Dawgs

In Ecuador, we have met a great variety of dogs.  The first dog we met was named Skippy.  He belonged to the owners of the house where we stayed in Mindo.  He was some kind of poodle mix and very friendly.  All he did all day was follow whomever was outside around. Sometimes he’d walk into town, other times he’d just wander aimlessly.

Skippy

Champy was the next dog we met.  We met him on our four-day bike tour with our guide, Alberto.  Champy was super active.  He knew every trick and could answer commands in three different languages, Spanish, English and Portuguese.   He was also very friendly and open to new people.  My favorite thing to do with him was probably playing fetch. He was also very protective.  If any dog came close to us he would growl, and since he was so strong, the other dogs would back away.  The only bad thing was that he shed a lot and got hair everywhere.  By the end of the trip, I had hair all over my bags because he was sitting on top of them. 

Champy 

Another dog we met was named Whymper.  He lives in a small hostel at the foot of Chimborazo.  He belongs to one of the most famous mountaineers around there.  He’s a very active dog and also very friendly.  When we first arrived at the hotel, he ran out to greet us.  He stayed with us for most of the day.  He even climbed up a small mountain with us.  He was very loyal and waited for us while we were climbing.  The second day we were staying there, we woke up and he was right outside our door.  We started scratching him and then left for breakfast.  After that, we went on another hike. This one was very long.  Whymper stayed with us the whole way.  Even when I went off trail, he followed me and when I slipped and fell down, he came over to help.

Me and Whymper on the trail

Whymper looking down on the Estrella de Chimborazo, our hostel

The final dog we met was named Lucas.  He lives in Baños, a small town near the mountains of Ecuador.  He was very friendly and even if you didn’t know him, he would come right up to you and start licking your face.  He’s also very lazy.  The first time we saw him, he was lying next to some chairs and refusing to get up.  He was almost the exact opposite of Champy when it came to exercise.  Champy would want to play fetch all the time.  Lucas, on the other hand would want to lie down and get rubbed on his belly. 

Lucas, focused on eating raw chicken

Champy seems to have the best life out of any of these dogs.  He gets to run around next to bikes all day and is extremely well trained.  His owner, Alberto, never gets mad at him.  He is also the alpha male everywhere he goes because he’s so strong.  Whenever he gets into fights (which only happens on occasion) he always wins.  He’s also very well fed and his owner always has time for him. 

The Amazon Jungle

I never thought that I would be 120 hundred feet up in the air on a giant tree in the Amazon.  But there I was.

We just finished our four day trip to the Amazon Jungle!  It was one of my favorite trips yet.  When we first got into Coca, we took a five minute bus ride to the boat port.  After about an hour of waiting around, we finally got onto a boat to take the long two hour ride to our hotel.  The ride went by pretty fast though.  When we got to what we thought was the hotel we were all relieved.  But there was another two hour canoe trip.  This trip was very interesting though because we stopped to see wildlife and got to know our Native Guide (Javier) our Naturalist Guide (Jose), and our other group members Jerry and Jennifer.  Everyone was really nice to us.

This is a caiman near our house.

The first day, it was kind of drizzling all day.  No matter, we went to a parrot slick.  A parrot slick is a big chunk of clay where at about ten in the morning, a bunch of yellow tailed parrots come to eat.  They need to eat clay in order to coat their stomachs and disguise the bitter taste of berries.  We also went to a woman's organization where four girls showed us a native dance and some of their other customs.  We also got to practice shooting blowguns!

Parrots at the parrot slick.

The next day, we took a thirty minute hike to the observation deck.  The deck was put on top of one of the tallest trees.  Needless to say we could see for miles.  The first animal that we saw was a howler monkey.  It was sleeping but was very interesting.  We also saw a lot of different species of birds.  Our native guide, Javier, found about 98% of all the animals.  One of my favorite animals we saw was a three-toed sloth!!!  This was probably the highlight of my trip to the jungle.  I've never actually seen a sloth in real life but it was all I hoped it would be.  The best part though, is when Jose, our Naturalist Guide, whistled like a hawk, the sloth would turn its head around trying to look for it.  It was so awesome!  We also learned about many different symbiotic relationships.  My favorite one was between a sloth and a moth. (That rhymes xD)  The sloth would go to the bottom of the tree to poop everyday.  During that time the moth would lay its eggs inside the poop.  In return, the moth creates a mossy substance on the sloths skin to help with camouflage.

The sloth we saw looking around.

A cute owl

Surfer's Paradise

I’ve only been surfing 3 times for a total of 4 and a half hours, but I learned a lot because I got to surf in different conditions and with different instructors.  My first experience surfing was in Ayampe with my teacher, Keith.  He was really good at teaching me how to get up on the board and get used to the waves.  It took awhile for me to get the hang of it.  But once I stood up once, it was pretty easy to do it again.  The waves in Ayampe weren’t perfect.  The waves were more advanced because they don’t break evenly.  Also, there is sometimes a dangerous current in Ayampe.  The second time we tried to do a lesson, the waves kept crashing on top of us, forcing us to move into shallow waters.  Since at the time, I only knew how to ride white water, I wasn’t able to go surfing that day.

Canoa is where we went surfing next.  The waves in Canoa were better for beginners because it is a more protected bay.  This time, my dad, Ruby and I all took a lesson together.  We had a really good teacher also.  We were all at different levels so he gave us different instructions and let us practice on our own.  Keith, on the other hand, worked with each of us in shifts, and we didn’t get up on any waves without him.  Our teacher in Canoa, Cedric, let us catch waves by ourselves.  I didn’t really feel like I learned that much from him.  We mostly just reviewed skills, but he helped me practice.

All in all, it was exciting and exhilarating to learn how to surf.  My next step is snowboarding!! >:D

Leaving Cuenca

Tomorrow we are leaving Cuenca for Guayaquil.  I have to say I will miss it here a tiny bit.  I have really gotten a feel for our surroundings and feel a little bit at home here.

Here is a list of the top 3 things I will miss in Cuenca.

1. Señora Elena. She was one of the nicest people we've met here.
2. Paty. She was my teacher at Spanish school and I'll miss her a lot.
3. Banos.  Banos was the town where all the hot springs were.  It was super relaxing.


Here is a list of what I'm looking forward to.

1. THE BEACH BABY!  I just really like the beach and I can't wait to go.
2. Surfing.  I've always wanted to learn how to surf!
3. Seeing my cousins.  I can't wait to see the Chaps Platts (my cousins who live in Chappaqua).

Ruby's Birthday

A couple days ago was Ruby's birthday!  The first thing we did was exchange presents over breakfast.  If I remember correctly, I think Ruby got two sets of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet.  After that, we went to school just like a normal day, except during break, there was a special cake for Ruby and we all sang Happy Birthday, in Spanish.  I didn't even know about it.

After school was over, we headed to a town called Banos just outside Cuenca.  When we arrived at the actual spa, we found out the one half of it was closed for cleaning.  We decided to make do with the other half.  The spa contained a 42 degree pool (keep in mind this is Celsius) and two Turkish steam rooms, one for women and one for both men and women. After we spent a while in the main pool, we all climbed out and got some refreshments.  Ruby and I each got a yogurt parfait and orange juice.

When we got back into town, we headed over to an Italian restaurant that Ruby picked out.  We all had some variety of pasta with sauce on it.  For dessert, we ate banana splits.  Ruby and I each got our own while my parents stole little bites off of them.  Over all, it was a fun and tiring day!

A Change In My School Life

One of the many differences between home and Ecuador is school. Some people might think that school in Ecuador is easy and short. In a way, it is but not all the time. School in Ecuador is indeed shorter by almost 3 hours but it is a lot more tiring! School is only Spanish so its hard trying to understand everything. At least our teachers speak English.

School here is very different because it’s shorter, more tiring and but more interesting. School here is shorter because there is only one subject, Spanish! But Spanish can get very tiring after you have been doing it for 4 hours everyday! In addition, I'm the only student in my class. Even though I learn a LOT more than I do at home, its still hard to answer all questions and do all the homework. Even though I do all the Berkeley Carroll homework at home, it still feels like I have more in Ecuador. Finally, school here is interesting because most days, we go out on field trips to different places like, a museum, the local market, and a pottery studio.

Overall, our school here is shorter but more tiring. But school at home is longer and less tiring (usually).

This is what our school looks like from the outside

Mitad del Mundo

Today we went to the middle of the world (Mitad del Mundo)!!!  The Equator!

We took a crowded metro-bus for what seemed like forever.  The bus was too crowded to find space to stand without being in someone's armpit.  Needless to say it was not very fun.  The 15 mile trip took one and a half hours.  When we arrived, we headed up to the original monument which, even though it is off by around 800 meters, was amazing!  It was quite imposing.  We walked around the complex for awhile, browsing souvenir shops and such.  After that, we headed over to the real equator where there was a museum.  The museum was directly over the equator.  On our tour, we saw everything, from shrunken heads to water experiments.  One of the grossest things was a fish called the candiru that crawls up into your penis when you pee in the Amazon jungle.  >.<  It's actually attracted by human urine.

This is the Candiru Fish

We also saw shrunken heads and learned how they were made!  First, you have to find someone worthy of preserving.  Next, take off their head and remove all the bones.  Third, steam it over a pot of a secret herbal concoction.  Fourth, take rocks and clean out all the fat so there is nothing left inside. Finally, take your shrunken head and make jewelry!

This is a real shrunken head

This is a mural of someone removing the skull

After this, we headed down to the real equator and performed some experiments on it.  For example, as many people may have heard before, water does swirl a different way on either side of the equator! When you are directly on the equator, the water just goes down.  It doesn't even swirl.

This is what draining water looks like on the equator

We also performed some tests of our strength.  If you put your hands above your head and have someone push down on them, it's relatively easy to keep them up and resist.  It's different on the equator, though.  If you did this on the equator, your hands would just go down easily.  We tried it and it worked.  I'm still a little confused about it though.  If anyone knows something that might explain this phenomenon, leave an answer in the comments below.  At the end of the day, we took a taxi back home, which was a nice change from the public bus.