Reflection of my adventures

Sorry this has taken so long but this is my final submission to my blog.

It has almost been two months since my opportunity of a lifetime. That opportunity was when I had the chance to spend 6 six weeks in Ecuador volunteering with the Quito public school system. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t think of my experiences. I often wonder what I would be doing if I were still in Ecuador or what some of my students might be doing, or even how summer vacation in Ecuador differs from summer vacation in Canada. This was an experience that is going to stick with me for a long time and it has really put my views and life into perspective; I came home with a new found respect for myself, my family, and the opportunities that I am able to partake in every day of my life.

Ecuador presented many highs and many lows, there were points in which I wished I were back in Canada and other times when I thought I never wanted to leave. Many of my experiences were very emotional but at the same time, very rewarding. Some of these experiences tested me physically, mentally and emotionally. Some of these experiences impacted me more than others and it is these experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I am going to share a few of the challenges that I still reflect upon and hopefully it gives an insight into what I experienced.

I think the first challenge I experienced came upon my arrival in Quito, it was adjusting to the altitude. It might not seem like much but this was one thing that was always present. Coming from Manitoba which is around sea level and arriving in Quito which is 3000 meters above sea level, is very physically demanding. Imagine that you just finished jogging up a flight of stairs and you are at a loss of breath. It takes you a minute or two to regain your breathe but it eventually returns and you are now breathing normally. In Quito you don’t regain that breath; well at least for a few days. Even when you are standing you are at a loss of breath. It was a really uncomfortable feeling and from my understanding it is a minor symptom of altitude sickness but it was enough to make the first week very challenging.

Another major challenge that I encountered came when I was climbing to the peak of The Basillica. The Basillica is a huge cathedral that is a staple to Quito tourism. One thing that I noticed about Quito is that security does not really exist when visiting these sights, as long as there is a place to walk you can explore as much as you desire. One fascinating part was that I was able to climb to the highest point of the cathedral. Far above any point you are able to access in any other country. I was able to stand in the middle of the clock tower, I walked by the church bells in the tower and eventually reached the highest part of the Basillica, but the challenging part came long before reaching the top of the Basillica. At one point there was a walkway to access the South Tower of the Basillica. This was no ordinary walkway. It was rickety, creaky, and with each step I felt like I was going to fall through. The pathway was only about 100 meters in length but during this walk I discovered the extent of my fear of heights and unstable structures. I think this small walkway for me was the most challenging part of the trip. I really did learn a lot about my abilities and my ability to push through fear and discomfort. I did eventually make it the 100 meter across the walkway with a lot of support from my group members. I believe I made it across in a quick time of about a half an hour.

Shady structures and altitude sickness were not the only types of challenges Quito presented, immediately I realized that I did not understand Spanish as much as I had thought. Going to Quito I thought that I could get by with what I knew. Or at least I could make sense of what was happening. I was so wrong. There is such a shock factor when you are bombarded by a new language. First off they speak so fast and secondly it is really hard to get past the dialect. At one point a waitress asked in Spanish if I wanted fruit for breakfast. I was so caught off guard my mind was moving a mile a minute. I then asked if she could speak English. She proceeded to say something that I have no recollection of. So I again asked if she spoke English. She answered back with “I just did, do you want fruit?” I was in language shock and I couldn’t make sense of her speaking English. The language part was very challenging but if I had to learn a language this is the way to do it. By engulfing yourself in the culture you either have to learn to communicate or you can sit at home all day to do nothing. Eventually with a lot of patience from my students I was able to pick up on the language and by the end of the trip I was communicating. It was a tough experience but it really puts you in the mind set of a person who immigrates to Canada or if you encounter a student who barely speaks English. My experience with Spanish has made me more aware of some of the challenges with Education and newly immigrated students. I have a better understanding of their challenges and of some of the problems they encounter. I am definitely more sympathetic now towards new Canadians.

The most rewarding part of my trip was working with the students. I made some great friendships with my students and some of them allowed me to take a deeper insight into their daily lives. For example I had one student who by the end of week 3 really opened up to me and talked to me about his beliefs, interests and future goals. This student’s name was Diego, he is the current Ecuador Fencing champion, he enjoys music and the arts, and one of the most important things that he wants out of life is to grow up and have people look at him and say you are a good man. There are some things stopping this from happening. His house life is very rough, he has a really bad relationship with his mother because she wants him to commit all of his energy into his studies and because his love of Fencing and music is not the norm, he is viewed as a bad person. He told me that there is a lot of arguing and yelling that occurs in his household. One of his biggest fears in life is that he will fall into the norm; that all of the negativity around him will crush his dreams and his future goals. He is truly a great person and I wish him the best. I often think of him and wonder how he is doing. Communication has not been the greatest. I have tried to stay in contact with a couple of my students but that seems a lot tougher than I first thought. Emails will often go unreturned and communication is literally lost. I know that my group and I made a difference in these students’ lives due to the emotions that were present in our students’ faces and our faces on our last day at the school. A lot was accomplished in our short time there and I hope that our presence continues to impact the students long after our visit.

There is so much to talk about and I experienced so many great adventures during my time in Ecuador. I could write and write and write if given the opportunity but I am trying to keep this to a realistic length. Ecuador presented me with lots of firsts such as repelling down waterfalls, zip lining from mountain to mountain 500 meters above cloud forest, climbing volcanoes, catching a fish using a strainer and then using just my hands, haggling in Spanish, seeing a church covered from top to bottom in gold, going to a little restaurant and having the national anthem sang to you and ultimately turning lights on by rubbing two wires together (the light switch in the grade 9 classroom). I had the opportunity to do so many great things and I could talk for hours about my experiences. I appreciate all of the support I received prior to my journey and during my journey. I thank all of the people who followed me on my blog and I am amazed at how many people come up to me and say that they followed my blog and started talking about one of my adventures. Finally I want to thank everyone who donated supplies and really changed a lot of students’ lives. When I arrived to my school I found out that the gym supplies consisted of 2 basketballs, they now have numerous soccer balls, Frisbees, basketballs and list goes on.

Once again thanks for following my adventure and I am excited for what future opportunities arise and hopefully I can fill you all in on my future adventures.

Justin

Galapagos

WOW is all that can describe what I saw. Galapagos is such a unique place because it is made up of about 13 main islands which were all constructed due to volcanic activity. Every aspect of each island is entirely different, there are different species that live only on certain islands, some islands have catci and some have trees, some don't have vegetation and some of black sand, some have red sand and some have white sand. When you arrive at each island you have no idea what you are going to expect or what you are going to see. Another interesting thing about Galapagos is there are species that are only found in the Galapagos. For example the Galapagos seal is the only species of seal that has ears, all other species do not have ears. The greatest aspect of the Galapagos is that humans are not views as predators to the animals so you can virtually sit beside a sea lion or a blue footed booby and they are just as content as always. It makes for some great interactions with the wildlife and there are a lot of photo opportunities. The past 7 days have been jam packed with a lot of information and activities and I will recap some of the site and interesting facts that I have encountered.

Day 1

The trip began with us arriving in Baltra, one of the two airports in the Galapagos. This was not your typical airport. It literally consisted of a bunch of wooden poles with a roof. It was wide open and quite different from a typical airport that you are used to. There are no mechanical baggage pick ups but rather a guy on a tractor that just unloads all of the bags into a big pile. At this point we met our guide and we are shuttled to the harbor where we were to board the ship and meet the other passengers.

Upon arrival to the ship we were presented with an itinerary for the day. We were going to have our first opportunity to see a Blue Footed Booby, Frigate, Land Iguanas, and Sea Lions. We were very lucky because we did get an opportunity to see the Blue Footed Booby and the Frigate's mating rituals. The Blue Footed Booby does a dance in order to attract a mate. It begins by lifting one foot, and then the other (it resembles a waddle type of movement), and then the first foot followed by the second again and then it spreads its wings a makes high pitched whistle.

The Frigate is entirely different. It has a red pound in which it inflates with air so the female can see it from the sky. The male is sit there with his pouch inflated and is wings spread until he attracts a female. One a female accepts they mate and then the female uses the red pouch as a pillow and rests.

After the first excursion it was back to the boat and from here we had our first opportunity to snorkel. This was a great opportunity to see life under the water. In our first snorkeling opportunity we saw sharks, schools of fish that consisted of at least 100 fish, sting rays, and some underwater fauna.

The following is again pictures of the Blue Footed Boody dance.

Day 2

Day 2 again presented itself with many discoveries. We were on an island that is fairly young, you can tell this because a lot of the island is hardened lava. This provides a unique habitat for the animals that live here. These species include the Marine Iguana, the Sally Crab and Sea Lions. This island is known for its Marine Iguana population and they are everywhere. Sometimes you will see a rock and there will 100 or more sitting there warming up in the sun. After they get to a certain temperature they then go into the water in search of food. The Marine Iguana can stay underwater for 30 minutes.

The afternoon on our second excursion of the day was onto an island in which we would see the Galapagos Seal. Like I said earlier it is unique from all other seals because it has ears. The other aspect of the seal is that is about half the size of other seals around the world. They are not as abundant in the Galapagos as Sea Lions and Seals were used as food by pirates so humans are viewed to them as a threat. It is a lot harder to approach a seal because they will run away or jump into the water. This is the one species on Galapagos that was threatened by human beings and it was to the point in which it was endangered.

Once on board we again went snorkeling. Today we had two opportunities to partake in the snorkeling activities. A lot of the wildlife under the water is quite similar. Today I did get to see a Sea Turtle. It was amazing how close they will swim past you. I bought an underwater disposable camera so only time will tell to the outcome of those photos. Along with the Sea Turtle I saw another shark, a couple more sting rays and a lot more very colorful fish.

One of the coolest things that I saw was when I was on board. We saw a Manta Ray jump out of the water. I had no idea that they did this but at this time of year it is quite common. Also at lunch time a school of dolphins made a visit to the boat.

Day 3

Today we visited two islands. The first was named the Chinese Hat due to it shape. Here there were only a few species. Here we saw the Lava Lizard, more Sea Lions, and more ocean birds.

The second island we visited was an island in which there are no species living, but it presents the most beautiful view of the Galapagos. We hiked to the top of a volcano and we saw Pinnacle Rock. Pinnacle Rock used to be part of a huge crater but over time majority of the crater was washed away and all that was left was a large rock the points upward out of the ground.

Day 4

Today we viewed a Sea Lion colony. We arrived to a beach where there were Sea Lions everywhere. There were anywhere between 30-50 Sea Lions just resting on the beach. It was quite an amazing site.

After that we had a couple more snorkeling opportunities and then we set sail back to the main land.

Day 5

Today was a very early day, we went to the Darwin Research Center and see Giant Tortoises. We did not have a lot of time here because we had to catch a flight back to Quito at 9. The research center provided some great insight into the tortoise. Right now they have a Tortoise name Lonesome George who is 97 years old. The oldest Tortoise ever was 190 years old. So these creatures have the ability to live for a long time.

I arrived in Quito yesterday and right now am staying in a hostel for the next few days. It has been a great trip and it is ending very soon. I fly back on Monday so I am down to about 4 days left in my adventure. I love Quito and Ecuador but I think I am ready to return home. I am going to enjoy my last few days and then it is back to Canada.

I will post again upon my arrival to Canada to give you one last recap of my trip and share some of my views and learnings here in Quito. The trip has been very rewarding and I have met so many new people. This is something that has influenced my life and is something I will never forget.

Bye for now, next stop Canada

Galapagos Here I Come

The last few days have been a great cap to the program. As a group we flew to Manta, which is a city along the coast of Ecuador. It was a great way to relax and also was a final chance to hangout with the group prior to departure. 5 of the 8 are in the air as we speak, the remaining three are off to explore Ecuador a little more.

Manta, simply put, is a beach town. There is not a lot that draws in the tourism other than that fact. Manta is a beautiful city but I will be honest, by the 4th day I was a little bored of it. That said it was the perfect trip that allowed us to catch up on sleep and to unwind from the previous four weeks, and don't get me wrong I have to problem sitting along the ocean sipping on a beer. With that in mind we were able to seeing as much as we could and mix that with a little sun was even better.

One draw to the area is a town called Montecristi. This is the site where majority of the Panama hats are made. That's right they are not made in Panama but were made famous during in Panama simply because that is where they are shipped to prior to shipping throughout the world. The name actually arose once famous figures wore the hats in Panama which lead to the name the Panama Hat when in reality it is a Ecuadorian Hat.

That was really our only outing after that it was back to sun, sand and salt water. While on the beach we did manage to get involved in a pick up soccer game in which it was 5 of us Canadians vs. 5 Ecuadorians. I know what your thinking but no the Ecuadorians did not win. That is right we Canadians held our ground and pulled out the victory and immediately we decided to retire from the sport of beach soccer and not risk our winning record because we were definitely were not the best soccer players on the beach that day.

I am back in Quito now and am figuring out some plans for today and doing a lot of packing. Today Andrew and I are checking into a different hotel and from there we are off to the Galapagos Islands for 7 days. I am extremely excited for the mysteries that I am about to endure. That said I had better finish getting my stuff together.

I will post pictures galore upon my arrival back to Quito. I'm not sure what the internet will be like there and I'm sure I will have stories to tell of my encounters with animals that few eyes have actually seen in person.

Adios until next week

Emotions!!

What an emotional past two days.

Today the program with the schools ended and the good byes were said. I was doing well until the students began crying immediately my eye welled up with tears and it was at that point that I understood the importance of our visit to these schools. I realized the power of friendship and the strength of relationships that you can create, even despite being able to speak the simplest phrases to each other. Most of my trip involved a dictionary to help me express my desires but I realized people who are willing to accept others flaws can really discover the greatness inside of each other. This is very hard for me to express as I do not express emotions the greatest but today was one of the hardest experiences I have had to deal with in a very long time. Over the past three weeks I have created friendships that I will never forget and I feel that I will also never be forgotten by some. I feel that my presence will be felt for awhile and that the impact does not end today. I know that I have influenced some of these students to strive for bigger and better things and I hope that the desires don't dwindle due to the lack or resources or simple due to demographics. If I could I would bring each and everyone of these students to Canada so they can experience a school in which there are more than two basketballs or a school in which they turn on the lights by flipping a switch rather than rubbing two wires together or a school in which they don't have to scale glass protruding walls in order to retrieve a ball that flew over the wall.

In the beginning I said that the past two days have been very emotional, that is because yesterday I had a conversation with one of my students and he really opened up to me about his home life and his dreams. I will first give you a background, this student is the current National Ecuadorian Fencing Champion, he has desires to travel and really perfect his English. He told me when he grows up he wants people to look at him and say you are a good man. He proceeded to explain to me the importance of fencing in his life and that it is a part of him that he want to pursue for years to come. He looks at this as an opportunity to see the world beyond Ecuador.

He proceeds to tell me how his mother views him as a bad person because he enjoys fencing and singing. She want him to be a perfect student and that fencing and singing should not be a part of his life. He also told me that he does not get along with his mother and that there is a lot of yelling that takes place in his house. He is worried that he will succumb to these influences and not pursue his dreams. He said that this is one of his greatest worries in life. I could tell that this was a very tough conversation for him because he getting to the point of tears and this is something that truly affect every single day of his life. I told that one of the hardest things in life is knowing what you want out life and that many people never really understand that aspect, but you know where you want to be and you know what you love. If you work hard you can achieve these dreams and that your time at home is limited. Once you finish school and are living your own life it then that you are in control of where you end up.

This conversation was very hard because I have never experienced these problems growing up. I lived in a household that encouraged me to pursue activities in which I enjoyed or excelled at rather than trying control every aspect of my life. I really appreciate the sacrifices my parents made when I was growing up in order for me to play sports and partake in programs that were of interest to me. For that I say thanks to my mother and father for always being there for me when I needed them most.

The day was not all tears and lumpy throats. Today we had a big tournament between three of the schools in the program . The three schools met at Calderon school and they participated in the following activities: basketball, handball, soccer, volleyball, charades, mathematics, puzzles and English. The day was a great success and it was apparent the students enjoyed it. They were filled with smiles throughout the day. One of the goals of the program was to increase participation in sports particularly for the female students. Today was definite evidence of the success of that goal. Over the past week I could see sportsmanship increasing and participation as well. I am happy with my involvement with the program and all that I have done in Ecuador. So far everything has far exceeded expectations and feel blessed to be partaking in a program as great as this.

We are off to Manta for a few days and then off to Galapagos. My next post will come in a few days prior to departure to Galapagos.

Adios

What a weekend

So it has been awhile since I have been able to make a new post. I will first tell about my experiences during my past week at school and then inform you about my weekend in Mindo, which by the was amazing!! This one could get fairly long so you have to bare with me on this post.

There are a few things that I have noticed about the school in general. First that there is no such thing as substitute teachers and if a teacher does not show up then the students are on their own for that class. They either teach themselves or work on other assignments. The second is the degree of safety and code of conduct. Here is an example of what I am talking about. The other day I was in the grade 9 class and the student needed to turn on the lights. This is not the typical process of flicking a switch, but rather it involves rubbing three live wires together until the lights turn on. This was absolutely horrifying and unbelievable that this exists. I even saw from time to time the student pulling their hand away from the wire because they had gotten shocked. There are some major differences from teaching in Canada but once again the students are great and the teachers are great. To put it into perspective of what the teachers make compared to Canada, a veteran teacher in Ecuador is looking at about 300 dollars a month which equals anywhere from 5000 - 10000 a year. In Canada a beginning teacher makes about 45 000 a year with a top end teacher making well over that. The teachers put a lot of work into what they do and really there salary does not reflect their pay.

This past weekend we went to Mindo. This was so amazing. We arrived on Friday evening and we stayed at the Dragonfly Inn. The place was wonderful and we were surrounded by the rainforest. Each morning we woke to an incredible sight. Saturday is where the fun begins. This whole trip has been about going beyond your comfort zone and pushing your boundaries. We did just that this weekend. Saturday began with a canopy tour of the rainforest. This is code for zip lining. You cannot imagine the view when you zip line between two mountains. At times we must have been about at least 500 feet in the air. It was such an amazing feeling being suspended in air and all your eye can see in rianforest upon rainforest.

After ziplining we went river rafting but what you might think. The rafting consisted of 6 large tire tubes tied together and to maneuver through the rapids our two guides would jump off of the raft and either push off of rocks or twirl the rafter around rocks. It sounds sketchy but the entire time I felt completely safe because you could tell that these guys knew the river very well and the safety precautions were taken. We were provided with life jackets and helmets.

After the rafting is where the boundaries were truly pushed. We decided to go canyoning, turns out in Ecuador canyoning means repelling down waterfalls. Three waterfalls to be exact each ranging from 15 - 25 meters. The whole situation was sketchy but turned out to be an awesome experience. We were all in the van and they were transporting us to where we had to go and all of a sudden the van stopped and we are in the middle of nowhere. They proceed to say we have to walk from the road 20 minutes into the bush. Jokingly we talk about how this was a ploy to rob us or kill us, but we keep going. After a long walk we come to a point in which we start getting our gear on. We proceed to walk to the top of a mountain. Which makes sense because you have to get to the top of the waterfalls before repelling down them. So we finally reach our destination and we see what we are dealing with. It is in fact a waterfall and it goes straight down. I have troubles with heights to begin with and this was extremely unsettling. We go through our very brief tutorial and we are ready to go. A few people go before it is my turn to begin.

Finally it is my turn. I get the rope all set up and begin my shuffle towards the ledge. When the guy was describing how to do this is sounded quite easy. Doing it was a different story though. So I begin my way to the ledge and I take a look down to the bottom. I'm not sure if this was the best idea because the ground was straight down and a long way down, but I keep going. As I am just about to go over the ledge I slip and now my but is over the ledge and I literally clenching the rope with life on the line. I realize after that there was no way I fall simply due to way the rope is weaved through the clip but at the time it was extremely terrifying. So I am able to pull myself back onto the top of the waterfall. At this point I want nothing to do with this and am seriously contemplating walking back down the mountain. Something inside me told me I had to keep going and actually do this or else I would extremely regret not going through with this. So I attempt again, and I make it over the ledge this time. I slipped a few times on the way down but became a lot more comfortable with the gear and realized that there was a lot keeping form plummeting to my death. Finally I make it to the bottom and back onto solid ground. We then proceed to the second waterfall. This one was much easier than the first and am beginning to grasp some type of understanding of repelling and third becomes even easier. I stills struggled on each one but they were definitely easier. I was happy to walk away with my life and will accept the fact that my legs are covered in cuts and bruises from slamming against the rocks. The pain is only temporary and I definitely learned a lot more about myself because of the experience. I'm saying I would go out tomorrow and do it again about I was very happy with myself in the fact that I kept going and actually repelled the waterfalls.

That night we went to the local bar and mingled with some fellow travelers. Mindo is a tourist attraction and we ran it other people from Canada, a couple of people from Germany and England. I enjoyed talking to them and to see where they are going and where they are coming from. It is neat to hear of others adventures and to share your stories.

Sunday arrives and we wake up bright and early to go on a six am bird watch in hopes to see a Toucan. Turns out we did not but we did have a very beautiful walk down a mountain. Three hours much appreciated and was really not too upset that the Toucan never appeared. After that we went to a butterfly farm. Here they bred butterflies that are native to Ecuador and you really got a close encounter with the little critters.

Our day ends with a trip back to Quito in which we prepping for our final week with the schools. So far it has been great but in a way am happy to see the end nearing. Next week we have book plane tickets to fly to Manta which is a city on the coast and next week it is off to Galapagos. I will write again some time at the end of the week to talk more about the schools and post of school pictures.

I am out, I have a lot of prepping to do for tomorrow.