There and Back Again, A Story by... Me

---

There and Back Again, a Tale by… Me

This morning, driving down the mountain to school I literally had my breath taken away. These past two months it has been cloudy and rainy every day, thus the mountains have been covered. I was expecting the same this morning but when we turned a corner on the mountain road the clouds ended and I let out and audible gasp. There before me was Vulcan Cotopaxi with not a single cloud blanketing its form. This was the first time I had seen the mountain this clearly in person, and I have stood on it twice. I then realized that I haven’t shared my experiences in over a month, it’s a long story though so let’s get started.

Carnival

So back in March, when we celebrate Mardi gras, Ecuador celebrates Carnival. We had an extended weekend and traveled to Banos (not the bathroom…) which resides under Vulcan Tungurahua, which up until that point had been erupting for the past five years. The entire town was one massive party. Parades, parties and travelers from all over came to Banos. One popular activity was basically a foam war, or esfuma, anywhere you went you were always at risk of getting sprayed so rather than living in fear, we stocked up and went to war. Every night we went out for probably an hour or two and just ran through the streets spraying people. Everyone was participating, drivers, taxi’s, old men and women, children you, you name it! It was massive and an experience I will never forget. I will have a Carnival party at my house from now on if you’re interested!

We went white water rafting in a river that leads to the Amazon which was amazing, rappelling down waterfalls and hiked quite a bit. I met a volcanologist and got on a swing on the side of Tungurahua which may sound stupid but it was actually really cool as you’ll see in the pictures, if I rocked forward, I’d be dead. We met a really cool taxi driver who took us on a four hour tour where we visited five different waterfalls; he hiked with us and watched out stuff while we all swam in one. The sights were incredible and as always my pictures do not do them justice. The trip was a dream come true with some small bickering and petty fights, but had I only known what was coming next.

Beware the Ides of March

March, where to begin… Banos was great, Carnival was terrific, and the aftershocks were terrible. When we got back to Quito everything changed quickly, all around. We were stopped at the gate by the security guard and they told me they needed to speak with me. At this point I was terrified and didn’t know what was going on. Basically the apartment had flooded while we were gone and they had moved all of our things to a new one. At first I thought “they are just clearing space in their showcase apartment since we weren’t paying the full price”, that was until we went into our old apartment the next morning. Water had risen through the entire apartment by roughly 6-8 inches by the marks on the walls, the carpet and flooring had been completely removed. Basically a pipe broke in the wall and flooded everything and due to the holiday they could not get someone out there to turn off the valve or fix it. This wasn’t a tragedy for us as our new apartment has practically U.S. quality internet! This was also the last time I jovially spoke with certain individuals.

Whether Carnival coming to a close, the apartment flooding or some random act of perverse power the social aspects of the trip changed for some reason for everyone. Some relations had already been strained but in March things got way worse. For some reason people were beginning to treat me like I was a leper and to an extent it felt like I was one. I went to the Otavalo Market one weekend and then did not travel anywhere until my parents visited in April. Multiple evenings I would be left out of activities much to the dismay of others. Eventually other people caught on and were horrified by the actions taken by some. To say the least it was a very trying period in my trip and I would argue in my life, being alone in a foreign country. Two weekends in March people went away and I had to stay home due to a stolen credit card and others making me feel very unwelcome. In some aspects this was okay as I got a lot of school work done and now can say that I am done with everything apart from being here for three days. The problems still haven’t abated but at least other people are aware of what’s going on and have offered helping hands which has made a world of difference to me. In this time I spent a lot of time alone, I tried praying, meditating (a grade-A hippy now…), drawing, drowning myself in movies and venting to my friends and Mary Claire. I learned to enjoy my time with me as I almost had no other choice; this was hard as I am a very social person. I have tried to personally (not verbally but internally) forgive those who have acted in ill will but I don’t think I can for the stress they put on my loved ones at home.

The trip wasn't ruined by this but it did leave a stain. So thanks again to all of those who have been supportive and have lent an ear or two over this time. I didn’t write here as I did not want to a) incite any problems prior to the trip concluding, b) make it seem like I was throwing a pity party, and c) did not want to write anything in a moment of ang… well to be honest hate, only to regret it later.

Vindication

Well, my parents have all of the pictures from the travels with them but it was wonderful. My parents got to come down for a whole week and experience the country as I have seen it. The first weekend I took them to Cotopaxi which still is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, along with its 16,000 something foot height. To say the least, I broke my parents into the altitude. While there I got to zip line with my parents on a three cable path just east of Cotopaxi. We spent the night there at Tambopaxi and came back to Quito on Sunday. My parents then traveled during the week until Thursday when they came to CMSFQ to visit me and my class and to watch me teach a lesson.

The students interviewed my parents which they thought was adorable and I thought it was hilarious. The questions were not what I was expecting: “where did you two meet?” “Heather what do you like most about John?” “When did you two get married?” and my personal favorite: “Who is your favorite child?” After the wonderful interview my parents got to watch me teach, or in actuality attempt to teach. The finally saw, after all this time why I get so frustrated in the classroom. I was interrupted every five minutes and did you know that a pentagon has seven sides? I didn’t. Sigh… justification is a wonderful thing. That night we went to dinner with my CT which was an experience unto itself, not only did we think we were going to die in a car crash, but we were in one of the worst parts of town. She drove us and thus drove us home intoxicated herself.

I took the Friday off and traveled to Cuenca with my parents, it is a beautiful historic city in the south of Ecuador. The drive was beautiful itself, the whole six hours of it. There we visited a Panama Hat factory, one of the original makers, ancient cathedrals and churches, an artist’s home and shop and had some wonderful food. The drive back was nice until our driver decided to drive like a maniac, he actually hit another car and drove off so I guess that makes us accomplices in a hit and run, yikes! My dad at this point was more than ready to get back to the States where he knew where things were and was comfortable on the roads. After dinner and a tearful goodbye, my parents left that night.

A Surprise and Paradise

After three days being parentless again here in Ecuador I finally left for the reasons I came to Ecuador in the first place: Galapagos and the Amazon Basin (Cuyabeno). The Galapagos were incredible and we enjoyed the experience on a boat that traveled to multiple islands rather than just staying on one. We saw the Giant Tortoises which are the size of a large golf cart without the roof the first day. Second day we woke up to an island with red sand where we snorkeled and hiked, in the morning we saw Blue Footed Boobies, Lava Lizards, Flamingos (very rare on this island), Frigate Birds, Spiders, Sea Lions and Marine Iguanas. I cannot describe the amount of colorful fish we saw; there was an entire school of fish bigger than my head, probably 75+. In the afternoon we visited an island with black sand (forgive me as the island names elude me) where we saw a LOT of Sea Lions, including a very curious and photogenic baby, and hundreds of Marine Iguanas. Snorkeling here was fun but resulted in me planting my hand in a sea urchin which still hurts as I type this, for the record I did not do it on purpose and I would not recommend it to others. Here I saw a moray eel and more parrot fish.

The next day we awoke at Pinnacle Rock, one of the main icons of the Galapagos. Here we saw the penguins, more birds and I got a chance to swim with a sea lion for about 10 minutes as it checked me out and seemed to play with me. Scared me to death at first as it wasn’t even an arm’s length away from me swimming at my side, I look over and there is this large brown object as big as me staring back and had a mild heart attack. It swam back and resumed its examination of me only to begin swimming around me for ten minutes. Pinnacle rock also had one of the most breath taking views I have ever seen. The next island was one made completely of petrified lava which looked as if it had just erupted. We looked at the budding plant life and the formations of the lava but did not stay long as the heat on the black surface was really intense. That brings up something I had not expected. Everyone here talks about how hot the Galapagos is and I always assumed it was (this applies to the Amazon too) but compared to Georgia heat and humidity? This was nothing! The temperature for the most part was not bad at all. After snorkeling one last time we got on the boat and headed for Seymour Island, our last one. On the way we passed a migrating fleet of over fifty dolphins, they stayed with us for roughly twenty minutes and that was incredible.

Apart from the drama and or sleaziness of the last night on the boat, Jake and I had some cool chill talks and I saw a shark in the water which about froze me to the core. It was about eleven o’clock and I was looking out while we were talking and I saw this grey shape by moving by the side of the boat, at first I thought it was a dolphin but then I noticed the elongated tail fin. It was dark out and the sheer silent presence of that unexpected guest was breathtaking. The next day was really not that great, I got a really good picture of a Blue Footed Booby but other than that it was muddy, the guide was hung over and there was a massive amount of bugs. We left the island and headed back to Baltra to fly out. We spent that night in Quito and Jake, Kelly and I went to get some Sushi… O man it was good.

I did not think that anything could top the Galapagos coming down here but I was wrong. Cuyabeno was my heaven on Earth. We had a thirty minute flight to Lago Agria and then a two hour bus ride to the park where we had lunch and met out guides. At this point we took a two hour motorized canoe ride down river to the lodge. On the way we spotted some monkeys, birds, an anaconda (which is rare, you know that when the guides take a picture) and a lot more than I cannot remember off the top of my head. Once at the lodge we found that there was no electricity and everything was done by candle light. This place was immaculate and open to the jungle which is what I wanted. I figured if I am going to the rainforest, I want to BE in the rainforest. The first evening we drove our boat out into a lagoon and swam in the lagoon where piranhas and electric eels live. Before I forget, this is the rainy season, unless you find high ground, most of the jungle floor is below 8-9 feet of water, literally everything was flooded except for high ground. It was unbelievable in its sheer awesomeness and foreign beauty. The first night we found in the lodge area, a giant tarantula, coral snake and frogs. In the water under the boardwalks you could see fish as well. I slept like a baby with the noises of the jungle.

I woke up to Jake yelling in surprise, apparently as he woke up and was adjusting his mosquito net as he was leaving, a spider as big as my hand crawled onto his arm. We got a guide in and asked what kind it was and if it was bad, he replied “nah, it’s only the second worst one here, but it will only paralyze you.” He said this with a smile and promptly removed it with my shoe. He then told us it was not fully grown and is called a Wolf Spider. In the States we have what we call Wolf Spiders but they live in gardens and are harmless. These Wolf Spiders can jump… and paralyze you. By the end of the trip I am now over my arachnophobia to say the least. This was all before breakfast! After eating, we left to visit a tribal shaman who told us about what he does and how he became a shaman. He performed some rituals and we talked (our guide was a translator, Rodrigo who was really cool) for a while. We then ate lunch and tried some tree fruits around the house: cocoa seeds and various jungle fruits. After the Shaman we left for the village itself, all travel had to be in a motorized canoe. Here we made bread; I held a monkey, was bit on the eyebrow by said monkey and almost violated by said monkey. The Wooly Monkey was given to the village as it could not be reintroduced back into the wild. We made bread from the roots of a plant and then ate it. After that I played soccer with our two guides, two gents from Argentina from our group, two natives and Jake. Since it had rained the entire day we were coated in mud at the conclusion and I did a front flip into the river to wash off. That night we took a canoe ride to look for Caimans and saw boas, an owl, and tarantula fell on me from out of a tree (and I survived). Later that night, avoiding some, I had a mini UN meeting which was absolutely amazing. At our table I had four German ladies, a woman from Australia, four ladies from the UK and two guys from Argentina. We sat there talking about world issues and cultural difference found in our countries. To say the least I met some truly amazing people there.

The following days were marked with day hikes, piranha fishing, a night hike and swimming in the lagoons. One day we took a paddle canoe trip in which some complained and refused to paddle… One was terrified and I couldn’t resist laughing. We eventually had another boat take the three women from the U.S. back to the lodge and Jake, Betra (a woman from Holland), the guide and I continued to row the canoe, we ended up in Laguna Grande where with no motor we saw a ton of pink dolphins. In all we rowed a total of 15 kilometers, it was awesome. The whole trip was exactly what I wanted and it was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life, I will be back to say the least.

The End

Now that three days remain I must bid Ecuador adieu, it is bitter sweet as I am really ready to get away from some things and am sad as I am leaving one of the most beautiful (albeit not the most safe) places on Earth. To each person who impacted me here I would like to say thank you for all that you have done:

To my family, extended and immediate: Thank you for all of the love and support you have given me over these long four months (and the financial aid!) You are all priceless to me and I would not be here without you today. I can’t wait to see you all soon.

To my old friends: What can I say, you have all been with me for years and I cannot express how excited I am to see you all soon. You have all be a huge source of sanity and have been invaluable in this endeavor. Though life will bring about changes sooner (DANIEL!!!) and later that will result in absences longer than four months I am certain we will always be in touch. You’re all the best!

To Mary Claire: You have hung in there with me forever it seems and it has certainly not gone unnoticed. You have been my biggest support day in and day out, you have heard the best and worst of the trip in probably their most raw form. You have had to deal with me living in a foreign country and have stayed strong through it all. Thank you so much for being who you are and being there for me in all the ways you are.

To my foreign friends: Whether from Germany, Holland, France, England, Australia, Argentina, the United States or Ecuador I have cherished all the stories that you have shared, the cultural exchanges we have participated in and the words of kindness extended. My memories of this experience would not be the same without you and I will never forget the short time we had together. I hope you all know that if you are ever in Georgia that I am definitely up for showing you around to the best places to eat! I am so happy that I met you all and I wish you all have the best in your future travels. Who knows, someday I might end up in your country asking for tips and recommendations!

To those who have done me harm: I don’t know what else to do but thank you for showing me what people are really like at times. It hasn’t been easy and I am sure that some of you have taken a lot of pleasure in ostracizing people and belittling others. I have tried to be the bigger person and stayed out of the drama and have thus learned to appreciate my time alone more than ever. You have placed an immeasurable amount of stress on me and my friends and family and for that I cannot forgive you. That said, I wish I could say it has been fun but I really can’t. I overcame your lies and deceit and feel that I am a stronger person for it, so thanks for that at least. I hope you grow up someday and that you discard your wicked ways.

To my new friends: You have been here for me these past months and have shown me that even in the dark there is kindness. You have been supportive and put up with me in a stressful and wonderful experience for us all. I apologize for my short patience on occasion and I hope that there are no hard feelings. I hope to keep in touch once we go our separate ways and that you all have the best of luck in your future fortunes and careers.

---

Photos

Banos Cross
This cross stands over the city of Banos.

Comments

[Mary Claire]

I love this!! How cool!!:)

[mary claire]

You look great!:)

[Julie]

This should be your next profile pic! umm wow...you turned into quite the photographer!!! B-e-a-utiful!