Coastal Adventures!

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

I apologize that it’s been forever since I last updated this! I think the last 3 weeks have been the best yet.

I left you off about three Mondays ago after our trip to Pahuma Orchid Reserve. The week after that was pretty uneventful, after having recovered from most of my ailments the week before. We had Spanish Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of that week. We had Wednesday afternoon off because our professor’s aunt passed away and he had to fly out of town. I went home after biology that day and ate my favorite meal thus far. It was a chicken leg basted in pineapple juice, covered with pineapple chunks and little brown sugar. On the side was a cauliflower and egg omelet—also fantastic.

We had our Spanish midterm on Thursday, and it was much easier than expected, to say the least. A few friends and I stopped by a restaurant/bar close to campus called Cactus to have a drink and catch up. On Friday morning, we left early for a field trip to a reserve called Cayambe-Coca.  Here, we were studying the plant diversity of an ecosystem called páramo (pronounced “PAH-rah-moh”). It is characterized by high elevation, cold conditions—the plants are very specifically adapted to with stand lots of sun exposure during the day and frost at night. It was such a strange-looking place! The plants were either really close to the ground, covered in fur, or arranged in a rose-type arrangement.  It was freezing cold and pretty rainy, but enjoyable. In between studying the ecosystem, we hung out on the bus and drank coca tea, which is the plant form of cocaine soaked in water, mixed with mint tea leaves. Sounds pretty sketchy, but I assure you it’s perfectly legal. On Saturday, we went on another field trip to the same ecosystem in a different part of the mountains. This reserve was called Antisana (pronounced “ahn-tee-SAH-nah).  This reserve was a little bit different—although it is legally protected, it is still impacted by farm animal grazing, because the laws aren’t as strict. We ate lunch on a lake, and we got to see a bunch of really unique birds.

Cool páramo vegetation

April and Hilary collecting data

More weird páramo vegetation

When we got home Saturday night, my classmates and I bought tickets for a soccer game between two professional teams out of Quito. This was probably one of my favorite nights so far! In Quito, the fans of soccer teams are unbelievably intense.  Even though it was just a friendly match (the season opener, in fact), fans were fighting in the streets 3 hours before the game, throwing rocks and shooting fireworks at each other. Guys were walking around in bloodied chains (symbolism of something, I’m sure), and shouting profanities at the opposition.  Our bus dropped us off in the middle of one of these street fights, and we were quickly escorted away. We probably looked like idiots with our field gear walking between the bloodied sides of the fight.

During the game, we were advised to sit in the less dangerous side of the stadium. At first I wasn’t extremely enthused about this (what’s wrong with some action, right?), but after seeing the “action,” I think we were all pretty glad we were sitting were we were. The fans from each team were separated by a line of 50 or so policemen, screaming and shooting fireworks at each other. So intense. My friends and I were quite amused. During the game I also met a little girl named Mia, and we shared some snacks and she practiced her English with me. It was her sixth birthday, so I had my friends sing her “Happy Birthday.” She was so excited. It was pretty adorable.  The game was between a team called La Liga (“Lah LEE-gah”) and El Nacional. I am a self-declared La Liga fan, because my whole host family is die-hard fans.  While I have to admit the soccer wasn’t all that intense, it was definitely quite the cultural experience.  The game was also a little bit confusing. After two 30 minute periods, the score was tied 1-1, so it continued onto what we assumed was overtime. However, during the two overtime periods (15 minutes each), none of the same players from the first two periods were on the field. What’s more, even though it was tied at the end of “overtime,” the announcers shot confetti into the air and declared El Nacional “el equipo del año,” or “team of the year.” The next day I asked my host family, and apparently every year, one of the Quito teams (this year it was El Nacional) is a “team of the year.” The meaning of it is arbitrary, but the post-game celebration of the season opener is always in honor of that team.  Like I said—it was quite the cultural experience.  After the game we went out to La Mariscal (Gringolandia, if you’ve been reading previous posts), and we danced at our favorite club, Bungalow 6. I had such a blast all night!

Hinchas de La Liga (Fans of La Liga)

We had Sunday off from school and studying. I met up with a couple friends from my program, and we went to the Artesan Market, and chatted over some coffee at Juan Valdez café in La Mariscal. The next day I was sick again, just like the week before.  I stayed home from school and laid in bed all day. My host mom made me some “eat-this-when-you’re-sick” soup for lunch, and it was just chicken noodle soup (without the chicken). But, as I’ve said before, Cecilia is an amazing cook, and it was delicious.

I was feeling better by Monday night, and went to school the rest of the week.  It was a pretty uneventful week as far as school goes.  It was our last week of Spanish, which we ended with a final exam on Friday.  I felt a little bit guilty, because the Spanish class I’ll be getting credit for is apparently one of the harder Spanish classes at Madison (Spanish 311, for you Madison friends), and all I had to do was sit and speak Spanish 3 hours a day for 16 days.  I suppose I can’t complain. 

On Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with my friends Hilary, Whitney, Sam, and Aviv at a restaurant called Focaccia (you guessed it—Italian food).  As I said before, I’ll admit that I miss my pasta. I had a huge plate of pasta with a white wine sauce, bacon bits, basil, and garlic, and the five of us shared a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.  I also ordered some tiramisu cheesecake to go (fantastic decision).  Not that I don’t enjoy those other nights out on the town, but I definitely preferred this setting to our big group of 21 gringos at a club.  

Me, Whitney, Sam, Aviv, and Hilary at Focaccia 

Amazing dish!

We were given the following weekend free to do what wanted, so the majority of my classmates and I chose to go to Baños for the weekend.  Baños is basically a small resort town of about 15,000, and they’re famous for their adventure activities (zip-lining, whitewater rafting, bungee jumping, canyoneering, etc.).  We rented a bus to take us the 5 hours from Quito to Baños for 10 dollars per  person, and we left Friday after our Spanish finals. 

Baños was such a cool town! It was pretty quiet, and in short consisted of a street of bars, a mountain side of waterfalls, some hot springs, a beautiful church, and some hostels.  We stayed in a beautiful hostel five or six blocks from “downtown.” Friday night, our bus arrived around 11:00 p.m., and we left our hostel to go downtown.  We danced and enjoyed a few Pilseners (the famous Ecuadorian beer, as you may recall from previous posts). One of my new friends, Francisco, a Quiteño (the name for a person from Quito) who goes to the same university as we do, showed us around to the best clubs.  Since Baños is a popular tourist destination, there were lots of people from all over the world, and it was really fun talking to everyone in broken English, Spanish, and French.  On our way home, my friends Lizzie, Laura, and Francisco stopped at a hole-in-the-wall hamburger joint for a late night burger (probably not the best decision as far as food contamination goes, but I’ve been healthy ever since).  Here we met some fourth-year medical students from Milwaukee that were staying in the same hostel as us. They were specializing in anesthesiology, and had some interesting things to say to me about my decision to change my major away from medicine. Ask me about it later if you’re curious!

Saturday our big group went whitewater rafting on the Pastaza River. A chiva (the Ecuadorian word for a party bus), picked us up from our hostel and took us 45 minutes to the start of the 2 hour run.  It was such a great time! The river wasn’t incredibly intense (probably between a level 3 and 4 for those of you who know rafting), but it was still so much fun.  They’re substantially less careful in Ecuador about safety and regulations, so a few of the guides didn’t hesitate flipping our raft and pushing people into the rapids.  It was pretty extraordinary. Lunch was included in the rafting tour, so we had chicken, rice, and broccoli soup at the company’s family restaurant in a nearby town. All around, not a bad deal for 25 bucks.

Saturday night we went out again, but it was a much quieter night since everyone was exhausted from the day.  I had pesto pasta for dinner.  I know what a lot of you are thinking—don’t worry, I eat plenty of Ecuadorian food—I just can’t pass up a good plate of pasta.  A few of my friends tried cuy (“KOO-ee”), which is grilled guinea pig. It’s a delicacy in Ecuador, and I’m planning on trying it at some point! Can’t pass up trying new things. :)

I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures on the Baños trip! I didn't want to get my (mom's) camera stolen.

My friend Molly and I left Baños early with Francisco to head back to Quito. We took a public bus back for a whopping 4 dollars for the 5 hours it took. As I’ve noted before, public transportation is vital for so many Ecuadorians, so it is unbelievably inexpensive. Also, as a side note, I apologize for any of you who might be uncomfortable when I talk about the prices of things here. I do it mostly because it gives you a better sense of what life is like, and because I think gives you an idea of the standard of living. I hope I haven’t offended anyone.

Monday morning, my class left early for a week-long fieldtrip to the coastal province of Manabí to study at a dry forest reserve called Lalo Loor.  For the first 4 nights, we were housed in a beautiful rustic shelter made of palm and bamboo.  This has definitely been my favorite trip thus far.  There was no electricity or running water in our “house.”  The reserve runs on a “cero basura” (meaning, “zero trash”) policy. Everything is recycled, composted, or packed into bottle bricks. Bottle bricks are a new up-and-coming idea for conservation; dry trash is compacted into water bottles, which are then used as bricks to build structures. Check out this website if you’re curious: http://www.bottlebrick.com/. I thought it was a pretty neat idea.  Our showers were fed by the nearby forest stream, and the toilets were compost. It was a really cool reserve!  It is about 2 km away from the town in which I’ll be doing my month-long internship at the end of the semester, so I’m hoping to see more of it! 

Sweet parrot at the fruit market

Fruit market on the way to Lalo Loor

Hammocks under a palm thatch roof right outside our
house at Lalo Loor

More vegetation

Beautiful vegetation at the dry forest reserve

Classmates during dinner

Soup (not sure what kind), mashed potatoes,
shredded lettuce, and a grilled pepper mixture, made by
Bigote, the head chef at the reserve

Our little getaway from the outside

Lalo Loor, the owner of the Lalo Loor Reserve, also produces dairy products locally. We got to sample his yogurt, and it was incredible. He makes liquid yogurt in blackberry, peach, vanilla, soursop, and strawberry flavors.  I wish I could bring some back for everyone to try! The reserve is also working on a project to bring children from local schools in to learn about the forest and its conservation.  Since the arrival of the Ceiba Foundation 8 years ago, a lot of progress has been made in the reforestation of the area, the involvement of the community, and the education of local school children.  In the days we were there, we learned about plants, bugs, water quality assessment, and dry forest conservation.  The dry forest we were in is really only dry about half of the year. Since we’re in the wet season right now, it was lush with vegetation and soaking in mud.  It was such a beautiful forest, though! One of the days, our lecture was interrupted by some howler monkeys hanging on a tree 10 feet outside the window. You don’t get that every day!

Terrible picture of Steve and I on the bus with some of Lalo's yogurt

One of the most interesting lectures/field activities was learning about water quality. The water quality in the area I worked in was quite low; the local town of Tabuga (my internship town, pronounced "tah-BOO-gah") uses the river for everything. It is a trash can, a washing machine, a bathroom, and a shower for many of its residents. Tabuga and the surrounding towns are very poor, and there are many ongoing projects by Peace Corps representatives, volunteers, and organizations like Ceiba working on education, healthcare, and sustainable agriculture projects. I met lots of locals during the trip, all fantastic, interesting, and unbelievably genuine people.  Being in Tabuga was a pretty humbling experience, and I’m really looking forward to spending more time there in April and May. 

One of the neighboring towns near Tabuga

On Friday, we left the reserve to head to the beach.  During the day, we stopped at some mangroves. This is a unique ecosystem, with very few number of plant species that are highly adapted to living near saltwater.  They are not very well conserved, due to the abundance of shrimp farms lining the coast. Ironically, I had a delectable plate of breaded shrimp for lunch. It’s a shame that deforestation tastes so good!

Friday evening we arrived at a beautiful, rustic, privately-owned beach resort called Punta Prieta where we would be staying until we returned to Quito on Sunday.  It was Hilary’s 21^st birthday on Thursday, so everyone on the trip (my professors included) celebrated in good fashion on the beach Friday night. We slept in tents both nights on the beach.  Saturday during the day, we were given the entire day off to hang out on the beach. We swam in the ocean, read, laid in the sun, and played cards all day. Despite the rain all night the night before, we couldn’t have asked for a better day on Saturday.  We were fed by the family that owns the resort for all of our meals, and they were so good to us! We had fresh fruit in the mornings, and a variety of fish, shrimp, and chicken for lunch and dinner.  It was such a nice getaway, and I’m thinking of going back there during spring break in a few weeks.

Sunset on the beach, night 1 

Steamed broccoli, plantains, salad, and pan-seared
garlic shrimp, with a glass of cabernet 

Lounging area on the beach

My tent buddies, Hilary and Tyler

The view from the main cabin house at Punta Prieta

Sunday was reserved entirely for travelling back to Quito.  We ate lunch at a random roadside buffet, and we were back in Quito by 6:00 p.m. Sunday night. I was exhausted from the week, and I went to bed soon after saying hi to my host family. We were given yesterday and today off to rest and recover from the week before.  After Skyping and catching up on my 134 miss e-mails, I went to the market and bought a fresh pineapple (a dollar), and read outside. Last night, my friends Hilary and Tyler came over and we ordered pizza and ate and chatted for hours with my host family. I think we kept them pretty entertained!

Today for lunch my host mom made aguado de gallina (“ah-GWAH-do day gah-YEE-nah”), or chicken rice soup. It is usually served as the main dish because it is so filling. It has rice, peas, corn, peppers, chicken broth, and a whole chicken leg in it. It was definitely one of my favorites. For dessert we had espumilla de mora (“es-poom-EE-ya day moh-rah”), or blackberry mousse. It was even pink, in light of el día del amor, or Valentine’s Day.

Here are some interesting facts:

-Over 97% of the forests between the coast of Ecuador and the mountains on the east side of the country have been deforested for ranching, pastures, and grazing. Growing up in the U.S., we were always taught to “save the rainforest,” but the incredibly important coastal ecosystems are much more endangered.

-It is extra easy to be a good boyfriend in Ecuador—you can buy 25 roses for a dollar.

-Many of the people on the coast, especially in the province on Manabí speak Quichua as their first language. It’s an indigenous language, and it pretty different from Spanish. Many of the people I met on the coast hadn’t really had much schooling, but still knew at least both Spanish and Quichua, and often knew French or Portuguese. I think we’re slacking a little in the States.

As many of you know, I’m not a big celebrator of Valentine’s Day. However, I think y’all are pretty great, and I’m really grateful for your love and support. So, a shoutout to all of you, especially to my many mothers: Mom, Debbie, Sheri, Pat, Val, Meghan Ernest, etc. I love you all!

Sorry, once again, that this is obnoxiously long. Lots to catch up on!  Starting next week Friday, I’ll be going to the Amazon for two weeks, so starting Friday I won’t be in contact until after that field trip. It is pretty crazy to think that my time here is already a third over! I must say, I’m living the good life.  Also, for those of you that have been asking or are curious, Andrew made it safely to Cape Town, and he’s been living it up as well. He started a blog too: www.asemesteronthecape.blogspot.com. He doesn’t have super consistent access to internet, but he said he try to keep it updated. In the same vein, thanks for all of your support! I’m glad you guys are interested in my/our lives. :)

Love,

Caitlin