imagine the wind whipping your face at fifty miles per hour as it scours the practically barren landscape.
well that is not exactly how it was but it could have been.
not far outside the throbbing cuenca, is one of the most beautiful parks i have ever been in - cajas national park. 4450 meters above sea level is at its peaks where it is mostly tundra. but about 270 lakes are scattered about the large park and the vegitation is breathtaking. from the delicate flowers to the hardened cactus like plants, the land, apparently devode of life, is teeming with life.
if this was not enthralling enough, you step from the wind-whipped highlands into dense forest with serpentine limbs and a lush verdant floor. itfeels as though it is made for a horror movie. but it has a particular beauty to it.
once you make it out of the forest (if you ever do) you can go travel further down in elevation until you reach the cloud forest which is the equivelant of a rain forest at high elevation. this forest has birds of every color.
if i can ever return to ecuador, i would really like to spend many days in the park. you can camp whereever you want but the weather is extremely erratic and temperatures drop precipitiously at night.
an adventure for the future...
Friday, August 1, 2008
gringoland
this past week i left the back room of ecuador (where i did not encounter gringos (foreigners) at all) to the third most important ecuadorian town of cuenca.
six hours south by bus, cuenca is an old colonial town with tremendous charm and appeal. unlike most of ecuadors cities which are dominated by exhaust and cement block, cuenca seems like a misplaced european town. thriving and loaded with good restaurants and bars, it was a blast to walk around and take it all in.
when i would go out to eat, i would be sitting and chatting with people from all over the world - though primarily europeans. it was a welcome change to talk english...
the joys of traveling are many. i have absolutely enjoyed observing this beautiful and entriguing land. however, it is so much fun to be able to connect with relatively like-minded people from all over the world.
six hours south by bus, cuenca is an old colonial town with tremendous charm and appeal. unlike most of ecuadors cities which are dominated by exhaust and cement block, cuenca seems like a misplaced european town. thriving and loaded with good restaurants and bars, it was a blast to walk around and take it all in.
when i would go out to eat, i would be sitting and chatting with people from all over the world - though primarily europeans. it was a welcome change to talk english...
the joys of traveling are many. i have absolutely enjoyed observing this beautiful and entriguing land. however, it is so much fun to be able to connect with relatively like-minded people from all over the world.
chimborazo
to climb a mountain.
to climb a volcano.
this morning three men ventured out onto the highest mountain in the world as measured from the center of the earth.
sitting 6268 meters from sea level it is not only the tallest mountain in ecuador it was considered to be the tallest mountain in the world for some time.
myself and two new friends (alberto and javier) made it past the second refugio (refuge) but decided to turn back for lack of experience, gear, maps, etc.
but nevertheless, it was thrilling to be so high. unfortunately the clouds shroaded any view of the valley below. but the weather was tolerable and not too windy.
no great feat but enjoyable all the same.
to climb a volcano.
this morning three men ventured out onto the highest mountain in the world as measured from the center of the earth.
sitting 6268 meters from sea level it is not only the tallest mountain in ecuador it was considered to be the tallest mountain in the world for some time.
myself and two new friends (alberto and javier) made it past the second refugio (refuge) but decided to turn back for lack of experience, gear, maps, etc.
but nevertheless, it was thrilling to be so high. unfortunately the clouds shroaded any view of the valley below. but the weather was tolerable and not too windy.
no great feat but enjoyable all the same.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
trying to sleep
imagine being allergic to cats.
imagine being allergic to mold.
now imagine trying to sleep in a house with cats and mold.
more.
now add snoring in the room next door (but separated not by a door but by a shower curtain).
now add incessant dog barking outside.
now subtract thirty degrees fahrenheit.
is there a chance of sleep?
hardly.
but add two benadryl, being super tired, and a solid dose of God´s grace, sleep came.
imagine being allergic to mold.
now imagine trying to sleep in a house with cats and mold.
more.
now add snoring in the room next door (but separated not by a door but by a shower curtain).
now add incessant dog barking outside.
now subtract thirty degrees fahrenheit.
is there a chance of sleep?
hardly.
but add two benadryl, being super tired, and a solid dose of God´s grace, sleep came.
ecuadorian justice III
gas prices in ecuador are low. $1.48. there is oil here.
gas prices are fixed. fixed by the government.
all gas stations have the same price for gas.
except for gas stations owned by the government. they can sell their gas more cheaply than others.
gas prices are fixed. fixed by the government.
all gas stations have the same price for gas.
except for gas stations owned by the government. they can sell their gas more cheaply than others.
ecuadorian justice II
getting into an accident in ecuador is dangerous.
well, yes, anywhere it is dangerous to get into an accident.
but in ecuador, if you get into an accident you go to jail.
indeed, even if you are the wronged party (you are the one hit by another) you go to jail.
because of the bureaucracy it can take up to a month to get out...
well, yes, anywhere it is dangerous to get into an accident.
but in ecuador, if you get into an accident you go to jail.
indeed, even if you are the wronged party (you are the one hit by another) you go to jail.
because of the bureaucracy it can take up to a month to get out...
ecuadorian justice I
a man (let´s call him juan) i met felt the result of latent animism.
juan was unjustly fired from a job by a man who did not like him.
if this was not bad enough, the man who fired him shortly there after died abruptly and without cause. however, it was interpreted that juan had placed a curse on the man now dead because of the firing. though he denied doing so, his community ostricized him for almost five years.
the result of being wronged twice over, brought him closer to God.
juan was unjustly fired from a job by a man who did not like him.
if this was not bad enough, the man who fired him shortly there after died abruptly and without cause. however, it was interpreted that juan had placed a curse on the man now dead because of the firing. though he denied doing so, his community ostricized him for almost five years.
the result of being wronged twice over, brought him closer to God.
conversion
the indigenous people of ecuador were forced to accept (at least outwardly) catholicism with the arrival and domination by the spanish. while some did whole-heartedly embrace catholicism many created a syncretistic practice of animism and catholicism.
protestant missionaries in ecuador faced persecution but even more so, those indigenious people who left the catholic church (the catholic chuch was not only the means of grace e.g. the sacraments, but was the means of accomplishing anything you needed as the church and state were closely entertwined).
amongst the quechua, the priest had tremendous power. when protestant missionaries would come into their villages, often the priest would scare the people about who the protestants were (this was before vatican II). protestant missionaries could not seem to break through. however, in the fifties and sixties, there were mass conversions amongst the quechua.
the village where i stayed had an evangelical church (where mariona was pastor) and no catholic church. most of the people there are faithful believers.
it was exciting and encouraging to see people who love God - even though they do so in a radically different setting and express it in a different way.
i think of the book of acts and the way in which God brought his light to disperate people in different settings. God is the God of all.
protestant missionaries in ecuador faced persecution but even more so, those indigenious people who left the catholic church (the catholic chuch was not only the means of grace e.g. the sacraments, but was the means of accomplishing anything you needed as the church and state were closely entertwined).
amongst the quechua, the priest had tremendous power. when protestant missionaries would come into their villages, often the priest would scare the people about who the protestants were (this was before vatican II). protestant missionaries could not seem to break through. however, in the fifties and sixties, there were mass conversions amongst the quechua.
the village where i stayed had an evangelical church (where mariona was pastor) and no catholic church. most of the people there are faithful believers.
it was exciting and encouraging to see people who love God - even though they do so in a radically different setting and express it in a different way.
i think of the book of acts and the way in which God brought his light to disperate people in different settings. God is the God of all.
rough hands
i am accustomed to intellectual labor and not to manual labor.
but you should see my hands now.
mariano kindly did not isolate me from his life and included me into his labors.
one of the first things i was invited to do was to harvest barley.
first we took his three cows (two bulls) down to pasture close to where we would work. each cow has rope tied around its head using its horns to keep the rope in place.
in the barley field you could see that the crop had not been planted by a tractor (it would be impossible for tractors to keep their balance on these steep hills) but by hand. and that is how we would harvest the barley - by hand. mariano gave me a small hand sythe where the blade looked like a curved hacksaw blade. about six inches from the ground i would grab about a dozen stocks (stems) and cut. however, what i quickly learned is that you must grab with your thumb pointing up not down. i was getting in a rhythm of cutting and stacking when the blade caught my unsuspecting thumb. ah, so the thumb goes up.
more amazing than the sharp blade was how mariano carried the enormous sheaf of barley on his back up the steep hill to his house.
but you should see my hands now.
mariano kindly did not isolate me from his life and included me into his labors.
one of the first things i was invited to do was to harvest barley.
first we took his three cows (two bulls) down to pasture close to where we would work. each cow has rope tied around its head using its horns to keep the rope in place.
in the barley field you could see that the crop had not been planted by a tractor (it would be impossible for tractors to keep their balance on these steep hills) but by hand. and that is how we would harvest the barley - by hand. mariano gave me a small hand sythe where the blade looked like a curved hacksaw blade. about six inches from the ground i would grab about a dozen stocks (stems) and cut. however, what i quickly learned is that you must grab with your thumb pointing up not down. i was getting in a rhythm of cutting and stacking when the blade caught my unsuspecting thumb. ah, so the thumb goes up.
more amazing than the sharp blade was how mariano carried the enormous sheaf of barley on his back up the steep hill to his house.
life above the clouds
my parents have missionary friends here in ecuador and i have had the privledge of connecting with with ross h. he helped me have an experience no guidebook could provide.
i just returned from spending three days and two nights in the small village of miraflores (actually the name of six villages in the area).
this village is made up of exclusively the quichau people. indigenous to ecuador and peru, they also made up what we know as the inca civilization.
i took a bus from riobamba to above colta where i was able to take a pickup truck to the village.
this farming village exists in relative isoltion above 11,000 feet. perched in the clouds and close to the sun, these beautiful people live simple but difficult lives cultivating steep hillsides of rich soil and husbanding typical farm animals.
my contact was mariano. he is the pastor of the local evangelical congregation and a farmer. he was exceedingly gracious to me considering i am a foreigner he had never met and i do not speak either language he does (spanish and quechua). he kindly would wait as i thumbed through my spanish/english dictionary.
the stories of my time in miraflores will follow.
i just returned from spending three days and two nights in the small village of miraflores (actually the name of six villages in the area).
this village is made up of exclusively the quichau people. indigenous to ecuador and peru, they also made up what we know as the inca civilization.
i took a bus from riobamba to above colta where i was able to take a pickup truck to the village.
this farming village exists in relative isoltion above 11,000 feet. perched in the clouds and close to the sun, these beautiful people live simple but difficult lives cultivating steep hillsides of rich soil and husbanding typical farm animals.
my contact was mariano. he is the pastor of the local evangelical congregation and a farmer. he was exceedingly gracious to me considering i am a foreigner he had never met and i do not speak either language he does (spanish and quechua). he kindly would wait as i thumbed through my spanish/english dictionary.
the stories of my time in miraflores will follow.
simple comparisons
immediately upon arriving in ecuador numerous comparisons came to my mind between my experience last summer in liberia and now in ecuador.
here are a few:
- unlike the post civilized liberia, ecuador, like many latin american countries, is mostly civilized. technology is everywhere, but it is counterbalanced by old world realities. more on this later.
- the quito (capital city) airport was modern but utilitarian. it was simple and clean without the stores, restaurants and other distractions. liberia´s airport was a long ago forgotten shell of a building.
- liberians have rhythm. many of the indigenous people i have spent my time with have none.
- africans carry anything and everything on their heads. ecuadorians carry large and/or heavy items on thier backs (consquently many of the older generations are severly hunched over).
here are a few:
- unlike the post civilized liberia, ecuador, like many latin american countries, is mostly civilized. technology is everywhere, but it is counterbalanced by old world realities. more on this later.
- the quito (capital city) airport was modern but utilitarian. it was simple and clean without the stores, restaurants and other distractions. liberia´s airport was a long ago forgotten shell of a building.
- liberians have rhythm. many of the indigenous people i have spent my time with have none.
- africans carry anything and everything on their heads. ecuadorians carry large and/or heavy items on thier backs (consquently many of the older generations are severly hunched over).
long time
if for some reason you still look at this blog you know it has been in hibernation.
simply, wavyhook has not written. more simply, wavyhook has not travelled.
but now wavyhook is on top of the world in ecuador.
hopefully i will be able to post some stories.
simply, wavyhook has not written. more simply, wavyhook has not travelled.
but now wavyhook is on top of the world in ecuador.
hopefully i will be able to post some stories.
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