Thursday, September 17, 2009
Yoni and Hanne (do) go to the zoo!
Instead of going rafing today, we took a trip to the zoo, which is quite down played in the guide book, and there are very few signs leading too it here in the city. Our host brother had however told Yoni that Baños had a really great zoo, and it was worth taking a look. So after a 2km mini walk we got there and we now have some amazing pictures to show for it!
Yoni and Hanne (don`t) go rafting
Last night we were made an increidble offer to go rafting this morning through our hostal via our door man. We would leave the hosta at 9, go for a half day rafting trip including lunch and be back around 2 for only $25 a person. However, by some fluke we decided not to take the deal, but to bum around Baños instead and go to the zoo.
Good thing too.
As you can see, we took some picture of a beautiful canyon with a lovely river running through it. Turns out the baños in Baños all run directly into the local water source, and you could sure smell it. We will never know if the rafting rivers would be quick as murky, but rafting in Baños has lost much of it´s appeal now after our little sight seeing.
Good thing too.
As you can see, we took some picture of a beautiful canyon with a lovely river running through it. Turns out the baños in Baños all run directly into the local water source, and you could sure smell it. We will never know if the rafting rivers would be quick as murky, but rafting in Baños has lost much of it´s appeal now after our little sight seeing.
An epic quest for cereal
Ok, we have now been in Ecuador for more than three weeks, and while we are having a good time, both Hanne and myself have been realy wanting a nice bowl of plane corn flakes for breakfast. While our host family always supplies a copius and elegent breakfast, there is some thing we have been missing about boring cold cereal.
However, getting cornflakes and milk here is a bigger operation then you might expect. here are the steps involved:
1) Buy the cereal.
There are quite a lot of very sweet foods here (all the bread, for instance), so I realy just wanted some unsweetend cornflakes or cheerios. While we are in Baños for a few days seemed like the perfect time to get our cereal, since we would not offend our host mom by not eating her homemade granola, which she, I am sure, would find much superior. So we went into the supermarket, only to discorver that there are no unsweetend cereals here. Almost all are types of cornflake or krispy rice, but not just plain. You can get them frosted with suger, sweetend condenced milk, strawberry flavor, chocolate, even honey. But not plain. We went for cornflakes with raisens, hopeing for something less sweet; it turned out to be frosted flakes (bad ones at that) with sugar coated raisens. Oh well...
2) Milk
You can´t just buy a cold thing of milk here. It is usualy sold in room tempurature bags or cartons, which don´t need to be refrigerated untill after being opened. Even then, you need to make sure its pasturized. To make it more complex, almost all the milk here is whole milk (which neither of us like very much) and doesn´t taste very good. The supermarket here in Baños sells one type of refrigerated, pasturized, low fat milk (actualy, it was thier only cold milk). It comes in a bag, which we opened with with my pocket knife, and then had to be held upright while we are, and sealed with a hairtie when done.
3) Bowls and spoons.
Remeber how we are in Baños? Well, that ment we had to buy bowls from the supermarket, as well as spoons, to eat our cereal with. I picked out some nice (cheep) flowered ceramic ones, as well as some cheep spoons, so now we have basic cutlery.
4) Eating it.
We ate our cereal on the roof of the hostel, were their is nice set of tables. There is a café, too, but they lack cereal and most of their food (eggs, toast, etc.) is served on plates. We ate up there and, apart from making a mess pouring our milk out of a bag, everything went pretty well. The hostel even let us put the leftover milk in their refrigerator.
In all, this operation involved 2 trips to the store over the course of two days, and the cereal was, by US standards, pretty bad. But, we arn´t in the US, we are in Ecuador. And we ate it, and it was good.
However, getting cornflakes and milk here is a bigger operation then you might expect. here are the steps involved:
1) Buy the cereal.
There are quite a lot of very sweet foods here (all the bread, for instance), so I realy just wanted some unsweetend cornflakes or cheerios. While we are in Baños for a few days seemed like the perfect time to get our cereal, since we would not offend our host mom by not eating her homemade granola, which she, I am sure, would find much superior. So we went into the supermarket, only to discorver that there are no unsweetend cereals here. Almost all are types of cornflake or krispy rice, but not just plain. You can get them frosted with suger, sweetend condenced milk, strawberry flavor, chocolate, even honey. But not plain. We went for cornflakes with raisens, hopeing for something less sweet; it turned out to be frosted flakes (bad ones at that) with sugar coated raisens. Oh well...
2) Milk
You can´t just buy a cold thing of milk here. It is usualy sold in room tempurature bags or cartons, which don´t need to be refrigerated untill after being opened. Even then, you need to make sure its pasturized. To make it more complex, almost all the milk here is whole milk (which neither of us like very much) and doesn´t taste very good. The supermarket here in Baños sells one type of refrigerated, pasturized, low fat milk (actualy, it was thier only cold milk). It comes in a bag, which we opened with with my pocket knife, and then had to be held upright while we are, and sealed with a hairtie when done.
3) Bowls and spoons.
Remeber how we are in Baños? Well, that ment we had to buy bowls from the supermarket, as well as spoons, to eat our cereal with. I picked out some nice (cheep) flowered ceramic ones, as well as some cheep spoons, so now we have basic cutlery.
4) Eating it.
We ate our cereal on the roof of the hostel, were their is nice set of tables. There is a café, too, but they lack cereal and most of their food (eggs, toast, etc.) is served on plates. We ate up there and, apart from making a mess pouring our milk out of a bag, everything went pretty well. The hostel even let us put the leftover milk in their refrigerator.
In all, this operation involved 2 trips to the store over the course of two days, and the cereal was, by US standards, pretty bad. But, we arn´t in the US, we are in Ecuador. And we ate it, and it was good.
Baños!
Yesterday morning we packed up our stuff, organized our rooms at the host family´s house, made little day packs, and headed off on our mini vacation to Baños. After the three and a half hour bus ride we arried at the main terminal and meandered around until we found one of the hostels mentioned in the guide book. We decided on getting the more expensive deal since then we would have our own room, own bathroom and even locks on the door! An entire 9.50$ expensive that is...
Baños is amazing. We are in this valley next to a active volcano and there are amazing green hills all around us. The town is half normal town and half tourist trap and both Yoni and I have fallen in love with the place. As far as we can tell, every street has a couple tourist agencies that offer a variety of differnt activities including rafting for $30 a half day, kayak rentals, mountain bike rentals for $5 a day, dunn buggee rental, guided hiking tours, bungee jumping, canyon "yummping" (haha spangish) and a variety of jungle tours using differnt means of transportation. There are also of course the Baños here which are naturally hot pools, and then additional spas that offer a one hour massage for $19. Incredible? I know. We are having a hard time deciding what to do!
Last night I also went our to a salsa club for a couple hours to dance some salsa and merengue with the locals. Being of Swedish heritage, compared to all the latinos here, I am not a very talented dancer in that my hips really do not want to move the way salsa requires. However, last night there were a couple tour guides from rafting travel agencies that were near professional salsa dancing status that were able to lead so well that it didn´t matter that I had no idea what I was doing. I am very much enjoying that type of dance, since I kind of just try to keep the basic step and let them do whatever twirling or dipping that they see fit.
So I guess we will see what we end up doing today. We might take a trip to the Baños zoo, which is actually inter-animal reserve/hospital for injured animal which could be very interesting. At some point we will have to try the baños here in Baños, and then later tonight more salsa?
Baños is amazing. We are in this valley next to a active volcano and there are amazing green hills all around us. The town is half normal town and half tourist trap and both Yoni and I have fallen in love with the place. As far as we can tell, every street has a couple tourist agencies that offer a variety of differnt activities including rafting for $30 a half day, kayak rentals, mountain bike rentals for $5 a day, dunn buggee rental, guided hiking tours, bungee jumping, canyon "yummping" (haha spangish) and a variety of jungle tours using differnt means of transportation. There are also of course the Baños here which are naturally hot pools, and then additional spas that offer a one hour massage for $19. Incredible? I know. We are having a hard time deciding what to do!
Last night I also went our to a salsa club for a couple hours to dance some salsa and merengue with the locals. Being of Swedish heritage, compared to all the latinos here, I am not a very talented dancer in that my hips really do not want to move the way salsa requires. However, last night there were a couple tour guides from rafting travel agencies that were near professional salsa dancing status that were able to lead so well that it didn´t matter that I had no idea what I was doing. I am very much enjoying that type of dance, since I kind of just try to keep the basic step and let them do whatever twirling or dipping that they see fit.
So I guess we will see what we end up doing today. We might take a trip to the Baños zoo, which is actually inter-animal reserve/hospital for injured animal which could be very interesting. At some point we will have to try the baños here in Baños, and then later tonight more salsa?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Bull Fight!
In your stareotype of latin american countries, there is bull fighting. As you likly know, bull fighting is a rigged sport were a guy (fancy smancy madador) with a long red cape and even longer sword becomes a celebrity for stabbing a large bovine to death after about ten piccadors have already stabbed it with smaller swords in the neck. They have those in Quito, too: once a year, in December. It is, however, currently September, and no such event is taking place.
Instead, the town of Tambillo (about 45 min by bus from Quito) was having their annual town party for the year. They have bull fighting too, of a very differant type. What they do is let the bull loose in a big soccer field with wooden fences and seating haphazerdly errected around it, and all the slightly drunk locals climb in to the arena and (unarmed) to have a run at the bull. Some are however prepared with large pink capes or ponchos of the like. This is defintely what would be called amatur bull fighting. Here, the bull has the all out advantage, because it is more likly to kill the people. In fact, we were told that usualy someone dies. Luckly, no one was mortaly wounded when we went Saturday (there was more on Sun. and Mon. too, so we don´t know if the whole event was death free).
Watching people risk their lives (we did see one person trampled, another get large gashes on his arm, another thrown, and several headbutted) for the thrill of running around after a rather upset bull, was an interesting enough event that we took lots of pictures. Here are some:
These people are waiting for the bull to come out.
You can see the field, and all the people on it. When the bull started charging, everyone would clamber up onto the wooden fence.
A guy riding the bull. He ended up with a rather bloody arm...
This bull got tired, and decided to go back to its pen.
And this one was hungry.
Look! Us! Including the other volunteers, as well as the family we went to the bull festival with (this was not a tourist atraction. In fact, our group definatly included the only gringos at the event.)
Hanne Lives!!! The tacos wern´t so lucky.
For those who were worried, Hanne is now most of the way better. She is still a little tired a lot of the time, up she is up and moving now.
However, after having not eaten anything more then instant oatmeal for 3 days, she has been perpetualy hungy for the last couple days. And not just hungry for anything: she wanted tacos. Unfortunatly, we a living with a host mom who is a bit of a control freak, especialy when it comes to household things, like laundry and cooking (today she used an imperative command when telling that I would drink her soymilk). This means that getting tacos to hanne was a large chalange. Finaly, when our host mom wasn´t home, we went to the store, bought tacoish ingredients, and ate the tacos as a picnick at the bull fight.
However, after having not eaten anything more then instant oatmeal for 3 days, she has been perpetualy hungy for the last couple days. And not just hungry for anything: she wanted tacos. Unfortunatly, we a living with a host mom who is a bit of a control freak, especialy when it comes to household things, like laundry and cooking (today she used an imperative command when telling that I would drink her soymilk). This means that getting tacos to hanne was a large chalange. Finaly, when our host mom wasn´t home, we went to the store, bought tacoish ingredients, and ate the tacos as a picnick at the bull fight.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Photos of the Kids
Ok, here is the real reson we made a blog in the first place: to show photos of the kids we are working with in Ecuador. We are going to Markets and playing with kids who would otherwise be of working (mind you, they are only 2-12 years old). Here are some pictures of the kids. Only the younger kids are featured in these photos, though, because the older ones started school this week.
Every day starts with hand washing and face washing. Kids get alittle to excited about this, and everyone is pretty much drenched in water for the rest of our time with them. This is annoying, since everyone also wants to sit in your lap.
As I said, there is a certain fasiation about the face washing materials. Here are some kids playing with the towel.
Here is one of the UBECI staff attemting to teach the kids the memory game. While they understand the idea of finding pairs, they don´t quite get that it is not ok to cheat and look when it is not your turn.
Drawing is the aparent highlite of the day. This girl just got here ration of paper...
More dilagent drawing.
A girl being entertained by José (Joe), who is singing.
And here is a girl. And a wall.
Towards the end of the session, everyone sings together, or rather, everyone shouts together to some sybalence of a tune, with the goal being to make as much noise as possible.
Normaly, at the end of our session, the kids just get a mandarine. Today, though, they got "pancitos (it translates to "little bread", but is basicly just a sweet roll) and yogurt. This was actual a very good thing, since one of the kids (not in this picture) was complaining of severe stomach pain, which turned out to be from hunger.
Every day starts with hand washing and face washing. Kids get alittle to excited about this, and everyone is pretty much drenched in water for the rest of our time with them. This is annoying, since everyone also wants to sit in your lap.
As I said, there is a certain fasiation about the face washing materials. Here are some kids playing with the towel.
Here is one of the UBECI staff attemting to teach the kids the memory game. While they understand the idea of finding pairs, they don´t quite get that it is not ok to cheat and look when it is not your turn.
Drawing is the aparent highlite of the day. This girl just got here ration of paper...
More dilagent drawing.
A girl being entertained by José (Joe), who is singing.
And here is a girl. And a wall.
Towards the end of the session, everyone sings together, or rather, everyone shouts together to some sybalence of a tune, with the goal being to make as much noise as possible.
Normaly, at the end of our session, the kids just get a mandarine. Today, though, they got "pancitos (it translates to "little bread", but is basicly just a sweet roll) and yogurt. This was actual a very good thing, since one of the kids (not in this picture) was complaining of severe stomach pain, which turned out to be from hunger.
Hanne and the Hospital
On our ecuador agenda, one of the things we were not planning to do was visit the hospital. That was however, before Hanne developed a fever, a nasty soar throat, and (of all things) pain (remeber how she was to sick to go to Mindo?, well, it only go worse). After trying to treat it our selves (Did you know that they sell antibiotics over the counter here? I had an exciting trip to a pharmacy to explain, in spanish, why we needed them) and having no sucsess, Wensday´s activity became a trip to the ER.
While I have no more medical training then the next person, I concluded that Hanne had strep throat. This caused our host family to do a number of things including: boiling all the silverware Hanne might have used in the last week, start avoiding Hanne, start trying to convince me that Hanne got sick because she a) wasn´t taking enough vitamins (our host mom is a vitamin sales-women) and b) doesn´t wear shoes in the house, which everyone here aparently does. This ment more explaining, in spanish, that Strep was air born but they probably wouldn´t get it, and that cooking the silverware wouldn´t help (we didn´t tell them that if they were going to get infected, they already were: we just told them they wouldn´t...)
A call to the travelers insurance told us to go to the Hospital Metropolitano, Quito´s main hospital. We took a cap there. In truth, it was no differant from any other ER I have been in (not that I have ever seen more then one), except that everone here spoke Spanish. After using the translator to get through the paperwork, we were shown to a room, were they did a number of tests, gave Hanne some medicine (which is aparently working, as she is starting to feel better), and sent us on our way, telling us to come back Friday to get the results of one of the tests. We were lucky enough to get a docter who spoke english (even if none of the nurses did), and, well, I guess that is all there is to tell.
Yoni goes to Mindo
OK- here is the regretful but honest truth: Quito, especialy south Quito, overcrowded, smoggy, lacks greenery, and is, altogether, a kind of gross place. So this weekend, Yoni, Hanne, and the other volunteers desided to go to Mindo, a nice town in a beutiful tropical forest about a 2 hour bus ride from quito. In truth Mindo is a total tourist trap (main street=resturaunts and travel agencies), but it was nice, anyway.
While the origional plan was for Yoni to go up saturday and Hanne to come sunday (she had somthing to do on Sat.), Hanne got sick and never came (this is forshadowing for posts to come...).
Mindo
The first day in Mindo, I (Yoni) when zip linning. For those who don´t know, this is were they strap you to a weel-y-thing and send you on a cable streched between to sides of a vally, so that you are hanging 300ft in the air admiring the veiw. It is amazingly fun. There are pictures, but I need to get them from the others volunteers.
The "Other Volunteers" go as follows: Katie, a 22 year old resent UW grad (what a coincidence); Daniel, a 29 year old Brittish Woman; and Joe, a 62 year old Irish man. Katie and Joe are featured in the picure below.
That night, Mindo was apparently having their anual party, and so the whole town got a little drunk and had a very large dance party. After tasting a beer, I desided that drinking was not for me (Daniel has a picture of the discusted look on my face), and so the party passed for me as a bit borring.
Sunday, Katie and I went intertubing in the morning, and in the afternoon, I when mountain biking to a waterfall while everyone else tried to go horse back riding, only to find out there were no horses.
While the origional plan was for Yoni to go up saturday and Hanne to come sunday (she had somthing to do on Sat.), Hanne got sick and never came (this is forshadowing for posts to come...).
The first day in Mindo, I (Yoni) when zip linning. For those who don´t know, this is were they strap you to a weel-y-thing and send you on a cable streched between to sides of a vally, so that you are hanging 300ft in the air admiring the veiw. It is amazingly fun. There are pictures, but I need to get them from the others volunteers.
The "Other Volunteers" go as follows: Katie, a 22 year old resent UW grad (what a coincidence); Daniel, a 29 year old Brittish Woman; and Joe, a 62 year old Irish man. Katie and Joe are featured in the picure below.
That night, Mindo was apparently having their anual party, and so the whole town got a little drunk and had a very large dance party. After tasting a beer, I desided that drinking was not for me (Daniel has a picture of the discusted look on my face), and so the party passed for me as a bit borring.
Sunday, Katie and I went intertubing in the morning, and in the afternoon, I when mountain biking to a waterfall while everyone else tried to go horse back riding, only to find out there were no horses.
Internet in Ecuador
When we first invisioned making this blog, we saw ourselves sitting in internet cafe´s, typeing away. But then we found out that our family had internet, and got lazy: we don´t even want to go out of the house to get internet. Consaquently, we haven´t posted much for a while: the internet was down. Now, as I have a free afternoon, you will soon get to read more then you ever wanted about ecuador...
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