cArNaVaL!

Que tal?
Where to begin...Carnaval is celebrated in much of Latin America as a time for excess celebration before the beginning of lent and a more solemn 40 days. So, we made sure to do just that (when in rome, right?) this past weekend, well actually 5 days since we had off school 2 days for the holiday. On Thursday afternoon we set off on our journey towards Ambato, a fairly small city located about 1-2 hours from Quito which is well known for its traditional Carnaval festivities. We arrived fairly late in Ambato the first night and settled into our hostel before wandering the streets a bit and getting to know the area (aka getting really lost). The next day, Friday, we once again did plenty of exploring, but it wasn´t until Saturday when the city really came to life and Carnaval festivities overtook the place. However we did feel the need to purchase a piñata to celebrate Carnaval (a barbie one at that) and thoroughly enjoyed beating her between rounds of cherades and tequila. That night we felt a revitalized buzz in the air and excitement in everyone´s actions and even heard about what promised to be a fun foam party (basically a dance party at some bar with lots of foam everywhere...). Despite the fact that there was only an occasional tiny spurt of foam every 20 minutes we did enjoy ourselves and returned to the hostel quite late and tired. On Saturday we awoke to a lively environment outside and set out to wondering around. First, we stumbled upon a giant crowd gathered for some ceremony at a plaza next to an amazing mural made completely of flowers, fruit, and bread (the celebrations in Ambato are named the Festival of fruit, flowers, and bread so I suppose that made sense), but it was quite a sight and seemed like it would have taken years to make. Here´s what it looked like:



After that we found another plaza where there was a unique competition taking place. Everywhere you looked there were very talented artists painting the bodies of nude women. One woman was pregnant and the painter drew a beautiful (i guess) image of a baby on her stomach. After the naked art we checked out a few different indigenous dance groups that were a lot of fun to watch. Later on we decided it would be interesting, not quite fun, but worthwhile to check out the bullfight. Bullfights are a longstanding tradition here and always draw quite a crowd, especially during times of celebration such as during Carnaval. I myself was skeptic of the event and knew I´d feel pretty awful for the bulls, after all I was a vegetarian for 7+ years and in all likelihood may be again soon. Walking into the stadium was quite a thrill as I´ve only heard of what the events were like or seen pictures (and they gave away free cardboad cowboy hats which I took quite a liking to). The fights themselves were pretty intense, though extremely unfair - it was essentially about 12 humans against one bull. Although the bulls lost every time, I made sure to cheer for them and I was pretty excited when our favorite bull, whom we named Mars Favre after the god of war and the god of everything, threw one of the matadors over the wall with his head, smashed down another wall with his head, and even got up several times after being taken down (did I mention all the spewing of blood during his final heroic moments?). Here´s a shot of a stare down between a bull and the heartless killer:



After the 6 bulls were slain we headed back to town, ate dinner, and packed up our stuff to get ready for our trip to Baños. We made it to the bus station only to find that there were no more busses that night to Baños but we found out it would only cost $20 a cab to take us there as it was only about an hour away and cabs are super cheap here. We arrived in Baños and found our way to our really nice hostel, located steps away from the craziest street in town that already showed signs of carnaval chaos the second we arrived. That night we were already pretty tired from our busy day and all the travelling so we took it pretty easy. We checked out the scene a bit and learned to avoid kids with bottles of foam spray in their hand, as they were always pretty eager to drench the gringos. The next morning we awoke early enough for the hostel´s free breakfast and were out by noon in search of plans. Baños is located on the brink of the Amazon so there are tons of places around town offering various expeditions and activities into the jungle. Right away we decided it would be fun to go whitewater rafting so we headed into one of the agencies to find out more. After watching a brief video about the trip and agreeing we would embark on the adventure the following day we noticed some pictures on the wall of people jumping off bridges, harnessed of course, and thought to ourselves, hey why not? After us guys spent a minute or two convincing all the girls it would be fun (and safe) we paid the 10 dollars and took off in the back of pickup truck, through mountainous tunnels, across rivers, and in between giant green mountains to the bridge that we were to jump off. It was truly a gorgeous scene and the bridge was set above a magnificent river filled with ecuadorian kids enjoying its water and the nice weather and plenty of large, jagged rocks. We set aside our fears, and to some extent our better judgment, and took turns harnessing up and leaping off the bridge before a long drop and a few swings back and forth. To this point I can´t decide which moment was more breathtaking and awe-inspiring, taking in the most amazing views from the glacier of Cotopaxi or dangling from the rope above a glistening river between enormous green mountains on the edge of the Amazon jungle.




Nervous smile?

After we all took our turns losing our stomachs but also having the times of lives we headed back and immediately took a nap. That night, refreshed and ready for whatever the city would throw at us, we partook in the typical tequila drinking that accompanied our Carnaval experience (when in rome...) and hit the streets. We soon found out we were not safe unarmed, as we were bombarded with foam from every direction the second we left our hostel. Immediately we located the nearest foam vendor and took part in what seemed to me to be the equivalent of World War III. Within minutes we were all covered in foam from head to toe, but laughing uncontrollably and working as a team to avenge any foaming we had received. The foam is really a weird tradition, and to some extremely disrespectful, but we decided to make the most of it and hand plenty of fun doing so. Later on we stumbled upon a dance competition taking place on a stage set up in the streets and two of our friends decided to test their moves and hop on stage. Needless to say they didn´t win but it was certainly good for a few laughs. There we met a few Ecuadorians who wanted to take us to a nearby dance club so we willingly obliged. Within an hour or so we were extremely tired so we retired to our hostel to get a little rest before what would prove to be unbelievable day on the river and atop a volcano. However I must go, I´ll try to write again soon about the rest of our incredible carnaval adventures.
Chao!
Brett

p.s.
I added a few pictures to the entry about camping at Cotopaxi, sorry I´m yet to add a whole bunch to the yahoo photo site, bare with me.

Instead of roses i got teargas

Feliz dia de San Valentin!
Just so you're not worrying off the bat mom, I didn't actually get teargassed, but was close... Allow me to explain. Yesterday I went with Fernando and his cousin, Juan Carlos, to the futbol (soccer) match between Liga and Barcelona, Ecuador's two most popular teams. Liga is the pride of Quito and was founded en La Universidad Central and is the hometown favorite, while Barcelona is native Guayaguil, a city on the souther coast. There's already a bit of animostiy between the two largest cities in Ecuador and its locals, the quitenos and guayaguilenos, and the soccer match is apparently the preffered stage to let loose all of their emotions. I was expecting an intense game, but I was not prepared for what ensued. Don't get me wrong, I was not harmed and had a blast, but the loyal fans of the two teams made the camp randall badger student section seem tame. The second the players took the field the stadium was filled with confetti, shouting, a constant beating of drums, chants, songs, bottle rocket explosions, fights, tons and tons of policeman, and the teargas of the policemen used to break up the fights. Whereas I've seen people get thrown out of Brewer games to climb up the fence to grab a foul ball, here kids no older than 7 were climbing over 20 feet up wired fences, hanging by one hand, and shaking the fens furiously to celebrate a goal or mock the opposing team's fans. Spectators were even seated by whom they cheered for, with the Barcelona fans occupying the upper deck. Though it's definately a good idea to have them separated, as it became apparent Liga was going to win a few devout Barcelona fans decided to relieve themselves over the balcony onto the unsuspecting heads of the Liga faithful. Fortunately I was under the overhang and able to avoid anything that fell or was thrown from above. When all was said and done, Liga won an exciting game 2-1 and I had a great time.
Now I'm getting ready for the 5 day weekend ahead of me, during which I'll travel to both Ambato and Banos to celebrate Carnaval and relax in some of Ecuador's natural spring baths. It should be another amazing weekend, I'll fill you all in when I return.
Chao,
Brett

Coat Oh Pack See!

Hello!
Had the most unbelievable weekend that I´m so excited to share with you all. Words can´t really adequately describe it all but I´ll do my best and add a few pictures (I´ve got a bunch more to put on the yahoo pictures site, please be patient with me). The weekend got off to a pretty hectic, jumbled start as we finished class and bought
a bunch of groceries to get us through the weekend in time to find out we only had 2.5 hours to get to the park, before it closed at 5pm (we later found it had closed at 3 anyway). We scrambled to find a taxi to get home from school quicker than the bus would get us there, and had plans to meet at the bus terminal at 2:30 in time to take the 2 hour ride to the Cotopaxi National Park. So, by 4:00 we had all managed to reconvene at the bus station, well aware we wouldn´t make it legally into the park yet hopeful, optimistic, and in good spirits as the six of us, including my bro Fernando whose ability to communicate well would prove very use
ful, set off for what would be an interesting and unforgettable journey.
First, there was a political rally of some sort that immediately set us back at least an hour, and before we had even made it out of Quito it was well past 5:00pm. Finally, we reached our stop at around 7:00, grateful to get off the cramped bus. However, our stop was nothing but a sign alongside the highway in the pitch black, somewhere in Ecuador. We got off the bus, searched frantically for a flashlight, and surveyed our options. We recognized some railroad tracks that we were told we had to cross at some point after getting off the bus and elected to head that way. At this point we knew we weren´t making it to the National Park and just hoped to find somewhere to set up camp. After walking a while with a ton, almost literally, of equipment, bags, food, etc... down some dirt road with only a flashlight guiding the way we made it to a few homes, happy to see signs of life. After Fernando talked to some of them, a family agreed to let us camp on their land. Grateful and eager to put all our stuff down, we crept through fields, around trees, and past snorting animals which we hoped were all enclosed to an open patch of grass where we finally pitched our tents and ate some food, my first peanutbutter and jelly in Ecuador. Somehow we managed to pitch both tents in the dark with only one flashlight and start a pretty decent fire with logs far smaller than we would have preferred. Although we weren't at the base of the world's largest active volcano yet, the sky was absolutely full of stars - an amazing sight I've never even seen in the many quiet nights of Wisconsin's northwoods. What's more, the constant snorting of the pigs, barking of the dogs, and chirping of the bugs created quite an unforgettable environment and memory that I'll cherish forever. There was also a younger man, Marcos, who lived on the farm who seized the unique opportunity to roast marshmallows, drink, and relate with visitors from a distant land and it was nice to spend the night with a local ecuadorian, although he did seem timid, reserved, and somewhat intimidated by our presence. We went to sleep, or at least tried, extremely content with the first adventure of our great weekend. Upon waking up we finally were able to see our surroundings, distant mountains, run down farms, and many more wooden cages of pigs, sheep, cows, and roosters than we had expected. Here´s kind of what it looked like:





We got an early start to the day, not too surprising as the roosters were pretty obnoxious the second the sun rose, and hired a ride from a local with a truck (this is actually common, not just another improvised part of our weekend) to drive us to Cotopaxi. On the ride to the volcano and park we passed a number of small villages where everyone within sight of the truck waved to us with big grins. As we realized with Marcos the previous night, visitors are rare and thus appreciated. We also passed a family whom our driver had ties to who was preparing for a giant feast and party by removing all the hair from an enormous pig, killed and sprawled out on a table, which they were preparing to cook by burying beneath a bed of hot coals, or something like that (quite a sight for a vegetarian of 7 or so years...).
Eventually we made it to the park where we were greeted by cold winds, a deer, a fox, and an unimaginably vast amount of cow poop which we eventually learned to deal with after only an hour or two. The cow poop was especially easy to ignore when you considered your surroundings - a huuuge park displaying infinite signs of geological developments that made me glad I had taken a class or two back in Madison that could help me appreciate a bit more the impact of mountainous formations, glaciers, the ice ages, etc... On our way to the volcano there were tons of big boulders scattered around the parks deposited here and there by the glaciers many, many years ago.
Finally we made it the spot where we would begin our climb up the volcano to the glacier. As we drove to higher and higher altitudes the beautiful views were overtaken by the thickest fog I've ever been in, to the point where you could only see for a bout a foot or two ahead of you. The second we opened the doors of the truck we were struck by ferocious and freezing winds and immediately took to our bags to add more layers of clothing. We made some final preparations and set off on our excursion up the volcano. The climb itself wasn't all that grueling but the altitude made it seem incredibly tough. For the majority of the climb, we would walk along for about 50m (sorry, everything's in meters here and I don't really know conversions for feet) before taking a breather. Within about an hour and a half we reached a refuge where we found out were 4800m above sea level (somewhere around 13,000 ft I'd guess, higher than any peak in the continental U.S.) and had emerged from the intense fog. After another little break and a few pieces of smushed bread, we trekked past a few signs warning us of the beginning of the avalanche zone, though it was probably a bit off thanks to our buddy, global warming. After another few hundred meters and about 45 min we finally reached the glacier (around 5,000m high, about 15,000ft) and I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing, gratifying, sobering, meaningful moments of my existence. As if setting foot on my first glacier wasn't enough, just as reached the end of our journey the sun came out in full force and the clouds seemed to disperse just for us. To be that high into the sky, staring at the most breathtaking dispaly of nature I'd ever seen and to be able to turn around and see an endless landscape that seemed infinately far away was almost too much to handle. We sat there for quite a while, rarely talking, mostly taking everything in and taking as many pictures as our cameras would allow before realizing we only had 20 mintues until our scheduled rendezvous with the truck driver some 1,000 meters away. Luckily, was a lot easier to get down the volcano than up it, and pretty fun to scurry down it, and we reached the truck with a few minutes to spare which we spent celebrating our feat with a little tequila. Some photos of the glacier:





Next our driver took us to the lagoon where we were set to camp. Supposedly there was a campground somewhere but we were unable to find one, so we finally just set up camp amidst the most beautiful landscape. The rest of our day consisted of cooking a delicious dinner of fire-roasted veggies, lots of potatoes, relaxing and staring back at the volcano we had just climbed, playing baseball and monkey in the middle with a hard apple, and collecting more firewood. It had been a long day, well two days, and after a bit more whiskey to both stay warm and pass the time, we fell asleep pretty early. Beautiful landscape where we set up camp with Cotopaxi off in the distance:



That night the wind was so strong we were convinced we'd have to spend the morning collecting our belongings or tent parts, but somehow everything was intact despite the collapse of the tent that housed our bags. We woke up bright and early once again to a hot sun and more magnificent views in every direction. Our truck driver friend showed up a bit early so we quickly packed up our stuff and put away the tents and said our goodbyes to Cotopaxi. We had planned to take a bus back to Quito but our driver mentioned a train to Quito that was leaving soon in which you could ride on the roof and of course we were not about to pass on yet another exciting adventure to add to our weekend. At the train station, we had arrived just in time to be the last people crammed aboard the roof of the train. After applying some sunscreen (which proved inadequate for the combo of the sun and wind) we were off and immediately it was evident to us that we were in for another wild experience, for as we passed the first bridge a bucket of water was poured onto the entire rooftop of passengers, to the surprise of many, including us. To fill you in, this upcoming weekend marks the celebration of Carnaval, a huge occasion in all of Latin America. However, in Ecuador they have the strange tradition of throwing water at everyone, from everywhere, all the time (apparently even a week before the actual holiday). As we chugged along we were treated to many awesome sights, friendly, waving families, and plenty of baths. The drivers seemed to get the biggest kick of this, for as we approached every village they would slow down and honk the horn, allowing all the kids time to grab their water and soak the defenseless passengers (though we did have an umbrella which would frustrate some of the aqua-terrorists). Finally, wet and tired, we made it back to Quito and treated ourselves to a feast at Pizza Hut after a weekend of PB & J's and potatoes.
In all, it was quite the weekend, one which will never be forgotten. Now there's just a few short days until what should be yet another great time: Carnaval. Some of my friends and I are takign advantage of the long weekend (no school on monday or tuesday) by travelling to the nearby towns of Ambato and Banos, both of which should prove to be very nice. That's it for now, I don't have time tonight but I'll add a bunch of pictures to this entry asap. Happy Valentine's Day.
Que les vayan bien,
Brett

Clouds, Colts, & Cobblestone

Hola,
Haven´t written in a bit and, like usual, a lot´s happened. First, the ride up the the Teleferiqo to the top of Mt. Pichincha was amaaaazing. The ride took about 15 minutes in a chairlift-like box, but felt much safer, and was filled was with amazing views as the city of Quito got smaller and smaller. Once at the top I was both short of breath and overwhelmed the views in all directions. It was so surreal to be that much higher than the clouds and the enormous city that was finally beginning to feel a little smaller. For the first time I truly realized how massive Quito is, but with the help of my bro, Fernando, I was able to spot our house. We continued to wander around the top of Pichincha for a bit and witness the sun set behind the mountains, it was quite a sight. Here´s a glimpse of what it was like to be up there:





The week proceeded in typical fashion except that I took my first two tests here in Quito. Although I very much like the subjects, teachers, and small class sizes here, the material has not been all that demanding and the exams resembled the tests I probably took in 4th grade, but I won´t complain.

Thursday night rolled along (kind of like in Madison, it´s the unofficial start of the weekend) we took back to la Mariscal and ended up singing Karaoke. It was my first time doing so in my life and video evidence (which, no, I will not be sharing) can prove it should probably be my last. We elected to spend the weekend in Quito after traveling the previous few, so on Saturday a few of us went back to the old town, or colonial Quito. We spent a nice few hours wandering the streets, old churches, and pleasing out taste buds with Bon Ice´s (a real yummy popsicle, freezy type thing). I was kind of hoping to witness some action as the result of all the political turmoil and tension that´s been going, but none was to be found.

Finally, it was time for the Superbowl and my chance to cheer against the team I love so much to cheer against and get back in touch with my american roots. A lot of people here don´t understand, or even care to try to understand, american football. To them, and you can´t really blame them, it´s just a bunch of huge ogres running into each other aimlessly. Regardless, a large number of bars in la mariscal were showing the game and we managed to find one where we could stretch out in some nice leather couches, relax, and watch the bears fall apart. Most people we talked to or just witnessed watching the game were either Bears fans for Patriots fans, who all hate Peyton Manning with a passion. This of course just made our enjoyment over the Colts´ victory that much better, and, of course, we made sure to throw in a good number of cheers to Brett Favre (whom I´m sooo glad will be returning to lead the Pack to the playoffs). After the game, excited and hungry, we hunt down a local shwarma (chicken in a pita cone, kind of) place and spent an hour so eating and chatting with a crazy Cuban-American. Not only did he have countless funny stories and witty remarks about various cultures or his various ex-wives, he told us a story that I would not believe at all had it not been for his passionate, detailed, and long-winded way of telling it. Supposedly, after arriving in Miami from Cuba he was already making a great living after only a year or two but that wasn´t enough for him. He (remember this is just his story) and four others engineered a plan (think the movie Officespace if you´ve seen it) where they would extract 2 cents to an account from every Mastercard transaction worldwide. Well apparently it worked too well and after a month they had accumulated 45 million dollars, were subsequently caught, and he was deported to Ecuador where he now serves Shwarma and hassles Americans (though he did pay for our company with a pitcher of, what else, Pilsener).

Fast forward a few days to Wednesday, yesterday, when I visited the small village of Guapulo. I finished school early and had been meaning to find some time alone to do some wandering and pondering (ha, nice ring to that) and had heard about this unique place. After about a half hour walk, which once navigating well gave me a lot more confidence about finding my way around unknown streets in Quito, I made it to the top of the giant hill that hosts Guapulo. At the top stands a statue that marks the spot of the first voyage of European, a Spanish colonialist Francisco de Orellana, into the Amazon. The trek down the hill is very scenic, you find yourself surrounded by a variety of colonial-style homes, cobblestone roads, other ramshack houses, colorful, unique plants and flowers, and breathtaking views of green mountainsides. At the bottom of the hill stands a really nice church built in the 17th century along with another statue of Orellana, also both marking the start of his epic journey. Despite the treacherous walk back up the still hillside, it was a very worthwhile venture and it felt really nice to get out on my own for a bit and explore part of this awesome country.

Which brings us to today. Tonight Fernando´s taking me to a reggae concert which should be a lot of fun. One of the few things I miss about being back in Madison was all the live music. Tomorrow after class we´re packing up and taking off to Cotopaxi National Park to camp out at the base of the giant volcano, amidst gorgeous landscapes, redwood-like enormous trees, and an array of wildlife. We also plan on climbing part way up Cotopaxi to where the glacier starts, there´s no way we would be able to make it much farther than that without climbing experience and a bit more acclimatization. Once again, it will be really nice to escape the crowded streets of Quito to explore more of the natural beauty Ecuador possesses.

Bout it, hope all of you back in Wisconsin are keeping warm, but it doesn´t sound easy from what I´ve been hearing about the weather. Not to make you tooo jealous, but it´s still been pretty constantly in the mid-70´s here and my peeling has finally receded into a bit of a tan, which my host mother assures me will make me like less of a gringo (it´s not really used as negative, offensive term here).

Take care and keep in touch!
Brett

national nosejob day

hi,
so i doubt there's a such thing as national nosejob day but if there was one in Ecuador it would surely be today. For whatever reason and for as poor as Ecuador is I saw at least 5 people today nursing nosejobs... Anyway, life's good as I prepare for a thursday night out at la mariscal. Times are a bit crazy in Ecuadorian politics though. Correa is pretty new in office (the new pres.) and now there's a lot of talk about disbanning congress and creating a constituent like assembly, essentially giving Correa a lot more power (which I'm sure both him and Hugo Chavez would be fans of). There've been a bunch of protests and what not, it's still plenty safe here though, no worries. But an interesting time to say the least, we'll see how things work out and/or how long this congress hub-bub will last. Got to go.
Que les vaya bien
Brett