Before starting our break, we went to our WorldTeach mid-service meeting on the coast in a town called Same, near Atacames. We stayed in cabins above the beach and had meetings throughout the weekend about teaching strategies and our experience in Ecuador so far. It was the first time all of us had been together since leaving Quito in September, so we were all very excited to be reunited. We took advantage of the delicious seafood available and spent time talking and laughing. When our meetings were over, most of us headed over to Atacames to spend the day lounging on the beach. That evening, we celebrated assistant director Tara’s 25th birthday. The group planner, Angelika, surprised her with balloons and a cake at a little bar on the beach. The night included Jenga and dancing. ☺ It was sad to say goodbye to everyone again, but we knew we would hopefully see each other soon, if not in June for our end of service meeting.
After returning to Ambato, we had a week of work. During that week, we finally were able to go to Baños (a touristy town an hour away) to have a spa day. Amanda, Amanda’s host cousin Keila, Ari and I all went to get massages and facials and to eat delicious food. It was a great way to end a stressful first semester of teaching English. That week, we also had to say goodbye to our friend Ari. After teaching in Ambato for 2 years, she decided to go to Brazil for at least 6 months to live with a friend and teach English. It was very sad to say goodbye to Ari, she had been a key part of the Ambato puzzle. Things are definitely going to be different around here this next semester, as another volunteer, James, also left, but we will adjust. They are missed for sure, but I’m excited for their new adventures in Brazil and in the U.S.!
After working and having despedidas (goodbye parties), we then kicked off the month of February by visiting Mindo, Ibarra, and Otavalo. Mindo is in more of a rainforest-y setting. It is also famous for chocolate. Being there reminded me of some of the places I visited in Costa Rica, especially the Monteverde region. During our time there, we visited a chocolate shop where we learned about the chocolate making process. At the end of the lesson, we were able to eat the chocolate we had helped to make, in the form of fruit fondue. Soooo delicious. We also went to a waterfall where we went down a slide into the river. It was fun, but the water was so cold. It wasn’t much warmer out of the water. Amanda and Eric jumped off a rock into the river, but I decided not to partake in that part of the adventure. ☺ The next day, we went ziplining. It was really neat to be flying through the forest. When I was in Costa Rica, we did “extreme ziplining” complete with a Tarzan swing, so any other ziplining doesn’t exactly compare, but it’s still a fun experience.
Next, Eric, Amanda, and I moved on to Ibarra toward the northern part of Ecuador to visit our friend Annie. We visited a cute coffee shop and got together for dinner. During our one full day in that area, we visited the market in Otavalo. This town is famous for the many indigenous goods you can buy. It had been on my list for a long time, so I was glad to finally be able to check it off. I may even have to make another trip there before I go back to the States to stock up on gifts for family and friends. After that, we went to Cotacachi, a town famous for leather goods. The leather is really good quality, and much cheaper than you might find in the U.S. All in all, it was a productive, adventurous first week of vacation.
Unfortunately, I got sick the day we left Ambato for Mindo. I wasn’t able to partake in the delicious food in both cities, but I didn’t want it to keep me from exploring. I’ve always said if I’m not drinking coffee, you know I’m really sick. Luckily, my friends were all really helpful and understanding. I had managed to stay mostly healthy all semester, and never missed a day of class for being sick, probably much to the dismay of my students. This was an actual conversation I had with a student: “Teacher, other levels don’t have class today, why do we?” “They don’t have class because the other teachers are sick.” “Teacher, I think you’re going to get sick.” “What?!” “Yes, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the virus will come on Monday.” “You want me to be sick?!” “Not in a bad way, just a no class way.” Luckily, I was feeling better the day we got back to Ambato, just in time to celebrate carnaval. It was a strange feeling to have an appetite again after not having had one for 5 days.
We came back to Ambato to experience the famous Festival of Fruits and Flowers. Ambato is the other city of roses. ☺ About 10 volunteers from Quito, Riobamba, Ibarra, and Manta came to visit. We’d been hearing since we arrived in September that Ambato is the place to be during carnaval. It’s very cultural, and they don’t throw water, eggs, and flour at you on the streets...they just spray foam in your face. It was fun to be able to show friends around our city. We took them to the best restaurants, they got to experience a bit of the nightlife, and we saw the parade on Sunday morning. This was unlike any parade I’d been to. People from high schools and other organizations dance down the street, following floats made out of flowers and fruits. They are also dressed up in crazy costumes and there are people walking around on stilts. I watched the parade with my host sisters and their cousin and his friend from Guayaquil. After the parade, we walked around and of course, got sprayed with carioca, the foam I mentioned earlier. At first, it was kind of a shock, but after getting hit many times (I think they target the foreigners especially), I got used to it and just had to laugh. The only thing that isn’t fun is getting sprayed in the ears and eyes. The worst is getting sprayed in the eyes, trying to see again while fighting the dull burning sensation, and then getting sprayed all over again, while trying regain vision. After the parade, my WT friends got into some intense carioca wars with people on the streets. Transportation was crazy that weekend, but that evening, I was finally able to meet up with friends. There was a ton going on in the main street in the center of town, but it was also a dangerous area because you could get pelted by foam at any minute. We decided to go dance in the streets, armed of course, with our bottles of foam. At first, I couldn’t imagine spraying someone else, but after I got hit a couple of times, I had no problem retaliating. It was a lot of fun and unlike anything I’d experienced before.
Dancing in the streets with Angelika, armed with cans of foam
On Monday morning, we all headed over to Baños. Traffic was crazy, and it took 2 hours to get there instead of 1. When we got there, we dropped off our stuff and headed over to one of our favorite restaurants. After lunch, we watched some of our friends jump off the bridge (attached to a rope, of course). Then we rested for a little bit and headed over to a brewery, where they actually serve IPA and a couple of other beers. Ecuador has 2 main beer brands, so sometimes it’s nice to have a little more of a selection once in awhile (especially after having lived in the Portland area). ☺ After a delicious meal, we went to a restaurant’s happy hour and then headed out to go hang out and dance. The next morning, we met up for breakfast and said our goodbyes.
On Thursday, Amanda and I embarked on our journey to Colombia! We had been talking about going to Colombia during our vacation for a long time, and then finally pulled the trigger and bought plane tickets. On Valentine’s Day, we bussed to Quito, and then flew directly to Medellín. Even though the flight was only an hour and a half, we were still served a delicious snack. Who do I have to talk to get warm empanadas and free wine served on flights in the U.S.? It was much more appetizing than a bag of peanuts, and we had an empanada obsession during our trip from then on.
When we arrived in Medellín, we took a shuttle to the city and then arrived at our hostel. That evening, we walked around the area we were staying called El Poblado and splurged on dinner with dessert (after all, it was Valentine’s Day). We had been told that prices in Colombia were more expensive than in Ecuador, but it was still a little difficult paying $8-15 for a meal as opposed to $2-7. I’m going to have a hard time coming back and paying U.S. prices, I’ve become a bit of a cheapskate.
The next day in Medellín, we took the metro and a cable car up to a national park. It was really beautiful to see the city from that high up. Medellín is a really pretty, clean city surrounded by hills with many red brick buildings. In the national park, we rented bikes and were told we should ride them to a lake. It had been awhile since I’d ridden a bike, and riding over a rocky road was an interesting experience. There were some parts where I was a speed demon and had some close calls, but luckily, no falls. We had to drop off our bikes and walk part of the way to reach this lake. While walking up, we ended up talking to two guys from Bogotá about their country and the difference between Medellín and the capital city. When we arrived at the lake, we were a little disappointed, as it seemed like a small dried up pond. But it was all part of the adventure. After that, we went to have lunch in a plaza that is famous for the statues made by Fernando Botero (a famous Colombian artist). We had a traditional Colombia meal and walked around taking pictures. That evening, we went to dinner at a really good vegetarian restaurant. The décor made me feel like I was back in Portland. After that, we walked around exploring. That part of the city gets really busy during the weekend.
On Sunday, we got up pretty early to climb this rock we had been told about called La Piedra del Peñol. We took a 2-hour bus ride and then walked to the rock. I’m not sure if it was food poisoning, the windy/bumpy bus ride, or a parasite issue – when in doubt, blame parasites ☺, but I was definitely not feeling well that day. The rock had about 700 stairs to climb. After having to stop every so often (and getting sick about halfway up), we finally made it to the top. After arriving and resting for a few minutes, I saw a family come up the stairs and tell their 3-year-old child, “You did it all by yourself!” I thought, “Really?! Come on!” The views of the lake below were really beautiful at the top. After climbing down, we took a mototaxi to the nearby town of Guatapé. It’s a really cute town on the lake with buildings painted different bright colors. Sadly, after getting back to Medellín, I was too exhausted to do much that evening. We splurged on Campbell’s soup at the store and just relaxed.
The next morning, we packed our bags and flew to Cartagena. Sadly, no empanadas on this 50-minute flight. The airport in Cartagena is small, but nice. I couldn’t believe they had a Dyson hand dryer in the bathroom! The heat was kind of insane. I hadn’t been in that kind of heat for a while, so it took some getting used to. After getting to our hostel, Amanda and I walked around the city. We walked around the wall that goes around the old part of the city, taking pictures of the cannons. I had a Colombian arepa for dinner that night (a corn type thing with sauce and meat on it). On Tuesday, we switched hostels – to experience what it was like to stay in the old part of the city, and then we got ready to go to Playa Blanca. There are boat tours that take lots of tourists everyday. After some bartering, we picked a tour company and waited for the boat to leave. The beach was so beautiful – white sand beaches, clear light blue water, but full of tourists and people trying to sell stuff and give you massages. Sometimes they don’t give up. As soon as we got off the boat, ladies were coming up to us and rubbing our shoulders to show us what a massage could be like. We spent the day relaxing and we had a lunch of fish and rice. In the afternoon, our boat arrived to go back to the city. The water was rough, and we were one of the last ones to get on the boat, so we were in the back. We were soaked and so salty by the time we got back. All we wanted to do was take a shower, but we discovered the water had gone out at our hostel. Luckily, it came on about 5 hours later, so we were able to finally get clean. We bought large water bottles just in case it went out again. The next morning, after I got up to brush my teeth, the cleaning lady came in to get my sheets because the water was supposed to go out again. I woke Amanda up immediately, but unfortunately, the water was already gone. We heard a few days later that the water was out in the whole city for 2 days. Luckily that day, we were moving on to a new city.
Playa Blanca
We took a “door-to-door” van type thing to the city of Santa Marta along the coast, about 5 hours away from Cartagena. I put that in quotes, because they actually pick you all up at your individual places, but drop you off wherever they feel like it. In Santa Marta, we took a taxi to our hostel in Rodadero, a smaller town about 20 minutes away. Upon arriving, we went to the beach, but it was sooooooo windy. They sand hurt when it hit, and after sitting on the beach for 5 minutes, we were covered in sand. We got out of there, showered, and then made it back to the beach to watch the sunset. The next day, we went to Tayrona National Park. We had been told that we would have a bit of a trek in the park to get to the beach, but we really had no idea. We walked for about 2 hours in the heat to finally arrive at the beach, which was like an oasis. It was really beautiful, but we were so exhausted once we got the beach, we put ourselves under some shade and passed out. After 2 hours, it was time to start walking back. Many people bring a backpack and stay the night in the national park to have some more time there. It was definitely worth the 4 hours of walking, but we were so tired that evening. After showering and eating, we went to Santa Marta that night with some people from our hostel. As it was Wednesday, it was a pretty relaxed evening spent talking about our travel experiences.
The next day, we left Rodadero to go back to Cartagena. Luckily, the water had returned. The next day, we went to the famous mud volcano. We had heard good and bad things about it, but we thought it would be an interesting experience that we probably wouldn’t have anywhere else. On the bus ride there, we met a British guy from our hostel and a girl from New Jersey. It was fun to share the weird experience of the mud volcano with them. After we walked up the stairs to the “volcano” aka anthill, we saw people in the mud, getting massaged by Colombian men. Upon seeing that, I was thinking, “What is this?!”, but just had to laugh at the strangeness. We gave our cameras to a guy who had about 20 hanging from his wrist. I got in the mud and couldn’t believe how much I floated. It was the weirdest feeling ever. A guy then puts some in your hair, saying it’s “Colombian shampoo.” He then pushes you over to another guy who massages you. I was laughing the whole time. After that, you get to hang out in the mud for a bit and then get out and go down to the lake where you wash off. At the lake, there are ladies who help you get clean. They won’t really take no for an answer. Just another part of the crazy experience. You then tip the camera guy, the masseur, and wash ladies at the end. We then went to have lunch on the beach and went back to our hostel for a bit before hanging out on the beach and watching the sunset with our new friends.
Mud Volcano!
That night, Amanda and I had dinner on the street outside of our hostel. This could be dangerous because there are always performers coming around that you are then supposed to pay. Like I’ve said, I’ve gotten cheap, but I did give a little change to the guys who rapped about us. A guy in a wig came up and I had no idea what to expect. As he was getting ready, he took his shoes and his shirt off to reveal a belly shirt. He then started a CD of Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and sang along. After beginning his performance, he said “1, 2, 3, 4” and ripped his pants off, revealing a skirt underneath. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. After his performance, he was tipped very well by all watching. After dinner, we went out with some people from our hostel. We danced a bit, had some empanadas, and headed back to pack and sleep before our flight in the morning.
That morning, we were sad to leave Cartagena (it really is a beautiful city). We flew from Cartagena to Medellín, and then back to Quito. We had to get rid of all of our pesos, so we bought some Peanut Butter M & M’s (my favorite) and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Unfortunately after getting back to Quito, I realized I still had some pesos hidden in my purse. We arrived at the new airport in Quito and then took a shuttle to the old airport and then a taxi to our friends’ apartment. That night, we met up with some friends and the next morning we prepared to head to the coast. Amanda and I met Andy at the bus station, and we headed to Manta to meet up with our friends Angelika and Bridget. It was really fun to see their city, if only for a short amount of time. We met Bridget on the beach and Angelika showed us around her neighborhood. That afternoon, we went to Montecristi where they make panama hats. We then headed down to Puerto Lopez to finish off our vacation.
In Puerto Lopez, we met up with our friends Ryan and Shannon, who teach in Loja. It was a happy coincidence that we all planned to be there at the same time. While in Puerto Lopez, we visited Los Frailes, a beach in the national park (my second time), and the next day, we went to Isla de la Plata, and saw some blue-footed booby birds. Even though we were sad our vacation was coming to an end, it was a good way to end it – on the beach with good friends.
Blue-footed booby
On Thursday, we spent about 10 hours on buses, going back to Ambato. Even though I was sad to end my vacation, it was nice to feel like I was coming home. Two weeks of straight traveling can wear you out. The next evening, we had a meeting about our new class schedules and the changes going on at the university.
This past Monday, I started teaching classes again. My number of students has slowly increased as the week has gone on. Last semester, I taught level 8, but this semester I decided to try something different. I’m teaching level 7 and still working in the morning and afternoon. Fridays are now going to be planning days, so hopefully I’ll have a little less stress and a little more free time this semester. I’m still getting adjusted and trying to figure out what level 7 is all about. Hopefully I’ll get back in to the swing of teaching very soon.
I can’t believe how quickly time has flown. I’ve been in Ecuador for over 6 months, and have a little less than 5 months left. It’s crazy that I’m no longer a new teacher on campus and we’ll have 2 new volunteers coming to join us soon. We’re the veterans now that will give advice to the newbies. Even though we don’t have much vacation time from now until the end of the semester, hopefully I’ll be able to find a balance between work and play and will still have some adventures. ☺ Congratulations if you’ve managed to read all of this, it was quite a long post. Thanks for all your support and for keeping updated on my life in Ecuador. I miss you all! Until next time!
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