Ponte

8-7-11

I think I’m going to be more culture-shocked when I’m actually living in the United States instead of the other way around.  I didn’t have any problems adjusting to the new culture in Ecuador and actually fell in love with everything about it.  I had a great experience working with both the residents in Lumbisí and also the volunteers who came and went while I was there.  I think the people are amazing and I have definitely learned a lot from them (not the other way around this time!) I have been observant of the lifestyles that these good people have. 

The women are absolutely amazing and hard-working.  Whether they have work outside their homes or they stay home-they are always busy and working.  I was surprised to see how many hand-wash their clothing instead of using washing machines.  I see them washing outside with watering stations while using bowls of water to rinse their clothing.  They are also always cooking something on the stove- usually it is a soup that they whipped together or rice with some kind of vegetables steaming.  For those who own pigs (chanchos), they need to feed and wash their stalls every morning and evening.  I swear my host mom never took a break.  The one time I knew she was taking a nap during the day was on her birthday (good for her!!)

Other women own stores that sell home-grown fruit and what not.  There are so many stores on the street that are just like the Farmer’s Market- I loved buying the $0.05 bananas frequently.  :-)  Other older women I came into contact with were the most understanding women I’ve ever met.  They actually listen to you when you talk to them! (even if your Spanish speaking skills aren’t perfect)  It was fun talking to the woman who owns a store right next to the FEVI store (she was also there to help me with the students who were naughty for the English classes I taught in the beginning of June).  It’s also great interacting with my host “grandma” and Magdalena.  Those are women who are extremely hard-working, but also have a great sense of humor and personality.  I will never forget their laughs. 

Other interesting fact about the women in Ecuador is that they have no shame of breastfeeding in public. You can be sitting on the public bus and a woman will just start breast feeding right next to you.  They truly value the nutrition factor that breast feeding has for a newborn. 

Weirder things that I’m going to miss are the crazy bus rides.  I have gotten used to being flexible when busses don’t show up, when I have to stand holding on the railings for two hours as the bus whips past curves through the mountains.  Many people hate the bus system, while I on the other hand, love them because of how many convenient routes they have and how cheap they are.  I will miss good public transit in Michigan!

I think I now have a fear of dogs.  Haha.  I never did get used to all the wandering dogs in the street, and also how they all turn evil at night, chase and bark at you until you are out of “their” property.  It’s funny how my breathing is rapid when I walk down the street to where I live.  It is definitely a different world of dogs in Lumbisí.

I will miss seeing the women dressed in long skirts, high, thick socks, wearing knitted sweaters, carrying slings with heavy object on their backs.  I will miss their braided hair and unique-looking hats. 

Something else that I’ve fallen in love with in the town of Lumbisí is their way of Community-style life. They share a lot of things between families, such as a microwave, instead of everyone having to waste resources and money just to own their personal microwave.  This is just a small example of community-living.  They help each other out with watching little kids when parents work and what not as well.  If you ever have a problem, it is your family that you depend on.  

The community lifestyle kind of relates to the simplicity of living in Ecuador.  I’m not saying that their life is easier, because obviously it’s not.  But I’m talking about them not needing a lot to survive.  They possess what is necessary and the rest is love.  When I would walk past my grandmother washing clothes outside, she wouldn’t be bitter or complain about anything, but she would be concerned about how I was.  All she wanted to do was to just love on people. 

What amazed me in Ecuador is the simplicity of living. People just didn’t need much to survive, whether it be money or material things. I never felt like people had much responsibility, not meaning they didn’t have much to worry about, but they didn’t have many material things to worry about, like cars, insurance, buying things, etc. Relationships were most important to them. Family stuck together and helped each other out.   

The mountains/volcanoes in the distance always amazed me. I never got sick of having the fresh, crisp mountain air blowing through my hair. Being able to travel through a country that had pretty much everything in it was amazing.  What I mean by this is that Ecuador has lots of mountains, the coast, and rainforest, depending on which area you go to.

I loved being able to speak Spanish to anyone on the street. Now that I’m back to the States, it feels weird to be speaking English or that English is even the majority here. Now I actually have to work to find people to speak Spanish with.  By the end of my time there, I didn’t have to stress about what I was going to say in Spanish, which I’m thankful for.  I could walk past people, greet them, and talk to them about what was going on in their lives. I’m happy to have this experience working with the people in Ecuador, volunteering, practicing Spanish, and learning a ton about myself.  Thank you to everyone for supporting me! 

No es cierto

8-7-11

I arrived very early (about 6 AM) in Quito at the big bus terminal.  I was determined to figure out the bus system instead of taking a taxi that would cost a ton to get back to Lumbisí.  The guy at the information desk was not very helpful and didn’t look like he wanted to help anyone because it was early in the morning.  He talked very softly, didn’t show me a map of the bus routes, and was wearing a hat that covered everything except his eyes- maybe that’s why I couldn’t hear him very well?  He said that the bus system was a little complicated, so I checked to see how much a taxi really would be; $15.00- no way.  So, I asked a different lady who was extremely helpful—writing down names of the bus stations, how many minutes (roughly) it would take, etc.  I paid my $0.25 and got on the trolley. The nice lady said it would take about 40 minutes to the next station.  After a couple different people sat beside me, I finally asked a woman who looked like she would be helpful to kind of guide me to the next bus station.  She said she was going to the same area and that she would “advise” me.  We chatted for a while and then told me to be very careful at the next bus station, as many people are mugged. Good advice!  As we were getting closer to where I would be getting off the trolley, she recommended that instead of going to the dangerous terminal, that I follow her to get on a regular city bus.  I trusted her enough and that’s where she would be going anyway.  We got off the bus together to walk to a bus stop; we waited for about a half hour for the correct one to Cumbayá for me.  There were no problems taking the two other city busses, where I arrived safely to Lumbisí. Traveling from Cuenca to Lumbisí took about 10 hours—I was exhausted.  I walk into my house and find my whole family there, along with Danielle (another volunteer who stayed at my house for a few days before) and Rosita (a girl who lives in Tonsupa who I’ve become good friends with). 

Rosita and I saying our good-byes. I'm gonna miss this girl! 

It was like a big reunion! I’m so glad I was able to see them before I leave the country! After our good-byes, I helped out with Clarita and the comedor with Zack and another volunteer.  It was a sad day leaving the comedor and thinking that I’ll probably never see the old folks again; it was a very odd feeling walking out of the comedor, because I’ve been helping out the whole summer! Thursday, August 4^th was my host mom’s birthday, so I went to Cumbayá to buy a brownie mix to make (since no one bakes brownies and they have probably never tasted the deliciousness of them) that night. On the way home from Cumbayá, I stopped at a local flower shop to buy a flower bouquet for Matildle as well. The guy (Pedro) who owns the really tiny flower shop told me it would only be $5.00 for the huge flower bouquet and then continued on to show me his garden where he grows most of what he sells.  I love buying things locally and supporting the community of Lumbisí! Grace, Martín, Zack and I helped make the brownies when Matilde arrived at our house.  Also, something interesting is that most families in Lumbisí don’t ever use their oven, so making brownies in the oven was interesting to them.  Usually they cook over the stove while frying absolutely everything.  Everyone loved the brownies (it actually turned out to be more like cake than anything…oh well) and we were able to relax together.

My host dad, Freddy, and host mom, Matilde, eating brownies on her birthday

Friday morning we didn’t have much to do since los ancianos (older people) at the comedor were taking a “vacation” to the hot springs and we didn’t have to serve them lunch.  Instead, we cleaned the upstairs classroom at Muñequitos so that Zack can start English classes for adults next week (Pedro, the flower shop guy, said he would be attending). In the afternoon, Zack and I went to my favorite location in Cumbayá- “El Español” where there is free wifi, frozen coffee/chocolate drink and oreo cheesecake. What can be better than that?  Oh, also the view from where we were sitting was amazing.  We were looking at the clear view of Cotopaxi, with the snow-covered top and dusk setting in so that the clouds surrounding it were a pretty color. We arrived back at home, ate dinner together, and enjoyed some really sweet pear wine (Boone’s); it actually tasted more like sparkling wine than anything, to celebrate Matilde’s birthday once again.  Matilde, Zack and I played cards late into the night because I didn’t want to go to sleep, because sleep would mean time here would go by faster! 

Hot Springs fed by volcanoes nearby. 

Saturday morning, everyone was able to sleep in and we had plans to go to Papallacta (hot springs heated by the surrounding volcanoes).  Matildle, Grace, Martín, Zack and I hopped on a few busses to an area that was surrounded by mountains, however, meaning it was very cold outside.  The pool was pretty big and felt just like a big hot tub (and cost only $2).  I couldn’t get over that we could just look out into the mountains, where cows and sheep were grazing on the hills, sitting inside of a hot springs pool.  Finally we arrived home, after a pretty long bus ride.  Matilde made another fantastic dinner (my last one in Ecuador!) that consisted of patacones, rice, broccoli/carrot salad, and a mixture of cold tuna with tomatoes. I wanted to make Quimbolitos before I left for the United States, since most likely there won’t be huge leaves that I can wrap the goodness into.  I bought all of the ingredients from my grandparents store who live behind us and told a few of the families who live around us that I was going to be selling Quimbolitos at 9PM. The house had the aroma of Quimbolitos and Zack and I played cards (Spit) while they were being steamed.  I am taking a few of them to the United States so my family can try them!  

Ahorita

8-4-11

I decided to travel by myself to Cuenca—the third largest city in Ecuador (the order is Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, from largest to smallest). I took the night-bus Sunday night to head 8 hours away from Quito.  Before that, it was a relaxing Sunday where a Frisbee was thrown around in the stadium and afterwards we watched the finals for soccer in Lumbisí.  Of course, pool was played on our way back to our house.  It was a little nerve-racking trying to figure out the bus situation and what not to get to Cuenca, since I was going to be traveling in the dark by myself for hours at a time.  I took a taxi to the huge bus station in Quito where I found the bus I was supposed to take (there were about 7 leaving from that station going to Cuenca anyhow).  This was also a stressful situation because I arrived to the station only 15 minutes before a bus was going to leave.  After standing behind people who were taking forever to buy their tickets, I overheard a man ask if there were anymore tickets for Cuenca.  I heard the dreaded answer- “no”.  Instead of freaking out, I followed the man who had asked the question (because obviously he was going to Cuenca as well) and we ended up getting tickets for another bus company that was leaving “ahorita”, which means “right now”; so we run to where our bus and settle down next to each other.  I didn’t sleep very well on the trip, I think because of nerves, and also I was close to a guy who was snoring pretty loudly (and I think he was the only one snoring).

I arrived in Cuenca at 7 AM on Monday morning; 2 hours earlier than expected. The man who I was sitting next to on the bus helped me get a taxi to my hostel “Cafecito”.  I was showed to my room, which is a big room with two bunkbeds and a single bed- mostly sharing the room with guys.  We share a half bathroom (community showers are available down the hall) that has hot water and great water pressure! I met the only girl in our room (Anita) and she said she was going to eat breakfast that would be served in our hostel, then going to Ingapira—the Incan ruins.  So, we ate breakfast together (with unlimited coffee refills) along with two other guys from our shared room.  It was so nice to have to be forced to meet people in the hostel I was staying in.  I wouldn’t have reached out to these people if I had my own, private room.  We pretty much all clicked right away and those were the people I traveled with to different locations around Cuenca.  I was a little afraid about sharing room with strangers, but those strangers turned out to be great friends.  So, Brandon, Anita and I caught a taxi that would take us to the bus terminal to get on “Transportes Cañar” that would connect us to “Tomba” where we would end up in Ingapirca. The two-hour bus ride was incredible and I fell in love with all of the grassy mountains surrounding me.  Ecuador is such a beautiful country that I still haven’t taken for granted!  The views still take my breath away.  Ingapirca wasn’t as impressive than I had imagined it, however the Incans are pretty incredible building things when their technology wasn’t near as advanced as it is now.  Their precise “measurement” with all of the big boulders being cut and put together in a square-like fashion, without needing anything between them to hold them together is pretty amazing.

After getting back into Cuenca and resting up a bit, the 5 of us from our shared room went to a Colombian restaurant where we could partake of a delicious, authentic meal.  Mine was a thicker-like tortilla (reminded me of pita bread) on the bottom, with shredded chicken and vegetables on top.  After dinner, me and the boys headed to a place called “Cacoa and Canela”, which served home-made hot chocolate.  “Chocolate España” (hot chocolate, cinnamon, and meringue (eggs whites?).  If that wasn’t a busy enough day, we finished the night playing pool together at the “Wunderbar”, located on the river that runs through Cuenca.  

Cuenca, Ecuador

A few of us from the hostel singing Karaoke at a bar next to our hostel

Tuesday morning, after a restful sleep (earplugs are a must!), I woke up early to venture the European-like city of Cuenca.  While I was wandering about, I found a very cute breakfast place called “Cappuccino”. Here, I enjoyed 3 American-style pancakes, scrambled eggs and coffee—all for $2.90!  It was fun touring the city by myself as I was free to do whatever I wanted.  All of the buildings are very old (most of them built in the 1800’s?) and look a lot like what I would think Europe would be like, which I absolutely loved.  The people I saw on the sidewalks looked like they were pretty well-off, dressed in suits; looking professional.  The parks/plazas are beautiful, adorned with flowers, trees, water fountains, etc.  After visiting a few museums, I ate at a vegetarian restaurant, “Govindas”—I fell in love with the place and the food.  The soup was especially impressive; I think it was something like butternut-squash soup, but different because I’m in Ecuador and the word didn’t translate to squash.  The soup came with rice, beans, salad and fruit juice made from melons—all for $2.50! Leaving satisfied, I walked alongside of the river running through the city, in search of a quaint coffee shop. That I found.  “La Tasca” is a cute shop that even has an upper level overlooking the river. Here, I read and drank coffee until later in the afternoon where we met up with the regular group to have dinner together.  It was one of the guys’ birthday, so he chose a restaurant that had a variety of things on the menu; one of which had an American Hamburger on the menu (this included meat, cheese, ham, egg, lettuce and tomato). Afterwards, we looked for a Karaoke place to hang out.  This was lots of fun because there were both locals and people from the US singing along to the stupid Karaoke songs (for example: Britney Spears). Wednesday morning a few of us ate breakfast at a chain called “Coffee Tree” and afterward one of the guys’ from the hostel and I went to Cajas National Park.  This park has over 200 lakes and several trails running up mountains, through swampy areas, and through forests with weird trees. I think this was the first time I’ve ever really been “hiking” and I absolutely loved every moment of it.  The trail that we took was considered “muy difícil”; very difficult.  I would say it was pretty difficult as well, hiking up the mountain, maneuvering our way through the swamp, crossing waterfalls, etc.  It was such a beautiful area; I would recommend this park to anyone interested traveling to Ecuador (Cuenca, in general, I would recommend). For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant where I ordered “Locro de papas”.  This is a traditional dish in Ecuador that is served with avocado and cheese in the soup.  All 6 of us hung out as a group and then moved on to a Karaoke bar once again.  It’s a lot of fun singing Karaoke in Spanish!  After lots of fun, I took a taxi to the bus terminal to take the night bus once again.