Quito's Pretty Awesome.

http://www.qpqweb.com/patrimonio/

10 Quito Things That Make Me Happy:

1. The building guard saying "cómo está niña?" every time I walk by

2. Not getting lost on the bus system

3. Knowing when cab drivers are trying to rip me off and arguing with them in fluent spanish

4. The random afternoon thunderstorms

5. The first Frozen Yogurt place to open up in Ecuador: Chic-Berry

6. Being able to recognize and wave to people on the street who are not in the program (like the bakery guy who just had a baby with his wife, or the indigenous woman selling strawberries, or kids who go to the escuelita).

7. Having cars stop in the middle of rush hour to let me cross the street (probably only because I'm a gringa but I'm not complaining)

8. The mix of western and indigenous cultures

9. Everyone saying that the weather is changing, when in reality it's dropped from 67 degrees to 63...

10. Christmas trees in the windows starting November 1st. 

Family Weekend

I only have two full weekends left in Ecuador, and next weekend we are going to the Galapagos, so that means only one weekend left in Quito. To seize this weekend, I spend ALL day Saturday with the family. First, Sophia and Amy demanded in dressing up in their Belle and Snow White dresses and giving a talent show.

Sophia as Belle, playing the Recorder.

Then we went to Amy and Sofia's school, La Presentación, to see and participate in the "feria"/class olympics. There were dances, skits, tons of children; it reminded me of camp...

Me, Sophia, and Azucena

Me and Amy

Me, Amy, and Fabri

Then we went to their tennis camp and watched them learn how to properly serve. Of course both girls are WAY better than me.

After a quick lunch we went to their Oratory Class where they present weekly poems on some sort of theme. This week's theme was 'Quito' and they couldn't find poems that they liked, so Azucena wrote very nice poems for both girls. They performed them SO well and I was so proud of them, but the judges were obviously wrong and didn't give neither Amy nor Sophia a medal. Jerks. :)

Amy frantically waving her hands to make a point.

And then, very late in the evening, we ate Domino's Pizza and Coca-Cola (as a treat for the girls) for dinner. I really am going to miss my family. They're all so great.

Thanksgiving, Ecuador Style

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yasunízate and a Circus?

Sorry it's been a while, and this post doesn't have any of my photos, just stuff I took from the internet.

On Sunday there was a BIG event put on by Yasuni-itt, a group in Ecuador trying to protect the environment, specifically the Amazon area, from exploitation. It was right across the street at the Casa de la Cultura, and Azucena took me and the girls to check it out.

Through this initiative, the goal of the event was to make enough money to petition congress for something legal to stop petroleum production in some areas of the amazon.

So, after seeing a "circus act" (no animals included, just costumes and juggling), which was funny from what I understood, and being coerced into eating something akin to funnel cake, I got bombarded by the paparazzi. Why? I was the ONLY gringa at the entire event. So they had to interview me talking about why it's important to save the environment, and of course my spanish crippled under pressure. Whatever. Look out for a video circulating the internet about some crazy girl babbling in spanish and looking awkward.

But then we went in to the big concert hall where they were filming for the live telathon thing, and surprise! President Rafael Correa was there! He even gave an impromptu musical performance...

So yeah, after watching the performances, we came home and watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in spanish. It was cute.

Look out for a post about a Quito Thanksgiving, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Ojitos!

This is Fabricio, my little host brother who just turned 1 1/2. I love him.

And You Thought USA Politics Were Crazy...

The other day in literature class, we managed to go on a complete tangent and talk about the ex-Ecuadorian President Abdalá Bucarám.  President of the Republic for a short six months (1996-1997), this man is quite possibly one of the craziest people in all of Ecuador. After becoming the mayor of one of Ecuador's cities, he was found guilty of corruption (he stole a bunch of money from the government), and was promptly exiled to Panama. After 8 years abroad, he announced that he would return to Ecuador and run for president, and he told everyone that he would be giving his "big news speech" in the stadium at 10 in the morning. At that time, he was helicoptered in and jumped into the stadium via parachute to kick off his campaign. And they all elected him.

During his campaign, he refused to live in the Ecuadorian Presidential Palace:

Presidential Palace in el centro historico

And bought out two floors of Hotel Colon, which is two blocks away from my house. Why did he move? Because he wanted to live close to a soccer field. But get this, he and his family lived on one floor, his mistress on the floor below them... awkward.

The self-titled "loco" or crazy man, he was even found dancing at inappropriate times and no one really liked him once they realized what an idiot he was. So, the ENTIRE country took to the streets and protested, and as he was on his way out, Abdalá took even more governmental money and expensive presidential artifacts. He now lives in Panama, again.

But wait, it gets better. After he left, Ecuador had a total of THREE MORE PRESIDENTS IN 48 HOURS. First, the Vice President, Rosalía Arteaga became President.

Yay for a woman president! But within hours, the head of the Supreme Court judged that to be unconstitutional and took over for himself. Then, the military was not happy, so they kicked that poor guy out and put their own president into the office. August of 1998 was when Jamil Mahuad was officially elected and the political process was seemingly back to normal.

And now everyone is really upset with Rafael Correa and no one knows why he isn't being impeached as well. Well done, Ecuador. Well done.

Playa de Oro

This weekend the program had the opportunity to visit the Playa de Oro (literally translated as "beach of gold") community. After a red-eye bus ride to the coast and an hour long canoe ride up another river, we arrived at a community that was full of music and general joy. The history of this community is that the people were brought in from Africa and enslaved in order to extract the gold from the river basin. It was only within the last 10 years that the gold industry has subsided a little bit and the people can live semi-peacefully.

My tour guides for the community. They were so cute.

On Friday we hiked into the jungle, saw tiger footprints (?!), and ended up swimming in this laguna. It was so pretty.

After a quick hike back, we stopped at one of the rocky beaches and tried our own luck at panning for gold.

I was no good.

We also learned how to make sugar from sugar cane! It's a rough process, and takes a lot of energy and man power, but very interesting!

Friday night we had a huge compartiendo of music and dance, where we learned the traditional dance, Marimba, and a few other types of songs and dances used in different ceremonies.

They could all dance; we, the gringos, could not dance to save our lives.

Saturday we left the community and chatted with Papa Roncón, one of the men in Esmereldas who almost singlehandedly revived the Marimba. Another red-eye bus ride to return to Quito and study for exams and finish projects that are due this week.

Hope your weekend was fantastic!

More Fun Facts...

Continued from here.

Quirk #5: They don't refrigerate their eggs or milk here. The milk comes in boxes, and is stored at room temperature until it is opened and then it goes into the fridge. Hmm.

Quirk #6: Peeing in public is totally acceptable. Eew. Also, since most people live with their parents until they themselves get married, the only way they can ever hook up is in public. Making out on a street corner, in class, at the grocery store, etc. is pretty common. PDA, put it away.

Quirk #7: Both students and professors alike find it ok to answer their phones in the middle of class. I think it's distracting and disrespectful.

Anyways. More to come later. This weekend we are going to an Afro-Ecuatorian community called Playa de Oro. I will let you know how it goes!

It's Ironic...

I find it a little bit ironic that just the other day I was talking about how these two cultures (Latin America and USA) view death so differently. I know that this blog is supposed to be about my time abroad in Ecuador, but this weekend something so profoundly difficult happened in the USA that I can't be completely present in Ecuador at the moment.

Yesterday morning my dad's cousin, Holly, passed away unexpectedly. I'm trying with all my might to view this passing as a positive thing, knowing that she is in a better place and that death shouldn't really be that scary. So, I'm choosing to celebrate her life.

Life is too short, and we should really live it to it's fullest, whether you are in Ecuador or somewhere else in the world.

Holly, we will miss you.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Second breakfast at Mickey's Cabin

2. Getting to know new people

3. Family (both extended and host families)

4. Knowing that even though I'm in another hemisphere, I'm still part of a huge, interconnected support system

5. Celebrating rather than wallowing

6. Warm sunny summer days in the Aspen groves

7. Smiling (that one is psychologically proven)

8.  Fresh mountain air

9. Rainstorms

10. Knowing that Holly is in a better place 

Pancakes for Dinner!

For Saturday night, what we deemed the "night of rest", a bunch of girls came over to my house and made pancakes for dinner with a movie screening afterwords.

The menu included plain, chocolate chunk, and cinnamon pancakes, with REAL Aunt Jemima ("Made in the USA for Export Only") syrup, pineapple, orange and peach juice, and other fruits. Yum!

Look Dad! I'm making pancakes! Thanks for teaching me!

The film screening of the Little Mermaid, because two of these lovely ladies had not yet seen it (BLASPHEMY!). After technical difficulties in which Prince Eric would only babble in Spanish, we fixed it and completed the Disney experience with flying colors.

Hope your weekend was fun and relaxing as well!

Quilotoa

For a brief trip, a group of ten of us ventured to a small town called Quilotoa, which exists for the sole purpose of making the crater lake of the volcano a tourist destination. After an exhausting, frustrating series of events involving buses and transportation to the remote town, we made it to our hostel, which was adorable. There, among the clouds and cliffs, we decided to try cuy or guinea pig for dessert:

It was tough and really salty. Glad I tried it, but not gonna eat it again...

We woke up in the morning to clear, bitterly cold and windy skies, but decided to hike down to the lake. The local myth is that the inactive volcano now holds a bottomless lake, which once absorbed a runaway train back in the days (but there are no train tracks anywhere...?)

Really cold. Really windy. Really pretty.

So we hiked down to the lakes edge and then hiked back up, a little bit upset that the 6-hour loop hike was not at the base of the lake, but rather around the rim of the volcano.

So we hiked back up and started to hike the real Quilotoa loop, with the beautifully blue lake on one side and this on the other side of the ridge:

We stopped for a potluck lunch and a quick nap before turning around and heading back to the hostel:

Fruit, peanut butter, granola bars, oreos, what else could we need?

And after another 5 hours of transportation, we arrived back in Quito late last night where I promptly fell asleep in my warm bed. Despite all the headaches of the actual transportation, it was a perfect short trip and was totally worth it. If you're ever in Ecuador, Quilotoa is a MUST.

Día de los Muertos

Traditonally in Latin America, November 2nd is known as Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. So, yesterday a group of us went to Calderón, a small town north of Quito that is famous for it's cemetery on Día de los muertos. After a little confusion about the bus system, we finally arrived, ate a quick lunch, and popped over to the cemetary:

Traditions include giving the deceased water and food (and guaguas de pan and colada morada) for their journey in the afterlife, adorning the gravesite with flowers and wreaths and trinkets, and cleaning the gravesite. It was really touching, actually.

It's nice to think that the indigenous community in Ecuador doesn't fear death, but rather celebrates it. There is no taboo around cemeteries or death or the afterlife like there is in the USA. 

After the cemetery, we wandered around town and found the carnival celebrating the day. There were HUNDREDS of vendors selling things like flowers, the traditional masapan trinkets, food, everything. Not to mention the carnival rides and ferris wheel. There was also a traditional dance show, which I took a video of but can't seem to upload it...

After our return to Quito, we all met up at Crepes and Waffles (the USA really needs this Colombian chain restaurant. SO delicious) for a surprise birthday party for our friend Tori.

They brought her a mini waffle, only after presenting her ID to prove that it actually WAS her birthday. Haha. 

Today we go to a small town in the highlands called Quilotoa, known for it's really great landscapes. Stay tuned!