Baños and Mindo

     Sorry for the lack of blogging once again. I had a crazy time trying to finish all my projects, plan my trip to the Galapagos (which fell through), and just experience Ecuador.
     Anyways, back towards the end of March, my friends and I went to Mindo. It is such an amazing place!! The first thing we did was go canopying, which is zip-lining over the trees. It was incredible. With the guides' help you could even go on the line upside down or like Superman. I went upside down a couple times. It was really cool. Then, we went to this butterfly enclosure and it was so cool to see all the different colored butterflies. However, it was also very sad, because while we were there, a butterfly was dying because someone had it land on their hands while they had bug repellent on. =( I  went to Mass on Sunday as well in Mindo. The church was so small and start about half an hour late, but it was ok. The last thing we did was go tubing on the river. Tubing is kinda like rafting except you are just on a bunch of tubes roped together, holding on  for your life. At least, that is how my friends and I felt, especially since we went on the river while it was much higher than usual, making for one crazy ride.
     During the first weekend in April, my same group of friend and I went to Baños. This place is very similar to what you can do in Mindo, except it is a slightly larger city (I prefer Mindo to Baños any day because of the more natural feel). Anyways, we didn't do as much in Baños but we did take a tour bus to see all the different waterfalls. That was just absolutely breathtaking. Eventually, we broke away from the tour bus, and decided to stay and swim in one of the pools at the  base of a waterfall. Well, more like sit on rocks and enjoy the view and the cold water, due to the power of the water that streamed away from the waterfall. Either way, it was a very peaceful, relaxing weekend. Both those weekends were.
     Not much exciting since those two trips has occurred. I just have been working on school work, going to the movies, and I did go to a soccer game (the atmosphere is so intense). I did just remember I made a few smaller day trips, but I might sum those up in another entry. Right now, I have to get going to pack for my trip. Just because my Galapagos trip fell through, doesn't mean I couldn't take my finals earlier and go somewhere else right? =P So, on the agenda,  starting today: Cuenca, Montañita (a beach here in Ecuador; also kind of a crazy, party, little town), Puerto López, Isla de la Plata (Poor Man's Galapagos; that is the nickname not the actual translation), and Papallacta (thermal hot springs). I will be kept busy right up until I leave the country, but I wouldn't have it any other way. =)

Anyways, I must get going for now. Next blog will recap this adventure and another entry will cover interesting things about Ecuador. I decided also, that since this blog is not just about Ecuador, but is titled Kristin's Chronicles, why not keep it going after I leave and describe what it is like to have a science internship and what it is like to go to an awesome university on the beach? Let me know what you guys think....but for now, chao!!!

Here is what the view looking down from the platform looked like. As you can see, there is a big difference between the platform level and the canopy bridge level.

The past month's adventures....

    I am sorry for my terrible lack of blog posts. I have just been busy with several things. But I can give you a recap of the events that have occurred here in the Southern Hemisphere in the last month since my blog.
     Well, the first exciting thing that happened was going to the beach for Carnaval. This was from February 17-20. Anyways, for those who don't know, Carnaval is this huge holiday here in Ecuador before Ash Wednesday. Think of it as an extended Mardi Gras celebration. The official days of Carnaval (the days you get off of school and work) are Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday but the celebrations start over the weekend (and my friends and I decided to miss a day of school to start the party even earlier. =P ) Anyways, the typical events that occur during Carnaval are: spraying people with foam, throwing water balloons, eggs, and paint, lots of music, dancing (at least for us on the beach), and of course with any party here in Ecuador, lots of alcohol. My friends and I went to this place on the coast called Canoa. Even though the place we stayed at wasn't very nice, we still had an amazing time. It was the first time I saw the Pacific Ocean so I was really excited. Besides swimming and just relaxing on the beach, my friends and I took a one hour surf lesson. I wasn't very good at surfing (I couldn't get to a standing position; I could only get about half way up) but for the first time, I thought I was ok. I definitely want to try going surfing again even though it was really exhausting. The only sad part about Carnaval was that the last day, I got food poisoning and got sick during the day, especially due to the heat and sun. But overall, it was a lot of fun.
    The next thing that happened is I have been going to the movies a lot with my friends. Except we go to the theater that has all the movies subtitled with Spanish but the voices are in English. However, this was not the case for the first movie I saw here. My friend and I planned this outing last minute and there weren't many choices of shows we wanted to see at the time we got there. So we bought a ticket for The Girl Who Played With Fire (the sequel to the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). However, after buying the tickets and getting some food, my friend and I realized we had bought a ticket for a movie that had Swedish voices and Spanish subtitles. Even though it was in this format, it was actually not that hard to follow and I really enjoyed the movie. The other movies I have seen here are The Descendants(wasn't a fan) and Chronicle(I thought this one was pretty good). I got to see Chronicle for free because I had gotten a free movie pass since the theater had so many problems while showing The Descendants (they had to stop the movie about 7 times). Movies here are a lot cheaper too. Tickets range from $2.40-$4.80 and for a large popcorn and large drink, it is only $6.60.
    Well, I suppose I should get to the part that everyone wants to here about in this blog: the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the rain forest. First off, this place is pretty much in the middle of no where. In order to get there, our group had to take a 30min plane ride, a two hour boat ride, a two hour bus ride, and ANOTHER two hour boat ride. When you are on that second boat ride though, you begin to see the rain forest clearly and begin to appreciate just where you are at that point. On the way to the station, we saw a Harpy Eagle and even the guides were surprised to see it, since it is not a common occurrence. The atmosphere was just absolutely amazing. I always said when I was a little kid that one day I would go to the rain forest and then I actually did. You don't usually think that one day you will actually get to experience a thunderstorm in the rain forest. Some activities that we did were a night search for caiman, floating down the Tiputini River(which is the 7th largest tributary to the Amazon River), hikes during the day, eating lemon flavored ants from a tree (which I did) and a boat ride on this secluded lagoon. My favorite part was the canopy walk and climbing this ladder to a platform in a tree. The ladder was two parts and one was securely attached to the base of the tree, but the other part, is attached only at the top and the bottom and at that point, you are basically climbing a ladder over air. I will post a picture that my friend took from up on the platform to give you an idea of what it was like. Anyways, animal wise, we saw frogs, toads, bullet ants, beautiful butterflies, dragonflies, turtles, howler monkeys, wooly monkeys, titi monkeys, bats, a gecko that was in our cabin, a tree frog, scarlet macaws, a toucan, various other birds, a kinkajou, and a tree boa. The last two were up in the trees during our night boat ride to look for caiman, However, I was focused more on the stars. You would not believe how many stars you can see when you are out in the middle of the rain forest. There are other stories I could share but they are too many to list for this blog entry since it is getting pretty long.

    Anyways, that is all for now. The next blog entry will include the trip to Mindo I will be taking next weekend and possibly, my experience going puenting, which is basically the same as bungee jumping. Chao!!!

Some Pictures of the Public Art

Picture of the hummingbird

Here is the picture of a hummingbird I took a long time ago. I know it isn't the best picture but it was quite hard to get a good picture of it.

Time for some stories....

     I will apologize in advance for two things. The first will be for not updating the blog sooner and the second will be for the length of this blog since I have had a lot of adventures since the last entry. 
     First, just some random points I forgot to put in the last blog. One, is that there is also public art displays here in Quito similar to the ones that are in the United States. Here, they have decorated hummingbirds and painted them in different ways. I will post some of the pictures I took of them after this entry. Another interesting note has to do with the fact about the crazy buses here. My friends and I are convinced that the bus drivers here like to race each other. The reason we believe this is the fact that if another bus is driving nearby, it seems that the drive a bit faster and honk at each other, but we could be wrong. 
     Anyways, now on to my adventures. I really hope I can remember all of them since it has been so long....I will do my best though to recap what has happened in these last two weeks. 
     Well, the first crazy adventure happened on the last Friday in January. After getting lunch, my one friend decided that she wanted to find this really cheap movie store. We first went to the Quicentro Mall since we thought it might be there. Turns out it was not. So we got something to drink at the food court and while we were thinking about leaving the mall, we found an arcade. It was so cool. So we spent about an hour in the arcade playing different games such as Guitar Hero, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (yes you could pay to play some Xbox 360; while I never had played that game, it was nice to have 10 minutes of Xbox time for around $.60), some racing games, and a few others. Then, we decided to go to the next mall and find the movie store, which we had clarified that what we were looking for was there. We found the movie store and it was probably the most pirated DVD place I have ever seen. First off, when you can get any 3 movies you want for $5 that is the first sign. Next, when the case designs are just a Photoshop picture and some words, that could be another sign. Lastly, and the most obvious, when you open a Disney movie box and see a white disc with the title written in Sharpie, you know it is a copy. However, most movie stores here are like that so it isn't strange. My friend got some movies there and that was the end of our adventure since it was getting dark. 
     Our next adventure was on the 28th of January. The same friends from that Friday and I decided to go to the Centro Historico of Quito. We first went to this museum which was not how we thought it was going to be. It was a guided tour but the tour guide went through everything so fast that it was hard to see anything. Throughout the day, we went to various churches to look at the inside. In total, we went to three different churches.(We did not make it to the Basilica however). The churches were all so beautiful but our favorite was La Iglesia de La Compañía de Jesús. The entire inside had gold on almost every surface and just overall, the atmosphere of that church was just so beautiful. After we left the Centro Historico, we went to this park where you could rent paddle boats and row boats just to go around this little lake/river thing. For whatever reason, we decided that we wanted to get a row boat. That was the most difficult thing ever, since those things are hard to row and with only girls, it makes for an interesting experience. However, it really was a lot of fun. 

     The next adventure is quite brief and I will just state that this past Wednesday (February 1st), I actually went out to a club. Nothing extremely exciting; it was basically a club that plays a lot of American music and is cheap so that is where most of the foreigners go for clubbing. 

     Finally, the last adventure that has happened was yesterday. My friends and I went to Otavalo to the indigenous craft market there. We got there pretty late so that was all we had time to do, but there is also a beautiful lake and waterfalls to see in the area, so my friends and I want to go back before we leave. But anyways, the market was so amazing. It was very large and everything there is made in Ecuador. I bought a blanket, some just simple little thread bracelet things, a bag that says Ecuador on it, two little stone turtles, a little painting, a decorative scarf, some pants, and two coin purses all for around $40. I think that was a pretty good day and now, I have a nice blanket. =)

Anyways, that is the end of this entry. Once again, I apologize for the length but now I am all caught up with my life here in Ecuador. Now, I think it is time for a nap since I am feeling sick. Chao!!

And so begins my third week....

    Let us see....what can I write about in this entry...Not much happened this past week that was extremely interesting so this blog entry will be quite random.
    Last week was my first full week of classes. Anything that could go wrong seemed to during that period. Between my camera not cooperating, my Spanish homework access code not working, and just the general stress about the first week, it proved to be quite a trying time. Things are much better now and I look forward to the rest of the semester (as long as my camera behaves. =P)
    So, I have found a new thing that I love....and that is stuff with mangoes. I absolutely love mango juice. Did I mention that pretty much any juice you get here is fresh? My host mom makes fresh juice almost everyday. However, my absolute favorite thing is mango ice cream. =) It is so delicious. There is this little ice cream/cafe place near my campus and the ice cream there tastes so fresh. Today, I had extremely delicious strawberry ice cream. Even though I love the mango flavor, I think my goal is to try almost every flavor they have. (I say almost because I know there are some flavors that I won't like...but maybe I should still try them.)
     Another interesting note is that soda sizes here are much smaller. The largest soda you can get anywhere (if it is even available) is a 22 oz. That is a medium back in the United States. It is an interesting point that I noticed.
     Today marks the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the dragon. Surprisingly, it is a big deal at USFQ (my university here). It turns out that they opened the university in 1988, a previous year of the dragon. The logo of the school incorporates a dragon as well and our school, surprisingly, has a bit of an Asian theme to it. Anyways, they had a huge celebration today outside of one of the buildings. I didn't get to attend the whole thing since I was in class and by the time I got out, I just wanted to go home. However, the way the school is built, we could still hear the festivities while sitting in our classroom. There was a local band that played which was really cool. They also sounded really good. The one thing I am sad that I missed though was the free cake and wine. That should have been a good enough excuse to end class early...just kidding. =P

    Well, I think that is all for now. I will post another entry if I feel I have more stories to tell. Chao!!!!

About a week after being here...

    Time for another entry. Since the last entry, I have now attended all my classes, taken more crazy buses, and visited both the historical and actual Equators.

    First, I think I will talk about my classes. My classes for this semester are Ceramics, Photography, Spanish Phonetics, and Social Problems of Ecuador ( a far cry from the Organic Chemistry and Biology that consumed my life last semester). Not to mention, if you hadn't guessed, my schedule for this semester is a mere 12 credits, another change from the 18 I would take in the United States. Anyways, I love all my classes, even though at times they may seem difficult due to the language difference. Oh yeah, but my Social Problems class is in English. The teacher who teaches the Spanish version wasn't teaching it this semester, but the English is a nice relief since I have that class at 4:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also, this semester, I did not have to buy any textbooks for my classes. A nice way to save money. =) However, Photography will cost some money, since I have to buy special paper and other things when I turn in my projects. 

    The buses continue to be as packed as usual. This past week, for the first time, I had to stand on the bus from Cumbaya (where my school is located) to the Rio Coca station in Quito. Not that standing is bad, but when the bus driver is going around turns at speeds that we in the United States wouldn't dream of (on a mountain nonetheless), it is almost inevitable that you will have trouble keeping your balance. This was exactly what happened to me. I never actually fell down, but came close several times. I don't think I mentioned this before, but I have to take two buses to school and two buses to get back home. The total cost of all four buses: $1. Can you believe that? 

    This past Sunday, I went with a few of my friends to see the Equator. We first went to the historic one, which is not exactly the real Equator. This was the line that was determined back several hundred years ago. However, with GPS technology, they realized that this historic line was actually 240 meters off from the actual Equator. (Not bad though considering the technology back then.) After seeing the historic site, we walked to the place that had the GPS verified line. It was a really cool place though, because it had an outdoor museum that talked about various parts of the indigenous cultures of not only Ecuador, but other parts of Latin America. (We chose the option of receiving the tour in Spanish since we are here to learn it. =P) They also had some pretty cool experiments to show the competing forces of the two hemispheres. These included that water going down the drain will rotate in opposite directions depending on the hemisphere you are in and that it is very hard to keep your balance while walking with your arms out on the Equator line. Not to mention, I saw the same type of hummingbird there that I had seen at my school, and I actually got a photo of it. (I will post it later; I know it may not be the best photo, but it is not easy trying to get a picture of a hummingbird.) 

   Well, that is all for now. I will try to post again within a week of this entry. =) As we say to each other in Ecuador, chao!! (Bye) 

 

Random First Thoughts

      Well, I guess it is time to start my blog since I have been here for almost a week now. =P So let's see, first off, a brief statement about Quito. It is at 9000ft above sea level and it pretty much rains everyday (at least since I have been here) and that the driving here is crazy and chaotic (not to mention that it is hard to cross the street because, up until a few years ago, pedestrians did not have the right of way. So most of the time, you still won't get it.). Yeah I know super brief but if I think of more things I can add them later.
     Anyways, since arriving here I have learned how to take the bus to school, walked uphill to church (and I really mean walking up hill; you have no idea), tried new food, including mango juice which is quite yummy, and that is mainly it. Now for the random stuff......My college is so beautiful. For all my Wilmington friends, if you that UNCW was pretty, I think here is much better. But that could be just my opinion. I also got to see a very cute hummingbird today. I love birds....what can I say? =P And it was blue and greenish so it was really pretty and my friend and I got pretty close to it.
     A final note, back to the whole transportation thing, I don't think anything can be crazier than some of the buses in Ecuador. The first and last bus I have to take each day to school (which is basically the same route) can often be crowded with tons of people. I am not exaggerating when I say that often times, you feel like a sardine. Because no matter how full the bus is, there always seems to be a way for more people to fit on it. That is how I missed my bus stop on Monday afternoon after Orientation. =P Well, I think that is all for now. I will write more when I have new stories to tell.