Well it's safe to say that so far this has been the best Spring Break of my many years of schooling. This is mostly because I spent the week at the beach. Going into the week Shanna and I had really no clue where we were staying or what we were going to be doing for 5 days. So Monday we headed out at about 8am and traveled for about 8 hours only stopping about 3 times. Upon arrival I noticed that we would not only be visiting the beach, we would be staying at it. One of the Ecuadorean guys that drove us, his uncle has a beach house on the Ocean and was allowing us to use it for the week. Included was a maid who cleaned up after us and made delicious meals, for a very fair price.
Tuesday we got to see the place in the daylight and it was even more beautiful than at night, this place was a mix of antique items that had been collected over the years, the house was straight out of the pages of a Martha Stewart magazine, flowers everywhere, animals, and mostly importantly hammocks at every turn. Mid-day we headed off to Los Friles, a national park/beach that has been rated the most beautiful in Ecuador. It truly was amazing and not crowded at all. The waves were more tame than the last beach I was at, which was a relief because I couldn't handle anymore swimsuit malfunctions.As I was minding my own business on the shallow part of the beach, I noticed a large fish swim past my legs, then it was time for me to get out. No fishy business today for me. The rest of the day we relaxed at the house.
Wednesday we spent about 8 hours at Isla de la Plata, a small island off of Ecuador that we like to call the "Poor Man's Galapagos". First it was an hour boat ride to the island then we took a hike around the island to an amazing view off of a cliff and then hiked back. I am not a big hiker and it being 100 degrees and humid, I complained a bit (a lot) and never have I ever sweat so much in my life. Here I received most of my sunburn due to lots of sweating and lots of sun and not being able to re-apply sunscreen until we got back to the boat. After our hike we got back onto the boat to eat some lunch and drive over to our snorkeling spot. This was the part I was super excited for. Throughout being here in Ecuador I have realized something about myself, I am not a hiker, I am a swimmer and I love being in the water. Before we got off the boat, right around us were about 5 huge turtles swimming around and also some very colorful fish. Next we got our goggles and breathing tube things and headed out. We got to see some cool fish and just be in an amazing spot with an amazing view of the cliffs. I honestly could have stayed in the water all day watching and searching for the fish. I loved this experience and I hope to get to do it again soon! After everyone had their time swimming with the fishies we headed back to the main land, only to stop half way because someone spotted dolphins! This was also amazing and super cool, dolphins in the wild, about 20 of them here and there, I took about 60 pictures just trying to capture them, our guide continued to say that this was a very rare occurrence. Hiking in the burning sun defiantly was worth it to see turtles, colorful fish, and dolphins the way they were intended to be. We headed back, drove home, showered and relaxed again, after all it was our vacation.
Thursday nothing big was planned so we headed out to a museum, went to a church for a spectacular view, and got some awesome pie. Yum. On Friday it was raining so we didn't do much except play games with some other Ecuadorans who came Thursday night and later we took the kayaks out onto the Ocean, super fun but a lot of work and very cold in the rain. Friday night Shanna and I left for home on a 10 hour bus. The plan was to sleep the entire time and arrive at 6am in Quito. Sleeping was basically a success besides lots of head bobbing and we arrived 2 hours early at 4am. I was not convinced that we were in Quito due to the fact that we were 2 hours early. So I spent about 15 min unpacking once I got home then quit and went to bed. Today has been spent sleeping and cleaning my room and also planning some classes for next semester.
It's also been interesting cooking for myself today, because my host mom is gone. I have cooked about nothing since I've been here except toast, so I know where nothing is. I have not gone hungry yet making simple meals but she's supposed to be gone until Monday so there is still time.
sábado, 30 de marzo de 2013
jueves, 21 de marzo de 2013
Free Samples.
Well this week was my last week before spring break. Monday was a normal day.
Tuesday is usually my hard day with class from 8:30 until 1. So after my Jazz class Lauren and I headed to our dreaded accounting class only to see that no one was in the classroom. We looked around confused only to be told that there was no class! This made our day especially because we didn't have accounting at all last week because our teacher was in the States. So what would we do with our 1.5 hours of free time? Go shopping at the new mall across the street of course! We hit up every store looking for a 21st birthday dress for Lauren and found the perfect one at the first store we entered similar to a Forever 21 only way smaller and way more expensive. Since Lauren didn't have enough money we couldn't but it right away but brought all our friends back to the store during lunch for their approval and then put the dress on hold until Wednesday. Even though it was a bit more on the expensive side we all decided on a million occasions in which she could wear the dress so in the long run it would be more than worth it. During this shopping trip I also found the most perfect dress. A sleeveless high-low dress where the top was all gold sequins and the bottom was a sheer dark purple, not to mention my favorite shade of purple. This dress was way too dressy for anything I would ever be attending but maybe if the price was right... HA it was $81. No way was i getting this dress... ever. So it is now saved forever in my mind. Also, after our shopping trip when we were heading back to our next class we got free crackers, a new promotion/kind, and who doesn't like free food? The only thing was we had to pose for a picture which wasn't bad and we were on our way.
Wednesday we went to class, ate lunch, and then Lauren decided to get her hair cut so we went to this cute little hair cutting place right by school to check out the prices. A hair cut and wash was only $10 so we did it, Lauren got her hair cut short with some cute bangs and Willow got a trim, and I scheduled a cut for myself and Anne for Friday at 12 after class.
Thursday I actually had accounting and got my test back that I thought I failed but really got a "B", what a great surprise! and we got out super early. So to reward myself for doing well on my test I bought a cookie and sat on the steps of the main building. Here there were 2 free promotions/options for free food. One lady was giving out individually packaged slices of bread and the other ladies were giving away small packages of noodles. Naturally I wanted both, but the noodles looked harder to get because you had to play a game or something but bread lady was just giving out bread to anyone. So after sitting there for 20 min trying to get her to come to us using eye and mind signals we eventually had to walk past her and get it ourselves.
So tomorrow I just have one test and then I'm free for spring break! And to start off the week of relaxation I'm getting a new hair doo.
Tuesday is usually my hard day with class from 8:30 until 1. So after my Jazz class Lauren and I headed to our dreaded accounting class only to see that no one was in the classroom. We looked around confused only to be told that there was no class! This made our day especially because we didn't have accounting at all last week because our teacher was in the States. So what would we do with our 1.5 hours of free time? Go shopping at the new mall across the street of course! We hit up every store looking for a 21st birthday dress for Lauren and found the perfect one at the first store we entered similar to a Forever 21 only way smaller and way more expensive. Since Lauren didn't have enough money we couldn't but it right away but brought all our friends back to the store during lunch for their approval and then put the dress on hold until Wednesday. Even though it was a bit more on the expensive side we all decided on a million occasions in which she could wear the dress so in the long run it would be more than worth it. During this shopping trip I also found the most perfect dress. A sleeveless high-low dress where the top was all gold sequins and the bottom was a sheer dark purple, not to mention my favorite shade of purple. This dress was way too dressy for anything I would ever be attending but maybe if the price was right... HA it was $81. No way was i getting this dress... ever. So it is now saved forever in my mind. Also, after our shopping trip when we were heading back to our next class we got free crackers, a new promotion/kind, and who doesn't like free food? The only thing was we had to pose for a picture which wasn't bad and we were on our way.
Wednesday we went to class, ate lunch, and then Lauren decided to get her hair cut so we went to this cute little hair cutting place right by school to check out the prices. A hair cut and wash was only $10 so we did it, Lauren got her hair cut short with some cute bangs and Willow got a trim, and I scheduled a cut for myself and Anne for Friday at 12 after class.
Thursday I actually had accounting and got my test back that I thought I failed but really got a "B", what a great surprise! and we got out super early. So to reward myself for doing well on my test I bought a cookie and sat on the steps of the main building. Here there were 2 free promotions/options for free food. One lady was giving out individually packaged slices of bread and the other ladies were giving away small packages of noodles. Naturally I wanted both, but the noodles looked harder to get because you had to play a game or something but bread lady was just giving out bread to anyone. So after sitting there for 20 min trying to get her to come to us using eye and mind signals we eventually had to walk past her and get it ourselves.
So tomorrow I just have one test and then I'm free for spring break! And to start off the week of relaxation I'm getting a new hair doo.
lunes, 18 de marzo de 2013
The Ocean!
Well this past weekend all 8 of the SNC girls and my Ecuabuddy headed out to Esmeraldas Providence. Here we would spend an entire day at Tonsupa beach.
We were planned on leaving at 12 on Friday to catch our bus at 1:30, but because my Ecuabuddy stressed the importance of arriving early we sat in class for 30 min and left early. To get to our bus we had to first take a series of other buses. First we took our usual bus to then literally ran to another bus, stood on there for about 20 min and ran even faster through traffic and horns beeping to jump on a moving bus. All this with pursed flying and bouncing and being weighed down by a 20+ pound backpack. We eventually got to the station laughing about what we just did and then ventured off for snacks and bathrooms before we left. Snacks were very cheap but we had to pay 10 cents just to get toilet paper which is a common in Ecuador. The bus ride was 7 hours but we did get to stop once at a sketchy/gross rest stop to use the bathroom and we were able to watch a movie in English on the bus, even though the movie started over 4 times, but we only saw it all the way through once, it was pretty good for a bus movie. Once we got to our final stop we had to flag down a taxi to take us to our hotel. These taxis were not yellow cars but motorcycles with carts built on/around them. We got to our hotel, figured out that we had to put the mattresses on the floor to have a spot for everyone to sleep and headed out for some real dinner. Much to our disappointment the only place open was a burger place, that only had french fries, and they would take 30 min to make. So we killed time, ate, and headed home to sleep.
Saturday we got up and found one of the 3 places open for the weekend to eat and headed to the beach. I was especially excited because it was going to be my first time in the ocean. Naturally we all made a big deal about it and took lots of pictures of me running to the water. After experiencing the water we rented a shade tent for the day and went out to tackle the waves. Later we payed for a ride on an inflatable banana. This was not a ride, more of a game. The drivers of the boat basically tried to fling us off the banana as much as possible but we still had a great time being catapulted into the water on top of each other. Throughout the day we swam, walked on the beach, tanned/burned, and shopped at the walking stores that came past the tent. I bought a pair of earrings for $2 that are supposedly all natural. For dinner I had some amazing pasta and ham and took some great pictures. Overall it was a great day and I only burned a little.
Sunday we had to head home for Monday classes and again we took the 7 hour bus ride to Quito and then a taxi the rest of the way to our houses.
Today it rained all day which reminds me that we are getting closer and closer to the rainy season (April) and that means it'll rain every day for a few hours. Also today I received my first package from my wonderful mother with some much needed supplies. Just four short days of class until Spring Break and another trip to a different beach.
And as of yesterday March 17th, I have exactly 2 more months left here. It is really becoming a bitter sweet moment.
We were planned on leaving at 12 on Friday to catch our bus at 1:30, but because my Ecuabuddy stressed the importance of arriving early we sat in class for 30 min and left early. To get to our bus we had to first take a series of other buses. First we took our usual bus to then literally ran to another bus, stood on there for about 20 min and ran even faster through traffic and horns beeping to jump on a moving bus. All this with pursed flying and bouncing and being weighed down by a 20+ pound backpack. We eventually got to the station laughing about what we just did and then ventured off for snacks and bathrooms before we left. Snacks were very cheap but we had to pay 10 cents just to get toilet paper which is a common in Ecuador. The bus ride was 7 hours but we did get to stop once at a sketchy/gross rest stop to use the bathroom and we were able to watch a movie in English on the bus, even though the movie started over 4 times, but we only saw it all the way through once, it was pretty good for a bus movie. Once we got to our final stop we had to flag down a taxi to take us to our hotel. These taxis were not yellow cars but motorcycles with carts built on/around them. We got to our hotel, figured out that we had to put the mattresses on the floor to have a spot for everyone to sleep and headed out for some real dinner. Much to our disappointment the only place open was a burger place, that only had french fries, and they would take 30 min to make. So we killed time, ate, and headed home to sleep.
Saturday we got up and found one of the 3 places open for the weekend to eat and headed to the beach. I was especially excited because it was going to be my first time in the ocean. Naturally we all made a big deal about it and took lots of pictures of me running to the water. After experiencing the water we rented a shade tent for the day and went out to tackle the waves. Later we payed for a ride on an inflatable banana. This was not a ride, more of a game. The drivers of the boat basically tried to fling us off the banana as much as possible but we still had a great time being catapulted into the water on top of each other. Throughout the day we swam, walked on the beach, tanned/burned, and shopped at the walking stores that came past the tent. I bought a pair of earrings for $2 that are supposedly all natural. For dinner I had some amazing pasta and ham and took some great pictures. Overall it was a great day and I only burned a little.
Sunday we had to head home for Monday classes and again we took the 7 hour bus ride to Quito and then a taxi the rest of the way to our houses.
Today it rained all day which reminds me that we are getting closer and closer to the rainy season (April) and that means it'll rain every day for a few hours. Also today I received my first package from my wonderful mother with some much needed supplies. Just four short days of class until Spring Break and another trip to a different beach.
miércoles, 13 de marzo de 2013
Amazon Woman: Take Two
Last weekend I headed off to my most expensive planned trip thus far; the Amazon rain-forest. The college here has a biodiversity research station there called Tiputini, only students and researches can visit so this was a chance of a life time. The total was $450 for everything, transportation, food, and guided hikes for 4 days and 3 nights. We started off our trip by waking up at 4am to catch a taxi to the bus station for our 30 min flight at 7. After the flight we took a 5 min bus to a canoe in the city of Coca. The canoe was about 2 hours to another bus for 2 more hours and finally one last 3 hour canoe ride to the station. After taking our 3 modes of transportation we arrived around 4pm and listened to out orientation talk and found our rooms. After sitting all day Shanna, Whitney, and I walked around camp. Dinner was at 7 and after the amazing food was devoured we went to bed.
The special things about Tiputini:
On Sunday we took a hike to some rope bridges high above the canopy. Even though we didn't see much it was still amazing just to be so high and to be able to see everything. There were 3 platform and also a ladder that went even higher to another platform. The view was amazing and the bugs were terrible. For our second hike that day we did not go on a hike, we went on a boat ride and got to go into the Tiputini River and float on our own. We let the current take us as the boat followed. After about an hour we all got back in and headed back to camp to dinner and another presentation on the monkeys living in the area. The river we floated in also holds piranhas and caiman (a type of alligator), but because of the high river level and the fact that no one was bleeding to attract their attention, nothing happened and we all got back in one piece. That night around 8 we took an hour night hike and got to see all the creatures that came out at night. We saw lots of huge spiders and I even found a scorpion. Half way through we stopped, turned off all our lights, and stood there for one min. During this time we could hear all the animals stirring about and see nothing, not even your own hand in front of your face, it was that dark.
Monday was spend traveling again and we stopped at an indigenous village for about 20 min to hear the sing and do a little dance. After taking our three modes of transportation again we got home around 9 and then I had to do homework, check in with some Facebook time, and clean up my rotting pineapple.
The special things about Tiputini:
- It is in the middle of no-where
- There is only electricity from 10-1am and 6-9:30 pm, all other times we had to use candles
- Breakfast is at 6:30am, Lunch is at 12, and Dinner is at 7, every day
- There is only cold water, that they take from the Tiputini river, treat it to make it safe for drinking and usage and then return it back to the river after treatment again, because of this we had to use special soap for showers
- It is very hot and very humid
- It rains a minimum of 2 times a day
- The bugs are huge, and my bugs I mean spiders
- With camera traps they have captured images of Pumas, Ocelots, and other cat species
- When we could, we kept our cameras, ipods, phones, and other sensitive equipment in "dry boxes". This was because the humidity would eventually ruin and break the electronics.
On Sunday we took a hike to some rope bridges high above the canopy. Even though we didn't see much it was still amazing just to be so high and to be able to see everything. There were 3 platform and also a ladder that went even higher to another platform. The view was amazing and the bugs were terrible. For our second hike that day we did not go on a hike, we went on a boat ride and got to go into the Tiputini River and float on our own. We let the current take us as the boat followed. After about an hour we all got back in and headed back to camp to dinner and another presentation on the monkeys living in the area. The river we floated in also holds piranhas and caiman (a type of alligator), but because of the high river level and the fact that no one was bleeding to attract their attention, nothing happened and we all got back in one piece. That night around 8 we took an hour night hike and got to see all the creatures that came out at night. We saw lots of huge spiders and I even found a scorpion. Half way through we stopped, turned off all our lights, and stood there for one min. During this time we could hear all the animals stirring about and see nothing, not even your own hand in front of your face, it was that dark.
domingo, 3 de marzo de 2013
Novios!
School has been rough. Classes are getting harder now that I actually have tests and quizzes. This week was fairly uneventful. Except for one very terrible day. Thursday. I hope we shall never meet again. The day started off fine, got up, went to Jazz at 8:30 and then came Accounting, my hardest class. We had an open book and open note test and I'm pretty sure I didn't do so hot and I'm looking for a tutor. I've never gotten a tutor before so this is pretty serious business. Then came Econ, received a quiz back, again; not so hot. After class I went to the ATM to get some money and after trying many times at two different ATMs I soon realized my card was blocked. Being that I just paid for my very expensive Tiputini trip the day before I knew that was why, the bank had saw that I tried to take out over my limit and considered this "suspicious" activity. This seems like no problem to some but being that I'm in a foreign country with a phone that only works for in-country calls, this meant that I had to contact my mom through Facebook; in the middle of the day, when she probably (more like 100% positive) is at work. This problem needed to be solved the day of because at the time I had ZERO cash. After sending a few angry messages trying to get her attention from 2000 miles away, I walked away from the computer and hoped the internet would not fail me.
That night we had also planned to go to a mandatory jazz concert for a class, costing a taxi ride there, the ticket, and a taxi ride home. After planning, hassling, and screaming I figured out how to get there. This included asking the 7 SNC girls to cover my money for the night (planning to pay them back) and also waking up and asking my host sister for money. After a few phone calls I figured everything out. We got to the concert hall after walking and looking for a taxi for 30 min only to find out that all the tickets for the concert were sold out. So we headed home. So not only did I spend about $5 on taxis, but this meant that we have to go to a concert this week. Adding to my already full week.
The day was filled lots of crying on my side, I'd say a good 3 hours, just sitting in my room, crying. Ben knew what was going on and I even had to leave talking to him because I was so upset. Little did I know he told my mom what was going on and I knew she was waiting for my call. So I get on Skype with her, ball my eyes out not caring who in the house heard and head to bed. If all these things would have happened separately I think I could have handled it but just one thing after another and fighting with friends and being ignored and a bunch of other things just broke me.
So Friday was the day of re-cooperation and letting things go. My ever amazing mom fixed my card and even got me to calm down the night before and checked in on me on Friday. I spent the night watching "The Life of Pi" (I'd recommend it!) and going to bed early.
Saturday was wedding day! I woke up at 10 and everyone was ready to go... uh o... but Ani reassured me that I didn't have to be ready until 4 when her nephew would pick me up. So I took about 2.5 hours just to get ready just because I had the time and Andrew showed up right on time (unusual for an Ecuadorian). So I greeted him an the door and he introduced him self and all that nice to meet you stuff, in PERFECT English. Who is this man? and what did he do with Andrew? Turns out he was born in the States and has dual citizenship. His father is American and he went to college in Miami. When we arrived I found my host family and just took in my surroundings and relaxed.
There was photo-booth and someone who lives in my building (not sure the relation) wanted me to go in it with her, so we got in line. Turns out she really didn't want to go in and just wanted me to take pictures with Andrew. Then I got this weird feeling... uh o... this feels like a date. He picked me up at my house and we arrived and the wedding alone; and now we were taking pictures together? We hung out and talked a bit, but only because he knew English. I even mentioned that I had a BF, multiple times, just to make sure. After it got a little darker we hit the dance floor and danced to many tunes I had never ever heard of before. Throughout the night I talked, danced, walked around, and just had an overall great time.
Around 8 we got soup and there was a desert table that was delicious. Throughout the night I even danced alone just because I didn't care. People here do NOT know how to dance to the "YMCA" and I showed them all how to do it, whether they were looking or not. I came home around 11 and was overly happy with how NOT awkward the night was. After all I knew about 20 people out of when seemed like a million and just hung out with everyone anyways.
Today I went over to Shanna's house to work on a presentation and missed the family lunch, but Ani brought me food home so I got to stuff my face after my 25 min walk home. At night my family and I watched "The Impossible. The movie about the family in the Tsunami. From my friends I heard that by the end they were balling their eyes out, I was not ready to do this in front of them but took the risk and watched it anyways. It was a great sad movie but I kept it together and not a single tear rolled down my face, I should get a award or something.
This week I have only 4 days of class because I'm going to Tiputini in the Amazons Friday-Monday. And also my 8:30 class Tuesday and Thursday has been cancelled because the teacher has to go to Texas to re-new his Visa. It's going to be a busy week to make up for my 2 missing days but I'm super excited and things look promising.
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