Okay, sorry it´s been a couple weeks...again...This past weekend we went to Mindo. It´s a very ecologically-friendly, waterfall-packed town about two hours from Quito. We arrived (in the rain) on Friday night. Of course we were immediately attacked by hostel owners as we got off the bus who were trying to get us to stay at their respective places. So we picked a place, grabbed some dinner, and laid low for the night so that we could get an early start in the morning.
On Saturday morning, we went on a hiking tour of a bunch of waterfalls. There were actually supposed to be seven, but I think we only saw three...it´s kind of hard to tell. Our adventure started with a six kilometer hike to a cable car thingy that took us to the other side of the semi-jungle (We´re not really sure if it was jungle, forest, or what...) Once we got there, we hiked to our first waterfall. At this point it had started raining, which wasn´t really a big deal because we were mostly covered by tree branches and such. When we reached the waterfall, there were dozens of people swimming right beneath it....they pretty much looked really cold...but when in Rome....so we jumped right in there too. Possibly the coldest water I´ve ever swam in, but totally exhilarating. You pretty much had to jump right in otherwise the sharp, pointy rocks would dig even further into the sole of your foot. Ouch. But it was super fun.
Then on Sunday we did some extreme tubing down the rapid-y river. It was really cold, and really scary, but completely worth it. It´s kind of hard to explain, but there are a bunch of huge intertubes tied together and you sit with your butt in the middle of all of them with your feet toward the outside. Basically you go crashing and thrashing down the river in which the huge pointy scary rocks are everywhere you look. We had two guides with us and luckily one of them was pretty much on top of me the whole time because otherwise I would have surely fallen off and been a lost little river rat. When we finally got back onto shore, we all got attacked by a bunch of little bugs (especially on our feet and ankles) and are still scratching today, which is a bummer, but such is life. In fact, the little bug bites woke me up last night because they itched so badly! Yikes. Once again, though, it was totally worth it....as is everything I´ve done.
On a more exciting note....my sister is coming!!! Julie gets here on Sunday night, so I´m making sure to be back from whatever adventure we go on this weekend in time to pick her up with my host brother. I´m so excited to see her, and then my parents come on Friday...keeps getting better and better. Though I CANNOT believe that it is already our Spring break...I´ve never experienced time moving at such a rapid pace before coming to Ecuador. I can´t wait to show my family around and let them get a little taste of everything I´ve been exposed to while here. I´m so lucky!
Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy. Love you all!
martes, 27 de marzo de 2007
martes, 13 de marzo de 2007
Sunrise, Sunset, Sunburn
So as soon as we got back from the jungle, I had to prepare a little presentation for the one class that I have on Fridays(LAME). So I stayed up late Thursday to work on that. Friday morning, I gave the presentation...I´m pretty sure I made up a lot of what I was saying, but I´m already over it. Then we went home, got our stuff packed up, watched a little basketball at a local sports bar(unfortunately the Badger game was not on TV in Ecuador, very sad). Anyway, around 10:00, we headed to the bus station.
Once again, my friend Tylenol PM and I got along splendidly as I slept almost the entire way to Bahía, which was about 8 hours south of Quito. We arrived early Saturday morning, and hopped on a boat that would take us over to San Vincente, which was on the other side of the bay. Then we had to ride a bus about twenty more minutes until we finally reached our destination of Canoa. Honestly, it was probably the most beautiful beach I´ve ever been to. Aside from the white sand, and the bright blue water, there were huge grass-covered cliffs, and gorgeous rolling hills all around us. It was amazing.
We stayed at a hostel called Bambú, and each ¨room¨was actually it´s own little cabaña..it was right on the beach, and it was really nice. There were hammocks all over, and a porch swing on the roof of one of the buildings that overlooked the water.....sooooooo pretty, and quite clean, as well.
We spent all of Saturday on the beach and in the water. The waves were huge, and the ocean floor was really smooth, so it didn´t even hurt when they slammed you into the sand. We played frisbee and football, and enjoyed the view. Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk to the cliffs and made friends with a bajillion crabs that were inhabiting the rocks...We walked around the cliffs and rocks for awhile, then I of course slipped and fell because it wouldn´t be a real trip if I didn´t somehow get injured. No biggie.
That night, we went to one of like three bars that are in Canoa and talked with a lot of interesting people. We made some British and Australian friends who are living in Canoa for four weeks to learn Spanish...it´s customary for them to take a year off between high school and college to travel...not a bad deal. Then we all went back to the beach and sat around a bonfire-it´s so fun talking to people from all over the world...I feel like I learn so much from meeting new people.
Since we all got a bit too much sun on the first day, we invested in a shady tent umbrella thingy (that´s a technical term) for the second day. I was pretty much fine, with the exception of my hands...I don´t know what´s wrong with me, but my hands are extra sensitive to the sun. So they were hurting quite a bit, despite the fact that I wore SPF 50 AND reapplied it. The only thing that gave them relief was to be in the water. So I spent a LOT of time in the ocean on the second day, and that is how I think I got my face so burnt...once again SPF 50...I know we´re on the Equator, but MAN did that sun do a number on me.
So after another long day of playing in the sun, I was really hurting. Luckily, I was distracted from the pain for a bit when the sun started setting. ¡Qué maravillosa! It was sooooooooo gorgeous. I´ve seen the sun set before, but never like this. It was just amazing. I took a ton of pictures. Breathtaking...
So we packed up our stuff and got ready to catch the bus that would allow us to catch the boat that would allow us to catch our other bus back to Quito....got that? It´s a lot less complicated than it seems. At this point in the trip though, I was miserable. I was applying aloe vera like it was my job, and doing anything to keep my skin cool....including dunking my tank top in the dirty dish water at a local restaurant....it was not fun. And I felt bad for my friends for having to look at/put up with me.
Anyway...we got on our bus, and since I knew that it was going to be a rough eight hours, I thought I was prepared by taking wet towels and wrapping my hands in them. I also tried taking some more Tylenol PM hoping it would just knock me out and make me forget about the flames that were my hands. Yeah....not so much. Instead, I was all wet, got my friend all wet, made myself really cold, and didn´t have anything dry to warm up with, and couldn´t sleep for the life of me. It was a really super fun eight hours....yay!
We got back to Quito at around 5:30, and I went home and tried to sleep, but all I could do was run my hands under cold water. So after about three hours of that, I started to get ready to go to school. After my first class, I decided that what was going on with my hands was not normal...I´ve been burnt before, but this was an intense pain that I´ve never experienced.
I went to the university clinic and the doctor told me I had first and second degree burns on my hands.....yikes...so he gave me some pills and some cream, and hopefully I´ll be better in a few days. Again, I was wearing sunscreen....lots of it...just a testimony to how intense the sun is here. And it´s already a little better, in case anyone was worried...I´m fine.
Anyway...it was a great trip, besides the burning. I had a lot of fun, and I am thinking that I am going to take my parents and/sister there when they visit...it was just so pretty.
Back to class for me, but again I hope everyone is doing well. Keep in touch. Love you guys
Once again, my friend Tylenol PM and I got along splendidly as I slept almost the entire way to Bahía, which was about 8 hours south of Quito. We arrived early Saturday morning, and hopped on a boat that would take us over to San Vincente, which was on the other side of the bay. Then we had to ride a bus about twenty more minutes until we finally reached our destination of Canoa. Honestly, it was probably the most beautiful beach I´ve ever been to. Aside from the white sand, and the bright blue water, there were huge grass-covered cliffs, and gorgeous rolling hills all around us. It was amazing.
We stayed at a hostel called Bambú, and each ¨room¨was actually it´s own little cabaña..it was right on the beach, and it was really nice. There were hammocks all over, and a porch swing on the roof of one of the buildings that overlooked the water.....sooooooo pretty, and quite clean, as well.
We spent all of Saturday on the beach and in the water. The waves were huge, and the ocean floor was really smooth, so it didn´t even hurt when they slammed you into the sand. We played frisbee and football, and enjoyed the view. Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk to the cliffs and made friends with a bajillion crabs that were inhabiting the rocks...We walked around the cliffs and rocks for awhile, then I of course slipped and fell because it wouldn´t be a real trip if I didn´t somehow get injured. No biggie.
That night, we went to one of like three bars that are in Canoa and talked with a lot of interesting people. We made some British and Australian friends who are living in Canoa for four weeks to learn Spanish...it´s customary for them to take a year off between high school and college to travel...not a bad deal. Then we all went back to the beach and sat around a bonfire-it´s so fun talking to people from all over the world...I feel like I learn so much from meeting new people.
Since we all got a bit too much sun on the first day, we invested in a shady tent umbrella thingy (that´s a technical term) for the second day. I was pretty much fine, with the exception of my hands...I don´t know what´s wrong with me, but my hands are extra sensitive to the sun. So they were hurting quite a bit, despite the fact that I wore SPF 50 AND reapplied it. The only thing that gave them relief was to be in the water. So I spent a LOT of time in the ocean on the second day, and that is how I think I got my face so burnt...once again SPF 50...I know we´re on the Equator, but MAN did that sun do a number on me.
So after another long day of playing in the sun, I was really hurting. Luckily, I was distracted from the pain for a bit when the sun started setting. ¡Qué maravillosa! It was sooooooooo gorgeous. I´ve seen the sun set before, but never like this. It was just amazing. I took a ton of pictures. Breathtaking...
So we packed up our stuff and got ready to catch the bus that would allow us to catch the boat that would allow us to catch our other bus back to Quito....got that? It´s a lot less complicated than it seems. At this point in the trip though, I was miserable. I was applying aloe vera like it was my job, and doing anything to keep my skin cool....including dunking my tank top in the dirty dish water at a local restaurant....it was not fun. And I felt bad for my friends for having to look at/put up with me.
Anyway...we got on our bus, and since I knew that it was going to be a rough eight hours, I thought I was prepared by taking wet towels and wrapping my hands in them. I also tried taking some more Tylenol PM hoping it would just knock me out and make me forget about the flames that were my hands. Yeah....not so much. Instead, I was all wet, got my friend all wet, made myself really cold, and didn´t have anything dry to warm up with, and couldn´t sleep for the life of me. It was a really super fun eight hours....yay!
We got back to Quito at around 5:30, and I went home and tried to sleep, but all I could do was run my hands under cold water. So after about three hours of that, I started to get ready to go to school. After my first class, I decided that what was going on with my hands was not normal...I´ve been burnt before, but this was an intense pain that I´ve never experienced.
I went to the university clinic and the doctor told me I had first and second degree burns on my hands.....yikes...so he gave me some pills and some cream, and hopefully I´ll be better in a few days. Again, I was wearing sunscreen....lots of it...just a testimony to how intense the sun is here. And it´s already a little better, in case anyone was worried...I´m fine.
Anyway...it was a great trip, besides the burning. I had a lot of fun, and I am thinking that I am going to take my parents and/sister there when they visit...it was just so pretty.
Back to class for me, but again I hope everyone is doing well. Keep in touch. Love you guys
viernes, 9 de marzo de 2007
From the jungle to the coast
So scratch Mindo...we got to the bus station, and learned that there was no bus until 4am. So we just went ahead and decided to go to the jungle.....completely normal, right?
So we hopped a bus to Tena, which was about a five hour bus ride from Quito. We didn´t get there until 2:30am, went to our hostel (which we actually booked in advance on the bus, weird) and went to sleep.
We tried getting up early the next morning so that we could go find something cool to do, but early is a relative term, and we pretty much missed a lot of opportunities to do any day-long or overnight trips. But instead we found an agency that offered a trip to the jungle.....
The jungle! Who goes to the jungle? It was insane. We hopped in the back of a pick up truck(like always in Ecuador) and started driving toward the jungle. Everything around us was so beautiful, and we had to keep reminding ourselves where we were. Unfortunately our ¨reminder¨came in a different sort of fashion this time...while we were driving along...not paying attention to anything but the view. All of a sudden we hear/feel this crash....we hit a dog! And by hit I mean killed! It was the saddest thing ever...I was so upset. My friends told me not to look back, but I couldn´t help it, and I saw the little guy suffering and it was awful....pobrecito perrito.
So that was bad news, but luckily the rest of the trip compensated. We took a little motorized canoe to the jungle, put on our super cool jungle boots, and started our three hour hike through the Amazon. It was absolutely amazing. We had great guide who showed us tons of stuff about how the natives utilize almost every resource in the jungle to some capacity or another. We walked through a river, swung on vines like Tarzan, and saw some ridiculous wildlife. I´ll put up some pictures soon.
It was so incredible...such a great experience...like usual. I´m sure I will have more to add later, but for now we have to head out and get ready for the beach......what a life!
I miss you all, all the time, every day. I hope everyone´s happy and healthy. Take Care!
Love Laura Lynn
So we hopped a bus to Tena, which was about a five hour bus ride from Quito. We didn´t get there until 2:30am, went to our hostel (which we actually booked in advance on the bus, weird) and went to sleep.
We tried getting up early the next morning so that we could go find something cool to do, but early is a relative term, and we pretty much missed a lot of opportunities to do any day-long or overnight trips. But instead we found an agency that offered a trip to the jungle.....
The jungle! Who goes to the jungle? It was insane. We hopped in the back of a pick up truck(like always in Ecuador) and started driving toward the jungle. Everything around us was so beautiful, and we had to keep reminding ourselves where we were. Unfortunately our ¨reminder¨came in a different sort of fashion this time...while we were driving along...not paying attention to anything but the view. All of a sudden we hear/feel this crash....we hit a dog! And by hit I mean killed! It was the saddest thing ever...I was so upset. My friends told me not to look back, but I couldn´t help it, and I saw the little guy suffering and it was awful....pobrecito perrito.
So that was bad news, but luckily the rest of the trip compensated. We took a little motorized canoe to the jungle, put on our super cool jungle boots, and started our three hour hike through the Amazon. It was absolutely amazing. We had great guide who showed us tons of stuff about how the natives utilize almost every resource in the jungle to some capacity or another. We walked through a river, swung on vines like Tarzan, and saw some ridiculous wildlife. I´ll put up some pictures soon.
It was so incredible...such a great experience...like usual. I´m sure I will have more to add later, but for now we have to head out and get ready for the beach......what a life!
I miss you all, all the time, every day. I hope everyone´s happy and healthy. Take Care!
Love Laura Lynn
martes, 6 de marzo de 2007
Don´t worry, I´m still alive
Sorry that it´s been awhile since I´ve updated...there´s this strange thing called school that I am apparently enrolled in, and all of a sudden I had an obscene amount of work to do. Tests, papers, presentations...weird.
Anyway-I guess I don´t have all that much to report anyway. Last week was my host mom´s birthday, and we had a little gathering at our house. Even though she told me about it, I still managed to come home at the most awkward time and walk into a room full of all my extended family staring at me and the flowers I brought her...I pretty much brought the conversation to a screeching hault ( I think I was late, but it´s hard to say when you´re on Ecua-time) Anyway, we had a lovely little dinner, that is after the dancing...
My brothers and sister (who is currently living in Argentina with her husband) decided to surprise my mom (and me) with a mariachi band for her birthday (They neglected to tell me that the band was ¨from Laura¨too) We were all sitting in the living room, when we heard this live music, and sure enough the band marched right into the house and had us all up and dancing and singing in no time. It was really fun, and another great experience to add to the list.
The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent helping one of my friends celebrate her 21st birthday. Obviously it isn´t as big a deal here, as it is in the states, so we did what we could to change that. It actually ended up being a really nice weekend...no traveling...just hanging out in Quito.
So to make up for our chill weekend, we are going to take two trips in one week. We dont have class tomorrow, so we are taking a trip to Mindo, which is an area about two hours from Quito that has amazing waterfalls and a lot of eco-tourism. While studying at McDonald´s with a friend (how cliché is an American at McDonald´s, ew) we met a guy who had just been to Mindo and has a friend who is living there. He gave me his phone number and told us that he would set us up with a really nice place to live and have his friend show us all around. People are just so nice here, I love it. So I will be giving him a call here shortly and hopefully something will work out.
I have to be back on Friday to give a presentation, but then on Friday night we are planning on going to the beach again...different beach. Hopefully this time I will be able to avoid any juvenile urination....I guess we´ll see.
So that´s it for now...everything is GREAT! And if anyone is ever interested, my mom figured out how to call my cell phone, so if you ever want to actually talk to me, I would LOVE to hear from you. You have to dial 011-593-9-510-1104....hopefully it will work!
Love and miss you all, and again...keep the emails and such coming. Hope you´re all doing well and staying warm, for those of you buried in snow!
Anyway-I guess I don´t have all that much to report anyway. Last week was my host mom´s birthday, and we had a little gathering at our house. Even though she told me about it, I still managed to come home at the most awkward time and walk into a room full of all my extended family staring at me and the flowers I brought her...I pretty much brought the conversation to a screeching hault ( I think I was late, but it´s hard to say when you´re on Ecua-time) Anyway, we had a lovely little dinner, that is after the dancing...
My brothers and sister (who is currently living in Argentina with her husband) decided to surprise my mom (and me) with a mariachi band for her birthday (They neglected to tell me that the band was ¨from Laura¨too) We were all sitting in the living room, when we heard this live music, and sure enough the band marched right into the house and had us all up and dancing and singing in no time. It was really fun, and another great experience to add to the list.
The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent helping one of my friends celebrate her 21st birthday. Obviously it isn´t as big a deal here, as it is in the states, so we did what we could to change that. It actually ended up being a really nice weekend...no traveling...just hanging out in Quito.
So to make up for our chill weekend, we are going to take two trips in one week. We dont have class tomorrow, so we are taking a trip to Mindo, which is an area about two hours from Quito that has amazing waterfalls and a lot of eco-tourism. While studying at McDonald´s with a friend (how cliché is an American at McDonald´s, ew) we met a guy who had just been to Mindo and has a friend who is living there. He gave me his phone number and told us that he would set us up with a really nice place to live and have his friend show us all around. People are just so nice here, I love it. So I will be giving him a call here shortly and hopefully something will work out.
I have to be back on Friday to give a presentation, but then on Friday night we are planning on going to the beach again...different beach. Hopefully this time I will be able to avoid any juvenile urination....I guess we´ll see.
So that´s it for now...everything is GREAT! And if anyone is ever interested, my mom figured out how to call my cell phone, so if you ever want to actually talk to me, I would LOVE to hear from you. You have to dial 011-593-9-510-1104....hopefully it will work!
Love and miss you all, and again...keep the emails and such coming. Hope you´re all doing well and staying warm, for those of you buried in snow!
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