Week 7
17th October- 23rd October 2011
What a week!! We have managed to attend two fiestas in one night, Robin has preached a sermon in Spanish, ive given myself food poisoning, we have visited the Barrio de Naranjos and been greeted/ hugged by many small children!
Work has commenced at our two new projects. Firstly the school which is for children aged 3-10 years and is right in the center of Santo Domingo. In England the school wouldn´t be allowed to be open as it would be classified a 'health and safety nightmare' as the play area consists of a concrete courtyard with uneven dips and the building is still under construction with big iron rods sticking out of the floors and walls. The children are very very sweet and friendly and greet us every day by coming running over and giving us a hug! I fear we are more of a distraction then a help when we enter classrooms! We have been sitting in observing lessons of all the different classes which are again run a tad differntly to England. The children are full of energy and the boys love nothing more than a rough and tumble game of football on the concrete courtyard at break time (often causing a few tears). Robin is very popular with the boys who come running up to him and ram their heads into his groin asking to be picked up or wanting attenion. The older pupils aged 6-8 years have a mixed timetable with maths, PE, language, English and other subjects. It has been really interesting to observe and help the children in their english lessons. PE is not exactly a structured event as the PE teacher places a football in the middle of the courtyard and the whistle is blown and lots of little feet go crazy to kick the ball and sometimes each other. The headmaster Ednaldo has big hopes and dreams of expanding the school so that they can accomodate more children with better facilties. The structure of the school is such that it runs from 7:30- 12:30 am with paying students and then poorer students attend in the afternoon until 2:30pm. Obviously the more paying students the more poorer students can attend.
The Compassion project is completely different as students aged (3-18 years) attend the after school club where they are fed and split into different age categories and attempt to do some homework in reasonable peace and quiet. Our compassion project has 331 children which usually attend on different days except on saturday when they all cram themselves into a not very big building. The building itself consists of a tiny courtyard, one big hall, three very small classrooms, toilets and a kitchen. All of which are concrete! We are yet to attend a saturday where there are 331 children there and experience what surely must be absoloute bedlum! The volunteers who work there are amazing and have helped feed children for the past 10 years. The project is located close to the Barrio Municipal which is well known for its poverty and crime rates. Unbeknown to us the Compassion project offers its students the opportunity to go to University by helping to pay for it. Each one of the 331 children has a sponsor and the students were writing to their sponsors when we were there. The project leader Josia also takes them out on trips to the local pool and arranges football matches for the boys. In this project our work is much more relational getting to know the kids and helping them with their work.
Alongside this we have attended Pastor Ednaldo (the pastor and president of all the ´Assemblies de Dios´churches in Ecuador) birthday party. Which was a very formal affair with all the different churches providing representatives who come and sing a song and present Pastor Ednaldo with a birthday present. We left after 2 hours and went to Monica and Ricardo´s engagement party. Which was an intimate family affair and very beautiful. They both said lots of lovely things about each other and their families and exchanged rings. There was lots of crying.... but tears of joy! Monica is the daughter of Pastor Anibel who Robin along with the step team helped to build his church. Hence why on tuesday night Robin had to give a sermon in Spanish to the congregation. He did pretty well even getting a few amens of agreement. Pastor Anibel and his family have become good friends to us as well as Carlos´s family who have taken us out for a meal and invited us on a trip out to the Rio sometime.
On sunday we attended the assemblies de dios church for the first time, unlike the ´Rosa de Sharon´ church its service is not an hour long but hours long! The women and men were seperated for a bible study on John the baptist and then brought back together for a sermon. After church we went to visit the Barrio de Naranjos where Robin and the Step team worked in their first project. Gabriel and Louis were delighted to see Robin and showed us around the church with the plaque still hanging on the wall with signatures of all the step team. They are going to hold a big reunion on the 13th November which we have been invited back for!
So life is pretty busy in Santo Domingo which is great!
Please pray for help building relationships with the children in the compassion project and school as well as the teachers. Also for my stomach after a good dose of food posioning which knocked me out for 2 days I am only now beginning to eat normally again.
A funny moment this week:
- A load of ants managed to infiltrate the honey bottle, but undettered by this both Carlos and Robin proceeded to pour a load of it into their porridge and eat it.
My camera broke this week so I unfortunatly don´t have any pictures to put up. Thankfully it is being fixed and should be back to working order soon!
Monday, 24 October 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
Hola Santo Domingo!
Week 6
11th- 16th October 2011
We have made the big move to Santo Domingo this week! Traveling on the incredibly windy road (once known as the most dangerous road in Ecuador). Which is built into the sides of the Andean mountains with nothing between you and eternity! We arrived safely and the difference in the humidity was felt immediatly as we stepped off the bus. Although I think Robin was slightly disappointed as he had been gearing up to expect the constant sweating of a sweltering santo domingo but so far whilst it is warm it has in no way caused me to 'perspire' and much to Robin's shock he even had to wear a jumper in the evenings.
We enjoyed our last few days in Quito before we moved down to Santo Domingo on the 14th October visiting parque metropolitano again and generally relaxing. Unfortunatly we also had a bad experience as Lizzi, our fellow flat mate in Quito and strider, got her bag mugged on our street by two people who pulled up in their car and took everything from her, even her necklace! Thankfully Lizzi was alright and the incident was reported to the police. Nothing of great value was stolen either just her Ecuadorian mobile, $10, her notebook and unfortunatly the house keys. It was a reminder to us all who had grown assured of the relative safety of where we live in Quito that unfortunatly there are people out there who will rob you. When speaking to Miriam, our neighbour downstairs, she informed us that her sister had also got her bag taken from her just outside the house one morning which shows that it doesn't matter what time of day it is.The street we lived on had it´s own gaurd too who use to patrol up and down the street blowing his whistle and generally making his presence known. Lizzi has recovered well and thankfully this hasn't tainted her desire to help out in the hospital.
We are staying at the house of a man called Carlos who Robin stayed with last time here was here in Ecuador with his step team. Whilst we share his house for the lounge and kitchen we have a seperate annex with our own bedroom and bathroom (with hot running water.... I am delighted by this)! Carlos owns a rottweiler called peter who is his gaurd dog but unlike the other slightly insane gaurd dogs which go absoloutly mental as soon as you walk past the gate of their house peter is really quite friendly and enjoys nothing more than a good stroke and ´comida´(food). Whilst Carlos has assured us that he makes a good gaurd dog (once scaring away a robber) he seems very friendly to me. Our new home is 2 secdonds away from our new church 'Assemblies de Dios' and a maximum of 2 minutes walk to the school. It's also in the center of the city making it easy to access anywhere in the city.
On Saturday night we went to Nancy's birthday party (the wife of Pastor Anibel who Robin and his fellow step group helped build his church). It was great to meet all of Pastor Anibel's family and the evening was spent laughing at some of the things the step team got up to here in Santo. After singing 3 different versions of happy birthday and getting invited to Monica's wedding (one of the daughters of Pastor Anibel) we went home exhausted! On Sunday evening we went to ´Iglesia Rosa de Sharon´ where Carlos was preaching. Halfway through the service Pastor Anibel had Robin and I up the front explaining to the congregation about how a group of young people from England came to help build the church and adding on the end how Robin was going to preech at the tuesday evening service! Rather stunned at the prospect of having to preech for a full 20 minutes in Spanish, robin is currently on google translate trying to work out what to say. If it all goes wrong he can just stand their saying 'Dios es bueno, Dios es amor' which translates to 'God is good, God is love'.
Some highlights of this week:
-Managing to fall into a stall filled with plastic toy cows
-Going to the flower market in Santo Domingo where you can get 25 big beautiful roses for $3
- Robin managing to bring the bus to a constant halt by accidentally leaning on the stop button
We visited the school we will be helping with today and start working their tomorow so please pray that this goes well and that we can build some good relationships with the children and teachers. Also please pray for both our safety and Lizi's in Quito. Finally please pray we settle into life in Santo Domingo as quickly and easily as we did in Quito.
With love from Ecuador xxx
Check out the pictures of what we have been up to by clicking on this LINK
11th- 16th October 2011
We have made the big move to Santo Domingo this week! Traveling on the incredibly windy road (once known as the most dangerous road in Ecuador). Which is built into the sides of the Andean mountains with nothing between you and eternity! We arrived safely and the difference in the humidity was felt immediatly as we stepped off the bus. Although I think Robin was slightly disappointed as he had been gearing up to expect the constant sweating of a sweltering santo domingo but so far whilst it is warm it has in no way caused me to 'perspire' and much to Robin's shock he even had to wear a jumper in the evenings.
We enjoyed our last few days in Quito before we moved down to Santo Domingo on the 14th October visiting parque metropolitano again and generally relaxing. Unfortunatly we also had a bad experience as Lizzi, our fellow flat mate in Quito and strider, got her bag mugged on our street by two people who pulled up in their car and took everything from her, even her necklace! Thankfully Lizzi was alright and the incident was reported to the police. Nothing of great value was stolen either just her Ecuadorian mobile, $10, her notebook and unfortunatly the house keys. It was a reminder to us all who had grown assured of the relative safety of where we live in Quito that unfortunatly there are people out there who will rob you. When speaking to Miriam, our neighbour downstairs, she informed us that her sister had also got her bag taken from her just outside the house one morning which shows that it doesn't matter what time of day it is.The street we lived on had it´s own gaurd too who use to patrol up and down the street blowing his whistle and generally making his presence known. Lizzi has recovered well and thankfully this hasn't tainted her desire to help out in the hospital.
We are staying at the house of a man called Carlos who Robin stayed with last time here was here in Ecuador with his step team. Whilst we share his house for the lounge and kitchen we have a seperate annex with our own bedroom and bathroom (with hot running water.... I am delighted by this)! Carlos owns a rottweiler called peter who is his gaurd dog but unlike the other slightly insane gaurd dogs which go absoloutly mental as soon as you walk past the gate of their house peter is really quite friendly and enjoys nothing more than a good stroke and ´comida´(food). Whilst Carlos has assured us that he makes a good gaurd dog (once scaring away a robber) he seems very friendly to me. Our new home is 2 secdonds away from our new church 'Assemblies de Dios' and a maximum of 2 minutes walk to the school. It's also in the center of the city making it easy to access anywhere in the city.
On Saturday night we went to Nancy's birthday party (the wife of Pastor Anibel who Robin and his fellow step group helped build his church). It was great to meet all of Pastor Anibel's family and the evening was spent laughing at some of the things the step team got up to here in Santo. After singing 3 different versions of happy birthday and getting invited to Monica's wedding (one of the daughters of Pastor Anibel) we went home exhausted! On Sunday evening we went to ´Iglesia Rosa de Sharon´ where Carlos was preaching. Halfway through the service Pastor Anibel had Robin and I up the front explaining to the congregation about how a group of young people from England came to help build the church and adding on the end how Robin was going to preech at the tuesday evening service! Rather stunned at the prospect of having to preech for a full 20 minutes in Spanish, robin is currently on google translate trying to work out what to say. If it all goes wrong he can just stand their saying 'Dios es bueno, Dios es amor' which translates to 'God is good, God is love'.
Some highlights of this week:
-Managing to fall into a stall filled with plastic toy cows
-Going to the flower market in Santo Domingo where you can get 25 big beautiful roses for $3
- Robin managing to bring the bus to a constant halt by accidentally leaning on the stop button
We visited the school we will be helping with today and start working their tomorow so please pray that this goes well and that we can build some good relationships with the children and teachers. Also please pray for both our safety and Lizi's in Quito. Finally please pray we settle into life in Santo Domingo as quickly and easily as we did in Quito.
With love from Ecuador xxx
Check out the pictures of what we have been up to by clicking on this LINK
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Ecuador 2- England 2
Week 5
4th - 10th October 2011
Buenos dias chicas! Our last week of spanish has been a most enjoyable time. For our last session we went for breakfast together at an indigenous organic chocolate caffe and then for a walk around parque metropolitano. During the week, thanks to Nina's impeccable spanish teaching skills, I have learnt vital words such as 'caca' (poo), 'busta' (boobs) and the phrase 'yo te lamo Robin' (I lick Robin). All incredibly useful in ones day to day discussions! Nina is a fantastic teacher and when trying to teach me phrases to do with illness went on to act out a patient and doctor scene where she promptly diagnosed my imminent death within a month (apparently with the symptoms I gave her the signs were not good).
Whilst out on our day trip it turned into a compteition with us 3 brits against the Ecuadorians. The scores where as follows:
1 to the Ecuadorian Spanish teachers for winning the arm wrestles against us Brits. Lizzi vs Nina ( Lizzi won), myself vs Zulma (Zulma won), Robin vs Alex ( Alex ......a girl.....won)!
1 to the Brits who managed to polish off their pancakes, pineapple, and hot chocolate whilst the Ecuadorian team failed leaving Robin much delighted at the prospect of left overs.
1 to the Brits as myself and nina competed in a fast walk/ run down the street after she complained about walking for 20 minutes to the park (this is the first day I haven't seen her wear heels). I won!
1 to the Ecuadorians: my one endearing feature my child size hands were beaten in their tinyness by Nina and Zulma whose hands were ultra small. Robin then classified us all as umpa lumpas making himself willy wonka.
In the cafe I tried hot chocolate con queso (with cheese) and have to say I think in future I will stick to the ususal hot chocolate as it was like finding random lumps of un-melted mozzarella in my drink. Whilst in the park we had great fun in the children's play area which had a slide in the shape of an elephant with a barrel for its body I stuck my head out of the barrel and to my delight was promptly called 'Elefante caca' (i knew that word would come in useful)!
On a more spiritual note we also had our Latin link conference in Cumbaya this weekend and it was great to meet the rest of the team and hear about all of their different projects. It deffinitly sounds as though there is a lot of potential areas to get stuck in and help out at in Santo Domingo with our own teaching project, the compassion project, Orph Aids (an orphanage for children whose parents died of Aids), a disabled school and a womens refuge. We were given talks by Pastor Galo which were really refreshing and encouraging and he welcomed us into Ecuador by washing our feet as a symbolism of Jesus washing the disciples feet and welcoming them. In the afternoons we went for walks and spent time together as a group. One particularly bonding walk was when the sun was so hot the roads were melting (leaving our foot prints in the tarmac) on this walk we got potentially attacked by some geese and deffinitly attacked by a dog which cut half our party off leaving Amy, victoria and Lizzi fearing for their lives. The food was delicious but every meal consisted of the usual 3 carbs diet of potato, rice and pasta! It was a fantastic time of bonding and laughter.
Other moments which have tickled our laughter boxes this week:
- How to send post, Ecuador style. Getting up at 3:45am to give some postcards to a chap who was heading back to England to post for us as post out here is a tad unreliable.
-Looking out the window of the apartment to see two men hanging out there washing absoloutly starkers from the waist down! I've always said the apartment has a great view!
-Getting smacked over the head repeatedly by wet bags and umbrellas whilst travelling on a packed bus.
-Seeing a ecuadorian chocolate sign which read 'snickers can suck on our cacao'. Very clever.
- The shop called 'doggy style'
-The fantastic son of one of the missionaries out here who at 4 years old unashamedly pulled his trousers down and went for a wee with the loo door open allowing all the group a view of his bottom whilst we were being preached to.
- The accomodation at the conference center consisted of simple rooms with single beds so on our 6 month wedding anniversary we slept in seperate beds........ surely not a good sign.
If we could again request your prayers for our accomodation as we have had to post pone our move to Santo Domingo for a week due to lack of accomodation but we have some deffinite leads so hopefully come friday/ Saturday we should be down there.
Mucho amor de Ecuador xxxxx
Look at this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK
4th - 10th October 2011
Buenos dias chicas! Our last week of spanish has been a most enjoyable time. For our last session we went for breakfast together at an indigenous organic chocolate caffe and then for a walk around parque metropolitano. During the week, thanks to Nina's impeccable spanish teaching skills, I have learnt vital words such as 'caca' (poo), 'busta' (boobs) and the phrase 'yo te lamo Robin' (I lick Robin). All incredibly useful in ones day to day discussions! Nina is a fantastic teacher and when trying to teach me phrases to do with illness went on to act out a patient and doctor scene where she promptly diagnosed my imminent death within a month (apparently with the symptoms I gave her the signs were not good).
Whilst out on our day trip it turned into a compteition with us 3 brits against the Ecuadorians. The scores where as follows:
1 to the Ecuadorian Spanish teachers for winning the arm wrestles against us Brits. Lizzi vs Nina ( Lizzi won), myself vs Zulma (Zulma won), Robin vs Alex ( Alex ......a girl.....won)!
1 to the Brits who managed to polish off their pancakes, pineapple, and hot chocolate whilst the Ecuadorian team failed leaving Robin much delighted at the prospect of left overs.
1 to the Brits as myself and nina competed in a fast walk/ run down the street after she complained about walking for 20 minutes to the park (this is the first day I haven't seen her wear heels). I won!
1 to the Ecuadorians: my one endearing feature my child size hands were beaten in their tinyness by Nina and Zulma whose hands were ultra small. Robin then classified us all as umpa lumpas making himself willy wonka.
In the cafe I tried hot chocolate con queso (with cheese) and have to say I think in future I will stick to the ususal hot chocolate as it was like finding random lumps of un-melted mozzarella in my drink. Whilst in the park we had great fun in the children's play area which had a slide in the shape of an elephant with a barrel for its body I stuck my head out of the barrel and to my delight was promptly called 'Elefante caca' (i knew that word would come in useful)!
On a more spiritual note we also had our Latin link conference in Cumbaya this weekend and it was great to meet the rest of the team and hear about all of their different projects. It deffinitly sounds as though there is a lot of potential areas to get stuck in and help out at in Santo Domingo with our own teaching project, the compassion project, Orph Aids (an orphanage for children whose parents died of Aids), a disabled school and a womens refuge. We were given talks by Pastor Galo which were really refreshing and encouraging and he welcomed us into Ecuador by washing our feet as a symbolism of Jesus washing the disciples feet and welcoming them. In the afternoons we went for walks and spent time together as a group. One particularly bonding walk was when the sun was so hot the roads were melting (leaving our foot prints in the tarmac) on this walk we got potentially attacked by some geese and deffinitly attacked by a dog which cut half our party off leaving Amy, victoria and Lizzi fearing for their lives. The food was delicious but every meal consisted of the usual 3 carbs diet of potato, rice and pasta! It was a fantastic time of bonding and laughter.
Other moments which have tickled our laughter boxes this week:
- How to send post, Ecuador style. Getting up at 3:45am to give some postcards to a chap who was heading back to England to post for us as post out here is a tad unreliable.
-Looking out the window of the apartment to see two men hanging out there washing absoloutly starkers from the waist down! I've always said the apartment has a great view!
-Getting smacked over the head repeatedly by wet bags and umbrellas whilst travelling on a packed bus.
-Seeing a ecuadorian chocolate sign which read 'snickers can suck on our cacao'. Very clever.
- The shop called 'doggy style'
-The fantastic son of one of the missionaries out here who at 4 years old unashamedly pulled his trousers down and went for a wee with the loo door open allowing all the group a view of his bottom whilst we were being preached to.
- The accomodation at the conference center consisted of simple rooms with single beds so on our 6 month wedding anniversary we slept in seperate beds........ surely not a good sign.
If we could again request your prayers for our accomodation as we have had to post pone our move to Santo Domingo for a week due to lack of accomodation but we have some deffinite leads so hopefully come friday/ Saturday we should be down there.
Mucho amor de Ecuador xxxxx
Look at this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK
Monday, 3 October 2011
Mindo mania!
Week 4
28th- 3rd October 2011
Tuesday to thursday has been a relatively quiet week as we are settled into our routine in Quito. I have managed to make a grown man cry on the bus by accidentally standing on his foot (a bit over the top perhaps it was his latin american flair........ or it could have been the fact that his toes bore the full weight of my body as I am yet to master a bus journey without smacking into someone). On the same bus journey I later managed to sit on a random woman´s lap when I spotted a free chair....... i blame the altitiude.
I was ecstatic this week as I got to make a collage in my spanish lesson of all the things I liked from magazines it brought me back to my school years as I sat there stating ´A mi me gusta el peliqula harry potter y Narnia´. In spanish i am unfortunatly learning irregular verbs and it seems like there are more irregular than regular ones! Robin and Lizi are learning their reflective verbs so there are lots of 'doing' words being flung around our house. On friday our little troup of spanish teachers and learners (Robin, lizi and myself) headed out for our once a week out of the class trip. We went to the Banco Central museum in Quito again we managed to magically go on a trip on a auspicious day. The 30th September is a day of rememberance for the president as last year on that day there was a huge protest with the police and military demanding more pay. The police then captured the president and held him hostage in the Police hospital. In retaliation the military decided it was on the side of the president and his supporters and bust him out of the hospital. Later the president allowed the police and military a pay rise! This year to commemorate his supporters rescuing him he made the museum free to enter and held a big protest filled mainly with idigenous people shouting their support for him (some say they were paid to do it..... who knows)! The museum was highly interesting and there were many interesting artefacts but perhaps the best, in my opinion, was the fertility statues where the male genitalia was nearly twice the size of the person! There were also lots of stories of death rituals in the old tribal days and these amazing jars which where in the shape of different animals. They would pour water into the jar and swing it from side to side to allow the air to blow over the top and it would create the sound of that animal an amazing tool for capturing animals.
The weekend was when the fun really started! After spanish on friday we headed off to Mindo a tiny city 2 hours away from Quito. Mindo is in the middle of the cloud forest so the temperature is a lot hotter and apparently a lot wetter! We got off the bus and waited to get a taxi in to Mindo central in a torential down pour I had clearly been mistaken in my choice of clothing with white trousers and white shorts in my bag. We stayed in Hostel Cecilia which was right next to a rio and in the morning it was so beautiful with bright floweers and banana trees. We had our breakfast in the open dining area next to the rio where tonnes of humingbirds and other brightly coloured birds where also having their breakfast ( Sprite and a banana). We saw lots of blue grey tangaras and yellow rumped tangaras which are completely black with a belly the colour of a yellow highlighter and a orange bird which we dont know the name of. Mindo is famous for its orchids, butterflies and birds. We started the day of with a bit of canopying (zip linning across the canopy) taking in the full extent of the cloud forest. Whilst zipping across you can see lots of flowers and we even spotted a few vultures (they clearly knew that the tiny harness and clip which supports your entire body weight to a thin cable was bound to end in food at some point). The first zip across was scary with the huge plunge to your death gap beneath you and the floor but the rest where great. We even started to venture out a bit doing the butterfly and superman position (the butterfly involves you going completely upside down with all your limbs spread out and the superman involves you intimately wrapping your legs around the constructers body and leaning forward in a superman pose).
After the adrenaline pumped zip lining we took the tarabita (cable car) across to the other side of the canyon where we walked through the cloud forest to five different waterfalls. I felt like Steve Irwin trapsing through the jungle with nothing but my back pack filled with oreos and crisps to survive on. We waded into the waterfalls which were colder than expected and quite fast flowing getting completely soaked. It started to chuck it down with rain so Robin transforming into Ray Mears started snapping the massive leaves (which where bigger than the length of my body) off the plant and using it as a umbrella........ (so much for take nothing but photos leave nothing but foot prints)! The final waterfall Nambillo had a bigger swimming area so I decided here was my chance for a proper swim, there was no one around except us so i stripped off into my bickini and coyly began my descent into the freezing water when a huge group of tourists came along taking multiple rictures of the waterfall with my big white derriere in all of them! Robin was the first one in but it was hard to swim properly as the current was quite strong and the rocks below looked a tad daunting. Finally exhausted and really quite wet we headed back to the cable car to head home. On the road home we expected to find a taxi or a car to a grab a lift in but alas no we had to walk in the torrential rain for an hour down to the bottom of the mountain before we nabbed a lift.
The afternoon was spent touring round a chocolate factory which had the most fantastic chocloate brownies ever! The chocolate itself was a bit to strong for my likeing at 80% Coco. The sad fact is nothing can beat good old cadbury´s in my mind which is probably 20% coco and 80% sugar. Whilst on the chocolate factory tour we met this great irish couple on their honey moon who kept asking where the chocolate rivers and umper lumpers where!
Now you may be aware of robin´s love of relaxing and lie in´s and we are normally always late for everything but not so on sunday morning! Robin was up at 4am!! What could possibly get robin out of bed at this time in the morning pray tell?? The cock of the rock! Yes, a fantastic red crested bird one of the most famous in Ecuador! We got a taxi up to the mountain and at 5am in the pitch dark with nothing but Robin´s piddly wind up 'eco' torch we headed out into the complete blackness of the cloud forest. Thankfully the taxi driver took pity on us and lent us his head torch. Michaels where are you when we need you! We started down the track of the bird reserve to the lek where the andean cock of the rock does it´s display at 6am. To say it was an easy journey would be a lie with thick thigh deep mud, land slides, sheer cliff drops and the inability to see more than 2 feet in front of you! I got stuck in the mud more times than I can count and had to get yanked free as my foot was so deeply immersed. I also managed to slip in the mud and land my bottom in the friendly squelchy mud which delighted in dirtying my pristine white trousers ( as I said earlier I did not pack the right things for Mindo). Finally the sun started to come out and we could see where we were going. With the clouds and mist resting on the tree topped canopy. The final stint up to the lek was incredibly hard as we were racing to get there in time with a steep mountain to climb covered in slippery mud. I was drenched in sweat! Robin raced ahead whilst Lizz and I trailed behind stripping off as many layers as possible. Whilst Robin was racing ahead he disturbed a monkey in a tree which went racing off as soon as he clapped eyes on Robin. Finally at the lek we could see the cock of the rock doing its display ( a lot of jumping around) and calling to each other. Unfortuantly our camera was not good enough to take a picture of them through the foliage. It looks like this:
Was it worth it? Absoloutly it was amazing to watch! On our way back we went for a little de- tour into the forest and saw loads of different vibrant coloured butterflies and at the reseve headquarters there were numerous types of hummingbirds going crazy for their breakfast sprite! We stopped at a rio for a refreshing dip ( Robin went in whilst I enjoyed wading in my hired wellies) before starting our long trek back. All this before breakfast at 9am. Whilst waiting for the taxi to arrive a bird watcher spotted a toucan in one of the near by trees and we got to have a look through her telescope to see this amazing bird. One of these:
We were over the moon! After brunch we headed back to Quito bitten to death by mosquitos but happy!
Other hilarious things:
-Funny spanish words which are rude in english such as 'toser' (to cough).
- Funny signs such as 'snob' a food label. For example 'snob jam'.
-The garage called 'the pits'.
- The sandwich shop which in english means 'sandwiches of the colon'.
-Lizzi trying somehow managing to order a taco milkshake!
We are entering into the last stint in Quito and will be moving after this weekend to Santo Domingo. Still no idea about accomodation! Please pray that they find something suitable for a married couple.
Love from Ecuador!
To see our pictures of our fun time in Mindo click on this LINK and this LINK and this LINK (perhaps I should take less pictures!)
28th- 3rd October 2011
Tuesday to thursday has been a relatively quiet week as we are settled into our routine in Quito. I have managed to make a grown man cry on the bus by accidentally standing on his foot (a bit over the top perhaps it was his latin american flair........ or it could have been the fact that his toes bore the full weight of my body as I am yet to master a bus journey without smacking into someone). On the same bus journey I later managed to sit on a random woman´s lap when I spotted a free chair....... i blame the altitiude.
I was ecstatic this week as I got to make a collage in my spanish lesson of all the things I liked from magazines it brought me back to my school years as I sat there stating ´A mi me gusta el peliqula harry potter y Narnia´. In spanish i am unfortunatly learning irregular verbs and it seems like there are more irregular than regular ones! Robin and Lizi are learning their reflective verbs so there are lots of 'doing' words being flung around our house. On friday our little troup of spanish teachers and learners (Robin, lizi and myself) headed out for our once a week out of the class trip. We went to the Banco Central museum in Quito again we managed to magically go on a trip on a auspicious day. The 30th September is a day of rememberance for the president as last year on that day there was a huge protest with the police and military demanding more pay. The police then captured the president and held him hostage in the Police hospital. In retaliation the military decided it was on the side of the president and his supporters and bust him out of the hospital. Later the president allowed the police and military a pay rise! This year to commemorate his supporters rescuing him he made the museum free to enter and held a big protest filled mainly with idigenous people shouting their support for him (some say they were paid to do it..... who knows)! The museum was highly interesting and there were many interesting artefacts but perhaps the best, in my opinion, was the fertility statues where the male genitalia was nearly twice the size of the person! There were also lots of stories of death rituals in the old tribal days and these amazing jars which where in the shape of different animals. They would pour water into the jar and swing it from side to side to allow the air to blow over the top and it would create the sound of that animal an amazing tool for capturing animals.
The weekend was when the fun really started! After spanish on friday we headed off to Mindo a tiny city 2 hours away from Quito. Mindo is in the middle of the cloud forest so the temperature is a lot hotter and apparently a lot wetter! We got off the bus and waited to get a taxi in to Mindo central in a torential down pour I had clearly been mistaken in my choice of clothing with white trousers and white shorts in my bag. We stayed in Hostel Cecilia which was right next to a rio and in the morning it was so beautiful with bright floweers and banana trees. We had our breakfast in the open dining area next to the rio where tonnes of humingbirds and other brightly coloured birds where also having their breakfast ( Sprite and a banana). We saw lots of blue grey tangaras and yellow rumped tangaras which are completely black with a belly the colour of a yellow highlighter and a orange bird which we dont know the name of. Mindo is famous for its orchids, butterflies and birds. We started the day of with a bit of canopying (zip linning across the canopy) taking in the full extent of the cloud forest. Whilst zipping across you can see lots of flowers and we even spotted a few vultures (they clearly knew that the tiny harness and clip which supports your entire body weight to a thin cable was bound to end in food at some point). The first zip across was scary with the huge plunge to your death gap beneath you and the floor but the rest where great. We even started to venture out a bit doing the butterfly and superman position (the butterfly involves you going completely upside down with all your limbs spread out and the superman involves you intimately wrapping your legs around the constructers body and leaning forward in a superman pose).
After the adrenaline pumped zip lining we took the tarabita (cable car) across to the other side of the canyon where we walked through the cloud forest to five different waterfalls. I felt like Steve Irwin trapsing through the jungle with nothing but my back pack filled with oreos and crisps to survive on. We waded into the waterfalls which were colder than expected and quite fast flowing getting completely soaked. It started to chuck it down with rain so Robin transforming into Ray Mears started snapping the massive leaves (which where bigger than the length of my body) off the plant and using it as a umbrella........ (so much for take nothing but photos leave nothing but foot prints)! The final waterfall Nambillo had a bigger swimming area so I decided here was my chance for a proper swim, there was no one around except us so i stripped off into my bickini and coyly began my descent into the freezing water when a huge group of tourists came along taking multiple rictures of the waterfall with my big white derriere in all of them! Robin was the first one in but it was hard to swim properly as the current was quite strong and the rocks below looked a tad daunting. Finally exhausted and really quite wet we headed back to the cable car to head home. On the road home we expected to find a taxi or a car to a grab a lift in but alas no we had to walk in the torrential rain for an hour down to the bottom of the mountain before we nabbed a lift.
The afternoon was spent touring round a chocolate factory which had the most fantastic chocloate brownies ever! The chocolate itself was a bit to strong for my likeing at 80% Coco. The sad fact is nothing can beat good old cadbury´s in my mind which is probably 20% coco and 80% sugar. Whilst on the chocolate factory tour we met this great irish couple on their honey moon who kept asking where the chocolate rivers and umper lumpers where!
Now you may be aware of robin´s love of relaxing and lie in´s and we are normally always late for everything but not so on sunday morning! Robin was up at 4am!! What could possibly get robin out of bed at this time in the morning pray tell?? The cock of the rock! Yes, a fantastic red crested bird one of the most famous in Ecuador! We got a taxi up to the mountain and at 5am in the pitch dark with nothing but Robin´s piddly wind up 'eco' torch we headed out into the complete blackness of the cloud forest. Thankfully the taxi driver took pity on us and lent us his head torch. Michaels where are you when we need you! We started down the track of the bird reserve to the lek where the andean cock of the rock does it´s display at 6am. To say it was an easy journey would be a lie with thick thigh deep mud, land slides, sheer cliff drops and the inability to see more than 2 feet in front of you! I got stuck in the mud more times than I can count and had to get yanked free as my foot was so deeply immersed. I also managed to slip in the mud and land my bottom in the friendly squelchy mud which delighted in dirtying my pristine white trousers ( as I said earlier I did not pack the right things for Mindo). Finally the sun started to come out and we could see where we were going. With the clouds and mist resting on the tree topped canopy. The final stint up to the lek was incredibly hard as we were racing to get there in time with a steep mountain to climb covered in slippery mud. I was drenched in sweat! Robin raced ahead whilst Lizz and I trailed behind stripping off as many layers as possible. Whilst Robin was racing ahead he disturbed a monkey in a tree which went racing off as soon as he clapped eyes on Robin. Finally at the lek we could see the cock of the rock doing its display ( a lot of jumping around) and calling to each other. Unfortuantly our camera was not good enough to take a picture of them through the foliage. It looks like this:
Was it worth it? Absoloutly it was amazing to watch! On our way back we went for a little de- tour into the forest and saw loads of different vibrant coloured butterflies and at the reseve headquarters there were numerous types of hummingbirds going crazy for their breakfast sprite! We stopped at a rio for a refreshing dip ( Robin went in whilst I enjoyed wading in my hired wellies) before starting our long trek back. All this before breakfast at 9am. Whilst waiting for the taxi to arrive a bird watcher spotted a toucan in one of the near by trees and we got to have a look through her telescope to see this amazing bird. One of these:
We were over the moon! After brunch we headed back to Quito bitten to death by mosquitos but happy!
Other hilarious things:
-Funny spanish words which are rude in english such as 'toser' (to cough).
- Funny signs such as 'snob' a food label. For example 'snob jam'.
-The garage called 'the pits'.
- The sandwich shop which in english means 'sandwiches of the colon'.
-Lizzi trying somehow managing to order a taco milkshake!
We are entering into the last stint in Quito and will be moving after this weekend to Santo Domingo. Still no idea about accomodation! Please pray that they find something suitable for a married couple.
Love from Ecuador!
To see our pictures of our fun time in Mindo click on this LINK and this LINK and this LINK (perhaps I should take less pictures!)
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