tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583420093812551302024-02-18T21:52:31.624-05:00Georg Explores EcuadorFollow my adventures as I spend 6 months in Ecuador and exploring South America!Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-85389046640803418332017-08-02T21:38:00.002-05:002017-08-02T21:38:16.675-05:00A Day in the Life<b>A Normal Weekday for me during the past 4 Months...</b><br />
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I get up between 6 and 6.30am and get myself showered and dressed before going to the kitchen to get some breakfast. This usually consists of cut up fresh fruit (strawberries, kiwifruit, banana, papaya etc.) and yoghurt followed by cereal or a bread roll (or both) and sometimes a hot chocolate. I then make my bed, open my curtains, brush my teeth and head out the door - making sure to grab my umbrella as the weather is very unpredictable here in Cuenca and it often rains at unexpected moments! I usually eat breakfast alone as my host parents do exercise and go for a walk during the hour that I get ready and leave.<br />
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Every morning I walk to my morning placement which takes about 25 minutes and involves crossing a lot of busy roads - difficult when even zebra stripes on the road doesn't mean cars will stop for you.<br />
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My morning placement is at CIBV Perpetuo Socorro, a daycare for children between the ages of 1 and 3. The centre is run by a religious organisation; the Sisters of Perpetuo Socorro and was setup in 1988. Many of the children come from very poor families and their mothers are often single parents who have suffered from domestic violence. I have been in Sala 5 (Room 5) for the past four months and work alongside the two teachers Yessenia and Sonia to care for 21 three year-olds.<br />
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I usually arrive at work just before 8am and at 8am the kids all start arriving and we collect them at the gate with one teacher watching the kids in the classroom, another receiving the children at the gate and the other doing other bits and pieces. At 8.30am the gate is shut, I put on my hairnet and we ask all the kids to "haga el tren" (make the train - each child grabs the back of the shirt of the child in front) and we walk to the Dining Area (El Comedor), often singing as we go.<br />
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Once the kids are all seated, we usually sing a song and say a prayer before giving them their food. For breakfast the kids have varying things from day to day. This could be things such as egg, fruit salad, a biscuit, bread or even a piece of cake. At breakfast time they will also have a milkshake type thing, juice or warm milk which we give them once they've finished eating. Once all the kids have eaten (or been forced to eat) we begin the process of sending them one by one to the toilet. This is a lengthy process with 21 three year-olds and involves a lot of toilet paper and patient waiting whilst we get through them all.<br />
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Once we've completed the toilet stop it's generally between 9.15 and 9.30am and we usually head back to our classroom. Typically, we take the register and sing some songs. What we do next will often vary on a day to day basis but it may include doing an activity such as painting or learning about shapes and colours or dancing to music and playing games, sometimes we also go to "Los Rincones" (the corners) where there are different areas that the kids can play in, including soft play and instruments.<br />
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At 10am we stop for a fruit snack. Following the fruit snack it is time again for us all to go to the bathroom. After the necessary things have been done the kids usually play until lunchtime. If it is sunny we will take them outside to the park to play or to the Patio and if it is not nice weather the kids are free to go crazy in the classroom or sometimes will dance to music or play with soft toys or puzzles.<br />
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Depending on the week, we either have lunch at 11.30am or 12pm and we head to the dining room and get seated for the meal. Everyday, the starter is a soup of some kind followed by what is usually a plate of rice, meat and salad which is then followed up by half a glass of juice. It has become my responsibility to pour all the juices out and once a few of the kids start finishing lunch, they are sent to me to go to the toilet. After lunch, instead of having to wait for the other kids to finish eating and going to the bathroom, I send them to the classroom to go to sleep. By this time it is between 12 and 12.30pm (depending what time we started lunch/how fast the kids eat!). Once the majority of the kids are in bed, I say "Chao" and the kids all say "Chao" back and I tell them to sleep before slipping out of the room done with my part for the day.<br />
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I walk the 25 minutes back home and chill out until lunch time which is around 2pm. In Cuenca it is tradition to go home for lunch and families almost always eat together. Once my host parents are home we eat lunch together and sometimes Abuela (grandma) joins us. Lunch is usually meat of some kind, rice and salad which is prepared by the employee who comes each day to prepare the lunchtime meal and clean. (This is normal for Ecuadorean households and more often than not there will be an employee/maid of some kind who helps with cleaning and cooking.)<br />
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Once lunch is finished I excuse myself from the table and gather my things to head to my afternoon placement. This, like my morning placement is another 25 minute walk each way. My afternoon placement is at a High School called 'Remigio Romero' and I work with the head English teacher. I usually arrive around 2.50pm in time for the next class. I spend most of my afternoon helping mark student's work and when we have classes I help with pronunciation of words (although not always accurate with my NZ accent and always ends up with the teacher giving an explanation of why I say words like 'seven' a bit funny...) I also help students when they ask questions etc.<br />
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All of the students and staff are super lovely and welcoming and all of the students give me a wave and an "Hola Georgia" when I walk past them, obsessed with the white-blonde girl in their school. Most days I leave around 6pm to walk back home just before it gets dark (due to being on the equator the sun sets at 6.30pm all year round in Ecuador) although classes actually go until 6.40pm!<br />
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In the evening, once I get home I usually get myself something to eat. Dinner isn't a big thing here in Ecuador as lunch is the big meal of the day so I often just have a cheese toasted sandwich and a hot chocolate. After that I spend the evening just relaxing after my busy day and use the time to Skype the family back home or (occasionally) write a blog post. Then around 9pm I head to bed exhausted but fulfilled with each day's work.<br />
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<b>Already it has come to an end...</b><br />
I can't believe my time volunteering in Ecuador has already come to an end. I was extremely sad to leave as these were certainly some of the best days of my life so far. I finished up at both of my placements on Friday 7th July with a full heart and tears in my eyes.<br />
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I will forever be grateful to the teachers I worked with for welcoming me to Ecuador, Cuenca, their workplaces and homes and also to the students at the High School and my little 3 year-olds for making my time in Ecuador so wonderful and memorable. On my last day at Perpetuo Socorro the teachers gifted me a poster covered in photos that says "Te Queremos Mucho" (we love you so much) as well as a cushion and mug with even more photos of my time at the daycare and I was swamped with cuddles by the kids which only made leaving that much harder.<br />
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At my afternoon placement I became really close with the teacher I worked with and many of the other teachers and staff would call her my "Mami" and we shared cake and coffee as our last wee goodbye.<br />
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Overall, it was bittersweet to leave but I am so thankful for the experience and wouldn't change it for a thing.<br />
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Georgia xx<br />
<br />Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-36839985104874240602017-06-28T20:47:00.001-05:002017-06-28T20:47:53.856-05:00A Week's Worth of Adventure and Buses<b>6th - 14th May - Taking a Week Off</b><br />
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<b>MINDO/QUITO 6th - 9th May (Heading North)</b><br />
Bethyn, Katy (fellow volunteers) and I began our week off by travelling up to Quito in the hopes of connecting on to another bus to Mindo, a small cloud forest 2 hours out of Quito. However, our weekend didn't quite go to plan...<br />
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All was fine until we arrived in Quito after the 9 hour bus ride and discovered that we'd just missed the last bus to Mindo for the night but when we asked around at the bus station someone suggested that perhaps if we went to the other bus terminal (Quito has three) there may still be buses leaving from there. So we quickly bought tickets and took the hour long bus across the city to the other bus terminal only to discover that there were no buses to Mindo from there either. It was time to put our 'big girl' pants on and get ourselves a place to stay for the night as well as ring the hostel in Mindo and inform them that we would not be arriving until the next day (or so we thought).<br />
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Thankfully, we found a place to stay near one of the main streets in the Old Town of Quito and got ourselves some dinner on La Ronda in a strange restaurant/bar/disco place. We went to sleep in the hopes of getting to Mindo the next morning. Luck, it seemed was not on our side as when we woke up the next morning we found out there had been a landslide (very common in Ecuador) and there was no pass to Mindo. Again, we rang the hostel in Mindo and informed them of our delay by another night... What was supposed to be 3 days in Mindo was looking like it was only going to be one.<br />
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We spent the day being annoyed by Quito's comparatively expensive taxis and food when we took a $5 taxi only to discover that the museum we wanted to go to was $8 each and nothing else was open. Let's just say we were not big fans of Quito that weekend. Especially since we are used to the smaller, cheaper, cleaner Cuenca which we now call Home.<br />
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Thankfully, the next day we finally caught a bus to Mindo. We were dropped on the side of the road in what felt like the middle of nowhere but crossed the road and started walking down a road towards Mindo (there was a sign thankfully). We were quite happy enjoying the peaceful walk down the road surrounded by lush greenery until a taxi drove past us and asked if we needed a ride, we nearly declined as we were content walking until the driver mentioned it was 7km to town and we realised there wasn't really much option.<br />
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When we finally got into the gorgeous little village of Mindo, the temperature was lovely and the Hostel was perfect for the one night we were going to stay. We had arrived pretty early and after putting our things down we quickly got down to making the most of the one day we had. First, we went to one of the many tourist agencies and organised to do a zip-line tour with 10 different lines through the forest. This took just over an hour and cost us just $20 with the options to fly superman or butterfly (upside down) as well! Enjoy the pictures below.<br />
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After the zip-lining we were pretty hungry so we found some lunch along the one main road. After lunch we headed back to the Hostel for a bit and booked a Chocolate Factory tour at one of the few famous chocolate factories that Mindo has. Once we'd booked that we went to the Info centre to find out what else we could do. Although the weather had turned pretty cold and wet we decided to catch the Tarrabita (cable car) across to where you can walk to some waterfalls. We didn't have much time before the Tarrabita closed so we just walked to the closest waterfall which was rather powerful and pretty.<br />
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By the time we were back it was still pouring with rain but we had our Chocolate Factory tour which was really relaxed and interesting. We got to participate in recreating the ritual that the Incans used to do when making chocolate. This involved roasting the cocoa beans and peeling the shells before grinding them until a paste started to form. We then used this paste to make a drink with boiling water, cinnamon, chili powder and honey. It was rather bitter and strong but an interesting experience and Katy quite liked it.<br />
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After the chocolate factory experience, we got to take home some of the shells to make cocoa tea and we bought a famous Mindo Brownie which we shared between us (it was super duper delicious by the way). We then quickly got a bite to eat at a sandwich place that had recently opened nearby.<br />
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The next morning we were up bright and early to catch the bus back to Quito. Thankfully, we got a relatively early bus back to Quito although it was still a hassle getting between bus stations and there was another landslide which again nearly stopped us from getting back but luckily the bus pushed through and we weren't back too late.<br />
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<b>On the Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th of May we just had a chill couple of days in Cuenca.</b><br />
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<b>VILCABAMBA 12th - 14th May (Heading South)</b><br />
On the morning of Friday 12th May Bethyn, Katy and I commenced the second part of our week off. We chose to head south of Cuenca to a small village called Vilcabamba "where the balmy air is synonymous with longevity." (Lonely Planet)<br />
We first took the bus to Loja and from there we caught another bus to Vilcabamba arriving around 1.30pm. The 'hostal' we stayed in definitely was a "backpacker's retreat" about 1km out of the main centre with gorgeous views, room, atmosphere and temperature. We got ourselves settled in our room - with the fortune of not having to share a bathroom due to the shared bathroom not being available and still getting it for just $12 USD a night. Outside our room was a patio with hammocks and a view over the bush.<br />
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We spent the afternoon enjoying the peace and exploring the Hostel. For dinner, we ate in the restaurant at Izhcayluma (name of the hostel) which served delicious food and had a wide range of food to choose from.<br />
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After dinner, we headed down to the bar for a couple of games of pool (which I suck at fyi) and enjoyed the 'not too hot, not too cold' temperature.<br />
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The next day we headed into town for breakfast at a place called Midas Touch which served scrumptious food for brilliant prices. After breakfast we wanted to explore a bit so decided to do the quick hike to a small spring called Agua de Hierro that the Lonely Planet guide recommended... only to find out that the spring was merely a trickle and really not anything special to walk 30 minutes for. Nevertheless, it was a nice walk and we walked back into town to try out the Juice Factory. By this time, it was about lunchtime so we went in search of another Lonely Planet recommended place which had apparently moved and thanks to Google maps and more walking we eventually found the place we wanted. This place was called Shanta's Bar and the owner had a pretty wicked moustache and the bar stools were saddles. It was in a beautiful quiet setting in the open air with a cactus garden around it. We enjoyed a scrumptious pizza before heading back to Izhcayluma for our massages that we'd booked the previous night.<br />
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The rest of he afternoon we just soaked up the atmosphere and went for a dip in the pool, playing around with Katy's waterproof camera getting some "stunning" photos...<br />
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That evening, we dined at the Hostel restaurant again as it was so yummy the previous night and continued down to the bar for a few more games of pool before heading to bed.<br />
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The next morning we checked out and got some breakfast at Midas Touch for the second time before getting the bus(es) back to Cuenca, arriving late sunday afternoon in time to get into bed nice and early for work the next day.<br />
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It was lovely to have a week off (even if it was a while ago now).<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-11994325451178431122017-05-11T21:54:00.001-05:002017-05-11T21:54:56.414-05:00Weekend Exploring<b>Saturday 8th April 2017</b><br />
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Today we decided to go in search of some well known craft markets near Cuenca. We hopped on a bus which took us first to Gualaceo. Gualaceo is a small market town about an hour from Cuenca and is well known for it's shoes and Chancho (pig/pork). <br />
We arrived at about 10am and hopped off the bus to a slightly warmer climate than Cuenca and went in search of the markets. Unfortunately we couldn't find the markets (we decided they must be on Sunday instead) but we did find a very pretty, tranquil river. We explored the town for a while where there was a lovely church and town square. By about 12pm we decided we'd explored the small town enough and were getting hungry, so we got on another bus which took us to an even smaller market town called Chordeleg.<br />
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It was a short 15-20 minute bus ride to the tiny, picturesque village. As soon as we got off the bus we found a cute, quirky place for lunch. It was called 'La Cabaña' and was owned by an Argentinian man who was also the sole chef. The food was absolutely delicious and so reasonably priced! $3 for a homemade Lasagne and $1 for an Empanada (all made by hand, then and there whilst we waited).<br />
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Once we'd filled our bellies, we explored the gorgeous town. The streets surrounding the town square were lined with the many jewellery shops that the tiny town is famous for. Coincidentallly, the first jewellery shop we encountered was called 'Georgia' so of course we had to go in... I bought a gorgeous pair of earrings in the shapes of butterfly wings and some plain sparkly studs.<br />
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We explored the picturesque town for the afternoon, glad we had been to the first jewellery shop we'd seen or we would have been there for days choosing jewellery!<br />
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After exploring all the touristy shops and buying some delicious bread for the bus ride home, we found a direct bus to Cuenca and headed back. Out of Gualaceo and Chordeleg I would definitely recommend Chordeleg for it's picturesque surroundings and charming village although Gualaceo is worth a visit too.<br />
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<b>13th - 16th April - Easter Weekend Trip to Baños</b><br />
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This year Easter was a little different for me since I couldn't be in New Zealand spending the weekend gourging on chocolate and hot cross buns and spending time with family. Instead, I was off to a small adventure town in Ecuador called Baños, more or less near the middle of Ecuador.<br />
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Easter in Ecuador is a little different to New Zealand and instead of Hot Cross Buns and chocolate Easter eggs they have a traditional soup known as 'Fanesca' - which Cuenca is particularly well known for. The soup is rather complicated and contains twelve different types of beans and grains - said to represent the 12 apostles, Bacalao (salted cod) soaked in milk and is usually topped with sliced avocado and boiled egg.<br />
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My host family ate this over the holy week and saved me some for when I returned from my trip to Baños. Overall, I thought the soup tasted pretty good (although you can'y beat a toasted Hot Crosss Bun with melted butter in my opinion).<br />
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Due to 'Semana Santa' (Holy Week), most of us had the Thursday and Friday off work so 7 of us decided to head north to Baños. We left on the bus at 8.45a on Thursday and what was supposed to be a 7 hour bus ride turned into a 10 hour one when the bus broke down 30 minutes from our destination... welcome to Ecuador! We sat in the bus waiting for 2 hours before they got a taxi/ute to drive us into the town.<br />
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We arrived around 7pm and walked to our hostal. We stayed at the 'Plantas y Blanco' hostel in two rooms of 3 and 4. We met up with the volunteers from Quito and headed into town to find something to eat. We were all pretty tired so didn't stay up too late. We found a cool burger place which was comic themed (see pictures below) and headed to a bar for a free, flaming, rainbow shot and then chilled in another quiet bar which was 'Simpsons' themed.<br />
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The next day the adventure began! It started with breakfast at a small cafe before some of the brave ones involved themselves in an activity known as 'Puenting' which can basically be described as jumping from a bridge and swing (like bungee jumping but without the bounce... I'll let the video explain that! (Unfortunately I was not brave enough for that so here's a video of one of the other volunteers Katy doing it ☺)<br />
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After the brave ones had bridge jumped, a few of us decided to go ziplining! I was one of these people and it was absolutely wicked fun! We got to fly like superman, climb a 90m vertical rock face and tandem zipline to the end. Watch the video below to see what we did (disclaimer: video isn't of us)<br />
<a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1874623176084366&id=1601197473426939" target="_blank">https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1874623176084366&id=1601197473426939</a><br />
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Following an adrenalin packed morning we were pretty hungry so whilst some people went quad-biking and buggying, Bethyn, Ruby and I went and got ourselves some lunch. Later that evening we saved ourselves some money by cooking up a delicious stir-fry at the hostal in the small kitchen on the roof terrace (mostly thanks to Anna and Katy's wonderful cooking skills!). We spent the evening chilling and chatting before heading back to our rooms to sleep.<br />
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On Saturday we kept things a little more low key since unfortunately Katy was pretty sick (on her birthday! 😞). In the afternoon we took the bus up to the well-known 'Casa Del Arbol' although we didnt go on the actual swing attached to the treehouse as we didn't have time to wait in long lines. Instead we went on one of the other (just as good) swings and admired the view over the valley.<br />
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For the rest of the day we just relaxed. In the evening we went to the thermal baths that Baños is well known for. It cost us $3 to get in and upon entry we encountered the murky water filled with colourful heads due to the compulsory swimming caps...just believeme when i say we looked 10/10 haha. Afterwards we quickly aadmired the waterfall that feeds the thermal pools before having some dinner and a drink at the hostal until the restaurant closed and we went to bed.<br />
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On Sunday, we packed up our things and travelled home, arriving back in Cuenca around 5pm.<br />
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Overall, despite Easter being different to what we experience in New Zealand it was still a wicked fun time and don't think many other people can say they spent their easter weekend ziplining through an 850m canyon at more than 100kmh!<br />
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Sorry for the delayed post...<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-75576594618116192402017-04-05T21:00:00.000-05:002017-04-05T21:00:13.479-05:00MontañitaFrom the 24th to the 26th of March we went on our first 'weekend away.' We headed north west to the coast of Ecuador - Specifically to Montañita which is one of the most famous surf beaches in Ecuador. Montañita is a small, laid-back surf town with it's own chill culture and a variety of travellers - mostly young.<br />
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We left at the extremely early hour of 2:30am to ensure we arrived at the beaches early Friday morning. The bus ride went well for almost the entire journey as we mostly slept and had a few stops for toilets but we 'hit a bump in the road' when our big tour bus tried to go down a dirt road after heavy rainfall in an attempt to reach our first beach 'Playa Rosada'... And so began the first of the weekend's adventures.</div>
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We ended up stuck in the mud for 2 hours before help arrived! During these 2 hours we made a few attempts ourselves to get the bus out of the mud but alas the situation was only made worse and we gave up and sat inside the bus trying not to trample the sticky mud everywhere and avoiding the rain and muggy air. </div>
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I was never so happy as to see the giant digger and dump truck come round the corner, especially since the words "apparently a man is on his way to help" could literally mean anything here in Ecuador. Not going to lie I was expecting something like a small family car with a tow bar to come round the corner 😂<br />
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When we finally got out of the mud, we arrived in Montañita around 1.30pm and checked into our hostal. We stayed at the Iguana Backpackers and were on the loft floor which was open and had around 12 beds along the floor (see picture below).<br />
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Once we'd sorted our bedding situation and put on some cooler clothes (average temperature was 27℃) we went out as a group to find something to eat. Most of the group ended up with a seafood dish - as you would expect being on the coast but for (now) obvious reasons I avoided the shellfish and had a chicken dish.<br />
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We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach and taking in the vibe of the place. Within half an hour of sitting we were offered all manner of things including 'Happy Brownies' (a common occurrence in Montañita) to which we politely declined. After this we headed back to the hostal and joined Happy Hour before heading out to find some dinner. After dinner some of the others went out clubbing and dancing on the beach but as I was on antibiotics and couldn't really drink and was also incredibly tired from the early start and mud palava, I decided to head back to the hostal with a few of the others (it was only 10pm) and try and get a decent sleep so I could stay out longer on the Saturday night.<br />
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On Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hostal at around 8.30am. Breakfast was a fried egg, bread roll and fresh fruit.<br />
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At 10am we boarded the bus to head to one of the nicer beaches just over an hour out of Montañita called 'Playa de los Frailes.' I think the pictures below will speak for themselves. We were also very lucky in that it was super sunny when we went and we spent most of the morning bathing in the tepid waters of the beach (I think all us Kiwis were surprised when we got in the water and we weren't hopping around trying to get used to the water temperature!). In fact the water was so warm it was barely even refreshing compared to the air temperature. It was super relaxing and a very lovely morning indeed.<br />
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After the beach we headed to a town nearby (can't recall the name) and got some lunch (which was incredibly average and we waited more than an hour for!). Once we'd finally all eaten we got back on the bus and headed back towards Montañita however first we stopped at a lookout near a place called Olón which had the most breathtaking views and even had a gorgeous church built on the edge of a cliff. We were told that it was expected for the church to fall into the water within the next 5-10 years so feeling pretty priviliged to see it whilst it's still standing.</div>
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When we got back to the hostal, I had a quick shower in an attempt to cool off but that lasted all of 10 seconds before I was sticky and sweaty again - the joys of humid places. We had dinner at the hospital which was a big BBQ (only worth it if you're going to eat lots which I did not do). We partied there for a while before leaving to go clubbing and dancing on the beach. Managed to stay out later than the Friday night and it was good fun. </div>
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The next morning (Sunday) we had breakfast and packed up our stuff before getting delicious Nutella, banana and strawberry crepes as our 'lunch' before we got back on the bus to head back to Cuenca. The bus ride was long and I slept most of the way and took in the incredible sunset in the moments when I was awake. We left about lunchtime and got back to Cuenca at 10pm. </div>
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Overall the trip was good fun, although I definitely couldn't have sustained staying in the muggy heat for more than the 3 days we were there. Bring on the next trip!</div>
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Georgia xx<br />
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Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-61756457715689161572017-03-28T19:21:00.000-05:002017-03-28T19:21:07.362-05:00Whats Been Happening?Since Carnaval, things have been pretty busy with starting my volunteer placements, being sick and finally getting settled into a routine hence a bit of a delayed blog post!<br />
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So where to start...?<br />
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On Wednesday 1st March we began the work which we came to Ecuador for. This was both exciting and daunting but I was ready to get stuck into it. My morning placement is at a Daycare called 'Perpetuo Socorro' and I begin work at 8am. This meant that I got up at 6.30am and left the house at 7.30am for the 30 minute walk to work. Thankfully, my host family had shown me the way to both of my placements the day before so getting lost wasn't an issue despite my doubts. When we arrived we were asked which class/age group of children we would like to help with. The options were: Classroom 1 - 12 to 18 months old; Classroom 2 - 18 months to 24 months old; Classroom 5 - 24 months to 36 months old. I chose the oldest kids in Classroom 5 who are super duper adorable and are between 2 and 3 years old.<br />
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I went to the classroom and met my mentor/co-teachers Sonia and Yessenia and began to meet the kids as they arrrived between 8-8.30am. Alhough there was only 12 children on this day (normally 22) due to Carnaval and many kids becoming sick due to the water fights.<br />
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The morning was pretty full on but I enjoyed it a lot and knew that this was going to be a really good placement.<br />
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(I will do a full in depth blog post of what I exactly I do on a daily basis at both placements soon)<br />
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Work finished at 12.30pm when all the kids had eaten lunch and gone for a nap and I walked the 30 minute walk home where I had some lunch before leaving with my host dad to my afternoon placement which is a High School called 'Remigio Romero.'<br />
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I was under the impression that my placement started at 2.30pm and finished at 5pm but discovered that I could arrive slightly later than 2.30pm due to class times. However, I also discovered that classes at the school don't finish until 6.40pm! So I agreed with the teacher to stay until the second to last class ended at 6pm, that way I avoid walking home in the dark. I was also under the impression that I would be teaching classes by myself at a primary school but alas the school is actually a high school in the afternoons and I am only assisting the english teacher (thank goodness). I met my mentor teacher who is super lovely and she put me straight to work helping her mark students work. I also got to meet a few of her/our classes and I got a good vibe from all of them (Even with the flirtatious over the top comments from many of the male students as is the culture here) ☺<br />
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I finished up work and walked home, getting home at about 6.30pm. Overall, it was as good as a first day at a new 'job' can go and I thoroughly enjoy what I am doing. Although both of my placements are a 30 minute walk from where I'm leaving this means that every day I walk an average of 2 hours which equates to approximately 11,000 steps per day and ups to 880,000 steps for the whole time I'm here 😛<br />
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<b>Friday 03 March - 18th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!</b><br />
Friday was my 18th birthday and was the first birthday where I was in a different country without my family and friends around me but nevertheless it was still a wonderful birthday and I can't thank the other volunteers (and now good friends), my host family and the other people around me enough.<br />
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In the morning my host parents surprised me with a wee gift of moisturiser and body spray which was lovely. At my morning placement it just happened to be the day they were celebrating all the February birthdays that had been. So a few of the classes joined together and the February birthday kids were given party hats and snacks were passed around. There was also a cake which all the kids blew out the candles on and my co-teachers also brought me my own candles and made it a bit special which was cool! There was also lots of dancing. At my afternoon placement it was pretty low key, although there was one student who remembered that I'd said it was my birthday on Friday and the class sung me Happy Birthday in both English and Spanish! It definitely put a smile on my face.<br />
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After work I rushed home and put on a dress and some jewellery and met up with the other volunteers in town. We went to a bar/restaurant called 'La Cigale' which is apparently good for birthdays and where all the young people go. It was a really good night. I had a few cocktails and even got a free one since it was my birthday and the others paid for my meal which was super lovely of them! ❤<br />
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The birthday celebrations carried over to Saturday when Abuela and her friend visiting from Manta came over and we had family lunch together which Natacha had made. It was really lovely and afterwards, around late afternoon I went into town with a few of the others and we got Milkshakes and chilled in the park before getting pizza for dinner at an extremely yummy pizza place.<br />
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On Sunday, my host mum and dad had other commitments so they dropped me at Abuela's and I had lunch there and spent the afternon/evening hanging out with Natacha's sister and niece who is similar age to me and we watched a few movies in spanish (definitely a good way to practise!)<br />
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<b>Monday - Friday (6th to 10th March) = Sick, Sick, Sick</b><br />
Unfortunately I woke up on Monday with what I thought was a pretty awful cold. I stayed home from work and tried to rest as much as possible hoping it would just get better. On Tuesday afternoon I felt marginally better so I forced myself to go to work but on Wednesday morning I woke up feeling absolutely awful and with an incredibly sore throat! So off to the doctor I went. This was the first time I fully felt I had to 'adult' and I managed to organise an appointment, get in a taxi and find my way to the doctors and back whilst feeling absolutely miserable. I discovered that I had a sinus infection and a throat infection and was put on a decongestant and a 5 day course of antibiotics and was told not to go back to work that week.<br />
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<b>Saturday 11th March</b><br />
Today a few of us decided to visit the Pumapungo museum and ruins. Unfortunately the main floor of the museum was closed for maintenance but we were still able to walk around the ruins of buildings which are believed to be part of the old Incan city of Tomebamba. At the bottom of the park there was also a few cages with some very bright and colourful birds in. When it started to rain we we took refuge under the cover of the Belgian Waffle bar. The waffles were extremely delicious and are apparently the 'best in Cuenca.' After filling up on some delicious waffles we explored some more and found a spot to sit with some hammocks and played cards for a while. Alas, we were caught in quite a big rain storm and huddled for warmth before making a dash back to the museum for cover and to decide what to do next. We decided to head to the mall and we just chilled for the afternoon/evening and got a few bits and pieces from the supermarket.<br />
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<b>Sunday 12th March</b><br />
Today we attempted to go inside the New Cathedral but somehow couldn't time it right it with the services going on so we got some lunch at a cafe (I had a hot dog and coconut milkshake which I would highly recommend) and sat outside the church for a bit before heading to a supermarket and sitting another park for a while.<br />
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<b>Monday 13th March</b><br />
Today was Anushka's birthday and after work we went round to her house for a small birthday celebration. Her host parents are super lovely and they organised party snacks and even dessert and cake for Anushka! It was a lovely night and exactly how you'd want to spend your birthday in a foreign country with a family that is not your own. Happy belated 18th Birthday Anushka 😉<br />
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Nothing much happened for the rest of the week and despite being back at work, the sickness was lingering.<br />
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<b>Thursday 16th March - Photo Shoot for Cuenca Tourism</b><br />
Today something a bit unexpected happened and 5 of us were chosen to be 'tourism models' for Cuenca in an annual tourism competition between a few cities in Ecuador. We spent the day taking awfully cheesy and typical 'tourist' photos but on the bright side it did mean we got to see a few cool places including Cajas National Park and climbing to the the top of the New Cathedral!<br />
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<b>Saturday 18th March - Time to treat ourselves!</b><br />
Today a few things happened. In the morning I met with one of my co-teachers from Perpetuo Socorro and together we went to hire costumes for a dance performance we were doing with the kids on Monday. The dress was a traditional dress for a dance which originated in Colombia called 'La Pollera Colorada' and is a type of the popular Colombian 'Cumbia.' Once I'd hired my dress I jumped in a taxi and met with the others to go on our little day excursion.<br />
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We headed to Baños, a small town 20 minutes out of Cuenca well known for it's thermal springs rich in minrerals. We headed to a thermal spa called 'Piedra de Agua' (and got a discount since Bethyn's host sister works there) and were taken around the different thermal pools and treatments. This started with a freezing cold shower and then 15 minutes in the steam room which we then repated again. After this, we were taken to the mud pools. The first mud pool was the 'blue' mud pool and we hopped in the water and used our little terracotta pots containing mineral-rich mud to lather the mud all over our bodies and let it dry before rinsing it off in the volcanic showers. After the 'blue' mud pool we hopped in the 'red' mud pool which was supposed to have slightly different properties to the 'blue' one. Admittedly, the red mud looked pretty hilarious especially on my own pale body but nevertheless it was a good laugh and my skin truly felt incredible afterwards!<br />
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Once we'd rinsed off the 'red' mud we were taken down to these steam boxes where only your head is visible and you sit in the steam for 10 minutes. This too looked pretty hilarious with just a bunch of heads visible above these wooden boxes but the health benefits were so good. Finally, we were taken to the underground 'contrast' pools where we sat in the 40℃ pool for 10 minutes and then got in the freezing cold pool for 1 minute. We repeated this and then we were finished our lovely, calming and healing thermal spa experience. We got changed and returned our robes and towels before calling a couple of taxis and heading in search of food. We ended up going to a burger place called 'Chill & Grill' where we had some mighty fine burgers which were so good and reasonably priced too! I had a BBQ Burger and Maracuya (passionfruit) juice for just $7.80. Overall, it was a lovely day and truthfully my skin had/has never felt better and that's coming from someone who continuously suffers from eczema and dry skin.<br />
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<b>Monday 20th March</b><br />
This morning we had the dance performance at the daycare and all the parents came to watch. Here are some pictures of the kids and myself in our costumes.<br />
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<b>Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March - Sickness upon Sickness</b><br />
On Tuesday the sore throat that had been lingering was still there and I'd been having chills and hot flushes during the night as well as coughing heaps so I returned to the doctor who told me my throat infection had devloped into strep throat and he prescribed me more antibiotics among a few other things and sent me on my way.<br />
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On Wednesday things took a different turn and I found myself at the doctors again only this time for a different and more serious reason... At lunch time I had my first taste of Ceviche (a popular dish here in Ecuador especially on the coast) and although I don't like prawns/shrimp I ate the Ceviche anyway out of politeness. However as I was to discover in just a few hours time, this was a mistake!<br />
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About 20 minutes after I'd eaten lunch I had the weirdest and most painful sore stomach I'd had in my life. Thinking I may just have a stomach bug, I grabbed my things and walked to my afternoon placement. When I arrived I was coughing excessively but still didn't think too much of it due to the coughing I'd had with my strep throat. Shortly after though I realised the coughing was not normal and I was struggling to breath. At this point the back of my neck and head began to tingle where hives were starting to appear and it began to sink in that I was likely having an allergic reaction. I told my mentor teacher what I thought was happening and she took me to the school doctor on site who told me she thought I was having an allergic reaction to the prawns/shrimp and gave me an antihistamine tablet and sent me on my way. I knew I wasn't too well so I left my placement early and walked home. However by the time I was home things were deteriorating and I immediately called the doctor and jumped in the taxi (not before an extremely brief call to mum back home who talked sense into me and advised me to call the doctor).<br />
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By the time I arrived my whole neck was covered in hives and my face was swollen and hives were also beginning to appear on my hands and arms. The doctor rushed off to the pharmacy to buy the medication I needed and he returned as quick as he could to give me a strong Cortisone injection which essentiallly 'saved my life.' He monitored me over the next 2 hours and upon seeing the dramatic improvement he needed to see, he dropped me home and I went to bed to sleep off the day's stress. Thankfully in the end everything was ok but I now know not to eat prawns/shrimp and that I have a severe allergic reaction to them. It was definitely not an experience you want to have in a foreign country thats for sure! I think I've had my fair share of sickness now Ecuador!<br />
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Anyway, sorry for the extremely delayed and lengthy blog post but hopefully that's mostly caught you up on what's been happening here in the crazy world of Ecuador.<br />
Hope you're all well ☺<br />
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Also a very special congratulations to my Grandparents in England who on Thursday (30th March) will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary! Love you both very much ❤❤❤<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-38344082814620428302017-03-05T11:35:00.002-05:002017-03-05T11:40:15.311-05:00CARNAVALOn Thursday 23rd February we arrived in Cuenca at 3.30pm after a 9 hour bus trip down from Quito. We were greeted by our host families and taken to our new homes. In my host family there is just myself and my two host parents as all 2 of their children are studying overseas and their daughter is currently in the UK with Lattitude. I have my own room to myself with a double bed and my house is rather lovely and super clean and tidy. Below is a picture of me with my host parents.<br />
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On Friday we went with the local Lattitude representative Kika and visited our volunteer placements (I'll do another blog post on everyday life and volunteering). However, things were not as they would normally be when we visited the placements due to the beginning of Carnaval celebrations (a lot of foam and water to say the least).<br />
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<b>Saturday 25-02-17</b><br />
Today was the first day of full on Carnaval craziness!! Everyone's families had Carnaval plans and there was not a moment of rest or calmness in sight. My family left at about 10am and we picked up Abuela (grandma) and a visiting aunty from Manta and drove to one of the family member's house's. The house was in a slightly more rural location and the first thing that I saw when we arrived was a large truck from which they carried an entire (dead) pig with nothing but the hair removed, over to a marquee set up with a table for food (see photo below...).<br />
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The entire family greeted me and everyone else with the traditional Ecuadorian kiss on the cheek and then they got stuck right in to eating the pig skin. It wasn't long after this that the hose and the foam came out. It is a tradition in Cuenca especially, to throw water at each other for Carnaval and there is certainly no one who is spared! I was drenched within half an hour of being there and meeting all these new people. It was rather overwhelming to say the least but definitely a lot of fun!<br />
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Once the family had eaten all of the pig skin, the pig was cut up and put into a giant pot (seen in the picture) to be cooked up for lunch. We spent the next few hours being continually drenched with water and flour (which dries into your hair and doesn't come out for days) and foam and oats and trying to keep warm. Eventually when it was just too cold I got changed into some dry clothes and hung out with some of the cousins watching movies and staying inside.<br />
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Eventually the pig was ready and we had a traditional Ecuadorian meal under the marquees setup outside - although I didn't eat much due to still recovering my stomach bug. Most of the men were incredibly drunk and there was a lot of music and dancing. Finally, around 9 or 10pm at night we headed home. I felt very shattered and overwhelmed but in hindsight it had been a fun day.<br />
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<b>Sunday 26-02-17</b><br />
This morning the family all came to the house and we all left at about 11am to head to another place called Yunguilla about 2 hours out of Ecuador for more Carnaval celebrations. I would say the house we went to was the equivalent of a Kiwi Batch just without the sea views and more mountain valley views. Thankfully today we didn't get too wet and it was my choice to join in the foam fight with the children there. We had Ceviche for lunch (more like a steak of fish marinated in a garlic-like coating) and spent most of the day inside avoiding the cold and mist outside. I played card games with the other girls there and it was just a nice chill day. In the late afternoon, Abuela made a delicious bread which she had also made the day before. Fresh out of the oven the bread was super delicious and had cheese in the middle.<br />
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Eventually by about 10pm we left to head home. Again, I was incredibly tired but I was thankful the day wasn't so full on and really enjoyed becoming a part of my new family. The drive into and out of Yunguilla involved some steep and muddy dirt roads and also some interesting driving which can only be described as Ecuadorian.<br />
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<b>Monday 27-02-17</b><br />
Today we were going to yet another place for even more Carnaval celebrations! We left at about 10aam for a place called Paute. Another semi-rural place where we went to another member of the family's holiday house. When we arrived the music was setup and another pig, this time already cooked was brought in for eating. They call pig/pork 'Chancho' here in Cuenca. This time I actually ate some of it as I was feeling better. It tasted nice but I did seriously consider becoming vegetarian when they just got their hands right into the pig and pulled out the parts they wanted. After lunch the hose and foam came out and there was no choice in it, you were going to get wet whether you wanted to or not! We were all drenched again and covered in foam, although thankfully this time there was no flour...<br />
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Once we'd had some fun and were soaking wet we danced to keep warm which I enjoyed. After a while they then decided to commence some other sort of tradition where they hit individuals with plants and dance around you whilst another person spits water at you... not entirely sure what this symbolised but it happened nevertheless.<br />
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Most of the day and evening was spent dancing which I joined in on and thoroughly enjoyed and even got the family to accept me as one of them when I joined in on their dancing antics. Eventually by about 10pm our family decided to leave and we gave up the dancing and headed back home rather tired from the busy day.<br />
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Thankfully on Tuesday we just had a chill day with no more crazy Carnaval celebrations and my family walked with me to each of my placements so I would know where I was going on Wednesday when I would start my placements.<br />
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The three crazy days of Carnaval were a lot of fun but definitely full on and overwhelming and I struggled with homesickness a lot. I also miss having siblings weirdly enough as here with my family I am an only child. Guess it's things like this that make you appreciate what you have and as they say <i>"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."</i><br />
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Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-77093125777195271682017-02-27T09:06:00.001-05:002017-02-27T09:06:07.814-05:00Last Days in Quito<b><i>19-02-17 Sunday</i></b><br />
Today was very much a family day. Ruby and I had a sleep in before getting up to greet the family. Our host mum's son David and his wife and three kids were there.<br />
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When it came time for the afternoon meal it included Ruby and I's first experience of homemade soup (soup is extremely common as an 'entree' over here). The soup had a piece of Yuca, lamb and Maiz and was of a broth consistency. For our first homemade soup it wasn't too bad! The rest of the meal was pork, potatoes with cheese on (runny consistency and tasted vaguely like Sour Cream) with avocado and tomato.<br />
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After lunch David asked if he could 'adopt' Ruby and I for the afternoon to which we agreed. His wife, 2 month old daughter and his 10 year old daughter came with us and he took Ruby and I to Parque Itchimbia where there are awesome views of the city and a large building made of glass known as the 'Crystal Palace.'<br />
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David then took us to 'El Panecillo' where a large statue of the Virgin Mary sits atop one of the city's hills. It was rather incredible to see up close and you could even go inside and up a few flights of stairs to a balcony about a third of the way up the statue. The views of the city were in my opinion better than those from the top of the Teleferico purely because the cloud/smog wasn't blurring the city.<br />
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<b><i>20-02-17 Monday</i></b><br />
Today was technically our first day of orientation with Lattitude (don't ask why they put it at the end of the first two weeks of Spanish course 😛). First we had an admin chat at 'Vida Verde' and shared our Hopes and Fears for the whole experience. Then we were taken to 'Mitad Del Mundo' aka Latitude 00°00'00".<br />
<br />
Fun facts:<br />
- The Equator is actually 5km wide<br />
- The monument for Latitude 00°00'00" is not the correct Equator line (the red one pictured is technically the correct one.<br />
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We spent a while wandering around the monument, taking the obligatory tourist photos, trying to pet the llamas (not me though) and looking at the high quantities of shops with all the same souvenir things. At 1pm we had lunch in one of the many restaurants at the location which was a rather large lunch with all typical Ecuadorian food.<br />
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After lunch we walked down the road to the Inti Ñan Museum where the actual calculated Equator lies. We had a tour round and learnt about some of the tribes and traditions in Ecuador and the Amazon and were shown some cool things that prove you're on the equator including...<br />
<br />
- Directly on the equator line water does not spin when it goes down the plug hole it is simply pulled straight down.<br />
- You weigh 1kg less at the equator because you are further from the centre of the earth and so the gravitational pull is weaker.<br />
- Your balance is offset is you walk along the equator due to the contrary motion of the forces in each hemisphere.<br />
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After being amazed by the effects of the equator and North and Southern Hemispheres we headed back into Quito on the bus and went home (not before being caught in the rain though).<br />
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<b><i>21-02-17 Tuesday</i></b><br />
Not much to say about Tuesday except that if you need to get a visa other than a tourist visa, be prepared to sit in a hot stuffy room with many other people for 3 hours.<br />
<br />
Advice:<br />
Take snacks and water<br />
Don't make other plans (Lattitude had plans to take us to Old Town but we missed out due to the unusually long wait at Immigration)<br />
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<b><i>22-02-17 Wednesday - Last Day in Quito</i></b><br />
For the others, Wednesday meant having an individual 10 minute chat with Rossy in the morning and a teaching skills workshop in the afternoon at 'Vida Verde.' However for me, this meant lying in bed feeling incredibly nauseous for most of the day until I was eventually sick and managed to drift in and out of sleep for the rest of the day/night in the hopes that I would be okay to travel the 9 hour bus journey to Cuenca in the morning... Not fun but glad it is over with and my host mum was very helpful. Also, special shout out to Ruby who took good care of me and gave me the hug and love I needed ❤<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the delay in the blog post, things have been very busy and full on in the past week)<br />
Being sick makes things 10x harder and brings on the homesickness but the people around me were awesome and that's what counts and what makes things easier.<br />
Miss you all.<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-63462796988666892952017-02-19T12:28:00.000-05:002017-02-19T12:28:55.744-05:00El TelefericoSaturday's adventure was a trip up the Teleferico, a gondola taking you up to Cruz Loma on the upper slopes of Ruca Pichincha. It costs $8.50 for a return ticket and it is about a 10 minute ride up. The views are absolutely incredible!<br />
<br />
We left our houses at approximately 10.30am and hailed a few taxis to take us there. We bought our tickets and didn't have to wait long to get into the cabins. Each cabin took 6 people which was perfect since there was 12 of us meaning we neatly fit into 2 cabins. The ride up was pretty scary but the view was amazing looking right <span style="text-align: center;">out over the whole city.</span><br />
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The Teleferico climbs from 2800m to 4100m in the short 10 minute ride and is breathtaking (literally). At the top it is rather chilly with an average temperature of 6℃, I was definitely glad I took my scarf. There are many platforms and areas from which you can take photos and you can see the whole of Quito city which spans a much larger area than I imagined. We had a relatively clear day but as you can see in the photos there was already quite a few clouds and a layer of smog over the city by the time we arrived (in typical fashion Sunday was a much clearer day but nevermind!)<br />
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At the top we wandered around taking multiple photos for a while, then we decided to head up and round the corner a little bit where the view was slightly elevated, it was pretty magical and there was even a layer of mist floating above the ground due to the crisp, cool air as seen in the photo below.<br />
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There is the option to walk right to the top of Ruca Pichincha however even just being at the top of the gondola the effects of the altitude were apparent with an increased heartrate and shortness of breath from just wandering around to take some photos. Only Timo was up for walking to the top so we reluctantly left him behind to venture to the top. These photos below were taken by him from the top of the mountain and are pretty incredible!<br />
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The rest of us headed back down on the gondola and enjoyed the gentle descent down the mountain. At the bottom we hailed a taxi and a van to take us back to La Floresta (the neighbourhood we are staying in) where we decided upon somewhere to eat for lunch, we were a little hangry by this point (approximately 1.30pm). We decided upon 'Pollo Campero' a Latin Chicken Fast Food Chain so we hailed two taxis and piled in hoping the taxi drivers would bring us to the right place. Thankfully, our taxi driver did take us where we wanted to go however the other 5 not so much... we waited outside the place for half an hour in hopes they would turn up but no luck and the hunger was immense by this point so we went in and had some lunch anyway. The lunch was pretty good for fast food and considering it only cost us $12.65 for 5 people to eat we certainly had no complaints!<br />
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By this point we were pretty tired so Ruby and I caught a Taxi back home and the others walked. We still have no idea what the others got up to whilst we waited and eventually went in and had lunch but it was all part of the fun and they were safe ☺<br />
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Hope everyone is well, miss you all back home!<br />
Having a great time ☺<br />
Georgia xx<br />
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Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-50109494350283520952017-02-18T18:58:00.001-05:002017-02-18T18:58:53.578-05:00A Week in QuitoEvery week day since we have arrived, we have been having spanish language classes at a local spanish language school called 'Vida Verde.' These ran from 8.30am until 12.30pm eachday with a break at 11am during which we would usuallly just talk and have a coffee. After classes finish we all head to our host homes for lunch and make use of the Wi-fi to make any plans for the afterrnoon or just chill and do our homework.<br />
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<b><i>13-02-17 Monday</i></b><br />
Monday afternoon we had nothing planned so a group of us decided to head to a cute little cafe known as Cafe 'Jervis' which looks like something you might find in Wellington and has very yummy cake, biscuits and apple scrolls. Although it is slightly on the pricier side for Quito, it is still definitely cheaper than back home and we spent about 2 hours there just chatting.<br />
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<b><i>14-02-17 Tuesday ♡ VALENTINE'S DAY ♡</i></b><br />
This morning our break time at Vida Verde was a little different. They made us hot chocolate on the stove and we each got a small scone/roll to go with it as well as a piece of chocolate and an adorable little message on a heart or mickey-mouse shaped piece of paper attached to a popsicel stick. We definitely felt the love! The hot chocolate was also very warming as it was a rather cold day here in Quito (approx. 10-13 degrees celsius)<br />
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We were also lucky enough to receive our host mum's delicious homemade hot chocolate after dinner as well! (proof that it was just too cold). Except this time she served it with a plate of cheese... which Ruby and I were confused about until she explained that you put it in the hot chocolate - google 'Colombian Hot Chocolate' its a thing! Definitely different but worth a try and doesn't taste too bad if I do say so myself.<br />
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<b><i>15-02-17 Wednesday</i></b><br />
Today, after classes noone was doing much so Ruby and I decided to venture out in the rain and find the 'Amazonian Museum' which some of the others had visited the previous week. It was quite a small museum but it only cost $2 entry and had some interesting things to see. There was lots of amazonian pottery as well as taxidermied animals... and shrunken heads. Shrunken heads were used both as war trophies and in religious rituals/ceremonies. The Museo Amazonico is Quito's only display of <i>Tzantzas </i>(indigenous word for 'Shrunken heads').<br />
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After spending 20 minutes or so in the museum we explored the Mariscal area - lots of night clubs, bars and hostals - which is the main touristy area of Quito. We managed to find an English Bookshop which Ruby wanted to go to so she could buy a cheap book to read. It was tucked in amongst the bars and nightclubs and was run by an older British man - definitely refreshing to hear some familiar accents and fluent english.<br />
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<b><i>16-02-17 Thursday</i></b><br />
After lunch we decided to head to the 'Vivarium' in the nearby 'Parque Carolina' which is one of the bigger parks in Quito. The 'Vivarium' in Quito was quite small and was mainly home to many different types of snakes... not exactly my cup of tea but still worth the experience I guess? I mean they do say you should do one thing that scares you everyday. Don't worry all the snakes were behind glass though and so were the other 'exotic' animals including lizards, frogs and little alligators.<br />
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After dinner, a few of us headed round to Timo and Katy's host home and played cards for a few hours until 11 or so. Anna taught us an Ecuadorian card game called 'Cuarenta' that they had learned in class. So much fun! It is especially played in the mountain cities such as Quito and Cuenca. Can't wait to share it with friends and family when i'm back :)<br />
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<b><i>17-02-17 Friday</i></b><br />
Friday was our last morning of spanish lessons and we spent most of the lesson talking about fun tourist things to do and visit. During the break we also sung some Ecuadorian folklore songs and some spanish pop (good old Enrique Iglesias) whilst Fernando played the guitar and pan pipes. It was a nice way to end our 2 week spanish course.<br />
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We didn't do much in the afternoon except walk to one of the many nearby bakeries and enjoy a sweet jam-donut like bun and a bun with custard in the centre. It only cost 75c for both! I am definitely in love with the delicious, fresh and cheap bread over here!<br />
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Will update you on our weekend adventures soon :)<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-73763349030160774952017-02-12T14:28:00.000-05:002017-02-12T14:28:55.614-05:00Laguna QuilotoaSaturday morning we were up at 6am to get ready for a day trip to Laguna Quilotoa. Laguan Quilotoa is 3800m above sea level (Quito is 2800m) and is a part of the Ecological Reserve "The Ilinizas." The water of the volcanic-cratere lake is a stunning emerald green colour and the whole area is so peaceful. Scientifically, the lake is 250m deep however many of the locals believe it has no bottom.<br />
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We left at about 7am and arrived at around 10am - a rather long drive to say the least. The view was definitely worth the early start and long drive though! From the top looking down the lake appeared a yellowy, greeny colour and as the clouds moved in it became more of a deep green.<br />
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Our guide told us a few things about the lake and we took some group pictures before beginning the steep, windy and dusty descent to the lake 400m below. Thankfully, I managed to avoid falling flat on my bum but there were certainly a few near misses and I did go for a slide a couple of times. <br />
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It took about 40 minutes to reach the bottom with a few photo stops along the way. At the bottom there was the classic 'swing' which cost $2 and although seemingly a little wobbly it was generally quite safe and made for some awesome photos! At the bottom you could also kayak out onto the lake which cost $3.50 for 25 minutes. I did not choose to do this but apparently it was beautiful and the water was incredibly cold!<br />
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After eating our lunch and taking in the view we began the arduous journey back up the crater. This took us about 2 hours and was incredibly tiring, especially since we were up another 1000m in altitude from Quito. When we reached the top again the temperature had dropped signifcantly and all the layers we had taken off during the taxing ascent were put back on.<br />
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Overall, it was a beautiful experience and definitely worth the long journey to get there and the steep walk to the bottom and back. We arrived back around 6pm extremely shattered and had an early night and a sleep in on Sunday.<br />
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Hope everyone is well.<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0Quilotoa, Ecuador-0.84805559999999991 -78.911944399999982-26.3700901 -120.22053839999998 24.6739789 -37.603350399999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-8687131405210515492017-02-09T23:49:00.002-05:002017-02-09T23:52:25.297-05:00Interesting Experiences Make Good StoriesAnd so the first of the crazy experiences begins...<br />
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Tonight Ruby and I's host mum took us to see a theatre performance at the local Teatro Cine, I was super excited about it because I love music and dance which was exactly what it combined and the entry was free. We found out about it through her son who ran the media production for the company and was going to save us seats.<br />
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We left around 7.30pm and walked up the street to catch a taxi and here is when the first of the strange but now funny experiences began. We got in an unmarked car with shades in the windows and Mariana told the driver where to go. To clarify, we had been told to ONLY get in taxis which were yellow and had a number on the side of the door. Anyway, it all worked out ok and we got there just fine - it wasn't a fake taxi despite the looks. (Will not be doing that alone or without a local though).<br />
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This was when the 'fun' began. We walked towards the entrance gate where there was a group of people outside pushing at the gate and yelling at the security guards to let them in. The gate was closed because the theatre was 'full' and there was a distinct lack of a ticketing system. We joined the mob and followed our host mum (imagine a lovely older lady of about the same height as myself; 5 foot 2) pushing her way to the front. Ruby pulled the gate back and our mum pushed her way through, fighting and pushing against the security guard and the other people trying to get through. All the while, I am trying to keep up and put on a brave face. Thankfully, I kept up and we made it through the chaos running towards the theatre until we were well clear of the guards and we found her son who took us to the seats he had saved.<br />
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The theatre performance was really good and was put on by the Ecuador National Company of Dance and the Ecuador National Symphony Orchestra. Following the performance, it was time for another new adventure: taking the bus. We waited for a while before the bus arrived and we hopped on. Luckily, it wasn't a busy bus and seats were aplenty. Buses here are incredibly loud and bumpy, certainly not the place for applying lipstick or trying to sleep. When we got off the bus our host mum took us through a small local park where there were kids playing and a row of vendors selling authentic local food. We had a look at each of the stalls and Mariana bought Ruby and I each an Empanada con Queso and a sweet drink made of corn called Morracho. The only way I could describe 'Morracho' is similar to creamed rice. It was white and creamy with soft chunks of white-coloured corn. It was better with cinammon on top but i'm not sure i'm convinced on the taste. Definitely worth a try though! Also the empanada was delicious!!<br />
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I believe the word for the night was "adventure" - even our host mum said to us "it is a night of new adventures" with which I could not agree more. I'll admit at the time it was happening I was rather scared but I certainly did enjoy the night and it is great to laugh about now that it has happened.<br />
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That's my interesting story for the week.<br />
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Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-25119972842621860292017-02-06T22:43:00.001-05:002017-02-06T22:43:11.441-05:00Exploring Quito<b>Sunday & Monday Adventures</b><br />
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Sunday was a free day with no plans made for us so we decided to go on our own adventures. A group of us decided to go more into the centre of Quito in search of the Museo Nacional. Getting there took a bit of thinking and map reading and after initially getting lost and being followed by a couple of stray dogs (which roam the streets everywhere here) we managed to get within the vicinity of the Museo Nacional however upon asking a security guard where exactly we would find the entrance to the museum we discovered it was closed until March...<br />
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So instead we wandered across the road to where we could see a park and some markets. For a while we explored the Sunday market which stretched across the pathways around the park and had many similar items to the poncho market in Otavalo as well as amazing works of art and pieces of jewellery. After exploring Parque El Arbolito we continued to try and work out where exactly we were and where we wanted to go. Eventually, we spotted a Maccas and decided to head in there for a sit down and a bite to eat (Thankfully, you can always count on Maccas no matter where you are in the world!)<br />
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Feeling pretty tired from the harsh sun and altitude we decided to try and find our way back to our houses so we could have a siesta. Luckily this time we took a much more direct route and made it back in half the time it took for us to find our way there.<br />
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After a much needed siesta and some dinner we were off to our first South American soccer game! The atmosphere at the game was certainly nothing like NZ and the enthusiasm of the people gives a great atmosphere. Although, the stadium was rather empty as it was only an Under 20s game which is not considered an 'important' game here in Ecuador. It was still a cool experience and Ecuador won 3-0 to Argentina woohoo!<br />
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<b>Monday</b><br />
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This morning we had our first classes at the Spanish Language School - Vida Verde. Classes began at 8.30am and went until 12.30pm. Already, I can see these lessons are going to be beneficial in helping me to recall and put my 5 years of Spanish at school to good use. It is really interesting learning the different words and expressions used here in Ecuador/South America which are not used in Spain.<br />
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After classes, we returned home for lunch and had a light rest before some of us decided to head to el Jardín Botánico for the afternoon. This required a taxi ride which we had thankfully worked out how to do the previous night and so we flagged down 2 taxis and asked them to take us to the Botanical Garden. For our taxi driver this seemed to mean some random carpark at the park surrounding the Botanical Gardens and we had to ask for a few directions before we actually found the others and the entrance to the Gardens.<br />
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The gardens although small were beautiful and contained all sorts of different plants and it was lovely to walk around. After finishing up observing the nature we headed out into the huge surrounding park and explored it a bit. We also wandered up the road to the giant mall which contained all of the America chain stores etc. and was incredibly modern in comparison to some of it's surroundings.<br />
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By this time, we decided it was time to head back before it got dark and I spent the rest of the evening at my host home.<br />
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<b>Quito Weather:</b><br />
Sunny so far and rather hot when directly in the sun - Sun block is a must for people with fair skin like myself as the altitude of Quito (3000m) means the sun is incredibly harsh - more so than New Zealand.<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-15633298486484861362017-02-05T16:00:00.002-05:002017-02-05T16:00:57.647-05:00OtavaloYesterday (Saturday) we were up nice and early for a planned trip with Vida Verde to Otavalo. Otavalo has a population of around 52,000 people and is well-known for it's markets.<br />
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It was a rather long drive to get there from Quito (approximately 1 and a half hours) but it was definitely an amazing experience. We were able to try bizcochos which I would describe as a dry, pastry-like biscuit.<br />
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From there we went to the animal market which from other's descriptions sounded like it was dusty and there were lots of animals such as squealing pigs on ropes. I did not participate in this experience due to allergies but instead waited in the van with our driver Jaime and people watched. The variety and mix between rich and poor, traditional and modern is something unseen in New Zealand.</div>
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Up next, el mercado de ponchos. I LOVED this market and wished that I didnt have to make my money or space in my bag last 6 months but I know there will be more opportunities. The colours and the hustle and bustle of the market were truly amazing. Around the edges and outside of the market it was busy and noisy and there were people everywhere but when you ventured into the middle of the market it was quiet and there were fewer people which I really enjoyed.</div>
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After exploring the bright and colourful poncho market and making a few small purchases we went to a small restaurant on the edge of the market where we had lunch. Lunch was a lentil/potato soup to start, meat (pork, chicken or beef) with rice and potatoes as a main and a small piece of brownie with icecream for dessert. I am coming to discover that rice is very common here in Ecuador and there are few green/colourful vegetables. </div>
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After lunch we travelled to La Cascada de Peguche (Peguche Waterfall) which was simply stunning and set amongst the most beautiful nature. A few of the girls were brave enough to swim in the Sacred Incan Waters, myself not being one of them haha but the waterfall itself was the best part. Set amongst lush greenery seemingly far from the town it was a wonderful and tranquil place. Although, avoiding the local kids who walked around spraying foams as part of carnaval tradition was not easy. They would hide around corners or in bushes or merely just walk past you and spray you with espuma de carnaval (foam) running away in fits of giggles. There was no way you could get mad at them! It was super cute and good luck apparently. </div>
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We then had a long drive back to Quito where we had dinner at home and Ruby (volunteer also staying with me) and I watched a movie before going to bed.<br />
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Missing home but enjoying Ecuador.<br />
Georgia xx<br />
<br />Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-76910843695116971842017-02-04T00:32:00.000-05:002017-02-04T07:01:00.005-05:00Flights upon FlightsAnd so the adventure has begun a mere 4 flights adding up to 22 hours of flying and we have arrived in Quito.<br />
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The flights were incredibly long and tiring and I am writing this post at 12am Ecuador time as the jet lag has got me and I am struggling to get to sleep. From Auckland, it was a 12 hour flight to San Francisco where we had a 10 hour stop over. Despite the length of the stop over it still took us over an hour to check in for our flight to Panama and getting through American Security was a nightmare to say the least but we made it to the gate on time and I managed to get a fair amount of sleep on the plane. Once we landed in Panama we had just one more 2 hour flight to get to Quito which despite being at the wrong gate and cutting it fine we made that flight on time as well.<br />
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We arrived in Quito at around 11am in the morning where we were met by Rosa from Vida Verda (the spanish language school) and Pablo the local representative for Lattitude. We were given 'Ecuador' bags as a welcome gift upon arrival. From the airport it was about a 30 minute drive to Quito. The roads and driving here are interesting to say the least, driving along some very tight, bumpy and windy roads but we made it safely to our host families. My host family during my two weeks in Quito is just my host mother Mariana and I am staying with her and another of the volunteer girls Ruby. Initially, I felt a little light headed from the dramatic increase in altitude but after some lunch, a shower, a rest and some ibuprofen I was feeling a little better.<br />
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The rest of the afternoon we just chilled and Mariana made us a sandwich and hot chocolate for dinner. I must say the hot chocolate was probably one of the yummiest I have had in my life as it was made with real Ecuadorian chocolate!<br />
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Ruby and I watched a little bit of spanish tv which was hilarious although not dissimilar to New Zealand. Then we headed to bed at around 8-9pm however as you can see I am struggling to get to sleep.<br />
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Anyway, tomorrow we are off to explore Otavalo City which is super exciting! So I better try and get some sleep.<br />
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<i>Fun Fact: The toilet water does in fact swirl the opposite way here!</i><br />
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Love and miss everyone back home.<br />
Georgia xxGeorgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258342009381255130.post-85684283031175986962017-01-16T04:08:00.003-05:002017-01-16T04:08:41.719-05:00Adventure Awaits<i>"Life was meant for good friends and great adventures"</i><br />
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As I came to decide what I would do when I left school, I never thought for a second that I would end up embarking on a journey to volunteer in Ecuador but here I am with 2 weeks until departure (Departure Date: Feb 2nd) and I couldn't be more excited, although nervous about what I am going to experience in the next 6 months.<br />
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Although I am going to miss everyone terribly I know that I while be back before I know it and the amount I will gain from my time away certainly outweighs the sadness of leaving.<br />
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This blog will hopefully be a place for me to share all of the amazing experiences both good and bad that I have during my time in South America and I hope that you will enjoy reading them (Should you choose to 😛).<br />
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<b>So, what am I going to be doing in Ecuador?</b><br />
I have been placed in Cuenca which is in the Azuay province of southern Ecuador and is approximately 2,500m above sea level with a population of about 400,000 people. Despite what you may think, Cuenca has an average temperature of only 15℃ due to it's location in the mountains.<br />
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In Cuenca I will have a split placement working at a daycare in the morning and teaching English at a local primary school in the afternoon. These will certainly be challenging but that's all part of it.<br />
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Overall, I am ready for the new experiences, adventures, friends and challenges that await me and I can't wait to see where this year takes me.<br />
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I have a feeling 2017 is gonna be my best year yet!<br />
<br />Georgia Alstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197722949067585524noreply@blogger.com0