My Travels in Ecuador: Mindo

Hello all! I am writing to you as I have made it safely back from Mindo and have already completed my week of classes. I apologize again for not getting my post in last Sunday as I have in the past, but I had my first test this week in my Boom Latinoamericano course and I started preparing Monday, then got caught up in many fun things during the week. I feel as though my test went well, there were many vague questions about the selections of literature we have read so far (2 by Juan Rulfo and 3 by Jorge Luis Borges) so hopefully I answered the questions with enough detail to get full credit. But as this was my first test of the semester and of this particular class, I treated it as a test run to see what kinds of questions she was going to ask and what the format was like. Now I know what to expect and will be able to prepare even better for the upcoming assignments.

And now for my trip to Mindo. By far my favorite place I have been since I arrived in Quito!! We left Quito after our classes on Friday and took a bus to Mindo that left the station at 3:45. It was a 2.5 hour, uneventful trip with a gorgeous view of the mountains and landscape of Ecuador. When we arrived, the owner of the hostel at which we were staying picked us up in a HUGE van (as it was pouring down rain) and took us to the hostel called Hostal Rubby. And before I get ahead of myself, Mindo is located north of Quito at a lower elevation and it rains there at all times except for in the morning (thanks for the umbrella Nana!!). So we arrive at the hostel and a very nice, and quite large woman approaches us and tells us a little about the hostel, accomodations, and we discussed payments (6 dollars a night!) and all that jazz. Then she showed us to our rooms, which were on two separate floors (total of 3 floors): the guys slept on the second floor and the girls were up in the attic. There were 11 of us, but the hostel was very comfortable and everyone had a comfy place to sleep. One cool thing that I saw in Mindo was that since the climate is so temperate, the houses were not closed in...almost every one had the first floor closed in with a second floor that had a roof but with only 3 walls to let the air in. It was really cool but I was worried about the humidity and how people didn't have mold everywhere! So after settling in and getting cleaned up a bit we walked to the main street in Mindo where we found a quaint restaurant that served all different kinds of food. We all decided to grab some sort of alcoholic beverage and we split different kinds of pizzas and fried plantains and smoothies and just about anything one could have hoped for! I shared a pizza with a couple girls that had mushrooms, broccoli, oregano, cheese and tomato sauce...delish! After a yummy meal we went to one of the 3 bars in the little town that was kinda like a bar/club where there was dancing as well. The music was ehhh but the environment was really cool and we all had a great time. We decided to walk to another bar later in the evening which was reggae themed with music by Bob Marley playing and people with dredlocks everywhere. That was really cool as well, and after spending a bit of time there we left for the hostel to get a good night's sleep. But before we dozed off I was sitting on the floor chatting with the girls and guys when I saw a little black critter climb through a hole in the window. And of course being terrified of anything smaller than a kitten I let out a quite girly scream and jumped onto the bed hiding my head under the pillow when I heard another girly scream "RAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT!!!" and I burrowed my head even further into my pillow as if I were an ostrich. But as soon as the rat heard all of our commotion he ran right back through the same whole from which he came and we immediately (and by "we" I mean one of the guys) shoved a towel into the hole so that he could not come back in. So after that terrifying experience we retired to our own rooms and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up around 7:15, got our things together and feasted on a breakfast (included in the price of the hostel) of eggs, bread with butter and jam, pineapple, herb tea and "jugo de mora" which is blackberry juice (sour but quite good). Then after stuffing our faces we jumped into the same van that picked us up from the bus stop and rode to a place called Canopy Tours...this place specialized in taking you on zip line tours that soar you over the rainforest!! We got all suited up with our helmets and gear needed to jump on the ziplines, then climbed up a wooden tower and literally "zipped" along to the next zipline. The way it worked was that you started at the first line, rode to the end where the guide helped you off before the other person came plowing into you from behind, and hiked to the next zipline. There was a series of 13 lines, and a short (but uphill) hike to each one and boy was it amazing! Soaring through the air as though you are flying, getting a bird's eye view of this beautiful rainforest...nothing beats that. But I had to face my fears bigtime because as I am afraid of heights, flying through the air some hundred feet above ground with essentially nothing keeping you from falling but a thin wire was pretty scary! But it was honestly amazing after getting through the first zipline, and I could not be happier that I chose to do it.

After the zipline, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed some lunch (roasted chicken, rice, lentils and potatoes) and jumped on the back of a pickup truck in the pouring down rain to go tubing down, what I didn't realize at the time, was the river from hell. So as it was raining we were standing in the back of this pickup truck going 35mph down this bumpy, windy and tiny "road" holding on for dear life...and at this very moment I realized without question that I really was in the middle of South America doing things I would have never dreamed of doing. So we arrive at the riverside and see that instead of going down this river on what we assumed were rafts, we saw a group of 6 or 7 redneck-looking inner tubes tied together with climbing rope in the shape of a flower. So yet again, we suit up for this activity with lifejackets and helmets and pop onto the "raft." The water was FREEZING cold, and it was flowing rapidly because it was raining, but there was no turning back! So the 3 guides on our raft gave us a giant push and we were off, dodging giant rocks, dipping in and out of the water and holding on for dear life (seems like the theme of the day haha). While the raft was heading downstream, the three guides were all jumping on and off onto rocks, back onto the raft, keeping us from getting stuck on the rocks and from getting too close to the water's edge where there were falling branches and trees...these men were atheletes! So after the most intense ride of my life, water in every part of my body possible, shivering because of the cold, we arrived at the end where we were to get off the raft...and I literally had to pry my fingers off of the ropes because I was so cold and terrified! But what a crazy experience...and totally fun!! And the craziest thing was that one of the guides turned to the other and said something to the effect of "wow, we have never made it down the river in 20 minutes"...apparently the ride usually lasts for 30 minutes but because of the rain, the water was flowing more rapidly than ever! And you can only imagine that as soon as we got back to the hostel, us ice cicles jumped into a warm shower and put on dry clothes a.s.a.p.! Afterwords we hopped onto the bus (most of the people in the group slept after such an intense day) and headed back to Quito.

I say that Mindo was my favorite place that I have visited in Ecuador so far because of its beauty, marvel and because it really tested my abilities...I also was forced to completely forget I had a comfort zone and do things that normally I wouldn't even consider doing. I saw a totally different side of myself and I was honestly incredibly proud of myself for being able to do what I did. And plus, it was totally worth it; we all had a great time and I hope that when Adrien comes I can go back with him (partly for him but mostly for me because it was such a cool experience haha).

I also want to take this time to let everyone know that I am currently learning how to dance salsa! Obviously, salsa originated in Spain, but it is a big part of the culture in South America as well, along with zumba and merengue. The difficulty with this type of dance is that you have to move your hips in a certain way that not only moves with the music, but also doesn't make you look like you are flopping around on the dance floor...that is what I have the most trouble with :). And as a woman, I can't just dance however I want, but rather I must follow the lead of my partner, so when he guides me to turn, I gotta turn! It is going well though; there is a bar in La Mariscal (essentially the downtown of Quito) where they have free salsa lessons from 5pm to 8pm then it turns into a salsa club where you go with your friends and dance the night away (or in my case "flop" the night away). It really is a great experience because it doesn't matter how poor you are at dancing salsa, people are always willing to teach you and it's a great way to get out there and test the waters. And even better, there are professionals who go to the club with their partners and we get to watch how they move so beautifully to the music. It is an awesome atmosphere with really cool people and a fun thing to do on a Wednesday night. And on another note, my confidence in my Spanish-speaking abilities has boosted so much since I arrived in Ecuador. Everywhere I go, whether it is one of my professors, a friend or a random stranger, I am complimented all the time on my Spanish...people cannot believe that this is my first time in a Spanish-speaking country and that I have only been here for a month (wow I have already been here a month?!?!). But as it is always nice to receive these compliments, I know that I still have a lot of work to do and a bunch to learn.

Anyway, I am sorry again for being so late on my blog this week, I have been mega busy with school-work (getting more difficult by the week) and trying to take advantage of everything offered to me in this magnificent country. But here are pictures from the weekend, I hope you all enjoy, and please email me or comment on my blog if possible to let me know how you all are doing...send me news from the U.S.A.!! Love you all and talk to you soon!

Powers

Lauren and me on the bus on the way to Mindo!

Hostal Rubby

One of the many types of open-air houses/shacks.

The main street of Mindo where there are many cool restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

View from the hostel...and the rain.

Breakfast.

All of us in our gear rough-and-ready to get on the ziplines.

Me!

The first zipline where I was dying of fright.

Nervous laughter haha.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand she's off!!

The "mariposa" meaning butterfly in English...one of the 3 ways you could go on the zipline. I of course chose to ride the normal way each time, but I might get creative next time :)