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.