Cuenca!

Now that we have lived here almost two months, it’s high time to report back to base about our experiences.

Let me start at the beginning. The ride from the coast (Guayaquil, to be exact: the biggest city in Ecuador but one the Feher-Gavras have yet to visit properly… next time, Guayaquil, stay put for us!) was the single most beautiful one of our lives. The stunning scenery showcasing the extraordinary natural beauty of the Andes as you crawl up the serpentines from sea level to 4000 meters above guarantees an extremely memorable experience that won’t leave anyone disappointed… unless you’re immune to the wonders of the mountains (and to my humble knowledge not many fellow humans fit this description).

Michaela, whom we had previously only been in touch with online, waited for us at the bus station and took us straight to their place. This turned out to be a good indicator of what we could expect in the next few days from our self-appointed hosts/guides: super niceness, friendliness, and extreme helpfulness (that’s a little too much ‘ness’, I know, but what can you do in the case of amazing people, right?).

Santiago and she not only accepted us into their home (just outside of Cuenca: to our surprise it turned out to be substantially colder despite being only a few kilometers away from the center, which made for some crisp mornings but also provided a serene and tranquil environment), but also took us everywhere. At the risk of usingg an exaggeration with a core of truth we could say we saw more of Cuenca in the first three days than since…

(including the Mirador aka lookout)

....and on top of all that they introduced us to Bufi, a great feline who will make an appearance toward the end of this post.

Despite all their niceness I still consider it fortunate that we didn’t get to enjoy their hospitality for too long: finding an apartment went quicker than we’d thought (and hoped). We actually took the first one we viewed and made it our home very fast. It may not be perfect (among the negatives is the negligible sound proofing on the windows and the occasionally disappearing cold water), but it is spacious (including an extra room for meditation, working out and visitors!), homely, light, reasonably priced, and has everything we need.

The neighborhood is also pretty cool: apart from street vendors serving cheap and absolutely delicious food (go salchipapas, go!), we’re 100 meters away from the river Tomebamba (which makes for a great hangout…, and additionally you can actually walk into town on the bank), 15 minutes away from a huuuge market where we get all our groceries for a more than reasonable price (especially now that we’ve learnt how to haggle), 10 meters from the bus stop into town….

…and it’s 50ms from a playground where Bailoterapia happens. Every weekday night at various locations in Cuenca dance instructors appear with huge amps and anyone may join for an hour of mostly Latin (a good mix) free dancing. Alina is usually one of the more enthusiastic gringas among many Ecuadorians. In all honesty, this is among the coolest things in Cuenca: a really heartwarming sight to observe (or participate in… in which case it ceases to be a mere sight… okay, let’s not get sidetracked).

The first two weeks here were rather chaotic, as always, mostly taken up by acquiring stuff, organizing things and getting to our new environment. Plus we wanted to take advantage of Alina’s loose work schedule… which is why we went to El Cajas. Remember what I wrote about that memorable bus ride? Well, turns out you can actually be in that scenery! All you have to do is take the bus toward Guayaquil and hop off after about 40 mins. Here are a few pictures. We tried capturing the atmosphere and while I feel like we fell short, something still remains...

We’re sure to be back, perhaps already next week!

(meanwhile you may choose to check out our gallery for more pictures).

On top of the natural beauty of the city and its surroundings, Cuenca has a LOT of culture to offer. In order to start experiencing that, we began by taking part in a theatre festival. Completely by accident we ended up going to a non-verbal (but very vocal) play. It was a one-man army and quite entertaining with some hints at a deeper message… just how we like it. Give us more! ‘I will’ – says Cuenca, which is no empty bragging: there turn out to be about 200 festivals here each year. That includes the smaller ones and yet it’s no exaggeration: many have happened in this past month (and a half).

… and then came the Australians. The dramatic phrasing does not represent an invasion (although the banks of Tomebamba are full of eucalyptus trees… which might signal ambitions of a more subtle takeover… which will take a while to unfold at this rate… so we solemnly vow to keep vigilant), but Alex and Fish, a loveable couple we met in Puerto Cayo.

We did some pretty cool things together such as:

paying a visit to Centro Prohibido,

visiting Pumapungo (the Incan ruins of old Cuenca),

or staying at home to enjoy some great home-cooked meals, play card games and drink tequila. 

They stayed a week… if you want to see their travels, check out http://lookwhatwedone.com/, their cool blog. Believe me, it'll be worth your while! ;)

When they left, it was time to work. Actually, Alina already started while they were here. Her schedule has been pretty tough so far (including no day off for a few weeks) but she’s handled it like a boss. My life is concentrated in the apartment with occasional visits to the playground (to work out), river bank (to contemplate things), or downtown.

On occasion, however, we still find the time to go out: we have visited various parts of the city, its biggest museum, some bars (they have character here, which is refreshing and great after LNK) and a metal show which was decent but I don’t doubt (seeing the amazing level of cultural activity in the city) there is more to come.

There are no long trips in store for us for a while but in November and especially in December we’ll be sure to discover different parts of this beautiful country (and relay the outcome back to you, dear readers).

Until then stay cool, enjoy the days of late autumn, and think about us as we rock out in the land of constant spring… (update: it’s been raining for days now… tone that jealousy down, but just a little bit :)).

And finally, as promised, a picture of our awesome 'rental cat', also known as Bufi (or Boofi, Boofster, Boofina, ...). We're extremely happy to be your foster parents for two weeks!

With warm hugs,

Balazs & Alina

Șederea noastă în Puerto Cayo- prima experiență ca voluntari Workaway

După 3 săptămîni pline de momente desebite, iată că șederea noastră pe sălbatica plajă din Puerto Cayo (reg. Manabi) se apropie de final.

În primul rînd, voi reitera că întreaga experiență a fost posibilă datorită serviciului de voluntariat intermediat de www.workaway.info. Aflaserăm de ceva timp de posibilitatea de a presta activități în regim de voluntariat în schimbul cazării gratuite în orice colț al lumii prin această platformă, însă inițial a fost una dintre acele lucrui pe care zici că ai vrea să le faci dar știi prea bine că cel mai probabil nu se va întîmpla. Așa vedeam lucrurile pe la începutul anului. Ulterior, cînd am aflat că va urma să lucrez în Cuenca, Ecuador, mi-am zis că ar trebui să forțez nota și să fac așa încît să profităm cît mai mult de timpul pe care îl avem de petrecut în această țară minunată.

Și uite că oportunitatea de a deveni voluntari Workaway s-a conturat mult prea clar și frumos încît să o ignorăm. Ne-am înscris pe platformă și am început să ne căutăm gazde. Nu a fost prea greu să  găsim o gazdă lejeră în acest sat pescăresc, nici prea mare, nici prea mic, nici prea izolat, nici prea turistic, un ținut rural autentic Ecuadorian cu “gringos” ( străini albi, preponderant Americani) ici-colo, unde poți vedea balene inițiindu-și puii în tainele săriturii și împroșcării apei oceanului Pacific. 

Pare magic, nu?

Ei bine, deși adevărat, plaja din Puerto Cayo nu este tocmai plaja exotică stereotipică. Încă din primele zile am dat peste destul de multe animale eșuate pe țărm: o groază de pești (de toate formele, cu și fără dinți), păsări și chiar broaște țestoase gigantice. Recunosc, am reacționat ca persoană care cunoaște plaja doar din postura de turist și, da, mare mi-a fost mirarea că poți găsi carcase pe plajă. Nu mi-a luat mult timp să realizez că acesta este cursul firesc al lucrurilor: natura are nevoie de o perioadă de timp pentru a avea grijă de rămășițele terestre ale diferitelor vietăți- asta dacă nu intervine omul pentru a le arunca la gunoi pentru a-i scuti pe turiști de vreo imagine neplăcută, fie ea una naturală.

Altfel, Oceanul Pacific pare tare agitat, cel puțin aici datorită curenților puternici, cu valuri foarte puternice și mai mereu prezente. Cu toate astea, bineînțeles că m-am bucurat de posibilitatea de a mă scălda la 30 metri de casă (apropos, asta e prima oară cînd practic locuiesc într-o casă pe plajă). După cum menționam anterior, aici pare că natura deține controlul și, maestră fiind pe întreg teritoriul, trebuie să joci după regulile dînsei. Astfel, am ieșit din apă în momentul în care oceanul s-a săturat de prezența-mi (și mi-a trimis meduze pentru a mă anunța că mi-a expirat timpul de îmbăiat), am învățat să fac duș exclusiv cu apă rece și, datorită înnoptării văratice și răsăritului timpuriu, să îmi încep ziua pe la 6 și să cad într-un somn adînc pe la 21-22.

În schimbul eforturilor mele de a renunța la toate capriciile vieții la oraș învățate de lungul multor ani am fost răsplătită cu posibilitatea unei diete sănătoase și diversificate (muuulte fructe exotice absolut delicioase, legume proaspete, fructe de mare*, ș.a. ), cu ore de yoga pe nisip cu oceanul și apusul (superb!) ca unici spectatori (aici trebuie să menționez cooperarea eficientă și de succes dintre natură și minunatul meu soț care se pare a fi și un minunat instructor de Bikram Yoga), cu liniște cît cuprinde pentru sesiunile de lectură voluntară și mult apreciată și pentru multe alte lucruri pe care probabil le voi aprecia și mai mult odată ce plecăm de aici. Ah, da, se pare că am și luat de-a gata minunata excursie pe Isla de la Plata unde am văzut și mai multe balene (foarte aproape de data asta), păsări exotice precum pescărușul cu picioare albastre în habitat propriu și multe alte vietăți fabuloase.

Una peste alta, pot conclude că a fost o experiență grozavă și că prima noastră lună în Ecuador a fost de vis. Prin faptul că nu am scris mai nimic despre lucrul depus în schimbul cazării se poate deduce doar că nu a fost nimic meritoriu de menționat- logic ;).   

Următorul articol va fi postat din Cuenca- un oraș care promite mai mult decît am putea cere. Rămîne de văzut ce vom trăi pe pielea noastră.

Pînă atunci, multă pace și liniște și sper că vă bucurați de fiecare moment oriunde v-ați afla și orice viață ați ales a trăi.

Alina și Balazs.

Quito time

This is the English version- NOT translation- of our take on the first part of our Ecuadorian adventure: Quito and surroundings. Next post about Puerto Cayo and workaway experience soon, most likely in Romanian- brush up yours or prepare Google translate. : )

Here we were, after over 24 hours of flights and layovers, outside of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. Most signs of fatigue have faded in the face of the imposing Andes and the touch of warmth and wind on our A.C.-abused skins. We had rented a shuttle to the hostel and there she was, a beautiful Ecuadorian lady with a sign that had our common Fehér-Gavra name (ok, maybe it said “Balazs Feher”, but for the sake of equal representation, we’ll adjust some details) ready to offer us a ride to out dwelling in what seemed to be a personal car.

After safely arriving to our very neat yet bohemian looking hostel (“La Rosario”, would recommend it for basic comfort, safety and extremely helpful manager/ receptionist/ all-doer) we squeezed in a swift refreshing session and headed out toward the institution where we needed to register our visas. The three hour waiting was no biggie as we had been warned about it- in fact, initially we were pretty pleasantly surprised by the apparently well functioning queuing system. The more tensioned moments came later on when we were nonchalantly informed that they would like to hold on to our passports for 48 hours (i.e. from Friday to WEDNESDAY, since the following Monday would be Ecuador’s National Day). That was not what we had read online about registering visas and most definitely it was not going to pass without ruining our plans of being in Manta on Monday.

What happened next is what I call a “non-invasive (yet) forced language immersion” episode that can squeeze every single bit of implicit foreign language you’ve got hidden in the most obscure parts of your brain: no, it was not an option to prolong our stay in Quito by 3 extra nights, nooo, we also didn’t feel comfortable leaving the visa registration for later in a different city and (hell) no, we would not rely on a stranger’s goodwill to have us send the passports on the beach (while travelling half the country without any legal means of identification). The combination between puppy eyes and “I’m not gonna let you have your way” look must have aided the schizophrenic half sentences that were coming out of my mouth. The outcome was, after literally another hour and a half of distress, victorious: we’d gotten our beloved travel documents back and another two pieces of documents. It must have taken them literally around 15-20 minutes to verify and issue the documents, but they made the experience more epic for us by unnecessarily prolonging the suspense.

All in all, we managed. The Quito adventure was ready to emerge.

Delicious new meals, fruits and all-natural jugos enjoyed where the locals have them (not your most exquisite place, but definitely 100% authentic) or from street vendors kept us going up and down the “hills” (a.k.a mountains) of Quito for the two days and a half and have also aided our very hasty recovery. We even managed to adapt to the time zone and skip jet-lag symptoms (for most part in any case) in no-time.

Thus we managed to do and see a tone in Quito: every important tourist attraction in the old downtown- La Basilica, Plaza Santo Domingo, Teatro Nacional Sucre, La Merced Church etc. , hung out at the Cumanda National Park and surroundings- where we were lucky enough to catch the days of celebrating unity and tolerance through culture and so we saw many artsy pieces of all sorts, pictures, films, and even a very spontaneous metal show (!)- walk the narrow and charming streets Calle de la Ronda where we also had local beer and a taste of the traditional Ecuadorian drink, Canelazo, a delicious blend of mulled liqueur with a fruit juice.

We also managed to get reasonably close to the Virgin Mary (Lama el Panecillo) on the top of the mountain and walk in some very authentic, non-touristy neighborhoods and so catch a glimpse of the residences of a regular Quito family. Another must see that we managed to tick off the list was the Middle of the Earth- el Mitad del Mundo, ermm 240 meters away from the actual Equator, but still, the place where the measurements to prove that the Earth has an oblate spheroid shape were first made. It’s a pretty cool place with lovely facilities and nice small things to do, like hanging out with lamas, enjoying local food like Guinea pigs on stick (which we did NOT do…yet), visit a few museums, and, what I’ve personally enjoyed the most, see some of the works of Ecuador’s most preeminent contemporary painter: Oswaldo Guayasamin(see some pics below text and be amazed), remarkable by the way in which he managed to transmit human sufferance as seen on indigenous people’s faces through outstanding portraits.

 I want to mention that, while not letting our curiosity cloud our reason and precaution (i.e. put ourselves in unnecessary risky situations), there was no instance when I felt truly insecure or in any real danger. Also noteworthy would be the polite and respectful attitude of the Ecuadorian people shown offering directions, being served food or sold stuff. We had expected that in a way, having a particular affliction for Latin people, and sure enough, we can confidently say that amamos Ecuadorianos. If one tries to understand everything in its own context and tone down pre-set standards and all too rooted ways of doing things, one is able to capture the beauty of a new culture and not get pestered by differences that might not even be all that relevant at the end of the day. This attitude, the great places, scenery and people, plus, experiencing all these wonders with the love of your life, has facilitated absolutely memorable time in beautiful Quito.

Over and out for now,

Alina & Balázs.

Read more about our life on the beach…in Romanian.      

Ecuador 1

Első helyzetjelentés Ecuadorból:

Lassan már egy hete leledzünk az egy évre otthonunkul szolgáló országban és remekül érezzük magunkat.

Az út hosszú volt és fárasztó (rekord mindkettőnknek: háztól házig kb. 29 óra), de jól bírtuk. Az időzítés is jól jött ki, sokat sikerült a gépen aludni. Az első három napot Quitóban töltöttük, ami egészen különleges és teljesen újszerű élmény volt. 2800-3200 magasan van a város az Andok közepén. Nagy, szép, változatos és teljesen más, mint amihez eddig hozzászoktunk. Jó sokat mászkáltunk benne és még a világ közepéhez is elmentünk (ott megy el az Egyenlítő nem messze, azaz hogy majdnem:)). Gyönyörű épületek, remek hangulat, különleges kaja és a fantasztikus hegyek a háttérben... így röviden ez volt Quito.

Ja és: egy ultramodern (és ingyenes) kulturális központban sok egyéb jó dolog mellett egy death metal koncertbe is belefutottunk (délután 4 körül...), ami olyan hangos volt, hogy az épületben nem lehetett megmaradni. Azért megnéztük.

Az út Puerto Cayoba szintén hosszú volt: éjszakai busz Mantába, aztán még egy ide, vagy 14 óra összesen... de legalább olcsó. Most már négy napja vagyunk itt és sikerült beilleszkedni. Van saját lakterünk és maga a birtok is kulturált, úgyhogy nincs okunk panaszra. Az óceán 20 méterre van onnan, ahol most ülök... hogy ne legyen akkora irigykedés, az idő nem a legjobb. A hőmérséklet tökéletes, de alig süt a nap és sokat fúj az erős szél. Itt ez normális és kezdünk hozzászokni, de ilyen szempontból nem az a trópusi paradicsom.

A meló rendben van, tényleg nem kell többet 4 óránál. Eddig ablakot mostunk, konyhát takarítottunk, meg növényeket öntöztünk. Na meg egyszer bementem Mantaba a "főnökkel", Mike-al.

A legközelebbi kiadásban beszámolok majd (remélhetőleg) az első környékbeli utunkról is. Ha minden jól megy, a "szegény ember Galápagos"-ára megyünk, ami egy sziget innen nem messze bálnákkal, delfinekkel meg mindenféle madárral.

Addig is folytatjuk majd a képek töltögetését. Mint mindig, viszont-beszámolókat szívesen fogadunk!:)

Üdvözlet Ecuadorból:

A Fehér-Gavra mini-család