Thursday, February 12, 2009

the Tena "Airport"



I feel the need to explain this so-called airport because I just find it so bemusing.
There is a runway and tower; there is also a volley ball court and a soccer field. People regularly walk across it to get from point A to point B. They also use the runway as a track for jogging and general exercise. How is this possible you wonder?
Well only about three planes land here a week, mostly military. Before they land a siren sounds and people meander off the runway...or you know keep playing volley ball and hope the pilot doesn't land too low too quickly.

oh pablo, how i love you

A guy read this poem on the bus between archidona and tena the other day. reminded me of my old obsession with pablo neruda, and that i should re-read some of his poems now that i understand spanish better.





"Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche."



Pablo Neruda



Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Escribir, por ejemplo : 'La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos'.
El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.
En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.
Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Pensar que no la tengo. Sentir que la he perdido.
Oir la noche immensa, más inmensa sin ella.
Y el verso cae al alma como al pasto el rocío.
Qué importa que mi amor no pudiera guardarla.
La noche está estrellada y ella no está conmigo.
Eso es todo. A lo lejos alguien canta. A lo lejos.
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.
Como para acercarla mi mirada la busca.
Mi corazón la busca, y ella no está conmigo.
La misma noche que hace blanquear los mismos arboles.
Nosotros, los de entonces, ya no somos los mismos.
Ya no la quiero, es cierto pero cuánto la quise.
Mi voz buscaba el viento para tocar su oído.
De otro. Será de otro. Como antes de mis besos.
Su voz, su cuerpo claro. Sus ojos infinitos.
Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero tal vez la quiero.
Es tan corto al amor, y es tan largo el olvido.
Porque en noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos,
mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.
Aunque ésta sea el último dolor que ella me causa,
y éstos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Rafting trip

So I survived my two day rafting trip through the jungle.
I am so glad I decided to go. The trip was amazing. I do not have pictures to upload yet but I am working on it. Gorgeous, the whole way was just gorgeous. I mostly enjoyed the jungle canyon, waterfalls, and tropical birds flying overhead…… and the level four rapids. The guides were awesome and very good at their job. One guy fell out of our boat early on and by the time I thought “oh shit he is in the water” the guide had already jumped over all our gear and pulled him back in the boat. I went with a great group of people too, a lot of really good paddlers. One guy had been rafting all over the world and said this trip was in at least his top five. I think it moved up the ranks through out the trip though.
Our campsite for the night was a little "beach" that we had to be prepared to leave at any moment should the water level rise. I was sure we would have to pick everything up in the middle of the night and hike into the jungle because it kept raining. We did not have to though thank god. It would have been a bitch and a half to hike with all our gear.
All of the big rapids were the first day, but we still had some pretty awesome moments and ways to keep things interesting our second day. For example, sitting on the front of the raft and trying to hold on through some level three rapids. I also got to enjoy a couple of nice swims throughout the day. When the water was calm I usually just jumped off the boat and swam about till I had to be pulled in for the next rapid ride.
By the end of the second day we were all rather sore and a little sunburned.
To wrap up the trip we ate dinner at the marquis, Tena's fancy restaurant that has sloths just hanging around in the thatch work. Got to see two of them. Restaurant knows how to entertain its dinner guests.
The next day the other two volunteers and I probably should have taken the day off. Everything hurt. Great improvements today though. I can walk without pain and stairs are only a minor challenge.
Despite the recovery processing I recommend this trip for anyone who makes their way down to Ecuador. Provided of course they come during season. Next weekend is the last trip before the rain makes it too dangerous.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

my life these days

hey guys

sorry i haven't written in awhile. I am back living in Archidona and working in Tena. It takes about 40 minutes and 2 buses to get from home to work, but I enjoy the trip. My view along the way is the jungle and Andean foothills so can’t complain.

I am working in the hospital in Tena with a program called pedi-habilidad. They work with kids 0 to 12 with disabilities and illness like cerebral palsy. I help out the physical therapist when they need me and translate once in awhile. In addition to this I am going to start doing some work in the medical records area comparing charts and in general tidying things up a bit if I can. The more boring office type stuff will only be two afternoons out of the week.

I think I have formulated an idea for the final 40 page paper I have to write. Its all very up in the air right now but I would like to write a proposal for expanding the program to other rural areas in the country. We will see how this develops.

In other news I am going on a two day rafting trip this weekend. It the second to last one of the season before the rains get too unpredictable. Really excited about it, mostly for the part where we go rafting through a cave. I will be sure to write about the trip as soon as i can.

Last weekend i worked as a volunteer at a festival celebrating the Napo river. It was a great weekend. We spent Saturday at a little down about 30 min east of tena called Misahaullí. This town is FILLED with monkeys. Seriously, they were everywhere climbing trees, climbing light posts, stealing food, and going into people’s boats. I loved just hanging out and watching their crazy antics.
But i did not have too much time for this. As a volunteer we carried around rafts and set up about a dozen tents for the days activities. Two of the other volunteers and I sat a the info booth for a little awhile before deciding to join one of the teams for the rafting race. The race was held on level two rapids and at the end you had to flip over your boat and get back in before paddling to shore. It was exhausting. We won second the first round and couldn’t flip our boat back over for the second round. hahaha
I spent the night in Misahaullí hanging out and meeting some new people from all over the place. Cause I was a volunteer i got free meals and a free night at a pretty nice hostel. Good deal.
I am definitely going back to Misahaullí if only to hang out on the beach and watch the monkeys wrestle in the trees, which i guess is really all there is to do there when there is no festival going on.

so yes, my life in a nutshell right now consists of a week of routine with weekends of adventure.

oh and I must add….no snow or sub zero temps....sorry guys

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

some random pics for ya

Tena, home, sweet home
Felipe swinging off a rope into the tena river

Panama Jade, Pirate, backpacker emily...the heat gets to you here sometimes

me with new hair and ruth




new hair again and rachel






semester over....

monografia is done. 22 page paper in spanish entitled "the affects of globalization and capitalism of fish farming, cacao, and governmental projects in the province of Napo, Ecuador"...not entirely sure if that makes sense in english, but there you have it. I managed to relate all my random work days and experience into one coherent paper. personally...i think i deserve a cookie and a gold star. hahaha
next semester i will be living with the same family and working in the tena hospital. i also get to write another monografia...i cant wait ;)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Procrastinating

yo,
so, two weeks left in the program. really should get started on that monografia and presentation thus i am writing on my blog. left my flash at home so killing time till i go interview a guy at the municipality at 3pm. gonna go pretend i know what i am writing about, which i dont cause i had no real internship. hahaha
in other news....
rafting last saturday was awesome. 38 km through the rainforest. gorgeous!!! probably one of the most beautiful places i have ever been. wish i had pics. gonna try and get some from the company.
went back to quito for our big thankgiving party. it was weird being back in quito. cold for one, and there was so many...people, stores…everything. felt like i was in the US again for a day. best thing about the visit was that i got to get really clean and shave my legs in a nice indoor shower.
spent about 24 hours in quito before heading to the coast with 5 other girls from cimas. went to tonsupa by atacames in esmeraldas province. chilled out on the beach for a whole day. swam in the ocean with some crazy fun waves. stayed in a very...interesting hostel. still had a balcony with and ocean view so cant complain. and we got running water during the day at least hahaha. saturday night my friend nichole and i started the long journey back to el oriente. took 7 hour bus ride from esmeraldas to quito at 10pm. we were aided in finding the bus station by moron missionaries from utah.
once in quito at 445 am we ate a lovely breakfast of grilled cheese and nescafe at a lovely bus station diner and caught a bus to tena at 530 and we back in tena by 1130. spent the rest of the day hanging out with my host family and jumping off a cliff into the tena river. crashed at 8pm and did not move until 6am when i went for a run. yup..there you have it. brief summary of the last week of my life. one of these days i will remember my flash drive and put up pics.