Harry Potter

This week was Harry Potter week at USFQ. Every year the school picks a theme and celebrates accordingly for the week before Halloween! How exciting!

Many of the students and professors dressed up!

USFQ had their very own Hogwars Express and Platform 9 and 3/4!

And the best part - Quidditch! Everyone was REALLY in support of the game. The picture

above is of the "snitch" being chased around the field. He ended up running

through the crowds too! Fun time! They also had "broom rides" across the laguna and some tasty butterbeer. Overall, a great week and definitely made me forget about missing Halloween at home.

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Tomorrow (Saturday) I am leaving for the Galapagos Islands! Check back

next weekend for pictures and info about the trip!!

Kelley

Casa de Bing

Last Thursday my Spanish language class was invited to dinner at the house of one of our classmates, Bing. I had SO MUCH FUN! Bing is from China and has lived in Quito for about 3 years, on and off, because of her husband's job. She had a beautiful house and she made an excellent Chinese dinner for us!

I really enjoy that class, because the people are from all around the world and we're all just there to learn. The best part of dinner was eating authentic Chinese in Ecuador and speaking (mostly) Spanish, while learning some Chinese phrases at the same time! The second best part was the dumplings. Good times in la casa de Bing.

Pictures to come soon!

-Kelley

That's what he said...

I spent this weekend exploring Quito! I've realized that throughout my time in Ecuador, I have been travelling quite frequently and haven't really had a chance to visit the city I've been living in for the past 2 months.

I went to the "Museo Nacional" and spent a few hours looking at all of the artifacts, archaeological finds, and works of art; some even date back to 11,000 B.C.! I was able to see the lifestyles of the pre-Columbian and pre-Incans and also look at more contemporary Ecuadorian art! I followed a Spanish tour around for about an hour and spent the rest of my time wandering around without the group! This museum was also free! I think it may always be free on Saturdays, but I couldn't understand her reasoning when she was trying to explain to me. I'd like to go back though, so figure it out then!



 I then spent some time in the Iglesia de San Francisco. The Spanish began construction here 1 month after they arrived in Ecuador in 1535 and it took 100 years to finish. Two interesting facts about this church, 1.) The church was built over an Incan temple, making it stand much higher than the plaza in front of it. 2.) The stairs to the church were purposefully made wide so that you would have to keep your eyes on where you were walking - otherwise, forcing you to bow your head in respect while coming into the church.



My friend Julia and I then went to el Panecillo de Virgen. Standing at 148ft., you can see the Virgen de Quito statue from most of the city, on a clear day. The hill that the statue stands on, el Panecillo, was used by the Inca's as a place of worship to the sun. From the top of the hill, we had wonderful views of Quito!

Until next time,
kelley

Livin' the dream

Hello everyone!

Time is FLYING! I am officially half-way through with my study abroad in Ecuador and I can't believe it. Although some days I feel like my life is at a standstill, with the monotonous routine of going to class and doing homework, I then look at the calendar and can't understand where the days have gone!

I have some exciting news to share... I'm officially going to the Galapagos Islands October 29 - November 5!!! I'll be visiting four islands - San Cristobal, Floreana, Santa Cruz, and Isabela. I'll also be snorkeling at Kicker Rock (one of the best snorkeling spots in the world), visiting the Charles Darwin station, and seeing the giant tortoises! I'm beyond pumped for this! Talk about a GREAT fall break!

Have a great weekend,
Kelley

La Amazonia

I am so sorry for the major delay in writing this post! I got back from Tiputini last Monday night and had SO MUCH HOMEWORK and STUDYING to do! I was able to post my pictures to facebook and I hope you all enjoyed those! I am going to go through a day-by-day of my time at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station and try to explain the extreme beauty that I was able to experience during my time in the Amazon!

Friday was a lot of traveling! The seven of us, 6 students and one advisor, left the Quito airport around 7:00am and arrived in Coca, Ecuador at 7:30. Short flight! From there we took a boat, a chiva (trolley bus), and another boat to our final destination at Tiputini around 4:00pm! It was everything I hoped for! We walked up quite a few stairs from the boat to the "comedor" which was the outside dining hall, and then took a five minute walk along a path through the rainforest to our cabanas to put our things away and rest for a bit. Later we had dinner and hit the hay pretty early! Our cabanas had screened windows (no glass) and it was SO AMAZING to hear all the sounds of the jungle.

Saturday - First we went on a 3-4 hour hike through the rainforest, seeing LOTS of wildlife, especially birds! We went back for lunch and then hiked to a canopy tower and from the top I was able to see so many trees. They went on for forever and it was a great feeling; to be such a speck in the vastly expansive Amazon. [Side note: SO MANY INSECTS in the canopy!] Saturday night we took the boat out to look for nocturnal animals and look at what we found! Caimans! And we were actually able to hold a baby! One of the highlights of the trip for sure!




Sunday morning we hiked to the canopy tower/walkways and traveled by rope bridge to four different towers and got more breathtaking views of la Amazonia! In the afternoon we were able to float down the Tiputini River. Yes, the same river that we saw Caimans in the night before. It was SO WONDERFUL! And then we did a night hike! This was easily my favorite part of the trip. You could hear all of the animals around you and you just realized how many of them were actually out there. At one point we turned off our flashlights and just listened. It was the most peaceful thing. And it really helped me become more aware; when you're in a situation like that it's hard not to realize how much bigger the world is, and how small of a role you play in it. Crazy!

Monday - We headed out around 7:00am for our long journey back to Quito. While we were on our first boat we were able to see Tapirs, Pink River dolphins, and Capibaras! A great way to end a great trip!

And my friend Lisa, who also went on the trip, made this wonderful list of everything we saw in Tiputini (and I added some thoughts) ::
Birds
Friday, 9-30-11

1. Brown-chested martin
2. White-winged swallow
3. Bat falcon
4. Black vulture
5. Southern rough-winged swallow
6. Osprey
7. Cattle egret
8. Yellow-rumped cacique
9. Lesser kiskadee
10. Blue-gray tanager
11. Yellow-browed sparrow
12. Sungrebe
13. Ringed kingfisher
14. Tropical kingbird
15. Blue and yellow macaw
16. Amazon kingfisher
17. Cocoi heron
18. Slate-colored hawk
19. White-banded swallow
20. tinamou (species?)

Saturday, 10-1-11

1. Common piping guan
2. Russet-backed oropendola
3. Speckled chachalaca
4. Scarlet macaw
5. Hoatzin
6. Black caracara
7. Greater kiskadee
8. Greater ani
9. Lineated woodpecker
10. Red-capped cardinal
11. Crimson masked tanager
12. Rufescent tiger heron
13. Orange-winged parrots
14. Scale-backed antbird
15. White-fronted nun bird
16. White-browed purpletuft
17. Blue dacnis
18. Yellow-bellied tanager
19. White-lored euphonia
20. gilded barbet
21. Bare-necked fruit crow
22. White-throated toucan
23. Ladder-tailed nightjar
24. Rufous-bellied euphonia
25. Red-bellied macaw
26. Black-fronted nunbird
27. Buff-throated woodcreeper
28. Olive-faced flatbill
29. Eastern wood-pewee

Sunday, 10-2-11

1. Spotted sandpiper
2. Cobalt-winged parakeet
3. Striated heron
4. Amazonian white-tailed trogon
5. Red-throated caracara
6. Roadside hawk
7. White-necked jacobin
8. hummingbird on nest
9. trumpeters

Mammals

1. Pink river dolphin
2. Common woolly monkey
3. Long-nosed bat
4. other kinds of bats
5. Amazon red squirrel
6. Agouti
7. Spider monkey
8. Squirrel monkey
9. Howler monkey (heard)
10. Red-mantled tamarinds
11. nocturnal monkey
12. 2 tapirs
13. capibara with 2 babies

Reptiles/Amphibians

Caimans (held one!!)
Pitt viper
Tree runner (lizard)
Sapo de riñuelo (toad)
Emerald tree boa

Insects
swarms of “confetti”-like butterflies (yellow, white, light green which were so pretty)
Blue morpho butterfly
blue/black/white butterfly, red on outside of wings
green/black/white swallowtail-like butterfly
tarantula
araña loba (wolf spider)
molting grillo
conga ants (bullet ants)
very pretty dangerous centipede
araña tejedora (weaver spider)
araña scorpión
banana spider

Plants
white hollow mushroom called pena de diablo that only lives 1 day
El jardín del Diablo: tree with lemon ants (formic acid clears area- ate some)
arbol de tisa, hueso de muerte (fungus on particular tree)
coca (ate)
curare: poisonous vine, wood used to make poison darts for blowguns (ate)
plant that causes hives/welts (yeah, that hurt.)
plant that turns your tongue blue
palm used to make our bracelets (which are super cool!)
rubber tree

This has been my favorite trip taken so far in Ecuador! I was able to see so many wonderful things that I will never forget!

Have a great week!
Kelley

PS - if you have any questions please feel free to comment!