I promise this is the last move (online that is).
www.gypsy-ish.com
A Colombia!
miércoles, 9 de noviembre de 2011
martes, 2 de noviembre de 2010
Latest adventures are being documented at http://brighidology.tumblr.com. I love Google but Blogspot wasn't doing it for me!
lunes, 14 de diciembre de 2009
sábado, 28 de noviembre de 2009
Full Cansada...chuuuuta
Oh hey, remember me? Cálmense, two weeks of visitors isn't as easy as it sounds.
The weekend before 860 invaded Quito my friends and I went to Cuenca for a few days. It's a smaller historical city 9 hours south. We actually spent the majority of the weekend on buses, literally one of my favorite activities in this country. We went to a little town outside Cuenca called Chordeleg - the most dangerous place I've been so far. Why? The place is a silver jewelry jackpot. The main square is lined with shops selling jewelry, and we visited almost every single one and contributed generously to Chordeleg's economic activity. Another day we visited the Incan ruins of Ingapirca about an hour from Cuenca (although we missed the direct tourist bus and traveled like locals making it over two hours. Totally worth it for the entertaining conversations with Ecuadorians.) The ruins were really cool, especially this big temple in the center. The landscape around Cuenca is beautiful, hilly and green with little farms and cows on the side of the road.
Tim, Kelc and Ty rolled into Ecua Friday night. Kelc wasn't feeling good on Saturday so I took the boys to Otavalo. They experienced a standard-issue harrowing Ecua bus ride - accelerating around corners that wind through the mountains, passing uphill, etc.Ty bought every hideously obnoxious item he could find, I bought excessive amounts of jewelry and finally got myself a poncho, and we all worked on our bargaining skills. Being exposed to U.S. culture again made me realize how cheap this place has made me, like when I thought our delicious 4 course lunch was a tourist rip off at 7 dollars.
We wandered around the historical district with Ibis on Sunday and got to tour the Presidential Palace. Ty started doing his Ty tricks like handstands and Ibis said, "No wonder his mother worries!"
The rest of their visit was less than successful because everyone got sick. We headed to the coast for a few days but didn't have much fun other than hanging in our beautiful little hostel next to the beach. Apparently I'm full Ecuatoriana now because I felt fine the whole week, other than being sad that my friends couldn't enjoy their vacation! Back in Quito we had one fun night out on the town with some of my friends here, and didn't do much besides shop more at the artisan market. Unfortunately the cable car up to Pichincha was closed because of scheduled blackouts when we tried to go the last day (yep, three hours a day in every neighborhood). I was sad to see them go without knowing what Ecuador is really like besides being sick.
Avi and Jess's visit was a different story. We had a great time hanging around Quito, and they did lots of exploring on their own while I was in class. We went to Mindo for a few days with my friend Barb and her sisters who were also visiting. We spent the day ziplining then swimming and jumping off a 40-foot waterfall. There was also a stone waterslide into the river that was way faster than it looked, and terrifying. Don't worry Mrs. Long, NO BUNGEE JUMPING!
I talked to our guide for a while when we were hiking and he told me that twenty years ago, Mindo was an agricultural town based on farming, hunting and forestry. Some foreign students came in and lobbied the locals to focus on conservation and turn to tourism as an industry or the cloud forest would be destroyed. He said that at first they thought they were either crazy or on drugs, but within a few years they were successful, replanted most of the forest, and created trails and tourist infrastructure. Now there's a three year prison sentence for cutting down trees. I thought it was the coolest success story for conservation, especially since the guide himself used to hunt monkeys and birds and think nothing of it.
I don't care what the calendar says, I can't believe Thanksgiving really happened. Mainly because it was 70 and sunny Thursday! [I might go into shock when I get off the plane in Hartford. Actually, maybe I'll just stay here.] We had some delicious hamburgers for lunch, doesn't get more Amerrrrrrcan than that. Last night IES got a chiva for everyone in my group and it sadly started much too late for Jess and Avi to enjoy before their midnight flight. I had a great time though - man do I love those chivas. I spent the day in Otavalo buying an entire flock of sheep in wool products and now I'm resting for the first time in two weeks. AY. This week is the Fiestas de Quito, a celebration of the city's founding (I think) but I still have a lot of papers to write and some pesky grad apps to finish.
It can't possibly be November, I just got here. Now I'm going to attempt to get some sleep, but the neighbors are farreando like it's 1999 and taunting me for staying in on a Saturday night.
P.S. If hypothetically I were ever to come back to the states in a few weeks, anyone have a job for me? Se habla Español:)
The weekend before 860 invaded Quito my friends and I went to Cuenca for a few days. It's a smaller historical city 9 hours south. We actually spent the majority of the weekend on buses, literally one of my favorite activities in this country. We went to a little town outside Cuenca called Chordeleg - the most dangerous place I've been so far. Why? The place is a silver jewelry jackpot. The main square is lined with shops selling jewelry, and we visited almost every single one and contributed generously to Chordeleg's economic activity. Another day we visited the Incan ruins of Ingapirca about an hour from Cuenca (although we missed the direct tourist bus and traveled like locals making it over two hours. Totally worth it for the entertaining conversations with Ecuadorians.) The ruins were really cool, especially this big temple in the center. The landscape around Cuenca is beautiful, hilly and green with little farms and cows on the side of the road.
Tim, Kelc and Ty rolled into Ecua Friday night. Kelc wasn't feeling good on Saturday so I took the boys to Otavalo. They experienced a standard-issue harrowing Ecua bus ride - accelerating around corners that wind through the mountains, passing uphill, etc.Ty bought every hideously obnoxious item he could find, I bought excessive amounts of jewelry and finally got myself a poncho, and we all worked on our bargaining skills. Being exposed to U.S. culture again made me realize how cheap this place has made me, like when I thought our delicious 4 course lunch was a tourist rip off at 7 dollars.
We wandered around the historical district with Ibis on Sunday and got to tour the Presidential Palace. Ty started doing his Ty tricks like handstands and Ibis said, "No wonder his mother worries!"
The rest of their visit was less than successful because everyone got sick. We headed to the coast for a few days but didn't have much fun other than hanging in our beautiful little hostel next to the beach. Apparently I'm full Ecuatoriana now because I felt fine the whole week, other than being sad that my friends couldn't enjoy their vacation! Back in Quito we had one fun night out on the town with some of my friends here, and didn't do much besides shop more at the artisan market. Unfortunately the cable car up to Pichincha was closed because of scheduled blackouts when we tried to go the last day (yep, three hours a day in every neighborhood). I was sad to see them go without knowing what Ecuador is really like besides being sick.
Avi and Jess's visit was a different story. We had a great time hanging around Quito, and they did lots of exploring on their own while I was in class. We went to Mindo for a few days with my friend Barb and her sisters who were also visiting. We spent the day ziplining then swimming and jumping off a 40-foot waterfall. There was also a stone waterslide into the river that was way faster than it looked, and terrifying. Don't worry Mrs. Long, NO BUNGEE JUMPING!
I talked to our guide for a while when we were hiking and he told me that twenty years ago, Mindo was an agricultural town based on farming, hunting and forestry. Some foreign students came in and lobbied the locals to focus on conservation and turn to tourism as an industry or the cloud forest would be destroyed. He said that at first they thought they were either crazy or on drugs, but within a few years they were successful, replanted most of the forest, and created trails and tourist infrastructure. Now there's a three year prison sentence for cutting down trees. I thought it was the coolest success story for conservation, especially since the guide himself used to hunt monkeys and birds and think nothing of it.
I don't care what the calendar says, I can't believe Thanksgiving really happened. Mainly because it was 70 and sunny Thursday! [I might go into shock when I get off the plane in Hartford. Actually, maybe I'll just stay here.] We had some delicious hamburgers for lunch, doesn't get more Amerrrrrrcan than that. Last night IES got a chiva for everyone in my group and it sadly started much too late for Jess and Avi to enjoy before their midnight flight. I had a great time though - man do I love those chivas. I spent the day in Otavalo buying an entire flock of sheep in wool products and now I'm resting for the first time in two weeks. AY. This week is the Fiestas de Quito, a celebration of the city's founding (I think) but I still have a lot of papers to write and some pesky grad apps to finish.
It can't possibly be November, I just got here. Now I'm going to attempt to get some sleep, but the neighbors are farreando like it's 1999 and taunting me for staying in on a Saturday night.
P.S. If hypothetically I were ever to come back to the states in a few weeks, anyone have a job for me? Se habla Español:)
martes, 10 de noviembre de 2009
jueves, 5 de noviembre de 2009
A ride that floats, and don't grab your coats, you won't need 'em where we are going
I have to hurry and write this before my computer battery dies – apparently the severe lack of rain this rainy season means the major cities have to ration electricity, so I’m out from 5 pm until 8 tonight. I wish I had known before 5 pm so I could have gotten some stuff done first! They’re going to turn off neighborhoods a few at a time every day until it rains. Ay.
Galapagos Islands: a volcanic archipelago sitting on the equator around 500 miles off the coast of Ecuador, three of the islands populated, 97% of the territory uninhabited by humans.
I didn’t know what to expect from the Galapagos. I knew about the giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies and other animals from random documentaries, and I read a book called Plundering Paradise that I found in my bedroom in Quito profiling different people living on the islands, their connections to Galapagueño history and the impact of humans on the animals and ecosystems.
I was surprised at the diversity of terrain throughout the islands. The water is bright clear blue against volcanic rocks all along the shore. There are some stretches of the typical tropical beach image, but most of the land is arid and rocky, with cacti and other scrubby plants. The highlands surrounding the volcanoes are lush forests that completely contrast the desert-like areas by the beaches.
We landed at Baltra, a small island whose airport was built by the U.S. military as a base to protect the Panama Canal after Pearl Harbor (I have listening issues when it comes to tour guides, but I absorbed that book.) We took a boat to Puerto Ayora, a town on Santa Cruz. From there, we met our guides and went first to Los Gemelos (Twins), two huge craters that form when gas implodes from under the earth or something like that. We saw some finches (Darwin-style!) and different plants, some endemic and others introduced.
Next was our first view of the COOLEST animals ever: giant tortoises. I could have sat and watched those turtles eat grass for hours, they’re hilarious! They look like dinosaurs, live to 150 years and I’m not sure how heavy they are, but the bigger ones would have totaled my Cabrio. There are I think 13 species of giant tortoise, each unique to a different island and several of them extinct. Illegal fishermen in the past have taken tortoises hostage and killed them for leverage in protest against various fishing laws. After a short hike through an underground lava tunnel we went to an animal refuge that’s home to Solitario (Lonesome) George, the last surviving tortoise of his saddleback species and a famous name in the Galapagos.
Saturday brought an early wake up call and a two-hour boat ride to Isabela, the biggest island. The boat ride was perfect and sunny through the blue Pacific water. There were marine iguanas crawling around the rocks by the dock and big fat ones sunning themselves on the road. The big ones are bigger than your average cat, black and creepy. There were also some sea lions lounging around and bright red crabs.
After lunch we got to see even more tortoises at a research center. These were in pens and even more hilarious because they interacted with one another instead of just sitting and eating grass. Then we went snorkeling in a small bay, only it was four pm by this time, so the water was cold and less visibility. We still saw some cool fish, sea urchins and either a manta or sting ray almost a yard across. It was Halloween but my friends and I couldn’t bring ourselves to go out. After watching an amazing sunset over the water and having a drink at a beachside bar, we were exhausted and asleep by 8:30.
Sunday morning we woke up early yet again for a six-hour volcano hike. We climbed Sierra Negra on Isabela which has the second largest crater in diameter in the world. It was massive, but the hike itself was pretty boring until the end when we reached real volcano terrain. It reminded me of the badlands in Lion King or Land Before Time or something, black and brown hills and craters as far as you could see, intense lava formations made by gases and heat. The lava rocks were cool because they’re really light and porous, but tough to walk on. We finally reached the peak of a smaller volcano, sat for a few minutes then turned back. Everyone was cranky by the end because it took much longer than expected and we didn’t eat from 6:30 am until almost 3 pm! That afternoon was our only free time to hit the beautiful Isabela beaches, but unfortunately it was cloudy and unwelcoming outside so we opted to lounge instead.
The next morning we got back on our boats to go to another inhabited island, Floreana. We saw some penguins from the dock swimming around, and occasionally they would launch themselves out of the water after fish. About half an hour into our trip, a pod of dolphins started swimming alongside us. I haven’t seen them from a boat since I was probably about ten, so it was really exciting. There were at least ten and they were huge! The captain slowed down so we could sit on the bow and watch them right below us racing the boat. A few people went swimming but I was content with the view from the bow. At one point one of the dolphins did a Sea World-worthy jump over the wake. It was even bright sun at this point for the first time all day and it made my Galapagos trip.
Floreana is home to only about 150 people, and very arid in the lowlands. We drove up to the highlands for some hiking, visited the Galapagos’ only freshwater spring, and then saw some pirate caves. Floreana was a failure for development several times. A crazy German family settled there in the 1930s, followed by a baroness and her three lovers, and there was a big murder mystery and scandal surrounding them. The Ecuadorian government also sent prisoners there to work in concentration-camp conditions. The people who live there now survive off tourism, like almost all the islands.
Floreana is also known for its feral goats and cattle, introduced by early settlers, which are dangerous like all the introduced plants and animals. The goats especially pose a threat to tortoises because they eat all the vegetation, and tortoises are extinct on Floreana. There are organized slaughters of the feral goats to eliminate the population. The best method involves tagging a single goat, then tracking it until it’s surrounded by its goat friends, then killing all of them. The name of this method? Judas.
After our little hike and some delicious ceviche (cold cooked shrimp and fish with lime juice) we boated to a snorkeling site a few miles away. Monday wasn’t very nice weather and at this point it was cloudy and windy. I was not excited by the idea of snorkeling in cold, dark water then getting on the boat for two hours in my wet bathing suit, and some of us stayed on the boat. I didn’t regret it at all, especially since the captain brought us snacks while we watched the snorkelers, and when they saw a sea turtle he drove us over to look at it from the boat. We also got great views of blue-footed boobies on the cliffs; they really do have bright blue feet! The boat ride from there to the next island was rough and kind of scary when it got dark, but we made it to San Cristóbal.
San Cristóbal is the most populated island, and hosts a typical beach town and board walk lined with souvenir stores and restaurants. There weren’t many people out and about but it was nice to relax on a bench after dinner and eat ice cream with my friends. Our last morning after breakfast we had time to browse the shops, where I bought some fun souvenirs (at regular, U.S. prices, no Ecua-deals here.) The best part was watching sea lions lounging around, on boats, docks, the sidewalk, everywhere.
Our last stop was the Interpretation Center, a museum with info on the history of humans on the islands and the attempts at conservation. Tourism is huge on the islands, but most of the money stays on cruise ships rather than going to the actual population. There are problems with illegal fishing practices, unregulated tour operations, stress on the environment and limited resources. Not to mention everything down to bottled water is much more expensive because it’s all imported. An 80-cent large beer in Quito was 3 dollars on the islands. It was almost like being home for a few days. Except warm. And full of sea lions, marine iguanas, finches, dolphins, giant tortoises, boobies, frigates, penguins, sharks, sea turtles…
Leaving the Galapagos was sad for all of us. I wish we had more down time to enjoy the beach rather than running to so many activities, and maybe some more sunshine! Still it was nice to come home to Quito, and to realize how much English I spoke all weekend when Ibis was talking to me at dinner and I couldn’t form a proper sentence.
Tonight I’m going to Cuenca with Barbara, Amelia, and Katie. It’s a colonial town in the south that’s supposed to be very pretty and have good jewelry. Now I just have to wait for some lights to come on so I can pack, and post this. I tried unsuccessfully to upload my pictures, you’ll have to wait until next week, sorry, they're really awesome ones too! I have a lot of work and grad school applications to get done before Friday when my favorite big brother and oldest friends come visit!!! Not that we will be having any fun at all, Mrs. Johnson =)
Galapagos Islands: a volcanic archipelago sitting on the equator around 500 miles off the coast of Ecuador, three of the islands populated, 97% of the territory uninhabited by humans.
I didn’t know what to expect from the Galapagos. I knew about the giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies and other animals from random documentaries, and I read a book called Plundering Paradise that I found in my bedroom in Quito profiling different people living on the islands, their connections to Galapagueño history and the impact of humans on the animals and ecosystems.
I was surprised at the diversity of terrain throughout the islands. The water is bright clear blue against volcanic rocks all along the shore. There are some stretches of the typical tropical beach image, but most of the land is arid and rocky, with cacti and other scrubby plants. The highlands surrounding the volcanoes are lush forests that completely contrast the desert-like areas by the beaches.
We landed at Baltra, a small island whose airport was built by the U.S. military as a base to protect the Panama Canal after Pearl Harbor (I have listening issues when it comes to tour guides, but I absorbed that book.) We took a boat to Puerto Ayora, a town on Santa Cruz. From there, we met our guides and went first to Los Gemelos (Twins), two huge craters that form when gas implodes from under the earth or something like that. We saw some finches (Darwin-style!) and different plants, some endemic and others introduced.
Next was our first view of the COOLEST animals ever: giant tortoises. I could have sat and watched those turtles eat grass for hours, they’re hilarious! They look like dinosaurs, live to 150 years and I’m not sure how heavy they are, but the bigger ones would have totaled my Cabrio. There are I think 13 species of giant tortoise, each unique to a different island and several of them extinct. Illegal fishermen in the past have taken tortoises hostage and killed them for leverage in protest against various fishing laws. After a short hike through an underground lava tunnel we went to an animal refuge that’s home to Solitario (Lonesome) George, the last surviving tortoise of his saddleback species and a famous name in the Galapagos.
Saturday brought an early wake up call and a two-hour boat ride to Isabela, the biggest island. The boat ride was perfect and sunny through the blue Pacific water. There were marine iguanas crawling around the rocks by the dock and big fat ones sunning themselves on the road. The big ones are bigger than your average cat, black and creepy. There were also some sea lions lounging around and bright red crabs.
After lunch we got to see even more tortoises at a research center. These were in pens and even more hilarious because they interacted with one another instead of just sitting and eating grass. Then we went snorkeling in a small bay, only it was four pm by this time, so the water was cold and less visibility. We still saw some cool fish, sea urchins and either a manta or sting ray almost a yard across. It was Halloween but my friends and I couldn’t bring ourselves to go out. After watching an amazing sunset over the water and having a drink at a beachside bar, we were exhausted and asleep by 8:30.
Sunday morning we woke up early yet again for a six-hour volcano hike. We climbed Sierra Negra on Isabela which has the second largest crater in diameter in the world. It was massive, but the hike itself was pretty boring until the end when we reached real volcano terrain. It reminded me of the badlands in Lion King or Land Before Time or something, black and brown hills and craters as far as you could see, intense lava formations made by gases and heat. The lava rocks were cool because they’re really light and porous, but tough to walk on. We finally reached the peak of a smaller volcano, sat for a few minutes then turned back. Everyone was cranky by the end because it took much longer than expected and we didn’t eat from 6:30 am until almost 3 pm! That afternoon was our only free time to hit the beautiful Isabela beaches, but unfortunately it was cloudy and unwelcoming outside so we opted to lounge instead.
The next morning we got back on our boats to go to another inhabited island, Floreana. We saw some penguins from the dock swimming around, and occasionally they would launch themselves out of the water after fish. About half an hour into our trip, a pod of dolphins started swimming alongside us. I haven’t seen them from a boat since I was probably about ten, so it was really exciting. There were at least ten and they were huge! The captain slowed down so we could sit on the bow and watch them right below us racing the boat. A few people went swimming but I was content with the view from the bow. At one point one of the dolphins did a Sea World-worthy jump over the wake. It was even bright sun at this point for the first time all day and it made my Galapagos trip.
Floreana is home to only about 150 people, and very arid in the lowlands. We drove up to the highlands for some hiking, visited the Galapagos’ only freshwater spring, and then saw some pirate caves. Floreana was a failure for development several times. A crazy German family settled there in the 1930s, followed by a baroness and her three lovers, and there was a big murder mystery and scandal surrounding them. The Ecuadorian government also sent prisoners there to work in concentration-camp conditions. The people who live there now survive off tourism, like almost all the islands.
Floreana is also known for its feral goats and cattle, introduced by early settlers, which are dangerous like all the introduced plants and animals. The goats especially pose a threat to tortoises because they eat all the vegetation, and tortoises are extinct on Floreana. There are organized slaughters of the feral goats to eliminate the population. The best method involves tagging a single goat, then tracking it until it’s surrounded by its goat friends, then killing all of them. The name of this method? Judas.
After our little hike and some delicious ceviche (cold cooked shrimp and fish with lime juice) we boated to a snorkeling site a few miles away. Monday wasn’t very nice weather and at this point it was cloudy and windy. I was not excited by the idea of snorkeling in cold, dark water then getting on the boat for two hours in my wet bathing suit, and some of us stayed on the boat. I didn’t regret it at all, especially since the captain brought us snacks while we watched the snorkelers, and when they saw a sea turtle he drove us over to look at it from the boat. We also got great views of blue-footed boobies on the cliffs; they really do have bright blue feet! The boat ride from there to the next island was rough and kind of scary when it got dark, but we made it to San Cristóbal.
San Cristóbal is the most populated island, and hosts a typical beach town and board walk lined with souvenir stores and restaurants. There weren’t many people out and about but it was nice to relax on a bench after dinner and eat ice cream with my friends. Our last morning after breakfast we had time to browse the shops, where I bought some fun souvenirs (at regular, U.S. prices, no Ecua-deals here.) The best part was watching sea lions lounging around, on boats, docks, the sidewalk, everywhere.
Our last stop was the Interpretation Center, a museum with info on the history of humans on the islands and the attempts at conservation. Tourism is huge on the islands, but most of the money stays on cruise ships rather than going to the actual population. There are problems with illegal fishing practices, unregulated tour operations, stress on the environment and limited resources. Not to mention everything down to bottled water is much more expensive because it’s all imported. An 80-cent large beer in Quito was 3 dollars on the islands. It was almost like being home for a few days. Except warm. And full of sea lions, marine iguanas, finches, dolphins, giant tortoises, boobies, frigates, penguins, sharks, sea turtles…
Leaving the Galapagos was sad for all of us. I wish we had more down time to enjoy the beach rather than running to so many activities, and maybe some more sunshine! Still it was nice to come home to Quito, and to realize how much English I spoke all weekend when Ibis was talking to me at dinner and I couldn’t form a proper sentence.
Tonight I’m going to Cuenca with Barbara, Amelia, and Katie. It’s a colonial town in the south that’s supposed to be very pretty and have good jewelry. Now I just have to wait for some lights to come on so I can pack, and post this. I tried unsuccessfully to upload my pictures, you’ll have to wait until next week, sorry, they're really awesome ones too! I have a lot of work and grad school applications to get done before Friday when my favorite big brother and oldest friends come visit!!! Not that we will be having any fun at all, Mrs. Johnson =)
miércoles, 28 de octubre de 2009
AMAZON PICTURES!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343695&id=9031237&l=94a6b9f160
Warning: they're on Facebook, so if my captions or friends' comments are inappropriate I apologize. Will not change them however.
Warning: they're on Facebook, so if my captions or friends' comments are inappropriate I apologize. Will not change them however.
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