Although tired and a little sad to return to school and almost reality ( studying abroad is never really full reality), I am also very satisfied that I have officially traveled to all four geographical regions of Ecuador; the Highlands, the Coast, the Oriente and the Galapagos islands. The highland region includes all the cities and pueblos (villages) that reside in the Andes Mountains (Quito and Cuenca are included), which basically run down the center of Ecuador. The coastal region is the western coast of Ecuador, and the Oriente is the eastern region of Ecuador, which is the jungle of the Amazon River basin.

Since I have been to all regions now, I will make sure I include an entry about each region. Since I just returned from the Oriente not even 24 hours ago, I am going to write about it while my eyes are stilling seeing green, and my ears are still listening to the buzz of insects and birds and the random monkey cries.

My trip to the jungle was the first trip I planned by myself, and I traveled only with my boyfriend who came to visit from the U.S. So it was not only an adventure in the jungle but also an adventure traveling there. It was my first time using the public bus transportation, so I was very confused about how the bus system worked here.

To be honest, I have only been to the Greyhound bus station in Providence once, when I was very little, so I can't really compare the bus station in Rhode Island to the Ecuadorian bus stations. I have a feeling that things are run a little different here in Ecuador.

Bus tickets are sold like popcorn in the bus terminal, people yelling the times of their buses, signaling out the gringos and pulling them in all directions. Surrounding the ticket booths are little shops where people can buy snacks and magazines for the bus, and these people act in a similar fashion as the bus ticket venders — yelling and pulling. As beginners in the Terminal Terrestre we had no idea where to go, and as we would look around, venders from all directions holler at us, or try to lead us places we did not want to go.

As a side note, I would just like to describe what we must have looked like going through this terminal. First, I was carrying my daypack, wearing flip- flops and sunglasses (it was pouring rain). But, my boyfriend definitely wins the prize for sticking out the most. At 6 ft. 3 inches, he towered over every Ecuadorian, rolling his black suitcase, and bumping into people through the construction of the hardly cemented floors of the terminal. The only thing he had going for him was the soccer jersey he wore.

Although frazzled and very confused, we made it onto a bus and we embarked on our six-hour bus ride to the city of Tena, where we would stay for a night before we made it to our lodge.

A word of advice when taking public bus transportation into the jungle of Ecuador: Do not drink anything for at least twelve hours before getting on the bus. Four hours of unpaved bumpy roads are bound to make anyone have to use the restroom. There are no bathrooms on the bus either. We had to ask the bus driver to pull over before tears rolled down my face.

At around eleven p.m., we finally arrived and stopped at a hostel called Hostal Traveling Lodge. We cleaned up, dropped our bags, had a cerveza Pilsner (Ecuadorian beer) and then passed out. The next morning we woke up to take the 8 a.m. bus out of Tena to Puerto Barantillo, the closest bus stop to our lodge. We trekked and rolled through the small city of Tena to reach the bus terminal.

We rode deeper and deeper into the jungle. All we saw was green, with an occasional house or soccer field. After about an hour and a half we reached our destination -- a sign and a small dirt path.

We met another fellow North American from California who had been backpacking through Ecuador for two months. Seeing him gave us some comfort to know that this place really did exist, until we walked about 500 ft and realized there was a river, but no lodge and no road to get there. He had read in Lonely Planet that is was a 2 km hike to Liana Lodge, and we really did not know what was going on. We saw a canoe, so I found a motorist in a nearby house, and also found out that our lodge was down the river. Just as we were about to get into the canoe, we heard another canoe coming up river, and sure enough it was the canoe of Liana Lodge.

We jumped in and sped down the rio to our lodge. On the way we saw men fishing and little kids playing on the bank river who all stopped what they were doing to wave at us.

We got to our lodge and we only knew we were there because there was a little wooden sign that read “Liana Lodge.” A French woman who was the receptionist at the lodge greeted us. She led us to the main dining room, which is decorated appropriately for the jungle. It was a giant, round bungalow with carved wooden animals as seats and tables made of what looked liked misshaped tree shavings. There was a place for a fire, and the animal chairs and couches surrounded the fireplace.

The circle bungalow was shaped much like a carousel, with designed railings made of sticks and instead of a cutout for a pole and all the machinery of a carousel there is a spot for trees to grow and a little circular river outlining the trees.

We were welcomed with an authentic tea of the Quechua tribe who live in that region of the Oriente. After tea, we were directed to our bungalow. We climbed a stone path that was lined with giant leaves, trees and beautiful flowers of the jungle until we reached number 5.2, our bungalow. Covered with mosquito netting and a nicely thatched palm tree roof, our bungalow looked like a perfect home for the jungle, and it really was!

There was no electricity in the jungle, and no hot water. There was a generator in the kitchen but others weren’t allowed to use any of its power.

Officially in the jungle, we started Day 1:
Day 1 consisted of a visit to a local Quechua tribe, we were taught how to use a sirvelleta de Guerra (a war weapon). The sirvelleta was a hollow tube made from a certain type of tree, The "bullets" were small sticks with cotton on the end of them. The cotton was used the make sure the small stick did not slip out so easily. They would take the venom of a serpent and put the venom on the small stick, then put the small stick with venom and cotton in the hollow sirvelleta. Then they would simply aim and blow. Once the victim was hit with the venom it would only be minutes till it felt the venom and no more than two hours for it to die.

We also tried a typical drink of the Quechuas, a chichi de yucca. Yucca is a vegetable similar in taste to a potato. A yucca would be cooked, mashed and then fermented for at least 2 days, sometimes more depending on the strength of the drink. The woman of the household spits in the drink. Luckily I did not know that before I tried it.

After we returned from the visit to the Quechua home, we went to our bungalow and the sounds of the jungle made us fall asleep until dinner. Without electricity, dinner was a romantic candlelight dinner for my boyfriend and me. After dinner, there was not much to do but sit by the fire and chat with the others at the lodge, but communication was difficult because the others spoke German and French, which led to an early night's sleep.

Day 2 we woke up for breakfast at 8 a.m., and by 9 we started our long day in the jungle. We hiked for three hours up rigorous paths of mud until we reached Rio Rodriguez, a clear blue river in the middle of the jungle. We tried to swim a little, but I have this weird phobia about the bottoms of rivers -- the feeling of the mud scares me. So we just sat on rocks and ate a lunch packed by the lodge. They had cooked macaroni salad for us and instead of plates, we ate it on giant leaves!

After Rio Rodriguez we hiked for another hour and a half until we reached the Amazoonico, a non-profit rescue center for animals run by volunteers from all over the world. The animals there are either being protected from the locals who hunt them, or found in random places in Ecuador or they are animals that people tried to domesticate and failed. They have ocelots, monkeys, snakes and more.
Some animals are kept in cages for protection. Most are encaged because they have had too much human contact and would not survive in the wild. One male spider monkey was let free for a while until the volunteers realized that he was the culprit oin more than thirty animal deaths -- he was actual a serial killer. Now he is kept far away in his own cage, and is never to be let out.

The Amazoonico has a policy that they will never put down a healthy animal; therefore the monkey will be in captivity until death.

After the Amazoonico we returned to the lodge by canoe. Completely exhausted from our long day of hiking we took a nap until dinner, and then shared our last romantic candlelight dinner in the jungle.
Day 3: We woke up early for breakfast and we were on a bus by 8 a.m back to the Tena. From Tena we caught a bus back to Quito where we officially concluded our jungle tour.
Now I am back here in Cuenca, and the clean fresh air and peaceful sounds of the jungle have been replaced by polluted air and loud, honking horns of the city. Feeling nostalgic, I can only hope to return to another jungle someday.

The program that I am a part of CEDEI –the Semester in the Andes, is an American program stationed in Cuenca, Ecuador. CEDEI is an intercambio school (exchange) that is also for local Ecuadorians who wish to learn English, and solo English speaking travelers that want to join the Spanish immersion programs. Solo travelers pay weekly for Spanish intensive language programs.

I am one of 30 students in my Semester in the Andes program. St. Ambrose University in Iowa, led by Arvella Lanseng, our director, is the main affiliate with CEDEI. Most students are from St. Ambrose University and also Salisbury University in Maryland, another affiliate. The other students come from schools all around the states. I am the only student from Marist College, and there are a couple of other solo students. Marist does not affiliate with CEDEI, I discovered my program on the Internet, and worked with Marist to join the program.

The Semester in the Andes is not a Spanish program. It offers Spanish classes, and every student takes Spanish here, but it is not just a Spanish program. They also offer classes in other areas such as Business and Environmental Science.

Since our program is separate from the other programs at CEDEI we only share classes with each other. I came to this program as a Spanish minor and knowing enough Spanish to get myself around. My classes here have been all in Spanish because my level was high enough. However, not all classes are in Spanish.

My program is the majority of my life here. Each day my classes change, but usually I am in class from 8 am to 1 pm. In the afternoons we have cultural classes where we take cooking, painting, ceramics and dance classes. We also have weekly lectures about Ecuador, mostly focused on the political and economical situation of Ecuador.

I traveled with my group to the Galapago. Most weekends my program has planned trips to places in Ecuador, which makes it hard to meet Ecuadorians.

Despite my busy schedule, I have made some Ecuadorians friends. Every Friday and Sunday that I am around, I play soccer with a group of locals. I have made most of my Ecuadorian friends through soccer.

My soccer friends are all local artists here in Cuenca. For example, one is a painter, another is children’s book writer, another is a theatre clown, and the rest are musicians and are in a band together. Meeting them has influenced my obsession with the music here in Ecuador.

Fortunately for me, my host cousin, who lives two houses away from me, is a guitarist in another band as well. The best part about it is they practice in a rundown house in my back yard. Many nights I fall asleep with my window open just listening to the rhythms of salsa and meringue.

Another popular music here is Reggaeton, which is hip-hop with a Latin twist. I personally do not care for reggaeton, but it plays in mostly all clubs and discotecs in Cuenca. Bars in Cuenca usually host mùsica en vivo (live music). These are my preferred nights.

Since I came with a group of Americans, most of the time I go out with my friends from my group, but there have been occasional nights where I venture off with only my Ecuadorian friends. Whether I am with my American friends or Ecuadorian friends it is always a night of dancing.

Occasionally on the weekends I go on day trips with my family here. I live with my host mom, Irene, who is an elderly woman, her daughter Ximena (pronounced Hi-mena), and her daughter Sofia who is six. It is a house full of girls! Irene loves to cook, and she is good at it too.

Our weekend day trips have been to the valley, to a placed called Gualaceo. In Gualaceo there is a fruit market, and shoes galore! They have shoes for five dollars a pair and up. Most of the shoes are for women, specializing in fashionable high heels.

A family member here owns a house in Gualaceo, so when we go there more than family members join us. We have almuerzo (lunch) and walk around their beautiful yard.

Family time is very important here in Cuenca, so whenever I am not busy I make sure to spend time with my host mom either chatting in the kitchen or watching T.V.

My house was completely not what I expected either! I was very surprised the first night I walked in (probably why I thought Cuenca was rich) to find a four-story house, and an entire floor to myself. I have a room with two beds, a TV, and a bathroom to myself. I am surprisingly spoiled here.

My favorite part of my house is the terrazzo, or the roof, where I can overlook the entire city; the grand cathedral in the center with the blue dome and the surrounding Andes.

Although my life here is completely not what I expected, thinking I was going to live in a small pueblo in the country sharing a room with my five brothers and sister, I love it. ¡Me encanta Cuenca, especialmente la música! ¡Viva la música! (I love Cuenca, expecially the music! Let music live!

It's hard to recount what i have done in this entire month, it has been so much, it's too much for my brain to remember. So I will start with my city, Cuenca, and continue later with some unique places.

Cuenca. The first thing I noticed about Cuenca after traveling for a week from Quito (which is in the North) down to Cuenca (Southern highlands, an approximately 11-hour bus ride), was that it was a rich. Yes, rich. Cuenca, compared to the rest of Ecuador that I have seen, has a lot of money. As soon as our tour bus of 30 American students from all different states and schools reached the outskirts of the city, the scenery began to change from small, falling-down wood shacks with cornfields to brick three-story houses guarded by iron fences. The shacks that we passed were either not guarded, or guarded by cows. Cuenca was completely not what I expected. I did not even know it was a big city, and it is the third-largest city in Ecuador.

The second thing I noticed, especially after meeting my family, was there are many white people here. My host mom, sister and cousin here have red hair and light skin. In my culture tour from Quito to Cuenca, we stopped in many pueblos of the indigenous community, and my group and I clearly stuck out. In Cuenca, we still stick out as "gringas" by our mannerisms, but there are times I have been mistaken for an Ecuadorian (very proud of that).

On that note, what is a gringa/gringo? A gringo is a white person, whether North American or European. A gringo typically dresses differently, a little more earthy and a little more artsy. Gringos are usually loud when walking down the street, can't dance salsa or merengue, and of course speak Spanish with a broken accent.

South America, and I think Central America and Spain too perhaps, are celebrating Carnival this coming weekend. So a tradition here in Cuenca before Carnival is throwing bombas de agua -- water bombs -- at people or, more specifically, at gringos. Los niños love to throw water balloons at me, and yell out "¡GRINGA!" Sometimes it's funny, but there are those days when it definitely is not. I have had my share of throwing water back at the little squirts.

Back to my first impressions of Cuenca. The third thing I noticed was the driving. Rhode Island drivers definitely would not survive here, and many Rhode Island pedestrians would struggle too, because cars do not stop for pedestrians. Cars and buses speed through small, car-and-a-half--wide cobblestone streets. They don't use blinkers, they honk at everything, and bus drivers even participate in water-balloon throwing.

My first morning walking to school included some of that adventure I was talking about. First, I was lost, did not know where to go, but wanted to act like I knew where I was going so I thought it was a good idea to try to cross the streets fast and just not look. Horrible idea, Ecuadorians do not do this, and don't even try it. I almost lost my life at every street, horns honking and almost car crashes because of my stupidity. I stuck out that morning, and I still looked lost.

There are no speed limits here either, and no police are on the streets to enforce any driving rules. Never trust a red light, they are only optional. Buses speed up for gringas, be careful.

My final surprise: Every morning I walk past the la carcel de Cuenca, or the Cuenca prison. The prison is nothing like the prison in Rhode Island. There are no gates surrounding the building, nor any high security -- only a yellow-brick building with no windows (that I know of) and one door that is barred. The street is blocked off for cars except for authorized vehicles. On the opposite side of the prison are little tiendas (shops). I haven't figured out who goes there besides policemen yet, but I think the stores do good business on visiting days -- Thursdays and Fridays. Other than that, not many people pass through besides me.

I get excited for visiting days because there is so much commotion. Snipers walk across the roof, indigenous women come and sell their fruit outside the prison and policemen are on alert walking around with their big guns. I haven't completely figured out the whole visiting process yet. There is a big line of family and friends waiting to see their loved ones. Sometimes women are exiting from the barred door, and sometimes it looks like the jailbird is outside with their loved one. One interesting point to note though is that visitors always, always, always have a scarf around their neck covering their face. At first I thought it was because they were crying, but I soon realized after catching a breeze that it's the smell of the people in jail.

Overall my ten to fifteen minute walk to school can be rather interesting, dodging cars and water balloons, and observing the action of the prison.

These were only my first impressions of Cuenca, Cuenca is actually a very beautiful city. Located in the Andes, the Southern highlands of the Andes, its about 8,000 feet above sea level, and the mountains surround the city on all sides. Weather is crazy, changing every hour from rain to extreme heat to thick fog, back to rain and sun. Always bring an umbrella, and a chompa (jacket, Cuenca-style)!

This weekend I am headed to the Galapagos Islands for seven days. Charles Darwin here I come! ¡Que les vaya bien! ¡Chau!