I'm back in the US, and I still have a few more stories to tell about my semester in Ecuador. I haven't been blogging because my computer crashed but I just got it back today (thank you magical Apple people! Since a picture is worth 1,000 words and videos are a bunch of pictures put together really quickly (or something like that), here's a video that I produced with a friend - an overview of the best semester of my life.
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The end of one adventure is just the beginning of another, right?
If the last three and a half months have passed this quickly, then the next two weeks will be over before I can even finish writing this blog post. I have been in Cuenca since January 19, and in Ecuador since January 12, and it is hard to believe that in less than two weeks I will be starting my journey back to the United States. My first stop will be in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, where I will spend about a week and a half teaching computer assisted reporting to (what I have been told will be) a group of students, professors and professional journalists. I'm nervous about translating what I learned less than a year ago to a group of strangers in a language that I am still definitely not fluent in, but I'm also very excited for this opportunity. So, thank you Aimee, Consuelo and everyone else who is helping a second-year journalism student teach CAR internationally, for believing in me. After teaching and spending some time being a tourist in Quito, I'll head back to Ohio by way of a 7-hour layover in Miami, FL. There are so many "Cuencanisms" and other small cultural differences that will probably add up to a significant shock to my system when I get back. Luckily for me, this is apparently completely normal and actually very common. Reverse culture shock, which is exactly what it sounds like, often hits harder than the initial culture shock of traveling. I attended a charla (mini-seminar type thing) this week about reverse culture shock and how to handle it, which honestly just made me depressed about going home. However, I now know more of what to expect and how to handle it. Obviously this experience is different for everyone, but I think that in today's world with easy communication (Skype is my best friend!) the culture shock experience isn't as great because keeping up with family and friends while overseas is much easier. But who knows... I guess I'll find out in a few weeks. In the meantime, I have started compiling a list of small things that either bothered me when I arrived, still bug me a bit, or that I know will be weird experiences when I get back to the United States. Here are my top 10 items, in no particular order:
THIS POST ALSO APPEARED ON THECOLLEGETOURIST.COM There are four major groups of indigenous people in Ecuador who still practice traditions and customs dating back to when the Incan people ruled the land. As of last weekend, I have visited all four. The Cañari people, who used to reside at/near Ingapirca, the site of the oldest Incan ruins in Ecaudor, were the only group who lived in harmony with the Incas instead of under their rule. Nowadays, the site of Ingapirca is a tourist destination. Though not as large or, in my opinion, great, as Machu Picchu in Peru, a sizable part of the Temple of the Sun is still standing at Ingapirca. This temple was constructed so that on solstices, the sun would shine directly through the door at a certain time during the day. I don’t know how the people who planned the construction of this site knew which way the door openings should face, seeing as I can barely figure out North, East, South and West without a compass, but it really is incredible. The architecture of Ingapirca is similar to that of Machu Picchu — stones carved together to fit exactly. Machu Picchu’s architecture is smoother because the Incas were there for a longer amount of time than they were in this particular valley, but there are still a lot of similarities between the two sites. The Salasaca people, who continue their traditions and customs in the northern part of Ecuador, are known for their textiles. I visited Salasaca for part of a day to learn about the textiles and some of the dancing there. Though I didn’t have a lot of time to experience the culture in this particular area, I was able to try some of the food, visit a workshop to learn how to make tapestries and shawls, and to dance with some of the people. The Otavalos, who are also located near Quito in the northern part of Ecuador, were the first group of indigenous people that my study abroad group visited. In this day and age, Otavalo is known for its Saturday Market, in which a solid 10 blocks are filled with vendors selling their wares. Unfortunately I didn’t make it there on a Saturday, but on other days the market is still very sizable. Goods range from textiles, such as blankets and jungle pants, to leather (belts and some bags), artwork (a lot of painted pieces…paint mixed from different plants and foods, or so the man who tried to sell me a very large painting of a flower, said), and traditional clothes, which includes a lot of beaded items. The town of Otavalo, in the center of which is this market, is a touristy town and most of the indigenous people actually live in the mountains around the center. The final group of indigenous people I have visited while studying abroad in Ecuador this semester are the Saraguros. This was my trip last weekend — to Saraguro, a town about four hours away from Cuenca. The town itself appears pretty modern — buildings with electricity, pharmacies with pills instead of just natural medicines, and small stores that sold foods as similar as oreos and as unique as a few things I don’t even know how to describe. However, the biggest difference that I noticed when we went here (besides the “frigid” temperatures in the mid-40s for which none of us were properly dressed) was the prevalence of indigenous dress. Many people, even in indigenous communities (that I remember), wear jeans and could blend into a crowd in Cuenca. Or at the very least, children weren’t in traditional dress. However, even the children in Saraguro were wearing traditional clothes. For females, this includes a black skirt, a blouse, a shawl that goes over one shoulder and under the other, several different necklaces (all with some sort of significance, of course) and often a few wrap-type-things around their waist where the skirt meets the blouse (always tucked in). As I learned in Otavalo a couple months ago, the different wraps are meant to protect any babies (if a woman is pregnant) and just her reproductive health in general. Visiting these people, and living in Ecuador in general, has shown me how well culture can be preserved. In primary and secondary school, I learned about different indigenous groups but at this point, I feel like I know more about the history and culture of a country I have been in for a few months than I do about my own country. Obviously, with about a decade of American History under my belt, I do know a lot about my own country's history...at least since the Revolutionary War era. However, living abroad in a country that has thousands of years of rich culture and history that is still visible today in close-to-original form has made me realize how little I know of my own home, and is an experience that I recommend for everyone.
THIS POST ALSO APPEARED ON THECOLLEGETOURIST.COM Last Saturday, I got separated from my hiking group in the middle of El Cajas, a national park about an hour away from where I am living in Cuenca this semester. Why did I get lost? I ditched the path to climb up part of a mountain to take photos a few llamas/alpacas nearby. Was it a stupid idea? Maybe. Was it totally worth it? Absolutely! Cajas, as well as the rest of Ecuador is home to hundreds of different species of plants and animals. The biodiversity in Ecuador from the Andes to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and everything in between makes it one of the most diverse countries in the world, especially for its size. A couple weeks ago, I went to a presentation about el medio ambiente, or the environment in Ecuador given by an American who has lived and worked in Ecuador for the past 10 years. Catherine Schlogel came to talk with my spring semester study abroad group after classes one day and her lecture has inspired me to learn more about the environment, something that before now, I was barely interested in. Here is some information about the environment in Ecuador specifically, that she shared with us. Instead of breaking Ecuador into different ecosystems, Ms. Schlogel explained Ecuador in terms of ecoregions, or geographical groups made up of various ecosystems, for lack of a better explanation. The four groups in Ecuador are the "oriente" (Amazon rainforest), Sierra (Andes mountains), la costa (the coast-Pacific) and los Galapagos (the Galapagos Islands off the Pacific coast). The first, and probably the most widely known region of Ecuador, are the Galapagos Islands. These islands were formed around the same time as Hawaii, with the help of an underwater hotspot and the shifting of tectonic plates. The Galapagos are oceanic volcanic islands about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, and more are continually being formed because one tectonic plate is moving toward South America but the hotspot that created the rest of the islands does not move. The 13 primary islands are known primarily for their endemic species and incredibly diverse marine population. The Galapagos has a mix of cold and warm water current (Humbolt current), coming from Antarctica and Panama, respectively. This is a major cause for some of the species on the island. For example, there are penguins running around on the island. They are a lot smaller than typical penguins you would see at a Zoo in the United States, or actually in Antarctica for that matter. There are many species of bird, and gigantic turtles. The evolution of species found on the islands is independent because they are separated by water. Some species evolve quickly on one island, but might not evolve at the same rate or in the same way on a neighboring island. However, in general, the evolution of plants and animals on the island is quite rapid -- a single El Niño (weather pattern that changes the temperature of the currents in the area and can help create hurricanes and other weather issues) or wet/dry season can start to change the beak of finches on the islands. Unfortunately I was not able to visit the Galapagos Islands during my study abroad trip, but I hope to return to Ecuador to see the biodiversity and beauty of the islands someday. Moving eastward, the coast is the next ecoregion found in Ecuador. If the name didn't already give its location away, the coast is the beach and the area immediately surrounding it as you move inland. I was able to visit the coast, but for the most part I stayed on the beach because the area I was in was completely sand with not a lot of vegetation until you moved farther inland. This is partially due to the fact that I was in a touristy town, and also because I decided to take advantage of the fact that I could see the beach from my hostel... Regardless of what I saw or didn't see, the coastal areas of Ecuador are dryer in the southern part of the country than the northern part. The original coastline has also basically disappeared due to other environmental causes. Parts of the Ecuadorean coast still have mangroves, or a special tree species whose roots grow in salt water and that protect the coasts from natural disasters such as hurricanes. The coast is the warmest part of the country, though from personal experience I feel confident in saying that Guayaquil (3 hours by bus away from the part of the coast I visited) is significantly more humid. The next ecoregion is the Andes mountains, around the middle of the country. I live in Cuenca, one of the largest cities in Ecuador, which is nestled between the cordillera oriental and the cordillera occidental (two mountain chains). Cloud forests cover a significant portion of this ecoregion, and most of them are full of epiphytic plants, or plants that grow on other plants. The temperature in this area varies more than in the other ecoregions of Ecuador -- in Cuenca, it can be in the lower 50s (Fahrenheit) at night and in the 80s or higher during the day. Due to the vastness of open space in the mountains and a few other factors, there are probably thousands of unnamed species in the Andes region. Some things don't have names because scientists in the area haven't been able to classify them yet. The Andean spectacle bear, which is a small bear that looks like it is wearing glasses, is found in the cloud forests of these mountains, and is the largest carnivore in South America most likely to go extinct. The final ecoregion that Ms. Schlogel talked about was the Amazon rainforest, or the oriente. The majority of Ecuador's topography is part of this ecoregion, but only about 2 percent of the Amazon Basin is in Ecuador. The Amazon is a tropical rainforest, and the weather varies very little, mostly depending on the proximity of the area to the mountains. The soil in the majority of this ecoregion is very nutrient-poor, which causes tree roots to grow wide instead of deep, and also leads to the rapid recycling of leaves. There are a lot of animals native to this area, such as the three toed sloth, and there are two types of river in the area: white water and black/dark water. White water rivers are identified by their typically brown color- they come down from the Andes mountains and bring a lot of sediment along with them. Black/dark water rivers originate in the Amazon and have a lot of tannins in the water.
Despite the biodiversity and beauty of this country, there are several factors that could significantly threaten the existence of many species, particular in the Amazon ecoregion: human population change, climate change and consumer demand, to name three. The human population has increased significantly in recent years, by about half a million people per year. Climate change has affected ecosystems across the world, and if some species of trees can't spread their seeds and move north a couple hundred meters, or if humans don't move them, the species could die out. Those are both very important changes in Ecuador, but nothing is more influential or vital than the issue of consumer demand, especially when it comes to oil. There is a LOT of oil in the Amazon, and Ecuador has already sold all oil from elsewhere I'm the country to China through 2019. A few years ago, the government in Ecuador asked other governments around the world to basically pay this government not to drill for oil in the Amazon. They raised a very large sum of money, but unfortunately not enough to make up for what money the Ecuadorean government would lose by not drilling in the jungle. As of now, drilling hasn't started but there is a significant threat to the plants and animals that could be affected by this should the government decide to take action. THIS POST ALSO APPEARED ON THECOLLEGETOURIST.COM
"The Beach Photographer" -- My friend Jules snaps a photo of something while I catch her in the act. Though this photo was incredible in color, I decided on a black and white filter because it reminded me of an old National Geographic photo. Also, I am a sucker for black and white photography... Photo taken with an iPhone 4s | Kate Hiller 2014
Quick review: Since February 20, when I last blogged (sorry about the wait, by the way. I've been busy...), I took my first set of final exams for school, spent a week at the beach, and finally found high-quality hot cocoa in Cuenca. There isn't a lot to say about my vacation, so most of this post is photos... but first, here's why I don't have a Facebook album to go with my week at the Pacific Ocean.
Whenever I travel, especially abroad, my Nikon D7000 is always at my side. While I am here in Cuenca, I can't carry my camera at my side every day (mostly for safety reasons), and when I went to Montañita for spring break last week, I left it locked in a drawer in my room in Cuenca. Definitely an uncharacteristic maneuver. I was going to bring it (hello, beach photos! Gorgeousness all around!), but at the last minute I decided to step out from behind the lens and just live. Typing that out and rereading it made me realize how cheesy that sounds, but that doesn't make it any less true. I took my iPhone 4s with me to Montañita...let's be real, I need some sort of lens when I'm traveling...and it was one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. First of all, I barely used it anyway. There are about 20 photos on my Instagram account from the trip, and I'm okay with that. Secondly, I would have been absolutely paranoid about someone stealing it out of the room of my hostel, even though the room came with a safe, four different keys, and a dresser drawer that sometimes locked.
So I only used Instagram on this trip. It was definitely a different experience, since I usually have to take all photos through camera raw (I shoot in raw), but instead I could upload a few every day, wifi depending. Having the chance to take a break and live was a great experience, and there is no better place to do that than in Montañita -- it is one of the most relaxed and friendly beach towns I have ever heard of. The party scene is definitely prevalent ("cocktail alley" is exactly what it sounds like -- a line of cocktail stands leading to the beach), and everyone I met there was extremely nice. The food...well I could talk about food in Ecuador for months. Everything was fresh and inexpensive (compared to what it would cost in the US, at least). The hostel my friend and I stayed in had a communal kitchen instead of a restaurant, so we were able to buy a few groceries and cook our own food every day. We also did our fair share of purchasing empanadas, ice cream sandwiches and pizza from beach vendors, as well as having a few meals at local restaurants.
We also took the time to walk all the way down to the "point," or the thing sticking out in the water (see photo above) to take photos. Though I got soaked, fell over several times and almost broke my only pair of flip flops, I had an absolutely wonderful time. This time, my lovely friend Julianna brought her iPhone since mine doesn't always work when it is in a plastic bag, so I wasn't even worried about ruining mine. Which, granted, I wasn't actually worried about until we got there. (No worries, her phone is totally fine) Again, only via Instagram and an iPhone 4s, here are a few more photos. After all, a picture is worth 1,000 words...
I have not yet traveled enough to say that I am a particularly worldly person, but I desperately want to be. Living in Cuenca has shown me yet another way of life -- from the four churches (and one main/new cathedral) that I pass on my way to and from school every day, to the women layered in colored skirts who sell fruit in the markets, to the men and boys who whistle and cat-call as my friends and I walk past, I have new experiences and meet new people every day. I am still learning my way around the city, and if my bus makes a different turn, I still freak out a little inside even though I know I will end up in the right place. I have to wash my fruit and vegetables very well, and there are certain restaurants that I am not allowed to go to.
And yet, I feel as if I am home. Finally. Until I moved into a dormitory in Athens, Ohio towards the end of 2012, I only had memories of living in one city: Columbus, Ohio. Though it still does, and probably will always, feel like home, I have never been in love with a city. I traveled to New York City and claimed to have fallen in love with the bustle and the tall buildings, but that was merely infatuation. I spend time every summer at my grandparents' summer home in Ocean City, New Jersey, and while the small island feels like a second home, I only know how navigate because many of the streets are numbered. I have visited family throughout Ohio, and I spent last summer living in Dayton, Ohio with my dad, but I don't know enough of those cities to really love them. Perhaps Columbus, but at the same time, not really. I have only been in Cuenca for about a month now, but I love this city. I love the markets named after different important days in history; I love the uneven streets, most of which are actually stone or some sort of brick; I love seeing the blue domes of the New Cathedral as I walk through Parque Calderone; I love the $1 ice cream; I love the detail and artistry of the graffiti; I love the flower market near the cathedral; I love how I can see the mountains no matter where I am walking because no skyscrapers are in the way. I don't like the lack of books, or the fact that those here cost roughly two to three times as much as they do in the United States. The cat-calls and whistles will probably never end (I am a gringo, after all), and I don't know if I will ever be able to buy fruit on a corner and just eat it right then without getting sick. But none of those things matter because for the first time in my life, I truly feel at home in a city. I am nowhere near being fluent in the local language (though I am improving every day!), and I can't even read the local newspapers...yet I almost feel more comfortable here than I ever have been elsewhere. Perhaps I am still stuck in the "honeymoon" phase of studying abroad, in which "everything is incredible and the people are fantastic and I wish I could be here forever!" Perhaps I will end up despising this beautiful city by the time I start my airport-hop home. I don't think so though. I feel at home and I already want to start planning my return trip...not that I know when I'll be able to afford it. To my family members who are reading this -- don't freak out just yet. I still have two years of college left in the US when I get back, and who knows where I will be headed when that is over. But I love this city, and unless something absolutely horrible happens in the next few months, I will most likely be coming back at some point in my life...so consider this your fair warning, I guess. Let me repeat...I can see the mountains from anywhere in the city. Wouldn't you like to live somewhere this beautiful, too? I have been in Cuenca for a month and I have already been sick twice. Several of my friends from the US messaged me on Facebook -- "You're the only person I know who would get sick living that close to the equator!" Yes, I guess I must have magical powers of sickness. The first illness I had in Ecuador was most likely caused by the ash from Tungurahua, a volcano located in central Ecuador, that erupted on February 1, 2014. Though I can now brag that I was in a city blanketed in ash from a volcano that hadn't erupted in about 60 years before it welcomed me to Cuenca, being sick in Ecuador is especially unpleasant. NyQuil, DayQuil, etc. are not sold over the counter here -- in fact, one of the few medicines that you can get without seeing a doctor first is "flemex," otherwise known as standard cough medicine. Though it helps other symptoms as well (runny nose, sore throat, etc.) and tastes much better than liquid medicine does in the United States, not having access to NyQuil, aka the reason why I didn't die while living in the dorms, was rough. If you ever travel to Ecuador for an extended period of time, bring some. If you don't get sick, congrats, but if you do, you're welcome. With American Airlines and LAN (a South American airline -- another recommendation!), your checked baggage can have up to 70 ML of liquid in it, and NyQuil is top of my list for next time I come to South America (yes, I am determined to come back). Most medicines aren't sold over the counter here, and many times you have to go to a doctor ($30/visit with the insurance I have through school...thank you, Ohio University Office of Education Abroad!) to get a prescription. Another item that is typically sold everywhere that you have to ask for at a pharmacy in Cuenca is tissues. And if you want the kind WITHOUT lotion, make sure to ask for "pañuelos sin aroma." I learned this one the hard way the first time around. Though the aroma (I think it's a mix of vix vapor rub and flowery-smelling lotion) protected my nose from being rubbed raw, it is an overwhelming scent that I was glad to be rid of when I finally figured out how to ask for tissues without lotion. If you stay with a host family, chances are they won't have tissue boxes sitting around the house like many people in the US do, so you'll want to buy some when you get here. Unfortunately, they're more expensive here than they are in the US. A small box of tissues (see photo above) costs bout $2 and comes with 50 tissues. The second time I was sick, aka this past weekend through right now, was most likely due to food. Though I decided not to spend money on visiting a medical professional (yay self-diagnosis), after talking with my family in the US about my medical history and about their reactions to different types of food, I am fairly certain that the delectable Indian food I had at Taj Mahal, a restaurant on Calle Larga (literally, Long Street) in downtown Cuenca on Friday night was too strong for my stomach. It's a shame really, because that was some darn good food! Then again, it's not like the rest of what I ate this weekend was much better... A pig roasting on a spit in the market in Gualaceo. Photo is not the best that I could get, but I was definitely not about to get much closer to try for a better photo...though I did try a bite the innards and skin thanks to my lovely friends who laughed at my facial expressions the whole time. (Love you guys) On Saturday, I went back to Gualaceo for shoe shopping and to see a friend's Crossfit competition. The group of us, three gals from the CEDEI Spring Semester group and one guy we know who lives in Cuenca, had lunch at the same market the CEDEI group went to the weekend before when we spent about 15 minutes in the town. There is a whole row of pigs roasting on spits on the 2nd floor of this market (el mercado 25 de junio, perhaps? A lot of markets here are named after important dates...I live near el mercado 12 de abril, Cuencan Independence Day). I snuck this photo from my seat overlooking more raw meat on the first floor. Ick. For a vegetarian, this was definitely not the best place to be. However, since I am studying abroad, I am an "experimental vegetarian," which is my phrase for a vegetarian who is trying food in a foreign country because HELLO I'M IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, and I would like to experience as much of the culture here as possible. As you may have guessed, that is a whole pig on a spit. I could probably curl up in a ball and be about the same size. Anyway, I tried some of the pig. And some of its skin, which my friend Andres described as "like potato chips" (he wasn't kidding...the texture was similar but the taste was...slightly more piggy). The innards, literally scooped out and put on a plate for the group of us, weren't actually that bad. I could get used to the taste of them if I had to drop being vegetarian to live here permanently...but for this trip, I think I'll stick to my "experimental vegetarianism." Yes, instagrammed strawberries. But the coloring isn't actually that off... Strawberries here are bright and beautiful and SO DELICIOUS. Just make sure to wash them before eating... I bought these strawberries in el mercado 10 de agosto, a market that sells veggies, raw meat and fruit on my way to the bus stop from CEDEI. Another food that could have made me sick is one of my favorites here in Cuenca -- strawberries. I like strawberries in the United States, especially with sugar added. Here in Cuenca, you don't even have to add sugar, and I love strawberries here. I could definitely eat them every day and be satisfied. Unfortunately, I consciously made the decision to just rinse them off while in Gualaceo (strawberries pictured are from Cuenca), and that definitely didn't help my health this past weekend... But seriously, with proper scrubbing -- I usually rinse strawberries with the water from my water bottle and scrub them with my hands before eating -- you absolutely can't go wrong with strawberries here. And in most places (on corners or in markets, I have bought from both), you can get about a pound of strawberries for $1. Professing my love for strawberries over the internet may be sort of weird, but if you have ever had them here you will understand (if you haven't, buy a plane ticket and come eat some strawberries). I haven't had raspberries, my favorite fruit in the US, here yet. If I can find them, I definitely will. Cherries are good here too, but nothing beats strawberries...at least not yet. I almost like them more than I like chocolate...and that's saying something.
Anyway, back to the point of this post. Being sick in Ecuador, or abroad in general, is no fun. In Cuenca, wash your fruit and don't eat too much weird stuff, no matter how culturally important it may be...at least until you know your stomach can handle it. The tap water in Cuenca is apparently quite clean (and it doesn't taste half bad either), but I still recommend "agua sin gas" (non-carbonated water that usually comes in bottles, even in restaurants) and can cost between $0.30 and $1.50, depending on where you are. For the last time, WASH YOUR FRUIT. And enjoy :) ¡Espero que tengas una buena salud! (I hope you have good health!) I woke up on the morning of February 14 to the sound of love songs in Spanish coming through my most definitely closed window. Cheering followed the end of the song, at which point I had managed to roll over, sit up, and peek out from behind the golden curtains that hang in my room. A group of Ecuadorean men was standing around a parked car-turned speaker system in the middle of Juan de Velazquez, the dead-end street along which my host family and I live.
They were singing and laughing, and a lucky woman inside one of the homes across the street was probably blushing or something because the love of her life was serenading her in the wee hours of Valentine's Day morning. When I say wee hours, I really do mean sometime around 3am. In Cuenca, apparently it is a tradition for young men to go around serenading their girlfriends in the middle of the night. Super adorable and lovey-dovey, right? Definitely not if it wakes you up four times in the course of six hours and you have an exam the next morning at 8am... Otherwise, I absolutely support it. Long story short, to the boyfriends in the United States who may or may not need some help in their relationships: if you play an instrument and sing (or can find a group of male friends who do), and your significant other doesn't have an exam/reason to wake up early the next day, serenade her in the wee hours of Valentine's Day. As for you single ladies, the chocolate here is just as good as at home, but the sales are practically nonexistent (but no matter... tía, which is basically like CVS here, sells Oreos for $3 here). And now I'm off to eat... Today, the Spring Semester group took a day trip to Chordeleg and Gualaceo, two towns outside of Cuenca. At Chordeleg, we visited a museum and a market, and at Gualaceo we had lunch and saw a few (read: at least a dozen) dead pigs being roasted at an indoor food market. Though the shopping, particularly for shoes, is allegedly stupendous in Gualaceo, we didn't have the chance to go. Whether honest accident or not, several people were quite upset. I like to think I was less upset than many since I didn't plan on making any purchases anyway. However, the day was not wasted. We spent time at San Bartolome Guitarras, a little shack on the side of one of the roads that winds up the mountains around Cuenca. There we learned about the process used to make guitars, and how some of the designs around the holes (dad, could you please supply the correct terminology here?) are made using material that has been compressed and cut into super-fine pieces. A lot more was said, but it was somewhat early in the morning and I was a little more concerned with taking photos than to write everything down. Last weekend, the Spring Semester CEDEI group traveled to Ingapirca, the site of the largest known Incan ruins in Ecuador. The Temple of the Sun, though a sizable chunk of it has fallen down, is the main attraction here. The temple was constructed so that on solstices, the sun would shine through the door at a certain time of day. How people who lived thousands of years ago figured that out I have no idea. I can barely figure out North, East, South and West without a compass.
The site was the home of the Cañari people, an indigenous group, before the Incas took over. They stayed for a few decades, but not long enough to build something as grand as Machu Picchu in Peru. However, while occupying the Cañari's land, the Incas and the Cañaris lived together amicably. The architecture of the site is also similar to Machu Picchu -- though less of it is made with stones carved to fit together exactly than Machu Picchu is. Ingapirca is also in only naturally ovular valleys in Ecuador (or the world?), which was significant to the people back then. It's sort of hard to tell that it is ovular, but it still looks cool. |
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AuthorKate Hiller is a wannabe world traveler studying journalism and Spanish at Ohio University. This blog is about her experiences living abroad in Cuenca, Ecuador for a semester. (Spring 2014) Archives
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