Lessons from Cotopaxi

Last weekend, I tried to climb one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Probably not a good idea, but I learned a couple of things from that weekend, and enjoyed some of it! We started off Saturday morning with picking up/sizing our gear, then hiking about an hour up to the refuge we would be staying at. Already tired from that, I had a little break for lunch and settling in, before we climbed up to the snow cap to be trained on how to walk with our crampons (basically spikes that you tie to your boots) and ice picks. I really enjoyed this training, since I can much more easily keep up my endurance if there's something technical to it... probably why I was a hurdler in high school. I got pretty excited after the training, thinking of course I'll make it to the top, if it's all like this! We headed back to the refuge, ate dinner, then tried to sleep from 8 til midnight. Setting out in the dark, we starting climbing. Shortly after that piece of snow cap I enjoyed so much earlier, there was a long stretch of sand and dirt that was pretty hard to climb. Right before a giant incline, I finally had to give up because I was breathing too much and getting light-headed. Looking around, I was in an area I would NOT want to fall! The worst part is probably that my climbing partner, Matt, had to turn around with me since we were tied to the same guide.

First thing I learned, is that obviously I need to prepare more for something like this. To be fair, I found out that a group was going (and needed one more person) two days before it happened. I think I could've done it if I knew, say, a month in advance and could train for it. I tend to make decisions like this pretty impulsively and can easily convince myself it's doable, but hopefully next time I'll be able to turn down something cool if I know I'm not ready for it!

Also, once we got back to the refuge, I had hours to kill and it was too cold to sleep. So I put in my headphones and started listening to the flute concerto I'm working on. And I thought, you know, I could start training a lot, climb a lot of mountains, and become this cool adventure girl because I like volcanos and want to see their craters. Or, I could take the limited free time I have, and keep working on something I'm already good at and have already invested a lot in. I can still enjoy hiking and the like without being really good at it, and should be investing my time in flute, because I love it and am already committed to it!

Enough with the writing, here are some of the pictures I got from the weekend!

Looking down from the refuge...

...and looking up!

Enjoying our last warmth for a while!

Lunch in the refuge... part of having guides is that they cooked for us! It was good, even though I felt nauseas after each meal... probably just the altitude!

Sleeping bags! 

Crampons and ice pick.

Charlie and Allison while we're training!

Aaaand the view from the parking lot.

Some familiarity...

This past week was maybe not as exciting as the one before, but I have kept busy and become a little bit more familiar with Quito! Before I get to that part, I'll tell you a little bit about the two "field trips" our program had. On Thursday we went somewhere south (I have no idea where) too see some Indigenous markets. The second market was similar to any of the other crafts markets here, but the first one seemed more legit, and definitely not really geared towards tourists! The first market had a lot of livestock and crops at it, and we were told that they usually don't deal with money there. They simply trade things. It sounds great in theory, but I think I would get frustrated at not having what other people wanted, when I needed something else. After those two markets, we went to hear from an organization that helps micro-finance for women in the area. I could probably find the name of the organization somewhere and tell you what it is, but I'll be honest, I'm laying in my bed typing this and don't feel like getting up. :) Also, I only have a picture of a cow for this field trip. Sorry.

Then on Friday, we headed north to a little town called Esparanza. First, we met up with the mayor so he could explain some of the projects, which included water reservoirs for irrigation and helping families start small, sustainable gardens/farms. We got a little tour of on reservoir and a woman's farm. It was cool to see all of the plants mixed together, and not sectioned off like how we usually see farms! After that we drove to a rose farm. It was huge! They grow 12 different types of roses on that farm (one of three that they own) and have SO MANY of each kind! They export them everywhere, too. 80% of their roses end up in Russia! When we toured the processing area, I even saw a box addressed to Chicago. Here too it was cool to learn about the irrigation system, as they don't naturally get enough water. I'll sort-of explain that in the picture caption. That day we had a lunch that tasted a little bit like a furniture store.

The church of the parochial. 

Cayambe volcano, which we could see really closely from where we were! It is the 3rd highest mountain in Ecuador, and one of the few volcanoes to be snow-covered. Esperanza is among many small pueblos in the middle of Ecuador's "ring of fire." I think Quito is in that too, actually... uh oh!

Cotopaxi, the 2nd highest! That dark spot near the top is the crater. Some people are planning on climbing it while we're here! We'll see if I forget the pain of climbing Pichincha in time to do this one :) Apparently you need a guide and ropes and snowsuits, etc. Pretty intense. 

The small, mixed, sustainable garden we toured!

The rose farm.

There was this huge wall that I think was supposed to keep the wind from destroying all the roses!

So this is one of the first parts of their irrigation system. These plants in this reservoir help maintain the pH before the water is sucked to a different reservoir. Eventually it ends up in the pipes, being pumped into the dirt of the rose farms!

They had a lot of this big, aggressive dogs that they let roam at night to protect the farm.

On Saturday, I was told I was going to a mass with my family! When we got there (it was a little far), after getting a little bit lost, we walked into a large, colorful church and sat down. I was wondering if it was a special mass since it was so far from home, and I soon found out that it was when they started carrying a casket down the aisle. No wonder everyone was dressed in black and white, and my orange dress really stood out! After the mass (little of which I actually understood), I asked my family who had died. Turns out they don't know the person who the funeral was for, but this mass apparently also was serving as the mass for some relative that died a month ago.

In front of the church.

Mi familia! Jonathan, Mamá, me and Papá

After the mass, we headed to what my papá said was "tea." Oh good, I thought, I'll be home in time to go salsa dancing with my friends. Or not. This "tea" lasted from 4-10pm and the liquids were actually wine and whisky shots. The whole time, they played the tracks of songs while men got up and sang karaoke-style, and it was all REALLY loud. Meanwhile, waiters came around to our rows of chairs carrying trays alternating with whisky shots and little chocolates. Luckily, the whisky was pretty watered down. I don't know what I would have done if all these old, unknown relatives of my host family were drunk. At some point, they passed out little "rest in peace" cards about the woman who had died a month ago, reminding us that this was, in fact, a memorial service. Eventually, we got dinner, and then my mamá said we would leave. Then she said we would stay for one more song. Then after ten or so more songs we actually left. At one point, one of the singers started asking my mamá about me (he didn't think I spoke Spanish). When I said I did, he asked if I was married. I thought he had said the word for tired so I replied "yeah, a little bit." Oops!

Two of the singers of the night. My papá made me get up in front of everyone and have my picture taken with them... it was pretty embarrassing! But hey, what are parents for? 

A really bad picture of the mariachi band. After I snapped this one, my aunt suggested I go up there for another picture, so I quickly put the camera away to avoid that again!

Some friends had been asking me if I found a church here yet, and I was pretty hesitant to do so because I was too scared of traveling the city more than I needed to, and it was hard to look for one I would like when all the information online is in Spanish. This weekend though, I found an English-speaking church (called English Christian Fellowship) with pastors from North America, and a wide mix of a congregation! They even print out the entire sermon in Spanish, so there are a few Ecuadorian families that go. There are also quite a few young Americans who are studying or interning abroad. I hope to go to the young adults kick-off barbecue this weekend to find out what some of these other people are doing here. This Sunday I decided to walk there, having no idea how far it was, and only having glanced at the map once. I gave myself a half hour to do it, but it ended up taking an hour so I was pretty late. The walk home was only 45 minutes, so I may continue walking in the future. The church calls itself "multi-denominational" which I though was a cool variation to the usual "non-denominational" title that I am used to. The message itself seemed a little weak, and I don't think this will be the most convicting or informational church I have been to, but I want to stick it out and see if some of the other sermons have more depth. Plus, it's just nice having all of these resources of young adult groups and volunteering options.

This may or may not be from the church's website, because I may or may not have forgotten to take a picture of my own while I was there :)

A significant portion of this past week/weekend has been spent writing. Last Tuesday we were assigned two 6-page papers to wrap up our two classes (International Development and Country Analysis) that are now done after these three weeks. While 12 pages doesn't seem like a ton, when it's in a different language and about a set of lectures I didn't understand everything from, it takes a long time! But, happily, I will be done once I get my grammar corrections back. :)

Jessica and I went to work on our papers in this "all-night coffee shop" that Charlie told us about. Turns out it's a bar/restaurant right in the busiest part of the bar area, with a live band. Luckily, they did have coffee, so we stayed and got a decent amount done.

For a while I had been looking forward to visiting the artisan market, and finally I had time this weekend! Sara and I went there on Sunday and I bought a few things :) Sometime soon I want to make the 2-hour trip to Otavalo, where apparently the market is HUGE. I would like to buy an Ecuadorian flute there, but I have no idea whether it'll be legit, or just a touristy toy, since I'm bound to sound bad playing for the first time either way. Hopefully I'll have some luck, and than Jessica and I can play some Ecuadorian charango/flute duets!

An alpaca sweater, scarf, and purse! Of course the weather got hot as soon as I bought the sweater so I haven't been able to wear it yet :/

I think the most exciting thing lately, despite these little field trips and such, is that I'm starting to get a little more familiar with Quito! My Spanish is definitely improving (I think a lot of my struggles with it were a lack of confidence... but there's no room for that here!), and I'm starting to get the bus system! I still occasionally get on the wrong bus, but I usually don't have to walk very far from where I get off. I love this city though! I have never been a city person, but I could live in this one! It's not very busy, it has a beautiful park that I like to visit and that people can work out in rather than gyms, fresh fruit is extremely cheap, and I really do like speaking Spanish. It has gotten to the point where I feel uncomfortable speaking English to anyone other than the people in my program (even when I met Americans at church). People are friendly and always call each other affectionate names like the ones my parents here call me, including adding "ita" to some women's names because it's cuter or something. :) Oh, also, there are a lot of dogs here. I really like that! Here are some random pictures from my daily life...

This is the street I live on! I live in one of the bottom apartments on the right side. This street is like a big rectangle, where there are 100 apartments in the group of buildings called El Conjunto Del Inca.

The inside of CIMAS, where I have school. There is a big basement too, and another set of stairs going up hidden to the top left. It is a maze!

I got all of this for a little over $2. I tried really hard to remember the names of the yellow spiky one and the greenish one, but I just remember that the greenish one is a pimiento, which means pepper, so no I don't know if I want to eat it.

I get to stop and say hi to this little cutie every morning on my way to school, and every evening on my way home! This is Oddie, Sara's 5-month-old puppy :)

Playing with Oddie!

Paw prints in the concrete! There are actually paw prints, and shoe prints, everywhere in the concrete. You would think they would make an effort to let it dry in peace, but I guess not!

Once the first eight weeks are up, I'll move into the internship phase, where I could go anywhere within a three-mile distance from Quito to work. Before the program started, I wanted to go somewhere more rural for my internship, but now I'm thinking I want to stay here. Not only would it be convenient to continue living with my host family where I know how things work, but I would really like to get to know this city. I haven't had a lot of time so far because I have SO MUCH school and homework, so the internship six weeks would be a good time to do that! Who knows where I'll end up though, since as of right now there aren't any public health internships that they suggested that fit my interests. They are mostly geared toward pre-med students, which I am not. I still need to talk to them to try to figure out an internship in nutrition or nutrition education. Wish me luck! I would not like to end up doing hospital observations...

Dancing with gringos and their moms

Once upon a time (I actually don't remember when this was since I'm slacking on the posts) we went on a class trip to Museo Tulipe! It was interesting, but I didn't have a great time since I felt a little carsick. I'll tell you a little of what I think we learned about it (again, my Spanish listening skills aren't perfect). I think within the last few hundred years, an indigenous group lived in this area. They don't anymore, because the last time the nearby volcano erupted, they all either died or moved to the Amazon. They would construct these large pool-type things to fill up with water, and they were places for purification and religious rituals. One of the pools is supposedly shaped like a Jaguar, which was a sacred animal for them. This was where they would do their purification baths. There were four other pools nearby; two were rectangles and two were half-circles. I think they used to look at the moon's reflection in those pools or something. One thing that I found pretty interesting was when he showed us this sample of the last 1000 or so years of dirt in a glass case. He was able to tell from that dirt when the land was inhabited (it would be real dirt with some artifacts) and when the populations were wiped out due to volcanic eruptions (that would just be a layer of volcanic ash). Thanks to Sara for the pictures, since I lost my camera on the bus until we got back to it :)

The Pueblo that lived here before the last volcano eruption used this for education. There are 5 concentric circles (3 existing now) that represent perfection and God.

Hannah and I with our new caterpillar friends! 

We took a little break to wade in the river :)

That night, some of us went over to my friend Alexa's house (luckily, she lives in the same set of apartments as me) to celebrate her 20th birthday with our families! I came a little late since Jessica, Kat and I had gone on a run that afternoon, but the latter half of the party was fun. :) After that we went out to Gringolandia (the name of an area of bars and clubs where you can find all of the foreigners), which was a lot of fun! We convinced my brother Jonathan to come, and I think he is the new favorite host-sibling of the group.

Saturday morning was Día de Deportes (sports day) at CIMAS! All of our families came, and we did things like a strange dance/workout routine, a game of soccer, and learned to salsa! I also had the most amazing hotdog of my life there, and cannot stop craving hotdogs now. (Don't know how I'll go back to being vegetarian after that...) Those who were there would understand. I only got a little sunburnt that day, but my mamá comments about me being burnt every single day. :/

That night, the conjunto girls (Sara, Jessica, Alexa and I) were told we had to go to the neighborhood Bingo party, so we invited some of our other friends along. It was an okay night! It was mostly what it sounds like - Bingo. We played the first round, then found out we had to pay $2 every round so we just watched for a while. Between every few rounds, there was a break for dancing, which was the same style from my last blog post with the band! I don't like that style, haha. It's mostly just bobbing and clapping. But the faces on the old ladies we danced with were priceless, so I enjoyed myself none-the-less! Afterwards, one of the old lady's husbands bought us each a round of Bingo and a big beer to share, so that was fun :)

Kat, me and Hannah playing our first round of bingo. Full board? C'mon.

They had dancing breaks every few games of bingo. We only stayed for one, since you can only play so much bingo.

Aaaand for the best/worst part of the weekend...climbing Quito's lovely volcano, Pichincha! We climbed over 2,000 ft, and I don't know if that's a lot or not, but it was the most intense workout of my life. A few of us got lost for the first few hours, so that tired us out more. The beginning part had some paths so we knew where to go, but the higher up we got, the more the paths disappeared, until we were blindly climbing up steep, rocky slopes, just hoping we were heading toward the top. I do really love the scrambling/climbing parts! It was pretty brutal near the end... it was freeeeeezing cold and the combination of strenuousness and high altitude meant we felt like passing out or throwing up for a good portion of it. But it was really rewarding to have made it to the top of that volcano we see every day and to have stood in the clouds! It might have been worth the altitude sickness I had that night and the next morning :)

The teleferico, which took us up to our starting point of 13,000ft.

Love it. 

Sarita and I with some of beautiful Ecuador in the background! :)

Off into nowhere.

Once we got lost, getting back on track was a little tricky. This was one of multiple ravines we had to jump/climb over. Some of my favorite parts though!

Our goal: the peak. Partially in the clouds.

Chaneen, who was with me the whole way!

This is a very well-defined path compared to a lot of the hiking we did. 

Some of the climbing involved. The higher we got, the more the path disappeared and left us scrambling up with hands and feet! 

At one of our many, many resting points. 

Just dying, in the middle of a freezing cold cloud. 

Aaaand FINALLY we made it! 

In a cloud, at the top of Pichincha!

Snow. It was definitely cold enough.

This part going down was fun, because it was all sandy and we could basically ski on it as we ran down!

Clouds rolling in :)

Mi amor.

That weekend was fun, though extremely tiring overall. I see now on facebook that Lawrence is in full-swing, and I miss it (and all of you!) SO much!! Adios!