Mindo!

This weekend nine of us went to Mindo which is a cloud forest in northern Ecuador.  Our hostal was amazing.  It was an orchid garden and had a bunch of hummingbirds.  And the owner would put out bananas in the morning that would attract several different varieties of toucans! Breakfast was included and was delicious! 

The first day we went tubing.  Basically they tie a bunch of tubes together and we sit in between them.  The guides then takes us down the rapids kicking off rocks along the way.  It was a blast and the guides looked like they were having so much fun! I would/want to definitely do it again! After the tubing we went to a butterfly sanctuary and were able to look at hold some gorgeous butterflies.  We also saw the caterpillars and their cocoons as well! Some of the cocoons looked like little gold earrings, they were so pretty.  Then we went to a chocolate store where we had a tour of the whole process.  We saw the fruit the cacao beans come from and even tried the fruit which was incredibly delicious.  We saw the process of drying and fermenting the beans along with how it's turned into chocolate.  We then got to make our own chocolate by adding ingredients to our cacao paste.  And at the end of the tour we got to sample a brownie! It was a very interesting and delicious experience! 

Then next day we went zip-lining.  It was so fun riding across the tops of the trees.  Our guides were pretty funny and one of the people in our group was actually working for the sip-lining company so we all had a great time! I won't lie, I was more than a little scared on the first run, but after that I was ready for more! Afterwards we went on a cable car that took us to the trails to see some waterfalls.  Normally there is a spot in which you can jump off a rock into the rushing water, but because of all the ran, the current was way to strong so we just admired the beauty for a while.  

Then it was time to head back to Quito and time to get back to homework.

I only have about a month left and I have mixed feelings.  I've decided that I'm probably ready to be back in the US, but I am in no way ready to leave Ecuador.  I still have a few things I want to do and places to see.  But most of all, I don't want to leave the people I've met here, both Ecuadorian and International.  It's going to be hard.  So I'm choosing not to think about it! 

I will try and update my blog a bit more frequently.  Sorry I've been so terrible lately! 

Semana Santa in Quito

I spent Holy Week (well the weekend at least) in Quito in order to see the famous Good Friday procession.  It was quite interesting.  Men and women dress in purple robes, as jesus, and as roman soldiers and process though the streets of the historic center.  Some men were walking with chains, some with crosses, some with wooden and beams, and some even had cactuses on there backs.  It's very traditional to carry whips as well and hit themselves as they process.  For these people, this pain is a form of punishment for their sins.  They experience some of the pain that Jesus suffered as he was put to death.  Many of the people don't wear shoes and I could tell that the heat from the black pavement was pretty painful.
I went with Molly's host family to the procession and they are very stereotypical Ecuadorians in the sense that we were late getting to the procession and then we slowly, very slowly, walked around to find a better view of the procession.  It was an experience.  We then had the typical semana santa soup.  It contains almost every grain/hearty vegetable you can think of.  For me, it's quite intense and I can rarely finish a bowl.  We then walked through a park where I shot a gun at a wall and won some free candy! Molly wasn't as lucky.  Then we headed back to our houses and somehow didn't end up paying for our bus!
I spent the rest of the week relaxing and enjoying the last bit of my spring break!

Peru (Machu Picchu and Cuszo)

For Spring Break/Semana Santa I traveled my way down to Peru.  We left Thursday night and arrived in Lima for our 5:45am flight.  We figured we would be able to sleep outside our gate in some nice comfy chairs, but no, we couldn't go through security until 3am so we just lounged around the Lima airport and slept for a little while in a hallway.  We successfully made it on our flight and arrived in cuzco around 7am.  We then hopped in a taxi to purchase our tickets to Machi Picchu and decided on taking a tour bus through the Sacred Valley (our taxi driver was very convincing and had a company all lined up for us).  It was gorgeous. First we went to the ruins of Pisac, which was where I bought a memory card for my camera because I had forgotten it in my computer at home.  Then we ate a delicious Peruvian lunch and continued onto Ollantaytambo.  The ruins there were quite amazing.  Pisac was more ruins of an old town and in Ollantaytambo, it was ruins of a temple that had lots of stairs and terraces.  The town also was basically all inca foundation (one of the only cities that the Spanish did not completely destroy and rebuild upon).  So all the streets and foundations of buildings were inca.  I really loved it there and wished we had had more time to explore.
The next day we left at 6am to Aguas Calientes on Perurail.  It was a beautiful train ride through the Peruvian countryside.  When we got to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu), we checked into our extremely nice hostal (best shower I've had in Latin America) and bought food for lunches and dinner to help save on the cost of staying in a town built for tourists.
Then we grabbed the bus up to Machu Picchu! It was amazing.  I have always dreamt about going there, so to be standing in Machu Picchu was truly breathtaking.  It's nestled in between several mountains and there literally are no bad views from anywhere in the archeological site.  We hired a guide and she told us all about the abandoned city.  I couldn't believe it had been lived in for 100 years and then the town fled to escape the Spanish.  All that work for only one generation.
That night we made pasta and homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner.  It was thrown together randomly, but turned out to be quite delicious!  We met an argentinean, a couple of americans, a peruvian, and a guy from norway.  It was great hearing all there stories and reasons for being at Machu Picchu!
The next day we returned to Machu Picchu in the early morning to hike up Huana Picchu.  It was very mystical seeing the town covered in fog and clouds.  Once again it was breathtaking.  It was about an hour long uphill/upstairs hike in the rain.  When we finally got to the ruins it was pouring rain and pretty chilly, so we hid in a cave for a while trying to decide whether we should head back or not.  At first it was so cloudy we couldn't see anything and we thought we might have hiked up and paid extra for nothing.  But then suddenly the clouds parted and we got to see Machu Picchu from above.  It was incredible.  We could see everything we have wondered through yesterday and so much more! It was definitely worth all the effort! (We actually ran into several people who had wanted to climb Huana Picchu but the tickets were sold out, so we were thankful we splurged and got the tickets ahead of time). After a while of soaking in the beauty we descended back down to Machu Picchu and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city some more.
We then headed back to Cuzco.  Our train got delayed, it was having some mechanical problems.  Then the tracks were out so we were bused the rest of the way.  Our hostal boys were supposed to pick us up at the station, but we had told them we were coming by bus so they went to the other station while we were dropped off at the train station.  We finally found our hostal and of course the guys weren't there to check us in because they were still waiting for us.  But thankfully a guest let us in and got us settled.
The hostal was great.  It's partnered with a children's charity in Peru so all the money goes straight to needy kids.  And it was run by two guys (one is a forest guide and the other runs the charity).  They were great and so helpful with everything.  They even came out with us to do a couple of things and show us the city.  I want to go back and volunteer with them sometime.  Just have to find the time and money!
In Cuzco we went to several museums (colonial art, inca history, cacao history).  It was all interesting and beautiful.  The crazy thing abut Cuzco is that it's very touristy.  We kept calling it Peruvian Disneyland.  And it kinda was.  Everyone was so surprised when we spoke spanish and by how good we were at speaking the language.  It was interesting converting everything from soles (which I kept calling pesos) into dollars.  But I couldn't believe how cheap it was, and I though Ecuador was cheap! We all bought alpaca sweaters and other little souvenirs.
Overall it was an amazing trip and I really hope I get to go back!

Sorry for the Absence!

It's been a very busy week. I had a big paper due, my ceramics project is due soon, and I'm about to leave for Machu Picchu in a week!
Last weekend we went to Montañita, which a beach town in the south.  I think it's supposed to be about 10 hours away.  We left Thursday night at 8:30 to get to the bus station in the south at 9:30 so we could get our tickets for our 10:30 bus to Porto Lopez where we would catch a bus to Montanita.  When we got to Quitumbe, the bus company that Ben had called told us the only night bus that left for Puerto Lopez leaves at 7pm.  So we went to the next window and bought a ticket for Manta.  I had seen a map with both Manta and Montañita on it and I thought they looked close.  False apparently they are almost 5 hours apart.  So we got on the bus, which was not a very nice one for the distance it was traveling (normally these buses are super nice and have bathrooms, air conditioning, and movies, this one had none of that).  The bus would wait at each station for a long time, so needless to say it took quite a while to get to Manta.
Finally we arrived in Montañita.  We looked around for a hostal and a lot of them were around $15.  However, we found two for $8 and $10.  We decided we would look at both and then decide.  So we went to the $8 one first.  It had water on the floor and did not look the greatest, the bathroom was a little grimy as well.  But one person said it was okay for her so then everyone kind of just agreed to it as well. I said we should at least check out the other one first, but I was outnumbered.
So we put our stuff down and got dressed for the beach! We ate some lunch (for $1.50!) and then went to la playa! It was beautiful and the water was pretty warm.  Although Montañita is known for its surfing (and hippie/foreign vibe), the waves were actually calmer then where we were in Salinas.  As I was laying out on the beach a tattoo guy walked by and asked if I wanted one (people are always walking by on the beach trying to sell things from food, to jewelry, to sunglass, to pictures with snakes!).  I, of course, declined.  But he started talking to me and eventually sat down.  Our conversation lasted for about and hour and a half.  He told me he lived on an island and that I should come with him. I told him no, because that would be dangerous since I would have no way to escape.  He also asked if I wanted a free tattoo and I asked him of what.  He replied with his name (Darwin), he thought it would look good near my ankle.  I, once again, declined.
We got dinner that night (most of our meals were seafood/fish since we can't get much back in Quito for as cheap as it is on the coast).  We also went to a cool bar/discoteca.  The thing about Montañita is that the bars really start going crazy at midnight and don't stop until 6am or later.  So when I woke up at 4am, the music next to our hostal was still blaring.  Definitely a party town.
The next day we spent all day at the beach and at night we hung out on the beach for a while.  Montañita is famous as well for its beach bonfires.  Unfortunately it was raining both nights, so we didn't get to experience those.
On Sunday we headed back towards Manta and stopped at Los Frailes.  It's a national park that has a public beach in it.  It was gorgeous and so clean!  This is where I got the most sun, aka I got pretty sunburnt.  We ate in Puerto Lopez and then caught a bus to Manta, where our return bus was (we bought tickets when we arrived, because sometimes they sell out).  The bus we had this time was amazing.  Extremely nice.  But the air conditioning was on full blast and I only had so many layers.  However, it was a quite fast and we got back to Quito way early than expected.  Also instead of stopping at the southern station, it drove all the way to the north, quite close to our houses!
I loved Montañita and I hope some day I can get to go back!
I'm actually staying in Quito this weekend.  I have a lot of homework to get done and I needed to go to a museum.  The museum was mostly art from this one man, Oswaldo Guayasamin.  It was quite interesting.  He painted in so many different styles.  He had paintings that looked like Diego Rivera, Van Gogh, etc.  Many of his paintings focused a lot on the tragic history Latin America has faced.  I really enjoyed the museum.  There was also another part that had indigenous ceramics, which were quite interesting as well.  Two of the most important things in indigenous ceramics in Latin America are duality and sexuality.  So some of the ceramics are quite peculiar.  
I will try to keep updating more.  Like I said, it's been a very busy week.

Baños!

This weekend we went to Baños, which is about 4 hours from Quito.
It was a little stressful getting there.  We always see Baños busses pass by our university, so we figured we'd just catch that and be on our way.  We asked some people to make sure this was true, and they all said yes.  So we waited for a while and finally saw a Baños bus and we asked to make sure it went there, but they said no we had to wait on the other side for the bus going the other direction.  So we switched sides and waited again.  Then when the bus finally came, they said it would take us to the station but we would have to switch there.  So we did this and finally we were on our way.  The movie they showed was Just Go With It, with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.  I was so excited, I kinda love the movie.  But it was in Spanish which took away some of the humor, but it was still great!
We finally arrived around 8 and we checked into our hostel, ate, and then met up with the rest of our group.  Not too much excitement.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and then some of us went puenting/jumping/puentismo.  Basically it is Latin America's version of bungee jumping.  You're attached to a rope and you jump off a bridge and then swing.  So you don't bounce back like with bungee jumping.  I have been kind of wanting to do it since I got here, but the opportunity hadn't presented itself.  So when a bunch of people said they wanted to do it, I joined!
I watched some people go before me, some of them were hilarious to watch (one girl had to be pushed off because she was backing out!).  But then it was my turn.  I had already seen the drop, and most of the people when they got onto the platform got even more scared, so I knew that I could not look down.  I climbed up, and almost fell before I was ready.  And then I counted, or maybe they did, and I faltered for a second and then just leaned forward and went! It was so fun and exhilarating! It didn't last too long, but I swung around for a minute until they lowered me to a man on the ground.  Then I walked up the hill and they had a video and pictures of me.  I bought them, and now I'll always have proof that I did it!
After this we went back and reserved our spots for horseback riding.  I got lunch with Miguel, Molly, and Anna Marie.  It was an almuerza del dia which consisted of soup (chicken's feet soup, which I didn't know until after I had spit out a foot and asked what it was), delicious carne, potatoes, and a pastel.
While waiting to go horseback riding, I was talking with some men (Brian and some name I could not pronounce).  We were talking about how I loved Ecuador and wouldn't mind living here.  They told me I should marry an Ecuadorian and have a baby with him because then I could stay here forever.  They then asked me if I knew how to salsa and I told them only a little.  They then said we had to go dancing that night.
Horseback riding was beautiful.  We rode through the streets for a while until we got to a path.  It was very different than riding in the US.  The horses were all fighting to be in the lead so we were a huge pack instead of the traditional line.  Also the guide was generally in the back, so we were just relying on our horses to know the way.  They like to randomly trot, which was fun and scary.  We rode up to a waterfall where all the rocks were from volcanic eruptions.  It is also the path in which the lava flows when Tunguragua erupts.
After that we all got ready to go eat dinner.  It was 6pm, so a little early for Ecuador, so Miguel, Anna Marie, and I just kinda walked around for a while.  During this walk I ran into Brian (my new Baños-novio) four times.  He told me where he was going (aka where we would salsa that night) and that he would get us shots.
After dinner we went on a chiva (a bus with no sides) and danced as it was driving up to a mountain where they served us a typical Ecuadorian drink (canelazo).  Then we rode back down and got into a discoteca for free.  There we spent the rest of the night dancing and celebrating Rachel's birthday.  So I never got to see my Baños-novio again.  But I wasn't too sad about that!
The next morning we caught the bus back fairly early and I spent the rest of the day taking it easy.  It was a great trip, and I want to go back again to see all of the beautiful waterfalls!

Most interesting walk home so far!

Today we had no class because there was a workshop for teachers.  It was really nice because I had time to work on my ceramics box (which is looking pretty cool) and practice piano (I've basically got both hand parts down!).  It was a very relaxed day.  Chloe, Whitney, and I went to the vegetarian restaurant close to campus.  I think here in Ecuador, vegetarian=chinese.  The two vegetarian restaurants I've been to have both been chinese. But I'm not complaining!
I had planned on taking a taxi back to my house because Quito was actually pretty warm today and I wore an outfit that was definitely for fall weather. But then a bus was waiting for me so I decided to just save the extra dollar a taxi would cost me and walk up my hill.  Glad I did; it was an interesting walk.  First, I contemplated asking the Christian center by my house if I could practice on their piano, but it's gated so I decided to keep walking (I have this internal conversation almost everyday...).  As I was leisurely strolling, the guard that always makes sure to get my attention when I walk by was on my side of the street. So we shook hands and he gave me a kiss on the check.  It was vaguely awkward, although I'm pretty sure it was only awkward for me.  However, now I'm pretty sure if he was around and I was getting robbed, he would come to my rescue for sure!
Then when I got to my house, my grandfather's friend was there and we had a nice long conversation.  I only didn't understand one thing he was asking. But a lot of the time, people ask questions in the oddest ways. I feel like I understand the first part of the question and then they add a second half that just confuses me so I never know whether to just answer the first and ignore the part I don't understand.  And most of the time, it turns out that the first part is really what they're asking.  It was pretty fun. I love having conversations with new Ecuadorians.  And I love practicing my Spanish!
Lots of homework to catch up on before I head out for the night (Ladies Night as usual, you know it's bad when your host family knows you're going out because it's wednesday, but I'm not complaining!).

Dayglow!

It was a nice change of pace this weekend because I actually stayed in Quito!
Friday night we went to Chupitos (shots in Spanish).  They pretty much only sell shots and they have a ton! I got two very delicious ones and Chloe and I vowed to take flaming ones next time we go back! Molly's friend from Kentucky was here (he's been in Ecuador for a week following a medical team to take pictures).  It was fun hanging out with a bunch of real gringos (by now I consider most of the internationals half gringos!).  We ended up meeting a couple of British guys as well who had just arrived.  The people we meet in la mariscal! I ended up not getting home until 4am, but thankfully we hung out at their hotel for the last part so we had a legitimate taxi waiting to take us home.
Saturday I tried to work on home homework (I have a mountain of it and should probably be doing that instead of writing this blog...).  Then it was Dayglow! I really lucked out that it was coming to Quito because the tickets were only $30 as compared to at least $60 tickets in the US.  It was fantastic! We took a van specifically for the concert to the rave center near el Mitad del Mundo.  We got there after 8 and I figured the concert probably started at 10 (the vans stopped running at 9 but we didn't know how many people would be taking them).  So there was just some music playing for a while.  Then Kevin Focus came on and I figured this was the start of Dayglow.  After he DJed for about an hour, a countdown came on the screen saying 59:59.30 until DAYGLOW! And that's when we all realized the real Dayglow didn't start until midnight (but that's also when it made sense that the returning vans didn't start until 2).  It was kind of silly because most of the talking and pumping up was said in English so I almost felt as if I was back in the States! The music was amazing and by the time we left I was covered in paint, which apparently my shower did not even completely remove.  My white shoes now have some sweet tie-dye and Chloe's shirt I borrowed looks pretty rad.  It was great because we all danced the night away and at one point there was a huge surge in the crowd and I felt like I was back in my high school moshpits! My favorite part of the night was whenever they played dubstep, Chloe and I both went crazy and I'm pretty sure the people around us were like "umm what is wrong with these gringas!" I am so glad I bought the tickets; it's been one of my favorite experiences here so far.  Some of my friends at USFQ were even photographers for the event so I'm hoping to have some good photos since I didn't bring my camera.
Today I just rested and tried to work on some homework.  Which I now must finish, so this is going to be all I'm able to write. Good night!

(Post Dayglow!)

P.S. I think my grandparents here must just be like a hostel for internationals.  For the past few weeks they had some German girls, and now there's a boy from Denmark there! And I met an older couple when I first got here and I feel like there was another.  They have so many I can't even remember them all!