On the Mountain.

Our first hike and camping!

The past few nights have been spent outdoors. We camped outside for the first time in a little hostel owned by a nice women named Cecila who has set up a great deal of our trip. We ended up in this hostel late Saturday night, and we set up tents before it got dark. We were also treated to a lovely dinner, in fact all the meals here have been delcious.
Yesterday we went for a nice long hike around a mountain in five hours. The scenery was absolutely beautiful; there were tons of cows, dogs and chickens and it was a clear day so we could see lots of other surrounding mountains. The hike was difficult, but we all made it around, up, and then down the mountain. We passed by very few houses, and fewer people but the houses that we did see, it was amazing that they could live so far from a city. The landscape was beautiful and the hills were quite stunning. And even though it was an enjoyable walk, we are all happy to have gotten back to base camp.
Currently, our group of 16 students and 3 adults are spilt into three groups each in charge of a different task. Tomorrow we will start our five day treck, and to prepare for that one group is purchasing food, another is taking care of a phone that won´t charge and the last is updating the parents!
So much has happened, and there are so many little details that <i could go into. In one instance a bus so quite full but we all piled in. The sign on one bus (we´re learning how to read and speak Spanish) said that the maximum occupancy standing is 25 people.....and there were 19 of us just standing alone. The roads are bumpy, some houses have a single wall with a door that goes no where and lots of stray dogs. Even so we have enjoyed our time here, we still have lots more good times to come.
People have climbed a mountain, even when they didn´t think they could, people are learning to Speak Spanish and communicate, and we are learning how to read maps and navigate around a city. Our group has made a lot of progess, and I can honestly saw that we have gotten so much closer. I will end this blogpost, but we will be on our main treck for the next five days and have no access to internet cafe´s and thus there will be no blogpost for a few days. Wish us luck on the next phase of our journey!

Our view of Cotopaxi yesterday morning.  This is not a postcard, amazingly.

WE MADE IT!

 The Group sin Skilleto.

Skilleto en la ventana.

We made it to Ecuador! Yesterday was an entire day of travel and today is our first full day in Quito. Even though there were some confusing flight changes and a near-mishap with the skytran in Miami, everyone made it safely to Quito and checked into our hotel. After a whopping 4 hours of sleep, we were up again to plan the rest of our trip. We met our in-country agent, Gary, who gave us helpful tips for the rest of the expedition. He talked about making phone calls to organizations we´re plaññing to meet later, such as Sharksky, the company in the Galapagos. Around noon, we split into three groups: one to buy food, one to buy a phone and sim card, and one to go to an internet cafe to confirm our reservations and write a blog post (this would be us).

Most of us can feel the difference in altitude already, but everyone is doing well.

-Maggie and Marielle (with Skillet watching over the shoulder... by the way, this keyboard has both an Ñ and a Ç... this is awesome.)

Quito

When we land in Ecuador, we'll be in Quito, the capital! Here's some useful information for our stay in the area.

• Elevation: 9,350 feet (highest functioning capital city!)
• Quito's closest volcano is Pichincha, looming over the western side of the city (which is also active)
• Quito has a fairly constant cool climate, with spring-like weather year-round
• Quito is divided into three areas, separated by hills:
1. Central: houses the colonial old city
2. Southern: is mainly industrial and residential, and a working-class housing area.
3. Northern: is the modern Quito, with high-rise buildings, shopping centers, the financial district, and upper-class residential areas and some working-class housing areas.
• The MetroBusQ network, locally known as "Red Integrada de Transporte Público", is the bus system running in Quito, going from south to north. It's divided into three sections- green, red, and blue

Overall, Quito is more practical than interesting, though it is incredibly beautiful for a city! Pictures have been enclosed below.

Artwork that shows the city in the mid-18th century.

Cotopaxi! (19,347 ft.)



Gold leaf interior of the Church of the Society of Jesus in the The Historic Centre of Quito.

 



Cheese Factories, Limestone Cities, Stars, Language, and Provinces

Cheese Factories, Limestone Cities, Stars, Language, and Provinces

Midway through the main trek, we are going from the town of Quilotoa to Chucchilán, where we will trek through the cloudforest. Near there is a local cheese factory, which we have the option of visiting. The cheese factories (queserías) started in Salinas, where in 1971 Italian missionary Antonio Polo thought of setting up the factories as a solution to poverty there. Later on, the cooperative opened up about 20 more factories around the area and in other provinces as well.

In 1756, a smallpox epidemic prompted the government in Quito to order all buildings in the city to be painted with white limestone, which people believed to be a disinfectant. They stayed that way until the 1980s, when the people decided to repaint the buildings. Art historians did research on the proper former colors of the city, and by now most of the city’s Old Town has been returned to its pre-epidemic palette.

other random facts:

The constellation Orion can be seen in both hemispheres. Many of the zodiac constellations are visible from the southern hemisphere. The north star cannot be seen from anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere and there is no equivalent star.

Knowing some phrases in Quicha (not just Spanish) will be helpful at the villages of our main trek. So far I have yet to find much useful information about the language besides http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kichwa_language

These are the provinces we will mainly be visiting: Quito is the capital of Pichincha. Tena and the community we are visiting, Puma Rumi, are located in Napo (Tena is the capital), and the Laguna Quilotoa is located in Cotopaxi province, the capital of which is Latacunga.

-Marielle

So not all these facts will be weird or unknown, but hopefully they're all interesting!

• The Ecuadorian national sport is soccer (or futbol) so obviously they have great taste in sports 
• 
• Other popular sports include bullfighting and volleyball (although that is played with a soccer ball) 
• For foods, Ecuador is the world's highest banana exporter! 
• 
• Don't eat with your hands there, it is considered very rude! (including pizza) 
• Ecuadorians consider guinea pig to be a delicacy so if you have one for a pet try not to be offended...
• 
• (He's so cute!) 
• Ecuador's national music is pasillo (according to youtube this is an example of that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9nz7yLcpBI)
• The Ecuadorian flag's colors are yellow for the diversity of the country, blue for the sea and sky, and red for the blood of those who fought for independence 
• 
• Ecuador was the first nation in 2008 to declare that nature has constitutional rights (equality for everything!) 
• My last fact is going to be that Ecuador has the world's highest diversity of humming bird species 
• I'll leave you with one last picture: 
• (They're just too cute to eat!!) 

-Haley 

The Spanish Language

DISCLAIMER: I have not studied Spanish (in depth) in a number of years so in no way shape or form am I claiming to be all knowing about this topic. The information collected is an amalgamation from Spanish dictionaries, Google translate and the help of my younger sister. 

So a great majority of the people in Ecuador speak Spanish, and one of the most important things to know how to say are questions such as where is the bathroom? Because why, on earth would you choose to go the bathroom in the woods when there was a restroom nearby? Unless you like practice going the bathroom in the woods, or if the bathrooms smelled really really bad, there is no good reason. Below are some questions that are good to know:

Where is the bathroom?                  ¿Dónde está el baño
How much is this?                           ¿Cuánto cuesta esto?
Do you speak English?                    ¿habla usted Inglés
Do you have change for...?             ¿tiene cambio para ...?
Can I eat this? 
What time is it?                              ¿qué hora es?
Where am I?                                 ¿Dónde estoy?
Cuando...                                      ¿When
What is your name?                       ¿Como te llama?

 The word llama reminds me of llama (hmm I wonder why) so please enjoy this picture of a Chilean llama.

  
 In addition to asking questions, there are other words that may be helpful to know such as one of the basic necessities for human life to function, water.

Water                                   Agua
Food                                    Comida
Bathroom                              El bano
Please                                   Por favor (to be used at the end of sentences)
Thanks                                  Gracis
Man                                      Hombre88.
Woman                                 Mujer 
We, us                                  Nosotros
Boy, girl                                Chico, chica
Usted                                    You
Help me                                Ayudame (used if you happen to be in trouble) 
Thing                                     Cosa
Bad                                       Malo, mal
To understand                        Entender
To find                                   Encontra
I want                                    Quiero (said at a market, or when in a restaurant)
Nice to meet you                    Mucho gusto (said when greeting someone) 


Numbers will also prove themselves useful and hopefully everyone knows how to count to at least ten. Here is a list of numbers that might be needed:
20                          veinte
25                          veinticinco
30                          treinta          
40                          cuarenta
50                          cincuenta             
100                        cien 

Keep in mind that after 30, you say the number in the tens place, add "y" and then the number in the ones place. Well, to wrap it up, I hope this post helped those that didn't know much Spanish (such as myself) and hopefully even if you know Spanish well you still learned something.

Keep it crispy









~Nikisha