Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The End of the World Again

          As I mentioned in my last post I am not good at letting things go. I realize that for me I need to process everything and mourn in order to move on. Even the small things I need to mourn. It might seem silly but I have a super active a imagination and I can picture how good things could be and I get it into my head and want so badly for things to be a certain way. So when things end too early, it is really hard. And to be able to move on, I need to be in a bad mood for a little bit. I need to say that life isn't fair in order for me to enjoy the next thing. And here in Ecuador, the next thing has been amazing. Every time. Like right now, I am sitting under a palm tree, watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Amazing.
          I am reminded of the Steel Wheels concert I went to last month. Trent, the main singer explained how it is hard for them to leave a place they love performing in. It is also really hard to leave home. The lyrics to their title song go, "Time creeps forward without failure. You can't help but leave some things behind. Oh it's the end of the world again my darling. I can almost see the fire in the sky. Can't go back, that time is over. You can't help but leave some things behind. I am going to leave, I don't know any other way." This is how it is for me. It feels like the end of the world when I leave a place I love, when I leave a person I have come to care about. But you have to leave some things behind .
          And soon, on Sunday, I will leave Ecuador, a place I have come to love. It will be hard. This is the hard part about this life I have chosen for myself, this life of travel and adventure. I always have to leave some things behind. But there are always new things ahead and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't trade this life of mine for anything else. As the Steel Wheels say in another song, "It makes a difference where you go. It makes you different where you go." Ecuador, the places I have seen, the activities I have experienced, the Spanish I have learned, and all the incredible people I have met this past month have changed me. And I feel so blessed.  

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Learning to let go

          It is getting late and I have an early morning tomorrow, but I wanted to take the time to write about one of the things I struggle with when traveling. As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting new people and making new friends. But then I hate saying goodbye. Especially when I feel like I really connect with someone, I don't want to let go. I want these relationships to mean as much to the other person as they do to me. I want them to last. And so instead of just salvoring the time I had and appreciate it for what it was, I become so sad that it is over. Somehow I feel like it had less meaning because it was only for a short time. In my head, I know this isn't true, but my heart tells me otherwise.
          This is only one example of how traveling teaches me more about myself. When I am tired and overloaded, I face parts of me that I don't always like. I face part of my personality that doesn't come out other times, or at least it comes out in more extreme ways. And I am forced to deal with these parts of my personality and figure out how to deal with them and even use them to be more authentically me, and hopefully to become a better person. And writing helps... thus this short blog post.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Four full weeks in Ecuador

So I started this blog post weeks ago but it took a long time to get caught up so I decided to wait to post it until now. I know there will be tons of proofreading errors but I will fix those when I get home.   Here is most of what happened in the last month:

Sunday, May 24 : fly from ORD to Quito with a layover in Panama. Take a taxi from airport to host family, have dinner and settle in
Monday, May 25 : class for 4 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon walking around neighborhood by Plaza Foche and getting juice with my teacher. Attend a lecture about history of Ecuador (in Spanish) then dinner and relax
Tuesday, May 26 : 4 hours of class, then walked to artisan market with teacher, then met up with Cara before salsa lessons at school. Dinner and relaxing at host family.
Wednesday, May 27 : 4 hours of class then took a taxi to Old City with professor to go up in the cathedral, then went to another church and toured the president's house. Went to cooking class at school then went out for coffee by myself to journal and met a new friend. Took new friend to meet up with friends from school for drinks then dancing.
Thursday, May 28 : 2 hours of class then morning teacher took us to local market for an amazing lunch of fried fish with a shrimp sauce on top. In the afternoon we went with both our teachers to the museum and home of the Ecuadorian painter, Guyasamin. Then dinner and early bed.
Friday, May 29 : 4 hours of class in the morning, then we took a taxi to Mitad de Mundo, the museum on the Equator . We learned about different traditional lifestyles in Ecuador and then got to do experiments on the Equator such as watching water drain, balancing an egg on a nail, and walking on the line with eyes closed. Took local buses back and the second bus crashed with a car. No one was hurt but the car looked kind of bad but it just drove off and the bus continued .
Saturday, May 30 : We left early to meet a group at school to take a 2-day tour. We stopped at 2 different markets, first for fruit, and then an indigenous market that had clothes and food. It was neat to people watch and see the fashion of the indigenous people. On the bus ride, we also saw indigenous families with their llamas, cows, and goats. We then arrived at Quilatao, a crater lake. We hiked down and then kayaked in the lake. Then, we took a 2 hour hike back up the mountain. It was hard because of altitude but nice. We then ate lunch at the top before getting back in the bus and driving a couple of hours to our lodge. There we ate dinner and went in the jacuzzi before bed.
Sunday, May 31: After breakfast at the lodge, we took the bus to Cotapaxi, the second tallest active volcano in the world. We picked up a couple of guides and drove part way up. It was really cloudy on the volcano, so unfortunately we could not see the top. Hiking then was a little crazy because it was rainy and really windy. It also started to snow a bit. But I loved it! It felt so epic! We did not hike all the way up but went to where a glacier starts (it is technical climbing after that). The path was really sandy but I thought it was a great hike. We then went back to the lodge for lunch and then back to Quito.
Monday, June 1: 4 hours of class in the morning, then our afternoon teacher tried to take us to the national museum but it was closed on Mondays. We ended up walking through a park and watching a comedy show, then walking to other neat parts of the neighborhood. Cara and I then went for coffee at this awesome place that had pour overs. We had dinner at our host family and just relaxed.
Tuesday, June 2 : We had our usual 4 hours of class in the morning, then in the afternoon we took a cable car up above the city with our teacher and another student. It was so beautiful as we could see a lot of the city! We played some word games in Spanish before heading back down. We then had salsa lessons at school, dinner at home, and then met friends for drinks.
Wednesday, June 3 : We had 2 hours of class and then our teacher took us to the market to try fruit that doesn't exist in the U.S. We probably tried 10 different kinds and it was so good! We ate lunch there again before going to the national museum with our afternoon teacher. The museum had a lot of Pre-Columbian art that I loved. We then went back to school and said goodbye to all our friends. We went and bought some local chocolate and then relaxed at a place called the Cheesecake Café. It was amazing cheesecake! We had our last dinner with our host mom in Quito and then packed all our stuff. We then got a ride to the bus station by the tour agent from our school and took an overnight bus to Lago Agrio, our meeting place for our jungle adventure.
Thursday, June 4 : after hanging out in a small cafe for hours, we finally board a bus for the jungle. 2 hour bus ride then 1 hour boat ride. Upon arrival to our lodge we eat lunch and our guide introduces himself and shows us around. After a shower I take a much needed nap on a hammock listening to the rain. In the late afternoon we get in a boat with another group to look for animals and then swim in the middle of a lagoon. After sunset we head back to the lodge for dinner and bedtime.
Friday, June 5 : After breakfast we take a boat to a place where we trek through part of the jungle learning about the plants . Then we get in a large canoe and paddle all the way back to the lodge for lunch. After nap time in the hammocks, we head back out to the lagoon. After sunset we head into the jungle to look for insects and spiders in the dark. Then dinner, conversation, cold shower by candlelight, and bed.
Saturday, June 6 : After breakfast we head out on the boat upstream to a local indigenous village. We make bread out of yuka root and then eat lunch there. After wandering around the village we go meet with a local shaman, an indigenous medicine man. We learn his process, ask questions, and then see a demonstration.   We head back to the lodge shortly before heading to swim in the lagoon at sunset. After sunset we look for caymen (like alligators), then dinner and bed.
Sunday, June 7 : We get up for an early morning bird watching boat trip before breakfast. Then pack up, say goodbye, and take the hour boat ride then 2 hour bus ride, then 7 hour bus ride to Quito. In Quito we board an 8 hour night bus to Cuenca.
Monday, June 8 : We arrived in Cuenca at 6 am, took a taxi to the school, then walked around for 2 hours until the school opened. We met our new teacher and had four hours of lessons, then went to our new host family, had lunch, took a shower and headed back to school. A new afternoon teacher took us around town. I didn't like him at all as he spoke in English, was egocentric, and tried to get us to buy things from his friends. Combined with little sleep, I was in a terrible mood. But then Cara and I found a vegetarian restaurant with amazing juice. We then walked around, enjoyed a little of the Corpus Christi festival going on and then finally headed home to bed
Tuesday, June 9 : We had 4 hours of classes in the morning, lunch then nap, then met with a new afternoon teacher whom we loved! We toured a hat factory and walked more around town talking only in Spanish. We then went back to school for cooking class then got ice cream with a friend before chilling at home. 
Wednesday, June 10 : 4 hours of class in the morning and then after lunch with host family our afternoon teacher took us to a good lookout of the city called Turi. We then took a taxi back to the school for dancing lessons. Then we went to our dance teacher's art studio to see his paintings and listen to his Austrailian student play the flute. We then got pizza for dinner and went home for the night.
Thursday, June 11 : 4 hours of classes in the morning then we went out with other students to try guinea pig for lunch. I actually really liked it. Then we went with our afternoon teacher first to the modern art museum, which sadly had no art (a new exhibit opens next week) and then climbed to the top of the old cathedral, had a tour of the museum in the old cathedral, then visited a small zoo and got to take a selfie with a llama. We then went back to school for salsa lessons and then went with 3 other students to watch Ecuador play Chile in soccer at a bar. We then watched a fireworks show at the main square as part of the Corpus Christi festival.
Friday, June 12 : We met our morning teacher at 7 at the bus station to go to the Incan ruins Ingapirca. It took a couple of hours and a couple buses to get there. It was rainy but we had a great time going around with our lovely teacher and learning about the Incas and other indigenous groups from long ago. We arrived back in Cuenca around 3 and then went on a final walk around town, buying some food, and finally saying goodbye to our host family and boarding a 10pm bus to Ambato, a transfer city. We arrived in Ambato at 4am then took an hour taxi ride to our hostel in Baños.
Saturday, June 13 : we slept for 4 hours before breakfast then went zip lining! It was so cool as we went over a river and into a canyon. We then went in a scary bridge, climbed up a cliff, and zip lined back to where we started. We did a little shopping, ate lunch, showered, then met up with our Swiss friend (whom we met at our school in Quito and then again in the jungle) for paragliding. We went up on the mountain and 3 people went at a time. I didn't go first and then it started to rain so I had to wait what seemed like forever (I got really impatient) but finally I got to fly. And it was amazing. So peaceful and amazing as I sat there and the pilot took us over fields, trees, cows and in front of mountains and a volcano. It was also super cold. After getting back to town, Cara and I went with our Swiss friend to a Swiss bistro and ate Swiss foundu. It tasted so good! We then went and changed before heading back into town to go salsa dancing.
Sunday, June 14 : After checking out and having breakfast at the hostel, we went canyoning, which is repelling down waterfalls. We practiced in town before heading to the mountains. Our guide was super fun and has so much passion for his job. He is actually moving in October to Colorado to be a white water rafting guide. But anyways, we hiked up and then repelled down 4 waterfalls. Some of them were really strong and I lost my footing, but our guide hung on so it was never dangerous. We then slid down the last two falls. We went back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, grabbed some street food, and boarded a bus back to Quito. Once in Quito we took a taxi to a McDonalds where we met the Spanish teacher who would go to the coast with us. We then went to a different station and boarded an overnight bus to the coast.
Monday, June 15 : We arrived at our resort at 6 am. We were greeted by Ana amazing view of the ocean and a great hotel room and pool. We showered, took a walk on the beach, observed local fishermen, then had breakfast. At 10:30 we had Spanish class poolside for 4 hours. We really liked our professor and learned a lot. In the afternoon we went into town (a tiny town of only 500 people) for lunch and then layer poolside. After listening to an audiobook, Cara and I went for a short run then had dinner at the resort. We had a chill evening and went to bed early.
Tuesday, June 16 : We ate breakfast then had 4 hours of Spanish lessons with a pool break in between. Cara and I headed into town for lunch. Our teacher then met us and we walked for an hour to the next town then came back for a beer (it was really hot). We chilled the rest of the afternoon and evening with dinner somewhere in the mix.
Wednesday, June 17 : After an early breakfast, we traveled to a town an hour away, then walked across a very long bridge, then caught a bus to a poplar beach. Well it is supposedly popular on the weekends. But we swam in the ocean then got lunch and took 2 other buses to a mangrove island. We went around this island by boat and had a guide. It was interesting but I was exhausted and so it could have been better . We then waited for buses and eventually made it back to the resort. We had dinner and went to bed early.
Thursday, June 18 : We had breakfast and 4 hours of Spanish classes. Then we went to town for lunch and came back and laid in the sun for two hours listening to Amy Poehler's memoir on audiobook. After dinner, I was uploading pictures to Facebook and was interrupted by a Nigerian man and ended up talking with him for a while. There was a birthday party going on for a woman turning 80 and I was invited to join the dancing by her 23 year old grandson. It was so fun as I got to meet the family and join the festivities for a little while. Later, when I was once again uploading pictures, the grandma came by and I told her happy birthday and she gave me some of the leftover candy. Her 12 year old granddaughter then came and talked to me and it was so fun! She was so cute! It was a great ending to the week and good Spanish practice.
Friday, June 19 : We ate breakfast then had our 4 hours of class. Then we packed, had lunch, and hung out by the pool. I ended up talking with a couple of the hotel workers which was nice. I like meeting new people and learning about their lives. Then we checked out, walked into town with our stuff and took a bus tithe city where we would catch our bus to Quito. There, we bought our tickets, watched soccer, and ate dinner before getting on a 10:20 pm bus back to Quito
Saturday, June 20 : We arrived in Quito a little after 4 am and then took a taxi to a hostel, checked in, and fell back asleep for a few hours. After showers and a late breakfast we headed to the market to buy souvenirs. We had so much fun bartering for gifts for family, friends, and ourselves. We got lunch at some point and eventually made it back to drop off our stuff at the hostel before having coffee and talking with the cafe owner for over an hour. He is Canadian and has such interesting ideas about life. It was really fun. Then, we had dinner at a nearby bakery. It was mostly desert but so good! We then got juice at a cute restaurant to end our time in Ecuador.

Tomorrow Cara flies to Guatamala and I fly home. As you can see, it has been a full 4 weeks and I am exhausted. As much as I will miss this country, I am ready to go home. 

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Passion and Conversations in Ecuador

          So I spent like 2 hours writing a blog post while in the rainforest on Thursday but it somehow got  deleted once I got internet again. I promise to write about everything that has happened and all the crazy adventures I have been on in the last 2 weeks, but right now I want to reflect on some of the conversations that I have had and some of the many thoughts floating around in my head. 
          First, while it is still fresh, I want to process this morning's Spanish lesson. My cousin Cara and I arrived in the city of Cuenca yesterday morning and began classes right away with two new teachers. Our morning teacher is this great woman, probably in her late 20's, maybe early 30's. I liked her right away as she speaks really only in Spanish and has been giving us vocabulary that is helpful for our lives (such as fruits and vegetables since I work in a food coop). She also revealed yesterday that she is a vegetarian and cares a lot for her health and is okay being different. And then today she told us about her own personal philosophy. She discovered Krishna mediation from India about five years ago and really just changed her life around. Instead of caring about money and possessions, she started caring about love and showing her inner light to the world. As she spoke, her eyes just glowed. She talked about living everyday with optimism and it is this optimism, this positive energy that can change the world. You could tell that she just loved her life and that everyday and in every moment, she makes the choice to choose love and choose hope. I loved listening to her (even though it was tiring because it was all in Spanish) and could feel her passion being passed onto me. She is becoming a role model for me because I want that balance in my life. I want to live in optimism and pass on positive energy to all those around me. It was such a sacred moment as I felt connected with her and with God. It felt like destiny that I was there in that classroom today.
          I think that traveling brings out a lot of sacred conversations. At least for me, traveling creates the opportunity to look for the unexpected and to be open to hearing the stories of people around you because you realize that everyone has stories. I have really enjoyed learning about different people's passions. My afternoon teacher in Quito was telling me how much he loved Quito. Although he might like to live in another country for a bit, he wants to be in Ecuador long term. He likes the climate, the people, and the city. It is not that he was patriotic, but he just really liked where he was. It is kind of how I now feel about the United States. The U.S. Is not perfect at all, but it is home for me and it is where (I think) I want to be. Then in the rainforest, I talked with our guide who was this 22 year old guy who grew up in a small village near the national park we were at. You could tell that he loved his job and truly loved the forest. The jungle for him was home and he was so passionate about the animals and plants that are there. He was taking pictures right along with us of all the amazing wildlife. I think it was partly his passion that made me fall in love with jungle also. It was also interesting to hear about his life growing up because it was so different than my own. I definitely did not play with poisonous snakes!
          Other good conversations have had to do with politics. It has been so interesting to learn about Ecuador's socialist president. Some people here just really love him while others think he is just a liar and a thief. I don't think I have my own opinion yet, but it has been super interesting to hear the different perspectives. I also have learned more about the machismo culture here and even about the LGBTQ community in Ecuador. Today in class we also talked about governmental programs and Cara and I had to explain about unemployment in the U.S. It made me embarrassed, not because I didn't know the Spanish words, but that I don't know how things like unemployment and food stamps work in the U.S. I realized once again how stuck I am in my middle-class life and am just uniformed. As a person who is concerned about social justice, I hate that I don't know these things.
          There is so much more I could write as I have been making so many new friends and meeting people from all over the world. One thing that has surprised me is how people are not usually how I first perceived them. And (almost always) people turn out to be super nice and super interesting and fun. I really have loved meeting people and learning new things. In so many ways, this trip has been a perfect fit for me.