Wonderful Cities: Paris

I had the chance go to go Paris back in 2008. It was Christmas when I went...and although I've heard Paris is beautiful in the summer, but I have to say it is quite impressive and calm in the winter. Sadly I was only there for 5 days. During that time I pretty much covered most of the touristic sites but I know that if I had stayed there a bit longer I would have gotten a better feel of the actual city...I guess I'll have to go back some day. 

My first mountain

On sunday I climbed my first mountain. Its a little bit embarrassing to admit to it since I have lived in Ecuador pretty much all my life, and this is a country that people from all over the world come to just to climb mountains. But at least now I can say that I've climbed a mountain. The truth is I've been to many mountains here, but this is the first time that I climb all the way to the top.

The whole experience was a lot more difficult that I thought it would be.

We left Quito at 6am and at 8am we got off the bus and started climbing. The first part was pretty easy.

We walked for about an hour and then stopped to rest for a few minutes and to have some food. Then the climb up got a little bit steeper, but still pretty easy and relaxing. Our plan was to go up to the second highest point of the Pasochoa and then the the highest point. After another long hour of climbing we got to our second stop. There the group divided. A couple of people decided to go with one of the guides through an easier route which went directly to the highest point, while the rest of us decided to take the harder way up, this way we could do a little rock climbing along the way.  Now I am not an expert rock climber, in fact, it was only the second time in my life that I was attempting to rock climb. The truth is I was terrified. The wall wasn't exactly vertical, in fact I am pretty sure it was not too steep either, but I am very scared of rock climbing because well all you can do is whip out some strength out of your body and push yourself up, if not the only other option is falling off the mountain which is not exactly the best choice. Once you start climbing, you can't go back down, there is only one way and its up. Luckily I wasn't the only girl practically paralyzed with fear. Two girls who were right behind me were actually crying at a point because they didn't want to keep on climbing. It was scary, and there were moments when I doubted I had the strength to go on. At other times I just wondered why on earth I had decided to climb a mountain, but in the end I was fine. I did get some help along the way from some french guy who knew what he was doing. I am glad he was there, if not I am not sure how I would have made it to the top.

At the end of that rock we were finally at the top of the second highest peak and thats where we took our third break to rest and to have some more food. The view up there is absolutely stunning.

On one side you have the mountain which is actually an extinct volcano, and on the other side there is pretty much a cliff that falls right into the crater. The crater of the Pasochoa is huge, its what's left from an eruption that happened thousands of years ago. It pretty much blew off part of the mountain so that it collapsed into the crater. The inside of the crater is now extremely fertile and full of vegetation. Most of the time you get lots of fog in the inside of the crater so it seems like one side of the mountain vanishes into nothing, but when it clears out all you can see is a dense forest inside, its really beautiful. 

After the second highest point we walked towards the peak of the volcano (the one you see in the photo above). The climb up to that one luckily didn't involve any more rock climbing, because I don't think I would have made it. Once up there we rested a bit, we got an awesome view of the Cotopaxi for just a couple of minutes and we practiced a little bit more rock climbing and some rappelling as well. 

I actually can't believe I did all that, but I am glad I did. I'm not sure if I would do it again, I'm still terrified of rock climbing, but I guess I probably will because nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment once you reach the top of a mountain. 

reboot, refresh, restart.

fresh page, new day.

I might turn out to be the world's most terrible writer....or maybe I am just bad at commitment. It seems like many times when I decide to do something I don't always stick to it. Last time i posted for real around here was more or less 4 months ago. 4 months seems like a long time when I don't write. The truth is its been an odd year or so. Its been a time to change and adapt and try to figure things out, maybe to try to find myself (not that i have accomplished or even gotten close to that).

I've been back home for a year more or less, and although I love Quito and Ecuador, for some reason I haven't been handling moving back here very well.

Its also the first time I actually have a real job. A bit less than a year ago I finished college and started working, and its the longest time i've been in one job and well, its not easy.

Going to work at the same office every day, without major vacations or breaks isn't easy when you are used to the great life you can have as a student. But I'm here and that's what it is.

Of course for a whole year, although i have been here, I haven't really been here. I've been dreaming of buttercups instead going out and planting some real ones. Mostly I've been living in my head, maybe in denial and probably in the past.

But it seems like maybe the time to move on has finally come.

So today I made a pretty big decision...or at least its a pretty big decision for me.

I decided that I need to start climbing up some mountains, because I need a break. I need some change. And of course, I need some distraction. If not I might just go crazy. So I've decided to join a group of mountain climbers here in Ecuador. They go out every weekend to climb a mountain and they have more or less 3 programs every year where they train to go up to different peaks.

I start next weekend and hopefully I will be able to go up Cayambe and the Iliniza Sur at the end of the training. We'll see how it goes. I'm not the most fit person and I'm definitely not the strongest, but I am healthy.

Next sunday I should be going up to the Pasochoa (4199 mt). Its not the highest mountain of course since its just the beginning of the training. We will also be learning a bit about rock climbing since both the Cayambe and the Iliniza Sur require a bit of rock climbing to get to the top.

The truth is the rock climbing is what worries me the most. Last time I tried to go rock climbing with my brother it was a horrible experience. I don't know how I expected to pull myself up a rock wall when I can't even do a full push-up or pull-up, but I guess I am hoping that I will get fit in some magical way and I will be able to go up the final mountains. If I do manage to do this I will be incredibly proud of myself (and so will my brother I am sure). To prepare I decided I am going to do the 5 tibetan rites every morning. And I also installed a pull-up bar in my bathroom doorway (I'm hoping by the end of this I will be able to do at least one pull-up).

We'll see how it goes. Here are a couple of pictures of the mountains I might be climbing in the following months.

Pasochoa 4199mt (extinct volcano)

Chiles 4720mt (active volcano)

Imbabura 4660mt (inactive volcano)

Rucu Pichincha 4698mt (active volcano)

Sincholahua 4919mt

Cotacachi 4935mt (dormant volcano)

Cayambe 5780mt (volcano)

Illiniza Sur 5305mt

the death of identity

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together"

Wonderful Cities: Rome

Some details from Rome. These pictures were taken all over the city; at the most famous landmarks and in lonely streets. Rome is a great place to explore.

Details: Windows

Here are a couple of windows from my travels. I love how different windows can be. 

1. Firenze, Italy
2. Barcelona, Spain
3. Roma, Italy
4. Bari, Italy
5. Padova, Italy
6. Alberobello, Italy
7. Cusco, Peru
8. Torino, Italy
9. Palenque, Mexico
10. Genova, Italy
11. Medellín, Colombia
12. Cali, Colombia
13. Verona, Italy
14. Vetralla, Italy
15. Berlin, Germany
16. Napoli, Italy

from a letter to a friend

"I was thinking...its funny how people say that people don't change...like when you are in a bad relationship people will tell you that you can't even try to change someone because people are incapable of change and that old dogs don't learn new tricks...etc etc etc....

but I don't think this is in fact true...at all..people change all the time...people are changing everyday. I was listening to a conference online yesterday and they were talking about identity and how we are really just a sum of parts. Like a computer...a computer is a hard disk with a monitor, with a key board and well whatever else composes a computer. one computer is different from another depending on the different pieces they have. and that is pretty much how we are...we are a collection of things a body with a brain with different experiences all that sums up to who we are...there is no real "essence" to our identity...it is constantly changing because of the different things we live through...would you still consider yourself to be yourself if they took your body and put another brain in it...it would be your body..but it wouldnt really be you...and if they put your brain in another body it wouldnt be you completely either...because your body is part of who you are...but it is not enough to make you you by itself. its pretty much the same with everything else that makes you you...you cant be you if you are missing any of the components...or can you?

anyways I found it interesting because it pretty much says people are in constant change...because everyday we have new experiences that add to who we are...so its illogic to say people can't change...we change all the time. we are never the same...tomorrow I will already be a different person."

You can listen to the conference by downloading the RSA podcast "what does it mean to be you?" by Julian Baggini