On the morning of may 26th I boarded a plane for Quito to begin my fabulous 2 week vacation. After the expected 1 1/2 delay I was on my way. The flight from Cuenca to Quito is breath taking. It is only 45 minutes (verses a 10 hour bus ride) and since it is so short the plane doesn´t reach a very high cruising altitude, so you just cruise right along the tops of the Andes - beautiful! I spent the day hanging out with my Colombian friend, Andrea, while I waited for the family to arrive. The next day I went to visit my Ecuadorian Grandmother, Isabel, and then the family and I went up the Teleferico (The Volcano of Pichinca). We hiked along the trail which ñeads to the peak. It seems to go on forever so after about two hours of hiking me and Sarah called it quits (The rest of the family called it quits before that). The next day we went up the Basilica. One can climb up a terrifing, shaky ladder to the top of the one of the towers for a spectacular view of Quito. The next day we went of to Otavalo, the famous artisano market, and other surrounding towns.
On the morning of May 30th we departed for the Galápagos Islands. I do not have the words to give the experience justice. It was like 8 days of living in National Geopgraphic. If your ever have the chance to visit this world gem, TAKE IT! Th only complaint I have is one is very aware of their tourist status. My brother put it perfectly, it´s like the zoo except we go to the wildlife instead of bringing it to us.
Thursday June 7th - I arrived in Puerto Lopez. I was like going home. Seeing my family anf my friends was really fabulous. The hilarious things is that it appears that time stands still in Puerto Lopez. I mean, everyone looks the same - well, maybe a little taller or they have a different hair style - the conversations are about the same things. I felt like I should be getting up and going to work at the school. Oh I lied, something had changed, Lopez now has cable TV a whole 24 channals. Big news, eh? I am going to be returning to Lopez next weekend for El Festival de las Ballenas (The Whale Festival).
Life back in Cuenca is quite enjoyable. I am living with a new family now. They are super nice. The best part is that my new mum makes cakes for a living! It´s amazing there is always some delicious treat hanging around the kitchen.
Yesterday I had my first experience of witnessing mother nature rearing her ugly head. It had basically been raining for 2 days straight. The rivers in Cuenca began to flood. The worst ones were El Rio Tarqui y el rio Yanucay, they meet right infront of the University De Azuay (where I work). It was complete chaos. The river banks were being washed away, trees were falling into the river and the near by houses were being flooded. CLASSIC ECUADORIAN MOMENT: Obviously it was VERY dangerous near the river banks. However, everyone was rushing out of the Universidad and stopping their cars to stand on the river banks to watch what was happening. The police were driving around making announcements asking people to step away from the banks, yet, no one was moving.
Bueno, I hope that everyone is well. I´ll make sure to do a better job of updating my blog!
Until next time
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1 comentario:
Hey Steph!
I was just randomly going through some of the CEEDers blogs and I noticed you updated! I'm so jealous you got to go to the Galapagos!! I was checking the prices to go to Ecuador. Unfortunately its a little too much for me to fly over there. Buenos Aires is about $400 Canadian cheaper to fly to, but I don't have time to go. I guess I could have a similar experience going to the Amazon but unfortunately, I just can't afford it. Maybe the next time I come here. Keep the updating! Do you have pictures up anywhere? I wanna see how Ecuador is! Take care!
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