We awake bright and early for our true jungle adventure to begin and I can finally see my surroundings. We're staying in an L shape collection of bungalow rooms, with white washed walls and terracota tiled rooves. In the centre of this is the grassy area for our combi, and behind about 50m away is another little out-building which were the bathrooms.
Either side of our hostel, like a backdrop to an Indiana Jones movie, arose two gigantic peaks of jungle hills that made the hostel look like it was buried in the cleavage of the jungle. And I found out what the rushing water noise was: it was coming from the rapid river lacing behing the hostel and off into the distant jungle, wide and shallow, filled with rocks galore.
Still feeling a bit iffy as we set off for the jungle, I just hope I can last till this evening! We arrive at the orange suspension bridge leading across the river from safety towards the unknown of la selva. It was truly something out of an action movie: a long swinging bridge with gapes in the boards. A sign of things to come I feel.
Our guides, Jordan and Nelson, gave us a crash course in jungle wall climbing before we set off. Key is not to fall :P Warnings about snakes were given and we were also shown the plants that could save our lives: the feminine of the plant had slender leaves with x4 the potency of it's fatter male counterpart. I say save what I mean is prolong, rubbing the plants on the bite could give you enough time to get to hospital before the venom killed you. Withou the plants you'd die in minutes. But beware, the active ingredient is deriavitve of penicillin so anyone with any penicilin allergies best be ware of the female plants as they'll probablly kill you faster than the snake :P
Great. So now I'm suitably on edge with the imminent fear of death. We begin our trek into the depths of the overgrowth, stopping on the way to chew on fresh coca leaves and termites. Tasty. When we get to our first true obstacle I realise that when the other volunteers had said "you'll get wet" they weren't joking. It turned out that the way we were going to go through the jungle was through the numerous waterfalls gushing through its' interior.
And we scaled these waterfalls with only a rope for support. Gotta love peruvian health and safety :P Jordan our guide was like this nimble elf-footed creature that'd dart up and down the waterfalls, tying ropes and literally running down waterfalls back to us to help us up. It was so unique to have such freedom in an adventure activity.
Not only did we climb up them but we ducked under the waterfalls and slid down them without breaking any bones! I really felt like we were adventurers in search of a forgotten city :P I got rocks in my hairs, my bikini, in my clothes! I was a mess afterwards but it was so worth it. Our exit route out of the jungle involved scaling a 10m jungle wall. Just don't think about the nature I had to keep telling myself. But all was well and after a knackering day hiking and swimming (!) through the jungle we made it back to base.
Sadly my illness had returned with avengence in the evening and I couldn't go to the club in the jungle (odd I know) So instead I tried to recover my energy and health for the last part jungle tour the next day.
hasta luego
xxx
Friday, 5 August 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Lara Croft eat your heart out
So after a week of hard graft (actually only amounted to about 3 days work as Mon AM I was recovering from the bus journey and Thurs AM I was getting my life together for the jungle, then on Fri we left for the jungle :P) we left 8.30am for our jungle adventure.
We were a small group, 6 volunteers plus the boyfriend of one of the girls, and we had our own private combi and were accompanied by Neto to the Peruvian jungle in La Merced.
And how's the best way to start a jungle tour I hear you ask? With the world's best hangover I tell you! :D The night before we'd gone to an infamous bar in town, Antojitoes, to say ciao amigas to two of our beloved volunteers (wipes tear). And in honour of their departauer we played my new hated game, TODITO, with sangria as the drink of choice. Each letter correlates with a dice number and each letter with an action (T-tomar (drink), O-order, D-derecha (right), I-izquierda (left)) Let's just say sangria has been added to the list of things I cannot drink anymore because the association of what happened when it was last drunk is terrible.
So back to the jungle! We started by visiting one of South America's largest caves, which apparantly has no known end, going at least 42km into the earth. Cave explorations are hilarious amounts of fun hungover. Especially when all you have for safety is a rope and the darkness all around hides treacherous holes which you will fall down with one foul step.
After our first tomb raid we headed off to La Merced and the jungle, but first we stopped off at coffee factory and possibly animal sanctuary (but my days are getting confused) where we saw aligators, turtles, monkeys and more.
It was so surreal to see the transformation from waterwashed dusty mountains to buxom bosomed deep green jungle flora-ed hills! And it was now warm, hot even! Amazing how the ecosystem changed so drastically in about 3 hrs.
We arrived at our jungle retreat in the evening, so all I could hear was the sound of crashing water nearby, I had absolutely no idea where in the jungle we were. Our room was modest but comfortable, and most importantly without any nature residing inside as well! I doused on the insect repellent and we went to off into the dark abyss to have a welcome bonfire.
Unfortuneatly by this time my hangover was no longer a hangover and I was pretty sure I was genuninely ill as felt feverish and achey. The worst way to be for a jungle exploration. But I just kept saying my jungle mantra over to myself to keep me going: what would Lara do?!
hast luego
xxxxx
We were a small group, 6 volunteers plus the boyfriend of one of the girls, and we had our own private combi and were accompanied by Neto to the Peruvian jungle in La Merced.
And how's the best way to start a jungle tour I hear you ask? With the world's best hangover I tell you! :D The night before we'd gone to an infamous bar in town, Antojitoes, to say ciao amigas to two of our beloved volunteers (wipes tear). And in honour of their departauer we played my new hated game, TODITO, with sangria as the drink of choice. Each letter correlates with a dice number and each letter with an action (T-tomar (drink), O-order, D-derecha (right), I-izquierda (left)) Let's just say sangria has been added to the list of things I cannot drink anymore because the association of what happened when it was last drunk is terrible.
So back to the jungle! We started by visiting one of South America's largest caves, which apparantly has no known end, going at least 42km into the earth. Cave explorations are hilarious amounts of fun hungover. Especially when all you have for safety is a rope and the darkness all around hides treacherous holes which you will fall down with one foul step.
After our first tomb raid we headed off to La Merced and the jungle, but first we stopped off at coffee factory and possibly animal sanctuary (but my days are getting confused) where we saw aligators, turtles, monkeys and more.
It was so surreal to see the transformation from waterwashed dusty mountains to buxom bosomed deep green jungle flora-ed hills! And it was now warm, hot even! Amazing how the ecosystem changed so drastically in about 3 hrs.
We arrived at our jungle retreat in the evening, so all I could hear was the sound of crashing water nearby, I had absolutely no idea where in the jungle we were. Our room was modest but comfortable, and most importantly without any nature residing inside as well! I doused on the insect repellent and we went to off into the dark abyss to have a welcome bonfire.
Unfortuneatly by this time my hangover was no longer a hangover and I was pretty sure I was genuninely ill as felt feverish and achey. The worst way to be for a jungle exploration. But I just kept saying my jungle mantra over to myself to keep me going: what would Lara do?!
hast luego
xxxxx
Thursday, 28 July 2011
the city of colour and sound
Huancayo is this bustling city in the Peruvian highlands, framed by water-washed mountains, the streets filled with psychotic combis (mini-vans exceeding every health and safety regulation for person-carrier capacity) and taxis honking at every junction, person and thing, women walking around with braided jet black hair, bowler hats, long jazz-dance- esque skirts, and multi-coloured blankets wrapped around their backs either carrying children or food, and people on every corner selling an unknown quantity of things made from rice/maize. Your eyes and ears are never bored in Huancayo.
So the story of CarismaPeru! (here's a link for all you keenos, http://www.carismaperu.org/ ), Eli and Neto, encouraged by good friends from a charity they were working with at the time, decided to fly solo and set up their own charity to help the children of Huancayo. So they started with only a few programs, rural english school, a few dedicated volunteers, and from their CarismaPeru has grown into a 30 volunteer-strong organisation, with projects running all over Huancayo and the surrounding towns.
Eli and Neto are themselves amazing. They live CarismaPeru. They share their house, food, time, family and friends with the volunteers. It truly feels like we're working with them and not for them.
My volunteering here consists of morning clinics in a nearby town called Chupaca (I know, Star Wars!) and afternoons alternating between worker kids and the rural english school.
I wanted to work in the clinics because I wanted to experience another healthcare system and I thought that my 3rd yr medical skills might be of some use here. It has been interesting to talk with the doctors and other healthcare professionals about how the clinics run here but on the practical side it's a little disappointing. Essentially it's just like clinics at home i.e. much standing around like a lemon with socially awkward situations thrown in for good measure, but harder due to the language barrier. Funz.
Also the fact that most of the pre-med students of the University of Arizona have descended onto CarismaPeru at this time too doesn't help the over crowding factor in clinics. Patient confidentiality and consent anyone?!
Anyhooz the clinics are actually really well run and quite well equipped despite generally being quite poor. People pay 10 soles (about 2.50 pounds / month) for basic healthcare, but this doesn't include all medications and according to one Dr some ppl can't even afford 1 sole (25p) for antibiotics. Though there's an upgrade version (!) where you pay around 60 soles a month for a more comprehensive healthcare system. It makes you really thankful for the NHS, we're really spoilt for healthcare really. So that's basically the clinic.
So on to the rural english school. This is an after school English club run by Adriana and CarismaPeru. This entails us doing about 20 mins of english and 1hr30mins of playing :P They love volleyball here, I don't know why though as for me it's the most painful sport ever: if I do the pinchy finger move with the ball i break all my fingers and if i do the fist-hit then i have searing slapping pains running through my arms.
But the children are amazing; the moment you step out of the taxi they run up to you and give you massive hugs and shower you with welcome kisses, then they'll lead you by the hand to the classroom to help them with their work. They're so dedicated when it comes to their work, they really want to complete the exercise and get acknowledgment for their work, even if most of the time I'm pretty sure they don't understand what they've done.
These kids are from the local rural area and are quite poor but they are so rich with love and enthusiasm for the time they spend with us. For me it showed that the most enjoyed thing in life and simplest thing to give is time and friendship with other people (awww :P)
I volunteered mon PM till thursday, then on Friday weekend I went to the jungle :D I'll start a new entry to regale you all with tales of la selva
xxx
So the story of CarismaPeru! (here's a link for all you keenos, http://www.carismaperu.org/ ), Eli and Neto, encouraged by good friends from a charity they were working with at the time, decided to fly solo and set up their own charity to help the children of Huancayo. So they started with only a few programs, rural english school, a few dedicated volunteers, and from their CarismaPeru has grown into a 30 volunteer-strong organisation, with projects running all over Huancayo and the surrounding towns.
Eli and Neto are themselves amazing. They live CarismaPeru. They share their house, food, time, family and friends with the volunteers. It truly feels like we're working with them and not for them.
My volunteering here consists of morning clinics in a nearby town called Chupaca (I know, Star Wars!) and afternoons alternating between worker kids and the rural english school.
I wanted to work in the clinics because I wanted to experience another healthcare system and I thought that my 3rd yr medical skills might be of some use here. It has been interesting to talk with the doctors and other healthcare professionals about how the clinics run here but on the practical side it's a little disappointing. Essentially it's just like clinics at home i.e. much standing around like a lemon with socially awkward situations thrown in for good measure, but harder due to the language barrier. Funz.
Also the fact that most of the pre-med students of the University of Arizona have descended onto CarismaPeru at this time too doesn't help the over crowding factor in clinics. Patient confidentiality and consent anyone?!
Anyhooz the clinics are actually really well run and quite well equipped despite generally being quite poor. People pay 10 soles (about 2.50 pounds / month) for basic healthcare, but this doesn't include all medications and according to one Dr some ppl can't even afford 1 sole (25p) for antibiotics. Though there's an upgrade version (!) where you pay around 60 soles a month for a more comprehensive healthcare system. It makes you really thankful for the NHS, we're really spoilt for healthcare really. So that's basically the clinic.
So on to the rural english school. This is an after school English club run by Adriana and CarismaPeru. This entails us doing about 20 mins of english and 1hr30mins of playing :P They love volleyball here, I don't know why though as for me it's the most painful sport ever: if I do the pinchy finger move with the ball i break all my fingers and if i do the fist-hit then i have searing slapping pains running through my arms.
But the children are amazing; the moment you step out of the taxi they run up to you and give you massive hugs and shower you with welcome kisses, then they'll lead you by the hand to the classroom to help them with their work. They're so dedicated when it comes to their work, they really want to complete the exercise and get acknowledgment for their work, even if most of the time I'm pretty sure they don't understand what they've done.
These kids are from the local rural area and are quite poor but they are so rich with love and enthusiasm for the time they spend with us. For me it showed that the most enjoyed thing in life and simplest thing to give is time and friendship with other people (awww :P)
I volunteered mon PM till thursday, then on Friday weekend I went to the jungle :D I'll start a new entry to regale you all with tales of la selva
xxx
Lima in a day
Hola hola hola!
We were in Lima only briefly but I shall regale you with our historias chicatitas :)
The weather in Lima was horrid when we arrived, worse than London when it rains. The definition of 'overcast', grey, drizzly and cold. Naice.
We headed straight into town from our hostel which was a little on the outskirts. When we approached the centre we could hear the low rumble of thudding drums emmanating from behind the building facades, turns out we arrived just in time for a mass school festival, complete with traditional dress and music.
Hundreds of schools must have been there, each with their own banners, all the children in military organised group, beautifully bright costumes, it was so great to have seen it (check facebook for pictures!)
Headed straight to Monasterio de San Francisco. No more buying of products off of nuns this time though, only catacombes filled with 25,000 human remains. But nothing too creepy, it was not a ritual burial site or anything, solemente a neat and tiday way to the bury the citizens.
Then some wandering around and headed to the Museum of Art there. Have to hit up a museum anywhere we can. It's like a santuary for travelers. Clean, safe, there's a loo you can use with minimal risk of contracting a disease. And generally a coffee shop too. Bliss.
We saw two Peruvian artists, whos names escapes me now, but I really quite liked them. The first used bright colours with crazy shapes, and lines and things :P It pleased my eyes. And the other guy was like realistic surrealism :P He somehow created realistic light images but using a surrealistic landscape. Hard to explain but was again much funz to see.
So the day was chilled really, a filler day between Ecuador and our final volunteering destination in Huancayo.
Now cue the 7hr 10.30pm bus ride from Lima to Huancayo. Cruz del Sur buses are like planes on the land! :D They have stewardesses and give vaccum packed food (mmm travel food) and safety videos and baggage check. All very swish. Unfortuneatly all the niceties in the world do not cover the fact that I am attempting to sleep, sitting up and that the left side of my body is frozen due to close proximity to window. It was like an all nighter but with none of the fun.
Arrived in Huancayo at 5.45am to be greeted by Eli, one of the founders of CarismaPeru, and whos house I will be staying at for the next 3 weeks.
Eli tells me that there at 8 other volunteers staying with her, her husband Neto and their 3 yr old daughter in their house. A big happy international family. Their house is like a mary poppins house though, people always are emerging from rooms I didn't know existed. Anyhooz, sorry about the poor english and tense jumping, I'll try and stay past for a bit now.
So Eli shows me to my little room: it's a teeny weeny box room cerca Harry Potter the early years :P But I love it. It's a place of my own to escape when I wish. Eli tells me to rest for the morning and to see her in the afternoon to discuss my volunteering. I take her literally and am dead to the world for the next few hours, only to be roused by strange shouts and voices travelling up from the open plan living room below. Hmm, maybe time to venture out and introduce myself to some new peepz :)
bexxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We were in Lima only briefly but I shall regale you with our historias chicatitas :)
The weather in Lima was horrid when we arrived, worse than London when it rains. The definition of 'overcast', grey, drizzly and cold. Naice.
We headed straight into town from our hostel which was a little on the outskirts. When we approached the centre we could hear the low rumble of thudding drums emmanating from behind the building facades, turns out we arrived just in time for a mass school festival, complete with traditional dress and music.
Hundreds of schools must have been there, each with their own banners, all the children in military organised group, beautifully bright costumes, it was so great to have seen it (check facebook for pictures!)
Headed straight to Monasterio de San Francisco. No more buying of products off of nuns this time though, only catacombes filled with 25,000 human remains. But nothing too creepy, it was not a ritual burial site or anything, solemente a neat and tiday way to the bury the citizens.
Then some wandering around and headed to the Museum of Art there. Have to hit up a museum anywhere we can. It's like a santuary for travelers. Clean, safe, there's a loo you can use with minimal risk of contracting a disease. And generally a coffee shop too. Bliss.
We saw two Peruvian artists, whos names escapes me now, but I really quite liked them. The first used bright colours with crazy shapes, and lines and things :P It pleased my eyes. And the other guy was like realistic surrealism :P He somehow created realistic light images but using a surrealistic landscape. Hard to explain but was again much funz to see.
So the day was chilled really, a filler day between Ecuador and our final volunteering destination in Huancayo.
Now cue the 7hr 10.30pm bus ride from Lima to Huancayo. Cruz del Sur buses are like planes on the land! :D They have stewardesses and give vaccum packed food (mmm travel food) and safety videos and baggage check. All very swish. Unfortuneatly all the niceties in the world do not cover the fact that I am attempting to sleep, sitting up and that the left side of my body is frozen due to close proximity to window. It was like an all nighter but with none of the fun.
Arrived in Huancayo at 5.45am to be greeted by Eli, one of the founders of CarismaPeru, and whos house I will be staying at for the next 3 weeks.
Eli tells me that there at 8 other volunteers staying with her, her husband Neto and their 3 yr old daughter in their house. A big happy international family. Their house is like a mary poppins house though, people always are emerging from rooms I didn't know existed. Anyhooz, sorry about the poor english and tense jumping, I'll try and stay past for a bit now.
So Eli shows me to my little room: it's a teeny weeny box room cerca Harry Potter the early years :P But I love it. It's a place of my own to escape when I wish. Eli tells me to rest for the morning and to see her in the afternoon to discuss my volunteering. I take her literally and am dead to the world for the next few hours, only to be roused by strange shouts and voices travelling up from the open plan living room below. Hmm, maybe time to venture out and introduce myself to some new peepz :)
bexxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday, 16 July 2011
to middle earth...wonder if i'll see frodo...
So we´re in Quito! Took us a few hours from bus station to host family as a family friend picked us up and took us for a traditional ecuadorian drink called checha made from fermented maize, and ecuadorian epanadas. This restaurant was essentially in the front of someone´s house and to get to the loo we had to go past a bedroom (!) Loved it though and the fermented maize was actually really tasty.
So in Quito we´ve been staying with a host family, an adorable ecuadorian couple where the wife reminds me of my tiny mumita, and the husband is like an ecuadorian father christmass. Every day we come home he says "hola chicas" :D And we get breakfast, lunch if we want and dinner every day which is so nice to have to think about cooking.
And so the spanish classes begin again! Average day is rise at 7.15am, breaka at 7.30, leave house at 8.00am then half hour walk to school. Well the walk can be and has been a tad longer on the occasions we got lost, one too many left turns :P
My teacher was so lovely, she was always encouraging me and saying that i was doing really well. I think she spoke too soon as in the final lesson i had to practice two different past tenses and it was the most painfully slow spoken spanish of my, and probably her, life as well. Oh, and yes! i know the past tense now! two even! one is when things have definitely ended and for dead people :p the other one is for indefinitely ending actions and things you often used to do. Deciding what past actions go in which tense is more like philosophy than learning a language. Think i´m going to stick with with definitely ending one and hope that no south american person thinks all my friends have died...
I was a bit worried about coming to Quito as it was our first south american city where we´d be independent and exploring by ourselves but knowing our homestay family were only a phone call away was such a comfort and though anisha and i look young and naive, we´re not, and we´re not stupid and won´t allow people to take us for a ride (unless they´re the yellow taxis with a number in the window, in that case it´s fine)
We´ve visited the museo de guayasamin and the sister museum capilla del hombre here in Quito. Guyasamin is this ecuadorian artist who was obsessed with suffering and depression and decided to make the world a better place through perpetuating this sadness in his art. Great. Not my cup of tea really, I´m more up for the "if the world is sad then try and make it better and paint happy things" type of approach though i realise raising awareness through of art obviously is important and must be done too.
On tuesday (i think ) we visited quito old town using the ecovia (kind of liek the tube but with buses and above ground) for 25 cents one way, so cheap! Our favourite quotes for being out n about are "constant vigilance" and "is it secret, is it safe" (yes they are quotes from hazzer p and LOTRs respectively ) This meant on arrival in the old town we were of red alert, did not feel immediately safe. And when guide books say "such and such a place in ecuador is touristy" what they really mean is it´s fully of ecuadorians! so for us it doesn´t feel touristy like we know it at all. We also expect there to be amazing signs to the local attractions but there aren´t and we often have to take a sneaky duck into a shop to check our trusty lonely planet guide.
But all was well in the end! We visited the government palace where an ecuadorian family we met in the queue thought it was amazing that we were from london and the souvenir photo they give for free at the palace, the family asked to be it with us and took it for themselves! very odd. :P We then went to a real working monastary called Monasteria de Santa Catalina. Here nuns hidden behind a revolving wooden door sell all different types of medical remedies and foods too, so I bought some skin streatment majig including almond cream, rose smelling cleanser and a tonic water all for under $4 (those nuns are raking it in !) Thinking was that if the nuns can´t help me, with God on their side, then no one can :P
On wednesday night we went to a salsatec with another girl staying with the family, and we met up with her ecuadorian friends. It was so much fun there! They played funky salsa all night and everyone was dancing: the girls were twirling and the men commanding the dance floor with firm hand placements and dominating footwork. And later strictly come dancing esque dancers got on stage and showed us commoners how it was really done. Clubing would be so much more sophisticated and enjoyable if everyone danced salsa :P
Hmm what else have we done...oh! we climed up this basillica (name escapes mw now) that is billed as the most hair raising site of Quito in the lonely planet guide. We climed up 3 floors stone steps and about 4 floors of thin iron bar ladders to get to the top of the basiilica with views over Quito. Was so scary! The health and safety reguations in britain would have had you in hard hat and harness from the ground floor. We had a delicious liquor coffee on the 4th floor overlooking the city before ascending the ladders to the bellfry tower (a delapadated wooden ladder by the side of the stairwell was a comforting sight :P)
And finally yesterday we went to mitad el mundo, the middle of the earth! Bless the french, they put a monument in "the middle of the earth" in the 1700s but then recent GPS revelations have shown that they were in fact about 100ms off. Silly old school frenchmen using pythagorous instaead of google maps. Well anyway, to mark the real middle of the earth there is a museum hidden around the corner from the main middle of the world city.
Here we were told about some traditional eucadorian customs including the act of making shrunken heads. Important people or enemies would have their heads cut off, the skull removed, the skin boiled in water with a stone inside to keep the shape, for 40mins, then left to dry for about 10days. They also would sew up the mouth so that the soul would not escape. THese wud then we worn as necklaces or at the end of spears to show people what would happen to them should they cross that warrior. Brixton eat your heart out. And to our delight, the guide brought out a real shrunken head, 160yrs old hair and lashes still in tact.
So the the middle of the earth! I thought i would literally feel different but i felt exactly the same. Or in fact i did feel different, i felt bloody wet coz it decided to rain that day on the equator. Good to know i bring the rain. It was quite a novelty though to be able to stand in 2 hemispheres at the same time. The guide told us that at the equinox your shadow disappears completely when you stand on the equator as the sun is directly overhead. He also told us that the days are always 6am/6pm everyday, never longer never shorter. This meant that the old school native sunclocks they had only went from these hours, reality seemed to cease otherwise .
He showed us some awesome physicsey tricks that the equator exerts. Number one is water flows directly downwards on the equator, absolutely no vortex is seen. If the experiment is moved simply 50cm to the southern hemisphere the water drains clockwise, and 50cm into the northern hemisphere and the water vortexes anticlockwise. Couldn't believe that the earth's gravitional effects could be so evident over such tiny distances.
The second trick, sorry "experiment" was that balancing an egg on a nail on the equator is much easier than anywhere else in the world as the forces acting on the egg are exactly equally. So channelling the force of the chicken ovulation, I become the egg master and managed to balance the holy egg and recieved my certificate of mastership. Yes. The last trick was to show that apprantly humans are weaker on the equator than in either hemisphere. Something to do with forces again, (you physics people can write explanatory comments if you so desire). Not sure if this was true or just psychological, but then again i did balance and egg on a nail and water doesn't swirl here...*cue xfiles music, duh nah nuh nah duh nah nuh nah*
The same day we also went to see the ultima pequila of harry potter *wipes tear*. Despite missing the first few minutes and sitting so close to the screen that we were practically inside the film, nothing could detract from the harry potter magic. Freaking amazing. I had my furrowed brow look of sadness and concern throughout. Totes throughing a harry potter DVD release party, all are invited. Only outrage was to do with the subtitles: the spanish subtitles had not only translated all the english speech but the parcel tongue as well!! spanish speakers get to understand parceltongue! outrage i say : P
Anyhooz, Saturday we fly out in the eve for Lima, Peru. So our ecuadorian adventure is almost at a close...
xxxxxxxxxx
Here we were told about some traditional eucadorian customs including the act of making shrunken heads. Important people or enemies would have their heads cut off, the skull removed, the skin boiled in water with a stone inside to keep the shape, for 40mins, then left to dry for about 10days. They also would sew up the mouth so that the soul would not escape. THese wud then we worn as necklaces or at the end of spears to show people what would happen to them should they cross that warrior. Brixton eat your heart out. And to our delight, the guide brought out a real shrunken head, 160yrs old hair and lashes still in tact.
So the the middle of the earth! I thought i would literally feel different but i felt exactly the same. Or in fact i did feel different, i felt bloody wet coz it decided to rain that day on the equator. Good to know i bring the rain. It was quite a novelty though to be able to stand in 2 hemispheres at the same time. The guide told us that at the equinox your shadow disappears completely when you stand on the equator as the sun is directly overhead. He also told us that the days are always 6am/6pm everyday, never longer never shorter. This meant that the old school native sunclocks they had only went from these hours, reality seemed to cease otherwise .
He showed us some awesome physicsey tricks that the equator exerts. Number one is water flows directly downwards on the equator, absolutely no vortex is seen. If the experiment is moved simply 50cm to the southern hemisphere the water drains clockwise, and 50cm into the northern hemisphere and the water vortexes anticlockwise. Couldn't believe that the earth's gravitional effects could be so evident over such tiny distances.
The second trick, sorry "experiment" was that balancing an egg on a nail on the equator is much easier than anywhere else in the world as the forces acting on the egg are exactly equally. So channelling the force of the chicken ovulation, I become the egg master and managed to balance the holy egg and recieved my certificate of mastership. Yes. The last trick was to show that apprantly humans are weaker on the equator than in either hemisphere. Something to do with forces again, (you physics people can write explanatory comments if you so desire). Not sure if this was true or just psychological, but then again i did balance and egg on a nail and water doesn't swirl here...*cue xfiles music, duh nah nuh nah duh nah nuh nah*
The same day we also went to see the ultima pequila of harry potter *wipes tear*. Despite missing the first few minutes and sitting so close to the screen that we were practically inside the film, nothing could detract from the harry potter magic. Freaking amazing. I had my furrowed brow look of sadness and concern throughout. Totes throughing a harry potter DVD release party, all are invited. Only outrage was to do with the subtitles: the spanish subtitles had not only translated all the english speech but the parcel tongue as well!! spanish speakers get to understand parceltongue! outrage i say : P
Anyhooz, Saturday we fly out in the eve for Lima, Peru. So our ecuadorian adventure is almost at a close...
xxxxxxxxxx
we´re going to Bath! :D
After much confused discussion with my Chilean-Guayas family, Anisha and I decided to hit up a popular tourist stop, Baños (literally bathrooms), on the way to Quito. A town nestled in the Ecuadorian mountain famous for adventure sports and its thermal waters.
The bus ride there was fantastic, especially when we were ascending through the mountains. At points we were on the same level as the clouds and it felt as though we were driving through the sky. I felt completely safe on the bus ride despite the fear mongering that many had instilled in Anisha and I. A quick evening change over of bus and we arrive in Baños at about 9pm on Saturday. A little bit disorientated arriving at nightime as we could literally see nothing of our surroundings.
However when our kindly hostel worker showed us around and up to the breakfast bar area, we stepped outside and out of the darkness loomed the sheer face of a mountain, with a silver thread of white running through indicating the presence of a waterfall. Literally breathtaking. I felt completely dwarfed and quite terrified of this dark giant slumbering so close to me. Awesome.
In the morning we woke up muy temprano (very early) about 6.45am to go to the local thermal bathes. These are waters that have heated by volcanic temperatures and that have been chanelled into public baths for people to enjoy. So apparantly the whole of Baños had had the same early morning idea as us and already the baths were full of families and screaming children. Funz.
I have been a little pushed to my limit on what i can handle nature and hygeine wise on this trip. Montañita tested my nature and now these baths were testing my hygeine standards: the water was strange murky yellow colour and I was sure there was no chlorine used as disinfectant. All i could picture was children peeing in there and me then swimming in there. But i figured the worst thing that as long as i didn´t drink the water it´d be fine.
And it was fine, more than fine in fact! After a scolding few toe dips we finally fully submerged our bodies in the mineral rich water and took up camp on a little ledge in the "tranquilo" pool with all the oldies. It was so lovely and relaxing, especially as it was freezing outside of the pool: it had started to rain and the floor around the pool felt comparitively like ice. But it was so amazing to sit there, rubbing all the goodness into my skin, while looking up at a the sheer mountain face and waterfall running down, only metres away.
After our relaxed start we decided to do one of the activities that draws all us gringos to Baños: canyoning. This essentially involved us doning on oversized wetsuits, helmets that didn´t fit our heads and "special climbing shoes" aka plimsols, to go stand at the stop of some waterfalls and abseil down them in the crappy cold Baños weather. To add to the excitement our guide also did not speak any english and explained all the safety in spanish: unfortuneately knot tying was not something covered on my spanish course (!) But it wasn´t as treacherous as I make it seem, it was so exhilarating and crap scarry at the same time but totally safe (although there were a couple of times where anisha and i and the other girl who we were with, were standing at the top of tonnes of cascading water, unattached to anything and looking perplexedly at the rope and harnesses as our guide decided to climb down ahead of us. all good :P).
We did 3 waterfalls in total: the 1st was a simple climb down beside an ickle waterfall, the 2nd we had to sit in the waterfall and let the water push us down and the guide lowered us into the 1m depth of freezing moutain water below, and the ultima (last) was a terrifing kneel of faith (he shouted at us to "get on your knees, get on your knees!) over the lip of a waterfall from where we then free abseiled down behind the 15m waterfall.
Baños was such great fun, and I could´ve stayed to do loads of adventure activites money and weather permitting. We then got a 2.50pm bus from Baños and headed on up to Quito. I was really looking forward to being dry as in Baños it had rained constantly and those who know me well will know how cold i get :P
bexxxxx
The bus ride there was fantastic, especially when we were ascending through the mountains. At points we were on the same level as the clouds and it felt as though we were driving through the sky. I felt completely safe on the bus ride despite the fear mongering that many had instilled in Anisha and I. A quick evening change over of bus and we arrive in Baños at about 9pm on Saturday. A little bit disorientated arriving at nightime as we could literally see nothing of our surroundings.
However when our kindly hostel worker showed us around and up to the breakfast bar area, we stepped outside and out of the darkness loomed the sheer face of a mountain, with a silver thread of white running through indicating the presence of a waterfall. Literally breathtaking. I felt completely dwarfed and quite terrified of this dark giant slumbering so close to me. Awesome.
In the morning we woke up muy temprano (very early) about 6.45am to go to the local thermal bathes. These are waters that have heated by volcanic temperatures and that have been chanelled into public baths for people to enjoy. So apparantly the whole of Baños had had the same early morning idea as us and already the baths were full of families and screaming children. Funz.
I have been a little pushed to my limit on what i can handle nature and hygeine wise on this trip. Montañita tested my nature and now these baths were testing my hygeine standards: the water was strange murky yellow colour and I was sure there was no chlorine used as disinfectant. All i could picture was children peeing in there and me then swimming in there. But i figured the worst thing that as long as i didn´t drink the water it´d be fine.
And it was fine, more than fine in fact! After a scolding few toe dips we finally fully submerged our bodies in the mineral rich water and took up camp on a little ledge in the "tranquilo" pool with all the oldies. It was so lovely and relaxing, especially as it was freezing outside of the pool: it had started to rain and the floor around the pool felt comparitively like ice. But it was so amazing to sit there, rubbing all the goodness into my skin, while looking up at a the sheer mountain face and waterfall running down, only metres away.
After our relaxed start we decided to do one of the activities that draws all us gringos to Baños: canyoning. This essentially involved us doning on oversized wetsuits, helmets that didn´t fit our heads and "special climbing shoes" aka plimsols, to go stand at the stop of some waterfalls and abseil down them in the crappy cold Baños weather. To add to the excitement our guide also did not speak any english and explained all the safety in spanish: unfortuneately knot tying was not something covered on my spanish course (!) But it wasn´t as treacherous as I make it seem, it was so exhilarating and crap scarry at the same time but totally safe (although there were a couple of times where anisha and i and the other girl who we were with, were standing at the top of tonnes of cascading water, unattached to anything and looking perplexedly at the rope and harnesses as our guide decided to climb down ahead of us. all good :P).
We did 3 waterfalls in total: the 1st was a simple climb down beside an ickle waterfall, the 2nd we had to sit in the waterfall and let the water push us down and the guide lowered us into the 1m depth of freezing moutain water below, and the ultima (last) was a terrifing kneel of faith (he shouted at us to "get on your knees, get on your knees!) over the lip of a waterfall from where we then free abseiled down behind the 15m waterfall.
Baños was such great fun, and I could´ve stayed to do loads of adventure activites money and weather permitting. We then got a 2.50pm bus from Baños and headed on up to Quito. I was really looking forward to being dry as in Baños it had rained constantly and those who know me well will know how cold i get :P
bexxxxx
the poor man´s galapagos and other delights
sorry for the delay in updates! so let me now conclude Montañita.
so two weekends ago we decided to visit Isla de la Plata aka the poor man´s galapagos. For a smidgen of the price to visit the galapogas you can take a day trip to an island 1hr off shore of Puerto Lopez (about 1hr from Monta´ñita) and you can go see nature such as the blue footed booby (hehe) and frigate birds (crazy birds that have red necks which they balloon out when they´re on the pull.
While there we also saw a turtle/tortoise (zoologists can tell me which is correct!) and we snorkelled with tropical fish. Pretty sure I saw ursula from the little mermaid down there too... Any way that was all fun and games despite my complete lack of preparation for the trip: I had no water, forgot to put suncream on the one area that was exposed, brought no food so had to rely on the snacks provided, and finally while on the boat got so wet with boat spray that i looked like i´d pissed myself. Not such a great way to start the day.
We also got to do whale watching on the way there and back so I saw freakin humpback whales! I always thought that whales were a bit gross but in reality they were actually quite majestic and beautiful, and so tranquil. It was really amazing to have seen them, I have a video and will try and upload at some point!
The only bad thing about the trip was the boat ride of nauseating death on the way there. The guide said before we left shore that if you wanted to sick to please be sick over the side of the boat and not in the toilet. How funny i thought, that´ll never happen. Oh but how wrong I was. About 30mins in the speeding across open water in a glorified engine, every second bumping up and down like i was in a washing machine. I literally have never put so much will power into not being sick. I was green. I wanted to die. I tied my hair up in preparation for chundering and was looking for the best place to lean out of the boat without falling out of the boat. Luckily made it to the island without being sick over the whales, and on the way back i sat at the back of the boat, facing forwards and took a sea sickness tablet off a german. Much better return journey.
On that Sunday we had a mexican dinner with the school and the nomz was so good and I finally washed my clothes :P how nice it is to have clean pants and clothes.
The following week nothing major happened really. Same old same old with spanish classes and surfing, although this week I had individual classes 8am-12. And i thought this was supposed to be a holiday :P on the upside I think my spanish is coming along, i can understand a fair bit and my present tense is quite good. as for my future tense "i´m going to do..." a lot of things as that´s the only way i know how to talk about the future. the past is still a non event for me though, i hope that in quito I´ll get that one down so i can have a bit more a 3 dimensional life.
Oh the most exciting thing for me that happened that week was that I got promoted to a smaller, lighter surfboard! this did result in some days where my own body rode the waves instead of me riding the waves while on the surfboard as it was so lite and the waves so strong often i couldn´´t stand up in time and the wave would just catch me and carry me to shore. A skill i did not know i had :P My favourite phrase from surfing is "un olo mas y despues descanso" (one more one and then i rest) By friday though i was surfing that baby to shore and very excited to organise some sort of surf trip to cornwall :D
On Saturday morning we left montañita for Quito via guayaquil and got the 5.45am bus to Guayaquil. Buses here have so far been reliable and so cheap! for that 3hr journey it was like $5 I think (and that was "expensive" ) Was sad to leave the great people in montañita but hopefully will see them again in the future as most were european :P
muchos besos
xxxxxxx
so two weekends ago we decided to visit Isla de la Plata aka the poor man´s galapagos. For a smidgen of the price to visit the galapogas you can take a day trip to an island 1hr off shore of Puerto Lopez (about 1hr from Monta´ñita) and you can go see nature such as the blue footed booby (hehe) and frigate birds (crazy birds that have red necks which they balloon out when they´re on the pull.
While there we also saw a turtle/tortoise (zoologists can tell me which is correct!) and we snorkelled with tropical fish. Pretty sure I saw ursula from the little mermaid down there too... Any way that was all fun and games despite my complete lack of preparation for the trip: I had no water, forgot to put suncream on the one area that was exposed, brought no food so had to rely on the snacks provided, and finally while on the boat got so wet with boat spray that i looked like i´d pissed myself. Not such a great way to start the day.
We also got to do whale watching on the way there and back so I saw freakin humpback whales! I always thought that whales were a bit gross but in reality they were actually quite majestic and beautiful, and so tranquil. It was really amazing to have seen them, I have a video and will try and upload at some point!
The only bad thing about the trip was the boat ride of nauseating death on the way there. The guide said before we left shore that if you wanted to sick to please be sick over the side of the boat and not in the toilet. How funny i thought, that´ll never happen. Oh but how wrong I was. About 30mins in the speeding across open water in a glorified engine, every second bumping up and down like i was in a washing machine. I literally have never put so much will power into not being sick. I was green. I wanted to die. I tied my hair up in preparation for chundering and was looking for the best place to lean out of the boat without falling out of the boat. Luckily made it to the island without being sick over the whales, and on the way back i sat at the back of the boat, facing forwards and took a sea sickness tablet off a german. Much better return journey.
On that Sunday we had a mexican dinner with the school and the nomz was so good and I finally washed my clothes :P how nice it is to have clean pants and clothes.
The following week nothing major happened really. Same old same old with spanish classes and surfing, although this week I had individual classes 8am-12. And i thought this was supposed to be a holiday :P on the upside I think my spanish is coming along, i can understand a fair bit and my present tense is quite good. as for my future tense "i´m going to do..." a lot of things as that´s the only way i know how to talk about the future. the past is still a non event for me though, i hope that in quito I´ll get that one down so i can have a bit more a 3 dimensional life.
Oh the most exciting thing for me that happened that week was that I got promoted to a smaller, lighter surfboard! this did result in some days where my own body rode the waves instead of me riding the waves while on the surfboard as it was so lite and the waves so strong often i couldn´´t stand up in time and the wave would just catch me and carry me to shore. A skill i did not know i had :P My favourite phrase from surfing is "un olo mas y despues descanso" (one more one and then i rest) By friday though i was surfing that baby to shore and very excited to organise some sort of surf trip to cornwall :D
On Saturday morning we left montañita for Quito via guayaquil and got the 5.45am bus to Guayaquil. Buses here have so far been reliable and so cheap! for that 3hr journey it was like $5 I think (and that was "expensive" ) Was sad to leave the great people in montañita but hopefully will see them again in the future as most were european :P
muchos besos
xxxxxxx
Thursday, 30 June 2011
me gusta surfeandar
My timetable here in Montañita is busy busy: Spanish 10am-12, Lunch: 12-1pm, Spanish 1-3pm, Surfing 3-5pm. Phew!
Spanish esta muy bien! Pero ive no time to study so cant remember any verbos or general vocab so my sentances arent improving majorly, though entiendo mas y mas (i understand more and more) :)
The teachers are lovely. They dont speak english so there is much action making and laughs galore. Thuough today we played serpentanes y escelares (sp) and it was hideous: whever we landed on a ladder or a snake we had to answer a question on grammar or general question and I basically regressed to baby spanish and painfully slow answers. God Im so silent in another languge i dont know.
Surfing is awesome! I treat the waves like dogs i.e. dont let them see your fear or else theyll kill you. So i swear at the waves if it knocks me down and try and supress my feelings of "shiiiiiiiitttttttt" and instead focus on not drowning and attempting to surf.
But I have surfed! this is my 4th day today and my arms bloody kill! I basically was paralysed yesterday as couldn{t lift my arms higher than my shoulders due to the muscle pain. In spanish weak is "debil" and mis brasos were definitl something like deblitated yesterday. I had no strength to even push myself up off the board. But today was better. I actually caught a few waves all by my lonesome and rode it until the board sunk :P My knees are paying the price though. Wish I had fat knees to protect me from the board. The instructor Jorge had nicknamed me the girl with the red knees. Wow im cool.
The people in the cabañas are lovely. From all over the world but randomly a lot of German, Swiss and Swedish people. Went with Hayley, mi amiga neuva yesterday to sit on the beach and watch the sun set over the sea. A trio of montañitans came to play us some music while we waited for the sun to dip below the horizon. Cool I thought, just how i pictured this town and my travels. A couple of acoustics later and the cheeky argentianians asked for a contribution to the musical cause! bloody bastards. nothing in life is free apparantly :P
We went to karoke on tuesday night at caña grill. So much fun though the singing was more shouting and pretty sure we hit frequencies that would have broken glass. Afterwards the bar turned into a club, i rolled up my top belly dancer style, took off my flipflops and flailed around all night while fire poi artists took up stage on the sand floor. Swear fire, crowd and drunk people was not the best idea ever ...
Twas good fun but like the 78yr old woman I am all i really wanted to do was curl up with a book and some hot coco :P Partying is fun and all that but in the end its just same old same old. I want to be out there discovering ecuador! Glad only in montñita for 2 weeks, it has taken advantage of its tourist draw so not pure ecuadorian culture. Though its still a millon miles apart from home.
love to yoy all and speak soon. going to go celebrate my 1st at hola ola, ladies night!
xxxxx
Spanish esta muy bien! Pero ive no time to study so cant remember any verbos or general vocab so my sentances arent improving majorly, though entiendo mas y mas (i understand more and more) :)
The teachers are lovely. They dont speak english so there is much action making and laughs galore. Thuough today we played serpentanes y escelares (sp) and it was hideous: whever we landed on a ladder or a snake we had to answer a question on grammar or general question and I basically regressed to baby spanish and painfully slow answers. God Im so silent in another languge i dont know.
Surfing is awesome! I treat the waves like dogs i.e. dont let them see your fear or else theyll kill you. So i swear at the waves if it knocks me down and try and supress my feelings of "shiiiiiiiitttttttt" and instead focus on not drowning and attempting to surf.
But I have surfed! this is my 4th day today and my arms bloody kill! I basically was paralysed yesterday as couldn{t lift my arms higher than my shoulders due to the muscle pain. In spanish weak is "debil" and mis brasos were definitl something like deblitated yesterday. I had no strength to even push myself up off the board. But today was better. I actually caught a few waves all by my lonesome and rode it until the board sunk :P My knees are paying the price though. Wish I had fat knees to protect me from the board. The instructor Jorge had nicknamed me the girl with the red knees. Wow im cool.
The people in the cabañas are lovely. From all over the world but randomly a lot of German, Swiss and Swedish people. Went with Hayley, mi amiga neuva yesterday to sit on the beach and watch the sun set over the sea. A trio of montañitans came to play us some music while we waited for the sun to dip below the horizon. Cool I thought, just how i pictured this town and my travels. A couple of acoustics later and the cheeky argentianians asked for a contribution to the musical cause! bloody bastards. nothing in life is free apparantly :P
We went to karoke on tuesday night at caña grill. So much fun though the singing was more shouting and pretty sure we hit frequencies that would have broken glass. Afterwards the bar turned into a club, i rolled up my top belly dancer style, took off my flipflops and flailed around all night while fire poi artists took up stage on the sand floor. Swear fire, crowd and drunk people was not the best idea ever ...
Twas good fun but like the 78yr old woman I am all i really wanted to do was curl up with a book and some hot coco :P Partying is fun and all that but in the end its just same old same old. I want to be out there discovering ecuador! Glad only in montñita for 2 weeks, it has taken advantage of its tourist draw so not pure ecuadorian culture. Though its still a millon miles apart from home.
love to yoy all and speak soon. going to go celebrate my 1st at hola ola, ladies night!
xxxxx
estoy en motañita
Our stay in Selinas was brief but managed to pack in a terrifying encounter with hormigas (ants) which had taken refuge in Doris´ car and then decided they were going to attempt to take my bag. I only realised this once I´´d worn my backpack and thought the swarming appearance of the material was a little odd. God I hate nature sometimes. We also went to the beach and had coconut water from the fruit and a tranquilo banana boat ride around the beach.
Now on to Sunday and we leave for Montañita. We´ve been warned that people smoke weed on the streets here...thanks for the tip ;) . After a delicious lunch of homemade ceviche (prawns with tomatoes, corriander and tuna in a lemon sauce) con patecones (fried squished plantain) we said ciao to Doris´ family and headed to Montañita.
What should have been a 40minute drive to Montañita, we and the hormigas were still trying to find our way there about 1.5 hrs later. Driving through shanty towns, where stray dogs are their equivalent of pigeons, I was beginning to worry I´´d taken us into the middle of the Ecuadorian nowhere and we were going to be eaten alive by rabied perros as we didnt know the words for "help, rabied dog" in español. Shit.
But we finally made it to Montañita, found the spanish school and then the cabañas which are literally a little oasis in Montañita: Cabañas with woven roofs of leaves, and bamboo decorated walls, encircle a jade blue swimming pool and jucuzi and outside of this little haven we´´re surrounded by lush Ecuadorian overgrowth and palm trees. Naice. I relax now as all is well and safe. Montañita does exist.
Saying goodbye to Doris was surprisingly emotional. She hugged as tight and securely, as if to trying to leave her love and safety with us, her fear that she{d left us in a drug laddened town evident through her arms. We agreed to call her the next day. Not sure though how that conversation on the phone will go without her being able to see my frantic signing arms for spanish words i dont know.
We venture later in to town and theres a powercut. Everythings open but in pitch black with glimmers of candlelight everynow and then. Very surreal. Oh and there are crap loads of birds perched on the telephone lines. Its like something out Alfred Hitchcock{ movie ...will sleep with one eye open...
So Montañita. Its a crossroad town stuck in the 60s. The population is predominantly surfing hippies wearing hemp woven clothes, with dreadlocked hair and harem pants and bangles gallor. Very surreal. But I kind of like it. I like that you can never get lost her, that theres no addresses as its too small a town, just "the house opposite the bustop", I like how everyone seems so chilled (probablly all the drugs we were warned about :P) What I dont like however is that the place is over populated with mangey stray dogs, that the god damn birds shite everywhere so it smells like a birdcage, and theres stagnant water by cocktail alley and it smells like crap and i{m sure is a breeding ground for malarial ridden mosquitos. Did I mention I don{t like nature sometimes?
Okay this entry is getting too long, will right about surfing and the school in a new blog
ciao for now
bexxxxxxxxxxx
Now on to Sunday and we leave for Montañita. We´ve been warned that people smoke weed on the streets here...thanks for the tip ;) . After a delicious lunch of homemade ceviche (prawns with tomatoes, corriander and tuna in a lemon sauce) con patecones (fried squished plantain) we said ciao to Doris´ family and headed to Montañita.
What should have been a 40minute drive to Montañita, we and the hormigas were still trying to find our way there about 1.5 hrs later. Driving through shanty towns, where stray dogs are their equivalent of pigeons, I was beginning to worry I´´d taken us into the middle of the Ecuadorian nowhere and we were going to be eaten alive by rabied perros as we didnt know the words for "help, rabied dog" in español. Shit.
But we finally made it to Montañita, found the spanish school and then the cabañas which are literally a little oasis in Montañita: Cabañas with woven roofs of leaves, and bamboo decorated walls, encircle a jade blue swimming pool and jucuzi and outside of this little haven we´´re surrounded by lush Ecuadorian overgrowth and palm trees. Naice. I relax now as all is well and safe. Montañita does exist.
Saying goodbye to Doris was surprisingly emotional. She hugged as tight and securely, as if to trying to leave her love and safety with us, her fear that she{d left us in a drug laddened town evident through her arms. We agreed to call her the next day. Not sure though how that conversation on the phone will go without her being able to see my frantic signing arms for spanish words i dont know.
We venture later in to town and theres a powercut. Everythings open but in pitch black with glimmers of candlelight everynow and then. Very surreal. Oh and there are crap loads of birds perched on the telephone lines. Its like something out Alfred Hitchcock{ movie ...will sleep with one eye open...
So Montañita. Its a crossroad town stuck in the 60s. The population is predominantly surfing hippies wearing hemp woven clothes, with dreadlocked hair and harem pants and bangles gallor. Very surreal. But I kind of like it. I like that you can never get lost her, that theres no addresses as its too small a town, just "the house opposite the bustop", I like how everyone seems so chilled (probablly all the drugs we were warned about :P) What I dont like however is that the place is over populated with mangey stray dogs, that the god damn birds shite everywhere so it smells like a birdcage, and theres stagnant water by cocktail alley and it smells like crap and i{m sure is a breeding ground for malarial ridden mosquitos. Did I mention I don{t like nature sometimes?
Okay this entry is getting too long, will right about surfing and the school in a new blog
ciao for now
bexxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday, 25 June 2011
"stomach full, heart happy"
So the two main observations so far. Guayas (the name given to the residents of Guayaquil) drive without fear and like crazy people. Seriously you think London traffic is bad just wait till you get to Ecuador. The road is 5 lanes wide with no markings and people speed in and out of turnings and between invisible lanes without indicating anything. Apparantly Ecudorians are telepathic. People sitting in the back of open trucks while pedestrians chance running in front of the unstobble stampede of traffic. Freakin terrifying. Oh and the buses are bad of I dont know what and don{t stop to let you on or off. You gotta have swift reflexes or kiss the tarmac.
Secondly the Ecuadorians love their food, and if its made of plantain and fried all the better. And the nomz is so cheap. For 3 Dollars (cant find all punctuation or dollar signs on this darned keyboard!) you can get a 2 course big meal with a drink and have change left over for some delicious street food.
Street food is amazing; humitas, empanads (con cueso y con carne), alfehores, tortilla de cueso, tacos (mexican food served by chileans in an ecuadorian city, interesting !) . Humitas are made from pulped sweetcorn and something else which i forget(!), stuffed with cheese and baked inside the leaves of the sweetcorn. Yum. And empanadas are like latin american cornish pasties only way better.
They have juices made from every fruit every. So far for breakfast each day weve tried smoothies with custard apple, mixed berries and mango. Fit. Feel like I may over exceed the weight limit for the return flight ;P
We saw the decorated horses on Thurs. They were their to celebrate the city{s foundation. We walked along the Rio Guayas, along the malecon with gabbling school children bustling past, and accompanied by Karin, Fernando, and Erica , Karin{s daughter.
Guayaquil is a massive city. You just can{t get a feel of it. Its the definition of sprawling. Its too grey and hectic for my liking. Plus everyone has done amazing jobs at telling Anisha and I how dangerous Guayquil is and how we shouldnt go out along or at night. Fun.
On Friday Karin did take us to visit a local school on top of the hill in Guayquil. It was in the dodgey end of town, with breeze block houses perched precariously on the hillside, painted in faded colours of glory. It was quite surreal actual visiting. We were driven there by Karin{s driver in her massive chevrolet type 4x4. I didn{t want to be a tourist just snapping pics of other peoples poverty but our entrance didn{t help that.
When inside the school however it highlighted, as Karin said, that happiness doesn{t come from money. These kids were some of the happiest and most outgoing children Ive ever seen. They were so confident and proud and immediately were intrigued to see us. When we left they said thank you and goodbye and English. They were so proud of themselves. It was so beautiful to see.
I{m running out of time in the internet cafe and Im concious that Doris other son, Sebastiean, his computer has died and his 8 yr old self is being very patient with us.
After the school we went to see lots of nature! We saw gigantic tortoises attempting to have sex, and iguanas perched in the trees like pigeons. We then went to the Park Historico de Guayaquil and walked around the recreated ecaudorian rainforest and saw crabs scuttling out of mangrove tree ridden mud, and parrots and monkeys and eagles!
We managed to catch a practice performance for the weekend of a step back in time type thing they had of an old Ecuadorian manor house with music . The song was called advocate or soemthing like that, basically advocado. It was a love song and the advocado name had tenuous links, dont think it was because the dude had untoward feelings for advocados.
okay that{s enough for then. i want to write more about the family and how awesome and amazing they are but the minutes are ticking down.
much love
xxxx
"goodbye UK, hola Ecuador"
After 24hrs of travel and moving backwards through too many time zones to keep track of we arrive in Guayaquil at 10.30pm local time. We are beyond tired. My bag has also gained 3kg since leaving my house. I blame my mumita and the gifts she stowed away in it.
The Villalobos delegation is there to meet; Doris, her father Fernando, her american friend Karin (aka the translator) and Manuel, Doris´ son. There is some talk of a chicken and where we are to go, my limited spanish and sleep deprivation does not make for best understanding. But despite this Anisha and I feel so welcomed and we understand at least that they¨re pleased to see us.
The family is so loving and welcoming. Even though my spanish seems to only consist of the words "me gusta mucho, te rico, lindo, no se and hablo un pocito espanol", together with Anisha we figure things out. Though only in the present tense. Past and future are above our station at this moment in time.
Can^t believe after 3 yrs of plans in the pipelines Ive actually made it here, alive and in one piece. This is so surreal.
Bed now and tomorrow a new day. Karin says we will go see some decorated horses, I think like the cows in London and Elephants in Amsterdam. Otherwise I think the Ecuadorians have a strange sense of art.
bexxx
The Villalobos delegation is there to meet; Doris, her father Fernando, her american friend Karin (aka the translator) and Manuel, Doris´ son. There is some talk of a chicken and where we are to go, my limited spanish and sleep deprivation does not make for best understanding. But despite this Anisha and I feel so welcomed and we understand at least that they¨re pleased to see us.
The family is so loving and welcoming. Even though my spanish seems to only consist of the words "me gusta mucho, te rico, lindo, no se and hablo un pocito espanol", together with Anisha we figure things out. Though only in the present tense. Past and future are above our station at this moment in time.
Can^t believe after 3 yrs of plans in the pipelines Ive actually made it here, alive and in one piece. This is so surreal.
Bed now and tomorrow a new day. Karin says we will go see some decorated horses, I think like the cows in London and Elephants in Amsterdam. Otherwise I think the Ecuadorians have a strange sense of art.
bexxx
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Testing testing, 1,2,3
I'm just testing if and how this blog technology works! Best do it now while I'm in a country with people who can help me with it in a language I can understand :P
bexXx
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)