More Fun from Ecuador

So I have spent the last few weeks in Ecuador, hanging out with my friends Mark, Laura, and Aimee in Quito, and also traveling around a little. My impressions of Quito are mixed. The old town area is pretty cool and a nice place to walk around and see some history. The Basilica del Voto Nacional really impressed with me with both its size and beauty, not to mention the fact that besides Aimee and myself, there were maybe only a handful of other people in the church (something you never seem to experience in any European cathedral). However, Quito is a very large city, and having to take a nearly 1.5 hour taxi ride to get to the bus station one morning, really became frustrating. Those of you who really know me know that I do not like huge cities and hordes of traffic. Well, spending all that time in a cab and still not reaching the end of the city is a little much for me. I know I could never live in Quito, but it still has its charm, in its own way.

Aimee and I first traveled to visit the equator here in Ecuador, in a little tourist town called La Mitad del Mundo. This was my second time visiting the equator, with the first being in Uganda. After examining a map, and also having an intense discussion with Aimee, I found that the only other country I need to visit to straddle the equator in all the continents it passes through is Indonesia. I had never planned on visiting Indonesia, but maybe this gives me a good excuse :) We'll see......... We also visited the rim of a huge crater near La Mitad del Mundo, but were very unlucky, as the clouds rolled in and obscured our view of the impressive community living within the crater's slopes. We did get to hear our guide use his necklace jewelry piece as a flute to give thanks to the mountain by playing a sweet melody that drifted with the wind. I thought that was pretty cool, as I have given thanks to the mountain gods many times as I have been hiking in the mountains of the Wasatch in Salt Lake, or the mountains of southern Poland. We aren't always the ones in control.

Aimee and I also traveled to Banos for a short overnight trip. Banos is located approximately 2.5 hours southeast of Quito, although we managed to find the bus that took 4.5 hours to reach the little town of Banos. I think both Aimee and I were a little restless after spending nearly 6 hours in cabs and buses, so we did what any sane person would do right after reaching a town like Banos, sign up to go puenting! So puenting is a lot like bungee jumping, except that after you reach the length of the rope, you swing back and forth like a huge pendulum, rather than just continuing to bounce up and down. I don’t think either of us knew exactly what to expect, and then arriving at the bridge and standing up on the ledge of the bridge as they double-checked our safety harnasses, peering down at the cascading stream approximately 150 feet below us, we suddenly realized what we had gotten ourselves into. I can tell you that we both successfully accomplished full, head-first dives off the bridge, landing with the grace of Greg Louganis (when he didn’t hit his head on the board, of course). After finishing up, we were both very tempted to take the dive again, but also realized that the famous thermal pools of Banos were calling our names.

We spent a relaxing few hours in the thermal pools, guessing where each person in the pool was from (lots of fun, although a little spying was involved), and healing our aching bodies (Aimee because she had finished a marathon a week before, and me, because I was sick and need to soak my aching bones in my old age).

The next day, we went on a chiva tour through the hills of Banos and the surrounding areas, visiting 8 different waterfalls and taking loads of pictures. For those of you who don’t know what a chiva is, I’ll tell you—picture an open-sided camion/truck that is colored all over with bright colors and pictures. These vehicles are used for travel around rural areas, particularly in Colombia, where people hop on and off with all sorts of things (use your imagination). It was a perfect combination of fun, relaxation, and exhilaration (especially the part where we went over a bridge, I peered over the side, and saw that we had a good 2 inches of bridge to spare before our rear wheel decided to visit the bottom of the canyon). The scenery around Banos is incredibly beautiful, with waterfalls running down the sides of the mountains everywhere you look, and lush, green vegetation covering the mountainsides. The end of our tour took us to Machape Falls, a large waterfall plunging 225 feet to the pool below. We were able to hike down to the pool and attempt to take pictures of the falls as it sprayed us with its mighty torrent. I thought about jumping in the pool at the bottom (normally I would, and Tim J., I was thinking of you here), but then I realized that the pair of boxers I was wearing were the only dry ones I had with me, and then thought of how pleasant another 45 minutes on the chiva and a whole God-Knows-How-Long I would need to sit on that damn bus going back to Quito. Therefore, I opted against it (I still think that maybe I didn’t explore all my options as exhaustively as I could have). Anywho, we left Banos feeling sad that we had to leave such an amazing place, and also me feeling grateful for my dry boxers.

After spending a day with Aimee sightseeing around Quito, Mark, Laura, and I had to say goodbye to her. Aimee flew back to the U.S., while I am continuing my time here. Due to some unforeseen circumstances (some of you know about this), I will be spending an extra week in Ecuador before flying back to Colombia. However, I have changed my Colombia travel plans a little and am super excited about them. I will be spending more time in the smaller areas rather than the big cities. Of course I will visit the big cities, especially on the weekends, to sample what they have to offer, but I plan on really getting to know Colombia by spending the majority of my time in the smaller towns. You will obviously be hearing about all these adventures to come. As for now, more pictures are up at:

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/AB66E0338450?source=pw980 for the Banos pics

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A08679238453?source=pw980 for the pics of Mitad del Mundo

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A93023238454?source=pw980 for the Quito pics

Thanks for tuning in and please let me know what’s happening in your neighborhood (hmm, that sounds a little too much like Mr. Rodgers, don’t you think?)

Otavalo and the Famous Artisan Market

I am now in
Ecuador, finishing up a week and a half in the little town of Otavalo, located approximately 1.5 hours north of Quito. I traveled to Otavalo to take a few Spanish classes, and also to get away from some of the bigger cities that I have been visiting, and dive into a place with a little more culture.
Otavalo is an indigenous community located in a valley between two large volcanoes, Imbabura and Cotacachi. The surrounding landscape is truly stunning, providing me with a tranquil retreat from the crazy city life. Life here is exactly what I wanted, slow-paced. The people here are very friendly, despite the hard lives that they lead. It is very common to see an old lady, walking to the Plaza de Ponchos at 6 in the morning, carrying a load 3-4 times as big as her on her back, excited to set up her artisan stand for the day. It does remind me of Africa, except that in Africa, the ladies would carry the load on their heads. I am always amazed by little things like this. These are always good reminders of what our lives could be like.
The best thing about Otavalo is the mix of the old and the new. As it would be cool if it were a little more old-time indigenous, it is nice to have places where you can buy clothes, get on the internet, and find what you need. It is very interesting to see the indigenous folks, walking down the street in their traditional clothing (colorful embroidered blouses, shoulder wraps, and huge beaded necklaces for women, and trousers, blue ponchos, and black hats for the men) ,strolling by a street shop with Tommy Hillfiger jeans in the window. I hope that this place doesn´t lose much more of its authentic vibe. There really aren´t many more places like this remaining. It seems like the broad hand of the West seems to infiltrate everywhere these days.
So the highlight of Otavalo, and what makes the city famous, is its Saturday market. Artisans from all over Ecuador, and even a few from southern Colombia, come to the market to sell their goods, whether they be sweaters, baskets, jewellery, rugs, hats, paintings, produce, or whatever else you can imagine. The entire town is transformed into a huge market. It is truly an unbelievable sight and something that I will never forget. Of course, this kind of spectacle draws tourists from Quito, and you can see the tour buses roll in in the morning with a bunch of gringos excited to score an Ecuadorian souvenir.
I have been staying with a family here who is incredible and so friendly. Viviana, and her 4-year old daughter Romina, invited me into their home. Of course, neither knows any English, which is one reason why I was really excited to stay with them. We eat three meals a day together and I have also had a lot of time to play with Romina and go with her and Viviana to the park. Life here is pretty awesome and I am a little nervous to leave, as I am not very excited to go back to the crazy cities. However, I guess everything is cool in its own way. One of my favorite things about Otavalo is that I can just set out in the morning and walk all over the town, not worrying about getting lost or being a victim of crime. I love just being able to do whatever I would like, not having any timetables or deadlines to worry about, and being able to just go with the flow.
The other day, I had a little bit of a breakthrough with Romina, the young girl in the family. I was lying on my bed, reading a book and studying some Spanish, when she poked her head in my room, and then immediately decided to run and throw herself onto my bed next to me. She then decided that she wanted me to read to her, in English of course, and then translate everything into Spanish for her. It was a lot of fun and I feel that we kind of bonded in that moment. Now, every time she sees me in my room, I know that a reading time is soon to follow. She really is adorable, and reading to her reminds me of working with my favorite little girls in the afterschool and summer school programs at Holy Cross. Wow, now I realize how much I miss those kids!
Last Sunday, I decided that I wanted to explore the surrounding areas around Otavalo.I opted out of the whole guided tour thing, since I hate spending my time with other gringos, taking private vehicles to the sights, and then being whisked away without any interaction with anyone else whatsoever. I ended up taking a bus to a little town called Quiroga, and then finding a guy to take me up to a lake in his worn-down pickup. It was a lot of fun getting there, and this señor and I talked the whole way up to the lake. He dropped me off at Laguna Cuicocha, a marvelous volcanic lake at the base of Volcan Cotacachi. I didn´t have enough time to walk around the entire lake, but I walked around quite a bit of it, snapping pictures left and right, and enjoying the amazing 360 degree views, truly appreciating the volcanic origin of this area. Volcanoes Imbabura and Cayembe towered over the landscape in the distance, as Volcano Cotacachi stodd guard over Laguna Cuicocha. The landscape reminded me a lot of the Crater Lakes region in Uganda, and I suddenly became nostalgic, missing my students and friends back at Lake Lyantonde.
Another cool little trek was the one to La Cascada de Peguche. The impressive waterfall is about a 30-minute walk from Otavalo, along a railroad track and through some smaller outlyings of houses. The waterfall is a sacred place for the indigenous community here, who believe that the water in the pools below the falls has special healing powers. During the celebration of the summer solstice, nearly the whole community of Otavalo makes the walk to the waterfall, where they immerse themselves in the water, symbolizing the washing away of all their negative energies, and the start of something new. Well, I thought about jumping in, but the fact that the waterfall was raging due to the last 4 afternoon thunderstorms, and the fact that I was wearing my only dry pair of clothes (it's hard to dry clothes when it rains all the time), I decided against it, although it was very tempting:)
The last little jaunt during my time in Otavalo was to Las Lagunas de Mojanda, some beautiful crater lakes above the town. Like Laguna Cuicocha, the scenery was breathtaking, and the fact that I was there very early in the morning gave me some good photography opportunities. I ended up not having much time at all because of travel connections, so, being me and a little crazy, I decided to climb a volcano above the laguna. However, it is a 4+ hour roundtrip, and I only had about 1.75 hours. Needless to say, I ended up running to the top of the volcano with my camera, snapping several pictures along the way, climbing the last bit of rocky terrain to the summit, and then running back down, making my taxi with a few minutes to spare. My legs really didn't appreciate my effort, but the photos I took made up for it. You can see these, along with other pics from Otavalo and the surrounding areas, here:
http://www.photoworks.com/photo-sharing/shareSignin.jsp?shareCode=A3E38A2C94A&cp=ems_shr_alb_pml&cb=PW

It is a little sad to leave Otavalo. I really love this place and the tranquil life I was able to have here, if only for a week and change. It was very hard saying goodbye to the family that I have been staying with, and when I approached little Romina, she gave me a hug and refused to let go. Her mom had to drag her away, crying her eyes out. It is pretty unbelievable the bond that children can develop with us, even in a short amount of time. I will miss them greatly. However, now it's time to meet up with my amigos in Quito for some fun in the Ecuadorian capital! Ciao from Otavalo!

Colombia at First Sight

So the adventure has begun. I am sitting in an apartment in Cali right now (first part of this post), typing up my first blog entry from South America. I must admit that this feels great! I am on a new continent for the first time since back in 2006. Okay, enough of the small talk. I'll jump right in.
The first city on my Colombian/Ecuador adventure was Bogota. So I arrived at the airport in Bogota at about 9:00 at night, and after waiting in the Customs line for about an hour, finally got out of the airport, where the swarm of taxis descended upon me. I was able to figure out how to find an official taxi, and then practiced my Spanish with the driver as he took me to where I would be staying. I had arranged to stay with a family in Bogota, but had no idea where they lived. It turns out that they live in a very poor neighborhood, where you really don't want to be walking around by yourself at night. Go figure! Here I was, a gringo, arriving in Latin America for the first time, in a neighborhood (Comuneros) that was a little sketchy, in the middle of the night. Well, I definitely manage to keep things interesting.
The family that I stayed with was very friendly and continually tried to help me with my Spanish, even when I made a fool of myself. I really enjoyed hanging out with them and they showed me around the city several times, although Bogota is huge and I will never manage to see the whole thing. I visited a few universities, which was really cool, walking around and talking to some of the students. I was also able to walk around the old town of Bogota, called La Candelaria. It is a pretty cool place, with narrow streets, a lot of cafes and bars, and a very fun and rowdy nightlife. I met up with some other young people in La Candelaria for a night and we went to this really cool little bar, where I managed to down a few cups of chicha (a fermented maize drink), try my first Colombian beer, and get up the nerve to ask a girl to show me some of her salsa moves. It wasn't really fair because she is a caleña from Cali, where they are born with salsa genes. It was a lot of fun and a great group to hang out with-- my first Colombian rumba experience!
The other day, I explored the city on my own, by foot most of the day. It was really nice to just relax, go at my own pace, take pictures of whatever I wanted, and drop in to sample the snacks at the various cafes around the city. Getting back to where I was staying was interesting, as I had to try to solve the puzzle of the Transmilenio system (Colombia's first tram system). It was kind of fun, although could have been very frustrating. After being crammed into a car for about 20 minutes, I finally figured out where I had to get out of the car, and managed to walk back home safely.
I also got to experience the fun game of tejo. To make it simple, this bar game consists of drinking a lot of beer and casting metal disks at little objects full of gunpowder. It is actually a lot of fun. My friend took me into one of the barrios (it was a neighborhood in which everyone is on the street, doing everything you can imagine, all night long). I was the first to walk into this little dive, where there were two couples dancing. As soon as they saw me, they stopped and everything went silent. It was actually very funny! I proceeded to make my way back to behind the bar, where the tejo ¨field¨was set up. There were two fields, full of guys that were drunk and tossing things every which way. Needless to say, I caught a few weird looks from them too:) Anyway, it seems that I am a natural in tejo, as I went undefeated and received congratualtions from everyone in the bar when I left. Hmm, I guess I can always become a professional tejo player if things fall apart:)
The people of Colombia are very friendly and warm, the surroundings of Bogota were beautiful, with two sides of the city surrounded by steep mountains. On the peak of one mountain sits Montserrat, a grand monastery. It was really beautiful to visit, and the views of the huge city from the church were amazing.
I am back to washing my clothes by hand, which, funny as it sounds, is kind of nice--getting back to the simplicity of life. I am eating three meals a day, instead of the 4-5 I was managing to put down back home, and have tried many traditional Colombian foods so far, including sancocho con pescado (a type of soup with fish), picuda frita (another type of fried fish, I think catfish), of course fried plantains, and also just the staple rice, potatoes, and carne.
The weather in Bogota is great, with a fall-like climate all the time. It is never really hot, but not too cold either, mostly staying between 50-75 degrees all the time. I know this will change when I move up to the Caribbean coast, so I am enjoying it now.
Yesterday, I arrived on a flight to Cali. After some frustrating attempts at changing my flight that I had already purchased (I just didn't want to use the first part of it; they tried to charge me $150 to not use the first leg; instead, I found a flight that would solve the whole thing, for $50). It is a little crazy that it is cheaper to just buy a whole new flight than to not use one part of a pre-purchased one! I stayed with a friend there, and I can already say, the reputation of caleña girls being really beautiful is right on the money. I can't wait to get back to Cali after Ecuador! What's even better is that Cali is a pretty warm city, so most of the girls are wearing tank tops and shorts. Hmm.....
I was also able to participate in my first class of Hapkido, a martial art. It was a lot of fun, and people were even asking me for how many years I had been practicing. When I told them that it was my first day, they told me that I will be the next Bruce Lee! That is pretty exciting. So I have that going for me now, which is nice! When I return to Cali in a month, I will take up a few more classes and maybe squeeze in a blackbelt or two:)
Right now, I am sitting in the Bogota airport, waiting for a flight to Quito. After waking up at 3:45 this morning to get to the airport in time for my early flight, we sat on the runway for two hours, I missed my connnecting flight, and had to wait around in the airport here for 8 hours. Fun stuff! Well, at least I had some Spanish material with me. I am super excited to visit Ecuador, where I will be staying for about a month. I am really looking forward to Spanish classes so I can enjoy my experience even more, and then also to meet up with my posse in Quito.
So I guess my next post will be from Ecuador. I can't wait to experience some of yet another country. I forgot how fun this is! Ciao from Bogota.
Pictures can be found at http://www.photoworks.com/photo-sharing/shareSignin.jsp?shareCode=A75B052C947&cp=ems_shr_alb_pml&cb=PW