The Cloud Forest! Guayasamin! Guinea Pigs!

So I've been epically slacking at this blogging business. And since I keep starting posts and then not finishing it means that one big giant post is in order. And this will be it. The past couple weeks have been chalk full of fun adventures, Spanish papers and of course, lots of starch. Where to begin....

I survived my trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon but unfortunately didn't take any pictures! We took a tour of the Lago Agria and Coca, which are right near the Colombian border and are home to a bunch of drill sites and piscinas of petroleum waste. It is absolutely horrifying and disgusting. If you haven't already, you should check out a new documentary called "Crude" which goes into the very same places that I saw last weekend and shows the damage done to the land and the health of the people living nearby by Texaco/ Chevron and now PetroEcuador. I really wish I had pictures to show because there is no way that I can possibly convey the horrible things that I saw in my limited and not very imaginative vocabulary. That's why I love photography! I do have plans to return with a couple others who didn't get to go so I will make sure to snap a bunch then. But until then, go watch "Crude" because that's literally the exact location of the things that I saw. Any maybe walk to the movie store instead of driving...

This past weekend was far more relaxing and enjoyable in a different sort of way. On Thursday night we went out to some bars and then Laura and I went back to Marcy's house to sleep for a couple hours and wake up muy temprano to catch a bus to Mindo, a tiny little town in the Cloud Forest. We arrived, in a group of 6 including our new friend Juan Carlos who Laura and I stayed with in Esmereldas for Carnaval, and got some delicious breakfast. Unfortunately, my body decided then to let me know how unhappy it is with the lack of nutrients (specifically fiber) I've been receiving. I can't decide if it's better than the opposite problem, but either way, it wasn't especially fun. One really great thing that I've discovered about traveling is the unique closeness that is cultivated among fellow travelers (ie. we talk about our poop a lot) jajaja. ANYWAY I ate a few bananas today so I should be fine, in case you were worried.

After breakfast we called up some guy that was a friend of a friend of a girl in our group from Bellingham who had just opened up a hostel in Mindo. We hiked the 15 or 20 minutes down a dusty road, over a river and into the forest to find the place nestled among an astounding array of fruit trees, tall jungle grass, tropical flowers and an breathtaking garden... and we were home! Patrick, one of the owners of the place, set us up with some rooms and then brought some delicious fresh squeezed lemonade which we sipped leisurely while relaxing/reading/recuperating in the forest air on the big covered deck right outside our rooms. We laid around for a couple hours then decided to get our ziplining on. This meant buying tickets from Patrick and hiking a few miles up the mountain to the canopy. Here we were greeted by a couple guides who helped us get all harnassed up, gave us a quick (and I mean quick) safety talk in Spanish and essentially pushed us off into the clouds. It was pretty incredible to soar above the treetops through the clouds upside down. Whoooooooo!! After we finished, we hiked back down to town, ate some crappy Mexican food and returned home to drink beer, play cards and crash early.

The next morning we woke up to a delicious breakfast in our hostel with real coffee (!) and then set out down the forest path to the river not far from the house where we went for a quick dip and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. We then headed into town for lunch and caught a ride in the back of a truck up the mountain once again (but a few km further this time) . It was just starting to rain when we were in the truck and by the time we got up there it was pouring! We hopped into a rickety little cart on a cable and crossed through the clouds once again. On the other side, we hopped off and set off to see some waterfalls. By this time, we were all hiking in our bathing suits, soaking wet from the rain, and running down the trail because we realized we only had an hour before the little cart stopped running for the day. We got to one waterfall and went swimming in the pouring rain. It was incredible and yet another moment in time that I wish I could document, but for the sake of future photos I left my camera in its plastic bag inside my t-shirt inside my surprisingly waterproof timbuk2. But again, just trust me, it was dreamy. After a quick swim, we ran back up the trail through the thick warmish rain and thunder storm. It was soooo good for the soul to be in the woods in the rain, running and frolicking about, but there are still 6 other waterfalls that we didn't get to see, which means that a return trip is definitely in order (as if we need an excuse). We got back in time to catch the tram back across and then hiked down, catching a ride for the last little bit of the rainy walk. In town, we bought some groceries and headed back to cook up a delicious spaghetti dinner. Turns out it was Patrick's birthday and they had some people over, including the girl who had given us a ride down the mountain who turns out to be from the bay area and a UO alum. Crazy stuff.

The next day we had another leisurely breakfast, visited a potential internship site in town, ate the world's most delicious veggie sandwich and then hopped a bus back to reality (mas o menos).

Since this is week 8/10 of the quarter, things are starting to get a little crazy. Today we got to hang out with some middle schoolers and help them "practice their English" which really just meant we played a massive game of soccer. It was really fun. Then we visited the Fundación Guayasamin. Que increíble!! If you are not familiar (which I wasn't before coming to Ecuador) with his work, you should definitely check it out. Oswaldo Guayasamin was an Indigenous Ecuadorian painter and sculptor who lived in Quito. He died in 1999 and they have converted his houses and property to a big museum of his art collections and his own paintings and sculptures. There aren't words enough to describe the feeling of looking at these paintings up close, in person. Here's a quick little wikipedia link if you want some more info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswaldo_Guayasam%C3%ADn and here are some pictures that I took of the paintings. Of course it's not the same as seeing them in person, but here's a little taste...







Oh, and here's a picture of the new piercing that Laura and I got. Whoops! jajajajajaj

Anyway, sorry if this post is a little scatter brained. It's taken me a few days to get it written. If you want to see pictures from Mindo (and there's lots) check out my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsenecal/

I have more to say and more to share but it's gonna have to wait for another day.

Love to all!

MT