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| (left to right) Madde, Me, and Shay |
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| Me and Maddie after the 8 hour bus ride |
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| The sunset over the Napo |
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| Me on the Canoe |
Wednesday 27 August 2014
Day 3 (pictures)
Day 3
August, 6, 2014
The day starts out early. 6 AM early. We get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and meet in the lobby by 7. We then load our backpacks into the under carriage of the coach bus, and find our seats. Me and Maddie sit in our same seats from the very first ride from the airport to the hotel. We get comfortable and then Katie and Esta board the bus and we are off.
The bus ride in total will be about 7-8 hours and our final destination will be a small village called Mondaña, which is just outside of Tena.
For the first 3 hours of the trip we drove through the highlands. Which was to say the least terrifying. The roads zig-zags up mountains, and as we climbed the road turned from pavement to gravel and the steepness of the slope to the left became steeper and steeper.
At first my nerves were driving me crazy and I couldn't understand how we were still alive. The bus would go around sharp corners and the wheels would somehow stay on the road.
To ignore the dozen near death turns I focused on the scenery outside. I focused on the green pastures that scale the sides of rolling hills. I focused on the areas of different crops like a patch work blanket draped over the mountains. I watch as the mist gets thicker as the bus drives higher and higher. I notice the first drops of rain that hit the window. I watch as the sun gets pushed aside and replaced by a grey haze of fog. I curl into my sweater as the temperature drops and I finally let myself be rocked by the movements of the bus and finally let myself give up my anxiety and let be whatever is to be.
Around 1 the bus pulls to the side of the road and we climb out into the crisp mountain air. We cross the road and walk down a dirt driveway to a pizza hut on the side of the mountain. Now when I say 'pizza hut' I don't mean the brand of north american restaurant chains, no I mean a quaint hut that has the wafting smell of freshly baked pizza rising from its being. That kind of pizza hut.
Maddie, Shay, Ivana, Ioana, and I sit at a table outside on the deck. The entire group of us (23) fill the entire building and the deck outside. A gentleman in his 40's begins to go from table to table with serving out as many pieces of pizza as you so desire.
After stopping for about and hour for lunch we board the bus one last time for the final leg of the bus ride, which is about 3-4 hours.
As we drive the world outside changes from cold misty mountains to warm sunny forests. But as this happens the road becomes even more bumpy and the inside of the bus becomes louder as people start to wake up from the food and the warmth.
As this happens Maddie and I start to talk and open up about our lives at home, why we decided to go on the trip, and our life goals and dreams. As I talked to Maddie I became shocked at how comfortable I was talking to her about personal topics and how open she was in return. It felt like we had known each other before from how confident I was confiding in her .
With our conversation the rest of the bus ride went by quickly. And soon we were parking at a vacant market on the side of the Napo river. We climbed down a steep river bank and boarded a long canoe that had a tarp cover and a motor. As we drove off into the Napo the sun set behind us and the burnt yellow beams capped every ripple in the water.
After about 40 minutes we arrived at the Minga lodge that sat on the side of the river and was cradled by the forest which blocked the view from the canoe and stretched out behind it, except for a deck that had trees cleared out in front of it.
The canoe stopped on the side of the river bank and we climbed a flight of stairs to a stone path. We then walked to reception were assigned rooms and roommates and were sent off to get settled in and informed where supper was and when to be present for the meal.
I was roomed with Ivana, Sara, and Laura. Our room had two bunk beds, a sink, a bathroom, and a small closet. two of the walls had windows in them that were almost floor to ceiling. The windows were covered in a metal mesh and had no glass on them. Each bed had a thin white sheet, a fuzzy orange blanket, a pillow, a folded white towel, and a bug net.
For the first few days I didn't really get to know Sara and Laura but after I did get to know them a little more I regretted not starting a conversation with them on the very first day.
Sara is literally the most energetic person I know. She would get up before anyone else and go to work out, and would still be the first person on the build site to volunteer for the hard jobs. I don't think that there was a person on the trip that sara didn't talk to. She was friendly and open and had amazing listening skills. When you talked to her you never wanted to stop because you actually felt listened to and cared about. I think that having the ability to listen to people is a skill that is often over looked but really it is one of the most flattering qualities that a person could have.
Laura is a sweetheart. She is soft-spoken and genuinely kind. When Laura talks everyone is silent because even if she doesn't always give her opinion on every matter when she does she can give light to a new angle of the topic that is often over looked.
After we were settled in Ivana and I went to discover the rest of the lodge.
At 7 we were at reception and had supper in a buffet style. I remember that we had clothe napkins that first night...we never saw those clothe napkins again.
After supper we cleaned up and arranged our chairs in rows all facing the left side of the room. Katie then talked to us about how experiences in our lives can have a negative effect on us by making us put layers over who we really are so that we are not hurt, or embarrassed, or judged again.
She then went on to talk about how at the the lodge, on the trip, and in the group we are in a safe place of no judgement and can show who we truly are underneath all the layers that we have put on for society.
After the talk we all signed an agreement clause to agree that we will make this a safe place for people to open up and that we will also open up to others.
After we all sign the agreement we go back to our chairs and the second half of the evening begins. Katie continues by telling us that we are all going to step out of our comfort zones and take down some of our protective layers by standing up in front of the group and singing for 30 seconds, no music, no clapping, no beats, no rapping, just singing. And after someone sings no one is aloud to clap and there is to be no talking.
The room goes quiet I can hear everyones hearts beating in sync, or maybe it's just my heart beat. No that is defiantly my heart beat. I actually can't breath. I'm not breathing. I'm staring at the floor and all of these emotions are colliding with each other behind my eyes and I can't think. I can't get a clear thought through my head.
I look around to see if I can get a supportive glance or just an "I'm scared senseless too" look from somebody, anybody, but everyone is staring at the ground so I stare at the ground again.
Okay 30 seconds, All I have to do is find 30 seconds of lyrics in my head. Okay think Katie think. And then I find it, lodged in my memory bank. I can hear the tick tick of the milking machine and the sounds of goats. My friend is beside me and we are singing at the top of our lungs. My voice is a soft hum under all the white noise and hers is a gust of crisp winter air above all of it. I have never sang this song without the white noise. I have never been the crisp winter air before. I have always been the warm steady hum. I say the words over and over again in my head to make sure I know them, but I know that I know them.
I know them as well as I know my own heart beat and as well as I know the lines of my fingerprints.
About 5 people have stood up and sung. They are all amazing singings. They are all the crisp winter air. The bar is raised so high right now.
My heart has slowed down a little and I can breath again. I know I am not a good singer. I know I am out of tune on every note. But I need to just get up there and sing. The sooner I get up the sooner I can finish.
I raise my hand, and ask if we don't know a full 30 seconds if we can repeat a verse. Katie says we can. I ask because I honestly don't know if what I can remember is 30 seconds long or not.
I stand up, I take a deep breath, I look at the floor, and I start to sing.
"I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle whiskey for the way, and I sure would like some sweet company and I'm leavin' in the morning what do you say?
When I'm gone, oh when I'm gone your going to miss me when I'm gone. You're going to miss me by my hair you're going to miss me everywhere, oh you're going to miss me when I'm gone."
I sit down.
My hands are shaking. My heart is beating off the tracks. I don't think I breathed for the entire time. It was off tune and off beat and I sounded like a frog but oh my sweet word I did it. I did it. I am so relieved that I did it and now I can sit back and relax as everyone else tries to find their own lyrics to sing.
Katie stands up now and says that for whoever is not singing that they don't have to sing but instead they have to say why they aren't getting up to sing.
Not going to lie I feel a little cheated right now. I totally would have told you why I didn't want to sing instead of singing. Oh my word. I can't believe that just happened. I just went through the most emotionally traumatic experience of my life and now you tell me that I had an option.
A few people talk about why they aren't getting up
"afraid of being judge about how bad of a singer they are"
"fear of being humiliated"
"don't want people to look at them differently afterwards"
I feel like putting my hands up and saying "Mhmm preach sister preach" but I think I have gone through enough humiliation for one night.
We then all move our chairs into a circle and everyone goes around and says one word to describe this experience for them.
I said 'nerve racking' (I think)
We talk a little bit about the experience and why it was so difficult to get up there and sing.
Afterwards we all went back to our rooms for a well needed nights sleep. I go to bed regretting singing. I will learn to laugh at it, but for that night I am going to just swim in a pool of self pity.
-Z
The day starts out early. 6 AM early. We get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and meet in the lobby by 7. We then load our backpacks into the under carriage of the coach bus, and find our seats. Me and Maddie sit in our same seats from the very first ride from the airport to the hotel. We get comfortable and then Katie and Esta board the bus and we are off.
The bus ride in total will be about 7-8 hours and our final destination will be a small village called Mondaña, which is just outside of Tena.
For the first 3 hours of the trip we drove through the highlands. Which was to say the least terrifying. The roads zig-zags up mountains, and as we climbed the road turned from pavement to gravel and the steepness of the slope to the left became steeper and steeper.
At first my nerves were driving me crazy and I couldn't understand how we were still alive. The bus would go around sharp corners and the wheels would somehow stay on the road.
To ignore the dozen near death turns I focused on the scenery outside. I focused on the green pastures that scale the sides of rolling hills. I focused on the areas of different crops like a patch work blanket draped over the mountains. I watch as the mist gets thicker as the bus drives higher and higher. I notice the first drops of rain that hit the window. I watch as the sun gets pushed aside and replaced by a grey haze of fog. I curl into my sweater as the temperature drops and I finally let myself be rocked by the movements of the bus and finally let myself give up my anxiety and let be whatever is to be.
Around 1 the bus pulls to the side of the road and we climb out into the crisp mountain air. We cross the road and walk down a dirt driveway to a pizza hut on the side of the mountain. Now when I say 'pizza hut' I don't mean the brand of north american restaurant chains, no I mean a quaint hut that has the wafting smell of freshly baked pizza rising from its being. That kind of pizza hut.
Maddie, Shay, Ivana, Ioana, and I sit at a table outside on the deck. The entire group of us (23) fill the entire building and the deck outside. A gentleman in his 40's begins to go from table to table with serving out as many pieces of pizza as you so desire.
After stopping for about and hour for lunch we board the bus one last time for the final leg of the bus ride, which is about 3-4 hours.
As we drive the world outside changes from cold misty mountains to warm sunny forests. But as this happens the road becomes even more bumpy and the inside of the bus becomes louder as people start to wake up from the food and the warmth.
As this happens Maddie and I start to talk and open up about our lives at home, why we decided to go on the trip, and our life goals and dreams. As I talked to Maddie I became shocked at how comfortable I was talking to her about personal topics and how open she was in return. It felt like we had known each other before from how confident I was confiding in her .
With our conversation the rest of the bus ride went by quickly. And soon we were parking at a vacant market on the side of the Napo river. We climbed down a steep river bank and boarded a long canoe that had a tarp cover and a motor. As we drove off into the Napo the sun set behind us and the burnt yellow beams capped every ripple in the water.
After about 40 minutes we arrived at the Minga lodge that sat on the side of the river and was cradled by the forest which blocked the view from the canoe and stretched out behind it, except for a deck that had trees cleared out in front of it.
The canoe stopped on the side of the river bank and we climbed a flight of stairs to a stone path. We then walked to reception were assigned rooms and roommates and were sent off to get settled in and informed where supper was and when to be present for the meal.
I was roomed with Ivana, Sara, and Laura. Our room had two bunk beds, a sink, a bathroom, and a small closet. two of the walls had windows in them that were almost floor to ceiling. The windows were covered in a metal mesh and had no glass on them. Each bed had a thin white sheet, a fuzzy orange blanket, a pillow, a folded white towel, and a bug net.
For the first few days I didn't really get to know Sara and Laura but after I did get to know them a little more I regretted not starting a conversation with them on the very first day.
Sara is literally the most energetic person I know. She would get up before anyone else and go to work out, and would still be the first person on the build site to volunteer for the hard jobs. I don't think that there was a person on the trip that sara didn't talk to. She was friendly and open and had amazing listening skills. When you talked to her you never wanted to stop because you actually felt listened to and cared about. I think that having the ability to listen to people is a skill that is often over looked but really it is one of the most flattering qualities that a person could have.
Laura is a sweetheart. She is soft-spoken and genuinely kind. When Laura talks everyone is silent because even if she doesn't always give her opinion on every matter when she does she can give light to a new angle of the topic that is often over looked.
After we were settled in Ivana and I went to discover the rest of the lodge.
At 7 we were at reception and had supper in a buffet style. I remember that we had clothe napkins that first night...we never saw those clothe napkins again.
After supper we cleaned up and arranged our chairs in rows all facing the left side of the room. Katie then talked to us about how experiences in our lives can have a negative effect on us by making us put layers over who we really are so that we are not hurt, or embarrassed, or judged again.
She then went on to talk about how at the the lodge, on the trip, and in the group we are in a safe place of no judgement and can show who we truly are underneath all the layers that we have put on for society.
After the talk we all signed an agreement clause to agree that we will make this a safe place for people to open up and that we will also open up to others.
After we all sign the agreement we go back to our chairs and the second half of the evening begins. Katie continues by telling us that we are all going to step out of our comfort zones and take down some of our protective layers by standing up in front of the group and singing for 30 seconds, no music, no clapping, no beats, no rapping, just singing. And after someone sings no one is aloud to clap and there is to be no talking.
The room goes quiet I can hear everyones hearts beating in sync, or maybe it's just my heart beat. No that is defiantly my heart beat. I actually can't breath. I'm not breathing. I'm staring at the floor and all of these emotions are colliding with each other behind my eyes and I can't think. I can't get a clear thought through my head.
I look around to see if I can get a supportive glance or just an "I'm scared senseless too" look from somebody, anybody, but everyone is staring at the ground so I stare at the ground again.
Okay 30 seconds, All I have to do is find 30 seconds of lyrics in my head. Okay think Katie think. And then I find it, lodged in my memory bank. I can hear the tick tick of the milking machine and the sounds of goats. My friend is beside me and we are singing at the top of our lungs. My voice is a soft hum under all the white noise and hers is a gust of crisp winter air above all of it. I have never sang this song without the white noise. I have never been the crisp winter air before. I have always been the warm steady hum. I say the words over and over again in my head to make sure I know them, but I know that I know them.
I know them as well as I know my own heart beat and as well as I know the lines of my fingerprints.
About 5 people have stood up and sung. They are all amazing singings. They are all the crisp winter air. The bar is raised so high right now.
My heart has slowed down a little and I can breath again. I know I am not a good singer. I know I am out of tune on every note. But I need to just get up there and sing. The sooner I get up the sooner I can finish.
I raise my hand, and ask if we don't know a full 30 seconds if we can repeat a verse. Katie says we can. I ask because I honestly don't know if what I can remember is 30 seconds long or not.
I stand up, I take a deep breath, I look at the floor, and I start to sing.
"I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle whiskey for the way, and I sure would like some sweet company and I'm leavin' in the morning what do you say?
When I'm gone, oh when I'm gone your going to miss me when I'm gone. You're going to miss me by my hair you're going to miss me everywhere, oh you're going to miss me when I'm gone."
I sit down.
My hands are shaking. My heart is beating off the tracks. I don't think I breathed for the entire time. It was off tune and off beat and I sounded like a frog but oh my sweet word I did it. I did it. I am so relieved that I did it and now I can sit back and relax as everyone else tries to find their own lyrics to sing.
Katie stands up now and says that for whoever is not singing that they don't have to sing but instead they have to say why they aren't getting up to sing.
Not going to lie I feel a little cheated right now. I totally would have told you why I didn't want to sing instead of singing. Oh my word. I can't believe that just happened. I just went through the most emotionally traumatic experience of my life and now you tell me that I had an option.
A few people talk about why they aren't getting up
"afraid of being judge about how bad of a singer they are"
"fear of being humiliated"
"don't want people to look at them differently afterwards"
I feel like putting my hands up and saying "Mhmm preach sister preach" but I think I have gone through enough humiliation for one night.
We then all move our chairs into a circle and everyone goes around and says one word to describe this experience for them.
I said 'nerve racking' (I think)
We talk a little bit about the experience and why it was so difficult to get up there and sing.
Afterwards we all went back to our rooms for a well needed nights sleep. I go to bed regretting singing. I will learn to laugh at it, but for that night I am going to just swim in a pool of self pity.
-Z
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Day 2
August 5 2014
I wake up in a hotel room in Ecuador with two other girls who I have just met yesterday. It is still early in the morning, they are both asleep. The room has concrete-like walls and is painted in a dusty red colour. The stained glass windows face the hallways outside which has a sunroof and that is the only light that is brightening the room with a blue-grey colour.
I lay in bed till Ivana gets up around 7:30 and then get ready for the day. The three of us then went on to discover the rest of the hotel. We climb about 7 flights of stairs and ended up on the roof which had a gorgeous view of Quito.
After taking some pictures we climbed down and get breakfast.
The breakfast tables and kitchen is in a cellar and there is wine in the corner stacked to the dome shaped roof. All the walls and the ceiling is brick and the ceiling is only a foot or two above my head.
After breakfast we all make a circle in the lobby and play a game called squirt. How you play the game is that some lucky soul gets the stand in the middle and point a make believe water gun at somebody and say "squirt" then that person has the kneel down really fast and the two people beside them have to also make water guns out of there hands point them at one another and yell the other's name. Whoever says the other's name last has to go into the circle and so on so forth.
Its at this game that we meet Rodrigo who is our guide for the trip.
At about 8:30 AM we head out to the streets of Quito to go on our walking tour.
Quito is cradled by 4 mountains. At the centre of the city the streets are fairly flat but once you start walking outwards the streets go upwards. All the buildings are 3 stories high. On the ground level there are stores that sell everything from vegetables to fabrics. But once you look up there lies the history of Quito. Because the next two stories are a tell tale of Spanish designs. From the white details around every window to the pastel colours every bit is breath taking every bit is exquisite.
But there is something about this city, something about cities that rest at the base of mountains that is humbling. You see no skyscrapers in Quito, no fancy cars, or glass buildings. The people actually look at one another. They talk to one another. Nobody is trying to be better than their neighbour. The city is humble but proud. It stands sturdy and grounded, like a mirror to the mountains. It isn't trying to impress anyone, it isn't trying to be something, it just is. It just sits there for you to absorb it, like the mountain before me. It is dazzling in its humble beauty.
We walk to a square where we meet up with our guide. At first I didn't know what was going on because she introduced herself as if we weren't waiting for her. Like we were just a group and she wanted to talk to us. But then there was this guy beside her translating everything she said and that was kind of weird. After a while I figured that she must be our guide because we started to follow her out of the square.
We then followed her to a museum where she showed us a fig tree that her grandmother planted for her. During the tour she told us about medicinal plants, and how important ancestry is to Ecuadorians.
One thing that she said really stuck to me. She said that in Ecuador they see the future as the past and the past as the future because there are always questions and things unknown about the past where as when we look to the future we can create scenarios and lives that we want to happen, and to say it simply we know what we want to see in the future, but there are questions about the past that only the future can answer.
We then went the the courtyard and tried a traditional treat made out of corn and sugar that they call
caca de perro, or in english dog poo. It doesn't look too much like the dog poo that I have seen, but in honesty I have never seen Ecuadorian dog poo so I'm not one to talk.
We then say our goodbyes to our guide and head off following Rodrigo to a church. Which is easier said then done. The walk to the church is all, 100% uphill, and as we walk the sidewalk is getting smaller and smaller and smaller and oh my word there is no sidewalk left! We are literally walking on the road and there are small cars that drive without fear of hitting people beside us. This is like those claustrophobic nightmares where the walls keep getting closer and closer until you are left on the road in Ecuador with drivers that I am almost certain don't believe in the "the driver is always at fault when a pedestrian is hit" rule.
After a 5-15 minute walk (it's all blurred together) we reach the church. By this point I am out of breath and feel very unfit because of the elevation. Then I take a second to look around and I am caught breathless again. The church is an old gothic church with gargoyles and elaborate detailing in stone and huge doors and two steeples and the whole dang thing. Except for this really cool twist. All the gargoyles are not the typical gargoyles that you see on classic gothic churches. Instead the gargoyles are native Ecuadorian animals which run the length of the church. So. Freaking. Cool.
After touring the outside of the church for about 10 minutes we cross the street and have lunch in the park. We eat sandwiches that the hotel made and packaged for us that morning. (side note: thank you to the kitchen staff for making the sandwiches even though you probably won't see this they were very good and I was absolutely starving)
After lunch we all got on the same coach bus that picked us up at the airport and headed to a second museum. The second museum was located on the equator and had some really cool experiments that you could try. One of them (one that my dad actually can not believe) has to do with water.
They set a tub of water with a drain on the equator and let it drain out which was fascinating because there was no tiny cyclone in the water when it drained. It just drained straight down, because the equator was pulling the centre of gravity straight down. Then the tub was placed to the right and the left and the cyclone would spin clockwise and counterclockwise on either side of the equator. Another thing we tried was balancing an egg on the head of a nail which was supposed to be easy but was actually really really hard but a few people were able to do it.
We then went back to the hotel, had about 20 minutes at the hotel. During which we had short interviews with our two facilitators about any health concerns or allergies and handed over our medications, and then we were off again for supper. We walked as a group to a restaurant that was by the square that we had been at earlier that day.
We then had supper that was accompanied by some very bright conversations including if we crumpled toilet paper or folded it and a lot of other this or that questions all of which I am going to save for the glorious day that I am interviewing someone and need to lighten up the conversation.
After supper we walked back to the hotel had showers got ready for bed, and then went to the lobby to join a small group who were talking about who actually won the war. Apparently Canada actually won the war. (don't ask me what war I have no sweet clue).
Around 9 or 10 Ivana, Kinsey and I went back to our rooms had a bright conversation and went to bed anticipating an early morning...
-Z
I wake up in a hotel room in Ecuador with two other girls who I have just met yesterday. It is still early in the morning, they are both asleep. The room has concrete-like walls and is painted in a dusty red colour. The stained glass windows face the hallways outside which has a sunroof and that is the only light that is brightening the room with a blue-grey colour.
I lay in bed till Ivana gets up around 7:30 and then get ready for the day. The three of us then went on to discover the rest of the hotel. We climb about 7 flights of stairs and ended up on the roof which had a gorgeous view of Quito.
After taking some pictures we climbed down and get breakfast.
The breakfast tables and kitchen is in a cellar and there is wine in the corner stacked to the dome shaped roof. All the walls and the ceiling is brick and the ceiling is only a foot or two above my head.
After breakfast we all make a circle in the lobby and play a game called squirt. How you play the game is that some lucky soul gets the stand in the middle and point a make believe water gun at somebody and say "squirt" then that person has the kneel down really fast and the two people beside them have to also make water guns out of there hands point them at one another and yell the other's name. Whoever says the other's name last has to go into the circle and so on so forth.
Its at this game that we meet Rodrigo who is our guide for the trip.
At about 8:30 AM we head out to the streets of Quito to go on our walking tour.
Quito is cradled by 4 mountains. At the centre of the city the streets are fairly flat but once you start walking outwards the streets go upwards. All the buildings are 3 stories high. On the ground level there are stores that sell everything from vegetables to fabrics. But once you look up there lies the history of Quito. Because the next two stories are a tell tale of Spanish designs. From the white details around every window to the pastel colours every bit is breath taking every bit is exquisite.
But there is something about this city, something about cities that rest at the base of mountains that is humbling. You see no skyscrapers in Quito, no fancy cars, or glass buildings. The people actually look at one another. They talk to one another. Nobody is trying to be better than their neighbour. The city is humble but proud. It stands sturdy and grounded, like a mirror to the mountains. It isn't trying to impress anyone, it isn't trying to be something, it just is. It just sits there for you to absorb it, like the mountain before me. It is dazzling in its humble beauty.
We walk to a square where we meet up with our guide. At first I didn't know what was going on because she introduced herself as if we weren't waiting for her. Like we were just a group and she wanted to talk to us. But then there was this guy beside her translating everything she said and that was kind of weird. After a while I figured that she must be our guide because we started to follow her out of the square.
We then followed her to a museum where she showed us a fig tree that her grandmother planted for her. During the tour she told us about medicinal plants, and how important ancestry is to Ecuadorians.
One thing that she said really stuck to me. She said that in Ecuador they see the future as the past and the past as the future because there are always questions and things unknown about the past where as when we look to the future we can create scenarios and lives that we want to happen, and to say it simply we know what we want to see in the future, but there are questions about the past that only the future can answer.
We then went the the courtyard and tried a traditional treat made out of corn and sugar that they call
caca de perro, or in english dog poo. It doesn't look too much like the dog poo that I have seen, but in honesty I have never seen Ecuadorian dog poo so I'm not one to talk.
We then say our goodbyes to our guide and head off following Rodrigo to a church. Which is easier said then done. The walk to the church is all, 100% uphill, and as we walk the sidewalk is getting smaller and smaller and smaller and oh my word there is no sidewalk left! We are literally walking on the road and there are small cars that drive without fear of hitting people beside us. This is like those claustrophobic nightmares where the walls keep getting closer and closer until you are left on the road in Ecuador with drivers that I am almost certain don't believe in the "the driver is always at fault when a pedestrian is hit" rule.
After a 5-15 minute walk (it's all blurred together) we reach the church. By this point I am out of breath and feel very unfit because of the elevation. Then I take a second to look around and I am caught breathless again. The church is an old gothic church with gargoyles and elaborate detailing in stone and huge doors and two steeples and the whole dang thing. Except for this really cool twist. All the gargoyles are not the typical gargoyles that you see on classic gothic churches. Instead the gargoyles are native Ecuadorian animals which run the length of the church. So. Freaking. Cool.
After touring the outside of the church for about 10 minutes we cross the street and have lunch in the park. We eat sandwiches that the hotel made and packaged for us that morning. (side note: thank you to the kitchen staff for making the sandwiches even though you probably won't see this they were very good and I was absolutely starving)
After lunch we all got on the same coach bus that picked us up at the airport and headed to a second museum. The second museum was located on the equator and had some really cool experiments that you could try. One of them (one that my dad actually can not believe) has to do with water.
They set a tub of water with a drain on the equator and let it drain out which was fascinating because there was no tiny cyclone in the water when it drained. It just drained straight down, because the equator was pulling the centre of gravity straight down. Then the tub was placed to the right and the left and the cyclone would spin clockwise and counterclockwise on either side of the equator. Another thing we tried was balancing an egg on the head of a nail which was supposed to be easy but was actually really really hard but a few people were able to do it.
We then went back to the hotel, had about 20 minutes at the hotel. During which we had short interviews with our two facilitators about any health concerns or allergies and handed over our medications, and then we were off again for supper. We walked as a group to a restaurant that was by the square that we had been at earlier that day.
We then had supper that was accompanied by some very bright conversations including if we crumpled toilet paper or folded it and a lot of other this or that questions all of which I am going to save for the glorious day that I am interviewing someone and need to lighten up the conversation.
After supper we walked back to the hotel had showers got ready for bed, and then went to the lobby to join a small group who were talking about who actually won the war. Apparently Canada actually won the war. (don't ask me what war I have no sweet clue).
Around 9 or 10 Ivana, Kinsey and I went back to our rooms had a bright conversation and went to bed anticipating an early morning...
-Z
Monday 25 August 2014
Day 1
August, 4, 2014
I always think that future me is going to be able to handle so much more than I think I can handle now. That's why I always seem to set up future me with things that I assume she will be able to handle with grace and poise. This trip was no different. When I booked the trip back in February I had a vision of future me setting off for the amazon with an already full backpack of life skills that ensured my sanity and confidence.
Well last night I broke out in hives due to how much anxiety I was going through over this trip and to say the least I am the same girl who booked this trip back in February. I have the same skill set. I have the same thought process. I am no wiser, no more graceful, no more confident in my abilities. I am scared senseless over this trip and that's okay.
It's 5:30 am. My dad knocks on my door to wake me up. I wake up almost instantly. I don't think I was ever really sleeping. Just in a really relaxed part of my conscience. Because no matter how "asleep" I was last night I always had the fact that I was leaving for Ecuador the next day in the back of my mind.
I get dressed into the outfit that I have had layed out for the last week. I put the new pair of bobs on that I bought for this trip because I have absolutely destroyed every other pair of flat comfortable shoes that I own. I brush my teeth and run my fingers through my straightened hair. By tomorrow my hair will be a brown mess of curls, and for the next two weeks I will miss my straightener.
I bring my green hiking backpack and my blue day backpack to the truck. I go to my lemonade stand (long story) and get a cup of ice water because oh man do I love ice and oh man am I going to miss it.
Then I say goodbye to my dad and he gives me a stack of papers that's about five inches thick on my travel insurance, and the gps cordinants to the nearest hospital, and my flight itinerary, and a 20 step set of directions on how to check into your flight.
I then say goodbye to my room and head to the truck. I wait for my mom for a few minutes and then we are off to the airport.
Once we get there we check my hiking backpack in and get my boarding pass. I say a final goodbye to my mom and then go through security and go sit at my gate which is the only gate in the whole airport.
After about 5-10 minutes I check my boarding pass. for some reason it says that my plane leaves at 10:30 instead of 7:30 and that's around the time that I realize I am 4 hours early. I end up texting my mom to see if she is still at the airport. Which thankfully she is. And then I ask someone who looks like they work at the airport when the flight for Toronto leaves and they confirm 10:30 and then I go back through security and explain how I am 4 hours early and then I see my mom again and we go pick my dad up at the ford dealership where he is dropping his car off to get fixed and we all go for breakfast at Cora's.
After breakfast we drive to the airport for real this time and say our final goodbyes. For some reason I am more nervous now than I was the first time. I go through security again and sit at that gate again and everything feels real this time.
I board my first flight to Toronto which is about 2 hours long.
The plane lifts off the ground and I'm off on another insane adventure but something is wrong. It feels wrong sitting beside a stranger. I shouldn't feel this way. I'm off on another adventure I should feel over joyed, but instead I just feel lonely. I want someone to not make me so alone. I want someone to share this adventure with. But maybe all I am supposed to have for right now is my passport and my backpack. Maybe I have to learn how to be a little less lonely when I'm alone.
The plane lands in Toronto and I go to pick up my backpack. I go through hallways following the "departures" signs. I end up going up a flight of stairs and up another level in an elevator. When
the doors open to the elevator a wall of screens for aircanada await me. Now this is where things get interesting. Because I am looking for avianca, and on top of that I am looking for a large group of teenagers with backpacks who are also flying with avianca to Ecuador.
I am looking around when I make eye contact with another girl accompanied by a backpack and a similar lost expression. We ignore the obvious until I ask. "are you on a me to we trip?" Her face lights up as she responds "Yes, are you going to Ecuador?" Now I am laughing a little "yeah, do you think they are the group?" I am talking about a pile of backpacks and a few kids accompanied by three adults in me to we shirts. Before we could walk over to ask they ask us. They ask if we are going to Peru, and sadly we had to say no. However right about now Peru is sounding pretty good.
We walk around the check in desks looking for avianca. After a while we end up back where we started. We notice a girl in a me to we shirt now greeting people and directing them to sit in an area of chairs that has a lot of backpacks sprawled around it. We go up to her and ask if this group is going to Ecuador. And (thank heavens) it is. We go and add our backpacks to the pile and sit on the last two rows of chairs that face each other. For a while we both sit their awkwardly and then I introduce myself and we start a conversation.
Her name is Ivana. She is 17 and from Vancouver. This is her first me to we trip and she has been waiting in the airport for about 10 hours.
What I don't know about her yet is that her laugh is absolutely contagious and that her real smile is worth millions. That she isn't a hugger but she can still make you feel loved. That she can talk about any topic with ease and that no topic is really off limits to her. She will make this trip a memory I won't forget, and she will be the first friend I make in the group. But for now she is polite.
After a few minutes we are called into a circle by a guy named Esta. Esta is one of our two facilitators on the trip. He is hyper, has one of the best hair cuts I have ever seen, and knows literally every riddle and camp-like-game known to man. After introducing ourselves and going over the trip rules we all go and get our boarding passes and check our bags in.
We then go to our gates and a few girls from the group and I go to a pita place. But see this is no ordinary pita place, no no because that would be too simple. Instead this pita place has iPads for menus and when you order on the menu your order goes straight to the kitchen and then in like 5 minutes they are bringing your order out. It is absolutely ingenious and it actually made me appreciate the in-between laptop phone thing that and iPad is. (no offence to iPad lovers I just have always found their size a bit awkward).
After lunch we get snacks and board our first flight which is 5 hours. I sit next to Maddie for the flight. Maddie has got to be one of the most amazing people I have met. She is compassionate and empathetic. She is such a strong soul and has taught me so much. But for the first 5 hours that I knew Maddie I got to see the fun-loving hilarious side of her as we completely annoyed the lady sitting next to us.
After the first flight we had what seemed like 30 minutes in El Salvador and then we were off on our next flight. I pretty much slept this entire flight which was only about 2 hours but still that was a good two hours.
At 12:55 we landed in Quito, Ecuador. We met up with a few other people from our group who weren't traveling with us, and Katie our second group facilitator (yes another Katie, there were two other Katies on the trip so I became known at KZ in an attempt to make things a little less confusing). We then continued on to a coach bus and had a 1 hour drive to the airport. I sat next to Maddie again and slept for most of the drive. Except for the moments where I woke up for 30 seconds to wake Maddie up point at something interesting outside the window say "look" and then fall back asleep. I blame exhaustion.
When we got to the hotel we got assigned rooms, roommates, and were informed of the time to get up, where breakfast was, and when we have to be ready to leave tomorrow. Then we go to our rooms, I'm roomed with Ivana and a girl named Kinsey. And when we get to our room I pretty much fall straight into bed.
-Z
I always think that future me is going to be able to handle so much more than I think I can handle now. That's why I always seem to set up future me with things that I assume she will be able to handle with grace and poise. This trip was no different. When I booked the trip back in February I had a vision of future me setting off for the amazon with an already full backpack of life skills that ensured my sanity and confidence.
Well last night I broke out in hives due to how much anxiety I was going through over this trip and to say the least I am the same girl who booked this trip back in February. I have the same skill set. I have the same thought process. I am no wiser, no more graceful, no more confident in my abilities. I am scared senseless over this trip and that's okay.
It's 5:30 am. My dad knocks on my door to wake me up. I wake up almost instantly. I don't think I was ever really sleeping. Just in a really relaxed part of my conscience. Because no matter how "asleep" I was last night I always had the fact that I was leaving for Ecuador the next day in the back of my mind.
I get dressed into the outfit that I have had layed out for the last week. I put the new pair of bobs on that I bought for this trip because I have absolutely destroyed every other pair of flat comfortable shoes that I own. I brush my teeth and run my fingers through my straightened hair. By tomorrow my hair will be a brown mess of curls, and for the next two weeks I will miss my straightener.
I bring my green hiking backpack and my blue day backpack to the truck. I go to my lemonade stand (long story) and get a cup of ice water because oh man do I love ice and oh man am I going to miss it.
Then I say goodbye to my dad and he gives me a stack of papers that's about five inches thick on my travel insurance, and the gps cordinants to the nearest hospital, and my flight itinerary, and a 20 step set of directions on how to check into your flight.
I then say goodbye to my room and head to the truck. I wait for my mom for a few minutes and then we are off to the airport.
Once we get there we check my hiking backpack in and get my boarding pass. I say a final goodbye to my mom and then go through security and go sit at my gate which is the only gate in the whole airport.
After about 5-10 minutes I check my boarding pass. for some reason it says that my plane leaves at 10:30 instead of 7:30 and that's around the time that I realize I am 4 hours early. I end up texting my mom to see if she is still at the airport. Which thankfully she is. And then I ask someone who looks like they work at the airport when the flight for Toronto leaves and they confirm 10:30 and then I go back through security and explain how I am 4 hours early and then I see my mom again and we go pick my dad up at the ford dealership where he is dropping his car off to get fixed and we all go for breakfast at Cora's.
After breakfast we drive to the airport for real this time and say our final goodbyes. For some reason I am more nervous now than I was the first time. I go through security again and sit at that gate again and everything feels real this time.
I board my first flight to Toronto which is about 2 hours long.
The plane lifts off the ground and I'm off on another insane adventure but something is wrong. It feels wrong sitting beside a stranger. I shouldn't feel this way. I'm off on another adventure I should feel over joyed, but instead I just feel lonely. I want someone to not make me so alone. I want someone to share this adventure with. But maybe all I am supposed to have for right now is my passport and my backpack. Maybe I have to learn how to be a little less lonely when I'm alone.
The plane lands in Toronto and I go to pick up my backpack. I go through hallways following the "departures" signs. I end up going up a flight of stairs and up another level in an elevator. When
the doors open to the elevator a wall of screens for aircanada await me. Now this is where things get interesting. Because I am looking for avianca, and on top of that I am looking for a large group of teenagers with backpacks who are also flying with avianca to Ecuador.
I am looking around when I make eye contact with another girl accompanied by a backpack and a similar lost expression. We ignore the obvious until I ask. "are you on a me to we trip?" Her face lights up as she responds "Yes, are you going to Ecuador?" Now I am laughing a little "yeah, do you think they are the group?" I am talking about a pile of backpacks and a few kids accompanied by three adults in me to we shirts. Before we could walk over to ask they ask us. They ask if we are going to Peru, and sadly we had to say no. However right about now Peru is sounding pretty good.
We walk around the check in desks looking for avianca. After a while we end up back where we started. We notice a girl in a me to we shirt now greeting people and directing them to sit in an area of chairs that has a lot of backpacks sprawled around it. We go up to her and ask if this group is going to Ecuador. And (thank heavens) it is. We go and add our backpacks to the pile and sit on the last two rows of chairs that face each other. For a while we both sit their awkwardly and then I introduce myself and we start a conversation.
Her name is Ivana. She is 17 and from Vancouver. This is her first me to we trip and she has been waiting in the airport for about 10 hours.
What I don't know about her yet is that her laugh is absolutely contagious and that her real smile is worth millions. That she isn't a hugger but she can still make you feel loved. That she can talk about any topic with ease and that no topic is really off limits to her. She will make this trip a memory I won't forget, and she will be the first friend I make in the group. But for now she is polite.
After a few minutes we are called into a circle by a guy named Esta. Esta is one of our two facilitators on the trip. He is hyper, has one of the best hair cuts I have ever seen, and knows literally every riddle and camp-like-game known to man. After introducing ourselves and going over the trip rules we all go and get our boarding passes and check our bags in.
We then go to our gates and a few girls from the group and I go to a pita place. But see this is no ordinary pita place, no no because that would be too simple. Instead this pita place has iPads for menus and when you order on the menu your order goes straight to the kitchen and then in like 5 minutes they are bringing your order out. It is absolutely ingenious and it actually made me appreciate the in-between laptop phone thing that and iPad is. (no offence to iPad lovers I just have always found their size a bit awkward).
After lunch we get snacks and board our first flight which is 5 hours. I sit next to Maddie for the flight. Maddie has got to be one of the most amazing people I have met. She is compassionate and empathetic. She is such a strong soul and has taught me so much. But for the first 5 hours that I knew Maddie I got to see the fun-loving hilarious side of her as we completely annoyed the lady sitting next to us.
After the first flight we had what seemed like 30 minutes in El Salvador and then we were off on our next flight. I pretty much slept this entire flight which was only about 2 hours but still that was a good two hours.
At 12:55 we landed in Quito, Ecuador. We met up with a few other people from our group who weren't traveling with us, and Katie our second group facilitator (yes another Katie, there were two other Katies on the trip so I became known at KZ in an attempt to make things a little less confusing). We then continued on to a coach bus and had a 1 hour drive to the airport. I sat next to Maddie again and slept for most of the drive. Except for the moments where I woke up for 30 seconds to wake Maddie up point at something interesting outside the window say "look" and then fall back asleep. I blame exhaustion.
When we got to the hotel we got assigned rooms, roommates, and were informed of the time to get up, where breakfast was, and when we have to be ready to leave tomorrow. Then we go to our rooms, I'm roomed with Ivana and a girl named Kinsey. And when we get to our room I pretty much fall straight into bed.
-Z
Ecuador Introduction
Hello,
On August 4th I went to Ecuador and into the Amazon with MeToWe to work in a group of young activists on a community kitchen in the amazon. I have been back for about 8 days now and can only sum up this incredible experience as life changing.
While on the trip I had no access to internet or cellular so I was not able to post from the jungle. Instead I am going to be writing the trip from home going off of my notes and journal entrees from the trip.
Before I begin to try to put even the tiniest piece of the amazon into words (which is so much harder than it sounds) I need to apologize for how long it has taken me to even write the first day. In the end I have two excuses for you. The first is very generic. I have been working from 7 to 9 every day since I have gotten back and when I do sit down for a moment I just seem to fall asleep.
But if I was to be completely honest with you I could have found the time. But it's been hard recovering from the trip, like it is recovering from any trip. It honestly feels like withdrawal when you come home after traveling for so long. for this past week I have missed the amazon and the people so much that I have really been trying to ignore the fact that any of it really happened.
But I have now recovered from the "denial" phase of travel withdrawal and I am ready to remember it. To remember the humidity and the sounds of the jungle. I am ready to accept that I can only go back in my imagination for now.
So thank you for being so patient while I denied the fact that I am home now and have to adapt to life at home for another winter. And with that said here we go, off to the amazon and into the jungle.
The adventure awaits.
-Z
On August 4th I went to Ecuador and into the Amazon with MeToWe to work in a group of young activists on a community kitchen in the amazon. I have been back for about 8 days now and can only sum up this incredible experience as life changing.
While on the trip I had no access to internet or cellular so I was not able to post from the jungle. Instead I am going to be writing the trip from home going off of my notes and journal entrees from the trip.
Before I begin to try to put even the tiniest piece of the amazon into words (which is so much harder than it sounds) I need to apologize for how long it has taken me to even write the first day. In the end I have two excuses for you. The first is very generic. I have been working from 7 to 9 every day since I have gotten back and when I do sit down for a moment I just seem to fall asleep.
But if I was to be completely honest with you I could have found the time. But it's been hard recovering from the trip, like it is recovering from any trip. It honestly feels like withdrawal when you come home after traveling for so long. for this past week I have missed the amazon and the people so much that I have really been trying to ignore the fact that any of it really happened.
But I have now recovered from the "denial" phase of travel withdrawal and I am ready to remember it. To remember the humidity and the sounds of the jungle. I am ready to accept that I can only go back in my imagination for now.
So thank you for being so patient while I denied the fact that I am home now and have to adapt to life at home for another winter. And with that said here we go, off to the amazon and into the jungle.
The adventure awaits.
-Z
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