who woulda thunk

...that it would be so cold in Ecuador?

WARNING! my dad just told me that if I keep talking the way that I do, no one is going to want to come to Ecuador! But this trip that we came back from was so awful that it was comical. So proceed at your own risk of not wanting any of the following things to happen to you:

So I just got back from a Riobamba/Cotopaxi trip.

That picture is of Cotopaxi, an active volcano south of Quito. I climbed that.... Yeah.

(Don't be too impressed by that picture - I didn't actually summit. That takes weeks of training and also plenty of time to acclimate to at least Quito's altitude)
Cotopaxi... it's pretty high. 5,000 meters. Planes fly lower than that! The terrible thing about climbing Cotopaxi was... Oh wait. There were about a hundred terrible things about climbing Cotopaxi! Let's start at the beginning.

We JUST got back from the Amazon. I really didn't want to leave the jungle, it was the most amazing time ever, and I am considering going back for a few weeks instead of class. The point is though, the Amazon is at low elevation (thus the malaria... malaria is only found in ecuador at low elevation) and Cotopaxi is clearly at ridiculously high elevation, so everyone on the trip had altitude sickness as soon as we got there. I had terrible indigestion and my stomach has never been that mad at me in my life.

So, it was pretty foggy and we couldn't exactly see what we were hiking. I was kind of pissed because once we would have gotten to our destination it still would have looked like we were standing in a foggy parking lot. We started climbing at the really high points, and by started climbing I mean took about 4 and a half steps, and already my heart felt like it was going to beat out of it's chest and I was absolutely winded. Here I am thinking I was in better shape, but actually, with the elevation so high and the air so thin, it's pretty common to feel like you're gonna die.

Then it started hailing. Wanna know what's not fun? Climbing Cotopaxi with indigestion when you can't see anything and your winded and then it starts hailing. And then forgetting to take a picture when you get there.
By lunch time, we were outside the resteraunt with splitting headaches and naseau, vomiting and diarreah in the bathroom. It was crazy to witness... we really were all down for the count. One of my friends with a really bad headache was given coca tea to help her acclimate. Coca tea = cocaine tea. It's supposed to be like a badass energy drink! Sweet. We saw a coca plant in the amazon. Coca-Cola is actually the only company that's allowed to export and import coca leaves. Wonder what they use it for since it's been illegal to put cocaine in soda for over 80 years...

So anyway, we were so happy to be done with Cotopaxi and just go to our hostel and pass out.

Whoops... totally forgot that we were staying at an indigenous community that night! The name of the people are the Quichua and that's all that we were told. We got there at 10pm (we were supposed to get there at 6:30, but like I said, we were all ridiculously ill so what with all the pit stops we made for peeing/puking/pooping/and the occasional snack or Pilsener, we got there pretty late. It was dark out and we couldn't see anything around us but the little light from the main building. We went inside, and it was barren and freezing and no one was around to tell us what to do. Here we are, cold, tired and hungry and thinking we were going to sleep on a wooden floor in a building with no heat. But Juan Pablo, our tour guide, reassured us (kind of) that there were beds. Becky and I immediately decided that we would be pushing our beds together and forcing Scottt to sleep with us to keep warm, as neither of us brought warm pajamas or decent sleeping bags. Scott said that that would be okay, but we didn't actually present the idea to him giving him the option to say no anyway.
And then the Quechua women arrived! They were very welcoming and excited for us to be there. Apparently, there hasn't been much tourism this year (maybe because of the economy, maybe because people keep posting bad blogs.... sorry Dad). Here is a picture I got off the internet of Quechua women and what they typically look like.

So dinner starts with lemongrass tea and a headcount of the vegetarians in the group. A promising beginning. The lemongrass tea is delicious, and I opted for the vegetarian because my stomach had been so sensitive all day and I didn't think the red meat would sit well. We just kind of waited around... jealously glancing at the meat-eaters plates and shifting uncomfortably in our seats and peering into the kitchen for glimpses of hope. The power went out a few times. Well guys, we found out that in the Quechoa community, vegetarians don't exist! So guess what else didn't exist?My dinner.
So I'm thinking to myself, WhatevernobigdealI'mreallytiredandIwannagotobed.

Becky and I head over to our sleeping area and start preparing ourselves for a chilly, chilly night. I put on my pjs and tuck them into my woolie socks. On top of that i put on my sweater, hat, gloves, and a scarf. Then, Becky and I pushed our beds together and created a seal so we wouldn't slip through the cracks. We gave Scott the 'you-don't-have-a-choice' speech and he headed on over with some extra blankets and pillows. Then disaster began to unfold:

Becky stuck her head in Scott's room.

"Connor, you're gonna be so lonely all by yourself! Come sleep with us! We'll all be warm!"

Connor figured he might as well.
So, in two twin beds pushed together, we had three pillows, four pairs of pajamas, 11 wool blankets, 2 sleeping bags, and a space heater. It was Connor, Becky, me, and Scott. I turned on my mp3 player and tried falling asleep. We tried spoon training but that was kind of awkward because most of us had gas. We tried all lying on our backs but there wasn't enough room. We tried settling down but Becky couldn't stop laughing at how awful today was and how we were so morbidly uncomfortable. I turned on my mp3player and drifted off to sleep...

....And then there was Connor. Connor took up an entire twin bed to himself, so that on the other bed there was Becky and Scott making an Alex sandwich. I woke up to Connor rolling over to Becky, saying "Whyyy didn't you discuss the project with me." "Because we're in the same class." No response from Becky. Awkward time to bring it up, Connor... We try again to sleep. We're warm. We're roasting, actually, with all this body heat and blankets and layers. I am seriously so physically uncomfortable at this point, not wanting to wake up any of my friends but having to pee/take off my sweater, scarf, gloves, and sweatshirt/finding my mp3 player somewhere underneath Scott's body, etc. Then, I am startled by an ungodly noise sounding like one of my friends *cough* CONNOR *cough* having way too much fun under the sheets. Complete with moaning. At this point, I am about to flip out on him for taking this moment out of all moments to be doing that, not to mention taking up so much coveted space on a twin bed to himself, and then I realize... he's snoring. It sounded like sex to me! And hibernating bear noises. And whistles! Miraculously, all at the same time. At one point during the night, Becky decided she couldn't take it anymore, grabbed some blankets and pillows and headed for Connor and Scott's empty room. The door was locked. She whimpered and retreated.

So we woke up at the ass crack of dawn to realize that we are indeed on an indigenous farm run by Quechua women. Woke up to cows mooing (sounds oddly like your phone vibrating) and roosters crowing repeatedly. I think overall, we collectively got a solid 10 minutes of sleep... Except for Connor. He woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go. Here is a picture of me hating Connor:

The farm was beautiful. All run by women. Amazing. There were sheep, cows, roosters, and dogs everywhere. It's amazing that there are still people here living so simply and being so happy.

I really wish that we could have spent more time there in better moods. How cool would it be to work on a farm for a few days and help them out with everything they need to do and learn what real work is?

The day was already looking better. The sun was shining, the farm was beautiful, we were going to do a solid hike at a lower elevation and look at some nearly-endangered species of trees (polylepis <33)

I am going to update on this post about the paramo - i am writing a paper on it now - so check for the update. The paramo was my 2nd favorite place in Ecuador (at the time) and you won't be reading any complaints from me (dad).

oh god

the ecuadorian illness has finally made it's way into my digestive system. and i have a cold. OR, it's malaria because i didn't take those pills (but i will find out for sure in a couple of weeeks)

sweet. in other news, i am getting my camera today, i have a presentation and two papers and a final due by friday, and leaving for the galaps on sunday! aaahhhh!!


<3

the 'zon

So we started off at the airport and I almost had a nervous breakdown, my chest got really tight and I couldn’t breathe and I had to get away from everybody and I totally freaked out. We took a plane to Coca and that was like 35 minutes. Should have been 25 but we were flying through a thunderstorm. And then we got there and it was this little hut in the pouring rain and we went and took a bus to this hotel where it stopped raining but I was still hyperventilating. And THEN….

we were just waiting for a boat to come get us at this hotel. We were sitting outside and all of a sudden a pack of spider monkeys started crawling all over us and drank our beer and ate our bananas and oranges… They were SO cute! I want one…

So then we took a 2 hour boat ride to the edge of the Amazon, which ended up being pretty sad because right now there is an oil company drilling in the Amazon. I had no idea about that when I was in the states… I can’t believe that anyone would allow for a fucking oil company to drill in the most biodiverse place in the world. Like… reaaallly? So once we got there we went through customs where they pretty much took our yellow fever cards and made sure that we weren’t bringing any hunting weapons in the jungle. Theeennn we took a bus ride for 2 hours to another boat, which was 2 hours to the station we stayed at.

So what sucked about that is, the station can’t survive without the oil company and all the oil for the boats and busses are off that company. The oil company did a lot of logging and ruined so much of the jungle and basically totally altered the way of life of the Waorani, an indigenous group (that’s basically no longer indigenous) that lives within the jungle.

So when we got to the jungle is was nighttime. About 6:30. (In Ecuador, the sun rises at 6 and sets at 6 because it’s on the equator… and it hasn’t been as pretty as Cape Cod so far…) I couldn’t believe the noise of the jungle though when we got there, it was deafening almost with all the bugs and animals. There weren’t any lights and bugs everywhere, and here I am shitting my pants swatting unknown critters off my skin and freaking out because I didn’t take my malaria medication (because of the funky side effects). Well anyway, we got to the cafeteria of the station and it seemed like a boot camp. Don’t shower because we need to conserve water, don’t flush because we need to conserve water, don’t talk because you’ll scare the animals, don’t use soap because it hurts the environment, don’t be late for meals or else you won’t eat, aaaand so forth. So, we just did what we were told, really, and had the time of our lives. Small sacrifices for such an amazing place.

One night, Scott and I were just sitting by the river and all the lights had turned off and we most definitely heard a predator attacking something some 20 meters away. I absolutely freaked out (we couldn’t see ANYTHING and bats and giant moths and bugs of species I have never heard of were zooming by and hitting our faces) Scott was intrigued but I got pretty nervous and needed to go to bed… I mean, it’s one thing being scared of something like a spider or something you can squish, but a jaguar in pitch darkness with absolutely no one in the vicinity to hear you being ripped to shreds? Sorry if I’m being dramatic (not really) but screw that. I hauled ass back to the safety of my cabin and passed out.

So the highlights of my time in the jungle were chillin at the canopy, the flotada down the river, and the bird watch and nightlife.
We went up to the canopy a few times, mostly on structures that were attached to trees. Sometimes there were bridges. We saw monkeys and toucans and other amazing birds and animals. The canopy of a rainforest is most interesting because that’s where the most photosynthesis happens, therefore the most activity with plants and animals. MMMM! The view on top of the canopy is gorgeous. Clear skies, tree tops in every direction, small specks that are birds flying all over the place. Amazing to think of all the crazy life that is happening below. Jaguars… (I get made fun of for pronouncing them like ‘jag-wahs’ but that’s how I thought you were supposed to say it) and ant eaters and owls and scorpion spiders and tarantulas, OH MY! I kept imagining myself and then zooming all the way out, as a spec on the map that is South America. I still can’t believe that I’m here…
For the flotada we basically just wore our swim suits and a life jacket and hopped in the Amazon river and floated down for a couple hours. We saw beautiful trees, birds jumping from tree to tree,

Connor hiatus : Free haiku: My name is Connor, Alex is the coolest girl, sitting to my left.

Thank you Connor.

… and then we saw a family of giant otters! They got really scared and ran away. But in the river you can’t pee, unless you want a parasite to swim up and latch onto your urethra. Needless to say, I was grabbing my crotch as hard as I could and crying by the end of the flotada. Didn’t really feel much swimming by me, though. And there weren’t any piranhas! Usually they swim in areas dark/dead water.
We also went on a night hike, full of insects, frogs, and snakes. Our guides spoke only Spanish, but slowly and with lots of hand motions so we were able to understand most of it. I can tell that my Spanish is already improving… Anyway, Scott lent me his headlamp for the hike and he didn’t have one, which was amazing of him. He knows that I hate insects and thought I’d appreciate it. (I really, really did…) So Ramiro, our guide, called me over to show me a snake. A giant grasshopper probably the size of my fist jumped on Ramiro and I stepped back, then it jumped on my sleeve and I got really scared so I put my hands in my sleeves and the little bastard jumped up my sleeve and I TOTALLY FREAKED OUT and Ramiro grabbed my shoulders and said ‘Tranquilo’ trying to get me to calm down. Then we saw a tarantula and I started crying. I really do think I’m getting better with the insect thing, though. Haven’t slept since I saw it, but that’s beside the point, really. There were also scorpion spiders and if you shined your light into the distance, you could see the little metallic flecks of the millions of spider eyes watching you. Then, Ramiro had us all shut off our lights for a couple minutes for a concierto. It was amazing and really put things into perspective for me. All the noises of the nightlife and activity in the jungle were incredible, the frogs croaking their unique croaks and the bugs buzzing around and the owls hooting and the night birds making awkward squawks. And this is their life, at night, with no lights. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I almost freaked out and hugged Ramiro and started crying/running back to the cabin, but it was really way too cool to run away from, no matter how freaked out I was. Then I turned on my light and was much calmer about the whole thing.
We also canoed around a lake and saw amazing birds, one of which was a prehistoric bird (I forget the name) but the locals call them the stink turkeys. They’re huge and fly everywhere, they have crazy feathers and red eyes, and smell like skunks and garbage. Amazing. My sister loves birds and I’m beginning to appreciate them as well.


I really hated leaving.

Mount Wannahockalougie

We've been quoting Finding Nemo everyday... I feel right at home.

So instead of going to the Tropical Ecology class the other day, we hiked up a mountain called Ilalo. I made the decision of boycotting sunscreen until the Galapagos because it smells funny and it was also cloudy and rainy.

I'm pretty burnt now.

Anyway, it was a great hike and we learned more than we could have in class. The ground was covered in little spiders, which kind of freaked me out a little, but I'm definitely working on that! I also tripped a few times, fell on my butt sliding down a mountain and stepped in a fresh cowpie. I'm so pretty. The plantlife is pretty different from any hike in New England I've ever been on... sooo many prickly plants. From the highest point we got to, we were able to see a lot of Quito, the Cumbaya area, and really take note of all the logging and other human activity that is destroying the country. It's pretty pathetic. The government is so corrupt and the wealthy people in Ecuador are building their mansions everywhere and dominating the gov't. There was a bunch of logging done on Ilalo on the mountainside, and the people building the house changed their minds and started the project somewhere else. The soil is so infertile... It's been 7 years and nothing has regrown. Disgusting. Anyway, saw some pretty cool plant life and I will update with more pictures. There is this crabbe grass, though, which is an invasive species and coats the forest floor of the mountain, which is a problem because it's competing with the native species.

Ecuadorian traffic...

... Driving in Ecuador is insane! We've been taking cabs everywhere, mostly because it's a dollar or two to get wherever we need to go and it is much safer than walking (for gringos). People pass each other all the time and ignore the yellow lines in the middle of the road.



A group of kids and i jumped in a cab to go to Mariscal..

We were in a taxi with a driver really trying to talk to us and give us advice and tell us about himself and his time in the U.S. He was 55. He was in the military stationed at New Jersey in 1982. He spent some years on the Galapagos. His missing teeth took nothing away from his smile.
A huge truck was about to cut us off, and the passenger in the truck popped out the window to let the taxi know that they needed to turn and the taxi nodded. No Boston honking or stubborn challenging.

arriving at the equator

I waited at the airport for a bajillion hours and somewhere in between that I just asked a bunch of random people if they were going to USFQ (the host institution for GAIAS) and they all were! I was so glad I had someone to talk to about the trip! And guess what? They all got a message beforehand saying that we could take 2 50 lb bags abroad because they would be weighing our luggage as a group and there would be no excess charge. Guess who never got that email? ME! I can safely say, that of all the girls AND boys, I brought the least amount of stuff. I will be wearing the same 3 outfits up until we go shopping and after that I am going to look like a confused gringo who is desperately trying to fit in... until I get tan, that is. Then I will look pretty Ecuadorian.
Speaking of tan, I was at the equator line today. I put sunblock on before we went, because it was noon and we were literally on the equator line. Now I have some funny tan lines on the upper half of my body... the sun rays went through my shirt and burned me... so my arms and legs and chest aren't nearly as bad as my shoulders (that were under my t shirt) and below the neckline... it's kind of like an opposite sunburn. Kind of funny, kind of itchy at the same time. Anyway, the equator was really cool. Scientists calculated it a million years ago using wacko tools and were actually 27 meters off (not bad) but there are a series of tests conducted at the exact line and they are really simple but crazy to see... At the equator, because of the centrifical (sp?) forces, a lot of weird stuff happens, like the currents that are created in the northern and southern hemispheres that Dr. Crandall probably told you about, blah blah. But what also happens at the equator is that you lose resistance at the exact line. So at the equator, you weigh 2.2 kilos less and have less resistance in your muscles. So a foot above the equator, we had someone push down our arms and we tried to resist it as much as possible. At the equator, we tried and our arms were almost instantly pushed down. It's a really weird feeling, and a great way for your muscles to get mushy... Kind of like astronauts except that they experience it times a thousand...
Then, on the equator line, I balanced an egg on a nail! HA! I was one of three people in my group who could do it. I got a certificate and everything. Aren't you proud guys? haha :(
Then my favorite one... And I have it on video... We put a sink on the equator and filled it will water and a few little leaves... The water went straight down! Ah! So we did it a foot above the equator and a foot below, and they swirled in opposite directions! One foot! How awesome is that?
Also at this location they had replicated some houses of the indigenous tribes and talked about some customs. I guess there are a few different groups in the mountains, outside of where we are at now. One of them is dying out because they are only reproducing with each other and they are getting pretty weak as a result of generations of incest and gene mutation. We saw some artifacts from the other groups... In their huts they have only one window, because the smoke in the house makes the surfaces waterproof. And their walls are made of animal poo, but it doesn't smell as bad as you might think. They also have little pens in their houses for their guinea pigs, or cuy as they call them (Apparently guinea pigs make a little cuy cuy cuy cuy sound so they are named as such. I LOVE english animal sounds versus spanish animal sounds) Cuy is really important because it's their main food supply and they want to protect them so they keep them in their house. Also, if someone is sick, the town doctor will take one of their cuy and rub it all over their bodies and when they are done with that, they will cut open the cuy and whatever is wrong with the little pig is what is ailing the sick person. I wonder how that's working out for them.
And then I saw some dead things from the Amazon including but not limited to, the skin of an anaconda, a couple huge spiders, that little fishy that swims up your urethra if you pee in the water and latches on with their teeth and needs to be surgically removed, some poisonous snakes, a boa constrictor, and a shrunken head of a 12 year old boy. And I also learned how to prepare a human head for shrinkage. And I did get a copy of those directions.