Less than 2 weeks!

I will be home in 13 days, crazy! It's gone by so fast, I feel like just yesterday I arrived in Ecuador and couldn't believe how beautiful it was. If anything, I've decided that no matter how long you live in this place, it's beauty will never cease to amaze. The andes mountains are truly a gorgeous place to live.

We leave for Perú this Sunday bright and early around 6am. We will travel along the coast until the capital Lima, spend some days in Lima then fly to Cusco where we will spend a day and then travel to the sacred valley which is the town right below Machu Picchu, then we wake up at 5am to take our hike up to machu picchu to avoid all the tourists that swarm the place later on! After that we have another day or two in Cusco, then we fly back to Lima, have a night in Lima and then fly home the next morning the 22nd! (wake up call is 3am!!!)

p.s. If you don't know what Machu Picchu is, here's a photo...maybe you'll understand why I can't believe I'm lucky enough to actually see it!


Machu Picchu was home to the Incas but wasn't discovered until 1911 (the incas were conquered by the spanish in the 1500's) because of its location. Today it remains a mystery what the function of the city was. Some people think it was a sacred place, meant only for the most important people of the Incan culture, other people think it was used for commercial reasons...there are alot of theories, but regardless the place is fascinating and I can't wait to go! I only wish I had a camera to take pictures with....oh well. I will just steal pictures from friends I suppose.

Anyway, today was my last day of class! Tomorrow is a national holiday so everything will be closed. We are having our goodbye dinner tonight and then tomorrow we have a potluck. I'm bringing dessert! Of course :)

I figured I'd take this time to write out some things that I will miss about Cuenca and my time I've spent here....

-Cheap food. I'm talking a personal size pizza, a giant beer and an ice cream cone for about $3. (you can get it cheaper but I prefer the pizza at this place)
-Bread. Fresh bread and bresh marmalade every morning.
-The mountains. Beautiful views everywhere we go.
-Cuenca's idea of humor. everyday I throw my garbage away in a garbage can whose opening is the mouth of a giant clown. I also pass a store called "sexy locuras" whose mascot is a giant dancing condom, but upon entering the store I found out that it was simply a toy store for children. There are many many more examples like these...
-cheap movies! Pirated movies for $1.50 but perfect quality!
-The people. I love cuencanos, they are so friendly and interested, and although they may not like our country (mainly the government) they respect its citizens.
-My host family. Hilarious and amazing, I will truly miss them and hope some day I can return.
-the FOOD! rice, potatos, soup!! yummy! I bought a bilingual cookbook so I can return with some tasty recipes!
I know there is so much more but right now I can't think of anything else...I will try to remember though!

I know a few things I WON'T miss:
-Pollution...city buses pouring out the blackest exhaust I've ever seen right into my face
-the men. Sorry latin america but I despise your machismo. It's changing somewhat, but for the most part men still have a dominant role in society and expect alot.
-the men and their cat calls. I can't wait until I return to the U.S where I am not considered an object to be whistled at or yelled at. (It is quite amusing to hear the men try and speak english...i.e. "hello precious, baby, gorgeous etc..." in a horrible u.s. accent)
-The elevation. My lungs have gotten used to it by now, but I can still feel it when we go on hikes. When I first got here, I couldn't walk up stairs without being out of breath. Cuenca is about 8,000 feet above sea level, some of the places we've gone to for hiking are at elevations as high as 13,000 feet above sea level! We didn't stay up there for long, we hiked down quickly. Machu Picchu is going to be pretty crazy as well, I'm not sure how high up it is, but its up there!

I don't think I can think of anything else I won't miss...everything here is so wonderful for the most part! I guess I won't miss the fact that I'm so far away...I will be glad to be back and close to all of you whom I love so much!!

Okay, well I don't have much else to say right now. I know I will have more sappy things to say about Ecuador once it gets closer to the end, but for now I'm going to go out and enjoy this beautiful sunny day!

Love you all and MISS YOU!
linds

Saraguro!

Hi all! I have pictures! I stole them from my friends, and some of them were nice enough to let me use their cameras and take some pictures for my own use! So you can see what I was up to this past weekend. We went to a town called Saraguro which is mainly a town of Indigenous peoples with roots all the way back to the Incas. It was a really beautiful town and we had a lot of fun!

On saturday we took a very long an beautiful hike to some sacred places that the Incas used and that the saraguro people still use today. After the hike we came back for a delicous dinner and live music with some traditional dance!

Sunday we took another hike to a cave that is also a sacred spot and is located near a "waterfall" with a little pool of water underneath that functioned as a bath for the Incas (only the noble class used it though)

In the cave some local men who are known as Shamans or healers did a cleansing ritual that was supposed to bring energy from the earth and give it back to us to enrich our lives, it was really interesting! I've really enjoyed seeing all of the different rituals and customs they have here because it helps me understand even more how we are all connected throughout the earth and that our own actions affect not only ourselves but people far far away!

I could go on and on about interconnectedness and how its the coolest thing every but I'll spare you the lecture for now...

Anyway, here are some pictures....

the "bus" we took through town to get to our hiking spot!
(I like the fruits and vegetables)

Some local women using their own form of transport

Gorgeous view from one of the inca sacred spots

The penca plant! (say hello to the origen of Tequila!) In this town they make a different drink using the nector of this plant, it's alcoholic but tastes a lot different than tequila. These plants take 20-25 years to mature, and once they do you split off the top and inside there is a little cavern that holds the liquid. Once they are mature they produce 8-16 liters of the beverage each day! Once it is used up they shrivel up and die...

this is me drinking the above mentioned alcoholic beverage. It was a communal experience, pass the cup around and around until we finished the supply. There were only a few of us up to the challenge. I quit after a while because it really didn't taste that great.

Cave in which the ritual took place

After the ritual was done, the healers cleaning up
(it's interesting because every piece you see there has its own significance, maybe someday I will sit down and write everything I've learned about the andean natives and their "religion"..its more of a worldview in my opinion)

"waterfall" that led to the incan bath

Incan bath....nice huh??

Local indigenous people at the market on Sunday. they are wearing their native clothing that pretty much all of the adults wear. You don't see as many teenagers or kids wearing it anymore.

Well that's all I've got! Hopefully you enjoyed the pictures. 3 more weeks and I'll be home! Craziness. This weekend we are traveling to Vilcabamba which is supposed to be gorgeous, so I hopefully will steal some pictures to show you! Then a week from sunday (the 13th) we leave for Perú....I can´t wait! We travel along the coast of perú for a week and then head inland towards Machu Pichu! If you don't know what Machu Picchu is...google it...you will be impressed!

Hope all is well with you guys, let me know how life is. Miss you!!

amor y besitos,
Linds

sad times...

Hello all,

I'm afraid this isn't a happy update. On friday night my bag was stolen right from underneath my feet, and it had pretty much everything of value to me in it. I had been walking around all day so I had alot of stuff with me, like my credit card, money, keys to my house in Cuenca, drivers license, prescriptions, etc etc. But what really makes me upset is that my camera was in there. And some of you know that right before I left for Ecuador I made a big purchase and I bought myself a reallly nice camera. I have been wanting a camera like this for a long time and so I saved up and finally treated myself to one, hence the gorgeous pictures I've been able to take. The camera was about $700. I get sick to my stomach when I think about it being lost. I don't even care about the money, I canceled my card and a new one can be sent to me, I just want my camera back.

I was at a local bar/restaurant that is really nice and known to be a safe place to go, it was around 6:30 p.m. and my bag was underneath the table in between my feet, but I guess thieves do this for a living so they are good at what they do. Somehow they got it and got out of the bar without me or any of the other 7 people I was with noticing. And all of us were completely sober so it wasn't like we were being all crazy and not paying attention.

The university says there is a slight chance (like 5%) that I can get it back, all I need is the serial number and a description of the camera (and perhaps a bribe slipped to one of the corrupt police officers) and they might be able to locate it since they know where to go for stolen goods.

Anyway, I'm asking you all to please send all the positive and happy energy my way and concentrate hard on the 5% chance that my camera can be found. I really really need this.

Thanks everyone,
Lindsey

Hopefully next entry will be much happier!

La Selva!

Alright well I made it back safe and sound from my adventure in the jungle! It was absolutely amazing, one of the coolest things I've ever done. We started our journey Wednesday morning very early and traveled through and across the mountain range to get to the oriente. The bus ride was horrible, haha as most of them are here. We had a nice huge comfortable bus but no one could enjoy it because nice paved roads hardly exist in Ecuador. Even the pan american highway sucks. So we were driving over rocks, through mud, across ditches and a few times through a stream, all the while in a giant bus. Needless to say many of us needed to stick our heads out the window for some fresh air to distract us from the bumpy ride.

Anyway, Wednesday we arrived to a small town which I don't know the name of, right on the outskirts of the jungle. There we spent the evening playing with the local Shuar children. Shuar is the name of the indigenous population that live in the jungle. They have a lot of very interesting traditions and customs. That night we stayed in a "school" where we had a hard time obtaining any privacy. In the girls room, we were trying to change into our pajamas but we had a hard time because the little boys in the community decided it would be fun to stand outside the windows and peek in. Even after yelling at them to leave, they still didn't so we waited and somehow managed to change in privacy.

The next day we set off for the Jungle. We took our bus along the highway and stopped right on the edge of the jungle. There we unloaded, grabbed our packs and slipped into our knee high rubber boots. Ahead of us was an hour hike to our cabins where we'd be staying. Me and a few others jumped in the lead by the guide and set off. An hour or so later, we were covered in mud and standing in front of one of the cabins. It was really cool, a grass hut type cabaña on a little stream. We realized that no one was behind us...it was only us 5 and the guide. we were missing about 15 people. We waited and waited and 45 minutes later the guide and some other local men set off to find them. Turns out they just got lost, so nothing too serious happened, and we were glad. The women then found out that our cabin was located about 15 minutes away on a river. The path to our cabin was pretty much wet soggy ground and heaps of mud, so we were really happy to be located on a river. And also, I was soooo very happy to see their version of a bathroom located in a shack behind our cabin. Basically a whole in the ground covered by a toilet seat, but it was better that squatting in the middle of the jungle! The only thing we weren't happy about was finding our way back to the cabin in pitch black jungle territory after dinner at the boys cabin. 6 girls, 3 flashlights and a lot of nervous yelps and screams later we arrived safely at our cabin.

Then on Friday we had our first full day in the jungle. After a restful sleep underneath our mosquito nets, we set out in the morning for a four hour hike through the jungle. That was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Again, I decided to jump in the front of the line right behind the guide so there was no chance of getting lost, and also to challenge myself to keep up with him. Man it was exhausting, but great fun. I guess I didn't have any expectations as to what a hike through the jungle would entail, but it ended up being pretty close to what I imagined. The guide had a machete and with that, he made our trail. So we were climbing up steep hills of mudd, down slippery slopes, walking across some logs that made a bridge across streams and bogs, and trying desperately not to get tangled up in all the vegetation. For whatever reason I managed to come away with very few bug bites (unlike everyone else in the group) and only scratches from some nasty trees and plants. The heat and humidity was a real problem, but the streams we came across provided some relief so that was nice.

After our long hike we ate lunch and crashed in the guys cabin which also served as the place where we ate, gathered, etc. That evening was relaxing, we watched a demonstration by some shamans, (sort of like healers/magic users, etc) and also watched some traditional dances. We returned to our cabin again in dark, this time a little bit more brave, only to find our room full of cockroach/beetle type things. I mean I guess its to be expected, you could hardly call our cabin an enclosed shelter, the only thing that got to us was that somehow the pesky GIANT things managed to get underneath our mosquito netting which was tightly tucked under our mattresses. So after an hour of ridding our room of the bugs we all nervously got into bed and tried to sleep.

Saturday was our last day in the jungle and we took another hike, visited a small shuar community, came back and ate a great lunch and then prepared ourselves for the hour hike back to the bus. Once on the bus we headed to a large town called Macas where we were pleasently surprised with a very nice hotel and SHOWERS for the evening. Everyone pretty much crashed that night and we woke up really early on Sunday and headed back to Cuenca. So here I am!

Here are some photos, hope you enjoy!

Some of the Shuar kids on the first day

More kids who I swear couldn't stop smiling until I held the camera up. Then I smiles didn't exist.

Jo and I battling it out in the jungle with our walking sticks

Luther kids in the selva!

Cute shuar kids

Our guide telling us about a tree that the shuar cut down when they don't have food and they peel off the bark and eat the inside. We all tried some, didn't really taste like anything.

Banana tree!

Me and the selva halfway through our four hour hike

Some of my lady friends

View from the guys cabin/where we hung out most of the time and ate

Strong people hiking through the jungle

More cute kids

The girls cabin located on the river

The whole group halfway through our hike!

This thing was awesome, we had to get across the river somehow!

Jungle

Me and the kiddies who never smile

Nick playing a little basketball with them

Imagine twenty gringos in the back and thats how we traveled!
(gringos are foreigners...or "white people")

Yeah we drove across this scary weak looking bridge in that truck with all of us in back!

The guys cabin/"headquarters"

The school we stayed in the first night

Playing with the kids

Going for a little swim with the kids

Cute girls

More cuteness

Anyway, those are just some of my pictures, hopefully they were good enough to give you an idea of what I've been up to. Yesterday was the halfway mark for the summer. 5 1/2 weeks to go and I'll be home! Seems like its flying by already so I can imagine how quickly the rest of the summer will go. I know that I will be ready to go home but I also know that I'm going to miss this place alot, Ecuador is really a beautiful country. Not only physically but the people I've met here are wonderful. Hopefully someday I can return!

Well let me know how you are all doing and how life back in the states is. I miss you all and love hearing from you!

Besitos!
Lindsey

Cajas and the Coast!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates, hopefully this one will make up for it. I have some pictures from the past couple of weeks to share with you all. Two weekends ago we went camping at Cajas National Park, and well, it was interesting. Haha the park is beautiful, I've never seen anything so gorgeous, but the weather was horrible. I didn't bring my camera on the hike we took because I didnt want to risk it getting wet or falling in to the mud (because most of us fell into it at least once) so unfortunately I don't have too many pictures from the camping. It rained all night and lets just say we didn't have the best tents so I woke up in a pool of rain water, soaked and freezing. Other than that though, it was great! haha

This past weekend we went to Montañita, its a town on the coast and it was awesome. We didn't see the sun, sadly, but it was still pretty warm. Its a town full of hippies who just hang out all day and sell the jewlery that they make and then at night the town is hoppin', and I mean they don't go to bed until like 6am. Haha that didn't work for me, I was in bed by 1:30 both nights. But I came away with some great jewlery and some new extenstions in my hair. They are cool, basically hemp and beads wrapped around my hair, I like them, we'll see how long they last.

Anyway, on with the photos!

The awesome banner hanging in the middle of montañita

Our little hut on the ocean!

View of the pacific from our hostal

More of the town

Night life!

Really great fruit and veggie market in Cuenca

We went to a market to see a spiritual cleansing that the local women do with medicinal plants, pretty cool.

Then we tried our own healing in my indigenous culture class!

"Stop, don't shoot, I'm a student" the graffitti here is pretty cool

This was our view on the way to the beach, we were above the clouds.

cold camping!!!

LLamas! They were about 20 ft away from our tents, pretty funny.

View from camp site in Cajas

Haha frozen campers.

More cajas

Well I guess that's all I have for now, it takes forever to upload pictures onto the computers here, so I have more, but I don't have the time.

On wednesday morning we leave for the Jungle!! We will be gone wednesday-sunday. It's going to be crazy. They say we are sleeping in communal rooms or "ecological huts" which I took to mean underneath trees. Haha but we'll see, it's going to be a change, but a really good one!

After that trip marks the half way point for my trip! Its going by fast, before I know it I'll be home, broke and ready to start the school year!

Hope you all are well, let me know whats new...send me an email! I don't always have time to respond but I love to read them anyway.

Love you all!
besitos,
lindsey