Pictures posted!

Hey guys I posted pictures from my trip to Cotapaxi Mountain, Harry Potter Halloween at USFQ and my Fall break trip to: Cuenca, Guayquil, Montañita, and Puerto Lopez.  Check them out in the Gallery!

Celebrating Halloween today at USFQ!

 The school has been transformed into Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry! Quidditch tournament today @ 12! lol
Events of the day:

CRONOGRAMA:

1.     Laguna -11h30: inauguración campal: música, incantaciones, agenda, desfile de unicornios, presentación de reglas para concursar por la Copa USFQ por Colegios

2.    Cancha de futbol -12h00: Inicio torneo de Quidditch.

3.    Hall Principal -12h30: Exhibición de magia Hall principal

4.    Plaza D. Vinci -13h00: concurso de disfraces y premiación

5.    Cafetería -13h30: cocina ,magia,menú Hogwarts

6.    Teatro Calderón de la Barca -14h30: concurso de Trivia

7.    Hall Principal -15h30: premios y exhibición de trabajos participantes en el concurso de Ilustración y en el de Fan Fiction “Harry Potter en el Ecuador”

8.    16h00- Finales Quidditch, entrega de la Copa USFQ al Colegio Ganador

Cada actividad de la jornada entrega puntos.

American industries you wouldn't expect to find in Ecuador:

I have seen each one of these stores here, some may surprise you:

Papa John's
Dominos
Pizza Hut
Radio Shack
Hallmark
KFC
McDonalds
Burger King
Forever 21
Victoria Secret

Baños photos added.

check the gallery

Pura vida!

Hey guys!

I had 3 exams this week so I'm behind on posts.  All my pics are updated though so check out the gallery!  You absolutely have to see the Misahaullí pics from my unbelievable birthday experience in the Amazon rainforest! The are INCREDIBLE!!!  Anyways, I'm on my way out the door for my Baños trip (amazing hot springs next to an active volcano) this weekend.  I'll make sure to post updates about Mindo, the Amazon, and Baños when I get back!

Welcome Party for Exchange Students

Hola!

So I forgot to mention the awesome welcome party that USFQ had for all the exchange students a few weeks back.  It was at this beautiful estate in Lumbisi, about 15min from where I am living. The estate was actually the home of an Ecuadorian student's uncle.  The place was beautiful.  I guess they rent it for events and weddings.  There were 3 soccer fields, a pool and bathhouse, a wooded area with a playground, and a gorgeous mansion.  

The planned events included playing traditional Ecuadorian games.  The challenge for the first game was to climb this tall pole and pop the balloons at the top.  Normally, the pole is greased, but they didn't want us to ruin our clothing so the omitted that part.  Even with this slight advantage it was still extremely challenging.  There were only about 5 people of 200+ that could actually do it, and there were no ladies that did it successfully.  Below is a picture of a few of my friends and my attempts... Rick, the ex-marine the one on the far left in the white shirt, was among the elite to successfully climb to the top!

                                           

Other games included potato sack races, piñatas, and running through a maze carrying an egg on a spoon.  After the games we ate a traditional Ecuadorian meal of pork, potatoes, ahí (a spicy salsa with onions), and other foods that I do not remember the names of. This lil piggy below looks scary but he was delicious! 

The remainder of the day consisted of enjoying traditional Ecuadorian pastimes such as drinking beer, playing soccer, and a pretty awesome dance competition.  All in all it was an amazing welcome party! 

Sep 7th, Fútbol: Jamaica vs. Ecuador

SOCCER!

 Clearly fútbol one of the most important things in Latin American culture! So I of course had to go see the Ecuadorian national team play at the Olympic stadium in Quito.  The game was Jamaica vs. Ecuador, and honestly the stadium was a bit empty because the game was expected to be an easy win for Ecuador.  We bought some pretty sweet jerseys outside the stadium for $5 and I got to hear the Ecuadorian national anthem for the first time, which sounds a bit like a theme song to a Dr. Seuss movie.  During the game we snacked on empanadas, popcorn, and beer. At the half they set off a display of red, blue, and yellow smoke bombs to replicate the Ecuadorian flag. Also, it was interesting to hear all the cheering, chanting, whistling, and tormenting that goes on during the game.  Ecuador ended up winning 5-2!  Hooray! Later, I am hoping to go to a game between the local leagues here because they say the crowd gets a bit more rowdy and the police are usually called in to do crowd control.  I did get a little preview of the police in their crowd control gear.

Sep 1st -The 23rd Birthday of the University San Francisco de Quito

Hey all, so birthdays here are a pretty big deal! 

For the 23rd birthday of my University here in Quito, the administration put together a huge event.  Classes were canceled from 11:30-1pm and all the students met in the gym for an assembly.  All of the professor were dressed up in their graduation regalia and the gym was decorated with balloons and streamers.  The chancellor said a few words and then they invited a famous poet to speak about liberty.  After the assembly everyone was invited to the school plaza for a reception.  They set up a runway in the plaza and all the sports teams of the university put on a school pride fashion show faulting all the USFQ wear that you can buy in the bookstore.  We all sang Happy Birthday and then FREE cake and sangria was served while a live band played.  Surprisingly, there was no limit to the amount of cake or sangria; it was eat your fill!  The cake was specially made by the school´s gastronomy department and the entire event was really enjoyable.  I was also quite surprised to see several of my professors enthusiastically toasting and drinking sangria.  I was even further surprised by the amount of self control that the Ecuadorians exhibited.  The plaza mostly cleared around 1:30pm after students diligently returned to class.  If there was ever an event like this at U of I, where there was unlimited FREE cake and alcohol, absolutely no one would go to class and the entire campus would be a disaster... Apparently this is done every year on the 1st of September and is thoroughly enjoyed by the students.

Otavalo- August 27th

So I am a little behind, but here´s the update: Two weekends ago I went on an excursion with my program group to the city of Otavalo.  Along the way we stopped at 'La mitad del mundo', aka 'The middle of the world'.  I got to stand on the equator! This is one of the few places on Earth where your GPS will actually read 0' 0' 0'.  It is also one of the only places where you can see all of the star constellations!  I took several pictures standing on the dividing line between the northern and southern hemisphere.  Unfortunately, none of the tricks about water spinning in different directions depending on the hemishper are true.  Toilets flush pretty much any way the manufacturers want.  Try it at home, you can make the water in your drain spin different directions based on how you pull the plug out.

The next place we stopped at was this biscocho factory! Biscochos are very similar to biscotti cookies. The biscocho is a very traditional cookie that is baked twice and then served with hot chocolate, sugar, and cheese.  They are absolutely delicious.  In the small bakery that we visited the people work making 1000s and selling 1000s every day.  They have these giant ovens and have a systematic way of making and cutting the dough.  You can get 10 biscochos for only $1.  I brought a bag to share with my host family. yum!

Outside Otavalo we stopped at a scenic view point for some pictures and picked up two indigenous Andean girls.  The girls were adorable in their traditional outfits. They sung songs for us in Quichau and sold pretty scarves and bracelets on the way to the market.

In Otavalo, we went to the largest open air market in South America.  This place had everything you could ever imagine from alpaca sweaters to silver jewelry to India Jones hats.  The artwork was beautiful!  We stopped for a delicious lunch at a local restaurant where they had a live Andean band.  After eating our fill the shopping began!

I got really good at haggling!  The prices were already cheap in comparison to the US but bartering is part of the experience.  I bought a traditional pair of leather sandals and a silver ring for myself.  I also did a little bit of Christmas shopping.  The prices were so cheap and the items so unique that I will definitely be going back with a bit more money next time.

Later that day we checked into our hostel and then went to see the waterfall!  Ecuadorians are not all that safety conscience so we were able to climb and hike up and down the falls!  We also discovered a really cool cave that opens up behind the falls.  I got pretty daring and actually walked across an old log that made a bridge across the river.

When we returned to the hostel a wonderful dinner was prepared with live entertainment.  At the meal we sampled a traditional Ecuadorian drink made of blackberry.  For music two indigenous men played Andean instruments for us while their children danced for us.  The musicians were incredibly talented.  Each one played more than three different instruments from guitar to flute to harmonica, etc. All of the children were dressed up in traditional outfits and some wore masks.  The entire experience was definitely the highlight of my trip thus far.  I loved the music so much that I bought 3 of their CDs.

Sunday morning we went to an instrument factory in the town.  This was actually located in the home of the master instrument crafter.  This indigenous man was completely self taught at making and playing instruments. He demonstrated how to make a ´Rondedor´, a very traditional type of flute played in Ecuador.  After that, he showed how to play all the instruments in his shop and gave us a try.  Before we left, he played a song with his daughters on several of the instruments that he made.

We spent the remainder of the day hiking the mountains surrounding San Pablo lake.  We also went on a boat ride around to see the small island in the lake´s center created years ago by a volcano.

The last place we stopped was a small town outside Otavalo called Cotacachi.  Cotacachi is very famous for its leather crafts.  There were a ton of shops selling leather boots, jackets, purses, and more! By this point I was completely, out of money but I intend to go back to by a nice motorcyle jacket!

All in all a very eventful weekend! Check out my photos in the gallery!

feeling sick :(

Hey guys sorry I haven't updated the blog in  a while.  I've been feeling under the weather.  I caught a strange Ecuadorian bug and have been bed ridden the last few days.  What is kind of cool is that doctors still do house calls here in Ecuador.  It makes you feel really special.  Anyways, I will update you when I am feeling better.  In the meantime check out my newly uploaded photos.

Where I live & learn

The above are pictures of the University of San Francisco de Quito campus where I am taking classes taught in Spanish this semester.  The below pictures are the home of my host family where I am living.  The house has a small garden in the backyard where we have a lemon tree.  Yesterday, I picked fresh lemons and made delicious lemonade for lunch.  Can't do that in my yard back home in the US.  Yes, be jealous Ecuador is gorgeous!

Rainy day

The past 5 days have been  beautiful sunny clear skies in the morning and then everyday like clockwork rain from 3-6pm... today was no different except for a few unfortunate events:

Ecuador has claimed my umbrella and cell phone.  In clarification, I forgot my umbrella on the bus to Quito, and I left my phone in a taxi.  So these instances were totally my fault; nothing stolen... I only hope some fortunate Ecuadorian is putting these items to good use!

Festival de San Bartolomé

I had a very busy weekend!

This weekend was the Feast of San Barolomé in Lumbisí.  While the town is relatively small, these people really know how to party.  Starting with Friday night they had the crowning of the Queen of the fiestas and her court.  Then they served authentic food and had a live band.  The entire town danced until after midnight.

Saturday was beyond my imagination.  The activities started at 8am with parades and people dressed in masks and costumes.  I did not actually arrive until about 7pm because I spent the day helping my host family with a birthday party for their grandmother!  By the time I got there the entire town was dressed in clown or cowboy costumes and had consumed a significant amount of alcohol... but I got there just in time for the best part of the Fiesta: FIREWORKS!

Now in comparison, we in the US really have no idea of how to put on a good fireworks show.  The 30 minutes of sparkles in the sky on the 4th of July is nothing compared to the 3.5 hour celebration that I witnessed in Lumbisí.  Safety is not emphasized quite as much here in Ecuador when it comes to explosives, yes I said explosives. Sure there were the traditional type of fireworks in the sky, but there were also these giant castles made of wood rigged with multiple levels of bottle rockets, firecrackers, and whatever else you can think of.  Each castle took over 25 minutes to finish.  You really had to be on the lookout when watching these things because they shoot fire in random directions and you are CLOSE.  So close in fact, that all the children and drunk men would run under the spewing sparks!  It was spectacular! I have never seen anything like this! You can check out all my photos and intense videos in my gallery but I don't think even those can do justice to what I experienced.

Another really cool part of the night were Los Globos.  These are giant paper machete balloons that  people fill with hot air and then release into the night sky.  The were beautiful. Check out the video below:

Last week's Adventures

My first week in Ecuador was incredibly exciting.  I spent most of the week touring Quito with my program coordinator María and the 15 students from my program.  In total there are 200 international students studying at USFQ this semester, the majority from US schools like UNC, Mizzou, DePaw, Oregon, etc.  However, the students on my specific program are composed of 10 students from U of I and 5 from Penn State.  This week we visited the Botanical gardens of Quito.  Did you know that there are 2,000+ species of orchids in Ecuador?!  The climate is always mild so they bloom year round.  Also, the fruits here are absolutely delicious!  They have 5 different types of bananas and dozens of other fruits that I have never seen before.  My host sister was actually complaining how bad the fruit was when she visited the Caribbean... I think they are spoiled here because even the most unripe fruit is delicious.  Ecuadorians should never try fruit in the US, lol.

We also visited La Casa de Cultura, the Museum of Anthropology in Quito, as well as the City Museum.  This history of Ecuador and its people is very interesting because there were/still are so many indigenous groups in the region.  Additionally, there was a large influence from the Incas and Spanish. 

If you saw the pictures that I posted, then you know that Thursday I went to the colonial part of Quito.  This part of town is absolutely beautiful with dozens of churches dating back 400 years.  I visited several historic spots including the Church of St. Augustine, the Church of the Companía de Jesus, the Plaza of St. Francis, and Independence Plaza.  St. Augustine is actually the site of Independence Hall where Ecuadorians signed their first Constitution in 1809.  Independence plaza houses the Presidential Palace and marks the site where the exposition that discovered the Amazon River began.  If you have time you should look up this story the exhibition started out with something like 900 people and ended with only 30 floating down the Amazon into the Atlantic. We also stopped in at the Quito Cultural Center to see a demonstration by traditional Andean dancers. Check out the album titled "Alisha arrives in Ecuador" to see a video of the dancers.

Last Friday we went to an Indigenous town a little ways outside Quito.  The gap between rich and poor in Ecuador is very wide.  It is surprising how I can go 20 minutes away from where I am living and find houses without running water.  Poverty is most evident in indigenous communities, because the land is owned and governed by the community itself; therefore it receives little to no support from the Ecuadorian government.  Lumbisí is where I plan to do most of my volunteer work while I am here.  On Friday we visited a one room nursery school, a primary school of 300 students, a technical high school, and a home for the elderly.  We spent our time talking to children and serving lunch to senior citizens.  Once I know how much free time I will have with classes I am hoping to go back to the high school to teach English, Math, and Computers to students.   What amazed me is how kind everyone is in this very tight knit community.  Each one of the senior citizens thanked me for serving them lunch saying Le pargaré a Dios," which means "May God repay you."

Arrived safe in Quito, Ecuador!

Hey All,

I had a safe arrival in Ecuador! Flight #1 was 3 hours from Chicago to Miami and flight #2 was 3 hours from Miami to Quito!  There were no delays, I got both my bags, and they even served dinner on the second flight! (very surprising considering I flew AA).  Ecuador reminds me of St. Lucia.  It is very mountainous with lots of flowers. There are also many comforts from home.  Driving through Quito we passed a McDonalds, KFC, and Payless Shoesource (my favorite).  My host family is wonderful.  The mom and dad are very accomodating and my younger host sister loves to talk!  My living situation is definitely an upgrade from Argentina.  I am living in a very safe/ritzy gated community only 5 minutes from the University.  I have my own room with a full size bed, large closet, internet access, there is a washer and dryer in the house, and I have a new 10 inch high  friend named Nana the poodle (who is very quiet).  I arrived here on what my host dad said is their coldest day of the year yet... my host sister was wearing a winter coat and hat... it was  65 degrees and I was sweating in my capris and sweatshirt.  Oh well, I guess us Chicagoans have a different idea of what cold is... Tomorrow I have orientation at the University.  I will be available to skype after 5pm (Quito is the same time zone as Chicago).

Love and kisses,

Alisha