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).