A weekend in Quito

On Friday, I went to Centro Historico with Tori because all of the museums. So naturally, we spent all of our time walking around and only went to two museums. The first museum was an art museum (anyone that knows me should be very proud that I spent more than 5 minutes in the art museum...AND there was no free food! #Nashermuseum). Next we went to Museo Alberto Mena Caamaño which is more commonly known as el Museo de Cera because it has a bunch of human figures that portray different events throughout history.
Still, the architecture in the old part of town is really cool:

Afterward we took a cab up to El Panecillo, which is a giant statue of a representation of the Virgin of Quito. It's located 3,000 meters above sea level and you can see the entire city (which is saying a lot since Quito is incredible sprawled out).

We also ate lunch at Pim's, which had a beautiful view of the city, but was expensive since it was really touristy.

On Saturday morning, I left the house at 7am with my family to visit the Mojanda Lake, about 75 km away from Quito. After a bumpy ride, we arrived at the lake, which was lapping at the road.

 Next we went off-roading on a super bumpy dirt road even higher in altitude. Since we were so high up, there were no trees, only beautiful green mountains. Prepare yourself for a barrage of photos:

After leaving the lakes, we drove to a house where a bunch of my host mom's family members stay on weekends. There were a TON of adults and kids everywhere and we hung out there until nighttime. They made us a humongous lunch and we hung out and I played with kids. At night I helped make cheese empanadas and talked with a bunch of the family members.


On Sunday Pablo (my host parents' son) and his entire family came over for lunch. Pablo's kids, Martin and Ameliano are 12 and 9 years old, respectively and they both know and want to practice English. I spent the rest of the day talking with them (they would talk in English and I would respond in Spanish) about American music and clothes. It was really fun and it was great practice for me!

Trip to Baños

On Friday I went to Baños, which is a small town to the South of Quito, with the entire group. After the four hour trip, we checked in to our hostel and split up for lunch. I ate in the market (pseudo-street food...there was running water in the market aka 5 star restaurant) and then met up with my other group of friends for a banana milkshake. Afterward, three of the guys came by and said they had met a rando Baños dude and were going to accompany him on a hike up a mountain. Probably NOT the safest decision of my life, but I decided to go (I didn't bring any valuables, in my defense). The man's name was Carlos and although I will admit that he looked really sketchy, he turned out to be extremely nice. He led us on a 2 hour hike that was entirely uphill. When we walked back down the hill, my legs were so tired, they were shaking like leaves. Later, I read in a guide book that this hike was supposed to take not three hours, but FOUR to FIVE. Still the hike was incredible and all of the views were breathtaking. First we hiked up to the cross:

Andres, me, and Juanito

And later we hiked up to a hostal that was even higher in elevation.
After we hiked back down, we grabbed a towel and joined the rest of the group at the hot springs. The water is "natural" and comes from the nearby volcano. It was pretty expensive (by Ecuadorian standards) and actually kinda gross. Not only did the water look disgusting (it was literally brown), but there were also tons of people that...weren't exactly the most fit wearing speedos and bikinis. But it was still pretty fun to go in the hot baths (probably 115 degrees) and then immediately jump in the cold ones (probably 60 degrees). Later that night, we ate dinner at an Italian place, threw a mini party for Evan's 21st birthday (complete with a Pilsener piñata), and bar hopped and danced the night away.

The next morning I met up with Kaya, Juanito, and Andrés and rented bikes for $5. We went on a six hour bike ride to several different waterfalls sprinkled throughout the mountains. The first one was a small one on the road. The next one was a double waterfall that we walked down to by going across a cool bridge:

The four of us hung out by the stream and watched the beautiful waterfall. The only bad thing was that I realized my legs were covered in lots of little bloody dots where I had been bitten by bugs.

The next waterfall was the biggest one, and was rightly named "La Cascada Pailón del Diablo." It was a kilometer hike through the forest in order to get to the waterfall, but the hike was well worth it. It was a huge waterfall (not as big as San Rafael, but almost comparable) and there were three different balconies that you could stand on.

To get underneath the waterfall, you had to crawl on all fours through a little cave. You could actually stand under the waterfall, but because we didn't have waterproof cameras, I don't have a photo. But here's a photo with my friends under the falls:

My friends Andrés, Juanito, and Kaya (L-R)

That night everyone was too tired to go out so we all just hung out and talked. Later in the night when I tried to sleep, my bug bites started itching like crazy. And they didn't just itch, it was excruciating itching to the point that I couldn't sleep that night. True life: the bugs in Ecuador are on crack.

The next morning, I woke up really early and met with three of my friends to go on a random hike. We ended up finding an AWESOME trail that led all the way up to a man's house and was about the same altitude as the hike to the cross on Friday. Our entire hike took about two hours and afterward we went to a zoo and saw a plethora of colorful birds, owls, parrots, ocelots, pumas, and monkeys.

Classes and community service (wait...I'm here to actually do work?)

The following week was when I finally started to get into a more regular schedule. I started my 3 classes (our required class about indigenous tribes and culture in Ecuador, a Spanish grammar and speaking class, and my Impresos class about Photoshop and Illustrator...and where I am the only gringa) and finally met with my community service organization.

We are supposed to do 10 hours of community service per week and I am going to be working with Acción Ecológica. I toured the office, which is really cute and environmental-y, and met everyone that works there. I met the lady that I’m going to be working for, Elizabeth Bravo, who is a biologist. Until late October I’m going to research and write a report (in English) about “the green economy” that will be published with my name on it. After that, I’m going to do research (in Spanish) about genetically engineered bananas. Elizabeth speaks really fast, so there’s a good chance that I’m actually doing something completely different...

Culturalism: Baking and Jazz edition

On Wednesday I went shopping with my host mom and got ingredients to make some American desserts. My friends Jacqueline and Victoria came over and together we made a chocolate chip, Oreo crust, cheesecake. Nomz. Although some of the ingredients tasted a little bit different, the cheese cake was incredible.

After baking, Jacqueline and I went to Teatro Sucre, which is in the historical center of Quito, to see a jazz concert. The inside of the theater was beautiful (it reminded me a little bit of Thalian Hall in Wilmington) and the music was even more beautiful. The first group was a band called Big Band de Jazz del Conservatorio Nacional de Música and consisted of 20-25 musicians who played songs like "The Pink Panther," the Rocky theme song, and lots of others that I did not recognize. The next group, Gabacho Connection, was from Spain and consisted of 5 musicians. Although I liked their music, Jacqueline and I both agreed that we like the first band better.

Party in Guapulo!

On Saturday night after returning from Otavalo, I went to a big celebration in a part of Quito called Guapulo. Before the celebration, I met up with a bunch of the people from our group and hung out at one of my friend's houses. We rode together and arrived at Guapulo, which is the area that is located along the side of one of my mountains. There were hundreds of people drinking and crowded together in the plaza in order to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe. Lots of people were wearing crazy outfits (#tailgateliveson) like cow costumes, gorilla outfits, or strange masks. (Thanks to Tori Wilmarth for all of the photos!)

Blurry, but you can see some of the costumes

There was live music, but more importantly, there were a bunch of structures built out of pipes and wood. All of the structures had whirly-gigs (things that spun around in a circle) that had fireworks and sparklers attached. They lit the structures and ran through the crowd, showering everyone in sparks. Although it was really cool, some of my friends did get little burns from the crowd.

The big structure and la vaca loca (from behind)

At midnight, they brought out a really big structure, "la vaca loca" (a structure in the shape of a cow) and then a HUGE structure that was over two stories tall. After lighting the smaller two, they lit the huge one. Immediately the entire crowd started to run in a giant circle around the two story structure. I joined in with a bunch of my friends and ran around it while sparks went EVERYWHERE. At the very top of the structure, fireworks even launched! We need parties like this in the U.S.

The big structure in action

 
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSfftGytSE8&feature=youtube_gdata

Otavalo: Market Day

The next morning in Otavalo was the big market. Otavalo has a market everyday, but Saturdays are the biggest market. Additionally, the first weekend in September was the Harvest Festival, so it was an even bigger market. We thought we would only need two hours at the market, but ended up shopping for four hours. There was every type of trinket you could ever imagine and hundreds of different stalls.

In order to buy anything, you HAD to bargain. I definitely wasn't very good at bargaining (plus the fact that it was in Spanish didn't really make it any easier), but I managed to get tons of gifts and all for a cheaper price than the first offered price! Here's a picture of my friend Noah bargaining for some veggies:

Afterward I had my first experience with street food! For only $2, it was incredible, albeit a little bit awk to eat next to the giant pig carcass...

After the market, we walked to the Peguche Waterfall. Although this waterfall was tiny in comparison to San Rafael, it was still beautiful.

We were so tired after our long day of shopping that we ended up sitting on some rocks by the waterfall and eating the fresh raspberries, carrots, and string beans that Noah had purchased in the market. Pure bliss.

Finally, if you're not already jealous, here's a picture of the beautiful countryside in Otavalo:

(Viaje a Otavalo): Norte América- El mejor país del mundo

On Friday and Saturday I went with three of my friends to a small town north of Quito called Otavalo. It was a two hour bus ride (which only costs $2!) and along the way, a man told success stories of crippled people. His stories were heartwarming, but it was pretty funny when my friend Noah gave him some money and informed him he was from the U.S. because the man got really excited. He started shouting, "North America! The prettiest country in the world. I love the country of North America! North America is the best country in the world!" My friends and I thought it was pretty comical- especially since we were sitting next to a Canadian.

After the bus ride, we checked in to our hostel and took a nap. Later we got Chinese food for dinner (omgz have you heard that Ecuador has the best Chinese food in the world?? No, but it was actually really good) and went to a great pie shop afterward. Although the owner judged us (we got four different types of pie and would take a bite and pass them around, but the process also included many "mmm's!" and "yuuuum's") it was quite delicious. Next we went to a little amusement park where we played a ring toss game for bottles of different types of alcohol (the U.S. needs to get on Ecuador's level...this could be the new beer pong at frat parties) and a dart game (where the prizes included bags of potato chips, single Coke bottles, and horrific key chains).

The last thing we did that night was go to a concert. For only $3 we each got a rose and got the chance to listen to two hours of beautiful music. Here's a pic:

La Cascada de San Rafael

Sunday morning my family and I woke up early and drove to una cascada- a waterfall. My friend Tori joined us on the lonnnnng trek. We thought it was only an hour away, but it turned out to be three. Although the entire trip was beautiful (think Nat Geo beautiful), it was extremely mountainous and curvy and my stomach was NOT the biggest fan of the voyage. However, once we got to the waterfall, it was definitely well worth it. The waterfall is called San Rafael and it is the biggest waterfall in Ecuador. The only sad thing is that in less than a year, through the Coca Coda Sinclair Project, the water is going to be diverted in order to create hydroelectric power. Knowing that this magnificent waterfall will soon be no more was really sad, but only made it more special that I got to see it.

If it isn't already really obvious, I like to include a lot of pictures. Hey, I am, after all, a photographer.

A picture with my host dad and I!!

¡Viva la Cumpleañera!

Friday was a big day for me...my 21st birthday! In a country where the drinking age is 18! Nonetheless, I had the BEST birthday EVER.

Friday morning we had to meet the bus at 6 a.m. and considering that I am not a morning person, it was pretty early. This was also when the "Viva la cumpleañera" began. Here it is tradition for one person to yell this phrase and then the rest of the group yells back "VIVA!" At various points throughout the day Juan would yell this just in case I forgot it was my birthday.

It was a two hour bus ride to our destination, Nanegalito but Noah and Andrew played the guitar and mandolin the entire way and we sang songs (including classics such as Nirvana, RHCP, and of course, 'Remix to Ignition' with a transition to The Beatles' 'Let It Be'). After stopping for breakfast, we went to un Mariposario, a butterfly farm! There were literally hundreds of butterflies in all sorts of colors and sizes. I kinda went crazy with taking pictures so here are a few from the trip:

I also had a special friend who stayed on my finger for about 10 minutes:

After the butterfly farm we changed and received a surprise: we were going tubing! There were 7 or 8 tubes tied together and each group had a guide to make sure we didn't hit any big rocks. The ride was SO much fun! The river was full of little rapids and tons of rocks to keep it exciting. Afterward we all laid in the river and someone joked that we should drink beer to celebrate my birthday. Low and behold, Juan, the leader of the program, brought giant bottles of Pilsener for everyone!

After changing, we drove (and okay, got lost for about 30 minutes) to our hotel. The hotel was the most beautiful hotel I have ever seen. It was located in the middle of the forest in the mountains and was a collection of little houses (casitas) decorated with pretty tiles and bottles. There were flowers and plants everywhere and millions of different trails throughout the mountains. We ate lunch and had a long talk about our community service (because every student has to do a minimum of 10 hours of community service per week with the organization of their choosing). After dinner, they brought me a cake with candles and everyone sang to me and toasted my health and happiness with wine. For the rest of the night we continued to play sing a long while I tried to get to 21 drinks (I didn't make it, if you were curious). Here's some pictures of the hotel:

And a picture from my party:

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and went on a two hour hike through the forest, but the majority of the hike we labored in the river. I don't even have enough pictures to do it justice (it was reeeally slippery so I didn't use my camera much) but here are two:

Some members of our group also rode down a small waterfall:

After lunch we drove to the Tulipe Museum, which was about the indigenous tribes, The Yumbos. We went on another hike through the woods and saw the large bathing pools that they used for religious cleansing.