Playing in the Pacific

Sunday, February 20, 2011:

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn. When I say crack, I mean crack. As soon as my eyes cracked open, my ears could make out the sound of waves cracking against the shore. Normally, it takes me about 45 minutes and 20 alarms to get me up (those who know me, know this isn’t an exaggeration), but today I was woken up quicker than a testosterone flaring 15 year-old teen on Viagra.

Kevin was already out on the bench reading (this is 7:00am mind you – no one else up but us). I whipped on my swim suit, flung open the door and trotted over to Kevin as he sat there leisurely reading his novel and taking quick ocean gaze breaks every few seconds. As he raised his eyes for his next ocean gaze,  and I positioned myself rect in front of his view and stated in question form, “do you want to come swimming with me?” He responded, “In a little bit, I’m just going to finish this chapter.” As soon as his I heard “In a bit,” I let out a wild yelp, kicked the ground and started galloping for the shores of the Pacific. It was like a scene out of Bay Watch: my cut (not so big anymore) muscles glistening in the rays of the rising sun, salt reflecting off my skin, and I plunged into the first wave that was surging toward me. I think sometime between my child like yelp and Bay Watch running, Kevin decided to say to hell with his chapter, change his cloths and join me. Within 30 minutes, we had half of our exchange group with us frolicking in the ocean.

Soon after, we went to eat breakfast, then it was off to take our tour of the Mangroves. If you don’t already know, which I didn’t either, the Mangroves are trees that have extremely long roots that are along the rivers that connect to the ocean. They play a vital role in the ecosystem in some way or another. Anyways, they are starting to become extinct and thus, it becomes a tourist attraction. We walked along the beach for about 2-3 miles where we finally came up to the river where the boat was going to take us through the various channels. I had my shirt off the whole time because I seriously needed some rays.

The tour was fun, but it didn’t really make me think of “Ecuador.” My mind kept skipping to my Tom Sawyer days on the Mississippi River because this river had the same muddy water, wild life on the shores, and hawks of various breeds soaring overhead.

As the tour finished up, we started to walk back. I forgot to mention that there had been a rottweiler that had been following us around our entire journey, and we got so accustomed to him, the group told me to lift him in the boat, so yes, he did tag along. Walking back though, I started to jog a little bit, and he kept right up with me as if he were my own. At this point, Kevin took my backpack, and I was running free in my vibrum five fingers with one of the strongest dogs I’ve ever been around trotting at my side. Thanks to the altitude in Quito, I was running on an oxygen hi and did not want to stop, so I ran the whole way back. It was the only run I had done in Ecuador yet and it felt absolutely invigorating. Light as a bird and enough oxygen in my lungs to lift a hot air balloon, I made it back to our cabanas 30 minutes before everyone else. I took that time to take another dip in the ocean.

The rest of the day passed pretty leisurely. It consisted of Kevin and I helping some Argentinian set up his sale boat, try to get it past the waves like in The Castaway, being unsuccessful, and having to bail out to let the Argentinean get past the wave breaks (less weight in the boat). Kevin unfortunately lost his bracelet in this endeavor that his Columbian girlfriend got him from Columbia that he wears everywhere. We looked in the waters of the rising tide for about an hour, but nothing to be seen.

Finally, it was time to go. At this point in the day, the tide had raised enough to where a boat could drive the whole way that the cars drove us yesterday and deliver us back to our bus. It was an adventure – people complaining of sickness, then waves and rocking on top of it…. Ouch for them. The best part was being in a motorboat pummeling our way over the ocean’s wave break point, then getting soaked with every thump. Fun times. It was a long bus ride back, but the weekend was worth it.

I’m just going to put this comment in this post because it’s not worth its own. I got sick from something this weekend and was sick the whole next week. It wasn’t pretty, especially for my bowels.

I got better though. It gave me a whole new appreciation/sympathy for when women say they have “cramps.” Women… you’re stronger than I am. I couldn’t do that on a monthly basis.

That’s all for now.

Ciao,

Michael

Waterfalls

February 19, 2011

We got up today at 7:30am to eat breakfast at 8:00am. I think I trapped more bugs in with my mosquito net than keeping them out. The first event for the day was breakfast, and they served Eggs! It was my first plate of eggs since I got here!

As soon as we were done, they handed out our rubber boots and announced that we were going hiking through the rainforest and swimming under a waterfall. I was super excited. They told us the rainforest was different here than the oriental (west) because it was less wild. There weren’t monkeys or as many exotic animals, but there were still plenty of interesting insects and other critters. In fact, the two rainforests used to be the same one, but then when the tectonic plates collided and made the Andes, they divided.

Termites

Tasty Termites

Now that the history lesson is done, on with the story. We took a ride to the spot in our bus and hopped out where the mud was like the Mississippi mud at the old rope swing location – aka thick. This was a more public park, so it wasn’t too wild, but very beautiful and new for my eyes.

It took about forty minutes to get to the waterfall. The area resembled the area that is right when you enter the Brookfield Zoo monkey habitat – there was a waterfall but ten times bigger. After enjoying this sight, we changed behind some rocks right next to the water. Unfortunately, my underwear fell into the water, so I guess I was going commando on the way back.

The guide went and jumped off a rock, so I went and followed of course… Then everyone else did too. The current created by the falling water was split into a fork around the rock. If you jumped off the left side, it took you left and if you jumped off the right side, it took you right. I decided I wanted to go left, then swim under the rock cave behind the waterfall. There was about two to three feet of room between the ceiling and the water (don’t worry, the guide did it first). I leapt off the rock (moment captured by Liz) and we washed to the left, where I started swimming for the water cave. I swam to the back followed by the rest of the group. We then scrambled behind the waterfall and eventually the opposite current swept us back to our original starting spot. It was a blast!

We returned, made some fresh sugar cane/lime/orange juice, rested, and drove back to pick up our main tour guide (for the whole weekend – different guy), then left for the coast. It was like the simple fact that I knew we were heading west for the ocean made me start smelling the salt water three and a half hours away. About an hour and a half in, the bus driver pulls over and we realize that we have a flat tire. This isn’t uncommon when half the roads in Ecuador aren’t paved sufficiently. It just gave us the opportunity to take in the scenery.

In a quick twenty minutes, we were off again. We stopped in another beach town one and a half hours away from our final destination to buy whatever we needed because the other wouldn’t have much of anything. Also, they fixed the truck’s tire so we weren’t driving on a spare. Can I just say, I love the ocean. Every time, I am just speechless. It’s immensity and all the good times it provides just makes it incredible. We were only there for a good forty minutes, then back into the mystery mobile to our final destination in Mon Piche.

We finally arrived to a smaller, more rustic town, but did not stop there. We drove to the side of the town, and then loaded our stuff, along with us, into the back of a pick up truck which drove us ten minutes down the beach to our own personal cabanas! (9:00pm). They were so adorable – built out of bamboo, surrounded by coconut trees, and fifty yards from the ocean (give or take whether the tide is up or down; it can change fifty yards long and about six feet high within about two hours). We went and ate a delicious fresh fish dinner with the best ahí we’ve had yet, then set up a campfire on the beach to relax with heat against our skin and the sound of crashing ocean waves against the shore in the background. Once again, it was a great day and even more, a foreshadow of the warm relaxing beach day to come.

Ciao,

Michael 

New Adventures Up on Facebook

Hey, 

New pictures are up on Facebook. Check them out. They're basically from the past 3-4 weeks. I'll be updating my blog soon enough. Be warned though -- you might get jealous. 

Ciao,

Michael 

Rapids and Rainforest

Friday, February 18, 2011

My day started out with getting up at 6:30am. I’ve been averaging about 5 hours of sleep nightly lately – that’s a good thing though, it means I’ve been productive. I got up and went to my salsa lesson at 8:00am. Afterward, I returned to USFQ to meet up with the group and head to Mindo. The drive was a georgous as the first time...driving through the winding roads between the rain forest mountains and hills… can’t find that in FIP land.

When we arrived in Mindo, we walked around the park for a little bit and took pictures. The sun for the first time in a long time was beating down on my skin, and I could feel the humidity. Yes, I’m in Ecuador where it’s always warm and sunny, but it’s more like spring. Come to think of it, I was probably just on an oxygen high from being 10,000 feet lower in altitude for the first time in 2 months. My mind was linked to the summer, cottage and everything good about the sun.

The guide then got the tours set up. Originally, we had planed to go to the Butterfly Garden ad the Orquid Garden, but I didn’t feel like two gardens – I wanted more of an adrenaline rush, so I asked if we could go rapids tubing instead of the orquids, and our guide said sure. Everyone was happy we were able to change our itinerary a little bit – that usually doesn’t happen (and usually doesn’t need to happen because the stuff planned is normally a blast).

First up, was the Butterfly Garden and it was very beautiful. Tons of butterflies of all sorts were fluttering around our heads. Everyone’s favorite was this blue type that never semed to land. There was also a brown one that when it opened its wings it looked like owl eyes!. So cool.

Next on the list was the Rapids Tubing (what I did last time when I went with José and his friends). It was different with this experience though.

1.      It wasn’t as cold and
2.      the guides weren’t scared to death since the river wasn’t as hight and strong today.

They actually had smiles on their faces and they were screaming “woo hoo” with us. Amanda fell indside her tube this time though which was a little scary at first, but the guides jumped over, grabbed and pulled her up. She also lost her bottoms for a second – fun trip for her, I laughed. Everyone had a blast.

We ate next and I had fish again like last time.

It was then time to leave and head more into the rain forest. We arrived and drove onto a gravel road. There were 2 small pools and one pool had a stone table within it. Our little hut was covered with brown shrubbery and we had a single chair hammock on the porch. At one point in the night, there was a frog sitting in our shower. It wasn’t like a toad though. It was a sticky one that can stick to walls – So rain forest!

Soon after we got there, we decided to go on an adventure into the small town we passed on the way in. It took us about 30 minutes to walk there, but on the way we saw a river and decided to swim in it, so it took us a little longer than expected. It had a rapid current, and there were some Ecua Children in the river floating down on tubes. They all had smiles on their faces when Meredith was crossing the river… in her minimal clothing… nothing more said (it was Kevin, Merideth, and I crossing the river while Abigale stayed on the shore to take pictures).

We swam to the middle where there were rocks, we took a picture, and swam back. We finally made it into town where we bought our materials fro the night. It was precious – animals running in the street, trysicle taxies (motorcycle) and just everyone hanging out in their shops.

When we got back to our “hotel,” we ate dinner and after met at the pool with the group where we shared stories the whole night and learned about each other. After everyone else went to bed, Kevin and I returned to our hut. We sat for an hour with Cigars and drinks just reminiscing  about our experiences so far. We almost fell asleep outside where we’d be eaten alive, but fortunately, Kevin caught us and said we should go inside. We entered our hut, threw our mosquito nets over us and drifted into a tropical rest. 

Ciao,

Michael

Day of Happiness. Professional and Personal

Monday, February 14, 2011: 

Today, I had my first interview with Kaye Cullum, the head recruitment director at Walmart and I think it went great. She was an incredibly nice and down to earth lady. I think it would be an unbelieveable opportunity to spend the summer with such smart and motivated people.

It was also Valentine’s day, so I had the privilege that night of spending hours talking to my incredibly gorgeous girlfriend who can always put a smile on my face. We agreed that from now on though, we’re not getting normal Valentine’s day gifts – we’re going to see who can get the best cheapest candy the day after while leaving Valentine’s day for what it should be for – doing something fun and spending time with the person in your life that you love! How cute… I know. 

Networking with the VP of the Biggest Bank in Ecuador and Valentine's Day

Sunday, February 13, 2011: 

This morning I had set up a meeting with the Vice President of Banco Pichincha. This bank is the largest bank in Ecuador and I was meeting with him in order to discuss some financial issues with the Quito Barrio Outreach organization that I’m helping out with here and also some advice for the rose business.

He figured out that if the QBO wants to transfer money from the US to here without a huge charge (like you normally have to pay when transferring funds one country to another), QBO  could set up an account with the single location they have in Miami. They could then use this as a transfer account in between the normal US account and the account that Father Don can access. It would only be a 2% charge then.

I then ran my rose business idea by him and he seemed interested. Most of the conversation consisted of what taxes I would have to pay, how I would transfer money, and how I could minimize costs doing business abroad. It was all very insightful from and extremely intelligent individual.

The rest of the Sunday consisted of doing homework, then I went to church at night. I still don’t understand exactly everything that they’re saying in the mass, but I’m slowly getting better. I go every time I’m not on an excursion here. I have to keep myself well rounded.

Isabella's Birthday and More Salsa -- I Felt Like a Noob

Saturday, February 12, 2011: 

This Saturday, it was Isabella’s birthday party. She is the daughter of my 36 year old host brother – very nice guy, and his daughter could be a child model I think. It was a surprise party that Isabella planned. Odd, I know. She chose who she wanted to come, what she wanted to eat/do, but she didn’t know when it was going to happen. There ended up being about 7-10 kids that came over and maybe 15 adults. I’m just realizing now that here, and a bit in America too, adults just use their kids as excused to get to gether and have a party for themselves. I didn’t mind. Like the last BBQ, I was able to practice my Spanish with the adults for about 5 hours. I talked a little less this time, not because I couldn’t understand what they were saying necessarily, but I just couldn’t relate to a bunch of it. Later in the day though, I got talking to one of the fathers about business and that turned into a 30 minute conversation – I’m such a businessman.

That night Amanda, José, his friends, and I all went to Seseribó – basically the best salsa club in town. And when I say the best… OMG! These guys are all professional salsa dancers it seems like. They didn’t learn these moves from their abuelita (little grandma) when they were 12. I was embarrassed to get out of my seat, seriously. It just gave me more motivation to want to get better and practice more in between my lessons! Most of the people stopped dancing when the band came on. José’s friend was playing percussion in the Latin Band, so that’s why we originally came. It was a fantastic and eye opening night. It also closed my lungs. Here, it’s still legal to smoke in bars inside, so after 3 hours in this relatively small area, I felt like I’d been smoking for 30 years and was ready to treat my lungs with some fresh air. The others felt the same way so we finished off the night. 

The Crazy Canadian

Friday, February 11, 2011: 

Today, I had a full day ahead of me. The plan was to go from school, to planting trees in Lumbisi (lower income area), go to my salsa lesson, then go out at night. All through this, I wouldn't be going home, so I made the decision to get dressed up in my orange button down and other relatively nice cloths in order to prepare for my end location. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to wear these cloths while working with dirty clay, planting trees, and sweating in my salsa class. I was lovely at night...  It wasn't that bad though. After my salsa lesson by Kiki Mendes (who is amazing by the way), I had 2 hours to kill before I was meeting up with people to go out. So, I did what any other person would do, I called up Ana Sophia's mom and went and hung out with her! She fed me then we danced! It was really goofy, but tons of fun. Finally all the people were arriving into Quito and I could meet up with them. I had 2 groups meeting -- one was from earlier in the week when I went salsa-ing. And the other was with Jill and her host sister, her friend and other gringas. 

Okay, I have to side track quick to describe this first group I was going to meet up with. I met them at a salsa club the Wednesday before and it consisted of 2 Ecuadorian girls, 2 Argentinian guys, and one Canadian guy. The Canadian guy…. Oh my gosh.

1.    He is white

2.    Couch surfing in South America

3.    Doesn’t speak ANY Spanish

4.    Traveling alone

Sound like a bad situation waiting to happen… yeah, I do too. Maybe it explains why he was robbed 2 nights before walking back from dinner… alone. He told me that they robbed him and stuck him up with a knife. They took his wallet and ipod, but before they left, he grabbed their knife when it was in their hands, snatched his ipod back and ran. Only someone who wasn’t told that these guys will kill you here for a dime would do that lol. They still had his wallet, but at least he had his music – that’s all that matter’s right?

Well, I didn’t end up meeting up with that group again, but we did have a big group to go out that night. The night map went like this:

1.    Laun: bouncers were stuck up – we left

2.    Love: not enough of the girls looked 23 to get in… comparison to girls that I saw that were at oldest 17 walking in – we left

3.    Blues (the place I went my first night out).

a.    They played American Rock all night

b.    We rocked out all night. It was great. 

Brief Week Events for Early February

Monday, February 7, 2011: 

Can't do Blair interview, fall asleep until 1, go to ju jit su, on the way - start pondering business possibility, ju jit su, getting better, get home and homework

Tuesday, February 8, 2011: 

Really start thinking about rose idea

Wednesday, February 9, 2011: 

Stayed up until 4:00am the night before thinking. Slept until 11, lifted weights, ju jit su cancelled, hw, salsa

Thursday, February 10, 2011: 

Some of my classes canceled, find out about Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the rain forest, Ju Jit Su Lesson