week I had to go to a dance performance in Quito for class. Since I didn't know where I had to go I asked to carpool with a couple girls from my class. We met at the esquina mall and it turned out the one girl's parents were driving! Traffic in and around Quito was pretty bad but we made it on time. During the ride the one girl talked constantly. She is in a female rap group and was intent on telling us her whole life story. At least we didn't ride in silence. Unfortunately, since we couldn't get tickets in advance- it was a free show- we didn't get in to the show. So we just turned around and went back home.


Since I didn't get to see the show the first night I convinced Danielle to come with me to see the next show in the series the next night. We cabbed to the theater early to get our tickets since it was raining, then went to find somewhere to eat. We thought about going to a KFC near by but decided it looked like a truck stop and ate at a little cafe on the theater plaza instead. It looked expensive but turned out to be reasonable- we made a good choice. Sipping mochaccinos, we looked down on the umbrellaed masses from the second floor window lining up for the show. Finally we decided to venture out into the rain. Since we had tickets we basically cut the whole line. I felt bad about it for about 3 seconds until I remembered that lines do not exist in Latin America.


The show was weird. It was a lot of props and not much dancing. It was just one dancer who was dressed in some kind of white bondage jumping around the stage, and swinging from a rope. Not my style. After the show we decided to take the bus rather than a cab, but it took us a while to figure out that the bus stop was under the highway... Turns out we were at the last stop on that line. Danielle asked the guard guy which way we wanted to go and once we got on and the doors were closing, he rushed up to the door and said "goodbye!" as if we were best friends...also weird. It was a weird night, but I had gotten used to weird.


Hasta luego,
Caitlin


Next up: Atacames is heating up!

The Day the Would Not End...

We are entering uncharted territory today. Usually, for every one of the previous posts at least, I write out just about every detail of every day before I edit it and make it into a blog post for my lovely readers. BUT now I am going on the one-word memory clues that I left myself so many months ago. This means that my posts will soon become much less detailed and, possibly, less accurate- no one will ever know. With this in mind, we proceed:


Our third day in Mindo we got up, had breakfast then headed up to the tarabita cable car again. We figured that going in the morning would be best- no clouds. So we hailed ourselves a $1 truck taxi and were maybe 3rd in line at the cable car. We got in, rode across and were told that there were like 7 waterfalls we could hike to. Apparently that’s why you take this cable car. I thought it was just fun, haha.

The hike down was actually pretty far but the falls were cool. We put our feet in the water but it was freezing. Some people were swimming or even climbing up then jumping off the water falls! There were bridges over the river but they were really sketchy so I was kinda freaked about crossing.

We followed another trail in the opposite direction to see more falls but it ended up being much more steep and difficult than I had imagined. So we only saw one other waterfall before we hiked back up the mountain. 

We took another truck taxi on the way down but this one was full. I had some lady with her knee in my kidney most of the ride. Once we reached town we headed to buy our return bus tickets. By the time we got there all of them were sold out and they had added a new, later time, 5:30. At the time it was about noon maybe. So we bought the tickets and then got some lunch. Zach wanted some fried chicken so we went to a place that said “pollo frito” on the front. So he ordered that and I ordered chicken churrasco which was just a chicken steak with rice, beans and a fried egg. Zach’s was exactly the same, minus the egg.

After lunch we got some ice cream and walked to the park and sat for a while. We had so much time before we could leave and nothing left to do- we didn’t even have a hostel to hang out at or anything. As we were sitting there Zach mentioned he had seen an orchid garden/ hummingbird haven/ butterfly garden so we went there. We walked around the garden for a while, taking pictures of the rabbits and snails that were randomly in cages among the orchids. Just inside the entrance of the butterfly garden were cages of pupae and caterpillars. Once of the cage doors was open so a bunch of the caterpillars were escaping. We saved a few and tried to close the door but they just kept getting out! 

The actual butterfly garden was kind of sad because there were a lot of dead butterflies in there. It seemed like no one had been in there for a while.The best part was the hummingbird area. There were maybe seven hummingbird feeders strung alongside a viewing deck and a ton of hummingbirds flitting about all over. Zach and I watched them for a long time, giving our favorites names. After a good long time of watching and taking pictures we left. By then it was late enough to pay the hostel and finally get on the bus. 

I had talked with Chris about meeting in Cumbaya that night but the bus ended up being late, our cab ride took forever and my phone died. I tried to call her when we got back to the hotel, to which we had to check in again, but couldn't figure out Zach's or the hotel's phone. By then it was late and almost no restaurants were open. We found a bar that served pizza and ate there. It was a long and frustrating day but it was nice to have Zach there to make me feel better.

Early the next morning I took Zach to the airport, where we ate breakfast before his plane left. We said goodbye and I went home to sleep. Later that morning during breakfast Guadalupe asked me if Zach had gone and when I said 'yes' she asked, 'did you cry?' I said 'yes' and she asked, rather incredulously, 'why? you're so independent!' Yeah, well that doesn't mean I'm heartless...

The rest of the day was pretty run-of-the-mill. After class I invited myself to go geocaching with Kevin, Emily, and Chris that weekend in a big park in Quito that I didn't know- before that point- existed.

Up Next: Geocaching, baby Baños and the Theatah

Don't give up on me yet!

Dear Readers,


First of all, thank you for your loyalty for this, my wordy, unending blog. I appreciate your enthusiasm for my adventures and that is why I haven't completely given this up. I know it's been a long time- I'm home from Ecuador and have been for some time- but things just got crazy. Anyway I guess it's time to get to what you've all been waiting for. The next installment of Tales from the Equator!!


Last time we left off during Zach's visit. After visiting Quito and meeting Guadalupe we made the relatively short trip to Mindo- a "cloud forest" that has similar flora and fauna to the canopy of the rainforest. We bought our bus tickets that morning but, since there was no reliable schedule posted on the internet we had to play it by ear. Upon reaching the bus station we realized we had missed a bus by about an hour and had to wait 3 until the next one. I hadn't planned on doing anything our first day anyway so this was no problem. We went to the Mariscal market, lunch and the Coffee Tree to kill some time- finally it was time to get on the bus.

The bus left on time and we made it there in just about 2 ½ hours. As we were getting off the bus we were told to buy our tickets right away but the ticket booth was closed. This is important I promise.

Since we obviously didn’t know our way around we asked where our "hosteria" was (nicer than a hostel but not a hotel- this one was cabins) and headed over. We showed up and the lady greeted us, asking how she could help us. I told her we had a reservation (I had paid for the first night in advance as asked about 3 weeks previously) and she said “No!” I thought she was joking so I said “Sí!” But then she looked very confused and a feeling of dread crept over me….

She told us that we did not in fact have a reservation and that all of their rooms were filled. I showed her my receipt and she just looked dumbstruck. She said she’d sort it out- her brother also owns some cabins- but I was just so frustrated I started crying. I couldn’t help it. I thought I had planned so well and then this happened. Later she said “what happened is, I just forgot” How is that an excuse?? So she secured us a cabin at her brother’s place, walked us over and left us there. A little while later we went back to plan our events for the next day and then to find some food.

There was very little open by the end of this debacle but we found a weird little pizza place, had some pretty good pizza and headed back to our cabin. On the way back we wanted to get snacks so we stopped at this weird little store that didn’t appear to have anything that wasn’t at least four months old. There were even drumstick like ice cream novelties in the freezer that had no wrappers. Weird.

That morning we got up early and went to the original place to get breakfast. It was a pretty typically Ecuadorian breakfast with fruit, eggs, juice and bread. After breakfast we had the lady write out what we wanted to do that day- you need your ‘ticke’ to do any of the activities- and then she called us a cab. The butterfly garden (or ‘farm’ as it said on one of the signs) was cool.

 A guide showed us the pupae and explained metamorphosis and whatnot, then let us wander. There were a lot of families there. The food left out for the butterflies is mainly just fruit or sugarwater soaked sponges. If you put the fruit juice on your finger you can get the butterfly to hang out and munch on your finger. All the kids were trying it but I never was able to get one.

From there we decided to walk to the "canopy" (ziplines) which didn’t seem too far on the map we were given. Of course this was an incorrect assumption. As we were walking along the dirt road, more and more cars were driving by, getting us dirtier and dirtier. We knew we had to cross a bridge (it was on our hand-drawn map) so the first one we came to we tried to cross. Unfortunately the bridge was locked but we climbed up and around the fence and crossed it- to find absolutely nothing. There wasn’t even a path, let alone a road. 

Finally we came upon a bridge with a ton of people and cars around- this had to be it. So up we went, up the mountain. The road up the mountain was also dirt and very steep so it wasn’t a fun walk. I’m pretty sure it took us over an hour to climb up to the zipline place. Also, we were just about the only ones walking- EVERYONE was driving up or taking a taxi. At one point it seemed as if the cars were all trying to run us off the road, and consequently down the mountain.

When we finally made it it was the afternoon but we handed over our ticket and geared up. Then we went up to a wooden platform and were taught what to do. Of course they guide had started before we got within earshot so we missed the first part. Then the guide hooked me up and off I went, flying over the forest with nothing but a little pulley and a cloth strap holding me to the cable strung across the valley. The first one was scary. I could hear the wheel in the pulley making this high pitched noise that sounded like it was struggling. But I made it across safe and sound and ready to do the remaining 9 lines.

The views got better with each line though so the climb was worth it. At the third or fourth line we were allowed to go upside down. That did not happen. Zach did it though and he said it was really cool. On a couple of the last lines the guides on either side bounced the line and that was crazy. It was scary and fun and I couldn’t help but scream every time I caught some air.

When we finally finished all the lines Zach and I shared a fritado plate and an empanada from a little stand that these girls were tending. Then we decided to start walking up the mountain again to the "tarabita", which is a cable car that takes you across a valley. About halfway up this leg of the trip when a kid yells out the window of a pickup truck “are you going to the falls?” We were so we hopped in the back and rode the rest of the way up. When we got there there was a pretty long line of people and, we realized later, only one car going back and forth across the valley.

As we were waiting in line we noticed that the clouds were starting to descend upon the valley- it is the cloud forest after all- and realized that by the time we were next we wouldn’t be able to see anything. We just decided to go the next day. So we hopped in the back of another truck taxi and rode back down the mountain to the town square.

We walked to the original hostal, assuming our room would be ready and it was. Later, after a cold shower (even though they advertize hot water) with a too-small shower curtain, we went into town to get something to eat. We perused the main strip then settled on a place with outdoor seating. Zach got trout and I ordered shrimp but they were out so I had the waiter, who was probably 17, recommend me something. I ended up getting steak with mushroom sauce which was pretty good. 

That's all for now- but I promise not forever. Next up: The day with no end

Hasta luego,
Caitlin

In which: Caitlin does NOT get eaten by anacondas

The next day we got up and headed to breakfast which, if I remember correctly and who knows if I do since this was so long ago, we had pancakes! They were so good I think I ended up eating like seven. They also had some strawberry sauce with strawberry halves in it which was good. Until I realized that some of the strawberries were actually grapes with seeds. That wasn’t so great.

From breakfast we met our guide again and took yet another hike to the canopy bridges. There we geared up- harnesses and all- and climbed the tower. This tower was basically the same as the first- save the bridges of course- except it was very protected. It had a locked gate and fencing all around the base so no one could climb in. Our guide said that some students went to climb it at night and it burnt down! You could see melted pieces of metal on the ground around the base of the tower…

At the top we had guide wires which we hooked our harnesses to and we were off. Bianca Kevin and I went one way while the rest went the other. There were three bridges and two platforms in trees. It was a great view! The other way was just one bridge but it led to a platform in a tree which had one tall branch you could climb. The branch had two ladders lashed together and connected on one side to the tree. On the other side was another guide wire but you had to use a ratchet of sorts to go up. Near the top, the ladder wiggled a little bit and I was kinda freaked. But when I finally crawled onto the platform it was worth it. It was one of the coolest things I’ve done here. Maybe in my life. Being up there was amazing. I don’t know how else to describe it.

Then I had to go down. That, of course, was the worst part. But it wasn’t awful. I made it back down safely and headed back to the stairs. When I got there Emily and Andrew were heading back from the other side and Andrew said that there was a tarantula on his harness! He is deathly afraid of spiders but he was very calm about it. Emily moved it with a stick or something but Andrew was obviously shaken. When Lauren asked for a size reference Andrew said “a cat.” It was hilarious.

Back at the bottom of the stairs we decided to not go on another hike and just head back and take a swim. Our guide seemed a little disappointed but obliged. We all headed down to the river- we were the only group back- except for Bianca who took a nap. We sat on the stairs since it’s the only way to not get swept away by the current and just chatted and relaxed. Lauren went up first then I did. Feeling refreshed I was still tired so I took a little nap too. It was much more enjoyable than the day before because I wasn’t nearly as hot. I woke up before the other girls and read some since I wanted to finish my book before we left.

We ate lunch then prepared for our next activity, the “flotada”. We got in our bathing suits and went back down to the dock where we came in. The swimming dock is different. There we took a boat down river some and just jumped in the water with naught but our life jackets. We just floated- and pretty quickly too- down the river without having to swim at all. We all ended up pretty separated and I was with Nicole and Lauren most of the time. Nicole told us all about her whirlwind romance with this Ecuadorian who she is now planning to marry. They got engaged before October and met in August maybe? I think it is batshit insane but she seems completely sure about it. They’re planning their life together and everything. Crazy. While floating down the river, which is a tributary to the Amazon River, we saw some birds but no other wildlife. There may have been fish with us but the water was so muddy that you could see more than a couple inches down. But it was deep enough that we never once touched the bottom. It was extremely relaxing and awesome. After maybe an hour of floating the boat caught up to us and took us back. Apparently we floated 10 km! (About 6 miles)

Once the boat got back we went to change and came back early for dinner to chat and whatnot. Dinner that night was very American. We had chicken, sweet corn (a first here!), mashed potatoes and green beans. I was happy. That night I read again by candlelight and tried to finish the book but fell asleep before I could.

The next morning cabin 1 woke up literally at the crack of dawn, actually earlier, to go on a morning hike to the tower so we could hopefully see some monkeys. Unfortunately as soon as we headed out it started downpouring. We figured it wasn’t safe- especially since it was still pretty dark, especially in the woods- so we turned back.

Later, at breakfast, we were all packed up and ready to go. We ate up and then got on the boat to retrace our steps back to Quito. The only difference this time was that it was raining, hard. Every one of our modes of transportation were open. On the first boat I sat near the front so not even the roof helped. I got the full blast of the pouring rain for over two hours. I sat with my bag in my lap and my very thin poncho over both of us. I basically slept like that just so it would seem to be over sooner.

At the bridge where we transferred to the chiva truck the station guy told us if we needed to go to the bathroom, go to the opposite side of river, via the bridge. There was nothing there. So everyone just peed in the tall grass. I couldn’t do it. Then we took the chiva back to the oil reserve, yes it was still raining and yes the chiva is open on the sides.

Then we took our next boat and about when it stopped raining they put the side flaps down. We finally made it back to Quito a little late but still had to get back to Cumbaya. Some taxi driver tried to charge us 5 dollars to Rio Coca, which is ridiculous, and when we walked away another taxi driver was like “what did that pirate try to charge you?”

The next week was pretty quiet. I went to the mall with Keunae, Danielle and Chris when the class where I volunteer was cancelled. I had lunch with just about everyone on Thursday since most people were going their own ways for break while I was staying in Quito with Zach. Friday most everyone had left so I stayed home reading the last Harry Potter- I bought it at the mall.

And then Saturday Zach came to visit! His plane came in in the afternoon so after breakfast I headed out to Quito myself for the first time. As I walked out of my neighborhood the bus was just pulling up to I hailed it and it took me about halfway. Well, I got off where I normally should but it ended up continuing up the road I was walking. There was construction on the road it usually turns on and there is nowhere to turn left again until you get all the way up the hill. It’s pretty far. If only I’d known. Then I took the next bus and then a cab from that bus station to the airport. There is only place for disembarking passengers to exit so I waited there and made a sign so Zach would know I was there to pick him up.

The plane was a little late but not by much. It was so great to see him! Straight from the airport we went to the Museo de la Ciudad. The driver ripped us off a little bit but it didn’t matter. The museum was under construction but free that day so it was ok. Some of the exhibits were kind of funny- there were a lot of genderless statues and a ridiculous mural of hell for some reason. We really got a kick out of that.

From the museum we went to the Panecillo since it was close. We took a cab and he offered to wait for us. We said no because that’s weird and climbed up to the outlook. We walked down the same way we had the first time and caught a cab to the bus station. We took the bus to Cumbaya and walked to my house. Zach met Guadalupe and I hid my bag in Zach’s giant duffel so she wouldn’t know I was staying with him. I wasn’t sure what she would think so I just decided not to say anything and stay in the hotel. Then we took a cab to the Hotel Cumbaya. We checked in, put our stuff down and went back out to get something to eat.

We ended up at the Turtle’s Head which has a $10 drink minimum but that was fine. We also had dinner. I had a pretty good burger and Zach had some ok nachos. I also had a mojito and Zach a couple beers but that was it. Zach was pretty tired from his trip so it was a quiet Saturday night.

On Sunday we were going to have lunch at home and while we were there the other day Guadalupe said we should be there for breakfast too. I was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen so I said maybe. Of course we ended up sleeping in and being a little late for lunch. But we got there and had lunch. Zach and Guadalupe talked a lot mostly about the weird things she usually talks about- like how Bill Gates is ruining the world because he invented the internet.

After lunch Zach and I decided to watch a movie and settled on Knowing, a truly terrible Nick Cage movie. It was awful- even more so than other Nick Cage movies. I fell asleep. So we went back to the hotel took a nap and, when we woke up late, went out to get some food. From the hotel we walked to an Italian restaurant and got a very tasty pizza. We also got some wine but I didn’t drink much.

Back at the hotel I called mom for her birthday on Skype but the wifi only worked in the lobby of our floor so it was a little loud. Then we went back to the room and Zach watched Spiderman in Spanish while I fell asleep.

Up Next: Our trip to Mindo 

Hasta Luego,

Caitlin

The Return of the Amazon Twitch

I got up early on Friday since I had to be at the airport at 7:30 that morning. I was the first one at the airport- almost 30 minutes early. I knew I’d be early so I brought a Sudoku and did that until the rest of the group showed up. At the meeting I didn’t go to Daniel told them he would be at the airport earlier than anyone but he never showed. Instead some guy came up to our group, asked us if we were going to Tiputini and said ‘follow me.’ It turns out he was our guide of sorts.

We all made it through ‘security’ with no problem (even though Bianca didn’t have her passport) and waited for our only slightly delayed flight. I sat next to Emily on the tiny little plane but mostly slept the whole time. The flight was so short we basically ascended then descended. Upon arrival I had to pee really bad so Emily Bianca and I went to the bathroom for deformed women. The women’s bathroom sign had this weird deformed-looking drawing of a woman on it. It was scary. Also scary was that there was no toilet paper- but luckily I had thought to bring some. We got on the bus as it was about to leave and it took us to a dock that had several long boats ready to head down the river.

Our group got our own boat since there were so many of us and we were off! Sort of. For the most part we maintained a steady clip down the river but the water was really low in some places so the driver- who was at the back- had to choose his route carefully. It was a really long ride, about 2 ½ hours, so after taking some pictures and eating our sack lunch that was provided, most of us ended up napping at some point. Before falling asleep the driver stopped so we could take pictures of a gigantic plume of fire close to the riverbank- a burning oil well- welcome to the Amazon.

Eventually we reached the oil reserve where we had to go through a checkpoint and from there continue on chiva- a large covered truck with open sides. The chiva ride was about the same length as the boat ride- maybe a little shorter. I sat with Emily and Lauren and we talked most of the time.

When the chiva arrived at its destination, the foot of a bridge, we got out and kind of slipped down the bank to yet another river- the Tiputini. We got on a similar but slightly smaller boat and settled in for another 2+ hour ride. Finally, after what seemed like days of travelling, we reached the dock and we were there!

Exhausted from the trip we dropped our stuff and plopped into the chairs in the dining ‘room’ which was the first structure we came to. It was basically a covered platform with tables and chairs and a small adjoining kitchen. After a rest and devouring some Oreos that we put out for us the station director or something told us about what we would be doing during our stay then showed us to our cabins. Emily L, Lauren, Bianca and I shared a little cabin. It had running water but since it came from the river and went back in the river we could only use the ‘soap’ provided for us. It smelled faintly of bananas and did almost nothing to clean my hair.

After we got settled into our cabins we decided to take a dip in the river since we were all SO hot. We broke all but one of the rules the guy had just given us but nobody died so we were fine. After our swim we made our way back to the dining room for dinner. We had a very Ecuadorian meal of meat beans and rice I believe. Once we finished dinner we all decided to hang out in the only air-conditioned building at the station, the library. There we play Piccharades- charades with Pictionary cards since we had nothing to write on. 

I grabbed a copy of Fahrenheit 451 and resolved to finish it before we left. It is pretty short so I figured I could do it. We went back to the cabins and at 9pm the electricity went off (the generator is on a timer) but luckily all the cabins were equipped with a good supply of candles and matches. I read by candlelight for a while then went to sleep.

In the morning we had breakfast at 7:30 but being so hot and sweaty- and now smelling a little like the river- I needed to take a shower. I got up first and steeled myself for the freezing water- the buckets of which I could see out our window- but it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately the banana soap didn’t do much but I felt better for a little while at least.

After breakfast our group (the girls of cabin 1 plus Kevin and Andrew) got our boots and met our tour guide. Just as we started our hike he spotted some spider monkeys up in a tree above the path- our first contact with animals! We took a short hike to this enormously tall tree- taller than all of the trees around it- and climbed up a tower to a viewing platform in the tree. From there we could see the canopy from above. Since we were there so late we didn’t see any more monkeys but we did see some cool birds. I spotted a little green parrot that was hanging upside down munching on some of the tree’s fluff. Our guide spotted several other birds and even brought a small telescope up there so we could see the really far off ones.

There were also some pretty cool bugs around all the way at the top of this tree. I got some good pictures of a horny ant and a cute little bee guy. We also saw a really cool bird fly by. It was a reddish brown with a dark yellow tail. I only saw it for a few seconds but that was long enough for me to think, “Griffyndor!!”

We didn’t see much else because it was getting late in the morning so we climbed down the tower (which seemed to shake more on the way down) and checked out this hollow tree. This “tree” is actually a parasite that grows up around trees and remains standing after it has killed the tree- which eventually rots away. Then our guide told us to come over and find the animal that was at his feet. We looked down and there was nothing but dead leaves and dirt. Then I spotted something moving- it was a toad, just barely breathing. It looked just like a leaf! It even had dark spots on its back that looked just like the holes in most of the leaves that cover the forest floor. It was truly a marvel. How an animal can evolve so precisely is beyond me.

On our way back to the station we stopped while our guide picked the stem of some plant, peeled it and gave us the inside to chew for 2 minutes. After two minutes we spit the juice out and stuck out our tongues. They were blue!! We got no explanation and moved on. Then we went off the track to a clearing that had nothing but a few skinny trees. There is a lot of underbrush in the jungle so it was strange. Our guide told us it was called a Devil’s clearing (or something like that) because nothing but those specific trees can grow there. The indigenous peoples of the area assumed that spirits prevent things from growing there but our guide showed us the real culprit.

If you looked closely at the smallest branches of the trees you could see little one-inch sections that were thicker. He told us that inside these sections were ants! The ants live in the trees and are all over the ground too. They don’t allow anything but their tree homes to live in these clearings. Stranger still, our guide broke off one of the twigs, opened the cavity where the tiny little ants live and ate some! They are called ‘lemon ants’ because they taste like lemon! I tried one but I had to take it out of my mouth because it freaked me out. I did taste like lemon though.

Then we went back for lunch. Lunches were usually typical Ecuadorian food- meat, some rice and fried plantains for example- but pretty good. We always took advantage of the cookies and fruit put out for us, as well as the tea and coffee even though it was hotter than hell.

After lunch we went on another hike, this time to a small lake which was a bird haven. But first we got our faces painted. Our guide picked a fruit, crushed it up with ad little stick and used it to paint our faces with little designs. From there we took another hike across some pretty sketch bridges and saw a huge turtle!

We opted to take the short way instead of a longer hike all around. We got there and the seven of us got in a long canoe and our guide quietly paddled us around the perimeter of the late. I heard later that the lake has piranhas and caimans in it so I’m glad we never flipped over. We saw several Watsons which look like flamboyant pheasants and only live near water. We also saw a bunch of other birds.

When we got back we had several hours until dinner so most everyone decided to take a dip in the river. I was exhausted so I, as always, took a nap. That ended up being a terrible idea because about a half hour in I woke up because I was sweating so much. It was awful. By the time I was mobile everyone had come back from the river and I was sure I didn’t have time to get down there before dark so I just suffered through it. (I also didn’t want to take a shower since water was so precious and I’d already taken one that morning.)

One dinner, maybe this one I don’t recall, we had tacos. And not Hakuna Matata “tacos” with tuna salad, but legit tacos! It was so great! I ate three! After dinner we met in the library- air conditioning!- and we had a presentation about one of the research projects done at this station. They have several motion capture cameras set up along the trails- none that we walked, however- to capture and track the animals in the area. We saw a lot of really cool pictures of animals we hadn’t seen in the wild. They were out there, just not where we were. After the talk we went back to our cabins and I read Fahrenheit 451 out loud to our bunk until they fell asleep.

Up Next: More Amazonian Adventures!

Hasta Luego,

Caitlin

Breaking the Silence

Well, November's come and gone and I've only posted once- sorry. Since the end of October I have been really busy. The more I do the more I have to write about but the less time I have to do so. Excuses aside, here it is, what you've all been waiting for (at least since November)...

I left off with our Cotopaxi trip. The next week and weekend we didn't have a program trip so it was pretty low-key. For my film class we had to perform a skit based on one of the movies we watched. We spent a lot of time- in McDonald's unfortunately- writing and memorizing our script. I also had major projects in all my other classes. It was stressful but I made it through. But enough about school, that's not why you're here!


 That Friday we decided to go back to the Korean restaurant in Quito that we went to for Chris’s birthday. We took the bus to Rio Coca as always and caught a cab to the restaurant. It cost a lot less than the last time we came. As always there was barely anyone there but the food sure was tasty. Danielle and I both got what we had last time since it was so good. We also had some great dumplings for an appetizer. Emily ordered kimchi soup and the waiter asked her, in English “you know [whatever the soup is called]? Very hot.” And Emily was like, yeah I got it thanks. It was strange.

From the restaurant we took another taxi to a Korean market that Keunae told Chris about. While we were paying Chris asked the guy, in Korean, where the market was and he just called a cab for us and told the driver where to go. We took the taxi to the market and it ends up being this tiny storefront with some Asian vegetables and a thousand bottles of soy sauce- they had Kikoman!  But, this place was across the street from a legit market so we decided to go there instead. All around the outside of this huge warehouse of a market were permanent stands selling flowers, food/alcohol, shoes/clothes or whatever else you’d need. A few of my favorite displays: Pots of every size- from small saucepans to enormous cauldrons you could fit a person in-easily. Stacks of economy sized Tide detergent boxes, topped with cases of beer/liquor. One shop covered floor to ceiling with candy.

Inside the warehouse was a huge produce market. There were just stacks and stacks of fruits and vegetables the likes of which I had never seen. I had literally never seen some of the fruits they had there. They also had dried flowers and meats and even some prepared foods. But the most impressive things were the gigantic piles of fruits. It was really cool.

As we were wandering around, marveling at the sheer mass of food around us this guy approached us, trying to give us coupons or something. We politely said no and moved on, but he followed us. He was trying to get us to take the coupons but after he realized we weren’t going to he started trying to guess where we were from. “China…Estados Unidos….Holandés….uh…” he said pointing to Chris, Emily, me and Danielle respectively. It was strange. Eventually we shook him and left.

Back in Cumbaya Emily and Chris continued on to Lumbisi and Danielle and I went to her house to watch the next installment of Harry Potter. When the movie was finally over we were a little late to Kevin’s birthday party but it was ok.

The party was at Christina’s new apartment in Lumbisi and it was in full swing when we got there. There were tacos waiting for us but the first batch of margaritas had been finished off. So we dug into the tacos and while we ate Chris went to get more limes to make the second batch of margaritas. Yes they were from scratch!

colada morada

We hung around Christina’s for a while we headed out to the Mariscal for the real party to begin. We called two taxis, met up in the Plaza Foch and made our way to Chupitos (where we went first on Bianca’s birthday). In the cab Chris called Omar and he and Fer met us there. We didn’t stay there too long because our ultimate destination was a karaoke bar..

When we got inside the karaoke place we went immediately to the second floor- the disco. After the disco part got boring we headed downstairs to the karaoke room and made our selections. Danielle, Chris and I, and maybe others I don’t remember, decided to sing Everybody by BSB. The system was very confusing so it took a while for us to turn in our songs While we were waiting we noticed that the songs people were singing were all Spanish love ballads, it seemed, from the 90’s. So we sat there listening/cringing. And we sat there, and sat there, and sat there….

After an hour we didn’t even see our number come up. By the end it was pure torture sitting there. There were only sappy, poorly sung love songs. The only interesting thing that happened there was that a couple of guys hit on Danielle. Here was their tactic: One guy comes up behind/next to her and says, “would you like to meet my friend?” as the friend comes around the corner. They ask her if she speaks Spanish and when she says yes they continue speaking English. Eventually the friend says “you are very beautiful” and Danielle says “yo sé.”

Unfortunately we never got to sing our BSB because we couldn’t stand being in that room any longer. We just wanted to get out of there. A bunch of our group had started playing pool so we went out there to say goodbye. No one was really paying attention so Danielle and I just left. As we were going down the stairs to leave Betty ran after us so she could share a cab. When I got home it was pretty late but I watched Dancing with the Stars anyway.

Saturday was pretty chill since it was our first weekend off in a while. No one had any plans so that afternoon and Danielle’s parents were out of town so I went over to her house and we had a movie day. We watched the next two Harry Potter movies, A Single Man- which was really good but really depressing- and then the Jungle book to cheer us up. As much as I love that movie though, I couldn’t help falling asleep.

On Sunday we decided to go to the Panecillo since none of us had been there before. So Chris Danielle Emily and I all met at Bigote so we could catch the bus together. On my way out of the house Guadalupe stopped me and told me I had to bring some ‘colada morada’ with me. Apparently she/Mirian had made a huge pot of ‘colada morada’ that day. It’s a thickened juice drink with chunks of fruit in it that Ecuadorians traditionally drink on and around the Day of the Dead. Seeing as it was October, even though Day of the Dead is in November, it was apparently time.

Colada morada is traditionally drunk with guaguas de pan (‘bread babies’) which are loaves of sweetish bread that are filled either with chocolate, caramel or jelly and iced to look like babies in swaddling clothes. It’s very odd eating a baby’s head, but it’s also delicious!

On the way to Bigote, with my container of colada morada in hand, I bought a chocolate-filled guagua for us to share. We devoured the bread but the drink wasn’t a big hit.So then we got on the bus to Rio Coca and, since we didn’t know exactly where to go, took a taxi to the Panecillo. The Panecillo (literally the ‘bread roll’) is a large hill on the southern end of Quito and on top of it is a statue of the Virgen de Quito also called the Dancing Virgin who is the only Virgin with wings.

When we got there we went inside the giant Virgin statue and climbed up to the overlook. On the way up there are a couple of floors of models/dioramas of other churches. The most interesting thing about those are the descriptions that were comically translated into English, the little tiny people dressed in indigenous clothing that populate these dioramas and the profuse amount of glitter in the display boxes.

 

We took some pictures from the balcony but the supposed ‘guard’ railing seemed like it wouldn’t prevent you in any way from falling from the Virgin’s feet. Once we had our fill of the view of Quito from above we made our way down the hill, on foot this time, on the stairs we heard we shouldn’t take. Turned out we were perfectly fine taking the stairs thought we did deface a tree. The dangerous stairs made us dangerous!

Once we came to a busy street we flagged down a taxi to take us to Quicentro. At the mall I was looking for tights and footie socks but only bought socks because there were no tights in any color more interesting than tan or navy. Then Danielle bought what she needed to dye her hair purple and we went to lunch at El Español. We all got sandwiches that were on an enormous loaf of French bread. I got a coffee to go and we walked through the rain a few blocks to the bus stop to save some money. 


That's all for now but now that the trip is winding down I should have more time to update.
Up Next: The Return of the Amazon Twitch!!


Hasta Luego,
Caitlin

The Treasure Hunt

Our second day at the hacienda we were told to be up for breakfast at 7:30 so I set an alarm so I could get up and take a shower first. I stumbled half blind with sleep into our all yellow bathroom and as I got into the shower, noticed that both the valves said “F” for frío (cold). That was not something I wanted so see so early in the morning! Turns out the one was actually hot and the shower was fine but I was scared for a minute.

Around 7:30 Emily and I wander out and no one is around, not even anyone who works there. So I went to see if I could get into the secret room behind the bookcase again- to make a wish with the volcanoes- but I couldn’t get it open! None of the books did anything, they were all actual books. At breakfast, which was at least an hour later than we were told,  Chiri told us the book we needed to use to get in the room. It didn't work but we found a screw that was holding the bookcase to the wall so when we unscrewed it the shelves just swung right open!

Cotopaxi

Once we finished breakfast our group all piled on the bus and we took a drive to the start of our hike. During our drive Chiri told us some myths about the volcanoes we saw. For instance they say that there are three Pichincha volcanoes, a baby, a mama and a grandpa/dad (he just said viejo which could be either) and they will erupt in succession from smallest to biggest because “when the baby cries, mama gets up and dad gets upset.” We stopped a couple times to get good pictures of Cotopaxi and Rumiñahui (this time we could see the hole in his ‘lip’)

After the bus driver- our normal bus driver’s brother- got all pissy about driving in between some plants we made to where our hike started. It was just this vast, flat, rocky wasteland, with almost nothing but rocks, lichen and some very hearty flowers with Cotopaxi looming in the distance. We walked across that for what seemed like forever- I wasn’t keen on walking across so many rocks since I was prone to slipping- and then finally found somewhere to cross the river- on foot. Here is where our boots came in handy.

 We all started rolling up our pants and getting ready to cross but Marcos wouldn’t let anyone go by themselves. He guided everyone, even sort of tossing a couple of the lighter ones onto the shore. Even with assistance we all ended up getting pretty wet. Water inevitably got in the boots and I forgot to take off my socks. Oops. Then the boots were passed back and forth across the river until everyone made it across.

From there it was just a short hike along the river bank to a little cliff cave thing where we stopped to have lunch. The people from the hacienda who had come with us brought a bunch of food and we had all taken turns carrying the pots and utensils needed for our lunch. Our group all plopped down on the ground in front of the cave and dug into the oritos (the tiniest bananas you’ve ever seen) and mandarinas someone had carried while Marcos went to cut down a tree for firewood. Finally most of us rallied and went to find some kindling- we were told not to come back until we each had five sticks.

While we were sitting Keunae made a new BFF. One of the hacienda people’s daughters, Wendy, had come with and she immediately stuck to Keunae. I’m sure her mom was happy about it because she just told her to stay with Keunae all the time. Wendy showed us where the best sticks were and led us to the waterfall. Keep in mind she’s like 9.

When we came back with our kindling the fire was already started and the food beginning to cook. So everyone but those cooking followed Chiri into the forest through the perfectly straight rows of trees to this clearing that had a spongy floor. There Keunae, Wendy, Grant, Caro and I all stayed while the rest went on another little hike. I just took a nap on the soft ground, it was nice.

We ate right after we got back. It was all very good especially for being made in a cave. While we were eating Marcos came up the hill with about 8 fish speared on a stick that he had just pulled out of the river like it was nothing. Once we were done digesting we started gathering our dishes and Chiri told us to go down to the river to wash the plates so we started down the hill. As we were walking Chiri yelled to us that he was just kidding. I should have known given the bookcase incident. So we left our cave and hiked our way back to the bus along the side of the river. It was a slightly harder hike than on the way in, but we didn’t have to cross the river, and it was more interesting than rocky tundra, so I liked it better. 

Most of the hike was through the brush on the side of the river but eventually we met up with a road and took that the rest of the way back. From the road we saw some bulls grazing in the distance, at the foot of a volcano. On the way up Marcos asked me where I was from- yes, he speaks! I told him close to Chicago because most people understand that. But apparently he thought that Chicago was a country. I told him that I was from the US and that Chicago was a city there. He’s a cowboy born and raised.

Back at the ranch (haha) we packed up our things and hung out on the porch until we had to go. Chiri explained to us that the ‘treasure’ we were supposed to find that day was nature. He told us Rumiñahui said that people who are blinded by gold will never find the treasure. Then he gave us postcards and we were off. But not before we watered the garden we had planted the day before, to really reinforce the friendship we planted. As we were watering the plants, and taking some last minute pictures, the bus driver started revving the engine because he was really raring to go. It was pretty obnoxious.

As always the drive back took longer than the drive there so we started getting worried we wouldn’t have enough time to write our skit and get the rest of our work done before Tuesday- on which I, at least, had a skit, mindmap, a paper due and a test. So when we finally got back Chris, Emily, Keunae, Danielle and I all went to McDonalds (the only place open past 8pm on a Sunday) to write our skit. We went into the Playplace for privacy but they kicked us out of there around 9:30 and we stayed in the main dining room until close.

next time on TFTE: the epic skit and the dancing Virgin!

Hasta luego,

Caitlin