Sunday, September 30, 2007

Yo Amo Mindo!!

-- To see the whole photo album, go here: http://gwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2120365&l=c1bef&id=5305703


This weekend was unbelievable! I'm so glad I got better, because I went to the best place in the world this weekend. On Saturday we left for our trip to Mindo, a city to the north east of Quito. We had a two hour bus ride that took us to a tiny little Latin American town where we all piled into the back of Andy's (our Corps advocate) pickup truck on a ten minute drive down dirt roads and into a primary rainforest! (In the picture, Seth, Rachel and I forced smiles as we drove over potholes and piles of rocks in the back of a pickuptruck).This isn't the big bad daddy jungle- but it was a rainforest nonetheless. We did a zip-line course through over the canopy. It was absolutely amazing.

We finally got back into Mindo and it was amazing! This town is wonderful. This is a store we went to where there were just branches of platanos chilling on the ground. (I can't get it right side up!)People played soccer in the dirt streets as the fog rolled in over the mountains. We stayed in a hostel called "Jardin de los Pajaros"- or "Garden of the Birds." It was beautiful with a huge balcony and a hammock overlooking the street.

The big thing in Ecuador this weekend was the election. They had a vote to change their constitution which they had last done in 1997. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but here's the interesting thing. Voting in Ecuador is mandatory! Remember Paris Hilton's "Vote or Die" faux pas (she joined the campaign, and then didn't vote)? Here it's not really an option. Of course, they don't kill people who don't vote, but they do penalize people. There's a big fine for those who don't vote, and it goes on their record somehow so that it's harder for non-voters to get loans, and non-voters can't enroll in a university until they pay some additional fine. I personally think there are some cool things about this system, but on the other hand, this election LITERALLY had over 3,200 candidates- so the country is basically forcing people to make uneducated guesses. If you want to read more, this is the BBC news link about the election. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7020420.stm (Most people I've met don't like Correa, but I asked my host mom this afternoon and she told me that she'd voted for Correa. Seeing my surprise she said: "Margaret, soy una socialista!" (Margaret, I'm a socialist.) It was pretty funny.)

SO back to the point: Because it's mandatory that everyone vote on Sunday, starting Friday at noon before an election the "Ley de Seca" (the dry law) comes into effect. After 12:00 pm Friday it is illegal to sell or consume alcohol in Ecuador because the government doesn't want people to get drunk and forget to vote. SO, of course, everywhere we went on Thursday and Friday morning, people were buying liquor by the cart-full. And, because we're not Ecuadorian, Rozana set up our own little speakeasy at the hostel where Seth and Andrew had their fill of vodka and cranberry. As for me, I obeyed the Ley de Seca partly because I believe in respecting the rules and cultural practices of the society I'm in.... and because I can't drink any alcohol with my antibiotics.

Anyway- it was a great weekend. This morning we went on a hike through the rainforest and spent some time at beautiful waterfalls. I'm not especially excited about getting back into class tomorrow, but que sera sera. It was a beautiful weekend.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey, I'm in Ecuador now and there's about a bizillion hostels in Mindo; we're trying to decide which one. Were you happy with Jardin de los Pajaros?
Check out my blog too if ya want: http://adventureaventura.wordpress.com/ (I'm not sure if you even check this one anymore but thanks for sharing!)