How to Dress Like a Quiteño

This post is a bit belated given that I haven't lived in Quito for over a month now, but I've had this blog idea for a while and finally decided to stop being such a "vago" (you might want to wordreference.com that one), and put the pen to the paper... er I mean the fingers to the keyboard. In this post I will outline a few of the many looks that are common in Quito. Please keep in mind that these are of course generalizations, but I will say that from my perspective at least, they're quite accurate generalizations.

1.) "Hip Young Guy"-- I know the name of this look is a bit general, but that's because this is by far the most common and pervasive look you see in Quito. The demographic includes boys from 15-30 all trying to emulate a style that somehow represents both luxury and hipster-grunge at the same time. For the shoes you have two options, Chuck Tailors (usually a knock off) or some type of big colorful skate shoes. The pants are not so negotiable however, they are an exclusively Ecuatorian style. Skinny jeans that are made to resemble some kind of expensive designer brand are all the rage here. But in the process of making all these knock offs, something went terribly wrong... these jeans have patches of denim sewn all over them, in every direction random stitching criss-crosses over dark washed patches and panels of denim. These pants really look like they were made from a bunch of fabric scraps randomly amalgamated with overzealous stitching, and they probably were, leading me to name them "Frankenstein Jeans". The t-shirt is usually a knock off of with large letters announcing across the chest the name of some American brand: "Aeropostal" "Hollister" "American Eagle". But the look would not be complete without the big handful of gel that turns the hair into a jet black array of rock hard spikes so treacherous it would probably be confiscated by the TSA. Oh one more important thing to note about this look: for some reason, here in Ecuador the rat tail is still an extremely popular hairstyle, I would say about 60% of the guys here are sporting a long tangle of hair that snakes down the back of their neck.

My Chucks, best effort at looking Ecuadorian. And yes, I did Spider Lace them, because I'm just that cool.

2.) "Business Man"-- I suppose this title should be in double quotes, since the people dressing like this are not really business men, they are in fact people that are trying to put on the appearance of a business man in order to sell you something. Most of these people are very poor, and employed by some type of salesman job, whether it be selling CD's on the buses, or handing out flyers about Jesus. However, they all have one thing in common: the suit. Appearance is very important in Quito, in fact I would go so far as to say that the people here are generally pretty vain and superficial (note that this does not apply outside of Quito). That is why it is not uncommon to find people with hardly any money to buy basic supplies, choosing instead to splurge on a jacket and tie, or knock off Rolex. One of the American ex-pats I met here told me that, "on the coast, all the rich guys dress like bums; and in Quito, all the bums dress like rich guys." I can now say with confidence that at least the second part of that is true, I'll have to wait until March to confirm the first part.

3.) "Old Indigenous Woman"-- This look is not so much a fashion statement, as it is a cultural declaration. There are many forms of traditional dress in Ecuador, each region having it's own particular accessories and idiosyncrasies. In Quito, the look is unmistakable, and quite popular among older women. It begins with the traditional shoes, a piece of cloth over the toes with a strap across the back of the heel. They look surprisingly like Toms, but have been worn here for hundreds of years by both men and women, so that $50 pair of Toms you're wearing right now may have been inspired by a $5 traditional Ecuatorian shoe. The look continues with a modest skirt, followed by a decorative blouse embroidered with colors and ruffles. Finally a sweater and hat, the hat is the important part. In Ecuador, the indigenous women wear hats to signify from which tribe and region they're from. It's an extremely important part of their cultural identity, and the hats are strikingly different. Some are felt with peacock feathers from Germany, and can cost over $70 (that's like $300 for a U.S. person), some are made of hard packed corn and weigh several pounds, and others are a simple straw or panama hat, but all critical to an indigenous person's life and identity. Of course, the look I've described here wouldn't be complete without one critical accessory... age. It's important to have a deeply lined face, and long white braid coming out of your hat in order to pull this one off.

One last thing to mention about Quito fashion is how unusually warm they dress here. Shorts are never, and I literally mean NEVER seen. Same goes with sandals or flip flops. And I would say that about 90% of the people wear a heavy coat or sweater all day long. Even at noon, when temperatures go over 85 degrees, you see people walking around with sweatshirts, jeans, and scarves, as if it's the middle of a Minnesota winter.

Anyways, I know this post has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now, but I just though it might be interesting. I will try to post more, but I'm very busy with very limited internet access, so no promises!

Amazonian Nights

Although they may not be as famous as the Arabian Nights, I find Amazonian nights to be one of the most calming and alluring things about the landscape here. Being on the Equator takes most of the guesswork out of daily schedules. Each night sunset begins around 5:45 and it is dark by 6:15. The jungle is a wonderful place during the day, but it is at night that the environment really comes alive.

Being so far away from civilization you might think that the nights here would be very still and quiet... in reality it's quite the opposite. As soon as the sun goes down the concert begins. From every imaginable angle comes the buzzing, chirping, peeping, whistling, singing, and myriad other sounds. It seems as though the entire world is vibrating with a hundred different tones of beating wings. This is the type of thing that people pay good money for in the States... it really does sound like I have one of those expensive sound machines plugged in next to my bed.

The best part of nighttime however is the storms. It's called the rainforest for a reason, it rains every day, and most nights as well. It's a wonderful thing to go to sleep to the sounds of rain on a tin roof, but my favorite part is not the rain, but the lightning. Weather it's a far off storm, or one right above your head, the lightning from night storms in the Amazon is a must see. Flashes periodically light up not only the night sky, but also the surroundings, framing the whole forest so you see only the outlines of trees, plants, and vines.

Lightning from a far off nighttime storm.

Needless to say I sleep quite well here, safe and sound under my mosquito net of course. The bugs do get pretty big after all, and I wouldn't want one as a nighttime visitor, no matter how much I enjoy their music.

I'm Still Here

For anyone who saw the train wreck of a movie "I'm Still Here" by Joaquin Phoenix, I apologize for reminding you of that. For those of you who haven't seen it, I'm sure you remember when Joaquin Phoenix grew that big beard and started acting like a demented crazy person on all the talk shows; that was the period in which he made this movie. Anyways, at least it gave Ben Stiller a chance to make one of the funniest appearances ever at the Oscar's when he came out dressed as the disheveled Joaquin, chewing gum and acting apathetic.

But enough about pop culture history, I really just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive; I feel very bad that I have not posted any photos or blogs for about 2 weeks. The good news is I'm not dead. The bad news is that in my first two weeks at Sacha Yacu animal rescue center I have had no time to blog or upload photos. I'm living about an hour and a half outside of Puyo in a jungle lodge, so obviously there's not internet access. It really is very "Heart of Darkness" out here, I feel a bit like some 18th century explorer venturing into the uncharted Amazon. The only time I can blog, email, Facebook, or look anything up is on the weekends. The upside to not having internet is that I get plenty of time to relax and enjoy the paradise in which I'm living, however that also means I have about 20 blogs I would like to write and no time in which to do it. For now I'm going to try to get as much in as possible, but I think I'll just start by giving you the basic run down of my new daily routine. 

This is the view down into the jungle where I live, our center is plunked right down in there, about a 15 minute walk from where this picture was taken.

Sacha Yacu is a well established animal rescue center that works with the environmental police in Ecuador to help fight animal trafficking and illegal possession of animals by taking in these confiscated animals and rehabilitating them. The ultimate goal is to be able to one day release the animals back into the wild, however for many this is simply not possible.  The center is run by a family who built and coordinates the program. There are really only about 3 people who work there full time, the rest of the work is done by volunteers. So, the jobs of the volunteers include feeding the animal and cleaning their cages, and helping with construction and other various projects at the center. 

This is part of the center where I live, it really is a paradise, sometimes I just sit in a hammock for hours and stare.

My day begins at 7:00 with breakfast, at 8:00 we begin to prepare the animal's food and move out in groups of two or three to feed them and clean their cages. Between about 10:30 and 12:00 we usually work on some type of construction project like building a new quarantine or repairing cages. Around 12:00 we eat lunch, and then have free time to relax until 2:30, most of this time is spent sleeping in hammocks. Then from 2:30 until about 5:30 we continue with a construction project or do something else like collecting insects for the animals, or cutting down sugar cane to bring back for the animals. After dinner we just relax around the center reading or watching movies, there's only electricity when they turn on the generator between 6:30 and 8:00, so once the generator is off, it's pretty much bedtime. 

This is me at a waterfall near the center.

So far I'm absolutely loving my time at the center. For animals we have several types or birds, mammals, monkeys, turtles, and peccaries. I will do a whole other post about the animals, but suffice to say for now that I've become very accustomed to hand feeding red macaws, and getting de-liced by monkeys. It's really a lot of fun to have a monkey jump on your back and start pulling through your hair looking for lice. In addition to the animals, it's very nice to be living so rustically for a while. So far I've learned to build a door with nothing but a hammer, nails, and saw; I've vastly improved my masonry skills (previously nonexistent); and I've become a master of catching grasshoppers with bare hands. Some of the work we do is very stone age, literally. For example, we spent two days and about 6 hours throwing 60 pound boulders. The reason for this was to collect these large stones to build a new pool for the monkeys, but the stones were in a river that was a long ways away from the pool, so we set up an assembly line and just spent hours tossing boulders back and forth, usually uphill. After spending two weeks here the whole idea of "going to the gym" now seems very stupid to me. If you want to get in shape it's quite simple, just spend a couple of hours lifting and throwing rocks, or harvesting plantains, or cutting down bamboo and carrying it several kilometers, or building a house. Not only will you save money on a gym membership, but you'll actually accomplish something. 

This is our Blue Macaw, Houdini, enjoying a banana.

A blurry picture of me with Ada, one of our Capuchin monkeys.

On the weekends, all of the volunteers leave the center and go to one of the surrounding towns, so far I've gone to Banos both weekends. Banos is really really cool, I'm going to devote a separate post to Banos and some weekend adventures. But this is definitely a place where I could see myself getting a job in a hostal or restaurant and just settling down for a few months.

A picture of me doing canyoning last weekend in Banos, tons of fun!

Anyways, I have to get going back to the center now, I wish I could have posted more but time is limited... those animals aren't going to feed themselves! I updated the Flickr if you want more pictures, and I should be getting more pictures for this coming weekend, when I will hopefully have some more blogs prepared. Hasta luego; y te acuerda, ama la vida!