So...

One thing that I really don't like is needing other people to do things for me. Especially things that I feel like I should be able to do myself. To me it seems as though I'm causing them to go out of their way unnecessarily. Here's the thing about living with a host family in Ecuador (at least my experience), it seems like someone is always doing something for me. The best example of this is food. I start off being a colossal pain on this front, because I'm a vegetarian. Vegetarianism really isn't common here. Therefore, I'm challenging. Add to that the fact that I'm a guest. This means I don't fix my own plate or help do anything. I feel so awkward just coming into the house between 1:00 and 1:30 and sitting down to be served lunch. As an FYI, lunch here is the biggest meal of the day. I always bring my dishes to the sink, but that's about as far as I get in terms of helping. My host mother always tells me to leave the dishes alone (and not in the "Oh,-you-really-don't-have-to-do-that,"-but-that's-only-what-I'm-supposed-to-say-and-I-secreatly-really-want-you-to" kind of way). You have no idea how hard it is for me to leave dirty dishes for someone else to hand wash. Dinner is much more relaxed. Everyone else makes their own dinner, usually really lite. I can't just help myself, it would be rude. My host mother always asks if I want to eat. The answer is always yes, but I typically say no. Mostly because it's more work for her. Then the other night she asked if I was on a diet. The answer has been yes since then. The really awkward couple of days were after my host mother had her tooth pulled and my younger host sister was doing all of that for me. I was at least able to do dishes on those days.

Here's what I need to realize: They asked to have me in their house. They knew how much work it was going to be. My host mother loves food and making new things (she runs a one woman catering business out of the family kitchen). Bottom line, I really shouldn't feel guilty about any of this. Grateful. But not guilty.
 
 

More Ruins

Today my whole class went to another ruins site. This one was less maintained and less touristy. There was so much cool nature. Here's some pictures:

First we stopped for lunch at a market were there were a whole bunch of women selling roasted pig.

The plates looked like this.  I had several corn and wheat tortillas stuffed with egg and cheese. And grapes. And coconut juice.

The view at the ruins.

A giant agave plant.

The tree that grows from the center of the agave. I call it a Dr. Seuss tree. Apparently, the pods on the upper part of the can either be pickled or distilled into tequila.

Another pretty view.

We were told that this rock looks like an elephant. The eye is in the top left/center, the trunk goes down the left side and the ear is on the other side of the eye.

Vance Elliot, I finally saw a cool bird.

Weekend Adventures

This is where I spent the afternoon yesterday, after having ice-cream for lunch. It was lovely and relaxing.

Today, I left my house at 7:40 to make the 35 minute walk to school (it starts with the steepest hill ever). Everyone then got on a tour bus to go Ingapirca, Inca/Cañari ruins a about an hour and a half outside of Cuenca.

As a brief history lesson: The Cañaries were an indigenous group settled in the area for many, many, many years. Only sixty years before the arrival of the Spanish did they fall under Inca control. Despite the Inca presence the Cañaris maintained a lot of the culture.

On the way we stopped a few places. The first was a town about the size of Westbrook or Carlisle. Well, I guess the first was actually a gas station, but we're going to say that doesn't count. The reason we stopped in the town was because of the amazing church that was literally built into the top of the mountain. The reason it was built there, was so that people could worship close to Heaven.  

The view from the bus as we drove up the mountain.

Beautiful.

From the inside, looking up. This was the first church that I've taken pictures of the interior on this trip. I felt slightly wrong/guilty about doing it. I feel like taking pictures turns people's worship space into a tourist destination. The architecture was so beautiful and the building was so unique, that it in some ways functioned as both.

Actually build into the side of the mountain. On either side of the column, you can see the stone.

There were stairs going all the way up. Completely worth the climb.

The view looking down.

The back of the church and the side of the mountain.

We also stopped at a market where you could buy everything. We, however, didn't buy anything. Once again I felt slightly off about turning people's lives into a tourist destination. Had we been participants in their lives, as in bought things, it probably would have been different. However, we were on a schedule and didn't have much time.

On Friday night, we all had salsa lessons. And a few people decided to practice on the bus:

And then we were there:

The ruins don't include any homes. Instead it was the center of the town. The buildings were constructed so that they formed the shape of a crouched puma, symbolizing their power.

All of the ruins were just foundations. The Spanish destroyed the town and all of the other materials were transported to newly forming Spanish settlements to be used in their building projects. This included two of churches in Cuenca. I'll post pictures of those eventually. The circular shapes were used by the Incas for cooking.

This is a lunar calender. The moon only ever reflects in one of the pools of water. Which pool is dependent on the season.

Where we ate lunch.

I loved the proximity of the ancient structure to the living town.

Incan aqueduct. Aqueduct's are considered a great Roman invention. Why do we never talk about the fact that the Incas had them, too? 

You know you're a mile and half above sea level when...
there's clouds rolling in at the same altitude.

I then slept the whole way back.

Afternoons

Every week day I have class from 8:00-12:30. The afternoon activity varies. One Monday, I had a cooking class:

Tomates de árboles. Peel them, add nine teaspoons of sugar, blend, strain out the seeds, and you have juice. Making juice is huge here. Most people make their own. My favorite thus far is strawberry.

Note the juice in the back ground. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and usually starts with soup. This one was potatoes, onions, olive oil, water, something that I think was just for color, and garlic. Plus cheese and avocado.

The first thing we did was cut lots of beef into bite sized pieces and boiled it with chives.

What everyone else's plate looked like. Mote pillo, tomato and onion salad, and meat.

What my plate looked like. It was so good.

Babaco for desert.

Tuesday was a "charla" (lecture) about the history of Cuenca. The interesting parts will be incorporated into later posts.

Wednesday we had the afternoon off, so I went exploring, successfully took the bus, found a coffee shop with wi-fi, and got ice cream.

Today was the really interesting one. This morning and yesterday morning our class was taught by guest speaker who is an expert on Indigenous Andean religion. It was incredibly interesting. I took six pages of notes. To simplify it into a few sentences would not do the beliefs justice, the whole thing was also in Spanish with some Cañari (the name of the group of people indigenous to this region) terms. Therefore, my understanding is not quite complete. This afternoon was spent exploring "Health and Illness form an Andean Perspective," the class was run by the same lecturer. 

We walked into a smoke filled room to hear about how the Andeans view illness as a spiritual disconnection.

After we had pictured our loved ones while standing and breathing properly, Kristen volunteered to participate in the next part of the presentation. She was rubbed with an egg. When the egg was broken into a glass of water, the way that it dispersed showed what was ailing her. 

Overall, the experience was relaxing. I generally am not able to feel the same energies that other people are when participating in spiritual healing processes. This was not an exception. However, it was interesting to hear about the reasons behind the various parts of the process. We were there for two hours in which we learned how such healing processes related to his beliefs. He frequently said "Ustedes son mi dios" in English "You all are my god." One aspect of what he believes, and what other Andeans believe, is that there is a spiritual energy in and between all things and people.  By serving others he is helping that spiritual energy.

Details About My Current Everyday

The view from the window in my Spanish classroom. Sure beats Bosler.

El Parque Calderón, which is the park in the center of the city. There are gorgeous flowering trees that smell lovely. There's also some fake horses and a real saint bernard that you can pay to take pictures with.

The building where my classes are.

Lindsey and Catie standing nest to one of three rivers in the city as we explored our way to dinner.
(Don't ask which river. I have no idea. Maybe I will once I get a map.)

Oh Canada

My host sister was trying to explain to my host mother where Maine is. Her reference point: Canada.

Quick Update

As of Saturday afternoon, I am in Cuenca with my host family. They are wonderful. I have host parents and two host sisters, who are about my age. People from Cuenca think that Cuenca is small. The people in my group who have lived in large cities think that Cuenca is small. I, however, am not from Cuenca nor have I lived in a large city. I think Cuenca is huge.

One of the biggest challenges is the language. I don't understand 50% of what is said to me. I know how to say all of the things that I have to say, but not anywhere close to all of the things that I want to say. Everyone is very understanding, though. Plus, I'm learning, which is the point of being here.

Today I had my first class (only syllabus day, so it wasn't actually class). Then Meghan (an intern at CEDEI, the name of the organization I am studying with in Ecuador) took us on a tour of the city. She pointed out which restaurants are good, which ATMs to use and not use, and city landmarks. As a side note, Meghan was a Religion major who graduated from Dickinson in 2011.

After the tour, I went back to my host home and had lunch. My family is very considerate of my vegetarianism. Lunch consisted of a vegetable medley, potatoes, rice, and mote pillo.

After helping with dishes, I started in on my copious amounts of homework. My host mother and sister made a delicious chocolate cake, while I worked. I learned a lot of new words watching and helping them. It was fun. It helped me that the recipe was in English.

Actual class starts tomorrow, so I need sleep. Buenos noches. 

Exploring Ecuador's Capital

That yellow line is the equator. My left foot was in the Southern Hemisphere, and my right was in the Northern Hemisphere. Being in two places at once was a little like A Walk To Remember.

The Basilica Church was one of three beautiful churches that we visited today. The gargoyles were various animals native to different regions in Ecuador. We did not go into this church. However, we did go into the second church. The interior of La Compania de Jesus Church was stunning. However, I did not take any pictures. Here are some internet provided images, if you are interested.

This was the monument, representing liberty, in the center of the square in the middle of the city. On each side of the square there were buildings representing: the government, the church as an institution (think colonial times when the Catholic Church was a political powerhouse), God, and the common man. This is very typical of old, Latin American cities.

The Franciscan Monastery was one of the first built in South America. It was built to face the sun rise over the mountains. Once again the inside was beautiful, as were the songs being sung during the evening service. 

Here's a view of the city from the top of a mountain. I was standing at the basis of a statue of Mary, she was constructed to overlook the city.

I'm Here

After spending two relaxing days in Miami, I left the United States this afternoon. It was a great flight. I am so excited to be here. Currently here is Quito, Ecuador.  I will be here until Saturday afternoon when I fly to Cuenca to meet my first host family. The next two days, however, are filled with an orientation to Ecuador and to Quito. I'll write more tomorrow night. For now, I'm exhausted.