Out On A Limb

4/17/11

The Beginning of My Time in the Amazon!

On March 29, (my 21st Birthday!) my parents and I drove from Quito to Tena, a medium-sized town in the Amazon, where I would be living for the next 2 months. My internship in the hospital in Archidona (about 10 km from Tena) started the next day and the day after that my parents departed and we said goodbye until June. Before they left, they got to meet my amazing new host family in Tena, celebrate my birthday and see parts of the jungle in the area. The following weekend after a few exciting and overwhelming days at my internship, I went with my host family (mom, dad, 17-year-old twin brothers and 9-year-old brother) to their extended family's farm near the Río Napo. I met some of their family and explored the farm and then we ate a tasty and local lunch, with all the food coming from the farm!

Ice cream with my parents in Tena on the night of my birthday!

Birthday Banana Split!

One big turkey at the extended family's farm!

Guatusas-large jungle rats that they're trying to domesticate and breed

Chanchito bonito!

Maybe a car...once upon a time?

The house of my host mom's cousin and her family in the countryside near Tena and the Napo River.

Largest grapefruit I've ever seen (tasted amazing too!)

One of my host brothers way up at the top of a water apple tree!

Hospital Stadler Richter in Archidona

4/7/11

BOLIVIA! Spring Break (March 18-27)

The middle of March always calls to mind two important words: SPRING BREAK, and this year I was off to Bolivia to meet up with my REAL parents who I hadn't seen in nearly 6 months! On Friday night I flew out of Quito and got into Lima late at night. I stayed at a backpackers hostel near the airport and got up early to eat breakfast there and then walk to the Lima Airport. Eventually my parents got off their flight from Cusco that morning and we had a big crying huddle in the airport! We had plenty of time to chatter on the plane, which we were on for most of the day, until we got into La Paz at about 4 pm.

We caught a taxi to Hotel Rosario, which was quite a treat to be staying in compared to the $5 hostels that I´m used to! After dropping off our stuff we started exploring the city, including part of the Prado (the main comercial street), Plaza San Francisco and some of the neighborhood around our hotel. We ate dinner at Angelo Colonial, a really nice place with typical Bolivian food (we got quinua ravioli, trout and an alpaca steak!) and one of the most amazing slices of chocolate cake ever.

On Sunday morning we started off with the huge buffet breakfast spread at the hotel and then we went on a tour of the Tiwanaku ruins with a friendly guide. The museum and archeological site were very interesting and we had an enjoyable morning outside of the city. We came back to La Paz for lunch in the 4th floor terrace cafe in our hotel, which had amazing soup, tiramisu and a new drink I´d never had before-"The Submarine"- which is a bar of dark chocolate melted in hot milk! After lunch we walked all over the city, to a few parks with nice views, to the middle part of the Prado, to three different markets (including the Witches Market!) and then we ended with dinner at another colonial restaurant with tasty regional plates.

This is where Bolivian President Evo Morales works!

Hotel Rosario in La Paz

Typcial street view in La Paz

Tiwanaku ruins

"One hand on the stomach, one hand on the heart"

Tiwanaku cont.

My mom and me in front of the massive city of La Paz

Tiramisuuuuuu at the cafe on the 4th floor of Hotel Rosario

Coca Museum

Alligator slide at a park overlooking the city

Llama fetuses at the witches market

Early Monday morning we headed out in a private car from our hotel on our way to Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca! Near the end of the car trip it started to pour, so we rushed into our hotel on the bluff, La Cúpula, and put on all of our rain gear. About 5 minutes later it stopped raining, and we enjoyed our time outside that afternoon walking around the town, buying souvenirs and eating fresh trout in an outdoor cafe. Later on when the sun came out, we hiked up 2 hills on the south end of the town for great views of the lake and the land all the way to Peru! As advertised by our guide book, the amazing hotel we were staying at made fondue in the restaurant and that was precisely where I was eating dinner! We originally planned to get both the cheese and chocolate fondue, but after being overwhelmed with the huge quantity of food that the "cheese fondue for 2" provided the three of us, we went straight to bed afterwards and didn't even order the chocolate!

Giant statue in Copacabana!

Copacabana church

The view of town from one of the hills we hiked up.

At this point, I really wished that I could fly!

Just before the incredible cheese fondue in the restaurant at our hotel...

Tuesday morning started off with rain and thunder and lightning, and we were disappointed that our plans for a trip to Isla del Sol might have to be cancelled. Instead of getting on a 2-hour-each-way tourist boat to the north end of the island in questionable weather, we opted for a taxi ride to Yampupata, where we found a guy who would take us in a 30 minute boat ride to the ruins in the south part of the island. Once we got there, the weather was looking better, so we saw ruins of some Inca stairs and a natural water spring and then climbed up to the ridge on the island to get a better view of Isla de la Luna and the mainland areas around the lake. After we returned to Yampupata by boat, the taxi was long gone, as expected, so we set off to hike back to Copacabana! 6 hours later, after passing by lots of incredible scenery, we returned to Copacabana and lay down, unable to move for a few minutes! But thankfully the restaurant was open again and this night, we definitely got our fill of chocolate fondue! It was so good and I’d been missing it for so long that I pretty much licked the pot clean. Mmmm…

Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca

Harvesting flowers on the shores of the lake

My two favorite companions near the end of our long hike

Wednesday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and said goodbye to Copacabana. We first took a 2 hour bus to Huarina, and from there we stood on the highway for a few short minutes before seeing a mini bus headed to Sorata. Our bags were thrown insecurely on top and my parents took the two empty seats while I got smushed against the seat facing the rear window right behind the driver, which was also at a 45 degree angle towards the back. Thankfully a few kilometers later some people got off with their great quantities of market baggage and I was able to see out the windows on the beautiful 2-hour ride to Sorata. The last 30 minutes or so of the journey was on an unpaved road, which made my mom a bit nervous, reminding me again how different it is to travel with parents compared to college students! That road wouldn’t have fazed them at all! But we did actually make it into the town and it was sunny and warmer there because of the lower elevation. We checked into the Residencial Sorata, right on the plaza, ate lunch near there too, and then decided to switch hotels, which was one of the best decisions of the trip! We moved to the Hostal Mirador instead, which was much more cleanly and friendly and as advertised, had an incredible overlook! In the afternoon we took advantage of the sun and walked around the town and on some of the dirt paths around the area, making a really nice loop. We bought some snacks for a guided hike that we signed up for the next day and had pizza for dinner on the plaza before heading back to the hotel for the night.

On Thursday morning we got up very early to meet our local Sorata guide and two travelers from Argentina who would be accompanying us for the day. We road in a mountain-ready taxi for over an hour and then we followed our guide Mario on foot for another hour, straight up a hill. When we reached Laguna Chillata, it was just about the most disappointing thing I´ve ever seen because it was so foggy. We had clearly gotten too early of a start and we didn’t stay there for long because the Argentineans and the guide got very cold. The lake did come into view for about a millisecond, but we weren’t able to see much of the gorgeous surrounding scenery. On the way back to Sorata in the taxi we stopped for lunch on a grassy knob. We got back into town much earlier than we had planned because the weather up higher in the mountains had been really cloudy. But we spent the afternoon doing some laundry in our hotel and hanging out on the deck with some South American hippie travelers (probably from Argentina or Chile based on the accent) playing guitars and bongos, juggling or doing circus tricks and patching up their already tattered clothes. I felt right at home. The sun eventually came out in Sorata, although probably not at the higher elevations where we’d been in the morning. For dinner we decided to try some traditional Bolivian food, so we stopped in at a place called the Royal House. The food was pretty tasty, and the people there were amazing! They were super friendly and it turns out that they have family living in Seattle, about 10 blocks from my parents’ house! We talked to them for a while and took some pictures to show their family when we meet up with them in our neighborhood.

Laguna Chillata, in the fog

Waterfalls coming down from Chillata

On Friday, the weather was about the exact opposite from the day before and we were kicking ourselves that we hadn’t done the Laguna Chillata hike one day later! After breakfast in the open air market next to all of the locals, we each took a bunch of pictures of Illampu and the 20,000 ft-plus gorgeous snowy mountains that were visible from the plaza that morning. We packed up our picnic from a panaderia in town and headed out to the San Pedro Grotto. I really enjoyed the cave, which was partially filled by a lake, but it was weird because it was usually hot inside, about 75 degrees and 75% humidity. It was also hot outside and sunny all day. The hike turned out to be a little bit more uphill than downhill on the return hike, so we were tired by the time we got back to Sorata! We wanted to have dinner again at Royal House because we really liked the people there, but they’d run out of food after lunch, so we had to settle for a more touristy restaurant on the plaza.

Mt. Illampu and others with the town of Sorata in the foreground

Inside the San Pedro Grotto

The next morning we didn’t waste much time in getting out of town, although it was starting to look like another beautiful day for hiking in Sorata! The bus ride back on the gravel road wasn’t as bad as it had been getting there and we made it to La Paz by about mid-day. We checked into the fabulous Hotel Rosario again and then went out to lunch at a tasty Cuban restaurant. After a strong but brief rain and hail storm, we did a little souvenir shopping (mainly at an awesome, community-supporting fair trade shop) and then set off on another walking tour of the town. This time we ate ice cream at Dumbo’s, checked out a Tiwanaku exhibit in the roundabout of a busy intersection, saw some amazing views of Mt. Illimani, hiked up the other side of town to a park called El Montículo (where we saw a wedding and a dance performance!), strolled through the upscale student neighborhood of Sopocachi, and finally walked back to our neighborhood by the intercity jail where there had been revolts a few days before. We already had dinner on our minds, and I knew exactly where we were going! We had to go back to Angelo Colonial so I could eat their super duper chocolate cake ala mode one more time! Afterwards, our last stop before the hotel was to use up extra Bolivian coins by buying, what else, Bolivian Dark Chocolate! I think we pretended that some would be “gifts for friends” but we really just went a little crazy in the store! Our last night at Rosario was perfect, and they were even participating in a one hour “lights out” energy use awareness program that night, so they lit lots of candles.

Mt. Illimani as seen from La Paz on a clear day

The next morning we were up super early to eat breakfast and then get to the airport ridiculously early, as they require. But we passed the time taking in the incredible views of all of the mountains surrounding La Paz! We got into Quito in the early afternoon, with the only problem being about 20 minutes of sitting in near-death heat while on the runway of the Lima airport. The air conditioning wasn’t working and I seriously thought that I was going to pass out because it was so hot! But back in Quito it was sunny and in the 60s, just about the perfect weather! Sunday afternoon we headed straight to my parents hotel on the outskirts of the Mariscal and then we walked past Parque El Ejido, Parque La Alameda, La Basilica and into old town Quito. I got to show them all of my favorite churches and buildings and we even stopped for humitas in Plaza San Francisco. At about 6pm I returned with all of my luggage to my host family’s house in north Quito and reunited with them briefly. The next day I had to go to classes and get ready for my internship and then I celebrated my birthday at a local Ecuadorian restaurant with my parents and amazing friends. On Tuesday, the day of my actual birthday, my parents and I were headed for the Amazon to my new host family in Tena and an internship at the hospital in Archidona!

4/5/11

End of Winter Quarter

Thursday, March 17th was the last day of winter quarter for me and I was rather sad to see it end! The public health program was super amazing and I learned so much. I also had lots of fun hanging out in Quito and seeing new parts of the country this past quarter. And a bunch of people in my program and the Minnesota program had birthdays in the end of February and beginning of March, so we got to celebrate a lot! Here are a few photos to wrap up the quarter:

I made Pumpkin Pie for my host family! Yum!

"Boemios" aka Chocolate Balls, which I eat at every chance I get!

Vanessa and Maya in our favorite bakery in San Isidro del Inca, 2 blocks from CIMAS

Last picnic lunch of the quarter out on the grass of CIMAS

Celebrating Emma´s birthday at a Lebanese restaurant near the end of the quarter

Fun music in a house party near La Ronda!

3/19/11

Recent hikes around Quito! (March 7-8 and March 13)

After coming back from Pedro Moncayo on our last CIMAS field trip I came down with a stomach bug that refused to let me get out of bed for about 3 days! My carnaval backpacking plans were interupted, but fortunately my friend Joe from Pennsylvania/Grinnell College and I got to get out to the cloud forest on Monday and Tuesday. We took a bus and taxi up to a neat little community called Yunguillas and as usual we had plenty of trouble finding the trail that was described in our Treking in Ecuador book. We eventually found a campspot in the middle of farms and the cloud forest. It was so peaceful and gorgeous! As if our luck could get any worse after getting sick and struggling with finding the trail, Joe´s new MSR stove also broke that night. Thankfully we had plenty of food with us and we hiked down and made it back to Quito the next day with no problems!

Cloud forest near Yunguillas!

Joe with a bromeliad hat!

Our campsite, possibly located on someones farm

Fancy Camping Guy brought a super sweet hamock and made me feel lame!

More cloud forest views down the ridge of the disappearing trail

Community store (with locally made jams and cheese) in Yunguillas

During my last weekend in Quito I took a day hike to the Pululahua Crater, just north of the Mitad del Mundo monument. The crater is a biological reserve and has farms in the bottom as well. I hiked all the way down, checked out a neat hostel that has their own organic farm and bike rentals and picnicked as well! After I hiking back up the huge hill, I got caught in the middle of a heavy rain storm, but then the sun came out again...the weather changes so quickly here!

Looking down inside of Pululahua Crater

The view from inside the crater, near a really neat hostel and organic farm

Class Field Trip #3: Cayambe and Pedro Moncayo (February 28-March 3)

The last field trip of the quarter took us to the north, about an hour and a half from Quito. Our first stop was an equator monument near the town of Cayambe, that had a neat display and explained why the equator passing through Ecuador is so important (because Ecuador has mountains and you can see the changing positions of the sun during different times of the year). Then we stopped off at our hostel for the night, which was actually in a Hacienda from the 1500s! We had a conference there, ate lunch and explored around a bit, when we checked out a super spooky church! In the afternoon we visited a hospital in Cayambe, that actually gave us a very informative tour, we even got to pass through their emergency room. Our tour guide from CIMAS, Luis Chontasi, showed us around the town of Cayambe and a few times the snow capped Volcan Cayambe popped out of the clouds. We returned to our hacienda for dinner and then the current mayor of Cayambe stopped by and talked to us about his opinions on the flower plantations in the area. He was a very animated and entertaining guy and afterwards we learned that he can put his leg behind his head when he does yoga! Later at night we gathered around the fireplace to listen to Geoff play his new mini guitar ("charango").

Another Mitad del Mundo monument, near Cayambe

A little balance on the equator!

The fireplace in our cozy hacienda

Courtyard of the hacienda

Tuesday morning we headed off to the neighboring town of Tabacundo, where flower companies are also a huge part of the economy. We visited a plantation and talked with the director and "flower engineers" that work to grow the perfect flower. While they repeated dodged our questions about pesticide use, working conditions and workers rights, they couldn´t hide the signs that said "Do Not Enter: Pesticide Spraying in Process", or the workers without gloves, or the dead duck by their reservoir, or a worker with a gas mask on mixing liquids in a giant bucket. Compared to the other plantation that we visited back in November, this one was much larger, much more like a full-scale production plant for Russian roses and guarded by at least 5 snarling rottweilers. After leaving the plantation, we were all a little dazed by what we´d just seen. We stopped off at Luis´s country home in Picalquí next, which is a small community near Tabacundo that has prohibited flower plantations on their lands. In the afternoon we met up with the president of the Picalquí neighborhood inside their new computer center. As the sun was going down we played soccer on a field and met some fun little kids. Later on in the evening we met their moms when we participated in a meeting of the local womens group. They prepared an incredible "colada" soup with 7 grains and we hung out with them and talked as they knitted and showed us their artesanal work.

Rosimar-the flower plantation that we visited with very fancy offices!

Rottweilers protecting the premises (note that the one in the back jumped halfway up the wall)

No chemical mixing and fumigation in process here...

A cow in Picalqui, a community without flower plantations, but where many people still work in flowers outside of the area

Dinner with the womens group

The next morning we visited a hospital in Tabacundo and a clinic in the neighboring town of La Esperanza. We also talked with a very intelligent woman who works on development projects in the area and visited a super awesome organic farm! The farm was an eye-opening experience and it was so neat to see a highly successful alternative to flower plantations that is totally possible! And now it turns out that my friend Vanessa from CIMAS is going to spend her 10 week internship at that farm next quarter. I can´t wait to go visit her and eat their amazing tomatoes, amaranth and strawberries!

Volcan Cayambe in the morning!

All dressed up in traditional Inty Raymi dancing clothes!

In-house band playing some traditional tunes from the Sierra!

After the farm we stopped by a native tree plantation and picked out a few to plant the next morning at Luis´s house. To start the planting, we got up early and dug holes before breakfast. Luis encouraged us to bring our children back to his house and farm in 10 years to see how much the trees had grown. I really hope that I get a chance to visit the wonderful Picalquí again someday! After breakfast we packed up our things and drove to a school just outside of Tabacundo. It was a blast to hang out with elementary school kids for the morning as they demonstrated the uses of different medicinal plants to us. We made lots of friends, took lots of pictures and danced around with them! It was nearly impossible for our van to leave when we were supposed to go and we ended up spending extra time there because we were having so much fun!
Next we drove to the nearby community of Tocachi to visit a senior center where they serve free breakfast and lunch every weekday to lots of elderly people. We helped serve the lunch and afterwards they fed us too! Our school in Quito, CIMAS, supported the building of the community house and continues to work on development projects in the area. Our last stop of the trip was an archeological site called Cochasquí. We walked around more than 20 built mounds of earth that have been at the site since before the Incas. I was amazed when our guide told us that from one point in the reserve, 19 volcanoes can be seen! Unfortunately it wasn´t clear enough for us to count 19, but we saw plenty of llamas and alpacas instead! Then we were back in the van to head back to Quito for a 5 day vacation for Carnaval!