The Southern Hemisphere
Trip Start
Jul 10, 2005
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12
Trip End
Aug 28, 2005
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Papallacta, Ecuador
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Classes are terrific and this is a wonderful program. The students and professors alike are an interesting crowd. The demographic of students is...well, me. Ages range from 18 to 40 and most students are working-professionals on sabbatical, or graduate students in between semesters. It is a fairly like-minded group of people, all here for the same goal. It has a similar feeling to my freshmen year in college, where everyone is in the same boat and it is quite easy to make friends. My brain is shifting and I´m starting to think in Spanish and it is almost becoming difficult to recall words in English. How strange, and it has only been 9 days.
We had our first weekend getaway after a full week of classes, filling our brains to capacity with Spanish vocabulary and verb conjugations. Kate, Rachel (our other Ecuadorian best friend - a Kindergarten teacher from Boston), and I, jumped on (literally) a bus from the absolutely chaotic and frenetic bus station in Quito. The whole transaction happened so quickly and we were shuffled onto a bus adorned with royal blue, velvet curtains with gold tassels and the driver was blaring mariachi-esque music. We situated ourselves and prepared for the two-hour ride to Papallacta, a popular spot among the Ecuadorians on the weekends (for hiking, relaxing, and enjoying natural hot-springs). However, within two minutes of sitting patiently, while scores of people loaded onto our bus, an Ecuadorian woman crawled over my lap without warning, to get to the vacant window seat beside me. Following her interesting choice of action, four Ecuadorian children (all under the age of 5), proceeded to mimic their mother and scaled my legs and made their way over my lap, pushing me out of my seat, until I was standing in the aisle...seatless. After a deep breath, I simply found a new seat behind my friends, and this time, a man grabbed my arm and started physically dragging me out of my seat. Rather than completely losing my temper or bursting into tears, I shouted something (not sure what language it was in) and quickly retracted my arm. What the hell was going on? The Southern Hemisphere is a quirky place to visit. I simply needed a ride to Papallacta, and I paid my two dollar bus fare. Luckily, Kate speaks fluent Spanish and was able to discern that we actually had assigned seating and after much confusion and frustration, were relegated to the back of the bus...yes, next to the baņo. But, the story doesn't end there. An older Ecuadorian man took the seat next to me (I deliberately picked the window seat this time, as to avoid women and children using me as a human-jungle-gym). Within twenty minutes of undulating roads through the Andes, this man fell asleep on my shoulder, only AFTER he leaned behind me (while I was leaning forward to chat with Kate and Rachel) and hawked a deep, throaty loogie. Well, this was making for an interesting ride. I tried to practice the meditation I had learned in Laos, to calm my nerves and to try and enjoy the incredible scenery we were driving through. Meanwhile, the bus was more bustling that the Quito streets, with vendors walking up and down the aisles hawking their goods and shouting things in Spanish. How did they get on the bus? Did they buy tickets? If I were a betting woman, I would say no. The middle aisle was jam-packed with various vendors. They must have connections with the drivers, perhaps an underground bus Mafia? There was absolutely nothing tranquil about this particular journey to Papallacta. Similar to Asia, South Americans do not share the same sense of personal space that we have grown up with, and in my case, taken for granted.
Again, thanks to Kate's proficiency in Spanish, she knew we were supposed to exit the bus at a seemingly random stop...so we shuffled, or rather, sprinted off the bus (and I may be exaggerating, but this is exactly how I felt) and we had to jump off as the bus came to an almost-stop and the conductor and his protege shouted, "Vamos!" "Muy rapido!" etc. So, after an eventful two hours, we arrived in Papallacta "safe and sound."
We hiked for three hours, which is no small feat in this altitude. We enjoyed multiple waterfalls and a gorgeous mountain range on our ascent. After multiple stops to catch our breath, we made it to the Nature Preserve, hiked past it, and found our spot next to a group of lakes for our picnic. We packed in a fabulous lunch and although the weather dropped about 20 degrees from the start of our hike, we proceeded to have a picnic in the Andes. Away from the frenzied bus, we enjoyed the serenity of our surroundings and the dramatic mountain tops poked through the top of the thick, fluffy, white clouds.
To reward ourselves for enduring our hike, we relaxed in the thermal hot springs at the base of the mountain. For Kate and Rachel, it was especially rewarding since they don't have hot water in their houses (luckily, I do!). They relished the hot-water and then we were tasked with "flagging" a bus down for our return to Quito. This proved to be relatively easy and we arrived back home, just in time for fresh-squeezed juice and a home-cooked meal.
For another Ecuadorian experience (tipica) we woke up early the following morning and attended the Quito vs. Cuenca soccer game (partido del futbol). We donned Quito jerseys and rooted for our "home team." The game was as crazy and chaotic as the bus station! We were forewarned that we should protect our heads during the game as it is commonplace for glass bottles and pizza to be tossed around. I would have brought my bike helmet had I known this! Goals were scored and the crowd roared. Some things remain familiar, regardless of what country you are in: sporting events. The game was tremendous fun, and fortunately, our home team won. At the same time, another game was being played closer to where I live, the National League vs Barcelona. I arrived back in my neighborhood just as this game had ended and the main street was a large, turbulent river of yellow. Tens of thousands of fans, wearing yellow jerseys, filled the street as they marched away from the stadium. I've never seen anything like it. We were spectators from above, enjoying our ice-cream, and everything was perfect...until I leaned against a wall and got a huge wad of chewing gum stuck to my jeans.
