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Published: March 31st 2005
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This last weekend was pretty exciting. On Thursday night I went out with Jessica and some of her friends from the US Embassy. It was fun, but I would rather spend time with Ecuadorians while I am here. We were walking to a bar at about midnight, in a very popular area of town, and I was robbed. Here´s the story. As we were walking down a street about seven kids, ages three to ten, swarmed me. I figured that they were probably just trying to sell the candy they held in their hands and they saw that I was an American so they decided to bug me. I could hardly walk because they were right up against me. I even asked one of the guys I was with for help, but there really wasn´t much he could do. Anyways, after we turned the corner I realized that one of my jacket pockets was unzipped. I put my hand in it and it was empty. I had my license and a little money in it. My other two pockets were also empty. I had though I was clever to divide my money amongst three pockets, I guess not. I went back
to the corner where the kids were and told them I needed my card. A friend found it on the street. It was quite an experience and I feel like I learned a lot from it, even though it was not really my fault.
I did not have school Thursday and Friday morning because it was a holiday here, Semana Santa. Friday afternoon Jessica and I took a bus up to a hostal. The hostal is just off the highway and is not in a town. The bus drivers really struggle with this concept and cannot seem to figure out where we need to go. The hostal is just before latacunga and just after Machachi, about an hour and a half from Quito. We planned on climbing Cotopaxi, a famous volcano on Saturday night, but instead we had to climb on Sunday night. We ended up spending two nights there instead of just one. We met two other people, a girl from Canada and a boy from Chicago who climbed with us. So, Sunday afternoon we drove on a crazy rode though the Cotopaxi park and parked the van. We then had to walk with our large packs up to the refuge. It was a really difficult hike and took up about 45 minutes to an hour. Not only am I out of shape, but it is so high up there that it is difficult to breath.
After we reached the refuge, we put on all of our gear to have glacier school. We wore boots, cramp-ons (metal things that are on the bottom of the boots), gaters, rain gear, etc...At glacier school, which was located at a glacier that was about a 20 minute walk from the refuge, we learned how to climb correctly on a glacier. We learned the three ways to climb up, and the one way to correctly and safetly climb down. We then went back to the refuge and slept from about 8:00pm to 12:00am. We had our small packs ready to go. We ate a little, and then set off. Jessica was feeling sick so she was unable to climb. The first part of the climb was on dirt and rocks and was very difficult. After about an hour we reached the glacier and put on our cramp-ons and attached ourselves to the guides with rope and harnesses. I was put with one guide and the other two peolpe were put with another guide. I was only able to make it to almost the top of the first ridge. It was really difficult and very uphill. I kept stopping to rest and chatting with my guide. At one point he told me that most climbers don´t talk, but that he did not care. Plus, I was entertaining. When I decided to turn around I was a little sad, but it was so difficult. We got to a flat spot about halfway down and ate some food. My guide pointed out different starts, mountains, and cities we could see. I was able to clearly see Quito from the mountain. I got back down to the refuge at about 6:00. Generally, people reach the top of the mountain at about 7:00, and climb back down by 9:00. It is very important to get down early because the snow can start to melt, thats not good. Oh, so the top is at 5900 meters, and I made it to 5300 meters. After about four hours, with only two left to reach the top, I realized I was not going to make it. But I was not upset, I had a lot of fun. By the time we left, sweaty and exhausted, it was about 11:00.
Monday night Jessica and I made a trip to supermaxi, the local grocery store to buy food for dinner. Mariana spent the weekend in the Galapagos doing business stuff, and Jessica and I wanted to cook. We made spinach pasta with a pink sauce. We made the red sauce from scratch and a cream sauce, and them combined them. Johana would not try it because the pasta was green, and Sandy and Michael both really liked it. That came as a surprise to me.
Last night a new girl arrived. She is from Acton and she has the same exact birthday as me. We are so alike, I am looking forward to spending time with her. She graduated from high school last year, she was young for her grade. But, we will both be 19 this october 5th. que extrano? oh, her name is molly.
School is going well. I can understand the kids more and more and they are learning a lot of English words. It can be frustrating because they are so young, but if I made everything into a game it is easier. When we go outside everyday after snack I pretend to be a monster and I chase them around. They love it and want to play it everyday now. As soon we go back into the classroom, I am back to being the teacher, I dont have to say anything, its really great. We are working on professions, which are difficult to teach and there are a few that are very difficult to pronounce. Overall, everything at school is fine.
As a side note, I have completely fallen in a river the past two weekends and soaked myself. So, everyone was nervous that I was going to fall this weekend, while climbing, but I didnt, fortunately. It is now a running joke that I will fall and get soacked and muddy every weekend, on every adventure. Mariana wants me to come home for lunch today because it is the new girl, molly´s first day. I almost always come home for lunch, while jessica never does, because she likes to walk around and run errands after school. Now that I do not have spanish lessons anymore I hope to do more of that too. I want to let everyone know that I love getting emails and I apologize that I have not had a chance to write everyone back, I am going to work on it. But I do appreciate getting them. I hope all is well in the States and I will continue to keep everyone posted.
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