Galapagos

Well, the Galapagos was absolutely amazing. I really hope to go back one day with my family, because it really was incredible. We flew into Baltra and arrived in the Galapagos around 11:30 or so, after taking the flight from absolute hell. There was a group of probably about twenty 13 and 14 year old kids, who were SO loud—yelling, playing clapping games, walking around the entirety of the two flights. I wanted to scream. Anyway, we finally arrived on Baltra and were met by a guide (Bolivar) who took a whole group of us by bus to boats, that cross to the nearby Island of Santa Cruz, where we were taken on another boat out to our actual cruise ship, Estrella del Mar II. We met this couple from California, who were grandparents and just really cute. We originally thought that they were going to be on our same ship, but there were two that had the same destinations, owned by the same company. This couple was on Estrella del Mar. When we got on board, we immediately ate lunch. The food throughout the entire trip was REALLY, really good. We had fish, chicken, spaghetti, filet mignon (the last night) and always had soup before the meal and usually, dessert was fruit. It was great! We were then briefed by our guide, Fabricio, about the plans for the day. We had the opportunity to visit the Darwin Center or to go to the highlands. The problem was, he couldn’t guarantee that we’d see wild turtles, so Katie and I went to the Darwin Center. This German couple was there, and the husband was throwing a fit, saying that one of the reasons he went to the Galapagos was toe see turtles and it was basically false advertisement and he was “very disappointed.” I could tell. :) Anyway, so Katie and I layed in the sun for a couple hours before visiting the Darwin Center on Santa Cruz which is responsible for breeding land tortoises and iguanas to put them back into their natural habitats. The german man I talked about earlier was really rude to me though at one point. He was trying to video tape an iguana, and by accident, I got in the way when I was trying to take a picture. He scoffed at me and said, “When you do that, all I get is rubbish.” Jeeeeez. Bolivar was our guide and just a really cute old man. He was really short, and had these burns on his chest and face that he explained was from many years of researching volcanoes. It was sad that he had those, and crazy HOW he got them! Well, that first night (March 2nd), Katie and I went onto the Santa Cruz Island with Fabricio our guide, who is ABSOLUTELY hilarious. First off, he told me that we could solve all of our problems if I just married him. (He’s a divorced father of 3, age 40-something, haha). Well… we went to a bar called “La Panga,” and Katie and I had these delicious drinks called Bahamas Mama. We took a “panga” (little boat) back around 11 pm. Katie and I were craving popcorn (canguil) and the only that we could find was microwaveable (sooo gross after having popcorn here… it’s just SO good here, I don’t know why!) Anyway, the cook had never popped a bag of microwave popcorn.. IT was really cute, he put it in for only 20 seconds and asked if it was done. Katie had to show him how to do it, but once she did… he was like “ooooooh… canguil!” He was SO cute. Throughout the whole trip, he would smile and say hi to us. I think he liked us because we would talk to him in spanish! ☺ Fabricio, our naturalist is really, really intelligent. He was telling us about all of these projects he has, including a series that is going to start in May about protecting sharks and other ecological issues. He has been the naturalist for Bill Gates, Michael Forbes, Elizabeth Taylor, Mariah Carey, George and Barbara Bush, etc. Once he is the guide for one famous person, they recommend him to others… Pretty cool. ☺

March 3rd
March 3rd we went to North Seymore first and saw blue-footed boobies, sea lions, land/marine Iguanas, frigates (which have these red pouches near their necks and they are inflated when they are looking for a mate,), and this seagull that is the only nocturnal seagull in the world!! It has red eyes and a red fluorescent mouth so that they babies can be fed at night. We learned that birds use oil for their feathers in order to be water resistant and that frigates take food from others or catch surface fish. They even try to steal from their own kind, especially babies. What they do, is try to make the baby frigates regurgatate their food so that they can get it. Rough, huh? We then went to “Cousin Rock” and snorkeled, and were swimming with sea lions which I thought was really, really fun. We then went to Bartolome and Katie and I went diving, for the first time ever… Our naturalist Fabricio is a dive instructor, so he gave us a brief run-down of what needed to happen… We did a practice session in the water, and just went for it. I’m not going to lie, it was a little bit scary, but it all turned out ok! ☺ When we were underwater, we saw stingray, tons of fish, a REALLY bright starfish, and the coolest thing of all was seeing a white-tip shark, and being about 5 feet from it. Diving cost $70. Other couples went 5 or six times—seeing at least one shark every time. The coolest thing I thought was that they saw hammerhead sharks… ☺ It was totally worth it. After our dive, we saw PENGUINS (they are soooo cute!) and we hiked around Bartolome up to this point that had an extraordinary view—there was lava cactuses, and you could really see where lava flows had been before. Before dinner, there was popcorn sitting on the table (the cook did it for us because we had told him how much we liked it, isn’t that so sweet!!) That night, Katie, David, Marvin (those two work on the ship and are 20 yrs old) hungout. David told me I had a face like a doll, lips like an angel, and kept calling me “Mamí and estrellita.” (Mommy and Little Star) BARF. I went to bed around 10:30… I had had enough of that guy, haha. --Let me tell you, those pick up lines will NEVER work.

March 4th
We went to South Plaza (Isla Plaza) and Sante Fe. South Plaza was pretty bare with one side that had a bunch of cactuses, but the otherside didn’t, because it was hit with the salt water, and wasn’t able to resist the salt. There were TONS of iguanas everywhere… Really shiny/slippery rocks from sea lion/iguana urine. They called it Galapagos marble, hehe. On South Plaza we saw “Bachelor’s pt” which is where a bunch of male sea lions climb up this really high, huge wall (I honestly don’t know how they get up there) and hangout—Sea Lions are very territorial, so if there is one bull on a beach, he will fight the other males off. So, these less dominant males (the really young ones, really old, weaker, etc.) hangout on Bachelor’s Pt. It was really sad though, because Fabricio told us that there were 5 or 6 deaths off of these cliffs. The most recent one was a suicide (a guide) because he had split up from his wife. The others were usually accidents, which happened while they were talking. How horrifying to see your guide die and/or commit suicide? I CANNOT imagine. Que horrible! Next we went to Santa Fe, which had absolutely clear blue/green water, and TONS of sea lions on the beach. They allowed us to get right next to them, it was really fun. We walked around the island and saw a few more iguanas (this island though, they are much harder to find because they are a lot more spread out.) Afterward we snorkeled, and we saw a lot of fish, but this one was rainbow colored and sooo amazing. We also saw sea turtles!! Katie and I then jumped off the top of the ship which was about 20 ft high. It was really fun, but a HUGE rush. During dinner that night, there were DOLPHINS swimming alongside our ship. I got some really great photos. Katie and I were giddy as two 6 yr olds in a candy store. We couldn’t stop smilling. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see dolphins alongside a ship. Ahh it was amazing… One was jumping and splashing, trying to show off. It was so awesome. We arrived at the port (San Cristobol) and for dinner, they had this ceremony where all the workers dressed up really nice, and we presented them their tips in an envelope. They gave us cocktails and for dinner we had fliet mignon and cake for dessert. It was fabulous. Afterward, we took a panga onto San Cristobol. There were sea lions in unoccupied rafts, it was really cute. IAfterward, we went to a restaurant/bar and Katie and I each got batidos (I got naranjilla which is REALLY really good). We went back around 11pm and headed to bed

March 5th
So our last day in the Galapagos was on San Cristobol and we visited the Interpretation Center. It was interesting, just giving the history of the start of the Galapagos. Katie and I spent a long time talking to Ian and Hally, the American couple from Vermont. They are the CUTEST couple ever, and really, really sweet. Ian has his own business writing software for Macintoshes. He started doing it for fun during his master’s program… (I think he majored in biology and got his Master’s and/or PhD in Botony). Anyway, his business has done so well he just sells software now. Hally works at a school and has an organic garden and provides vegetables and fruits—trying to promote organics. They have a large garden in Vermont, and Ian was telling us how they make homemade yogurt, saurkraut, etc. We shopped around a bit, I bought a diving shirt and these really cute shorts that say the Galapagos. We looked EVERYWHERE for log books (for our first dive), but couldn’t find them anywhere, so Fabricio told us that he’ll mail them to us. We went to the airport to find out that our flight was to be delayed a few hours, so we went back into town and ate lunch. (a salad—the FIRST salad since I’ve been here because lettuce is dangerous to eat b/c of bacteria and a mango batido—it was DELICOUS). Our flight ended up being about 3 hours late. So, I got home around 7pm, had dinner with my family, and then had to finish my 6 page analytical Spanish paper.
This was an absolutely incredible experience, I don’t know how I got so lucky.

I absolutely recommend the Galapagos—I would suggest at least a 5 day tour though, because we didn’t get to see Isla Isabella which is supposed to be amazing… I can only imagine how beautiful it is, because I thought everything else was unreal! ☺ I also suggest our naturalist—he’s really, really smart. I learned an incredible amount of biology/ecology/etc. It’s fascinating. So, if you ever go to the Galapagos, be sure to ask me for my naturalist’s name, haha.


This past week was really busy, as today I did a grop presentation (30 minutes) over a paper that we wrote. (a 45 page paer on Inequality and Health). It feels GREAT to be done. We had to present early because a girl in my group won't be here next week. So, I'm going to relax and hangout with my family this coming week, and I leave here in 9 days to see my parents and brother!! Today is el dia de la mujer. (Women's Day). My mom here gave me this book about a "world of friendship" and a poster saying MUJER in big letters with sentences... I haven't even read it yet, becasue I couldn't this morning. I thought I might start crying!! Anyway, life is still great. I will really miss this country.


Check out Ian’s software! (the guy we met on the boat!) www.iggsoftware.com
It looks pretty cool!!

Carnaval--absolutely wonderful

The only thing I can remember of last week (I think I was just too darn excited to leave for the weekend for Carnaval) but was Valentine’s Day. My “mom” and I woke up, went for a walk/run at 6AM, and when we came home, she gave me two red roses. For lunch that day, my parents took me lunch at this really cute café where we had fruit salads and bolones. (they are these fried things made out of banana with a little bit of cheese in the middle. They are really, really good.) After lunch, we had a few more hours of school and Katie gave me a bracelet, earrings, a book and chocolates. She is soooo sweet. That night I went to a folk-ballet called Hachiwa (?), which was a series of different dances that demonstrated many of the different communities/pueblos of Ecuador.

Carnaval was absolutely amazing… Katie, Marco Emilio and I left last Friday at 4 am en route to Canoa. The drive honestly wasn’t that bad, and we arrived in Canoa around 10AM. Canoa is beautiful. It’s a pretty small town with a huge stretch of beach, very few cabinas and maybe only one place to check internet. I didn’t check internet for 5 days, and I think that having such little access with the outside world is what made it truly a paradise. When we arrived in Canoa, it was raining. I remember thinking to myself, I guess I can’t expect that ALL of my weekend trips are going to be absolutely perfect. But, besides a little rainfall one other night, the weather was beautiful. All of us were exhausted from getting up so early, but after we were able to find a hostal (we hadn’t reserved one which could have turned out badly,) but we found one for about $13 a night at the Shelmar Hostal. We ate breakfast (yes, ensalada de fruta!—Katie and my favorite…) and went to lay out on the beach. At this time (Friday morning) there wasn’t a ton of people there yet. We broke up the day by eating lunch and laying out some more, and then decided to go to Bahia de Caraquez, which is this peninsula near Canoa. We drove from Canoa to San Vicente (about 10 minutes away) and walked onto a “ferry,” which was a little boat that carried people between San Vicente and Bahia. It cost $0.30. Bahia is really, really pretty and architecturally beautiful. It’s very modern. There isn’t a lot of beach though to lay out, so I was glad we were staying in Canoa. Katie, Marco and I walked around Bahia and sat for about an hour as the sun set. We met this really cute family with adorable children, this little boy and this blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, their parents and grandparents. They were all Ecuadorian and the grandmother actually invited us to her pool at some point during the weekend, which was so sweet. We said thank you, but didn’t end up going back to Bahia unfortunately. When we were walking back to try and catch the ferry, we were the targets of a drive-by water ballooning… Katie was the first victim and got pegged in the side of the face. They came back around, and somehow, we weren’t able to avoid them, and I was the next to get hit, and got hit in the rib cage at close range. Yikes. We ate shrimp that night, one of my favorite foods on the coast, returned back to our hostal, walked around a bit and experienced one of many power outages of the weekend. I’m not sure if it was because it was Carnaval or if this is a common occurrence, but, the power went out at LEAST once a day, always at night. A couple places had generators, but our hostal owners were reluctant to use theirs very much, if at all. ☺ These power outages lasted usually around thirty minutes, it actually was quite funny.

Saturday morning Katie and I woke up around 9AM and went for a run/walk along the beach. We came back and ate breakfast with Marco and then headed to the beach. Around noon or so, Marco’s friend Ricardo and his wife Suleka (Sue) came, so we all hungout a bit on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Katie and I really wanted a batido (we are obsessed with batidos.. I can’t even count how many I had this past weekend), but when we went to get one, the power was out again, so no one could use their blenders. It was sad, haha. Saturday we met some other international students who were also staying at our hostal. They are studying in Guyaquil and are from Australia and the US. The Australians, Sill and Hannah were SO SO nice, we ended up hanging out with them/talking to them the most throughout the weekend. The other two guys, Connor and I am not sure the other guys’ name were from Pennsylvania. So, we ate dinner with them that night at Brisas del Mar and had fish, rice, water, and patacones (made from the platanos (bananas) verdes but were the BEST patacones I have had so far in Ecuador)—for $2.80. After that, we met up with Sue, Ricardo, Sue’s cousins and his friends and Marco at Coco Bar, and we ordered a batido de Coco. This is where we met Anita, Sue’s cousin’s girlfriend, a 20 yr old girl who is studying in Quito. She is just SO SO sweet and cute. Katie and I are hopefully going to hangout with her again in Quito before I head home. We left them for a bit and headed down to Coco Loco (where David and Kyle were staying) and hit up happy hour. At this hostal, it’s dormitory style, anyone can call happy hour when they want. (Not all throughout the day though of course). Anyway, so I got two Pina Coladas for $2. The funny thing is though, that they bring you both the drinks at the same time. Talk about looking like a lush! –The funny thing is, is that my drink of choice was definitely a batido. Katie and I decided that we would much rather have a batido than any alcoholic drink. We met a bunch of other people who are traveling at Coco Loco including Whitney, a 19 yr old who makes and sells Jewelry wherever she travels; Jared, the 18 yr old Canadian who talked about smoking weed all the time; Nick, the kid from Rhode Island; Carson, this hilarious tall skinny guy from CO and Chris. Anyway, so after hanging out with the guys for a bit, we headed back to Coco Bar with Marco and his friends, danced a bit, and headed to bed.

Sunday morning we got up and ate breakfast and met Tandrey, this guy from Portoviejo. He was drunk (yep, at 10AM… well, I’m not sure if he was drunk still from the night before, or had already started drinking) and really, really funny. We spent the rest of the day on the beach, alternating between lying out (for minimal amounts of time because it was so bloody hot) and walking along the beach. One of the big parts of Carnaval is being sprayed with crap all the time. This includes water, foam, water balloons, EGGS, etc. I got hit with all of these at some point during the weekend. Other people got hit with beer and flour. So interesting…it was just funny because I kept picturing people doing this in the US and imaging the reactions of some people. I highly doubt people would take it as well as people do here. (Usually, just laughing it off). We met this really cute older man who walked along the beach all day trying to sell natural coconut oil. He was a bigger man with a little bit of a waddle saying, “acete de coco lleve…” He ended up talking to us almost every day. We’d tease him and say, “Donde esta tu traje de bano?” (Where’s your bathing suit) and he would just laugh… Pretty soon, he’d walk by and we’d say to him “Acete de coco lleve…” not mocking him, just teasing him…he would just start cracking up and keep walking. He was adorable. Around sunset, Katie and I rented horses and rode along the beach. It was so much fun. It cost $2 for thirty minutes, but it was definitely worth it. It’s the first time I can remember riding a horse, so it was a great experience. For dinner, we tried Concha, which I’m glad I tried, but probably will never order it again. It’s just a shellfish which you scoop out the meat and eat with onions/cilantro/lime. A ton of people here really like ceviche de concha, but I’ve had my fair share of Concha with just this one portion. ☺ Later we went down to Coco Loco again, and had a Banana Colada. It was fabulous, although I think that I liked the Pina Coladas there a little bit more. At any rate, the Banana was a great change and delicious! Katie and I were both really, really tired, so we went back, ordered canguil (popcorn) and went to bed around 11.

Monday morning we woke up and headed to the Bambu hostal (probably the most popular hostal in Canoa) where we ordered coffee and juice and tried to do some of our Public Health readings. Tandrey ended up finding us again (he sings and plays the guitar, and we tried looking for him the other day but couldn’t find him). Anyway, he and his friend ended up eating breakfast with us and teaching us some bad words. It was funny… he was telling us how much he likes practicing English. So anyway, his shorts were wet from the ocean and he was trying to tell us that they were wet, so he couldn’t put a piece of paper in his pocket. He asked us the word for “mojado” and we told him it means wet so he says, “ok, ya, I wet my pants!” Katie and I were dying laughing. Then he says “No, no, no, I didn’t mean that” (when we explained in Spanish what he just said to us in English) and he says, “My pants are underwater.” I love languages—they make conversations extremely interesting. I’m sure though I’ve said things in Spanish that are incorrect and that people are secretly laughing at me. After we finished a little bit of reading, we headed back to our hostal to eat breakfast. We ended up eating with Sill and Hannah, the two Australians, who are SO incredibly sweet. We went and headed down to the beach, going away from all the people (there were somewhere between probably 12,000 and 18,000 people on the beach, it was INSANE. So, we layed out a bit, walked around, stopped by Coco Loco and hungout with David and Kyle, etc. The thermometer at Coco Loco said 38-40 degrees Celcius which is almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. HOOOOOOOT. We were walking back to our hostal in the afternoon when I was the target of a run-by egging. A boy ran by us, broke an egg on my head, and ran off. Happy Carnaval, I guess?! It actually was pretty funny. For some reason, every day, I was the target of many of the Carnaval happenings this weekend. After that, Katie and I bought a dress and a tank top from this Argentinean woman who crocheted them by hand. We each paid $45 for the two things, and they are BEAUTIFUL. I can’t wait to wear them. I know I will never find something like this (unless of course I go to Argentina, haha) Katie wore hers out Monday night, and we took a picture with the lady who made them. She told us that Katie was her model ☺, it was so cute. We ended the night fairly early with a coconut batido…

Tuesday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and packed up. Ricardo’s car had a flat tire, so we had to wait for Marco and Ricardo to drive to San Vicente and fill it up. We headed out around 10:15 after saying goodbye to two other girls we had met Monday who were also studying in Quito. Holly and Julia (they go to Creighton and Cornell), and were both really nice. I talked to Julia a bit about Rochester, since it’s about an hour from Cornell, and she actually has a best friend who goes to Rochester and really, really likes it. David and Kyle rode home with us, so we all split the gas cost. One the way home we stopped in Carmen, this city for batidos because Marco had told me that they were really, really good because their milk they use isn’t processed. It was by far the best, most amazing drink I’ve ever had in my entire life. Katie and I split a ham and cheese sandwich which also had oregano in it and then each had a batido. It cost us each $1.30 (for the drink AND sandwich) and was the best $1.30 I’ve ever spent in my life. The batido (coco of course) was made with real coconut, but truly was a piece of art. On top of the drink (which was made of coconut, ice, milk and a tiny bit of sugar) was a huge handful of shredded coconut, a cut strawberry, peach and grape, a tiny scoop of sherbet, a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk, and two different types of cookies. Katie and I were in batido heaven. ☺ The drive back ended up being just about 6 hours. It’s funny how I think 6 hours is actually a short drive, seeing as when we went to Montanita, it was about 13 hours one way in the bus.

I just got back from another class field trip, this time to Cotacachi (known for their leather products) and Pedro Moncayo. We were studying the health effects of the flower plantations as well as the participatory process in these local communities. It was really interesting. The two coolest things we did were 1) going to the home of a midwife and seeing her do a check-up on a 19 year old pregnant woman (this is old for this community of Indigenous population), and they did a mock vertical birth. It was pretty amazing. The CRAZIEST thing I learned at this woman’s house is that if the mother is having trouble giving birth, sometimes they dip a feather or onion in egg, stick it in the woman’s throat to make her vomit—the force of her vomiting helps the baby to come out. I’m REALLY sorry if this grosses you out, I just thought it was really interesting. 2) Today we went and met with this group of young kids (ages 8-18) who are in different groups and work on different projects with other young children. We just sat and talked with them for over an hour, talking about anything and everything you could think of. It was awesome.

Now I am back to Quito, and it’s really nice to be “home.” Tomorrow, I am going to a maternity clinic (the same one I once visited), but with the hopes to actually see some patients tomorrow. My friend went last weekend and saw a c-section. I doubt I’ll get so lucky, but that sure would be amazing. I found out on Wednesday that I got accepted to Northeastern University in Boston!! Decision time… If anyone has any information about either Rochester of Boston and want to give me advice, I’d be very thankful. ☺

I cannot believe the 7th week of school is already over… I leave 3 weeks from tomorrow to fly to Costa Rica to meet up with Conor and my parents. I will be sad to leave Ecuador, but REALLY, really excited to see my family. I’ll be home March 25th and can’t wait to see you all. What a fast quarter it’s been. Hope all is well with you all. Take care!!

Carnaval--absolutely wonderful

The only thing I can remember of last week (I think I was just too darn excited to leave for the weekend for Carnaval) but was Valentine’s Day. My “mom” and I woke up, went for a walk/run at 6AM, and when we came home, she gave me two red roses. For lunch that day, my parents took me lunch at this really cute café where we had fruit salads and bolones. (they are these fried things made out of banana with a little bit of cheese in the middle. They are really, really good.) After lunch, we had a few more hours of school and Katie gave me a bracelet, earrings, a book and chocolates. She is soooo sweet. That night I went to a folk-ballet called Hachiwa (?), which was a series of different dances that demonstrated many of the different communities/pueblos of Ecuador.

Carnaval was absolutely amazing… Katie, Marco Emilio and I left last Friday at 4 am en route to Canoa. The drive honestly wasn’t that bad, and we arrived in Canoa around 10AM. Canoa is beautiful. It’s a pretty small town with a huge stretch of beach, very few cabinas and maybe only one place to check internet. I didn’t check internet for 5 days, and I think that having such little access with the outside world is what made it truly a paradise. When we arrived in Canoa, it was raining. I remember thinking to myself, I guess I can’t expect that ALL of my weekend trips are going to be absolutely perfect. But, besides a little rainfall one other night, the weather was beautiful. All of us were exhausted from getting up so early, but after we were able to find a hostal (we hadn’t reserved one which could have turned out badly,) but we found one for about $13 a night at the Shelmar Hostal. We ate breakfast (yes, ensalada de fruta!—Katie and my favorite…) and went to lay out on the beach. At this time (Friday morning) there wasn’t a ton of people there yet. We broke up the day by eating lunch and laying out some more, and then decided to go to Bahia de Caraquez, which is this peninsula near Canoa. We drove from Canoa to San Vicente (about 10 minutes away) and walked onto a “ferry,” which was a little boat that carried people between San Vicente and Bahia. It cost $0.30. Bahia is really, really pretty and architecturally beautiful. It’s very modern. There isn’t a lot of beach though to lay out, so I was glad we were staying in Canoa. Katie, Marco and I walked around Bahia and sat for about an hour as the sun set. We met this really cute family with adorable children, this little boy and this blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, their parents and grandparents. They were all Ecuadorian and the grandmother actually invited us to her pool at some point during the weekend, which was so sweet. We said thank you, but didn’t end up going back to Bahia unfortunately. When we were walking back to try and catch the ferry, we were the targets of a drive-by water ballooning… Katie was the first victim and got pegged in the side of the face. They came back around, and somehow, we weren’t able to avoid them, and I was the next to get hit, and got hit in the rib cage at close range. Yikes. We ate shrimp that night, one of my favorite foods on the coast, returned back to our hostal, walked around a bit and experienced one of many power outages of the weekend. I’m not sure if it was because it was Carnaval or if this is a common occurrence, but, the power went out at LEAST once a day, always at night. A couple places had generators, but our hostal owners were reluctant to use theirs very much, if at all. ☺ These power outages lasted usually around thirty minutes, it actually was quite funny.

Saturday morning Katie and I woke up around 9AM and went for a run/walk along the beach. We came back and ate breakfast with Marco and then headed to the beach. Around noon or so, Marco’s friend Ricardo and his wife Suleka (Sue) came, so we all hungout a bit on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Katie and I really wanted a batido (we are obsessed with batidos.. I can’t even count how many I had this past weekend), but when we went to get one, the power was out again, so no one could use their blenders. It was sad, haha. Saturday we met some other international students who were also staying at our hostal. They are studying in Guyaquil and are from Australia and the US. The Australians, Sill and Hannah were SO SO nice, we ended up hanging out with them/talking to them the most throughout the weekend. The other two guys, Connor and I am not sure the other guys’ name were from Pennsylvania. So, we ate dinner with them that night at Brisas del Mar and had fish, rice, water, and patacones (made from the platanos (bananas) verdes but were the BEST patacones I have had so far in Ecuador)—for $2.80. After that, we met up with Sue, Ricardo, Sue’s cousins and his friends and Marco at Coco Bar, and we ordered a batido de Coco. This is where we met Anita, Sue’s cousin’s girlfriend, a 20 yr old girl who is studying in Quito. She is just SO SO sweet and cute. Katie and I are hopefully going to hangout with her again in Quito before I head home. We left them for a bit and headed down to Coco Loco (where David and Kyle were staying) and hit up happy hour. At this hostal, it’s dormitory style, anyone can call happy hour when they want. (Not all throughout the day though of course). Anyway, so I got two Pina Coladas for $2. The funny thing is though, that they bring you both the drinks at the same time. Talk about looking like a lush! –The funny thing is, is that my drink of choice was definitely a batido. Katie and I decided that we would much rather have a batido than any alcoholic drink. We met a bunch of other people who are traveling at Coco Loco including Whitney, a 19 yr old who makes and sells Jewelry wherever she travels; Jared, the 18 yr old Canadian who talked about smoking weed all the time; Nick, the kid from Rhode Island; Carson, this hilarious tall skinny guy from CO and Chris. Anyway, so after hanging out with the guys for a bit, we headed back to Coco Bar with Marco and his friends, danced a bit, and headed to bed.

Sunday morning we got up and ate breakfast and met Tandrey, this guy from Portoviejo. He was drunk (yep, at 10AM… well, I’m not sure if he was drunk still from the night before, or had already started drinking) and really, really funny. We spent the rest of the day on the beach, alternating between lying out (for minimal amounts of time because it was so bloody hot) and walking along the beach. One of the big parts of Carnaval is being sprayed with crap all the time. This includes water, foam, water balloons, EGGS, etc. I got hit with all of these at some point during the weekend. Other people got hit with beer and flour. So interesting…it was just funny because I kept picturing people doing this in the US and imaging the reactions of some people. I highly doubt people would take it as well as people do here. (Usually, just laughing it off). We met this really cute older man who walked along the beach all day trying to sell natural coconut oil. He was a bigger man with a little bit of a waddle saying, “acete de coco lleve…” He ended up talking to us almost every day. We’d tease him and say, “Donde esta tu traje de bano?” (Where’s your bathing suit) and he would just laugh… Pretty soon, he’d walk by and we’d say to him “Acete de coco lleve…” not mocking him, just teasing him…he would just start cracking up and keep walking. He was adorable. Around sunset, Katie and I rented horses and rode along the beach. It was so much fun. It cost $2 for thirty minutes, but it was definitely worth it. It’s the first time I can remember riding a horse, so it was a great experience. For dinner, we tried Concha, which I’m glad I tried, but probably will never order it again. It’s just a shellfish which you scoop out the meat and eat with onions/cilantro/lime. A ton of people here really like ceviche de concha, but I’ve had my fair share of Concha with just this one portion. ☺ Later we went down to Coco Loco again, and had a Banana Colada. It was fabulous, although I think that I liked the Pina Coladas there a little bit more. At any rate, the Banana was a great change and delicious! Katie and I were both really, really tired, so we went back, ordered canguil (popcorn) and went to bed around 11.

Monday morning we woke up and headed to the Bambu hostal (probably the most popular hostal in Canoa) where we ordered coffee and juice and tried to do some of our Public Health readings. Tandrey ended up finding us again (he sings and plays the guitar, and we tried looking for him the other day but couldn’t find him). Anyway, he and his friend ended up eating breakfast with us and teaching us some bad words. It was funny… he was telling us how much he likes practicing English. So anyway, his shorts were wet from the ocean and he was trying to tell us that they were wet, so he couldn’t put a piece of paper in his pocket. He asked us the word for “mojado” and we told him it means wet so he says, “ok, ya, I wet my pants!” Katie and I were dying laughing. Then he says “No, no, no, I didn’t mean that” (when we explained in Spanish what he just said to us in English) and he says, “My pants are underwater.” I love languages—they make conversations extremely interesting. I’m sure though I’ve said things in Spanish that are incorrect and that people are secretly laughing at me. After we finished a little bit of reading, we headed back to our hostal to eat breakfast. We ended up eating with Sill and Hannah, the two Australians, who are SO incredibly sweet. We went and headed down to the beach, going away from all the people (there were somewhere between probably 12,000 and 18,000 people on the beach, it was INSANE. So, we layed out a bit, walked around, stopped by Coco Loco and hungout with David and Kyle, etc. The thermometer at Coco Loco said 38-40 degrees Celcius which is almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. HOOOOOOOT. We were walking back to our hostal in the afternoon when I was the target of a run-by egging. A boy ran by us, broke an egg on my head, and ran off. Happy Carnaval, I guess?! It actually was pretty funny. For some reason, every day, I was the target of many of the Carnaval happenings this weekend. After that, Katie and I bought a dress and a tank top from this Argentinean woman who crocheted them by hand. We each paid $45 for the two things, and they are BEAUTIFUL. I can’t wait to wear them. I know I will never find something like this (unless of course I go to Argentina, haha) Katie wore hers out Monday night, and we took a picture with the lady who made them. She told us that Katie was her model ☺, it was so cute. We ended the night fairly early with a coconut batido…

Tuesday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and packed up. Ricardo’s car had a flat tire, so we had to wait for Marco and Ricardo to drive to San Vicente and fill it up. We headed out around 10:15 after saying goodbye to two other girls we had met Monday who were also studying in Quito. Holly and Julia (they go to Creighton and Cornell), and were both really nice. I talked to Julia a bit about Rochester, since it’s about an hour from Cornell, and she actually has a best friend who goes to Rochester and really, really likes it. David and Kyle rode home with us, so we all split the gas cost. One the way home we stopped in Carmen, this city for batidos because Marco had told me that they were really, really good because their milk they use isn’t processed. It was by far the best, most amazing drink I’ve ever had in my entire life. Katie and I split a ham and cheese sandwich which also had oregano in it and then each had a batido. It cost us each $1.30 (for the drink AND sandwich) and was the best $1.30 I’ve ever spent in my life. The batido (coco of course) was made with real coconut, but truly was a piece of art. On top of the drink (which was made of coconut, ice, milk and a tiny bit of sugar) was a huge handful of shredded coconut, a cut strawberry, peach and grape, a tiny scoop of sherbet, a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk, and two different types of cookies. Katie and I were in batido heaven. ☺ The drive back ended up being just about 6 hours. It’s funny how I think 6 hours is actually a short drive, seeing as when we went to Montanita, it was about 13 hours one way in the bus.

I just got back from another class field trip, this time to Cotacachi (known for their leather products) and Pedro Moncayo. We were studying the health effects of the flower plantations as well as the participatory process in these local communities. It was really interesting. The two coolest things we did were 1) going to the home of a midwife and seeing her do a check-up on a 19 year old pregnant woman (this is old for this community of Indigenous population), and they did a mock vertical birth. It was pretty amazing. The CRAZIEST thing I learned at this woman’s house is that if the mother is having trouble giving birth, sometimes they dip a feather or onion in egg, stick it in the woman’s throat to make her vomit—the force of her vomiting helps the baby to come out. I’m REALLY sorry if this grosses you out, I just thought it was really interesting. 2) Today we went and met with this group of young kids (ages 8-18) who are in different groups and work on different projects with other young children. We just sat and talked with them for over an hour, talking about anything and everything you could think of. It was awesome.

Now I am back to Quito, and it’s really nice to be “home.” Tomorrow, I am going to a maternity clinic (the same one I once visited), but with the hopes to actually see some patients tomorrow. My friend went last weekend and saw a c-section. I doubt I’ll get so lucky, but that sure would be amazing. I found out on Wednesday that I got accepted to Northeastern University in Boston!! Decision time… If anyone has any information about either Rochester of Boston and want to give me advice, I’d be very thankful. ☺

I cannot believe the 7th week of school is already over… I leave 3 weeks from tomorrow to fly to Costa Rica to meet up with Conor and my parents. I will be sad to leave Ecuador, but REALLY, really excited to see my family. I’ll be home March 25th and can’t wait to see you all. What a fast quarter it’s been. Hope all is well with you all. Take care!!

Watch out for agua mala/mala agua

Last Sunday, the 4th, I came home from Church so that Katie, her parents, Jim and Bliss and I could head to Baños. We left around 2:45, so we got there around 6:30pm. Anyway, I started Kite Runner on the way there, SUCH a good book. When we got there, we checked into the hotel (Katie and I stayed with her parents) and we went and found a bar to watch the Superbowl. The only thing that sucked was that they didn’t have the commercials which are the best parts! ☺ Oh well. I got a drink called the Grasshopper, NOT very good. Katie and I played a little pool with some of the locals, and after the game when Jim, Bliss, Ann and Stan went back to the hotel, we stayed out. We danced with this guy named Paulo and his brother, I’m not sure what his name is, but they taught us to Salsa.. So the next morning we woke up at had breakfast at the hotel and rented bikes for $4. Since Katie had already ridden the path, she was our tour guide. I think it was about a 7-9 km bike ride. Along the way we passed 5 waterfalls. We stopped at one point to ride in a cable car between these canyon like things. It was SO beautiful… Once we got across, there was this woman there who had this pet monkey. It JUMPED on me, I was only scared b/c one girl got bit by a monkey and supposedly got rabies. Don’t worry mom and dad, no rabies… yet ;) haha, just joking! Anyway, so then we made it down to Rio Verde, this small town, where we then hiked down to Rincon del Diablo (I think I spelled that wrong) but the English name for it is Devil’s Cauldron. It’s this HUGE waterfall, that was SO SO goreous. It was about a 20 minute hike to it, and then once we got back, we ate lunch at this cute little café. We got a ride back in the truck, and then afterward, Katie and I had to head home to work on our stupid Public Health paper. Jim and Bliss and Katie’s parents are so, so nice. Oh, and Jim brought with him granola, candy hearts and cherry sour balls that my mom sent. She also sent a Valentine’s Day card. I honestly have the greatest parents in the world. So, on the way back from Baños, Katie and I worked on our paper and I finished Kite Runner!!! We were up till about 11 that night working on the paper. (We missed Spanish Monday in order to go to Banos)

Tuesday we had our presentations and we were the only group to present in Spanish. Our presentation went really well. During lunch we walked to El Jardin and el Centro Commercial (two malls). I bought 3 DVDs for $4.50. (The Holiday, The devil wears Parada and Brokeback mountain). After school, we went down to the Mariscal to a bookstore and I bought two books. Then we bought our tickets for Puerto Lopez. Marco Emilio (my Ecuadorian brother) invited us to a soccer game Tuesday night, and I thought it was going to be some small league game. It was HUGe, with tons of people, drinking, swearing, etc. I tried an empanada borocho which was good, but really greasy. Liga, the team was playing Paraguay and ended up winning 3-0. The atmosphere there is incredible. This one section, I think it’s called White Death is CRAZY, jumping up and down and yelling the entire time. The third goal scored as a bicycle kick, it was INCREDIBLE. I found out Tuesday that I have a phone interview Friday with Northeastern University. That would be awesome if I have to make a choice between schools. We didn’t get back from the soccer game till 11:30. I was so exhausted because I had woke up that morning at 5:35 to walk/run with my mom.

Wednesday morning Katie, my mom and I went to el parque Carolina and we ran and stuff. It feels so good to run, I miss exercising. After school Wednesday, I treated my mom to a pedicure and manicure. It cost $11 (well $10 plus a little tip) for BOTH of us to get both things done. CRAZINESS.

Well, this past weekend was ABSOLUTELY fabulous. Thursday we just had two seminars and then everyone brought in an Ecuadorian dish. I brought pineapple juice and ahí. Ahí is made with tomate de arbol, onions, green onions, chochos, and I’m not sure what else. It’s a typical Ecuadorian salsa, people put it on anything! Anyway, katie’s banana bread deal was REALLY, really good, and so was Jeannie’s avocado salad. Britt made this chocolate stuff that tasted like brownie mix. It was delicious. After school, Katie and I packed up, went for a little walk and then flew to Manta. It was about a 30 minute flight. We then took a bus to Jipijapa and then from there to Puerto Lopez. In Jipijapa, we bought this banana that was on the grill, it was SO delicious! When we arrived in Puerto Lopez, this guy in a blue car with dark tinted windows offered us a ride in his “taxi.” I think he actually was a taxi driver, but we took a little moped deal that’s like a “Tuck-tuck,” at least that’s what Bliss called it all weekend. So, we checked into Hostel Mandala, ordered some popcorn and went to bed early. They were little cabanas, each named after a different animal, so we were the Tortuga, haha. The beds had mosquito nets around them… eek. The next morning we woke up fairly early on our own, and ran for about 20 minutes, walked another 20 and then we went and ate at the Whale Café. We each had fruit, granola and yogurt with a fresh juice. We met some guys who were from Ohio who had been climbing all the mountains, they seemed nice, but were heading to Montañita. After that, I had my interview with Northeastern University. The woman was really, really nice. She actually graduated from UW and got her Master’s there. She asked me why I wanted to do Nurse Practitioner and what experience I had. I asked her questions about the program… There was over 200 applicatants. They cut it down for interviews, but only have spots for 35 people. I’ll find out this coming week if I get in or not. Scary! I hope I have to choose between schools, but U of Rochester is a great school as well. I’m getting excited for nursing school, very excited. After my interview, Katie and I layed on the beach for an hour, and then by a pool at Hotel Oceanic, waiting for her parents, Jim and Bliss. I don’t think they ended up arriving until around 2, so we got some good sun time in. ☺ We then ate a late lunch at the hotel, went into town to set up a tour for Saturday. We came back, swam and all went to bed early.
Saturday was soooo much fun. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to Wiston Churchill (HILARIOUS name, no?) his business, because he was going to be his tour guide. His 9 year old daughter Alena came along, and she was so incredibly beautiful, sweet, adorable, etc. There were two other guys on the boat, I can’t remember one of their names, but the other they called “Africano” because he is so dark. Anyway, so the tour included seeing blue-footed boobies, some beach called the beach of love, snorkeling, La Isla Salango, more snorkeling and some swimming to this deserted beach. The first spot we snorkled at though, we all got stung by what they called “mala agua,” which apparently is either a small man-of-war, or a jellyfish. It hurt like HELL. We all had little welts and/or red lines all over our body. It stung for a good thirty minutes, haha. After the first snorkeling, we then fished, which was so much fun!! The “fishing poles” were blocks of wood with the fishing line attached. The fish we were trying to catch though were really, really intelligent. There were many times that they got the bait off the hook without getting caught. But, I ended up catching 4 fish which was really fun for me. Between the 6 of us, I think we caught 17 fish which Wiston and his two men used for Ceviche for lunch. They soaked the fish in limes, which caused it to no longer be raw(?), sort of (?) and then put in tomatos, green peppers and onions with a little bit of ketchup, mustard and peanut butter. It was really, really good. We snorkled at two other places, one of which had coral, so that was pretty cool. The prettiest fish I saw was this really small, floruescent blue one. I saw a lot of cool ones though, including starfish, so that was fun. We also saw a dead tortise ☹ apparently, it probably got hit by a boat. Sad! We also swam to a really pretty, deserted beach. Wiston invited us over for dinner Saturday night with his family, to cook up the rest of the fish we had caught. So, once we got back around 3 (we were out for about 6 hours,) we all napped. It was SO hot that day… I was exhausted. Katie and I got “Coco Loco’s” on the way to Wiston’s house… I think it’s basically the same thing as a Piña Colada without the pineapple. Anyway, it was SUPER strong, would have been better without alcohol lol but it was really good, with coconut chunks in it. Dinner at Wiston’s house was fun. The fish was AMAZING. We had fish, rice, some veggie salsa type thing and patacones. It’s crazy though. He has six kids and they live in this tiny place, with a loft area where they all sleep. No one in the town has running water. They gave me a shark tale necklace made out of a clam shell. They did an eenie meanie miney mo thing with Katie and I. His family was really sweet…

Sunday morning we slept in and then went to eat breakfast at the Whale Café again. Katie and I split a banana pancake and we also ordered the fruit, yogurt and granola. The pancakes were AMAZING. We then spent about an hour or so talking to the owner of the restaurant. He’s from California, has been in Ecuador about 24 years, and Puerto Lopez about 11yrs. He came to Ecuador because he was a shrimp biologist… Now he and his wife just own the restaurant. It was pretty interesting all the things he was telling us about the complications in getting land property, just the ways of Ecaudor, etc. After that, we shopped around a tiny bit, and Ann (Katie’s mom) but each of us a tie-dye dress, which is SUPER cute. It was so nice of her. Katie’s parents and Jim and Bliss are so amazing. We then came back and Katie and I layed in the sun for a last few 30 minutes, and we took the bus to Jipjapa. On the way there, I was sitting next to a guy who was like 40, and just kept talking and talking. I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was read, but that wasn’t possible. He was asking questions about like if I had a boyfriend, and he wanted me to meet his friend, etc. Thankfully, he got off about 25 minutes later. But THEN, this guy behind me, with like missing, crooked, grayish teeth wanted to take my picture with his camera phone, asking when I’m coming back to Puerto Lopez and his friend would take me to some national park. I was like NO, I’m not coming back here… and he’s like “why, it’s not pretty?” I was like it’s very pretty, but I don’t have time, etc. He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, in the US. Then he asks about here? And I was like “of course not, because I have on in the US.” So he’s like “infiel?” (Unfaithful) I was like NO. I don’t know what he was getting at. Gotta love public transportation, huh? Anyway, he finally got off as well, which I was very, very thankful for. Then a really sweet girl got on and talked to me for awhile. She said she had gotten on the bus with her “enormorado,” which means the person she’s in love with. It was really cute. Anyway, we then took a bus to Manta, waited for two hours or so and flew home. Now I’m home and SO ready for bed. I’m exhausted and going walking with my mom at 6am. I feel sort of chubby. My arms are definitely losing their muscle which is sad, they are kind of floppy! ICK. I’m going to Canoa EARLY Friday morning for Carnavalwith my brother and Katie. David and Kyle (both from CIMAS) are going as well. It should be really fun!
Love you all and miss you. I can't believe I'm halfway finished here... hope all is well

Finally... I made it to the beach

Well, it has been quite some time since I last updated. I can't even remember what I did really the week before I went to the beach, because well, the beach was THAT fabulous. Before we left for the beach though, school was pretty fun. We learned a lot about tropical diseases because that is what we spent this past week studying. Anyway, so we left Thursday night on an overnight bus to Guyaquil. It was supposed to be 8.5 hours, and ended up being 10, I think? Well, it wasn't so bad, until the bus driver and her friend decided they would play music, sing, and talk at 12:30 AM! I fell asleep with my fingers in my ear, and a TOWEL over my head, because it was freezing. What a night's sleep, huh? Well, we arrived in Guyaquil (Ecuador's largest city), and needed to catch another bus to Montanita (our destination.) Well, there was no direct bus, so we took a bus first to Salinas, which was about an hour away. We walked through the Guyaquil terminal with some lady and her kid. She told us she would walk us, otherwise "We'd be robbed." We followed her immediately. :)

So we took a bus to Salinas, jumped on another bus. And 13 hours after leaving Quito, we were finally in Montanita at 10am. It is THE CUTEST town ever. It's really small, with a bunch of surfers, hippies, etc. People just come there, and decide to stay. They make a living by making jewelry, clothes, purses, etc. It was heaven. We found a hostel for $10/night with a view of the ocean, a hammock in front of our door and I fell asleep every night to the sound of waves. There are crabs everywhere on the beach. The first day we spent on the beach, of course, and I was constantly applying sunscreen as it was really, really warm, and we are, remember, on the equator. :) I think by far my favorite thing in Montanita was the batidos. They are smoothies essentially, with whatever fruit you want, milk, ice and sugar for $1. They are heaven in a glass. I had at LEAST one every day. My favorite combination was peach, banana and pineapple. No one had coconut, but apparently that is even better! :) I went on this trip with three other people from my program, Britt, David and Katie. That night we went to this seafood restaurant and we shared 3 dishes. Lobster, shrimp and ceviche with fish. All of them were really good, and for all three dishes, it cost $25. :) Night life in Montanita is pretty crazy. People are up until 6 am, drinking and dancing. I definitely did not stay up that late, but we met two guys from England that night, had a few drinks, and called it a night fairly early, as Katie and I had decided to go surfing the next day.

So, Saturday, Katie and I went surfing at 9am. It cost $12 for 2 hours, which included a lesson, a rash guard, and the board. One of our instructors is a professional surfer. Pretty crazy. Afterward, Katie said to me, "I think it's really cool. We just took surfing lessons in Spanish." It was funny, because I had been thinking the same thing during the lesson. It was a blast. I can't wait to go back to the beach (next weekend and the weekend after to other beaches... Katie and I are really excited to surf again!) So, we spent the day on the beach again, laying around, walking etc. AT one point, Katie and I walked along the beach to find a group of Ecuadorian guys playing beach soccer. We joined them for about 20 minutes. I realized how much I miss soccer already. :) It was so much fun... I think they were surprised to see girls who could play soccer, haha. All day long on the beach people come up to you trying to sell you jewelry, coconuts to drink (it's just water basically, and NOT very tasteful!), popsicles, etc. There are groups of people playing the guitar, singing and dancing, and much more. It's really a fun/entertaining atmosphere. The sunset at Montanita is SO SO gorgeous. It was incredible. We spent Saturday night sitting on the beach as the sun went down, just in shock that we were in such a beautiful place. That night we went to this really small restaurant called the Happy Donkey. This guy cooked on a grill that was right in the middle of the dining room (if you can call it a dining room) and cooked us swordfish. When I read in Lonely Planet that the seafood on the coast is delicious, I didn't know how right they would be. I'm REALLY glad I found a recently liking for seafood, because it was to die for. That night we went out, I had my drink of choice, Pina Colada, and we danced at a club. WE met a guy there named Javier, who taught us some Salsa dancing. IT was really fun. Girls don't have to do much work... Just let the guy spin you. We have it so easy sometimes, don't we. :) The next day we woke up again, and spent the day on the beach. Unfortunately, we had to head back to Guyaquil at 5pm, because the next day (Monday) we had to meet our class in Santo Domingo for our field study on Tropical Diseases. We stayed in a REALLY ghetto hostel ($6/night) and it reminded us of a jail cell. Ha. Luckily, we got in late, and woke up early, so we weren't there for long. So, although I spent 3 full days in Montanita, it wasn't nearly long enough. I HIGHLY recommend this place. It's so relaxed, really safe, and has a really, really fun night life. I'm planning on going back the first weekend in march!

This past week we spent in Santo Domingo studying tropical diseases. We went to a few plantations, one of which we got to try many different fruits, including pineapple (YUM)--the guy cut it up for us with a machete, it was pretty hilarious. In Santo Domingo we stayed in a nice hotel with a pool, and the food was FABULOUS. It was the first place that we didn't have chicken, potatoes and rice for every dinner. They served us dessert after lunch AND dinner. :) Ahh, the life. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick Mon-Wed with a really upset stomach. Luckily it didn't go beyond being upset though, and now I'm all better! The next day, we went to a small town which has a high Malaria transmission rate, and we watched them do a chemical treatment on the walls of homes. This is the most effective treatment, but a lot of people don't cooperate, because it means that people have to move aside all of their furniture and wait outside for 30 minutes. Anyway, it was really interesting to see. This program, SNEM (National Service for Malaria Eradication) does this service for free which is pretty incredible. It was really interesting for me to find out all of the different breeding grounds mosquitos find their way into. We definitely saw some larva of mosquitoes that are able to carry the malaria parasite. SICK. There is also a problem with Chagas in these areas, which is another vector-borne disease, but carried in little beetle like things. Trust me, you don't want to see these little buggers. This past week, we went to another town that has a high transmission rate of Malaria. This town was extremely, extremely poor. One of the saddest things we saw there was these plastics that were in the town, and being used on the homes. They are plastics that are brought into town from greenhouses, so therefore, are completely covered in pesticides. They are "rinsed" in the river, and then sold to the people in the town, who use them in their homes. This is HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE for health, yet these people don't even know. It was really, really sad. The next day we went to the local hospital, which is a well known hospital. The most frequent illness here is anemia. The most disturbing thing to me in all of this, is that so many of these diseases, are EXTREMELY preventable. You wouldn't believe the poverty that I've seen. We then went to the Malaria Eradication center for a seminar, and we also talked with the entomologist. This guy was nuts. They capture mosquitos to study them, obviously, in order to see which types of mosquitoes are plauging which areas. Anyway, to keep the mosquitoes alive, they need food right? So, sometimes, when they can't find the right animals for the mosquitos, the entomologists (two of them), let the mosquitos get their fair share of blood from their HANDS. He said not to worry, these mosquitos don't have the parasites, although the other entomologist got dengue last week. He ensured he got it at his house, not in the lab... Hmm?

Anyway, so I learned a ton this past week. Montanita though, was by far my favorite trip so far. Katie (my neighbor/classmate/really good friend here), her parents and aunt/uncle arrive tonight) and tomorrow we're headed to Otavalo, supposedly the best market in Ecuador. I'm really excited. Tonight we made Katie's dad a cheesecake with a recipe off a box. (Yes, in spanish with Ecuadorian fruit...) for his bday. I'm excited to try it! Well, I miss you all and love you very much. Keep up posted with life, email me!!!

Oh ya, I got accepted to University of Rochester last week!!! So, that's exciting. I'm still waiting to hear on three more schools. Rochester starts in May, which would be a pretty quick turn around after I get back to the states. Anyway, take care!

Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games... Well, mostly just deet

Man oh man was this a fun and interesting week. We left last Monday for Santo Domingo de Los Colorados to do a field study on an indigenous tribe, called Tsáchila. It took about 3 hours to get there, and this we spent going up and back down the Western Andes, cars passing each other on curves and almost wrecking because a cow was crossing the road (on the way down the mountain). Santo Domingo is HUMID and sticky. We checked into our "hotel" (it was REALLY mildewey smelling, though I'm not sure that's even a word) and headed out to this nearby pueblo. We drove on a dirt road for about an hour, passing pineapple fields, papaya trees, etc.

The exerience was really cool in seeing a bunch of different traditions practiced by the Tsáchila. The men all wear blue skirt type things with white stripes and their hair is combed forward with this vibrant red color that comes from a plant called achote. Once, long ago there was a sickness and achote has good energy. So, they initially put this all over the body to rid of all the bad/negative energy in the body. So, now, they just do the hair for the same effect. After this, we went and got the opportunity to participate in a cleansing. Luckily for me, this did not involve having a guinea pig rubbed on my body, but what it did entail, we me taking my shirt off. (No, I was not completely topless!) Katie and I were allowed to do it as the same time, so we now like to say that we are Tsáchila sisters. Oh, we also were all given tribal names, and my name is Curoo. They threw out a few different names, at which the entire tribe LAUGHED at, including curoo. I found out it's some type of animal that resembles a prairie dog or rat. Wonderful. :) Then cleansing was an incredible experience though, and I knew that had I not done it, I would never get the opportunity again. First off, it was performed on a Shaman (called Poné in Tsáchila) who has to know at LEAST 200 different plants and their capabilites. So, the Shaman put rocks in my hands, spit some special mixture onto the rocks and was whistling the whole time. He would hit rocks together all around my body, and then hit an instrument which would vibrate on your skin. He then put these incredibly amazing smelling herbs in your hands and had you smell them, and then put some more of this secretive liquid on the herbs. We rubbed the herbs all over our body, and then he sprayed the liquid on our body by spitted it onto us. (May not sound too thrilling to anyone else,) but it really was a relaxing, peaceful experience. I felt at ease after it, as if I had no worries. We were told we couldn't shower until the next morning, and we weren't allowed to eat fish, pig, nuts, or anything spicy. We then saw a typical food preparation which would include banana, rice and potatoes. (i'm beginning to get a little sick of rice, potatoes and bread.--it's included in EVERY meal). They then did a traditional dance, and we tried some fruit which I still don't know the name of and I bought a bracelet and a really cool wooden lanza thing. :) Fruit, like I've said before is AMAZING here. I'm obsessed.

Then next day we hiked out to a sacred ceremonial spot for the Tsáchila and they did a different type of cleansing, which I did not participate in this one. All of the cleansings are done in order to get rid of bad energy and to bring in positive energy. This one was with a plant, which he flicked the herb mixture onto people. Everyone was SOAKED, and attracting mosquitos. Oh yes, the reason I say deet in my title, is because deet is my life saver. So far, I've been fortunate enough to only get 3 bites after spending nearly the entire week in bug infested territory. The best part for me about this day was learning about the health in this community. They have this guy named Leonitas who works with the Ministery of Health here to collaboarate and have an intercultural health system. So, approximately 50% of pregnant women chose to stay in the village to give birth because it is less expensive, more spiritual, and there is little to no transportation. They would have to walk 10 to 30km to the nearest healthcare center. So, Leonitas is teaching midwives and Shamans how to more appropriately deal with pregnancies/prenatal checkups. Privacy is a huge importance for the Tsáchila, so this is violated when they go to a Western hospital. There is a lot of anemia, malnutrition, diarrhea, parasitic diseases and respiratory diseases. It is really, really sad. Oh, by the way, I totally ate S*** down a really, slippery hill. We then came back Tuesday night to Quito and on Wednesdsay went to nearby cities to see more traditional medicine in practice. We went to the city of Guanamí where they have a hospital set up that offers both western and traditional medicine. They have a really good social work section and we spent a great deal of the time talking to them about what they do. They have a TON of violence and abuse in this city, so one of the programs they have set up is a parent/child contract that the child won't get abused. The kids wear these bracelets that say, "Abrazame te Quiero," which means, "hug me I love you..." and they have proven that it has stopped some parents from hitting their children. It makes me so sad to see such violence everywhere in this world.

We left Thursday morning and flew to Macas, which is a city in the AMAZON region of Ecuador. We drove a bus out to a nearby city called Sucua to see traditional medicine in the Shuar communities. We went to a traditional medicinal hospital, where some of the students in my group bought traditional medicines which included remedies for antistress, anti-cancer, stomach problems, etc. The hotel we were staying at in Sucua was AWESOME. There was monkeys on site (in cages unfortunately,) and a parrot that hungout in the trees saying HOLA all day. A couple of us played soccer before lunch and swam in the pool. It was REALLY warm on Thursday... YAY for the sun. We walked out to a garden in which the hospital grows plants that aren't readily accesible in the wild because they need to be maintained. So, they grow these in a garden to use and make herbal remedies for illnesses. Our night included witnessing traditional medicinal healings by a Shaman, and i have to say, was one of the strangest things I've witnessed in awhile. The Shaman drinks this thing called Ayauasca (I'm sure I butchered the spelling) but this is essentially a hallucinogten which allows him to see the past, and gives him visions for curing. We had to sit in abolute silence in this hut with a fire buring for 3 hours while people came in, and the Shaman took their evil spirts and bad energy from their bodies. He went around to each and every one of us before his patients showed up, and blew some stuff in our faces, blew smoke in our faces, and sucked the negative/bad energy from our bodies. He would also sing these songs, which was a part of the medicinal effect, and when he was sucking the energies out of my class, he would only sign sometimes... But did on me. Luckily, there was no meaning behind this I found it, it's just part of the process... When he would suck the bad energy, he would gag, because it apparently gets stuck in his throat, so he then would spit it out. It was CRAZY. After it was all finished, we were told that there was a possiblity that we couldn't get taxis back (taxis in Sucua meant sitting in the back of a truck bed...) and we would be walking for an hour. LUCKILY, two taxis showed up since it was not yet midnight (11:50.) We got LUCKY. The Shaman came to discuss it with us the next day about what happened, the process of becoming a Shaman, etc. His father was told by HIS father (so this shaman's grandfather...) said that a special boy was going to be born, and Ricardo, the Shaman we met, was born with these special powers. This is the most powerful type of Shaman. Others become a Shman after a strange impact/accident has occurred and they survive, or if someone learns to become a Shaman. He said when he sees a bad vision there are sparks everywhere. In order to advance yourself, you must follow norms and rules, which for a year includes no eatting pig meat, ahí (sort of like salsa), cuy (guinea pig) and no sex... Pig meat to some people is REALLY negative, and will make your positive energy smaller, so this particular Shaman avoids it at all costs. A lot of dedication, no? Anyway, so really, a very interesting experience. It has been so informative and incredible to witness this form of treatment which I have never really thought too much about before. To see it, and the amount of people who believe in it, is really amazing. So, Friday morning we left Sucua, and headed to Macas to a tour agency. We got hooked up with this guy name Rafael, and went to this place called "Huer de Eden" which is a place with a bunch of rescued South American animals. They were SO different than any I'd ever seen before, so it was fun.

We stayed at a hostal for $8/night and woke up REALLY early the next morning to head out to the JUNGLE. We drove out of Macas for 45 minutes on a bus, and then hiked for 30 minutes through the jungle through sometimes kneehigh mud. Luckily we had some good boots and I DIDN'T fall this time! We crossed a river via a canoe and stayed in this hut which resembled a Shuar (indigenous) home. It was SO cool. It had a hammock inside, these beds which I think were made out of Balsa, and like a loft type thing which people slept on. We got there and it was raining pretty hard, but we immediately went for a hike up a REALLY steep hill, but when we got to the lookout point, it was incredible. The jungle stretched for MILES, even all the way to Peru I guess. It was SO beautiful and surreal. The coolest thing was learning about the many capabilities of Balsa wood. It is used for gel, as a lubricant for pregnant women, to build huts, rafts, etc. I was in shock at the ability for these people to construct such amazing things (they place we stayed, a raft, etc.) then came back for lunch. It was some type of soup, I'm not sure. We then hiked again and saw this ENORMOUS tree which is over 1,000 years old, which has roots that can extend up to 60 or 70 meters long. We learned about a bunch of different medicinal plants and then headed back to eat MORE. We ate fried yuca ( VERY traditional root) with ahí and this fruit called Guyana (?) which was delicious! Then we put on our swimsuits and headed up the river to one of the guide's brother's hut, and we then went back down river to SWIM. It's really cool, because there are two different river which merge into one. But one is the black river, and is black because it is just rocks at the bottom, so it's really clean, the other is not so clean, but when they merge, you can see the two distinct rivers. It's really crazy. Apparently, they say there is one anaconda that lives in the river, and because they are territorial, there is only one. Luckily, I didn't have any encounters with it. :) Afterward, we came back and two other girls and I helped two of the guides cook dinner, which was done almost entirely by campfire and headlamps. It was INCREDIBLE. We had chicken, beef, rice, this salad with peapods, apple and corn, a tea from a jungle plant and for dessert, fruit cocktail. It was probably one of the best meals I've head in a really long time. It took 3 hours to make the entire meal. Oh, and we made chifles which are banana chips from scratch and they are SO amazing. it was really fun though, because the two guides we cooked with were 25 and 18 so we just talked the whole time, they told us some spanish jokes, taught us some slang. It was SO fun.This morning we hiked back and they packed us into ONE truck with all our backpacks (there is 14 of us), 14 sleeping back, 14 pairs of boots and drove us back into Macas. We ate breakfast, and then flew back and now I'm at home... My home away from my Maple Valley home. :) It really was such a fun weekend... We're back in Quito this week for school, and have some homework assignments to complete. I'm off to dinner and then to do homework. Miss you all and love you!!!

First week of school and Papallacta

Beware... this is long. I try to journal on my computer everyday, so I take what I've written straight from there... Read if you want and if you have time! :)

So Monday morning began for me at 5:50AM and I went for an hour long walk with mi mamá. It was really fun. I may try to run a few times a week through the park while she is walking. Monday was our first school day. Dr. Suarez led the first part of the morning and just talked to us at first about how the program got started, and what we would be doing. His wife, Mariana Suárez introduced herself and talked a little bit about the program as well. We found out that this week we are flying to the Oriente (Macas) to study the traditional medicines. I am SO, so excited. We are then in the fourth week going to Santo Domingo de los Colorados to study tropical medicines and then to the high part of the Andes during the 7th week to study the impact that flowers has had on la salud (health) de la gente. During the first part of the morning we discussed health in general and what we are going to be aiming for throughout our program. It’s kind of hard though because everyone in our group is at very different levels of Spanish. What I was really happy about though, is that Dr. Suárez talked primarily in Spanish, and explained only a few things in English when people had questions. During our time here, we will be working together to construct new alternatives to specific health problems plaguing the country.

Starting in Guyaquil, they began to destroy natural forest to develop plantations. Much of the tropical forests have been destroyed. So, instead of naturally running out of the forest, when it rains, the water remains in stagnant pools. The destruction, migration and unsanitary conditions has brought about mosquitoes and transmission of tropical diseases. The forest had been almost sort of a boundary, so the species were in check. This is a continuing problem which we will examine during our field work in Santo Domingo de los Colrados. Our final trip will be to the high areas of the Andes in which we will find out how the development of cut flowers has had an impact on health. There are many greenhouses and these flowers are perfect. There is an extreme use of pesticides though, which has caused birth defects, cancer, miscarriages, etc. I am really looking forward to learning about all of these issues. It’s sort of nice to be excited to go to school. ☺

Ecuador has approximately 19,000 species of plants, and although in sheer number it isn’t the leader in the world, in terms of number of species per sq. km, Ecuador leads in almost every category. (Birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, mammals, etc.)

Tuesday morning I got up around 6am and Katie, mi madre y yo walked through El Parque de las Mujeres. Katie and I walked separately, at a little bit of a faster pace. Tomorrow we are going to El Parque Metropolatino with Marco Emilio (my “brother” here), and I think that I am going to try to run. It will definitely be hard though because of the altitude. I find that I run out of breath PRETTY easily. The first lecture of the morning was given by Dr. Suárez and was very interesting. It was development, the environment and health. He discussed the fundamental assumptions of the collective health. He talked about how there is a serious contradiction between the abundance of money and the number in poverty, along with the number of sick people in a world of health.

One of the most impacting statements he said was this, “Can you be poor in love, belonging, social participation, being hurt by society? YES.” Because of these different poverties, we must expand our definition. “Can you be poor in love?” I will NEVER forget that statement.

For lunch I went to the fruit stand and the pandería. There is a LOT of consumption of bread here… I got a banana, mango and small roll. Katie, Jessica and I came home and sat on the balcony and ate our food. On the way home, this girl stopped us and asked us for a story of something that happened to us while in Ecuador. Apparently it’s was aired on the radio. I just talked about how that little girl spit the flowers on my table. Katie told the story about how she said she was “soltera in Ecuador” which I guess means that she’s looking for a husband. Pretty funny. My meal cost me a total of $0.36. CRAZY.

During my Spanish class we learned some interesting facts about Ecuador that I thought I’d share:

1. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world
2. Galapagos has another name: Archipielago de Colón
3. Average age for men is 69, and it is 74 for women
4. 52% of the population is Indiginous people, and 40% is mestizos (indigenous/Spanish).
5. The official language is Castellano
6. There is only 1 doctor for every 789 inhanbitants

Wednesday morning I went running in Parque Metropolitano and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, beautiful, beautiful. It is really up sort of on a plateau, so you can see all of the city, the mountains, etc. It’s essentially a forest of eucalyptus trees, with tons of trails running in between the trees. I have never seen such a beautiful “park” in my life. I guess we are going to go there every Wednesday, so I am very excited. I’m going to have to take my camera next time so that I can take pictures. I ran for about half the time (25 minutes) and walked con mi madre for the other part of the time. Afterward, there was a jugo stand and my mom bought me jugo de tomate de arbol. The juice is 100% fresh and straight fruit juice. So they squeeze out all of the juice into a bowl, then they strain the juice/seeds to get rid of the seeds and the pour the juice straight into the cup. It was $.50 and absolutely delicious. If you come here for no other reason, it should be for the juice and the fruit. They are superb! I am very much going to miss the juices and fruit from here when I leave.

We ate our mangos outside at CIMAS on the patio and made a mess of ourselves. We skinned the Mango with Katie’s pocketknife and tried to eat the mango like a plum. BAD, bad idea. We ended up with Mango stuck in our teeth, all over our hands and face, and I even managed to get mango on Katie’s leg. It was hilarious. I’m obsessed with Mangos.

Later that afternopm. Katie and I were planning on seeing a movie with Mario, but instead we went to the Centro Commercial and El Jardín. Both were really high scale malls. Katie and I both got a t-shirt of the Ecuadorian soccer jerseys. We got coffee and Sweet and Coffee, a treat of Mario. It was really nice.

Finding out about Bush wanting to send in 20,000-24,000 more troops within the next few months was how my night concluded. A HORRIBLE way to end the night. Some of the troops are supposedly leaving as soon as a few weeks…These are brigades from Kansas and North Carolina. Keith, my boyfriend, is in the brigade that will leave from Fort Lewis. They aren’t sure when they are supposed to leave, but it will likely be before they (and I) were anticipating, which is in May. I’m praying he won’t leave while I am here.

Thursday morning mi madre y yo went running this morning…. Well, we walked there (to El parque de las mujeres) and I ran for 25 minutes through the park. Then, we walked, but home a different way. So, in total, I ran for 25 minutes and walked for 55. It was great! The only thing that sucked was that my throat sort of hurts and I have sinus pressure. Anyway, so before school I sat outside in the sun and read for class. I really didn’t feel well Thursday, I sneezed about 1700 times and my nose was sniffly. Every time though I went outside, I felt a lot better, but then I’d come back in and I’d be all stuffed up. I was the sniffly kid today.

For lunch Katie and I went to the fruit stand and I had a mango and we bought a pineapple to cut up… We cut it up, and had that and split a roll and ate it on my balcony. It was perfect. I LOVE LOVE LOVE mangos. Yum… The mango was $0.25, the pineapple we split, so it was $0.30 each and the roll was $0.10. CRAZY. After lunch, we had a long, very interesting talk with Jordana about poverty and health. First, she gave us our schedules for next week. It sounds pretty cool. We had to sign a waiver saying that we won’t drink anything during the traditional medicinal ceremonies, and that if we decide to take part in it, it may be embarrassing/uncomfortable. (Sacraficing a guinea pig after wiping it on you…making you strip down to your underwear/bra, etc.) I’m going to do it. At least, I think I am. ☺ Although my parents (sorry mom and dad!) may not be too thrilled with the idea, I know I will probably never again in my life have the opportunity to be in part of a traditional medicinal practice. We'll see if I actually have the guts to do it when it comes down to it.

Today we talked about poverty and in Ecuador, 40% live below the $1/day line.

After school I told mi Papi that I didn’t feel that well, so he brought me downstairs. My Ecuadorian mom gave Katie and I empanadas hot out of the oven, tea and Maiz toastada (which tastes like corn nuts). Then they gave me some menthol to put under my nose and I took a short nap before dinner.

After dinner (a stir-fry type thing, tea, limonada and tortilla de papa), Teré made mi papa y yo some herbal remedy that they told me to take, and that I wasn’t to leave the house, only lay in my bed after drinking it. It was two different drinks, one wasn’t bad at all, but the other was SICk. I honestly have no idea what it is. Haha, I do know that it’s made me very tired, and I slept VERY well that night.

Ok, so on Friday, we went with CIMAS to three different hospitals, to demostrate the differences between high, medium and low level hospitals. The first was Hospital Metropolitano. It was incredible. It was supposedly modeled after an American Hospital, and it was quite obvious that it was. It was really clean, spotless… There was this glass walkway that connected the different buildlings, with a tube on the ceiling that transported medicines & prescriptions. BUT, only 7-8% of the population here can even afford to come here. CRAZINESS. It makes me so sad that such a nice hospital is in place, yet hardly anyone even uses it.


The next place we visited was in South Quito, a dangerous part of town. It is the poorest area of Quito. Food and veggies are distributed from here. It is a Municipal (city) Hospital called San José and is primarily for pregnant mothers and their children. While we were driving there, we were stopped on our bus, and a nearby car backfired. I honestly thought it was a bomb, and that we were being attacked. (Our bus said “Tourismo” on it… could we have been an easier target?) Nearby this Municipal Hospital, there is a clinic which sends nurses into markets to have direct contact with people, to assess needs.

Facts about this hospital:
• $2.50 consultation fee. Cost going up. This is still considered pretty expensive. AT Hospital Metropolitano, it would be $80-100.
• $100 for a natural birth, $150 for C-section.
• Minimum wage here is $160/month.These prices though, include all costs.
• This clinic is not regulated. See people that have never had services.
• Outside, there were TONS of people waiting, and most likely have been waiting since 5:30AM. (It’s now 11AM). They will wait all day, likely. Once they’ve been called, they get to come inside, but will wait INSIDe in a waiting room.

The third hospital we visited is funded by the Ministry of Health. It is low level of health. We didn’t even know before we arrived if we would be able to get a tour, because it had recently been on strike.

This type of health is supposed to be “free”, but it isn’t. you have to pay for EVERYTHING. A doctor will give you a list of the stuff you need to buy, including BLOOD type, which you will buy at a blood bank. Family members will run around all day trying to find every piece of equipment/supplies necessary. Suministros Hospitalarios Medicinas de especialidades---this is one of the stores where you can buy a lot of the necessary supplies for a surgery. Hospital = ENRIQUE GARCÉS. When Jordana first got to Ecuador, many of the hospitals were on strike for the entire YEAR. The hospital was very, very empty due to the recent strick. At the bottom of the stairwell there was a guard with a shotgun. There were bars on the windows inside. Very, very different from Hospital Metropolitano.

When we got there, Jordana and the other guy from CIMAS (I forgot his name), said that this was very typical of a state hospital. The director of Education and Hospital had already left for the day. It was 12.:37pm. Someone said, “well, do you really need someone to take you around?” They were going to have us go by ourselves… There is a law that says medical personnel can only work 4 hours. This was because a recent pay increase affected full-time and part-time people the same. Therefore, they now only work 4 hours a day. INSANE.

This hospital made me very, very sad. It was the most bare, basic place I’ve seen in my whole life. It was a little bit frustrating too, how we were treated. We are here to try to make a difference in the health system, or at least to try to come up with ideas as to how to improve the health system. But, I can see how maybe they think we’re imposing upon them. I’m not sure.

We then took a cab ($3) to La Clínica de Maternidad. We had called earlier last week, letting the head of the clinic, Anita know that we were coming. Jess Burke in my group got hooked up with a nurse from the USA that sent her with a 45 pound of supplies for us to bring to this clinic. When we got there, Anita wasn’t there, and it as a little confusing. We initially thought that the woman who talked to us, WAS Anita, so when she asked us what she could do for us, we were REALLY confused. (Jess, Katie and I). So, we finally got ahold of Anita, who ended up coming around 4:30, because we had initially told her we wouldn’t be there till 6pm. While we were waiting for Anita though, oe of the workers brought us a huge plate of crackers, cheese and peach juice. When Anita arrived, she showed us the place. There were no patients there… They usually come in the morning so she said that she’d call us and let us know a good time so that we can come back, observe, and even practice some things! YAY!

Anita explained to us how the electrocaudery machine doesn’t work and they have the same part that Tami (the lady that sent Jess down with the supplies for us to bring to them…), but it still isn’t working. She looked through all the supplies and told us how she could really use some more gauze, birth control pills and a little sonogram deal so that the mom can hear the baby’s heartbeat. She said how it’s much more emotional/sentimental that way, instead of the doctor only being able to hear the heartbeat. Anita gave us a ride home, which was really, really sweet of her. On the car ride home she started to tear up when she was thanking us. She was saying how here in Ecuador, nobody will help another person. Maybe they give a dollar or two, but no one would be as generous as Tami has been in donating the supplies.

After we got home Katie and I decided to try this Argentinian restaurant (Los Troncos) because Katie’s brother Mario told us it was really good. We tried some dish, something simple, and it was NOT good. It was breaded meat, and I’m still not sure what kind of meat it was. Whoops. Katie goes, “Well, I’ve never had breaded meat before.” I was dying laughing. We had jugo de tomate de arbol which was fabulous as always, and veggies that were good, but it was GROSS GROSS GROSS. Dinner cost about $8 (SO expensive for Ecuador and it was so nasty!) and $0.75 on the taxi.

I found out on Friday that I got accepted to Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. It was one of the first schools I have applied to, and I am still waiting to hear back from a few others. Scary though, because Western University wants me to decide by January 26th, and I’m not sure if I’ll have heard back from the other schools by then. Hmm, decisions, decisions.

So Katie and I decided to leave early Saturday morning for Papallacta, because if we didn’t go, I wouldn’t see it. We spent $2 each on the Taxi to the bus terminal, and we definitely think that the taxi driver took advantage of us. It’s so annoying to be a gringo, it doesn’t matter how much Spanish you know… they will try to jipe you and make you pay more than you should. Our bus ticket cost $2, and I bought a really cute, $3 purse. We waited about an hour for the bus. When we finally got on the bus, this kid came up to us when we sat down, pretending to work for the bus company. He checked our tickets and then said he’d take our bags, that it is “más seguro.” Well, luckily, I’m not an IDIOT and I told him no thanks. He got off the bus and walked away. He didn’t work for the bus company at all. AHH. People continually get on and off the bus to try and sell things, even while it is moving, until we get completely out of the bus terminal. It’s pretty funny. So, we finally go to las termas de papallacta, and got dropped at the bottom of this dirt road. We walked up the hill, both of us pantly pretty heavily. (We later found out the las termas are at 10,800 ft. WOW!) Las termas = natural hot springs, and man were they amazing! Thinking I’d never find it, we got to the top of the 1km hill and saw the hostel we wanted to stay at. Hostería La Pampa de Papallacta. It is a really cute place with 2 brand new hotspring pools. The hostel cost $10 which included breakfast on Sunday morning. We bought lunch for $1.75—Katie and I split trucha (trout), which was REALLY good, arroz, ensalada, sopa and this family that we met when we sat down bought us a beer. It was nasty, Pilsner. Afterward, we walked up towards the hotsprings to check it out, and also to check out the hikes they had available. We decided not to hike, and headed back to our hostel. When we checked into our room, the guy that cleaned our bathroom was named Jaime. He’s Columbian. He told Katie and I that we should “talk later because I am Columbian and you are from the United States.” Hmm, well, the logic didn’t make sense to us, but what can you do? We then walked down into Papallacta which is a very, very desolate town. I don’t even know how they buy food, because there were hardly any stores. It’s all dirt roads. We bought a pineapple though and bananas ☺ The pineapple was .70 and the banana .15. Afterward, we laid in the sun at the pool at our hostel. We met this lady named Loreana, who is thirty years old and her daughter Atenella, 6 years old. She was SO adorable. The mom was really sweet, and we ended up talking to her for probably about an hour and a half. We were even talking about our beliefs, God, faith, etc. it was just amazing to me the things I have been learning about and discussing IN SPANISH! ☺ They are from Latacunga. The water was really warm, it was very surreal to look around me, see mountains, the SUN, and to be laying in my bathing suit in a natural hot spring. It was pretty amazing. We then decided to go to the Baleanario which is at the Termas de Papallacta. It was SO SO cool. They had a bunch of different baths of different temperature, and the architecture was fabulous. We only stayed about an hour though because it was really, really hot. On the way back to our hostal we stopped and bought a glass of tomate de arbol in a local restaurant for $1. While we were eating dinner later that night, we met this kid named Lewis which randomly went to high school with two of my guy friends from college. Weird. Anyway, there was a big group of people from Boston College staying at our same hostel. So, after dinner, Katie and I went in to Lewis’ room because he had built a fire and we met two of his friends, Nora and Mary. They all were very nice. Nora is a nursing student at BC, so I was telling her how I had applied there. Wouldn’t it be funny if I ended up there. I keep realizing how very small the world is! Right before bed, Jaime (the Columbian) came and wanted to hangout, but we told him we were going to bed. He gave us a heated blanket because the rooms were very, very cold. Katie and I went to bed early, around 10pm and woke up at 8:45 today. It was great to get a good night’s sleep as I’ve been a little bit sick. This morning we woke up and had breakfast—bread, juice, scrambled eggs and tea. Lorena and her husband and Atanella ate with us for a little bit before we packed up and headed out. We walked down to the bottom of the hill and tried aguardiente (sugar cane alcohol) at some little restaurant. The fact that he let us try it for free should have been an indicator to me that it doesn’t taste very good. It was AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. We caught the bus and headed home…. I ate lunch (their lunches are HUGE here! I had corn on the cob (HUGE kernels), a soup, meat, and another corn thing, juice and THEN they wanted me to try this OTHER corn thing, that tastes very much like corn bread. I was STUFFED) and have just been relaxing since. It’s really hot out. I tried to lay outside for awhile but I was hot and I’m tired too. It is now 5pm, and they had me come downstairs for tea and finish the cornbread tasting deal. I couldn’t finish it. I’m pretty sure we’re also having dinner. YIKES

I have been here now for 11 days, and have not even spent $80 yet. Pretty incredible.

I won’t be able to blog for probably another week or so, as tomorrow we’re headed to Santo Domingo de los Colorados (Mon/Tues), back in Quito (wed) and then in Macas—SOUTHERN ORIENTE (Thurs-Sunday) where we will be observing (and participating? in traditional medicinal ceremonies.) I can guarantee my blog for next time will be pretty interesting. ☺


Random thoughts:
1. Kids are constantly selling stuff on the streets. Do they go to school?
2. Glass is stuck onto the tops of concrete walls…. To try to stop people from climbing over. While cement is drying, they just stick pieces of glass in it!
3. Miel—any type of syrupy substance? Mi madre had me put it in my juice this Friday morning for my throat. Hmm…
4. The other night, Teré took this hammer like thing and broke apart the block of brown sugar on the kitchen floor. It was pretty crazy.
5. There are no driving laws here. People just pass all the time. Pedestrians definitely don’t have the right of way. We RUN across the streets because many people have gotten hit by cars!
6. A high number of people have maids here. Apparently, if you can afford one, you REALLY should have one (according to social rules?!).

Hope all is well… Please, whether you agree with the war or not, keep the troops in your prayers. ☺

Don't ever say no to someone who is selling you roses...

My trip started off a little rough. My flight to Houston, which was supposed to leave at 6:20AM, left 9:45AM, and landed at 3:30 in Houston. We made it to our gate by 3:45, and only because we speed walked like I’ve never walked before, only to find that our new plane, the one supposed to leave at 4PM for Quito, had a leak in the engine that needed fixing. The plane was worked on for 2.5 hours. Luckily, there is an adorable girl, I think at least partially Ecuadorian sitting next to me. Her name was Mia, she’s 18 months, and was quite entertaining.

I woke up the next morning and had breakfast which was provided for us. I had ham and eggs, this juice made from tomate de arbol (a really delicious tomato only found in Ecuador), which was REALLY good, and half a crossaint. The beds weren’t bad at all, probably partly because I was so exhausted from lack of sleep, but they were fine! Then we hungout for a bit, We then (Katie and I), a girl in my program, walked around Quito, new town, through a park that was hosting a market, went through some shops and then ate a cup of fruit which was a combination of papaya, watermelon, banana, orange and mango, I think. It cost 50 cents. Everything is so cheap down here. Later went out to “Gringolandía”. Ecuadorians call white tourists “Gringos.” We went to Sutra, this smaller bar, but everyone but Katie and I ended up leaving. We ended up talking to one of the waiters, Carlos, and Fausto. The one thing I do not like already about Ecuador is the amount of smoke here. Apparently approximately 80% smoke and man, the bars are awful. You go home reeking of smoke and needing to take a shower because your hair smells so horribly. Be thankful (well, if you don’t smoke) for the rules we have in Washington!

The next day, CIMAS (our school’s name) picked us up and took us to our “school,” essentially an office building for introductions, warnings, what to expect, etc. It was a little bit overwhelming. Lunch was really good, it was Locra, a potato soup, a traditional piece of Ecuadorian meals. There was also fresh watermelon and mango. The fruit here is absolutely delicious. We have a fresh juice every morning and also with dinner, and the avocado is to DIE for down here. After lunch we learned about the computers, what to expect from our families and what they will expect from us. I was picked up by my “Mama,” y technically, my “brother,” who is 33 years old. My mami’s name is Olga, my papi es Marco y mi hermano es Marco Emilio. I met tons of the family that day, as Marco y Olga’s daughter, husband and kid(s) were leaving for the US. So, I went with them to the airport, and everyone was crying. I started crying. I felt so ridiculous because I had just met their family, but it was really sad seeing everyone say goodbye to their sister/daughter/grandchildren, etc. My family is really nice, and told me that their house is my house and I can use anything. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. I feel very fortunate.

The next morning Katie and I walked to school. (It’s THAT close.) A lot of people have to take the bus to school every morning, even possibly 30 or more minutes away. I feel very fortunate. The buses are extremely crowded and hot, thus the reason why it is necessary to always keep your backpack or purse in front of you. It is not uncommon that someone would cut your backpack in order to steal from you. Also, I guess one needs to watch out for little kids because they will surround you, or if by themselves, will pickpocket you. It makes me so sad that these kids are so incredibly young, and forced into this situation. It’s even more sad that I know this kids are bringing the money straight to their parents and not seeing an ounce of it. We visited MANY churches. I think that just in old town Quito, there are 27 churches. Incredible. We saw Santo Domingo, San Franciscan y Basilica. We also visited the city museum. Basilica was by far my favorite. It was the most amazing church I’ve ever seen in my life. The stained glass they had there was SO, so beautiful. We climbed all the way up to the top of the towers, and had to climb these really, really steep steps in order to get to the top. The view was absolutely beautiful. You could see all of Quito. For lunch we had an empanada, I think it’s called mote, which is a cousin of corn, tortilla de potato, fried bananas, and lettuce, tomatoes and onions. This also is a very traditional plate in Ecuador. There is almost always a soup to begin with and then meat, potatoes and/or rice. We had limonada to drink, it was fabulous. It was really, really nice today. It was fun too because I got to talk to a bunch of the people in our group and get to know everyone a little bit better. We went to city center though also. We walked all day long, but it was really a fun day. I just looked at our syllabus for school and it looks pretty awesome. We’re not going to Guyaquil anymore which is a little disappointing, but I’m sure wherever we’re going will be great. Honestly I am SO SO lucky with my homestay. I am so close to school, so I will save money on transportation, and I have WIRELESS. A funny story from one of the nights… Little boys and girls constantly try to sell you things at night, and the police shoo them away from selling to tourists. Anyway, so this little girl was trying to sell us roses, and was chewing on a pedal in her mouth. There were four of us (Misti, Allison, Katie and I) sitting at this table saying, “No gracias…” Well, apparently she didn’t like our answer because she SPIT the chewed up rose pedal right in front of me on the table. Thus, if anyone offers you rosees, please buy them. Food/drinks… EVERYTHING is really cheap down here. You can easily get lunch for $2 and there is this place in town where from 4pm to midnight, every day of the week, they have happy hour. They have like 10 drinks that are 2 for 1—So, each drink is $1.50. Pretty incredible.


Today I went to church with my host mother, father and empleada. It was only a few blocks away. One of the things I love about Ecuador is how close everything is. It’s probably because I’m in an enormous city, but at least where I live, I’m within walking distance from a LOT of things. After church Katie and I left around 11:30 to meet Joi and Erica to take the bus to La Mitad del Mundo. (Middle of the world.) We took the bus ($.25) and had to switch buses again, where I ended up sitting next to an older man named Victor Hugo. He was SO SO sweet. He pointed out different things, saying their Spanish names to me for the entire bus ride (This second bus ride was about 30 minutes long). He was adorable and 77 years old. So, when we finally arrived at the Mitad del Mundo, he took on the role of being our personal tour guide for the day. Apparently he comes quite often, as many of the workers knew him well. Sundays are really fun at the Equator in Ecuador because there are tons of demonstrations with traditional dancing and music. There are a ton of people there, including Ecuadorians who where Salsa dancing to the music. So, we took tons of pictures of the monument, walked around a bit and then ate lunch in this café that overlooked the dancing. Victor made sure to talk to the waitress because he wanted us to be able to see the dancing while we ate. He then left. Afterward we sat outside and watched the dancing and walked around a little bit more upon meeting back up with Victor Hugo. We bought and egg to see if it would balance on the equator, and it DID! It was crazy. We’re wondering if maybe there is some trick to it and it isn’t really true, but it was pretty sweet. I got a few pictures of it. Tomorrow I am going to go walking with my host mom at 6 in the morning around a nearby park. So, I’m off to bed soon. I will have more exciting updates later on as I go on weekend trips and my excursions with school. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I am looking forward to it as the topics we are studying seem very, very interesting. The weather here is incredible. I heard it's pretty cold, even snowing in Seattle and I can't say that I miss the weather at all. It's been about 70 here every day, but feels much hotter since we're so close to the quarter, and approximately 8,000 (I think?) ft up. Hope everyone is doing well!