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Published: July 17th 2006
Hola!
Where to begin? Well, I left off on Saturday afternoon. After I came to the internet café, I shopped a little more in the market and then we all met up for a late lunch at Buena Vista, this really good, very touristy restaurant. Then we went back to the hostal to talk and such. Honestly I can´t remember all that we did Saturday afternoon, it was really just a relaxing day. I think I took a nap, hehe. Then Saturday night we went back to Buena Vista and watched a movie because they have a TV and we were the only ones there so they let us. We watched Closer (más acerca, in Spanish) which was a really odd movie and I don´t know if I liked it or not, honestly. Oh, and we all had to wear sweat pants and comfy clothes, and we STILL got whistled at on the way there..that is how crazy it is here. Even by the police guys! Sarah was sad that they whistled because she was worried that they wouldn´t "protect her" ever if they whistle at her..haha.
So Sunday morning we were supposed to leave (LEAVE) at 9 in the
Liz, me, daylin, alex, dina, sarah
In front of the first lake i was talking about, laguna mujermorning for this mountain, Punta Punta (called this bc it has two points) and its name in Quichua is something like Fuja Fuja or something like that I honestly can´t remember. Well, of course, being us, we didnt leave until around 11. But that was okay. I rode in the Jeep, which is a hot old jeep with no seatbelts and we fit way too many people into the car and the road was really bumpy, but it was worth it!
So we get to this gorgeous lake, sadly I forget the name in Quichua but it is la Laguna Mujer in Spanish..So beautiful.. The water was the color of the sky and the sun was shining and the mountains in the background made it all breathtaking. Then we turned around..and there was the mountain that we were to hike. I honestly thought it would be a piece of cake, it looked quite small. Well let me tell you that the altitude was extremely high, and that does things to you. We started climbing and twenty steps in, I was panting like crazy, begging for air. So we took a descanso, a rest. We took a lot of descansos,
Dina
we climbed that huge rock thing on the right let me tell you. But it got better, if you walked slower and stopped less. Elizabeth and Christopher, little mr and miss mountain girl/boy were like goats and they climed that mountain so quickly. I was behind them by about 20 minutes though, and I started to separate from the rest of the group. Then it started to get really steep and I was kind of scared, but I kept going. I couldn´t see any one in front of me or behind me, so I just kept going and kept going. Then I got to a point that was quite near the top and I felt as though the wind was going to blow me off of the mountain at any second. It was freezing, and I didn´t see anyone, so I decided to wait. I found a little rock and sat down and stared at the beauty before me. I know it is sappy, but it was really a God moment.
Finally, about 15 minutes later, I see Sarita´s head way down on the mountain. I was so thrilled to see a person! So I waited for her to get to where I was. But, she had separated
Me on a rock
On the climb up the mountain from the rest of her group too, so it was just us two on the mountain. We waited another little bit until we saw Dina, Daylin and Pablo. We yelled at them to make sure that we were going the right way, and Pablo said it was just a little bit farther. So we climbed. This was the scary part because it was really rock climbing. But we were only 5-10 minutes from the very top! Oh well, I didn´t really mind sitting there. So at the top we saw Elizabeth and Christopher, the antelopes, and then everyone arrived about 15-20 minutes later. Except for Alex and Teresa and Christian, because Alex and Teresa are afraid of heights. But they did reach it to the top, I just never saw them. At the top we had some sandwiches and just sat around.
Then we began the descent. It was actually really scary and I can say with no embarrassment at all, that I slide on my behind for quite some time. The only problem was that the grass stuff that covered the mountain got in my pants, which was quite unpleasant. The grass was called paja, I think, and
Sarah
Pic of Sarah while she and I were waiting to see SOME ONE that we knew, at the almost-top of the mountain it was really long and this time of the year looks like hay. They actually burn it so that new green grass will grow so that the cows that live on the mountains can eat it. We saw some burning far away too.
On the way down I talked to Pablo and Sarah a lot. Pablo works at the hostel. He now calls me Lora, which means parrot, because I apparently talk a lot, but I have no idea where he got that idea from. He thinks it is funny. But it was good because I got to practice my Spanish! He actually showed me this plant that can be used for tea, and smells like oregano..It smelled so great. Everything that smells good or tastes good is “rico” so the herb was very “rico.”
We finally reach the Jeep, and besides for Christopher, which made his own path and walked really fast, but also has really long legs which I´m sure helps, I got there first! That was actually pretty exciting for me, I am ashamed to say. Then we had to wait around for Alex and Teresa and their group, and while we were waiting we
View from the top
pic i took when i was by myself helped out these 2 men whose car had no gas and so we saved their lives! Ha. Oh, and we also had mandarin oranges, which I have never had fresh, as in not out of a can! How sad. But they were really good.
Finally we regrouped and drove more to see some more lakes. There are three in all. The next lake we went to had a bunch of cows on the other side. Christopher and I decided it would be cool to get a good, close up picture of the cows. So we start walking over there and are almost there..until Christian starts yelling at us from the other side of the lake. There is this little hill thing that we would have to go over to see the cows, but we could hear them and it was kind of creepy. (ps, Christian is the oldest son of Gilberto). He is waving his arms like crazy and tells us to come back. So we do, although I really wanted a picture. Well guess what. Apparently they use those cows for festivals, meaning they were bulls and would most likely be aggressive towards us, especially me in my
red jacket. Great. But luckily I decided not to be stubborn that time and went back so I didn´t die that day!
So we went and drove some more and saw another lake, Laguna Negra. And there was also this tiny little lake that Pablo said was actually hot, called Laguna Chiquita. It was gorgeous! We also stopped a couple times to take pictures. Then, on the way back, we arrived at this fish farm. We met the guy who owned it, and we went back to look at the fish he had. We bought some trout, which we had for dinner that night (delicious) and we saw him grab out of the water things and smack on the head with a stick to kill them. It was kind of gross actually. He also gutted one and took out the heart and put the heart on the back of his hand and it was still beating…gross!
Then we headed home after a long, exhausting day. We had to stop a few times thought because the sun was setting (it was about 6.30) and you can´t miss pictures like that.
Oh, and Katie wasn´t with us for this
trip because she went to a village where she taught last year to visit all of her old students. She was in Ecuador for 3 months last year with a different group, so she was really close to her students, so it was really good that she was able to see them!
We got home and ate our fish and went to sleep early. It was such a great day and I am so glad that I was able to go. Honestly, the mountains did not look like I expected..not that I know what I expected. They sort of reminded me of mountains that you would see in Scotland or something like that, not that I have ever been there…
Well I hope you enjoy the pictures!! They are taking forever to load, but are worth it. Thank you for all the comments, I love and miss you all!
Xoxo
Laura
more pics later!!!!
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Dad
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Home Coming
Hey! I finally slogged through all your blogs :-). I got several impressions from reading all this. First, it seems from your stories and pictures that you are having a great time. It is nice that you are there with friends you know at the same time to enjoy finding and making new friends. Second, I am amazed at how wonderful it seems there. Are the people there as happy as the pictures seem to indicate? Is all the scenery that beautiful? If so, I am sure you are enjoying yourself tremendously. And third, it is an extraordinary opportunity you have to share your knowledge and your abilities with others. I look forward to hearing first hand your experiences. I made it home safely Saturday evening to a very warm homecoming: no one knew who I was of course. :-) I look forward to more blogs this week, and wish you fun, safe travels, and good adventures. Love ya!