NOTE: Upon re-reading this, I have decided that this is not a good blog post for parents or other adults who worry about me. My apologies in advance. I realize some of this may have been a bad idea.
Baños!
So it has been kind of awhile since I last posted here. I hope you have all been doing well! I have, for two weekends in a row, stayed in Quito. Lots of homework, projects, and productiveness. Blegh. I did venture out for a day trip to the “real” equator. Apparently Mitad del Mundo is just a tourist trap based on the equator calculated in the 1700s. The “real” Mitad del Mundo is very careful to point out that they used a GPS when calculating the coordinates.
I also made it to another fútbol game. I left this out of the last blog, not wanting to focus on negatives, but my two angriest moments in Ecuador have been at these two soccer games. The Policía Nacional, in an attempt to prevent riots between the fans of opposing teams, only opens two exits for the entire stadium to exit after the game—one on each side, for each team’s fans. It is seriously the stupidest and most ridiculous system I have ever seen. Thousands of people are angry, pushing, and shouting all trying to get through a single door (actually they didn’t even open up the entire door. We were pushing to get through ¼ of the available space). I seriously felt anger rising in my chest, especially when I saw one police officer standing atop an overhead with a rifle like a sniper. The police LOCK the emergency exits. If there was an emergency, a stadium full of people would have been trapped. Outside the stadium as we were leaving, I saw a huge formation of officers just standing around (Perhaps we could open the rest of the doors and these guys who are just chilling out could maintain security?), so I went to ask them what their logic was. They really did think that this system was PREVENTING fights and riots. If sober, non-fanatic fútball fan Pam can feel anger rising in her chest, I wonder how the intoxicated men whose adrenaline is running will react. Just saying.
But anyway, to get back to something positive and cheery, I was getting super antsy to get out of the city. Emily and I headed to Baños, which was number one on my to-do list. I would have been really sad if I left Ecuador without getting there. It’s a beautiful little town nestled in the mountains and is pretty much geared toward tourists. Gringos everywhere. But seeing as I AM a gringo, I felt pretty at home.
One of our major goals for the Baños trip was to make it to the monkey reserve in Puyo, about 40 miles away. At first we were planning on riding bikes there, but once we realized that bikes would not get us there in time for the 5pm closing, we decided to rent a little stick-shift ATV/mini-jeep type deal. Luckily, Emily knew how to drive stick shift, so we road-tripped through the beautiful mountains of Ecuador down the famed “Ruta de las Cascadas.” It may not sound that exciting in blog format, but it was seriously one of my most content moments in Ecuador. During our drive, we made a little stop to go “puenting” or jumping off some bridges (I posted a video of my jump at the end). It’s kind of like bungee jumping, but the rope isn’t elastic. It was actually scarier than I thought it would be…maybe because I went head first.
But eventually we made it to the monkey reserve and it was a blast. The monkeys were really friendly and just climbed all over us. One monkey was a big fan of hugging my face and another sat on my shoulders, wrapped his arms around my head and started pulled my mouth apart with his hands. Yes, I had monkey hands in my mouth. Gross. The reserve was really amazing, though. So much fun.
On the way back to Baños, Emily taught me how to drive stick. (I learned how to drive stick in Ecuador! Maybe not my best idea). Also, our jeep broke down twice. I think little vehicles like that aren’t meant to drive 80 miles a day. The first time, we flagged down a car and out hops COL Edgar of the Ecuadorian Army and his silent, intense high ranking NCO with a huge tattoo on his head. COL Edgar was super friendly and got our jeep back up and running in no time. The second time we broke down, we were just ten minutes outside of Baños so we called Rene to come retrieve us but he didn’t answer. Then, some random man in a car offered to drive me to Baños to get Rene while Emily stayed behind with the jeep. Not only is that super sketchy, but there was no way I was separating from Emily. Baaad idea. Then he asked who rented us the jeep and I said Rene, but that I didn’t know his last name. “Rene with the long hair?” he asked. Why, yes, Rene did have long hair. “He’s my friend!” he said and without another word, he sped off in his car towards Baños. About 15 minutes later we get a call from Rene saying that he was on his way. So, the random man was trustworthy after all. But I still wasn’t getting in that car.
The next day we went canyoning, or rappelling down waterfalls. When we were in the van on the way to the waterfalls, we randomly stopped and our driver started chatting with the driver of a chiva (party bus). Next thing I know they tell us to get out of the van and into the Chiva, which just so happened to be full of an entire extended family on their family vacation. “Why are we getting in the Chiva?” I ask. “Don’t worry. We’re just getting in the Chiva to get past the police.” What?!?! You are SMUGGLING us past the POLICE?!?! They even told us to hide our wetsuits. This is looking promising. Eventually we found out that it wasn’t nearly as sketch as it looked. Our driver had forgotten some sort of document needed to get past a toll booth type thing for free and was trying to save some money. But seriously, not cool. And Emily and I did not fit in enough to look like we were on a family vacation.
Canyoning was really cool. After we got suited up in the wetsuits and harnesses, our guide told us it was just a “pequeña caminata” to the waterfalls as he pointed to the top of an immense mountain. Pequeña caminata, my rear. Halfway up, huffing and puffing, we came upon this little falling-down shack. I asked why anyone would build that so high up on a mountain. Our guide told us that the owners were in town but that it was a family’s house. That was a slap in the face. It was tiny, had broken windows (nothing more than small, thin squares of glass), and walls that appeared to be made of sheets of plywood less than an inch thick. A whole new level of poverty. It didn’t even dawn on me that that structure could be a family’s home.
After rappelling down the waterfalls, and some of them were really tall, I managed to fall down a little 3ft. waterfall and landed on a huge rock. My knees were bloody and bruised. Classy. But regardless of my fall, my weekend in Baños was just what I needed. I am content. I’m enjoying life without focusing on things in the future (something I generally struggle with). I’m enjoying the here and now and having a blast. I think I’m starting to realize how priceless this experience is and how little time I have left here.
That afternoon, after canyoning, we headed home and Sunday I went with the family to a fanesca lunch that the Ibarreñas were hosting (think: fish fry dinner hosted by the Knights of Columbus. Pretty much the same deal. It’s a Lenten thing). Marcela, Jose, Daniela, and two of Marcela’s friends went. Marcela’s mom is a member of the Ibarreñas. After that I did homework. Now for a few….
FACTOIDS!
- It is legal to marry your cousin here.
- Walking down 6 de Diciembre, I saw this HUGE cardboard box. Then, I see that there is a man sitting in it, changing his pants. I seem to be pretty skilled at encountering pants-less Ecuadorian men.
- I was sitting at a café, working on some homework, enjoying a chocolate chip pancake when Nigerian Dr. Kingsley O. Ikenegbe MB.BS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) sat down at my table and asked if I realized that chocolate chip pancakes are unhealthy and how often I eat sweets. He then told me that “I am what I eat” and implied that I was getting fat. He said that he wanted to be my doctor and that if I stopped by his office he would let me sample some free “vitamins” and gave me his Herbalife business card, demanding that I set up an appointment immediately. Seriously? I realize that there is a difference between chocolate and broccoli. But thank you.
- Another word for “nerd” is “zanahoria” (carrot). I know this because one of my professors called me a carrot after I said that I spent an afternoon in a coffee shop in the Mariscal (party district) studying and that I was still there, typing on my laptop, when the nightlife started picking up. I mean, who parties on a Sunday night? Don’t we all have places to be Monday morning?
Tomorrow morning, I fly out to the Galapagos for five days. Everyone keeps telling me that they are “preciosa” but I’m trying to go in with no expectations so I’m pleasantly surprised and not disappointed. Though, I doubt it’s possible to be disappointed by the Galapagos Islands.
Here is a video of me jumping off the bridge. The good stuff (my screaming) is all in the first 15 seconds.
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