So Long, South America!

With but a few more days left in Quito, then 3 weeks of traveling around, my run in South America is coming to a rapid close.  Rather than trying to explain my complicated feelings about that, I would like to share, in a mostly photographic ode, some of my best times and travels of the last 4 years.

Peru, July 2011

During my first summer vacation, I planned to use my time off to go backpacking for 3 weeks in Peru and Bolivia with 3-6 others (through various stages of the journey).  We were going to start in Cuzco and hike to Machu Picchu, which we did, and then bus across the border into Bolivia by Lake Titicaca and continue down to the Uyuní salt flats, which we didn't.  There were strikes in Bolivia, with the result being an uncertainty in our ability to cross the border unless we flew in.  We put our heads together and developed a new plan, and stayed in Peru the whole time.

Hiking to Machu Picchu.  We didn't take the Inca Trail
(except for one small section), but instead a trip that included
not just two days trekking, but also a day of downhill biking
and a really sketchy rafting trip.  Everything except for the
rafting was awesome.  Photo by Bekki Gerard.

The final stretch to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of
Machu Picchu.  As you can see, trains are available if you don't feel
like walking.  Photo by Bekki Gerard.

Even if you are told that it is the dry season, please, I
beg you, still wear pants.  I regretted my shorts decision
all day long (except for the climb up the 2,000 or so steps).
Photo by Lisa Blackwell.

If you choose to walk up the steps (there are buses available if not), you will
generally begin around 4 am so that you can reach the top for sunrise.  As you
can see, this is an excellent idea, even in the absence of a visible sun.
Photo by Javier Persad.

I was prepared for the "wow" of the ruins (and they did not disappoint), but
I was unprepared for the surrounding beauty of the place.  Photo by
Bekki Gerard.

After briefly returning to Cuzco, our altered plans took us west,
out of the mountains, and into Nazca.  The famous Nazca lines
require a plane ride to see appropriately, so instead we booked
a dune buggy and went sandboarding.  Photo by Lisa
Blackwell.

After Nazca, the next sizable city in the desert is Ica, which can be seen
in the background here.  A better option, we found, is to stay in
Huacachina.  This weird, small "town" is a hippie haven and is pretty much
just one road going around an oasis and surrounded by sand dunes, on
which Javi is walking here.  Also, in a charming lovechild of translation and
tourism, it is apparently always happy hour here, for everything.  All day,
everyday, for all goods and services, you will be told that it is happy hour.
Photo by Bekki Gerard.

After our time in the desert, it was back to the mountains.  This time, we
traveled north up the coast, past Lima, and to the Cordillera Blanca.
  Here, Huascarán looms outside of our hostel in Huaraz, providing a
spectacular breakfast view.  Photo by Bekki Gerard.

The Cordillera Blanca has a lot to offer for hikers and climbers.  There are
multi-day hiking and camping trips, and there are climbs for peaks that soar
over 6,700 m/22,200 ft.  Or, if you have recently thrown your trip together
and don't have time for all of that, there are a lot of day hikes that you can
do as well, like this one to Lake Churup. We stayed at Caroline Lodging,
which was excellent, and if you ask at the desk, they organize several of
these each week.  Photo by Javier Persad.

After Huaraz, we hopped another bus back to Lima, and stayed there for just a couple of days before flying back to Quito.  This was one of the best trips I have ever taken, thanks largely to the company.  Like choosing roommates, it is important to know that there are some friends that you just should not travel with.  Some friends, though, are perfect companions, and that was true of our group, as we ranged from multi-day hikes, stomach-turning bus trips out of the mountains, and sharing our victory rum from trivia night with a couple of Vikings.  Speaking of which, if you want to know where alpacas come from, you'll need to ask Javi.  We all listened to his rum-induced creation myth for about an hour, but still have no clue.

Carnaval (Cuenca, February 2011 and Trinidad and Tobago, March 2012)

Carnaval is a hugely celebrated holiday throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.  The celebration manifests itself in a series of parades and the election of a Reina(Queen) de Carnaval, as well as in large scale battles involving water, foam, and/or paint.  If you choose to arm yourself, you are fair game in the lunatic guerrilla war that ensues.

In Cuenca, nothing says UNESCO World Heritage Site
like a foam fight among friends.

Not pictured: the hoards of vagrant children who had clannishly self-
organized and posted themselves around the entire city, dumping
water from above and chasing us through the beautiful streets and colonial
Spanish architecture.  There were losses on both sides.

In Trinidad and Tobago for the Carnival Parade.

Yikes

Men and women, boys and girls of all ages participate
in the Carnival parade.  Photo by Lisa Blackwell.

Ecuadorian Triathlon, April 2011

Not counting the Galapagos, Ecuador has three main regions: the jungle, the mountains, and the beach.  In my first year here, during Semana Santa, I decided to do all three in a week and a half.

In Cuyabeno with Nacho.  Photo by Katherine Schuler.

Getting turned back by snowfall on Sincholagua.  Photo by Jeff Kordich.

Playing at the beach in Canoa.  Photo by Anna Sneller.

I was able to pull this off because of the mind-boggling ecological diversity that Ecuador contains in a country about the size of Nevada.  The buses are not as nice as the ones in Peru or Argentina, but they are cheap, and they can get you from Quito to most places in the country in less than 12 hours.

Buenos Aires and Patagonia, December 2011 - January 2012

On this trip, we spent about 3 days in Buenos Aires and then a week hiking and camping in Patagonia in El Chalten and El Calafate.  Much like Alaska, Patagonia has a brief, spring-like summer for a few months of the year during which you can leave most of your arctic gear behind.  It is still rugged in the best of conditions, though, and the wind makes you feel a little unwanted at times.

Buenos Aires.  Photo by Lisa Blackwell.

Near El Chalten

Near El Chalten

Near El Chalten

Near El Chalten

Perito Moreno Glacier, expanding and breaking off into the lake.

Perito Moreno Glacier.  Photo by Lisa Blackwell.

Scuba Certification in Montañita, February 2013

Last year, I fulfilled the long-standing ambition of getting my scuba certification.  While Montañita does not have the clearest of water, Otro Mundo diving was a great company to learn with.  I have since gone diving off of the Colombian coast in the Caribbean, and plan on continuing the hobby in Spanish waters.

Preparing to jump ship.

Visibility was not great, but as it was my first diving experience,
all I could think about was the fact that I was flying.  Time goes by so
fast underwater...

Before this type of shot is taken, it should be clarified whether we jump on
"three" or "go"

War Race, April 2013

Want to run a 10K obstacle course in suffocating heat?  With no water stations for the middle 8K?  Come to Guayaquil, Ecuador!  While fun for the camaraderie, I was annoyed that my training didn't matter when after the first few kilometers, I was just trying to avoid a heat stroke.

My friend Stef finished in 3rd place!  Photo courtesy of Haley Higdon.

Most of the rest of us competed as teams.  Photo courtesy of Haley Higdon.

Victory!  You know, in the sense that everyone is a winner.  Photo
courtesy of Haley Higdon.

New Years Eve Traditions

I will very much miss the New Years traditions in Ecuador.  There are suggestions for underwear color (yellow), for the number of grapes you should eat (12), and how many times you should run around your house with a packed suitcase for good luck in your travels (3).  There is also a slew of apparently repressed cross-dressers who come out in drag for one day a year, and stand in the street stopping traffic until they are given a tip.  But really, honestly, New Years in Quito is about setting shit on fire.

Step 1: Buy an effigy, and try not to get too attached.
Masks are optional, but way more fun for both effigies
and humans.  Photo by Mary Cornwell-Wright.

Step 2: Spend a few final, somber moments with your effigies.  These are
meant to represent the things from last year that you want to
leave behind.  The symbolism behind effigies ranges from generalized
negativity to chillingly specific representations of people.  Photo by
Laura Fairbank.

Step 3: Set your effigy on fire in the middle of the street outside of your
home.  Use of an accelerant and/or fireworks to do so creates both more
obvious danger and enjoyment.  Photo by Laura Fairbank.

Step 4: Once the effigy is fully engulfed in flames, you must jump over it
exactly 3 times to rid yourself of whatever it is you don't want following
you into the coming year.  This is clearly a scientific process and
it has never let anyone down.  Photo by Lauren Fairbanks.

I was told there were bonus points for wearing a skirt, but someone may
have been fucking with me.  Photo by Lisa Blackwell.

Step 5: Proceed with more fireworks.  Again, just right in
the middle of the street.  The structures in Quito are
99.4% concrete and cinder block, so there is no real risk
of creating an unquenchable inferno in the heart of the
city.  I don't think.  Photo by Mary Cornwell-Wright

Step 6: At midnight, find some high ground for the 360 degree display of
fireworks that will go on for about 20 minutes all over the city.  Again,
everyone is encouraged to participate, even when they get crazed looks like
this in their eyes (that's not a photographic error, his eyes really turned
red).  Photo by Mary Cornwell-Wright.

Goofing Around

This has less to do with living in Quito than it does the people that I have lived here with.  As with the people, these unfiltered moments are most of what made this such a great experience.

Capturing the "Essence of Jefe."  Photo by Anna Sneller.

Halloween 2011, Animal and...I'm still not sure what I was, other than awful.
Photo by Bekki Gerard.

A sphincter says what?  Photo by Katherine
Schuler.

Que Bestia, my supervillain, to Jeff's superhero "Spirit of the Paramo."
I really got a lot of miles out of that wig.  Photo by McKenzie Day.

Otavalo fashion show.  Photo by 

Warming up for a day of rafting in Tena with...headstands.  Attempts at
headstands.  It made sense at the time.  Photo by Erin Kahle.

Jenni4 in need of some guidance.  Photo by Lisa
Blackwell.

Andres Carnes de Res in Bogota.  If a TGIFridays was a film by
Tim Burton, this is what you'd get.  Photo by Bekki Gerard.

Never too old for airplane rides.  Photo by Lisa
Blackwell.

The Team.  Moments later, we would hold a contest in what can only be
described as interpretive hill-rolling.  

Despedidas in Mindo

The sleepy little town of Mindo, only an hour and a half outside of Quito, finds itself the scene of a Gringo spectacle roughly twice a year: once at Thanksgiving, and once in June as we send off teachers and friends who will not be returning for the following school year.  Getting out of Quito is nice in general, but there are many ways to occupy yourself here and to let loose and enjoy the people that have become your extended family.

View of Mindo from the Dragonfly Inn, owned by our friends
Todd and Lorena.  Go there!  Photo by 

One popular activity: hammocks. Entire weekends have been spent in repose
without a hint of restlessness.  Photo courtesy of Bekki Gerard.

There are also several waterfalls to hike to...
(Photo by Mary Cornwell-Wright)

...and whatever is happening here.  Dancing?
(Photo courtesy of Jamie Bacigalupo)

Butterflies :)
(Photo courtesy of Tamara Fernandez)

BUTTERFLIES!!!
(Photo by Mary Cornwell-Wright)

But really, it is mostly just about being with friends.  Plans are made
to visit each other in the coming years, and to stay in touch.  But
we all know what can happen to our plans; even the ones we really
want to keep.  Especially the ones we really want to keep.  And so
part of why Mindo is so special is because many times when I
have found myself there, there is a calm urgency of friendship, and a
a sincerity that somehow allows nostalgia to begin before the moments
have even passed us by.  Photo by Jamie Bacigalupo.

Bekki, Topher, and I all started teaching at the school in August 2010, and
are the only ones left out of about 15.  Photo by Jamie Bacigalupo.

Honorable mentions go to trips to Canoa, Chivatecas, and Thursday Night Basketball, but I feel I have already gone on a bit long.  So long for now, and so long to everyone who has made this place so special.  I look forward to seeing you all over the world.  I also look forward to all of the little triggers that will make me think of you; a meal, a conversation, a song on the radio - they will be like finding notes from you in the pockets of old clothes I haven't worn in years, and I know I will smile.