If you haven't heard, I am now in another town called Lita where we are working at a youth camp. This week we are just doing random odd jobs to get ready for next week which is when the kids arrive. The kids that are coming are all teenagers I believe. The town we are in, Lita, is about a 3 hour drive from Cotacachi which is where we were before and it is a lot different. It is lower in elevation and a lot greener, warmer, and more humid. I feel like I am in the jungle. The town of Lita is very very small, so it magnifies the jungle  experience. There is a river here and we have gone swimming in it a few times. It's great because the water is cool, but definitely not too cold. It's warmer than Washington rivers even in the summertime. Tropical Rivers are great! As for work, I have been doing a lot of mowing here on the camp property. They have a lot of grass here, but they only have a weed wacker that works pretty well so its not the same as a lawn mower. The family that owns the camp, lives at the camp where we are staying at and they are very friendly and fun to be with. They are Colombian and have great hospitality. The fruit is great here too. There are papaya trees, banana trees, orange trees, and pinapple trees on the property of the camp.  Here are some pics from around Lita...The last picture is of where we are staying right now. Anyways, wish I could write more, but gotta go...

photos from Cayambe

I posted an album to facebook from my hike to Cayambe. You can view the album at the link below

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150951126642012.417817.648482011&type=1&l=988ee2002e

 

It was an incredible hike. We hiked up this ridge on the mountain and the top of the ridge is about 16,000 ft above sea level. We drove to this shelter hut on the mountain and then hiked up the ridge. Getting there was an adventure. We left Cotacachi at 3:30am and arrived at the shelter around sunrise. The road getting there was probably the bumpiest, rockiest, road I have ever traveled on.

pictures

Here are some pictures from the trip so far. 

This is me at Lake Cuicocha. This was from a short hike we did last Saturday. The lake itself is a volcanic crater that is about 10,000 ft. above sea level. 

 This is another picture of Lake Cuicocha. We went down to the waterfront and ended up taking a boat ride out onto the lake. There is also a hotel and restaurant on the waterfront. The boat ride was really fun! 

The red building is the church we are staying/working at. Though I am technically staying at an apartment, I spend a lot of time here and cook meals here. The mountain in the background is the Cotacachi volcano and there is a little bit of snow at the very top. 

 This is a view from a village we spent an evening at called chiliwasi (spelling?) that is high up in the mountains. It was a very beautiful place. 

This is the town square of Cotacachi 

This is a view of Cotacachi taken from the church at dusk. The mountain in the background is the other volcano we can see called Imbabura. 

This is a view of the general countryside as we were driving to Lake Cuicocha 

This is a typical street in downtown Cotacachi and a lot of them look the same. 

A funny random thing to see. We had to stop our car in order to let over a dozen cows and goats cross the road. 

This past week, we have done a lot of painting. We painted a church in another town called Atuntaqui. On Monday, we spent time working with the families that we were assigned to. The trip is still going great so far. The more time I spend here, the more I really enjoy the people. Everyone here is so welcoming and friendly and fun. Tomorrow we are going on a hike on Cayambe which is a 19,000 ft glaciated volcano. We are leaving Cotacachi at 3am to go there! We'll probably get there around sunrise. Apparently we are hiking to a lake on the volcano. I'll post pictures of that in a few days or so! 

First Week

It has now been a week since I arrived in Ecuador. The first few days felt a little weird at times from being in this new place and knowing that I will be here for 8 weeks. But now it is starting to feel like my new home. Even though it has only been a week, I feel like I have been here for a while.

This past week, I have been doing various thing with the Ecuadorian people here. A lot of these families that I have met go to the church that we are staying at. They are all very welcoming and friendly even though I don't know very much Spanish. On Monday, I worked with a man named Jaime (pronounced "Hi-may") doing carpentry work. Being a carpenter is his full time job and I helped him make some stools. I spent most of the day at his house. Him and his family know very little English, but I still was able to spend a great day with them and effectively help Jaime make stools. On Tuesday, I helped out with a kids' camp event by helping set up various things and on Wednesday, there was a change of plans so we ended up having a free day. We went back to Otavalo to go to the Indian street market again. I bought a sweater made from llama wool. Today, we painted part of the church and helped out at another kids camp event. I had to be a part of a skit that we did for the kids which was all in Spanish. I was a little nervous beforehand because I had to remember what my lines were in Spanish. Also, for these past two days, we have been given Spanish lessons by Julie Pozo, who is the wife of the head pastor of the church. The pastor's name is Washington. He and Julie are wonderful people and they have made us feel welcome from the start. I have really enjoyed getting to know them and their family. They have three sons, the oldest which is 17 years old. They are all really funny and have a great sense of humor. I really look forward to getting to know them more during these next weeks. Also, since we are given Spanish lessons, I am confident that my Spanish will be a lot stronger by the end of the trip.

One of my concerns about this trip prior to coming was not knowing much Spanish. I realize now that it's not too much of a problem and it's also creates an interesting experience. It's not a problem because there are a some people here who know English but definitely not the majority. And like I said before, the people are very kind and welcoming to me even if I can't speak much to them. They treat me like part of the family. It seems like in America, there can be prejudice towards people who don't know English, but here that does not seem to be the case for people who don't know Spanish. One of the interesting things about not knowing Spanish is that even though I can't speak much to them, I still feel like I can understand who they are as a person and really get a sense of their personality. It's evident that language is not 100% of communication. I still feel like I know them. It's really cool.

As I expected, this is a trip where things can change and there is not a strict schedule to our weeks. You kind of have to take it one day at a time. During my first few days here, I felt a little weird at times. I wondered and worried if I will fit in and be able to accomplish things. I would even maybe ask, what am I doing here? I've learned that you have to take things one day at a time and live in the moment. Enjoy everything in the present even if it's something simple like looking at the view of the volcano. This makes it easier to not worry about what's ahead. Each day there are many things to enjoy and live in the moment here.

We have some cool potential free day plans ahead. This Saturday we might go hike around a cool volcanic lake. We were also told that it is possible for us to drive to Colombia and cross the border and apparently there are some touristy things to see there. The border is about a 2 hour drive from where we are. There is also some town nearby that has 40% of the population of Ecuador's birds and butterflies. We might get to do that eventually. Also, Washington's cousin owns a paragliding company so that might be an option too. I'll keep you all posted on my adventures and experiences!

First couple of days

The first couple of days here in Ecuador have been eventful. We arrived in Quito on Thursday night after three flights to get here. After getting off the plane, I feel like I definitely noticed the altitude difference since we are at around 8,000 ft. It definitely didn't feel like sea level anymore, but now I don't notice it. At the airport we met a guy named Heiko who is a German missionary here in Ecuador. He picked us up and took us in his van to Cotacachi, the town we are staying at. It's about a two hour drive from Quito. The drive was kinda exhilarating. We went through windy hills to get here and had to pass many trucks and semis while crossing double yellow lines. The van is pretty clunky, so the drive was quite the experience, especially at night. We arrived in Cotacachi at about 11pm and Heiko showed us where we are staying. Adam and I are staying at an apartment and the girls are sleeping in a church.

Yesterday, we went around the town of Cotacachi and saw the market and many of the shops. There definitely is a lot of leather products here. Maybe I'll come home with a new leather jacket. During these couple of days, Heiko has basically been showing us around, but we should expect to spend more time with the Ecuadorians soon. We also went to a town called Ibarra which is about 40 minutes from Cotacachi and went to an amazing viewpoint which is where the pics above are taken from. The landscape here is definitely beautiful and there is a lot to see. Earlier today, we went to another town about 20 minutes from Cotacachi called Otavalla, where we got to go to the largest Indian street market in South America. I would say that this is probably the coolest market I have ever been to. They have really interesting products such as Ecuadorian sweaters, blankets, wood carvings, Indian daggers, beautiful paintings, hammocks and much more.

Overall, I am really enjoying Cotacachi. It is probably my favorite town out of the ones I've seen so far. I like the small size and it makes it easy to walk around and the volcanoes surrounding it are beautiful. It's very charming. Although, the past couple of days here in Cotacachi are considered kind of dangerous because there is an Indigenous festival going on where people dance and march up and down the streets while drunk. Sometimes they fight too. Also, the weather here is nice. It gets warm during the day with a mix of clouds and sun but pretty cold at night. For the next couple of weeks we should expect to be starting to teach English and work at a kids camp. Also, we will get to eventually work in a home of an Ecuadorian family doing various tasks. More to come later!

 

Leaving for Ecuador

I am leaving for Ecuador soon and I am very excited.