Dia 100!!

Yet another landmark in my life. I'm a landmark person, what can I say. I remember being in 1st grade and celebrating the 100th day and everyone brought in 100 things of food like cheerios, goldfish, mochi crunch, or something like that. It was good. Alas, I did not have any fun trail mix today, although Lolo and I did manage to create a pretty kick-ass trail mix a few weeks ago, if I do say so myself.

It's started raining again, which is good, except that it only rains on days when I look at my raincoat and decide to leave it at home. Today I got lucky and stayed dry, last week I looked like I had decided to take a shower with my clothes on. Oh goody. But things are still dry and still lacking luz. I saw on the news tonight that apparently Hugo Chavez just told the people of Venezuela that 3 min is sufficient time to bathe (1 min for soap, 1 min for shampoo, 1 min for rinse). I'm sure he's very popular right now.

Only 3 weeks of classes left and Nene comes in 2.5!! Very excited, although I have tons of work to do between now and then. Certainly the next half of this study abroad adventure is going to go SUPER fast since I'll be traveling during most of it. Still, 100 cheerios might be nice too :)

Viaje del Campo

A bit late, but better late than never (my life mantra, perhaps?)
Went on a salida del campo for my tropical rainforest class to get some firsthand fieldwork out in the jungle. We stayed at a house belonging to the family of one of the students, in between Mindo and Los Bancos. Half of the students stayed inside the house (think like a cabin, except in the rainforest) the other half in tents outside. Us, being silly gringos, all excitedly opted to sleep outside in our sleeping bags. The Ecuadorians laughed at our enthusiasm.

We did a lot of really cool things, including two night hikes through the jungle, where we got to see lots of cool animals, like this frog. Other cool stuff we saw:

• Basilisk (the lizard that runs on water, not the Harry Potter kind)
• Amazon canopy crab (huge crab that lives IN the canopy, 100 ft up!)
• tons of huge spiders (no worries Ross and Allie, didn’t put any pictures this time)
• cockaroaches
• Fish
• Orchids
• Millipedes
• Lots of funky looking bugs
• Vine snake!

I also went on a bird hike on Saturday morning. It was one of the first times I’ve really bird watched (harder than you think!) but very much enjoyed it. Got to see a toucan in the jungle! My life is complete. Also, a cuckoo bird, parrots, a giant ant nest, and other cool stuff.

All in all, it was actually a pretty chill weekend where I got to take an hour-long nap in the hammock on the balcony, wake up, lay there and watch toucans eat fruit out of the tree not 6-ft away. It was pretty awesome, yeah. As I mentioned before, Mindo is considered a cloud forest (bosque nublado) so we got to wake up to a rainforest engulfed in clouds. Also a highlight was watching a flock of white birds fly around the canopy on Saturday morning while waiting for breakfast. Your stereotypical image of birds in the rainforest. Again, very excited.

Drawback to living in the rainforest: sticky and muggy so you feel gross all the time. Huge drawback for the weekend was that we ran out of water from both the jugs from the store as well as the house. Ie we had barely enough water to drink, let alone wash dishes, flush toilets, etc. Another interesting tidbit was that the Ecuadorians partied on Saturday night. Apparently this happens on these trips a lot (professor allows it), which is just another example of culture difference I guess.

After this weekend I am very excited to go to Tiputini in January where I get to live in the real jungle for two weeks!

Ambientalismo y El Ultimo Hora

I have a midterm in 20 minutes, so there's clearly no better time to go on an environmentalist rant. Please excuse me while I get my mind out in words.

We just finished watching the 11th Hour in my human ecology class and it's safe to say that this is one of my favorite movies still. Yes, it is one of the most hippy, tree-hugging, environmentalist movies of all time, but it really gets to me and really reminds me of why I am so passionate about environmentalism and the like. I also find that more I learn about ecology, the more it shapes my views on life and environmentalism and the like. However, my ecology class has also been leading to a mild inner conflict as I try to tackle the idea of global warming while still realizing and learning about historical global climate patterns and receding glacial patterns and whatnot. The conclusion I've come to is that humans are going to go extinct. It is inevitable. No one species has ever survived throughout the entire history of the globe, they always go extinct (there are a few exceptions, but humans are not one of them). [It is at this point that I added the "ominous doom" tag to this blog post.] From this I have decided that this is not where my passion for environmentalism lies. It never has. (Sorry all you Powershift amigos, but climate change has never been my main fight, instead just an aspect to it.) Instead, it lies in the maintenance of the balance of the world and biosphere. Not between humans and nature, but rather of the entire system itself, which includes humans and all resources and all other organisms here on earth. I find myself at the pragmatic side of environmentalism, and really not agreeing with non-anthropocentrism very much (a point that led me to argue with Leeor a few times, actually...).
Environmentalism, for me, is so much a full spectrum issue. It's not just about saving the trees or the pandas or the whales or anything, it's about preserving life and our ability to live. Yes, I have an anthropocentric view on environmentalism, but in the way that humans are a part of the larger ecosystem and thus their actions have effects and consequences much larger than ourselves. We must maintain the natural balance that works. Nature has mastered this art, whether its the purification of waste and decomposition, or the balance between photosynthesis, cellular respiration and the creation of oxygen and carbon dioxide used for both of these. Humans cannot replicate these processes, not to any comparable degree, anyways. In order for us to survive we must maintain these, and the lifestyle we have today only disrupts that. It throws off this balance and degrades our quality of life. With the balance of the world, comes health and happiness for humans.
End Rant.

Valora la communicacion

I did my first real class-speaking in Spanish today! I had to do a presentation in Human Ecology on the article we read for class today and summarize and everything for the rest of the class. I was ridiculously nervous, not because of the article itself but because of the whole ‘presenting in Spanish to Spanish speakers’ part. The article covered the anthropology and study of environmentalism and ecological anthropology, both things I am knowledgeable about and could discuss for hours on end.
In the end, I pulled it off, more or less. I’m not sure how clear I was with my ideas, but it got across somehow. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I’m a bit disorganized with my thoughts (mildly… hehe) in English, so I’m not sure at all how I sounded in Spanish, but whatever, I think it worked more or less.
I was talking to Tor today about the frustration about transmitting ideas and the incredible amount of frustration we encounter when we want to express an idea, but are simply held back by the language barrier. In my Human Ecology class, we’re talking about things I’ve studied before in my awesome Religion and Environmental Ethics class and tons of other settings as well. I could discuss each of these topics for HOURS on end, but am reduced to about a 4th grade level of language and I’m sure it sounds like my intelligence goes with it. It’s frustrating to know that I am an intelligent being but simply don’t have the means to express my thoughts. It’s also humbling to really appreciate my native language and the freedom that language gives you. To be completely understood and to be able to use exactly the word I want is so liberating, I never knew I could feel this way about language.
I would love to strike up a conversation with some of the Ecuadorians in my Human Ecology class about environmentalism and sustainability and the differences between Ecuador and the United States, but also the similarities, especially with other tropical places like Hawaii. However, I am incredibly intimidated by them (for more than just the language reason) and feel like having such a philosophical discussion like that is far beyond my ability. For instance I tried to summarize “ecofeminism” in a few words during my presentation today and that in itself was difficult. This is the same topic that I have literally had very extended discussions about, but just trying to say one simple sentence about it was a struggle for me.
On the other hand, to be able to communicate in Spanish is incredibly rewarding for me. To have discussions and conversations with my madre and other peoples’ familias is so rewarding for me. I love the ease with which I can converse with my madre most days and how I can understand my professors and everything. I feel like it has opened up so many doors for me (both literal and figurative as I had to ask someone on my street to unlock the gate for me the other day….) and I love being able to access this whole other world I couldn’t before.
As I’m learning daily, language is an amazing gift and those who study it and control it have an incredible amount of power and opportunity. Communication is one of the main aspects of culture, as I’ve learned, to be without it is incredibly difficult, and when you have access to it, it is just a freeing and… I don’t even know how to explain it, but it’s so rewarding and liberating in terms of personal power and independence.

No sé.... éste semana....

So I don´t really have a topic for this post, but I felt like I should do some sort of update.  It´s been an ok week, I started off sick on Sunday afternoon/Monday, so that was kind of a downer.  Not anything serious (some people have had to go to the hospital and get antibiotics), just really tired and a sniffles.  Solution was to sleep it off (tons of siestas this week) and I think my madre may think I´m a little crazy, but that´s ok.

This week I watched more fútbol than I have in my entire life,  it´s intense.  Last Saturday Ecuador lost to Colombia but we won Wednesday´s match against Bolivia.  Fútbol here is entertaining, as basically the entire country stops for a few hours while the national team plays.  Literally, there were so few cars on the road (the first time I´ve heard quiet streets in Quito) and the only time you heard people was when they were yelling at the tv.  Also, everyone on planet earth wears their yellow national jersey.  It´s kinda cool and I kinda wish there was something like this in the US, it´s just so unique for apparently every single other country except the US (from what I hear about France, fútbol is huge there too)

Classes have finally started to get going (slowly but surely) and I finally have some homework to do.  Sadly, I´ve been waiting for this as I am usually very bored in my house when I go home after school.  All my classes are cool and I´m enjoying them lots.  The dork in me is loving my Tropical Rainforest class and all the ecology I´m learning.  Volcanology is also cool (we got to smash rocks in class yesterday to see the inner parts for identification), and my Spanish class is actually turning out to be pretty fun.  I´m also slowly meeting the few Ecuadorians that I have in my classes, especially through my Tropical Rainforest class and my drawing class (the only class I have where there are more Ecuas than gringos).

Life in Ecuador is proving difficult and challenging for me, but it definitely has its up days, especially just hanging out around campus or actually getting out and doing things.  This weekend our K College group is set to visit Otavalo, another city a few hours away.  This town is apparently one of the centers of indigenous people and thus also home to the largest artesian market here in Ecuador, so it´ll be fun to go buy some cool stuff while we´re there.

One of the things I´ve been enjoying the most recently is reading everyone else´s blogs from all over the world.  It still is such a crazy thought for me to imagine me and all my friends in all corners of the globe!  I´m checking up on friends in Thailand, France, Senegal, Japan, Chile, Spain, South Africa, and everywhere in between!  So crazy!  Love for all from Quito!

Clases y Gringos

Today was the first day of classes, sort of. On Wednesdays I only have 2 hours of class, and after standing in front of our first class for 15 minutes, another faculty member came out to tell us that our professor is actually in Guayaquil until Friday so we don’t have class till Monday. With 50% of my day cancelled, I only had “Programa de Investigacción del Campo” today. This is the class that K College creates so we can get credit for doing research projects down here. It’s just the 8 K students in the ecology program, so that, in addition to my almost entirely international student Tropical Rainforest class lead to a very gringo-filled day. Still haven’t really met many Ecuadorians much, but tomorrow…. maybe? All my classes (Spanish, Volcanology, and Human Ecology) are pretty gringo-filled, although I am taking an art class in hopes of meeting some Ecuadorians that way.

We were warned ahead of time that it’s difficult to make friends with many of the Ecuadorians, since they’re pretty cliquey and it’s hard to enter, especially as a gringo. We were also warned, that as ecology students it would also be hard since we only have 2 electives outside of our 4 required classes.

On USFQ: It looks and feels like a country club. I know we were also warned about this ahead of time, but it’s true. It actually kind of reminds me, in a way, of Punahou, and how many of the students have lots of money and put much of their ego into their appearance (clothes and otherwise). It’s a very different environment than K, were most students wear fleeces and have nalgenes (not to say that K kids are all hippy environmentalists, although that would be awesome…, but simply that I get the sentiment that it’s a lot more relaxed in terms of appearance and status). Or maybe I’m oblivious to it at college, I’m not sure. In any case, there’s definitely a different vibe coming off the students, both Ecuadorians and gringos alike. At the international student party last night, there was definitely the vibe of some sort of pressure. Last Saturday, all of the K kids went out together (with a few Ecuadorian friends too) and we had a great time just hanging at the bar and dancing at the discoteque. At the party last night (which was gringo-landia for sure), there was almost a “stiff” feeling to the energy being emitted. It was interesting. Also interesting was that I once again felt very small compared to the very large, much older looking Caucasians that dominated the majority. After being in Quito for only one week, it was actually difficult for me to speak in English and be in the company of very white, very American students who are all much larger than I am. These are many of the same sentiments I felt when I first arrived at K for LandSea. After only week, I’m already feeling these things, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes after being here for longer.

Regardless, I am very excited to have something to do, like school, and to be able to be learning again, especially about super cool things like biodiversity in Ecuador, of all places! Although it reminds me a lot of home (lots of hibiscus, eucalyptus, and other flowers and trees, little birds that look like our java sparrows, and a larger bird that I think is some sort of myna…), there are still tons of things I don’t recognize. The fruit, for one, is very different. Have you ever heard of a guyanaba? I haven’t. Or tree tomatoes? I had it as a juice for breakfast this morning, and it kind of tastes like raw guava or not quite ripe strawberry guavas. Although guayana is guava, so that’s familiar, as well as Lilikois, although they have a Spanish name I can’t remember. We also have some of the hugest plantains/bananas I’ve ever seen too.

All in all, Ecuador has been a broad mix of things very familiar to Hawaii due to their tropical similarities, yet completely different from the United States as a still developing world.