Warning: This post contains references to menstruation (!?!)

Yesterday I went to visit a women´s organization in an indigenous community which was very interesting. But before I get to that adventure I would like to share my lastest "Sandra anecdote." When I first arrived in Ecuador I was very concerned with being culturally sensitive. I was careful to ask Sandra how she would like me to dispose of my feminine products, knowing for example, that women here rarely wear tampons because they are considered to be slutty and take away one´s virginity. Sandra assured me that as long as I wrapped them well in toilet paper there would be no problems. Great. Cool. So today, I was called into the bathroom to look at the trash can. Apparently the wrapping in toilet paper applies not only to the actual sanitary waste but also to the wrapping. A sheet from a panty liner was ON TOP of the garbage can and clearly visible! I was told that I must do a better job of wrapping and burying all traces of my sanitary waste, including the packaging because otherwise (God forbid!) people will KNOW that I am having my period and in Sandra´s words, translated from Spanish, "That is so ugly." I wasn´t really sure if I should be offended or laugh. I kind of wanted to tell Sandra about how Wagner sometimes gets into my trash at home and drags my used tampons through the house. I guess that doesn´t leave much mystery as to whether or not I am menstruating. I know it´s not a big deal, but honestly, why is something that is so natural and healthy considered to be shameful and dirty!? It is just another sign of women´s opression. I won´t say that to Sandra, but I kind of just want to tell her to shove it. She´s seriously worried about the wrapper from my tampon!? Okay, that is enough. If James is reading this he has probably passed out at the computer by now. Sorry if I was too explicit.

The visit to the women´s organization was actually not very well planned or executed but I still learned quite a bit. Following in the theme of women´s liberation, I learned that domestic violence and sexual abuse are a huge problem in indigenous families. This particular organization which now exists in 24 communities, was formed by 15 women who decided enough was enough. When one woman was beaten brutally by her spouse, these 15 women banded together, dragged him down to the river and gave him a ritual cleansing with ortiga (which is kind of like stinging nettle only worse.) Apparently they had to do this various times before the message sunk in. Today women are much more respected in these communities. Domestic violence has declined dramatically, women are equally represented in the provincial indigenous organization and their opinions are valued. They no longer have to sit on the floor while the men take the chairs. Of course there is still a ways to go. Only one third of girls attend secondary school right now because the average age of marriage is still 15 or 16. I don´t want to be a cultural imperialist and say that early marriage is objectively bad but I do know that getting pregnant at that age does carry signifigant health risks - and that is an objective fact. Also, early marriage is one of the obvious obstacles to women continuing their education.
The women´s organization has a really neat cooperative now in which they raise alpacas and guinea pigs, grow vegetables, weave, grind their own flour, and cultivate fish. They are trying to preserve native species and all of their methods are completely organic. The women share all the goods they produce in order to combat malnutrition. They also sell the products and use the funds to maintain a lending system of credit. It was incredible to see how empowered these women are. Many of the men in the community have to migrate for work so these women really have taken things into their own hands. Aunt Donna, I was thinking about you a lot while I was there because I know how much you have worked on issues of domestic violence and women´s empowerment. I thought you would really like this field trip. Also, just so everyone knows, the organization is supported a lot by Oxfam, which I have heard elsewhere is a pretty great charity. In this case it seems like they are putting their funds to good use.

That´s all I´ve got for now. I definitely have been feeling a little more homesick of late so feel free to send an email. It would make me very happy :)

Good Friday

Well, it´s Good Friday, or Viernes Santo as they say in Quito. And it´s a pretty big deal. I decided to go down to the historic Center by myself and check out the famous procession "Jesus del Gran Poder." In the first spot I picked I ended up being almost suffocated and trampled on by a crowd. I´m actually not kidding. I was crying out in pain and screaming for help and for about 30 seconds I thought I might die. Luckily I am tall by Ecuadorian standards and the crowd pushed me to edge where I was able to get out and find a different spot.

The parade itself was incredibly bizarre but really cool because it was so different than anything else I´ve ever seen. Almost everyone in the parade wore these giant robes with hoods and tall pointed caps. Sound familiar? They basically all looked like they were straight out of the Klu Klux Klan except that the robes they wore were purple, not white. Also many of them were carrying giant photographs or statues of Jesus and crosses. There were also a large number of people dressed as Jesus, complete with crown of thorns, fake blood and bare feet. They carried crosses some of which were HUGE. Many other people carried whips and a stinging nettle type of plant with which they beat themselves. One guy had a cactus strapped to his back and two others I saw were wearing barbed wire. I haven´t gotten a decent explanation of all of this yet, but the general idea is that these people are atoning for their sins and begging forgiveness from Jesus who died for all of our sins. It´s kind of a tribute to Jesus as well as a period of shame and atonement for all us sinners.

For once the weather here in Quito is gorgeous and I just can´t get enough. What I hate about sunshine here is that it is SO rare and fleeting that whenever there is sunshine I feel guilty if I´m not enjoying every waking second of it. I have no problem with clouds or rain, but I will admit that so far Quito has been oppressively chilly, cloudy, and rainy. Hopefully this nice weather will help ease my withdrawl from the beach where I have spent the last week.

For our first stop on spring break we went to Puerto Lopez which turned out to be kind of a dusty, quiet fishing port. In some ways I liked it better because it was less touristy and felt more lived in. It was also very quiet. Our second day there we went out on a boat ride with some Italians from our hostal. We fished (I caught one!) and then our captain made fresh ceviche for lunch from our catch. We took the boat to a nearby island and swam to shore. We also tried to snorkel a little but the water was too murky. The boat ride was probably my favorite thing we did the whole trip. I wish my family were water people because I just love boating and bodies of water!

After two days there we headed to Montanita where we ended up spending the rest of our time. Montanita was very different. It is famous for its surfing and was filled with foreigners - we made friends with some other Americans, Colombians, and Venezuelans while we were there. The dancing wasn´t great there, but there was definitely a night life in Montanita and lots of touristy restaurants with Happy Hours, etc. This was definitely the first time I feel líke I´ve spent spring break the way a college student is stereotypically supposed to - partying at the beach. The weather was wonderful and my first time in the Pacific was pretty great. It really wasn´t cold at all and the waves weren´t as big as I thought they would be. That said, Montanita is also known for its riptides. Two people drowned while I was there and I witnessed the second man being dragged to shore by a surfer. Not an image I am going to forget anytime soon. I decided to skip the surf lessons.

Other differences at the beach in Ecuador - more garbage, fewer lifeguards (as in virtually none) and lots of dogs. Some of the dogs were annoying strays but some were pets and it was soooo cute to watch them swim in the waves! I still hold a torch for the Jersey shore, lol, but I think that is more because of the great company I keep when I am there. I miss everyone, but most especially family. I am half way done with the program this coming Thursday or Friday. I can´t decide if it has gone by fast, or if I am going to die of homesickness before the end.

Beautiful Morning

I am in high spirits this morning because for the first time in a couple weeks it is really clear outside - no fog, clouds, or smog to speak of. That means that I can actually see all the gorgeous snow capped mountains surrounding Quito. They had been hiding for weeks now! Now that they are revealed again the whole city looks so amazing.

I am heading to the beach tomorrow on the night bus. I´m reminded of Harry Potter, haha. But this bus doesn´t actually have beds so I hope that I will be able to sleep and won´t be awake for 10 hours... I am really excited to see the beach but I don´t know what to expect since it is the Pacific ocean. I think it might be better water for surfers than for me.

Yesterday at my internship we had a 5 hour meeting that was awesome - full of jokes, chatting, and food. We planned our workshops for the next couple weeks. I am going to be helping out a lot more, as part of a pair of facilitaters and occasionally by myself! Can you imagine me in a room with 25 seventeen year olds talking about contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections IN SPANISH? Whoa. I am terrified but really excited. Luckily I don´t have to go solo for a couple weeks so I have some time to learn and practice the information and the vocabulary.

Tonight is the birthday of yet another of my compatriots. More fiesta. I really think I´m going to have to learn to live without sleep. But who knows? Maybe I´ll finally find myself a cute Ecuadorian guy...

Weekend in Baños

First let me just say that my Macalester email account is driving me CRAZY. Apparently it is acceptable to have a server that functions 50% of the time. What the hell!? So if I don´t respond to your emails in a timely manner you´ll know why. Also, if I actually do lose my mind while I´m here, I´m blaming it on stupid OCS because I feel so cut off without email!

Also, (Uncle Carl, this one is for you) if any of you were thinking of visiting Ecuador I think you should know that it is BYOTP. That stands for Bring Your Own Toilet Paper. Not kidding. It´s not fun to have explosive diarrhea and realize that you can´t wipe. So take precautions. Never travel without a roll of your own.

Finally, this weekend: Amazing! It was so nice to get out of Quito, which I really have kind of a love/hate relationship with. Baños was a breif but passionate love affair. It is a cute little town with a nice church and town square and park. It is surrounded on all sides by HUGE, steep mountains, one of which is the active volcano Tungaragua. The town is famous for its natural hot springs which we tried out. They were really crowded but really neat. The water is murky and full of sulfur but it´s like a natural hot tub. Our greatest excursion was renting four-wheelers and going on a 4 hour tour of the surrounding waterfalls, including a hike to the famous Pailon del Diablo. I know that four-wheelers aren´t environmentally friendly and frankly I was scared to ride one on the same road with cars, winding around steep cliffs. As it turns out, I had the time of my life! I rode on the back of one with Katy, a girl from my program (we all doubled up, so at least we minimized the pollution???) Katy was a wild child! She was passing people and playing chicken with the other kids of my program - mom, you would have been horrified!

Our weekend also included two nights of clubbing because it was Claire´s 21rst birthday. I didn´t have that much fun the first night because it seems that only creepy people ever want to dance with me (aka, stalkers, gropers, drunks.) Some Ecuadorian friend of Emily´s brother was all over me and started kissing my neck. EWWW. I left. Then I had a brief period of self-loathing reflection and went to bed. The next night was way better. I was determined to have a good time and I actually danced with a nice boy for a while who was a great partner, didn´t make me feel uncomfortable and didn´t pursue me when I thanked him and said goodnight. YAY!

Also, worth mentioning: the bus ride to Baños was very pretty and on the way there I sat with an Ecuadorian woman and her 10 year old daughter and I think I made a friend for life :) Such a cutie! Unfortunately that was really the extent of my Spanish practice for the weekend...

I´m afraid next week will be even less educational. We´re on vacation and we´re going to the beach! Oh well, I guess this is all a learning experience for me since I don´t really party, haha.

La Selva

Sorry it´s been so long since I´ve posted! I was in the rainforest for four days and I´ve been super busy since I got back. The rainforest was amazing. I don´t know if I can do the trip justice in one entry. It may take two. But I guess I will try...

First, let me just say that this trip was one of the best things I´ve done in my 20 years on this planet. It was amazing. First of all, it only rained the day we arrived. The other three days it was sunny and gorgeous. We´re talking about the rainforest! The word "rain" is in there for a reason!

The forest was so beautiful. I really don´t have words to describe it. Everything was so tranquil and the people who were there just seemed so small, like we were just one more species living there along with all the others. There was so much life! Every tree had other vines and plants growing on it, insects all over it, animals living inside it, birds nesting in it - it was like the forest itself was one giant organism. We saw soooo much! Our group was large so we broke up into two smaller groups of 7 with two guides for each group. Our guides were Javier and Jose. Both were indigenous men from the nearby village of Sani Isla. Javier was the official guide because he spoke perfect Spanish and a little English. Jose probably said 10 words the entire time but he was TOTALLY hardcore. He walked ahead of the group to scout things for us and he could pretty much clear an acre of forest with a few choice swipes of his machete. Our first day we spent two hours watching birds from a 150 foot observation tower built around a GIANT tree. Of course I didn´t have a pen to write down all the names of the birds we saw but we did see a black headed parrot and a green and yellow parrot and another bird with a bright red beak. Using Javier´s scope we could see the birds soooo close up! It was like watching a National Geographic special, except we were actually there!

Our 4 hours trek after bird watching was so great! We saw lots of medicinal plants like dragon´s blood. We also saw tons of insects and swung on vines from a tree. The best part was when we heard a howler monkey marking it´s territory. It literally sounded like someone had a giant piece of machinery in the jungle. It was so weird and SO loud. Once we heard it, Jose just took off through the trees with his machete and we followed him off the path. We tracked a howler monkey! HOW COOL IS THAT?! We literally found the exact tree it was in! We tried to scope it, but I still couldn´t get a very clear view unfortunately.

That night we went out on the river to look for caimen (I have no idea how that is spelled, but basically they are crocodiles of up to 20 feet in size - we saw two.) Cooler than the caimen were the stars. I have never seen stars like that before in my life. They were reflected perfectly in the river which had still black water. It was like a mirror. It was really a spiritual experience looking at the stars on the water. I just thought about how small I am in the cosmos and how fleeting I was in that incredibly ancient forest. Incredible.

We also played soccer with our guides in what was essentially a mud pit. Afterwards we all swam in the river (I was assured that the piranhas in this river were not the aggressive kind and caimen are actually shy.... yeah.)

The second day our hike kind of sucked cause one of our group members got super sick and threw up repeatedly and we had to turn back. The only cool part was watching Javier take off and return with a medicinal root which he carefully peeled and used to make medicine for Laura. Unfortunately she was not keeping down even water at that point so she promptly threw it up and we didn´t have time to see if it worked.

That night was the highlight of the trip. We went on a night hike. Yes, that´s right: just me and a flashlight and two indigenous guides and the rainforest. And I´ll tell you what - the crazy shit comes out at night! We saw a tarantula that was ENORMOUS and I didn´t even freak out! We saw tons of insects and tons of venemous centipedes too. We also saw a tree mouse and two snakes from the boa family. They were harmless and the guides plucked them right up so we could hold and touch them. Super cool. We climbed the observation tower again and this time we could see the fire from an oil well off in the distance. It made me sad. But it´s more complex than it seems. The indigenous community which the guides were from has gotten lots of stuff from the oil companies like a new school and meeting hall. If these people were better provided for by the government maybe they wouldn´t be so susceptible to that kind of exchange. It reminded me of the way we have ripped off the American Indians: here, have some beer and guns in exchange for your land!

The only bad thing I have to show for the trip is about 100 mosquito bites and also, I got sick the last night, but now I´m better. Oh, and I may have brought back bed bugs. Not really sure what I´m gonna do about that yet....

ANTS! I forgot about the ants! I saw Conga ants that are venemous and huge and live in small colonies of 200-300 ants. I saw leaf cutter ants that follow the same path every time and literally have worn trails in the grass by the lodge. I also saw lemon ants which live inside of tree branches and have a symbiotic relationship with the trees. Javier cut a branch open for us and we ate them. They taste like lemon.

The lodge had amazing food, the guides were the nicest people I´ve ever met. Everything was environmentally sustainable. I slept under a mosquito net! I think that´s all....

Now finally, if anyone has heard - there´s been some drama with Colombia and some talk of war. So who knows? Maybe I´ll get evacuated and be seeing you all sooner than I thought. Let´s all pray for peace because the last thing this region needs is a war. As usual, the U.S. would be on the wrong side of things (that is, Colombia´s side.) Anyway, Ecuador has recalled it´s ambassador from Colombia and cut off diplomatic ties which is pretty intense. We´ll see what happens.

Love you all!