A Pirate's Life For Me

I've returned and am readjusting to a life where my closest companions are not sea lions, (though they are great listeners). Being home is rather strange in it's normalcy and if I didn't have a 1000 pictures, and the ability to ask for the butter in Spanish, I might easily be convinced that it was all a dream.

The Galapagos cruise went off without of hitch, and my heart (and wallet) now belong to the sea. During 8 days of living on a relatively small boat I managed to only get mild sea sickness once with the help of me lady Mareol, the sea sickness medication of choice here in the Galapagos. The islands are a pretty magical place that have a staggering amount of endemic wild life and stunning and unique natural landscapes. When we got off the plane we were ushered through the airport customs and were treated to more airport and island fees than seemed reasonable. Once we had been financially bled to our hosts liking we found our tour guide Rodrigo and hopped on a bus that would take us to our boat. Waiting for the boat, we received our first introduction to what would be many, many interactions with the mighty sea lion. Though the Galapagos are best known for the turtles that lent it their name, I assure you it is the sea lion that reins supreme in this island kingdom. They are adorable and extremely lazy and absolutely everywhere. If you see one, rest assured it will be lying down in the sun swatting flies away with their lethargic flippers. They always seem as if they are hungover, and can't be bothered with the day to day formalities of life.

It was at this time where we started popping Mary's (Mareol) so that she might begin fighting the seas on our behalf. The boat was pretty nice, with a respectable dining room and sleeping quarters for 16. Andy and I were shown to our room, actually more of a nook, and I prematurely called the bottom bunk without really weighing my options, and ended up with the bed with no windows. We met the crew and quickly departed soon after.

Our days were very laid back with an easy schedule and a plenty of time for some serious nappage. It was not for the extreme adventurer, but was the perfect speed for Andy and me, and to be honest, the perfect pace for seeing the Galapagos. We started the days around 7AM with a hardy breakfast. At 8AM we would depart in little motor boats, called Ponga's, and dock on one of the many islands. Then we'd slowly hike for an hour and a half at about the same pace as a land turtle carrying a rickshaw with two other turtles in the back, and probably covering the same distance. Sometimes the pace was frustrating, but the Islands were so beautiful, and often very small, and especially in the beginning it didn't really matter. After our "hike" we'd go snorkeling for an hour, presumably with some combination of sea lions, turtles, fish, penguins, white tipped sharks, and sting rays. We'd return to the boat around 11, where we'd relax on the deck, until noon when a delicious lunch was served. After lunch, we'd nap for around 2 hours until 2:30, when we'd once again depart and repeat the morning activities - hike and snorkeling - in another location. We'd return the boat around 5:30/6:00, shower, and then relax until dinner at 7. Because of the pills, the hardest part of the trip by far was trying to stay awake until 9PM, the earliest time I would allow myself to turn in for the night. We'd then sleep for a healthy 10 hours and repeat our lazy schedule the next day.

Our trips were lead by Rodrigo, an experienced tour guide with a hilarious command of the English language. I want to say that his English was quite good, but it was a little more complicated than that. He really had a fairly large vocabulary and he effortlessly tossed around words like fauna, nocturnal and vegetation. Yet much of the time it seemed as if he was throwing them out at random without any regard for the proper placement of verbs, nouns and adjectives. Though this lead to some pretty amusing tours, the actual learning part of the trip took a serious backseat, replaced mainly by Andy and I entertaining ourselves with pretty dead on imitations of Rodrigo. He was a great guy though, very friendly with a big smile, and what he lacked in clarity, he almost made up for with heart. We did manage to catch some fragments of knowledge that were filtered through his incoherent translations, especially those parts having to do with pirates having used the islands to stash their booty.

The crew was also very friendly and accommodating including the captain who's primary responsibility was watching Spanish dubbed 80's flicks in the boat dining room, and staring inappropriately at the female passengers. He did a great job with both.

The islands all varied in shape, landscape, size and wild life and all extremely beautiful. Many were formed of volcanic rock from eruptions as recently as 10 years ago. We were also able to hike around some active volcanoes and walk on an actual red sand beach. Besides the gorgeous landscape, the main draw of the trip was the wildlife. It was truly spectacular. In addition to an army of sea lions, we were graced by both land and marine iguanas, land and marine turtles, lava lizards, and a million different exotic bird species including finches, mocking birds, brown pelicans, several varieties of the crowd favorite boobies, frigates, flightless cormorants and possibly my favorite the adorable Galapagos penguin. The animals are not afraid of humans which makes for a great interactions, though they do seem to be at the very least slightly annoyed by them. They stare at you a lot, often in a disapproving and almost condescending way, which makes you wonder who, in fact, is studying who. Hmmm. None the less, los animales were my favorite part of the trip, and probably the coolest thing was swimming with the sea lions. They are very playful and often charge right at your face mask when you are in the water, turning away only at the last minute, as you freak out. Very cute. And speaking of very cute, I think Andy and I have probably over 40 hours of raw unedited footage of baby sea lions doing nothing but being cute. You'd think that it would get boring, but I assure you, it doesn't. Simply ridiculous.

Many of the other highlights of the trip were at night after dinner as the boat departed for our morning destination. We'd often hang out on the deck absorbing the sunset, and then watching the moon reflect off the water as we sped into the distance with no land for miles. I have had very limited experience with ocean life, because of my nerdy predisposition to sea sickness, but with the medication giving me balance, I was able to appreciate the sea in a new way. I really fell in love with the ocean, and I felt so incredibly free as we traveled from one destination to another. On the second to last night we all gathered on the deck as we motored our way to our final site and I brought my guitar up and sang to everyone for a few hours as they lay down and watched the full moon and the stars. It was a magical experience.

Another highlight of the trip happened on the second day when Andy celebrated his birthday. Once I informed Rodrigo he made sure there was a cake ready for dinner and lead the boat in roaring happy birthday chant. He then preceded to shove Andy's face in the cake as is tradition in that part of the world.

All in all, a one of a kind experience. It was the perfect way to end our trip, and a great introduction to new career possibilities in piracy.

Here's most of my Galapagos pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/etanofrane/Galapagos#

Turtles and Sea Lions and Sharks, Oh My

Hey friends. Just one final post before I return to America on the 19th. We are off to the galapagos tomorrow for an 8 day boat tour. I am terrified about how my stomach will respond, but rest assured I am carrying with me what is probably an illegal amount of sea sickness medication, and I will be so doped up that I won't remember a thing. Once I'm back in the states I'll add some more posts about the rest of the trips. I ask that you pray to Poseiden who hath dominion over all the seas, and ask him for calm waters. That's all for now. I'm very excited to see everyone once I got back. Chao!

Back to Quito, Real Football, and Mindo

Once we returned from a miserable overnight bus to Quito, we found a hotel fast and headed to the stadium to buy tickets for the Soccer match between Ecuador and Bolivia. Thank god Ecuador won because there were some roudy ass Ecuadorians and in the case of a loss, the first recipients of their wrath would have been the foreigners. It was an awesome experience and we had phenomenal seats and I'm sure Andy and I blended in perfectly by occasional shouting "vamos Ecuador" and mumbling along with the Ecuador war chants.

The next 2 days were relatively relaxed, though slightly frustrating as we tried to work out payment for the Golapagos tour we had booked. I'm not sure if I mentioned that previously, but if not, well, we're spending the last week in the Galapagos! Yeah baby, yeah! Andy and I booked a last minute tour in Cuenca, but because it was so last minute we had to pay cash. That meant that we had to keep taking massive amounts of dough out of ATMS over a three day period, and Andy was having problems with his. It was a huge headache and relatively nerve racking having that much cash around, but in the end we marched into the bank, dropped a wadd of 20's on table and said, see you on the boat bitches.

With that out of the way we decided to take a 3 day trip to Mindo, a quaint little town about 2 hours outside of Quito. Once we got off the bus we were asked by a nice Mindo chica with great English if we wanted to share a taxi into the town. We agreed, although the taxi turned out to be a motorcycle with what looked like a large wheel barrow attached to the back. Once again not one of the safest things we've done, but I think we've been sufficiently desensetized to the dangers Ecuador provides for our daily lives. The trip turned out to be rather serendipitous however as that chica, Giselle, turned out to be a daughter of the biggest family in Mindo, related to a good 60% of the town. She showed us a good hotel, met us the next day with her sister and her sister's American boyfriend, and the 3 of them showed us all of Mindo from an insiders perspective. They took us first to these gorgeous waterfalls that featured insanely insane cliff diving and an only slightly less insane water slide with a large drop. We opted for the water slide although the water was dangerously cold and deterred us from a second go round. Andy and I then did a canapy tour, which though originated in Costa Rica, has made it's way to Mindo. It's pretty much zip lines that whip you over the jungle, hundreds of feet in the air. Freaking amazing! That night they hosted us at their apartment and gave us some Salsa lessons. The nextday we headed to a butterfly farm, a lovely way to spend the morning, before heading back to Quito. These 3 days we had in Mindo were some of the best we've had so far in Ecuador. It was amazing to be shown the city from an insider's perspective. There's so much more I'd like to write about it, but haven't got the time. Hopefully the pictures will suffice.

There are more pictures, and I had to open a second album. Here's both links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/etanofrane/Ecuador2#
http://picasaweb.google.com/etanofrane/Ecuador#

Cuenca: Highlights and Lowlights

The week in Cuenca was pretty relaxing, and we spent a good amount of time studying and capitolizing on our last week of classes. Here are some of the highs and lows.

Highlights:

In deciding to go on this trip, I was forced to shoulder quite a few risks - homesickness, financial strain, yellow fever etc. . . But no risk was more stressful and serious than the knowledge that I would probably not be adequately prepared come time for my fantasy football draft. The preaseason is crucial for scouting, and I knew that I would miss out on that opportunity to assemble my monster fantasy squad. None the less, on Tuesday Andy and I buckled down in our favorite internet cafe, did a few hours of cramming and participated in our respective fantasy football drafts (I had 2 in the same night). I think one of my teams turned out okay but the other looks like a rag tag football version of the bad news bears.

On Wednesday Andy and I visited Cuenca's best hat factory, a product for which the city is famous. Cuenca has a long history of making extremely fine straw hats and the quality and styles are very impressive. They are all made by hand and the cheapest ones take a person 2 full days to make (the more expensive ones take up to 6 months!). The museum was actually pretty interesting, but the most fun was picking out hats to buy and trying everything on in the store. Elena had mentioned that she loved the hats but that they were too expensive for her, and the best part for us was the look on her face when we came home and brought her a brand new classy white hat. She was so touched and it made Andy and my week, especially because she'd been working so hard for us.

On Thursday, we trekked over to Cajas National Park which was so far the most beautiful place we've visited so far in Ecuador (and that is saying quite a lot!). It's in a mountain range with over 500 hundred lakes and countless exotic bird, animal and plant species. Our fantastic guide was Elena's neighbor, Diego, who gave Andy and I a private and personal tour. Diego's dedication to guiding really shined, however, after our hike ended as he lead us on a wild goose chase through Cuenca to find any bar, restaurant, hut, cave, house, or underground lair that might be showing the Giants football season opener. After a truly exhausting search we couldn't find even one and at each place we went to we were looked at with a progressively more hurtful amount disdain. I was pretty devestated, though was cheered slightly to find out later that they won.

Later that night we went to Cuenca's only Casino, which was a pretty bootleg operation consisting mainly slot machines and a few scattered tables. The place was pretty dingy and smelled strangely like sadness. I thought it odd that at the door I was asked to take my hat off, probably lest I detract from the classiness of such a sophisticated establishment. The place was perfect for me though because the minimum blackjack bet was a dollar (as opposed to 5 in Atlantic City) and I only lost $20 by the time I was reminded why I don't belong in casinos. We also entered into a Texas Hold 'em tournament where we again were taken for a minor amount of money.

The main highlight of the week was Andy growing a badass fu man chu mustache. He's a real man's man.




Low Lights:

The main lowlight was the weather. It was pretty cold and rainy most of the week, although the best weather we had was at the national park which was a plus. My teacher at the school was also a bit of a downer especially after 3 weeks of a fantastic one. I didn't realize how luck I was
to have Edith (my Quito and coast teacher), but she really made my first 3 weeks of learning Spanish amazing. We clicked really well and our senses of humor meshed flawlessly. She also provided a great balance of learning and just plain talking which to me is essential when learning a new language. My new teacher was actually fine, but she made it relatively clear through her actions that she would rather be eating woodchips than teaching me Spanish. She was constantly struggling to feign interest, and using an excessive amount of her energy hiding her yawns. The real icing on the cake though, was that every time she would give me an excercise to do on my own, she would read the classified section of the newspaper and highlight new jobs that sounded interesting, and presumably more intersting than me (I am being 100% serious).

Despite this teacher, at the end of 4 weeks I feel pretty proud of my progress. I feel as though I can talk about mostly any topic as long as the person with whom I am talking is aware of my level and uses easier words. I still can't really understand things like TV shows and when people talk extremely fast, but it is totally adequate for communicating and getting around the country. I would love to chose a different country at some point and try to kick up my fluency to another level, but that, my friends is for another time and another blog (Naked in Buenos Aires?).

The only other low light occured as we tried to plan our trip back to Quito. We were getting slightly tired of taking buses (especially overnight buses) so we decided to take the quick and easy 40 minute flight. Apperently the god's of transport had other plans though, and decided to shut down the Cuenca airport the entire week that were there. So after saying goodbye to Elena and Co., it would be another 10 hour bus ride for us with nothing but Clint Eastwood´s raspy Spanish dubbed voice to keep us from going crazy. We arrived in Quito thoroughly exhausted, slightly cranky and in desperate need of a shower.

The Only Living Boy In Cuenca

I woke up in the morning completely refreshed and pretty psyched for my continental breakfast. The hotel dining room was on the 4th floor and I got a pretty nice breakfast view as my first taste of Cuenca in daylight. I also met a random Young Judaean from Chicago which was a strange coincidence. Andy and I spent the day wandering the streets of Cuenca and getting our internet fix after minimal access on the coast. Despite the weather (which is starting to be a constant disappointment throughout Ecuador), Cuenca is a really gorgeous city. It's filled with amazing colonial architecture, clean cobble stone streets, vast colorful cathedrals and really stunning plazas. Just walking through the streets made me extremely calm and happy for some reason, and in terms of vibe and beauty, it blows Quito away. One thing it does not beat Quito in however, is action. Our first Sunday night was spent wandering around desparately searching for anything that might entertain us. The streets were abandoned except for some rolling tumbleweed, and nothing was open. Andy and I tried to entertain ourselves by taking stupid videos and doing minorly ridiculous dares, but eventually around 9:30 we gave up and decided to go back to the hotel. As always, television provided a broad shoulder to lean on.



The next morning we had to get up early because, despite our reputation as detailed planners, we hadn't told the school that we were coming and we wanted to make sure that we were able to get private classes. Somehow, despite us not informing anyone of our arrival, our names were on the list proving once again that anything can be accomplished by the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction.

We also decided, after some serious debating, to stay with a family again instead of living it up in the Hotel Milan. This turned out to be another bullseye gut decision, as Elena, our new mother was really the best host we ever could have asked for. First things first, both and Andy and I got our own rooms which was a treat on it's own after sharing for 2 weeks. My room had a balcony and an incredible view of the entire city, which by all acounts is simply stunning. The food was the best we had eaten in Ecuador and each meal included soup, a main course and dessert, as well as an assortment of fresh juices. She also made us eggs every morning which really one upped Mama Ceclia´s daily selection of bread with either jam or butter. It´s techinaclly only her and her husband living in the house but there's a constantly rotating cast of children and grandchildren eating, talking, and hanging around. Every day, she would take my dirty clothes (without asking) and wash them, and she insisted upon ironing my shirts and pants. I had to argue with her for 15 minutes that my underwear, though slightly rinkled, did not need ironing and that she probably had better things to do with her time. At dinners she'd tell us, in Spanish of course, her best stories of all the crazy characters that have stayed at her house over the years. Her whole family (including a baby beagle) was great as well and I honestly don't think we could have had a better host. It was the perfect home base for our week in Cuenca.

Whales, Dolphins, and the Nicest Boobies I've Ever Seen

On our final day of the coast we packed our bags and set out on a full day boat excursion for whale watching and island hiking. Now, aquatic transport and I have had a pretty rocky history together, and past interactions have always ended with tears and/or vomiting. So the decision to put me on this boat was a little like giving a baby hand grenade - maybe there's a 50% chance he'll find the pin, but sometimes you have to take risks for the sake of entertainment. And so we embarked into the mighty pacific, with barf bag at the ready. It certainly could have been worse, but as I held on for dear life to the side of the boat with the crew (and Andy) laughing I progressively got more and more nauseaus. In between dry heaves though I was able to catch some pretty spectacular glimpes of playful whales showing off their back flips for us. After about 30 minutes of whale watching we landed (thank god) on La Isla Plata (the Silver Island) for a 3 hour hike where were able to interact with various exotic bird species, most prominantly the blue footed boobie and the red chested frigat. The blue footed boobies are truly beautiful and accurately named creatures, and their feet are really a bizarre and wonderous shade of blue. They are hilariously curious and always seemed to have this blank confused look on their face. They have an adorable waddle and though they fly quite gracefully their landings are sloppy and awkward. Once the hike ended and we were fresh out of booby jokes, we boarded the boat for some snorkeling. On the ride back we were accompanied by a pack of dolphins which was really a treat to see as I had never seen one outside of seaworld. The ride back seemed oddly long and relatively freezing, and I was more than thrilled when we returned.

That weekend was a comedy of errors, as we decided to drive 4 hours north to another beach in the hopes of doing some hand gliding (yes hand gliding). It was really our sole purpose for travelling but our half- cocked, unresearched plan was abandoned after a serendipitous meeting with a well spoken local who warned us of the stupidity of hand gliding in this part of Ecuador. Apparently, authorities don't feel hand gliding is a serious enough endeavor as to require a license for providers. You've gotta respect that laid back attitude. It was disappointing for us, but even more so because we had just driven 4 hours out of our way, adding a total of 8 hours to our trip down to Cuenca, where we were headed to finish our final week of Spanish classes. To put some perspective on our travel route, it's as if we were going to Washington DC from New York, but made a quick stop in Boston. Not the smartest route, but certainly an extended opportunity for some more ABBA in Spanish. After 2 long bus rides, we arrived in Cuenca late at night, found a hotel, and enjoyed our first taste of American television in a month. It was also such a relief to sleep late for the first time in a while. We would need our sleep, because in the morning, we would be making Cuenca our bitch.

More pictures, completely scattered and unorganized, for those interested:
http://picasaweb.google.com/etanofrane/Ecuador#

Coastin´

So after a lengthy 10 hour bus ride we arrived in Puerto Lopez a dust bowl of a beach town which could have easily been erected 2 hours before our arrival for the sake of appearances and just as easily dismantled upon our depature. From there we packed 10 of us teachers and students and all our bags into the back of a rickety truck and rode to our Coastal abode for the week, the Alandaluz Eco-Resort. The site is apparently a leader in eco friendly tourism and promotes sustainable practices, although it wasn´t clear to what extent this was true. Our rooms were rustic bamboo cabins complete with with mosquito nets and gaping holes between the roof and walls, and, despite being slightly cramped quite comfortable. Apparently hot water is not part of the eco friendly life style, because it was a luxury that we would do without for the duration of our coastal visit. Those who place a high value on showering without the fear of other´s watching may have been slightly taken aback by the strategicly placed concrete opening of our half outdoor/half indoor shower, but our freezing showers were so short and infrequent that we were not phased.

The days were pretty relaxed, learning Spanish five hours a day and spending the rest on the beach playing guitar, reading, tossing around the football, running, and doing homework. Our first night we had a bonfire and I entertained our group and about 30 drunken Ecuadorian college students on my travel lute. I couldn´t tell if they were cheering for more or for me to shut my Gringo mouth, but I think we all had a good time in the end.

On Wednesday night, the group went to a nearby surfing village called Montinita, which looked a lot like a movie set. It was a very cool town, with a really mellow hippy vibe, and after using the internet for the first time in a week we went to some outdoor music club. The place was pretty dead on Wednesday but we made our own fun. Andy and I went back the next night with some friends from the school and gorged ourselves on some delicious pizza, beer, and brownie sundays. Finding a cab home was a bit of an adventure, as we encountered a row of cabs in the main square with all driver´s completely asleep. After nervously waking one up, he agreed to take us home, and we departed on a road that looked like it hadn´t been serviced since the Ibarra adminstration (Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra - President 1968-1971) . Being chased part of the way by angry dogs did not help either.

More on the coast to come . . .