Backlog #3

As an aside to those of you catching this post on Facebook- I'm catching up on the things I've done over the past year, starting out with a recounting of my adventures in Ecuador. The way I see it, if I don't write it down then nobody's going to believe my story. As it stands I have a hard time believing it myself.

On my first day with the nursing students I went out for a hike with all of them. We were guided by the local yacha (shaman) who was describing the various medicinal uses for plants. There was a wide, flat vine that (if I remember right) was used to make poison for arrows, and a couple of trees that had bark that was good for one thing or another. I should have payed better attention, but I was still a little jet-lagged.

Then we came to the first thing that stood out. A tree that stood on its own, inside a circle about six feet wide at its base. This was notable because there was no vegetation around it at all. Then one of our guides pulled down a stem. At the base of each leaf was a sort of bulbous protrusion. He cut this open to expose a group of ants, and instructed us to taste them. They tasted approximately like lemon.

The ants live symbiotically with the plants- the ants defend the plants from attackers and infection, and the plants provide a shelter for the ants. Plants harboring these ant colonies are widespread throughout the area, and I took several opportunities to photograph them.

As we hiked further we came across flowers and plants and a great number of things that astonished me. I was feeling a bit in shock from the flamboyant, multicolored displays of flora and insect fauna on display- coming from a place where every plant, reptile and bird is dull-colored in drab brown and grey I felt like I was suddenly living life through some sort of strange glasses that flung colors everywhere.

It was fortunate, though, that I wasn't actually wearing these technicolor spectacles. The humidity was far higher than I was accustomed to as well. The high rainfall that produced such amazing flora also provided miserably sticky, heavy air and very muddy trails, which brought me to another moment for the journal. We came across a spot in the trail where it was eroded away by a small ditch, about three or four feet wide and two or so feet deep. The entire area was muddy and slippery, and strewn with leaves.



If I hadn't been warned by one of the people ahead of me I might never have seen the snake calmly coiled in the ditch. There was no easy way about it, but it seemed that the best course of action was to jump the ditch. Going around would necesitate stepping into the ditch right near the snake, as the jungle beside the trail was quite thick. So I jumped. It was fortunate that I wasn't the first to go as I nearly lost my footing on the opposite bank, but the nursing students helped me steady myself. I took the opportunity to snap a couple photos of the little fellow.

Seemingly not wanting to be outdone, the order Hymenoptera provided another sight that astonished even someone not put off by the sight of a tarantula or other desert-dwelling crawler- the largest ant I had ever seen.


One of the more daring among us provided a hand model to compare for scale- this ant was well over an inch long and quite large circumferentially as well.

Even as we reached a shelter where we were to eat lunch there were more amazing thins to see. I discovered a small red bug hiding in a heliconia, and in deference to a shutterbug it provided me with the professional courtesy of not fleeing immediately.


Fortunately for my appetite lunch arrived fairly quickly, and it was only a preview of what was to come. As the first representative of a great many nearly identical meals I would eat during my time there I found that the plate of beans and rice served quite well. The hot sauce, fruit juice and watermelon slice served as a fine diplomatic entourage from the embassy of Napo River cuisine.


The rest of the day I spent exploring the 'field school' where I would spend most of my time for the following three weeks. There were several hens running around with their chicks, and one of my fellow guests discovered an interloper in his cabin.



That isn't my hand in the picture- I was merely the documenter in this instance. We can see that the fellow attached to it has sense enough to wear a thick leather glove and gently lift the tarantula somewhere other than right on its fangs.

Drop in for the next installments, when I find bees in a sock, Seussian foliage, and the wonders of time-lapse photography, not to mention a leech and a gold skultulla. All in one day, if you can believe it.

Backlog #2

Before I detail what happened when I got off the bus, I need to fill in some background information. Ecuador uses the US dollar as currency rather than having their own currency. This makes things easier for tourists, but according to locals who I spoke with on the topic it isn't exactly the happiest arrangement for the rest of the economy. Ecuador does have its own coins, in the same size as US coins but in different metal, including a 50-cent piece.

The capital city of Quito is high in the Andes mountains, while the city of Tena where I was headed is at a much lower altitude. The intervening stretch of road goes through the hilly highlands and down steep canyons and into the high cloud forest. This gradually becomes more and more tropical as the road descends to the Napo river, a tributary to the Amazon.

As best I could figure from what the people on the bus were saying, the turbo or something that sounded like 'turbo' was broken, and so we waited on the side of the road for half an hour for another bus to come by. Everyone piled on, and it was quite crowded for the next hour or two. As people got off at the various stops along the way the bus cleared out, and by the time we got to the cloud forest I had a seat.

The view at this point was fantastic, and if I wasn't so tired from the night before and ill from the bus jostling down the dirt road I'd have taken more pictures. The road wound along a steep cliff face that descended hundreds of feet to a river below and reached up just as high again on the other side. Waterfalls and low clouds broke the solid walls of green intermittently. There were some obvious signs of recent mudslides, but I wasn't paying close attention. I didn't know that Tena was the last stop on the route, so I watched each stop closely, trying to figure out if this was where I needed to step off.

Near the end of the ride the attendant who was helping the passengers unload their bags handed out some sick bags to people on the bus who were getting carsick from the shaking. Fortunately I had packed some industrial-strength medication, or I'd be asking for a bag myself.

When I finally did get to Tena I clumsily got to a taxi, whose driver took me to the wrong place before depositing me at the field school for what I learned later was four times the proper fare. My group was nowhere to be found, and, as I discovered when I asked someone at the school, they wouldn't be there for another two days. There was a group of nursing students at the field school, and I hung out with them for the rest of the day.

I finally met the professor who was in charge of the whole operation on the Tena end that evening at dinner. He was a bit surprised to see me, and he took me out to a hill where there was some semblance of a cell signal so that I could call home and tell my parents I was still alive, 36 hours after I had last spoken with them. The professor was anxious to have me call, because he had been recieving e-mails from my parents, who were desperately trying to contact anyone related to the summer school.

Fortunately that seemed to settle things, and aside from a leak in the thatch above my bed the rest of the day went smoothly. Dinner felt like the best food I'd had in a long time, and in a way it was, because while it may only have been one or two days since I had left Phoenix it felt like I had been traveling for weeks.

Backlog #1

Since I forgot that I even had a blog for the past year, I thought I'd start out for this new fiscal year by catching up with what has happened since my last real post.

After I returned from Hungary, I spent a little over a week at home before shipping out to Ecuador, where I was signed up to take a course in Spanish and Ethnobotany. I flew into George Bush international in Texas, and of course, since everything needs to be bigger in texas they have an enormous airport. There was an abandoned-looking section in it, and pieces from several decades. Probably miles and miles of corridors, but that's beside the point.


The abandoned section (in part)


It had an abandoned food court, too!

I had forgotten a few things going out to the rainforest. First among them was some spending cash. I lucked out on that- there were many ATMs from different banks in the terminals, and I found one that didn't charge withdrawl fees. One more item was on the list, though. I forgot an umbrella. I feel a little sheepish noting this, as I was, after all, going to the AMAZON RAINFOREST. Regardless, I sought out and found a place that sold umbrellas, and for $20 I got a compact multiple-fold umbrella. Not bad for airport-terminal Brookstone prices.

I should have taken it as an omen that the entire plane applauded when we touched down in Quito. Seems I took a few other things for granted. Take the customs line, for example. I waited half an hour before I found out that the line was closing because the fellow at the front was being deported. I finally make it out to the terminal and I discover that there is nobody at all from my group. I must have had the last flight or something, or they all got through security quicker, but the bus had left, and nobody had any idea who I was talking about when I went looking around.


Nobody met me, but the Greek pantheon had a good welcome group. I almost expected a limo for Poseidon.

The internet cafe at the airport was closed, so I figured that I'd make things easier and stay there for the night. I met a British girl who was setting out on a globetrotting adventure and was waiting to meet her friend, who was flying in the next morning. We chatted a bit and watched each other's things. I gave her some of my food, and she lent me some sanity.

The next morning I discovered that the computers at the internet cafe were broken, but they had working phones. Unfortunately, there were no contact numbers for my program anywhere, so I called my parents. Imagine getting a call that wakes you at five in the morning and goes something like this: "Hello, I'm in Quito at the airport, my group is nowhere to be found and I don't know where I need to go"

I called my parents back a little while later, when they had turned on the computer and found the program website (no contact info to be found). They did find driving directions, however, and so I found myself in a cab to the bus terminal in Quito.

Now for those of you who have never been to Quito, the bus terminal is like a big covered market, with stalls for transportation companies on either side. About $6 got me a ticket to Tena, and soon I was sitting on a bus, trundling out of the city.

That was when the bus pulled to the side of the road and we all were told to get out...

I'm not a blog person

Coming back to this blog after a year, I realized that I have a problem. I don't have any sort of commitment to this blog. Others might take this opportunity to apologize to their readers and swear that they'd be better. One might even set forth a challenge to update daily.

However, I know myself well enough to not do any of those things. As the fiscal year draws to a close, I can promise only this- I'll update again before the end of the next fiscal year.

Details on the past year will appear at my convenience. I only have one or two readers, after all.

A'counting

Vun Transylvanian
Two Transylvanians!
Three Transylvanians!
Mua ha ha ha ha!
- The Count, on his trip to Transylvania.

I am writing from an internet cafe in the basement of an international school just a hundred yards from the traditional birthplace of Count Dracul, aka Dracula. I had garlic for lunch, so don't get worried.

Things have been pretty crazy here. Yesterday was Alan Mackey's birthday, so we went out to a club in Sibiu. There I heard the "Numa Numa" song played in complete earnesty. I danced like the guy in that video and laughed. I left at about 1 AM but some of the hardest partyers among us stayed until 3:30.

The roads in Romania are sometimes a little rough and winding, so I've been feeling a bit of motion sickness. This was cured by a trek up to the cafe that is above me right now and serves the most amazing pie and sandwiches. I had a sandwich with this sort of pepper and eggplant stuff that I can't for the life of me pronounce but that was some of the most delicious vegetable matter I have eaten in weeks.

It is not easy to do laundry here, as the clothes do not readily dry, but I am getting by.

-PS

Explaining the Photos

These were all taken on the Flinn Scholars' eastern European trip in the summer of 2007. The Mayo in a tube stood out as an unusual feature of the local fare, and the picture of me was from a park with a really cool statue of Frans List (sp?) playing the piano. His hair is up and out at wild angles and it conveys a great deal of passion. Budapest was a very cool city. I can't do it justice in the limited time I have to write here, so look forward to a post in about 2 weeks. This week (next few days) is in Romania, which is a whole different ballgame. The pristine landscape still bears fresh scars of communism, even though it was ended almost 18 years ago.

Ciao for now

More from Hungary and Romania

Just a hodgepodge of pictures. Stories may or may not follow in the future.









I am having a good time in Hungary and Romania. The program that is set for the trip is fairly structured, but fortunately there are some times I have free to use the internet so that I can send these sort of things to the world, or at least whoever reads this thing.

Ciao!