Mountains, New Constitution, and no beer (OK-still beer)

These are two images of my trip to Riobamba yesterday. When I come home, ask me for the video of these musicians playing, it is truly enjoyable.

Yesterday the vote for the new constitution of Ecuador took place, and in the end, Sí (yes) won with roughly 65% of the vote. This means Ecuador has now on their 21st constitution, and only time can tell if any of the 400 some articles will actually be enforced and change the country for the better. For me, it was an interesting time to compare the differences in election processes of Ecuador and the United States.

For example, There was a law forbidding the vending and consumption of alcohol for three days before and during the vote. Additionally, the vote took place on a Sunday, and was obligatory. You can extrapolate whatever you'd like from these differences, but the funniest manifestation of this was the back to back events of seeing a poor elderly foreigner being rejected at the grocery store while trying to buy bottles of wine, and walking out to the parking lot and viewing some younger fellow stumble out of his car, head into the grocery store with beer in hand, no later than 4pm.

So, yesterday I went to Riobamba, a town about 3 hours south of Quito in the Andes, with a friend who needed to vote in that area. I must say Riobamba is possibly the most beautiful town I have seen since my time here, as the parks, colonial edifices and history are well-kept and rich in history. The experience was complete with a visit to the traditional tortilla joint, in business over 100 years now with the same recipe (a type of corn meal mashed into a ball with a bit of cheese inside-Yum!)

But the best jem of all was the luck we had in being able to see the three main mountains surrounding Riobamba, Chimborazo, El Altar, and Tungurahua completely clear (almost always they obscured by clouds) Chimborazo is in fact the closest point to the sun in the entire world, Altar is the steepest climb in all of the Andes and Tungurahua has been actively destroying villages, roads, and the surrounding countryside since 1999 with its volcanic activity. Coincidentially, I have chosen this mountain as my geology project of choice for this semester. More on what I find out about Tungurahua later.

Unfortunately I have class but my next post will have the attached photoalbum link :)

Yo me llamo la cumbia...

This is my usual view when I am fiddling around online with my laptop at the university. I thought I'd show it so you could get a sense of where I am part of my time here.

Sadly, I don't have any photographs of my dinner last night, although it was defintely worthy of them. My friends and I had just been booted from the university, as it closes at 8 (very different from the 24 hour libraries at U of I!) My compañeros had a long ride ahead of them, as they live in Machachi, a mountain town about an hour away from Quito. We were looking for a "typical" ecuadorian joint when coffee and something called humita, which i think is just corn bread type thing wrapped up in a corn husk. The regular joint was closed, and the only open place fitting our criteria seemed to be this very tiny restaurant feauturing Tamales from Colombia. Without further ado, we stepped inside.

The place was seriously no bigger than a wealthy persons closet, and the older couple that owned the place were crammed in the kitchen the size of a porta potty, with the refrigerator already stuffed in. We came in sort of asked them what type of tamale this was, and order one for each of us with coffee as well. When my friend asked where the ahí was, the woman said, well we don't have it but I can make it right now. This was great news as fresh ahí is about as good as it gets.

While waiting for the tamales to cook, we talked with the man about when they came from Colombia, trips there, climate, etc. At one point the other girl, and ecuadorian, with us was mistaken for a foreigner, likely because she has blond hair. I was assumed to be from the coast, Guayaquil, which I gotta say felt cool. Although I was wearing sandals in about 50 degree weather and had just come back from the beach with a nice tan to boot. The couple had so much energy and good humor, they put on the best of Colombian cumbia and we were all dancing in this tiny little place. The tamales came, and were stuffed with carrots, potatoes and a huge piece of chicken. I enjoyed feeling like a local, at least to some extent, and to be with people who were happy to serve you, joke with you, and tell you about their home. And plus for three meals and coffee, it was a whopping $5!

More this week about the nationwide drinking ban that takes place starting Friday at noon that goes until Monday due to the vote on the new constitution...better stock up now...:)

Yo amo la playa

Atacames at sunset, the beach where I spent my last weekend.

The ocean is a powerful thing, and I enjoyed myself immensely. For some more photos check out my newest web album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeckyrose/FirstBeachVisit

Some of the highlights were:
-Going during the off-season, apparantly Atacames is overcrowded and dirty during the Nov-Feb peak.
-staying in the apartment of our resident director, as it only cost us 10 dollars each for two nights
-Ceviche! Fish cooked in lime/lemon juice, it is a staple of the coast and you can get everything from shrimp, mussels, crab, squid and octopus in this delicious soup-like dish.
-Cloudly, no rain, and being on the equator that means you still get a great tan.
-we got to see whales! They are huge!
-After many weeks of being here, I don't think I had the opportunity yet to get my muscles stretched out via swimming. This was a great chance to swim up and down the semi-calm waters, and also enjoy boogy-boarding

All in all, I am making it a priority to visit each and every beach possible along the Ecuadorian coast during my next three months. Some beaches have great surfing, others are more for relaxing, but I will want to definitely soak it up...

As for what I am up to now, I am into my second month here, enjoying school as it isn't too demanding, but sort of playing things by ear waiting for the next trip to happen. I hope to have some more interesting and witty stories coming up, sometimes that creative spark lies low in me...

Last shots from Otavalo...Vamos a la playa!

Don't be scared, the colorful person in the first shot is the same and the guy sitting next to me in the lower image. Patrick put on the Aya Huma mask for a little photo shoot during our trip to Otavalo. The Aya Huma masks has two faces, one angry and one happy (although its hard to say which is which) It is a popular item at the Otavalo markets, and people use the mask in their traditional dances and ceremonies.

The small bowl Patrick has his hand in at the table is a typical starting course called "tostadas" or basically toasted corn kernals. They are especially yummy when doused with salt and a bit of ahí, the traditional hot sauce.

I regret not bringing my camera with me today, as I wanted to take some shots around my home in Lumbisí, but I promise I will make it more of a habit starting next week. However, this weekend a trip to the beach is planned, and I have to say I am very excited. I imagine there will be quite a lot of take pictures of, so expect a picture-heavy post on Monday with some good beach stories.

Oh what I would give, to sail across the seas...

Lago Cuicocha...it is possible to hike around the tippy-top of the surrounding mountains, a venture that takes around 4 or 5 hours to complete, if you are up for the steep challenge.

My group made it only a fraction of the way, up to a high lookout point that gave a good view of not only the lake, but the valley behind it. While hanging out, taking pictures up there, I sat down next to an elderly couple snacking on avacados and rice. Somehow, a discussion was sparked where I was translating what our guide (that cool youngin whos picture is in the most recent album) was describing about the hike around the lake. The woman apparantly knew some spanish, the man obviously none. After the facts were out, we set into a conversation in English about our respective reasons for being on the top of this hill looking out over this lake. Mine, you all already know, theirs on the other hand is possibly a bit more interesting anyway.

It seems they are an older married couple, with grown children who some years ago decided to take up sailing. First a hobby, it is now there life as they seem to be on some around-the-world adventure. They began in Washington, sailed down to Panama, and are now docked off the Ecuadorian coast somewhere in the north. They seemed to have no rigid plan, telling me that "oh we might go up to Costa Rica for a while, but we can only stay there three months..."

A few of my friends heard the conversation, and after a short while we had to trudge on to our next stop, and said goodbye to our new friends, with me of course saying "Happy sailing," in my usual cliché manner...Beginning our descent all my friends commented on how the life of the sailing couple was one desired most. We all seemed to have this desire to 1, have the freedom to travel wherever and however we pleased, and 2, have someone to do it with. I suppose the fact that we met them on the top of this peak, overlooking a lake named after the gods, in the middle of the world, made our short exchange more memorable and fascinating. Meeting people who are actually "living the dream" makes life a bit more richer, a bit more unpredictable...you think to yourself.."ok anything is possible." As for me I once had a dream of sailing around the world, and I guess as with most responsible people, you get busy working, studying and the like and sort of forget...As for myself and my friends, we have quite a bit of time to plan, save, and get ready for whatever journey our lives takes us on, and that in itself is a comforting thought. Or hell, just have fun with what you are doing now, and make that an adventure!

In a perfect world, there would be no Wal-Marts, just Otavalos...

Here I am, helping (or hurting, who knows) the weaving process at this indigenous house. For all you bike freaks, I thought you would appreciate that the wheel is used ubiquitously as tool of choice for their weaving. Pretty cool, eh?

All the forthcoming stories are more or less documented in this photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeckyrose/OtavaloAndItsEnvirons

Bargaining is essential to one's experience at the Otavalo markets. Without this tool, you will pay twice as much as you would otherwise, and probably just not have as much fun. The vendors love to go back and forth with you, selling their product, joking, and complimenting you in some way. For all of you who will be receiving gifts when I return, they were haggled over and fought for.

Ok so Otavalo is sooo large that with two hours to shop, we only made it to (I think) less than half the market. It goes on, and on, and on...etc. Unfortunately, I was dumb and didn't bring my camera for fear of robbery. But, I found so many amazing picture-worthy things that when I come back (yes I plan on going back for another dent in my savings) I will have my camera, safely in hand, to capture some of the market ambiance.

Other than a shopping spree, we stayed in an indigenous pueblo that is called Peguche, after a waterfall nearby. Sadly, I was rather under the weather and was not able to make it on this little hike, but my friends all jumped in the frigid waters and had to wear their pajamas the rest of the trip, so I guess everything has its pros and cons.

Sunday morning we visited a home of indigenous weavers, as well as a place where indigenous instruments are made. Both were wonderful homes with wonderful people, and I loved listening to the talents of the beautiful women who made some type of flute in less than 5 minutes, and proceeded to play a beautiful song from it.

Afterwards we went to Lago Cuicocha, Kichwa for "Lake of the Gods." It rests on the top of a volcano, and the two islands in the middle of the lake are rather famous. Another round of delicious food, and our last stop was the town of Cotocachi, known for its leather stores. Leather World, Leather Palace, Leather Mart, so on and so forth.

It was another weekend excursion enjoyed by all, but I must say the trip to the Hacienda still ranks number 1. Our next group trip is to the tropical rainforest in November, but between then and now I have mountaineering excursions, tentative beach plans, and who knows what else. Look for a post soon, when that spark of creativity is bright, or something really cool happens. Peace and love!

Grafitti, games, and great fun

Yesterday in my spanish conversation class, I did a report of grafitti as a form of popular expression. The spray-painted image of the tree that appeared in one of my earlier posts I used as an example of grafitti with a social message. This image above was taken in my indigenous village Lumbisí, and is a good example of the diffusion of Hip-Hop culture throughout the world. Sadly most of the "grafitti" one finds on the streets in Ecuador is quite ugly. Simple scrawls about Correa, random offensive comments, or really just scribbles of nothing. This above, however, I feel is worthy of permanence...I don't know how long it has been up but I have a feeling no one in Lumbisí has the time or the desire to remove it from the broken down building it calls home. In this instance, I believe grafitti is art and brightens up the concrete jungle that is so ubiquitous here.

In other news, Ecuador tied Uruguay in a thrilling game yesterday afternoon. Sadly it was just for rankings, so we had to be content with the tie. Ecuador couldn't beat Uruguay's defense, and Uruguay simply had no offense. Perfect recipe for a draw. Because our classes didn't get out until after the game began, we opted to stay in Cumbaya rather than journey into Quito. It was enjoyable nonetheless, many students decked out in the yellow Ecuador jersey, cheering and getting quite emotional. Sadly the next qualifier is not until October, I believe against Chile...Until then, we wait...and maybe play a game ourselves?

New photo album

http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeckyrose/BirthdayCelebrationsAndTripToMindo

Here is the link to my newest photo album, it has all of last weeks festivities as well as my trip to Mindo which I told you about in my post earlier today. Enjoy, and look for more soon!

They call it lindo Mindo

The Lumbisí carrier bike, used for carting around food/drink stands. Sorry I am in the way! However this style, with the two front wheels is quite common here in Quito, but I paticularly like the rich blues and greens on this one.

Another monday morning, I am posting this with my trusty caffe Americano by my side. Mindo, the town I spent Saturday night in, was a very enjoyable time. Our hostel was beautiful, clean and had a jacuzzi in a cave like thing to boot. Mindo reminds me quite a bit of Costa Rica, it was a tropical rain forest climate, and had tourist activities like zip lines, 4-wheeling, and tubing. We did none of those things, but instead chose a wonderful trail that took you to about 7 waterfalls, some big enough to swim in the frigid river.

As soon as we arrived (it was only about an hour and a half from Quito) we realized they, like so many other towns in Ecuador, were in the throes of another festival. Smaller than Lumbisí's four-day extravaganza, Mindo's was modest but enjoyable nonetheless. Quite a few locals celebrating, mixed in with the random tourists from all over the world. I enjoyed the small-town feel, and my group and I just hopped from little bar to little restaurant, enjoying the local food and drink while getting into heated discussions on politics and very rich archaeological conversations. Our favorite place might have been the Kissama Kafe, a small joint honoring the Kissama national park in, of all places, Angola, Africa. The pizza there was amazing :)

Later today, with a stronger internet connection I will download a photo album of not only adventures in Mindo, but a birthday celebration last Friday in which I ate massive amounts of sushi. Mmm...

20 years of USFQ...and they love rock and roll

If you look in the back left, you can see the tents set up where the fiesta went down today.

Today, more or less unannounced, classes ended abruptly at noon to celebrate the 20th anniversary of la Universidad de San Francisco de Quito. A band set up, food and drinks all in an outside patio. The professors wasted no time in getting drinks in their hands, and boogeying on the dance floor. The band, in what I see as a continuing trend here, played all the classics. No, not La Bamba and Girl from Impanena, but I love Rock 'n Roll, and I Can't Get no Satisfaction. I hear these songs everywhere! Oh yeah they love Jim Morrison too, and never miss a chance to sing "Love me Two Times." Anyway its good to attend such a laid-back university, everyone likes having a good time, and are very nice people. So far the homework load has been rather light, and I have been lucky enough to have some readings in English, due to the inevitable fact that most scholarly work is done in my mother tongue.

The highlight of my day, however, was showing up to my autoconocimiento class with Akira Kurosawa's film Dreams playing. This film I must say is one of my favorites of all time (you can check it out at Rentertainment! if you'd like) and as we only made it through the first four dreams, I am interested to find out what connection exists between this film and our class which is based on self-knowledge and meditation. I can only guess now, but most of what I see is the strong elements of Japanese values showing through the various dreams, which none of the students really possess as they are all Ecuadorian. Anyway I was enthused and look forward to a discussion on the film, possibly on Monday. I don't look forward to documenting each time I meditate in our special journal (which is supposed to be three times a day according to our teacher!) Ay!

Tonight is sushi (Yum!) and then a weekend trip to Mindo, which I know nothing about so I will have to fill y'all in on the details (with pictures of course) on Monday. Peace and love!

One last bureaucratic grasp before freedom!

Mis amigos on the big 'ol volcano rock, in the páramo before climbing the volcano Sincholagua.


So, I am about to venture into Quito (and yes, between village life in Lumbisí and bourgeois Cumbaya, going to Quito is indeed a big to-do) for another round of paperwork, standing in line, card obtaining madness. I have been told this will be the last of it, but we will just have to see. I will be getting my CENSO card, a sort of green-card for extended-stay foreigners. Apparantly we can get into national parks, events and the like at local price as opposed to the general trend of charging actual vacationers double or triple entry fees for things. Anywho, I look forward to focusing on other, less annoying things.

On another note, my schedule is falling into place perfectly. In the morning before class I go to a café with wireless and about as close to real coffee as you can get. One thing I have been surprised about is the lack of actual brewed coffee here. If you are to find it at all, it will be the instant variety in the supermarket, or variations of espresso. Ah well... Anyway this place, Cactus, plays Bob Marley every morning, which I suppose is not a bad way to start off the day. If you make it there for lunch or a beer in the afternoon, you will without a doubt here Rolling Stones' album Some Girls. Why they choose that album is a mystery, someone behind the scenes must have good taste (as it is the only Stones album save Exile on Main St. worth anything at all in my opinion).

In general globalization's effects on countries like Ecuador are shown in myriad ways. For is example, why are there scores of Kentucky Fried Chickens here, and not a single Arbys, Burger King, or Subway? I am sure that when my four months here come to a conclusion, I will have a whole notebook full of musings on how crazy this world is. Connected, changed, and forever different because of things like internet, mass communication and international business.

Tomorrow I get my first taste of sushi as my group is going out to celebrate a friend's birthday. Sushi is in fact my favorite food, and lucky me because not only are there two sushi joints in Cumbaya, there is another place in my university I have yet to attend. I was saving it for a special day, you know, when I like, really deserve it :)

The páramo ain't no place for sissies

Just a sample from the full photo album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeckyrose

Back at the university, for a full week of classes. Last weekend up in the mountains (I mean, I already live some 10,000 feet up, but this was even higher), was a truly enjoyable experience.

As with most future plans in Ecuador, no one in our group really knew what to expect. We had been given a brief e-mail instructing us to bring warm clothes, sunscreen, and hiking boots. That was in fact the best advice we could have hoped for, because it was incredibly cold at times, yet the sun, being closer to us than any other humans on the planet, was incredibly strong. And hiking we did, up and down the páramo.

The páramo is an ecosystem that lies up in the Andes. Water is collected in massive quantities, and apparantly the Amazon is nourished by this collection, as it flows downward. Because of this, farming, development, etc that takes place way up high could drastically effect the Amazon if taken too far. Thick, tall grasses abound up there, and volcanic rock is strewn everywhere from the 15 volcanos in the surrounding areas. Not as eerie as the desert, but not an entirely welcoming place either. Beautiful though, especially when the clouds clear and the massive mountain peaks can be seen on all sides.

Much bushwhacking was done Sunday, yes literally, because there were no trails to speak of and our guide, the owner of the Hacienda, was one of those slightly wacky guys with a lot of zest for life and taking us into thick underbrush with no real plan ("How about a little adventure?" he would say, and off we went).

In addition to the fun, yet tiring, hike Sunday, we had the pleasure of eating delicious food, with cheese at every meal, as it was a cheese making place. The family who ran the Hacienda was very interested in the "mestizo" theme, incorporating traditional Spanish and Incan dishes together, as well as cultural traditions from both sides. I enjoyed this multi-cultural celebration, in fact the name of the Hacienda, "El Sinche" is a Kichwa word meaning "strong, valorous, brave."

And then there was horseback riding! I must say, it was the first legitimate horseriding I believe I've ever done (pony rides 15+ years ago in Oklahoma hardly count). And, I loved it. I rode three different horses in our couple of hours there, which was great because I was able to feel out how each horse acts completely different, not to mention being quite different sizes. We stayed in an enclosed area, so there was no galloping through the countryside, but many of us have plans to return to this Hacienda and maybe I will have my chance yet.

Basically I was pleased with this trip because although the Hacienda is just getting its start at a place for tourists to stay and enjoy their time (apparantly we were the first group for an overnight) their mentality of sustainable tourism, organic farming and cheese making, and general love of life goes hand in hand with how i think the world should be. I know these movements are beginning to take shape in the states, but it is even more uplifting for me to see it enacted in other countries.

A long post indeed, I chuckle because I told so many people before I left that my blog would be "picture heavy" Well, photography is not my forté, so a little mix will have to do. More from the equator soon!