Hello hello
This may seem rather random - today, my bracelet from Tanzania, from 2010, broke on the way to uni. Unfortunately, tiny beads on a road with lots of cracks does not end well and I only managed to salvage a few beads. And I found myself realising how deflated I was that it broke. But, it was just a bracelet right?
This particular bracelet was made by a Masai woman in Ndarakwai, a small reserve I visited in Tazania. I helped her put the last beads on it, before she put it around my arm. Since that day, it has never left my wrist, save for one or two formal occasions. I found myself rather frustrated that the loss of this would make me feel so upset, I mean, I shouldn't be putting such stock in material possessions - at the end of the day, physical belongings fade away, but faith and your soul remain. But, on the other hand, I guess I am just so used to seeing it on my wrist, as a reminder of the amazing time I had in Tanzania. And as silly as it sounds, it almost felt as though I had lost a connection, watching these beads bounce along the ground and disappear. So why do we put such stock in some of our material possessions? Well, it's the sentiment. I think at times, we realise how fickle our minds can be, and so we look to those possessions that can bring back our memories. Remind us of things past. I know for me, this bracelet was always a constant reminder of that trip, of the amazing experiences I had, of the personal growth I received, and of the amazing and blessed life I have. It reminded me of the lovely and kind woman that I had met, and that even though she spoke no English, and I no Maa, we managed to get a little across in our broken Swahili and share a smile and a laugh while stringing beads together. It reminded me to live each day to the fullest, to thank God always for what I had and to pray for others around me. It reminded me that life is precious and amazing, and that there are so many amazing people in this world. I know, it's a lot for one little bracelet to handle I guess.
At the end of the day, I will always have my memories of Tanzania. But I guess I had just really become attached to that constant reminder.
So you're probably sitting there wondering where on earth I am going with this....to be honest, not entirely sure. I guess it's more of an observation of the things we consider important in life. I try to not be a materialist person, as in the end, all fades away to dust and all that remains are our immortal souls. But I think it is ok to put sentiment and value behind possessions. And not because they are expensive, or really flashy - this bracelet was very simple and plain, it was not some prized piece of jewelry. But it had a story.
Random, I know.
God bless all.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Introduction to Tumblr
So, Erin has introduced me to the wonderful world of Tumblr, another blog site, but mostly re-blogging photos, quotations etc...and I can say, it is rather addictive!!!
I even created my own, feel free to check it out :) http://curiosities-and-inspirations.tumblr.com/
On another note, it is raining here today. I love the sound of rain! It's so lovely. Just having a really nice quiet afternoon, getting some sketching done and just generally loving life!
Hope you are all well, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing
God bless
I even created my own, feel free to check it out :) http://curiosities-and-inspirations.tumblr.com/
On another note, it is raining here today. I love the sound of rain! It's so lovely. Just having a really nice quiet afternoon, getting some sketching done and just generally loving life!
Hope you are all well, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing
God bless
Monday, March 4, 2013
Halfway marker
Unbelievable! Where is the time going? I cannot believe that today is the official halfway point of my exchange! I have completed 2 months, and only have two more months to go before I will be leaving Ecuador and off on another adventure, in the UK with my mum. I just cannot believe where the time is going?
The experience so far has been amazing. An opportunity to grow, and opportunity to make new and wonderful friends, to experience new things - it's just been amazing! I am so excited for what the coming months will bring!
Tomorrow we'll meet our new professor who we will have for the last two weeks of our third class. I am excited and nervous at the same time, as Judith, our previous professor for marine life and the first week of marine ecology was amazing, I really enjoyed her lectures. In 2 weeks, it will also be our 'spring break' where we have a week off. I am very excited for it, I intend on doing a bit of travel to the other islands - I would love to go to Isabela and Fernandina, Espanola and Floriana, so just looking into that now.
In other news, I had been sketching one afternoon when someone approached me and started talking to me. He introduced himself as Jimbo and said that he was a dive shop owner and was opening a new office. He then asked if I would be willing to paint a mural in his new office. So yesterday, I met with him and he showed me the new office - I am thoroughly excited!! It's all white and plain, so I have a complete blank canvas to work off - I cannot wait! I think I shall be starting this week, as he wants to open his new office in 15 days. Challenge accepted. I cannot believe I get to paint a mural though!! So excited!!
That's just a brief update from me :)
Hope you are all well out there in the cyber world, and loving life!
God bless
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
3 Weeks in the Galapagos
Sorry for the lack of blogging, we have been very busy here!! I have just completed my second subject, and begin my third subject tomorrow!! We have had so many amazing field trips; we have been out diving two times, snorkelling, and just generally having an amazing time! We've had lots of presentations, our research paper and all our field reports so I have been very busy doing all those and just generally loving my time in the Galapagos!!
I have really enjoyed this second subject, and am very excited to start our next one!! Life here is so amazing, even when busy, there is still a beautiful pace to everything here. Midday, expect to get very little done, as it is siesta time and most all of the places in the small town are closed! The people here are really lovely, and my Spanish, while still a bit shaky, is slowly improving. I think. Erin has been wonderful with helping me when I get stuck, as she is exceptionally good at Spanish. She is a brilliant roommate, and we have worked very well together on all the projects we have done.
Here are some photos of where I am now living and studying :D it is pretty amazing being here!!
Monday, February 11, 2013
Galapagos!!!
Ok, so I have been super busy and haven't had the time to blog, so just ridiculously quick recap from when I last left off - The second trip down to the coast was amazing, we got to spend a wonderful few days in Puerto Lopez, doing intertidal surveys and getting some diving in (though when we went out, if was pretty hectic, there was a ridiculous surge that basically tossed us all around like rag dolls, and then we had about 2 metres visibility, so definitely one of my more challenging dives haha!)
We returned to Quito/Cumbaya on the Wednesday morning, after driving through the night, and then had a few more days during which we finished a subject, packed up our lives on the mainland and had to say goodbye to our host families of 4 weeks. All of this, to head to...
THE GALAPAGOS!!!!
Sunday morning, we had to be at the university front gate at 4:30 in the morning. We were shipped off to the airport in a bus, and quickly put through all the security checks etc, grabbed out tickets and were suddenly on a plane to the Galapagos. It was all a bit of a blur for me, to be honest, as I was so tired, and slept most of the way.
Arriving here was amazing, we were taken to our university building, which quite literally is situated right across from a beach, which is also home to a small sea lion colony!!
We had a town introduction, as well as our GAIAS orientation, had a lovely lunch and then were picked up by our host families. Erin and I got to be put into a house together, and I am very excited to be roommates with her, she is pretty awesome! We get along very well, both two crazy marine biology students :P our host father, Antonio, drove us to his house, which is not far at all from the university, which will give us lovely walks to and from each day. We met our host mother, Denise, who is really sweet, and of course, they speak very little English, so this will really help to improve my Spanish (so long as I stop cheating in French).
Denise and Antonio showed us to our rooms and also provided us with an unexpected blessing - we have internet in our host home. We had fully prepared to not have much internet access except when at the university, which is not an issue at all - I had internet once a week during Tanzania, and really much preferred it, as I wasn't glued to a computer all the time. However, as this is university, internet is substantially useful when it comes to researching for presentations and for papers, so we were amazingly blessed to have access to wireless internet.
This entire last week, we have been at class, which has been amazing. Our professor is a marine mammal expert and so this class has more of a marine mammal focus, which is perfect for me!!! Our class has consisted of lectures, as well as time out in the field - it is wonderful that packing for a day at uni involves making sure all my snorkel gear is with me and that I have my togs on :) two times we have gone snorkeling after class, as part of our class, which has been wonderful!!
We have also been instructed to design a research project which we will carry out over the next 2 weeks, which I am exceptionally excited about!! I have partnered with Erin and we are looking at the feeding behaviour of sea turtles off two beaches, so we'll be snorkeling a lot!! And then we write a paper and give a presentation. I am so excited for it!!
Friday saw a slightly more interesting turn - a lot (and I mean a lot) of students from the program got very ill. our professor even got ill over the weekend!! We all had this very intense stomach bug, which could have been a number of things, from food poisoning to simply adjusting to the new food and bacteria in the area. Whatever it was, thankfully we are all ok, and I am feeling so much better. But Friday was pretty rough, and I spent most of Friday and Saturday being quite comatose and living in between my bed and the bathroom. It was rather reminiscent of Tanzania to be honest :P
So that's a quick update from me, I will try to upload some photos a bit later on another post, but for the moment, this is what has been happening in my life!!!
I shall try to update again soon!!
Cheers and God bless to all!!!
We returned to Quito/Cumbaya on the Wednesday morning, after driving through the night, and then had a few more days during which we finished a subject, packed up our lives on the mainland and had to say goodbye to our host families of 4 weeks. All of this, to head to...
THE GALAPAGOS!!!!
Sunday morning, we had to be at the university front gate at 4:30 in the morning. We were shipped off to the airport in a bus, and quickly put through all the security checks etc, grabbed out tickets and were suddenly on a plane to the Galapagos. It was all a bit of a blur for me, to be honest, as I was so tired, and slept most of the way.
Arriving here was amazing, we were taken to our university building, which quite literally is situated right across from a beach, which is also home to a small sea lion colony!!
We had a town introduction, as well as our GAIAS orientation, had a lovely lunch and then were picked up by our host families. Erin and I got to be put into a house together, and I am very excited to be roommates with her, she is pretty awesome! We get along very well, both two crazy marine biology students :P our host father, Antonio, drove us to his house, which is not far at all from the university, which will give us lovely walks to and from each day. We met our host mother, Denise, who is really sweet, and of course, they speak very little English, so this will really help to improve my Spanish (so long as I stop cheating in French).
Denise and Antonio showed us to our rooms and also provided us with an unexpected blessing - we have internet in our host home. We had fully prepared to not have much internet access except when at the university, which is not an issue at all - I had internet once a week during Tanzania, and really much preferred it, as I wasn't glued to a computer all the time. However, as this is university, internet is substantially useful when it comes to researching for presentations and for papers, so we were amazingly blessed to have access to wireless internet.
This entire last week, we have been at class, which has been amazing. Our professor is a marine mammal expert and so this class has more of a marine mammal focus, which is perfect for me!!! Our class has consisted of lectures, as well as time out in the field - it is wonderful that packing for a day at uni involves making sure all my snorkel gear is with me and that I have my togs on :) two times we have gone snorkeling after class, as part of our class, which has been wonderful!!
We have also been instructed to design a research project which we will carry out over the next 2 weeks, which I am exceptionally excited about!! I have partnered with Erin and we are looking at the feeding behaviour of sea turtles off two beaches, so we'll be snorkeling a lot!! And then we write a paper and give a presentation. I am so excited for it!!
Friday saw a slightly more interesting turn - a lot (and I mean a lot) of students from the program got very ill. our professor even got ill over the weekend!! We all had this very intense stomach bug, which could have been a number of things, from food poisoning to simply adjusting to the new food and bacteria in the area. Whatever it was, thankfully we are all ok, and I am feeling so much better. But Friday was pretty rough, and I spent most of Friday and Saturday being quite comatose and living in between my bed and the bathroom. It was rather reminiscent of Tanzania to be honest :P
So that's a quick update from me, I will try to upload some photos a bit later on another post, but for the moment, this is what has been happening in my life!!!
I shall try to update again soon!!
Cheers and God bless to all!!!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Tiputini and the Amazon
The Friday after returning from our field trip, we embarked on an amazing adventure into the Amazon! We were so blessed to be able to take this trip as we did not know if it would end up happening. But it did and I am so unbelievably blessed to have gone on it!
We were up at 5 am to go to the airport for a 5:45 meet. Our flight was at 7am, so once we were all through security we waited patiently. We jumped on a bus that took us over to our plane. Our flight was 30 minutes and took us to the city of Coca. Now I should mention that prior to leaving, we were given a fairly hefty set of instructions, part of which stressed the danger of Coca and that once we arrived at the hotel on the river, from where we would be taking our boat, we were not to leave under any circumstances. And that was bolded too! We were quite comfortable waiting for our boat, though the humidity was certainly becoming more noticeable! Once our boat arrived, we hopped on and travelled for nearly 2 hours along the Napo River. We arrived in a place called Pumpeye, where we had to pass through an oil checkpoint (as apparently they 'own' the road - I thought it was a bit suspicious that they should have their own checkpoint but hmm). After passing through their security screens, we hopped onto a modified truck and drove for 2 hours to the Tiputini River, where we were met with another boat. From there, we travelled for just over 2 hours and arrived at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. This place is LITERALLY in the middle of the jungle! There are no roads - you get here by boat only! It is incredible!
Once we had found our cabins, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon exploring the station, looking at the lab and checking out the library - and naturally, sweating a lot!! It is pretty humid in the middle of the jungle!! We had dinner at 7pm and then broke into groups and went out for a night hike! Which was really wonderful - except for coming face to face with my greatest fear - spiders! And let me tell you, spiders in the Amazon are not like normal spiders. Basically this is what happens when nightmares form into reality!! They are absolutely terrifying!!
But after crying, hyperventilating and generally being petrified, I did manage to finish the night hike and walk within mere metres of these......creepy creepy animals....seriously, this has to be the creepiest animal God ever made!!!
The next morning we hiked through the jungle, enjoying the sights and sounds on our way to a lake. We had many stops, where we would dash into the jungle following a troop of monkeys. We saw Spider monkeys and enjoyed the sounds of the many birds. We arrived at a small lake where we were exceptionally fortunate to see an anaconda in the water! It looked as though he had fed and had curled up in the water, under a tree in order to digest in peace. We also saw many huoatzin birds and a caiman! it was fantastic! We hiked back to the Tiputini River and were picked up by a boat and taken back to the station for lunch. After lunch, we headed out again, this time to the Canopy walkway, which is right up in the canopy of the forest. And I hiked up a fairly precariously looking ladder to the very top to this platform, from where I could see the entire jungle. it was breathtaking! And while it was raining, there was absolutely nothing that could dampen my spirits! It was amazing to watch the wall of rain coming towards me and when it hit, it was quite refreshing. We enjoyed hanging around and walking across the numerous bridges through the canopy for nearly 2 hours before we descended down and raced back to the station to watch the sunset over the river. And what a sunset it was!!!
That night we had a great presentation from the director of the station, who showed us his research with the camera traps. The photos they had were amazing and it was a great night!!. The next morning, we woke very early as we were heading to the canopy tower that morning, and we decided to leave to be there for sunrise. While cloudy, it was so beautiful watching the mist over the top of the forest!!! Absolutely breathtaking!! We stayed up in that tree for over 3 hours!!!
From the canopy tower, we were able to see many birds and a distant troop of woolly monkeys, which we then set off to find! It was great fun running through the jungle. We finally found them and I must say, I now have so much more respect for wildlife photographers - I have always respected their work and thought they were amazing and thought how much I would love to do it! But I can tell you, it is hard!!!!!
We finished up in the jungle and headed back to the station for lunch, and then after headed off on a boat to travel up river for a look and then a swim in the river. Yes, I have officially swum in a river in the Amazon. And it was pretty awesome :)
That night, we went out on the boat and looked for caimans, which we saw many, and also caught a brief glimpse of a capybara!!
The next morning was sadly time for us to leave. Our time was definitely too brief. I lay in bed the night before thinking just how much I would love to do this, to be out in the jungle. I met some amazing people who had been out there for months and months. It is a simple and wonderful life!! I would be exceptionally keen to return as a volunteer or as a field assistant and am seriously considering it!
We returned via the same route we had taken to come out to the station and eventually found ourselves back in Coca - where I had a close encounter of the primate kind!
A small squirrel monkey decided my back was the best place to come and hang out, and proceeded to gnaw on my back and on the back of my neck. Thankfully it was only play biting, and I saw no drawn blood so I am all good. Besides, I have my rabies shots anyway. It was just such a funny experience!!! He was a very cheeky little monkey!!!
Then all too soon, we were back in the city, which was really nice as I hadn't really seen my host family for quite some time. But I really missed the jungle! I missed running after monkeys and bush-bashing my way through the jungle!
But there are always more adventures to be had. I cannot believe that today, I will have been here for 3 weeks - and the things I have done so far. I am so blessed to be here and thank God for every day I am able to be here and enjoy this incredible experience. And to my wonderful and always supportive family :) I could never do anything without them!
Now that we have been back at uni for a few days, we have had a chance to get some uni work done, and had a presentation today and have a test tomorrow. Then on Saturday we head off down to the Southern coast of Ecuador for our second dive trip. I am very very excited!!!!
Until next time!!!
God bless to you all and remember that life itself is an adventure :) every day of being alive is an incredible blessing and miracle! Make every day an amazing memory!!
We were up at 5 am to go to the airport for a 5:45 meet. Our flight was at 7am, so once we were all through security we waited patiently. We jumped on a bus that took us over to our plane. Our flight was 30 minutes and took us to the city of Coca. Now I should mention that prior to leaving, we were given a fairly hefty set of instructions, part of which stressed the danger of Coca and that once we arrived at the hotel on the river, from where we would be taking our boat, we were not to leave under any circumstances. And that was bolded too! We were quite comfortable waiting for our boat, though the humidity was certainly becoming more noticeable! Once our boat arrived, we hopped on and travelled for nearly 2 hours along the Napo River. We arrived in a place called Pumpeye, where we had to pass through an oil checkpoint (as apparently they 'own' the road - I thought it was a bit suspicious that they should have their own checkpoint but hmm). After passing through their security screens, we hopped onto a modified truck and drove for 2 hours to the Tiputini River, where we were met with another boat. From there, we travelled for just over 2 hours and arrived at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. This place is LITERALLY in the middle of the jungle! There are no roads - you get here by boat only! It is incredible!
Once we had found our cabins, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon exploring the station, looking at the lab and checking out the library - and naturally, sweating a lot!! It is pretty humid in the middle of the jungle!! We had dinner at 7pm and then broke into groups and went out for a night hike! Which was really wonderful - except for coming face to face with my greatest fear - spiders! And let me tell you, spiders in the Amazon are not like normal spiders. Basically this is what happens when nightmares form into reality!! They are absolutely terrifying!!
But after crying, hyperventilating and generally being petrified, I did manage to finish the night hike and walk within mere metres of these......creepy creepy animals....seriously, this has to be the creepiest animal God ever made!!!
The next morning we hiked through the jungle, enjoying the sights and sounds on our way to a lake. We had many stops, where we would dash into the jungle following a troop of monkeys. We saw Spider monkeys and enjoyed the sounds of the many birds. We arrived at a small lake where we were exceptionally fortunate to see an anaconda in the water! It looked as though he had fed and had curled up in the water, under a tree in order to digest in peace. We also saw many huoatzin birds and a caiman! it was fantastic! We hiked back to the Tiputini River and were picked up by a boat and taken back to the station for lunch. After lunch, we headed out again, this time to the Canopy walkway, which is right up in the canopy of the forest. And I hiked up a fairly precariously looking ladder to the very top to this platform, from where I could see the entire jungle. it was breathtaking! And while it was raining, there was absolutely nothing that could dampen my spirits! It was amazing to watch the wall of rain coming towards me and when it hit, it was quite refreshing. We enjoyed hanging around and walking across the numerous bridges through the canopy for nearly 2 hours before we descended down and raced back to the station to watch the sunset over the river. And what a sunset it was!!!
That night we had a great presentation from the director of the station, who showed us his research with the camera traps. The photos they had were amazing and it was a great night!!. The next morning, we woke very early as we were heading to the canopy tower that morning, and we decided to leave to be there for sunrise. While cloudy, it was so beautiful watching the mist over the top of the forest!!! Absolutely breathtaking!! We stayed up in that tree for over 3 hours!!!
From the canopy tower, we were able to see many birds and a distant troop of woolly monkeys, which we then set off to find! It was great fun running through the jungle. We finally found them and I must say, I now have so much more respect for wildlife photographers - I have always respected their work and thought they were amazing and thought how much I would love to do it! But I can tell you, it is hard!!!!!
We finished up in the jungle and headed back to the station for lunch, and then after headed off on a boat to travel up river for a look and then a swim in the river. Yes, I have officially swum in a river in the Amazon. And it was pretty awesome :)
That night, we went out on the boat and looked for caimans, which we saw many, and also caught a brief glimpse of a capybara!!
The next morning was sadly time for us to leave. Our time was definitely too brief. I lay in bed the night before thinking just how much I would love to do this, to be out in the jungle. I met some amazing people who had been out there for months and months. It is a simple and wonderful life!! I would be exceptionally keen to return as a volunteer or as a field assistant and am seriously considering it!
We returned via the same route we had taken to come out to the station and eventually found ourselves back in Coca - where I had a close encounter of the primate kind!
A small squirrel monkey decided my back was the best place to come and hang out, and proceeded to gnaw on my back and on the back of my neck. Thankfully it was only play biting, and I saw no drawn blood so I am all good. Besides, I have my rabies shots anyway. It was just such a funny experience!!! He was a very cheeky little monkey!!!
Then all too soon, we were back in the city, which was really nice as I hadn't really seen my host family for quite some time. But I really missed the jungle! I missed running after monkeys and bush-bashing my way through the jungle!
But there are always more adventures to be had. I cannot believe that today, I will have been here for 3 weeks - and the things I have done so far. I am so blessed to be here and thank God for every day I am able to be here and enjoy this incredible experience. And to my wonderful and always supportive family :) I could never do anything without them!
Now that we have been back at uni for a few days, we have had a chance to get some uni work done, and had a presentation today and have a test tomorrow. Then on Saturday we head off down to the Southern coast of Ecuador for our second dive trip. I am very very excited!!!!
Until next time!!!
God bless to you all and remember that life itself is an adventure :) every day of being alive is an incredible blessing and miracle! Make every day an amazing memory!!
Field Trip 1
Sorry, I know it's a smidge late, but I have been super busy!!!
So this will only be a brief outline :)
Monday 14th, we headed off on our first field trip, leaving our highland homes in the Andes to descend back down to sea level. We had had a bit of a kerfuffle that morning trying to get our passports back from the foreigners office, as once in the country you are required to go and register your visa - it's all rather tedious but a necessity if you want to stay in the country - which I most certainly do!
So we headed off after all of that kerfuffle at around 10 am. We arrived in Playa Escondida at around 7pm, it was a pretty long trip! But we had a few stops for snacks, food, and loo facilities, as well as petrol. The country here is so beautiful! I love driving through it and seeing this amazing landscape!!
Tuesday we put together out quadrats and field kits, and had a short briefing before waiting for the tide to go out enough for us to begin our surveys. I started out with Taylah to hunt for whelks, which we then weighed and measured. We had only been going about 45 minutes when the weather decided to turn on us. But we didn't mind :) it was great to be out in the field. We sampled whelks for a couple of hours, before the rain really started to take its toll on the scales, and they began to malfunction. So we retreated back to the hotel, where we put our data into the computer and dried off. We had a great afternoon chilling on the beach which was topped off by the appearance of a boa constrictor - naturally all the Aussies jumped right in and with Daniel's assistance (he's one of our tutors) we caught the boa. He wasn't overly please about that, but we all enjoyed having a good look. We then returned him to the other end of the beach where he promptly hopped into the water of a small pool and disappeared. I think I could even hear him grumbling as he left. Admittedly, if some random was to come and grab me, I think I may be slightly disgruntled as well!
Wednesday we headed to another beach to complete another set of surveys, this time being on transect lines and quadrats. We had a good group and got through it all quickly, and then chilled on the beach for a while. We had an interesting encounter with the local fisherman, as they had caught a green sea turtle. They removed the fins, the heart and some of the belly meat before tossing the remains back into the water. It was interesting to talk with the fisherman and to learn about how they lived their lives and what they fished and how often. But it was rather brutal to see the turtle.
Thursday we packed up and jumped on the bus, returning to our mountain lairs back in Cumbaya. It was a wonderful first field trip, and I am thoroughly looking forward to our second one!!
So this will only be a brief outline :)
Monday 14th, we headed off on our first field trip, leaving our highland homes in the Andes to descend back down to sea level. We had had a bit of a kerfuffle that morning trying to get our passports back from the foreigners office, as once in the country you are required to go and register your visa - it's all rather tedious but a necessity if you want to stay in the country - which I most certainly do!
So we headed off after all of that kerfuffle at around 10 am. We arrived in Playa Escondida at around 7pm, it was a pretty long trip! But we had a few stops for snacks, food, and loo facilities, as well as petrol. The country here is so beautiful! I love driving through it and seeing this amazing landscape!!
Tuesday we put together out quadrats and field kits, and had a short briefing before waiting for the tide to go out enough for us to begin our surveys. I started out with Taylah to hunt for whelks, which we then weighed and measured. We had only been going about 45 minutes when the weather decided to turn on us. But we didn't mind :) it was great to be out in the field. We sampled whelks for a couple of hours, before the rain really started to take its toll on the scales, and they began to malfunction. So we retreated back to the hotel, where we put our data into the computer and dried off. We had a great afternoon chilling on the beach which was topped off by the appearance of a boa constrictor - naturally all the Aussies jumped right in and with Daniel's assistance (he's one of our tutors) we caught the boa. He wasn't overly please about that, but we all enjoyed having a good look. We then returned him to the other end of the beach where he promptly hopped into the water of a small pool and disappeared. I think I could even hear him grumbling as he left. Admittedly, if some random was to come and grab me, I think I may be slightly disgruntled as well!
Wednesday we headed to another beach to complete another set of surveys, this time being on transect lines and quadrats. We had a good group and got through it all quickly, and then chilled on the beach for a while. We had an interesting encounter with the local fisherman, as they had caught a green sea turtle. They removed the fins, the heart and some of the belly meat before tossing the remains back into the water. It was interesting to talk with the fisherman and to learn about how they lived their lives and what they fished and how often. But it was rather brutal to see the turtle.
Thursday we packed up and jumped on the bus, returning to our mountain lairs back in Cumbaya. It was a wonderful first field trip, and I am thoroughly looking forward to our second one!!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Banos
So, after a short week of class and orientation, we decided to head off for the weekend to a lovely small valley called Banos. Unfortunately, from Friday, my stomach had decided to revolt against me. My stomach had been quite uneasy and unsettled for Friday and very early Saturday morning saw even worse results from my upset stomach. I was very prepared not to head off to Banos and had all but decided not to go - the taxi had gone. But I decided I didn't want to miss out, and so at the very last minute I picked up my previously packed bags and jumped in the cab. It was a good drive to the bus station and then a 3.5 hour bus ride from Quito to Banos. It went very slowly for me, with my stomach performing various gymnastic routines. but it was a good time for some reflection on some of the things I have seen so far
Ecuador is a truly beautiful place, there is a lot of cultural pride as well as a lot of shame from some people, with many people apparently preferring to refer to themselves as white, or as a mix. They are a welcoming and inviting people, who have a passion for life. While some areas remind me often of Tanzania, the same sort of beautiful spirit exists in these people. They are pushing forward for excellence, their cities have beautiful parks and wonderful areas for recreation. Of course, there are the darker sides as our security officer discussed in great length during our orientation, but I could very easily be mugged and robbed in Sydney. You just have to keep your wits about you and be savvy. I love living in a country that has not fully embraced the English language. As difficult as it is for me fumbling in broken Spanglish with some people, I love that there is not this overriding need to have English. In Tanzania, the only way someone could hope for a good job was if they spoke very good English. In fact there were some people there who I had met on the street who spoke better English than I do sometimes. I love having my Spanish conversations with my host parents. And while I still have a lot to learn, I am so eager to become a more fluent speaker so I can better communicate with other people here. After all, this is their country, it is not for me to come here and expect them to speak my language. I love the challenge :D and the opportunity to broaden my language skills.
So, back to the trip to Banos. We arrive in Banos, stomach is in the middle of a bar work routine but Banos is stunning! A friend of Taylah's met us and took us to our hostel, which had a beautiful view of the valley and of a waterfall. We then went off to lunch where I nibbled at the food and enjoyed the good company of our large group. That afternoon we split off into our different activities, and I, naturally, chose riding. While the horses were on the skinny side and not as healthy as I would usually like to see, were sometimes handled a little rougher than what I am used to and had rather harsh bits, they were very sweet and had kind eyes and I could tell that their owner was quite fond of them. They had good pasture to graze on. My horse was named Gringo, which I found to be quite ironic. He was the horse of the guide who took us on our trip. The trip was realy lovely - Gringo had a very soft mouth, so I was very content to just sit back and let him be as he was, as I knew he was confident with the path. We travelled through the towns and up the side onto a small road leading into the farmland areas. We stopped to have a look around and then returned to the stables. After our ride, we wandered through the markets, eventually making our way back to the hostel to head out and find some dinner. And the most wonderful thing had happened while returning to our hostel - without any warning, and no gradual decrease, the nausea and pain in my stomach simply vanished. It was wonderful to have it all finished.
Later that evening, we chilled at the hostel for a while, then headed out to a bar where we did a bit of salsa dancing. It's definitely a different experience to back here in Australia. The people here actually dance, rather than what is often done back in Australia, which simply looks like jumping around.
The next morning, we woke to have breakfast, and another wander around the town. I found a lovely passenger as we were walking around - a little butterfly had decided to hitch a ride on my leg, so i moved him to my shoulder, where he sat quite pleasantly for about 15 minutes before he seemed to gather his strength and head off again. We checked out of our hostel and grabbed some lunch before heading back to Quito on the bus. That afternoon, we came home and were greeted by our host family, and had a lovely catch up over dinner before we headed off to pack for our field trip the next day.
Ecuador is a truly beautiful place, there is a lot of cultural pride as well as a lot of shame from some people, with many people apparently preferring to refer to themselves as white, or as a mix. They are a welcoming and inviting people, who have a passion for life. While some areas remind me often of Tanzania, the same sort of beautiful spirit exists in these people. They are pushing forward for excellence, their cities have beautiful parks and wonderful areas for recreation. Of course, there are the darker sides as our security officer discussed in great length during our orientation, but I could very easily be mugged and robbed in Sydney. You just have to keep your wits about you and be savvy. I love living in a country that has not fully embraced the English language. As difficult as it is for me fumbling in broken Spanglish with some people, I love that there is not this overriding need to have English. In Tanzania, the only way someone could hope for a good job was if they spoke very good English. In fact there were some people there who I had met on the street who spoke better English than I do sometimes. I love having my Spanish conversations with my host parents. And while I still have a lot to learn, I am so eager to become a more fluent speaker so I can better communicate with other people here. After all, this is their country, it is not for me to come here and expect them to speak my language. I love the challenge :D and the opportunity to broaden my language skills.
So, back to the trip to Banos. We arrive in Banos, stomach is in the middle of a bar work routine but Banos is stunning! A friend of Taylah's met us and took us to our hostel, which had a beautiful view of the valley and of a waterfall. We then went off to lunch where I nibbled at the food and enjoyed the good company of our large group. That afternoon we split off into our different activities, and I, naturally, chose riding. While the horses were on the skinny side and not as healthy as I would usually like to see, were sometimes handled a little rougher than what I am used to and had rather harsh bits, they were very sweet and had kind eyes and I could tell that their owner was quite fond of them. They had good pasture to graze on. My horse was named Gringo, which I found to be quite ironic. He was the horse of the guide who took us on our trip. The trip was realy lovely - Gringo had a very soft mouth, so I was very content to just sit back and let him be as he was, as I knew he was confident with the path. We travelled through the towns and up the side onto a small road leading into the farmland areas. We stopped to have a look around and then returned to the stables. After our ride, we wandered through the markets, eventually making our way back to the hostel to head out and find some dinner. And the most wonderful thing had happened while returning to our hostel - without any warning, and no gradual decrease, the nausea and pain in my stomach simply vanished. It was wonderful to have it all finished.
Later that evening, we chilled at the hostel for a while, then headed out to a bar where we did a bit of salsa dancing. It's definitely a different experience to back here in Australia. The people here actually dance, rather than what is often done back in Australia, which simply looks like jumping around.
The next morning, we woke to have breakfast, and another wander around the town. I found a lovely passenger as we were walking around - a little butterfly had decided to hitch a ride on my leg, so i moved him to my shoulder, where he sat quite pleasantly for about 15 minutes before he seemed to gather his strength and head off again. We checked out of our hostel and grabbed some lunch before heading back to Quito on the bus. That afternoon, we came home and were greeted by our host family, and had a lovely catch up over dinner before we headed off to pack for our field trip the next day.
Orientation and class
Well, Monday and Tuesday of last week were our orientation days. Universidad San Francisco de Quito - USFQ. WOW!! All I can say is what a beautiful university! The campus is really lovely, the people are amazing and I have already settled here very well! The buildings are all named after famous scientists and other influential people - there is the Darwin building, the Newton building, and my personal favourite, the building in which all the GAIAS offices are located, Casa de tomate - the tomato house, as it is a red building :D We had the GAIAS program orientation on Monday which involved only the students involved in this program. We went over a lot of the logistics, met all the really important people, learnt all the really important information and all in all had a blast of a day! They took us on a city tour of Quito which I really enjoyed, as even though I had seen most of the places they had taken us, it was wonderful to meet all the new faces, and to get to know some of the people with whom I would be sharing this experience.
The Tuesday was the full international student orientation. With over 200 students, we were a formidable force making our way across the campus, and we had another day of inspiring, precautionary, safety and health talks and then adjourned for the day.
Wednesday through to Friday saw our first lectures, 1-4pm everyday, though all three days we were given very generous early marks. Naturally, we had no idea where our classes where being held and so enjoyed being led around to a few of the different places and can now confidently find our way :D
Our professor is a really lovely man and the policy at USFQ, much like at JCU, is that you do not speak with titles, but with first names, which I really really like :D
The Tuesday was the full international student orientation. With over 200 students, we were a formidable force making our way across the campus, and we had another day of inspiring, precautionary, safety and health talks and then adjourned for the day.
Wednesday through to Friday saw our first lectures, 1-4pm everyday, though all three days we were given very generous early marks. Naturally, we had no idea where our classes where being held and so enjoyed being led around to a few of the different places and can now confidently find our way :D
Our professor is a really lovely man and the policy at USFQ, much like at JCU, is that you do not speak with titles, but with first names, which I really really like :D
Apologies
Sorry for my lack of blogging for so long, we have been darting all over the place with uni and I haven't had a spare moment to site down and blog. So, for each of the major happenings in the last week, I will make a new post, so that there is not one massive and boring one. So, firstly, Orientation -
Monday, January 7, 2013
Buenos Noches!
Well, here I am again, my apologies for the delay in writing another post since the first one, upon arriving in Ecuador, Internet was tricky to get. My flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica was really lovely, I met a wonderful Colombian woman who sat across the aisle from me, who noticed me ready my Spanish dictionary and phrasebook and offered to help me. We traded words for about an hour, until we were too exhausted to continue. She was so lovely to help, and I am so grateful for the little tips she gave me.
After landing in Costa Rica, we hung around in the airport for about an hour before embarking on our final flight that would take us into Quito. After getting through immigrations and customs, Taylah and I parted ways, as her host family picked her up, and I headed off to my hostel, the Secret Garden. Quito reminded me, in parts, of Tanzania, and I was soaking up the atmosphere eagerly. It may have also been the fact that at 2800m above sea level, I was literally soaking up as much of the oxygen as I could. I arrived at the hostel, which was quaint and wonderful, but certainly a workout - Ecuadorian stairs are nearly as large, if not more so, than Tanzanian stairs!!! My legs are not that long! The reception sits at the top of 4 stories, on the terrace, so they really make you work for the check in - but the view from the terrace is certainly worth the effort!
As both my normal and travel sim failed to allow me to connect to a network in Ecuador, I set off to explore the streets in search of a sim card - Internet was down and so I needed some way to let everyone know I had arrived and was in fact still alive. Fumbling my way through with very poor Spanish, I finally came across a small store that looked promising - and turned out to be very promising as when remarking to the man that my Spanish was no es beuno, and that I sort of wished I was in a French speaking country, he proceeded to rattle off in French. I very gladly joined in, and so rather cheated on my first day, getting by with French. He set my phone up with one of the Ecuadorian network sims, and I was able to call home. Unfortunately, as it would turn out, that was all I could do - texting was not able to happen from this network. But that can come later.
So, extremely jet lagged as I was, and attempting to adjust to being at a high altitude, I settle in for the evening, only to find that 16 hours time difference really does throw your sleeping patterns. I managed to get a few hours between tossing and turning. In the morning, I was still exhausted, and woke to have breakfast, a quick chat with my mum and then returned to the cocoon of my room for some shut eye, as at that point, it was midnight at home - and boy, did my body know that! But prior to turning in, I met a lovely American woman who was leaving to go back home and she gave me her antibiotic ointment - long story short, I had a small wound alongside one of my fingernails, which while clean at home, had become infected and pussy along the trip - and of course, the only thing missing from my mobile pharmacy was antiseptic cream. So, I used the cream that this lady gave me, all hunky dorey, went to sleep - to be woken with Taylah and two new friends, Jordan and Ian at my door. Without Internet, I had not been able to tell Taylah I was safely at my hostel, and believing I was either out of Internet reach or dead, she came to the hostel to cllect me for a day of exploration. Rather groggily, I got dressed and we embarked on our quest, which took us to Parque la Carolina, the largest park in Quito, with and assortment of attractions. The first stop was the botanical gardens, which provided some remarkably beautiful specimens of flora, some even from Australia :) Afterwards, we headed over to El Jardin, the large shopping centre across from the park, to get lunch - boy was I in for a surprise! I had realised that Quito was more cosmopolitan than Moshi, and even Arusha and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania - but I was yet to realise just how much. Walking into El Jardin, I could have been walking into any large shopping centre in Australia - I was stunned! They even had pizza hut! and baskin robbins!!!! After picking my jaw up from the floor, we headed up to the food court, which was massive! I had a lasagna and salad.
After lunch, we returned to the park to visit the reptile house, which had some amazing snakes, including a large variety of vipers! And I got to cuddle a boa constrictor, who was very amiable.
Needless to say, exhausted, I returned to my hostel, and the others left for Cumbaya to return to their host home. Upon returning to my room, I took off my shirt - to find my entire right shoulder, all the way down to my elbow covered in a bright red rash - and I rather thought that was not good. Checking for bites, and realising I had none, I retraced my steps to what may have caused this reaction... and found myself looking at the tube of antibiotic cream. Sure enough, written in the directions was a warning that if allergic to the active ingredients, one may find a rash appear....hhmm.
So, more than likely setting a record for the earliest call to the International SOS that we have been subscribed to through the university, I called and requested some medical advice, which was readily given by a very nice doctor. Anyway, the rash cleared up over night, and the cream went away, after making a very bold note in my notebook of the active ingredients and highlighting the fact I had an allergic reaction to those ingredients. Not going there again!
Unfortunately, another rather sleepless and jet lagged night followed. The next morning (Saturday) I comically stumbled on the other Australian student who would be studying the marine biology track with me, and we introduced ourselves, had breakfast, and headed off to the shops to grab a few things, before meeting the others in the Historical Centre of Quito - which, in a word, is stunning!!! After a wonderful morning there, Merric and I returned to the hostel, stopping for lunch on the way, to wait for our host families. My host parents arrived first, and needless to say, they were amazing! Such lovely welcoming people. I am so blessed to be staying with them, and their son and his wife. They are all really lovely people, and I could not have asked for a kinder host family. They took me to their home and introduced me to where I would be spending the next month, fed me and showed me to my room, which is really lovely. Later that evening, my lovely American housemate Ashleigh arrived. I was so excited when we were all together, as I was a tad nervous that perhaps my host family, or my housemate, or even all of the above would not like me. But we all get on really well!!!
Today (Sunday) our Spanish mother and father took us to Mitad del Mundo - the Middle of the World - where I stood on the Equator, and in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres at the same time :) It was ridiculously awesome! We then came home and had lunch, which was cooked by Antonio and Susana's lovely son Ricardo, who, by the by, is an AMAZING chef!!!! The food was wonderful, and we had a lovely chat. I am really enjoying our chats with Antonio and Susana, they are teaching us so much Spanish and being so kind with our fumbling, especially mine, as Ashleigh has much better Spanish than mine. But I am really looking forward to improving. I just keep swapping into French, as there are so many words that are either similar, or exactly the same!!
Well, that is about all for now, if you have managed to stay with me this entire post, then wow, that's amazing and I appreciate your interest in my happenings - if you couldn't do the whole thing, I really really don't blame you, it's a rather long rambling!! Tomorrow, we have our first day of orientation, and it is rather late here, though my body is still on Aussie time. So I should head off
Buenos noches!! Hasta pronto!
Ciao!
After landing in Costa Rica, we hung around in the airport for about an hour before embarking on our final flight that would take us into Quito. After getting through immigrations and customs, Taylah and I parted ways, as her host family picked her up, and I headed off to my hostel, the Secret Garden. Quito reminded me, in parts, of Tanzania, and I was soaking up the atmosphere eagerly. It may have also been the fact that at 2800m above sea level, I was literally soaking up as much of the oxygen as I could. I arrived at the hostel, which was quaint and wonderful, but certainly a workout - Ecuadorian stairs are nearly as large, if not more so, than Tanzanian stairs!!! My legs are not that long! The reception sits at the top of 4 stories, on the terrace, so they really make you work for the check in - but the view from the terrace is certainly worth the effort!
As both my normal and travel sim failed to allow me to connect to a network in Ecuador, I set off to explore the streets in search of a sim card - Internet was down and so I needed some way to let everyone know I had arrived and was in fact still alive. Fumbling my way through with very poor Spanish, I finally came across a small store that looked promising - and turned out to be very promising as when remarking to the man that my Spanish was no es beuno, and that I sort of wished I was in a French speaking country, he proceeded to rattle off in French. I very gladly joined in, and so rather cheated on my first day, getting by with French. He set my phone up with one of the Ecuadorian network sims, and I was able to call home. Unfortunately, as it would turn out, that was all I could do - texting was not able to happen from this network. But that can come later.
So, extremely jet lagged as I was, and attempting to adjust to being at a high altitude, I settle in for the evening, only to find that 16 hours time difference really does throw your sleeping patterns. I managed to get a few hours between tossing and turning. In the morning, I was still exhausted, and woke to have breakfast, a quick chat with my mum and then returned to the cocoon of my room for some shut eye, as at that point, it was midnight at home - and boy, did my body know that! But prior to turning in, I met a lovely American woman who was leaving to go back home and she gave me her antibiotic ointment - long story short, I had a small wound alongside one of my fingernails, which while clean at home, had become infected and pussy along the trip - and of course, the only thing missing from my mobile pharmacy was antiseptic cream. So, I used the cream that this lady gave me, all hunky dorey, went to sleep - to be woken with Taylah and two new friends, Jordan and Ian at my door. Without Internet, I had not been able to tell Taylah I was safely at my hostel, and believing I was either out of Internet reach or dead, she came to the hostel to cllect me for a day of exploration. Rather groggily, I got dressed and we embarked on our quest, which took us to Parque la Carolina, the largest park in Quito, with and assortment of attractions. The first stop was the botanical gardens, which provided some remarkably beautiful specimens of flora, some even from Australia :) Afterwards, we headed over to El Jardin, the large shopping centre across from the park, to get lunch - boy was I in for a surprise! I had realised that Quito was more cosmopolitan than Moshi, and even Arusha and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania - but I was yet to realise just how much. Walking into El Jardin, I could have been walking into any large shopping centre in Australia - I was stunned! They even had pizza hut! and baskin robbins!!!! After picking my jaw up from the floor, we headed up to the food court, which was massive! I had a lasagna and salad.
After lunch, we returned to the park to visit the reptile house, which had some amazing snakes, including a large variety of vipers! And I got to cuddle a boa constrictor, who was very amiable.
Needless to say, exhausted, I returned to my hostel, and the others left for Cumbaya to return to their host home. Upon returning to my room, I took off my shirt - to find my entire right shoulder, all the way down to my elbow covered in a bright red rash - and I rather thought that was not good. Checking for bites, and realising I had none, I retraced my steps to what may have caused this reaction... and found myself looking at the tube of antibiotic cream. Sure enough, written in the directions was a warning that if allergic to the active ingredients, one may find a rash appear....hhmm.
So, more than likely setting a record for the earliest call to the International SOS that we have been subscribed to through the university, I called and requested some medical advice, which was readily given by a very nice doctor. Anyway, the rash cleared up over night, and the cream went away, after making a very bold note in my notebook of the active ingredients and highlighting the fact I had an allergic reaction to those ingredients. Not going there again!
Unfortunately, another rather sleepless and jet lagged night followed. The next morning (Saturday) I comically stumbled on the other Australian student who would be studying the marine biology track with me, and we introduced ourselves, had breakfast, and headed off to the shops to grab a few things, before meeting the others in the Historical Centre of Quito - which, in a word, is stunning!!! After a wonderful morning there, Merric and I returned to the hostel, stopping for lunch on the way, to wait for our host families. My host parents arrived first, and needless to say, they were amazing! Such lovely welcoming people. I am so blessed to be staying with them, and their son and his wife. They are all really lovely people, and I could not have asked for a kinder host family. They took me to their home and introduced me to where I would be spending the next month, fed me and showed me to my room, which is really lovely. Later that evening, my lovely American housemate Ashleigh arrived. I was so excited when we were all together, as I was a tad nervous that perhaps my host family, or my housemate, or even all of the above would not like me. But we all get on really well!!!
Today (Sunday) our Spanish mother and father took us to Mitad del Mundo - the Middle of the World - where I stood on the Equator, and in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres at the same time :) It was ridiculously awesome! We then came home and had lunch, which was cooked by Antonio and Susana's lovely son Ricardo, who, by the by, is an AMAZING chef!!!! The food was wonderful, and we had a lovely chat. I am really enjoying our chats with Antonio and Susana, they are teaching us so much Spanish and being so kind with our fumbling, especially mine, as Ashleigh has much better Spanish than mine. But I am really looking forward to improving. I just keep swapping into French, as there are so many words that are either similar, or exactly the same!!
Well, that is about all for now, if you have managed to stay with me this entire post, then wow, that's amazing and I appreciate your interest in my happenings - if you couldn't do the whole thing, I really really don't blame you, it's a rather long rambling!! Tomorrow, we have our first day of orientation, and it is rather late here, though my body is still on Aussie time. So I should head off
Buenos noches!! Hasta pronto!
Ciao!
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