in seven days...

In the past seven days, I have been all over - my last week began in the Amazonian jungle (Tiputini), brought me back to Quito and to Cumbaya (3 days of class this week), then took me to the Equator once again, and then to the largest active volcano in the world Cotopaxi. Let me break it down:

TIPUTINI: After several different forms of transportation (taxi, bus within the airport, plane, taxi to a hotel on the river, boat, chiva bus ride, and boat ride), we arrived at USFQ's Biodiversity Station, Tiputini - in the Yasuni National Park.

 We took rides on the river and within the lagoon, saw incredible wildlife,

 took walks through the woods with our knowledgeable guide,

 ate a few ants that tasted like lemons,

crossed canopy bridges, climbed tall towers to look for birds (two macaws flew over us), had no luck finding Cayman crocodiles at night but did see an incredible display of stars, floated down the Tiputini River, watched a small Pygmy Monkey who came down a tree to see the twenty or so faces looking up at it, and went to bed early each night to (sometimes bizarre) animal noises. The trip was incredible and I was very sad to return to car alarms, pollution, honking, and in general - development. Four days (two days traveling) was just not enough!

EQUATOR: I went to the "real" one on Friday! A trip inspired by my friend taking pictures with a Flat Stanley brought us to see the equator (if you recall, I saw the "fake/inaccurately measured" equator at the beginning of the semester). At this outdoor museum we saw many cultural exhibition about indigenous peoples and their practices, as well as experiments that one can only do at the equator (balancing an egg on a nail head, watching water spin clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other side of the equator...). I also learned that Ecuador was once called Quito!

COTOPAXI: After several times seeing the volcano Cotopaxi from a distance (only on clear days going between Quito and Cumbaya), I finally went to Cotopaxi National Park and with a tour company, biked down into the park. We drove up almost to where the snow began, got geared up, and began down the steep and bumpy path -- my hands hurt from breaking so much! It was sleeting and freezing when we began but after about 30 minutes we found ourselves in a completely different environment -- flat, green, wild horses...

It was a BEAUTIFUL park and I'm ever so glad that the weather cleared up as we rode down into the valley.

Here are some other interesting things that I have learned recently:
-Pie Day does not exist in Spanish-speaking cultures! On Pie Day (3/14), I was sitting in a restaurant called The Pie House eating pie with two friends when we realized that Spanish speaking (and possibly other) cultures write the date with the day, then month, and then year (14/03/12). We were sad to learn that the wonderful holiday does not translate.
-We did not participate in Daylight Savings Time here so we are currently one hour behind EST while before, we were the same time.
-Tatoos cost $60 in Quito...although I'm not sure how they compare in the U.S. (Don't worry, I learned this going with a friend who got a tatoo!)
-The more I become comfortable with Ecuadorian friends, the more they want to practice their English with me (although they know that I am here to practice Spanish!)
-People from all around the world are in Quito - I knew this before this weekend but was amazed to see that on my bike tour, there were two girls from Germany, one boy from England, and one man from France (along with three girls including myself, from the U.S.).

I'm so sorry this post is so long and again am realizing that it would be much easier to post more often instead of allowing all of my stories and experiences to pile up!