I arrived in Quito on Monday after a very nice and short flight from San Jose. Food and drinks were served, but I didn´t take either, I had just eaten a Cinnabon and still had my Pepsi Light to finish. Did some shopping at the airport. Saw something that I wanted to get Phillip but didn´t think I could carry it with me. :( I was all excited, too.
I like Quito. It´s a big city (very long) surrounded by green mountains. On Tuesday, along with fellow volunteers, I got to go to the equator! It was so cool and interesting. We had a guide and a tour that lasted about an hour that taught us about the history of Equador and its native peoples. They had a real shrunken head (two, counting the sloth) but now the practice is outlawed so we don`t need to worry. On the acutal equator they had us perform all these little tasks to show how different things are. The hardest one was to balance an egg on the head of a nail. I couldn´t do it. There were strength and balance tests (you have neither on the actual line) and the had water go down a drain on both hemispheres and on the line. Really cool stuff.
The next day I headed off to Mindo, about 2 hours away. The drive was so beautiful. The mountains are huge and go straight up towards the sky, and are just filllled with bushy trees. I love it. Mindo is a little town with one street and a little center. For some reason it reminds me a little of Girdwood, I guess the whole small town in the middle of nowhere vibe. Yesterday I went to the butterfly house and saw a bunch, but honestly, I was more interested in the Mastiff that lives there.
Anyway, so my project is in Rio Bravo, about an hour´s bumpy and windy drive away. Unbeknownst to be, usually you can drive all the way to the house, but because of some confusion and broken down cars I had no idea about, me and my bag were dropped off and we had to walk the rest of the way. The walk is straight down then straight up, with only a small break in the middle when you cross the river (with the help of a bridge, thank goodness). So my heart was about to explode when I finally reached the house, which looks quite small and shabby from the outside, but inside, thanks to some Harry Potter magic, is really roomy and nice.
This week it rained more than any other week, so we didn´t have to work until after lunch, around 3. I had some horrible Costa Rican flashbacks when I learned (after climbing up a bit of the mountain behind the kitchen, which is separate from the bedrooms) that we were digging up dirt and filling up bags to carry down to the compost. Even though it was still raining and there was dirt and bugs everywhere, it wasn´t that bad. I used a hoe most of the time, and actually kind of enjoyed the action of breaking up land and roots and plants and such.
The next day I hoed again, this time working on the garden. I assume they will be doing something with it, but I have no idea what. The rest of the day, after the rain started to really pour and I finished my two lines, I learned the Ecuadorian card game of Kay Chu. Have no idea how it´s really spelled, and the only way I remember it is to relate it to Pikachu. Anyway, I played for quite sometime with Luis and Sonia´s nieces and nephew (they are the siblings who run the joint). The kids are really fun and nice and speak really good English, Francesco especially.
That afternoon after the rain stopped a bit, we went for a hike. Well, acutally, I was told it was a walk and not a hike, but alas, we proceded all the way down a mountain to see the Rio Mindo, and of course, back up. I had to stop a few times because I couldn´t catch my breath, but I made it! Just totally reminded me that I don´t like hiking (sorry, Diane). I don´t get it at all.
But I survived, and I´m glad I did, cause the next morning was sunny! So we went to La Cascada Esperanza (waterfall, one of two close to the house) and went swimming. The water was amazing. So clean and smooth. And cold, but you got used to that. I think that has been my favorite thing I´ve done so far on my trip. It was just so nice and relaxing. We made it back to the house right before it started to pour again, so for the rest of the day we cleaned the house and just relaxed. At night after dinner, which consisted of cheese empanadas with sugar on top (surprisingly good) we had a little dance party and learned a little salsa thanks to Sonia. She and Luis demonstrated for us and damn were they good. It was fun to watch.
That´s about it for my time in Mindo and Rio Bravo. We´ve been in the town since yesterday afternoon, and then last night there was a car accident where one hit the powerline so the whole town was without power for most of the night. We hung out in the restaurant of a good friend of Sonia and Luis, and they had a generator so it was pretty hopping. Played some cards, ate some pizza and the ginormous, most disgusting bug I´ve ever seen crawled up on my shoulder. It was so gross, I couldn´t even look at it.
I leave for Quito in about an hour. I have 4 days with nothing much planned. I would really like to see the coast, but it´s 5 hours each way so I don´t know if it would be worth it. I definitely will go to Otavallo, which has the big market, and to Old Town and see all the churches and stuff. I really want to see a movie, I can´t even remember the last one I saw, so if I can find a theater and make sure it does subtitles and not dubbing, I will go.
Saw some teeny tiny frogs (about the size of my thumb nail), some birds, but not much else. There a famous bird here, called the Cock of the Rock, which you have to go hiking to see (it lives on cliffs) so I said no after the unfortunate incident the day before, but another volunteer saw one flying around, and she´s really into birds, so she was excited. Oh man, that reminds me: the moths. The moths are gigantic. So are spiders and grasshopers and dragonflies and any insect. But the moths! Oh man. All shapes and sizes and colors and patterns. Some were more beautiful than the butterflies. I didn´t take any pictures cause I don´t really care to see them again, but they were cool.
Well I think that´s about it. I´ll try to check in before I leave for Peru on Friday.
