I cannot believe my time in Ecuador has finally come to a close!
I left Intag just fine and finished up the report. I was pretty sad to say good-bye to that host family but also really excited to see everyone in Quito coming back from their own ISP experiences. Even getting back into Quito was an adjustment and all the bustle was slightly overwhelming and I missed that clean air in the campo. I was only in Quito for one night before we all headed out to La Hesperia, a beautiful research/lodge located a couple hours outside Quito, complete with gardens, pasture, and forest. There we all cycled through presenting our projects—something that I thought would be incredibly tedious but was actually very interesting. The greatest part was that everyone was working on something different, ranging from researching sea turtles on the coast, to assisting with construction projects with an indigenous culture in the amazon, to measuring the progress of the wax palms in the cloud forest (ok, that last one was me). Regardless, I learned a lot while also having a relaxing time to recover from the last-minute stress of completing ISPs. We had some free time to play ultimate Frisbee in the yard and later, almost all 20 of us played soccer in the rain along with some staff members, which was awesome. We all agreed it’s impossible to play in the rain and take it seriously so I am pretty sure everyone had a great time slipping around.
After the trip to La Hesperia, we got back to Quito to enjoy our last couple days in Ecuador. A group of us went to Parque Carolina, a huge park near the center of Quito, on Wednesday to play soccer with any Ecuadorians we could find to play against during the afternoon. On Friday I went back to the park with Estelle and Becca to paddleboat around a “lake” in the middle of the park, kinda silly but pleasant. Friday afternoon was also our last time with Sylvia, Xavier, and Aldemar, our two academic directors and another assistant who helps run the program. We all went to a classy pizza place where we gave them small gifts we had put together as a form of thanks for all they do throughout the semester.
As a last reflection on my study abroad time, it was, overall, an amazing experience that is sometimes difficult to put into words. My first time out of the country was reasonably successful in my terms—didn’t get robbed, didn’t get sick, and experienced the diverse regions of the country. I also improved in my Spanish and was at the end able to tell stories to my homestay family in Intag that would make them laugh, something that sounds basic but an achievement for me. And I even did have some dreams in Spanish, which I’m proud of as well. In Ecuador I had the opportunity to accomplish some things I have wanted to do in my life, including see bioluminescence (in Galapagos), successfully hitchhike (sounds dumb, but I was really excited), and bungee jump. I also learned some stuff about myself, like how I actually don’t enjoy jumping off high things and, more seriously, that I am able to travel abroad to appreciate both the new culture and my own.
So now I am here with a mezcla of emotions, having to say goodbye to some amazing people I just spent that last 4 months with, while also being hours away of finally seeing my family once again. I know I’ll eventually stop saying “permiso” when passing through people and instinctively asking “como le va?” as a form of greeting, but can guarantee my time in Ecuador will be a fond memory that is always a part of me.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thanksgiving and more
ok, it’s been a little while since I have written in this…my bad. These last couple weeks have been quite busy, which is good and bad, but at least now I have a bit of time to catch up.
We celebrated thanksgiving here this past Saturday and it was actually a really good replacement dinner for not getting to be in the US. Susanna, Grace, Andy, Elliot and I are all doing our ISPs in Intag so we all met up in Peñaherrera, of the pueblos within Intag (it’s also where Grace lives and where Susanna and my soccer game was) the weekend before to discuss our menu and what we all planned on preparing. Then that Friday we went to Otavalo, about a 2 hour, $2 bus ride, which is the nearest town to purchase all our supplies. We were able to get all the dry ingredients in little shops throughout and then dedicated the afternoon to finding produce in the open-air market in the streets. We returned to Santa Rosa that same day and left all the stuff at Andy & Susanna’s house. On Saturday we all met up at their house and got a ride (back of a pick-up as usual) up to a reserve called Siempre Verde, which serves as a tourist place but is pretty rustic all the same.
Right as we got there we just started cooking our different dishes. Susanna braved lighting the gas oven and nearly burnt her eyebrows off but made it out just fine. Grace made her sweet potato dish with camote—the sweet potato that grows here but is actually purple instead of orange—and it was super tasty. Andy was in charge of the turkey (it was a chicken but we pretty much referred to it as turkey) and it turned out really good and moist. I made a fruit salad with apple, mango, pineapple, and banana and I believe everyone enjoyed. I bought some pears to add at the market that were kinda hard but the guy told me they were Chilean so they’re ripe even when they’re hard. Once I got to the reserve I saw the USA sticker and got made fun of for being so gullible. But the fruit salad was great regardless! And Elliot made an apple crisp for desert that was quite delicious. After eating we spent the rest of the evening sitting around this really cool fireplace and chatting. made some turkey sandwiches with the leftovers for dinner, which was quite excellent. It was a really awesome evening and a really beautiful place to be so for missing Thanksgiving at home, it was a good as it could possibly be.
So this last week has been dedicated to visiting one last reserve in Villa Flora and writing my paper. The Villa Flora trip was super frustrating because I tried to get the woman who was helping me to understand that I had this map and needed to find palms on the map but basically in the end I measured 6 and she told me the rest “se desaparecieron” or that they had all disappeared. At least it was a beautiful ride to and from the reserve on the back of a motorcycle that actually had shocks to make it a bit more enjoyable.
And now I am trying to finish up writing my paper. I planned on going to Apuela to use the internet, do some last minute research, and then print my paper to turn into my advisor. The plan was to go in the morning but the electricity went out so instead I went in the afternoon. I arrived at 2:15 and the bus out leaves at 3 so I had to be quick. But right as I got there they informed me that the lights went out once again. So I ended up not getting done what I wanted to but whatever. I will try again tomorrow. A lot o the group is already back in Quito and I know I am going to be one of the later arrivals but I think I am ok with that. gives me more time to finish the paper (right now 13 pages 1.5 spaced in Spanish…pretty proud…but it’s supposed to be more like 15…whatever) and say good-bye/thank you to people here in Intag.
We celebrated thanksgiving here this past Saturday and it was actually a really good replacement dinner for not getting to be in the US. Susanna, Grace, Andy, Elliot and I are all doing our ISPs in Intag so we all met up in Peñaherrera, of the pueblos within Intag (it’s also where Grace lives and where Susanna and my soccer game was) the weekend before to discuss our menu and what we all planned on preparing. Then that Friday we went to Otavalo, about a 2 hour, $2 bus ride, which is the nearest town to purchase all our supplies. We were able to get all the dry ingredients in little shops throughout and then dedicated the afternoon to finding produce in the open-air market in the streets. We returned to Santa Rosa that same day and left all the stuff at Andy & Susanna’s house. On Saturday we all met up at their house and got a ride (back of a pick-up as usual) up to a reserve called Siempre Verde, which serves as a tourist place but is pretty rustic all the same.
Right as we got there we just started cooking our different dishes. Susanna braved lighting the gas oven and nearly burnt her eyebrows off but made it out just fine. Grace made her sweet potato dish with camote—the sweet potato that grows here but is actually purple instead of orange—and it was super tasty. Andy was in charge of the turkey (it was a chicken but we pretty much referred to it as turkey) and it turned out really good and moist. I made a fruit salad with apple, mango, pineapple, and banana and I believe everyone enjoyed. I bought some pears to add at the market that were kinda hard but the guy told me they were Chilean so they’re ripe even when they’re hard. Once I got to the reserve I saw the USA sticker and got made fun of for being so gullible. But the fruit salad was great regardless! And Elliot made an apple crisp for desert that was quite delicious. After eating we spent the rest of the evening sitting around this really cool fireplace and chatting. made some turkey sandwiches with the leftovers for dinner, which was quite excellent. It was a really awesome evening and a really beautiful place to be so for missing Thanksgiving at home, it was a good as it could possibly be.
So this last week has been dedicated to visiting one last reserve in Villa Flora and writing my paper. The Villa Flora trip was super frustrating because I tried to get the woman who was helping me to understand that I had this map and needed to find palms on the map but basically in the end I measured 6 and she told me the rest “se desaparecieron” or that they had all disappeared. At least it was a beautiful ride to and from the reserve on the back of a motorcycle that actually had shocks to make it a bit more enjoyable.
And now I am trying to finish up writing my paper. I planned on going to Apuela to use the internet, do some last minute research, and then print my paper to turn into my advisor. The plan was to go in the morning but the electricity went out so instead I went in the afternoon. I arrived at 2:15 and the bus out leaves at 3 so I had to be quick. But right as I got there they informed me that the lights went out once again. So I ended up not getting done what I wanted to but whatever. I will try again tomorrow. A lot o the group is already back in Quito and I know I am going to be one of the later arrivals but I think I am ok with that. gives me more time to finish the paper (right now 13 pages 1.5 spaced in Spanish…pretty proud…but it’s supposed to be more like 15…whatever) and say good-bye/thank you to people here in Intag.
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