InGaPiRcA - Incan Ruins

On Sunday we had a day-trip to the Ingapirca Ruins, which are ruins from the Inca people.  We made many stops along the way to see many neat things. I’m not even sure where some of the places were but I enjoyed them nonetheless! J

Our first stop was at a church that is up in the side of the mountain.  There is a huge hill and a ton of steps that you have to walk up to get to the church but it was worth it because it was a very pretty church and the view was beautiful.  It shows the dedication and devotion of the people who make that journey on a daily or weekly basis; it’s neat to think about.

  

The church that we visited. Lots of stairs but
very pretty!



The view from the church!



 

On the way to our second destination we actually stopped along the side of the road to experience the typical preparation of the food.  A man was roasting a full pig, eyelashes and all, with a blowtorch and people stop all day long to take the meat right off of the pig.  There were also other different types of corn and food that the people can get for a small price as an entire meal.  We have seen these small stands along the side of the road on our trips through the mountains so it was neat to actually stop at one.

 

Lunchtime!

 

More of the food on the side of the
road. The little yellow things in the front
are potatoes and cheese mixed together.
They're very yummy.



The second stop on our trip was to see a market in another town along the way.  It was a huge market that covered many blocks.  There was fruits, meat, spices, traditional clothes, toys, trinkets, bread, pottery, herbs, etc.  It was huge!  Since it was a Sunday there were tons of people around too, many dressed in their traditional clothing.  I feel like Cuenca is more modernized and most of the people wear clothing that is very similar to ours so we do not see the traditional attire as much.  It was very neat to experience!  We bought some little pottery from one of the stands and I am pretty sure we made the lady’s day who sold them to us.

  

One of the many fruit stands at the market.




More of the market



Llamas!



Then it was finally on to Ingapirca.  We ate lunch on a grassy hill that had a step pattern in it; it was neat.  The ruins were also very interesting.  We had a very good guide and it was neat to hear what the different ruins were when the Incans lived there.  It was greatly a ceremonial area but it was also used for military as well.  It was actually destroyed in a civil war.  The view was very pretty and I learned a lot.  There were also llamas on the ruins and at one point they almost encircled us!  I noticed a large group of them gathering near us on one side and then I looked behind me and there was one standing right there on a wall.  It was a little unnerving because they were acting very territorial or protective but it was a very funny situation at the same time.  Us girls also shopped in the small shops after our tour of course.  We sure do love shopping! J  I just can’t pass up the amazing items at such great prices!

 

Ingapirca

 

The circles in the front of the picture were used for food
storage. The other areas were rooms and such.



The Incan Face

The drive out of Ingapirca was very bumpy and windy.  It was small dirt roads with people walking through fields and along the side of the road.  This area was big in dairy farming so there were cows everywhere but there was not any farm machinery to be seen.  There were just cows roaming or tied up along the mountainside.  We even see that in small towns around Cuenca!  It’s definitely not uncommon to see cows or other animals right outside the front doors of people’s houses.  It’s a very different lifestyle here for sure.

The highlight of the day was probably after we got home, though.  One of the houses that two of my friends are staying in actually got the channel with the Packer vs. Viking game so we were able to all go over there and watch the game!  It’s great to appreciate the little things in life like being able to watch a football game! Good thing I could watch what was happening though because the announcers were all in Spanish.  It was a great new experience! J

It is so awesome to experience so much of the area around Cuenca and be able to appreciate all of the beautiful places to visit.  We have had some great guides and amazing tours.  This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Miss you all and I hope to write again soon!! XOXO



Us girls in the temple

Finally, Some Free Time!!

Believe it or not, we actually had some time to ourselves to do with as we wanted. It's crazy, I know!! haha We didn't have our dance class on Friday because our instructor was gone so we were done at 12:30 on Friday and did not have anything we had to do on Saturday. It was amazing! We all definitely took advantage of it!

First priority Friday was a nap; it was amazing! Then we all headed down to a market that we had driven past near our neighborhood but we had not been to yet. It wasn't what we were expecting but it was a nice little afternoon walk, not like we don't already walk enough anyways ;) We did go to the grocery store by our houses and stocked up on some snack food though. Gotta love good American snack food! It was just interesting to compare prices to what things would cost in the states. Some things were about the same price while other things were a lot more expensive. Mascara that is $5 in the U.S., for instance, was $15 here!! Then you can get a huge bottle of water for like $0.30 though. It just completely depends. The Ecuadorian food is a lot cheaper to buy though and we have found some pretty yummy snacks!



 

This is the river that goes through the middle of Cuenca.
If you lookon the left bank you can see a lady laying
her clothes out to dry afterwashing them in the river.
That is not uncommon to see.

One of the random clown garbages that
are all over town.
This one was in the market we went to on Friday.



 After resting some more and taking our time getting ready it was time to finally experience the nightlife in Cuenca to celebrate my birthday. We went out with three of the international teachers from the CEDEI School and it was so much fun! We got dinner at the first place and it was amazing because it tasted like home!! (Can you tell we are all craving food from home since that is so much of what I write about!! haha) Then we went to a place that is actually owned by a man from the United States so it was nice to hear some English there! Our last stop was the one we were all waiting for though....a dance club!! It was so much fun!! They played a ton of our music actually too!! We had our own circle in the middle dancing and then it was funny because the Ecuadorian guys just surrounded us watching. It was really funny to watch from the outside!! It was a great night and good end to my birthday celebration in Ecuador!

Saturday was the most beautiful morning ever because I got to experience something I haven't in a long time...sleeping in!! It felt amazing! I woke up to find that we still didn't have any water at our house, though, because a pipe had broken or something the day before. We were able to go to a relative's house to shower so that was neat to see another house and another part of Cuenca.

Then it was time to go shopping! We headed back to 2 of the markets that we had already been to but didn't have much time at. Even after spending a whole day shopping at them we will definitely be heading back again too! :) There are so many neat items to buy and the prices are amazing! I get overwhelmed with how much there is and how much I want but it is a lot of fun! One of the markets, San Francisco Market, is huge and has various stands both inside and outside. The other market, the hippy market, isn't as big and really just has jewelry but there are so many neat items.

This is a little look at the hippy market. There is just two rows of tents
like this filled with different types of jewelry. Very fun!
I'll try and get a better picture sometime!

This is a little bit of San Francisco market. This doesn't hardly
show any of it though because it's so big. There are lots of
different stands selling different types of things.



All of the girls came over to mine and Aimee's house to talk about what we want to do on our free weekends so it was nice to just hang out and relax. Our host parents had friends over and were karaokeing in the basement so that was very fun to listen to as well! It was just very nice to have a few days to relax and do whatever we wanted on our own time. It was much needed and enjoyed! :)



Happy Birthday to Me!! :)

What a great way to spend my birthday, experiencing it in another country and another culture. I obviously missed being with everyone back home but it was definitely a neat experience and a birthday I will never forget! Everywhere I went throughout the day, people made me feel even more special. The UWW girls here with me were so awesome especially!!

The celebration actually started the night before my birthday. Our 19-year-old host brother had a bunch of his friends over and they all sang a birthday song to me in Spanish along with the guitar. I have no idea what they were singing but it was nice of them! haha Then they were teaching us how to dance; I look ridiculous compared to them but it was super fun!

Yesterday morning Aimee woke me by singing to me and she had a card she made sitting right by my bed. Plus I had a card that my whole family sent for me in my suitcase; what a great way to start the day!! A lot of the little girls gave me birthday hugs at the school I teach at and all of the national and international teachers made me a birthday card. I also got to Skype with Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa at school between teaching so it was great to see them!

The meal that my host family made me for my birthday!

Then when Aimee and I got back to our house for lunch our host mom had made a big meal especially for my birthday. We had super yummy lasagna and garlic bread, Coca Cola and a glass of wine to drink, and then a chocolate cake that our host dad picked up for me on the way home from work. They put a candle in it and our host mom sang 'Happy Birthday' to me in Spanish. It was a delicious meal and very nice of them to celebrate for me!

Mine and Ashley's birthday sundaes!

Us girls have a favorite ice cream place along our walk to class in the afternoon that we stop at on a regular basis; we have actually stopped there everyday this week since it's my birthday week! Yesterday Ashley treated her and I to sundeas instead of just cones though since it was my birthday! They were super yummy!! :)

Then during our culture class some of the directors and such at CEDEI came in carrying a birthday cake and singing to me. It was so sweet! Sugar overload but I was definitely not complaining because it was so thoughtful of everyone. For the last part of our class we went with our professor to a hippy market and it was so awesome. There was so much jewelry there for so cheap; we will definitely be going there again soon because there was so much more that I could have gotten!

The cake I got from the people at CEDEI

I was able to Skype with Mom, Dad, Abby, and Taylor after class so that was great! They lit a candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me with all 4 verses! My birthday definitely wouldn't have been complete without them singing to me.

The UWW girls (including Hayden of course) and our professor went out for a birthday dinner after class. Pizza was definitely the food of choice for my birthday meal. Man was it good to have some greasy American food! It wasn't quite as good as pizza in the states because the cheese is different here, but it definitely satisfied the tastebuds! Hayden was my buddy all night, he must have understood that it was my birthday so I deserved special treatment ;) 

Our group very full from pizza! Yummy!

Finally, pizza!!

Thanks, also, for all the great birthday wishes from the states. It was such a special day and I have lots of memories from my 23rd birthday that I will never forget!

Birthday hug from the girls at school!

What a Weekend!!

 We just got back from a weekend of hiking and camping in the Andes Mountains, what more can you ask for?? (Well other than having all of you here to experience it all with me!) It was a truly amazing experience; I had to keep reminding myself that it was actually real! We left at 8:15 am with the 12 students who are studying abroad here for the semester and headed straight to the highest point in Cajas National Park. We all got off the bus and were shocked at how cold it was. At this point I had a t-shirt and 2 long-sleeve shirts on, thinking I’d be fine since I’d be hiking; boy was I wrong! There was a huge temperature change and it was very cold up in the Andes! (Don’t worry, I had many more layers to put on!) We enjoyed the view and took a few pictures before driving to the place where we began our hike. You could choose between a short hike or a long hike and I of course chose the long hike to get the full experience. It was 3 hours long and like nothing I have ever experienced before. The trail was rocky, windy, uphill, downhill, narrow, and all right along steep drops at some points; it was awesome! We all got out of breath very easily, though, because of the altitude. It made it so much harder! We also went through two awesome forests, one of which was surrounding with bogs that could be neck deep with mud in some places. Don’t worry, I was definitely one of three who went at least ankle deep in the mud! It’s good for some laughs and memories at least! We saw lots of neat plants and flowers that are used for different things that are only found in the national park and we even got to try some of them. We also ate lunch in one of the valleys in the mountains so we were surrounded in beauty with a creek bubbling right next to us; what a great picnic spot!

Then we finished our hike meeting up with those from the short hike at our campsite for the night; an open area right in the middle of the mountain with no bathrooms, electricity, or anything! We had to hike 15 more minutes to the bus to carry all of the (heavy) camping stuff back down to the site. Ashley and I were pros at setting up our tent!

Camp was set up by like 4 so the rest of the evening was just spent getting to know the fall students, eating food made over the fire, singing, and just hanging out. It was a great getting to know other Americans here, especially ones who already know the ropes a little and can show us around! We had a tea made from plants in the mountain, soup, pasta, and marshmallows all made over the fire! And I can’t forget the Oreo snack; gotta love comfort food! Don’t worry though, the temperature only got lower at night so it was like camping in the middle of winter. I don’t know what the temperature was exactly but I had two pairs of socks with tennis shoes, long underwear and sweatpants, a t-shirt, 3 long-sleeve shirts, a sweatshirt, my fleece, my rain jacket, gloves, and a hat on so I could stay comfortable. It was wonderful by the fire! To make things even more interesting, rain was added into the mix off and on but it didn’t stop anything from happening; everyone just continued on like it wasn’t raining at all. Ashley and I just snuggled in our tiny tent to stay warm. :)

We had yogurt, apples, eggs, and ham and cheese sandwiches before packing up camp and heading out. It was my first experience washing dishes in a freezing cold creek in the middle of the mountains. After loading everything back on the bus we had one more hour-long hike to wrap up the weekend. This one was a lot easier but it was through a forest looking for birds. We were able to see a few but not the Tucan we were looking for. We heard it, but didn’t see it. We saw llamas and hummingbirds though! It was a great way to end our trip. After a quick lunch in the parking lot we headed back to Cuenca.

The first thing Aimee and I did was take a nice warm shower when we got home because it was much needed after a weekend of roughing it. I wouldn’t have traded any of it though. It was a great first weekend in Ecuador.

Today we are back to reality, though. Hopefully it'll start moving faster this week since we're getting into more teaching ourselves. Better get things figured out before going to my first class though. I'll write again soon!

PS: I figured out how to change the settings so anyone should be able to comment on my posts as they wish! I’d love to hear what you think about my experiences! I also figured out pictures so I'm adding a few to my past blogs so check it out! :)

Culture Shock!

I am in Cuenca now going to school, taking classes, and living with my host family. We don’t have wireless and we have been super busy so I have not had a chance to blog the past couple of days. Now there is so much to catch up on! Here is a recap of our past few days:

Tuesday October 12: After breakfast, orientation, and wandering around the resort, we headed to Gualaceo to go to the market and walk around the town. The market was huge with so many different fruits, kinds of potatoes, meats, breads, etc! We actually saw two different markets and they were both amazing. One even had full pigs with eyelashes and all that they just cut the meat off for you! It was so different than anything I’ve ever seen. We spent some time just sitting in a park people watching and that made it very clear that we are the outsiders now. So many people just stared at us as they walked by. The culture shock began setting in here.

Then we had a true Ecuadorian almuerzo at a restaurant before heading to Chordeleg where they are know for their silver jewelry. I made my first purchase here on a $10 ring. Then it was time to head to Cuenca to meet our host families. I was very nervous at this point because it was such an unknown and really threw us into the culture completely. When we got to the building, though, there were student who are studying here for the semester in the Andes program that were standing on the balcony cheering and welcoming us. It was really neat. This was at the building where we will be taking classes but it was very different than what I was expecting. It is an old building sandwiched in between other buildings on a small street.

Our host parents were very welcoming to Aimee and me. I think they were very surprised with how much luggage we had since we each had another extra suitcase filled with school supplies for the school but we got it all to fit. Communicating with them was not as difficult as I thought it would be and I am surprised how much Spanish I am remembering and am able to pick up on. Our parents are very nice and we also have a 9-year-old sister, Maria Rosa, and a 19-year-old brother, Carlos Eduardo, that we met when we got to the house. There is also an 18-year-old girl, Cristina, that doesn’t live here but we talked to her on the phone. Our house is very big and nice. There are three floors but they are all open so you can see the basement from the top floor; very pretty. Aimee and I are sharing a room, which is a comfort, especially these first few nights. We gave the family our gifts and talked/watched TV with them. We went to bed pretty early though because we were EXHAUSTED.

One of the many pictures out of the van window
on the way up the mountains into Cuenca!



A little look at the huge market we walked around in.
There were so many fruits and different foods!!



My almuerzo in Gualaceo. It was a whopping $2.50
and I also got juice and soup!

The view out of Aimee and my bedroom! It's
beautiful! That is all Cuenca.

This is a little of the school where I teach. It is
all open air and only the classrooms are actually
inside. Lights are rarely used because there is
so much natural light, which is amazing!

Wednesday was our first day to go to CEDEI primary school (where we will be teaching). We had to be at the bus stop at 7:15 am so it was an early morning. Our dad took us in the car and our mom walked to pick us up when we got back so that we knew the way. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk for us down a huge hill (and oh yes, we get to walk back UP that huge hill twice everyday; we are going to be in such good shape by the end of this trip!) We had a great welcome by both the national and international teachers when we arrived at the school. Then all of the students and staff gathered at the beginning of the day to welcome us to their school and the older children sang us a song; it was so sweet it almost made me get teary-eyed. At CEDEI they have national (Spanish-speaking) teachers that each have their own class/grade that they are with and then there are international (English-speaking) teachers that move from class to class teaching only in English. The children learn their math and language in both Spanish and English and it is so neat to see them grow in their second language! Even in the young grades they understand a lot of English, even if they are not able to speak a lot back to the teacher in English. We are observing classes this week so we are getting to see each grade level at least once and there is a 3K type program all the way up to what would be 6^th grade in the states. It is so crazy how different the structure of the classroom is than in the U.S. The children have so much freedom and there is always so much going on it is very new to me because classes in the U.S. are so strict and structured; it’s very interesting to see the difference.

After observing we got bussed back to the bus stop by our houses and we had lunch with our families. Everyone leaves work around 1:30 to return home for lunch and resting before they return in the afternoon from 3-6. It’s neat to have everyone at home for a big lunch. Then our host mom took us on the bus (because the family only has one car) down to CEDEI where we take classes in the afternoon. We got to have a city-tour of Cuenca before class so that we know our way around downtown and how/where to go for ATM, eating, shopping, and anything else we might need. The most important place they showed us was an amazing ice cream place where we got amazing cones for $0.95; we will definitely be frequenting that place often! J Then we had a shortened Spanish class and our mom met us to walk Ashley, Jenny, Aimee, and I home so that we know the way. It took us 45 minutes! We’ll survive though and hopefully burn off lots of calories on the way. J After supper we hung out with Maria Rosa for a little while and then called it a night; our long days are just wearing us out right now!

Thursday was a lot like yesterday for the first half of the day. We have to be at the bus stop at 7 am each morning and we walk now so it is very early mornings. Another day of observation so it kind of drug on but the children are such sweeties! I got to see the little kids in a dance class and it was awesome!

We walked back down to class tonight and of course stopped at the ice cream shop since we walk right past it and some of the girls got cones. We had our Ecuadorian culture class with Bill tonight so he took us down to “El Mercado” where we were able to walk around to the different stands and do some shopping. That is definitely a dangerous place for us to be because we all really enjoyed the shopping and will return often I’m sure! We were all pretty impressed with our bartering skills so hopefully they’ll just continue to improve and we’ll get lots of things for little price! J Then when Bill was finally able to drag us back to class we watched a video he made of the girls’ experience from last year and that got me very excited and reminded me why I’m here!

We were all planning to Skype, email, blog, and such after class but we were having trouble with the internet so some of us were able to but not everyone. I got to Skype with my family, which was great because I miss them so much but by the time we got the internet figured out we didn’t have a lot of time to use the internet before we had to head home. We used the taxi by ourselves for the first time and it was super easy so we were very proud of ourselves. We are starting to feel like big girls as we become more and more independent!! Haha Another night of pure exhaustion, though. Maybe at some point they will give us a break so we can sleep; I only hope!

Today we had another long day at the primary school just observing. We brought two suitcases of our school supplies and it was awesome to see the teachers get so excited over it!! After school we went out to eat downtown with many of the national and international teachers so that was fun. Then we went and ordered some CEDEI clothes. It was a crazy experience driving in the taxis and walking around downtown but we had an experienced international teacher with us so that was awesome. They are all so sweet! We just got done with our first dance class that was super fun and will be a good workout!! :)

Just a few culture shock notes: First of all, the plumbing system in Ecuador isn’t very strong so you have to throw your toilet paper in the garbage instead of flushing it; super weird and gross I know, but we are getting used to it! It really isn’t that bad as long as I remember to do it! haha

The driving down here is super crazy as well! There are speed limits and stop signs but they really don’t mean anything. There are no lanes and everyone just drives as they want to with lots of honking to communicate. It’s super crazy and I would never be able to drive here; riding is scary enough! Cars get so super close to each other you would squish your arm if you didn’t have it inside the car! Don’t worry, I am very careful, though!

Sorry this is so long but we do not get a lot of time to blog. It will be a few days before my next post because we are gone this weekend but I’m sure I’ll have many stories by the time I post again! Miss you all and take care! Ciao XOXO

The Beginning...

Just a few of the iguanas in the Inguana Park in Guayquil!! They were everywhere!

Today was a very long, eventful day but a great time. We started off with breakfast at the hotel and a short orientation. Then we headed out for a tour of Guayaquil. It was beautiful. Guayaquil is a very big city with 3 million people with crazy busy streets and lots of people. The traffic is insane because they don't use signals and don't really have lanes. There is a lot of honking to communicate with other drivers. We saw a very pretty church, lots of beautiful buildings, and parks. We went to an iguana park where there were just huge iguanas EVERYWHERE!! Up in the trees, on the sidewalks, in the grass! It was crazy!! Lots of very pretty buildings and such though so it was neat!

We then went and got lunch at a food court at a mall in Guayaquil. The mall reminded me a lot of Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee with two stories and it was very big. We didn't have time to do any shopping, though.

:( Eventually I'm sure; we're all anxious to check out prices and such.

Then we loaded up in the van and headed towards the mountains. The ride was beautiful!!! We went through two layers of clouds and the scenery was spectacular!! We even drove through Cuenca, where we end up tomorrow, and I'm very excited to go back! After a four hour ride up on winding roads up into the mountain. We arrived at Uzhupud for the night. The hotel is all open and is very pretty!! We had a welcome dinner with our professor and the program director, who we have been with, that was very good. Good first experience with a true Ecuadorian meal.

Now I'm exhausted from all the traveling and the long day today. I'm trying to figure out adding pictures too so hopefully there will be pictures to come soon!!

The view from our hotel in Uzhupud

Our group in a park in Guayaquil!

I Made It!!

My family at the airport before my departure! I  miss them already!

I'm in Guayaquil, Ecuador safe and sound. Both flights today went well and we made it through customs after a long day of traveling. We are in a hotel for the night and then have orientation and a tour tomorrow before heading on. Early morning so I'm off to bed! More updates to come within the next few days. XOXO

Ready or Not...

Tomorrow is the big day! I feel like I have been preparing and packing for this moment for months and now it is actually here!! Everything is packed up and waiting by the door to head to the airport in the morning. It is all so surreal to me right now and I am feeling many emotions. Even though I defintely have many nerves and anxiousness, my overriding emotion is excitement. I am so excited for all of the experiences and stories that I am about to begin creating.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day of traveling with our flight leaving O'Hare at 12:45 with a layover in Miami and our final arrival in Guayaquil at 10:45. We will then be staying in a hostel in Guayaquil with many orientations and things planned for our first two days before ever arriving in Cuenca, where we will be meeting our host families and staying throughout the duration of our trip.

Tomorrow will be the last of the "see you laters" and I will be leaving the states for 2 months. I am sure I will return with a new perspective on many things in life and am looking forward to every moment. I will miss everyone while I am away but I will be back before we know it. Until then, enjoy keeping up with me through my travels and adventures on my blog! XOXO