No trip is complete without photos!!

Me 65 meters (~210 feet) up in the canopy overlooking the rainforest.

Chilling with Rocco by a sweet blue-tinted river.

The literal equator.

Traffic is much scarier in real life, and even better when crossing on foot.

The gang jumping for joy.

Soccer in Junín with some kids.

Swinging from a vine on a mountain in the rainforest/jungle: priceless.

No expedition is complete without the famous Ramiro as your guide!

Life Pt. II

            Hello again.  Welcome to my second talk about life in Ecuador and how it differs from the United States.  I would like to discuss two more interesting differences I noticed.  In Ecuadorian restaurants and with my host family, people are served their meals as they become ready, as opposed to the typical way in the U.S., where the plates are kept warm until they are all ready and brought out or served at the same time.  Here in Ecuador, at a restaurant or in a house, it is usual and certainly not offensive if you are the first or last in your group to receive your entrée.  In this way, in Ecuador, all people at the table seem to be equal regardless of serve time, whereas in the US the equal timing represents such equality.

            The second difference I will mention today is the number of outlets in rooms.  In two high-end hotels I stayed at while in Quito, outlets were scarce.  There was only 1 outlet in my first stay (which had two beds, so 1 plug per person), and only 2 outlets in my room in the second hotel (4 plugs).  In my room with my host family, I can only count 2 outlets on the entire 3rd floor, and only 1 of them is able to be used (and luckily I also have the necessary 3-prong to 2-prong adaptors).  I am used to my room at home with 6 plugs, or even my dorm room where there is the ridiculous 10 outlets, or 20 plugs.  Yes, I'm serious.  My 7' x 13' dorm room has 20 plugs.  I like newer buildings for this reason.  They keep up to date with the latest demands of our technological needs, and I love all my electronics.  I have lamps, clocks, a TV, a sound system, cell phone chargers, computer plugs, and an electric keyboard.

            Well, over and out, folks!  See you next time.

~The Matthew

Life Pt. I

            Welcome to my first blog about Ecuador.  I am going to describe two differences I noticed between Ecuador (specifically the cities of Quito and Cuenca, where I have been so far) and the United States.  One of the major surprises was seeing so many types of vehicles.  By this I mean that there are many automobile makers that I have never seen before I arrived in Quito.  I thought I was well-versed in "car knowledge", but not only are there companies I had never heard of, like Chery and Great Wall, but there are models of cars from American automotive companies that are not sold in the United States.  An example of this is the Chevy Spark, which is similar to the Aveo.  In Ecuador, compact cars like the Chevy Spark and Aveo, Fiat 500, and others are very common.  Whenever I would take a taxi it was either a Chevy Aveo or an old Nissan Sentra.  Both are quaint small cars, as my friend in the US owns an Aveo and my family used to have a 1990 Sentra.

            The most interesting surprise for me in Ecuador was with the water treatment system.  Their facilities are not made for handling ... toilet paper.  For this reason, there is a small wastebasket next to every toilet.  The septic system is not equipped to handle the structure of toilet paper, and so there are usually signs in tourist-area restrooms that tell the patron not to flush the paper, and instead to properly dispose of it in the basket next to him or her.  This idea was very different to me, as I was definitely not used to wiping my behind and then letting it fester in a pile on top of other soiled toilet paper from the people before me.  I would imagine that it is for this reason it is hard to keep the smell down in bathrooms (baños in Spanish).  I will not miss this when I return to the US.  I'm glad the US is equipped to handle toilet paper.  I will gaze happily down at the toilet as my toilet paper is sucked away... and the smell along with it!



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Great_Wall_logo.png

Great Wall Motors logo, a Chinese company


And Chery Automobile logo, also a Chinese company 


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Chery_Automobile.png