Monday, November 13, 2006
Nickled and Dimed
Hola todos,
Sorry to freak anyone out with news of my illness. I´m quite better today, after quite a bit of sleep last night. I returned to eating meat again and made a big run to the grocery store for my time here in Quito. Loaded up on Ramen, cheap fruit (got a pineapple for a quarter), gringo extravagancies like cream cheese and Oreos, big purple yams, toothpaste, eggs and fruit juice....I will expound upon juice in a moment. I think I´m good to go for awhile. After some drama and shopping about in the pouring rain out by the airport, we have rented a car to drive to Cotapaxi national park tomorrow for collecting...perhaps my last day of it. Best to go out with a big, expensive bang. Edwin´s brother Juan is going to drive us, as Edwin doesn´t drive and I won´t drive. It should be quite the time. Spent the day today getting all the plants from the trip through the south into presses and into the flat drier beds. The ceiling of the drier room is caked in mold, from all the humidity and warmth, and it set my allergies off something fierce. I wonder if that is part of root of my health problems here. That or I´m allergic to Puya (which could very well be true...) We´ll hope for the former. I also received the annoying news that I had conveniently forgetten that the herbarium here charges you thirty cents for every specimen you dry. Specimen meaning anything folded between newspaper. Keep in mind that Puya are gigantic and I go through about ten sheets for every species, and I´m collecting quadruplicates (two of which I don´t really care about....one for the herbarium here which is mandatory, one for the private collection of Mr. Puya, and then the two I do care about...one for Selby gardens in Florida and the BEST for Wisconsin). Of course I have to pay them to dry specimens for them! Our two day trip to Carchi in the north cost me thirty bucks, and God knows what the giant trip through the south will cost. Somehow I got out of Bolivia without spending a dime at the herbarium! I think it is good that they are trying to make this whole plant business ¨profitable¨, and I guess that means milking gringos, but it seems a bit ridiculous to me. I am a student, after all. Thank God for the National Science Foundation, or I swear I never would be doing this. I suppose I should be happy, though. I talked to American ex pat and great botanist Lou Jost today, who lives near Quito, and he said you used to have to pay 1000 dollars to secure permitting in this country, until just a few years ago. Now its 20. Weird.... I don't even know if I have permitting, but I'm sure someone will remind me to pay...
Times like this I get sort of depressed about the whole business. I figure, not counting airfare, I will have dropped about two grand on this trip, and a month of my life. A great month, dont get me wrong, but a month nonetheless, away from husband, friends and home ...oh, and from lots of stress. God knows what the trip in Argentina will cost, as Jorge insists we rent a car for it, and if cars are anything there like they are here, there goes another grand. Not to mention airfare, expensive Chilean wining and dining and paying of colleagues. And then the two greatest mountains yet to climb...Peru and Colombia. Both have terrible permitting rules, both are physically gigantic, Peru doesn't have the best infrastructure through the mountains and I think we all know a bit about the boonies of Colombia. Oh, and I dont have contacts really there yet...at least the kind that write back. But of course, at least fifty different, glorious species live in each country, and I cannot do this without at least a good chunk of them. I suppose I should get cracking on finding friends in those places, but it is a bit exhausting thinking about going anywhere else, right about now. I barely can fathom flying back to Bolivia in February, even though it is super easy, as I have an independently wealthy friend who drives me around and knows the plants like the back of his hand. Sometimes I just want to buy a big house in the suburbs, have a bunch of kids, get my hair and nails done, quilt, garden, do yoga, watch Oprah and cook nice dinners. No, not really....soon enough, I guess....
Have no fear, though. I have a list of power ballads on my iPod that get me through the tough spots...Içm going to make a playlist for Maggie Mae for her even more intense trip to Madagascar. Today was a special treat because I got my clothes professional laundered. Before, it was pretty ghetto, involving me heating up a pot of water, adding my concentrated REI soap and scrubbing away, before setting it up to dry in the intense Quito morning sun. I bought a new toothbrush and if I can bear to take a cold shower in the morning ...only if it a sunny morning and I can dry myself outside...I will feel like a new woman.
OK, now I will begin a section of the blog where I expound on some random things I love about Ecuador, in case you wondered if I was happy here. One thing...the juice. You order a juice here and they mean business. They hand peel a giant pile of whatever lovely fruit you order, whether pineapple, mango, papaya, coconut, guanabana ...no, I doçt know what it is, tomato tree...the best, Andean blackberry, peach....and blend it. They add no water or sugar and serve it in a fancy sundae glass with a straw. That is standard fare with any meal and dirt cheap. Amazing....how will I ever be able to drink concentrate again ¿sorry, this crazy keyboard is all wrong and I cançt figure out the symbols.
Ok, and now a weird thing about Ecuador. They love KFC. It is really the only truly American enterprise, oh besides Coca Cola, that I see everywhere. I mean, honestly, KFC. That is pretty ghetto by US standards, but they go nuts for it. They do love the chicken, I suppose. I did see a commercial for McDonalds here, and it was SUPER expensive....almost five dollars for a BigMac, which I figure is about 15 dollars by US standards. Crazy.
Alright. I swore I would get some business done on the internet tonight, but it is just too much fun to write this blog. I hope you think it is fun to read and not too long winded. Carry on.
Love,
Rachel
Sorry to freak anyone out with news of my illness. I´m quite better today, after quite a bit of sleep last night. I returned to eating meat again and made a big run to the grocery store for my time here in Quito. Loaded up on Ramen, cheap fruit (got a pineapple for a quarter), gringo extravagancies like cream cheese and Oreos, big purple yams, toothpaste, eggs and fruit juice....I will expound upon juice in a moment. I think I´m good to go for awhile. After some drama and shopping about in the pouring rain out by the airport, we have rented a car to drive to Cotapaxi national park tomorrow for collecting...perhaps my last day of it. Best to go out with a big, expensive bang. Edwin´s brother Juan is going to drive us, as Edwin doesn´t drive and I won´t drive. It should be quite the time. Spent the day today getting all the plants from the trip through the south into presses and into the flat drier beds. The ceiling of the drier room is caked in mold, from all the humidity and warmth, and it set my allergies off something fierce. I wonder if that is part of root of my health problems here. That or I´m allergic to Puya (which could very well be true...) We´ll hope for the former. I also received the annoying news that I had conveniently forgetten that the herbarium here charges you thirty cents for every specimen you dry. Specimen meaning anything folded between newspaper. Keep in mind that Puya are gigantic and I go through about ten sheets for every species, and I´m collecting quadruplicates (two of which I don´t really care about....one for the herbarium here which is mandatory, one for the private collection of Mr. Puya, and then the two I do care about...one for Selby gardens in Florida and the BEST for Wisconsin). Of course I have to pay them to dry specimens for them! Our two day trip to Carchi in the north cost me thirty bucks, and God knows what the giant trip through the south will cost. Somehow I got out of Bolivia without spending a dime at the herbarium! I think it is good that they are trying to make this whole plant business ¨profitable¨, and I guess that means milking gringos, but it seems a bit ridiculous to me. I am a student, after all. Thank God for the National Science Foundation, or I swear I never would be doing this. I suppose I should be happy, though. I talked to American ex pat and great botanist Lou Jost today, who lives near Quito, and he said you used to have to pay 1000 dollars to secure permitting in this country, until just a few years ago. Now its 20. Weird.... I don't even know if I have permitting, but I'm sure someone will remind me to pay...
Times like this I get sort of depressed about the whole business. I figure, not counting airfare, I will have dropped about two grand on this trip, and a month of my life. A great month, dont get me wrong, but a month nonetheless, away from husband, friends and home ...oh, and from lots of stress. God knows what the trip in Argentina will cost, as Jorge insists we rent a car for it, and if cars are anything there like they are here, there goes another grand. Not to mention airfare, expensive Chilean wining and dining and paying of colleagues. And then the two greatest mountains yet to climb...Peru and Colombia. Both have terrible permitting rules, both are physically gigantic, Peru doesn't have the best infrastructure through the mountains and I think we all know a bit about the boonies of Colombia. Oh, and I dont have contacts really there yet...at least the kind that write back. But of course, at least fifty different, glorious species live in each country, and I cannot do this without at least a good chunk of them. I suppose I should get cracking on finding friends in those places, but it is a bit exhausting thinking about going anywhere else, right about now. I barely can fathom flying back to Bolivia in February, even though it is super easy, as I have an independently wealthy friend who drives me around and knows the plants like the back of his hand. Sometimes I just want to buy a big house in the suburbs, have a bunch of kids, get my hair and nails done, quilt, garden, do yoga, watch Oprah and cook nice dinners. No, not really....soon enough, I guess....
Have no fear, though. I have a list of power ballads on my iPod that get me through the tough spots...Içm going to make a playlist for Maggie Mae for her even more intense trip to Madagascar. Today was a special treat because I got my clothes professional laundered. Before, it was pretty ghetto, involving me heating up a pot of water, adding my concentrated REI soap and scrubbing away, before setting it up to dry in the intense Quito morning sun. I bought a new toothbrush and if I can bear to take a cold shower in the morning ...only if it a sunny morning and I can dry myself outside...I will feel like a new woman.
OK, now I will begin a section of the blog where I expound on some random things I love about Ecuador, in case you wondered if I was happy here. One thing...the juice. You order a juice here and they mean business. They hand peel a giant pile of whatever lovely fruit you order, whether pineapple, mango, papaya, coconut, guanabana ...no, I doçt know what it is, tomato tree...the best, Andean blackberry, peach....and blend it. They add no water or sugar and serve it in a fancy sundae glass with a straw. That is standard fare with any meal and dirt cheap. Amazing....how will I ever be able to drink concentrate again ¿sorry, this crazy keyboard is all wrong and I cançt figure out the symbols.
Ok, and now a weird thing about Ecuador. They love KFC. It is really the only truly American enterprise, oh besides Coca Cola, that I see everywhere. I mean, honestly, KFC. That is pretty ghetto by US standards, but they go nuts for it. They do love the chicken, I suppose. I did see a commercial for McDonalds here, and it was SUPER expensive....almost five dollars for a BigMac, which I figure is about 15 dollars by US standards. Crazy.
Alright. I swore I would get some business done on the internet tonight, but it is just too much fun to write this blog. I hope you think it is fun to read and not too long winded. Carry on.
Love,
Rachel
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 7:02 PM 
