My first real weekend in Cuenca was quite the experience. It consisted of discotecas, food festivals, barbecues, bars and Incan ruins. What more could one ask for. Well, maybe a little sun would be nice.
We went to a discoteca se llama Lit on friday night cool place. Only problema, they give you a drink card. But you only get one for your entire group. So if you don´t have the card and aren´t with the person who does, well, sucks to be you. You can´t get a drink. The night ended with hamburgesas at a local stand. And thanks to la rubia (me) we got a wonderful senerade while waiting for our food.
Saturday there was a food festival in the main square. I was fabulous. I must admit though, on a food basis my heart still remains with la costa. That afternoon I went to a barbecue at the house of an AIESEC in the moutains. It was my dream afternoon, so much meat (pig, cow, lamb, chicken, sausages) with potatoes, plantains and ensalada. With a couple of beers, who could ask for more?
Sunday I went to Ingaprica. The best perserved Incan Ruins in Ecuador. It was amazing. They are two hours into the montanas de Cuenca. So powerful and mystical. I could have stayed there for hours. Unfortunately, my Ecuadorian amigas had had enough after two and half hours. I now yearn to go to Machu Pichu, I can only imagine what it would be like. However, at Ingapirca, since it is not very famoso, one can walk all over the ruins climb up them, sit on them, smoke around them.
Life in Cuenca is quite enjoyable. I think I am going to head out to LA PLAYA a Montañita next weekend for the birthday party of a trainee here in Ecuador. I need some sun....a tan. Hello, my name is Stephanie and I´m a tan-aholic.
Until neext time,
Steph
lunes, 30 de abril de 2007
viernes, 27 de abril de 2007
Marketing calls and meetings
It´s been a crazy week here in Cuenca. We are organizing a seminario so that includes recruiting members and finding sponsors. I have been on 4 sales meetings in the past 2 days. I must admit, I like the striaght forwardness of the business culture here. If a person isn´t interested in your proposal they simply tell you. None of this, ¨oh, I need to think about this, let me get back to you in a week¨ and then the company ignores your phone calls and emails.
We had, or I should say, tried to have meetings with the Organizing Committee (OC). However, when one sets a meeting for let´s say 2:00 you are luck if 1/3 of the people show up by 2:45. It does get frustrating but I´ve been very good at not letting it get to me. As most of you may know I am a punctual person, and appreciate such a virtue, but trying to combate tardiness in Ecuador would be a futile effort. I merely try to set an example and remind my wonderful members that professionalism and punctuality go hand in hand.
The lifestyle in Cuenca is vastly different from that in the rest of Ecuador. I still have yet to ride the bus here. All the AIESECers have cars. There is A LOT of money in this city. However, the people here think they are superior to the rest of Ecuadorians. Kinda like us Torontonians!! The gender relations in La Sierra are much better than those in La Costa. The men atually help around the house and cook. Unlike in La Costa when they do nothing expect drink too much on the weekends. This country never ceases to suprise me. It´s the same size as Colorado, yet, it has three distinct regions which are three differect worlds.
Until next time,
Steph
We had, or I should say, tried to have meetings with the Organizing Committee (OC). However, when one sets a meeting for let´s say 2:00 you are luck if 1/3 of the people show up by 2:45. It does get frustrating but I´ve been very good at not letting it get to me. As most of you may know I am a punctual person, and appreciate such a virtue, but trying to combate tardiness in Ecuador would be a futile effort. I merely try to set an example and remind my wonderful members that professionalism and punctuality go hand in hand.
The lifestyle in Cuenca is vastly different from that in the rest of Ecuador. I still have yet to ride the bus here. All the AIESECers have cars. There is A LOT of money in this city. However, the people here think they are superior to the rest of Ecuadorians. Kinda like us Torontonians!! The gender relations in La Sierra are much better than those in La Costa. The men atually help around the house and cook. Unlike in La Costa when they do nothing expect drink too much on the weekends. This country never ceases to suprise me. It´s the same size as Colorado, yet, it has three distinct regions which are three differect worlds.
Until next time,
Steph
lunes, 23 de abril de 2007
Conferencia en Guayaquil
I returned to Cuenca last night from a 4 day conference en Guayaquil called SDL (semanario de desarrollo de líderes). It was quite the experience. We left Cuenca at 1:30am and arrived en Guayaquil at 6:45am. I love the Ecuadorian night bus rides. Not only came someone over the height of 5´6" not sleep due to lack of room, but the bus driver plays música all night long. Not relaxing, tranquil música, but salsa and reggeaton.
Obviously, conferences are so different from the Canada ones. There were about 45 delegates, however, only about 1/3 of us actually attended the sessions. It was held in a Military Compound. Man, talk about being a spectical, a gringa in a military compound - use your imagination. There was basically no water to shower or brush one´s teeth because everytime it rains in Guayaquil (and it rained a lot) there is no water. La vida, it´s all part of the Ecuadorian experience. I must admit, it was quite mentally exchuasting 4 days of working in spanish with no real time to my self to absorbe and process everything. It was also a little frustrating to not be able to contribute in a manner that I would like to. I mean, I would go to development, leadership, communication, etc... session and even if I understood everything I couldn´t really add anything meaningful to the discussion. I can´t deny that it is hard, but nothing worth doing is easy. Good news, my reading, writing and listening skills are vastly improving. However, my speaking is still quite limited though.
I got to try an Ecuadorian meal of chicken´s feet....I don´t recommend it if you ever have the opportunity to eat them. In the Sierra one of the tyipcal dishes is Cuyi (which is gineapig (sp?)) I haven´t tried it yet, I am definately going to give it a try. Hey, why not. I can´t be worse than chicken´s feet....well, I hope not.
Until next time,
Steph
Obviously, conferences are so different from the Canada ones. There were about 45 delegates, however, only about 1/3 of us actually attended the sessions. It was held in a Military Compound. Man, talk about being a spectical, a gringa in a military compound - use your imagination. There was basically no water to shower or brush one´s teeth because everytime it rains in Guayaquil (and it rained a lot) there is no water. La vida, it´s all part of the Ecuadorian experience. I must admit, it was quite mentally exchuasting 4 days of working in spanish with no real time to my self to absorbe and process everything. It was also a little frustrating to not be able to contribute in a manner that I would like to. I mean, I would go to development, leadership, communication, etc... session and even if I understood everything I couldn´t really add anything meaningful to the discussion. I can´t deny that it is hard, but nothing worth doing is easy. Good news, my reading, writing and listening skills are vastly improving. However, my speaking is still quite limited though.
I got to try an Ecuadorian meal of chicken´s feet....I don´t recommend it if you ever have the opportunity to eat them. In the Sierra one of the tyipcal dishes is Cuyi (which is gineapig (sp?)) I haven´t tried it yet, I am definately going to give it a try. Hey, why not. I can´t be worse than chicken´s feet....well, I hope not.
Until next time,
Steph
lunes, 16 de abril de 2007
La vida en Cuenca
Yesterday 75 percent of Ecuador voted sí for a new constitution. It´s going to be an interesting time.
Life´s pretty sweet in Cuenca. I am living with an awesome family. I have my own room with a TV and a lock...hey it sounds better than my room at home. hahaha. The Sierra is so much different than the Costa. People here are much more conservative. Ejemplo, the night I arrived it was there was abig party because it has been 450 since Cuenca´s founding. The fesitivies wrapped up around 12:30am. In la costa the party wouldn´t have begun until 1:30am. ¡En serio! The weather´s pretty crazy here. When we wake up it can be freezing and overcaste, then sunny and warm mid-day and start pouring in the afternoon. It´s difficult getting dressed in the morning, I never know what to wear. I like the tranquility of this city. Moreover, being the independent women that I am, I enjoy being able walk around here alone without worry.
I had my first day in the AIESEC office today. Which consisted of meetings with different VPs and there was an EB (executive board) meeting. It was entertaining. The office is about twice the size of the one in York, with a quarter of the stuff. One sad computer, which I asume could be around the same age as me, a bristle board and not much else. Get this, you can smoke in the office. ¡Qué bueno! eh?
I am heading back to Guayaquil on wednesday night for a conference that begins on thursday morning. It is being held in a military compound. Man, I fucking love this country. I haven´t stopped smiling since I got off the plane.
My iPod broke the other day. Yep, not even 3 months in my possesion and it broke. I wrote Apple a strongly worded email. I signed it from ¨an unimpressed PC user who just had her skepticism of Apple validated¨ I can´t wait for the response.
Until next time,
Steph
Life´s pretty sweet in Cuenca. I am living with an awesome family. I have my own room with a TV and a lock...hey it sounds better than my room at home. hahaha. The Sierra is so much different than the Costa. People here are much more conservative. Ejemplo, the night I arrived it was there was abig party because it has been 450 since Cuenca´s founding. The fesitivies wrapped up around 12:30am. In la costa the party wouldn´t have begun until 1:30am. ¡En serio! The weather´s pretty crazy here. When we wake up it can be freezing and overcaste, then sunny and warm mid-day and start pouring in the afternoon. It´s difficult getting dressed in the morning, I never know what to wear. I like the tranquility of this city. Moreover, being the independent women that I am, I enjoy being able walk around here alone without worry.
I had my first day in the AIESEC office today. Which consisted of meetings with different VPs and there was an EB (executive board) meeting. It was entertaining. The office is about twice the size of the one in York, with a quarter of the stuff. One sad computer, which I asume could be around the same age as me, a bristle board and not much else. Get this, you can smoke in the office. ¡Qué bueno! eh?
I am heading back to Guayaquil on wednesday night for a conference that begins on thursday morning. It is being held in a military compound. Man, I fucking love this country. I haven´t stopped smiling since I got off the plane.
My iPod broke the other day. Yep, not even 3 months in my possesion and it broke. I wrote Apple a strongly worded email. I signed it from ¨an unimpressed PC user who just had her skepticism of Apple validated¨ I can´t wait for the response.
Until next time,
Steph
sábado, 14 de abril de 2007
Super Cuenca
After a not so short 6 hour bus ride I arrived in Cuenca. On thursday night was the celebration for the founding of Cuenca. There was a huge fiesta in Bolivar Square. Dancing, drinking, the works. It was a wonderful start to my stay here. Cuenca is the most beautiful city I´ve been to in Ecuador. Surrounded by mountains, packed full of catherdrals and museums it is a city just brusting with history and culture. I strongly recommend any travellers to Ecuador to make a stop in Cuenca.
So it´s quite an interesting time in Ecuador door. Tomorrrow the country is voting for sí o no for a new constitution. Interestingly enough, it´s mandatory to vote here in Ecuador. If a citizens doesn´t vote there are serious ramifications. Some democracy, eh? So as of tomorrow there may be some serious changes in this city. Some people fear that Correa is trying to turn Ecuador into some socialist Utopia. Pero, after talking to some people I don´t think that the Ecuadorianos will allow such things to happen....but we´ll see. It´s going to be interesting doing corporated development work here in the face of some possible major changes. Alright, enough with politics.
It´s so weird. I´ve only been here for a bit over a week, yet, I feel like I never left Ecuador. Funny how life is - la vida.
thanks for listening.
until next time,
Steph
So it´s quite an interesting time in Ecuador door. Tomorrrow the country is voting for sí o no for a new constitution. Interestingly enough, it´s mandatory to vote here in Ecuador. If a citizens doesn´t vote there are serious ramifications. Some democracy, eh? So as of tomorrow there may be some serious changes in this city. Some people fear that Correa is trying to turn Ecuador into some socialist Utopia. Pero, after talking to some people I don´t think that the Ecuadorianos will allow such things to happen....but we´ll see. It´s going to be interesting doing corporated development work here in the face of some possible major changes. Alright, enough with politics.
It´s so weird. I´ve only been here for a bit over a week, yet, I feel like I never left Ecuador. Funny how life is - la vida.
thanks for listening.
until next time,
Steph
jueves, 12 de abril de 2007
Off to the Sierra
As I sit here and sweating like a pig I am happy that I am leaving for Cuenca in an hour. The time has come to officially start my work in AIESEC Ecuador starting with Cuenca (super Cuenca!) I will miss life in Guayaquil, pero, I know that I'll probably be back here a couple of times more.
I just finished packing up my stuff, ripping my suitcase in the process. I have yet to learn to important skill of packing LIGHT. As I through my stuff in my bag I couldn't help cursing my self "fuck Steph, did you really need to bring 4 sweatshirts? NO!" I guess I couldn't help myself. Ahh yes, materialistic Steph is alive and well.
Hey CEEDers, learn from my mistakes, pack as light as possible.
Y familia, su tambien!!
So I had one of the best experiences of my life the other day. I went to my friend's house who does deep sea excavation of sucken ships off the west coast of central/south America. And his house was full of artifacts. Stuff one would only see in museums. My history nerd side came out (thanks dad) and I spent hours just looking and handling ancient coins, figurines, pots, bowls, etc.. It was fucking incredible. Not to sounds weird, but the power, the energy I got from holding so much history in my hands was overwhelming. The only crappy part....of course, I didn't have my camera. La vida. One the bright side, sometimes its better to actually fully enjoy a moment and not only see it through a camera lense.
Until next time,
Steph
P.S. anyone has good/economic ideas for shipping computadoras down to Ecuador let me know ASAP!!! svlipton@gmail.com
I just finished packing up my stuff, ripping my suitcase in the process. I have yet to learn to important skill of packing LIGHT. As I through my stuff in my bag I couldn't help cursing my self "fuck Steph, did you really need to bring 4 sweatshirts? NO!" I guess I couldn't help myself. Ahh yes, materialistic Steph is alive and well.
Hey CEEDers, learn from my mistakes, pack as light as possible.
Y familia, su tambien!!
So I had one of the best experiences of my life the other day. I went to my friend's house who does deep sea excavation of sucken ships off the west coast of central/south America. And his house was full of artifacts. Stuff one would only see in museums. My history nerd side came out (thanks dad) and I spent hours just looking and handling ancient coins, figurines, pots, bowls, etc.. It was fucking incredible. Not to sounds weird, but the power, the energy I got from holding so much history in my hands was overwhelming. The only crappy part....of course, I didn't have my camera. La vida. One the bright side, sometimes its better to actually fully enjoy a moment and not only see it through a camera lense.
Until next time,
Steph
P.S. anyone has good/economic ideas for shipping computadoras down to Ecuador let me know ASAP!!! svlipton@gmail.com
miércoles, 11 de abril de 2007
Blogging
Yes, yes I have decided to start a blog. I figure it is the best way to keep anyone interested updated on my adventures. Please bare with me, for I have never written anything like this before. I`m not sure if this is meant to be journal type thing or what. I guess I´ll just make it up as I go along.
I have now been in Guayaquil for just under a week. It is been ass kicking fun. Last weekend a bunch of us headed out to the beach of Playas for Easter weekend. I got a ride from an AIESEC alumni down the coast. We traveled in the back of a Jeep, not the most pleasant ride I´ve ever had....cramped in the back, I felt like we were being smuggled somewhere. Since it was Easter there was a MASSIVE church service in the town. The church was so packed that the doors were open and there was about 200 people crowding around the doors. Playas was nice, but we decided to check out Salinas, the Santa Monica of Ecuador, because Diana`s uncle lives near by in the small fishing town of Anconcita. We hitched hiked from Playas to Salinas and walk around the Malecon before grabbing dinner and giong dancing. I got so sunburnt, the worst in my life. In hindsight, I realize it was probably because I didn´t give my body time to acclimatize.
Life`s been pretty sweet here in Ecuador. Living and enjoying the moment. The only mishap to date was the delayed arrival of my luggage. La Vida
Ladies - embracing the detours.
abrazos y besos,
Steph
I have now been in Guayaquil for just under a week. It is been ass kicking fun. Last weekend a bunch of us headed out to the beach of Playas for Easter weekend. I got a ride from an AIESEC alumni down the coast. We traveled in the back of a Jeep, not the most pleasant ride I´ve ever had....cramped in the back, I felt like we were being smuggled somewhere. Since it was Easter there was a MASSIVE church service in the town. The church was so packed that the doors were open and there was about 200 people crowding around the doors. Playas was nice, but we decided to check out Salinas, the Santa Monica of Ecuador, because Diana`s uncle lives near by in the small fishing town of Anconcita. We hitched hiked from Playas to Salinas and walk around the Malecon before grabbing dinner and giong dancing. I got so sunburnt, the worst in my life. In hindsight, I realize it was probably because I didn´t give my body time to acclimatize.
Life`s been pretty sweet here in Ecuador. Living and enjoying the moment. The only mishap to date was the delayed arrival of my luggage. La Vida
Ladies - embracing the detours.
abrazos y besos,
Steph
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