Ecuadorian Excursion

Bye beach, bye swim suit, bye tan, bye sun...I will miss you!

2009-12-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

Well I am in Quito and flying back to the states tomorrow! Hard to leave the Galapagos but excited to be home soon. I will miss it--I have really come to love that Island. Here are some things I will miss:

Walking by the sleepy sea lions on my way to school! Kind of challenging to navigate through sometimes..especially at night! And yes..I had to walk on the beach to get to school everyday.

Batidos from Fruit Bowl, our favorite resturant with the nicest Galapaganian man. And fresh fruit!! I LOVE mangos!!

My school! Why can't Wartburg be located across from the ocean..?
Janna and Lacey! Team Athlete. A bunch of surfers visiting also started calling us team Fit because they would see us running all over town. haha I will miss them so much!! Janna is already home in North Carolina and I am missing her!

Marine Iguanas--they are my favorite animal in the Galapagos. Janna and Lace even got me a stuffed marine iguana for my birthday!
Swimming. This is the boat I swam all the way to! I did it!! Janna was a great swim instructor. I am going to keep practicing in the pool @ the W.
SUNSETS! Some beautiful sunsets here and always nice weather to enjoy them in. I loved watching the sun slowly sink into the ocean--they are always a great way to end the day.

Feliz Navidad!!

2009-12-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Ecuador! Despite being an island community, the Galapagos knew how to celebrate Navidad. It is still hard to get in the Christmas spirit without snow though. Lace, Janna, and I on our last night in Quito. Janna left a few hours after this :(

A cactus covered in Christmas lights--no evergreens here!!

A Christmas tree made out of recycled pop bottles on the Malecon (the main tourist/board walk type area that follows the ocean and has the port)

Mi casa y mi familia en Galapagos

2009-12-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

This is my house in the Galapagos--it is the one above the blue house with the green on the side. My window was the big one on the right of the house. Definitely a quaint little house. I have realized it doesn't really matter where you live or the conditions. I was perfectly happy and got by great in my Galapagos despite the amenities I am use to living with!

Here is my host mom and little sister in the Galapagos. They aren't so good at smiling in pictures--or they just don't like me. Take your pick. I loved my family! They were always so sweet to me and very generous. I gave them all Wartburg Track and Field clothes before I left. Andrea was so excited to get one of my notebooks as well. Notebooks are hard to come by. She ran off to show her family and then came back to my room with one of her Hello Kitty dolls to give me as a gift. So sweet! My family only spoke Spanish--except my other host sister who was learning. I gave her a whole bunch of my music so she could hear even more English.

This is my shower--I got to shower with a mermaid mural everyday. Pretty sweet huh? I really don't know what I would have done without my cold cold showers in the Galapagos. Always the best thing after working out! This is my roof! I always hung my laundary up to dry on the roof. Notice the proximity to the ocean. I had a great view! Every night I could hear the waves as I went to sleep. I will miss that! No one in Galapagos has a clothes dryer. Definitely much greener to hang dry clothes. But I admit am very excited to throw my clothes in the dryer when I get back!!
Here is a much happier picture of Andrea, my 7 year old sister. She was sad to see me leave..she loved coming into my room, going through all of my stuff and bothering me. Gheese..who would've known what little sisters were like!? haha I actually liked hanging out with Andrea. We would color, draw, and play hopscotch. She loved dancing to my ipod, trying on my clothes, and playing solitare on my computer. May be strange to have peach and quiet at my house.

I'm so thankful for my family in the Galapagos! I plan on sending them a picture of snow--one thing they were fascintated with. As well as wooden houses. My host mom always asked me if my house was cement or wood. She's never seen a house made of wood! Her husband is a captain on a boat and gone for months at a time. A big sacrficie for the family, but it is the culture here in Galapagos. A lot of families are separated for long periods of time. Sad I will probably not see them again!

Volunteering in the Galapagos

2009-12-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

I completed over 100 hours of service while in the Galapagos. I absolutely loved it and am so glad I had the opportunity to volunteer while I was there! The firs place I volunteered was CIMEI. This is a photo of Jazmine, the other volunteer from GAIAS and I in front of CIMEI. Our duties included walking Chocolate, the stray dog owned by CIMEI, assisting with surgery, cleaning, and doing some other public campaign things to protect animals and improve knowledge about pets!Chocolate and I! I almost brought her to back the US with me--especially when Jaz and I thought they were going to put her down. (Spanish/English communicationg error) They use Chocolate to take out at night to pick up other stray dogs in the community. I will miss her!!

The second organization I volunteered at was Nueva Era, a non profit group that teaches English as an afterschool program to kids. The man that started the program works with the National Park in Galapagos and orginially was started to teach English to children of fishermen so they would hopefully have another option than fishing in their lives. Overfishing use to be a big environmental problem in Galapagos. I taught English to 5-8 year olds. The first class (above picture) was 5-6 and the second class was 7-8.

I loved hearing the kids yell out "Teecher..Teecher!!" to me when I walked by on the street. They were a joy to work with and are the future of the Galapagos!! I will miss them. I would love to have the opportunity to work at the grassroots level with organizations in Latin America again someday!

Here comes the sun..

2009-12-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

I spend a good chunck of every day outside--and you can definitely tell. My hair is BLONDE! I haven't been this blond since I was little. I am also going to come back pretty tan. I'm sure this will disappear soon after entering freezing cold snow. Check out the tanlines below! EEK!

p.s. it is 85 degrees outside right now. Only 4 days left on the islands!!

Snorkeling Pictures

2009-12-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

I finally got some pictures of when I went snorkeling the first time to Isla Lobos and Kicker Rock--the director of my volunteer site took them on his Camera. Janna also took some pictures that were actually videos--I included some of those. One is also a video of a shark that my director took at a different time at Kicker Rock! My favorite video is the one of the marine Iguana eating algae on the rocks. Derek and I also took a whole underwater camera full of pictures when he was here--he has the camera in Iowa and is getting it developed! So I will try to put up more before I leave.

I'll keep working on the videos later--I'm headed to the beach for now! Got to try and avoid the Iowa blizzard while I still can :)

Cantando Jenny..Feliz Cumpleanos!!

2009-12-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well..this was the first year I wore a halter top dress on my birthday and went to the beach! It didn't quite feel like my birthday without all that snow you are getting in Iowa! I'm perfectly happy bringing my 22nd in this way though :) I feel so old! Especially after Lacey wrote "Happy 23rd birthday Jenny!" on my card! haha

I had a great birthday in Galapagos! We started celebrating on Sunday..for Derek right? (Derek's birthday is the day before mine). Lacey, Janna, and I went hiking all afternoon. I got to spend time with my favorite Galapagos animals and enjoyed Tuna and tomato sanduches with Janna! The hike was amazing--we went to La Loberia and just kept going along the shore until we found the best spot to sit on the rocks and watch the waves. Gorgeous!

We had a flashback to earlier years by celebrating my birthday with a sleepover at Lacey's! We started by making banana pancakes, normal pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, and our favorite "chocobanana" pancakes. They were delicious and Lacey even bought some maple syrup for my birthday--just the start of a sugar-filled 2 days. We also cut up fresh mangos and pineapple for some delicious fruit salads. Being the good boyfriend he is, Derek packed me funfetti cake, frosting, and a jar of chunky peanut butter--only 5 pounds of his luggage (not too much to ask, right?). Well, the peanut butter is long gone, but the cake I saved just for my birthday! We figured we could pull off cooking this processed, sugar-filled box of heaven for my birthday right? Uhh..we kind of failed to take into account the Ecuadorian oven. I guess there is a reason we never have cassoroles or oven baked food here. The oven was one of those with the actually fire on the bottom that apparntly only reached 250 degrees. We decided just to let the cake cook longer = bad plan. I got a nice funfetti cake with a not-so-fun crispy black bottom layer. Oh well! I still ate 1/3 of the cake all by myself mostly for breakfast..haha. I shared some and went running later in the day..don't worry! We kind of lived by the motto of Buddy the Elf (the movie we watched) of the 4 main food groups 1. candy 2. candy corn 3. candy canes and 4. syrup But it was more like 1. funfetti cake 2. funfetti frosting 3. ice cream 4. syrup. Someone please remind me to ease into American food--I felt terrible all morning of my birthday. I was starving by 10:00 and then had a huge sugar crash. haha

My Ecuadorian family was so happy so celebrate my birthday with me! I got hugs from all of them in the morning and a yummy supper of fish, rice, and tomatoes--the usual with watermelon for dessert. My seven year old sister Andrea challenged me to a watermelon eating contest in which I let her win. I was definitely glad they didn't serve me any more cake! My family also gave me a present--that I'm assuming Andrea picked out of a big teddy bear that sings an unidentified song in Spanish. Very thoughtful! I just don't know how I'm going to fit it into my luggage..

I didn't get to go swimming on my bday because it was actually raining! But Janna and I made up for it by going today. My ultimate goal is to swim to the a big boat and back--I need to keep practicing but am actually way better at swimming from when I started. We decided we are going to stretch my birthday out this week--plus I am still awaiting packages from Mom&Dad and Jody&Jake! We are looking forward to going fishing on Saturday and enjoying our last 2 weeks here!

Wartburg Track and Field: Galapagos

2009-12-04T19:20:00.001-08:00

It's officially track season and I am not in Iowa! One of the things I struggled with in deciding to study abroad was that I would be away from preseason and the start of track. However, one of the great things about being a D3 athlete is having opportunities like this to study abroad. I always think about my teammates when I am working out. Even though I wish I was with them, I have to remind myself that I am still running in cut offs and shorts in December :) I know they are working hard back in Iowa as well so that motivates me to lace up my running shoes. Luckily I have some nice beach trails and a sand track to run on! The sand track can be treacherous, but nothing bad has come out of it yet other than permanently staining my running shoes. The ocean painting surrounding the track practically makes me feel like I'm on the beach! The track is in the soccer stadium here on the island--only 2 blocks from mi casa! Only in Latin America will you have a turf futbol field (one of the nicest things on the island) with a sand track surrounding it. I will miss it. I love track and being outside in a beautiful place..so it is the best of both worlds. I may stuggle adjusting to the cold when I get back, but I am looking forward to not sweating so much after running. And someone should have reminded me that running at noon on the equator is never a good idea. Is it bad that one of the biggest things I miss here are ice baths?

I am so excited to get back and compete in my final track season for Wartburg! Let's have another NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP season!! Go Knights :)

Happy Thanksgiving! (a little late)

2009-12-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

Although we still had to go to class, we celebrated Thanksgiving American-style in the Galapagos on Saturday. I realized that I have been used to eating small portions of South American food--definitely not your typical Thanksgiving meal. We had green bean casserole, chicken, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing, and rolls! YUM! Dessert was pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and chocolate "mud" dessert. I think my body hated me the next day! In light of Thanksgiving, here are some things I am thankful for:

-listening to the ocean as a fall asleep every night
-Derek visiting me in the Galapagos
-beautiful sunsets
-Skype and letters and e-mails I get from family and friends back home
-going to school across from the beach
-living with a generous host family that only speaks Spanish
-the SUN and warm weather in December!
-running outside in cut offs and shorts everyday
-Marine Iguanas--they are my favorite :)
-fresh fruit like papaya, bananas, mangos, oranges, and tangerines
-Snorkeling!!
-meeting new friends and being able to spend another semester with Lace
-My WHOLE study abroad experience--living in the Galapagos and Quito, visiting the rainforest and climbing Ecuadorian mountains!!

I will officially be home in 3 weeks! I am going to miss this place SOOOO much :(
Derek and I at Thanksgiving--lots of food!!

Derek visits the Galapagos!

2009-12-02T07:46:00.001-08:00

The picture on the left is when Derek, Janna, Lacey, and I went to La Loberia to look for sea anemones and barnacles on the rocks. Picture on the right is Derek laying on the beach with Steve the sea lion!

I am now getting back into the swing of things after Derek's visit here. It went by so fast!! He had a really good trip here and it was a nice vacation for both of us! We went snorkeling to kicker rock, isla lobos, and manglacito. Janna gave me an underwater camera for my birthday present, so we took 27 pictures snorkeling that will be exciting to get back! We saw sea turtles, rays, sharks, and a whole bunch of fish! Other highlights included sea kayaking, running together, and spending time at the beach where we layed out, swam, and played frisbee. Derek really liked all of the fresh, natural food we have here! I think he ate a batido (milk-shake ish thing with fruit) everyday and most nights we ate fresh mangos for dessert. We even found a juicer and made freshly squeezed orange juice which was delicious!

Derek hung out with his giant tortoise friend, Gus.

I was more tan than Derek when he got here. But notice how dark he is the day before he left!! Only 10 days and he surpasses my tan that I have been working on for 3 months!

#2 to Ms. Steffens' 4th grade class

2009-12-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hello!! It looks like you are learning a lot with Ms. Steffens! I have only 3 more weeks here in the Galapagos until I return to Iowa! Here are the answers to your questions:
Have you seen any more dead sea lions?
I saw a baby sea lion that had died. There are a lot of baby sea lions now because it is the birthing season! Most all of them live and are so little!
Is the water cold?
Yes, the ocean here is chilly! However, the ocean currents are starting to change and the water is becoming warmer. A lot more fish and sharks like to live in cold water!
Does the temperature get in the 100's?
No, I don't think so. There is no weather man on the island though! We never know what the weather is going to do or how hot it will be. It is okay here though because the weather doesn't change as much as it does in Iowa. The temperature is usually in the 80's everyday, but it is starting to get hotter as the seasons change. The rainy season is starting, so it rains about every night now!
Have you seen any monkeys?
There are no monkey's on the Galapagos Islands, but I did see some in the Amazon Rainforest. I spent one week in the rainforest before coming to the Galapagos Islands.
Have you seen any kittens?
Yes there are a lot of kittens here. Kittens are not a natural animal on the Galapagos though, so people who own them have to take really good care of them. Some cats have killed birds that are only found on the Galapagos islands and no where else in the world. They have to make sure their cats stay in or around the house.

I hope you are enjoying school!
Jenny

The Copenhagen Diagnosis

2009-11-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

I have been closely following the new climate change bill in Washington right now and am anxiously waiting to see how (and if) the US will act in December in Copenhagen, Denmark where world leaders will meet to develop a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just released a report that climate change is currently worse than predicted. They call is the "Copenhagen Diagnosis":

-Global carbon dioxide emissions are up 40 per cent from 1990.
-Both Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheets are losing mass at an accelerating rates, as are glaciers worldwide
-Summer-time melting of Arctic sea-ice during 2007-2009 was about 40% greater than the average prediction from the IPCC's last report.
-Global average sea-level has risen at a rate 80% above past IPCC predictions over the past 15 years.
-Several vulnerable elements in the climate system (e.g. continental ice-sheets. Amazon rainforest, West African monsoon and others) could pass irreversible tipping points if warming continues in a business-as-usual way throughout this century.

I am writing a paper about how the US is preparing for Copenhagen and the current climate change bill--I will keep you posted :) http://www.ipcc.ch/

Floreana

2009-11-18T09:34:00.001-08:00

I almost forgot one island! When we were on Santa Cruz we took a day trip to Florena. There are about 100 people who live in the town, but it has an interesting history. It was the first settled island and we visited the rock house of the first settlers in Galapagos! We also saw more giant tortoises and did some snorkeling at Champion Island. I said they named it after me..but Janna claims they named it after her..so we really don't know..haha. Oh yes--I also saw the most colorful marine Iguanas yet! It is mating season and the iguanas change colors--they are beautiful with bright reds and lime greens!

Derek is coming to visit tomorrow!!! I hope this offers enough reading for the next week because I probably won't update until he leaves! I am excited for him to visit and show him all of the amazing things I have seen. It will be nice to also have a workout buddy to keep me motivated! I can't believe it has been 3 monts since I have seen him. Here is a picture of the day I left. Derek driving me to the airport at 5 in the morning. haha

JUMP!!

2009-11-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

We had a blast on our yacht for 4 days! The food was delicious, crew great, and sun shining! We even jumped off the top of the boat! Notice I had to be the first one to jump!! Lacey and I did it once and then all of Team Athlete jumped gether. One thing I will not miss is trying to fall asleep

on a moving boat. Here is the Eden Yacht. The National Park and INGALA in Galapaos limit the number of tourists on boats, so the boats are all pretty small compared to your typical Bahamas cruise. The biggest number of people on a boat that can go to Genovesa is 45. Mine held about 20 people including the crew. They also limit the amount of boats that can go to an island at one time.

Genovesa (bird island)

2009-11-18T08:41:00.001-08:00

This island was pretty amazing as well. It is uninhabitated by people, but has hundreds of birds! It is hard for me to even see anything other than birds living on this island--they have taken it over!

Red footed boobie. My favorite bird on the Galapagos!! This is the "brown" kind--that make up 90% of the red footed boobies. There are also "white" red footed boobies. These birds are found in other places of the world where the percentages are reversed!

This is a nasca boobie with its egg! We saw tons of this kind of bird with their "ugly little ducklings" (first picture).
"white" red footed boobie--such a beautiful bird!

Bartolome

2009-11-18T08:27:00.001-08:00

After visiting Santiago in the morning, we traveled to Bartolome for the afternoon. We snorkeld with white tip reef sharks, beautiful fish, and penguins from the golden sandy beach. It is odd seeing penguins in such a warm sunny place! The water is pretty cold though and these penguins have adapted from wherever they came from. We then went to the famous outlook place that is on a large majority of Galapagos postcards.

Santa Cruz

2009-11-18T07:52:00.001-08:00

Out of all the islands we stayed at Santa Cruz the longest as it was where we started our 4th class, Political Ecology. We also boarded the Eden Yacht for our cruise in Santa Cruz. Some highlights include visits to the Charles Darwin Research Station, walks to a "big wave" beach, giant tortoises (who I challenged to a race), lava tube caves, volcanic craters, white-tipped reef sharks, and sea turtles in the mangrove forest! Santa Cruz is the most populated island and probably the most touristic. Not my favorite--but definitely nice to have larger food choices :) Including spaghetti with marinara, pecan pie, quesidillas, and lasanga! YUM! I officially added pecan pie to the list of food I need to eat when I get back.

We hiked in a cave made from flowing lava!

Giant tortoise! To be honest I don't know if I ever saw "Lonesome George", the famous almost extinct Galapagos Tortoise. He is the last one of his species, but just recentley mated with another hybrid species. Everyone is waiting to see if the egg hatches and a viable tortoise comes out. We have been told if this does happen, there will be big parties and celebrations all over the Galapagos! I never went on a guided tour where Lonesome George was, but I did go for a morning run through the trails of the giant tortoises...so maybe I saw him.

Here is a white tipped reef shark and a sea turtle. I took these pictures from our dingy boat when touring the mangrove forests!

Where the streets are made of sand. Isabela!

2009-11-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

The most beautiful place I have ever been! The reason I loved Isabela was because of the variety of things there. There was an increadibly long sandy bottom beach, the best snorkelling I have done so far, flamingos, penguins, sea stars, hundreds of blue-footed boobies, sand streets, cactuses, volcanic rocks, palm trees, the 2nd largest volcanic crater in the world, and beautiful trees! Simply amazing!

Santiago

2009-11-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

The first day of our cruise we woke up to the beautiful island of Santiago. We started the day with a hike and found hundreds of marine iguanas and saw our first Galapagos fur seals! We spent the rest of the morning at the black sand beach and snorkeling around Santiago. We saw sea turtles and tons of really bright, colorful fish. Janna is in Marine ecology right now--so I am going to use her to identify some of these fish!!

Donde es mi pollo!?

2009-11-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

I ran home after lunch today to take a little nap before volunteering and what did I find? A chicken sitting in my laundry basket full of clothes! My family was eating lunch so I let it sit there for awhile. Then I heard my little sister Andrea calling something that ended with "mi pollo". Apparently, she has a pet chicken (that I am assuming she found on the street). The chicken flew around my room for awhile before Andrea took it outside to play. Just another day in Ecuador :)

Island hopping!

2009-11-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

I'm back from my 2 week Island tour! I had a blast and am completely exhausted from everything. I am going to get posts up this week about each place we went-- 8 islands total!!
Here are some things I learned on my voyage:

-Isabela island is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

-Turns out traveling by boat over the ocean is quite an experience. Especially if the waves are big and the engine breaks.

-When your guide says we are going on a 2 hour "hike" that means we are going to hike for about 15 minutes and stop every 20 feet.

-I never knew how much I missed spaghetti with marina. Lots of it.

-I love marine Iguanas. They are my favorite Galapagos animal.

-Genovesa Island is owned by birds--I have never seen so many birds in my life.

-I appreciate LONG sandy bottom beaches and sunsets.

-Beach workouts are hard to beat. Especially when it involves chasing after Janna's frisbee.

-the Galapagos Islands have penguins! They are adorable.

-I wish I would have visited Galapagos before 1996. Then I could scratch the necks of the giant tortoises. And sit on them.

-I realized I really like jumping off of high things into water.

-I get really scared when I see 6 rays swiming together right by me while snorkeling.
-Janna and Lacey are the best "teammates" I have ever had :) I love both of them!

-I could never live on Floreana island, population 100 with only 2 hours of running water a day.

-I am so thankful to be able to have drinkable tap water that you can brush your teeth with in the US!

me with some Giant Tortoises on Floreana. More pictures to come!

Surf's up dude.

2009-10-25T15:55:00.001-07:00

I will be leaving for a 2 Island-hopping adventure to the other islands tomorrow so I wanted to post before then! This weekend was halloween/day of the dead here in Ecuador. Last night I went with a group of friends and some local people from here to Puerto Chino, a beautiful beach about 30 minutes from town. As luck will have it, it rained on us for some of the night, but we were still able to have a little bonfire on the beach! I was hoping for some smores..but we had to settle for tuna on crackers. Not the best trade off. This morning we learned to surf! Well..I guess you could just say we had surfing lessons--I don't know if we really learned. One of the local guys, Wilson, who is a guide here taught us. The waves were really small. We were hoping to "catch some big ones" but I think that it is probably better that we didn't.. We learned how to stand up. I dont know if you could say we were successful or not. If you count being able to stand for about 1 second before your board goes shooting up into the air successful, then yes. This is a picture of Lacey, Janna, and I or "Team Athlete" as everyone else in our program calls us with the boards we used. I really don't think I found my true calling. Mainly because you have to paddle really fast with your arms. My arms are too short and inflexible that I can't go fast at all. We had a race with our surf boards just paddling and Janna killed me!
They really don't have halloween here, but there was a costume contest at the place we had Salsa lessons, Iguana Rock, so we went on Friday. We all got way more into it than most of the people here..I really don't know if they knew what to think of us. Janna and I were "kicker rock" the famous landmark here. I was the little pointy rock and Janna was the big wide rock. Everyone told us that we should have one the contest, but I think people were really confused as to what we were..so we didn't. Another boy in our program dressed up like a girl genie...it was a hit apparently so he won. I still think ours was better though! Here is the link to Janna's blog with more information and a picture of us!! http://jannainecuador.blogspot.com/

See you in 2 weeks! I might be able to post before then, but we will see!!

Adventures of Lacey and Jenny

2009-10-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Lace and I in Barbados in 2007!

Ecuador in 2009! (this snorkel trip is a lot better!)

So..I don't think I have really shared the story of Lacey and I and how we ended up on a little island in Ecuador together. Lacey and I first met a 4-H camp when we were maybe 11? I'm not really sure. But we became good friends--I remember wading in this creek and Lace teaching me how to do backflips into the pool. We decided to go to 4-H camp the next year together as well, so we did! I kind of lost track of Lacey after that--she was always moving around and I was busy going through shcool as well. My senior year in highschool at State Track I heard Lacey's name over the loudspeaker. She was running the 100 meter hurdles! I ran down to the track and found her after she finished and we were reunited after so many years! Coincidently, we found out that we were both going to Wartburg and running track. CRAZY! We told eachother our e-mail addresses. I forgot Lacey's but Lacey remembered mine and e-mailed me. This is also ironic as Lacey is usually the one to forget things :) She asked if I wanted to be her roomate and I said yes. SO we were roomates our first year of college at Wartburg and went through it all together. We were just sitting here at school looking at pictures almost crying because we were laughing so hard. We traveled to Barbados together and swore that we would travel together again someday. Lace ended up transferring to Iowa State after our first year but we have still kept in touch and even had a "traveling futon" haha. SO it both worked out for us to study abroad in Ecuador and the Galapagos through our respective schools so here we are! Looking out a beautiful

place. These photos are of us in Barbados..and 3 years later in Ecuador snorkeling! Another trip?? You BET. We are going to backpack across Europe for a month of so. (when we can afford it--but we already have a lot of places to stay AND can stop by Spain and practice our Spanish!)

Sharks, Sting-Rays, Sea Turtles, Sun, Sand, Snorkeling, and Sea Lions!

2009-10-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

I spent another day out on the boat snorkeling yesterday! This time I went with my class in a boat that wasn't so sketchy! We went to Isla Lobos, Kicker Rock, and Puerto Grande. The same places as before just a different beach. It was a beautiful day!! The sun was so bright that it actually hurt my skin--but don't worry because I put on tons of sunscreen this time. At Isla Lobos we saw sea turtles, fish, marine iguanas, sea lions, and a STING RAY! Kicker Rock was a much better experience this time as well--the waves were MUCH calmer. The side of Kicker Rock is so beautiful--tons of bright colors with very vibrant fish swimming in and out of little holes on the rocks. AND we saw SHARKS! The ones I saw were Galapagos Sharks--they are pretty small. I was hoping to see a big hammer head, but maybe next time :) We ended the day at Puerto Grande--such a beautiful beach you only reach by boat! Check out pictures!! AND Go Iowa 8-0!!!First place we snorkeled: Isla Lobos--the water is COLD..but looks pretty inviting!

Marine Iguanas at Isla Lobos--this is the most I have seen at one time basking in the sun! This is the only marine Iguana on Kicker Rock--it was low tide when we went so you can kind of see the sides of the rock!

Pelican @ Puerto Grande

Puerto Grande--a beautiful beach!! Some kind of tropical paradise!

Choco-latte

2009-10-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

There are some foods I really miss from America. Mainly, chunky peanut butter and m&ms!! I had a little chocolate craving this weekend. Chocolate in Ecuador doesn't taste entirely the same. We decided it is probably because it is more pure with less sugar...so we have been on the search to find the best (worst for you) chocolate. Lacey, Janna, and I always go to the Mockingbird Cafe to get the best brownies around. They are doughy with choclate syrup. YUM! I even splurged on my $1 chocolate bar that actually tastes like real chocolate. AND by far my favorite food in the Galapagos are Chocobananas. (picture) For 30 cents you can get the best snack around. Frozen chocolate covered bananas. It is from this little roadside blue stand usually left unattended. I almost feel bad only giving the cute little chocobanana lady 30 cents. I feel like she could turn a bigger profit if she sold them for 50. But I figured I buy enough anyway that it is worth it for her. I am going to make these when I get home!! Has anybody tried? It seems easy enough.

Bananas are one of the top exports in Ecuador so there are bananas everywhere! I probably eat about 3 a day. One for breakfast, usually a chocobanana, and then a baked or fried plantain for supper. Patacones con queso are delicious too. I ate them for supper one night for $1.50. Probably not the healthiest..but I have to experience the culture right? Guess what I had for supper tonight? Lobster!! It was delicious! Not something we get to eat in Iowa all the time. I remember those huge lobster tanks they used to have at Hy-Vee. I haven't seen one in years though. Maybe we realized that shipping lobster to the midwest wasn't worth it?

Oh yes..one more chocolate thing. The stray dog I am training so it can be adopted at CIMEI is named Chocolate! I will put a picture up of her next time I volunteer! I didn't walk her today, but rather painted our new dog washing station..haha.

Another beautiful sunset tonight. And sweet picture of another Marine Iguana! They must be warming up to me, or I just know where to look for them now! I have seen a whole bunch lately.

The Novelties of Nature

2009-10-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have had a great weekend! I spent the morning on the beach and had another good life conversation with Lacey. We are both working on soaking everything up here and really enjoying our time. I had a "wow I'm in the Galapagos" experience last night when I snorkeled with Jazmine and Lace at the cove--we saw a sea turtle and floated in and out with the waves with huge schools of fish for awhile. It really felt like we were a part of nature. We're getting ready to head out there again right now! Also--we climbed up to this great whale watching spot and watched the sunset. It was beautiful!! AND I found a great spot to run stairs :)

I have been reading my book for my religion class all weekend called God After Darwin by John Haught. It is really deep and making me think! It is a theology of evolution questioning how religion and God can fit in with science and the concept of evolution. One part I liked discussed "unrestrained economic restlessness and greed" and "global ecologogical catastrophe". It argues that modern science threatens the concept of associating nature to a sacred principle of being. The current world environmental crisis is associated with losing the meaning or eternal representation in nature. It challenges theology to find a fit with current scientfic theories and neo-Darwinism. I decieded to put some of my favorite nature pictures up from my trip in leu of my weekend readings and outdoor time!

this is my desktop right now..from the rainforest (can you see the monkey?)
That one picture is one of Lacey with a Pelican flying behind her!

To Ms. Steffens' 4th Grade Class!

2009-10-15T19:52:00.001-07:00

Hello from the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador! Here are the answers to your questions:
Are you having fun?
Yes! I am having an amazing time here! It is nice to live on an island where it is sunny all of the time. I’m not ready for snow yet! My favorite part is seeing all of the animals here and watching the sunsets at night.

Have you seen any dead sea lions?
Luckily, I have only seen one. There are a lot of sea lions on all of the beaches here. The National Park in Galapagos is worried about the sea lions because some have been getting sick lately. They are reminding people not to touch or feed the sea lions! This morning I saw 4 baby sea lions that had just been born.

How is your school?
School is going well! My school is small. It is only for international students and some local people from San Cristobal, the island I am on. We have been learning about ways to protect the environment. The beach is right across from my school, so sometimes I like to look out the window during class!

Have you seen a shark?
No! But I hope I will before I leave. It is safe to snorkel with sharks here as long as you do not bother them. The two most common kinds are the Hammerhead shark and the Galapagos shark.

Do you like animals?
I love animals! One of my favorite things about the Galapagos is seeing so many animals everyday. Today I saw sea lions, pelicans, crabs, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, and frigate birds. The Galapagos have species that are called endemic because there are found only in the Galapagos and no where else in the world. Some endemic species are marine iguanas, Galapagos sharks, and the Galapagos tortoises.

Are you a good swimmer?
I am not that good at swimming. I should have practiced more when I was your age! I like to snorkel here though because it makes it easier to swim. It is also nice to see all of the fish and sea turtles in the water!

the walk to school which is approaching 30 minutes..probably because I stop to take pictures.

2009-10-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

I discovered I can walk all the way to school today without taking any roads. I literally walk all the way along the beach. The part where I normally go off on the road I can now travel along the rocks by the beach. It is not really a path, but it is kind of fun to climb all over the rocks to the beach in front of school. The best part is I can now see sooo many animals on the way to school! Janna and I saw about 10 blue footed boobies on the rocks today! We were soooo excited because we can always see them diving into the water but never see them hanging out on the rocks. Until we discovered there hiding spot today!! We also saw a marine iguana, pelicans, sea lions, lizards, and frigate birds. Here are some pictures of all the animals I saw today:
The famous blue footed boobie!
So excited I found their hangout!!
A baby sea lion!! Just born. What a cute little guy.
Frigate bird. This one is female because she has white on her belly.
A Marine Iguana--they are tricky to find because they blend in so well on the rocks!
Pelicans..having a little pelican date.
Crab..not really sure what kind, but I will try to find out!The sunset from today!! The sun sets about 6:00 here everyday.

aloe anyone?

2009-10-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted forever because I have been sooo busy lately! I have been writing papers like its my job and have been volunteering about 10-13 hours each week. I am spending the day inside today because I got BURNT yesterday--completely my fault..I failed to apply enough sunscreen. Yesterday was a National holiday in Ecuador, and the last day of my second class. I spent the day out on the boat with the people I work with at CIMEI, and I brought Janna and Lacey along with me. We had a blast!! It was one of my favorite days here. My boss took us out along with the other two veternarians. We went 3 places--the first was my favorite: Isla Lobo. It is this little island off the coast and we snorkeled around a lot of it. We saw tons of HUGE fish that were all very colorful and unlike anything I have ever seen. My favorite part was seeing a Marine Iguana underwater eating algae off a rock. We also swam with sea turtles--at one point there was 3 of them all together, and you could get really close to them. I always reference things to Finding Nemo..but they were like the sea turtles there..haha. It was so much fun--we snorkeled for about an hour and half there and then headed to Kicker Rock. A famous landmark in San Cristobal that a lot of people dive at--there are 2 rocks that go up about 500 feet. We tried to take some pictures but our boat was literally getting thrown about by the waves it was nearly impossible. There are sharks at Kicker Rock, but I don't really think I saw any. I was semi-freaking out most of the time we were there because the waves were huge! The best part was seeing the side of Kicker Rock underwater. It was beautiful and full of colors--mainly blues, reds, and orange-ish tones. We saw more fish and sea stars on the rocks. Our last stop was a beach: Manglarcito. It was very nice as well--we pretty much just walked up and down it, searched for shells, and took pictures. It was soo much fun!! And I heard it was snowing in Iowa!? Pictures: Kicker Rock--it is kind of off-center because our boat was rocking so much in the waves..; Janna, Lacey, and I on the boat with our little town in the background; The director at CIMEI, Renato and I

My volunteer service has been going well--I started teaching English to kids on MWF for 2 hours each day. It is through an organization called Nueva Era and offers these classes afterschool to kids in the community. The man that originally started it geared the classes towards fishermen's kids--so they would have other options beside continuing to fish because overfishing has been a big issue here. It is helpful to learn English for these kids because there are so many tourists that come to the island. It is still a touchy issue though, because I don't know how much better tourism on the islands is than fishing. CIMEI has been great--I started training one of the stray dogs that we are going to put up for adoption. I basically have been teaching her to sit and have been walking her around town on a leash. We always have a bunch of animals in at our office. My boss showed me a picture the other day of a cat eating one of Darwin's finches. He also said that he saw a cat eat a baby marine iguana one day too. Reasons why invasive species on islands are bad!! No more 911 sea lion deaths--but one did die the other day because there was a rock in its throat. I also got to assist cat surgery the other. My job was to hand the equipment over and wipe the sweat off the brow of Paul, one of the vets. haha

We finished Salsa class this week! I am sad that it is over--we learned the last two classes how to kind of "free-lance" and combine all the stuff we learned. It was fun. Lacey was my partner for most of the time--we switched off girl and guy roles. We want to keep practicing though..Oscar our teacher is such a good dancer. It might take years to get to his level..but we'll keep working at it!!

Animal Cops: Galapagos

2009-09-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

I very much enjoyed relaxing all last week—it was kind of hard to adjust to being on “island time” after being used to the hustle and bustle of Quito. Sadly, my afternoons of laying on the beach are going to be less frequent as I started my volunteer service yesterday with CIMEI. My skin could probably use a break from the sun anyways! As part of my program here, I complete 100 hours of volunteer service. My organization is CIMEI: Control and Management of Introduced Species. They act as a veterinary service on the island for people’s pets, and make sure dog and rat populations are controlled. Yes..I ended up getting the “stray dog recapturing” service placement I did not want. It was a blessing in disguise however because I love it! I don’t think I have to do anything with the rats—which is perfectly fine with me. This organization educates people on the island about the importance of having their dogs registered and sterile, and works closely with the National Park and INGALA to help manage and control other species on the islands. SO..let me tell you about my first day. Another girl in my program, Jasmine, also volunteers 2 days a week with me at CIMEI, so we went together yesterday. The main reason Jazmine wanted to do this was because of the Animal Cops show on animal planet where they go around and rescue pets…so we decided we would have our own “animal cops: Galapagos” documentary throughout our trip. So the doctor at CIMEI, Paul, is awesome—he loves us because he wants to learn English so bad, so now he has someone to practice with. Today I learned how to say “tick” and “flea” in Espanol and am currently translating a dog training manual. So our first day he was showing us where all the tools were in the clinic, etc, when someone came in and said something to him that I didn’t understand. Paul got up and started saying “Emergencia! Emergencia! 911! 911!” as he started putting gloves, syringes, and blades in this bag. Jazmine and I were stoked that we were going to go save some injured dog or bird or something. Well..turns out we drove in this truck to a beach about 5 minutes away to pick up a very dead, huge, decaying, and smelly sea lion. Not an emergency in my terms by any means. We proceeded to put the sea lion on the back of our truck and drive it to La Loberia, the place I love to run to in the mornings. Apparently, it is a large cemetery for lobos marinos. Guess I won’t be doing abs on the beach anymore.. We went ahead and dug a huge hole—thinking this was the end. BUT no unexplained death is complete without a thorough autopsy. Paul made a large incision down the abdomen of this lion and examined the intestines, liver, kidneys, and all the works. My job was to hold back the organs out of the body as he completed the examination. I also held open the chest cavity as he examined the heart—not exactly what I was expecting to be doing, but it was sweet! Nothing like dissecting something that has been preserved and covered in formaldehyde. Unfortunately, we don’t know why the sea lion died, but there has been a lot of sea lion deaths lately they told me. I couldn’t really understand it all (Spanish is getting a little better) but from what it sounds like it could be some kind of chemical, virus, or other factor affecting their environment. We never took a tissue or blood sample, which would have been my suggestion, but I don’t think they have the necessary tools to do this. Today at work I walked around town having people sign this petition to protect the sea lions—including getting a specialist on the island with necessary equipment to investigate the deaths. Also promote education and put up signs for people to not get too close or touch the lions. It was interesting trying to explain to people what was happening—I mainly gave them the form and said “Puedes leer?” It should be a good experience!! Today we picked up trash in the ocean and sat in on a presentation to the community about climate change and tourism our class put together. Our teacher presented in Spanish, but we did a lot of the research for it. They wanted to know how climate change would affect tourism in the Galapagos. Everything else is going good—Jazmine and I will continue to work on our documentary. Stay tuned..haha

I am having trouble getting pictures up--the internet at school doesn't allow it, but I will try to go somewhere and get it done soon!!

marinos lobos y la clase de salsa

2009-09-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Almost one week in the Galapagos down—it went by soo fast! Everything has been a whilrwind so far, but things are going great. On Tuesday morning I went for a run down to La Loberia, and sat on the rocks to watch the ocean. It was so peaceful—there were no people around (except Lacey who showed up slightly after I did) and there was no building or road in sight! I loved it. As I was getting up to leave the rocks I saw my first marine iguana of the trip. It was on the rocks right behind me! When I saw it, it ran below the rocks, but left his tail sticking out. It was really neat. That afternoon I went snorkeling with my host sister, Stephani. She is learning English and wants to be a naturalist guide for the Galapagos Islands. It has been really fun having her show me around the island. I figure I am her tourist to practice on. She shows me birds, plants, animals, and shares other general knowledge about the islands. We walked to this little cove and went snorkeling—it was AMAZING! My favorite thing I have done so far. I saw huge schools of fish all moving together and 2 sea lions feeding on them. The sea lions were swimming right up next to me. I also saw tons of neat fish—2 big ones that looked like Dora on Finding Nemo. I should probably look up that species, but right now it is easy for me to reference Finding Nemo..haha. The only bad thing was that the water was freezing!! For all of you track girls—I actually found a use for the tight asics black shirts with the weird length sleeves that we got for Nationals. I use it as my “wetsuit” when I am snorkeling. Never thought I would actually wear that thing! Lacey and I just bought ourselves our own snorkels tonight so we don’t have to keep borrowing. I plan to do much more snorkeling while I am here. Otherwise we have been doing the same old thing—going to the beach after class and studying..or attempting to study. Janna, Lacey, and I went to a different beach yesterday—our own private beach as we called it. I already have some good tanlines—from my attempts to put suntan lotion on my back myself. My class has been going really good. We have different readings to do and each person presents on a couple then we discuss. I did an hour long presentation about hazardous waste on Thursday..woo. We have been discussing the world water crisis, global warming, and air pollution this week. Today we visited the town recycling center and water treatment plant. It was up on the island a ways, so we drove their by bus and rode bikes back down the hill. It was fun!! Last night I also started salsa dancing classes—unfortunately we had more girls in class than guys, so I had to dance with a girl. AND I had to do the boy part. Haha..so I don’t know how much I got out of it other than I now know how to semi-dance salsa like a guy. I stayed later and practiced the girl part more, and we have class again tonight!! It is really fun. I am pretty terrible, but hoping I will be a salsa pro come December. I’m at Lacey’s now and going to head up to her roof to watch the sunset over town!! I no longer have internet at my house—but I do at school, so I will keep posting periodically! Pictures: Me studying on the beach, hanging out with my sea lion friends, and a sleepy little sea lion on the beach

GALAPAGOS!!

2009-09-21T16:24:00.001-07:00

I am here safe and sound in the Galapagos Islands--they are absolutely amazing and exceed my expectations by a hundred fold. I had quite possibly the best school day ever today. I woke up and went on a run around Puerto Baquerizo Moreno with Lacey and Janna. (high altitude training has really paid off--I went 40 minutes and felt great!) We ran to see where eachother lived and then ran down to a beach and took a break among some seal lions..We had breakfast at our school--overlooking the ocean. We went to the beach before class for awhile and then had class from 9-12. My new class is called Environment and Health. I think it should be a good one. We all ate lunch together at a little resturant up the street and then layed on the beach studying all afternoon! How did I get so lucky!?

Last night I walked with my host sister to La Loberia--another beach a little farther away. We watched the sunset over the rocky shore and ocean and then walked back. It was beautiful!! I know I will not have a problem living here for 3 months!

Island time has set in--I feel so relaxed now. I might not post until December..see you all then :)

What are you going to do??

2009-09-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of my first class!! Hard to believe we have been here a month already—we are headed out to the Galapagos at 10:00 AM on Sunday. We had a final today and then ate lunch with our professor at Cactus—right across from our school. I had the best fruit juice I have had here! It had peaches, passion fruit, and orange in it. The purpose of our outing was to discuss the book we read for our class, Ishmael by David Quinn. I really liked the book..it made me think about the state of the world and our purpose here. It related nicely to what we have been discussing in class about sustainable development. I would recommend the book!! The last thing that Dr. Romo left us with was a question. What are each of us going to do to help protect our planet and make the shift away from the destruction and consumerism culture we are currently a part of? It definitely made me think—I am pretty passionate about environmental issues, but am I doing everything I can right now? I definitely am not! It is hard to change our ways and habits, so I will start with little steps. Here is what I am going to do:
-Leave my blow dryer in Quito and not bring it to the Galapagos with me. They use tons of energy and I can easily get by without it. I will just let my hair air dry!
-Take shorter showers! Water is precious commodity on the Galapagos, so I want to only take 3-5 minute showers and shut the water off whenever I don’t need it.
-Keep updating my blog with things I am learning in class about environmental issues and problems in Latin America and the world.
-Overall live more simply!

Here is a website that lists 100 ways you can reduce your impact. I like #8, #30, #49, and #92. Check out #93 for all you Wartburg-ers and join EARTH on campus!!
http://www.instructables.com/id/50-Ways-to-Reduce-Your-Impact/

I challenge you to ask yourself what you will start doing today to protect our environment and make the shift towards a more sustainable life!! Let me know what you come up with :)

Is there such thing as too much ice cream?

2009-09-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

I had such a good day today! I am actually a little bittersweet about leaving Quito on Sunday. I am starting to figure things out and am really enjoying spending time with my host family! I think my host mom is sad that I will be going too..she was so disappointed when she found out she couldn’t take me to the coast because I was leaving. She even tried to get me to skip school tomorrow and Friday. She has been trying to make up for it though. She found out that I like chocolate and ice cream, and now brings me home desserts from the hotel they own and took me out for ice cream today! I don’t want to constantly eat desserts all of the time, but I just can’t tell her no!! I had class early this morning and gave a presentation about an economic and ecological analysis of coffee certification programs in Latin America. It was pretty interesting! I really don’t like coffee much, but if you do it is best to buy shade-certified coffee (either rainforest alliance certified or bird-friendly). It prevents deforestation and preserves biodiversity. It also limits the use of fertilizers and herbicides. I went and worked on a paper after class on our beautiful campus. We sat on this small hill overlooking the lake with a lot of pretty flowers and trees around it and goldfish in it. After lunch I had my Partnership for Service Learning class where we discussed foreign aid and poverty along with some of the politics and how people view democracy in Ecuador. I am really loving that class—today we learned about how Ecuador had loans from the World Bank, and written into the loan was the condition that they had to use the money to improve infrastructure including building new roads and schools. BUT Ecuador had to hire companies that were affiliated with and invested in the World Bank. Ecuador claimed that this was illegal and stopped paying the debt. It makes you think about the interests of foreign aid and why they are giving money…I don’t really know much about it, but it is something that I am excited to learn more about.
After I got back from class, I went and got ice cream with Gabbi, Alicia, Gabbi’s boyfriend, and Alicia’s daughter in law and grandson, Felipe. Felipe is probably around 6 months old and is a cutie! We got the ice cream at Luiggi’s and is undeniably the best ice cream I have ever had..did I mention that I’ve eaten ice cream there the last 3 days….? I got moira and tropicale today. Alicia and I went out to Qutio after our 1st ice cream trip of the day (just wait) and went to a shopping mall that was really nice! I was looking for a new water bottle for Galap..but apparently doesn’t exist in Quito. People only buy bottled water. Alicia did manage to find some wristbands for tennis. She has been playing in the mornings recently. I don’t think it is meant to be too strenuous. Case in point: I came home from running one morning and I had been sweating and she was SHOCKED! Now I make a beeline for the shower right when I get back..haha. We stopped by Hotel Walther, the family hotel, after the mall and then went to her son, Christian’s restaurant called Pavarotti Ristorante. It was extremely nice and fancy! I ordered grande ravioli stuffed with salmon, lobster, and shrimp. YUM!! Christian told me to enjoy nice food in Quito because there isn’t any in the Galapagos. One nice thing about Quito is that all of the food is so fresh. He said in Galapagos there will be less of that and to get used to eating fish and white rice. I think the whole being on the beach part will make up for it! I didn’t feel so bad about eating so much dessert this week after he told me that! He said I could hire him to be my cook on the islands, but it cost $100 a week plus scuba lessons and lodging..haha. Ah yes, and of course they ordered ice cream for dessert for me….

Pictures: Lacey and Janna at Luiggis..they have tables with candy in them :). Christian and I are his resturant. He also has a picture of Natalie Portman and him framed there from when she ate at the resturant. I told him he could put up a picture of me and him right by it!! And the last one is our dessert!!

Volcano Climbing..and thinking it would be nice to be llama.

2009-09-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hola friends! I have had a busy last few days and officially started my count down to the Galapagos! We leave next Sunday. I am so excited to finally be able to wear all of my island clothes I brought..I have been rotating between wearing my 1 pair of jeans that I brought and a pair of capris every day I have been in Quito..haha. On Thursday, we took off for Riobamba and the highlands of Ecuador and stayed until Saturday. It was a great trip!! The landscape was beautiful! I felt like we were in the Sound of Music when they sing "the hills are alive with the sound of music". The air was SO FRESH as well--it felt so good to breathe!! We visited the paramo of the highlands, found only in the Andes. It is basically a high elevation grassland. On Thursday we stayed in an Indigenenous village called Achiknan. The people who live there mainly farm potatos and raise cattle, but have recently started tourism in the area. They prepared a meal for us and sang and played music for us after dinner. We also learned about some environmental and social problems they are facing in the paramo. They have been burning the paramo to allow new grass to grow to feed their cattle, but burning the paramo has resulted in loss of organic matter which stores water. So everytime they burn the paramo they are losing some of the water--this not only affects them but also affects people and towns in lower elevations. The paramo is being lost and people are experiencing water shortages..but who is going to tell the potato farmers they have to stop giving food to their cows which is a significant source of income? These people were so neat--they were very proud of where they came from and to serve us dinner that they grew and raised. We stayed in a hostal type place with 8 beds in each room--it was freezing! I borrowed winter clothes from my host sister which came in handy as nights got really cold and there was no heater. On Friday we climbed Chimbarazo, a volcano in the highlands that is the fartherst place in the world from the center of the Earth. It isn't the highest elevation--but since Ecuador is at the equator, it is considered the closest to the sun and farthest from the center. We didn't summit it, but we did get up to around 15,100 feet. It was the first big mountain I have climbed and it was amazing--the altitude didn't affect me too much thankfully (One of the boys in our group puked on the way down) I did get a headache but I think it was from dehydration and not being used to the altitude..it was worth it though! It was pretty neat to see all of the paramo from the mountain. I think I took like 150 pictures because I just couldn't believe the view of Chimbarazo and the Paramo below = spectacular. Lace put it well in her blog (I'm stealing your quote) that seing this huge mountain made all of your other problems in life seem so small. At the bottom our hike down we came upon a field full of llamas with arguably the best view from a llama field anywhere. I decided being a llama in the Ecuadorian highlands wouldn't be so bad (picture). On Friday night we went back to Riobamba and stopped at a school to help people from Riobamba with their English. We basically just talked to them in English so they could practice. All of the people I talked to were 14-16 year old girls who were pretty good at English. I was shocked when they told me they had only been learning for less than a year! It gives me motivation to learn my Spanish better--especially after they told me it was easy :). Pictures: Chimbarazo volcano, Lacey and I on the climb, llamas in front of Chimbarazo, and the hotel/resturant we ate in for lunch.
On Sunday my family took me out to brunch to this nice little family owned resturant in the mountains. I was somewhat optimistic on the drive there..we went off on these dirt mountain roads. I was starting to think they were going to pull over and drop me off in the middle of nowhere. The brunch was great though! At this resturant they also have a "blind" resturant downstairs in these caves that we took a tour of. Blind people are the servers and you eat the meal in total darkness..it is supposed to give you a feeling of what it is like to be blind. I told them I'm glad they didn't take me to eat there because I don't think I could get by not being able to see and/or speak Spanish fluently. Too many senses missing!! Here is a picture of my host mom, Alicia, and Gabbi. We are at some land that Alicia owns and wants to retire on. It has grapefruit, orange, and lemon trees--we picked some and brought them home with us.

Dogs and Futbol = must haves in Ecuador

2009-09-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

It soaked in for me today that we are in Ecuador! Lace and I spent the afternoon working on homework and journaling at our favorite coffee/chocolate/cheese/ice cream place called El Espanol. They have free wifi and a nice overlook of some mountains and the nicest bathroom we have found so far in Ecuador. We are both so blessed to be here experiencing a new culture and unbelievable experiences. I think we are both using our time here to figure out our calling in life and it has been so nice to have eachother! Being away from everything you are used to also makes you realize what is important. The town was lifeless this afternoon--which means there was another soccer game. Ecuador beat Bolivia this time and I think hopes are still alive for the World Cup. Here are a couple pictures: one of Gabby and I at the markets in Otavalo from the weekend, one of me standing in front of one of the many snow capped volcanos, and our dog Gus. He is laying on my bed here--something he has liked to do lately. Dogs are extremely popular here. We also have another dog, Amaro who is about 4 feet tall--he is the biggest dog I have ever seen! I try to avoid him.

Tomorrow we are headed to the highlands of Ecuador until Saturday. We will be climbing some mountains and meeting with local people that live in the highlands. I will let you know how it goes!

Typical day in Ecuador!

2009-09-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Things are going well in Ecuador--I have actually been back at school the last couple days. I LOVE my classes and going to school everyday..Here is my typical day when I am here in Cumbaya.

6:30 a.m. wake up, go running at a little park in our gated community. I love waking up early and running--it is always clear skies in the morning and I can see the mountains around Quito very well. I like running in the park as opposed to down the street because I don't have to go up any huge hills!!

8:00 get ready for school and eat breakfast--usually fresh fruit juice, cheese, fruit, and cereal

10:00 go to school to read and chat with my friends. Our school is beautiful!! So many colorful buildings and plazas with lots of nice landscaping. (Picture of campus)

12:00 Eat lunch in our schools cafeteria. This is not your typical cafeteria..it looks like a resturant. We are served food and have waitors that come pick up after us. We usually have soup, rice, beans, and some kind of meat. And we get tasty dessert with fruit juice.

1:00-2:00 My partnership for service learning class: Organization, Development, Environment, and Volunteerism. We have been talking about development in the third world and poverty in Ecuador and Latin America.

2:00-5:00 Conservation and Wildlife Management..I Love this class!! We talk about deforestation and biodiversity in Ecuador, global warming, population growth, environmental ethics, and island biogeography.

5:00 Have been going to get coffee and bread with some friends--usually sit and talk and work on homework.

7:00 Come home, read/homework, skype, journal, work on Spanish

9:00 Eat supper--yes we eat really late. I didn't think I was going to get fed the first night I was here in fact..but it is normal to eat a light supper later. After supper I usually read more or hang out with my host family!

I have my first test tomorrow..wish me luck :) Here are some interesting things I 'm learning about. It makes me think about my consumption and contribution to the planet:

-Frogs in Ecuador and Latin America--especially in the mountain region have been going extinct at an alarming rate. A few years ago a fungus called chytrid was identified that seems to be the culprit. Frogs permeable skin makes them especially vulnerable to environmental changes. The fungus was usually not a problem until rising temperatures from global warming has allowed this fungus to thrive. Here is an article in National Geographic about it: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0112_060112_frog_climate.html

-We are using up resources on our planet fast!! The US is to blame for a lot of it: we are only 5% of the world's population and use 30% of the resources--each person in the US uses on average 79% more paper products than someone in India per year. The population of the world is expected to rise to 8 billion by 2050. There has already been a huge amount of habitat destruction and deforestation in Latin America with the main cause being land clearing for agriculture.

Back from the Jungle with no mosquito bites!!

2009-09-06T17:56:00.001-07:00

I just realized it was September..time flies! I spent the entire week in the Amazon rainforest at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. To get a glimpse of how far into the jungle we went, it is necessary to know our travel plans: first we took a ½ hour flight from Quito to Coca, Ecuador, followed by a 2 hour boat ride on the Nabo River. After the boat ride, we took a 2 hour bus ride on one of the 2 roads in the Yasuni National Park, followed by another 2 hour boat ride on the Tiputini River. With waiting time it took about 12 hours to get back!! I have always wanted to go to the rainforest, and it definitely exceeded my expectations—minus the fact that I didn’t get to see a jaguar! The humidity was unreal, and it did rain everyday, but usually only rained for ½ the day. The first day we went on a 4 hour hike in the morning. We went out by boat and then hiked back to the station and also went up on one of the canopy towers. Our guides all had immense knowledge of the forest and could find anything hiding! For example, we would stop to look at a frog they spotted, and it would take me about 2 minutes to actually find the frog because it was so camouflaged. One of our guides, Ramiro, spotted a rare raccoon looking animal with a long nose and literally took off sprinting though the forest—he was dodging trees and vines and I couldn’t even keep up! On our hikes we saw tons of birds, spiders, bugs, monkeys, and many plant species. My favorite thing to see were the ants—we saw huge poisonous ants that were over an inch long and also saw a whole line of ants carrying little leaves across a stick on our night hike. I also ate some ants!! There are these ants that live in a plant that produces citric acid so no other plants grow around it. The ants had a citrus-taste to them—not bad! In the afternoon of our first day we climbed up a 35 meter canopy tower made of metal in a thunderstorm. The rain wasn’t so bad at the bottom of the forest because so little of it gets through, but I got absolutely soaked in the canopy. Our guide found an “umbrella” leaf as he called it and gave it to us for the rest of the hike back, but my boots were still filled with water. I tried not to complain too much considering it is the “rain” forest. Our first night we sat through a presentation about some of the research projects at Tiputini—they are trying to identify species around the area with sensored cameras. We saw a bunch of the pictures, and a lot of the species they are trying to protect are endangered. There were a few pumas, tapers, and a lot of birds and monkeys. The next day was spent doing an experiment in the forest with dung—from our professor’s dog might I add. It is a rare commodity in the forest: we were to record what species and how many came to the poop for 2 hours..it was actually better than it sounds. We had dung beetles arrive within 45 seconds. They are neat little species that roll the dung into balls and bury it nearby. This gives a place for their larvae to grow, helps plant seeds that other animals have eaten, and gives tons of nutrients to the soil. After the first hour my partner, Janna, and I started designing our own clothing line out of rainforest materials. Ramiro even made hats for us! All in all a pretty productive day! We went on a boat ride at night and spotted 3 caimans as well. Our final day was spent with another morning hike to a different canopy tour that had bridges built around it 30 feet up. My favorite part was a ladder climb another 15 feet further to a platform in one of the many HUGE trees. I think I could have sat up there for hours listening to the sounds of the forest and looking at the tree tops. That afternoon we went on a float trip down the Tiputini river as the sun set. We floated for a couple hours in our life jackets—it was beautiful and lots of fun! No anacondas got me :)

I felt absolutely disgusting the whole week—we only had cold showers whose water ran out everyday, it was constantly sticky, and I don’t even want to think about what was in the water! But I LOVED every minute of it! It was nice to be so far away from civilization for the whole week. Completely relaxing and really makes you appreciate nature and some of the amazing things on this planet.

Yesterday I had another relaxing day with my family. We ordered in lunch and had the best ice cream for dessert. Ice cream here isn’t made with milk products—it is just fruit and sugar that was made in dry ice. I practically count it as eating fruit..haha. As everyone was watching football in America yesterday we were watching futbol here: Colombia vs. Ecuador! Unfortunately, Colombia won 2-0. I watched the game at Janna’s house and then played volleyball in her pool afterwards. She lives just down the road from me.

Today, my host mom Alicia and sister Gabby took me to Otavalo, a town around 2 hours from Quito. They have a huge market where I bought a lot of traditional Ecuadorian things—it was pretty neat. I was glad Alicia was there with me because I would pick out what I wanted then she would bargain down the price for me. I think I would have gotten ripped off if I went alone. We stopped at a lot of little places for traditional Ecuadorian food too- I had a lot of cheese, yucca bread, and corn on the cob with white kernels instead of yellow like we have. I am starting to miss American roads that are straight—the whole time today we were constantly turning and going up and down the mountains. It made me a little queasy!

Pictures: Me, Janna, and Lacey floating down the Tiputini River and a woolly monkey mother and baby.

Hasta Luego,

Jenny

Beautiful Baños and First Days of Class

2009-08-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend a whole bunch of my classmates and I traveled to Baños—a small town about 3 ½ hours away from Quito. It was AMAZING!! The town is just on the edge of the rainforest and surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. We all stayed at a little hostal called Hostal Chimenea. For 2 nights stay plus breakfast it cost $18. Don’t get me wrong—it was really nice! They had a roof-top breakfast over looking a beautiful waterfall and they even had toilet paper—something I have learned is hard to come by. We came on Friday night and woke up early Saturday morning to go Puenting—bungee jumping but you are harnessed in instead of connected by your feet. We jumped off a bridge in a valley of mountains with a 100 foot free fall. The scariest part was getting up on this little platform hanging off the middle of the bridge—I actually did a tandem jump with Lacey. I’ve never free-falled before, but it was so much fun and such an adrenaline rush!! Looking back on it, I think the whole thing may have been a little sketchy..we never signed waivers, it only cost $15, and it was raining the whole time. All in all definitely worth it. I will admit that I got whiplash pretty bad, and I am sore today..maybe sky-diving would have been better?? After our bridge jumping experience we ate lunch in Banos—soup, juice, chicken, rice, and veggies for $2. A great little touristy town—tons of things to do for cheap. About 10 of us then rented mountain bikes and took off on a waterfall bike tour—led by ourselves. We biked probably around 12 miles all together stopping at various waterfalls on the way. I think I risked my life more biking than I did bungee jumping—mainly because people that drive here are crazy and we had to bike on the highway for part of the way. The scariest part was biking through this tunnel with no shoulder in the pitch black with cars and buses coming up behind us!! At the end of our biking tour we came into this little town and actually rode into a parade. We stopped and watched as Ecuadorians danced and floats passed. Instead of throwing out candy during parades, they throw out fruit like little tangerines. Maybe a reason there are very few overweight people here!! We ended our bike ride at the Pailon del Diablo waterfall (translated to the Devil’s Cauldron). It was absolutely beautiful—the biggest waterfall I have ever seen. Well worth the dollar it costs to climb up to it. Upon getting close to the waterfall we were immediately soaked. About 6 of us kept climbing through this little tunnel in the rocks and actually came out right under the top of the waterfall. We had to yell to hear each other because of the huge amount of water crashing down. A sign walking up to the tower said in Spanish “be prepared to be surprised. God does exist”. Words or pictures can’t describe the beauty of this HUGE waterfall. I went down to the base of the waterfall with a few people as well—this must have been during a high peak for the falls because we just got pelted with water. I pretty much just ran down to say I did it, and then turned around and climbed up the stairs that had torrents of water running down them. We sort of hitched a ride back to town on the back of this truck—the driver put all 12 of our bikes on the back and we climbed in behind them (this is what the travel guide recommended, don’t worry). After getting cleaned up, all 26 of us went out to eat at Café Good, who had the self-proclaimed best brownies in Ecuador. An Ecuadorian band saw us all go in, and they came in and played traditional Ecuadorian music for us. It capped off a pretty stellar day. I wanted to go canyoning this morning (repelling off waterfalls), but we didn’t have much time, so hot-tubbing and ice cream had to do! My host mom got here this weekend so I went out for coffee with the family in Cumbaya tonight! We ordered “American food” as they called it for supper from Jimmy Huber. They said it was an American franchise, but I have never heard of it. It was pretty much typical fast food—huge hotdogs loaded with bacon and sauce topped off with fries and a coke. A little sad this is what people in other cultures think about our food! Tomorrow I am off to the Tiputini Biodiversity station in the Amazon Rainforest. After learning from my rainy Banos experience, I wrapped everything in plastic bags, and I am going to bring my raincoat. Should be fun!!

I never posted a blog from last week—so here is a brief synopsis and some interesting things I learned in class. I started class on Wednesday and absolutely love it! It is called Conservation and Wildlife Management instructed by one of the few Ph.D’s in Ecuador, Dr. David Romo. My class has 11 people in it, and us 11 will take classes together the whole time we are here. I have class for three hours each day and so far have been intrigued the entire time. All of the people in my class are girls who are also very passionate about the environment like me—it is very nice. In fact we have good discussions about non-fiction environmental books we read. See—other people read those too!! I have a new list of books I am going to read when I get back to the states. I also started reading Ishmael for class (which I think is the book the Wartburg 1st years read this year?) Here are some cool things I learned in class this week—kind of a lot, so be prepared!
-In the Galapagos there are marine iguanas. Somewhere in the past, the island was probably populated with too many land-dwelling iguanas, so a subset of these iguanas started getting algae from the sea as a food source. The problem with is they had to figure out how to deal with the large amounts of salt they were ingesting. So via evolution, these iguanas now have an extra organ in their nose that holds salt. They then can kind of snort out the salt when on land.
-Ecuador has 25% of pristine land as “protected”. However, 90% of the coast, 50% of the sierra, and 20% of the Amazon are gone. Our professor said that the US only has 1.2% of its pristine land protected (by the government or privately). He asked if the United States was the ones we should be more worried about. My response to that is if the US had the majority of the world’s biodiversity, sequestered as much carbon, and produced as much Oxygen as Ecuador, then yes. I still think the US could do better, but we still need to stop deforestation of the rainforest since it is much more valuable.
-Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world, and it is in Ecuador. It is covered by a glacier that is estimated to be gone by 2050 because of global warming.
-Ecuador is a 3rd world country, but is one of the “megadiverse” countries because of their many distinct natural environments and diverse people and cultures. It has a lot more to offer than a country like Costa Rica—who capitalizes on ecotourism and promoting their country (and does a good job of it). Ecuador struggles with this as they don’t let the world know what they have to offer. In my opinion, tourism may impact the environment in negative ways, but it would be far better than letting oil companies come in or clearing land for farming and timber (which is being done to bring income into the country).

I also learned some really interesting things going on now with Ecuador and the oil industry—something I will talk about more after our visit to Tiputini. We will pass through one of the oil stations on our way there.

Heard it was cold back in the States—it gets cold here at night too, and I only brought one long sleeve shirt. I definitely packed too much for the islands!! Oh well…my time in the sun will come!!

Adios,
Jenny

Estoy en Quito!

2009-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it is my third day in Ecuador after arriving late on Saturday night. I live in Cumbaya, close to Quito. Cumbaya is where my school USFQ is located—in fact it is only about a 5 minute walk for me to go to school everyday! My host family has been great so far! I just live with Gabi (who is 28), and her mother. Her mom is in Miami right now, but is coming later. They speak English but are helping me with my Spanish. Yesterday we took a bus tour of Quito. Quito is a very large city—I really had no clue where we were most of the time! Our first stop was an old volcanic crater that people actually live in now. Quito is surrounded by active volcanoes and HUGE mountains (part of the Andes). They said that the oxygen here due to altitude is about ½ of what it is in Denver, Colorado. I haven’t really noticed much of a difference, but I do have a run planned with some of the girls in my program tomorrow, so we will see how much I struggle exercising…. We also traveled to the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world). They did a whole bunch of demonstrations to prove that we were at the equator, mainly dealing with centrifugal force and gravity. You can balance an egg on the head of a nail—although all of my attempts failed, some people could do it. We also observed that water goes straight down the drain at the equator, rather than swirling counter-clockwise like in the Northern Hemisphere. After visiting the Mitad del Mundo we stopped at a little restaurant of some sort that specialized in guinea pigs. Guinea pigs (or el cuy as Ecuadorians call it). They are a delicacy here, and each one was $15—so, bunch of us split one. Never thought I would eat a guinea pig, but they were pretty good. Also speaking of guinea pigs, at the Mitad del Mundo, they had little exhibits about the indigenous people of Ecuador. Our guide said that one group of people usually had as many as 60 guinea pigs in their house!! If the guinea pigs made noise when you were around, you had “bad” energy, but if they were quiet, you had “good” energy. They had some guinea pigs there, and when I stood by their pen, they didn’t make any noise. I guess I have good energy!!

We then traveled down to old Quito, and visited some historic churches and went to the center court where the President of Ecuador lives and the government works out of. I also learned today that Ecuador has had eight presidents in the last ten years! President Correa, the current president, has a higher approval rating than Obama does in the US right now though, so hopefully there will not be a change of power for awhile now. I was exhausted last night and fell asleep on the bus home. Gabi, mi hermana, took me to the supermaxi last night, and she went grocery shopping. I love the fact that there are so many fruits here! The papayas are as big as watermelon, and there is also lots of mangos, kiwi, bananas, granadillas (mi favorita!), avacados, and tamarillos (tree tomatos). The food was cheaper than the US, but they also have a lot of the same things. I spotted some oreos..so I know where to go when I miss my American cookies!!

Today we had orientation at school. Universidad San Francisco de Quito is beautiful!! We will only be taking classes here for a couple of weeks, but it wouldn’t be a bad place to go to school. I talked to a girl from Minnesota that studied abroad last semester in Ecuador and decided to stay, so she has been here for 10 months! I don’t think I could stay that long—too big of a city for me! We also got a safety and security talk that kind of scared me..I will look forward to going to the Galapagos when we don’t have to always be on top alert!
Here are my new facts for the day:
-it is cheaper to fly to Miami (4 hr. flight) than the Galapagos (<1 hr. flight) from Quito
-Rosalia Arteaga was the first female president in Ecuador in 1997, but congress didn’t think the nation was ready to have a female president, so they got a new one after 2 days.

Buenos noches,
Jenny

THREE DAYS!!

2009-08-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe I will be taking off for Ecuador on Saturday--it seems like I have been preparing for months!! I am fortunate enough to have my best friend going with me. Lacey goes to ISU but luckily Wartburg and Iowa State both work through Partnership for Service Learning, the program we are going through. We will take off from Minneapolis and connect in Houston and Panama City before arriving in Quito, Ecuador. Until then, we are attempting to figure out how to pack lightly for 4 months!

In Quito, we will be studying at the Universidad San Franciso De Quito and start the first part of our program. We only take one class at a time, and all of our classes are taught in English (good for me since my Spanish isn't the greatest!). The classes I am taking are: Wildlife Conservation Management; Health and the Environment; Political Ecology; Tourism, Community, and the Environment; and Organization, Development, Volunteerism, and the Environment. I am also completing an arranged study through Wartburg for my religion credit dealing with readings in Science and Religion. I chose this program mainly because of the environmental focus that also included a service component. We complete 10 or so hours a week of service in the Galapagos. Since I am traveling to an area that revolves around maintaining its ecological integrity, I wanted to help preserve the pristine environment that I will be living in for 3 months!

Ecuador has the biggest biodiversity per area in the world and is made up of four diverse regions: the Amazon rainforest, the coast, the Andean highlands and the Galapagos archipelago. We will be traveling to the rainforest and highlands while in our first month on the mainland, and we will spend the remaining three months in the Galapagos.

In the Galapagos we will be attending classes at the Galapagos Academic Institute for the Arts and Sciences (GAIAS) on the island of San Cristobal in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galapagos Archipelago. The entire island has a population of only 6,000. The Galapagos remains a popular place to travel--with roughly 100,000 people traveling there per year. With tourism and the fishing industry posing ecological threats, increased efforts have been made to protect the Galapagos. The islands are a World Heritage Site with over 97% of land declared a National Park. My school, GAIAS, is working to help promote conservation on the island. Their mission:

· Education and research at an international level.
· Promoting sustainable development of the islands by enhancing the educational level of the local population.
· Supporting and providing sustainable economic alternatives to fishermen and other local stakeholders.
· Participating in the conservation efforts of the Galapagos.

I should have semi-reliable internet access in Ecuador, so feel free to contact me and follow my blog! Here is my address for the Galapagos (September 20th through December 20th). We are in Quito the first month, but will be doing some extensive traveling, so my school in the Galapagos would be the best place to send mail if you would like! E-mail is fine too!

Jenny Kordick
GAIAS
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Via Playa Mann
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
San Cristobal, Galapagos
ECUADOR