I've now been in Salasaca for slightly over a week. Good news: I actually have some vague semblance of a project here! Bad news: I continue to be a bit of an emotional wreck. Between the craziness of life here and the realization that, as of today, I have been alive for two decades has thrown me into a bit of an existential crisis.
I'm living here with Andrés Jeréz and his family. He is a weaver, a local politician, an organic farmer, and is currently in the process of trying to start his own community tourism project. Basically, my life here consists of following him around, taking notes on all that he says and does, and praying that we'll start weaving soon. His family is really nice in a still not actually my family sort of way, and I'm hoping the next week goes smoothly before I return to Quito and start writing.
So, as I mentioned, today is my 20th birthday. I'm lonely. This is, oddly enough, the first birthday in my entire life that I've spent away from my family, and I'm taking it kind of hard. My Ecuadorian birthday festivities have included: climbing a sacred mountain in search of medicinal plants and natural dyes, a dinner of blood soup and rabbit roasted over an open fire, and an herbal cleansing ritual happening tonight. It's certainly been memorable, but I can't help still being a little sad. Even my Ecuadorian horoscope in today's paper chastised me for not appreciating my travels enough and being glad for how lucky I am for this whole experience. I really have had an amazing time here, but I'm also to the point where I'm getting really ready to be home and return to some normalcy again.
20 more days.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
ISP Part 1: My Life is a Mess
So funny story. I'm currently sitting in Baños homeless for the night while I wait for my new ISP project to come through after the failure that was last week. I will explain. Here is my life up to now:
The last week in Quito was a crazy whirlwind of homework, canelazo, tests, friends, dancing, fried foods, and emotion. We finished classes, everyone freaked out about just about everything, and ISP plans were solidified. Instead of the original plan in Salasaca, it was decided that I would go to this other little village instead. Chibuleo was smaller and more isolated with a different indigenous group, but it was supposed to have a ton of opportunities to learn artesanía, a strong women's movement, and people who really wanted to work with me.
False.
I arrived in a teeny, tiny little pueblo to live in a teeny, tiny little house with Serafina and her two sons (ages 11 and 13). I basically spent 5 days wandering around, being pointed at and laughed at by the locals, hanging out with sheep and pigs, being repeatedly made to feel guilty about my presence in their house, crying a lot, and being told repeatedly that artesanía pretty much does not exist in Chibuleo. I mean, with the exception of the one weaver who lived 1.5 hours walking away who could help me for a day. Fail. After lots of phone calls and unhappiness and confusion, now I am waiting. An indigenous lawyer friend of the directors (who gave one of our talks in class) is apparently in the area and hooking me up with his artisan friends in Salasaca, so I'll actually have something to study. We were supposed to meet up this afternoon, but he's busy and can't come until tomorrow.
I came to Baños because it's easier to overshoot Salasaca by bus and then return then go straight there with current construction stuff and Chibuleo's general isolation, but it turns out I'll be here for the night. I'm going to use this time to "replenish my spirit" as Fabian told me during our 8th phone call in 4 days. Basically, I'm going to enjoy this beautiful city, read in parks, eat good food, maybe get a cheap Ecuadorian massage, and probably spend the night with a bottle of wine and a movie in my cute little hostel room. All while trying to forget that I'm actually supposed to be working on my ISP right now and that I'm losing valuable time, not that I'm in control of the situation...
I think this is the one time where they really didn't tell us just how hard this experience is. It's lonely and depressing and profoundly frustrating. I'm praying that this new project works out and gets me into a better place, because it's going to be a long few weeks otherwise...
The last week in Quito was a crazy whirlwind of homework, canelazo, tests, friends, dancing, fried foods, and emotion. We finished classes, everyone freaked out about just about everything, and ISP plans were solidified. Instead of the original plan in Salasaca, it was decided that I would go to this other little village instead. Chibuleo was smaller and more isolated with a different indigenous group, but it was supposed to have a ton of opportunities to learn artesanía, a strong women's movement, and people who really wanted to work with me.
False.
I arrived in a teeny, tiny little pueblo to live in a teeny, tiny little house with Serafina and her two sons (ages 11 and 13). I basically spent 5 days wandering around, being pointed at and laughed at by the locals, hanging out with sheep and pigs, being repeatedly made to feel guilty about my presence in their house, crying a lot, and being told repeatedly that artesanía pretty much does not exist in Chibuleo. I mean, with the exception of the one weaver who lived 1.5 hours walking away who could help me for a day. Fail. After lots of phone calls and unhappiness and confusion, now I am waiting. An indigenous lawyer friend of the directors (who gave one of our talks in class) is apparently in the area and hooking me up with his artisan friends in Salasaca, so I'll actually have something to study. We were supposed to meet up this afternoon, but he's busy and can't come until tomorrow.
I came to Baños because it's easier to overshoot Salasaca by bus and then return then go straight there with current construction stuff and Chibuleo's general isolation, but it turns out I'll be here for the night. I'm going to use this time to "replenish my spirit" as Fabian told me during our 8th phone call in 4 days. Basically, I'm going to enjoy this beautiful city, read in parks, eat good food, maybe get a cheap Ecuadorian massage, and probably spend the night with a bottle of wine and a movie in my cute little hostel room. All while trying to forget that I'm actually supposed to be working on my ISP right now and that I'm losing valuable time, not that I'm in control of the situation...
I think this is the one time where they really didn't tell us just how hard this experience is. It's lonely and depressing and profoundly frustrating. I'm praying that this new project works out and gets me into a better place, because it's going to be a long few weeks otherwise...
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Last 20 Days: From Quito to the Coast and Back
Goodness, I've been neglecting this. It's been a super busy three weeks since I moved to Quito, and although I actually have internet in my house (well, primarily my bathroom) and have tons to talk about, I just never got up the energy to write this. Here goes before I fall even more behind...
So I finally moved in with host family #2 in Quito. I have a teeny tiny bed and a bathroom that's pretty much my own and gets the best wi-fi in the house in a good-sized house in the northern part of Quito (Sector Los Laureles: De los Pepinos y de los Mortiños = streets of the cucumbers and of the blueberries). The family is really nice on the whole, but my greatest issue is that I'm constantly compared to their previous exchange student. Basically Gina was really great and really perfect and I rarely seem to live up to her. This, along with a few other things kind of threw me into a funk for my first little while in Quito. After crazy miscommunication and transportation problems and a small nervous breakdown and my brother telling me how awesome Gina was on my very first day of classes, I was obviously not in the best place. That, combined with Quito's raininess and how cold my house is, didn't do great things for my morale.
Generally, though, I really enjoy Quito. We have two lectures every morning by Ecuadorian bigshots in their respective fields who come tell us (in Spanish) what the very basics that gringos need to know to better understand Ecuador. Although I feel like I've learned a lot, I also feel like I actually know very little about any one subject and that I only have more questions than answers. In the afternoons, I either come home and do massive amounts of reading or explore other parts of the city and go to museums or shopping. Highlights include: the Guayasamin museum, el centro historico, el mercado artesanal, a soccer game, and lots of ice cream. Also, this family is extremely supportive of my going out at night (Gina never came back until 3am because she loved to dance and was super fun, and I must be lame and conservative if I come back before then), so I'm actually able to hang out with my friends. What power there is in having my own key to the house! After my spirits finally rose and I earned respect from the fam by going dancing on a Tuesday night for my friend's birthday, it was time to leave for the final excursion to the coast!
We flew to Guayaquil on Wednesday morning on what was perhaps the most frightening flying experience I've ever had. The plane had major problems maintaining internal temperature and pressure, and there were some scary moments involving intense inner ear pain and a cabin full of translucent cloud-like gas. After the longest 45 minute flight ever, we arrived in Guayaquil, dashed off to the hotel, and then went to the Malecon 2000 for lunch. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and the country's economic hub, but is also known for its crime, heightened machismo, and not being particularly attractive to tourists. In 2000 they redid the whole boardwalk along the river to represent Guayaquil's place in the modern world (complete with IMAX theater). We then went to a modern/precolombian art museum, which had the most amazing archeological pieces I've probably ever seen. Ecuador is basically the birthplace of South American civilization, and these groups produced tons of seriously mind blowing ceramic pieces. Cut to a visit to a park full of iguanas, a nap at the hotel, a quick talk on Guayaquil validating Ecuador's most human rights abusive president, the most delicious shwarma that has ever been tasted, climbing 444 steps to reach a lighthouse at the top of the hill, sleeping, and a giant living history museum/zoo on Thursday morning.
After leaving Guayaquil on Thursday, we drove up the coast for a few hours, stopping for some ridiculously good ceviche and a beach, before reaching our village stays. We were divided into groups of two, each with our own pueblo to stay in for 5 days to study life. I was paired with my friend Amanda, and we went to Palmar, a town of about 1000 right on the beach. There was a briefly really awkward moment where we wandered aimlessly through the town trying to find our host family near the church and drew tons of unnecessary attention with our big backpacks and jugs of water. We found our family soon after, Sandra, her husband Danilo, and their children Danilo (18, who ignored us the entire time and never once spoke a single word), Carolina (16, carries much of the responsibility in the family and wants to be a doctor), Gema (8) and Anabella (6). They all live together in a small house with a living room, two bedrooms, an attached kitchen and a bathroom without running water in an outbuilding in the yard, and the rest of the family lives on a compound right near them. I don't think I can adequately express our experiences, but I'll try to sum up the most active and interesting: Amanda and I were the guests of honor at an intercommunity cultural festival and sat with the judges and got a shout-out from the emcee; I saw/heard 12 chickens being slaughtered; one day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner we had gigantic plates of chicken and rice, amounting to a conservative estimate of about 10-12 cups of rice consumed that day; our family gave us a bunch of shells after our trip to the beach, but 12 of them turned out to be hermit crabs that took over our room; the rest of the time basically consisted of us playing with the children, wandering around town, buying ice cream, sitting in hammocks, being completely exhausted all the time, and being super ostentatious in this tiny pueblo. These few days were probably the most influential experience I've had thus far in Ecuador - while I think I'm changing in certain ways all the time, it's made me rethink the ways in which I view poverty, generosity, family, and community.
In complete contrast with our time in Palmar, we rejoined the group on Monday afternoon in Alandaluz, an absolutely amazing eco-lodge on the ocean in Manabi that's essentially recreated the environment that once was. With our cute cabins, running water, normal portions of food, and the return to life as part of a group of 23, it was a huge transition but one that was certainly appreciated. As always, we "processed" our experiences in the evening with the group (essentially a cross between academic discussion and group therapy) before relaxing for the rest of the evening. Tuesday was spent swimming in the ocean practically all day and enjoying the opportunity to rest before real life here picks up again, with the exception of my ISP meeting, which I'll elaborate on in a moment. In the evening, we were finally able to have our "big-ass bonfire", as Faba says, a huge, hot, bamboo fire where we all sat around having lovely conversations and warming ourselves after our quick swim. At times like those, I love to think about what I would be doing at Whitman on an average Tuesday night and be grateful for these amazing experiences. Wednesday was our final day and after swimming all morning (and accidentally falling asleep on the beach, getting what is probably one of my top 3 worst sunburns ever) and visiting the bamboo church in nearby Puerto Rico, we all got back on the bus to go to the Manta airport. Suddenly, myself and many others all began to feel sick, and between the bumpy bus ride and the tiny plane, it wasn't the greatest afternoon.
I've now been back in Quito for two days. We had the day off from classes yesterday to reacclimate to the altitude and work on our two papers that were due today. Between my unhappy stomach and my profoundly bad sunburn, I spent most of the day in bed. Sad transition, but better here than at the ocean, I suppose. My stomach at least is feeling generally better today, so my family can stop worrying that I have a parasite (Gina came back from the coast with a parasite and was just so very sick!). After some pretty nonacademic class this morning (highlight: 20 minute lecture from a famous painter before giving us 30 minutes to buy his work), I made a run to the artisan market and I'm starting to think about all the gifts I'm going to have to eventually buy for my friends (and obviously, myself). I'm leaving for the city of Baños bright and early tomorrow morning and staying there until Sunday with my friends to hike, go to the baths, ride horses, and generally adventure. It's pretty much the beautiful, outdoorsy, "alternative gringo" place to go in Ecuador, and I'm excited for the weekend.
Now back to the ISP (Independent Study Project)... I finally know what I'm doing! I leave a week from tomorrow to move in with a new family in the indigenous pueblo of Salazaca (30 min from each Ambato y Baños) to learn to weave with them, and probably also learn Quechua seeing as they're native Quechua speakers, and we'll both be speaking Spanish as a second language. It seems like a super interesting community with a really strong indigenous identity (the Salazacas were moved by the Incas from Bolivia during the mitamayas to Ecuador where they have become the most popular weavers around), and I'm really excited, in a nervous and anxious kind of way, to get started!
So I finally moved in with host family #2 in Quito. I have a teeny tiny bed and a bathroom that's pretty much my own and gets the best wi-fi in the house in a good-sized house in the northern part of Quito (Sector Los Laureles: De los Pepinos y de los Mortiños = streets of the cucumbers and of the blueberries). The family is really nice on the whole, but my greatest issue is that I'm constantly compared to their previous exchange student. Basically Gina was really great and really perfect and I rarely seem to live up to her. This, along with a few other things kind of threw me into a funk for my first little while in Quito. After crazy miscommunication and transportation problems and a small nervous breakdown and my brother telling me how awesome Gina was on my very first day of classes, I was obviously not in the best place. That, combined with Quito's raininess and how cold my house is, didn't do great things for my morale.
Generally, though, I really enjoy Quito. We have two lectures every morning by Ecuadorian bigshots in their respective fields who come tell us (in Spanish) what the very basics that gringos need to know to better understand Ecuador. Although I feel like I've learned a lot, I also feel like I actually know very little about any one subject and that I only have more questions than answers. In the afternoons, I either come home and do massive amounts of reading or explore other parts of the city and go to museums or shopping. Highlights include: the Guayasamin museum, el centro historico, el mercado artesanal, a soccer game, and lots of ice cream. Also, this family is extremely supportive of my going out at night (Gina never came back until 3am because she loved to dance and was super fun, and I must be lame and conservative if I come back before then), so I'm actually able to hang out with my friends. What power there is in having my own key to the house! After my spirits finally rose and I earned respect from the fam by going dancing on a Tuesday night for my friend's birthday, it was time to leave for the final excursion to the coast!
We flew to Guayaquil on Wednesday morning on what was perhaps the most frightening flying experience I've ever had. The plane had major problems maintaining internal temperature and pressure, and there were some scary moments involving intense inner ear pain and a cabin full of translucent cloud-like gas. After the longest 45 minute flight ever, we arrived in Guayaquil, dashed off to the hotel, and then went to the Malecon 2000 for lunch. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and the country's economic hub, but is also known for its crime, heightened machismo, and not being particularly attractive to tourists. In 2000 they redid the whole boardwalk along the river to represent Guayaquil's place in the modern world (complete with IMAX theater). We then went to a modern/precolombian art museum, which had the most amazing archeological pieces I've probably ever seen. Ecuador is basically the birthplace of South American civilization, and these groups produced tons of seriously mind blowing ceramic pieces. Cut to a visit to a park full of iguanas, a nap at the hotel, a quick talk on Guayaquil validating Ecuador's most human rights abusive president, the most delicious shwarma that has ever been tasted, climbing 444 steps to reach a lighthouse at the top of the hill, sleeping, and a giant living history museum/zoo on Thursday morning.
After leaving Guayaquil on Thursday, we drove up the coast for a few hours, stopping for some ridiculously good ceviche and a beach, before reaching our village stays. We were divided into groups of two, each with our own pueblo to stay in for 5 days to study life. I was paired with my friend Amanda, and we went to Palmar, a town of about 1000 right on the beach. There was a briefly really awkward moment where we wandered aimlessly through the town trying to find our host family near the church and drew tons of unnecessary attention with our big backpacks and jugs of water. We found our family soon after, Sandra, her husband Danilo, and their children Danilo (18, who ignored us the entire time and never once spoke a single word), Carolina (16, carries much of the responsibility in the family and wants to be a doctor), Gema (8) and Anabella (6). They all live together in a small house with a living room, two bedrooms, an attached kitchen and a bathroom without running water in an outbuilding in the yard, and the rest of the family lives on a compound right near them. I don't think I can adequately express our experiences, but I'll try to sum up the most active and interesting: Amanda and I were the guests of honor at an intercommunity cultural festival and sat with the judges and got a shout-out from the emcee; I saw/heard 12 chickens being slaughtered; one day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner we had gigantic plates of chicken and rice, amounting to a conservative estimate of about 10-12 cups of rice consumed that day; our family gave us a bunch of shells after our trip to the beach, but 12 of them turned out to be hermit crabs that took over our room; the rest of the time basically consisted of us playing with the children, wandering around town, buying ice cream, sitting in hammocks, being completely exhausted all the time, and being super ostentatious in this tiny pueblo. These few days were probably the most influential experience I've had thus far in Ecuador - while I think I'm changing in certain ways all the time, it's made me rethink the ways in which I view poverty, generosity, family, and community.
In complete contrast with our time in Palmar, we rejoined the group on Monday afternoon in Alandaluz, an absolutely amazing eco-lodge on the ocean in Manabi that's essentially recreated the environment that once was. With our cute cabins, running water, normal portions of food, and the return to life as part of a group of 23, it was a huge transition but one that was certainly appreciated. As always, we "processed" our experiences in the evening with the group (essentially a cross between academic discussion and group therapy) before relaxing for the rest of the evening. Tuesday was spent swimming in the ocean practically all day and enjoying the opportunity to rest before real life here picks up again, with the exception of my ISP meeting, which I'll elaborate on in a moment. In the evening, we were finally able to have our "big-ass bonfire", as Faba says, a huge, hot, bamboo fire where we all sat around having lovely conversations and warming ourselves after our quick swim. At times like those, I love to think about what I would be doing at Whitman on an average Tuesday night and be grateful for these amazing experiences. Wednesday was our final day and after swimming all morning (and accidentally falling asleep on the beach, getting what is probably one of my top 3 worst sunburns ever) and visiting the bamboo church in nearby Puerto Rico, we all got back on the bus to go to the Manta airport. Suddenly, myself and many others all began to feel sick, and between the bumpy bus ride and the tiny plane, it wasn't the greatest afternoon.
I've now been back in Quito for two days. We had the day off from classes yesterday to reacclimate to the altitude and work on our two papers that were due today. Between my unhappy stomach and my profoundly bad sunburn, I spent most of the day in bed. Sad transition, but better here than at the ocean, I suppose. My stomach at least is feeling generally better today, so my family can stop worrying that I have a parasite (Gina came back from the coast with a parasite and was just so very sick!). After some pretty nonacademic class this morning (highlight: 20 minute lecture from a famous painter before giving us 30 minutes to buy his work), I made a run to the artisan market and I'm starting to think about all the gifts I'm going to have to eventually buy for my friends (and obviously, myself). I'm leaving for the city of Baños bright and early tomorrow morning and staying there until Sunday with my friends to hike, go to the baths, ride horses, and generally adventure. It's pretty much the beautiful, outdoorsy, "alternative gringo" place to go in Ecuador, and I'm excited for the weekend.
Now back to the ISP (Independent Study Project)... I finally know what I'm doing! I leave a week from tomorrow to move in with a new family in the indigenous pueblo of Salazaca (30 min from each Ambato y Baños) to learn to weave with them, and probably also learn Quechua seeing as they're native Quechua speakers, and we'll both be speaking Spanish as a second language. It seems like a super interesting community with a really strong indigenous identity (the Salazacas were moved by the Incas from Bolivia during the mitamayas to Ecuador where they have become the most popular weavers around), and I'm really excited, in a nervous and anxious kind of way, to get started!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
El Oriente
So I've finally returned from a crazy whirlwind few days in the Oriente (the rainforest in the Amazon basin), and it was absolutely amazing. I'll try to explain what we did each day...
Monday: After breakfast in Quito and delicious coffee at Este Cafe, we all piled into our bus to head over to the Oriente. Two hours into the ride, we stopped at Papallacta, some amazing, crystal clear hot springs high up in the mountains. We spent a few hours soaking in the hot mineral water (and jumping into the frigid river water) and enjoying the beautiful mountains, and then had a fabulous picnic lunch with delicious crusty bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, fruit, and pretty much all that is delicious and was not normally eaten in my homestay. After another 3-4 hours on the bus (with a stop in the city of Tena for ice cream), we arrived at Aliñahui Lodge for hammocks, dinner, playing cuarenta, and sleeping in our cute little cabins.
Tuesday: We were split up into two groups, and I stayed back at Aliñahui with my group, while the others left. We took a short walk through the forest, stopping to look at enormous trees and eat lemon-flavored ants, and then we were split up individually and dropped off in the forest out of site of anyone else and without cameras or notebooks. They left us there for an hour to sit and think (and watch bugs and get hit by falling leaves and listen to bird sounds) before retrieving us to finish the hike. It was a really interesting experience being completely alone with nothing to do but take in my surroundings and get lost in my thoughts. We returned for lunch and then went to AmaZOOnico, an animal reserve/rehabilitation center to see all sorts of amazing animals that have been rescued from hunters or people who tried to keep them as pets. We then returned for dinner before getting a lecture/demonstration by a local man on shamanistic practices and taking a night walk to find the ridiculously huge bugs that abound in the rainforest.
Wednesday: We left Aliñahui to switch places with the other group and go to the school in the small town of San Pedro. We spent a while singing and painting and playing with the kids before we all gathered together for a minga (communal shared labor), planting fruit-bearing trees in the school's small garden/farm. At first it looked like a pretty easy project with just a few plants to work with, but it was actually shockingly hard work. We (and by "we" I mostly mean the 5th graders who are far more experienced than us) had to machete down all of the vegetation before digging the holes through extremely clay-y soil and planting spiny little plants, all in 100% humidity with tons of bugs flying around. It was pretty fun working with the children, and it's nice to know that in a few years these kids will be able to eat the fruit from the trees we helped to plant together. After a tour of the community's shared farm and kind of surreal soccer game against the children and teachers, the rest of the day was spent resting at the Arahuno lodge. There, we swam in the river, played with the pet monkey Mona, fed turtles, lay in hammocks, ate the world's most delicious birthday cake, and had a generally completely lovely time.
Thursday: We spent the morning at Arahuno learning about local Kichwa ceramic art (while Mona wreaked havoc in the background) and walking around the forest learning about indigenous culture and practices. Mona finally decided to briefly be my friend (which mostly entailed her biting me, hitting me, and looking down my shirt) before we returned to Aliñahui to reunite with the other half of the group. I took a nap in a hammock for the afternoon before we had a short lecture from the director of the Jatun Sasha reserve about rainforest conservation issues, and we spent the rest of the evening at a bar called El Laboratorio, dancing and drinking beer in an open-air, thatched building in the middle of the forest.
Friday: We left Aliñahui in the morning for a generally uneventful ride back to Quito, with the exception of a small earthquake that occurred during our stop for lunch. Upon our arrival back at the Hotel Alston, we finally received our letters from our new host families. I'll be living with a single mother and a 16-year-old daughter, along with a maid who has lived with them for 25 years and her 24-year-old son, in the north-eastern part of Quito (hopefully near some of my friends). I think it'll be a totally different experience living with them than the family in Los Chillos, and I look forward to experiencing something new and different.
Now it's Saturday and after buying flowers for my new family and picking up my freshly clean laundry (it smelled super feo after the Oriente), and I have a few minutes left to pack my life back up and prepare to meet the new family. There's a World Cup qualifying game today between Ecuador and Uruguay happening in Quito today that we'll probably watch on TV, although it's a beautiful day, and I'd love to explore the city. The first weekend with a family is pretty awkward, so I hope all goes smoothly...
Monday: After breakfast in Quito and delicious coffee at Este Cafe, we all piled into our bus to head over to the Oriente. Two hours into the ride, we stopped at Papallacta, some amazing, crystal clear hot springs high up in the mountains. We spent a few hours soaking in the hot mineral water (and jumping into the frigid river water) and enjoying the beautiful mountains, and then had a fabulous picnic lunch with delicious crusty bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, fruit, and pretty much all that is delicious and was not normally eaten in my homestay. After another 3-4 hours on the bus (with a stop in the city of Tena for ice cream), we arrived at Aliñahui Lodge for hammocks, dinner, playing cuarenta, and sleeping in our cute little cabins.
Tuesday: We were split up into two groups, and I stayed back at Aliñahui with my group, while the others left. We took a short walk through the forest, stopping to look at enormous trees and eat lemon-flavored ants, and then we were split up individually and dropped off in the forest out of site of anyone else and without cameras or notebooks. They left us there for an hour to sit and think (and watch bugs and get hit by falling leaves and listen to bird sounds) before retrieving us to finish the hike. It was a really interesting experience being completely alone with nothing to do but take in my surroundings and get lost in my thoughts. We returned for lunch and then went to AmaZOOnico, an animal reserve/rehabilitation center to see all sorts of amazing animals that have been rescued from hunters or people who tried to keep them as pets. We then returned for dinner before getting a lecture/demonstration by a local man on shamanistic practices and taking a night walk to find the ridiculously huge bugs that abound in the rainforest.
Wednesday: We left Aliñahui to switch places with the other group and go to the school in the small town of San Pedro. We spent a while singing and painting and playing with the kids before we all gathered together for a minga (communal shared labor), planting fruit-bearing trees in the school's small garden/farm. At first it looked like a pretty easy project with just a few plants to work with, but it was actually shockingly hard work. We (and by "we" I mostly mean the 5th graders who are far more experienced than us) had to machete down all of the vegetation before digging the holes through extremely clay-y soil and planting spiny little plants, all in 100% humidity with tons of bugs flying around. It was pretty fun working with the children, and it's nice to know that in a few years these kids will be able to eat the fruit from the trees we helped to plant together. After a tour of the community's shared farm and kind of surreal soccer game against the children and teachers, the rest of the day was spent resting at the Arahuno lodge. There, we swam in the river, played with the pet monkey Mona, fed turtles, lay in hammocks, ate the world's most delicious birthday cake, and had a generally completely lovely time.
Thursday: We spent the morning at Arahuno learning about local Kichwa ceramic art (while Mona wreaked havoc in the background) and walking around the forest learning about indigenous culture and practices. Mona finally decided to briefly be my friend (which mostly entailed her biting me, hitting me, and looking down my shirt) before we returned to Aliñahui to reunite with the other half of the group. I took a nap in a hammock for the afternoon before we had a short lecture from the director of the Jatun Sasha reserve about rainforest conservation issues, and we spent the rest of the evening at a bar called El Laboratorio, dancing and drinking beer in an open-air, thatched building in the middle of the forest.
Friday: We left Aliñahui in the morning for a generally uneventful ride back to Quito, with the exception of a small earthquake that occurred during our stop for lunch. Upon our arrival back at the Hotel Alston, we finally received our letters from our new host families. I'll be living with a single mother and a 16-year-old daughter, along with a maid who has lived with them for 25 years and her 24-year-old son, in the north-eastern part of Quito (hopefully near some of my friends). I think it'll be a totally different experience living with them than the family in Los Chillos, and I look forward to experiencing something new and different.
Now it's Saturday and after buying flowers for my new family and picking up my freshly clean laundry (it smelled super feo after the Oriente), and I have a few minutes left to pack my life back up and prepare to meet the new family. There's a World Cup qualifying game today between Ecuador and Uruguay happening in Quito today that we'll probably watch on TV, although it's a beautiful day, and I'd love to explore the city. The first weekend with a family is pretty awkward, so I hope all goes smoothly...
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Transitions
Our directors told us this is a time for transitions. Today I left my host family and am preparing for five days in the Oriente (the rainforest) before I move in with my new family in Quito. I've officially been here for a little over a month, but some days I still wake up shocked that I'm in Ecuador and wondering why I'm not at Whitman. Studying abroad has been amazing thus far, but I still can't help but to feel a little displaced...
The last few weeks with the host family went pretty smoothly, but it was definitely time to move on. It's really difficult to go from a life of pretty much absolute freedom at school (and even at home I have few rules) to living under someone else's roof. It's not bad, it's just a hard change to make, and I'm looking forward to a week(ish) in the rainforest to kind of clear my mind before adjusting to a whole new family with different expectations.
While I am getting used to the different ways of communication and understanding here, it honestly is still hard to accept that things as deceptively simple as punctuality are interpreted a completely different way. It all comes down to my being willing to accept a certain loss of control on my part, which is something I'm actively trying to work on. When you're never ever completely sure of what's going on because details are really hard to pick up in another language. Basically with my host family, I would just wait for someone to tell me "vamos" and push me in the right direction, which generally works out just fine. I do feel like I have really learned a lot being here this month; I've gained a lot of self-reliance and a greater understanding of myself, which is a nice perk along with the language skills.
I return from the Oriente on Friday and move in with my next family on Saturday (right before Ecuador's World Cup qualifier game with Uruguay!). Then there's two weeks in Quito, a week on the coast, another week in Quito, and then my Independent Study Project. Crazy, no? They tell us it only gets harder from here, so wish me luck!
The last few weeks with the host family went pretty smoothly, but it was definitely time to move on. It's really difficult to go from a life of pretty much absolute freedom at school (and even at home I have few rules) to living under someone else's roof. It's not bad, it's just a hard change to make, and I'm looking forward to a week(ish) in the rainforest to kind of clear my mind before adjusting to a whole new family with different expectations.
While I am getting used to the different ways of communication and understanding here, it honestly is still hard to accept that things as deceptively simple as punctuality are interpreted a completely different way. It all comes down to my being willing to accept a certain loss of control on my part, which is something I'm actively trying to work on. When you're never ever completely sure of what's going on because details are really hard to pick up in another language. Basically with my host family, I would just wait for someone to tell me "vamos" and push me in the right direction, which generally works out just fine. I do feel like I have really learned a lot being here this month; I've gained a lot of self-reliance and a greater understanding of myself, which is a nice perk along with the language skills.
I return from the Oriente on Friday and move in with my next family on Saturday (right before Ecuador's World Cup qualifier game with Uruguay!). Then there's two weeks in Quito, a week on the coast, another week in Quito, and then my Independent Study Project. Crazy, no? They tell us it only gets harder from here, so wish me luck!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Intag
Upon returning from the cloud forest, I've now experienced culture shock within culture shock. I didn't even realize it was possible....
First of all, the cloud forest was absolutely amazing. We stayed at a small farm called la Florida in the area of Intag. La Florida is owned by a couple from the US who discovered this completely gorgeous piece of land, bought it as a protected forest, farm beautiful organic food and shade-grown coffee, and live a completely idealistic life. We arrived Saturday afternoon after a five hour bus ride and one hour walk to a delicious lunch and adorable little cabins waiting for us. The rest of the weekend was spent swimming in waterfalls, hiking, playing games, doing art, and learning all about local social movement mobilizing women and local people to earn proper wages and fight against the horrors of the mining industry. Learning about the mining industry was by far the most intense part of the experience... I won't go into the crazy details (mostly because it's getting dark, and I want to walk home while it's still light out), but these companies commit the most disgusting atrocities in terms of the environment and human rights violations. Look here http://decoin.org/ for more info (although I imagine they probably leave out all the death threats and corrupt government officials in their telling)
Yesterday we left Intag after breakfast, stopped briefly in Otavalo to buy pie, an old man alpaca sweater and some earrings, and was picked up by my host sister. I was absolutely dirty and exhausted, but she thought we should all go hang out with six of her well dressed, extremely made up, upper-middle class friends in a giant, gorgeous house. Huge shock after enjoying dirty Ecuadorian summer camp in the cloud forest all weekend... It is nice to be back to a family, though, even if they are crazy. We all just realized that we only really have 9 more days in Los Chillos before we head off to the rainforest and then the next homestay in Quito. This is going so fast! I need to appreciate it while I still can...
First of all, the cloud forest was absolutely amazing. We stayed at a small farm called la Florida in the area of Intag. La Florida is owned by a couple from the US who discovered this completely gorgeous piece of land, bought it as a protected forest, farm beautiful organic food and shade-grown coffee, and live a completely idealistic life. We arrived Saturday afternoon after a five hour bus ride and one hour walk to a delicious lunch and adorable little cabins waiting for us. The rest of the weekend was spent swimming in waterfalls, hiking, playing games, doing art, and learning all about local social movement mobilizing women and local people to earn proper wages and fight against the horrors of the mining industry. Learning about the mining industry was by far the most intense part of the experience... I won't go into the crazy details (mostly because it's getting dark, and I want to walk home while it's still light out), but these companies commit the most disgusting atrocities in terms of the environment and human rights violations. Look here http://decoin.org/ for more info (although I imagine they probably leave out all the death threats and corrupt government officials in their telling)
Yesterday we left Intag after breakfast, stopped briefly in Otavalo to buy pie, an old man alpaca sweater and some earrings, and was picked up by my host sister. I was absolutely dirty and exhausted, but she thought we should all go hang out with six of her well dressed, extremely made up, upper-middle class friends in a giant, gorgeous house. Huge shock after enjoying dirty Ecuadorian summer camp in the cloud forest all weekend... It is nice to be back to a family, though, even if they are crazy. We all just realized that we only really have 9 more days in Los Chillos before we head off to the rainforest and then the next homestay in Quito. This is going so fast! I need to appreciate it while I still can...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
¡Dios Mio!
I've been neglecting this... A lot (well, kind of) has happened since I got to Los Chillos. It's hard to explain, though. It's not like I've done a lot of awesome, exciting story-worthy things, but I've just been busy trying to adjust to life in a different country with a whole new family.
I'll start with today and try to work my way backwards... I've been feeling pretty sicky all week. Such is the joy of studying abroad in a third world country. I'm hoping to get over it soon, but it's been a huge pain trying to keep up with classes and the family when all I can manage to eat is a little bit of bread and rice each day... I hope this passes before this weekend because we get to go on our first excursion! We're heading out Saturday morning to a farm/commune/campground/nature reserve place called La Florida in the cloud forest. It's supposed to be a really lovely relaxing weekend where we basically just hike and swim in rivers and eat good food (fingers crossed that I can) and speak English and take a break from the stress of classes and host families. Plus I get to wear rubber boots and my new pantalones de Otavalo (essentially, brightly colored, striped, flowy Ecuadorian hippy pants). So stoked.
Why are classes and host families stressful, you might ask... Classes are going really well, actually. I feel like my Spanish is drastically improving and that I'm learning way more than I have in any Spanish class in the US. But they're exhausting. Five hours each day of Spanish, and then we often have other seminars (at least these are in English for the time being) until 4 or so. At which point I return to my gigantic host family and immediately am listening to and trying to respond to tons of people in a language that I'm still not completely familiar with. It's great, but tiring. I can't remember the last time I was so tired all the time...
The weekends are especially intense. Although we don't have classes, that means we have to spend pretty much 100% of the time with our host families (or some combination of other students and their families), which means lots and lots of Spanish. Last weekend we went on a hike to a waterfall on Saturday. It was gorgeous after we finally left the house hours late, got lost a few times, and followed a machete armed guide down a crazy trail for a while. Sunday, as usual, completely revolved around lunch. My host mom and aunt cooked up an entire goat to serve to about 15 people. It wasn't ready until around 4 or 5, but until then we entertained ourselves by drinking beer and watching the baby dance (that seems to be my family's greatest hobby). Quite the afternoon... By mondays I'm always ready for classes to start again so we can all exchange stories about how weird our lives are.
I should get home before my mom worries too much. I'm really not used to the general lack of independence I have here... I spent the day in Quito with my class, where we went to an extremely strange wax museum illustrating the revolution against Spain and the presidential palace, where we were all given masks to protect ourselves or perhaps the president against la gripe porcina (Ecuador is all sorts of freaked out about the swine flu). One more day until cloud forest relaxation!
I'll start with today and try to work my way backwards... I've been feeling pretty sicky all week. Such is the joy of studying abroad in a third world country. I'm hoping to get over it soon, but it's been a huge pain trying to keep up with classes and the family when all I can manage to eat is a little bit of bread and rice each day... I hope this passes before this weekend because we get to go on our first excursion! We're heading out Saturday morning to a farm/commune/campground/nature reserve place called La Florida in the cloud forest. It's supposed to be a really lovely relaxing weekend where we basically just hike and swim in rivers and eat good food (fingers crossed that I can) and speak English and take a break from the stress of classes and host families. Plus I get to wear rubber boots and my new pantalones de Otavalo (essentially, brightly colored, striped, flowy Ecuadorian hippy pants). So stoked.
Why are classes and host families stressful, you might ask... Classes are going really well, actually. I feel like my Spanish is drastically improving and that I'm learning way more than I have in any Spanish class in the US. But they're exhausting. Five hours each day of Spanish, and then we often have other seminars (at least these are in English for the time being) until 4 or so. At which point I return to my gigantic host family and immediately am listening to and trying to respond to tons of people in a language that I'm still not completely familiar with. It's great, but tiring. I can't remember the last time I was so tired all the time...
The weekends are especially intense. Although we don't have classes, that means we have to spend pretty much 100% of the time with our host families (or some combination of other students and their families), which means lots and lots of Spanish. Last weekend we went on a hike to a waterfall on Saturday. It was gorgeous after we finally left the house hours late, got lost a few times, and followed a machete armed guide down a crazy trail for a while. Sunday, as usual, completely revolved around lunch. My host mom and aunt cooked up an entire goat to serve to about 15 people. It wasn't ready until around 4 or 5, but until then we entertained ourselves by drinking beer and watching the baby dance (that seems to be my family's greatest hobby). Quite the afternoon... By mondays I'm always ready for classes to start again so we can all exchange stories about how weird our lives are.
I should get home before my mom worries too much. I'm really not used to the general lack of independence I have here... I spent the day in Quito with my class, where we went to an extremely strange wax museum illustrating the revolution against Spain and the presidential palace, where we were all given masks to protect ourselves or perhaps the president against la gripe porcina (Ecuador is all sorts of freaked out about the swine flu). One more day until cloud forest relaxation!
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