Oh man, it´s amazing what a comfortable, bedbug-free bed in a clean hotel room will do for your spirits!
We are now in Riobamba, we got in last night. We chose to stay in a hotel so we could get cable TV and watch the elections and I´m so glad we did. We were actually next door eating dinner when the prediction came in, but the restaurant had TV so we saw it there. Fun to know that in the future when we remember where we were when Obama was elected, that it was in Riobamba, Ecuador.
We are in much better spirits today which is nice. Geoff leaves on Saturday morning super early and then I´ll get to decide what to do with myself. I would like to spend as much time volunteering as I can in order to learn as much as possible about the pitfalls of philanthropy and the best practices that are out there. The place we stayed in the jungle has a great volunteer program so I might try to head there for a month or so. I will also do more researching once I´m back in Quito and no longer on vacation with Geoff.
It´s looking like the three month visa is pretty strict right now, though it may shift with Obama´s win. Many people have said that if Barack wins, the US and Ecuador can be friends again, if McCain, then no. It´s very hard to tell what´s real, so I will probably have to get a bigger pack and go through my things and send much of it home. I kept thinking I could pack as much as I wanted because I was moving here, but it´s looking more and more like I will be moving around. That´s cool, aside from costing a small fortune, it is a lesson worth learning.
There was a parade in Riobamba this morning that was pretty odd. Section after section of professionals - mechanics, hair cutters, artisans, secretaries, all the schools. Not sure what it was all about but it took about 45 minutes and we watched the whole thing. Figured that if they were going to the trouble of having a parade to welcome us to town, the least we could do was watch it.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
lethargic apothecary
So after this morning´s post, Geoff and I found an apothecary and I asked them for something to help with my bug bites (my bed has bedbugs and I am COVERED in bites) and he went into the back and brought some little bottle of liquid and I paid him $2.50. I was expecting Calomine lotion or something and was sure I needed a MUCH bigger bottle than that, but so far it seems to be working great. Bites I put it on hours and hours ago still don´t itch again. I will try to go back and get another bottle for future use and also some sort of repellent. I have no idea what it is, but it totally rocks.
It´s cold and rainy here today and we´re having a hard time shaking the milaise. First we tried coffee, then booze, and then coffee again, but I think today may just be like this all day. Thankfully we have big fat books to read, so we go from cafe to bar and back, reading and ignoring each other. No wonder people think we are married. We aren´t mad at eachother, just trying not to talk as we´re both in sour moods for no reason.
Cuenca seems like it would be a great town to live in, if you had a house you could go home to and put in a movie and make some food and such, but after a few days of walking alllll day and seeing all the stuff we can find, we´re deciding it´s not great for an extended visit. Of course, neither of us are real big on nightclubs which seems to be what is on most offer here. We head out tomorrow I think it will do us both good to have a new town and a new hostel that we don´t hate.
Somedays are like this. Even in Australia. Or Ecuador.
Love to you all. We´ve tried to post to the video blog, but can´t get it to upload in any of the internet shops we´ve been in. We´ll keep trying.
On a little brighter note, we had a great time wandering around the other night. The street performers are fun and doing good fire and juggling shows. Drunkards love the US and especially Portland. We´ve run into more Oregonians here than from any other state in the US. Nice to have the comradery.
Tomorrow we´ll be headed to Riobamba and decide whether to do the Devil´s Nose train which is meant to be great when the weather is good, but starting at 6am is cold and wet and you can´t see anything according to the people we´ve talked to, so we´ll just wait and see how that goes.
I am tempted to not post this less than super excited note, but it will be good to remember that everyday isn´t a super duper one. I´m glad to at least have good company, even if we are ignoring each other.
It´s cold and rainy here today and we´re having a hard time shaking the milaise. First we tried coffee, then booze, and then coffee again, but I think today may just be like this all day. Thankfully we have big fat books to read, so we go from cafe to bar and back, reading and ignoring each other. No wonder people think we are married. We aren´t mad at eachother, just trying not to talk as we´re both in sour moods for no reason.
Cuenca seems like it would be a great town to live in, if you had a house you could go home to and put in a movie and make some food and such, but after a few days of walking alllll day and seeing all the stuff we can find, we´re deciding it´s not great for an extended visit. Of course, neither of us are real big on nightclubs which seems to be what is on most offer here. We head out tomorrow I think it will do us both good to have a new town and a new hostel that we don´t hate.
Somedays are like this. Even in Australia. Or Ecuador.
Love to you all. We´ve tried to post to the video blog, but can´t get it to upload in any of the internet shops we´ve been in. We´ll keep trying.
On a little brighter note, we had a great time wandering around the other night. The street performers are fun and doing good fire and juggling shows. Drunkards love the US and especially Portland. We´ve run into more Oregonians here than from any other state in the US. Nice to have the comradery.
Tomorrow we´ll be headed to Riobamba and decide whether to do the Devil´s Nose train which is meant to be great when the weather is good, but starting at 6am is cold and wet and you can´t see anything according to the people we´ve talked to, so we´ll just wait and see how that goes.
I am tempted to not post this less than super excited note, but it will be good to remember that everyday isn´t a super duper one. I´m glad to at least have good company, even if we are ignoring each other.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Geoff{s efforts
Geoff wrote a great update and since it{s all the things i would say, i{m just going to cheat and copy it here. Also, the apostrophe key doesn{t work on this machine and it{s driving me crazy. We did go out last night and didn{t make it home until about 430am. Good thing we ran out of money or we might still not be home. A great time was had by all.
Hello,
Just a quick update from Cuenca (koo-en-ka).
After a grueling bus ride from Banos via Ambato (roughly translated, This means ¨Ecuador´s Angry Armpit¨) Mj and I made it to Cuenca in the South Central highlands of Ecuador. In Ambato we said goodbye to Marcus as he needed to get back to Quito for his flight home, and we continued on. And on. And on. About 11 total hours of sitting in a bus in fact. Not surprisingly, our bodies were cramped and sore from the travel. Once we did get into Cuenca, and hopped a taxi to our hostel we found that they had lost our reservations. Seeing as it is a 3 day holiday here, there weren´t any other options really, and they ended up making us up a room in what was essentially a concrete box next to the laundry. We are seasoned 3rd world travelers, but even this was a bit much. However, things being what they were, we took the room with the promise that things would change the next day. The night turned out to be enjoyable however, as we walked around and watched the celebrations happening in the streets. One such included the lighting of large firework towers right in the middle of the street. Gotta love the 3rd world. No barriers, no cops telling people to back off. No firetrucks at the ready. Just lighting the fuse on the 20 foot tower and stepping back. Goes with the general rule of thumb here: ¨Don´t Get Dead.¨
After waking up in the unpadded cell today, we toured the city by foot, viewed some of the celebrations, markets and old colonial buildings. This city is hundreds of years old, and many of the buildings reflect that. Truly a beautiful place to visit. In between visits back to the hostel to see if there would in fact be a new room for us (various reasons why it didn´t just happen) Mj and I had a wonderful day exploring. Most exciting was that we were able to find a book store which sold English books. Books are worth their weight in gold down here (and are priced accordingly). Already Mj and I have nearly finished the first of the books we bought, and will be consuming the rest over the next few days I´m sure. It´s nice to quench that thirst, especially on vacation.
Tomorrow and the next day will be more local exploration, coffee shops to read books in, and general settling. We were planning on travelling on Tuesday, but may stay and extra night to watch election results with some other Americans we have met in the last 24 hours, seeing as Cuenca is a fairly large city we may be able to find a bar with the results on the TV. We´ll see.
Love to all, G
Hello,
Just a quick update from Cuenca (koo-en-ka).
After a grueling bus ride from Banos via Ambato (roughly translated, This means ¨Ecuador´s Angry Armpit¨) Mj and I made it to Cuenca in the South Central highlands of Ecuador. In Ambato we said goodbye to Marcus as he needed to get back to Quito for his flight home, and we continued on. And on. And on. About 11 total hours of sitting in a bus in fact. Not surprisingly, our bodies were cramped and sore from the travel. Once we did get into Cuenca, and hopped a taxi to our hostel we found that they had lost our reservations. Seeing as it is a 3 day holiday here, there weren´t any other options really, and they ended up making us up a room in what was essentially a concrete box next to the laundry. We are seasoned 3rd world travelers, but even this was a bit much. However, things being what they were, we took the room with the promise that things would change the next day. The night turned out to be enjoyable however, as we walked around and watched the celebrations happening in the streets. One such included the lighting of large firework towers right in the middle of the street. Gotta love the 3rd world. No barriers, no cops telling people to back off. No firetrucks at the ready. Just lighting the fuse on the 20 foot tower and stepping back. Goes with the general rule of thumb here: ¨Don´t Get Dead.¨
After waking up in the unpadded cell today, we toured the city by foot, viewed some of the celebrations, markets and old colonial buildings. This city is hundreds of years old, and many of the buildings reflect that. Truly a beautiful place to visit. In between visits back to the hostel to see if there would in fact be a new room for us (various reasons why it didn´t just happen) Mj and I had a wonderful day exploring. Most exciting was that we were able to find a book store which sold English books. Books are worth their weight in gold down here (and are priced accordingly). Already Mj and I have nearly finished the first of the books we bought, and will be consuming the rest over the next few days I´m sure. It´s nice to quench that thirst, especially on vacation.
Tomorrow and the next day will be more local exploration, coffee shops to read books in, and general settling. We were planning on travelling on Tuesday, but may stay and extra night to watch election results with some other Americans we have met in the last 24 hours, seeing as Cuenca is a fairly large city we may be able to find a bar with the results on the TV. We´ll see.
Love to all, G
Saturday, November 1, 2008
this country is great.
See these homemade fireworks?
imagine that bottle rocket fight....
that is all.
cemetaries
So day of the dead is coming up here and everyone has been very industrius cleaning the cemetaries. Repainting and redecorating and fresh flowers and all sorts of things. We went to the cemetary in Baños and spent some time there. Mostly there are above ground - almost like apartment buildings for the dead - hard to quite explain. Mostly the empty slots are empty, waiting for someone to come along and get dead in order to move into them. I didn't mind this too much, but it was when they were just full of crap that it seemed more odd.
great graffiti
So one of the things we´ve noticed here is the graffiti. Most of it is politcal which is interesting. Much of it has had to do with the election of a new constitution a few weeks ago which gives universal health care and guaranteed public education along with giving the environment human rights. Many graffitis have just said SI! -meaning vote yes. "vote with your five senses" - one of my favorites was "god will always forgive you, we will forgive you sometimes, but nature will never forgive you. don't litter."
One article I read interviewed someone who does graffiti and he was saying that when you want to share your ideas, it's really the only way. You could publish a magazine that no one would read, or you could buy airtime which no one would listen to, or you can put your poetry on a wall for everyone to see all the time. It is definitely a different attitude.
and some are just super fun, like the photo here.
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