Fountain of Youth! & Other exciting things!

5/28/2011
So on saturday we went to Vilcabamba which is just an hour south of Loja by bus. It was gorgeous there, all the homes on the way there were quite nice looking even from the outside! Due to the fountain of youth allegedly being in Vilcabamba and the very old age of many of its inhabitants it has become quite the hotspot for retiree's. There were so many people from Europe and the U.S. as well as hippies selling stuff there it was quite different from the quick pace of the city and was nice to kind of relax outside the city! We wanted to go horseback riding but that seemed out of the question since we didn't get there until 2 o'clock during the siesta time and they really only had full day trips. So we decided we'll just have to come back for a weekend when everyones done with their project to relax and celebrate! After a sick night the night before (on friday) and staying in I decided to go out for a little bit with everyone to a bar called Viejo Minero (old miner) it was actually a cool little bar. We went with one of the students here that's helping with our project and a couple of her friends. It was pretty funny we were sitting around chatting when a Village people song came on and the bartender/waiter came out in a yellow hard hat haha, it was pretty awesome!
5/29/2011
Didn't do much today, everything was basically closed so we went to one of the only stores that was opened and  bought some groceries for our up and coming field days. I got some stuff for PB&J's, peanuts, and these awesome chocolates they have here! OH I've totally forgot to mention the chocolate this whole time! It's delicious, some of the finest chocolate comes from here; it is one of the main exports of the country besides bananas. Anyways hopefully I can bring back enough for everyone to try!
5/30/2011
Translated my survey today. Ate at Mar Rojo (Red Sea) and had these wing like things (Atlitas BBQ) and they were delicious. They were in like this pineapple bbq sauce that tasted amazing and was served with papas (potatoes). That sure is one thing that's nice about Ecuador there seems to be potatoes or rice or beans  or yuca with everything. Yuca is this woody shrub type thing and has similar texture too mashed potatoes. I've been hoping for an opportunity to go out and go fishing but hasn't happened yet, hopefully one of these days when we're staying in one of the towns I will get to go! They have some awesome trout fishing here I guess and I would really like to go do some marlin fishing off the coast but those are usually 8 day long trips and don't know if I will have that kind of time! Also the pirahnna fishining in the jungle rivers is pretty awesome, we're gonna go on a 2 day boat trip and hopefully will have the opportunity to do some fishing then for pirahnna!

Engrish

5/25/2011
So today has been a very productive day, the social sciences crew had our first official meeting today to get on the same page and then we skyped with Chad back in Idaho and got my survey almost completely figured out now I just have to organize it and translate it into spanish! Also I feel like the longer I stay here the worse my "pause" gets when I ask questions for those you who know what I'm talking about! It's horrible, as well my english are getting bad too. I have to re-read things when i type them a couple times in english to make sure it sounds right! It's pretty bad and I've only been here a week and still have 8 more left haha! I'm excited to re-read everything when I get back and see how it progressively gets worse! Thank goodness I don't have anymore english classes left to take in college either!

Now I'm going to take some time to reflect on the past week since I feel like I've missed a lot of little things...
1. First off it's really beautiful here forest and mountains surround us...Loja is in a high mountain valley with 2 rivers.
2. Apparently your not supposed to flush toilet paper either because it can clog the pipes in most places, I believe this but am worried about what I have to do with the left overs after....ummm...well you know AFTER! haha
3. Drivers here crazier than a monkey on caffeine pills!
4. They do actually have like pizza places and the 2 we've eaten at are dericious!! They also have a chinese restaurant, but I don't really want to eat there because for some reason there's always dogs hanging around that place and i'm worried they might use them in the meat haha...

Karma!

5/24/2011
Today I was joined in the shower by a nice big bright red spider, but now he's in the river since I flushed him haha! Also I walked to campus nice and early...I dont know why but I just cant sleep in past 7:30am here it seems. It was a nice long walk across the river and up the hill. But I haven't felt good all day, I think I got the stomach bug...karma for making fun of the vegetarians I guess! But it comes and goes and I've been so hungry all day it's horrible, whenever I get food in front of me I just can't eat. Finally I found some helado (ice cream), at this little pizza shop called Artesenale, and that seemed to go down pretty good and not cause my stomach to twist and knot itself up! Didn't get a whole lot done today except worked on my survey somemore so hopefully my meeting tomorrow goes well with the social sciences people. I've felt a little homesick today and just wanted some chicken noodle soup (without chicken feet or guinea pig in it) and someone to just rub my back til I fall asleep. or a nice soak in the hot tub back home. But I've only got about 8 weeks left so until then I'll deal with the spiders, snakes, bot flies, and whatever else Ecuador can throw at me; oh and maybe I'll build up some Karma haha

Chau!

This One Crazy Bum!!!

5/23/2011!
Today has been a day filled with adventures of Loja. We found our way to the bus stop today and just about didn't get on in time because the buses only stop for a short amount of time even though we were 30 minutes early! Then the day was kind of boring really productive got some preliminary stuff done for my research and was free the rest of the day. We went out to lunch and I had some San Jacobo (pronounced: San ah-coo-boo or something like that) and we went to go get one of the girls a phone so she could call someone if she needed help. And I was the one that had to talk to the people at the shop to get her phone it was quite interesting to say the least since my spanish isn't the best! We then proceeded to find another video store that had even better movies and continued to wander the streets of Loja. While walking between stores we passed a homeless man laying on the ground twitching profusely. It was very er...unusual? and I didn't know whether to stop and help him or if it was an act in hopes of gaining attention and getting money, either way the man sat up straight and was talking normally (if talking to yourself is normal)  when we got to him. Also I bought these awesome pair of wooden shoes...well they're not actually wooden but they look like it. I bought them because guys here dress up fairly nicely every day so I figured for when we're hanging around the University it would be a good idea to have them! I definitely posted a picture of them on photobucket so check them out.

Once again we tried to go to the 4th Pirates tonight and were unable too because it was sold out...oh and found out that movies are in spanish here with no subtitles. We were told they were in english and had spanish subtitles but I guess that's untrue, bummer guess that makes more sense anyways....Also talked to Anthony and he told us that the guy we saw on the street was probably high on something, didn't really think drugs were prevalent down here, but I guess it's a reality check that we are just south of Columbia. But havent been approached about them like what happened in Mexico when I went back in high school.

Podocarpus National Park

5/22/2011
Today started off kind of weird. We started later and the bus was late picking up Eric and I. We got on and 2 of our fellow students were M.I.A. with some sort of stomach bug (we hypothesize it was the salads they ate the night before but that's what they get for being vegetarians haha) which really sucked. We went to Podocarpus National Park which if your studying ecology/biology in Ecuador is a huge deal because it is one of 5 National Parks that has been created and protected fairly well. They even stopped a road being developed into the park to preserve the biodiversity and to save some of the plants that the University (UTPL-where im at) is studying for the plants properties in possible cures for cancer and diabetes. We started off on a 5km loop (about 3.1 miles) and were taking our tim enjoying the cloud forest we were in and taking pictures along the way...the elevation also had something to do with going slower because we were at about 3500m (11,000ft) and hiking some steep terrain. Thats when the stomach bug took it's third vegetarian victim! She wasn't feeling well and the elevation wasn't helping so we turned around and headed back for the trail head for her sake. So we left her there at the trailhead and took off on a much shorter route so that we could enjoy some views of loja and learn some more plants and get into some actual paramo ecosystem (high elevation neotropical tundra). It was beautiful check out my photos at http://www.photobucket.com/lostintheparamo and see the panoramic view that we had on the trail Mirador! So we cut the day short and ended it after eating lunch from the view point and headed back to Loja to relax.

It was actually really nice to get back into loja by 2:30 we were able to relax a little bit. Eric and I decided to kind of adventure around town and see if we could find the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean so we could watch the 4th one in theatres. We actually ended up finding a great video store pirates 1-4, Battle: LA and many many more movies! It was awesome! But then we went to go watch our pirates movie and Antonio (One of the girls' host "brother") advised us to see how the quality was on pirates 4 and it was a russian version that was in spanish! But all the other movies were find and we watched pirates 3, and attempted to go to the movie theatre but Pirates 4 was sold out so we will attempt to go tomorrow night!


 Hope that's enough information about that day make sure to check out the sweet pics!

Exploring the Jungle

5/21/2011

Hola, so today went really well but it was an early morning! We were up by 530 am and headed out to the field by 630. We then drove towards the Yacuambi-Ona-Sargurro Wetland system which is where myself and 2 others will be working and then 2 others a little bit closer in La Paz doing mining observational work. We stopped on our way in Zamora capital of Zamora-Chinchipe province for a delicious breakfast and continued on our 3 hour drive! It was very cool we got to meet the “presidents”(mayors) of each town of La Paz, 28 de Mayo, y Tutupali. They were all very nice and treated us with open arms! For the ride in now that’s a whole other story, to say the least it was WILD. We had to get off our Mercedes-benz bus/van and hire some locals to take us in with trucks for the last hour of it, and they knew how to drive those mountain single-lane roads! People here use their horns a lot not only in the city but in the mountains too especially for going around corners…we made it safely both ways in the pickups but we will definitely be getting our own transportation the next time we go to Tutupali.

The scenes we saw in the Yacuambi Canton (“state”) were beautiful multiple waterfalls everywhere! The mountains just seem to climb forever into the clouds! If I had to choose any other country to live in it might just be Ecuador because of the scenery and the people. The only thing that as a Wildlife major is kind of disappointing we haven’t really seen any wildlife! There’s stray dogs and chickens running around the forest and we’ve seen some sort of vulture circling us in the jungle but no monkeys, bears, foxes, or any other mammals for that matter. I can’t really describe how awesome the views are in Ecuador so you’ll just have to check out my photos at http://www.photobucket.com/lostintheparamo . 

Quito to Loja

5/19/2011

Well today was another early one, we all got up by 5:30 and were out the hostal by 6 am and back to the aeropuerto by 7:00 for our flight to loja at 8:40. Let me tell you national flights (in country) way more crazy than international people running everywhere and three businessmen cut in front of us getting our tickets, they just like ran and ducked under the airport line thingys and whoop got their tickets. The security line was long but moved very quickly! Then came time to put my bags on the scanner and walk through the metal detector. Three times, I had to go through the detector haha! I forgot to take off my hat, and then shoes/wallet/passport, and finally it was my glasses! Next time I think I’ll be a little more prepared now that I’ve done it once.  During the flight we were  treated with a sight for well untraveled eyes I guess, it was a VOLCANO ERUPTING. Okay, so it wasn’t actually erupting lava but there was smoke coming from it and some of the people got some good pictures of it (I was on the wrong side of the plane)!  I was nervous but excited to go to Loja, but finally we were going to our casas (homes) and going to get settled in for 8 weeks. We landed and Loja Province is way prettier than Quito. Now to skip all the details of the scenery just check out photobucket.com/lostintheparamo for pictures!

We get dropped off at our home after the first 2 people who got families with kids our age that spoke English and Spanish. So Eric and I were pretty excited to get to ours, well it’s an apartment owned by a very nice but energetic person!  I could NOT understand a word she said in Spanish (kind of reminded me of my sister haha) she was speaking a million miles an hour! Eric and I are in our own little “studios” and as of right now there is no cocina (kitchen) in sight. So it looks like we’ll be eating out a lot for the next 2 months.

So about our little “studios” they have their own bathroom, twin captains bed (mine), full bed (erics), and a little closet as you’ll see in the photos! I walked in and there was no door on my bathroom which has as of now has been fixed by the hyper land-lady and a nice handi-man. I took the first shower, water wasn’t the hottest which could be a problem because I like hot showers haha (you know what im talking about mom and dad). We thought we had gotten kind of screwed not having a family and living in an apartment building that is currently undergoing renovation! But in all reality we are the closest to the best restaurants as we found out on our way home today from the University of Loja and everyone else is jealous of us for sure!

During all this one thought crossed my mind! My research is going to be speaking Spanish and recording answers and understanding personal cues and attitudes, and as of right now I.D.S (I don’t know S*&%^) haha. There’s always room to improvement and my  vocabulary is already coming back to me so hopefully over the next week or so I will gain A LOT more, and it is probably a very good thing that I brought my Spanish textbook with me!

First Day in Quito

Well it has been a wonderful first day in Quito got to go see the Basilica, many other churches, the Presedential Palace, the Equator (half way point on the world), and many other local sites! Unfortunately I forgot my camera memory card in my laptop this morning so I only got 5 pictures but am in some other photos of people in the groups too! It was awesome visiting the Basilica del Voto Nacional the stained glass was amazing and the "gargoyles" on the front are actually animals of Ecuador it was cool looking. We also visited the "Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus" which had 23 carat-gold leaf plating on EVERYTHING it was beautiful but they wouldn't let us take pictures. So far the people have been very nice down here and are fascinated with the 2 of us that have blonde hair haha! We also went to a mountain top called Teleferiqo de Quito where we could see almost all of Quito and its 2.5 million people. It was quite the site! We are thinking of maybe going back to that when we return to hike into one of the inactive volcanoes (don't worry moms its inactive!) for a day trip or maybe even an overnight hiking trip. We ate at this awesome restaurant called Achoite (or something like that) and it was amazing I had a "Blue Beer" that was delicious and sauteed shrim in coconut sauce with "yucas" which are like delicious potato-y things! We then went to an authentic Ecuadorean bar called "Tequilla Sun Rise" and got watered down free shots and left because the place was kind of sketchy. Next we went to a good old Irish American Pub right across the street and drank local beers, margaritas, and such. It was much nicer than the "authentic" bar, it had a much friendlier atmosphere and the drinks were delicious and we could actually have a conversation and not have to yell over the music!


*Note: I will be posting my pictures on photobucket until i can figure out a more efficient way of posting them on here...the link is http://photobucket.com/lostintheparamo " now go enjoy all 6 pictures currently uploaded!"

Spokane, WA, USA to Quito, Ecuador

Hola everyone! Well I made it down to Ecuador safely, had a wonderful evening with my parents and girlfriend last night in spokane. We ate at this restaurant by our hotel called the "Rusty Moose" and it was actually quite delicious, I had a BBQ Blackberry sauce beef brisket....mmm that sounds good right now sitting in our hostel in Quito. I'm going to add some pictures of my parents, Jordan, and I from last night as well as some of my first pictures of Ecuador.Our flights today started at 6:50 after being delayed 35 minutes and consisted of a total of ~10 hours flying and making 2 connections in SLC and ATL. Needless to say its been a long day and during the last 2.5 hours into Quito i spilled water all over myself as i fell asleep and wore wet jeans through immigration, customs, and finally just got to change! Looking forward to spending the day here tomorrow and getting to see some of the city!

Noise and Confusion

Well I'm sitting here in the computer lab trying to finish writing my proposal that is due...tomorrow. I am at a lost as to where I should go at this point in my project, there is "still room for lots of literature and improvement" as I am told by some. But I feel that at this point that is irrelevant because as of the past 24 hours my project methodology and analysis section is being fought over by facutly and mentors as to which 2 completely different directions to take it. At this late in the ball game I feel I am going to just put forth some more effort and complete it as I see fit as ultimately it is me that's running the show!

For those of you who don't know what my project is about. It will be both a qualitative and quantitative study where I will be conducting surveys (quantitative) that I can get statistics from, about peoples views and uses of the paramo. As well as an interview (qualitative) portion that will provide depth to decision makers and land managers views and opinions of the Paramo ecosystem.

That is all I feel like I can write without my blood boiling over at this point! Hope this makes sense to those of you that are following, if you have questions feel free to ask!