At the beginning of my trip to Ecuador I thought I would be able to draw countless parallels between the experiences I had last semester in the South Pacific and the experiences I would have in South America. However, I was very wrong. I also thought that I was prepared completely for the adventure I was entering. And literally, I was. I had my backpack, steri pen, Spanish- English dictionary, and a small pharmacy of medications. But Again, I desperately overestimated myself. Because, what I was very soon to learn in the days following my arrival in Ecuador, is that navigating this semester would truly be nothing like the last, and the lessons I would learn would here be very different from those of my days in Fiji Australia and New Zealand. But in many ways, I believe the new lessons and experiences have been more valuable to me as an individual.
It hit me very quickly that the differences between traveling in a boisterous circus of 13 through western, English-speaking nations, is absolutely nothing like traveling alone, as a young woman, through a developing, Spanish-speaking nation. There were no baby steps here. No orientations, or picnics, or competent, reassuring OE's. Within 24 hrs of landing in Quito at 2am and taking 2 busses to find my in-country contact before the break of day, I was commuting 3hrs a day in total to my new job. And for a few days I was so overwhelmed that I became almost robotic. I was very naive in thinking I was above culture shock. But after a while of denying myself the ability to feel fearful at the lusting, persistent states of strange men, and the possibility of getting lost without speaking enough of a new language to get home, and simply the fact that I felt lonelier than I ever had before, I cracked. I mean, two boxes of tissues and another box of fried plantains, cracked. The stone-cold facade came down and I realized journey is going to require even more of me than the last, in a brand new way.
Last semester, I found, was more about being part of a team. We worked as a group, traveled, ate, slept, and adventured as a unit. A very extensively planned and well cared for unit, but a unit nonetheless. We could ask each other questions and use each other as crutches, both emotionally, but more often physically. However, now that we are alone we are required to cultivate fortitude, resilience, competence, and independence at a whole new level. And as a young woman, watching for thieves of every nature is a very exhausting task.
After moving to a town called Puerto Lopez on the coast in mid-February to start my turtle conservation job, things became easier. I got three great coworkers that have all shared similar experiences to me, and are more than willing to complain and laugh about them right along side me. We currently have 10 turtles and are in the process of constructing a new facility for them.
Ecuador's central coast is a renowned location for turtle nesting but unfortunately, the intense and the unscrupulous fishing industry kills and maims hundreds of them a year with their boats, hooks, and nets. As part of the national park, we have attempted to create successful educational campaigns for the fisherman, but none have worked. The relative failure of the educational campaigns have been very interesting to me, though. As someone who is pursuing an education and then career in the field of environmental sustainability development, learning how and why certain methods work, and others fail is extremely important. Many people we have talked to say "give up." They say that the old habits will never die until all the fish and turtles have.
In other words, with two generations at this point, things don't change. We often ask the fishermen if they envision their sons and grandsons fishing in the same seas and swimming with the same beautiful turtles, and the answer is almost always a resounding "yes!" But when we display the facts of declining populations of both, they are incapable of making the connection. Many believe that their God (Ecuador is extremely Catholic) will continue to replenish the stocks, but the reality is you cannot fight the facts of destruction. This was similar to Fiji, in the sense of the manifest destiny the fishermen possessed, alongside the bitter truth of rapidly declining fish stocks and coral degradation. The rampant culture of unchecked resource exploitation and sustainability are often a rather disastrous duo.
As a whole, though, Ecuador is a pretty environmentally-friendly nation. They have recognized that their Eco-tourism industry is, along with banana production, the backbone of their economy. They are making great strides to protect it when they can, and all over you see signs reminding people to keep their nation clean. This is fantastic, because Ecuador is truly beautiful.
In the last 2 months I have seen eight towns: Quito, Otavalo, La Chota, Mindo, Puerto Lopez, Montanita, Cuenca, and Guayaquil. All of which have been fantastic and unique. Mindo, nestled into the heart of the cloud forest north of Quito is charming and it is vibrant and stunning, with coursing rivers and massive green mountains. The coast, from Puerto Lopez south to Montanita is more arid, but the beaches are exquisite and the 80-degree water curls into epic surfing waves. The big cities of Guayaquil and Quito have not been my favorite, but there is still an interesting cultural experience in both of the chaotic, 2 million- plus cities.
But for me the greatest part of being here has been realizing every day that I am capable of more than the day before. I have learned to speak pretty decent Spanish, navigated dozens of busses and places on my own, and forged a couple of amazing life-long connections. The truth is though, that we are all capable of becoming more, seeing more, and doing more than yesterday. And being too young or too old is no excuse not to try. I'm only 17 and I'm making it work. Also, Dad, if you're reading this, you're probably going to have some scuba diving release forms coming your way soon. And if being to scared or too "comfortable" is your excuse, it's also every indication that you need to try.
I still have one month left here, plenty of time for things to possibly fall apart. But until that happens, I am going to continue to see all that I humanly can and keep playing with my favorite turtle. She is an old, overweight, green turtle who is missing a back flipper, thanks to a boat propeller. And yet, every day she makes a full-blown attempt to escape her inflatable kiddie pool. We're still not quite sure exactly where she's trying to go. Then again, maybe she doesn't know either. But in any case when it came time to give her a name some suggested Houdini, another pushed for tricycle, but the name that ended up sticking: Carpe Diem. CC for short.
-Liv J