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ECUADOR - FIELD UPDATES - Weeks 1 & 2
By Sebastian Dunnett
Spanish Lessons In Quito
The July expedition had all arrived in the captial, Quito, by the evening of July 8th. Most were extremely tired after a horrifically long journey from the UK. However there was no time to catch up on sleep as the Spanish lessons started the very next day! The intensity of the Spanish lessons hit the majority of the group hard: the lessons ran from 9am until 1pm,with a 5 minute break at 11am, Monday to Friday. There was usually a large amount of moaning huddled around the kitchen during our 5 minute, English speaking break. The Spanish teachers refused to speak English which steepened the learning curve somewhat! The startling level of Spanish reached by some of the members can be demonstrated when, on our arrival at the Huasquila Lodge in the jungle, one of the girls was asked (in Spanish) “What is your name?” to which she eagerly replied “I´m fine thank you”!
The first two weeks were by no means not just about conjugating countless Spanish verbs. There were numerous trips organised by the school to look forward to during the gruelling four hours. The first of these was a tour around the Old Town by our slightly eccentric guide, Fabien. Quito Old Town is a stunningly beautiful part of the city, overlooked by a statue of an angel. On the day of our tour, there was a demonstration about conserving the rainforest blocking our destination. Instead of skirting around to reach the plaza, Fabien thought that it would be better and faster to join the ranks of the demonstrators; he soon forgot the presence of his party as he got a little carried away voicing his support!
A visit to the Mitad del Mundo (equator) was also on the cards, and this time we were accompanied by our teachers. The night before had been a wild one, so on the bus there our teachers were teaching us practical phrases like “Tengo chuchaki” (I´m hungover). The equator was fun, and the group soon immersed themselves in taking all the tourist photos with their respective teachers. Those who found the museum snuggled away towards the front of the park got to see the famous demonstrations of the egg and the flushing water.
Spanish lessons in the hostal were also lightened up by moving location to a nearby park, where the group were treated to a nice mixture of sun bathing and Spanish lessons. The park was stunning, and it was hard to think that we were still in the city limits. The group was also treated to a game of football against the teachers. With a team of one guy and the rest girls, it was never going to be pretty: we lost by a staggering 10-3!
As if speaking our Spanish 24/7 wasn´t embarrassing enough, Colin our group leader organised salsa classes for us on some evenings. Salsa dancing seemed to be a world apart from the drunken dancing many of us were used to, and the coordination required seemed to be too much to bear for some, who resigned themselves to sitting in the corner watching the 10 year old Ecuadorian girl make a better job of it. The classes were a lot of fun, and they seemd to give everyone the confidence to try salsa out in clubs, but only after a couple of tequilas!
The first stage of the expedition also included a trip to the indigenous market at Otavalo. I don´t think any of us were prepared for the enormity of the market. However, once the awe had settled, everyone was trying their best to haggle in Spanish, buying presents for friends back home, or just some more jewellery, and a bit more, and a bit more...
Every other Sunday, Quito closes down some of its major roads for bicycles. The group rented some bikes and resolved to make use of the roads, and to do some exercise. After a few minor technical adjustments (one of the groups´s chain fell off, while another´s pedal fell off!), the group set out on the gruelling slog up hills towards the Old Town. The day is remarkably well organised, with free water stops every couple of miles.
The group´s Spanish was also tested at the local food market whilst accompanied by our teachers, where we were given instructions to ask as many questions as we could formulate in Spanish, and to buy the weirdest fruit we could see for the group to try. Some adventurous individuals came back to the hostal with such weird and wonderful fruits as orange and banana! Others had pushed the boat slightly further out, returning with such delicacies as the fondly named “Frogspawn” (named after its slightly familiar looking insides; its real name is Naranchilla) and taxo, a smaller relative of the banana.
One of the most challenging activites of the first two weeks was climbing Mount Pichincha, which rises to 4800m. To be honest, we took a cable car up to 4100m, but the next 700m was hell! I think it was the first time the group had felt the effect of a high altitude (apart from our experiened mountaineer Colin who seemed to skip up). Colin told us it would be a “short scramble” to the top...maybe for him, but for the majority it was a death defying crawl to the summit! However, the feeling of elation after reaching the summit was unparalleled, especially as we had got all members up there. Unfortunately, the bubble burst as it slowly dawned on the group there was no zip wire, and we had to climb back down the rocky scree!
Mariscal, aka Gringo Landia is know for the high concentration of “gringos” (Westerners), and it is also the centre of Quito´s nightlife. The usual haunts were No Bar, a crowded bar/club, where dancing on the bar was normal for a Thursday night, and an activity in which some inebriated members of the group indulged in, and the slighty more western Bungalow 6, which offered free drinks on Wednesday from 8 till 10, but only for girls!
The first two weeks have been extremely entertaining and altough at first I felt we had been tossed into the cultural deep end, I now realise it was an extremely valuable experience. Joking aside, the group´s Spanish has increased exponentially and this should stand us in good stead for the coming weeks.
