Hola a todos, estoy en los Galapagos!
Hi everybody, I'm here in the Galapagos! A brief overview of what's happened so far:
We flew out on Friday, Cleveland to Chicago to Miami to Guyaquil. We spent the night in a beautiful little hotel and then drove about four hours to Cuenca. The mountains are so beautiful. It was so awesome to be on solid ground, looking down on a blanket of clouds.
We got to the school and met our families. I'm living with a very nice couple, Jaime and Rita, who are probably in their 60s. They have three children who are all married and there are four grandchildren. I have yet to meet Rita's 104-year-old grandmother. Everyone is really friendly and they try to help me, but it's still pretty stressful. I felt pretty lonely on Saturday, even though I was surrounded by family. Yesterday was definitely easier. They speak so fast, and my head just spins when there are more than two people in the room. I think I understand about 65% of what's being said. I'll be glad to get into the Spanish classes so I at least feel like I'm making progress.
Right now nine of our twenty-four group members are on Santa Cruz, one of the Galapagos Islands. Dr. Melampy is here too. We had to be at the school at 3 AM, then we drove back to Guyaquil. That was a very unpleasant ride...it's incredibly twisty and bumpy and at that time of day and in the dark and all...only two of us threw up. I never get carsick, and I still felt really awful. From there, we flew to the island of Baltra, then had to stand up in a very full bus (it was like a roller coaster but we had to handle all the physics!) to get on a small boat that took us to Santa Cruz, then we had another very long, sitting down bus ride to the harbor. Then we took a dinghy out to our boat, the Golondrina, where we'll be living for the next week. Then we came back to the island. I felt like I'd never stay still again.
We had lunch, which was pretty good. I haven't encountered any really scary food yet, although I did see cuy (guinea pig) roasting yesterday. My family will appreciate this: I actually ate two pieces of shrimp today. I figured I'll never get it fresher than it is here. It didn't taste too bad, but I'm still not a fan of the texture.
After lunch we walked through the Galapagos National Park, which included a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station and a chance to see lots of giant tortoises, including Lonesome George. I'll tell his story when I have more time.
I'm really looking forward to the next several days. I'll get to another Internet cafe as soon as I can. For now, saludos!!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
In defense of my obsession
This post is not about Ecuador. I have entirely too much to think about and to do before Friday, and at the moment my blog is my refuge from all of that.
Last week, I got really mad at a good friend. This friend and I are both really sarcastic, and much of our relationship is based on making fun of each other, so the two of us shouting is not an uncommon occurrence, but we actually kind of had a real fight. He thinks my obsession with Harry Potter is really nerdy and ridiculous, and while I'm aware I'm a big nerd, I was getting pretty tired of the negative comments about it. So we shouted it out and it's been agreed that Harry Potter is off the table as far as teasing goes, and everything is hunky-dory. But I know a lot of people don't understand my obsession, so I thought I'd spell (no pun intended!!) it out...
For starters, I read A LOT, and the Harry Potter books are, without exaggeration, the best books I have ever read. I've lost count of how many times I've read them (somewhere around ten each for the first four books), and each time I go back to them I discover something new, whether it's a joke I never got or a bit of foreshadowing I never noticed before. The basic plot isn't that complicated --the classic good-underdog-triumphs-over-evil-super-power deal-- but I'm always amazed all over again by the level of detail that Jo put into the Wizarding world...sports, government, candy, books, cities, all of it!! The books have themes with which I really identify, such as the importance of friends and the power of love, and they're full of insightful parallels to the real world. They've sharpened my critical thinking skills, and they've also helped me improve immensely as a writer.
Beyond those things, I'm fascinated with the global phenomenon Harry Potter has become. In the age of television and video games, it's astounding that a book series has spawned fan conferences, a theme park, an entire new genre of music, and the Harry Potter Alliance, a nonprofit organization that functions as a real-life Dumbledore's Army both at home and in some of the darkest places in the world. All of these crazy things were set in motion by one woman who put pen to paper, who never dreamed she would become one of the richest people in the world in less than a decade. Jo Rowling is an inspiration to me, not only because she's such a talented writer, but because she's committed to her family and her many charitable projects, she's always classy in the face of criticism, she truly cares about her fans, and she had the courage to take that leap and send Philosopher's Stone off to an agent. If she can do amazing things, so can I.
The third level of my obsession is the community of Harry Potter fans, or the "fandom"...other crazy people like me who are passionate about the books, travel for hours to go to cons or wizard rock shows, and are committed to changing the world through love. There are also so many offshoots or related groups that I've been introduced to through the HP fandom, like Room 3428, the Vlogbrothers and the Nerdfighters, and Team StarKid. When you're a member of the fandom, it's okay to be a geek; it's okay to like to read and to use big words and proper grammar; it's okay to sing songs about fighting zombies, Quidditch, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and nargles; it's okay to serve bacon at a wrock concert. There's no need to be embarrassed or to hide who you are, because "Every outcast, they can find their place / At Hogwarts," as the Remus Lupins have been known to sing. It sounds too good to be true, but that's really how it is.
So that's my obsession in a nutshell. I could literally write about the fandom for hours, but fortunately a much better writer than me has published a book about it. Whether you're a Potterhead, you have one in your family, or you're still just wondering what all the fuss is about, Harry, a History: the True Story of a Boy Wizard, his Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon by Melissa Anelli is the book for you!!
Last week, I got really mad at a good friend. This friend and I are both really sarcastic, and much of our relationship is based on making fun of each other, so the two of us shouting is not an uncommon occurrence, but we actually kind of had a real fight. He thinks my obsession with Harry Potter is really nerdy and ridiculous, and while I'm aware I'm a big nerd, I was getting pretty tired of the negative comments about it. So we shouted it out and it's been agreed that Harry Potter is off the table as far as teasing goes, and everything is hunky-dory. But I know a lot of people don't understand my obsession, so I thought I'd spell (no pun intended!!) it out...
For starters, I read A LOT, and the Harry Potter books are, without exaggeration, the best books I have ever read. I've lost count of how many times I've read them (somewhere around ten each for the first four books), and each time I go back to them I discover something new, whether it's a joke I never got or a bit of foreshadowing I never noticed before. The basic plot isn't that complicated --the classic good-underdog-triumphs-over-evil-super-power deal-- but I'm always amazed all over again by the level of detail that Jo put into the Wizarding world...sports, government, candy, books, cities, all of it!! The books have themes with which I really identify, such as the importance of friends and the power of love, and they're full of insightful parallels to the real world. They've sharpened my critical thinking skills, and they've also helped me improve immensely as a writer.
Beyond those things, I'm fascinated with the global phenomenon Harry Potter has become. In the age of television and video games, it's astounding that a book series has spawned fan conferences, a theme park, an entire new genre of music, and the Harry Potter Alliance, a nonprofit organization that functions as a real-life Dumbledore's Army both at home and in some of the darkest places in the world. All of these crazy things were set in motion by one woman who put pen to paper, who never dreamed she would become one of the richest people in the world in less than a decade. Jo Rowling is an inspiration to me, not only because she's such a talented writer, but because she's committed to her family and her many charitable projects, she's always classy in the face of criticism, she truly cares about her fans, and she had the courage to take that leap and send Philosopher's Stone off to an agent. If she can do amazing things, so can I.
The third level of my obsession is the community of Harry Potter fans, or the "fandom"...other crazy people like me who are passionate about the books, travel for hours to go to cons or wizard rock shows, and are committed to changing the world through love. There are also so many offshoots or related groups that I've been introduced to through the HP fandom, like Room 3428, the Vlogbrothers and the Nerdfighters, and Team StarKid. When you're a member of the fandom, it's okay to be a geek; it's okay to like to read and to use big words and proper grammar; it's okay to sing songs about fighting zombies, Quidditch, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and nargles; it's okay to serve bacon at a wrock concert. There's no need to be embarrassed or to hide who you are, because "Every outcast, they can find their place / At Hogwarts," as the Remus Lupins have been known to sing. It sounds too good to be true, but that's really how it is.
So that's my obsession in a nutshell. I could literally write about the fandom for hours, but fortunately a much better writer than me has published a book about it. Whether you're a Potterhead, you have one in your family, or you're still just wondering what all the fuss is about, Harry, a History: the True Story of a Boy Wizard, his Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon by Melissa Anelli is the book for you!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Host family news!! and John Green on health care
This morning Dr. Melampy sent out a list of the families with whom we'll be staying while we're in Cuenca. I will be living with a couple named Rita and Jaime. They have married children (an unspecified number) who visit often, and they have a 104-year-old grandma named Hilda. I'm very excited to meet them. Some people received email addresses as well, so they can contact their host families ahead of time. I need to come up with some nice gifts to bring my family.
We also got our final flight itinerary. We're flying from Cleveland to Chicago to Miami to Guyaquil. Our return flights follow the same pattern, although American Airlines was mean and canceled our original flight back to Cleveland, so we'll have to spend the night in Chicago and get back around noon on Sunday, Dec. 13th. Dr. Melampy said the airlines are all being ridiculously difficult to work with these days.
On a totally different topic, I'd like to encourage everyone to watch the following video, courtesy of the Vlogbrothers. I believe we desperately need a public option for health care in America, and this is a perfect example of why.
We also got our final flight itinerary. We're flying from Cleveland to Chicago to Miami to Guyaquil. Our return flights follow the same pattern, although American Airlines was mean and canceled our original flight back to Cleveland, so we'll have to spend the night in Chicago and get back around noon on Sunday, Dec. 13th. Dr. Melampy said the airlines are all being ridiculously difficult to work with these days.
On a totally different topic, I'd like to encourage everyone to watch the following video, courtesy of the Vlogbrothers. I believe we desperately need a public option for health care in America, and this is a perfect example of why.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Time constraints, books, toursim, and adventures
In less than two weeks, I'll be in Ecuador. That's a really frightening prospect. I know I'm going to have a blast and learn so much and make new friends and I won't regret this trip in the slightest, but at the moment I'm freaking out a little (okay, a lot). I always do this when I'm preparing for something new and different. (Well, LeakyCon was kind of the exception.) But there's just so much to do and so many people to try to see before I leave, and I can't begin to comprehend how it's all going to happen.
Lit is still a really enjoyable class, even though Friday was frustrating. We talked the whole time about the movie from Wednesday, which I did not enjoy, instead of the reading that had been assigned for that class, which I really liked and which I'm considering writing about for the paper that's due later this week. Oh well. We recently finished reading The House of the Spirits, by the brilliant Isabel Allende, which was excellent and I highly recommend it. It's the story of four generations of a prominent Chilean family, and it's full of intricate characters, strong women, romance, magic, politics, irony, history, and social commentary.
In Tropical Ecology, we've been talking about tourism in the Galapagos, which is expanding exponentially and is becoming a serious issue. The Ecuadorian government has put some restrictions in place about who can rent boats and build hotels and things, but they haven't been carried out very effectively. More and more travel companies are using the archipelago for things that can be done at just about any beachy location, like sport fishing, beach camping, and parasailing. The number of hotels and boats hasn't increased dramatically, but the number of available beds has. As the tourist industry expands, more people are inclined to move to the Galapagos and open restaurants and other attractions. All of these things have a strong and usually negative impact on the delicate ecosystems on the islands. We discussed in class the impact that our trip will have on the Galapagos and who should be allowed to visit the islands. The general consensus was that we are students who are interested in learning about and promoting conservation of the islands, so our visit will ultimately do more good than harm. However, we're all very aware of the precautions we'll need to take to avoid creating a negative impact any more than is absolutely necessary.
I still can't believe this is my last weekend on campus this semester. I have to go home next weekend to buy a few last-minute items and start packing. Yesterday was a thoroughly awesome day, though. I went miniature golfing with Jamie, Pat, R.J., and Jamie's parents, and then I finally got to eat at the Melt, which specializes in unique and delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. We had to wait close to two hours, but it was totally worth it. I had the "Purple Parma," with tomato and eggplant on it. It was about four inches tall!! We went to the Phoenix, a coffee shop that's not quite as cool as the Mean Bean but has incredible smoothies, and then we went and played on a playground, because we're awesome college kids. I went down a two-story slide. Then we went back to the Arts House, hung out for a while, and decided a late-night Giant Eagle run was in order. Jamie and I subjected the boys to Taylor Swift in the car, and they survived. To top it all off, we had R.J.'s epic "Chocolate Overload" milkshakes.
Yay for good times with good friends. :)
Lit is still a really enjoyable class, even though Friday was frustrating. We talked the whole time about the movie from Wednesday, which I did not enjoy, instead of the reading that had been assigned for that class, which I really liked and which I'm considering writing about for the paper that's due later this week. Oh well. We recently finished reading The House of the Spirits, by the brilliant Isabel Allende, which was excellent and I highly recommend it. It's the story of four generations of a prominent Chilean family, and it's full of intricate characters, strong women, romance, magic, politics, irony, history, and social commentary.
In Tropical Ecology, we've been talking about tourism in the Galapagos, which is expanding exponentially and is becoming a serious issue. The Ecuadorian government has put some restrictions in place about who can rent boats and build hotels and things, but they haven't been carried out very effectively. More and more travel companies are using the archipelago for things that can be done at just about any beachy location, like sport fishing, beach camping, and parasailing. The number of hotels and boats hasn't increased dramatically, but the number of available beds has. As the tourist industry expands, more people are inclined to move to the Galapagos and open restaurants and other attractions. All of these things have a strong and usually negative impact on the delicate ecosystems on the islands. We discussed in class the impact that our trip will have on the Galapagos and who should be allowed to visit the islands. The general consensus was that we are students who are interested in learning about and promoting conservation of the islands, so our visit will ultimately do more good than harm. However, we're all very aware of the precautions we'll need to take to avoid creating a negative impact any more than is absolutely necessary.
I still can't believe this is my last weekend on campus this semester. I have to go home next weekend to buy a few last-minute items and start packing. Yesterday was a thoroughly awesome day, though. I went miniature golfing with Jamie, Pat, R.J., and Jamie's parents, and then I finally got to eat at the Melt, which specializes in unique and delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. We had to wait close to two hours, but it was totally worth it. I had the "Purple Parma," with tomato and eggplant on it. It was about four inches tall!! We went to the Phoenix, a coffee shop that's not quite as cool as the Mean Bean but has incredible smoothies, and then we went and played on a playground, because we're awesome college kids. I went down a two-story slide. Then we went back to the Arts House, hung out for a while, and decided a late-night Giant Eagle run was in order. Jamie and I subjected the boys to Taylor Swift in the car, and they survived. To top it all off, we had R.J.'s epic "Chocolate Overload" milkshakes.
Yay for good times with good friends. :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Snorkeling in the pool and LOLPresbyterians
It's been a crazy few days, and I've finally had a couple of hours to catch my breath.
The weekend was awesome. Our (meaning my high school's) football team beat Pleasant, whom we've only beaten once before in 20 years, so that was very exciting. Also, our band has a freaking fantastic halftime show this year. It's space-themed, so it includes epic music from ET, Star Wars, Superman, Star Trek, and more. Everything was really tight and sounded great, and I was proud of all my friends. I realized that after this year, anybody with whom I was ever in band will have graduated...and that makes me feel OLD. (Not quite "olde," but close!!) I got to chill with Carie at the Mean Bean for a while on Saturday, and on Sunday I got to see the annual All-Horse Parade (which also includes marching bands and wagons and mules and such). I'm really glad that I live in a town small enough to have awesome community traditions like the Horse Parade. It's really kind of a big party...some streets even paint grids on the road and place bets on where the "refuse" will fall.
Today was something of an adventure. I got to go snorkeling in the pool at the rec center. We all had to prove that we won't drown when we go swimming in Ecuador, and then we had to try out the dive vests we'll be wearing, and then we all tried out our snorkels. It was an interesting experience. I am much more inclined to breathe through my nose than my mouth, even when I have a big old plastic thing in my mouth for the express purpose of breathing. Inhaling through one's nose only causes lots of uncomfortable plastic-suctioning-to-face action inside one's dive mask. This is going to take some practice. I also managed to scrape my knee getting out of the pool. FAIL.
And now for something completely different...
My sister and I tend to accidentally come up with ridiculous ideas and then just kind of run with them. This happened on Sunday during church. I don't even remember how it got started, but one or the other of us wrote a sentence on the bulletin in LOLcats format. (If you're not familiar with LOLcats, you can find them here.) We proceeded to come up with way too many more, all church-related. Here are some of the best:
**We have a "Jesus candle" in the living room of our youth house. My friend Ben felt the need to buy a Catholic-style prayer candle from the foreign foods section of Krogers for our lock-in last summer. We don't question.
***Long story. A slip of the tongue courtesy of my friend Katie from about twelve years ago.
The weekend was awesome. Our (meaning my high school's) football team beat Pleasant, whom we've only beaten once before in 20 years, so that was very exciting. Also, our band has a freaking fantastic halftime show this year. It's space-themed, so it includes epic music from ET, Star Wars, Superman, Star Trek, and more. Everything was really tight and sounded great, and I was proud of all my friends. I realized that after this year, anybody with whom I was ever in band will have graduated...and that makes me feel OLD. (Not quite "olde," but close!!) I got to chill with Carie at the Mean Bean for a while on Saturday, and on Sunday I got to see the annual All-Horse Parade (which also includes marching bands and wagons and mules and such). I'm really glad that I live in a town small enough to have awesome community traditions like the Horse Parade. It's really kind of a big party...some streets even paint grids on the road and place bets on where the "refuse" will fall.
Today was something of an adventure. I got to go snorkeling in the pool at the rec center. We all had to prove that we won't drown when we go swimming in Ecuador, and then we had to try out the dive vests we'll be wearing, and then we all tried out our snorkels. It was an interesting experience. I am much more inclined to breathe through my nose than my mouth, even when I have a big old plastic thing in my mouth for the express purpose of breathing. Inhaling through one's nose only causes lots of uncomfortable plastic-suctioning-to-face action inside one's dive mask. This is going to take some practice. I also managed to scrape my knee getting out of the pool. FAIL.
And now for something completely different...
My sister and I tend to accidentally come up with ridiculous ideas and then just kind of run with them. This happened on Sunday during church. I don't even remember how it got started, but one or the other of us wrote a sentence on the bulletin in LOLcats format. (If you're not familiar with LOLcats, you can find them here.) We proceeded to come up with way too many more, all church-related. Here are some of the best:
- I iz in ur pulpitz, preachin' ur gospelz.
- I iz in ur font, baptizin' ur babiez.
- I iz in ur choir, drownin' out ur sopranoz.
- I iz in ur youth group, eatin' ur donutz.*
- I iz goin' to the Promised Land. BRB.*
- Presbyterian cat loves committees.
- Presbyterian cat does it decently and in order.
- I iz in ur art room, makin' ur crafties.
- I iz on ur cross, dyin' for ur sinz.
- I iz on ur committee, votin' for ur potluckz.
- Pentecost cat lightz ur fire.
- I iz in ur choir room, leanin' on ur bell tablez.
- Youth group cat lightz Jesus candle.**
- I can haz Communion?
- I can haz daily bread?
- Potluck cat guardz dessert table.
- Mission cat talks about Nicaragua.
- I iz in ur choir, messin' up ur descantz.
- Acolyte cat lightz the bellz.***
- Firefighter cat monitorz acolyte cat.
**We have a "Jesus candle" in the living room of our youth house. My friend Ben felt the need to buy a Catholic-style prayer candle from the foreign foods section of Krogers for our lock-in last summer. We don't question.
***Long story. A slip of the tongue courtesy of my friend Katie from about twelve years ago.
Friday, September 11, 2009
TGIF!!
Quick post before class!!
I just have to ramble about how excited I am for this weekend!! I have one class, then I get to go have Chipotle for lunch and go home!! I'm going to the BV football game tonight, I get to go shopping (for more Ecuador stuff) with Mom tomorrow, I get to see Aunt Kathy and hopefully Grandma tomorrow, and Sunday is church and the annual All-Horse Parade. I haven't been in town for the parade the last two years, and the four years before that I had to march in it. I also get to see Carie at some point this weekend, and I can't wait to get home and see my baby, a.k.a. my guinea pig, a.k.a. Ginger Rogers. (Yes, I am a dancer. My sister's guinea pig is named Margot Fonteyn.) And on top of all that, I just downloaded (for FREE) the soundtrack to A Very Potter Musical. :D :D :D
Thank God it's Friday!!
I just have to ramble about how excited I am for this weekend!! I have one class, then I get to go have Chipotle for lunch and go home!! I'm going to the BV football game tonight, I get to go shopping (for more Ecuador stuff) with Mom tomorrow, I get to see Aunt Kathy and hopefully Grandma tomorrow, and Sunday is church and the annual All-Horse Parade. I haven't been in town for the parade the last two years, and the four years before that I had to march in it. I also get to see Carie at some point this weekend, and I can't wait to get home and see my baby, a.k.a. my guinea pig, a.k.a. Ginger Rogers. (Yes, I am a dancer. My sister's guinea pig is named Margot Fonteyn.) And on top of all that, I just downloaded (for FREE) the soundtrack to A Very Potter Musical. :D :D :D
Thank God it's Friday!!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Way too many things to talk about
Wow, I have a lot to run my mouth (so to speak) about...here goes...
Labor Day weekend was great. Saturday night I went to a combined 21st birthday party for Pat, Chris, Aryn, Pete, and someone else, and I survived!! It was great fun actually, although it totally messed up my sleep schedule and I'm still trying to get back on track. I think I went to sleep somewhere around 3:30 AM...at which point I am guaranteed to be totally out of it. And if I was that bad under those circumstances, I do NOT want to know what I'd be like with alcohol in my system!! I was reminded again this weekend that I have some really good friends here. I really appreciate that they respect my decision not to drink and that they don't give me a hard time about it...at least anymore than they give me a hard time about anything I do. ;)
It's nice to have a short school week once in a while, but it really throws me off. I had plenty of time to get all my homework done over the weekend, but now it seems like everything is a bit of a scramble. Classes were very interesting yesterday, though. The topic in Tropical Ecology was cloud forests, which are different from "typical" rain forests because they are found at very high elevations (meaning the Andes, in South America). As a result, they are consistently pretty cold, they are shrouded in fog or mist for much of each day (hence the "cloud" title), and the plants and animals that live there are extremely different from lowland rain forest species. Thanks to their mountainous location, they're often geographically isolated from one another, which means that many species are endemic to only one individual cloud forest. Unfortunately, vast areas of cloud forest have been destroyed by logging, fires, clearing for agriculture, and other human influences. Think of all those species lost...
The topic in Orientation to Ecuador was immigration. There are currently about 1.5 million Ecuadorian citizens living abroad -- that's approximately 10% of the country's population. A large portion of them lives in Spain, but a far greater portion lives in the U.S., whether legally or not. Due to a huge economic crisis in the 1990s, governmental corruption, and other factors, many in the lower and middle classes in Ecuador can't sustain their families without leaving the country. We had a guest speaker from the Immigrant Worker Project, an initiative of the Catholic church in Ohio, which assists the thousands of Latin American immigrants to Ohio by providing job placement, representation in immigration court, contact with the families they've left behind, and many other services. He told us about an Ecuadorian man who had a master's degree in agronomy. He was able to make more money working in Ohio as a crew chief at a sawmill than as an agronomy engineer back home. That pretty much blew my mind.
Tonight's movie was Sin Nombre, a really powerful film about illegal immigration and about gang violence. I'm glad we watched it and were exposed to those issues, but it's not one I ever want to see again. I'm still kind of processing it all.
On a much happier note, it is now time for Glee!! I'm so excited about this show I can hardly stand it. Yay for show choir!!
Labor Day weekend was great. Saturday night I went to a combined 21st birthday party for Pat, Chris, Aryn, Pete, and someone else, and I survived!! It was great fun actually, although it totally messed up my sleep schedule and I'm still trying to get back on track. I think I went to sleep somewhere around 3:30 AM...at which point I am guaranteed to be totally out of it. And if I was that bad under those circumstances, I do NOT want to know what I'd be like with alcohol in my system!! I was reminded again this weekend that I have some really good friends here. I really appreciate that they respect my decision not to drink and that they don't give me a hard time about it...at least anymore than they give me a hard time about anything I do. ;)
It's nice to have a short school week once in a while, but it really throws me off. I had plenty of time to get all my homework done over the weekend, but now it seems like everything is a bit of a scramble. Classes were very interesting yesterday, though. The topic in Tropical Ecology was cloud forests, which are different from "typical" rain forests because they are found at very high elevations (meaning the Andes, in South America). As a result, they are consistently pretty cold, they are shrouded in fog or mist for much of each day (hence the "cloud" title), and the plants and animals that live there are extremely different from lowland rain forest species. Thanks to their mountainous location, they're often geographically isolated from one another, which means that many species are endemic to only one individual cloud forest. Unfortunately, vast areas of cloud forest have been destroyed by logging, fires, clearing for agriculture, and other human influences. Think of all those species lost...
The topic in Orientation to Ecuador was immigration. There are currently about 1.5 million Ecuadorian citizens living abroad -- that's approximately 10% of the country's population. A large portion of them lives in Spain, but a far greater portion lives in the U.S., whether legally or not. Due to a huge economic crisis in the 1990s, governmental corruption, and other factors, many in the lower and middle classes in Ecuador can't sustain their families without leaving the country. We had a guest speaker from the Immigrant Worker Project, an initiative of the Catholic church in Ohio, which assists the thousands of Latin American immigrants to Ohio by providing job placement, representation in immigration court, contact with the families they've left behind, and many other services. He told us about an Ecuadorian man who had a master's degree in agronomy. He was able to make more money working in Ohio as a crew chief at a sawmill than as an agronomy engineer back home. That pretty much blew my mind.
Tonight's movie was Sin Nombre, a really powerful film about illegal immigration and about gang violence. I'm glad we watched it and were exposed to those issues, but it's not one I ever want to see again. I'm still kind of processing it all.
On a much happier note, it is now time for Glee!! I'm so excited about this show I can hardly stand it. Yay for show choir!!
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