All is well in Quito

Howdy howdy everyone

All is well in down here and I figured I would just send one more update out before my parents got here. If you all remember I went to Cuenca a about a month ago and stayed with the family of a friend of mine. Well this past weekend Cati's father Luis and sister Monica were in Quito for a visit. They had planned on stopping by the hotel to surprise me but lost track of time on Friday so it was too late to stop by the hotel and her restaurant is closed during the weekend. Luckily Cati had told Taylor that her family was coming into town and he asked me if they had stopped by. When I said no we were both very confused so we called Cati and she told us what happened but invited us over to her apartment that night. It was so much fun to see Luis and Monica again. We spent a few hours simply sitting around and talking about nothing at all. Luis is kind of like a cartoon character and kept giving Taylor and I different nonsensical nicknames. It was really fun to see them again and I hope to go back and visit them again some day.

Besides that I have been taking spanish classes with a professor and that is starting to pay off. Its good just to have someone to talk to for a few hours a day without other distractions. Now I only have a little over three weeks left and Im ready to do some more traveling in the upcoming week. Hope everyone is having a good summer and Ill update again next week!

Another week has passed

So the last few weeks have been rather uneventful. I have been working on average 15 hours a day because the owners and the other manager had gone on vacation. While it was not the most fun thing in the world, all those hours will give me the opportunity to have 9 days off when my parents get down here! They are arriving this Friday night and will stay through the following Sunday. I have a lot of fun stuff planned and am excited they are coming down.

The owners just got back to Ecuador so I had yesterday off and today when they arrive I am going to go meet up with my host brother to watch a soccer game. All in all everything here is pretty good and expect some more exciting posts soon! Hope everyone is doing well.

Cartagena Day 4

Since we only had a little more than half of the day to go site seeing we decided to visit two places and not try to pack too much in. After sleeping in a little bit and getting some breakfast we headed to our first destination, Convento de la Popa. It was established in 1607 and was once the site of devil-worshiping and goat sacrifices by runaway slaves. Also, it was occupied by George Washington's brother Lawerence Washington's troops during Admiral Vernon's seige of Cartagena in 1741. It was a neat place to go to and has a beautiful view overlooking the city. There also is a lot of information and pictures of Pope John Paul II visit to the convent. They also have a few tourist attractions just outside the gates of the convent as you can see by the picture Taylor and I paid fifty cents for. There was also a man with a sloth there but he charged almost five dollars so we chose not to splurge on another picture.

After the convent we decided to the fort at Boca Chica, the other opening into Cartagena Bay from the Caribbean Sea. We had no idea how cool this was going to be. First of all, I love flags. When I saw the giant flag on top of the castle my first mission was to find a way to stand next to it. The fort is way bigger than in looks and it was really fun to wander through all of the maze like hallways and onto different levels to lookout over the city. This was definitely one of my favorite things about the city and it is amazing to me that people hundreds of years ago could build such gigantic and complex structures that continue to pass the test of time.

Before heading to the airport the four of us decided to grab some lunch together and say our goodbyes. It was a great trip and while there isn't as much to type out in this post, it was probably my favorite day besides our island hopping excursion. The only thing left to do now is go back!

Cartagena Day 3-

After some well needed rest and some more delicious new Colombian breakfast foods (arepas!) Taylor and I were ready to explore the city. Much to our demise, just minutes before leaving our breakfast spot it began to rain, and rain hard! After about 5 minutes of standing by the door and the rain not lightening up, we began our tour anyway. It is actually quite refreshing to walk around in the rain when the weather is still warm so we didn't mind our soggy walk.

We started in the colonial part of town known as, El Centro, and followed a path that our Cartagena book had suggested. It was a beautiful walk and we saw the majority of the churches as well as a graduate university. We were curious to see what a university looked like so we asked the guard if we could walk around. Reluctantly he agreed and we walked around the courtyard and read some of the research and history that had been down there about the slave trade through the centuries. It was very interesting and neat to see a school. Who knows, maybe Ill end up back in Central or South America to go back to school?!

By the time we finished our walk in the late morning hours, the rain had stopped and then we were just wet while we walked around. After drying of a little bit and getting some food, we decided we were decent enough to check out a few museums. First we went to the Naval Museum of Colombia which was super interesting and a lot cooler than we actually expected. It was a bit cheesy, as military museums can be, as it described with quite creative adjectives the braveness and superiority of the Spanish Conquistadors and later military achievements of Colombia over the savages and simple folk. There was also an interesting, to say the least, tribute to South American hero Simon Bolivar, the military leader and visionary who helped liberate 6 countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Panama) from the Spanish.

After the Naval Museum we went to check out the "Gold Museum" which was full of artifacts, documenting the different tribes, styles and changes in making golden objects throughout the centuries. It was interesting and fun to see all the ways these tribes used jewelry and other objects to express themselves. After this museum we went back to the hostel to change and figure out our plan for the rest of the day. We had read about the neighborhood Boca Grande, the Miami Beach of Cartagena, and decided it had to be somewhat interesting since it is the new part of the city.

On the way to Boca Grande we stopped in the Old town because it was on the way, and this is when we saw the colonial dance going on in the plaza. It was really fun to watch and there is just something lively and energetic about warm, coastal regions that isn't present in the colder landlocked areas of the world (sorry, but this is a complete personal bias!). After enjoying the show we continued our walk with our end goal being to visit a light house at the end of the peninsula. After walking for about an hour we came to find out that the lighthouse is in a restricted neighborhood and that, in my opinion, the Boca Grande barrio lacked all the character, energy, restaurants and all cool things to do that the rest of Cartagena contained. It was a nice walk because on one side is the calm Cartagena Bay and on the other is the beautiful Caribbean Sea, but unless your goal is to walk six kilometers like we did, a picture of the Boca Grande is sufficient.

I was so hungry by the time we got back because Taylor didn't want to stop and eat anywhere, that I ordered a pizza and a chicken sandwich dinner at the restaurant across the street from our hostel. After absolutely dominating an inordinate amount of food, I spent the next four hours with a horrible stomach ache that reminded me every minute of my stupidity of eating a days worth of food in about 20 minutes. Nevertheless, I still went to the bar with our friends and hung out because I wasn't going to let one silly decision ruin an entire night. Though I was so full that I managed to drink one beer in about 5 hours.

While we had a nice day and got to see a lot of the city, we still had a lot of things on our list to see before we left. Even though we had to leave for the airport at 4:30pm on Sunday, the places we went before we left were incredible! To be continued...

Cartagena Day 2- Island hopping and white sand beaches

Sorry for the delay! I wrote this over two days ago but my account wouldn't let me submit it...anywho, Day 2.

The four of us met up and headed out of our hostel around 7:15am Friday morning to be on time for our 8am departure into the Caribbean Sea. Not having time for a real sit down breakfast, we grabbed some Bunelos, which to my understanding are round balls of rich milk bread ( I dont know a better translation, pan de leche?) similar to Spanish fritters. What I can do is translate this into Amerrrrican, Bunuelos= "Them little bread things right there sure are delicious. Shoot, they make me happier than a kitten chasing a leaky cow." Now that you understand how good our breakfast snack was we can continue with the story.

Our boat was nearly at full capacity when we pulled away from port and our ever changing view of the city as we floated through Cartagena Bay and through the Boca Grande, one of two entrances/exits between the bay and the Caribbean Sea, really showed us the immensity and strange layout of the city. Never have I seen a city that has such a strange landscape due to its jutting coast like and its history. There are castles and former military bastions all over the place, and old town that was the city's center years later, residential suburbs, and a newer neighborhood (the peninsula that helps create the Boca Grande) that sits atop a two kilometer long strip of land that is no more that three streets wide and all of the architecture mimics Miami Beach.

After getting out into the open sea our ship began its quite extensive and interactive entertainment for those who were sitting on the upper deck. Each side of the boat was a different team and the team leaders were chosen. Remember there are at least 60-70 people on each team. First was a round of trivia in which our leader didn't know any answers at all. This was followed by a game where the MC would call out an item and the leaders would have to run around and collect as many of the selected item as possible (i.s. shirts, hats, etc.). Followed by the women in the crowd dressing the team leaders up like women from the items they had collected and putting make up on them. Oh, and since the leaders were dressed up like women, clearly the most appropriate thing to make them do is a pole dance for the crowd...sigh. Nobody ever said that humor down here isn't raunchy.

While it was mildly entertaining I think everyone was excited about the next hour of our boat ride in silence. The Caribbean Sea is beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Our first destination was a very, very small island that had an aquarium you could go in for an additional fee. We opted to just hang out and swim in the water for an hour. It was a great choice because the water was very warm and it was nice to move around for a little bit. At this point I was very hungry so I splurged and bought some very fresh lobster for just over three dollars....worth it. See picture above for proof of this purchase.

We all packed into the boat and headed about half way back to where we began to stop at a beautifully secluded beach that was breathtaking. We had a delicious lunch and had a few hours to hang out on the beach and in the water. It actually was a little overcast at this point so being in the water was much warmer! We had a great time relaxing and doing nothing at all. Finally we boarded our boat and headed back to the city. Taylor and I got some Colombian coffee, which is amazing and loaded with sugar because that's how South America rolls, and talked and enjoyed the scenery. The last few minutes of our boat ride was filled with the MC dressed in an all white suit doing a dance his "good friend" Michael Jackson taught him....the dance actually wasn't horrible but I still have my doubts. After showering up the four of us went out and got some dinner and a drink before heading back to rest. Definitely a great way to spend a day in the Cartagena area and we were excited to get to see a little bit more of the city during the following days.

Cartagena, Colombia= warm weather and awesomeness

After arriving at the airport a little bit later than
we should have, Taylor and I made our way through all the lines and made it to our plane just in time. We had a short lay-over in Bogota, Colombia's capital, and arrived in Cartagena just after 10am. While walking across the tarmac we both immediately noticed that the weather was much warmer and that Colombia just has a different feel than Ecuador. The city is located between Cartagena bay and the Caribbean Sea on the northern coast of Colombia (east of Panama where Central America connects to South America). Please reference the map above if there is any confusion about Cartagena's location.

I guess I should take a moment to introduce Taylor. He was an Ohio State student as well and did the same study abroad program that I did through OSU...only he did it six years ago. He currently attends UCal-Irvine and is working on his Ph.D. in Anthropology. His thesis is about the "dolarizacion" (the change in Ecuadorian currency in 2000 to the US dollar) and its impacts on the day to day lives of Quito's citizens. Very interesting, but I digress. We met last year when he was working at the hotel I currently work at and decided that we needed to do some traveling together since we were both back for this summer (my second time in Ecuador and his fourth).

Since we have spent so much time in Quito it was strange to be in a new city, with people who spoke very differently and much more quickly. The only thing we knew about the city was where to get dropped off at to find cheap hostels and that the government made a list of prices taxi's are supposed to follow. This came in handy many times throughout our trip and saved us a bit of money. Our taxi dropped us off right where we asked him to but we immediately were lost and wandering around. We would later find out that we walked through Cartagena's Old Town and then through another neighborhood named Getsemani, where we found a good enough place to stay for just over $9 US or 17,000 Colombian pesos a night.

After getting settled we saw two people that were on our flight, who were also staying at the same hostel, and struck up a conversation. Rafael and Rosallia are siblings in there 20's traveling on their break from school. Their father is German and their mother is Colombian and their parents live in a city in Southwest Colombia. Needless to say they were super interesting people and it was fun to have new people to hang out with. They told us they had heard about a day trip via boat that went out into the Caribbean Sea and stopped at a few different islands and invited us to come along. Being that we literally knew nothing about the city or what to do, this seemed like a good way to spend a day. After purchasing our boarding passes we split ways and Taylor and I started on our next mission: wander around all day and buy disposable cameras to document our trip. Note, any pictures tagged on these posts are images I took from a google search.

Despite the staggering heat, we quickly began to love the city as we learned more about its history and from admiring all the vibrant colors as we walked around. We learned much of its history because we went into a book store to hang out by the air conditioner for a few minutes, and ended up buying a book. Cartagena was under Spanish rule and was constantly under attack by France and England due to its geographical position that made it a good place for military and trading posts. The old part of the city is surrounded by a stone wall, or muralla, that served as a way to protect it. Despite this, it was ransacked multiple times and robbed of all its wealth and would have to be rebuilt. That being said, its historical section of Cartagena is very well preserved and we had a great time exploring and enjoying all the different views.

We were pretty tired after our long day in the sun so we grabbed a bite to eat and hung out at the hostel with our new friends and rested up for our island hopping excursion the next day!

Cuenca Day 3- Mi ultimo dia y Parque Nacional Cajas

Being on vacation was great, not only in the fact that I was with a cool family in another city, because I got to sleep in two days in a row! After the usual breakfast routine and the 10 o'clock departure time actually meaning 11 o'clock, we headed to Parque Nacional Cajas which is about 30 minutes outside the city of Cuenca. It is a very peaceful and beautiful place as well as the source of fresh water for the city. Cuenca is know for having some of the cleanest water in all of South America and it is safe to drink right from the faucet. Also, the river Tomebamba which runs directly through the city originates up in the mountains of the park.

At the park there is also a shire (a giant cross, outdoor church and statues) in honor of the Virgin Mary. It is an extremely tranquil place and the mountain sides and cool air are very calming. We spent about 45 minutes walking around the area at the park entrance but didn't venture back further because it is dangerous to wander through the park without a guide (every year people get lost in the forest because it is easy to become disoriented).

After our walk we all went up the road for some lunch before I had to head out to the airport. I had some very delicious trout. A word to the wise when traveling in South America, your fish is cooked exactly the way is comes out of the water. No gutting or skinning it. I personally love fish this way but it definitely freaks some people out. Oh, and be careful because there are a lot of little bones you don't want to swallow!

After lunch we headed back to the house and I packed all of my stuff up. In Ecuadorian tradition, the whole family went to the airport with me and saw me off. It was definitely the perfect ending to a great weekend and I now have more reason than ever to go back to Cuenca!

Sorry these took so long to put up but I also just spent 4 days in Cartagena, Colombia and I will start writing about that trip tomorrow!

Cuenca Day 2- Ingapirica, The Inca Ruins

On Saturday morning I woke up and had a nice full Ecuadorian breakfast, consisting of a bowl of fruit covered with yogurt, bread, eggs, fresh juice and coffee, and learned that the pipes in the house had exploded roughly two weeks before I arrived so there was no hot water. Luckily, due to the fact that all the families live in little compounds, I was able to go over to Mercy's house and get a nice warm shower before we left for the ruins. Once Pablo, Catarina's brother, arrived we all packed into two cars and headed out. I was under the impression that the ruins were roughly a half and hour away. About and hour and a half into our drive we stopped next to a little restaurant that was known for its delicious chancho, or pig. As you can see in the picture they use a blow torch to sear the skin, called cuero, of the chancho into a delicious fried food. Along with the cuero the family ordered everything they had that was traditional Ecuadorian food (mote, toastada, salchicha). While I had eaten all of these foods before I had no reservations about diving in because they are all apart of my favorite foods here. Back in the car and satisfied from our meal, we drove the final hour. So after two and a half hours of total driving time through the beautiful countryside and mountains, on the half finished new highway financed by the Ecuadorian government, we arrived at Ingapirca.

The weather was a little bit drizzly but nothing so bad as to delay our self-guided tour. The size and complexity of the city they built was extremely impressive. Just walking around all I could imagine was the amount of time and human labor it took to erect the city. In the center was the temple of the sun, which also acted as a large sundial. On the hillside they had a bathroom area set up along a stream that ran out of the town and the irrigation canals were nothing short of astounding. Despite the large amount of time that has past it is still amazing, to me at least, how advanced they were for their time period.

After walking around for a bit we went to the super tiny history museum of the Inca's in this area. Seeing pictures and designs of what the city actually looked like was very cool, but somewhat sad. During the 50's through the 70's many people took the stones of structures to either keep in their homes or the build homes out of them. It appeared as if complete structures that were present a half a century ago, had no remnants whatsoever. The government did step in a made it a protected national site, but it is unfortunate the amount of damage that was done.

We ate lunch at a little shack next door and then got in our cars and drove back. Saturday night was relaxing. Juan and I watched the Cuenca soccer team on tv and ate some bread. What is amazing yet again was how they kept asking me if everything was ok and if I was having a good time. I had a free place to stay, they didn't let me pay for one thing the entire weekend, and I had amazing company to talk to and explore the city with and they were worried I was bored! Before I went to bed, Monica wheeled in a tv on a little stand and spent 10 minutes trying to get the antenna to work despite my continual reassurance that everything was perfect just the way it was.

My second day and last night in Cuenca was a success and just as fun as the first day. So much had happened and I never even stepped foot in the city center or any of the main tourist sites in town.