Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Back from the Galapagos

... but I think I would have been much happier if I had never had to come back. I had the most amazing several days sailing from island to island and exploring the wildlife that inspired Darwin´s theory of evolution. I hope that all of you guys get to go someday, because it was absolutely a once in a lifetime experience.

My first wildlife encounter in the Galapagos was on Santa Cruz, in a wildlife refuge for giant tortoises. Our guide, Gandhy, led us on a hike where we got to come within several inches of the giant tortoises... close enough to hear them sighing as they munched on the grass or lazed about in ponds trying to cool off from the weather. The tortoises really deserve their name, as well - they are pretty big. Big enough for a full-grown man to climb inside one of their shells... which Molly and I got to do. We probably could have fit the two of us in one, though we didn´t try.

After we experiences the tortoises we got to go into a lava tube, which was a kind of cave-like formation that had been created by lava flow when the islands were formed. Also pretty cool... but not as cool as the tortoises.

Over night, we set sail for Floreana, and when we woke up set out in a dingy for a morning hike, where we got to see some baby sharks and sting rays (I couldn´t get any pictures since they were in the water) and flamingos - not endemic to the island, but pretty nonetheless. That afternoon, I had my first snorkeling experience. I was nervous about swimming with sharks, which our guide had told us we´d find in the water, and so was hesitant to jump in... and what do you know: My first animal sighting, just moments after I jumped in the water, was three white-tipped sharks. Fortunately, they were several feet below me. If I had been eye-to-eye with sharks, I think it would have kept me from getting in the water afterwards. Fortunately, I got used to the sharks´presence, and even began to seek them out. I also got to see a sea turtle, golden rays, and sea lions playing in the water. It was a fabulous first snorkel. That evening we had a beautiful sunset and set sail for EspaƱola.

Our EspaƱola hike the next morning was absolutely incredible. When we landed on the island, we were greeted by dozens of sea lions - some of which were strewn across the very path we were to walk on. We even had a bit of a battle with an angry male sea lion who got in our way. As we stopped to take photos of the sea lions, we noticed the less conspicuous marine iguanas that were basking on the rocks amongst the sea lions, as well as several blue-footed boobies that posed for our cameras as we went along. We continued across the island (spotting some webbed albatrosses and Darwin´s famous finches along the way) until we came to a spectacular drop-off where we got to watch the albatrosses in flight. It was interesting to watch them take off... they literally have to hurl themselves off of the edge of the cliff to take flight. We sat for a while and watched before we returned to the ship for some afternoon snorkeling (more sea turtles, more rays). I think I could have stayed their for longer.

To be honest, the days are blurring together so I am not sure exactly what we did the next day... but at some point we sailed to San Cristobal and went to an interpretation center and spent some time in the town, went to Santa Fe to do more snorkeling and go on a hike where we got to see more sea lions and land iguanas, and did a lot more snorkeling. And of course, we saw more sea lions wherever we went. In town, lying on the sidewalks and on benches... on the beaches sunning themselves (I got to lay down in the middle of a big pile of them... I didn´t have my camera but another tourist took a picture and when she emails it to me I will put it up)... sea lions swimming up to us and imitating us and playing in the water. And of course we sailed and sunned... it was a spectacular time. I want to go back.

Another thing... I met a lot of other really great people on the boat who I am going to get to hang out with in Quito and who I may or may not run into in Peru. They range in age from about my age to about 60, and I love them all and have had a great time getting to know them over the next few days. The best part is, they are from all over the world, from Ireland to Australia, and so now if I am ever traveling in their part of the world I have a place to stay and a tour guide to show me the way!

I have posted pictures from the Galapagos (at least, some of them... not all of them yet) on my Piacasa website, and I´ve added a link to them below the link to the Ecuador pictures. Feel free to check them out... and prepare to be insanely jealous.

Hope all is well in the US.

Love to all.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Physical Discomfort

*Disclaimer: What I am about to write may constitute a little TOO much information for some folks. If you think you don´t want to read about my poop, then maybe skip this blog. If you are ok with reading about poop and additionally you have some background in medicine, a diagnosis would be welcome.


I believe I wrote in another blog post about how great I thought Peace Corps was for teaching people just how to cope with the reality of life in a third world country and how to accept that reality as their own. Well, in the past few days I have learned that maybe I don´t need to be in Peace Corps to learn how to cope with some of the physical discomforts that are a reality for a lot of people here in Ecuador. First and foremost, I have been forced to cope with what is probably the worst diarrhea I have ever encountered. Folks, my stool is in no way solid. In fact, it is the definition of liquid. If you heard it you wouldn´t believe it. Lucky for Molly and Tyler, there is no door on the bathroom at Tyler´s house so they DO get to hear it. To make matters worse, I have little to no control over it... I mean, when it´s time for me to go, it is urgent. Needless to say this made for an uncomfortable weekend at the boy´s camp I helped with this weekend in Muisne where I had to share a bathroom with about 25 teenage boys.

Now, in addition to this diarrhea problem, I have been having fevers on and off lately. I haven´t been taking my temperature constantly or monitoring my temp, but I think over the next few days I am going to try to keep better track of it, just in case the fevers are an indicator of something more serious (which I hope they aren´t). At any rate, these fevers are nearly impossible to handle in this heat. We don´t have air conditioning at Tylers (actually, we often don´t have many modern conveniences at Tylers like electricity or running water), and the temperature here is probably at least 90 every day. The hot, wet, sticky heat of the coast in and of itself is almost impossible to handle, so when my body heats up with a fever... man, it is really uncomfortable. I have been taking Tylenol to lower the fever, and fortunately, I am taking the night bus to Quito tonight, so I´ll be getting back to the Sierra where it´s much cooler, and much more comfortable to have a fever.

Finally, I have been coping lately with the effects of sleeping on a foam matt for the past month... my lower back pain has gotten so bad that I can barely stand up, and it has recently begun to spread to my hips. Its been preventing me from walking long distances... then again, so has the heat and the diarrhea. But again, I am going to Quito tonight and I hope to stay in a nicer hotel this time with a comfortable bed that will be good for my back.

Anyway... amidst all of this extreme physical discomfort, there was a campemento for boys to run, so as I mentioned, I had to hearn to cope with all of this and let life go on. Which I did. I think the camp for the boys was definitely very successful... the boys seemed to really understand the purpose of the activities we were doing with them and take their meanings to heart; they were actively engaged in everything we did, whether it was an activity like the "river cross" (where they had to use teamwork and communication to cross an imaginary river by stepping only on about 25 blocks of wood as we - the counselors - circled and tried to steal their boards) or our sex ed talks. I only hope that it sticks with them... but based on the boys I talked to, I think it will. I had really not been looking forward to being around 25 boys for 4 days but it wasn´t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. The boys were really considerate and kind, and I even connected with a few of them - not in the same way I connected with the girls, but by the end of the weekend I felt like I had definitely made some friends. Oh, and the boys were great for practicing Spanish. Even when I was struggling in a conversation, not understanding and wanting to give up, the boys were really persistent and made me keep talking to them. At the very least my Spanish comprehension skills improved if not both my comprehension and speaking. Now, if only spelling would come so easily...

As I mentioned, I am headed to Quito tonight. My camera is broken AGAIN and I want to take it to get fixed before Molly and I leave for the Galapagos Islands on Wed. I can´t believe it is already time for the Galapagos. That means only 2 weeks left in Ecuador for me, and then it is on to Peru. I have to admit, I am a little nervous about embarking on this trip to Peru alone... it will definitely be a test of not only my travel savvy-ness, but my language skills as well. I think I can do it, though. I am becoming more and more confident every day in my ability to communicate with and understand Spanish-speakers, and at the very least, I will be able to make them understand me. I think if they speak slowly, I will understand them as well. I am actually amazed at how much Spanish I have picked up in just a little over a month. I really believe that 6 months here and I would be totally conversational. Too bad I have to come home in May.

Uh-oh... I think it´s time for another round of liquid poo. Sorry to all for the disgusting details.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Dos Voluntarios en Ecuador

To begin with, I would like to apologize for my erratic picture uploading. Internet (and for that matter, transportation... weather... anything, really) here in Ecuador is not quite as reliable as it was in Costa Rica. It´s been a slow and frustrating process. There are still a lot of photos that I have not been able to post in my web albums yet, but I will continue to try to upload photos from Ecuador until they are all up. Hopefully that will happen tonight. Oh, and additionally, there is a link to the web album for Ecuador now. Look just below the link to the Costa Rica photos.

Now, where to begin? After our first two weeks in Ecuador, I wasn´t sure what to expect from the Ecuadorians. As far as I could tell, Ecuador was a crazy, disorganized country filled with crazy, disorganized (though kind and earnest) people. However, Molly and I have finally had a relatively chaos-free week, and though I still maintain the opinion that most Ecuas are certifiably crazy, I am starting to think that it´s at least the good kind of crazy. I think. I hope. At the very least, there have been a lot of good, kind, crazy Ecuas helping us out lately. Lukas, for example, who has been trying to help us find volunteer work; Manuel, who set us up with a group of young periodistas (journalists) so that we could help them with their periodico (newspaper); and the kids in Tyler´s Barrio (neighborhood), without whom we would have probably ended up lost and/or dead somewhere on the coast of Ecuador last weekend rather than in Quininde, where we helped out with a campemento for jovenes (youth camp... come on, people, learn to speak Spanish).

Additionally, the Peace Corps workers here in the province of Esmeraldas (who may or may not be equally as crazy as the Ecuadorians) have been very helpful. Three in particular: Tyler, of course, and also David (who works in Quininde) and Ali (who works in Muisne). Thanks to them, Molly and I had a great opportunity last weekend to put the skills we learned as interns as the O´Keeffe Museum to good use. Molly and I traveled with several chicas from Tyler´s barrio to meet Tyler, David, and Ali (and a group of about 25 chicas from Quininde, Sua, and Muisne) in Quininde at a retreat center to help host a leadership camp for young women. We spent the weekend helping out with workshops on a diverse range of topics such as leadership, life, business, the environment, reforestation, and sexuality. We also helped run camp-y activities like bingo, swimming, and s´more-making. Several of the highlights of the campemento:
- A trip to the bosque (forest) where we got to witness some reforestation work and talk about the environmental issues that are facing the province of Esmeraldas (there are a lot - pollution of every kind, deforestation, y the introduction of foreign species that are damaging the forest and the water supply in the province)
- A boat trip out into a beautiful laguna, where we also go to swim and teach the kids Marco Polo
- A trip to an integral farm where we got to eat a variety of exotic fruits as well as visit to "la Cascada del Amor" (the Waterfall of Love... ha)
- A workshop on sexuality that was run by a couple of the jovenes from Quninde, who got to teach the other girls the things they have been learning about sex and sexuality from David
- A business workshop led by Tyler where the girls got to simulate starting up their own micro-business
- Spontaneous dance parties with the girls (an aspect of a girls camp which I will be sure to miss when we host a similar camp for boys this coming weekend)

As I said, Molly and I will be headed to Muisne next weekend to help with a similar campemento for boys of the same age group. It is sure to be a totally different experience... and I am not really looking forward to it. Not my favorite age group of boys.

In the time between camps, Molly and I have been volunteering with a group of periodistas who have been having financial problems with continuing to produce their periodico twice a week. It seems as though they have been having trouble with money management and misusing money, and they have additional need for money for cameras and tape recorders. We´ve helped them to make a budget and plan a pitch that they are going to present tomorrow at the Municipio (city hall? I am not sure what the American equivalent would be) in order to get some funding for their paper. I have to be honest, despite the fact that these children are TERRIBLE money managers and have not kept records of their expenses and don´t even really know how much money they need to ask for... they are darling and I have really enjoyed spending time with them and helping them. We have a lot of work to do on their presentation tomorrow. They didn´t feel like they need to make an outline or be prepared at all, and Molly and I spent the day today trying to convince them that they they need to be organized so they can make a professional presentation. (This, I think, is the essential difference between Ecuador and the US. Their way of doing things is far more laid back and - dare I say it? - a little lazy, and we have this strict, uptight, and workaholic way of working). We finally convinced them it would be a good idea to prepare and practice, and once we do that tomorrow morning, we´ll head to the Municipio. I hope all goes well.
*Note - if anyone wants to donate a camera or tape recorder to these kids, send me an e-mail or something. I would love to arrange something like that for them.

I won´t get to the internet again this week, since we´ll be in Muisne at the boy´s camp from Thursday to Sunday. After that, we may be headed back to Quito... it depends on how the UNC v. Kansas game goes on Saturday. If we win that game, Tyler (also a UNC Alum) and I have vowed to find a bar in Quito that is showing the game. Either way, I will hopefully have time for one more blog post before Molly and I head to the Galapagos on Wednesday. I can´t believe we are headed to the Galapagos already... time is flying.

Besitos para todos!