unsolicited advice

I had the funniest taxi driver this afternoon. I had to take a taxi after school in order to make it to the water company int time to pay this month's bill, and the taxi driver who took me was so amusing. We talked about US presidents, US presidents' mistresses, the bad luck of the Kennedy family, my family, where I came from (and what they produce in Indiana) and of course, what I thought of Ecuador. He helped me with my Spanish when I made mistakes, but in a genial manner. Towards the end of the ride, he said to me (in Spanish of course): Allison, you need to find a boyfriend. You're how old? I responded that I was 27, and he continued that after 30, where I cut him off and said, "I know, it gets more difficult." I was thoroughly entertained for the 20 minutes and $5 it took me to get to my destination.

what not to wear

I just had a little scare.

My friend just returned from Buenos Aires, and when I asked her about the weather, she said that it was HOT. I am going to Buenos Aires in two weeks, and I am not prepared for hot. As BA is located well into the Southern Hemisphere, it will be fall for them when I arrive, which I rather stupidly assumed would mean cooler temperatures. I don't have cute hot-weather clothes with me here in Quito (we just don't need them.) I have hot-weather beach clothes, but BA is a cosmopolitan city and I cannot be running around in beach dresses and flip-flops. When I checked handy-dandy weather.com, they predicted temperatures in the low to mid 70s. I guess I will not be bringing all my cute little jackets and cardigans, but I can get away with more of my everyday Quito clothes. Whew--fashion emergency avoided. ;)

hot and cold

This weekend my girlfriends and I decided to play nature girls yet again. We planned to hike to Papallacta, a town where there is a resort famous for its hot spring thermal baths. The hike is through a nature park, and to get there we took a bus out of Quito to this roadside altar to the Virgin, and then walked to the entrance to the park. It was cloudy and cool, but the landscape was beautiful, and so we commenced our 5 hour hike to the other side of the park, which was just above Papallacta. We were having a great time enjoying the scenery--this area of the park was at a pretty high altitude and has more shrubby vegetation. We hiked past lakes and to the top of the mountain, stopping for a small snack. As we descended into the valley, it began to mist a little, but nothing unbearable. The misting stopped and we continued onward. However, 2 hours into the hike, it really started to rain, and then it really rained. I had neither poncho nor raincoat with me (poor planning I know) and so I was beginning to get rather cold and wet. At this point, I informed my friends that in my movie, this is the part where we call for the helicopter to pick us up and take us the rest of the way. But as it was real life and not a movie, we continued on. The path started to become very muddy, and the footing became much harder. Finally we reached the road that would lead us out of the park, and my friend kept insisting that it wasn't much further. By this point, I believe I told my friends that in my story, this is the point where the handsome man rides up on his horse and takes me back to his warm cabin. As there was no such luck, we kept walking. At this point I was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, as I was soaked and cold. We continued down the road, and I was not in the best of spirits, when suddenly I slipped and fell in the mud. I stood up and said,"This is the end of Allison the Nature Girl. Get me a warm bathrobe and a glass of wine and GET ME OUT OF HERE!" We kept going and going, and I thought the hike was never going to end, when it finally did. We got to the lodge on the other side of the park, called for a truck to take us to the resort, and fairly ran (or moved as fast as our tired bodies could) to the thermal baths. We sat in the baths for a while, went for dinner, and then went back to the baths. At one point I decided I was ready for bed, and made my announcement, and then realized it was only 8:30. I was so tired that I didn't care and went to bed anyway. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing, but I am pretty tired and sore today and definitely will not be doing any more 5 hour hikes unless there is not a cloud in the sky.

equation

A Friday afternoon
+
Rain
=
An extra 30 minutes tacked onto my trip home

(Quito traffic can be pretty ridiculous.)

a little advice from me to you

Dear You,

Do not argue with me. Ever. Especially if you are my student.

Sincerely,
Me

in my opinion

This is an open letter to Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series of teen fiction. I'm sorry, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Ecuador; I just have a few strong opinions that I want to express.

Dear Ms. Meyer,

I was not going to read your books. It's not that I thought they weren't worth the time, it's just that I didn't really think I'd be interested in vampires.

Then I saw the movie version of Twilight this weekend, and I was a little hooked. I had to find out what was going to happen next, so I started the novel, with the intention of following it up with the others.

I just finished the novel (in under 24 hours) and while I enjoyed it, I do have one strong issue with the protagonist (?) of the book, Mr. Edward Cullen: his relationship with Bella is extremely unreal. Now granted, I understand that he's a vampire and she's a human, and he is designed to be extremely attractive to lure his victims, but beyond the dazzling looks and so on, he says and does things that are not real life. Real boys/men do not behave that way--the constant compliments, declarations of love, etc.--or at least not sincerely. Once again, I get it: it's fiction, but my main concern here is the unrealistic portrayal of a "good" relationship to the millions of teenage girls (and boys) who are reading this around the world. As a middle school/high school teacher, I understand how impressionable these young students are, and while I'm glad they are reading and enjoying your books, I want them to have a clear picture of what makes a truly "good" relationship, as their judgment is already clouded by raging hormones.

So I guess I'm really saying Congratulations, you did your job well--I am completely hooked by your book. However, I'm warning you, you are now in the same boat as the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.

Sincerely,
A Realist

my favorite things

Here are a few of my favorite things about my school, in no particular order:

1. My school is more of a campus-setting rather than one large enclosed building, so I walk from building to building depending on where I need to go. With the usually mild weather here, it is wonderful to have the chance to be outside and in the sun so often.
2. We also have spectacularly landscaped grounds, with flowers and trees blooming year-round. I had never seen calla lily plants until I came here, and they are all around our campus.
   
3. The food at my school is really good, and very reasonably priced. Not only do they serve a hot, made-from-scratch lunch everyday, but they also have fresh fruit salads, all sorts of breads, sandwiches made with real chicken (not cold cuts) and vegetable salads. The food is also available throughout the entire school day, which is very convenient, and sometimes too convenient.
4. Our library is excellent, with lots of adult fiction (not just the teen variety.) In a country where books in English are difficult to find and expensive, this is very important.
5. I work with a group of really interesting, fun, dedicated teachers. We are all pretty diverse and yet still a close-knit community. It's great to work with people that you'd pick as your friends.

Cotopaxi

Hiking Cotopaxi: coolest thing I've done here yet.

We drove two hours out of Quito to reach the Parque Nacional Cotopaxi. The park is absolutely huge and beautiful, with several mountains and beautiful views. The tour bus took us up to the "parking lot" on Cotopaxi, which is about 4200 meters (almost 14,000 feet) above sea level, and from there we began the hike. The hike itself was not difficult, but the altitude made it far more strenous. At that far above sea level, the air is so thin that any physical activity is difficult--we were hiking at an extremely slow pace, but we were all huffing and puffing, and I was experiencing headaches and earaches due to the lack of oxygen and change in pressure. We hiked up to the refuge, rested for a while, and then continued on up to the snow patch. At this point, I understood how easy it is for climbers to become disoriented on mountains, as the clouds were rolling in so quickly that visibility was deteriorating, and I could hardly see much ahead or above us. We hiked through the snow, which was very slippery, up to the glacier level and stopped at 5000 meters (just over 16,000 feet.) To continue on from this point we would have needed special gear, but we did get up close and personal with some of the glaciers. I've heard that glaciers seem to glow, and it really is true--the one I saw seemed to emit a blue-green light. Finally, after many many photos, we began the descent to the refuge (which was markedly easier) and stopped for lunch of chicken soup and sandwiches inside. I was seriously so hungry that I abadoned my manners and was dropping food on my lap constantly. After lunch, we continued down to the parking lot, at which point they unloaded the bikes for the ride down the volcano. This was the part about which I was the least excited, and after testing my bike out and finding the brakes less than satisfactory, I opted to ride down in the bus instead. I enjoyed the views much better that way. In all, it was a wonderful, exciting adventure, and I can't wait to go back next year and conquer the summit!

Leah and me in Parque Nacional CotopaxiThe hike up to the refuge
In front of the glaciersMagnificent Cotopaxi

what did i just buy?

I am now the proud owner of the ugliest shoes ever. Okay, maybe not ugliest, but they are not cute. I had to purchase a pair of hiking boots, as tomorrow my friends and I are hiking Cotopaxi, the second highest peak here in Ecuador. Because of the high altitude on Cotopaxi, we will spend part of the time climbing glaciers, for which hiking boots are pretty necessary. This fact along with my hope/plan to do more hiking and even possibly summit Cotopaxi next year led me to the purchase that I made today. I know hiking boots are not supposed to be cute, but keep in mind that I'm the girl who thrives on cute shoes, and wears heels at least three days a week. Example of my shoe obsession: I brought five pairs of black shoes with me to Ecuador. I think shoes are a big part of an outfit, and darn it, these boots just do not match my hiking pants.

hail the flag

Yes, I am still alive--I fought the battle against the amoebas and came out victorious (or at least I think I won--I still cringe at the slightest stomach rumble.) Otherwise, life has been pretty normal, which I guess is a good thing. I've somehow stayed busy with nothing of much interest, hence the lack of posts this past week.

At school last Friday we had the Ceremony of Flags. I had not yet experienced this ceremony, and wasn't exactly sure what it was, but I decided to sit in on the 5th/6th grade one to watch and learn. The Ceremony of Flags is a very patriotic ceremony in which the top students from 5th and 6th grades are honored for their academic and disciplinary achievements. The top students from fifth grade march in with Ecuadorian flags, and then the entire sixth grade marches in. The top nine students from 6th grade march in, and the top three are presented with the flags of Ecuador, Quito, and the school. They make pledges to serve and protect the country, the top student makes a speech, and then the ceremony concludes with the entire sixth grade kissing the Ecuadorian flags that the 5th graders present. It was such an interesting, unique ceremony, and I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about it. I was so excited to see students recognized for their academic and behavioral achievements, but I also felt a little strange about the extremely militaristic style of the whole ceremony. It is yet another example of the cultural differences I am experiencing on a daily basis--who can say if it is good or bad, just different.