Cloud Rainforest Heaven

We went on our first trip this last weekend to a small town about two and a half hours away to a little town called Mindo. This was one adventurous trip. It's a good thing we're so stubborn, because people didn't want to go away for the weekend on short notice (aka the day before), but we got 11 out of 20 people from our group on a bus to Mindo Saturday morning.

The very beginning of our trip started with a little adventure on the bus. Right as we were heading out of Quito, a woman on the bus started shouting ¡Hay un ladrón en el bús! ¡Necesitamos llamar la policia! (There's a thief on the bus, we have to call the police!) Turns out this thief was right across the aisle from me (Jane). He didn't get off the bus right away, but he got off soon after (along with his partner in crime) and didn't manage to steal anything because the woman had the strap of her purse around her leg. I was glad that I was holding my backpack right in front of me, but sleeping on the bus was no longer an option after that.

Once we got to Mindo, we checked into a hostel called Casa de Cecilia. Mindo is a very cutesy small town with lots to do and lots of stray dogs. As soon as we checked in, we left to go tubing down a crazy river! So much fun!

Our next adventure was to go ziplining through the rainforest canopy. We ended up getting left behind by the group along with two other girls, so just four of us went, which turned out to be better because it went faster and we could do more fun stuff on the zipline. There were 13 cables and it was so beautiful! This is what superman pose looks like:

And we also did mariposa (literally upside down with your arms out) and train (3 people together). (I have pictures of Amanda doing it, but I forgot the correct cord for my camera to put it on my computer.)

The next day we went on a hike to a waterfall sanctuary. So so so beautiful, but the water was cold. Except who knew that taking a taxi (aka a truck with most of the people standing in the bed of it) would cost us $20 there and back? p.s. that's a lot for a taxi in Ecuador. But we were able to do all of these things for just $50!

It was a great trip, but I think we were all happy to come home after all the crazy adventures.

-Jane

Who know only half the elevators went to the first floor?

Classes are officially in session. And let me tell you, it is difficult to be a foreign exchange student in a school of 10,000.

Here's how day one went: We arrived at 8:30 and met our friend Gabriel. They don't post classes until the first day of classes here, so we were directed to piso 9 of one of the main buildings. And guess what? Our class wasn't listed... so we went to the international studies building (10th floor) to get help. To our dismay, our class was canceled due to a personal problem with our profe. So we decided to just sit in on a random class and had to climb back up 9 flights of stairs in the other building (climbing stairs at 9,300 feet is far more difficult that one would imagine). We were hoping to sit in on a sustainable development class but no one showed up to that classroom. We ended up walking into a random room, asking the professor what the class was and siting in. It was a history/philosophy of the mind class... not my cup of tea.

Our second class looks promising -- it's a class about social issues in Ecuador for example children workers, afroecuatonrianos and the environment. Plus it's only 6 weeks!

Here's how our second day went: Again, we got there at 8:30 for a 9:00 class that we wanted to sit in on. We went to the 9th floor, the class wasn't listed, we went to the 10th floor floor to the international department and again, the class was canceled. This time for good. So we went back to the 9th floor of the other building and decided to sit in on a fauna class which was supposedly in Aula 101 (room 101). One would assume this means aula 101 in the same building, since that's how it is for ALL the rest of the classes listed. Back in the elevator we went but there was no floor one! Here planta baja is the main floor so I thought maybe floor 2 was really floor 1. Not the case. We discovered that half of the elevators don't stop at floor 1.... Anyway, we finally found floor one but aula 101 was the secretary's office. Back to floor 9 we went to talk to someone in the offices on floor 9 and she informed us that aula 101 was the correct room, but it was in in engineering building across campus. The class started at 9. Nobody here actually gets to class until 9:10. But at this point it was already 9:20ish. EPIC FAIL. We didn't go to class. Instead we went and got our ID cards and became official PUCE students. And we had to get fingerprinted! I found out later from a friend that they didn't... Guess this means that we have to behave ourselves : )

-- Amanda

¡Estamos aqui!

We have made it to Ecuador safely! After a 2 am wake up call, 10 hours in 3 different airplanes, and some turbulence, we made it to Ecuador late on Wednesday night. Here´s our quick story to show how our flights went. Sometime between 4 am and 5 am at the San Francisco airport, Jane marched towards the escalator and Amanda followed without question... that is until Jane tried step after step to make it up only to discover it was the down escalator. (keep in mind she had a packed backpack and rolling suitcase in hand) And that is how our day started...
Both of our families met us at the airport con muchos besos and we were quickly separated. It was rough.

Amanda´s first few days with her family: My family is wonderful! I live with my parents Franklin and Maria and my host brother Franklin who is 17 years old. They feed me a lot of yummy food and we hang out and chat in the evenings. As of two days ago, my host dad took me to school and picked me up every day on the ecovia (electric bus) or we walked. I`ve also done a lot of things with my family... on Friday night we went bowling (with Franklin`s cousins and well) and then on Sunday we went and played basketball and soccer with their family. I definitely feel very much at home and am lucky they are so patient with my spanish. Our dog Snoopy didn`t really like me at first (like Max) but he is warming up to me and hangs out with my when I get home from school. All is well at my house!

Jane: I really like my family! I live with my mom Paulina, my 15-year old brother Juan Martin, my 20-year old sister Maria Paulina, and my 23-year old brother Jose Manuel. Up until yesterday morning though, I thought that my 15-year old brother was 23 and vice versa. Everything makes much more sense now. The best thing is that we have a dog! It's a golden retriever named Theo and he is the sweetest dog. Everyone in the house is busy with work or school, but in the evenings we eat dinner together and talk and watch TV. We also have an "empleada" who does stuff around the house and she is so sweet. I am really enjoying my time with my family!

Last Saturday we went to a place a couple hours a way called Imbambura.where we went to a market in a town called Otovallo. This market had many artisan crafts from indigenous people around Ecuador. We both had to bargain for everything we bought, and Amanda is definitely a pro at it. We also went to a beautiful volcanic lake and to a waterfall that were beautiful!

We also got our class schedule and it looks great! Easy too... We only have 3 classes and an internship and no classes on Friday! Que chevere. All is well in the Southern hemisphere!