Maureen's Excellent Ecuadoran Adventure
Hi All,
My niece, Maureen Gesley, is in her third year of international studies at UW-Madison but is spending the year abroad in Ecuador! Here's an edited version of one of her letters home complete with some photos as well. We're all very proud of her. You can find more photos of her visit at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ and Photobucket http://photobucket.com/. At either site, search for the gallery name "mgesley."
Robert Mullins
Monday, October 08, 2007
Hola de Ecuador! My second weekend here I went with a bunch of gringo friends to Banos, a town on the edge of the jungle 4 hours southeast of Quito. We took a tour bus around the outside of the town because it is surrounded by waterfalls. We sat on top of the bus and got splashed by waterfalls that were alongside the road. Then we hiked down to a huge waterfall. We walked until we were about 40 ft from the falls and we still got soaked just by the mist. The hike back up was pretty hard. All I could think about was that in America they would’ve probably built an escalator down – even in the middle of the jungle. Ha!
Later we paid to go canyoning, which is nothing like it sounds. It means we rappelled down waterfalls!
It was crazy because we paid at this little guide shop and then they told us to follow this guy to get started. So, we just followed this guy through the streets of Banos for a while until we came to another shop. They gave us all the gear, and then we got into a truck with our guide, Patricio. 
Hola de Ecuador! My second weekend here I went with a bunch of gringo friends to Banos, a town on the edge of the jungle 4 hours southeast of Quito. We took a tour bus around the outside of the town because it is surrounded by waterfalls. We sat on top of the bus and got splashed by waterfalls that were alongside the road. Then we hiked down to a huge waterfall. We walked until we were about 40 ft from the falls and we still got soaked just by the mist. The hike back up was pretty hard. All I could think about was that in America they would’ve probably built an escalator down – even in the middle of the jungle. Ha!
Later we paid to go canyoning, which is nothing like it sounds. It means we rappelled down waterfalls!
It was crazy because we paid at this little guide shop and then they told us to follow this guy to get started. So, we just followed this guy through the streets of Banos for a while until we came to another shop. They gave us all the gear, and then we got into a truck with our guide, Patricio. 
We drove about 15 minutes outside the town where Patricio gave us a little demonstration, but basically he just mentally pushed us down the waterfalls. The first two were about 50 ft tall, but the water was really strong. The last one was about 150 ft, but instead of walking down we rappelled down. We just hung there and kept telling ourselves we were hanging alongside a huge waterfall!
Banos, which means “Baths,” is famous for its hot springs so we went to the thermal baths at night. It was basically just the naturally heated water pumped into a swimming pool. The water was brown because of natural “minerals.” And the pools were packed with people. That was definitely the closest I’d been to Ecuadorians! After, we went to see a really cool band play traditional Andean/Latin American music. All the locals sang to all the songs, while we tried to sing along. After a while, the band took a break and only one of the guitar players stayed. He was just jamming, but my friend who knew how to play guitar asked to play with him. It was really cool and we all sang random American pop songs that are apparently universal.
My friend from Madison and I took the bus to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) Monument about 30 minutes outside of Quito. It was actually kind of lame. The only thing there is a cement tower with N S E W. The Mitad del Mundo monument was the line formed in the 18th century so it’s not really accurate. With our handy “Lonely Planet” guidebook, we knew that there was a museum for the REAL equator nearby.
The museum was amazing. It’s all outdoors and the little exhibits are surrounded by a weird garden of cactus and leafy plants. We took the tour and did experiments like balancing an egg on the head of a nail (a feat that is easier to do at the equator because of the lack of gravity), we saw how water drained in different directions on the equator and in both hemispheres, and we walked along the equator with our eyes closed. You end up looking like a drunk because the forces of both hemispheres pull on you.
I’ve gone to a couple different types of masses here. The first one was a Catholic mass in a huge church in Old Town Quito. It was beautiful and packed with people. The priest used a microphone and the sound wasn’t too good so I couldn’t really understand what he said. The only thing different I noticed was there were no songs. The second service I went to was with my host mom. She goes to two, 2 hour services, one Catholic and one Christian, every Sunday and a service Wednesday nights. She told me she can’t decide between the two. The service I went to with her was the Christian one. It’s 2 hours (!!!), but we came in the middle. The second hour was all singing with a live band. Some high school kids danced to the music up front. The interesting part for me was women stood alongside the aisles with Kleenex for those who were moved to tears by the singing. My friend’s host family even holds services in their home on Thursday nights.
I also went with my host mom to Election Day! It was very different than U.S. elections. First of all, they’re obligatory and it’s obligatory to work at the elections, like jury duty. All the polling stations are in high schools because those are the biggest buildings open on Sundays. Yea, the election was on a Sunday. Whatever happened to the day of rest? The most striking thing to me was how quick the whole process was considering the only used paper ballots and there were over 1,000 candidates to choose from. Democracy in action! Not surprisingly, the president’s, Rafael Correa, party won.
This past weekend I went with friend Katy, Laura, and some Ecuadorians we met to Ibarra which is 2 hours north of Quito for the Festival of Zorro, yes, the Zorro. During the day we saw a competition where about 300 men ride horses down a field on a really steep hill.
It had been raining so it was muddy and slippery and extra dangerous. After they get to the bottom of the hill, they have to slide down an even steeper part from the hill to the road where a crowd of people is cheering them on. Many horses fell and one even died. Craziness!
At the stadium, Zorro (the winner of last year) wears his mask and cape. The other horsemen race to grab his cape; if they do they are the Zorro for next year. All a very fun experience because everyone was screaming and into the drama.
Well, I didn’t think this would be that long, but I guess my life has been pretty busy so far. I hope you are all well!
Love, Maureen
Banos, which means “Baths,” is famous for its hot springs so we went to the thermal baths at night. It was basically just the naturally heated water pumped into a swimming pool. The water was brown because of natural “minerals.” And the pools were packed with people. That was definitely the closest I’d been to Ecuadorians! After, we went to see a really cool band play traditional Andean/Latin American music. All the locals sang to all the songs, while we tried to sing along. After a while, the band took a break and only one of the guitar players stayed. He was just jamming, but my friend who knew how to play guitar asked to play with him. It was really cool and we all sang random American pop songs that are apparently universal.
My friend from Madison and I took the bus to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) Monument about 30 minutes outside of Quito. It was actually kind of lame. The only thing there is a cement tower with N S E W. The Mitad del Mundo monument was the line formed in the 18th century so it’s not really accurate. With our handy “Lonely Planet” guidebook, we knew that there was a museum for the REAL equator nearby.
The museum was amazing. It’s all outdoors and the little exhibits are surrounded by a weird garden of cactus and leafy plants. We took the tour and did experiments like balancing an egg on the head of a nail (a feat that is easier to do at the equator because of the lack of gravity), we saw how water drained in different directions on the equator and in both hemispheres, and we walked along the equator with our eyes closed. You end up looking like a drunk because the forces of both hemispheres pull on you.I’ve gone to a couple different types of masses here. The first one was a Catholic mass in a huge church in Old Town Quito. It was beautiful and packed with people. The priest used a microphone and the sound wasn’t too good so I couldn’t really understand what he said. The only thing different I noticed was there were no songs. The second service I went to was with my host mom. She goes to two, 2 hour services, one Catholic and one Christian, every Sunday and a service Wednesday nights. She told me she can’t decide between the two. The service I went to with her was the Christian one. It’s 2 hours (!!!), but we came in the middle. The second hour was all singing with a live band. Some high school kids danced to the music up front. The interesting part for me was women stood alongside the aisles with Kleenex for those who were moved to tears by the singing. My friend’s host family even holds services in their home on Thursday nights.
I also went with my host mom to Election Day! It was very different than U.S. elections. First of all, they’re obligatory and it’s obligatory to work at the elections, like jury duty. All the polling stations are in high schools because those are the biggest buildings open on Sundays. Yea, the election was on a Sunday. Whatever happened to the day of rest? The most striking thing to me was how quick the whole process was considering the only used paper ballots and there were over 1,000 candidates to choose from. Democracy in action! Not surprisingly, the president’s, Rafael Correa, party won.
This past weekend I went with friend Katy, Laura, and some Ecuadorians we met to Ibarra which is 2 hours north of Quito for the Festival of Zorro, yes, the Zorro. During the day we saw a competition where about 300 men ride horses down a field on a really steep hill.
It had been raining so it was muddy and slippery and extra dangerous. After they get to the bottom of the hill, they have to slide down an even steeper part from the hill to the road where a crowd of people is cheering them on. Many horses fell and one even died. Craziness!At the stadium, Zorro (the winner of last year) wears his mask and cape. The other horsemen race to grab his cape; if they do they are the Zorro for next year. All a very fun experience because everyone was screaming and into the drama.
Well, I didn’t think this would be that long, but I guess my life has been pretty busy so far. I hope you are all well!
Love, Maureen
posted by Robert Mullins @ 3:34 PM
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