Wow, I realized last week that I have not met one other Jew here in Quito. I know there is a Jewish population, but I don't know where or how to get there. I looked up the Jewish Center and Chabad, and emailed them, but they have not responded.
I did see a guy in an Israeli army sweatshirt on campus, and I wish I stopped and talked to him, but I didn't. I randomly met some Ecuadorian Jews, but only for a minute, and they said there are very few Jews here.
Now, the other night, I called a Taxi to go to my friend Ben's house. I told them my building, but they got confused and were waiting on the corner for a while I guess. When I found him, he was not happy, and said alright, lets go! It was awkward at first, until I saw some that caught my eye in the front of the car. It was a little card or something that had a Jewish star and some hebrew on it. I got really excited, and didn't care that we couldn't find the house. I asked him if he was Jewish, and he was quiet. I asked again and he softly said yes and nodded his head. I think he was afraid to say it. I said that I am, and recognized his hebrew in front.
Instantly, he got really excited and started asking me if I had been to the Jewish Center yet then started talking in hebrew. I told him I only knew a little hebrew, and he said that I should take his number for future Taxi rides. He then turned out hebrew music and asked if I knew it. When we finally found Ben's house, he came out to get me, only to find the Taxi driver chatting up a storm with me about Jewish stuff. When I asked him how much I owed him, he said two, but in Hebrew, not Spanish. He was so happy I was another Jew, and he told me his name was Eduardo and to call him with any questions about Jewish life here.
It was very funny, and made me really excited. I hadn't realized how excited I was to meet other Jews.
I mean, "wherever you go, there's always someone Jewish..." really holds true, even in a Latin American country.
Adventures in the Amazon Rainforest, the Galapagos Islands, the Andes Mountains, and all over Ecuador!
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
El Pahuma
This past weekend was the first trip we took. We went to the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve where we learned how to identify plant familes, birdwatched, went frogging, hiked up a mountain, and stayed in a cloud.
On the way there, we visited the monument that marks the equator. We were running back and forth between the Northern and Southern hemisphere, at one point, I was in both!
Turns out, the marker everyone takes photos by is off, and not really on the equator.
My two professors, Joe and Catherine, were driving by this place about eight years ago, and saw the giant waterfall, so they decided to enter. It turned out that the reserve owned by a family who did not know what to do with the land. The Ecuadorian government was putting landowners in a position where they could really only cut down trees for wood, however, Catherine and Joe saw it as a wonderful place for conservation. CEIBA helped turn the reserve into a family run business for tourists and natives to come hike. It is an amazing area for bird watching and an amazing area for pretty much anything bio. The orchids and giant waterfall are the main reasons it is such a great attraction.
CEIBA has eased off the family so that they can become independent. They have a lot of family members living at the reserve, and I had a lot of fun playing with one of the kids. He name is Carolina, and she is 9 years old. She did not speak any English, so when she talked to me, I would look at our TAs to translate. She was soooo cute and knowledgeable about the area. She was not afraid to touch a weird plant, or pick up a bug and let it crawl on her. It must be amazing to grow up on a reserve, but I don't know if I would want to stay there my whole life. That is the problem with family run reserves;sometimes family does not want to stay there forever. It is a tough situation.
When we were hanging out around the fire, I taught her Head, Shoulders, Knees and toes so she could learn some English. I learned it in Spanish, and the next day, she taught it to her little cousin. I have a video of it:
Carolina was hanging on me telling me not to leave. I gave her candy and she was so excited. She also was fascinated by my mechanical pencil, so I gave that to her as well. It is funny that she knows all this information and has this entire mountain as her backyard, yet, she has never seen a mechanical pencil. That is one way I have seen people here living so differently.
It took me 2 hours to climb the mountain with lots of breaks. I was frustrated because I thought I was in shape, but I was one of the last people up to the top. Luckily, my friend Jas is also an asthmatic, so we went slowly together. For the Ecuadorians, it is a piece of cake, they do it in a half hour. Part of it was the altitude, but the other part was the fact that I have such short legs and was carrying a heavy backpack- the climb was the best workout I've had all year. We stayed in the Montane Forest that night which is so high, its in a cloud. It is really amazing! We also walked the trails that previous pirates and bootleggers had once walked on the top of the mountains. The paths were used so much, that their horses' weight caused the paths to sink.
On the way down the mountain, it was raining. The other group had to climb up the mountain, but my group climbed down it. The entire trail was a mudslide, so I decided to just slide down on my butt. I had Carolina get me a trash bag to slide on, but it ripped open the second I fell the first time. I collected a lot of mud, and made the trail a bit harder for anyone trying to go up. It was like a water slide- just not so safe. When I would try to walk, I'd slip and fall, so it was very hard with a heavy backpack.My professor had to help me down because I was so unstable. I literally was covered in mud when I got to the bottom. Again, I was the last, and the dirtiest person, but I had made it up and down the entire mountain, so I felt very accomplished!
Down in the garden, we learned plant families, and took a smaller hike to a giant waterfall. It was very beautiful, and I almost got in, but the water was FREEZING cold, so I just went part way in.
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These 2 images were caught through my binoculars!
On the way there, we visited the monument that marks the equator. We were running back and forth between the Northern and Southern hemisphere, at one point, I was in both!
Turns out, the marker everyone takes photos by is off, and not really on the equator.
My group, half in the Northern Hemisphere, and half in the Southern |
My two professors, Joe and Catherine, were driving by this place about eight years ago, and saw the giant waterfall, so they decided to enter. It turned out that the reserve owned by a family who did not know what to do with the land. The Ecuadorian government was putting landowners in a position where they could really only cut down trees for wood, however, Catherine and Joe saw it as a wonderful place for conservation. CEIBA helped turn the reserve into a family run business for tourists and natives to come hike. It is an amazing area for bird watching and an amazing area for pretty much anything bio. The orchids and giant waterfall are the main reasons it is such a great attraction.
CEIBA has eased off the family so that they can become independent. They have a lot of family members living at the reserve, and I had a lot of fun playing with one of the kids. He name is Carolina, and she is 9 years old. She did not speak any English, so when she talked to me, I would look at our TAs to translate. She was soooo cute and knowledgeable about the area. She was not afraid to touch a weird plant, or pick up a bug and let it crawl on her. It must be amazing to grow up on a reserve, but I don't know if I would want to stay there my whole life. That is the problem with family run reserves;sometimes family does not want to stay there forever. It is a tough situation.
When we were hanging out around the fire, I taught her Head, Shoulders, Knees and toes so she could learn some English. I learned it in Spanish, and the next day, she taught it to her little cousin. I have a video of it:
Carolina and I pretending to be Monkeys |
Professor with a stickbug on her face |
Cock-of-the-Rock Bird |
On the way down the mountain, it was raining. The other group had to climb up the mountain, but my group climbed down it. The entire trail was a mudslide, so I decided to just slide down on my butt. I had Carolina get me a trash bag to slide on, but it ripped open the second I fell the first time. I collected a lot of mud, and made the trail a bit harder for anyone trying to go up. It was like a water slide- just not so safe. When I would try to walk, I'd slip and fall, so it was very hard with a heavy backpack.My professor had to help me down because I was so unstable. I literally was covered in mud when I got to the bottom. Again, I was the last, and the dirtiest person, but I had made it up and down the entire mountain, so I felt very accomplished!
Trashbag/Mudslide Shorts |
Down in the garden, we learned plant families, and took a smaller hike to a giant waterfall. It was very beautiful, and I almost got in, but the water was FREEZING cold, so I just went part way in.
Sangre de Drago (Blood of the Dragon) used for cuts, scrapes, burns, ulcurs- Actually looks like blood! |
There are many spiders, here was a good one! |
These 2 images were caught through my binoculars!
Giant and Abundant |
Monday, January 17, 2011
Otavalo
Yesterday, a big group of us decided to take the bus to a town about 2 hours away. We got up at 6am, and Grace and I took the bus to our friends. We met up with Amanda and Sarah and took a Taxi to terminal Norte. from there, a bunch of us took the bus to Otavalo. Otovalo is a town of indegenoius people that make their money off of mostly tourists and selling art, jewelry, clothing, bags, etc at a giant marketplace. It was wonderful, but so sad to see all of the horrible health conditions. The indigenous people are the shortest people I have ever seen. The little kids were adorable, and there were a lot of older women. I've never felt so tall in my life.
Everywhere we went, there was fresh fruit, veggies, meat, and fish.
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Grace and I at the markets |
so many stray dogs that go through the trash for food |
Everywhere we went, there was fresh fruit, veggies, meat, and fish.
Grace got one dread in her hair from a guy named Roberto who is a nomad traveling around with jewelry he makes. It made me miss my old dread! |
spices |
We loved this meat guy! |
trying on necklaces |
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Gardens in the Park
On Friday, we had the day off. Our program heads Joe and Catherine took us to the Botanical Gardens in the middle of the Parque De Carolina, which is in the middle of the city of Quito. We learned about a lot of the varieties of plants and got to see them all.
Giant Banana Flower |
My favorite plant! Its called chicks and hens and looks like a rose but is a cactus type plant. |
This looks like it's taken underwater, but its on land |
Giant Leaf the size of me |
Catherine explaining plants |
My Program |
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