At times I am amazed by the contradictions of Ecuador. My writing is inspired by the death yesterday of the Ecuadorian minister of defense in a helicoptor accident that is still extremely mysterious and confusing, with hopefully more details available after the investigations.
However, the point of this story is that the Ecuadorian minister of defense was a woman who was never in the army. This in the country where the first acceptable questions to ask someone you just met are: are you married? and, do you have kids? For everyone in Ecuador, but especially women, it is an extremely big deal if you are not married by the age of 25, let alone 30. In general, the stereotype of the genders are the norm here, the men are the breadwinners who do very little around the house, with the women cooking almost all of the meals and cleaning all of the clothes by hand.
My spanish teacher, who considers herself progressive, asked Erin and I to write recipes as a practice to using commands in spanish. Then, completely serious, she told me that if I wanted I could write the recipe to a sandwich. This was not even to cook the recipe, you don't need to know how to cook to look up a recipe in a cookbook, but this is simply what is expected of men in Ecuador. Needless to say, she was stunned when I came in the next day with a real recipe, a little more than putting two slices of bread together with something in the middle.
However, in this same country it is possible to install a woman defense minister. In fact, it was just announced that the replacement minister will also be a woman. Compare that to the United States, which in many ways is far more progressive, yet where it would still be extremely difficult to imagine a women Secretary of Defense in a position dominated by aging white men. Does that mean that Ecuador is more progressive than the United States, no absolutely not. Instead, I see it as a symbol of the contradiction of Ecuador and as a statement of the fact that the United States still has a fair way to go.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Living the life
Hey, so first apologies for no blogs in awhile. I have really just been living a normal life since returning from my travels and haven't felt inspired with anything to write. In many ways I feel that I am finally settling into living in Quito. Returning from my travels was odd in that for the first time I felt like I was returning home here. Although I still have some major issues with Quito, I have grown quite fond of it and am realizing that I will miss it when I leave.
In many ways it is truly a fascinating city. Quito now has 2 million people, up from around 300,000 people around 10 years ago. The city is literally exploding with growth and modernization, with the people just hanging on for dear life and trying to keep up pace. There are new buildings everywhere, each one looking much like the other, and none of them particularly attractive as the main requirement seems to be that they look expensive and are built fast. Also, the vast majority are built with no machines, instead there is a small army of men who built one floor and then stand on it to build the next. In another example, they are building a new airport because the present airport is too small and in the center of the city in a nice residential area. It originally wasn't built in a populated area, but the city has engulfed it and continued another 10 kilometers to the north. Truly incredible change on a scale that is just not seen in the United States.
The frightening aspect to all of this is that no one seems to be able to guide the change at all. All steps to deal with the issues are completely reactive in nature, such as the building of the new airport. However, unless someone does something the city will be disgustingly polluted and completely clogged with traffic in 5 years. It is already well on the way, and there seems to be no end in sight. Cars, which were not a major part of Quito 5-10 years ago are now everywhere, and the efforts at public transportation have not really made a significant impact. Also, there really are no emmission standards, with buses and trucks blowing out clouds of black smoke when they drive past you (really its disgusting, nothing to make you feel like the run was pointless when you inhale a giant black cloud of diesel).
Being in the United States you think about the effects of modernization (for instance there was no internet in 1993), but you don't really feel them. Here you can feel the flood of modernization and globalization and it is crazy. Within 100 kilometers you can go from a first world city to people who are completely capable of living without any machines in the jungle. Huge amounts of land in Quito is simply unowned, not like a national park, but like free for anyone to develope and own if they should so choose. Some of the modernization is definitely good, improving standards of living for millions of Ecuadorians. However, is all of it, or are there important things being lost? Here no one seems to be asking the question, instead they are simply swept along in the tide trying to hang on.
In many ways it is truly a fascinating city. Quito now has 2 million people, up from around 300,000 people around 10 years ago. The city is literally exploding with growth and modernization, with the people just hanging on for dear life and trying to keep up pace. There are new buildings everywhere, each one looking much like the other, and none of them particularly attractive as the main requirement seems to be that they look expensive and are built fast. Also, the vast majority are built with no machines, instead there is a small army of men who built one floor and then stand on it to build the next. In another example, they are building a new airport because the present airport is too small and in the center of the city in a nice residential area. It originally wasn't built in a populated area, but the city has engulfed it and continued another 10 kilometers to the north. Truly incredible change on a scale that is just not seen in the United States.
The frightening aspect to all of this is that no one seems to be able to guide the change at all. All steps to deal with the issues are completely reactive in nature, such as the building of the new airport. However, unless someone does something the city will be disgustingly polluted and completely clogged with traffic in 5 years. It is already well on the way, and there seems to be no end in sight. Cars, which were not a major part of Quito 5-10 years ago are now everywhere, and the efforts at public transportation have not really made a significant impact. Also, there really are no emmission standards, with buses and trucks blowing out clouds of black smoke when they drive past you (really its disgusting, nothing to make you feel like the run was pointless when you inhale a giant black cloud of diesel).
Being in the United States you think about the effects of modernization (for instance there was no internet in 1993), but you don't really feel them. Here you can feel the flood of modernization and globalization and it is crazy. Within 100 kilometers you can go from a first world city to people who are completely capable of living without any machines in the jungle. Huge amounts of land in Quito is simply unowned, not like a national park, but like free for anyone to develope and own if they should so choose. Some of the modernization is definitely good, improving standards of living for millions of Ecuadorians. However, is all of it, or are there important things being lost? Here no one seems to be asking the question, instead they are simply swept along in the tide trying to hang on.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Baños
From Casa Del Suiza, Erin and I returned to Tena, to then take another bus to Banos. Again, between Tena and Puyo (another large city in the rainforest) the road was completely unpaved, and a little wider than my drive way. However, the drive from Puyo to Banos was gorgeous, overlooking luscious green hills dropping down into a river as we steadily climbed back into the Andes. Banos lived up to its reputation as a great place to escape from Quito (it is only about 3.5 hours away). The scenery was stunning, green hills, a huge waterfall right outside our hotel, and tons of outdoor opportunities. Also, the town had more hotels, restaurants, and tour agencies per block than I would have thought was possibly sustainable. You pretty much couldn’t walk a block without seeing one of each, and often more.
We chose a slightly pricier hotel (still dirt cheap by US standards) because it listed squash, tennis, and indoor soccer, and we thought it would be great to be active, especially not being that active and eating a ton in the jungle. However, being Ecuador, it turned out that the indoor soccer and the tennis court were one and the same, meaning that the tennis court was almost completely destroyed. The squash court looked great, but it turned out that two out of their three rackets and the ball were broken. Oh well.
Still, we get to do some other great activities. On the second day Erin and I took a 4 hour horse ride (my first time really riding a horse) up and down part of the volcano overlooking Banos. It was really fun, especially the parts when I was less afraid I was going to die (as the horse descended down a fairly treacherous trail), but I have almost never been that sore in my life. I think I was mostly out of commission for 4 days, and that was including after a 1 hour massage. Nonetheless, we also got to do some great hiking and exploring, even though the weather wasn’t great (interestingly it seemed to rain more in Banos than the rainforest, who would have thought). We also discovered some incredible cafes that I would love to bring back to the states, where we spent most of our time when we weren’t outside.
Finally, on the 29th we returned back to Quito. The bus ride back was perhaps the scariest I have had yet, with the bus driver flying around cars and cliff edges at a speed that I wouldn’t be comfortable with in my car, let alone in a bus. Luckily we survived, and it even got a little better after Erin told the bus driver she was afraid she was going to die. Can’t say that I am thrilled to be back in the dirty city, on my second day back I was hit in the face with a black cloud of pollution from a truck that probably lasted 15 seconds. Hopefully we will be traveling again soon!
We chose a slightly pricier hotel (still dirt cheap by US standards) because it listed squash, tennis, and indoor soccer, and we thought it would be great to be active, especially not being that active and eating a ton in the jungle. However, being Ecuador, it turned out that the indoor soccer and the tennis court were one and the same, meaning that the tennis court was almost completely destroyed. The squash court looked great, but it turned out that two out of their three rackets and the ball were broken. Oh well.
Still, we get to do some other great activities. On the second day Erin and I took a 4 hour horse ride (my first time really riding a horse) up and down part of the volcano overlooking Banos. It was really fun, especially the parts when I was less afraid I was going to die (as the horse descended down a fairly treacherous trail), but I have almost never been that sore in my life. I think I was mostly out of commission for 4 days, and that was including after a 1 hour massage. Nonetheless, we also got to do some great hiking and exploring, even though the weather wasn’t great (interestingly it seemed to rain more in Banos than the rainforest, who would have thought). We also discovered some incredible cafes that I would love to bring back to the states, where we spent most of our time when we weren’t outside.
Finally, on the 29th we returned back to Quito. The bus ride back was perhaps the scariest I have had yet, with the bus driver flying around cars and cliff edges at a speed that I wouldn’t be comfortable with in my car, let alone in a bus. Luckily we survived, and it even got a little better after Erin told the bus driver she was afraid she was going to die. Can’t say that I am thrilled to be back in the dirty city, on my second day back I was hit in the face with a black cloud of pollution from a truck that probably lasted 15 seconds. Hopefully we will be traveling again soon!
The Jungle Excusion
One benefit of English teaching is that I got a 10 day break over Christmas and New Years. Erin and I had both been feeling a little confined by Quito ready, and decided that this presented the perfect opportunity to escape the dirty city and see more of Ecuador. Also, as it turns out, airfare around South America is really expensive, meaning that we could do a lot more if we stuck to buses. Eventually, we decided on a trip that would first go into el oriente (the rainforest), and then head back to Quito by way of Banos, a beautiful town set in the lower hills of the Andes. Being quite a bit, I will divide our trip into two blogs, the first about the jungle, and the second about Banos.
On December 21rst we started off, taking the bus from Quito to the jungle city Tena. Being two major cities in Ecuador you would imagine the road would be paved and fairly fast, but as it turned out we descended some 8000 feet on a dirt road only wide enough for two cars if one pulled over. Some 200 kilometers and 5 hours later we arrived in Tena. Tena was fine, prettier and less crowded than Quito, but still not quite what we were looking for. Luckily we were only staying there one night before continuing our journey to La Casa Del Suiza, where we would stay for 5 days, including Christmas.
Casa Del Suiza truly was unbelievable, everything that we thought that it could be. On a random note, most of the really nice hotels in Ecuador are Swiss, which I don’t really understand but if anyone has an answer I’d love to know. Anyways, we took a one hour bus from Quito to La Punta, which literally was just a point with a restaurant along a river. From there we took a motorized canoe to the resort, which was set a bit up a hill overlooking the river. It truly defined secluded in a way that I may never have experienced. There was a small town behind the resort, but from the balcony off Erin and my bedroom (complete with hammock), we could stare out across the river and jungle with no one in sight. Every day we went out with a local guide and explored the jungle or did other activities to get to know the area. It was truly incredible the different life skills that people there had, they truly used everything that they taught us, be it how to build a house, construct a roof from this leafy plant that was impenetrable to water, to get a medicine from a tree called dragon’s blood, or to shoot a blowgun. Our guide was a tiny man by the name of Jose (shorter than Erin), who nonetheless picked up huge logs and flung them around like it was nothing, utterly incredible to watch.
All in all it was perfect, utterly relaxing and a wonderful way to get back in touch with nature. We tubed down a river, built a raft and then rafted down the river, read, hung out, it was awesome. When we were there the resort was fairly empty, only around 15 guests. We met some fun people, spending Christmas with a British couple on their honeymoon, a Swiss couple on their honeymoon, and a Brit who had taught English for 8 years in Moscow. It definitely did not feel at all like Christmas, with 75 degree sunny weather and more humidity than I thought was possible. Still, I think that was better than hanging out in Quito and missing being at home with friends and family.
Erin and my one concern about the whole thing was the difference in standards between the resort and the town. The resort was beautiful and immaculate, with electricity, hot water, and a swimming pool. The town was definitely much more impoverished, with some houses not having even electricity or running water. Still, after a bunch of thought we really think that the resort is doing good things for the town. The resort employs all people from the town, I think almost half of the town worked there. Also, it is helping in other ways, even installing a water tank that will provide drinkable water to the town and to the resort, which is more than we have in Quito!
On a final note, the last night that we were there it rained harder than I have ever experienced in my life. For those of you who know me well, I am an unbelievably deep sleeper, someone who could probably sleep through someone jumping on me. The rain woke me up at 2:30 AM, and sounded like a giant was pounding on our roof. In four or five hours of rain, the large river outside the lodge completely overflowed, erasing a small island in the middle of the river. It was incredible to witness, quickly reminding Erin and I why this was called the rainforest (up until then it had not rained very much).
On December 21rst we started off, taking the bus from Quito to the jungle city Tena. Being two major cities in Ecuador you would imagine the road would be paved and fairly fast, but as it turned out we descended some 8000 feet on a dirt road only wide enough for two cars if one pulled over. Some 200 kilometers and 5 hours later we arrived in Tena. Tena was fine, prettier and less crowded than Quito, but still not quite what we were looking for. Luckily we were only staying there one night before continuing our journey to La Casa Del Suiza, where we would stay for 5 days, including Christmas.
Casa Del Suiza truly was unbelievable, everything that we thought that it could be. On a random note, most of the really nice hotels in Ecuador are Swiss, which I don’t really understand but if anyone has an answer I’d love to know. Anyways, we took a one hour bus from Quito to La Punta, which literally was just a point with a restaurant along a river. From there we took a motorized canoe to the resort, which was set a bit up a hill overlooking the river. It truly defined secluded in a way that I may never have experienced. There was a small town behind the resort, but from the balcony off Erin and my bedroom (complete with hammock), we could stare out across the river and jungle with no one in sight. Every day we went out with a local guide and explored the jungle or did other activities to get to know the area. It was truly incredible the different life skills that people there had, they truly used everything that they taught us, be it how to build a house, construct a roof from this leafy plant that was impenetrable to water, to get a medicine from a tree called dragon’s blood, or to shoot a blowgun. Our guide was a tiny man by the name of Jose (shorter than Erin), who nonetheless picked up huge logs and flung them around like it was nothing, utterly incredible to watch.
All in all it was perfect, utterly relaxing and a wonderful way to get back in touch with nature. We tubed down a river, built a raft and then rafted down the river, read, hung out, it was awesome. When we were there the resort was fairly empty, only around 15 guests. We met some fun people, spending Christmas with a British couple on their honeymoon, a Swiss couple on their honeymoon, and a Brit who had taught English for 8 years in Moscow. It definitely did not feel at all like Christmas, with 75 degree sunny weather and more humidity than I thought was possible. Still, I think that was better than hanging out in Quito and missing being at home with friends and family.
Erin and my one concern about the whole thing was the difference in standards between the resort and the town. The resort was beautiful and immaculate, with electricity, hot water, and a swimming pool. The town was definitely much more impoverished, with some houses not having even electricity or running water. Still, after a bunch of thought we really think that the resort is doing good things for the town. The resort employs all people from the town, I think almost half of the town worked there. Also, it is helping in other ways, even installing a water tank that will provide drinkable water to the town and to the resort, which is more than we have in Quito!
On a final note, the last night that we were there it rained harder than I have ever experienced in my life. For those of you who know me well, I am an unbelievably deep sleeper, someone who could probably sleep through someone jumping on me. The rain woke me up at 2:30 AM, and sounded like a giant was pounding on our roof. In four or five hours of rain, the large river outside the lodge completely overflowed, erasing a small island in the middle of the river. It was incredible to witness, quickly reminding Erin and I why this was called the rainforest (up until then it had not rained very much).
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