Colombia

I went to Colombia this past week so that's the reason for the delayed blog post. I was visiting friends of my mom who had studied at Penn State with her. On Monday we went to a fair with indigenous crafts from across South America. The goods they were selling were different from the usual stuff they have in Ecuador so that was interesting. Bogota itself is huge. I had kind of felt like Quito was pretty big being 1.5 million people, but Bogota has 8 million. The public transportation is pretty awful and there are always traffic jams. At night we went to a park where they had set up lights and Christmas decorations. It was more impressive than it sounds although very Americanized.

On Tuesday I visited the old historic center of Bogota. It was pretty impressive. There were loads of churches. We walked by the president's house and visited several museums including the Museum of Gold which was pretty cool. There were loads of old artifacts and the like. On Wednesday we drove to the department of Boyaca. For those not familiar with South American colonial history, there was an important battle in Boyaca which ended up being the decisive battle where Colombia gained its independence from Spain. The battlefield was pretty neat and there was a cool monument for Simon Bolivar. Simon Bolivar is "el Liberador" or the liberator and is practically worshiped all over South America. After visiting the battlefield we drove to Villa de Leyva which is an old colonial town. All the architecture is colonial and the streets were all cobblestone which I thought was pretty awesome. From there we visited some ponds that were incredibly blue and we also visited a fossil museum with a huge aquatic dinosaur skeleton. For lunch we stopped at an ostrich farm so I ate ostrich. It wasn't all that great. It was more similar to beef than chicken and very chewy.

On Thursday we drove back towards Bogota and visited a sacred lake called Guatavita. Apparently it was the original El Dorado, but there are so many places that claim to be the original El Dorado that you need to take that claim with a grain of salt. The lake was cool though. It was on top of a mountain and surrounded by more mountains. After Guatavita we went to La Catedral de Sal, which is a cathedral carved into a salt mine. I really liked it. It was huge and built with a series of tunnels. Everything was carved out of the salt rocks.

The last day I climbed a mountain called Monserrate which had a view of Bogota. The city was covered in a layer of visible pollution. After that I visited the Quinta de Bolivar which was a mansion where Simon Bolivar lived for a bit. It had a nice garden as well. Apparently Bolivar was really short. He was only about 5'4. I walked through Bogota's main university before leaving for Quito again. The university was pretty big and had a pretty nice campus. There was lots of graffiti everywhere. It was mostly pro-communist stuff. The students named the main square Plaza Che.

In other news, Stephan is coming to Ecuador tonight. We'll be heading to Peru on Thursday so I probably won't update this until I'm back in the states in January.

Catedral de Sal

Guatavita

Villa de Leyva

Battlefield of Boyaca

The Colombian President's house

Fiestas de Quito

This weekend was the Fiestas de Quito. The entire week had events including bullfights. I went to one on Friday. It was pretty cool, but pretty gruesome at the same time. I knew that they were going to kill the bull, but actually seeing them stab it was pretty nasty. I was kind of rooting for the bull at times. The bullfight was cool in part because it was such a big event. Walking into the stadium we got showered with free stuff. Anything from cards, hats to snacks were given to us. It is a pretty high class affair, and everyone there wears a stupid hat. Luckily we got given hats, so we wore them to fit in. The toreadors were pretty good. Apparently they're the best in the world. There were two kinds of bullfights. One was the traditional kind with a guy with a piece of red cloth. First however there was a guy on an armored horse that would stab the bull with a spear while the bull tried to knock the horse down. Then some other guys ran by with hooks and stabbed the bull and then ran away as fast as they could. Finally the actual toreador came out with a sword. He would toy with the bull for a while and then stab it with his sword. Eventually the bull would die. Two of the toreadors did that, while the third one came out on a horse. He would ride around the bull and stab it with various spears and such. I preferred that kind, it was a bit more exciting. It was interesting how the toreadors would taunt the bulls and strut around the stadium in stupid poses. Each toreador went twice so we saw six bulls get killed. I can really see where the people who want to ban bullfighting are coming from.

On Sunday we tried to go to a Liga soccer game, but the tickets were being scalped for ridiculously high prices so we decided against it. Since we were playing one of our rivals from Guayaquil, I had some threats yelled at me by opposing fans because I was wearing my Liga jersey. We went to a bar instead to watch the game then. After the game we went to an indigenous market close to the bar and Rafael Correa (the president of Ecuador) came strolling past us. He said hello to one of my friends there so that was pretty cool. We spent part of the day walking through the park where there was loads of stuff going on. They blocked off a street to hold a concert. At night we went to old town and looked at some of the festivities going on there. There was another concert and it was pretty crowded. Another thing about the Fiestas de Quito is that there are loads of chivas. Chivas are party buses that blare music while people drink, whistle and dance all while the buses drive around town. Afterwards we headed back to the fiestas going on close to the park. People started campfires with cardboard in the middle of the streets which was kinda cool. We had Monday off because December 6 is the day Quito was founded. We went to a concert way in the South of Quito. The Wailers were performing which are the group that Bob Marley used to play with. It was pretty cool.

Cuenca

Three friends and I decided to skip class on Thursday and Friday to go to the colonial town of Cuenca in southern Ecuador. We took a night bus from Quito on Wednesday night. The bu ride was about nine and a half hours. Cuenca is a really cool city. It's much more European than Quito and churches are absolutely everywhere. They have a cathedral that's almost completely made out of marble which is pretty sweet. In our first two hours there we visited 6 churches and one gun shop that was attached to a church. We decided to have a thanksgiving lunch. Since we are in Ecuador, I figured guinea pig made more sense than turkey, so I split one with one of my friends. It was better than the one I had in Latacunga. In the evening, we challenged a group of Ecuadorians to a soccer game. It was fun, although we did end up losing.

On Friday we went to Parque Cajas. Cajas is one of the most awesome places I've been to. It's a huge park with loads of lakes, mountains, and trees to climb. We sort of stayed on the paths, but spent a good portion of the day going cross country and blazing our own trails. There were occasional llamas along the way as well. There were some sweet forests with little rivers going through. We also found a cave, so we went spelunking for a while, which was as awesome as it sounds. At the end of our hike, it started hailing.

Saturday we went to some old Incan ruins called Ingapirca. They were kinda cool, but not as impressive as I had hoped. According to my guide book they were one of the top ten things to do in Ecuador. While they were sort of impressive, we only had two hours to see them, and 5 hours in bus to get there and back, so I did not think it was worth it. However, after having seen them, I only need to climb Cotopaxi (which is planned for in two weeks) and then I've done all ten so that's pretty cool. We took the last bus back home at 9 in the evening. We had to leave Saturday night, because today is the Ecuadorian Censo. The Censo is their census and is really stupid. Everything is shut down and you have to stay in your house all day. Nobody is allowed outside. Supposedly you can get arrested or fined if you are outside your home. Why? I have no idea. It might be to make sure that you're not hiding anyone who's not supposed to be there, but seeing as I was asleep when they came and didn't check, it's not very effective. Anyway, I'm just stuck inside all day so I was catching up on sleep. I got back at four in the morning with the night bus we took.

Ingapirca

The cathedral in Cuenca

Pichincha

This was a pretty eventful week although I didn't actually leave Quito for the first time since early September. Thursday was the first leg of the semifinal of the Copa Sudamericana. Liga was playing against an Argentinian team called Independiente. Tickets are hard to get so a couple friends and I decided to go super early to get them. By super early, I mean that we woke up at 5:30 so we could leave the bus station at 6. We got to the stadium around 6:30 and there was already a pretty long line. The tickets didn't start being sold until 9. Once they started selling tickets the line moved pretty fast. The game itself was tons of fun. It was raining the whole time, but was still really cool. Right before our team was about to come out, two guys came up to us and told us they were going to shoot off fireworks in front of us when the team would come running out. When we asked why where we were, they pointed to the ground at a giant X that was painted right at our feet. Unfortunately, some security guards stopped them, so we didn't get to shoot off fireworks. We were given flares though so that was exciting enough. We ended up winning 3-2.

On Saturday I got a group of my friends to climb Quito's volcano, Pichincha. We took a cable car partly up and then had to hike from there. Although everyone claims that there are roving bands of barbarians waiting to mug tourists at the top, we still decided to go. The hiking was both fun and difficult. The altitude made it pretty hard. It was a cloudy day so we were hiking through clouds. The summit of Pichincha is 4680 meters. It got cold pretty fast, and soon we were hiking through hail. There was also snow around which was cool. Unfortunately, it started thundering while we were hiking, so we figured it probably wasn't too safe hiking through the clouds during a thunderstorm. We did press on to the summit, but we only stayed briefly, and then hurried down. The total hike took about 5 or 6 hours.

Random Pictures

This is the crowds at the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana. We won 1-0

Me being healed by the Huacas at Mama Negra

I didn't actually use the fork and knife

We had Pirate Week on campus one random week, so they built a sunken ship into our pond.

This was before the round of 16 game. Fans climbed the fences and shot off fire extinguishers. We won 6-1

Sigsipamba

I finally made it on my second Andinismo trip this weekend. The trip was to Sigsipamba, which is a rock climbing location, so I was pretty excited. Originally a friend of mine was going to come as well, but he couldn't make it at the last minute. So when I got to the meeting place, it turned out that there were 12 Ecuadorians and me. Before we went rock climbing, we went walking along an abandoned railroad track which had been made into a nice path. We walked about 15 kilometers along it. It was pretty cool. It went through some tiny little villages. There were also tons of stray dogs. Eventually we got picked up by some of the other guides, and we drove to Sigsipamba from there. We had to go along some very rough roads on the way there.

The climbing was pretty cool, but we couldn't go often because there were lots of people there and it got cold pretty fast. I also don't know how difficult it was. They use the French climbing scale in Ecuador, and I'm used to the American. When I asked them what the difficulty was, they told me it was absurdly high, although climbing it wasn't bad. So either they rate them differently here, or the conversion is different than what they thought. We then drove to our campsite which was cool. There were lots of rabbits there which the Ecuadorians found very exciting. One guy mentioned that he had only seen three in his life. The campsite was next to a forest that looked like a miniature Fangorn Forest so that was pretty sweet. We grilled at night. The guides made a little charcoal pit and the Andinismo professor brought a huge slab of meat. We also had some bread so we made sandwiches. They were pretty delicious.

It rained at night, so we weren't able to boulder (climbing without being attached to ropes) because the rocks were wet. I was a bit disappointed, but the alternative ended up being much better. We drove to a small town and took another long walk. This was at another part of the abandoned railroad. There was much more nature there though. We got to walk through old abandoned railroad tunnels which was really sweet. On the side of the path were gorgeous canyons and valleys. Eventually we got to an old railroad bridge where some of the guides had already driven to. They were standing there with harnesses on and ropes attached to the rails. They then told us that we were allowed to rappel down to the bottom structure of the bridge and then climb back up to the top of the bridge. The bridge was 150 meters high, so there was quite a drop. I ended up doing it, and it was really fun. When I got to the top, some old guy was walking by and told us to be careful doing that. Apparently 68 people have died doing what I just finished. If nothing else, this experience in Ecuador has made me feel pretty bad ass.

At the bottom of the bridge

Climbing up

Rappeling down

One view of the surrounding valleys

An abandoned railroad tunnel

Galapagos Pictures

Great Frigate Bird

Baby sea lion chasing a land iguana

If you don't like this picture, you have no soul.

Island of Floreana

Obligatory Blue Footed Booby Picture

Mama Negra

On Saturday I went to a small town a hour and a half South of Quito called Latacunga. The reason I went was because on Saturday they have their biggest celebration called Mama Negra. Mama Negra is pretty much a mash up of everything they can possibly celebrate with Catholic and Indigenous elements. From what I gathered, the main point is celebrating a virgin, (I assume the Virgin Mary but I'm not completely sure) who protects the city from Cotopaxi's (the most famous volcano in Ecuador) wrath. They ignore all the times that it was destroyed and celebrate the times it wasn't. Anyway, somehow Mama Negra comes in who is a guy dressed up as a black woman. But my guide book assures me that this isn't racist at all.

Anyway I left Friday afternoon with a friend of mine, whose host family was going. He has a host brother who owns an apartment there so we could crash there. We spent Friday evening walking around Latacunga exploring a little. We then went to a restaurant where I finally had cuy. Cuy is guinea pig, which I had been looking forward to eating ever since I knew I was going to Ecuador. I actually went on a cuy eating binge this week. Thursday night was the first time I had it, but it was only a quarter of one, and the head was not there. On Friday though, we made sure to order the entire thing. It was amazing. We had the whole thing on a plate, teeth and all. We took the obligatory pictures (I didn't have my camera, but when I get his pictures, I'll be sure to post them). Then we had it cut in pieces and ate it. It's impossible to use a fork and knife so we had to use our hands and barbarically devoured it. The meat was very similar to duck, just a thousand times better because it was a guinea pig. After eating nearly everything, we only had the head left. Naturally we had to finish it off. I ended up eating the tongue and eyes as well, although Thomas, my friend didn't want to eat those in front of his host mother. The Ecuadorians at the restaurant watching us were amused with our enjoyment of the guinea pig.

We went to the Mama Negra festival the next day shortly before 11. It was a parade, but it was pretty much the best parade I've ever been to. People were dressed in different costumes, mostly indigenous and they would dance around the whole time. Thomas's host mom had friends who had a house right next to the street where the parade was taking place so we had a good view. The parading people would just give alcohol to everyone and it was pretty sketchy, but fun. Also the friends of the host mom would give us plenty to drink. The favorite drink there was watered down whiskey which was kind of disgusting. The paraders had several multicolored drinks which were bright green, purple, red, and blue. They tasted pretty nasty actually. Towards the beginning of the parade, I was looking in one direction, and all of a sudden got dragged into the middle of the parade. I was surrounded by "huacas". Huacas are witches who are all dressed in white. They proceeded to poke me with deer antlers, blow smoke onto me, shake leaves all over me, and chant. When I thought they were finished, I got aguardiente (really strong sugarcane alcohol) spit all over me. Then I had to drink from a bottle of some type of alcohol and gave them 50 cents. So now apparently I'm healed and will have good luck. It was pretty cool. Besides the huacas, another cool thing of the parade were the cuy wagons. Cuy wagons had some poor guy who was carrying a whole roasted pig on his back along with roasted guinea pigs, chickens, and rabbits. There were also bottles of alcohol attached to the roasted animals. Other cool paraders included people who painted their faces black and would go up to people in the crowds and yell what I think were Spanish jokes at them and then have them drink from their alcohol. Some paraders also gave us chicha, which was the best tasting thing they served us. Chicha is a traditional fermented drink in the Andes. By the end of the parade I had made a lot of friends with several different people there including a policeman named Martinez who was trying to keep order. He was doing pretty good with his duty, although another police officer was forced to drink some of the watered down whiskey by some persistent Ecuadorians. All in all it was a pretty cool experience.

Galapagos

I just came back from the Galapagos Islands. It was really one of the most amazing places I've ever visited. We left Sunday morning and flew to Guayaquil. After a layover there we flew another 2 hours over the Pacific to the Galapagos. When I got off the plane I saw a guy chasing an iguana off the runway. That was a pretty cool welcome. Then we got in a bus and drove across the island. The airport is on an island called Baltra which is pretty much a boring version of Arizona. It was really not what I expected. However, we drove to a crossing where the water was incredibly blue. It was like I was in the middle of one of those fancy beach screen savers. We took a ferry across where I saw a brown pelican flying around. The tour group gave us a really cheesy booklet with a checklist of animals to cross off. Naturally I decided that it would be a great idea to fill it out. We then took a bus on to a Galapagos tortoise reserve. There were tons of tortoises because it was mating season, so they were walking along slowly. They were really impressively big. It was super cool because I had remembered watching videos of them in school but I had thought at the time that I would never actually see them. We then went to a research station named after Darwin with more tortoises. I thought it was ironic that they named a tortoise breeding station after Darwin, because Darwin spent his time on the island eating tortoises. Anyway, it wasn't as exciting as seeing them in the wild, but we did see Lonesome George, who is the last of his specific species of tortoise. We also walked through a lava tunnel which was pretty much the same as any tunnel.

After all the tortoises we walked through the town where we could buy overpriced tourist stuff. Then we took a dinghy to our cruise ship, the Coral I. The cruise ship was amazing. We had a jacuzzi (although it was never on), a bar, and the rooms were pretty nice as well. Unfortunately I kinda got seasick so I took probably an unhealthy amount of motion sickness pills and felt a bit better. There were some Germans on the boat as well so I spent some time talking to them. It was really embarrassing how much Spanish got mixed up in my German, but I got it under control. The boat rocking was nice for sleeping though, so I slept really well.

We had to get up at seven on Monday and had breakfast. We disembarked at Isla Espanola. There were tons of crabs on the rocks. Then we saw some sea lions which are a lot cooler in person than anywhere else. When we kept walking we noticed that sea lions were absolutely everywhere. Since they don't have any natural predators on the islands, they don't have a fear mechanism, so you can walk really really close to them and they don't care. Watching them walk was hilarious as well. There were also tons of marine iguanas there, which were fairly big and very colorful. There were also lava lizards. I also saw my first blue footed booby there which was super exciting. Then there were also albatrosses and frigate birds. There were also some Nazca boobies, which weren't nearly as exciting as the blue footed boobies. We then returned to our boat and had lunch. We got snorkeling gear and then returned to a different beach where we went snorkeling. Unfortunately there wasn't a very good view where we were, but since I didn't really know what I was doing, it was good to practice a bit. There were sea turtles swimming around though so I could see them without snorkeling. The beach was also full of sea lions. At night there weren't any clouds, so I spent about an hour and a half star gazing. There was an amazing view because there aren't many light distractions in the middle of the Pacific.

During the night we sailed on to Isla Floreana. We walked around and saw lots more sea lions and crabs. We got to a lagoon but none of the flamingos were there. We got to a different beach where there were sting rays. We got to see them and one actually touched me. It only stings you if you step on it, so I was ok. There were hundreds of them floating close to the beach. Then we got to go snorkeling again. I knew what I was doing this time so I got to see a lot more. There were tons of tropical fish swimming around. I also saw a sea urchin. The highlight though, was that I got to see an absolutely gigantic sea turtle feeding really close. Then a sea lion started playing with us, so it swam all around us. It was really awesome. We then returned to the boat and had lunch, and then we had the option of going on a dinghy around this island or to go deep sea snorkeling. I went snorkeling again, and it was absolutely worth it. Apparently there was a shark right beneath me, but I didn't see it. Everyone else did though, so I have witnesses that I swam with sharks. My toe was bleeding at the time as well, so I'm pretty hardcore. There were lots of tropical fish again, including a really green parrot fish. I saw an octopus. Everyone was freezing, but I had rented a wetsuit, so I was really warm. It was a really good investment.

After that snorkeling adventure we had a short break and then headed to another part of the island where there's a mailbox. The mailbox is actually a barrel and stems from a pirate tradition, where sailors would drop letters in it and hope that someone who is heading back close to their home delivers the letter for them. Now it's a tourist attraction where tourists do the same thing. There was a soccer field close by where our crew was playing soccer. So we watched them for a bit and then headed back to the boat. I had befriended the waiter on the boat so I talked to him for a bit to practice Spanish. I then spent some more time stargazing.

That took us to Wednesday which was also our last day in the Galapagos. We came to Isla Seymour. There were tons of birds here. And sea lions, which are still awesome but everywhere. There were also huge land iguanas. The main attraction here were the frigate birds. There were two types, the great frigate bird, and the magnificent frigate bird. Frigate birds are the ones with the big red pouches for those who don't know. They were nesting and flying around so that was super cool. There were also loads of blue footed boobies. We then returned to the boat and took a short ride to the island of Baltra to return home. I spent the last trip on the top deck and there were frigate birds flying right over top of me. One was literally close enough that I could have grabbed it had I stood up. Unfortunately my camera died at this point so I couldn't take any pictures, but it was awesome.

We got to the airport at 11 and we were all sad that we had to leave. However, they told us that the plane was delayed about a half hour. Next thing we knew it was delayed until 3. Then until 4. I got sick of waiting at the airport so I went for a walk. Unfortunately they built the airport on the most boring island in all of the Galapagos. Like I said earlier, it's just a really boring version of Arizona. There was nothing at all except cacti. We finally ended up leaving at 4:15. I didn't think I'd be glad to leave the Galapagos, but after five hours of waiting in Baltra, I was pretty glad to get on a plane. I'll post pictures later, I don't have time to upload them right now.

Soccer and Crucita

I went to a Liga game on Tuesday. Liga, officially Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito is the most popular soccer team in Quito. We're also the best. Anyway, the game I went to was the round of sixteen of the Copa Sudamericana which is the equivalent of the UEFA cup in Europe. Its just one step below the Champions League, and Liga is the defending champion. We had lost the first leg of the round of sixteen 4-2 so we had to win 2-0 or 3-1 or better. We had purchased tickets for the top section of the stadium so we could observe La Muerte Blanca (literally White Death, its the nickname of the crazy Liga fans). However the stairs were closed off and we were informed that we had to sit in the lower section. So we ended up sitting right next to La Muerte Blanca. It ended up being awesome. They were singing the whole game and before it started some climbed the fence in front of the field and emptied maybe twenty fire extinguishers into the air. We ended up winning 6-1 so there were six goals to celebrate. After goals some people would just chuck their cups of beer into the air regardless of whether it was full or not. I only got sprayed with beer twice though. All in all it was amazing though.

This weekend I went to the coast with my Volcanology class. We went to a small town called Crucita. The hostel cost ten dollars a night and was directly in front of the ocean. I thought it was funny thinking about how expensive that location would be in the USA. The water was not cold at all so that was pretty sweet. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to lounge about on the beach though. We went in the bus around and looked at rocks. We did stop at a very secluded part of the beach with huge waves where we stayed for a little bit. The food was very good as well. Although everyone warned us about not eating at sketchy restaurants, I ended up eating at one for breakfast. The breakfast they served me was fried fish and fried bananas. It was very good but not what I would typically think of as breakfast food. We had been promised to go paragliding on Sunday, but there wasn't enough wind, so I was really disappointed. The bus ride there and back was incredibly long. It was around eight hours. The scenery was pretty awesome though. The bus ride really let me appreciate what everyone said during orientation about Ecuador's biodiversity. We started out at the coast and made our way through jungles until we climbed up high into the mountains.

Our isolated beach with cool rocks

A side alley in Crucita

The beach across from our hostel

Banos

So I had a pretty action filled weekend. On Thursday I went to a Capoeria show at a club. Capoeria is a kind of martial arts/dance thing. For anyone who has played Tekken, its what Eddy Gordo does. To be honest, that's the only reason I went. The performers came from around the world, most of them were from Brazil though. The performance was very impressive with the exception of one guy who was dressed as a farmer and rapped terribly for 45 minutes.

On Friday my day started out in Andinismo where they had attached a rope from the top of the gym. Class consisted of us tying the correct knots and then climbing the rope to the top by using these knots to support us. It was pretty awesome. I decided to go to the town of Banos (Banos is spelled with a ~ over the n, but I don't know how to type that) with several of my friends that afternoon. We left our bus station close to our homes at 3. Unfortunately our bus passed through a pro-Correa demonstration, so we were considerably delayed. The bus had to go a different route, and we arrived at the Quito bus station almost 3 hours later. The actual bus to Banos was surprisingly very comfortable. It was the first time I actually had leg room in a bus in Ecuador. We arrived in Banos pretty late and found our hostel and ate dinner. The hostel was very nice, but not really secure. There were several times when nobody was inside to open the locked door for us, so on several occasions one of us jumped the fence to open the door.

On Saturday we rented bikes to go down "La Ruta de Cascadas" (Waterfall route) It went along an actual street but the scenery was amazing. True to its name, there were tons of waterfalls that you could see. There was a cable car that some of us took to get up close to one huge waterfall. From there we could climb on the rocks next to it, so that was a lot of fun. There was also a five year old girl operating the cable car on one side so that was kind of funny. After that excursion we continued biking until we got to a bridge. This bridge was the site of "puenting" (literally bridging). What puenting is though, is bungie jumping without a bounce and off of a bridge. You pretty much swing around after you jump off. Naturally I decided to do this. After I had my harness on and stood on top of the bridge and looked down, I figured it wasn't the best decision I could have made. The guy in charge was just saying "tranquilo, tranquilo" but I was terrified. Eventually I made the leap down. It was probably the scariest thing I've ever done in my life. It was awesome though. Apparently there was another place that is much higher but we didn't make it there. A couple of my friends also went puenting, so I now finally have a good response when someone asks me if I would jump off a bridge if my friends did.

After that adrenaline rush, we continued on to another waterfall called "Paillon del Diablo" or something like that. It was a huge waterfall and we were allowed to climb behind it in tiny passages. It was an incredible experience. After the waterfall, we took a bus back to Banos. We ate lunch really late and then I went dune buggying with some other people. We took these dune buggies down a road and went past the zoo. The zoo was labeled "animal prison" on the map so I thought that was pretty funny. We went through a tiny little town where we were chased by dogs so that was fairly exciting. We then went down another trail where we had great views of the river. When we got back to Banos, we got a little lost so we were just driving through traffic in these little dune buggies. We got back eventually though. Our dune buggy was pretty old and beat up though. They were literally fixing it right before we got to ride it.

That night we rented a bus to get a good view of the volcano. Unfortunately there was clouds so all we saw were clouds and fog. We did get canelazo which is a type of really good tea. It was possible to put in aguardiente, which is a really strong sugar cane alcohol. It literally means fire water. Somehow one of my friends ended up with a full cup of that, and it was not drinkable at all. On Sunday we went hiking. The mountain we climbed was really steep and the trail was slippery. The view at the top was great though. We then took the bus back to Quito.

Our group that hiked on Sunday

Our dune buggy

Swinging after puenting

Scariest moment of my life

Santo Domingo

On Saturday I went to a small indigenous village close to the Ecuadorian city of Santo Domingo. The tribe was called Tsachila. There are only about 2500 of them left and they're trying to preserve their culture. The village leader gave us a tour of the main sights there. He was dressed in a blue skirt and had black stripes painted all over him. He also had his hair partially dyed red. The plant they use to do this is the same plant that we gave ourselves war paint with in the jungle. Anyway, the village was pretty interesting. They gave us a musical demonstration where they had a xylophone and drums and rain sticks. Then they danced for us too. We then got a spear throwing demonstration where we were allowed to throw it as well. Then another villager gave us a talk on the politics of the community and cultural customs such as weddings and funerals. After all that, we got to be "healed" by the village leader. The healing consisted of us going down five at a time in a dug out hole with a thatched roof. There was some kind of incense burning that smelled really good. Then the shaman guy started whistling this tune and shaking leaves over us. He then rubbed wet rocks on our faces and necks all while whistling this tune. I thought it was hilarious. I didn't want to be disrespectful, but I was struggling not to laugh. I nearly lost it when he started spitting water all over us. I managed to hold my laughter in, but it was hard. Anyway, after being healed we left the town to go have lunch.

Lunch was in a property that was started 60 years ago by some rich crazy Russian woman who wanted to live in the jungle. She built a hostel and golf course in the middle of Ecuador. The place is still owned by her son, Sergei. After eating, he gave us a tour of the area. Apparently its a mecca for bird watchers. The grounds were pretty cool, and Sergei was pretty passionate about his work there. He was a pretty cool guy who was in the Ecuadorian special forces for a while. Apparently part of his training was being able to survive in the jungle for several months with minimal equipment. He had a pet dog, Rodolfo who absolutely loved me. He would follow me around the whole time and whine every time I didn't pet him. In the tour of the grounds we got to eat fresh tangerines which were very good as well.

We then went back to Quito. The bus rides we take to and from these places are really amazing. The views are awesome, I really didn't realize what a beautiful country Ecuador was before I came. We took the bus through mountains and there were picturesquely placed houses really in the middle of nowhere along the roads. There were also tons of waterfalls along the road. The one thing that bothered me though, is that outside of Quito it seems that everyone is living in poverty. The little that I saw of Santo Domingo was poor and rundown. Going to Tiputini, the city of Coca was the same way. Most of these other cities seem to be slumtowns. When I went to Mindo, I had talked to a guy from Santo Domingo and when I mentioned I went to USFQ, he made some remark about me being a rich kid. That really struck home when I was looking at the surrounding areas. I feel like the university is really way too decadent comparatively to the poverty in Ecuador. Having a lagoon and waterfall that goes off every 30 minutes is really unnecessary when the rest of the country is full of poverty.

Rodolfo

Lizard chilling in the bathroom

Monkey in the village

Tsachila performing

Papallacta and Cuicocha

So this weekend I had two field trips for Volcanology. On Saturday we left for Papallacta at 6:30 in the morning. The highlight of Papallacta is that it has hot springs which are naturally heated by the nearby volcano. But before we were allowed to relax there we made several stops to collect rocks. Our professor, Theo seemed to delight in forcing us to climb ridiculous slopes for no real reason. We had to scramble down one hill to get to a river where we had to find some green rocks. It turned out that they were all at the top anyway. I enjoyed it though. We made one stop where we climbed up a nearly horizontal slope which was really muddy and slippery. We ended up having to use vines and brushes to climb up. After we got to the top of this slope, we then proceeded to go down another. A problem was that there were over 50 people there, so there was a lot of waiting for people to get down. It would have been a lot more fun with about ten. Anyway, while we were waiting for people to get down, Theo would shove us into each other in an effort to speed things up. This only resulted in people getting mad. After we finally got down, it turned out that we had just gone around in a circle for no apparent reason.

To get to the muddy slopes we had to cross a bridge. We had the option of crossing a fairly new and stable one, or running across a wooden one with missing planks. Naturally I decided to cross the sketchy one. At one point I heard a board break as I stepped on it, but I managed to get to the other side alive. For lunch we stopped in a small town where we had almuerzos. The soup that they brought ended up having chicken feet in it. I wasn't sure whether you were supposed to eat them or not, so I took a bite out of one. It did not taste very good. The main course was trout which wasn't too bad.

After collecting a few more rocks we went to the hot springs. They were pretty awesome. I had kind of envisioned them to be carved out of the volcano, but they were more like swimming pools, so that was a bit disappointing. Supposedly to get the full healthy experience out of them, you're supposed to lie down in a freezing river next to them and then jump back into the hot springs. Seven times. The river was really really cold. But I decided to get the full experience so I ended up doing it all seven times. Theo mentioned that they usually had competitions on who could stay in the river the longest, and claimed that girls always won. After hearing this, we ended up having a competition. I was the only guy willing to try it, and then there were three other girls who joined me. Two left fairly early, and then I was stuck in this freezing cold river with the other one who was just as stubborn as me. After fifteen minutes of torture, Theo insisted that we leave as a tie. Apparently the previous record had been two and a half minutes. It was a nice excuse to leave, and the hot baths felt amazing afterwards.

On Sunday we went to Cuicocha. I had already been there with the Boston group so it wasn't all that exciting. We had to draw faults and folds at various stops. We ate at a road side restaurant thing that was terrible. I ordered empanadas and got some tiny cold ones in a container so that was abysmal. I would have preferred chicken feet. One exciting thing I did see was in a remote little village we drove by was an Ecuadorian with a Bayer Leverkusen jersey so that was pretty cool for me. I had thought that I was the only fan outside of Leverkusen, but apparently there's at least one in a small Ecuadorian town.




One of many slopes we had to climb

Most awesome bridge in the world

Lunch

A volcano whose name starts with A. I don't remember the rest.

Unrest in Quito

I know I just posted the other day, but seeing as the police rioted and took the president hostage, I figured I might as well post again. The day started out pretty normally, but at 11 a guy came into my class and said that classes were suspended for the day. Then through various sources of information I gathered that apparently Correa (the president of Ecuador) had recently passed a law that the police didn't like. They then scheduled a strike for today that kinda got out of hand. They tear gassed the president and held him hostage in a hospital. Apparently the police are mad because a law was passed that eliminated certain medals they could give out, at least that's what I understood from my host father.

The college I go to here is USFQ and is located in a small town called Cumbaya and is about ten miles outside of Quito. The international kids weren't allowed to leave campus for a while. Apparently the bank across the street got robbed and some students were robbed while trying to get a taxi as well. Since all the police are striking, there's no law enforcement. Thus looting is going on in the city as well. We were warned not to join any riots, so I assume that means I shouldn't loot either.

So while all this excitement was going on, several other students and I decided to play ultimate frisbee on campus. We were told that the campus was the safest place to be, but later they told us to go home while negotiations were going on. Walking home from my bus stop was pretty exciting. Like I've mentioned before, I stick out a tiny bit here so I would have been a prime target for a mugging in the lawlessness going on right now. I did make it home all right though. It's still kind of ambiguous whether or not we're going to have class tomorrow, and since I have a test, it would be nice to have it canceled. The test has already been postponed two and a half weeks, so I figure an uprising would be a good enough reason to delay it some more. I had a volcanology field trip planned this weekend as well, but that's liable to be canceled as well. I'll keep you guys updated on any more craziness and revolutions going on here.

Tiputini

I meant to post this earlier, but my internet here decided to take a break for the past couple of days. Anyway, this past weekend I was in the Ecuadorian rainforest at a research station. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. The trip there itself was a pretty sweet adventure as well. On Friday morning we took a plane from Quito to an oil town called Coca. From Coca we took a five minute bus ride to a dock. At the dock we took a boat down a huge river where we got a nice view of the amazon. It was kinda like being in an episode of Planet Earth. After 2 to 3 hours on the boat, we got out at an oil checkpoint where we got into an incredibly uncomfortable bus. After a one and a half hour drive, we got onto yet another boat. This was on the river Tiputini which is what the research station is called as well. This river was much smaller and there were chances to see wildlife. I saw turtles. There were also tons of butterflies. After about two hours we got to the station. At this point it was 6 at night. Dinner was at 7 so we got our rooms and explored a little bit. There was a hammock house with a water tower so I climbed the water tower with some other guys. After about five minutes we saw a woolly monkey slowly climbing across the trees. Next thing we knew, there was a group of maybe 20-30 squirrel monkeys climbing all around us. It was incredibly exciting. We then had dinner at 7 and I played a couple of hands of Euchre with some people and went to bed.

Breakfast was at 630, and then we got split into smaller groups to walk through the rainforest with a guide. My guide was a pretty cool guy named Jose, whose first language was Quechua. We saw some crested owls which were really cool. He also found a plant whose seeds have a red dye, so we all gave ourselves war paint. We proceeded to walk until 1130. We saw lots of toads, spiders, birds and monkeys. We also got to a lake where we took a boat around and saw a cayman. I also climbed a tree which was fun. Jose found a vine and let us swing around on it, so that was awesome as well. We ate at twelve and afterwards we swam in the Tiputini river with piranhas and caymans. Caymans are similar to alligators for those who don't know. I swam to the other side with a friend of mine to Yasuni national park. There may or may not be indigenous people who spear intruders on that side, but I'm not completely sure. Around three we went for another walk. The most exciting thing we did on this walk was eat ants that tasted just like lemons. They were really good. Speaking of eating insects, our guide had found a huge beetle and asked who wanted to eat it. When I volunteered, he ended up saying it wasn't possible. I guess he didn't think anyone would actually volunteer. That evening we took a boat along the river at night to look for caymans. It wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. We saw a couple, but it was difficult to see much. The one that we got the best view of was relatively small and missing part of its tail.

The next day I saw a sloth right after breakfast. After that we went on a canopy tour. They had built a huge tower which was about 45 meters high with 144 steps. It was really cool and we got to see a group of three scarlet macaws flying around the canopy. Afterwards Jose asked us if we were tired. He had a plant which was supposed to help. The whole group wanted to try it out, so he ended up smacking us on the arm with these huge leafs. Pretty much they felt like stinging nettles. And then our arms got real tingly. Then we got little white bumps all over our arms. Then the next day the bumps turned red and really itchy. In fact, I still have red spots all over my arm two days later. And I didn't feel any more energy after being smacked with it. Anyway, after that we went to another canopy tower with really shaky wooden bridges above the canopy. It was incredible. There was an aluminum ladder which went higher up to a tiny little platform without rails. I was wearing a harness and I'm not really scared of heights, but climbing up there was terrifying. It was well worth it and awesome though. The bugs were kind of annoying up there though. On our way back to camp Jose gave us some leaves to chew on and then we would get a surprise. The surprise ended up being that our tongues and spit turned blue so that was pretty cool.

After lunch we took a boat further downstream and then we got out of the boat and floated downstream for about two hours. It was incredibly fun. I wished we had more time, but it was great nonetheless. At night I went down to the river with a couple of my friends and we saw a cayman. On the way back to our rooms we saw an army of leafcutter ants at work. They were pretty cool. Much cooler than I thought leafcutter ants could be actually.

We left in the morning in the same fashion as we came only everything backwards obviously. The first boat ride back was much more eventful than the way there. We saw a tapir, capybara, and some mammal that I think was a peccary. I also saw a lot more turtles. When we got back to the dock at Coca there was a type of zoo with free ranging and illegal jungle animals. There was a parrot, toucan, peacocks, guinea pigs, turtles, and monkeys. These squirrel monkeys were somewhat tame and would climb all over you if you stuck your hand out. Naturally I did this. It was really cool. I really want a pet squirrel monkey now. The highlight of getting home was taking a shower. I hadn't showered at all in the jungle. This was mostly because it would have been pointless. It was so hot and humid that five minutes after a shower I would have been soaked in sweat and disgusting again. The air was awesome though. There was so much oxygen, compared to Quito. I felt 100 percent healthy for the first time since I've been in Ecuador. My only real complaint about the rainforest was that I was only there for two whole days.

I'll post pictures later I think, my internet has been off and on (mostly off) since I've been back so I'll wait until its a bit more reliable.

Otavalo

This weekend we went to an indigenous market in the city of Otavalo. We also visited a volcanic crater with a lake called Cuicocha and a town specializing in leather goods called Cotacachi. It was about a two hour bus ride there. I really enjoyed the ride because we were traveling down windy roads through the Andes. Plus we got a really good view of Puntas, so it was cool to know that the mountain I almost got to the top is very visible in the surrounding areas.

Cuicocha was really cool. We ended up taking a boat around the lake. I was not all too impressed with Cotacachi. There was a street where there were a million stores selling leather goods. Unfortunately I was not in need of a purse, leather jacket, or saddle and thus couldn't take advantage of the shopping opportunities. I ended up breaking away from the group with a friend of mine named Brian and we wandered to the main plaza where there was a convent. The center was fairly nice and then we wandered along some sketchy streets to the edge of the town where there was a forest.

After Cuicocha we went to the city of Otavalo. I didn't think I liked haggling going into the market, but it turns out that I'm a big fan. I really enjoyed the mini-battles with the vendors trying to get a cheaper price. Unfortunately I didn't really know what anything was worth so I probably overpaid anyway. I ended up buying some stuff just because I wanted to haggle. Because of this, I ended up with more stuff than I originally intended, but I convinced myself that its ok, because they're mostly gifts anyway. I did end up with a lot of ponchos though... The market itself was awesome just for how big it was. It took up several main streets, plazas and side streets. An interesting aspect was that in the sections where mostly Ecuadorians shopped, the vendors charged me more because I stood out a lot more and I figure they thought I had no idea what I was doing. My least favorite part about Otavalo was that there were tons of beggars. Apparently there is a law that beggars aren't allowed in Quito so all people living in poverty in Quito are given clothes and food. This is unique to Quito however so there were plenty of beggars who would follow me around in Otavalo.

After visiting the indigenous market of Otavalo, we went to "Parque Condor" As you have probably guessed, this was a park with birds. The condors were super impressive. They were much bigger than I imagined. We saw other birds and went to a show where they had a variety of birds who flew around for us. Afterwards we headed back to Quito.

I've started playing ultimate frisbee two days a week in a local park in Quito. Its a lot of fun and very nice to be doing some kind of exercise, but you really notice the thin air. The first time I played, I was still trying to breathe normally for about an hour or two afterwards. Its mostly American students and some expats who play because frisbee is not a popular sport in Ecuador. When I told my family I was going to play, I had to explain the rules because they thought I was just going to the park to throw a frisbee back and forth and they didn't see how that could be tiring/fun.

As far as bad news here, I've started developing a phobia for black dogs, especially the one that lives on my street that bit me. Pretty much every other time I pass he gets a bit angry and either barks at me or follows me threateningly. It wasn't too bad until Friday when he attempted to bite me again. I was carrying a tent for my andinismo class and fended him off with it. He ended up biting the tent and ripping off the handle of the case. I've nicknamed the dog Cerberos, because I'm convinced he was spawned in Hell. Its pretty much the only thing I'm scared of in this whole country. But I'm pretty terrified of it. I get along with most other dogs though. I feel like its a sign of a third world country to have stray dogs.

Speaking of dogs, I went with my host sister and host brother-in-law for a walk with their dog, Rigo. We went to a different park that I hadn't heard of. Its a huge park that is partially in a forest so it was pretty awesome. It's also very close to my home so I feel like I'm going to spend a lot more time there.

Condor flying around in its cage

Bird cage with Volcano Imbabura in background

Some stands in Otavalo

The main market plaza

Cuicocha

Puntas Pictures

My internet and computer are really slow, so these are the only pictures I could upload. I think it gives a pretty good idea of what it was like though. I might post some more pictures later.

Cerro Puntas

So this weekend I had my first Andinismo trip. The trip was to a dormant volcano called Cerro Puntas. Nobody in Ecuador has ever heard of it, but I was excited nonetheless. I spent this week getting supplies which included a sleeping bag and tent. We left for the mountains from the University at 9 am on Saturday. We had to take a bus to a small town called Quinche which has a huge church and lots of street vendors. From Quinche we took "taxis" which were actually pickup trucks where you could ride in the back. I didn't manage to get in the back on the way there, but on the return trip I managed to get a seat in the bed of the truck. After about a half hour ride we ended up at a hacienda where the actual hiking started.

The hike was pretty much amazing. It was harder than I anticipated at first because you really feel the lack of oxygen. Plus since I had never gone backpacking before, the fully loaded backpack was pretty annoying most of the time. After I got accustomed to everything though, it was loads of fun. The paths were at times not even paths and we had to fight through large bushes and high grass. It was also cool because there were no other people hiking there, just us, some cows and a wolf. Unfortunately at around 2 on Saturday it started to rain. We quickly found a clear area of grass and set up our tents as fast as possible. The problem with the campsite was that there were these large plants that were very bumpy and everywhere. Therefore we had to wait for the rain to subside and then some of the guides flattened them with machetes. We ended up staying at this place for the night, instead of pressing on to the planned spot. As a result we didn't actually get to the peak of Cerro Puntas.

The camping was fun though. The rain subsided and we ate dinner outside. The food I brought was a big stick of salami, chorizo, bread, and a hunk of cheese. After three meals of this, I was pretty sick of it, although it wasn't bad. We were promised a campfire which never happened, so we were pretty disappointed about that. However they did make hot tea which was delicious and one of the guides brought an ipod and speakers. He had the most random selection of songs which included I'm a Barbie Girl, Party in the USA, random Latin American music, Pink Floyd and Dragonforce. We ended up going to bed around 8 and I spent the next two hours trying to find a comfortable sleeping position which was practically impossible.

In the morning we walked close to Cerro Puntas, but did not have time to climb it which was disappointing. The views were amazing though. Our campsite especially looked like it came from a camping magazine for very rugged men, so that was pretty exciting. I came back home pretty exhausted. I also looked homeless because my pants ended up ripping and were completely filthy as well. I think it helped deter muggers so I might continue with the homeless look though.

Second week

So I'm still alive and avoided getting mugged for the first two weeks
in Ecuador. I was bitten by a stray dog on my first day of class
though, so that was exciting. It lives on my street and just jumped
up and bit me after I walked past. It didn't break skin though, so I
was told that I don't need a rabies shot.

I like my classes for the most part. As I've already told some of
you, I'm taking a class called andinismo, which is mountain climbing.
It's going to be awesome. It meets once a week on Fridays where we
learn to tie different knots, and then there are field trips every
weekend. Its convenient because I won't have to make any plans and I
get to climb various peaks in the Andes. Another cool class I'm
taking is Volcanology. Its a geology course, but there are going to
be two field trips I get to go on. They go to various volcanoes and a
thermal spring in a town called Banos. A cab driver told me that its
a beautiful place and that I should go, so that's cool. There's also
a trip to the coast where we get to go paragliding. The professor is
the coolest guy ever. He's Greek but grew up in Germany and speaks 7
languages fluently. I'm also taking two history classes, one of which
seems like it will be good and the other seems like a lot of work.
I'm also taking an international relations course which could be
interesting. The problem with my classes is that they're full of
Americans and I don't really get to know any Ecuadorians.

Last weekend I went to a little town called Mindo with a bunch of
Boston University students. It was really cool. The town is tiny but
the bus ride there was amazing. Mindo is part of a cloud forest so we
spent the first day zipining across which was awesome. We stayed in a
five dollar hostel which was pretty comfortable. There was a
butterfly place where you could walk around and they had lots of huge
butterflies. We also went water tubing down rapids, so it was a
really fun weekend. I also liked it because since we were in the
country you could really tell that Ecuador is a third world country.
We're really pampered in this program because we live with fairly high
class families and the university is much more like a miniature
paradise than anything else.

Ecuador is very interesting because while at Bucknell I look just like
everyone else, I'm pretty much the most distinctive person on campus.
People here don't care about staring and continue staring at me even
if I see them doing it. Sticking out like this causes a big divide
between the gringos and Ecuadorians, since all the gringos pretty much
hang out with each other. It seemed like all the Ecuadorians already
knew each other so it's hard meeting them, especially since I'm not
really that social anyway.

An annoying thing is that the bus system is impossible to figure out.
They don't have any maps besides main three lines, but they all go
north to south so I don't know how to get anywhere east to west.
Besides not having maps, the buses are loads of fun. There are sorta
stops but not really. Pretty much if you walk along a bus route you
can flag down a bus, and they'll slow down just enough for you to jump
in while its moving. You can exit at any time too and they usually
drive with their doors open. That's mostly all that's going on here.
Sorry about the novel. I'm thinking of maybe starting a blog, so I
don't have to fill up your inboxes, so if you would prefer that or the
emails let me know.

Quito Arrival

I still haven't been mugged but sat through a lecture explaining all
the sicknesses I'm going to get and all the different ways I will be
mugged. I went to the old town today for the first time. I went with
a bunch of other Boston students and we figured out the buses and
stuff. The buses are cool in that they don't always stop and
sometimes you just jump in as they're driving past. They only cost a
quarter per ride so that's awesome as well. The university resembles
a fancy resort more than anything else. There's even a pagoda and
waterfall. Downtown Quito is really cool. There are palms around and
its much different from anything I really know. It's slightly similar
to France I would say but still very different. The best part is that
there is a view of the Andes almost anywhere. The colonial
architecture is cool too.

My host family is very nice. They've been doing this for ten years so
I'm not really much of a novelty. This can be good in that I get a
lot of independence to do what I want. The food is delicious. I've
been eating everything they offer. I didn't recognize half of the
fruits in the supermarket. There's usually an exotic juice to drink
and lots of rice and potatoes. They have a special spicy sauce called
aji that is always available so if there's something thats kind of
bland I can just pile that on. I haven't had guinea pig yet. I'm
definitely eating healthier than I ever have before.

My Spanish is ok. At times I surprise myself with how good it can be,
but other times I'm completely lost. I rarely understand my one host
sister so I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm an idiot. I talk a lot with
her husband though, and I understand him most of the time. He's a
pretty cool guy. The house I'm living in is really nice and spacious.
I have my own room and bathroom on the second floor. The sister with
her husband and daughter live upstairs. There's an adjacent apartment
where another daughter lives. They also have a dog who I get along
with wonderfully. One thing I've noticed is I cannot tell an
Ecuadorians age at all. When I first met the married daughter I
thought she was my age or a tad older. Since she has a daughter who
is at least 12, she must be much older. I feel like it would be rude
to ask so I just sit in the dark regarding that. Another weird thing
is greeting girls with a kiss on the cheek.

As a side note to Martinez and Megan the second song on the radio on
the way from the airport was Bad Romance, so that was very exciting.