Lesson 4 -- How to Say No

Well this seems like a very easy lesson. No is no, the same in Spanish. I guess if you want to get more in depth you can say ¨no gracias¨or ¨no quiero¨or ¨no me molestes¨. (The last one for someone who is pestering you). However, saying it is not the problem, but having to do it many times over and over is what is hard. In Quito there are tons of people that want you to buy their chifles (fried banana chips), camisetas, cortaúñas, chicle, frutas, periódicos, lottery tickets, or whatever. They are on every major street and especially in any place a car has to slow down or stop such as street lights or bumps in the road or toll booths. They are on the buses and outside major buildings. On the buses, the people give you something for ¨free¨ for a few minutes after a little speal they do before the bus, they announce the cost. If you don’t want it, you just return it. I have not taken anything just because I don’t want to get into a situation where I have to buy it. And then, there are those that simply just ask for money. There are kids, really, really young, that everyday they do flips or juggle balls or do something else in the middle of the street to ask for money from people in cars. There are others who are disabled with signs who walk or hobble or somehow traverse the street asking people in cars for money. There are people who ask for money form you whenever you are about to buy something in a public, outdoor place. They will go up to you, nudge you to get your attention, and hold out their hand with their eyes looking right into you. These people vary from all ages and it is so hard to see any of them begging for money. I sometimes give my change, I wish I could help them all, but I can’t and I don’t. It is just so different to see this. I just imagine someone like my cousin James doing flips in the streets asking for money or see Grandpa selling chifles for 40 years. It’s hard to say no because you want to help because they are people just as much as I am. I could easily be them.

Lesson 5 – How to go to school

In Quito, from what I can tell, all the people that go to high school or lower have to wear some type of uniform. Each uniform is unique for each school, varying from jogging type suits to parochial type uniforms I had to wear in school. And note, it is not just for private schools, though I am not sure how the public-private schooling system works here. Also, the military and the police also wear special uniforms in the colleges. I was a bit jealous when I found out that the police and military in training get to eat in a special cafeteria where special food is served with wine and beer (you can’t get wine and beer in my cafeteria). I wonder what other privileges they have?

On another note, I probably won’t write much for a while. It is nearing very close to crunch time for me. I have 2 very early exams and one normal one. I have an exam on Mon already in my conversation class in which I have to make a presentation over a topic for about 30 minutes. I also will have 4 drawing due the following week after I get back from my 4 day university trip to their research station in the rainforest (I am not sure if they were thinking when they made this date). Thus, I will be really busy. However, if anyone out there has any ideas of some place that I can visit after my last exam on July 14, send me an email or write a comment on this page. (Oh, I am already considering Machu Picchu in Peru and know of the Galapagos)

Ballenas, playas, pescar, y una clima muy calor

My trip with Fer panned out and on Thursday night we left for the beach from Quito by bus. I thought it was pretty interesting that I was patted down as I got on the bus but I made me feel pretty secure. The bus kinda felt like a plane ride… we were given a drink with a snack and then a guitarist played songs for us. However, I think those were about the best parts on the ride which lasted over 6 hours. This normally is not too bad by any means. The seats were pretty comfortable but still hard for the giant I am in this country. The real problem was, though, as we descended into the lowlands, the air soon became unbelievably hot and humid. Unfortunately, I did not know I needed to store a backpack below the bus so I did not have any clothes to change into. I will tell you, I do not think I have ever gotten sick on a moving vehicle of any kind … roller coasters, buses, whatever. But if there were a time in my life when I thought I was going to, it probably would have been then. Somehow with the constant whipping around curves through the valleys and mountains, the constant going up and down, the temperature inside the bus, and the movie which also was not helping, I still did not get sick. Luckily at about the 4^th hour I was able to sleep and some rain came to cool things off a little tiny bit. After leaving at about 6:30pm, we got to Same at about 2:00, a smaller town next to the big town Esmeraldas.

It was quite hot, but I missed the heat that I was not getting in Quito. I did not really sleep to well and got up about 6am. After having a nice breakfast and walking the beach and seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time, we drove into Same for some food and then into Altacamens, another bigger town, to visit it. There were lots of people here unlike Same. As we drove through the night earlier to get to Same from Esmereldas, I did not understand why we were driving through so many side streets. Then that morning, I saw why… earlier in the year a truck had collapsed the bridge and smaller one way bridge was built … but to know how to get there, even I don’t know if I could the first few times.

Oh, I forgot to say Fer and I went to stay with her friend (Vane) and mom who invited us to their condo or whatever in Same – they were our transportation.

After returning and almost buying a dress for Katie that the others wanted to buy (I don’t like shopping and don’t think I could ever buy clothes for women), we basically just enjoyed the very hot day at the beach by drinking our cocoanut “water” playing in the warm water, and walking the beach. I was thinking about seeing some whales and doing some fishing, but since we were in a nicer area, the prices were higher. I thought it was pretty ridiculous to pay 50 for only one hour of fishing. Thus, we asked a local if I could go with him in his 14 foot wooden canoe. He said absolutely and said it would only be $5 though I ended up giving him $10. That next morning. I went out on the pacific ocean with Ignacio and a kid probably about 11 years old. They were probably 20 fishermen out that day whose ocean waves were very calm (the ocean was calm every day … I guess that is why it is called the Pacific) (Oh, and on another side note, I did investigating with Vane’s mom on the safety of this --- I was a bit nervous since it was only a small boat, but the ocean was as I said very calm.). We went out … I just sat in the front while the other stood and rowed … I probably would have fallen over had I done this. We went out about half a mile and got to our net where they started taking in about 2 football field’s worth of net. The day ended up being not so good but I still learned a lot about what they caught and what things were good. On the way back we put out the net in a different area and headed back in while Ignacio called to his buddies yelling their nicknames as we went past them. After the fishing, I was lured into trying to see the whales after a lowering of the price to $10 and a guarantee of seeing the whales or not having to pay. The trip was supposed to consist of 15 min going out to sea, 30 min of watching, and 15 minutes returning. However, what really happened was 1 hour or more going out to see … I almost could not see land any more, 55 minutes of running around a general area looking for whales, 5 minutes of viewing time of whales that we found, and another hour to return. Unfortunately I was not able to really get any pictures … the captain said he took pictures for me (and I did not check) so I did not take anymore since it was pretty wet and were few opportunities to take a picture. (Oh and since I don’t have a picture of the boat either, picture something like the old Four Wins. It was a bit smaller in length, sat lower and was holding about 14 people.)

I did not get sea sick after being at sea for almost 5 hours that morning (with the fishing too), but I was really happy to be on land again and was completely exhausted. I got back and rested the rest of the day while also being buried in the sand.

Sunday, the last day, would prove to be very action-packed even though we were leaving at 3:00pm. That morning, I went with the guy that took me fishing with his brother and his brother’s son to their finka, where they grew all kinds of fruits and where his brother and dad lived. We hiked around for about 2 hours exploring the land. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was really thankful for being able to do this. After taking many, many pictures, (I think I took about 180 that weekend) including some of the family that helped me, I returned to the others watching the 2^nd half of “the game” against England. (I was supposed to get back to see the whole game, but I did not mind being late considering what I was able to do). Though Ecuador played really well, they ended up losing 1-0. It was a bit sad for me and tough for many Ecuadorians though they definitely can be proud. This game eliminated them from the World Cup – so I guess I won’t be getting any more days off.

The bus ride back was much more enjoyable and entertaining. It was air-conditioned for about and hour and we got free entertainment next to us watching about 8 in front of us become a bit drunk.

After getting home safely at 10, I collapsed in my bed after a much enjoyed weekend.

Before the weekend, David was leaving on Thursday for Michigan to go to school in GR. One of the nights during the week, he had all his friends over for a good-bye. This picture is in our house in the formal dining room and was taken after I and 2 others beat everyone in a soccer tournament in the yard outside -- this is why everyone looks so tired since they had to work so hard to play against my team.
One form of transportation at the beach -- some with motors, some not.
After walking in the sun and applying 3 times sunscreen in 1 hour, I sat down to drink the very refreshing water of a young cocoanut. (It's not the normal "milk"since it is so young) . Apparently the locals drink this like water, especially since this is not going to have any bugs or contaminants in it. I think I ended up having about 4 while there --- the only problem was that I am pretty sure it was a diruretic -- I had to go to the bathroom many times. In the background, you can see the guard who cut down the cocoanuts with a mechede from the trees right on the resort.
A view of the beach at Same
The bridge in Altacamens
A neat sunset photo.
Being buried after getting off the boats and wanting to sleep (at least that was my intention). On the right you can see "Se vende". They were trying to sell me.
Trying to catch all the crabs creatures that were on the beach. I was not very successful then but was later at night
The boat I went on to go fishing as well as Ignacio on the right and the kid on the left. This is the day after(Sunday) --- I did not dare take my camara out on the ocean to take pictures as much as I wanted to. This day for Igancio was much better catching lots of giant shrimp -type fish as well as fish, some crabs, and a squid. You can see everyone working to get the catch out of the net. When I was fishing, Ignacio and the kid just got the catch out of the net right at see so I could see everything right there fresh out of the ocean.
This is probably what I look liked on the boat on the ocean minus one person since there is only 2. Also, this is a bit different since the boat is close to shore.
Sunset
No these are not mascotas for friendship and loyalty, they are food. This was at the finka.
A friend we found on the path.
I have tons of pictures of the finka, which was nestled between to large hils.
Me, very hot in the finka
The house where the brother stayed in.

Mi segundo viaje con la universidad ---- Otavalo y Cayambé

Well, Ecuador won their second game on this past Thursday to qualify with the other 15 teams out of the total 32 teams. Even though they lost today (Tuesday), they still are going to play this Sunday to begin the single elimination of the 16 teams left. The US has not qualified yet – their last and determining game is Thursday.

Oh, and to let you all know, when Ecuador played on Thursday, I had 2 of 3 of my classes canceled that day so to enjoy the festivities and to be able to watch the game. The class I had, we ended up going to a restaurant nearby the university to work on our Spanish while eating out. And then today on Tuesday I got to miss my art class since once again the game was being played during the class time. The next game is Sunday (too bad it’s not during the week).

Also, just to give you a perspective of Ecuador’s success and why so many people are so happy over there success and celebrating so much, this is only Ecuador’s second trip to the world cup which only takes place every 4 years and they have never advanced to the round of 16.

OK, so after Thursday, I began my second trip with university to Cayambé and Otavalo, about 1.5 hours to the north of Quito, Friday morning (luckily not too early).

Our first stop was, besides the gas station, the place where we were going to stay, the oldest hacienda in Ecuador dating back to 1580 when the conquistadors came from Spain. The place is called Guachalá. We learned the entire history of the place from the owner of the place who told how his family got ownership of this place through the hundreds of years of change of Ecuador. (Of what I can remember, a very brief version is that there were lots of planned weddings so that the land owned with the Hacienda grew to astronomical amounts until the 1970’s when the government had land reforms to give back a lot of the land. Primarily at first the land was farmed with crops and animals as well as the fabric making, but then as land prices increased and land was taken away, flower greenhouses were built on the land and eucalyptus trees were planted) The estate included an old mill, a place where people, especially indigenous people, were forced to create fabrics, 2 churches, other old buildings, and the hostelria are where we stayed. You can see a description of my room below the second picture.

After a tour of the place, I went horse back riding through the country side and through eucalyptus trees planted by his family. This was very relaxing but got burnt. While riding, I tried some eucalyptus leaves which tasted like a hall’s cough drop.

After learning about the significance of why Ecuador is called Ecuador (it was the first place where the equator was able to be calculated due to factors such as visibility of the sun from the mountains and the fact that there is a mountain on the equator) and how the equator was calculated. From there, we went to Cayambé for the town fiesta. There, there was live music, fireworks, and traditional hot wine or cold medium boxes of cold wine.

The next morning, we visited the future site of the monument for the correct site of the equator and then went to Otavalo where there is a huge open air market in the streets --- probably over a thousand booths selling things from hats, table clothes, works of art, raw chicken and cow, to fresh fruit and vegetables. From there, we went to eat lunch at a restaurant next to a lake below a mountain and returned home only 45 minutes late, not 4 hours like before.

Sunday, father’s day, besides doing homework, I went with Marifer and David’s dad and their grandma Mercedes to the center of Quito, which is the old historical section of Quito, for mass. We visited a few churched and found one that had just started (there were masses in each church at different times). I definitely am going back. It is an entirely different city and only a trolley bus away for me. Hopefully I will be able to get some more pictures.

Oh, below with the pictures are more details about my trip.

For the plans for this week and weekend, I have a midterm (oh, I successfully finished my midterm art portfolio on Mon) in Spanish and think I will be going to the coast over the weekend by bus.

I will try to post my lesson for the week later.











On my horse at the hosteleria, that like me, liked to eat a lot of food on the way.
One view of the hosteleria. I have many more because this place was really a neat place to stay. It had a pool inside a greenhouse which had all kinds of tropical plants -- and the green house was connected to the backdoor of my room so that I could just walk out from my room into the greenhouse. Inside my room was a fireplace with chopped wood ready to warm me up when I returned for the night. The wood was all eculyptus so it also made the room smell like Vic´s vapor rub. They had all that eucalyptus wood because the owner of the hosteleria and his family beforehand has planted the trees to sell for some years.
One picture of the fiesta in the town center celebrating the patron saint of Cayambé, San Pedro. This contraption in the center was a bit scary. It was lit and it would should fireworks and have contraptions that would spin around with someone turning it on the bottom all while everyone else was really close. The shooting of the fireworks in the sky was not the problem for me. It was when it came to one section of the contraption when little army men with gun shot fireworks into the crowd for about 3 minutes. You had to duck every time it came around to you, but no one in the crowd seemed to mind... I guess I could only laugh.
So this is the true equator, unlike Mitad del Mundo -- but you gotta give the early French explores credit for doing a close job (only like 240 meters away) for the tools they had. This site will be the new Mitad del Mundo for tourists and is currently under construction.
Another view of the construction site. In the background are stones set in specific places. In the center between the two stones runs the equator. On Sept 21 and March 21 if you are on the equator, your shadow will be exactly on the equator. The other two stones on either side represent the angle of your shadow (23.5 degrees) on Dec 21 or on June 21 if you are on the equator at this monument. It is pretty interesting to note that the ancient indigenous community used these properties of angles at the equator to construct calendars, build monuments which lit in specific places on specific days, and were able to roughly locate the equator as well. I am excited because June 21 is coming up and some of the old churches in Quito have special light occurrences inside such as for only this day, the devil eats fire... I saw the video... the light goes from a bunch of scattered ¨flames¨to a small tiny dot ending exactly at the devils mouth. Another for the beginning of spring on March 21 has a statue of God illuminated on his face. These things even go as intricate as an order of importance in which the light illuminates the statues or pictures on these special days. These builders were pretty smart and talented.

One of many open-air meat markets in Otavalo.One of many fruit stands in OtavaloA picture of me at the very nice restaurant beside the lake next to the mountain. What is especially neat about this picture is that the plants beside me are actually annuals --I forget the name but I know Gee Gee plants them in her small flower bed in front of the house.
Another picture of the restaurant

La Inglesia San Francisco. I wish I could take pictures inside of these churches... they are spectacular in their beauty. They have artwork depicting the Stations of the Cross, saints, and other events. Entire walls and ceilings can be made with gold. Inside are many statues of Saints and Jesus. Below the wooden floors in one section in this church were catecombs. Some of the churches are being restored but it still amazes me how much has been preserved. It also amazes me that they are still all in use.
This is another Church in the center of Quito, whose name I cannot remember. But I do remember this is one of 3 churches which are on the same street and separated by only few hundred feet. Another interesting note is that all of these have masses on Sunday even though they are next to each other and each church has a mass almost every hour with some masses that are next to each other that are at the same time.

La Virgen Panecillo de Quito, is really big and sits atop a hill south of the center of Quito. It divides the South of Quito from the rest of Quito.
The biggest church in Quito ... I still need to visit it and maybe go to mass there.Besides celebrations for Corpus Christi on Sunday, there were also celebration of the coming of summer and the sun god Inti (I think this is the Quechua word for sun) Marifer and David´s dad, their grandma Mercedes, and I watched some demonstrations after going to mass and before waiting for the procession through the monastery and church for Corpus Christi.

Un otro feriado mientras en Quito



This school week was bit cooler and a lot more cloudier and rainier. It was usually cloudy in the morning and rained in the afternoon and at night. By Friday for the unofficial national holiday of Ecuador, there was still some rain in the afternoon and evening, but it warmed up a little more getting to the mid 60's. However, the weather definitely did not put a damper on the festivities. What was this day, you ask? Well it was the first day of the World Cup Soccer Tournament in Germany and on this first day, Ecuador played Poland. I say this was a holiday because I think many people took the day off or had the day off of school or work in order to watch the 2pm game. (I think the next game is Thursday -- maybe I will get that day off from school!) Even though I dont really watch any soccer matches, especially none of Ecuador or Poland, I knew who I was going to root for and I knew I was probably going to be the only one to do so in the whole country of Ecuador. I got out my Polska shirt, borrowed a red shirt for my head, borrowed red and white pants, and painted my face with the letters POLSKA. I did this though in a much obscure fashion for fear of my life (I went with David to another house across town --- luckily their family let me in the door). In all actuality, really the only thing that would and definitely did happen to me were lots of jokes. I think I got laughed at the most when Poland made a goal and I ran around yelling (I only did this because the others did the same for Ecuador when they scored their first goal and did this because Ecuador was already winning) but the player got called offside incorrectly and the goal was taken away. Ecuador won, which I am happy for because now I can root for them (unless they play the US) but I still say Poland could have won easily because of that error and two other shots which hit the crossbar and sidebar respectively.

After the game, you would have thought Ecuador won the world championship in everything in the world. People were driving with full flags of Ecuador and beeping their horns to a certain tune all day long (literally). People were dancing and marching in the streets in the rain. Almost everyone had their Ecuadorian soccer apparel (which I am going to need to get). The TV showed hospitals with nurses and doctors celebrating and other places where people needed to go to work.

When we went downtown for a celebration gathering with friends, the streets were just full of people singing and drinking.

The next day after helping move things for a garage sale we are going to have (Mercedes seems a lot like some other family I know that saves a lot of things), David, Marifer, their friends, and I all went to a house in the country side about 20 minutes from Quito. It was kinda like going to the Sobies up North or to the Shack for relaxation. In the yard was a greenhouse in which snails were being raised for escargot and for a facial cream (the slime is used somehow to make the cream). They had just started it up 6 months ago, but it looked pretty good to me -- they already had 500,000 or more snails.

Throughout that night there much grilling on the huge outdoor grill, teaching me Ecuadorian games and me teaching the others some games that I knew, dancing, and general enjoyment. Unfortunately with some of the Ecuadorian games, you had to speak Spanish pretty well ... I think I came in last about every time. We all left the next day in the afternoon with very little sleep.

P.S. As I am writing this on Mon., the US has just lost against the Czech Republic 3-0 (The Czech Republic has a very good team) The US has never won in Europe in the tournament and things dont look good as they also have to play Italia (another very good team) and Ghana.

Oh and on another side note as I am finally finishing this on Wed, this morning while on the bus in the city, I saw a person riding a bike with a push lawnmower and trimmer attached. I dont know if I could do this anywhere let alone in this city.

Watching the soccer gameAfter the celebration, we relaxed for some snacks. If you look on the table, there apears to be a pumpkin. But actually, it´s a melon. They cut it open for me (see chunk on table) because I did not believe them (Many jokes have been made so sometimes now I just wont believe until there is proof)Inside the greenhouse are there standing wooden boxes housing the snails. The plates have food as well as on top of the wood slabs inside. It was dark when we went in so the pictures are not as good as could be.


Here is a close-up of 2 on my hand. Surprisingly, there were average size. I got to witness the giant snails. They were about 3/4 of a tennis ball in size.
In the greenhouse, they cultivate cabbage plants for the snail. If you look real close, you can see the younger snails on the plants (PS -- you can click on the picture to make it bigger). I guess now I know how my cabbage plants got like this.
Here is Flaka and David working to start the fire in the grill under protection of a pretty big outdoor roof. It was interesting what was used for fuel ... manufactured coal from wood. It really only looked like coal .. it was really light

Making dinnerA view of the house in the morning while everyone was getting their sleep they needeed except of course for me.
Another morning image... this was the house next door (it is apart of the yard). The person that lives here helps take care of things such as the animals and the snails. If you look in the garden, you can see the sheep.





A closer view of the house next door and a neat shot of a humming bird



































Lesson 3 -- How to say hello

(I am going to try to comment on this but probably wont get it all right or wont get all the facts) In Quito, besides saying some of the million different greetings (that somehow I need to understand when spoken to me) such as ¨¿Cómo estás?¨ or ¨¿Cómo te fue?¨, you need to know the physical interactions as well. If you dont know someone at all, a hand shake is good. However, if you do know someone or are meeting someone through someone else that you do know, it is a bit different. For men, men still shake men, but men kiss one cheek of women. For women, women kiss one cheek of both men and women. And this is the same for goodbye’s too. You should note, even though it is standard to do so in general, to always say goodbye to everyone when you are leaving or goodnight when you are going to bed.

Mi primer viaje con la universidad – Riobamba

Classes went well my second week of school and the weather was as it has been, unny and near 72 in Quito and about 78 in Cumbaya where my school is. Sometimes, there is an afternoon thunderstorm, but usually I miss them completely.

Friday through Sun was my first trip sponsored by the university. (Note the intricately drawn route on the map above) Friday morning the MSU and UNCW students left Quito for Riobamba on a bus. After about 5 hours we arrived with only one incident that happened on the way. While the bus stopped on the side of the road to pick up another driver, someone on the bus decided to try to ride a bike he found in the ditch. Well as this person soon found out, it belonged to a campesino who had been working in the ditch. This person was quite mad and rushed up with rock in hand ready to throw at the people outside and the bus. Then he threw our license plate in the ditch. Only after much explaining, was everything made OK. On a side note, I think I would have done the same thing since this person probably had very little and having this bike was essential.

Upon arriving, we took a tour of the city. That night some friends and I went to a karaoke bar which I must say we were applauded as we walked out.

Saturday we had to wake up early to visit an indigenous community in the rural mountainous areas. These people live much below the poverty line and have very little. Luckily though, a program was started in the community where we visited which had a building in which free schooling was provided for this community as well as communities throughout the area. Afterward, we drove on the bus up Chimbarozo (the highest mountain in Ecuador – it also is a volcano) to the first refuge station. On the way in the bus, we got to see wild llama like creatures – I forget their name. From there we climbed up to the second refuge place. The ground was a lot easier to climb since it was not of sand like at Cotopaxi, but the lack of oxygen definitely got to me. I would say only breathing hard and my heart beating hard is the only effects that the altitude has had on me (I am pretty lucky for this). I definitely took a few breaks even though the hike really was not that far in distance (probably only a mile or a little more). From the mountain we went to a small tea making company. Finally that night, we went to the University San Francisco de Riobamba (a new branch of the university in Quito) where they treated us with lots of food (even though this was after dinner and even though there were probably only 50 of us – students from MSU, UNCW, Boston College), a band, and to my surprise even beer. Finally, I made my day even longer by going to discotech with people from our group. I had lots of fun, but boy was I tired because once again I had to wake up early again (5:30)

Sunday, I had hoped I would be able to sleep at some point on the train from Riobamba bound for La Nariz del Diablo. As it turned out, our group would actually be riding on top of the train so sleeping was not really an option since the train was really bumpy, you had to periodically watch out for branches, metal objects, and even power lines, and the weather was cool in the early morning. I really enjoyed the train ride because it went through small towns and farmland and mountain valleys. People were working in the field cutting the hay or whatever by hand or were letting out the animals to graze. Earthen made aqueducts lined the valleys and connected to intricate paths in the actual field so to insure that all the plants received water while at the same time making sure that the water did not go to waste. Kids came out all over the place to wave to the train and wait to see if they would get a piece of candy that we would give them. (I took quite a few pictures and some movies – some pictures are below). After riding for about 6 hours with a 2 short breaks, we made it to the Nariz del Diablo, which really was not anything at all but a small nose in a mountain side. Really the importance of this place was that this railroad we used was partially made by local indigenous who were forced without pay and I think without food to make the railroad which I think goes from at least Quito to the coast. What is sad though is that after the US company that owned the railroad gave the control to the government, the track and the cities along its way went into ruins. After the Nariz del Diablo, the track is too dangerous to go on. It was kind of neat because on my to this place, I met someone who had worked in one of the abandoned towns helping with the telegrams when the US owned the tracks. He said the town was actually very nice and that everything we down hill once the US left. What is coincidental though is that is this man actually lived in GR for 2 years--- small world.

The safety of the tracks definitely came more into my mind on our way back up the mountain (because to get to the Nariz del Diablo, we had to go down into a deep valley) because the cart we were on derailed just after I had decided to go down inside the train cart to rest. Nothing serious happened since they stopped right away and since were nicely situated between to walls of land on both sides since the train track had to go through the side of the mountain at this point, but it definitely made me thankful we only had about a half hour more. They got everything going in about 10 minutes.

With a nice lunch in Alausi, near the Nariz del Diablo, we left on bus for another 7 hours to Quito where we arrived more than 4 hours later than expected. I was not exactly a happy camper since not only was I already lacking sleep, but by arriving at 9:30 instead of 5:00, I could not go to mass and was so tired I could not due my homework the next day. I had to wake up at 3:00 am that Monday morning to finish everything. I would say that day was the closest day for me that I came to falling asleep in class.

Pictures in order

In Riobamba, una plaza de toros

In Riobamba with a Neptune and a university in the background

Una Inglesia (Church) which just closed as we got there

A main road in Riobamba

In Riobamba on our city tour we also visited a musuem of all the art works that came from the introduction of Christianisty to South America way back probably in the 1500's, 1600's, and 1700's. These works of art were quite amazing and were one-of-a-kind (no where else in the world can they be found). Unfortunately though, we could not take pictures of anything. How do I have this picture then? Well, after the tour I went to say thank you and that I enjoyed the tour and that I wished I could have taken some pictures. Then to my surprise as the whole group is literally out the door, they say, hurry, go get some pictures. So I run and get only 2 since I did not want to lose my way. What is interesting about this crucifix is that where Jesus is pierced in his side, there is a hole into the body in which intentions would be placed. Then the priest would empty the intentions from Jesus's back. Also intersesting and a little startling is that the wind blows Jesus's heart so that when you look at the opening where his heart is, it actually looks like it is beating.

Chimbarozo when it cleared up.

Here is a picture of the indigenous community we visited on our way to ChimbarozoThe second refuge, 5000m (16400ft) in the air

Inside the refuge, enjoying some nice hot chocolate and taking a much needed break.

Este Iglesia I saw on Saturday when went for an excursion to a nearby town. In the background are numerous pictures that you cannot see as well as a beautiful statue of the baby Jesus. Unfortunately, the another picture I took of the alter is blurry since it was dark (hopefully this wont happen again since I am taking some lessons from a friend from MSU who took some classes in photography). The alter was full of almost all the flowers of Ecuador (Ecuador is known for its flowers-- a top export) for Pentecost.On top of the train

A near picture from the train

I have many pictures of beautiful country side.I like this picture because several times I saw this occur on the bus. Try to guess what is on top.

A huge statue of I think St. Peter in Alausi.Our stop in AlausiA nice view in AlausiOne photo of others of children while on our train ride (the camera held up pretty good for these action shots)

One of the abandoned towns near the railroadThe derailment

Lesson 2 -- Where is the toilet paper?

When you are using a public restroom in Ecuador (except in my university), I have found that there is no toilet paper in the stalls. Sometimes the toilet paper dispensing machines are actually outside of the stalls waiting for you to wad up some paper to bring into the stall with you. Other times, especially in small towns, there simply is none. If the latter is the case, then you need to go buy some from a nearby vendor or find a local shop willing to give you something close to toilet paper such as napkins. At any rate, I was a bit surprised when I realized that the toilet paper could actually be outside the stall.