I've had a cold all week, but have been able to make it to school, although not to Spanish classes. Going up and down to school doesn't help my congestion and ears much! It's like descending from a plane trip!
I've really enjoyed the kids this week, I guess some of it is knowing that I will be leaving them soon. Yesterday, one of the boys announced first thing in the morning that he was going to go into Otavalo with us on the van after school. He is the cleanest boy in school, and he was spruced up with new-to-him shoes, pants and t-shrits. It was a big deal for him to ride all the way down with us and his cousin who was bringing down textile stuff that his mom had finished-off for the market. I had him sit on my lap all the way down and it was fun to watch his head spin around each time we passed a big truck!
I call one of my students "Princess" as she always arrives at school in clean clothes - usually traditional - and she has everyone wait on her! She gives her dirty lunch dish to her sister to wash (and she does it) and talks any of the students into helping her - with the work or with getting her pencil off the floor, etc. Since I haven't jumped at her beck and call, she quite often ignores me and does her own thing. This week, she brought a doll to school on her back and wanted to keep it on the table where the students work. I picked her up, took her outside and told her it was very important to learn her numbers and that the baby needed to sleep while she worked. I then had her put the doll on the table where I keep my bags and supplies...and it worked! I finally got her to do something I was asking - and now I only have 2 more days with her!
Often throughout the week, I have an extra student! Freddy and Luis come to school occasionally with their older siblings and usually play outside alone. But one of Luis's brothers is in my class, and I asked him into the classroom. Both he and his brother were so cute, as the older one made sure that Luis was doing the work right. Today was a major breakthrough though. Today, Viviana came to school. She is 5 years old and should be in school, but is not. She is the younger sibling of the girl in my class who is 8 years old.
One day this week, the teacher got into the van and asked me if I had the keys to the school! She said she had looked at home that morning, and didn't have them. I didn't remember having them, but then I usually lock my door last and then give her the keys when I get into the van to go home. So, it was very possible I had them. I looked through my things I had with me, but didn't see them. I had Jaime drive back to my homestay and I ran in and looked - not there. Since I had gone to the GVI house directly after school the previous day, I asked him to drive us back there....this is with a van full of volunteers and both teachers....
Didn't find the keys there either, so off we went to school. When we got up to the school, my door was locked (as it was supposed to be), but the main classroom building had the padlock on it, but it wasn't closed and locked! I looked around on the ground, in the kitchen, etc., but still couldn't find the keys. One of the kids ran to one of the community leader's homes to get the key for my classroom, and I was able to get in and have class. The teacher asked if GVI could please by new padlocks for all the doors and I told her I would check into it. Went home that night feeling pretty lousy about having lost the keys. Didn't get a chance to ask Tracey about buying new padlocks until it was too late to go to the store, so figured we would have to ask the community member to help get into the classrooms again. The next morning when the teacher got into the van, she looked at me sheepishly and said she had found the keys -- she had had them all along!
So, I ended the week with a great weekend. On Saturday I went gift shopping with Laura. Laura is another volunteer from Germany who loves bargaining int hemarket and does a great job. She has learned some
Quichwa, the indigenous language, and uses it for bargaining. The vendors are thrilled to hear her, and usually go for her price! We had a good time, spent a lot of money and ended it with ice cream before we headed to our homes to get ready for dinner! We had arranged to meet 3 others at a place on the San Pable lake for dinner. Laura and I took a taxi there and when we walked in, it took our breath away. The sun was starting to set and the restaurant was literally over the lake. But, we didn't see our friends! After a confusing phone call and a chat at the front desk, we learned we had gone to the wrong place, and the place we wanted was on the other side of the lake. We decided to stay and have a drink and watch the sunset and then join the others. When we went to leave, there were no taxis available! One of the gals at the front desk was getting off shift, so she offered to have her husband drive us there, so we climbed into the SUV with them and there three kids and had at least a 20 minute drive around the lake to the other place. Had a nice dinner there, but we both agreed we like the first place best!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The past week or so...
Last week was a trying week, with returning to school after a 12 day break, getting sick - I think from the milk at my home stay - for two days and then the teachers not being in school for Thursday and Friday. We were able to do half days so the kids still got their hot lunch at school and about two hours of lessons. Julia, (a gal who is here working on her thesis on intercultural education, and who has volunteered and worked with GVI before), was able to attend school with me both of those days which was a HUGE help.
On Saturday, 6 of us took a 2 1/2 bus ride to the Intag Valley for some down time. There are natural hotsprings there and we stayed at a place with cabins and two pools. Had to eat lunch at the place next door, but had dinner and breakfast at our place. Total cost for the weekend per person: $22.00!!!! We were the only people there, so had a very relaxing time and got a little vitamin D. Absolutely gorgeous there. A narrow valley in sub-tropical climate, where they grow coffee, have developed a woman´s cooperative to making handicrafts, and are fighting a large corporation who wants to come in and copper min.
Five new volunteers came on Sunday, one of which is staying at the same home stay as me, and is just a bit older than me! I´m not the oldest by 20 years any more! Bronwyn will be taking over for me as well at the school, so I am constantly thinking of things to record for her so she can just stay ont he same roll as I have been on. I didn´t have that from the last teacher, so it made it kind of hard to know if the kids had done certain things or not.
Now, Sunday afternoon I started feeling like I was getting a cold and sure enough, today it´s full blown. Skipped Spanish yesterday and today, and today went directly to bed after getting back into town. Just got up to prepare lessons and check in on life elsewhere.... My homestay mom took me to the pharmacy last night and we got a cold medicine...interesting: I was able to purchase them by the pill instead of the whole box! Actually, you can also buy cigarettes here individually as well! Haven´t asked how much they are.
Spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out how to get to Arequipa, Peru for the second half of my stay. On Friday I searched the internet for flights and couldn´t find one all the way to Arequipa for under $800!!! Finally went to a travel agency in town and got the flight to Lima for just over $400 and now have to figure out how to get to Arequipa from there. I have a week, so will try to go to Machu Pichu in that time if I can work it out. The materials I received said my transportation from Ecuador to Peru was "organzied" for me by the program, but then right before Christmas I was told I had to do this myself and that I had X amount of dollars to cover it. Well, didn´t find out how much X was until after I got back, and now I have to cover some of this cost myself. Pretty misleading and such a waste of time and money as I could have done this from home before I came for so much less! Anyway, ended up having to leave here a day early in order to get out of Ecuador before my 90 day tourist "visa" is up. So will leave here on Friday, Jaunuary 29, 10 days from now.
Thank you to all who have contributed or plan to contribute to my funding a cow and a stove. Don´t know how much yet, but will post the final amount. THANKS.
On Saturday, 6 of us took a 2 1/2 bus ride to the Intag Valley for some down time. There are natural hotsprings there and we stayed at a place with cabins and two pools. Had to eat lunch at the place next door, but had dinner and breakfast at our place. Total cost for the weekend per person: $22.00!!!! We were the only people there, so had a very relaxing time and got a little vitamin D. Absolutely gorgeous there. A narrow valley in sub-tropical climate, where they grow coffee, have developed a woman´s cooperative to making handicrafts, and are fighting a large corporation who wants to come in and copper min.
Five new volunteers came on Sunday, one of which is staying at the same home stay as me, and is just a bit older than me! I´m not the oldest by 20 years any more! Bronwyn will be taking over for me as well at the school, so I am constantly thinking of things to record for her so she can just stay ont he same roll as I have been on. I didn´t have that from the last teacher, so it made it kind of hard to know if the kids had done certain things or not.
Now, Sunday afternoon I started feeling like I was getting a cold and sure enough, today it´s full blown. Skipped Spanish yesterday and today, and today went directly to bed after getting back into town. Just got up to prepare lessons and check in on life elsewhere.... My homestay mom took me to the pharmacy last night and we got a cold medicine...interesting: I was able to purchase them by the pill instead of the whole box! Actually, you can also buy cigarettes here individually as well! Haven´t asked how much they are.
Spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out how to get to Arequipa, Peru for the second half of my stay. On Friday I searched the internet for flights and couldn´t find one all the way to Arequipa for under $800!!! Finally went to a travel agency in town and got the flight to Lima for just over $400 and now have to figure out how to get to Arequipa from there. I have a week, so will try to go to Machu Pichu in that time if I can work it out. The materials I received said my transportation from Ecuador to Peru was "organzied" for me by the program, but then right before Christmas I was told I had to do this myself and that I had X amount of dollars to cover it. Well, didn´t find out how much X was until after I got back, and now I have to cover some of this cost myself. Pretty misleading and such a waste of time and money as I could have done this from home before I came for so much less! Anyway, ended up having to leave here a day early in order to get out of Ecuador before my 90 day tourist "visa" is up. So will leave here on Friday, Jaunuary 29, 10 days from now.
Thank you to all who have contributed or plan to contribute to my funding a cow and a stove. Don´t know how much yet, but will post the final amount. THANKS.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Will you help me buy a cow or a stove!?
My time on the GVI Ecuador project is nearing the end and I would like to do something that will continue to assist the kids I have been working with here in Ecuador. There are two things that that could use assistance with funding that will help the kids to continue their educations.
First is the purchase of a cow for $400. USD! The cow would go to a family in the community I am working in, or one of the other 2 communities that the other volunteers are working in. The $400 would buy a 2-3 year old cow which would produce offspring and milk and the income from these would be used to fund the high school education of the student. It takes about a year for the family to see an income from the cow, so the cows are going to families with students still attending the local school. After 5th grade, about age 12, the students must travel into Otavalo to attend high school. Many of them attend high school on the weekends while working the land with the family during the week. So what are their expenses? They must pruchase a uniform, ongoing school supplies, transportation to and from Otavalo, and they must pay for a place to stay and their food while in Otavalo. Currently GVI is cash funding 5 students while they attend high school. To end this continuing dependency, GVI and the families and communities have developed "Project Moo" where the families then take on the responsibility of the payment for the education after the intial start up costs are paid by GVI - in this case, the start up costs is the purchase of the cow.
Second is to help with the cost of building a stove! Yes, a stove! Most of the homes that the kids live in have open fires for cooking inside the house, without a chimney. The kids (and adults) suffer from respitory and eye problems due to the smoke. On cold mornings on our way to school, we can see the smoke escaping out of the thatched roofs. Here is a link to a blog entry on the stove building project in Ecuador. http://gviphoenix.blogspot.com/2009/12/stove-building-in-ecuador-continues-to.html
During my last week here, the first stove in my community will be built and I will assist with the building. Usually the stoves are paid for out of the program fees of the volunteers who come here to build the stoves. By my assisting in the costs, one more stove will be able to be built and it will not be necessary to wait for more volunteers to come specifically for the stove building project. Each stove costs around $250. to build with supplies all purchased locally here in Otavalo.
If you are willing and able to help with these costs, there are a number of ways to get the money to me.
First, for those in Juneau, Claudette Kreuzenstein has agreed to collect money and deposit it in my bank acount, and I will then just withdraw it in cash here and hand it over to the project manager. If you are interested in this option, and do not know how to get a hold of Claudette, let me know, and I will get her contact information to you.
Second, for those of you who want to pay with a credit card and have PayPal accounts, you can use it to send money! Just click on the "Send Money" and then the "Personal" tabs. This method will involve a small fee, but the money will then be deposited into my bank account and I will withdraw it here and give it directly to the project manager.
And finally, for those who want to send it through a more formal means, you can go to Tracey Lumsden's (the project manager) Just Giving web page, and make a donation there. This will involve a foreign transaction on your credit card as it is a UK organization, as well as a small fee. http://www.justgiving.com/traceylumsden
What ever way you choose to help if you can, I really appreciate your assisting me with making a lasting contribution to the children of the indigenious community where I have been teaching.
First is the purchase of a cow for $400. USD! The cow would go to a family in the community I am working in, or one of the other 2 communities that the other volunteers are working in. The $400 would buy a 2-3 year old cow which would produce offspring and milk and the income from these would be used to fund the high school education of the student. It takes about a year for the family to see an income from the cow, so the cows are going to families with students still attending the local school. After 5th grade, about age 12, the students must travel into Otavalo to attend high school. Many of them attend high school on the weekends while working the land with the family during the week. So what are their expenses? They must pruchase a uniform, ongoing school supplies, transportation to and from Otavalo, and they must pay for a place to stay and their food while in Otavalo. Currently GVI is cash funding 5 students while they attend high school. To end this continuing dependency, GVI and the families and communities have developed "Project Moo" where the families then take on the responsibility of the payment for the education after the intial start up costs are paid by GVI - in this case, the start up costs is the purchase of the cow.
Second is to help with the cost of building a stove! Yes, a stove! Most of the homes that the kids live in have open fires for cooking inside the house, without a chimney. The kids (and adults) suffer from respitory and eye problems due to the smoke. On cold mornings on our way to school, we can see the smoke escaping out of the thatched roofs. Here is a link to a blog entry on the stove building project in Ecuador. http://gviphoenix.blogspot.com/2009/12/stove-building-in-ecuador-continues-to.html
During my last week here, the first stove in my community will be built and I will assist with the building. Usually the stoves are paid for out of the program fees of the volunteers who come here to build the stoves. By my assisting in the costs, one more stove will be able to be built and it will not be necessary to wait for more volunteers to come specifically for the stove building project. Each stove costs around $250. to build with supplies all purchased locally here in Otavalo.
If you are willing and able to help with these costs, there are a number of ways to get the money to me.
First, for those in Juneau, Claudette Kreuzenstein has agreed to collect money and deposit it in my bank acount, and I will then just withdraw it in cash here and hand it over to the project manager. If you are interested in this option, and do not know how to get a hold of Claudette, let me know, and I will get her contact information to you.
Second, for those of you who want to pay with a credit card and have PayPal accounts, you can use it to send money! Just click on the "Send Money" and then the "Personal" tabs. This method will involve a small fee, but the money will then be deposited into my bank account and I will withdraw it here and give it directly to the project manager.
And finally, for those who want to send it through a more formal means, you can go to Tracey Lumsden's (the project manager) Just Giving web page, and make a donation there. This will involve a foreign transaction on your credit card as it is a UK organization, as well as a small fee. http://www.justgiving.com/traceylumsden
What ever way you choose to help if you can, I really appreciate your assisting me with making a lasting contribution to the children of the indigenious community where I have been teaching.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Just thinking about things....
I realized that much of my blog has been a day-to-day diary when there is so much other information to share. So, here goes:
I've learned to expect an approaching empty taxi to honk at me, and just shake my head "no" as they get close...."gringos" are almost a sure-fire fare for the taxi drivers.
The other morning when my alarm clock went off, I turned over, thinking, "can't the people in this neighborhood learn how to turn off their car alarm before it goes off?" It took a while for me to realize this was not another neighborhood noise to ignore, rather my alarm to get up.
I found out that one of the five year olds in my class is actually eight years old! She has said she is eight since I got here, but I didn't believe her as she is the same size as the five year olds in the class. She has a younger sister who is five, but is not in school --- she'll probably end up being like her sister and older brother: 3 years older than the other kids in their class.
I don't look twice now when walking down a residential street in the center of Otavalo when I see a woman sitting in front of a barbeque grill blocking the sidewalk, cooking meat for sale! Anyone can set up anything to sell. I pass one woman regularly who sits inside the entrance to her house, selling Quibolitos, the little cakes cooked in the banana leaves!
Small change is required to buy just about anything. Unless you go to the right cash machine, all you will get are $20 bills. When most of the things I buy, for example bottled water or snacks, cost less than $1, the merchants won't accept the $20. In fact, I've learned to not even use a $5. Even in restaurants, getting change for a $20 is near impossible. You see employees running from their place to another, asking for change! It's a constant challenge to have all of my money in $5 bills and smaller. It just seems so strange that businesses don't have much cash on hand to give change.
Although my spanish is getting better, it still sucks. Here is how I know. In early December, I ordered a 'coca-cola zero' and got a glass of rum! In late December I ordered three sandwhiches (the other gals were joining me, they weren't all for me!), and got four sandwhiches. In Cuenca in January, I ordered two scoops of ice cream - and got them in two different cups, instead of one. So the damage is getting less and less with my mis-orders... Now, if I could just understand the answers to questions I ask in spanish!
I don't gag any more when looking at the kids with their noses running down to their upper lips. The other day, one of the kids pulled my kleenex packet out of my pocket, so I gave each kid one of the kleenexes. They unfolded them and played with them for a few minutes,and then the girl with the snottiest nose asked me "what is this for?". (They are used to me giving them toilet paper to use for their nose, and this was quite different.)
Barney is alive and well here. I had this picture taken for you, Derek, cause I know how much you love listening to the DVD I got Cameron!
It's amazing to me how much the women from the campo (countryside) carry in their beautiful white lace and embroderied blouses! You see women reach into their blouses and pull out wallets, things wrapped in cloth, sacks of things, etc! Also, I see women with various things on their heads. Sometimes I think they just take anything they are carrying to cover their heads from the mid-day sun, and other times I think they chose to carry the extra sweater, etc., on their head instead of wrapping it around their shoulders or waist.
And finally, I love that I can sit here in this restaurant for hours, when I just order a drink, or a snack, and they don't mind my taking up a table on a Friday night!
I've learned to expect an approaching empty taxi to honk at me, and just shake my head "no" as they get close...."gringos" are almost a sure-fire fare for the taxi drivers.
The other morning when my alarm clock went off, I turned over, thinking, "can't the people in this neighborhood learn how to turn off their car alarm before it goes off?" It took a while for me to realize this was not another neighborhood noise to ignore, rather my alarm to get up.
I found out that one of the five year olds in my class is actually eight years old! She has said she is eight since I got here, but I didn't believe her as she is the same size as the five year olds in the class. She has a younger sister who is five, but is not in school --- she'll probably end up being like her sister and older brother: 3 years older than the other kids in their class.
I don't look twice now when walking down a residential street in the center of Otavalo when I see a woman sitting in front of a barbeque grill blocking the sidewalk, cooking meat for sale! Anyone can set up anything to sell. I pass one woman regularly who sits inside the entrance to her house, selling Quibolitos, the little cakes cooked in the banana leaves!
Small change is required to buy just about anything. Unless you go to the right cash machine, all you will get are $20 bills. When most of the things I buy, for example bottled water or snacks, cost less than $1, the merchants won't accept the $20. In fact, I've learned to not even use a $5. Even in restaurants, getting change for a $20 is near impossible. You see employees running from their place to another, asking for change! It's a constant challenge to have all of my money in $5 bills and smaller. It just seems so strange that businesses don't have much cash on hand to give change.
Although my spanish is getting better, it still sucks. Here is how I know. In early December, I ordered a 'coca-cola zero' and got a glass of rum! In late December I ordered three sandwhiches (the other gals were joining me, they weren't all for me!), and got four sandwhiches. In Cuenca in January, I ordered two scoops of ice cream - and got them in two different cups, instead of one. So the damage is getting less and less with my mis-orders... Now, if I could just understand the answers to questions I ask in spanish!
I don't gag any more when looking at the kids with their noses running down to their upper lips. The other day, one of the kids pulled my kleenex packet out of my pocket, so I gave each kid one of the kleenexes. They unfolded them and played with them for a few minutes,and then the girl with the snottiest nose asked me "what is this for?". (They are used to me giving them toilet paper to use for their nose, and this was quite different.)
Barney is alive and well here. I had this picture taken for you, Derek, cause I know how much you love listening to the DVD I got Cameron!
It's amazing to me how much the women from the campo (countryside) carry in their beautiful white lace and embroderied blouses! You see women reach into their blouses and pull out wallets, things wrapped in cloth, sacks of things, etc! Also, I see women with various things on their heads. Sometimes I think they just take anything they are carrying to cover their heads from the mid-day sun, and other times I think they chose to carry the extra sweater, etc., on their head instead of wrapping it around their shoulders or waist.
And finally, I love that I can sit here in this restaurant for hours, when I just order a drink, or a snack, and they don't mind my taking up a table on a Friday night!
What a week....
First week back in Otavalo and at school after the holiday break has been a bit strange. On Monday, a new Tracey & a new "intern" accompanied me to school. The new intern, Julia, is actually not here to intern, but to work on her research for her thesis on volunteer teachers in second languages (or something to this effect). She has been a volunteer at one or two other GVI projects and was a project manager as well. She is now working on her masters of artsin international studies. Anyway, they came up to observe and parents started showing up. Tracey didn't realize it, but the parents thought they had a meeting with her regarding the potential stove building in the community. They ended up meeting until at least 11am, when Tracey finally broke free to go to the other school as she had planned. I have to admit though, it was a bit un-nerving to have someone observing me on the first day back at school after not speaking spanish for 12 days and not really having much prepared!
Shortly after arriving at school on Tuesday, I started not feeling well, and had to make a number of runs to the bathroom in the first hour. Fearing this was a flu, I left the classroom and spent the rest of the school day in the van, sleeping and making occasional runs back down to the school bathroom! I ended up staying home all day Wednesday as well, with naseau, headache and joint aches.
Yesterday, I made it back to school, although I was feeling a bit weak. Lunch was not appealing, but I ate in the after noon when we got back into Otavalo and I started feeling much better. My school day was pretty lax as I had not had not been able to plan anything.
So finally today was a great day. The teacher was not at school, so Julia came with me to help me teach. We actually had time to plan onThursday night and had a number of good, interactive activities for all the kids. Only 9 kids were in school, as they knew the teacher would not be there. We had a lot of fun doing a Bingo game with country names and then finding the countries on the globes and identifying which continents they are on....ok, when I say "we", I mean Julia! She was great and really took the lesson further then we had intended when she saw the kids did not know this information at all. After, we had a lot of fun making and decorating masks before lunch. After lunch we did English and then had PE, so it was a funfilled day.
Shortly after arriving at school on Tuesday, I started not feeling well, and had to make a number of runs to the bathroom in the first hour. Fearing this was a flu, I left the classroom and spent the rest of the school day in the van, sleeping and making occasional runs back down to the school bathroom! I ended up staying home all day Wednesday as well, with naseau, headache and joint aches.
Yesterday, I made it back to school, although I was feeling a bit weak. Lunch was not appealing, but I ate in the after noon when we got back into Otavalo and I started feeling much better. My school day was pretty lax as I had not had not been able to plan anything.
So finally today was a great day. The teacher was not at school, so Julia came with me to help me teach. We actually had time to plan onThursday night and had a number of good, interactive activities for all the kids. Only 9 kids were in school, as they knew the teacher would not be there. We had a lot of fun doing a Bingo game with country names and then finding the countries on the globes and identifying which continents they are on....ok, when I say "we", I mean Julia! She was great and really took the lesson further then we had intended when she saw the kids did not know this information at all. After, we had a lot of fun making and decorating masks before lunch. After lunch we did English and then had PE, so it was a funfilled day.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year - Quito & Cuenca
New Year’s Eve in Quito was interesting and ok, but not as much fun as it was in Budapest last year! I love their tradition here though. They burn “old man year” in effigy to get rid of all the bad from last year and welcome in the New Year. Often, the figures will take on the form of someone who they don’t like, such as a political figure. The crew on the boat worked on making two of these: one was Sponge Bob and I don’t know who the other was supposed to be. When I got to Quito, I saw fires on the sidewalks with people standing around. I asked the cab driver why they were doing this in the afternoon and he explained that people did these with their co-workers and at midnight do it again with their families.
In the Mariscal district of Quito, on Avenue de Amazonias, there were stages set up with dioramas with figures and sayings. People were packed on the street, walking along looking at all the dioramas. We found out that the dioramas are a contest and the best receives $1000.00. My Spanish was not good enough, and I don’t know enough about their culture to figure out what they said. Anyway, many of the people walking along were dressed up in costumes, or were wearing masks or headbands with devil horns, etc. I went out with Jordy, one of the new volunteers who just arrived that day, and a young guy from the states who was staying at the same place. We walked along and looked at the dioramas and people and then joined the others from the Galapagos Cruise on the veranda of their hotel which overlooked the avenue. To our surprise, the dioramas started coming down around 10pm and the crowd starting thinning out. Everyone was heading home to celebrate and burn their own effigies with their families! I went ahead and went back to the hostel as I really didn’t want to drink much or get overly tired as I had my flight to Cuenca today. Kind of boring, I know, but it just seemed like the right thing to do!
The old town of Cuenca is “muy bonito” and quite charming. Definitely reminds me of Europe. I walked around and found about 6 of the 100’s of churches here and then saw a city tour bus. I got a city tour for about 1 ½ hours and got a good feel of the city and its layout. They told me the guide would be bi-lingual, but when he arrived, he apologized as his English was not good enough to do the tour in English. But, I understood about 50% of the things he said! Whee.
My guidebook said there are movie theatres here, so after the tour, I found one of them, but unfortunately, none of the movies interested me: a Disney, one I had already seen, a sci-fi and another animated thing. I’m excited for the next day and a half here, as I have kind of mapped out what I want to see.
Jan 2, 2010
I had a great day today in Cuenca. It was sunny, the town is clean, the buildings charming, and the people friendly and helpful. I made it to two of the museums I wanted to see and to the “panama” hat workshop. Many places were still closed today for the New Year weekend, but the town was busier than yesterday. As I walked to the first museum, I saw people outside of a church dressed in bright traditional costumes with what looked like a maypole. When I was just about to leave the museum, they were on the street with a band and stopped and danced their ribbons around the pole.
After visiting both museums and having a snack on a park bench, I made arrangements for a taxi for tomorrow to take me to Ingapirka, Inca ruins not far from here, and then found an English language bookstore. At the bookstore I got another book about Ecuador – this one is ghost stories! – and met a lady who has retired here from Seattle. We had lunch together – a 3 course set meal for $3.80! – and then went to the Hat factory. The hats are known by Americans and others as Panama hats although they are made here, because they were first seen being worn in panama. Quite intricate weaving is done and the hats are beautiful.
I returned to the hotel and had a nap before venturing out to dinner. I’m catching up on the internet while I have it and don’t have to pay or sit in a restaurant to use the wi-fi. So tomorrow I go to Ingapirca and another little village, and then catch the flight from here to Quito at 3. I’ll be picked up by the dad of one of the GVI host families and driven back to Otavalo. Off to school on Monday!
Galapagos Cruise
12/24/09
Today I flew from Quito to the Galapagos and boarded the boat, Yate Darwin. It is a 16 passenger boat, but we have 14 guests and 6 crew.
When I bought the cruise, a transfer from my hotel was included which sure made arriving at the airport easy. I had to first have my bags scanned – all bags going to the Galapagos are scanned for bugs, food, etc. - and then checked in. The flight was pretty uneventful, although I will say they are much more relaxed than we are about seat backs being upright and cell phones being turned off. About the time we started our decent, a flight attendant went through and opened all the overhead bins! They had made an announcement in both Spanish and English, but I didn’t understand either! A minute later, two of them came through again, this time with the first guy spraying from an aerosol can into the bins and the second guy shutting them again. They were spraying for mosquitoes! Also, when we got off the plane and were entering the terminal building, we had to walk through a wet matt, no doubt to kill any other bugs we may be carrying!
We were met at the airport by our guide and our group assembled. There is a couple from Finland, a couple from Canada and then the rest are from Australia and England. It is actually quite a young group with quite varied backgrounds: a Manchaster University Lecturer in Russian studies, two young Doctors on their year off before starting their internships in their specialties, a couple of teachers, a mother (nurse) and daughter (attorney), etc.
We boarded the boat a short drive from the airport and headed straight to a beach on the Isle of Santa Cruz. We had a “wet landing” direct from the dingy onto the sandy beach. Immediately, we saw turtles swimming in the water and two basking on the sun on the beach. Above tide line there were big indentations/holes/pits dug in the sand which were turtle nests. We walked along the beach to a lagoon and on the way we saw a number of marine iguanas, sally light foot crabs and at the lagoon, we saw a blue heron and about 20 pink flamingos. The frigate birds which had followed our boat were still flying over head as well as a number of pelicans. After our walk, we had the opportunity to snorkel. I didn’t do so well, as my mask didn’t seem to fit well, and without my glasses, I was a bit disoriented. Also, my left eye is quite pink and the salt water burned it quite badly.
When we re-boarded we headed out to another port where supplies were brought aboard and we enjoyed each other’s company and the guide, Alberto, went over safety instructions and gave a briefing for the next day. We were served a nice dinner and had a quiet evening visiting with the other passengers.
My roommate is a gal from the UK who has been traveling through SA for a number of months. Her sister was going to come, but was unable to due to health reasons. Her name is Sarah and she seems to be in her 30s or so and I think she will be a good roommate.
12/25/09 Christmas
Forgot to write this when I got up this morning, so I will see what I can remember! We visited South Plaza Island and then Santa Fe island. On South Plaza when we stepped ashore we were greated by sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs and iguanas. Tons of iguanas. At Santa Fe we were in a beautiful cove with white sandy beaches and then a rocky shoal. While others went snorkeling around the edges, I swam off the back of the boat and floated on a life ring. Snorkeling just wasn’t working for me, with my left eye already irritated and pink, getting salt water in it was quite painful.
Anyway, it was an awesome day seeing an incredible amount of Galapagos wildlife. Just off the dingy on South Plaza, we saw sea lions, land iguanas, lizards, and a number of different birds. I got some great photos of the iguanas and of the dry cliffs and cactus. There is so much information given, and if I was a student and wanted to be able to remember it all, I would probably pay a bit more attention! There is a lot of discussion about the establishment of the species, and their adaptation to the islands. For example, there are three different finches on one island, and they are recognized by the shape of their beaks, which were adapted due to the type of food they eat. For me, it’s enough to get the general gist of the history and to look at the animals and birds.
We walked around on the second island, Sante Fe right before nightfall and on the dingy on the way back to the boat we saw a shark, a manta ray and a sea turtle, in addition to the constant sea lions. The sharks only come into the cove at night apparently. Or at least that is what they told us after we had all been in the water during the day!
The food aboard is quite good, and the crew is attentive. We have three meals a day, plus a small snack in the morning and the afternoon. Drinks are available from the bar and we all have water bottles that we fill from a larger one.
When we go ashore, the guide always is with us, but sometimes other crew members participate also. One of the crew takes the group snorkeling and another operates the dingy. Last night and today the captain also came with us, and got in his exercise by walking the beach.
12/26/09
During the night we traveled 7 hours from Sante Fe Island to Isla Espanola. It was difficult to sleep while we were going, but I slept deeply from about 4 to 6:30. On all of our other landings, the timing of the other boats (100 of them ply the Galapagos), has been good and we don’t see many other people, or if we do, our guides keep us separate and yet we have plenty of time to look and take pictures. Today though two other boats disembarked about the same time we did, and then more arrived at Isla Espanola while we were still on the beach. One of the boats is the National Geographic Explorer which is quite a bit bigger than our boat, and of course, has more people. I’m glad I am on this boat with capacity for 16, but only 14 on this part of the trip. We were at the beach from 8 until 10 which was just perfect for relaxing and watching the sea lions and birds. One gal was lucky enough to see a small sea lion that had just been born; the umbilical cord was still attached, the placenta was in the sand, and the little guy was trying to find the mother’s teat. I did see another young seal nursing, and could hear it suckling.
Some folks went swimming and snorkeling from the beach and then we re-boarded the boat and a group went out snorkeling along a rock wall on a small island/islet with caves. I certainly was not up to that, and have enjoyed having some unscheduled time to myself to relax. After having led a scheduled life for the last few months, and also in Vermont, it is nice to decide what I want to do on my own and not have every minute scheduled.
12/28
Yesterday was a great day with two beach landings and snorkeling for some. We then motored to a new island, Santa Cruz, in the afternoon and I managed to sleep most of the time! I am reading a book about German brothers who came to Santa Cruz Isla to escape WWII and were apparently successful in establishing, themselves, unlike many other people who came from all over the world to settle here. The book is called “My Father’s Island” by Johanna Angermeyer. We are at the largest town in the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora.
Today we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center and said goodbye to 7 of the passengers. Here we saw a lot of land turtles, including one known as “Lonesome George” as he is the only one left of his species. In the afternoon, I chose not to go to the highlands on the island, instead I visited with Sarah, my roommate who is leaving, and then I got a massage! Heaven. My back on the right side has been hurting and I really needed it. The bunks are hard as well as the pillows and the traveling by night in rough water doesn’t help much.
We had lobster for lunch today and then turkey for dinner! We were served on shore at a restaurant in a hotel owned by the same people who own the yacht we are on. Both were great. I also bought myself new earrings and a beautiful silver and black necklace – no t-shirt for me!
The new passengers are a young couple from Argentina, and a teacher couple leading a mother daughter team, a father daughter team, and a single gal. The girls are all around their late teens/early twenties and had one of the teachers while in high school. I have one of the girls for a roommate…she was quite surprised by how small the cabin is. Her name is Sarah, the same as my last roommate.
12/29/09
I did it! I snorkeled today – not once, but twice and it was fantastic! We saw 2 sharks in the morning and one in the afternoon. Others saw a huge manta ray in the morning, and then there was another in the afternoon. There were schools and schools of fish, starfish on the bottom, and sea lions zooming past us. Although I wish I could have more time snorkeling, I just wasn’t ready before and today went quite smoothly without any real issues. I did wear a life jacket that just gave me the confidence I needed and my eyes didn’t sting, and my ears were alright.
Besides the snorkeling we did two long walks on two different islands, the last of which we walked over old lava flows that were really cool looking. We also saw the Galapagos Fur sea lion and a lot of marine iguanas again. On the first island we saw an immature Galapagos hawk feeding on a dead young sea lion and then when we returned later, there was a mature hawk close by. Definitely smaller than a bald eagle, but still darned impressive.
I’m getting a bit tired of the food, however have been thrilled to have so many vegetables as I certainly don’t have many served to me in Otavalo. We have soup for our first course for lunch, but other than that, lunch and dinner are about the same. Either chicken or fish cooked in a sauce and rice and then the veggies. Not a lot of creativity, but good healthy fare. I am amazed it is all turned out by one man, Wellington, who is busy all day with the food prep. It is fun to watch him prepare, especially using a knife, when we are underway – he is quite skilled. It has been good having this break from school/teaching, but not so good that I haven’t been studying my Spanish much. I do try to talk to the crew everyday some, and they are very patient with me.
"Epilogue!"
The last two days of the cruise continued to be excellent, with snorkeling each day and new animals and new land formations. The first islands that we visited were the oldest of the archipelago so had more plant and animal life on them. The last island we visited was relatively new…just a few hundred thousand years old… and had very little plant and animal life but had fantastic views. The whole experience was fantastic: I so enjoyed being on the water and seeing so many unique animals. The company as a whole was good, and it was sooo nice to relax!
To see the rest of my picutes go to my picasa photo website: http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510
(I have to admit, I just loaded them all up there, without going through them first, as I had access to a fast internet connection in Quito and wanted to make use of it.)
Today I flew from Quito to the Galapagos and boarded the boat, Yate Darwin. It is a 16 passenger boat, but we have 14 guests and 6 crew.
When I bought the cruise, a transfer from my hotel was included which sure made arriving at the airport easy. I had to first have my bags scanned – all bags going to the Galapagos are scanned for bugs, food, etc. - and then checked in. The flight was pretty uneventful, although I will say they are much more relaxed than we are about seat backs being upright and cell phones being turned off. About the time we started our decent, a flight attendant went through and opened all the overhead bins! They had made an announcement in both Spanish and English, but I didn’t understand either! A minute later, two of them came through again, this time with the first guy spraying from an aerosol can into the bins and the second guy shutting them again. They were spraying for mosquitoes! Also, when we got off the plane and were entering the terminal building, we had to walk through a wet matt, no doubt to kill any other bugs we may be carrying!
We were met at the airport by our guide and our group assembled. There is a couple from Finland, a couple from Canada and then the rest are from Australia and England. It is actually quite a young group with quite varied backgrounds: a Manchaster University Lecturer in Russian studies, two young Doctors on their year off before starting their internships in their specialties, a couple of teachers, a mother (nurse) and daughter (attorney), etc.
We boarded the boat a short drive from the airport and headed straight to a beach on the Isle of Santa Cruz. We had a “wet landing” direct from the dingy onto the sandy beach. Immediately, we saw turtles swimming in the water and two basking on the sun on the beach. Above tide line there were big indentations/holes/pits dug in the sand which were turtle nests. We walked along the beach to a lagoon and on the way we saw a number of marine iguanas, sally light foot crabs and at the lagoon, we saw a blue heron and about 20 pink flamingos. The frigate birds which had followed our boat were still flying over head as well as a number of pelicans. After our walk, we had the opportunity to snorkel. I didn’t do so well, as my mask didn’t seem to fit well, and without my glasses, I was a bit disoriented. Also, my left eye is quite pink and the salt water burned it quite badly.
When we re-boarded we headed out to another port where supplies were brought aboard and we enjoyed each other’s company and the guide, Alberto, went over safety instructions and gave a briefing for the next day. We were served a nice dinner and had a quiet evening visiting with the other passengers.
My roommate is a gal from the UK who has been traveling through SA for a number of months. Her sister was going to come, but was unable to due to health reasons. Her name is Sarah and she seems to be in her 30s or so and I think she will be a good roommate.
12/25/09 Christmas
Forgot to write this when I got up this morning, so I will see what I can remember! We visited South Plaza Island and then Santa Fe island. On South Plaza when we stepped ashore we were greated by sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs and iguanas. Tons of iguanas. At Santa Fe we were in a beautiful cove with white sandy beaches and then a rocky shoal. While others went snorkeling around the edges, I swam off the back of the boat and floated on a life ring. Snorkeling just wasn’t working for me, with my left eye already irritated and pink, getting salt water in it was quite painful.
Anyway, it was an awesome day seeing an incredible amount of Galapagos wildlife. Just off the dingy on South Plaza, we saw sea lions, land iguanas, lizards, and a number of different birds. I got some great photos of the iguanas and of the dry cliffs and cactus. There is so much information given, and if I was a student and wanted to be able to remember it all, I would probably pay a bit more attention! There is a lot of discussion about the establishment of the species, and their adaptation to the islands. For example, there are three different finches on one island, and they are recognized by the shape of their beaks, which were adapted due to the type of food they eat. For me, it’s enough to get the general gist of the history and to look at the animals and birds.
We walked around on the second island, Sante Fe right before nightfall and on the dingy on the way back to the boat we saw a shark, a manta ray and a sea turtle, in addition to the constant sea lions. The sharks only come into the cove at night apparently. Or at least that is what they told us after we had all been in the water during the day!
The food aboard is quite good, and the crew is attentive. We have three meals a day, plus a small snack in the morning and the afternoon. Drinks are available from the bar and we all have water bottles that we fill from a larger one.
When we go ashore, the guide always is with us, but sometimes other crew members participate also. One of the crew takes the group snorkeling and another operates the dingy. Last night and today the captain also came with us, and got in his exercise by walking the beach.
12/26/09
During the night we traveled 7 hours from Sante Fe Island to Isla Espanola. It was difficult to sleep while we were going, but I slept deeply from about 4 to 6:30. On all of our other landings, the timing of the other boats (100 of them ply the Galapagos), has been good and we don’t see many other people, or if we do, our guides keep us separate and yet we have plenty of time to look and take pictures. Today though two other boats disembarked about the same time we did, and then more arrived at Isla Espanola while we were still on the beach. One of the boats is the National Geographic Explorer which is quite a bit bigger than our boat, and of course, has more people. I’m glad I am on this boat with capacity for 16, but only 14 on this part of the trip. We were at the beach from 8 until 10 which was just perfect for relaxing and watching the sea lions and birds. One gal was lucky enough to see a small sea lion that had just been born; the umbilical cord was still attached, the placenta was in the sand, and the little guy was trying to find the mother’s teat. I did see another young seal nursing, and could hear it suckling.
Some folks went swimming and snorkeling from the beach and then we re-boarded the boat and a group went out snorkeling along a rock wall on a small island/islet with caves. I certainly was not up to that, and have enjoyed having some unscheduled time to myself to relax. After having led a scheduled life for the last few months, and also in Vermont, it is nice to decide what I want to do on my own and not have every minute scheduled.
12/28
Yesterday was a great day with two beach landings and snorkeling for some. We then motored to a new island, Santa Cruz, in the afternoon and I managed to sleep most of the time! I am reading a book about German brothers who came to Santa Cruz Isla to escape WWII and were apparently successful in establishing, themselves, unlike many other people who came from all over the world to settle here. The book is called “My Father’s Island” by Johanna Angermeyer. We are at the largest town in the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora.
Today we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center and said goodbye to 7 of the passengers. Here we saw a lot of land turtles, including one known as “Lonesome George” as he is the only one left of his species. In the afternoon, I chose not to go to the highlands on the island, instead I visited with Sarah, my roommate who is leaving, and then I got a massage! Heaven. My back on the right side has been hurting and I really needed it. The bunks are hard as well as the pillows and the traveling by night in rough water doesn’t help much.
We had lobster for lunch today and then turkey for dinner! We were served on shore at a restaurant in a hotel owned by the same people who own the yacht we are on. Both were great. I also bought myself new earrings and a beautiful silver and black necklace – no t-shirt for me!
The new passengers are a young couple from Argentina, and a teacher couple leading a mother daughter team, a father daughter team, and a single gal. The girls are all around their late teens/early twenties and had one of the teachers while in high school. I have one of the girls for a roommate…she was quite surprised by how small the cabin is. Her name is Sarah, the same as my last roommate.
12/29/09
I did it! I snorkeled today – not once, but twice and it was fantastic! We saw 2 sharks in the morning and one in the afternoon. Others saw a huge manta ray in the morning, and then there was another in the afternoon. There were schools and schools of fish, starfish on the bottom, and sea lions zooming past us. Although I wish I could have more time snorkeling, I just wasn’t ready before and today went quite smoothly without any real issues. I did wear a life jacket that just gave me the confidence I needed and my eyes didn’t sting, and my ears were alright.
Besides the snorkeling we did two long walks on two different islands, the last of which we walked over old lava flows that were really cool looking. We also saw the Galapagos Fur sea lion and a lot of marine iguanas again. On the first island we saw an immature Galapagos hawk feeding on a dead young sea lion and then when we returned later, there was a mature hawk close by. Definitely smaller than a bald eagle, but still darned impressive.
I’m getting a bit tired of the food, however have been thrilled to have so many vegetables as I certainly don’t have many served to me in Otavalo. We have soup for our first course for lunch, but other than that, lunch and dinner are about the same. Either chicken or fish cooked in a sauce and rice and then the veggies. Not a lot of creativity, but good healthy fare. I am amazed it is all turned out by one man, Wellington, who is busy all day with the food prep. It is fun to watch him prepare, especially using a knife, when we are underway – he is quite skilled. It has been good having this break from school/teaching, but not so good that I haven’t been studying my Spanish much. I do try to talk to the crew everyday some, and they are very patient with me.
"Epilogue!"
The last two days of the cruise continued to be excellent, with snorkeling each day and new animals and new land formations. The first islands that we visited were the oldest of the archipelago so had more plant and animal life on them. The last island we visited was relatively new…just a few hundred thousand years old… and had very little plant and animal life but had fantastic views. The whole experience was fantastic: I so enjoyed being on the water and seeing so many unique animals. The company as a whole was good, and it was sooo nice to relax!
To see the rest of my picutes go to my picasa photo website: http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510
(I have to admit, I just loaded them all up there, without going through them first, as I had access to a fast internet connection in Quito and wanted to make use of it.)
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