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

Somos Sinches!

Our trip the weekend of the 9th was to Cotopaxi a province named after the famous volcano that resides there. We left around 10 AM on Friday and took our usual bus but this time with a different driver. We had been advised to bring rubber boots like the ones we wore at Hakuna Matata so Chris and Emily bought Danielle and me some. We loaded up the bus and were off. It wasn’t a long trip though and after a little nap we were basically there.

We reached the hacienda and were given our rooms. Emily L and I ended up rooming together in a nice corner room. It was sparse but clean and had an all yellow bathroom. There was even a yellow bidet! After we settled in we went out into the courtyard for introductions. The main hacienda guy- and Christina’s friend- “Chiri” talked to us about the idea behind the hacienda. He had us feel the four elements fire (sunlight), air (wind), earth (dirt) and water (a kind of warm juice that we drank with cheese empanadas).

As we ate and drank, Chiri explained what we would be doing during our trip- searching for the treasure. He explained to us that the next day we would  go on a hike to find the treasure but we first had to go on an ‘acclamation’ hike. In order to be ‘sinche’ (strong) for the hike we ate chapo which was made by mixing the juice with this grey flour stuff they had. It ended up being a dryish paste that tasted vaguely like the juice. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t something I’d eat often.

After building up our strength we planted a garden. Where we were eating were a bunch of flower plants sitting around. It was these that we planted to symbolize ‘cultivating’ our friendship with each other and Pacha Mama which is quichua for Mother Earth. It ended up being really hard and taking forever because we had a ton of plants to plant and the soil was really dry and hard. Also the garden was pretty weedy. Eventually we finished our hard work and watered the newly planted plants.

At one point several of us were pulled away by Chiri who had learned our names immediately. A note about Chiri: he is probably the happiest man I have ever met. He is constantly smiling, joking, laughing. He doesn’t believe in using alcohol or drugs because he thinks you can get high off of nature. He obviously lives this theory. Anyway, the few of us that were pulled away went to some field to plant some little onions in little window boxes. The soil in that field was some really nice soil.

While planting our friendship we also met the ranch dogs. They are all golden retrievers and beautiful. They followed us around all day, running ahead and just having a great time. They were all really sweet and loved all the attention we gave them.

Later we started our ‘acclamation’ hike. We started out in front of the hacienda, hopping the fence of the sheep/llama pasture to find some four-leaf clovers. We were told we all had to find one before we could go on our hike, but I was the only one who found one!!

He's laying down looking towards
the upper righthand corner

From there we headed up a hill, first stopping to see the face in the volcano called Rumiñahui. It looks like the profile of a man lying down. According to Chiri the legend holds that Rumiñahui, an Incan general, hid from the Spanish a vast amount of Incan treasure at the time of conquest. It is said that when the Spanish went against their word and murdered Atahualpa, the ruler of the Incans, Rumiñahui hid the treasure in the mountains where it has never been found, but this is what we would be looking for the next day.

So then we started our hike. We began by jumping, with some help from the super-human cowboy, over a small creek and then crawling under a barbed wire fence. I had troubles with the crawling and got a scratch on my back from the barbed wire. From there we went down a steep hill and finally entered the forest. We climbed up a pretty steep slope to this cave but then had to turn around and slide back down on our butts. Then the boys and Marcos (aka Zorro aka the super-human cowboy aka rodeo champ) went across the creek again via log but the rest of us followed along the bank until we got to a water fall. Marcos scaled the waterfall, secured a rope at the top and helped pull the people who wanted to climb it up. Those people hiked down that side of the creek and met up with us where we were going to diverge from the path. Little did we know we were about to die.

The slope we were about to climb was more of a cliff face than anything. It was basically vertical with just enough slope to provide unreliable footholds. For the most part we had to grab at trees and, in their absence, thorny plants, to pull ourselves up. I was parallel to the ground more often than not. Marcos of course was all but running ahead with the rope to help pull us up this cliff. At one point there was a particularly tricky section- you basically had to climb sideways up the roots of a smallish tree that looked like it was sliding down the mountain- so Marcos gave everyone a literal hand. Or in my case two. I almost didn’t make it since I slipped a little.

This was seriously the most difficult hike I’ve ever done in my life. I literally had to hoist myself up this mountain by my arms, relying on small trees and vines for support. It was terrifying and frustrating at the same time. At a few points I almost couldn’t continue because I just got stuck with nothing to hold onto and almost no upper body strength with which to pull myself. I was cursing like a sailor.

Finally we made it to the top and, once we got by another barbed wire fence, collapsed on the hillside. While resting our first lunch course was brought to us via donkey! We got that juice again- this time cold- and some mote with pork in it. After our rest we walked through cow pie land back to the hacienda.

Back at the ranch we had more lunch and then some of us went to rest for about 5 minutes. The rest of the group went to look at the animals. After only a couple minutes the group just left us so we found Caro, Chiri’s girlfriend, who took us to see the cows- more poo!- and the calves. There was a radio playing in the calves’ pasture probably to keep them calm. Then we went down the road just a bit to the horses and that’s where everyone else was. So we rode some horses for a bit.

Before we could ride we had to roll old tires on top of each other to make barriers for the ring we were riding in. Danielle grabbed one and, not realizing it was full of water, slid it over onto its side, splashing dirty rainwater all over both of us. Then we got to ride but since there were only three horses we had to take turns. It was fun. We got to just ride around by ourselves in the enclosure which I had never done before. Even little Mauela wanted to ride. She’s obviously a cowgirl at heart!

When we got back to the hacienda Chiri took us into the room in front of Chris and Danielle’s room and told us the Rumiñahui story and about what we would be doing the next day. He explained the history and the legend and then did the coolest thing possible. He went over to the bookshelf, pulled a book partially out and opened the bookcase into a secret room!! I was astonished and jealous- I want one in my house! So we followed him up the stairs and into this room with windows all around from which you could see three different volcanoes. It was really cool. He also told us that we had to get up and make a wish at 6am to the volcanoes.

After that we all hung out on the porch for a while, I passed out allergy medicine (just about everyone was having a bad time in that respect) and then we ate ‘dinner’ which consisted of hot chocolate, cheese empanadas and an enormous bowl of popcorn. Since we had ridden the horses Danielle wasn’t feeling good and having problems breathing so I got out my inhaler just in case.

After dinner we went with the guys to the rodeo. Chiris’s brother Javier and Marcos (of course) were competing so we went to support them. So we got on the bus and took a pretty long drive- about 1 ½ hours- to the rodeo. The bus driver didn’t know how to get there so eventually someone got off the bus, got a cab to take them to the rodeo and then we followed the cab. Before the taxi maneuver the bus driver yelled out the window at a couple people to ask for directions and I had Baños flashbacks!

The rodeo was in a fairly small outdoor stadium so it was freezing. Since we were up in the mountains it got really cold at night and it reminded me of football games in high school in the fall. Thank god Keunae let me borrow the fleece she bought here or I would’ve froze to death!

I realized fairly quickly that the rodeo is not for me. First of all I don’t like the treatment of the animals but it also made me really nervous. Whenever the rider got bucked off I was so worried. I just don’t get the point to be honest. It just doesn’t seem good from any point of view- either the bull/horses’s or the rider’s.

They were showing some stock footage of rodeos though and the clips of little kids riding sheep were hilarious. Also there were rodeo clowns but they weren’t funny. All they did was try to get the bull to run out of the ring.

We watched the second part of the bulls then we waited through most of the horses until our guys were competing. Javier didn’t have a great ride but Marcos was in first place when we left- very near the end. Then we took our long trip back- I slept through most of it- and they started fires in the little stoves in our rooms. Our room ended up really nice and toasty before we went to sleep so that was really nice. 

stay tuned for more about our stay in Cotopaxi next week on TFTE!

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

¿Sabor de la vida?

My Dear Readers,

I know it's been a long time since my last post and while the week after the whole "coup attempt" thing was relatively uneventful school has been getting more work intensive as it is now officially midterm season. Ecuador may not have real seasons but it does have a midterm season. Similar to its actual seasons, it is relatively mild but it still exists and must be take seriously. But enough excuses, we've got some catching up to do. You can now expect several ensuing posts that are now edited! I know, what a shock! So let's dive in shall we?

After the whole political unrest thing from Thursday and the weekend, school was back to normal on Monday. In class we played catch-up so I had my first midterm of the semester in translation. It wasn't too bad. We had an in-class portion and an outside-of-class-but-still-during-the-school-day-portion as well. The latter was a translation that we had until 4pm to do but I had less time since I had to volunteer. It went fine either way.

My volunteer work that was out of ordinary. The class and I went to Tumbaco- a nearby town in the same valley as Cumbaya- to what seemed to be a convent that also doubles as a senior home to cut the 'grandmas's' hair. I was basically useless until two of the girls needed help calming down one lady who seemed to not have complete control over her movements. I just held her arms down so she couldn't hit the girl cutting her hair. It was a kind of sad place but the grandmas seemed happy to see us.

On the way home I took the bus that goes by my house for the first time. When I wanted to get off I had to kind of yell "gracias!" so the bus driver would know I wanted to get off. It was strange.

Tuesday I had a midterm in Cine which wasn't really hard at all except that the sub gave us the wrong directions. Of course she didn’t realize this until Chris made Danielle ask/tell her about it and I was almost done with the part we were supposed to do at home. That test would’ve taken about 30 minutes if we had done it right!


That day there was a performance by a dance troupe from Boston that we had to go to instead of dance class. It was pretty cool and they were all really great dancers. After classes Danielle and I caught a cab since it was raining pretty hard- the lights had gone out twice in Soc class- and it was a really weird ride. First we almost got t-boned by a pickup truck, then a guy on a motorcycle reached in the window and grabbed the drive while both were still moving in traffic! It turns out they knew each other- they may have even been cousins, I don't remember- and they chatted until we turned. Then when we got into Danielle's neighborhood the guy just had her get out in the middle of the street because he was "in a hurry." Then he took me right to my door. It was all too weird so I didn’t pay the normal price. (Side note: some taxis have little tv screens with ads on them but they all have the same couple commercials on them: one for bingo with an impossibly busty woman, and one with this awful dancing cooked chicken being the most notable.)


That Wednesday I went with Emily to meet her new convopartner, Diana and she invited us to a cultural event that she was helping coordinate the next day so we went not really knowing what it was about. It ended up being really long but pretty interesting for the most part. It was basically a program to show how awesome the ethnic diversity program is. There were a couple dances which were pretty cool and a band of music students that were pretty good.


 After the program there was a party for the new students and all the Ecuadorians kept trying to get me and Emily and Chris to go. We really didn’t want to go since we had homework to do and we knew it would go on forever. We finally sneaked away and went to El Español to get a coffee and use the internet. We were there until they closed and the guard had to lift the security gate to let us out.

Friday morning I was awakened by a knock at my door at 7:15 in the morning.  Guadalupe stuck her head in my room and asked for her upset stomach pills she had given me when I was sick before. I dumbly got up and rummaged around in my closet until I found the bottle and Guadalupe left. I was so confused that I misread my clock and thought I slept through class!

That day Danielle had planned a 'day of beauty' at her house that afternoon so we met up at Juan Valdez cafe with Keunae and walked to her house. Keunae couldn't stay long and after she left Danielle ordered pizza from Papa John's. Listening to Danielle place our order, I noticed she went from understanding everything this guy was saying “sí…sí,sí,…” to completely lost. She asked "what?" a couple times but still looked bewildered. Then she handed the phone to me because she had no idea what the guy was saying. I grabbed the phone- the guy was saying ‘alo? alo?’ because no one was talking- and finished the order. It took a minute to realize he was asking me what kind of coke I wanted- diet, zero, etc.

When I finished Danielle told me that she thought he was saying “¿sabor de la vida?” “flavor of life?” so of course she had no idea what that meant. It turns out he was saying “¿sabor de bebida?” which means “what kind of drink?” We got a good laugh out of that. So did Emily and Chris when they showed up- right after the food.

Even if it was Papa John’s, I was really excited to eat pizza. After lunch I gave Chris and Emily manicures since I learned how in my volunteer class. Danielle’s host niece, Antonia, came in wanting to hang out with the big girls. She’s like 9 and speaks almost perfect English. So she convinced her mom to let me do paint her nails and then she didn’t leave us alone until they left. Not that she was particularly annoying or anything, it was just funny that she was excited about hanging with us.

Antonia really loves the Jonas Brothers- she’s even going to their concert here with a friend- so she made us listen to some of their music. So then Danielle played some BSB and N’Sync saying that they were our Jonas Brothers. Then we just kept watching early 2000’s videos- like Say My Name- and it was hilarious. For us. I’m sure Antonia was bored to death.

Then Antonia and her family left, shortly followed by Chris and Emily and I stayed so Danielle and I could watch the next installment of our Harry Potter several week movie marathon. 

That's all for now, but, dear reader, you can expect another post soon.

Hasta Luego,

Caitlin

 

This is an URGENT U.S. Embassy Warden Message

In the aftermath of the madness that was Thursday we were told not to leave our houses for our safety. Since I live 10 miles away from Quito and the situation here in Cumbaya was never dangerous I didn’t follow this advice, sorry US Embassy, but I did stay in town. On Friday we didn’t have classes so Danielle and I decided to meet up at the Juan Valdez coffee shop at the Esquina mall. I asked Guadalupe to drop me off on her way to the Supermaxi but she told me that we were going together to the store, then coming back home to eat lunch and then she would drop me off. It all seemed too complicated to me but I just said sure.

So we went to the store and it was awkward as always. She made me get a bunch of sweets which I don’t mind but it seemed like she thought that’s all I eat. We were at the store all together way too long. She doesn’t bring a list, she just wanders around looking at everything- it takes forever. Finally we made our way home and had lunch right away. Miria made chicken nuggets and they were delicious. Right after lunch I got Guadalupe to take me to meet Danielle. I was amazed she got out of the house so fast! Of course she asked me if I wanted to rest a while before I went out but by this time it was after 3 so I said no.

By the time I got to Juan Valdez it was already getting cloudy and colder- like just about every day so far. When Danielle showed up we bought some kinda expensive but tasty coffee drinks and chatted for a while. After we finished up- and when the high school hooligans who seem to flock there showed up- we went to find the movie store on my walk to the Women’s Center where I volunteer. When I had passed it earlier with Guadalupe it wasn’t open but when we went there it was. It must have weird hours. Danielle found a lot of movies she wanted but didn’t have much money. She asked the guy where the nearest ATM was and it was at the mall so we walked right back again.

When we finally found the ATM it wouldn’t give Danielle any money so she had to scrape together $5 for the first three Harry Potter movies. While she was buying them the cashier/owner guy told her that there were actually 6 of these movies. Haha, as if someone buying 3 at a time didn’t know that! Then we decided to go on a quest for an ice cream sandwich. I see these cute commercials for them all the time and I really wanted one. We went into a couple little stores with ice cream freezers but none of them had sandwiches so we headed towards the park in the middle of town.

Finally we found a little mall type place that had a Pinguino store- Pinguino makes like all of the ice cream novelties in Ecuador- so we got ourselves some sandwiches and we were happy. We continued walking around Cumbaya for a while looking for a different ATM for Danielle but we never did find one- and we covered quite a bit of ground. From there we went to Danielle’s house to watch her new movies.

Danielle’s parents weren’t home so we watched the movies on the tv, which is in their bedroom for some reason. I forgot how unintentionally funny the first movie is! They are just so little, haha. During one of the movies we fixed ourselves some leftovers that Salome had left in the oven for Danielle. It was some chicken in this tasty sauce but when Danielle cut into hers she found it was a plantain! So she got rid of the plantain and got herself some chicken.

We watched the first two movies but by the time we started the third one I was starting to fall asleep. As Danielle was trying to call a cab for me her parents came home. Cumbaya Taxi, the company we always call, wasn’t answering so Salome called someone else for me. Salome was very concerned that I wasn't wearing shoes in the house and was afraid I was going to catch a cold or something. When I got home the taxi driver charged me $1.50 because it was ‘late.’ What a rip off!

Saturday I slept in, made myself some breakfast and then did some catching up on my virtual life- uploading pics to facebook, updating this monstrosity. Later I went out with Guadalupe to get some lunch. Since Miria doesn’t work on Saturdays we had to go out. We went to this really busy ‘fast food’ place and of course Guadalupe ordered a ton of food. We got a ‘fritado completo’- which is roast pork, two types of corn, potato pancake things and cheese- a giant bowl of soup- which Guadalupe explained to me is potato and cow stomach- as well as two empanadas and two quimbolitos. The soup freaked me out way too much for me to eat it so I just had some potatoes out of it and stopped eating it. Guadalupe was loving it. She even added all the condiments that came with it, like avocado, tomato and fried cow’s blood! The fritado plate was pretty good but the meat was really dry. The empanadas with aji were really good. I didn’t ask what was in them because I’m sure I didn’t want to know.

As we were leaving Guadalupe asked for two bags- one for the quimbolitos which were for me and Danielle, and one for leftovers for Pancho her dog. Then she dropped me off at the Esquina to meet Danielle again. We basically repeated the day before. She went to the ATM which didn’t work again so we took the less steep way to the bank so she could feed her movie habit. We walked back to the store that Guadalupe told me had $1 movies but they charged Danielle $2 anyway.  Then we went to the first store from Friday and she bought some more. She spent about $30 on movies and got 18! I really need to jump on this bandwagon. If there’s any movies you want- any at all- let me know, they have everything!

While we were walking around Guadalupe called me and wanted to see if Danielle and I wanted to go with Pato and his friends to his friend’s ‘tienda’ which means store. I was really confused because that makes no sense so said I’d ask Danielle and I hung up. When I called back I realized she was saying ‘hacienda’ which made more sense. Apparently there was a party going on that night and we were invited- most likely by Guadalupe. I said sure we’d go but later I realized that Danielle didn’t want to. I basically forced her to go because I didn’t want to go alone, knowing it would be awkward.

So we walked back to my house- where apparently everyone was ‘waiting for us’ according to Guadalupe- but there was no one there. Well, Guadalupe was there and she told us that they had left so that Lauren could change but I was thinking that that was code for they left already- just like last time. So Danielle and I waited around and sure enough they came back. We went downstairs and waited to leave- not sure why we were waiting- so Guadalupe brought us some coffee and bread while we talked and watched Balto 2. Then we went and met everyone at the Supermaxi. We followed them about 25 minutes out of Cumbaya to this ‘hacienda’ that was gated but the gate was locked. I think someone called the guy who was inside to unlock the gate but we also saw someone jump the wall. It wouldn’t be the first time I broke in somewhere with Pato…

So we finally got in, parked and walked around the dark grounds. There was a sweet pool that was covered up and we parked it in this tiny room right off the pool that had a foosball table and some weird decorations. There were those melted beer bottle things on the wall and one of them had a picture of Carlos Gardel on it. Also there was a mug that said Pirate Pub or something on it. Strange.

Eventually we found out that most of them were staying the night even though Guadalupe said we’d be back that night. Danielle and I didn’t want to stay the night- especially if we had maybe broken in, lol- so we figured we’d bum a ride with some of the people who were leaving early. Then we moved into a bigger room which was empty except for a bar. They brought in some chairs and we sat around and Danielle and I shared a glass of watermelon Zhumir because there weren’t enough glasses for everyone.

We talked and drank for a while, then just before we left people started dancing. I made Danielle come dance with me but then we saw some people leaving so we asked for a ride. We got a ride with Pato’s friend Francisco who was driving his little sports/classic car (I couldn't tell, it was dark) but we had to squeeze into the back because his girlfriend Ana Maria- the one who came with to the fútbol game so long ago- was there too. I had to sit with my knees on either side of his seat, haha. When we got in the car Hoobastank was playing and I’m slightly embarrassed to say I knew all the words to the song. (I went through a phase but this was before the atrocity that is The Reason, *shudder*) I started falling asleep on the ride home even though it was early.

When we got back I called a cab for Danielle and she went home. Guadalupe was kind of sad because she was going to drive her home, but she was too late. Sunday I literally never left the house, you're welcome US Embassy.

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

You say you want a revolution well, you know...you should go to Ecuador

Thursday started out just like any other day. I ate my Peanut Butter Crunch, walked to school, participated only slightly above minimally in Cine. I went with Lauren and Danielle to cinemax and to find a newspaper for Soc class. Since I didn’t find one we went to sit on the couches so I could use Lauren’s computer for internet. So I ate my lunch, I bought us all snacks from the bookstore with my credit, and looked up articles about social problems. The internet was acting crazy but we didn’t really think anything of it. Bianca came by at one point to say hi. She was still in class but left to ‘go to the bathroom.’ I found a suitable article so I was writing down notes when Bianca came back and told us that classes were canceled. She told us that the police and military were on strike so there was no security anywhere and even the president didn’t have any protection. Naturally we didn’t believe her at first but she was serious.

We weren’t sure what to do so Lauren went looking for Christina. Pretty soon she came walking by and told us to meet up in her office to figure out what to do. So we made our way there and on the way found out that international students were not to leave the university. As soon as we got into the office Maria Teresa told Danielle and me that we were going with her. So we walked out of the university with her and she just told us to walk home. We both thought she was going to drive us but I guess not. During the walk home we noticed that it was hotter and more humid than normal and decided that it was because of the tense political climate, haha.

Danielle and I parted ways at the usual corner and I continued walking, and singing Big Girls out loud, until MT pulled up with the Lumbisi and Quito kids and told me to get in the back, meaning the trunk of her SUV, which I did. I thought she was just going to drop me off at home but, as always, she just drove right past my house. We all settled into the living room in front of the tv and MT went to get more people. She came back with Christina and some others including Keunae’s friend Jean who is here on her own.

We basically watched the tv for about 3 hours. MT fed us lunch, which was really sweet of her, then when things seemed to settle down a bit, she took us home. I had called Guadalupe to tell her that I was ok and at MT’s house and she was like, ‘you’re not going to Quito are you? There are problems there.’ As if I didn’t know that, that’s why I was calling! Haha. When I got home we basically watched the tv all night, had some chocolate cake and watched some more tv. At one point I  was talking to four different people on fb chat as well as watching the tv and listening to the tv in the living room which was up full blast.

Here’s what basically happened from what I can tell:

Ecuador has a colorful political history which often consists of getting bored with presidents and kicking them out of office, replacing them with military juntas, dictators, new presidents or whoever they feel like. So Thursday there was a protest/uprising by the police and for a while it seemed as if this president would succumb to the same fate as his predecessors. Even MT said that if they really want him out 'we'll have a new president in a few hours,' because such a regime change would not be out of the ordinary. Thursday’s situation was slightly different though. What seems to have happened is that several days ago the president has proposed and put to assembly vote a law that cuts benefits to public servants. Part of this proposed law cuts bonuses and promotions for the national police. Factions of both the military and national police declared a protest on Thursday, taking over the airport and several military barracks. The president went to one of these barracks to negotiate with the police but became upset and went all Hulk on their asses. He loosened his tie and exposed his chest telling the crowd to kill him, he’s right here, kill the president if they’re brave enough.

After this outburst he went down to talk to the crowd and was tear gassed. He was rushed to a hospital where the police and military barricaded the doors, not letting anyone in or out. In the meantime a mass of presidential supporters gathered at the presidential palace and they were rallied by members of the government. Around this time a 5 day state of emergency was declared. At one point the man giving the speech at the time said that he got a message from the president saying that people were on the roof trying to get in, trying to kill him maybe. (Sounds super paranoid to me but who knows) So the guy called to the supporters to go to the hospital and save the president, and save democracy. He was basically telling them to go up against the police and military with naught but their Correa posters and Communist flags.

At some point the highest ranking officer in the military made a public statement urging all military personnel to stop protesting in such a violent way- they had also been barricading the roads by burning tires in the streets. Later that night, while the president was still being held in the hospital, the military loyal to the president staged a violent rescue mission. The president got out unscathed but the ensuing gunfight lasted for about 30 minutes and killed between 2 and 20 people (obviously reports vary and a number may never be settled on) injuring many people as well.

Once the president was rescued he went immediately back to the palace where he gave a speech to his supporters criticizing the police and claiming conspiracy to take him out of office. All in all it was a chaotic and confusing day. Details are still foggy and may be for a while. Things have gotten back to normal by now (Sunday) but it’s difficult to say what really happened and what will happen still.

I'll keep you posted whenever I get updates, but that's all for now.

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

I'm naming my kid "Landrover"

Monday after class I went to the cafeteria to eat lunch with Lauren, Chris and Emily who were watching Madeinusa. I didn’t want to watch that movie again but I didn’t want to eat alone. Chris and I shared a chicken empanada and a pizza panini. The empanada was good, the panini was kinda weird. Since I didn’t want to watch the movie I left after lunch to nap until I had to volunteer.

When I got to the class the prof didn’t show up by 3 so I started my lesson. I tried to work on pronunciation with them but it was hard since some of the girls are so shy. Also there are some sounds in English that don’t exist in Spanish so they’re hard to teach. I focused on those but it was hard. Especially the English ‘r,’ it’s really hard for them to say correctly. We’ll have to have another class on that. After my lesson they practiced cutting a couple new girls’ hair. Then they ended class about an hour early for a birthday party for three of the girls.

Everyone brought food so I felt bad eating but they made me- just like Guadalupe, haha. It was interesting to see what people brought for the party. There was of course cake but someone also brought sweet rolls. There was popcorn with plantain chips in it- very Ecuadorian- little cut up hotdogs, chips and candy. Since it was their birthdays we decided to have a toast with wine. Keep in mind that this class ranges in age from 15 to 50. There was a box of wine and a bottle. The one, 15 year old, girl tried to open the box but she didn’t have scissors to cut the bag inside so she just opened the bottle which was a twist off top and easier to open. She gave everyone a little bit and someone gave a toast. As we all started to drink we realized that it wasn’t wine we were drinking- it was agua ardiente! (Agua ardiente, if you don’t remember, was the really strong sugar cane liquor they were pouring in our mouths at the Lumbisi festival.) Everyone was like “ahh, it’s so strong!” but they drank it anyway! Even the 15 year olds! We were laughing about that the rest of the party. The professor even said that as she was drinking it she was thinking, ‘what kind of wine is this, it’s so strong!’

Near the end of the party a lady came up to the classroom to talk to me. We went downstairs and talked in the little store. She asked me if I could teach a real class, in addition to the half hour class I teach now, so other people could come and learn English. It would start at 5:30 and end at 6:30 ‘so I would have time to finish my homework.’ Then she asked me what I would have to be paid. I was taken aback and asked her to repeat herself. Of course I can’t take money since I can’t work here so I said I was a volunteer and work for free. She was so happy about that she gave me two hugs! It was cute. Unfortunately now I have to do what I was trying to avoid by working at this place! At least it will be older people and not kids- I think.

Tuesday morning I got up at 5am to finish my paper that I wasn’t able to write the night before because I was falling asleep. I just about finished it before I had to get ready and go to school. I called a taxi to take me to school because I had my computer with me- so I could finish at school- which is too heavy to carry up that mountain, and so I could have even more time to work on my paper.

I was the first one to get to my first class and I wasn’t even early. Apparently there was terrible traffic from Quito so just about everyone was late- including our substitute. The sub is a good teacher though all we did was go over that ridiculous movie we watched.  Part of our discussion was the main character’s name- Madeinusa- and how in this region of Ecuador called Manabí people have really weird names like “Alka-Seltzer”, “Land Rover”, “Refrescante Pílsener” and “Semen de los Dioses.” Emily told me that she knew someone who taught a La-a which is pronounced “La 'dash' a.”

After class I went to sit by the sushi restaurant because it has power outlets and I needed to finish my paper for Soc. I ate my ‘lonchera’ and wrote my paper until Kevin came by. We talked a little while he ate his lunch and, after he left for class, Emily T came by and talked with me for a while too.

Finally I finished my paper, printed it out, and then went to class. In Anthro we talked about a fairly interesting reading we had to do but somehow they got off on a tangent about seeds for about 20 minutes so I kinda stopped paying attention. When they finally got back on track so did I. When I wasn’t really paying attention I was thinking about my solo for dance class. I decided on sadness for my emotion but decided that you can’t start a ‘sad’ dance the way our combination starts so I did it backwards. I felt pretty clever about that one. People seemed t like it too so I was happy.

Soc was more of the same. We did a mind-map of “Education” and one kid, who isn’t great at Spanish, tried to explain to us that the student is the most important thing in the Education system. But he did this by telling us his life story. He went to high school in Pennsylvania and he said the ‘Jews’ and ‘Koreans’ had a strong learning culture whereas the ‘Black’ and ‘Irish’ kids became gangsters and “gangsters no estudia!” It was ridiculous. Also, though for no discernable reason, he kept saying “!es fundamental!” over and over again. Later when Chris wrote that in my notebook I almost started cracking up in class.

Then Danielle and I shared a taxi home since we both had our laptops with us. When I got home I searched the internet for the full episode of the season premiere of Dexter. Eventually I found it and I cried- because it was sad, not because I found it. For dinner I had that tasty fish pasta so I ate a ton!

After translation class on Wednesday I got lunch at the university’s Italian restaurant with Emily, Chris and Omar. I was kind of sad that they didn’t have that special I saw when Danielle and I came in one morning- mushroom and pancetta risotto sounds so good!- so I got penne pomodoro instead. It was pretty good but it could have used a little more seasoning. During lunch Omar told us that he likes needles! Just another facet of his weirdness…

After lunch we went to cinemax so Chris could buy her host siblings some movies for their birthday. They had the Smurfs on DVD but the cover was in Dutch, “De Smurfen.” Apparently in Spanish they are “Pitufos.” It is common, according to Omar so who knows really, to call a short person a pitufo.

When we got back to the university everyone went to the computer lab but me since I didn’t need to so I found Lauren on the couch in Einstein and chilled with her until I had to volunteer. Since I had to teach my first real class I was nervous and Lauren and I looked up some good ice breakers for English class.

In class I tried to wait a while before starting because one of the girls had asked me to because not everyone gets there on time and then they miss my lesson. I started around 3:30 (even though the girl that asked me still wasn’t there) and the lesson went a little long. It ended up being around an hour instead of half an hour so I kind of cut into the real class time. There’s one woman who knows some English already so she was asking lots of good questions- some unimportant ones too- so I tried to answer them all. I felt bad cutting into class but I think it was going pretty well because I was getting some of the shy girls to talk a little more. I think the prof was a little annoyed but she didn’t say anything.

For class they were doing nails and one of the younger girls did mine. She wasn’t great at it but she was trying. When she cut my cuticles it kind of hurt. I had to leave before she could paint my nails so I only had bottom coat- which is a frosty white, not clear.

I went downstairs and there was no one there except for some ladies knitting and a lady there for a computers class. Eventually the lady who was waiting told me that the director lady was in the kitchen so I asked her what was up. Apparently I misunderstood the other day. I won’t be teaching two different classes each day, I’ll be teaching the girls in the belleza class later in the day and if other women want to learn English they can come as well. So basically I’m just teaching a more formal class to these girls. Hopefully other people show up but if they don’t that’s ok too. Since I had already taught my lesson I just went home. I had a sandwich for dinner which of course I didn’t make because Guadalupe won’t let me and it had mayo and cheese on it. I ate it anyway because the mayo was really mild and so was the cheese. When I asked her what kind of cheese it was Guadalupe looked at me kind of funny and just said ‘sandwich.’ I think I must have looked confused then because she showed me the package and sure enough all it said was ‘sandwich cheese.’

Hasta luego,
Caitlin