#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard
Back in 2004 I got an opportunity to travel to Ecuador with a group of people from my college to do some biological learnings and explorings. I wanted to be a field biologist or researcher of some sort, so I jumped right on it. I talked a friend of mine, Toni, into going with me, and we started about the incredibly hard job of raising money for ourselves. It was going to be way expensive, because instead of staying for 17 days like everyone else, we decided to stay for the entire summer. We each thought about waiting until the following summer instead of killing ourselves during the school year to raise the money, but we decided that if we waited, that money would disappear and it would never happen. We worked crazy hard, begged, sold our stuff, and finally got the money we needed. We did it as a team and kept each other motivated.
Once we finally got there, it was all soooooo worth it! The entire country is magical. We started in the lowland jungles, took a crazy boat ride on a huge river, saw monkeys swinging from the trees, swung from vines ourself, and made ourselves sick from drinking too much delicious fruit juice. From there we went back to the big city of Quito and did some salsa dancing and took in the culture. We headed up into the Andes and went through a blizzard, then landed in a cloud 
forest. This is a forest that is so high up on the mountain that it literally is sitting in the clouds. From there we headed to my favorite place, Otavalo - a giant mountain market town. The people there are indigenous and gorgeous. And you can buy ANYTHING - some of the most beautiful art I have ever seen is right there on the street for a few bucks. We spent the remainder of the summer doing research on caterpillars and parasitoids in Cosanga, a tiny little town in the Andes (actually we were way up the hill at YanaYacu, but closest to Cosanga). We would head down into town whenever we needed a good meal, and would then eat so much that we couldn't walk home (I'm sure the giant Pilsners didn't help).
I found the people of Ecuador to be absolutely fascinating. They were kind and intelligent, and in much need of a change. There is political turmoil there off and on, and deforestation and the destruction of flora and fauna for profit is a major problem. Tourists will buy framed sets of pinned butterflies, so they will catch and kill tons of them, which means bye bye butterfly species forever. Its devastating to watch, but without funding and education, nothing will ever change.
I cried and cried when I left. I went back the next year, but just as a vacation. I haven't been back in the last five years, and I still cry everytime I think about it. I miss it so very much, and am looking forward to the day that I can relocate my entire family there. The magic of a place like Ecuador sinks into your soul and never lets go.
Getting back on track, though, Toni has been able to go back every year since we left. Not long ago she changed her perspective from that of a biologist to that of a anthropologist's. She started her own non-profit organization and has headed down there again to teach English (which is the only way these kids can get ahead in life), build gardens, and teach the community about reforestations and sustainable agriculture. The goal is that make them a self-sustaining group of people, so that cutting down trees for pasture is no longer a huge necessity. She is doing amazing work, and raised a nice chunk of money before she left by having concerts, raffles and art auctions (my donated prints even sold!).
I am so incredibly proud of her and the work she is doing. I wish I could be there with her, but I know that if I hadn't gone with her the first time, it may not have ever happened. It's the small things, I suppose. Check otu her blog, her facebook page, and website. It would not only mean a lot to me, but to the beautiful people of Ecuador.
http://sustainablemobile.tumblr.com/
Here they are on Facebook
www.sustainable-roots.org
Twitter.com/rootsmobile
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