Maura in Ecuadora

Galapago-ing back very soon

2009-12-06T11:33:00.001-08:00

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Finalmente…

2009-12-03T04:29:00.002-08:00

Finally, because this is a long overdue catch-up and finally, because I am nearing the end of my trip. When I think about my first 18 days in this country, I feel like it lasted so long. 18 days is more than most people get to spend visiting any given country, 3 weeks is normal vacation time. But now that I only have 18 days left in this country, I’m starting to feel closterphobic, anxious, and worried about the end being so near.

But, I guess I may be just as much worried about the end, as I am about the beginning. I’ve had a wonderful time here, I really couldn’t ask for more, and that’s probably why I’m forcing myself to feel like it is unreasonable to ask for more time here. But I simply have absolutely no idea how this whole “going-back-to-life-as-normal” deal is even going to be possible. And I don’t even know if it is going to be possible to explain to others why it’s so impossible.

I’ve been trying to enjoy my last bit of time here, not consumed by all the class work I’ve been doing, which so far has worked pretty well. But there’s this other externality of this strategy, which is allowing me to be so happy not being consumed, and consuming- and I’m not sure how its going to be going back to consumption, in all its forms. So maybe I should remind myself? No.

I’ve done some preventative meditation on this in many of the amazing places I’ve been in the past two seasons, so that I can hopefully go back to some of these physical, mental and emotional spots when I’m in that state of mind that used to be so comfortable and functionable for me before and now seems so foreign, scary and undoable.

Let me, for a brief and not-doing-it-justice moment, explain a bit about my time in one of these places- the Galapagos Islands. In a nutshell, or rather a crustacean shell: my class snorkeled at least once a day. We were up close and personal with sea lions, turtles, penguins, marine iguanas, flamingos, sharks, and amazing birds, just to name a few. We traveled around by bike, truck-bed, boats and flippers to ecosystems that changed drastically nearly every ten minutes. We had a guide whose family had lived there since the 1930s, and who arranged lobster dinners for us at his restaurant and let us use his kayaks, snorkel equipment and bikes at our leisure. But there was so much more than this laundry list of paradise. A culture. A society. Social injustice. History. Need, and not just for conservation. Tourism. Potential.

Huge amounts of money are pumped into these islands through tourism and for conservation, and while there are crazy archipelagic ecosystems, amazing endemic species, and far too many introduced species threatening this phenomenon, there are also the people that make sharing it with the world possible. There are also their needs. While there are extremely limited food and water resources, rampant waste and contamination, and importation up the yin yang, there is also the development that allows for improved schools, access to health care and a steady income in a rural area.
So what is the balance?

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised to not see tour agencies on every corner and hotels lining the beaches. I was happy to go for a late night bike ride and stop to watch local high school students practicing traditional dances, for a school project. I was happy to live in (not just visit) the islands for a few days. And I will be happy to go back and actually live there at some point (very soon) in my life, because that will happen someday. Never have I felt so at home someplace so quickly as I did in the Galapagos, and I think part of the reason, is not just because they are beautiful- I’ve been to lots of beautiful places, but I think its because I care so much. I care about not letting them become Costa Rica, but not be exploited. I care about the people not being illiterate or having AIDS, but enjoying the benefits of sharing their home with the world. So what is this balance of development, because development will continure, and is a balance possible? I think so, ask me about the last 30 pages I’ve just written if you find it as interesting as I do.

As a tourist, I saw many beautiful things. As a foreign resident of Ecuador, I saw many things that need improving. And as a dreamer, I saw myself not getting on that plane to come back to Quito. But I did, and here I am listening to the sounds of “Fiestas de Quito” outside my window, and my family cheering for our team to win the South American Cup, outside my door. Here I am reflecting, as an okay middle ground to writing my paper and spending time with my Ecuadorian friends and family. Here I am, the most lost I have ever been as to how my life will be after the next 18 days. And here I am, okay with it, because the last ten sets of 18 days have been absolutely perfect. Here I am, finalmente.

Amazonia Miya

2009-12-03T04:29:00.001-08:00

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Amazon and on...

2009-11-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

Its hard for me to process what I need to say. I just returned from a 6-day field trip in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and though I’ve visited the area before, and saw what I thought were similar areas in Costa Rica, here I experienced an energy and mystery unlike I ever have before. Or at least I’ve never embraced it the way I did this past week. I experienced extreme joy, extreme sorrow, extreme confusion and extreme sureness. At times I felt homesick from the incredible closeness of this family and these friends looking forward to rekindling that with family and friends and home, while other times I felt like I could abandon everything and live there forever. Until I can further process this experience, and use it to rebalance (because I think this is what will ultimately come of these extremes) I’ll leave you with two of my journal entries:

(Excerpt from my journal-11/4/09)

I know that people live like this. I know that way too many people live like this. I know this, because I’ve seen dozen of documentaries that prove this awful truth. But still, sitting on that contaminated hectare of land, taking to the hopeless duena, we’ll call her Maria, as she explained her inability to relocate her sick family, brought me to tears. They probably blended in with the sweat dripping off my face, as I did my best to keep my cool among my silent peers, but as I stood there in the humid heat of the Ecuadorian Amazon, I realized that I, like her, felt helpless.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected this same way due to the oil exploitation in the Amazon Basin. This particular site, less than 5o meters from the wells, had be “recuperated” by Texaco after they left in 2002, but still produced an oily pool and disgusting odor of contaminated black earth when dug less than a foot below the surface.

For every one barrel of oil that this small plant produces, they dump 15 barrels of contaminated wastewater into local streams and rivers, eventually feeding into the Amazon and later the Atlantic. This water invades the soil contaminating the cacao that Maria produces for export to the United States and Europe. This water is drunk by Maria and her family when the rainwater catcher/filter presented to Maria by Sting’s wife (this is how grave the situation is) from Friends of the Amazon and UNICEF runs out. This is the water that makes Maria and her family perpetually sick and resulted in Maria’s mango-sized tumor on her ankle. This is the water that killed Maria’s neighbor and her seven-year-old daughter of liver cancer. All of this, because they have no choice.

They have no money. No one will buy contaminated land, not even the oil companies. Why? Because its almost gone. The whole of the Ecuadorian Amazon has enough oil to supply U.S. drivers with fuel for one day, yet we continue to exploit.

This conversation. Those tears. And so much more. Then, we hopped in our gas-guzzling tour bus, quenched our thirst with our imported Dasani water bottles and drove away. ________________?!?! I can’t decide which frustrating exclamation to put here. Maybe take a moment to think about this yourself. What would you say? What would you do? What can we say? What can we do?

Cut the shit. This is it. This is why I came to Ecuador. And now I have to do more.

(Excerpt from my journal 11/6/09)

I’m sitting here inside my green-tinted mosquito net, writing in my battered field notebook, trying not to crinkle my leaf samples pressed in the back cover, noticing apathetically how horrible my handwriting has become, listening to Andres play his guitar outside on the bench, wondering how to express where I am, besides in an indescribably good place.

I don’t even know exactly where I am, physically. Though we’ve spent the last few days of our field trip of “El Oriente” in the middle of rare primary forests, eating off the land, swimming and bathing in the river (for lack of running water and electricity) discovering a shit-ton from the mysterious jungle by day and by the shadows of our candles on the river by night, I still don’t know where I am on a map and I’m okay with that.

The freedom of being directionless has been liberating. There are no trails; we make them with a machete. There are no expectations of presentation; I’ve been covered with mud all week. There is barely a schedule; I can stumble slowly through the dark jungle, finding my way without a flashlight and not worry about being late. There are no pressures; I can smoke tobacco rolled in a banana leaf with the dueno as he tells me stories, knowing that this is what I’m supposed to be doing: learning from the locals, the land and the love of the people around me.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever learned this much in this short a period of time. Not just about plants that cure cancer and schizophrenia, not just about the process of oil production, not just about community solidarity and collaboration, but also about myself. This whole time, I’ve been trying to narrow my focus and figure out details and priorities about how my life will go by crossing off lists and trying to organize and simplify everything. If there’s one thing that our productivity-oriented society drives us toward, its specialization. Now, its not that I’ve abandoned all this, but this sneak peak into this polar opposite lifestyle has reminded me that all of the time and energy that it takes to care about all of this, takes us away from caring about other things. We don’t have to specialize in what we care about! And we shouldn’t.

Now realistically, there must be some focus, but I feel like my peripheral vision has doubled and I have no desire to look through a narrow tunnel to an endpoint. Forward direction doesn’t require directions. I don’t care anymore, because I care now.

Por Amor del Ecuador

2009-11-08T10:51:00.001-08:00

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La Vida de Los Suenos

2009-10-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

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Mis Sueños

2009-10-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

For some reason or another, I don’t have dreams. Maybe I just never remember them, maybe in the past I haven’t had room in my brain for dreams, or maybe I just don’t have them. I guess it doesn’t really matter why.

But lately I’ve been seeing my life as if it were a dream. Everything seems nostalgic, and sometimes I even stop and picture what is in front of me as if it were in a sepia toned photograph in a slideshow at my funeral. As weird as that may sound, my inexperienced dream interpretation skills are telling me that maybe this dreamlike significance is simply signaling the significance of my daily life right now.

Though I am absolutely happy in this daily life, it sort of seems like I am going backwards on my previously perceived “scale of significance”, even though I’m simply seeing a few things come full circle, which note: is not the same as backwards.

Maybe you can call it prioritizing, maybe you can call it a reality check, or maybe its just slacking… but I’m realizing that the things I truly care about now, are different than before.

This change, as I slowly recognize its existence, feels so real that I don’t even have the desire to fully explain it. Its here, its happened, and words won’t do it justice. So, bear with me, and trust me.

There are many quotes similar to “live each day to its fullest”. I used to think that packing my days absolutely full was the equivalent of “fullest”. But living here, having time to fully share myself with my friends and family here has, once again, altered the metrics of this scale.

Several times a day, I stop and absorb my ambiente, and I see it as if it were a dream, as if I’m watching a movie, the kind that makes you smile without knowing it.

I guess you could say that I’m living my dreams.

This was actually written a week ago, but I've been in the cloud forest (sin internet) for class!!!

2009-10-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

Que bueno a estar en el Ecuador otra vez! After a nice 6-week break backpacking through Peru (and also backpacking down I-5 from Seattle to LA) I arrived back in my “second city”, my new home, Quito. It hasn’t even been 2 weeks since I’ve been back, but I have packed so much in already! From taking the new group of CIMAS students out to La Mariscal the first night (!!!) to taking my fourth trip to the beautiful indigenous market town of Otavalo, it sure has been a whirlwind!

Even on the way back down here, I was able answer other South Americans’ questions about time changes and airport transportation… let’s just say, now that I’m back, I definitely feel more than comfortable.

Last night my new host mom asked me if I had ever tried a few typical Ecuadorian “comida Manabita” dishes from the coast. After I replied that, yes, I had, my host dad said, “Mamita, Maura no es de Ecuador, Maura es Ecuador!” (I’m not from Ecuador, I am Ecuador). Though I will continue to visit my old host family, my new one in this new area of town is great. I play soccer with my whole family (Mama, Papa, Jesus, Fernanda and Andres) and a few neighbors at least a few times a week, and run every morning at a less-smoggy park with another neighbor and two other Washingtonians in my program.

Speaking of soccer: Though from being here since June, I’ve gotten to see some amazing parts of the country, one of my most memorable experiences yet, was watching the Ecuador/Uruguay World Cup qualifier last Saturday. Some local and non-local friends and I showed up at the stadium at 11 am for the 5 pm game, sat through hours of a stadium glowing with yellow jerseys and buzzing with just 40,000 people, to watch a game along with literally the entire rest of the country (via TV) ready to see Ecuador make it to the World Cup. To my surprise, there was no announcer, no replay screen, and not even a timer, so everybody in the stadium had to be absolutely engaged in the game. An unfortunate series of the worst calls I have ever seen in all of my 16 years of playing and watching soccer, Ecuador lost in what was apparently overtime. From this, the entire stadium went quiet. The people began to slowly shuffle out of the stadium, not angry or violent, but sincerely sad.

Not only have I enjoyed participating in a culture that absolutely lives for family and soccer, but also is so accepting of disappointment (if you can even call it that). To many people, a simple “oh well” is enough to move on from something that in other cultures would be devastating. This is just one example of this refreshingly persevering society.

After nearly four months, my eyes continue to be opened by new experiences and new observations, and I can’t wait to continue to soak up even more.

Per-u y Mi

2009-09-22T14:31:00.001-07:00

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Where in the world is....

2009-09-22T00:43:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so surprise! I'm not in South America anymore!

Wait for it... there's a story.

So after I finished my Spanish final and papers/presentations, a friend came down from stateside to travel with me. We were going to head south to Peru, then fly to Venezuela and head back down Colombia to Quito, just in time for me to start my Conservation Ecology program in October. But, after a few grueling weeks of traveling under the influence of his (I suspect) swine flu, we decided to stop after Peru so he could come home to recover. This decision was made with the guidance of several "everything happens for a reason" reasons, and I couldn't be happier to have spent *lots* of money and go in debt a few countries (as well as avoided the risk of being a girl traveling alone in Colombia) to have done it.

Pero, Primero: Peru

Peru has a hell of a lot of desert. Did you know that? Besides the Andes, and the Amazon Basin, the entire coast is desert! And it's big! Though it is a beautiful country, we spent several 20+ hour bus rides, looking for sweet destination spots in the deserted desert. Though the majority of the country boasts noteworthy ruins and ornate Plazas de Armas, we were in a bit of a hurry to get the ailing boy to the World Wonder of Machu Pichu!! And we did.

And what a Wonder it is. A 4:30 am wake up call is absolutely worth the (many) views of the masterpiece as it unfolds beneath the morning fog. Even our missing tour guide couldn't disappoint us, and we wandered free all day, marveling not only at the incredibly intact ruins, but also by their stunning surrounding landscape.

We scored the last two spots on the list of folks "allowed to climb Waynapichu", the incredible almost-vertical trek to ruins teetering on the top of a mountain mirroring only its ominous look-alike in the one scary scene in Fantasia. How Swine Flu made it up, I don't know. How I made it up in my Chaco sandals, I don't know. But how those crazy Incans made it up AND built amazing structures, baffles me. I will certainly post photos from atop this masterpiece. It made the LOOONG trek to Cusco and beyond, completely worth it.

From there, we made the same arduous windy Andes/hot Desert trek back up through Peru and Ecuador to get my friend back to Quito and eventually Portland, and I headed back to LA to see my sister and her family right before they move to Florida. Que suerte!

Certainly a huge part of my decision to come home was so that I could attend my Sullivan Scholarship retreat on the Oregon coast. Though I was planning on missing this incredibly rejuvenating and relaxing time with my peers, I decided that there are certain reunions that are vital in maintaining my balance throughout the year. Since I missed Camp McCumber for the first time in 12 years, I figured I might be seriously unbalanced if I missed this retreat.

It ended up being exactly what I needed. There are no words to describe the joy and consolations that those people bring me. The same goes for my dear friend, whom I got to see before she left for London. The same goes for my sister, whom I got to see in Eugene, right before she leaves for India. The same goes for all my family and friends whom I have seen (and will yet be able to see) before I return to Quito come Sept. 30th.

More and more, I am realizing that I needed this vacation. After jumping from spring quarter in Seattle, to summer quarter in Quito, to non-stop travel, buses and hostels, it would have been absurd for me to jump back to school in Quito, without giving myself a bit of R&R.

A good lesson for all of us, I think.

BUT, now I can't wait to go back to Quito, meet my new host family, start my new classes, keep truckin' on my spanish, perfect my salsa, and struggle through some capoeira.

Gracias por su amor y apoyo <3

Mejor de Ecuador Junio-Agosto 2009

2009-09-22T00:36:00.001-07:00

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Algunos Salsas de Tomate (Or... Some Catch-Up)

2009-08-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

I apologize for having not blogged in so long! I recently discovered that the reason for my increased school work load, is because this course I am taking is typically a ten-week Spanish course, but it is now crammed into eight-weeks, and these last few weeks is right where all the cramming has been done!
Anyway, a few weeks ago I returned from the Amazon basin, pleased with my amazing adventure, but unhappy with the hundreds of bug bites that came back with me. Four days were spent with my class and my teacher, at some very nice cabanas along the Rio Napo. We had a personal jungle guide who taught us how to break open leaves and eat the lemon flavored ants inside, hold tarantulas the size of my hand (they can sense fear, so you have to be completely calm to hold them), and made us a tarzan swings from random vines with nothing but branches and his machete. I was able to apply a bit of what I learned in Costa Rica, but it was even better in Spanish! We floated down the river, visited an indigenous Quichua village along the bank, and sped through the jungle, standing up in the back of a truck- my new favorite mode of transportation.
After the class portion of the trip, we stayed in a nearby town called Tena, and went on an amazing river rafting trip. Unfortunately, one of my classmates hurt her shoulder during a pretty ugly flip-of-the-raft, but later in the evening after a result-less hospital trip, we visited a local shaman, who nearly healed it for $5.
Last weekend we went back to the beach for our last big hurrah before our final this week. Monday was not only the Independence Day here, but also the Bicentennial, so everyone was at the beach, and we ended up coming back on Saturday to wrap up our final papers and presentations since it was so busy there. It has been pretty cool to be here for the Bicentennial- there have non-stop parties and fireworks, free artsy events and theater, and practically every house has an Ecuadorian flag out front.
Patriotism is extremely big here, even bigger than futbol fanaticism ; ) This mentality is even changing in the U.S- funny how that happens when there is a president that the people like. Last week I went to the capital and saw the “changing of the guards” a half hour ceremony that happens every Monday, where Rafael Correa comes out and waves to the people in the Plaza Grande, basically thanking them for their support, and the people shout their support for him in return with megaphones and signs, differing only from a protest in its positivity. The grand majority of the people sing along with the national songs, and when the band pauses, yell, “Que valiente, es nuestro Presidente!” I only saw two quiet indigenous people with polite signs in protest of exploiting the Ecuadoran Amazon for oil. This grand support is not only because of his socialist practices, not only because he happens to publically help the poor and unemployed more than he does the media and the banks, but also because Correa tries to make himself one of the people, which is seen as a refreshing change form the typical dictatorship practices of many South American leaders. He is indigenous, and is seen more often wearing an indigenous embroidered white shirt and sport coat than he is in a suit and tie. He visits a different Ecuadorian town or village every week and holds a sort of town hall with the people, very similarly to what U.S. presidential candidates do only while they’re campaigning. In general, he seems to have made some pretty good changes around here, though sometimes I wonder how he is able to change policy and be seen among the people at least twice a week. I think the answer simply lies in the size and simplicity of this country. After all, on the news, where we may see a clip of an expert in the U.S., in Ecuador, the expert is always a sit-down guest on the news. One of my guest lecturers at CIMAS is on the news regularly for his political commentaries and teaches at two universities here in Quito. Sometimes I see this culture as slow and laidback, and other times it seems extremely productive.
That may be my only complaint about my Spanish program through CIMAS- sometimes we have work jammed at us at the last minute with unrealistic deadlines, and other times it seems like so much time is being wasted. Though I have learned a great deal, this Ecuadorian concept of time is something that I am still, even after two months of being here, struggling to get used to.
Fortunately, I have three more days of classes and finals, and then get to enjoy my real summer! I have six weeks before my next program in Conservation Ecology starts, where I’ll be traveling through Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. During this time, I will do my best to b og, but imagineÿthat I won’t be too worried about getting to Internet cafes, when the wonders of South America are waiting for me. Please do feel free to email though, and I will do my best to get back to you in a timely matter- or at least according to South American time ☺. Muchos abrazos!

The ABCs of Ecuador

2009-07-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

After I finished my midterm yesterday, I started making up a little poem(?) in my head. I thought I'd share it, because it can paint a pretty clear picture of my life down here. Some things may sound like flaws, but they are just noteworthy little beauty marks :)

A is for the allergy that I have to smog and exhaust, and almuerzos, which are wonderful.
B is for batidos, which I love with all my heart (what's better than a milkshake and smoothie all in one?)
C is for cleavage and camel toes, which all the women here proudly display.
D is for my dog, Cockey, which may be the first dog I've ever hated.
E is for exercise, which I rarely purposely do anymore.
F is for fruteria, which is paradise for me in carbo-landia- I wish I could work at one!
G is for George (okay, its probably Jorge) who shows up at my house randomly, and always loves me, even though I can never understand him.
H is for helado, which is surprisingly expensive here (but is my one splurge). I think it may be an attempt by the government to prevent these folks from becoming obese like Americans.
I is for internet, that moves at a snail's pace, hence my lack of photo website.
J is for Jonathan, our wonderful salsa teacher, who we are now commissioning for extra lessons!
K is for keys, which I have 5 of, because my house is quite safe!
L is for loud fiestas, which occur every night of the week.
M is for machismo, which is getting quite annoying, and milk, which I never used to drink, but quite enjoy now.
N is for Nacional, my favorite futbol team, as well as novelas (soap operas) and noticias (the news), which I also enjoy watching.
O is for one-sided communication. How do the men expect you to respond to their "pressure- cooker" hisses?
P is for panaderia, which is my favorite smell.
Q is for Quito, my city (besides Seattle), and quiet, which I sometimes now experience (when there are no fiestas).
R is for rice, which I can't escape (except for breakfast, which I live for).
S is for sidewalks, which here resemble jagged cliffs- seriously, sometimes they drop off 3 feet!
T is for time, of which Ecuadorians have absolutely no concept.
U is for utilities, which stop working quite often.
V is for vegetarian, which I really miss being, and volcanoes, which are beautiful, and I can't wait to climb.
W is for washing machines, which slowly nibble away at your clothes as they pretend to clean them.
X is for the second coolest sounding spanish letter.
Y is for the coolest sounding spanish letter.
Z is for AmaZOOnian zoo, which I can't wait to visit next week.

La sierra, la playa y la selva (y las madres, por supuesto!!)

2009-07-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well today is my one month anniversary with Ecuador... I have officially been here 4 weeks. How time flies! After one month, I've come to the conclusion that I have developed and allergy to the exhaust. I only get a sore throat and sniffles after having walked down a busy transport-ridden, black cloud of a street, which leads me to believe that it is in fact the black cloud that is to blame. But fortunately, this has caused me to explore more quiet, breathable streets, from which I have also discovered some lovely views of many of the 8 incredible volcanoes surrounding Quito. Sometimes I find myself stopping in the middle of one of our dangerously uneven sidewalks to just stop and take in the breath-taking (no pun intended) "sierra" around me. Que hermosa!

Last weekend, my classmates and I took a little trip to the beach. This little trip ended up taking 12 hours in a bus, but boy, was it worth it. After a few stops (including one to Montecristi- the real panama hat capital- for my panama hat-obsessed friend to buy a few), we finally settled in the cute little fishing town of Puerto Lopez. Fortunately (sort of), I had gotten myself into another four hour spanish conversation with the guy I sat next to on the bus, and after having become "best friends" and finding out that we share a birthday (we really do- he showed me his ID) I found out the he owns a tour company to the islands that we were planning on going to the next day! He offered us a 50% discount for a whole day tour of Isla de la Plata (the poor-man's Galapagos) including lunch, snorkeling and amazing whale watching. $30 bucks each! The moral of the story: always be kind to the annoying-looking locals that scurry to sit next to you before you can move :)

We spent the rest of the time sipping delicious batidos listening to reggeaton on the beach. Oh yes, and another 12 hours on the bus coming back.

I came home to an interesting surprise (which is a secret, so please don't tell anyone, especially not CIMAS): My host mom's sister in Riobamba (about 8 hrs south) had a Chinese exchange student living with her, who needed a place to stay in Quito (I have no idea how long) while she's studying to take an English test.... so now I have a Chinese "host sister?". My poor mother felt so bad (because this is absolutely prohibited by my program) but I just kind of rolled with it, putting myself in her position. The other night I got a little annoyed that I noticed that the amount of food I was receiving had gone down just about enough to feed another person without buying more, and all we ate was rice and lentils. I started thinking "Am I paying for your room and board too, Chuen!?" But then, we were all sitting around the dinner table, talking about which languages we thought were hardest to learn, and my host mom asked her how to say good night in Chinese. I spent the next half hour laughing at my mom trying to impersenate Chuen, sounding very much like Dori speaking whale on Finding Nemo. It was hilarious! Then I decided I could share my food with her, as long as she kept trying to teach my spanish speaking mother Chinese phrases. :)

These little Ecuadorian mothers are hilarious! Last night I went to my friend Jennifer's house before we were going to go out dancing. We ended up staying 5 hours while her mom moved all the furniture out of the living room, blasted salsa records and brought the entire family in to teach us more dance moves. We danced forever! When it was finally time for us to go out, she then whipped out her moonshine from under the sink and shared it with us "so we could dance EVEN better."

I've also been enjoying learning how to make empanadas, morocho and other delicious Ecuadorian secret recipes that my mom has been revealing to me. Que rico!

On Tuesday, we are taking a field trip to Tena, in the amazon basin! I love the beach, the mountains, and I can't wait to be in the jungle!! There will certainly be more stories to come!

Politics, Culture and other such curiosities

2009-07-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

The more aware I become of South American politics, and the more familiar I become with indigenous culture, the more I find myself trying to understand the delicate balance of the existence of these forces first, and spanish second- fortunately the two go hand in hand. With all this contemplative time, I can't help but try to examine the country, and South America in general, in a sort of "Where are we at, where are we going?" analysis... "we" of course, including my new role in this country, as a sort of symbolic role of the curious observer, yet always including the possibile future role of a potential action-taker.

As a very small, yet ethnically and environmentally diverse country, I see regionalism as a far more prominent force than racism and even classism. Ecuador is split into three regions: la costa, la sierra and el oriente (the coast, the andies and the amazon). Each region is very proud, and thus largely is not fond of the others, which translates into competition in all aspects, from cleanliness, to sports, to politics.

As a country in the midst of development, politics is an interesting balancing act. On one side, you have the socialist president Raffeal Correa and on the other, you have the large banks and media outlets trying to mimic the capitalistic "success" of the US and other "occidental" (western) developed nations.

Many of our lectures at CIMAS (very pro-Correa) indirectly highlight the fact that socialist principles often parallel indigenous culture (ie the community before individual aspect). At the same time these ideals often do not parallel typical forms of development- I think we can see this most clearly in the oil vs amazon example: which is the better choice- exploitation of natural resources for development and all of its perks yet with the side effects of contamination and potential cultural extermination, or continue to lag behind in an ever-advancing world with few resources expect those held naturally? I imagine I will be able to further explore this paradigm in my conservation ecology course in the fall, but I can't help but notice the patterns in my everyday life both in and outside of Quito.

I've taken a couple opportunities to escape the smog-standardless streets of Quito for some smaller Ecuadorian towns. Last weekend my classmates and I went to Mindo, a little two street town in the jungle, just two hours from the Andian slopes I hike up and down everyday to and from school in the city. We hiked, ate delicious homemade helado con frutas and I jumped off an amazingly thrilling waterfall. Economically, this town had nothing (as one can tell by the fresh air and safe streets) and depended upon cheap backpackers to pay a few bucks to hike to the waterfall or tube down the river. On one hand, this can be seen as non-damaging exploitation of natural resourses, but on the other hand, I still can't help but be troubled by many of the ideals of eco-tourism (despite my participation in it). Perhaps more on this later.

On Monday, we took a field trip to a tiny town, much higher in the Andes for the local Festival de Inti Raymi- a continuation of the Incan-based celebration of the soltice. It was amazing to see the entire town, dressed in traditional garb, singing, dancing and playing music through the streets, from 9 am until late in the night. Though everybody danced, everybody also had some sort of a "job" for the day.... some people played music, some people sang, some people sold random street fair food (from cotton candy to snails with cilantro) and some people just had to walk though the streets pouring different forms of moonshine for everybody (except the kids... they had ice cream to keep them busy). Now thats what I call community. Since we weren't in traditional garb, we thought we could get by with just taking pictures of the parade, but soon enough, we were in the mob, singing and dancing through the streets, trying to politely choke down the moonshine that they poured for us out of big gasoline barrels. It was quite the fiesta.

So there are those tiny towns, where expats can join the indigenous community that I spoke of, and never have a problem with theft or danger, and there's Quito, the capital of a socialist leaning country, where there still exists a HUGE gap between the rich and poor (the rich being many like the socialist staff at CIMAS) and the poor being those who cannot rely upon their community and often resort to crime. Though I've always been very cautious when I travel and have never been mugged, the crime here is so rampant and organized that I know it will only be a matter of time before I am put in a dangerous situation in which I must surrender everything of value on my person. None of these philosophies (socialism, community, development, etc) is better than the others in my book, but its interesting to observe how they co-exist here, and to consider the repercussions of any one on any other.

However troubling these troubles may sound, I am still loving my time here. The city has many beautiful aspects and my host family is wonderful. I'm learning to salsa and look forward to hiking Pichinchia, one of the volcanos looming over the city (for which everything, from banks to this province itself, is named). I already feel very at home, and though I miss Seattle and my family and friends scattered across the West Coast, this is a pretty amazing place for me to be for the next 5 and a half months.

I'm working on a photo page, but for now, many of my photos are on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maura.rendes

I hope all is well with you and yours, and please feel free to comment to me with your goings on or send me an email at maurarendes@gmail.com

Eating things I never eat, and doing things I never do

2009-06-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is mostly for my four friends that happen to also be coming to Ecuador within the year... here's a little taste (no pun intended) of what you can expect. Also, for some reason, a ton of people have been asking me about the food- so here goes.

At home, I barely ever eat _____ but now, it has become a staple!

-Meat (including liver, tongue, haven't yet had guinea pig)
-Cheese (like you've never tasted!)
-Potatoes (as in like four per meal)
-Rice (up the yin yang... but not the asian kind)
-Soda (sin high fructose corn syrup)
-Pastries and bread with no nutrients (only because they're so cheap :)
-Milk (I guess I'm over my prior lactose intolerance, because I pretty sure I've been drinking straight up creme, and I've been fine!)
-Instant Coffee (I'm officially no longer a Starbucks partner)

But I assure you, the food is not horrible! I've been helping my host mom cook and I'm going to slowly start sharing ideas :)

There are also a lot of things I've been doing (and not doing) that I used to never do (or always did)!

-Not making lists, except this one (yesterday I made it halfway one before realizing its pointlessness and tearing it up. That's right, feel free to cheer for me out loud!)
-Sleeping approx 8 hours each night (I know, this is huge)
-Showering with only 2 products (shampoo and a bar of soap)
-Watching TV (but only the best, like America's Next Top Model in Spanish)
-Playing board games and doing origami (with my nine year old brother Sevas)
-Speaking spanish (duh)
-Not planning anything (that went in the basura with the list)
-Wandering aimlessly (is there anything else to do without one's iPhone?)
-Only getting on Facebook 4-5 times per week (but solely for communication with friends)
-Spending money while not making it (can I do this for 6 months?!)

"So you're getting lazy and fat?" you say?

Maybe so, but I am loving doing it!

iFeliz día de los padres!

2009-06-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

(This was really written on June 21st, 2009)

iFeliz día de los padres y feliz cumpleaños a mi amiga Hadley y mi abuelo Papa! I assure you, my time in Ecuador has already gotten much more exciting! On Friday, I had my first day of school at CIMAS and took a Spanish placement test along with my four other classmates from Washington. We met all of the wonderful staff, ate an amazing traditional Ecuadorian meal, and then met our families!! My mami Elsa and her nine-year-old son, Sebas (pronounced Sayvas) which is short for Sebastian, are absolutely wonderful. Today I met my papa, George, who came for Father’s Day, but works about seven hours away on the coast. They are INCREDIBLY nice people, very patient with my Spanish and very, very loving. They treat me as if I am their own daughter, and only ever refer to me as “Mauri” (pronounced Mowree), “mi hija” or “mi amor”. I have my own room and bathroom, and our house is perched high up on a hill overlooking the city.

Yesterday they took me to El Centro Histórico, (Old Town Quito) and I was blown away by its beauty. Mixed among incredible churches and gardens, are hundreds of vendors, selling everything from the cutest puppies I’ve ever seen (seriously), to teeny little sombreros for your hypothetical new puppy. They took me on a tour of the amazing palace that is like a mix of the Capital and the President’s house. After we finished and went out the very high security gates, I saw a group of tourists being given a short description of the place from outside the gates! It turns out, only Ecuadorians are allowed inside, and while Sebas took me to take photos of the nearby garden, my mami sweet-talked the tour guide into letting me come! I think it may have helped that I told him I’d let him take me dancing someday.

We then went to an amazing park that overlooks the entire city! We brought along our cocker spaniel, Cokey, to the dog park, watched a few Saturday soccer games and then walked through an amazing “palacio cristal” called Itchimbía. It is a gorgeous all-glass event space at the top of the hill, in which I vowed I WILL someday have a party.

All in all, I am very happy here. At first, I felt like somebody had taken a vacuum to the Spanish part of my brain… I couldn’t remember anything, but now, after several meals adorned with Spanish conversations about Obama while watching futbol, or “Charmed” in Spanish or this crazy show called Famosas y Mascotas, I am definitely getting the hang of it, and am even having trouble writing this blog in English. This is a good sign.

Tomorrow I’ll officially start classes, get a cell phone, and search for salsa classes and pick up soccer games. Be sure to check out my photos coming soon. All my best to you and yours,
~Mauri

Safe and Sound

2009-06-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

(This was really written on June 18th, 2009)

Oh boy, so I’m here! Made it safely and soundly to Quito, Ecuador!

My adventure started yesterday at 5 am. As the “seasoned” traveler that I like to think of myself, I decided to double check the luggage requirements the night before leaving my brother’s house in LA. As I read the fine print that I had missed the first time, I realized that in my special case, I could only have 2 50 lb bags, rather than the 2 70 lb bags that nearly every other flight was allowed. So I did some arranging, but to no avail, arrived at the airport, had to pay for my second bag (where was that written?!) and my other bag was still 12 lbs over. What?! After an hour of rearranging and reweighing, I met the requirements and made it on the flight in time.
I ended up sitting next to a man who spoke no English. Here we go! He asked me, “hables espanol?” “Mas o menos” I replied, only to think quickly back to myself shit, I speak much more “menos” than I do “mas”! What am I getting myself into? He started babbling to me, asking me questions, asking me to repeat every single announcement that came over the loud speaker… until I started wishing to myself that I had replied with a simple “nada”.

But I started to understand, and by the time we were up in the air, we were best friends, babbling back and forth, I teaching him, he teaching me, and by the end of the trip, we parted ways grateful for each other’s patience and kindness, and I was quite proud to have been given the exaggerated but thoughtful spanglish title, “the best teacher del mundo!” I guess it’s in my genes.

I made it through Houston, Panama City, and into Quito, greeted by the most intense swine flu precautions ever! After customs, I had to go into a quarantined area, and stand on two “x”s while they used a laser to check my temperature. I later asked the man who picked me up from the airport if there was much of a swine flu presence here- he said none. Well its good to know they’re careful!

Last night I stayed at a very cute hotel/hostel in the area of town called “gringo-landia” I hear it’s just like Des-landia, but minus the Hungarian/Irish influence ☺ But the city is beautiful, as is the weather, as are the surrounding mountains, and I can’t wait to explore more.
Today, I ventured into an internet café, to touch base with folks, and ended up Skyping a friend for a few minutes, only to be interrupted by an envious man babbling at me in Creole. I quickly jumped off the computer, thinking that I may have been on too long. He then asked me in incredibly broken English to help him get on Skype so he could call his family. My two comrades were already waiting for me, so I said I could quickly help him set up an account and he could call his family to have them set up an account. Well, it turns out he’s from Haiti, and I assumed he was trying to tell me that his family wouldn’t be able to use a computer. So I tried to set him up with putting money on his account, so he could just call their phones using Skype. Well, by the time we made it to the billing information (all of this on the spanish computer mind you) he told me his address was 8-6. I asked him what street, confused expression, and then asked him if he lived in Port au Prince. His face lit up… “You know Haiti?!”. Damnit, is this what I get for being a semi-worldly individual? From there, I realized it was doubtful that he had a credit card, since he had no billing address, and just decided I would put money on my account, and let him use it to make his “one minute” phone call. Is this because I just watched “Yes Man” the night before I left? Thirty minutes later, I had to cut the cord. He asked me when I could meet him there again to help him, and not knowing where I’ll be living, I told him good luck and went on my way. I didn’t really have anything else to do, and sure, it was kind of sweet to listen to him babble in Creole for 30 minutes, but a little part of me felt like “the biggest pushover del mundo!” ☺

Despite having consumed only one meal and drinking only “agua mineral natural sin gas” all day, I’ve already had my first bout of diarrhea. Next time I’ll be sure to ask for everything “sin gas y diarrhea”. That’s something Lonely Planet doesn’t tell ya!

I have decided, however, that I really like these “Yogur y Pan Yuca” shops that are all over. There’s all sorts of yogurt smoothies and parfaits and such, and all of it comes with a couple of sort-of yucca donuts all for about $1.50. What is a yucca donut? Certainly not yucky. I think I will be frequenting these puppies the whole time I’m here.

Well, I think I’ve told you about the most exciting parts of my day… Haitian, diarrhea, yogur y yuca, yup, that’s about it! I promise these blogs will get more exciting, but in the meantime, I quite enjoy the quiet life of Quito. In the words of my mother, hasta largo (until we get large?! Hasta gordo?) y muchos abrazos. ~Maura

Where I'm at and Where I'm Going....

2009-06-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

(This was really written on June 1st, 2009)

This is the point at which folks are constantly asking me, “can you believe you are already halfway through college?!” Though most people expect that I will say no and elaborate on how fast time has flown, my real answer to that question is,“no, no I cannot believe I am only halfway through college. I feel like I should be done by now. How can I possibly be desiring that Senior-esque realization of “oh shit, the real world…” when I am still in the free, comforting, non-threatening confines of dorm life as a teen? Am I really only 19? I should really double-check my birth certificate.

But seriously, is this normal? As I sit here, reflecting, listening to a Pandora station that might as well be called “Soundtrack to Nostalgia”, I look back on this year and realize that I really packed far too much into it… so much in fact, that it feels like the ratio of productivity:time is experiencing a seriously real deficit of time. More time should have passed, right? Which sounds crazy, I know. High productivity should never be a bad thing…
… unless it leads to burnout- which I am probably dangerously close to.

This soundtrack is bringing to mind a year of two steady jobs, overloading 400 level classes, 14 (roundtrip) flights around the country, the founding of two new committees, seven conferences, an exponentially expanding “network”, zero illnesses, countless conference calls, two laptops, three iPhones, and four new google hits, to scratch the surface. All in the name of social responsibility, right? Though I know these are all means to an end, about which I constantly remind myself, sometimes I still feel like a walking contradiction.

But to continue the economics analogy- still, there is no such thing as a free lunch. As a result of all of this, I have trained my body to not need much sleep, my friends to not expect much of my time, and my family to not worry about me as much. Which has been okay, for now. But, I don’t want it to be this way forever. Nobody wants to have few hours of sleep, few friends and unconcerned family in the real world that I have tricked myself into desiring. Don’t get me wrong, it has been an amazing year, and I’ve been very happy, but its time to break the cycle.
That’s why I’m leaving. The country. In 16 days. I’m going to Ecuador, to learn Spanish, become a salsa master, take siestas, and explore the mega diversity of the Galapagos Islands, Amazon Basin, and Andes, with a side of Machu Pichu and other such wonders of the world. I’m not going to allow myself to worry about anything other than verb tenses, lack of veggies in my diet, and whether or not it will be 72 degrees or 75 degrees on any given day.

Though culture shock may affect me to a certain extent, I am much more anticipating life-style shock. Boredom, feelings of unproductiveness, a dwindling bank account, slowly eating meals at a table (and not at scarfing them down at my computer), and actually having time to think about my home, and miss it. But I’m not going to worry about it. Worrying is for sophomores…. and I only have 10 more days of that.

I will say, however, that I’ve stopped planning for the future. A good friend asked me yesterday, why I do what I do. He asked me if it was specific long-term goals that drive my specific short-term actions. And I realized that, while I used to set strategic benchmarks for myself, I no longer do that. Though I thrive off of the same color coded iCal that Kraig referenced in his last years’ reflection, I have come to realize that setting goals for myself, is almost tantamount to setting limits. For instance, my goal to volunteer in India last Fall quarter was interrupted by a promising job, through which I have come to be more passionate about environmental issues, which has now led to this study in Ecuador. I realize, that if I had dictated my life according to that year-old plan, I likely would have missed out on this amazing opportunity before me.
Again, the nostalgic music is spurning thoughts of what might have been. I am amazed, yet content with the fact that nearly everything we do in these four years that may or may not fly by, is likely to have a completely differing outcome from its original alterative. And while I may temporarily ache to move on from the temporary bubble of Seattle University, I realize that this bubble, unlike that of the real world, provides choice and security, a combo-luxury we are quick to forget.

I am proud of the path that I have foraged this year, and the many future paths that it invariably offers me. I am coming to a place where I am confident that I can take this opportunity for cultural immersion, and use it not to make my resume more well-rounded, but to instead balance out my life of productivity, to encompass productive conversation, rather than simply productive emails.

I look forward to continue building my relationships with my friends and family here, while forming new bonds with my future Ecuadorian friends and family. I am ready to step out of this bubble and get a taste of the real world in a different culture, in hopes that it will further ground my expectations (or lack thereof) of my role and future within the imminent real, real world that waits for me just two years away.

In the worlds of my new Ecuadorian Spanish teacher, Emilia (with whom I’ve been emailing)…
“Muchos abrazos” ☺
Maura

A Simple Disclaimer...

2009-06-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Given that my internet access is limited, its likely that I will post several blogs from different sittings at my computer, all at the same time.... so just pay attention to the date I list, and hopefully things will remain in sequential order. The following post is just a bit of background, a simple reflection that happens to be in the form of my Sullivan end-of-the-year-letter.... (where Im at and where Im going).

Ready to go!!

2009-05-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

As I wrap up this quarter at SU, I'm busy preparing to move to Quito for six months- trying to catch up with friends and family before I go. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it back to Redding before I leave, but I will be in LA from June 12th-17th (seeing the fam!) if anyone is around to get together! Love to see you! If not, please keep in touch! Besides this blog, I'll be on Facebook, Skype and Googlechat- "maurarendes" for all. Happy summer!

Much love,

Maura