Postcard from Cuenca, Ecuador

Dear Exonians,I hope you are all doing well at Exeter and that the New England winter hasn’t been too brutal so far. To the seniors, I hope the meditations aren’t killing you, and to the athletes, I hope your seasons have been going well.I don’t want to rub it in too much, but Cuenca is essentially the exact opposite from Exeter weather-wise. People call the city the “land of eternal spring” because it is sunny and in the low to mid-70s with a bit of warm rain every single day. We are actually over 8,000 feet above sea level, which means that we get to avoid the burning heat and ridiculous humidity that comes with living on the equator. It’s awesome, except the fact that the high altitude causes our bodies’ oxyhemoglobin saturation to fall (at least, that’s what Wikipedia says), meaning that we’re usually kind of winded after climbing a flight of stairs.We take pretty standard courses here: history, biology, chemistry, Spanish literature and math. At the colegio (Spanish for “high school”), we usually interact with our classmates so that we can improve our Spanish, but the really cool cultural experiences actually come outside of school.First, Cuenca has a very diverse and cheap cuisine. A quarter chicken with a side of rice and beans is $4 (and it’s a whole lot better than eating at d-hall, I’ll tell you that)! One of the strangest foods that we’ve come across is cui, which is considered a delicacy here. Cui is guinea pig. Yes, like your pet. Although I haven’t tried it personally, I’ve heard it’s pretty good (Dylan Farrell said he even ate the creature’s fingernails). Hopefully I can try it at some point.The city of Cuenca also has to be one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been to. The streets are made of cobblestone, and they’re really narrow (but still two-way) with barely any semblance of a sidewalk. Unlike Exeter’s respectful road safety code of conduct, cars fly around and never stop for pedestrians. You barely have time to sprint across the road, let alone wave at the cars—every trip into town is an adventure.But the area around the city has even more to offer. A couple weeks ago, most of the crew went on a trip to Cajas National Park. It’s about an hour away, and there is some really beautiful nature there. As we hiked along the trails (some of which I don’t actually think we were allowed on), we imagined we were climbing Mount Doom in Mordor or that we were journeying through the Old Forest near the Shire. Seriously, it was that breathtaking.If you go even farther out of Cuenca and past Guayaquil (Ecuador’s biggest city), you’ll hit the beach town of Montañita, which is where Joey Hebl, Ryan Heavirland and I spent this past weekend. The beach is awesome, and it is a great place to spend the day, but it’s what happens after the sun goes down that really brings people from all over the world to this town. Montañita is around six blocks—it’s tiny, but after about one in the morning, the streets fill with thousands of people dancing the night away. Even after the town shuts down at around four in the morning, people make a mass migration to the beach to keep “functioning” until the sunrise. Imagine the best Exeter dance you’ve ever been to: Back in Black, GLO, Fishfest, Block Party. Now multiply that (insert a number with a lot of zeros). That’s Montañita.The adventure’s not even over. We’re all headed for the Galápagos Islands tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll all have more stories to share from there. It’s hard to put into words the kind of experience we’ve been having in Cuenca, and what I’ve written really can’t do it justice (especially since I’m not the best descriptive writer). If you’re in the Exeter Spanish program, I think I speak for the whole group when I strongly encourage you to apply. Not only to immensely improve in the language, but to also be involved in an once-in-a-lifetime experience. I know that I’ll never forget my time here, and I’m not even halfway through. Plus, think about it, would you rather spend your senior winter writing a ten page meditation in frigid New Hampshire or see the largest species of tortoise in the Galápagos Islands and hike through the tropics of South America?Nonetheless, we all still miss Exeter (probably the people more than the schoolwork). We can’t wait to get back on campus to see everybody in March! Hang in there, and see you soon!Special shout out to my Wentworth brothers. Miss you boys. Cravigne.Much love,Ollie Jung ‘14