I forgot to write two things last time. The night of the beautiful sunset and awkward party on Amantani was the 4th of July, so even though it wasn´t a traditional American 4th, it was still a memorable day. Also, there was an earthquake in Arequipa the second night I was there. It was big enough to wake me up, but it didn´t do any damage. I´m pretty sure it was my first, so that was exciting.
I just spent two really good weeks on the flower farm. I stayed in the home of the farm manager, Gonzalo, and his family, which was great for my Spanish. He and his wife Jasmin have four kids- Kevin is 10, Mireya is 13, Ceci is 15 and Katty is 17 (and away at school in Quito, so she wasn´t really around). The third day that I was there a really nice couple from Colorado came to volunteer as well. Every morning at 6:15 we had breakfast, then all rode over to the farm in the back of the truck. They only grow calla lilies to sell, but they also grow a lot of food for themselves, so most mornings we volunteers spent the first hour or two helping Jasmin and Ceci get the food ready for lunch. We peeled a lot of potatoes and shelled a lot of beans. We spent most of the rest of the time planting a new field of flowers, which meant putting almost 2000 seedlings in holes with some organic fertilizer. We also helped weed and fertilize the older plants. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday they package the flowers that have been ordered. Pretty much all of the orders go to flower stores in the US or Europe, or come in online from individuals. They are extremely picky about which flowers are good enough to send, and throw out a lot with flaws that I would never have noticed. Our only role in the packaging process was to put the plastic sleeves on the acceptable flowers, but it was fascinating to watch them selecting which ones were sellable and which ones should go together in bunches. Besides Gonzalo, Jasmin and the kids, there are seven other employees. Three of them were older men who mostly seemed to just weed and who I didn´t have much contact with. There were also three teenage guys, including two brothers from Colombia who had moved to Ecuador specifically to work on this farm. My impression was that they had worked on flower farms in Colombia, but that there aren´t organic farms there. The non-organic farms don´t have very good reputations for protecting their employees from all of the chemicals they have to use. The other employee was Anita, a thirteen year-old girl who can´t afford to go to school everyday, so she works on the farm Monday-Friday and goes to school only on Saturday. Ecuador doesn´t have free, mandatory public education, so there are a lot of people in her situation. We all ate lunch together at noon, and left at about 3:30. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing the occasional game of uno with the kids, but mostly reading and relaxing. We ate dinner at about 7, then went pretty much straight to bed. One day we helped Jasmin´s father pick strawberries on his relatively large strawberry farm that he works by himself. They were probably the best strawberries I´ve ever had and he encouraged us to eat as many as we could. We ate a lot of fruit there and a lot of potato based soups. I hope that my other wwoofing experiences can live up to this one. The work itself wasn´t always that interesting, but living with the family was great.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
I was in Peru!
When I got to the airport in Lima, I heard more English than I had since leaving home. Tour group after tour group after tour came parading by with huge piles of luggage. The whole thing was pretty comical and set the tone for the rest of my Peru trip; tourists. There are definitely tourists in Ecuador, but they are more of the independent backpacker type than huge tour groups, and so the country hasn´t turned itself inside out to accomodate them. Anyway, I met Carolyn in Cuzco airport and was so happy to see her! We spent the morning drinking coca tea in our amazing hostel, and then saw a few of Cuzco´s sights in the afternoon. We went to Qorikancha, where a catholic church had been built over an Incan temple, and the Iglesia de Compañia de Jesus. The next day we did a lot of wandering and checked out the cathedral.
And then we began our trek! There were eighteen of us (five Irish, four Northern Irish, four Americans, three French, one German and one Scot), two guides, four horsemen and four cooks. Our main guide, Miguel, was really excellent. He knew a lot and was clearly very personally interested in the history and ecology of the area. The first day started with a bus ride to the hot springs in Lares, where we soaked a bit and had lunch. From there, we hiked to our first camp site. The group was good. Everyone was friendly and no one walked too fast or too slow. Their was a group of four Irish guys, and they were hilarious, both intentionally and not. Their taste in music ranged from Kenny Rodgers (a walked behind them for a while while they sang The Gambler) to 80s classics like Total Eclipse of the Heart. They loved the Backstreet Boys and Will Smith. For the Hyltons reading this, one of the other Americans turned out to be from Hillsville. He graduated with Lauren Chitwood. He said I was the first person he´d ever met who had even heard of Hillsville, let alone been there!
The hiking itself wasn´t that strenuous, but we were at such high altitudes, that breathing was sometimes a bit of a problem. The second day we did our highest pass at about 4300 meters. We also weren´t getting a whole lot of sleep becuase the nights were soooooo cold (the first night it was -10 C). None of this mattered too much though because the scenery was amazing. We did the Lares Valley trail, not the Inca, which was nice because we ran into very few other hikers. We were hiking through small towns and all of the children would chase after us. Miguel had told us to bring candies and pencils and things to give them, but they were vicious sometimes. When I first pulled out my boxes of colored pencils, I was attacked by about ten kids clawing at my hands. Every place I went in Peru there were children dressed in traditional clothes holding lambs asking for a sole or a candy to take their picture. I can´t really blame them because they are a tourist attraction, and it is only fair that they see some of the money that the tourists bring into the country. At the same time, it is a little awkward.
The third day we got to Ollantaytambo. Carolyn and I visited the ruins, and they were having a festival celebrating a pre-Incan king who had stood up to the Incas. They were reinacting the story on the ruins themselves, which was really interesting to watch. After lunch, we took the train to Aguas Calientes. The drawback to the Lares trail is that it doesn´t actually end at Machu Picchu, but it was definitely nice to take a shower and get a good night´s sleep before going to Machu Picchu. That night in Aguas Calientes, we all went dancing and the Irish guys had a danceoff to a few of their favorite songs (Getting Jiggy With It was definitely played).
In the morning, we took a 5:45 bus to Machu Picchu and sat on the terraces watching the fog lift and the sun rise over the ruins while Miguel explained the history. It was pretty incredible. He then led us around to the major sites. By the time the big tour groups started to arrive, our tour was over and a bunch of us decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the peak on the righthand side of all the famous Machu Picchu pictures. The climb up was extremely steep, but the views from the top were amazing. The climb down was even steeper, and a bit scary at times. After that, a few of us went to the Sun Gate, another long hot hike with amazing views. The Sun Gate is the end of the Inca Trail, and even though it was after 2pm, we saw some very tired groups just getting in. It was a little strange to have planned an entire trip to Peru and spend a few days hiking to get to Machu Picchu, then leave at 2:30. It wasn´t exactly anti-climactic because it was a really amazing place, but it just seemed like we should have stayed longer after going through so much to get there. At 2:30 though, I was hot and hungry and tired, so I left.
Carolyn and I spent one more night in Aguas Calientes, then went to Moray, another Inca site the next day. Moray is three huge terraced bowls built into the ground. Each level has a different microclimate and the Incas used them to experiment with what crops grew best in what conditions. Pretty cool. To get there, you have to either be on a bus tour, or hire a taxi, so we hired a taxi. Our driver was pretty much a tour guide, telling us about the site and the towns we drove through, then stopping at views on the way back to Cuzco so that we could take pictures. I was very glad then that I had taken those Spanish classes.
We spent one more night in Cuzco, then Carolyn headed home and I went to Lake Titicaca. The guy from Hillsville and his friends were supposed to come too, but a few were sick, so they postponed their trip for a day and I went to Puno on my own. For some reason, I had expected Puno to be a nice lakeside town, but it wasn´t. I saw what there was to see the first morning (a church, a plaza, an archeological museum), then went to Silustani in the afternoon. Silustani is a pre-Incan site with large funeral towers. It was interesting, especially since I had seen some of the artifacts and bodies that had been found there in the museum, but I had to take a bus tour to get there, and on the way back we stopped in a ´typical antiplano home´, which was a little wierd. I like seeing the way other people live, but it felt a bit forced and artificial. They gave us some cheese and potatoes and grain to eat, and a sauce they make out of clay.
When I got back to Puno, I had an email from my Machu Picchu friends saying that they were going straight to Bolivia. That was too bad because I had been hoping to visit the Lake Titicaca islands with them, thereby avoiding having to do an organized tour. Oh well. The next morning I left with the tour group. Our first stop was one of the floating Uros islands. These are pretty incredible. They are built out of the reeds that grow in the lake. They are about 3-4 meters thick and the islanders constantly add more reeds to them as the ones on the bottom decay. They use the reeds for everything, their houses, boats, food, etc. There are about 40 islands and about 30% accept tourists. The ones that do are very well prepared, with maps of the lake and model islands, homes and boats for the tour guides to use when explaining the way the islands work. Then they offer to take you over to another island on one of their boats. I accepted the ride, why not?
Our next island was Amantani. There, we were assigned to families who we ate dinner and spent the night with. Again, this felt awkward and forced. Our family didn´t talk to us very much, except for the three year old boy who I played with most of the time we were there in an attempt to minimize the awkwardness, and boredom. The whole group hiked up to the Pachatata temple for the sunset, which was very beautiful. After dinner, the families hosted an awkward dance for us, where we dressed in traditional clothing and danced with them to traditional music. They played maybe five songs before everyone was ready to leave. Our final island was Taquile. I think it is probably very beautiful, and they have a very interesting culture full of intricate clothing codes and knitting men, but we mostly just ate lunch there before returning to Puno.
I had already decided that I couldn´t stay in Puno another day, but it was Saturday and I didn´t fly back to Ecuador until Wednesday, so Sunday morning I took the bus to Arequipa. The city was very beautiful and it was a pleasant place to just kill some time in. I went to the Santa Catalina monastery, which is a huge old convent that used to accept only extremely wealthy women. At some point the bishop had to decree that each nun could only have one servant each. The whole place was an amazing maze of doorways and little rooms and kitchens.
The next morning I left for Cuzco, but the roads were closed down by a strike and we got stuck in a little town two hours away. I met two girls, UCLA art history grad students, who were also stranded and was able to spend the day with them, so that was nice. We weren´t able to leave until the following night, so I had to sleep in the bus station and missed my flights to Lima and Guayaquil. When I finally got back to Cuzco it was almost midnight the day after I had left Arequipa at 7:30am. I had to stay there an extra night, then try to get my flights fixed. The TACA people at first told me that there was a flight from Lima to Guayaquil the next morning, but that they couldn´t get me to Lima, which is the only place to fly to Ecuador from, until the 21st, or I could pay $74 extra to fly with a different airline the next afternoon, but then have to stay in Lima for a few days until there was an available flight to Ecuador. Just when I was about to feel desparate and cry and take a bus, some other guy said that there was space on a flight leaving in less than an hour, so I jumped in a taxi to my hostel, threw my things into my bags and asked the driver to get me to the airport muy rapido. Of course, when I got there the flight had been delayed an hour and there was no rush. The woman in Cuzco had said that she had reserved a spot for me on the flight to Guayaquil and that I wouldn´t have to pay extra (I didn´t for the flight to Lima), but she didn´t print anything out and I left in such a hurry that I forgot to ask. When I got to Lima I checked about the flight to Guayaquil and they said I was on it. I spent the night in the airport and when I went to check in in the morning, they couldn´t find my name. Luckily, there was space, but I had to pay $100.
Overall, Peru was very beautiful, but very touristy and less pleasant, less tranquilo, than I have found Ecuador to be. I am glad to be back. This afternoon, if I can find my ride, I will be heading up to an organic biodynamic flower farm 35km north of Quito.
There are new pictures, but not all of them yet.
And then we began our trek! There were eighteen of us (five Irish, four Northern Irish, four Americans, three French, one German and one Scot), two guides, four horsemen and four cooks. Our main guide, Miguel, was really excellent. He knew a lot and was clearly very personally interested in the history and ecology of the area. The first day started with a bus ride to the hot springs in Lares, where we soaked a bit and had lunch. From there, we hiked to our first camp site. The group was good. Everyone was friendly and no one walked too fast or too slow. Their was a group of four Irish guys, and they were hilarious, both intentionally and not. Their taste in music ranged from Kenny Rodgers (a walked behind them for a while while they sang The Gambler) to 80s classics like Total Eclipse of the Heart. They loved the Backstreet Boys and Will Smith. For the Hyltons reading this, one of the other Americans turned out to be from Hillsville. He graduated with Lauren Chitwood. He said I was the first person he´d ever met who had even heard of Hillsville, let alone been there!
The hiking itself wasn´t that strenuous, but we were at such high altitudes, that breathing was sometimes a bit of a problem. The second day we did our highest pass at about 4300 meters. We also weren´t getting a whole lot of sleep becuase the nights were soooooo cold (the first night it was -10 C). None of this mattered too much though because the scenery was amazing. We did the Lares Valley trail, not the Inca, which was nice because we ran into very few other hikers. We were hiking through small towns and all of the children would chase after us. Miguel had told us to bring candies and pencils and things to give them, but they were vicious sometimes. When I first pulled out my boxes of colored pencils, I was attacked by about ten kids clawing at my hands. Every place I went in Peru there were children dressed in traditional clothes holding lambs asking for a sole or a candy to take their picture. I can´t really blame them because they are a tourist attraction, and it is only fair that they see some of the money that the tourists bring into the country. At the same time, it is a little awkward.
The third day we got to Ollantaytambo. Carolyn and I visited the ruins, and they were having a festival celebrating a pre-Incan king who had stood up to the Incas. They were reinacting the story on the ruins themselves, which was really interesting to watch. After lunch, we took the train to Aguas Calientes. The drawback to the Lares trail is that it doesn´t actually end at Machu Picchu, but it was definitely nice to take a shower and get a good night´s sleep before going to Machu Picchu. That night in Aguas Calientes, we all went dancing and the Irish guys had a danceoff to a few of their favorite songs (Getting Jiggy With It was definitely played).
In the morning, we took a 5:45 bus to Machu Picchu and sat on the terraces watching the fog lift and the sun rise over the ruins while Miguel explained the history. It was pretty incredible. He then led us around to the major sites. By the time the big tour groups started to arrive, our tour was over and a bunch of us decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the peak on the righthand side of all the famous Machu Picchu pictures. The climb up was extremely steep, but the views from the top were amazing. The climb down was even steeper, and a bit scary at times. After that, a few of us went to the Sun Gate, another long hot hike with amazing views. The Sun Gate is the end of the Inca Trail, and even though it was after 2pm, we saw some very tired groups just getting in. It was a little strange to have planned an entire trip to Peru and spend a few days hiking to get to Machu Picchu, then leave at 2:30. It wasn´t exactly anti-climactic because it was a really amazing place, but it just seemed like we should have stayed longer after going through so much to get there. At 2:30 though, I was hot and hungry and tired, so I left.
Carolyn and I spent one more night in Aguas Calientes, then went to Moray, another Inca site the next day. Moray is three huge terraced bowls built into the ground. Each level has a different microclimate and the Incas used them to experiment with what crops grew best in what conditions. Pretty cool. To get there, you have to either be on a bus tour, or hire a taxi, so we hired a taxi. Our driver was pretty much a tour guide, telling us about the site and the towns we drove through, then stopping at views on the way back to Cuzco so that we could take pictures. I was very glad then that I had taken those Spanish classes.
We spent one more night in Cuzco, then Carolyn headed home and I went to Lake Titicaca. The guy from Hillsville and his friends were supposed to come too, but a few were sick, so they postponed their trip for a day and I went to Puno on my own. For some reason, I had expected Puno to be a nice lakeside town, but it wasn´t. I saw what there was to see the first morning (a church, a plaza, an archeological museum), then went to Silustani in the afternoon. Silustani is a pre-Incan site with large funeral towers. It was interesting, especially since I had seen some of the artifacts and bodies that had been found there in the museum, but I had to take a bus tour to get there, and on the way back we stopped in a ´typical antiplano home´, which was a little wierd. I like seeing the way other people live, but it felt a bit forced and artificial. They gave us some cheese and potatoes and grain to eat, and a sauce they make out of clay.
When I got back to Puno, I had an email from my Machu Picchu friends saying that they were going straight to Bolivia. That was too bad because I had been hoping to visit the Lake Titicaca islands with them, thereby avoiding having to do an organized tour. Oh well. The next morning I left with the tour group. Our first stop was one of the floating Uros islands. These are pretty incredible. They are built out of the reeds that grow in the lake. They are about 3-4 meters thick and the islanders constantly add more reeds to them as the ones on the bottom decay. They use the reeds for everything, their houses, boats, food, etc. There are about 40 islands and about 30% accept tourists. The ones that do are very well prepared, with maps of the lake and model islands, homes and boats for the tour guides to use when explaining the way the islands work. Then they offer to take you over to another island on one of their boats. I accepted the ride, why not?
Our next island was Amantani. There, we were assigned to families who we ate dinner and spent the night with. Again, this felt awkward and forced. Our family didn´t talk to us very much, except for the three year old boy who I played with most of the time we were there in an attempt to minimize the awkwardness, and boredom. The whole group hiked up to the Pachatata temple for the sunset, which was very beautiful. After dinner, the families hosted an awkward dance for us, where we dressed in traditional clothing and danced with them to traditional music. They played maybe five songs before everyone was ready to leave. Our final island was Taquile. I think it is probably very beautiful, and they have a very interesting culture full of intricate clothing codes and knitting men, but we mostly just ate lunch there before returning to Puno.
I had already decided that I couldn´t stay in Puno another day, but it was Saturday and I didn´t fly back to Ecuador until Wednesday, so Sunday morning I took the bus to Arequipa. The city was very beautiful and it was a pleasant place to just kill some time in. I went to the Santa Catalina monastery, which is a huge old convent that used to accept only extremely wealthy women. At some point the bishop had to decree that each nun could only have one servant each. The whole place was an amazing maze of doorways and little rooms and kitchens.
The next morning I left for Cuzco, but the roads were closed down by a strike and we got stuck in a little town two hours away. I met two girls, UCLA art history grad students, who were also stranded and was able to spend the day with them, so that was nice. We weren´t able to leave until the following night, so I had to sleep in the bus station and missed my flights to Lima and Guayaquil. When I finally got back to Cuzco it was almost midnight the day after I had left Arequipa at 7:30am. I had to stay there an extra night, then try to get my flights fixed. The TACA people at first told me that there was a flight from Lima to Guayaquil the next morning, but that they couldn´t get me to Lima, which is the only place to fly to Ecuador from, until the 21st, or I could pay $74 extra to fly with a different airline the next afternoon, but then have to stay in Lima for a few days until there was an available flight to Ecuador. Just when I was about to feel desparate and cry and take a bus, some other guy said that there was space on a flight leaving in less than an hour, so I jumped in a taxi to my hostel, threw my things into my bags and asked the driver to get me to the airport muy rapido. Of course, when I got there the flight had been delayed an hour and there was no rush. The woman in Cuzco had said that she had reserved a spot for me on the flight to Guayaquil and that I wouldn´t have to pay extra (I didn´t for the flight to Lima), but she didn´t print anything out and I left in such a hurry that I forgot to ask. When I got to Lima I checked about the flight to Guayaquil and they said I was on it. I spent the night in the airport and when I went to check in in the morning, they couldn´t find my name. Luckily, there was space, but I had to pay $100.
Overall, Peru was very beautiful, but very touristy and less pleasant, less tranquilo, than I have found Ecuador to be. I am glad to be back. This afternoon, if I can find my ride, I will be heading up to an organic biodynamic flower farm 35km north of Quito.
There are new pictures, but not all of them yet.
Monday, June 23, 2008
My last day in Cuenca!
My last week in Cuenca was really nice. Thursday I went to lunch with Carmita and had cuy (guinea pig). It tasted fine, but it was hard to eat because they give you the whole thing, including the head, and you have to just rip it apart with your hands and teeth. I couldn´t make myself eat the head, even though I´d been told it was the best part. It had teeth and everything. Carmita took it home for her family. On Friday we had a little goodbye party. Two new British students, a couple, had come so we all ate and danced and drank canelazo (a warm cinnamon drink with sugar cane alcohol). I made a carrot cake with cream cheese icing and they were all very impressed because they don´t make sweet things with carrots or cream cheese here, apparently. The recipe I got from the internet wasn´t as good as Grammy´s and so I promised Carmita that I would send her that recipe when I get home.
I went to Loja over the weekend hoping to go to a nearby national park and the market in Saraguro. The park didn´t work out, so I was stuck in Loja all day Saturday, and there wasn´t much to do. Saraguro was nice though. The women there wear heavy, pleated black skirts, big white hats with designs on the underside of the brim, and big beautiful pins that hold their shawls together. The men wear black shorts, black ponchos and one long thick braid. It is the first place I´ve been to where their were as many men in traditional clothing as women. Traveling here is funny becuase you go places and there isn´t really anything to do except people watch, and the people watching is great. You go on market day because that´s when everyone else is there, but a market full of raw meat and dried beans isn´t much use to a traveler without a kitchen.
I´m back in Cuenca for the day before heading to Guayaquil in the morning and flying to Lima in the evening. It is nice to be back. I will miss Cuenca. Especially after my weekend in Loja, I appreciate having a place that I know fairly well. When I got off the bus I knew just where to tell the taxi driver to take me, where to eat lunch, where to go for the internet, where to sit and read my book, etc. It is a really nice city and I will miss the comfort of familiarity, but I am also very excited to be heading to Peru. I´m really interested to see how it compares to Ecuador. I´m maybe more excited to see Carolyn than Machu Picchu, though. It has been exactly two months today since I left and it will be nice to see a friend.
I went to Loja over the weekend hoping to go to a nearby national park and the market in Saraguro. The park didn´t work out, so I was stuck in Loja all day Saturday, and there wasn´t much to do. Saraguro was nice though. The women there wear heavy, pleated black skirts, big white hats with designs on the underside of the brim, and big beautiful pins that hold their shawls together. The men wear black shorts, black ponchos and one long thick braid. It is the first place I´ve been to where their were as many men in traditional clothing as women. Traveling here is funny becuase you go places and there isn´t really anything to do except people watch, and the people watching is great. You go on market day because that´s when everyone else is there, but a market full of raw meat and dried beans isn´t much use to a traveler without a kitchen.
I´m back in Cuenca for the day before heading to Guayaquil in the morning and flying to Lima in the evening. It is nice to be back. I will miss Cuenca. Especially after my weekend in Loja, I appreciate having a place that I know fairly well. When I got off the bus I knew just where to tell the taxi driver to take me, where to eat lunch, where to go for the internet, where to sit and read my book, etc. It is a really nice city and I will miss the comfort of familiarity, but I am also very excited to be heading to Peru. I´m really interested to see how it compares to Ecuador. I´m maybe more excited to see Carolyn than Machu Picchu, though. It has been exactly two months today since I left and it will be nice to see a friend.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I´ve been all over!
My Spanish classes are going really well. I had a few moments of frustration last week because as the work gets more complicated, my questions about it also get more complicated, but I have trouble explaining exactly what is confusing me. It will be awhile before speaking Spanish comes at all naturally to me, but I at least now feel like I have learned enough that with time to digest it all, and with a lot more practice, I will be able to make myself fairly well understood.
In addition to learning a lot of prepositions last week, Carmita took me on a few cultural excursions. We went to one of the two panerias that still use wood ovens to bake the small rolls that people in Cuenca eat for breakfast, dinner and snacks. They sell all different varieties, sweet and savory, everywhere, but now they are mostly baked in electric ovens. We also went to the shop of Cuenca´s most famous finisher of Panama hats (which are actually from Ecuador). He´s been doing it since he was six and still does everything (shaping, dying, finishing the edges) by hand. In the states, his hats sell for hundreds of dollars, but you can get one here for $30 (so put in your requests now). On Friday, we went to the Museo de las Culturas Aborigenes, and Carmita explained the significance of archeological pieces from all over Ecuador. I also went on my own to Centro Interamericano de Artes Populares, which displays crafts from all over South America.
Today, we went to the market and I was cleansed by a shaman. She made a big bouquet of herbs, crushed them a little, and had me deeply inhale the scent three times. Then she hit me all over with them while speaking in Quichua. When she finished with the herbs, she spit water in my face and rubbed an egg all over me. Next, she put some herb infused oil in my hand and I rubbed it into my hands, neck and hair. Finally, she used ashes to put x´s on my forhead, stomach and back. Before hand, Carmita had explained the significance of everything to me. The scents and oils of the herbs are for good health and relaxation. The egg absorbs all of the bad energy in my body. The crosses are protection against other people´s bad energy. There were a lot of other women there with their children. Carmita also explained that they believe that children are very susceptible to other people´s energy, that the energy is transmitted through the eyes, and that pale eyes are especially strong. This finally explained why mothers here always seem unhappy when I smile at their children. She said that her grandmother had very pale eyes, and would wear sunglasses whenever she was around babies and young children. The whole things was very interesting and I did feel calmer afterwards. Supposedly, I will sleep really well tonight.
On Saturday, I went to Ingapirca, which is Ecuador´s most important Incan ruin. It was very interesting and a good warm-up for Machu Picchu! I also met some other young English speakers and we all went to Cañar in the afternoon for the Inti Raymi festival. It was the kind of thing you would have been interested in, kind of like the big cultural exposition in DC. We watched a lot of interesting dances and ate some good seco de pollo. One of the groups, I think from the Cuenca area, did La Vaca Loca, which was also being done here during Corpus Christi. Basically, people dress as cows and fireworks shoot off of their costumes into the crowd. In the states, it would be considered a major fire hazard, but here it is just part of the fun.
On Sunday, I went to Gualaceo and Chordeleg, two small towns near Cuenca. I had also wanted to go to San Bartolome (a town famous for its guitar makers where I was hoping to find something good for Charlie) and Sigsig, but couldn´t manage to get a bus to either for various reasons. I really enjoyed Gualaceo though. They have a very colorful outdoor market full of fruits, vegetables, spices and other dried goods. On the other side of the river, they have a live animal market. I was too self concious to take any pictures in the market, but it was definitely interesting to watch people try to get their new pigs into grain bags to transport back to their homes, and painful to hear the pigs squealing in terror. Speaking of pigs, Carmita had recommended trying hornado (whole roasted pig) in the indoor food market, so for lunch I had a big plate of hornado, mote (hominy), llapingacho (mashed potato pancakes) and salad. Muy rico! Chordeleg was a less interesting. I thought that they also had a Sunday market, but all I could find where tourist oriented jewelry stores. The area is famous for its filigreed silver jewelry, which is beautiful, but not exactly what I was hoping for. I did arrive right when church was letting out, so the whole town was filled with people in their Sunday best, which ranged from silver high heels to intricately embroidered and beaded traditional skirts and blouses.
This is my last week in Cuenca. I wish that I could learn more Spanish, but I am ready to move on and see new places, especially since my next major destination is Machu Picchu. I fly from Guayaquil on Tuesday, but I´m hoping to go down to Loja to visit Parque Nacional Podocarpus and the Sunday market in Sanguro this weekend.
When I get pack from Peru, I´m planning to WWOOF and my options look pretty good. I´m most excited about the prospect of working on an organic shrimp farm on an island off the coast of Guayaquil and an organic flower farm somewhere north of Quito. Shrimping and flower farming are two of the least environmentally friendly agricultural industries in Ecuador, so it will be interesting to see how these alternatives work. I have to start contacting these places after I post this.
This weekend´s pictures.
In addition to learning a lot of prepositions last week, Carmita took me on a few cultural excursions. We went to one of the two panerias that still use wood ovens to bake the small rolls that people in Cuenca eat for breakfast, dinner and snacks. They sell all different varieties, sweet and savory, everywhere, but now they are mostly baked in electric ovens. We also went to the shop of Cuenca´s most famous finisher of Panama hats (which are actually from Ecuador). He´s been doing it since he was six and still does everything (shaping, dying, finishing the edges) by hand. In the states, his hats sell for hundreds of dollars, but you can get one here for $30 (so put in your requests now). On Friday, we went to the Museo de las Culturas Aborigenes, and Carmita explained the significance of archeological pieces from all over Ecuador. I also went on my own to Centro Interamericano de Artes Populares, which displays crafts from all over South America.
Today, we went to the market and I was cleansed by a shaman. She made a big bouquet of herbs, crushed them a little, and had me deeply inhale the scent three times. Then she hit me all over with them while speaking in Quichua. When she finished with the herbs, she spit water in my face and rubbed an egg all over me. Next, she put some herb infused oil in my hand and I rubbed it into my hands, neck and hair. Finally, she used ashes to put x´s on my forhead, stomach and back. Before hand, Carmita had explained the significance of everything to me. The scents and oils of the herbs are for good health and relaxation. The egg absorbs all of the bad energy in my body. The crosses are protection against other people´s bad energy. There were a lot of other women there with their children. Carmita also explained that they believe that children are very susceptible to other people´s energy, that the energy is transmitted through the eyes, and that pale eyes are especially strong. This finally explained why mothers here always seem unhappy when I smile at their children. She said that her grandmother had very pale eyes, and would wear sunglasses whenever she was around babies and young children. The whole things was very interesting and I did feel calmer afterwards. Supposedly, I will sleep really well tonight.
On Saturday, I went to Ingapirca, which is Ecuador´s most important Incan ruin. It was very interesting and a good warm-up for Machu Picchu! I also met some other young English speakers and we all went to Cañar in the afternoon for the Inti Raymi festival. It was the kind of thing you would have been interested in, kind of like the big cultural exposition in DC. We watched a lot of interesting dances and ate some good seco de pollo. One of the groups, I think from the Cuenca area, did La Vaca Loca, which was also being done here during Corpus Christi. Basically, people dress as cows and fireworks shoot off of their costumes into the crowd. In the states, it would be considered a major fire hazard, but here it is just part of the fun.
On Sunday, I went to Gualaceo and Chordeleg, two small towns near Cuenca. I had also wanted to go to San Bartolome (a town famous for its guitar makers where I was hoping to find something good for Charlie) and Sigsig, but couldn´t manage to get a bus to either for various reasons. I really enjoyed Gualaceo though. They have a very colorful outdoor market full of fruits, vegetables, spices and other dried goods. On the other side of the river, they have a live animal market. I was too self concious to take any pictures in the market, but it was definitely interesting to watch people try to get their new pigs into grain bags to transport back to their homes, and painful to hear the pigs squealing in terror. Speaking of pigs, Carmita had recommended trying hornado (whole roasted pig) in the indoor food market, so for lunch I had a big plate of hornado, mote (hominy), llapingacho (mashed potato pancakes) and salad. Muy rico! Chordeleg was a less interesting. I thought that they also had a Sunday market, but all I could find where tourist oriented jewelry stores. The area is famous for its filigreed silver jewelry, which is beautiful, but not exactly what I was hoping for. I did arrive right when church was letting out, so the whole town was filled with people in their Sunday best, which ranged from silver high heels to intricately embroidered and beaded traditional skirts and blouses.
This is my last week in Cuenca. I wish that I could learn more Spanish, but I am ready to move on and see new places, especially since my next major destination is Machu Picchu. I fly from Guayaquil on Tuesday, but I´m hoping to go down to Loja to visit Parque Nacional Podocarpus and the Sunday market in Sanguro this weekend.
When I get pack from Peru, I´m planning to WWOOF and my options look pretty good. I´m most excited about the prospect of working on an organic shrimp farm on an island off the coast of Guayaquil and an organic flower farm somewhere north of Quito. Shrimping and flower farming are two of the least environmentally friendly agricultural industries in Ecuador, so it will be interesting to see how these alternatives work. I have to start contacting these places after I post this.
This weekend´s pictures.
Monday, June 9, 2008
I was in Cajas!
After my birthday, this was a fairly uneventful week. I mostly just worked on my Spanish and bought my plane ticket to Peru (a much more complicated process than it may sound like).
On Saturday, Kim and I went to Parque Nacional Cajas and it was amazing. I´m uploading pictures right now, but I´m not sure that they really do it justice. It was quite possibly the most impressive place I´ve ever been. First, we walked in the lower cloud forest area, which was similar to La Hesperia. The hike in the paramo was what really got me. We hiked around several lagunas and through a forest of quinua trees at an altitude of 4000 m, making it one the highest altitude forests in the world (according to our guide). The vegetations was incredible and even though it rained the whole time, mist seemed to suit the place better than sun would have. The only drawback was that we went with a group and some of the people were wearing totally inappropriate shoes and so they were slipping all over the place and we had to go very slowly. I didn´t mind too much though because it gave me more time to look around.
That night, Kim and I went out dancing with one of the teachers from the school at a place with a live salsa band. My salsa isn´t very good, but we had a lot of fun.
On Sunday I was going to go to some markets in smaller towns nearby, but I was exhausted from hiking and dancing. I ended up going to with Katy and Angelica to Katy´s sister´s ´country house´ (it´s really just a suburb of small cabins in the hills above the city) for a realxing lunch. Afterwards we made milcocha, which is like taffy. I still don´t talk very much when I´m with them, but it´s getting less awkward.
On Saturday, Kim and I went to Parque Nacional Cajas and it was amazing. I´m uploading pictures right now, but I´m not sure that they really do it justice. It was quite possibly the most impressive place I´ve ever been. First, we walked in the lower cloud forest area, which was similar to La Hesperia. The hike in the paramo was what really got me. We hiked around several lagunas and through a forest of quinua trees at an altitude of 4000 m, making it one the highest altitude forests in the world (according to our guide). The vegetations was incredible and even though it rained the whole time, mist seemed to suit the place better than sun would have. The only drawback was that we went with a group and some of the people were wearing totally inappropriate shoes and so they were slipping all over the place and we had to go very slowly. I didn´t mind too much though because it gave me more time to look around.
That night, Kim and I went out dancing with one of the teachers from the school at a place with a live salsa band. My salsa isn´t very good, but we had a lot of fun.
On Sunday I was going to go to some markets in smaller towns nearby, but I was exhausted from hiking and dancing. I ended up going to with Katy and Angelica to Katy´s sister´s ´country house´ (it´s really just a suburb of small cabins in the hills above the city) for a realxing lunch. Afterwards we made milcocha, which is like taffy. I still don´t talk very much when I´m with them, but it´s getting less awkward.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
I was in Puerto Lopez!
Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes!
Things here are going well. I´m learning a lot of Spanish, although I´m still not great at putting it to use. Carmita is very patient and encouraging, as is my family. This is a little embarrassing, but when I wrote before I said that there were two sons, but there is actually only one. His name is Carlos Eduardo and I swear that I was introduced to him twice that first day, once as Eduardo and once as Carlos, but the second time it was as I was walking in the door and he was walking out, so I didn´t see him that well. Anyway, they are very nice and very understanding of both my timidity and my poor speaking abilities.
Last week I did a little sight seeing and a lot of walking around, trying to get a feel for the city. I went to the two main iglesias and to the Museo de Arte Moderno. Thursday was the last night of Corpus Christi, so I went and watched the fireworks and ate a lot of dulces. Cuenca is a great city for just wandering and looking, but I was also a little lonely and overwhelmed. There is only one other student, Kim from Amsterdam, taking classes at the same time as me and we hadn´t really spoken much, but on Friday she invited me to go to the beach with her for the weekend. We went to Puerto Lopez and had a really nice time. This is her fifth week taking classes, so her Spanish is much better than mine, and she speaks fluent English. We ate ceviche, which is my new favorite food, and went to Parque Nacional Machalilla. Later in the summer, it is a major humpback whale breeding spot, but right now it´s just Ecuador´s nicest beach. There were only about thirty minutes of sun all weekend, but we hiked around and swam and managed to get a little tan because the sun here is much stronger than at home. It´s really nice to know that I have a good travelling companion for the rest of my time in this area.
I had a nice birthday yesterday. Carmita brought me a rose and a piece of banana cake that she had made. Then, during our 11 am break, we had a little party with Kim and her teacher Sophie and Helenita, another woman who works in the office. They brought this amazing tres leches (three milk) cake, which is apparently very popular here. In the afternoon, I went for coffe with Kim and in the evening my family had a little celebration with more cake and cookies and singing.
Things here are going well. I´m learning a lot of Spanish, although I´m still not great at putting it to use. Carmita is very patient and encouraging, as is my family. This is a little embarrassing, but when I wrote before I said that there were two sons, but there is actually only one. His name is Carlos Eduardo and I swear that I was introduced to him twice that first day, once as Eduardo and once as Carlos, but the second time it was as I was walking in the door and he was walking out, so I didn´t see him that well. Anyway, they are very nice and very understanding of both my timidity and my poor speaking abilities.
Last week I did a little sight seeing and a lot of walking around, trying to get a feel for the city. I went to the two main iglesias and to the Museo de Arte Moderno. Thursday was the last night of Corpus Christi, so I went and watched the fireworks and ate a lot of dulces. Cuenca is a great city for just wandering and looking, but I was also a little lonely and overwhelmed. There is only one other student, Kim from Amsterdam, taking classes at the same time as me and we hadn´t really spoken much, but on Friday she invited me to go to the beach with her for the weekend. We went to Puerto Lopez and had a really nice time. This is her fifth week taking classes, so her Spanish is much better than mine, and she speaks fluent English. We ate ceviche, which is my new favorite food, and went to Parque Nacional Machalilla. Later in the summer, it is a major humpback whale breeding spot, but right now it´s just Ecuador´s nicest beach. There were only about thirty minutes of sun all weekend, but we hiked around and swam and managed to get a little tan because the sun here is much stronger than at home. It´s really nice to know that I have a good travelling companion for the rest of my time in this area.
I had a nice birthday yesterday. Carmita brought me a rose and a piece of banana cake that she had made. Then, during our 11 am break, we had a little party with Kim and her teacher Sophie and Helenita, another woman who works in the office. They brought this amazing tres leches (three milk) cake, which is apparently very popular here. In the afternoon, I went for coffe with Kim and in the evening my family had a little celebration with more cake and cookies and singing.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
I´m in Cuenca!
My last week at La Hesperia went fairly well. I didn´t spend as much time with the kids this time because I was busy getting one of the new volunteers ready to take over the garden next week. Thursday afternoon Alexandra came to the garden for the first time in about six months (the steps down are very steep, so she avoided it when pregnant) and started making plans and giving directions. It was a little frustrating to have her finally get involved again on my last work day, but also good to see that things there are getting back on track after a few months of volunteer guess work. On my last actual day, I did a waterfall hike with a few other volunteers, which was very fun and very wet.
I spent Saturday wandering around Quito´s old town, then took an incredible bus ride through the Andes from Quito to Cuenca on Sunday. The scenery was, of course, amazing, but also, Sunday is market day in a lot of towns, so the streets were flooded with indigenous men and women in their colorful shawls and skirts and ponchos. For a while on the bus I sat next to a woman in a bright green skirt and bright pink sweater with two bright blue shawls holding her baby on her back.
Now I´m in Cuenca. I´ve done two days of Spanish classes and I think they will be worth it. My teacher, Carmita, is really good and nice and has a lot of suggestions for things to do in the area. Apparently, there is a big Inca festival in a few weeks that is only celebrated in Cuzco, near Macchu Piccu, and in Cañari, which is about an hour away from here and very close to Ingapirca, Ecuador´s big Inca site. She said that indigenous people from all over the country come to Cañari for three days of celebration, so hopefully I´ll be able to go. This week is Corpus Christi, which is a big deal here. There are fireworks everynight and the streets around the main plaza and cathedral are lined with stalls selling sweets. I went last night with my two host sisters. My family is very very nice, but I am of course very quiet and awkward at all times. The mother´s name is something like Katy, but Spanish. The two daughters are Marie Elisa and Angelica. They are both in college, but I´m not sure exactly how old they are. There are also two sons, Eduardo and Carlos. I´m staying in one of their rooms, but I haven´t yet figured out where either of them sleep. I haven´t seen them as much as the girls. I have breakfast with them in the morning, then class from 9-1, then back home for lunch, then I´m on my own the rest of the day and evening.
Also, I put up some new pictures.
I spent Saturday wandering around Quito´s old town, then took an incredible bus ride through the Andes from Quito to Cuenca on Sunday. The scenery was, of course, amazing, but also, Sunday is market day in a lot of towns, so the streets were flooded with indigenous men and women in their colorful shawls and skirts and ponchos. For a while on the bus I sat next to a woman in a bright green skirt and bright pink sweater with two bright blue shawls holding her baby on her back.
Now I´m in Cuenca. I´ve done two days of Spanish classes and I think they will be worth it. My teacher, Carmita, is really good and nice and has a lot of suggestions for things to do in the area. Apparently, there is a big Inca festival in a few weeks that is only celebrated in Cuzco, near Macchu Piccu, and in Cañari, which is about an hour away from here and very close to Ingapirca, Ecuador´s big Inca site. She said that indigenous people from all over the country come to Cañari for three days of celebration, so hopefully I´ll be able to go. This week is Corpus Christi, which is a big deal here. There are fireworks everynight and the streets around the main plaza and cathedral are lined with stalls selling sweets. I went last night with my two host sisters. My family is very very nice, but I am of course very quiet and awkward at all times. The mother´s name is something like Katy, but Spanish. The two daughters are Marie Elisa and Angelica. They are both in college, but I´m not sure exactly how old they are. There are also two sons, Eduardo and Carlos. I´m staying in one of their rooms, but I haven´t yet figured out where either of them sleep. I haven´t seen them as much as the girls. I have breakfast with them in the morning, then class from 9-1, then back home for lunch, then I´m on my own the rest of the day and evening.
Also, I put up some new pictures.
Friday, May 16, 2008
I´m in Canoa!
This weekend I´m in Canoa, which is a beach town, but so far, no sun. Tomorrow I might go visit the other organic farm that I´m thinking about volunteering at later. There are so many things to think about doing. I´m trying to just take things one at a time. I have decided to leave La Hesperia for a bit to take Spanish classes in Cuenca and stay with a family. That seems like the best way to really learn. So yeah, this will be my last week at La Hesperia, for now at least.
A whole bunch of new volunteers arrived this week. We were up to 15 (4 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Australian and 9 Canadians), but two of the Americans left this weekend. Another group of kids are coming next week, so that should be fun. On Monday I harvested coffee, which was interesting. My plants are doing well, so that´s nice.
I´m putting up new photos, but I´m not sure if I´ll have time to label them or not.
I should have more consistent internet access in Cuenca, which will hopefully mean more detailed and carefully written posts.
A whole bunch of new volunteers arrived this week. We were up to 15 (4 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Australian and 9 Canadians), but two of the Americans left this weekend. Another group of kids are coming next week, so that should be fun. On Monday I harvested coffee, which was interesting. My plants are doing well, so that´s nice.
I´m putting up new photos, but I´m not sure if I´ll have time to label them or not.
I should have more consistent internet access in Cuenca, which will hopefully mean more detailed and carefully written posts.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
I´m in Baños!
Last weekend we made it to the Capilla del Hombre and it was really great. We also did the equator line, which is really just good for the picture. I left the camera cable at the hostel, so no pictures yet. The hostel has free internet, but there´s often a long line. If it´s shorter later I´ll try to get some pictures up.
This week was really kind of fun because there was a group of 11 year olds from the British School in Quito and we spent a lot of time with them. I supervised their horseback riding time, which was hilarious. Raul, who manages the farm, brought two very tame horses and pony. One boy couldn´t get the pony to move and kept yelling ´Corre! Corre! Corre!´(Run! Run! Run!). Finally, Raul hit the pony with a little stick and as soon as it started running the boy started screaming in terror and then feel off. He was fine and got right back on, but it was very funny. We also took them on a hike to a waterfall and planted trees with them. They are total city kids. One girl asked me to kill a bug that landed near her on the hike. I refused and it soon flew away.
My first act as Garden Princess was to plant tomatoes, celery and lettuce in the greenhouse. On Thursday I transplanted the cucumbers and zucchini we seeded last week. I´m not sure they´re going to make it. I´ve also been learning to use a machete, not that it takes much skill. It´s a huge knife, so you pretty much can just swing it and watch the tops of flowers fly.
I got to Baños yesterday afternoon. It´s a nice little town surrounded by green mountains. Ecuador seems to have no end of green mountains disapearing into clouds. This morning we went to the mineral baths, which was fun. From the baths all you can see are the green mountains and a waterfall. We went early enough in the morning that it was all Ecuadorian families, no other white tourists. Afterwards, we did a short hike to the falls of Cascada Ines Maria, which weren´t that high, but had worn the cliffs down in interesting ways.
This week was really kind of fun because there was a group of 11 year olds from the British School in Quito and we spent a lot of time with them. I supervised their horseback riding time, which was hilarious. Raul, who manages the farm, brought two very tame horses and pony. One boy couldn´t get the pony to move and kept yelling ´Corre! Corre! Corre!´(Run! Run! Run!). Finally, Raul hit the pony with a little stick and as soon as it started running the boy started screaming in terror and then feel off. He was fine and got right back on, but it was very funny. We also took them on a hike to a waterfall and planted trees with them. They are total city kids. One girl asked me to kill a bug that landed near her on the hike. I refused and it soon flew away.
My first act as Garden Princess was to plant tomatoes, celery and lettuce in the greenhouse. On Thursday I transplanted the cucumbers and zucchini we seeded last week. I´m not sure they´re going to make it. I´ve also been learning to use a machete, not that it takes much skill. It´s a huge knife, so you pretty much can just swing it and watch the tops of flowers fly.
I got to Baños yesterday afternoon. It´s a nice little town surrounded by green mountains. Ecuador seems to have no end of green mountains disapearing into clouds. This morning we went to the mineral baths, which was fun. From the baths all you can see are the green mountains and a waterfall. We went early enough in the morning that it was all Ecuadorian families, no other white tourists. Afterwards, we did a short hike to the falls of Cascada Ines Maria, which weren´t that high, but had worn the cliffs down in interesting ways.
Friday, May 2, 2008
I´m in Quito!
Hi! I´m back in Quito for the weekend with two of the other volunteers, Seth and Chris. This morning we walked around the old town, looking at old churches and plazas. We went to the Monastery of San Francisco, the oldest church in Ecuador, and the Bascillica del Voto Nacional, which Lonely Planet has named the Deadliest View of Quito because you have to climb up several very steep ladders on the outside of the tower. We survived. Tomorrow we are going to the equator line and taking a sky tram up a volcano. Sunday we are hopefully going to the Capilla de Hombre, which is the museum Guayasamin designed for his own work.
Things are going well at La Hesperia. I`ve planted trees in a reforestation area. I´m taking over a project to collect and press all of the plants being grown in the nursery, the vegetable garden and the medicinal garden. One morning Seth and I woke up early to help milk the cows. Everyday I collect the eggs. Last Sunday went for a hike on my own and saw a lot really interesting plants. I´m definitely enjoying myself. Next week a group of kids are coming and we´re taking them on hikes and planting trees with them and whatnot, so that should be interesting. Also next week I´ll be taking over the vegetable garden, which is kind of funny because I don´t really know anything about gardening, but I guess I´ll learn.
A lot of the other volunteers are leaving this weekend, which is too bad. There will only be five of us, down from 10. Meal times will feel very small. Some people have asked about the food. We have oatmeal and bread and jam every morning. They boil some of that mornings milk for the oatmeal, which is neat. Lunch is always soup, then a main. The soups often have potatoes, and sometimes we have broccoli soup with popcorn. Dinner is a main, then dessert. The mains can be anything, beens or beef or fish, and are often accompanied by rice.
I haven´t yet figured out this whole flickr thing, but you can go here to see my pictures.
Happy birthday Claire!
Things are going well at La Hesperia. I`ve planted trees in a reforestation area. I´m taking over a project to collect and press all of the plants being grown in the nursery, the vegetable garden and the medicinal garden. One morning Seth and I woke up early to help milk the cows. Everyday I collect the eggs. Last Sunday went for a hike on my own and saw a lot really interesting plants. I´m definitely enjoying myself. Next week a group of kids are coming and we´re taking them on hikes and planting trees with them and whatnot, so that should be interesting. Also next week I´ll be taking over the vegetable garden, which is kind of funny because I don´t really know anything about gardening, but I guess I´ll learn.
A lot of the other volunteers are leaving this weekend, which is too bad. There will only be five of us, down from 10. Meal times will feel very small. Some people have asked about the food. We have oatmeal and bread and jam every morning. They boil some of that mornings milk for the oatmeal, which is neat. Lunch is always soup, then a main. The soups often have potatoes, and sometimes we have broccoli soup with popcorn. Dinner is a main, then dessert. The mains can be anything, beens or beef or fish, and are often accompanied by rice.
I haven´t yet figured out this whole flickr thing, but you can go here to see my pictures.
Happy birthday Claire!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I'm in Ecuador!
I am currently writing from Santo Domingo, which is about 45 minutes from La Hesperia. I arrived in the area on Thursday, after spending Wednesday night in Quito. I had a slight mishap getting here, though. The bus to La Hesperia didn't stop at the right place, so I had to run up to the front and bang on the door and get them to let me off a few kilometers down the road in the middle of nowhere. I was flustered and forgot to say something about getting my bags from under the bus and they drove off as soon as I stepped off. Juan Pablo, who runs La Hesperia, made some calls and was able to get my bags left at the Santo Domingo bus station and I'll get them on my way back this afternoon. Luckily, I had my passport and money and camera and ipod on the bus with me, but I'm very smelly from wearing the same clothes since Thursday.
There's not too much to say about La Hesperia yet because I arrived Thursday afternoon and everyone has a long weekend, so there was no work yesterday. What I do know is that it is very green. At 6am yesterday we hiked up to the highest point on the reserve, which has an amazing view of surrounding mountians. I was, of course, the absolute slowest person on the hike, but I made it up without much trouble and it was beautiful! I took pictures, but I forgot to bring the camera, so I can't put them up yet. There are nine other volunteers right now, but a bunch are leaving soon. They are all about my age or younger, and are mostly American. Apparently it changes a lot from month to month. I'm rooming with a girl named Emma who is a junior at Colby and is here doing an indepent project on birds. She has already pointed some humming birds and interesting bird nests that I never would have noticed on my own.
Thanks to everyone who has already emailed me. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to respond to individual emails, but it is great to hear from you!
There's not too much to say about La Hesperia yet because I arrived Thursday afternoon and everyone has a long weekend, so there was no work yesterday. What I do know is that it is very green. At 6am yesterday we hiked up to the highest point on the reserve, which has an amazing view of surrounding mountians. I was, of course, the absolute slowest person on the hike, but I made it up without much trouble and it was beautiful! I took pictures, but I forgot to bring the camera, so I can't put them up yet. There are nine other volunteers right now, but a bunch are leaving soon. They are all about my age or younger, and are mostly American. Apparently it changes a lot from month to month. I'm rooming with a girl named Emma who is a junior at Colby and is here doing an indepent project on birds. She has already pointed some humming birds and interesting bird nests that I never would have noticed on my own.
Thanks to everyone who has already emailed me. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to respond to individual emails, but it is great to hear from you!
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