South America

Yesterday I went on my first run. After a week in Quito, I feel fully acclimatized and I was curious to see if I would feel a difference running at this altitude (2800 m / 9800 ft).  It wasn’t going to be an accurate test seeing as I haven’t run (I hate to admit this) in about six weeks. If I felt winded, it may be the altitude, or it could just as easily be that I’m little out of shape.

I planned my route ahead of time.  I wanted to run to el Parque Metropolitano.  This park is the largest urban park in South America at 1,376 acres (5.5 km²) (as reference, New York’s Central Park is 843 acres (341 ha). The park is located in northern Quito, on the hill of Bellavista behind Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa. The park is suited for mountain biking, walking, and running. Most of it is eucalyptus forest with trails, but there also are numerous sculptures on display. The park has four sites that can be used for picnics or barbecues, and the eastern section has a view of Cotopaxi, Antisana, and the Guayllabamba river basin. (Thanks Wikipedia.)

From the map, I figured it would take no more than a half hour to get to the park running a very easy pace.  I would then walk around the park a bit and then run back to the hostel.  I didn’t want to run more than one hour today since I haven’t been running for a while.  Off I went, dressed in my regular running clothes, equipped with my water skin, 5 bucks in case I needed to take a taxi, a business card of my hostel in case I got completely lost, and of course a map (thank goodness).  Sorry, didn’t take the camera so no pictures with this post.

I was pretty confident I knew where I was going as I had studied the map in advance, and I was getting quite familiar with the area north of our hostel.  Well, when I arrived at the first major intersection – a roundabout – I was completely perplexed.  There were about five major streets (I’m talking 4-6 lane boulevards) feeding into the roundabout.  Two problems:  which way do I go and how the heck do I cross this intersection with no traffic lights to help me.  I studied the map again and observed the traffic pattern for a while to figure out how to cross without getting hit (pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in this city).  This became the norm at every major intersection thereafter.  Stop.  Study the traffic pattern – sometimes for two cycles of lights just to figure out when it might be safe to cross.  Then run, literally, across the street.  The streets in Quito are not laid out squarely – they curve, they criss-cross, they turn into other streets.  It’s quite confusing.  At least it is to me. And drivers rarely yield to pedestrians.  If you’re in their way, they’ll be sure to let you know with a friendly, or not-so-friendly honk.

I was running a nice and easy pace and for about ten minutes it was very flat.  I felt great.  Legs were fresh (no surprise there) and my breathing was easy.  But then the terrain changed to one great big hill.  The park is afterall at the top of a hill.  This is a dream location if you want to do hill training.  As soon as I began to ascend, I quickly became short of breath and got a headache immediately.  This didn’t surprise me as I get winded just going up a flight of stairs here – I know it is the altitude because I couldn’t be that out of shape so quickly, at least I hope not.

I kept going.  I ran a little, walked a little.  It was getting steeper and steeper.  One half hour in, and I still wasn’t at the park.  In fact, I was now in a more residential area high above the city (great views) looking west, down at the city below with the mountains behind.  The streets were quite deserted in this area and I wasn’t exactly sure how to get into the park.  I wasn’t quite lost, as I could see some trees way above me which I figured must be the park but it was still a ways to go.

At this point, I decided to turn back mainly because I wasn’t feeling secure about being alone in this area without knowing exactly where I was going.  It may have been fine, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.  Besides, I had reached the half-way point in my run so it was time to turn back anyways.

I managed to make my way down the hill to Carolina Park – the park I walked through the other day.  I enjoyed the rest of my run on the flat running path that traverses the park.  I hadn’t seen the entire park yesterday so enjoyed the opportunity to run it from one end to the other.  I was surprised to see an airplane, yes a real airplane (not sure what kind – it had two propellers on each side) parked in the park.  I have no idea why.  Wish I had my camera with me, it would have made a great shot seeing as it was plastered in graffiti.

I returned to the hostel, satisfied with my run.  Total time:  1 hour 15 minutes.  Total distance:  No idea.

The top three dangers when running in Quito (in my humble opinion) and my advice for dealing with them (based on my one run):

1.  Traffic:  Never, never enter an intersection before looking in every single direction.  At lights, make sure you understand the traffic pattern before entering the intersection.  It may look like it’s safe to go, but look out, there’s a lane turning right in front of you! Better yet, latch onto a local and go when they go.

2.  Sidewalks:  Not only are there potholes and cracks and loose cement, the sidewalks are not flat, they go up and down unexpectedly.  And be mindful of all the dog s*** – they clearly don’t have any by-laws to keep the sidewalks clean.  I want to know what Ecuadorian dogs are eating as I have never seen such huge piles of s*** before.

3.   Altitude: Finally, the effects of altitude are very real and should not be minimized.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to go running if you haven’t properly acclimatized. Like anything respect your limits and listen to your body.  There’s no shame in walking up a hill that is practically vertical and that increases your altitude in every step.

This afternoon, I decided to walk to Carolina Park. We passed by this park last Saturday when we took the bus to Otavalo and at the time I was very surprised by the size of the park and by the number of people in it, not to mention all the runners. The park was about ten minutes north of our hostel straight down Rio Amazonas.

La Carolina is a 165.5-acre park in the centre of the Quito main business area, bordered by the avenues Río Amazonas, de los Shyris, Naciones Unidas, Eloy Alfaro, and de la República. This park started from the expropriation of the farm La Carolina in 1939. The design of the park was made by the Dirección Metropolitana de Planificación Territorial (DMPT). Pope John Paul II headed a great mass in the park during his visit to Ecuador in 1985. A giant cross has been built in this place.

I began my walk around 2:30 in the afternoon. The traffic was so heavy you would have thought it was rush hour.  Just crossing an intersection can be tricky business.  Often there is no pedestrian signal.  So you must guess when it is safe to go.  If you’re in someone’s way, they will be sure to honk you.

We have a view of these mountains from our hostel room.

 

 

Within a block of our humble hostel sits this grand J.W. Marriott Hotel.  Quito is a city of contrasts.  As I continued, the area became more and more upscale.  Beautiful condominiums lined the street. The shops were a little classier, and of course, more expensive.

 

 

 

 

Even in this posh neighbourhood, condo prices were downright cheap by Canadian standards.

 

 

 

 

Graffiti is everywhere in Quito.

But notice the bike path – cycling and jogging are very popular here. Every Sunday, Rio Amazonas, a major thoroughfare that runs North – South, is closed to traffic and open to cyclists and runners.  Reminds me of Ottawa.

 

 

A sculpture of a bull in front of a large office tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a large, modern shopping mall that would have rivalled any in Canada.  Once inside this three-story shopping Mecca, I could have been anywhere.  It reminded me of both the Eaton Centre in Toronto and Bayshore in Ottawa.  There were many familiar stores in the mall and the prices were equally familiar – no deals in this place.  It made me wonder: who besides tourists could afford such luxuries? And yet, I was the only tourist in sight!  Clearly not all Ecuadorians are earning $300 per month.

 

 

 

 

 

My first impression of the park:  it’s huge and empty.

 

 

 

 

 

Football (soccer) is very popular here.  There was a game on yesterday afternoon and many restaurants in our neighbourhood were advertising the game.  Even our school organized a “field trip” to watch the game somewhere.

 

 

 

The Botanical Gardens are within the park.  Our school has planned an excursion here tomorrow afternoon.  Chris and I have signed up to go.  These excursions cost a few dollars each and students are accompanied by a teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

This beats work any day!

 

 

 

 

A large skate board park, covered in graffiti.

All school children where uniforms.  We have observed so many different colours of uniforms that we are wondering if every school has its own.  Notice the uniforms the girls are wearing in this photo.

 

 

 

A school bus.

Notice how the people are dressed. This is the typical attire I see everywhere – dark jackets, jeans and the young girls wear slouch boots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This area seems to be thriving, with new construction all around.  This building caught my attention as these construction workers were manually hauling rods of metal to the top floor.

 

 

 

 

 

In case you were wondering, gas costs $1.40 per gallon.

The vendor in the foreground is very typical – street vendors are everywhere.  But they are not aggressive.

 

 

 

 

And that’s it for my walk in the park.  Hope you were able to get a sense of the area from the pictures and descriptions.  And I hope I haven’t crashed any computers with all these images on one page.

 

Today I was solo as Chris has been hit with a case of gastro – at least that is what we think it is. We ate exactly the same things yesterday, but by the end of the day, he was finished – fever, headache, body aches, and of course diarrhea.  Relax, that’s all the details I’m giving.

Let’s just say, the little drugstore I packed for this trip has come in handy.  That being said, everything I brought down – Advil, Tylenol, Advil Cold & Sinus, Immodium, Benadryl, Gravol – is readily available at the local grocery store – at a fraction of the cost.  I’m talking name brand drugs.  For instance, you could buy a bottle of 24 Advil for under two bucks.  We haven’t been in a pharmacy yet, but I imagine there would be an even bigger selection, and most likely even cheaper drugs than in the grocery store. Continue reading…

Today we decided on our Spanish school and signed up for a week of one-on-one lessons – 20 hours each.  There is a plethora of Spanish schools in Quito and it can be a daunting chore to research all the options available and an even more daunting task to make a decision.  Our job was made easy because of a casual conversation over breakfast this morning.

After spending another day playing tourist yesterday, this time in Quito’s Centro Historico (also known as Old Town), we decided that today we must focus on finding a school and deciding on our accommodations.  We’ll share more about our afternoon in Old Town later, along with some amazing pictures.

Today we planned to spend the day researching and visiting the top three or four schools we could find that met our criteria: the school must be professional with a good reputation.  Originally we had thought we would stay in Quito to study Spanish for a month but we have since changed our minds (we’re allowed you know).  We are anxious to get out of this large city to start exploring the country side which is more our style.  So, we’ve decided to take a week, maybe two of lessons here in Quito before we move on.

Breakfast (included with our room) is served in a common dining room. Each morning we meet different people and exchange basic information:  Where are you from? How long are you in Ecuador?  (I love the reaction when I answer that question with – oh, for a while, not sure how long.) What have you seen/done? What are you doing today? It’s a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and there is no end to the interesting people we meet.

Today we met Tom and Lynn and their one year old son Kaj.  They are a young, thirty-something couple who broke free from their conventional lives in the US (their words, not ours) a few years ago and have settled on the coast of Ecuador.  Trained as scientists, they worked in the area of water quality before turning to property development.  They are currently working on a 30 unit condominium project.  They are having the time of their lives.  Near the end of our breakfast, we casually mentioned we were looking for a Spanish school today and they suggested we consider a school a friend of theirs had recently attended and had highly recommended.

After breakfast they emailed us the name of the school, we looked it up, called the school director via Skype and then headed over to check it out.  It was a mere ten minute walk from our hostel.  The school director, Andrew Kirby greeted us at the door and took us on a tour.  He explained how the school was created as a way to raise funds for the Yanapuma Foundation, a non-profit organization “driven by the enthusiasm of its national and international staff and volunteers to work towards the realization of its vision of marginalized communities achieving equity and well-being, ecological, social and economic sustainability, and developing a sense of the uniqueness of their culture and place in the global context.”

Andrew explained the school’s teaching methodology (a holistic approach focused on all facets of communication – speaking, listening, comprehension, reading and writing) and invited us to chat with present students while they took their morning break.  He described the volunteer opportunities that are available and he told us his story of how he came to Ecuador 7 years ago on vacation and has never left!

We loved the idea that our school fees would be used to better the lives of the locals through the many projects sponsored by this foundation.  We admired the lofty goals of this foundation and its core values.  We liked the comfortable, relaxed atmosphere of the classroom, and the teaching methodology in use.  We signed up right then and there.  Lesson #1 begins tomorrow morning at 9:00.

We haven’t decided on our accommodations yet.  We can stay in the current hostel, or do a home stay where you live with a local family.  We’ll figure that out next.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, dancing a jig;
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog;
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.
~Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme

Otavalo is a town in the province of Imbabura, about 110 kilometers north of Quito. It is renowned for its market – the most economically important craft market in all of South America. On Saturday, the main market day, one third of the town becomes full of stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewelry, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted platters and trays, purses, clothing, spices, raw foods, spools of wool, animals, and almost anything else you can think of.

Yesterday we travelled to Otavalo to experience this market first hand.  We had the choice of travelling with a guided group for about $30 each, or travelling by bus on our own.  We decided to venture out on our own, equipped with some basic instructions on how to get there.  Remember, we don’t speak Spanish yet….but what better way to learn than to dive right in!

Finding the bus station

First step was to get to the Carcelen bus station.  Again we had a few choices – private car through our hostel for $10, taxi for $5 or local bus for 25 cents which we could catch at the end of our street.  Seemed simple enough.  But which bus?  The buses don’t have numbers and they all said “Carcelen something or other” on their sign.  We let a few buses go by as we tried to decipher the Spanish signs displayed in the front window.  Finally I just flagged a bus down and asked “Carcelen bus station?”  The bus driver stared at me blankly, but his assistant (each bus has a driver and a guy who collects the fare), said something in Spanish and nodded his head.  That looked promising, so we hopped onto the bus quickly as he was already starting to leave.  Bus fare is .25 per person.

The bus ride took us through the city to the North.  This was our first real glimpse of the city beyond our neighbourhood.  We were surprised by the number of American fast food joints – MacDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Tony Roma’s. Business owners were opening up their shops – unlocking large padlocks that secured their premises.  Trucks full of oranges were setting up on every block – $1.00 for a bag of 20 oranges.

We were motioned to get off the bus at what looked like a bus station – except it wasn’t the Carcelen bus station – doh!  Luckily we met up with another group of travelers who were also trying to find their way to Otavalo (four were from the UK and one from Israel we later learned) and a couple of the girls in the group could speak Spanish.  Turns out we were at the Ofelia bus station and we now needed to catch another bus to the Carcelen bus station.  Once at that station, it was very clearly marked where to buy your ticket ($2.00 each) and where to find the bus.  It would be another two hours or so before we reached Otavalo.

The bus ride to Otavalo

This inter-city bus was a step up from the regular city bus.  Comfy, reclining red velvet seats, curtains on the windows, and even a TV at the front of the bus.  They played an American film (Unstoppable) – Spanish with English sub-titles.  It wasn’t quite as nice as a Voyageur bus, but pretty close.  We settled in for the ride, our knapsack securely on our laps.  We had been warned never to put our bags in the overhead compartment or on the floor – as it was common practice to steal the bags from above, or to cut open the bags on the floor and steal the contents unbeknownst to the owner.

Up and down we went as we traversed the Andes mountains, mesmerized by the beautiful vistas all around.  The trip was pleasant and uneventful – just the way we like it.

The market

Otavalo was a much larger city than I had imagined.  As the bus made its way through the busy streets to the bus station, we caught glimpses of the market stalls that seemed to have sprouted on every inch of sidewalk available.  Street upon street of vendors – everywhere you looked – vendors were selling everything imaginable.

As we left the bus station, we thanked our fellow travellers for their help and made our way into the center of town on our own.   We were only browsing, so we just glanced at the merchandise for sale as we passed by each stall.  Any subtle pause in our step would prompt the vendor to start offering his wares to us.  It was better to just keep moving slowly.  Thankfully, the vendors were not aggressive at all, and pretty much left us alone.

There were very few tourists at the market, probably because this is low season.

The market population was primarily locals of which many are indigenous people who were easily identified by their traditional dress.  The men wear blue ponchos, fedoras, white calf-length knickers and the ashimba, a long braid that hangs down their back.  Women were dressed in white blouses adorned with bright embroidery, blue skirts and shawls.  Beautiful jewellery – strands of gold beads around the neck, gold dangly earrings, and red coral bracelets seemed to be the standard amongst the women.

We meandered through the market, munching on some buns we purchased from a street vendor.  We debated whether or not to eat the street food – something we opted not to do this time (we hope to go back) as we weren’t sure how our stomachs would handle it.  You could buy a full plate of food – meat, potatoes, rice, vegetables – for as little as a dollar.

Fried pork – fritado – was a speciality . . . and there was no shortage of pigs to choose from!  Lunch anyone?

As we were heading back to the bus station, I noticed a group of “gringos” across the street all wearing funning looking hats that had obviously been bought at the market.  I remarked to Chris something like – they sure look like gringos over there….hey, wait a minute, those are our gringos from the bus!  What were the odds we would run into them again amidst the crowded market.  Chris took the opportunity to take their picture and we got their email address to send it to them.

Return to Quito

The bus back to Quito was a little more run down – the seats were more worn, most of the windows didn’t open, and while there was a T.V. at the front, there was no movie this time around.  Clearly, not all buses are of the same standard.  We did get the chance to meet a young lad from Germany who spoke excellent English.  Kevin had been travelling throughout Ecuador for the past 2 months and was enjoying his last day in the country before heading home where he would begin his first year of University, studying Physics.  You learn a lot about a person during a 2 hour bus ride.  He had arrived with no Spanish whatsoever, and after a month of Spanish lessons was quite conversational.  He shared many tips and stories with us on the way back to Quito.  He kindly helped us find our way through the maze of buses at the bus station and we all travelled back into Quito together on the trolley – a much faster route than the one we did in the morning.

Computer… initiate web blog ‘chris’… stardate 2011.09.08…

Hello World!  Welcome to my first ever blog posting!

WOW.  Did getting to this point in time ever take some work!

The jury is still out on whether or not we’re totally off our rocker for selling our cozy comfy home, selling/storing/giving away our stuff, and embarking on this potentially amazing journey into to great unknown… but I’ve got a feeling the verdict will be favourable!

This process has been a real whirlwind, from the initial stages of contemplating the general idea, allowing ourselves to dream it was possible, to making the big decision and taking the multitude of steps needed to realize this moment… it’s taken a whole lot of work to get here…physically, mentally and emotionally… it’s understandable why most sane people chose not to embark on a path like ours… it’s hard, hard work on multiple levels, and puts you way out of your comfort zone.

It’s not easy deciding to give up the safety and security of your ‘home’, your ‘community’, your ‘life’… and deciding instead to ‘shake things up a little bit’, to ‘dare to dream’… but be forewarned… once you plant that seed, you might be surprised what sprouts up!

I’m not entirely sure what the next little while will bring, however I do know this… I’m greatful to Christina for planting the seed, allowing us to ‘dream’ of the possibilities, and for having the courage (aka ‘cahonas’) to challenge the norm… envisioning something radically different.

Update… September 11th, 2011

Ten years.  A DECADE.  It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone by, and it re-affirms the general idea of ‘Carpe Diem’… life is short, life is fragile, and you never know when your time is up!  My time could have easily ‘been up’, had my NYC contract NOT ended the Thursday before the towers came down… I more than likely would have gone down with them, as did so many of my former colleagues.  My thoughts are with them today… their lives were cut way too short.

We are beginning to get our bearings here in Quito.  It’s difficult to get around when you are directionally challenged (as I can be), and your spouse with a ‘keen sense of direction’ does not have a proper map, and, your knowledge of Spanish allows you to confidently order beer and/or eggs, and not much more!  Thus, on our first day here, we embarked on a ‘dis-orientation’ tour around our hostel, and ended up exploring a totally different area than anticipated.  Images of a bickering couple attempting to navigate their way through some foreign land on ‘The Amazing Race’ comes to mind… mental note… trust my wife’s keen sense of direction… in a past life it’s entirely possible she was a homing pigeon.

 

 

 

Today we are flying to Quito, Ecuador.  The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as we completed our work, said our final good-byes to friends and family, and wrapped up all the loose ends of our lives.  We were overwhelmed with the sincere expressions of kindness from friends and family alike as they extended their hospitality and contributed to plumping us up before we left!

Recently, many have asked how I am feeling about what lies ahead.  Am I anxious? Worried? Nervous?  No, No and No.  Rather, I feel an inner peace that has come from a sense of certainty that this is exactly what I need to be doing at this time in my life.  Each day I awake feeling alive and excited about the adventure ahead. . . .

Ok, I must now confess.  I started this entry a couple of days ago and that is how I felt then.  Today, on the day of departure, the situation has changed dramatically.  Both Chris and I awoke with our stomachs in knots feeling intense fear and anxiety to the point we both felt physically sick to our stomachs.  I can’t even find the words to describe the intensity of our emotions.    Chris described it in this way:  I feel like I’m standing on the edge of the highest diving board (like Tower 4 at the Nepean Sportsplex), looking down thinking, what the F*** am I doing?

These feelings persisted all the way to the airport, through check-in and security.  By the time we reached the gate, with an extra large Timmies in hand (our last for a while!) we were managing our anxiety by using a technique that has served us well running marathons – to break the distance in small manageable chunks.  Nobody begins a marathon thinking – I have 42.2 kilometres ahead of me.  Instead, you think of the first 5, then the next 5, and so on.  And so we began telling ourselves we can come back in a month if we want and we joked that we could continue the blog as an exercise of our imagination from the comfort and security of Canada.   We’d just have to be careful not to be spotted at the mall!

But seriously,  we’re still feeling anxious and fearful as we await our plane.  I just hope we have the guts to board the plane!