Siga no mas. Cuenca, Ecuador

Hello everyone!
This is my first post since I have gotten to Ecuador...which was two weeks ago! Ugh! In my defense the house I am living at doesn't have internet so it has been pretty hard for me to get motivated for the 40 minuet walk to my school to use the internet...

For those of you that don't know I am taking an intensive language course in Cuenca, Ecuador at CEDEI, a non-profit English and Spanish school. CEDEI is an absolutely amazing place, with awesome coordinators and teachers. It is a total immersion school so you live with a host family, take 2 to 4 hours of classes a day, have a dance class, cooking class, and different speakers come in to lecture. On top of all those fun things they also set up different excursions for you.

The first excursion we had was to Cajas National Park. It is about 30 to 40 minuets away from Cuenca and it is a must see if you are in the area. Beautiful mountains, lakes, and everything in between. The highest peak gets to be around 14,300 ft, which of course was the start for our 4 hour hike.

Our group at the start of the hike.

Now I didn't find the hike too strenuous, but I think that was because of the adrenaline and because I am in shape. Due to the altitude and the steep climbs you make you definitely might need to take a breather here and there and drink lots of water and chocolate.  

Me at the highest peek in Cajas

After our 4 hour hike we set up camp at one of the most beautiful spots I saw in Cajas. Now for this hike and the camping we had guides that helped us the entire time. Due to the high elevation it gets very, very cold in the night. Many hikers/campers have died in Cajas due to the cold and not being prepared. You definitely need lots of layers, impermeable shoes, rain jacket, and wool socks! For those that are seasoned hikers and campers you would probably be okay without a guide, but Cajas is huge and it is very easy to get lost. I recommend getting a guide, they know where all the cool things are too.

Above is what we woke up to the next morning. Absolutely stunning. We got lucky that it never rained and it was a beautiful day after our night camping. That made it an easy decision to opt for the 2 hour hike to Virgin of Cajas. They call it the Virgin of Cajas because in the late 80s a girl name Patricia claimed the Virgin Mary came to her while she was there. This story has a lot of controversy around it, because a lot of people believe the girl made up the story so she would get in trouble for going with her boyfriend to Cajas to you know...Nevertheless it became this huge ordeal. Every month for a year Patricia would give the messages of the Virgin to thousands of people in Cajas. That meant thousands of people flooded into Cuenca. All the hotels were filled, all the restaurants were always busy, the economy was booming. However, all the people in Cajas basically trashed the place. So the church put an end to it and she hasn't given any messages since. I personally don't believe her, but lots of other people do, including my host family. It was just really interesting to see how important and serious religion is here in Ecuador and South America as a whole. 

Since I have been in Cuenca I have lots of more interesting things about this small town but I will leave that for tomorrow. So until tomorrow.

Hasta manana!

-a

Money, Money, Money....MONEY

So I have 23 days until I depart for South America, which will be my home for the next 6 months. It is somewhat starting to hit me that I am really leaving....very, very soon. I am home from college and have already starting raking up some hours at work to get some extra money for my upcoming trip. I am now beginning to believe there is a direct correlation with my money concerns and my up and coming departure date.

Earlier this week I went to NYC to pick up my visa. I decided to drive down from Rochester and with gas prices the trip cost me a total of $114. Most of the cost was due to the lovely high gas prices, I swear the only other cost I incurred was $3 on a Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks. I know it was mandatory for me to go down there, but the whole time all I could think about was what I could have spent the money on while abroad.

During the long drive I began thinking of all the things I have paid for so far for this trip, even before I have departed. So I did some calculations.

• Passport renewal - $135 
• Advance deposit - $500
• Visa - $140
• Round trip plane ticket - $1,592.90 
• Visa pictures - $12
• Trip to NYC for visa - $115
• Flight from ROC to JFK - $90
• New iPod - $170 (with 10% for my old iPod recycled)
• Hiking/running shoes - $23 (Trade-in money from my books this semester paid for most of them) 

The grand total comes out to $2,779.90, and I haven't even left yet. I got great news from SU Abroad last week that I have received a $1,000 travel grant, so minus that from the total it comes out still to $1,779.90.

I am not writing this post to scare people from going abroad. I would have spent twice that for my up and coming experience. I just don't think people understand or know all of the "hidden" cost of going abroad and I don't believe abroad programs spell these costs out for students. I believe this sometimes surprises students and parents preparing to go study abroad.

I have paid for 95% of this trip, my mom helped pay for my insurance while there, which came out to be around $235. To tell you the truth I was extremely surprised when I put all the numbers together, who knew I could save or make this much money!!! Already before I have left I have learned an extremely important lesson, saving is possible. Before this trip I did not think I could save anything, and after I got each paycheck I was spending it. I now know the amount of money I am capable of saving and will definitely continue to save once again after I get back.

Now that I have spent almost $3,000 before I have left, I am left with about $550 left in my bank account. This is obviously not enough for 6 months abroad. I hope get up to $1000 from working before I leave, which I think I can get to easily. Then I am using the $1000 I get from SU Abroad travel grant towards living costs. This leaves me about $1000 short of my goal of $3000. I do get a Wegmans scholarship of $750 each semester in August, (another reason why I love Wegmans). So that leaves me $250 short, which I think I am going to ask my family if they can donate to my cause, I plan on paying them back every penny of course!

I really want to pay for this trip completely 100% on my own, I think it will make my experience 100% more meaningful and fulfilling. Now of course Syracuse University is helping me with my tuition costs which comes out to about $30,000 including the program fee, which includes SU tuition, my home stay including full board (3 meals a day), and any trips already planned for us while we are down there.

Hope this helps all future travelers out there! From my experience no one lays out the true costs of travel and I am here to give all the little details of my trip to you guys!

-A

Success is Easy

Success is easy, that the most important message I brought home after I heard Kelly Cutrone speak last night at Syracuse. Honestly I had never heard of the women before they announced she was coming, which is bad on my part as she is a big wig in PR fashion. However with what little I had heard of her, she was my kind of girl. Powerful, independent, innovative, and yes sometimes bitchy...but like I always say bitches get shit done, and Cutrone she gets shit done.

Every seat in the auditorium was filled up and people were sitting on the stairs around the seating, definitely a fire code violation. It was hot and sweaty, but I endured it for Cutrone's two hour talk, and let me tell you it was so worth it.

First off she is hilarious. No reservations, unconventional, and most importantly honest. She is a hard working women and she produces hard working women. She constantly brought up what she values in interns, someone hardworking, who doesn't bullshit, and can handle the pressure. She also said she doesn't care who you know or who you are, which I liked because I come from a nowhere town with a no one name. :)

Cutrone basically led the life I want to lead. Working from paycheck to paycheck in New York, living the rock and roll lifestyle. Dating rock stars, movie stars, artists, and traveling all over the world while doing it. Then after the sex, drugs, rock and roll phase, creating her own business from the ground up and making a name for herself. Seriously I am not making this up, it was her life and what I often dream of myself. There is something about the uncertainty of tomorrow and hipster lifestyle I crave for, because stability is just way to boring.

 Ah so the moral of this story is I will be applying for an internship at People's Revolution,  her PR agency. Even though I don't want to go into fashion, working with her would be an amazing experience. Not to mention if I can handle my coworkers there, I can basically do anything.


On a non-Cutrone note, I had my pre-departure meeting today. I am excited beyond words and am counting down the days until June 9th! So much do to before then, I will be complying a list of essentials soon!


Adios loves,
-a