Tomorrow I will be leaving for the coast at 7am! Which means that I have to be at the airport at 5:50 am... which means leaving the apartment at 5:20... hmmm. I`m so excited!!! I will be there until next Monday without any internet access so I will update this when I get back! I will be staying in a hostel right on the beach in a place called Los Piqueros.
The people of Ecuador are voting on passing or rejecting their new constitution on the 28th (everyone who is of age is required by law to vote, except those in the military), so I am kinda glad that I will not be in Quito for that time. Things usually do not get violent with governmental issues, but still I am happy that I will be in a small fishing town for the duration. Judging by the amount of graffiti in favor of the new constitution on the walls around the city, it looks like it will be approved.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Mitad del Mundial (The Middle of the World)
Today was the non-calender equinox and a great place to be was at the center of the earth! We took 2 buses to get there, payed the park fee and got an English speaking tour guide. She showed us model representations of the indigenous peoples houses, kitchens and burial grounds. Usually 3 people live in one type of house, the mom, dad and the kid. They all sleep in the same bed until the kid is 13, then he moves upstairs to his own room. The kitchen is a separate building as is the bathroom. The parents eat out of the same bowl, and the kid gets a smaller one. They serve with huge spoons. One of the main dishes is cuy (guinea pig!) I haven't tried any yet...
After touring the houses, we went to the equator to try some experiments- the water, egg, balance and muscle test. There was a tub of water on the equator line, and when the guide pulled the plug, the water went straight down! No vortex. We then moved it about 5 feet to the north and drained the water again- this time there was spin! We moved it to the south side- spin in the other direction! I have been taught that this was not supposed to happen, so maybe there was some trick involved? I didn't see any... The next was the classic balance the egg, which we all did no problem- so I don't think this really had anything to do with the equator. The balance test involved standing on the equator, holding out your arms, closing your eyes and walking along it one foot directly in front of the other. I think this was just the power of suggestion that made people unable to walk straight, some unable to even stand! Looked as though they were drunk. First of all its kinda hard to walk like that, and when the suggestion is thrown in, all just goes to squat. I tried it and didn't feel anything, the rest in my group were surprised. I kinda walked to the side, and was a little tippy, but nothing compared to the rest with the exception of one other girl. So I think that test is kinda out there too.
The strangest one we did was to test our strength on and off the equator. The guide had us stand in a line in pairs facing each other. One side held their hands out ahead of them clasped together, and their partner tried to pull their hands down. We then moved to the equator and tried it again- everyone was much weaker on the equator, even me! We did the same by making an "OK" sign and having the partner try to pull the fingers apart. Again, when tried on the equator, everyone was weaker with no exceptions. Power of suggestion, muscle fatigue?? I don't know- but it was weird. I don't think that the distances we moved from the equator was enough to change the actions if they were really real, and was that line even the real equator? Could it have been a few feet or more off? I would like to go back and try more controlled experiments. The explanation the guide gave us was that the powers from the poles came towards the equator, colliding and causing all sorts of abnormalities. I don't believe this!
Later, we went to the site where the Spanish had thought the equator to be. We should have re-tried some experiments there, but didn't think about it. We watched indigenous dances for a while got some food and took the the first bus halfway. One the walk to the second (called the Ecovia) we looked at some paintings set up along the street- they were really good- I would like to get one, but they are about 100 or more, and I don't know how I would get it home. We took the second bus back, and when I got back to the apartment, I had my first real American food- KFC yayy!
After touring the houses, we went to the equator to try some experiments- the water, egg, balance and muscle test. There was a tub of water on the equator line, and when the guide pulled the plug, the water went straight down! No vortex. We then moved it about 5 feet to the north and drained the water again- this time there was spin! We moved it to the south side- spin in the other direction! I have been taught that this was not supposed to happen, so maybe there was some trick involved? I didn't see any... The next was the classic balance the egg, which we all did no problem- so I don't think this really had anything to do with the equator. The balance test involved standing on the equator, holding out your arms, closing your eyes and walking along it one foot directly in front of the other. I think this was just the power of suggestion that made people unable to walk straight, some unable to even stand! Looked as though they were drunk. First of all its kinda hard to walk like that, and when the suggestion is thrown in, all just goes to squat. I tried it and didn't feel anything, the rest in my group were surprised. I kinda walked to the side, and was a little tippy, but nothing compared to the rest with the exception of one other girl. So I think that test is kinda out there too.
The strangest one we did was to test our strength on and off the equator. The guide had us stand in a line in pairs facing each other. One side held their hands out ahead of them clasped together, and their partner tried to pull their hands down. We then moved to the equator and tried it again- everyone was much weaker on the equator, even me! We did the same by making an "OK" sign and having the partner try to pull the fingers apart. Again, when tried on the equator, everyone was weaker with no exceptions. Power of suggestion, muscle fatigue?? I don't know- but it was weird. I don't think that the distances we moved from the equator was enough to change the actions if they were really real, and was that line even the real equator? Could it have been a few feet or more off? I would like to go back and try more controlled experiments. The explanation the guide gave us was that the powers from the poles came towards the equator, colliding and causing all sorts of abnormalities. I don't believe this!
Later, we went to the site where the Spanish had thought the equator to be. We should have re-tried some experiments there, but didn't think about it. We watched indigenous dances for a while got some food and took the the first bus halfway. One the walk to the second (called the Ecovia) we looked at some paintings set up along the street- they were really good- I would like to get one, but they are about 100 or more, and I don't know how I would get it home. We took the second bus back, and when I got back to the apartment, I had my first real American food- KFC yayy!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
La Hesperia
The trip to the dairy farm was very enjoyable. It started with taking a taxi to the terminal terrestre (a really big bus station) where I met up with the rest of the group. From there we took a 2 hour bus ride to the dairy farm through the mountains. The bus let us off at the bottom of the road that we had to take up to the dairy farm. It was a pretty steep rock road, only 4 wheel drives could make it up. A jeep was supposed to come down and take our stuff up to the farm for us... but it didn't. So we had to walk. We had been told to pack light, and I had, but I wasn't expecting the trek we had in front of us. It was all pretty much steep uphill, which wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the stuff we were carrying. This wasn't just a hill, it was a mountain! You would have to walk it to realize what it was like. It took probably about 45 minutes to get up, which we finally did, and then the jeep drove up just as we got to the top. Grr. We picked our rooms, the house we were staying at had about 6 rooms each with 4-6 beds in each. There was an upstairs and downstairs, with a fire place. It was really nice. I roomed with Renee, Winston, and Stephanie in a downstairs room, which turned out to be a really good idea because when we built a fire that night turns out the chimney was blocked. So all the smoke went upstairs. We rested, unpacked, and had lunch.
The meals there were really good. For the first lunch we had salad with home-made vinaigrette, cheesy potatoes, fruit juice, and bread. For the other meals we had milk (from the farm), plantain, fresh juice, spaghetti, eggs and bacon, and nice bread.
We had a lesson on plant species after an hour siesta and then played uno, sat by the fire and then went to bed at about 9. The next morning some people got up at 7:30 to go milk cows, but I decided to sleep. We had breakfast at 8:30 and then went on a 5 hour hike through the cloud forest.
All along the way, we stopped and our teacher (Kelly is his last name) told us plant family names and pointed out interesting things about each, like one family (Piperaceae) is related to black pepper and if you broke the inflorescence of it under your nose, it smelled slightly peppery. We saw lots of huge leaved plants, climbing plants, wild begonias, and a toucan! It wasn't all brightly colored- just green, but it was still really neat. There were also lots of butterflies, spiders, and bugs in general. We ate lunch in a clearing about halfway through the hike.
The next part of the hike was through a stream, well pretty much in the stream for a good 10 minutes or more. He told us to bring water shoes, but pretty much everyone didn't really listen, and either brought flip-flops or no water shoes at all. A bit of a problem, since their shoes didn't really dry out the next day. I felt like I was in the movies of Rambo or Indiana Jones. Most everyone took a shower when we got back, but the showers were cold and by the time it was my turn the day had cooled off so I decided that I liked being one with the rain forest. Showers aren't really that necessary anyway.
That evening we set up bat nets, but caught one bird twice, and only one bat. The bat was pretty big and very noisy. We also played about a 2 hour game of uno. Then was fire place sitting time, then bed. I felt like some bug was biting me as I was falling asleep, but I didn't think much of it. I woke up in the morning with about 30 bug bites all over my stomach. Not cool. They still itch.
I took a cold shower the next day to see if that would help the itching, it did for a bit. We walked back down the hill at about 1:30 and took a bus back to Quito. I didn't want to leave the farm, but in about a week and a half we go to the beach!
The meals there were really good. For the first lunch we had salad with home-made vinaigrette, cheesy potatoes, fruit juice, and bread. For the other meals we had milk (from the farm), plantain, fresh juice, spaghetti, eggs and bacon, and nice bread.
We had a lesson on plant species after an hour siesta and then played uno, sat by the fire and then went to bed at about 9. The next morning some people got up at 7:30 to go milk cows, but I decided to sleep. We had breakfast at 8:30 and then went on a 5 hour hike through the cloud forest.
All along the way, we stopped and our teacher (Kelly is his last name) told us plant family names and pointed out interesting things about each, like one family (Piperaceae) is related to black pepper and if you broke the inflorescence of it under your nose, it smelled slightly peppery. We saw lots of huge leaved plants, climbing plants, wild begonias, and a toucan! It wasn't all brightly colored- just green, but it was still really neat. There were also lots of butterflies, spiders, and bugs in general. We ate lunch in a clearing about halfway through the hike.
The next part of the hike was through a stream, well pretty much in the stream for a good 10 minutes or more. He told us to bring water shoes, but pretty much everyone didn't really listen, and either brought flip-flops or no water shoes at all. A bit of a problem, since their shoes didn't really dry out the next day. I felt like I was in the movies of Rambo or Indiana Jones. Most everyone took a shower when we got back, but the showers were cold and by the time it was my turn the day had cooled off so I decided that I liked being one with the rain forest. Showers aren't really that necessary anyway.
That evening we set up bat nets, but caught one bird twice, and only one bat. The bat was pretty big and very noisy. We also played about a 2 hour game of uno. Then was fire place sitting time, then bed. I felt like some bug was biting me as I was falling asleep, but I didn't think much of it. I woke up in the morning with about 30 bug bites all over my stomach. Not cool. They still itch.
I took a cold shower the next day to see if that would help the itching, it did for a bit. We walked back down the hill at about 1:30 and took a bus back to Quito. I didn't want to leave the farm, but in about a week and a half we go to the beach!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
First Trip!
Tomorrow I go on my first real trip! It is to a working dairy farm at the base of a cloud forest. The owners have nicely preserved the forest on their lands for people like us to study. I am taking a taxi to the major bus station here with some people in my group and leaving from there at 9:30! It will take about 2 hours to get there, just as long as everything goes according to plan. Saturday we will be going on a 6 hour hike through the forest and then coming back to Quito on Sunday at about midday. Pretty exciting!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Cotopaxi
Today we went by bus the the volcano Cotopaxi. It is active and the last time it erupted I think was in 2004. It is snowcapped so the main problem with an eruption is the quick melting of the snow (causing a massive mudslide), which can reach Quito in about 30 minuets - Quito is about 50 miles away... making it one of the most dangerous volcanoes- not because of the primary eruption, but because people have built houses in the river basins where the mud flows through. It is monitored, but random fast heating can happen. I don't think I am in any danger though since I'm not in any valley.
We measured transects of 10 by 1 meters, counting the number of plant species and recording the tallest plant in each of the transects. We did this about 6 times all the way up the side of the volcano to about 4,500 meters (14,700 feet). At that altitude, there were only about 4 plant species and none were very tall. The base camp was at about 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) and we could see it from where we were, and the glaciers were a bit beyond that. It was snowing/ sleeting where we were- or maybe it was just ice particles blowing off the snow cap. The crater of the volcano was much higher, and we didn't get to see it because it was cloud covered.
We measured transects of 10 by 1 meters, counting the number of plant species and recording the tallest plant in each of the transects. We did this about 6 times all the way up the side of the volcano to about 4,500 meters (14,700 feet). At that altitude, there were only about 4 plant species and none were very tall. The base camp was at about 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) and we could see it from where we were, and the glaciers were a bit beyond that. It was snowing/ sleeting where we were- or maybe it was just ice particles blowing off the snow cap. The crater of the volcano was much higher, and we didn't get to see it because it was cloud covered.
Ecuador vs. Bolivia
I went to my first real soccer match today! It was Ecuador vs. Bolivia, I guess to see who gets to go to the World Cup. There were sooo many people. We got there 4 hours ahead of time, bought jerseys and got our faces painted. I supported Ecuador, wouldn't have been very smart to support Bolivia there surrounded be Ecuadorians. It was pretty exciting. There were food vendors and huge cups of beer for 1.80. Ecuador won the game 3:1 and everyone was crazzzyyyy!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Elfin Forest
Today we went on our first real day trip out to look at the plants found in Ecuador. Our first stop was at the river that runs through the valley below Quito. The waters are a brown color and foam builds up on the rocks. Thinking of the Yadkin River, I assumed that it was runoff of some type from fields further up the river. I was wrong. Turns out that the river is used as a natural sewage system, and that most of Quito's waste goes directly into it. I was disgusted. There are no native species found in the river, but some native plants grow along its banks. From where I was standing I could see a few pipes running directly from some houses on the cliffs surrounding it.
The next stop was at a cleaner river, still not suitable for any type of drinking though...
Next we stopped at a forest of native trees (there are few forests of them left since they have been used for building). Eucalyptus trees have taken over most places, but in a way this is ok because they grow much quicker, allowing them to be used rather than native trees. We got out of the bus and looked for a way down into the forest. We found a gap, and climbed down. It looked exactly where I would picture elves and dwarfs to live and looked a bit like the forest in The Princess Bride where ROUS's live. The trees cut off the sound from the road, and there was a large stream running through the bottom of it. Very beautiful. The trees there were over 100 years old, though they weren't very big. The ground was saturated with water and there were little pools everywhere with mosses and ferns. If it weren't so chilly and damp there it would be an awesome place to have a tiny house. I felt like exploring on my own, so I split from the group and walked along the steam for a bit. I climbed out of the forest over what looked like a rock slide through the undergrowth. It was pretty steep. With the elevation being what it is (about 9,200 feet above sea level), it is easy to get out of breath. Everyone emerged from different parts of the forest, all a bit muddied and leaf marked.
We continued on to higher elevations and studied plants along the way.
The other best part of the day trip was at the end when we went to thermal springs, heated by the volcano! The water ran directly into paved pools, some hotter than others, and a few icy cold. A big stream ran close to the pools, so I ran and dipped in that (icy!!!) and jumped back into the hot water. It was amazing, we stayed there for about 2.5 hours. The buildings there had plants growing on the roofs, and we say a humming bird with a crazy long beak darting around red tubed shaped flowers. I didn't want to leave!
The next stop was at a cleaner river, still not suitable for any type of drinking though...
Next we stopped at a forest of native trees (there are few forests of them left since they have been used for building). Eucalyptus trees have taken over most places, but in a way this is ok because they grow much quicker, allowing them to be used rather than native trees. We got out of the bus and looked for a way down into the forest. We found a gap, and climbed down. It looked exactly where I would picture elves and dwarfs to live and looked a bit like the forest in The Princess Bride where ROUS's live. The trees cut off the sound from the road, and there was a large stream running through the bottom of it. Very beautiful. The trees there were over 100 years old, though they weren't very big. The ground was saturated with water and there were little pools everywhere with mosses and ferns. If it weren't so chilly and damp there it would be an awesome place to have a tiny house. I felt like exploring on my own, so I split from the group and walked along the steam for a bit. I climbed out of the forest over what looked like a rock slide through the undergrowth. It was pretty steep. With the elevation being what it is (about 9,200 feet above sea level), it is easy to get out of breath. Everyone emerged from different parts of the forest, all a bit muddied and leaf marked.
We continued on to higher elevations and studied plants along the way.
The other best part of the day trip was at the end when we went to thermal springs, heated by the volcano! The water ran directly into paved pools, some hotter than others, and a few icy cold. A big stream ran close to the pools, so I ran and dipped in that (icy!!!) and jumped back into the hot water. It was amazing, we stayed there for about 2.5 hours. The buildings there had plants growing on the roofs, and we say a humming bird with a crazy long beak darting around red tubed shaped flowers. I didn't want to leave!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
