The Deuce

Baños was the second leg of the weekend trip with the Volcanolgy class. I didn't include things on the Ecuadorian Students to Cotopaxi, so I will start off with that. I read about Deanna's description of the Ecua students in her first weekend trip to the Orient-aka the Jungle. I just assumed they weren't as willing to get down and dirty as she was. After this last weekend, I fully understand that is not the case. When we picked them up in Cumbaya (where the university is), many of the girls had their designer wear on, as well as styled hair, earrings, and make-up. I thought maybe they were going to change at some point. I was in my tennis shoes, jeans, my 2001 PTHS Football shirt, and two poorly done braids. Make-up? not alot. After that initial shock, I wasn't really surprised when they were whining about everything. They didn't want to go down the hill, they didn't want to do this, they wanted to stay on the bus and listen to Theo (teach) talk rather than being outside. Blah blah blah, Deanna, Tricia, and I kind of made fun, but did so quietly since we were outnumbered.
I'm not going to harp on about how spoiled the USFQ kids are, but it's true. A few more things, then moving on. USFQ is a private, liberal arts school. It is the wealthiest university in Ecuador. In Orientation, we were informed that loans have only recently been given, and they are seldom for the full amount of tuition. That being said, most of the students, if not all, are paid for, out of pocket, via parents. That's something like $4000 PER semester for Tuition alone. However, books are seldom used. Most classes have packets or outside readings that are no more than $15 per book. My total book cost this semester was $17.00. THe students do not live like United States college students. Most live with their parents who have a maid that takes out their bed/bathroom trash, makes their beds, does their laundry, and cooks. Turns out, I hate that. I love our maid, but my goodness, I like to do my own laundry (Mema just smiled and she doesn't know why).
Ok, so I did harp on..

Baños as promised.
We got to Baños after dark, grabbed some food, then went to bed. We got up at 5am to go on an optional hike. Forget showers--ponytail and brushing the teeth-DONE. The Ecuadorians who went with us were primped beyond belief. One guy was in Jammy pants, and I enjoyed that. We hiked to the waterfall, Pailon del Diablo, and waited our turns. Kelsey went out with the first group (7 people, instead of the recommended 5 as the sign shows). Deanna, Tricia, and I were promptly cut in line by the 'TA' and her 3 friends. The 7 of us went on the bridge and I was enjoying everything. The 'TA' had the nerve to ask if I would take a pic of her friends, but I did it anyway. Then we waited for the rest of the class to look. The hike to the falls took about 20 minutes, all downhill. The hike back took 45 minutes, major uphill action. We did stop to look at rocks, but I took that time out. It was completely beautiful.
We watched Love Actually, Harold and Kumar 2 (ya..), and a third movie that has escaped me. We stopped a few times to look at things along the way. The pic of the valley has dust flying all around. It's pyroclastic ash from the past (teehee). My mouth, clothes, shoes, hair, and everything else was gritty. It was wonderful though. I took a picture of the trash because there are places here that are really dirty. There are littering laws, but they aren't enforced. It's incredible how far away from a town I thought we were, but someone still managed to dump their trash down their country's beautiful landscape. It's sad.