El Oriente

I am in Quito. Ahhh!

As in, in Quito and done with my internship in Ibarra. I am nothing but a tourist now. Ahhh!

Okay, I'm being dramatic again, but I mean...it was obviously a more emotional day than usual, what with having had all the despedidas (good-byes) yesterday at the Municipio (and everyone making a little speech, including me), and last night with all the family (the brothers, sisters, in-laws, and children), eating, drinking, dancing Ecuador's native dances together, and more speeches. And meeting up with a few other co-workers later and saying good bye. Ahh.

And of course this morning, saying good bye (again) to some co-workers, and then to my immediate Ecuadorian family and Rachel. I will really miss Rachel (probably the most)...we had some really good times together, and were always laughing!! =]

Well now, I will steer myself away from all these thoughts on farewells, and say that I am leaving for the Amazon jungle in a little under an hour (at 11pm--and we arrive at 6am...what else is new). Michelle, my friend from Rice, and I will be in Cuyabeno for a 4-night, 5-day tour. Cuyabeno is one of the ecological reserves in Ecuador, and it's part of what is called "el Oriente" in Ecuador. (There are four parts to Ecuador: (1) la Costa, the coast, (2) las Sierras, the mountains, (3) el Oriente, the east/Amazon, and (4) los Galápagos, or the Galapagos Islands.)

Here's our itinerary, more or less (we're going with www.andeanchallenge.com):

"1.-Quito - Lago Agrio - El Puente . Flight 10:30 a.m. or bus journey (one day before - 8 hours) to Lago Agrio. Drive from Lago Agrio to el Puente. Canoe trip down on Cuyabeno river to our camp place .Exciting night walk.


2.- Cuyabeno river. After breakfast, trek into the primary rain forest learning about medicinal plants, flora and fauna. After lunch, journey downstream to relax and enjoy the surrounding nature on tubes (water tubing).


3.-Cuyabeno River. After breakfast, we paddle by traditional dug-out canoe on the Caiman-Cocha (Laguna del Caiman) where we will enjoy this unique nature. Lunch. Hike in the primary forest including lessons in the use of plants for survival. Before we head back to our camp, we’ll have a relaxing time to swim and enjoy the sunset on the magnificent Laguna Grande.


4.- Cuyabeno river. In the morning, walk to the Tarapuy Siona Community, our naturalist guide will explain about the culture and traditions of the native people. Piranha fishing in the afternoon. Return to the camp. Night canoe trip in search of caimans (alligators).


5.- El Puente-Lago Agrio-Quito. Early morning bird watching. After breakfast journey upstream the Cuyabeno river to El Puente. Drive back to Lago Agrio at 16:00. Flight or bus journey back to Quito."

Well.....there are many other things to write about my experience here, but it will have to wait until after el Oriente. For some reason, I am loath to blog right now....although that may be due to these last days here in Ecuador. Well (again), it is time for me to go, entonces hasta luego. =]

I need stronger bug spray

Back from the beach! Covered in mosquito bites, but what can one do....it is the same no matter where I go--Houston, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indiana--all the mosquitos flock to me like bees to honey! Sighhh T.T

Atacames was quite enjoyable, although I ended up going alone since my housemate got really sick =[. Traveling solo was a good experience, although it was really sketch being asked by almost every single male who talked to me whether I had a boyfriend and if I was traveling alone (and being the naive--and probably foolish--traveler that I am, I said, yes, I was traveling alone).

It was exceedingly humid in Atacames, and I was trying to figure out if Houston was worse or not (guess I will figure it out soon haha). It's a pretty touristy place, not just for foreigners, but also for Ecuadorians and other Latin Americans. Actually, at the hostal I stayed at, there were TWO Colombian families with kids who were on vacation in Ecuador. Both of them were from Cali, and both of them were very kind to me and took me in as part of their family when we met at the hostal (Hostal Chill Inn, with Yolanda, the Swiss owner who was very kind and made a great breakfast of eggs-in-a-hole, which is a cracked egg cooked in a hole in the middle of toast, with seasoning--soo good). One of the Colombian moms even gave me an orange kanga with white palm trees on it! (A kanga is one of those sheets you see girls wearing at the beach...you can tie it in different ways over your swimsuit--as a dress, skirt, etc. Very useful!)

We (the two Colombian families and I) also went whale watching in this small boat (small compared to the big, blue ocean with strong swells wayyy out there....I mean it--we were FAR from land). And we spotted whales multiple times!! I think it might have been the same ones, maybe, since it was a pair, swimming side by side. It was so awesome!! And they looked like killer whales to me, but I think it's actually humpback whales that come to that area. In any case, they were HUGE...even from the distance we were at....much, much bigger than our boat.

Other than that, I just chilled, played on the beach, ate ceviche, did some souvenir shopping, and read my book (Dark Watch by Clive Cussler--only about 50 pages in. I've only ever read Sahara by him, and that only because I saw the movie first and really liked it. Hmm...I think I've only ever read Sahara by him....Anyway, turns out that he's a pretty decent adventure/sci-fi writer, right up my alley of genre interests, or one of them anyway, so when I was in Quito a few weeks ago, I picked up his book at a bookstore that had several books in English. That was in expectation of reading at the beach of course...I had to keep myself from cracking the book open till I got to Atacames).

So yes, that's my weekend in a nutshell! The 10-11 hour bus rides to and back were a little brutal, but oh well. And I am only working two more days (tomorrow, technically today, and Wednesday) before I head out to Quito! (And an Amazon jungle tour for five days before flying back to Houston.) It's been quite the adventure here...and will continue to be. Tomorrow, Rachel and I are planning on getting our hair dyed and cut, respectively (heheh, no worries, I am not dying my hair). And I think we're also planning on trying cuy, which is roasted guinea pig, specialty of Ecuador! Hahahaha...will let you all know how that goes! =D

Atacames

Off to the beach. BBL.

=D

Malarone

I threw up today (technically yesterday) for the first time in years and years. Although I had woken up with a troubled stomach, it must have been due to the fact that I started taking Malarone this morning (malaria prophylaxis). Side effects include: cough, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, loss of appetite, mouth sores, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, weakness.

And I had heard that Malarone was the malaria drug with the least side effects! I'd hate to be on another one....(unless I am mistaken). So anyway, there's been stomach pain and severe loss of appetite (apart from the vomiting), and a bit of nausea. So I guess it's not too bad. I'd rather have this than malaria, in any case. I just hope that the side effects go away soon...

And why have I just started taking a malaria prophylactic, you ask? Well, I am leaving for the coast tomorrow night (yayy beach time!), and malaria drugs are recommended for any area in Ecuador that's not in the Andes (where I currently am). So you should start Malarone 1-2 days before the trip, take it every day during the trip, and then for 7 days after. I'll actually be taking it non-stop until five days after I come back to the States, since the weekend after this I'll be in the Amazon jungle for a 5-day, 4-night tour (and then I'll stay in Quito for a day and then fly back to the U.S.!).

I know--such a hard life! Haha so I shouldn't complain about the drug that's allowing me to do all these things without (too much) fear of contracting malaria. And I am very grateful that I even have access to a drug like that, knowing that so many people in the world need it and can't get it. I hope a cheap malaria vaccine is created, and soon (somewhat relevantly--I think I will continue to pursue my Global Health Technologies minor. I was unsure at the end of this past school year, since it would take away so much time from other things I could be doing during senior year...but I find that I am still passionate about it).

Update on work: it's been slower these past few days, ever since we actually finished up delimiting the neighborhoods of our first, trial parroquia (parish in English). Due to our work, we actually found out that the parish lines had been changed, way back in 2007 or 2009 (there were two agreements), so not only did we formally draw neighborhood lines, but we also changed the limits of two parishes! (Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal to you....but it'd be like changing county lines I guess. It's a big deal here.) So yeah, these past few days have been filled with data entry and the sort. Tedious, but necessary.

And now, I must return to my writing assignment for SOSC 422, which is the class I am getting credit for through this internship. Sigh....I always procrastinate on Blogger when I have something else I need to write....

The only bad thing

about taking anti-inflammatory pills, perhaps, is that I can't see where my skin is swelling, so I keep unexpectedly finding new bruises T.T

Horseback riding today, on the other hand, was wonderful! I had a somewhat feisty stallion named Colorado, and he kept trying to make trouble with two of the other horses. He was, however, extremely responsive to very light touches with the rein, so once I figured that out, he was easy enough to control. And I think he liked me! =D (Or at least, he nibbled at my shoe at one point, which I took as a sign of affection.) Before we started, they asked if we had previous horseback riding experience, and I said yes, since I did do it in Costa Rica...and some short rides before that....but when they were like, "Okay then! Let's go without helmets, and with the faster horses--it'll be just fine," I was like, "Oh shoot I'm probably doing something stupid." But after an hour of riding, I think I started really getting the hang of it, so I consider that 5-6 hour ride my intro to horseback riding class. Yes, it was at least 5 hours, but it was marvelous =]. And I absolutely love galloping! This may seem so dorky to some of you but I don't care!! It was awesome!! =D

Yup. =]

Damage check

Whoo! Today was full of adventure...Rachel and I went whitewater rafting in the morning, on the Río Mira, and when the tour company picked us up (www.otavaloguide.com--we're going horseback riding with them tomorrow, too), we realized that it was going to be just us two on the trip....haha I mean the rafting guide was coming with us, and the driver as well to balance out the raft (and there was another guy, but he took care of the car this time around since the driver had never gone before). So I was thinking, "Well, that's going to be interesting," since I've never done whitewater rafting before with less than the full number of people. So we get to the river, and we pump up the raft right there on a tiny, rocky bank, and then we were on our way! (Btw, the raft is for eight people, but since there were only four of us, I asked if that was going to be a problem, and they were like, "No! It'll be better. The raft will go faster. =)" I guess that made sense.) The bad thing about having only four people is that you have to expend more energy in moving the raft. In any case, it was really fun! =D

Until we hit apparently the worst rapid in the river, and I fell out of the raft.

I KNOW! GAH! I mean, I'm obviously alive to tell the tale, but it was, in all honesty, a pretty scary experience. One moment, I'm in the raft, the next, I'm tipping over (and usually when you tip over, you still stay in the raft because your foot is securely squeezed under the middle air-filled thingies, or the strap if you're sitting up front, which is where Rachel and I were), and the next, I fall out into the rapids (yes, with all the big rocks and stuff). If you've fallen out of the boat while whitewater rafting before, you can probably identify with me that it's a really disorienting experience (because you can only fall out during the rapids...unless you are really bad at rafting haha). First of all, you are completely at the water's mercy, being jerked this way and that through the rapids, and even though they tell you to close your mouth, you keep it open because you're gasping for air while the water's constantly trying to fill your mouth. Second of all, you can't really see where you're going or what you're about to hit, 'cause all that whitewater's in your face, and then there are rocks under the surface that you don't know are there until you hit them, and again, you can't really control where you're going (to try to do so would probably actually be worse). So it was bad when I started hitting a couple rocks (going backwards in the river), and then, out of my limited vision, I saw that the rock wall had come up really close to my right side, and THAT alarmed me because I was then dragged under (which is also terrifying) and thought I was about to slam into that wall, and when I didn't, I thought I was about to slam into some other big rock jutting out of the river.

Right about the time I got dragged under the water was when I started pleading God for help. Since there isn't any of the disorienting whitewater under the water, that was when a sliver of clarity struck, and I started praying. So when the raft finally caught up to me and I was dragged onboard, I was extremely grateful that God had kept me alive, and not only alive, but relatively safe and unhurt. It definitely reminded me of how my life is in His hands, and how He is sovereign over everything. We continued on our way, and although my right leg and right ring finger were throbbing, I remembered how Karen told me once about an amputee patient who said he was grateful to even have one of his legs, and so I decided to be grateful that I had gotten off lightly with what appeared to be a couple sprains and maybe a broken finger (I actually chuckled after I was safely in the boat again, because who sprains an ankle/knee going whitewater rafting?? Hahaha...). In any case, we hit some more rapids, and there was a point where we were close to the bank and collided with a bunch of thin tree branches, and I was about to fall out of the boat again, but I was like, "NO! I am NOT falling out again! I'd rather get smacked by these branches!" So I doggedly clung onto the rope on my opposite side, and managed to stay in the boat (and broke off a few branches in the process).

In any case, we finished the rest of our trip, and it was enjoyable! When we got to land, I realized that I couldn't put very much weight on my right leg, and when we got home, Rachel was very kind in giving me anti-inflammatory pills and insisting that I put ice on my knee (and I agreed because I knew it was good for me, although I am notorious for always getting bad bruises and never icing them...probably why I have so many leftover bruise marks on my legs). And THEN Ceci (my host mom) was like, "Ayayay I don't have any ice, but I have frozen meat! You want some? Red meat is really good for bruises--it takes away the swollenness." And I was like....I've only ever seen this in the movies....but eventually she convinced me, cut up slices from the frozen chunk of meat, and had me put them on my right knee, shin, and ring and pinkie fingers. I stayed sitting on my bedroom floor with the company of María Celeste until the meat was well-thawed and dripping watery blood (haha...it was an interesting experience, and I was rather amused through the whole thing).

I actually think it helped a lot (or maybe it was the anti-inflammatory pill), since there seems to be minimal swelling. And good news! I don't think anything's actually sprained or broken, just very, very badly bruised. So all you Houstonians will get to see my pretty bruises when I come back in a couple weeks! (As if you all haven't seen enough of them these past three years.........I certainly have.) So yes, I am limping noticeably, but since I still have my life and all my bones intact, I count myself as blessed.

And I am going horseback riding tomorrow! =D (I'm probably being stupid, aren't I?) But it will be so beautiful =] (riding around a volcano crater lake!). And hopefully, I will get to visit the Otavalo market (the most famous in Ecuador, and famous worldwide) tomorrow after riding (since we start in Otavalo), as this will be my last available weekend to do so. Anyway! I will now leave you all to rest your eyes from my ramblings.....=]

Ecuadorian culture

We didn't actually go to the hot springs today, which is okay with me, since I was pretty tired anyway (I know what you're thinking--"But hot springs would be perfect after a tiring week!" Well, so is my bed). In a way, this is good, because it's a great transition into Ecuadorian culture and my crazy/crazy awesome host family! =D

And just as a disclaimer, nothing of what I say is meant to be offensive, because there's not necessarily a "better" culture among cultures--they're just different. My co-workers were telling me how they thought Americans were all so cold, since we can't seem to be able to take a joke (of course, I disagree, I think Americans can be rather warm, but obviously because I am used to the culture). And, of course, U.S. folk can argue back that Latin Americans are all too forward and don't respect personal privacy/space, but in the end, that's the culture and what is expected. So I'm going to stop lecturing now, and just leave it at the opinion that we should not consider a certain culture superior to another, but rather recognize and adjust to the differences (without giving up your own values).

Anyway! Ecuadorian culture:

• Saying that we'll do something but then pushing it back, or omitting the other dozen things in between "¡Vamos!" and actually doing the thing we set out to do, thereby creating a very tenuous schedule of events and taking forever to make decisions (this, to me, is the most obvious difference from U.S. culture--but not too different, actually, from Asian culture). Examples:
• Say: "We're going to the lake now!" What actually happens: We leave, but start driving around Ibarra looking at houses since an uncle and aunt want ideas to build their own, and then never make it to the lake.
• Say: "We're going to the hot springs this weekend!" What actually happens: The date gets pushed back a couple weeks, and we still don't make it today haha.
• Always being on the verge of dancing. Examples:
• Milton and Betty will unashamedly break out into dance in the office when they hear a good song. I even joined in today, since it's Friday, and I decided I needed to move around after lunch.
• The municipal government driver (yes, they hire drivers for all the official business. Is it the same in the States? I've never thought about this...) blasts music from his truck and starts shimmying in his seat and whooping while driving and while I start to slightly fear for my life.
• Having strong family ties. Examples:
• My host mom (Ceci) and her daughter (Maria Teresa) and granddaughter (Maria Celeste) have a tradition of visiting her brother's house in Caranqui (which is a parroquia of Ibarra, kind of like a county in a state, except this is in a city) every weekend, along with her other brother and his wife, and her other sister and her children (who actually live right next door). So in total, it's Ceci + kid + grandkid, brother + wife + 2 kids, other brother + wife, sister + 2 kids, me + Rachel, and sometimes + other friends or even other brother, who lives in Quito. It is quite the party.
• And this house in Caranqui is the one I described in an earlier post, the one that makes you feel as if you've been transported back to the 1800s. But I have honestly really come to love "la casa en Caranqui" and all the hubbub that goes with it when we're there.
• That house is also the place where I first did karaoke in Ecuador (karaoke here is really popular!!), as I mentioned some time ago. With the "java" of beer (a crate of 12 bottles of beers, each bottle being equivalent to 3 cans of beer). Oh, another thing, Ecuadorians can DRINK. I mean, I don't drink very much, but even I can tell that they must have very well-functioning livers. The family managed to finish most of that crate (or all? I don't remember).
• Hmmm....having strong family ties, except for fatherlessness and weak marital ties? =[ Many of the women/girls I know here are fatherless (including my host sister and host niece, and daughter of my host sister's friend, and many of my co-workers' kids). I also am pretty sure that I know more people here who are divorced or have been divorced, or are going through divorce, or say that they're not married so they can get with unsuspecting people, than I know people who are married and faithful to their spouses. This seems to be a problem throughout Latin America, and it is incredibly sad to me. Marriage is supposed to be a beautiful and sanctifying thing, not something you have on the side or can easily disregard. That's terrifying to me. Jesus Christ must be the center of the life of my husband (if I ever get one) and mine, because I'm not going to just roll the dice and hope they get me a spouse who decides to be committed to me and only me, and for whom I don't have to drive all over the city to see whether his car is in front of a strip club or not (yes, that was another unexpected side trip once, and many of the women here apparently do that occasionally).
• Spoiling/not disciplining their children. Examples:
• Ooooooh my host-niece? MAN but she would've gotten a good spanking by now! Actually, multiple spankings--like one every day, if not more. She is definitely sweet sometimes, but more often than not I'm just like.....are you serious? At that age??? Girl needs some Asian tiger mom in her life....
• Potatoes, corn, and fritada. People here eat SO MUCH POTATO. Basically with every lunch and dinner (like how Asians are with rice, except they also eat rice with meals here). And corn (not on the cob, usually, but in baked kernels). And pork. Okay, fritada? One of the best things ever (fried pork), but it's a lot....btw, fritada's what actually got me interested in Latin American culture way back in high school. I was on a mission trip to Chicago, and we went to an Ecuadorian restaurant one night, and the pork was just SO GOOD that I was convinced I had to learn more about the culture from whence it came......heheh it's kind of silly, but I obviously don't regret it.
• Ají. Since we're on the topic of food, I will mention this ever-present, delicious Ecuadorian seasoning! Ají is a salsa made with--at the most basic level--red chili peppers, water, tomatoes, and onions (and sometimes lime juice). Every restaurant has it, and it's also usually present at family meals. You can make it really spicy (add less water), or "más suave" (not so spicy). Since I love spicy foods, ají is the perfect addition to all of my meals here heheh....the only downside is the onion (I don't like onions). But remember (for some of you) what I said about coming to an understanding with papaya when I was in Costa Rica because I ingested such large amounts of it? I think the same has happened here with onions. I've ingested so much onion (with ají, with ceviche, in general, etc.) that I've come to be okay with eating it. Also, I don't cry when cutting onions! (And I have probably thus perpetually designated myself as the onion cutter for whoever of you I'm cooking with in the future. But I think I'm okay with that.)

This post has gotten so long. Dang it. I'm going whitewater rafting tomorrow though! (Yup, plans got switched around again. Horseback riding on Sunday!)

So I should really go to sleep now. Buenas noches...! :)