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Published: October 24th 2007
Hola everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last entry, all of the other students from a different program have had huge papers to write so computers have been taken all week. But this will be a fun entry now!
On Friday morning my host mom, Gladys, took Sarah, Nicole and I down to the trolly and rode with us to the bus station. Then, she went with us to buy tickets to Baños and thank goodness she was there because she asked so many questions that we would have never even thought to ask. ´She kept asking, are you positive that this bus goes directly to Baños? No extra stops? We want a direct bus!´ Then she went and got a policeman to confirm that the bus went directly to Baños and got his name and number and said she would call him if they were lying. The three of us were just standing there kind of laughing and so surprised that she was so ademant! So we bought the tickets, $3.50 each (for an almost 4 hour bus ride) and then she went through the gate with us where really only people who have tickets are supposed to go. She walked on the bus with us and made sure we had our own three seats together and just sat down. We were thinking, ´Is she coming with us?´Then she defended our seats after someone tried to sit where we were (he had originally bought tickets for those seats). Gladys went and got the driver and told him to tell the guy to sit somewhere else... So he did. We were just still amazed, it was so crazy! Right before we left she wrote down the name of the bus and the license plate number so that she could call the police if it wasn´t a direct bus. Finally, the bus left and she said goodbye. The ride was really interesting because it is like a greyhound but it goes through lots of towns because there really aren´t main highways or freeways here. People just wave the bus down if they want to get on like it was a regular transit bus. Then they just pay for as far as they are going. The ride was fine and we made it to Baños, directly. Once we were in the town, we walked to our hostel, recommended by another student, and we got a room with three beds and a private bathroom. The bathroom was the kind that the floor is the floor for the shower and the entire bathroom so you really have to be selective about shower time and toilet time. But the whole room was very clean and nice. We went and had lunch at an italian restaurant becuase we were all cravin pasta and I also had a coke (only my second one here!). After dinner we looked around the city a bit, it is really pretty and very tourist friendly. I hadn´t seen so many obviously touristy people in a while!! At night, we walked five minutes to the natural hot and cold baths, Las Piscinas de la Virgen. It was so neat!! You are in this huge hot bath right next to a gorgeous cascade. I have never like hot tubs but this was something else! It didn´t even smell either. We stayed for a while but I started turning into a raisin pretty fast so we left. After changing back into our clothes we headed out again to find a restaurant with dinner, wine for nicole, and I wanted a cocktail. We found another restaurant and ordered but, despite the fact that they had a full page of cocktails, the waitress said there was no one there to make them... Oh well. At least Nicole got her wine. But I did have a delicious lettuce and tomato salad for a late dinner.
On saturday morning we ate at the hostel where they are known for their breakfasts. I had some yummy thick pancakes and hot chocolate. It was sooo good. After lunch we went out looking for a good tour company to go river rafting on the Payazo River. We went with GeoTours because it was highly recommended in our guide book and we each got a $5 discount (it was only $25 for the whole thing, including dinner!) because they needed us to complete the group. So at 1:30 we met at the store and they gave us wetsuits, shoes and helmets. We jumped in the bed of a pickup truck with some other students from Boston and headed for the river. There is nothing like riding in the back of a truck with a huge raft over your head! We drove for 30 minutes and then we jumped out of the truck and got into a 16 passenger van with the rest of the guides. We drove for an hour, the whole time the van kept backfiring but it was fine. But wait, it gets better. We start driving down a dirt rode till we got to this scary bridge. It was one of those you see in the movies that people drive across and you know it will break. I was like, oh my god, please dont tell me we are driving across the bridge. Luckily, they stopped the van and said, ok get out. So we got out and the van drove over by itself and we just walked over. Yes!! I was really relieved. Once we got across the bridge we were given our lifejackets and paddles and they gave us a good lesson in river rafting. Sarah, Nicole and I were with a girl from Germany and another from Holland, plus our two tour guides. In the other raft were six other students. We learned all the commands and went into the river. It was so much fun. I was really nervous, for no good reason, because I know how to swim and I had gone river rafting in Peru before. But it is always a little scary when you start. So we went for a while, did all the commands well and went through some fun rapids. The guide had the girl from Holland sit at the very front of the raft as the queen of the ship because we named ourselves Las Reinas Del Rio! (The Queens of the River). I also got to ride on the front and it was so fun!! Except when I first tried to sit up there I fell back into the raft on my back and just laughed and laughed... When I was at the front we went through some crazy rapids! I never held on so tight in my life! I would just close my eyes and scream (some words I wont write here... hahaha)! I loved it. The other group decided they wanted to purposefully flip their raft so they did and they all made it back in just fine. I just really didn´t want to do it. Maybe another time. There was also a guy in a small kayak, the safety kayak, who had Nicole´s camera so he took a bunch of pictures of us (I will try and get those from her soon). The ride was a little over an hour. Then they herded us back into the van and we rode back to Baños. Unfortunately, our driver (who is the only person I have seen wearing a seatbelt in Ecuador), went over a speed bump a little to fast, and since we were sitting in the very back, we hit our heads on the ceiling which hurt. We got back into the town so cold, tired, and hungry. They took us all to a restaurant where we had soup, juice (I didn´t drink mine, I am so sick of juice), and dessert. It was great! And we still couldn´t believe the whole thing was $25!! We went back to the hostel, took a shower, played cards and then went back into town to go see the volcano. So we met on the street with a tour group and they loaded us into the back of this weird bus thing called a Chiva. The weekend just got crazier! So we were all smushed in there with like 10 people in the back and who knows how many in the main part. We started driving out of the town and the bus played loud Reggaeton and had flashing lights. After about 10 minutes they stopped the bus and said, ok now you can climb on top. So we climbed up to the top, its like a double decker bus, but really questionable... hahaha. We rode on top for about 20 minutes up and up to the viewpoint. We just were laughing the whole time because sometimes you just can´t believe what is happening and it really takes a lot of trust and courage to climb into this music playing bus and ride on the top. Once we got to the viewpoint, we were given a little talk about the volcano, which is active, and all the escape plans they have. Then we were given a really good hot cinnamon cider. We had the choice to have alcohol and Nicole went for it. But, again, a little sketchy. The alcohol, which she thinks was 151, came out of an aquafina water bottle... It was fine, but the trust really had to be strong there. Unfortunatley, it was cloudy so we couldn´t see the volcano but we had a great view of Baños. Some people made a bon fire and then two guys did poi and fire eating. It was really neat and I took some good pictures (to be uploaded soon!). We again loaded back into the Chiva and went back into town. It was $3 for that crazy adventure. We crashed once we got home.
On Sunday morning we ate at the hostel again. I love those pancakes!! We went back into town and bought some stuff, I bought a really neat painting and some other little things. Then we went to the bus station and hopped on a bus that left within 5 minutes. The ride back was fine but Nicole and Sarah sat at the very front of the bus, litterally next to the driver, which they said was just a little strange but funny. I sat in the back alone but I had a few different people sit next to me who would hop on and off the bus. We made it home fine. What a fun weekend! I really want to go back so hopefully, if Evan is up for some crazy rafting and Chiva riding, we will go back.
This week has been mostly school. I bought 4 dvds yesterday, Abre Los Ojos (the original Vanilla Sky), Fargo, 300 and Hot Fuzz. Tonight we are going to the movies to watch an Ecuadorian film and it is 2 for 1 wednesday for admission. Yes! Tomorrow our spanish class is going to a school to do some volunteer work in a library. After we get back, hopefully we are going to get manicures and pedicures for $5 with my host sister. I will probably write again next week so everyone can take a breather from this long entry!! I am posting more links to pictures at the end of this entry, I hope they work! Hope everyone is doing well!
Album 1
http://washington.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196968&l=31889&id=10708191
Album 2
http://washington.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196971&l=a52ad&id=10708191
Album 3
http://washington.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197244&l=6e8cf&id=10708191
Album 4
http://washington.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197250&l=80e29&id=10708191
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mom
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La gran aventura
Ay Andrea!!I laugh so much picturing the bus rides, la chiva, the bridge...you falling back...how fun. I know what you mean when you put you trust completely in people or situations that don't make a lot of sense ... They probably think we have tooooo many rules!... Que sera, sera.... Muchos besos tu mama.