And so it begins...

I arrived in Ecuador Sunday night after two flights, and then in Cuenca yesterday afternoon. Although we´ve had a decent amount of free time, I feel like I have been quite busy and don´t have much time right now, but I´ll try to hit the highlights.

First, my group consists of four students (Elizabeth, Alex, Tim and me) and two student leaders (Coral and Jesse). So far we are getting along really well, though Alex has suffered a bit from adjusting to the altitude. We are at about 7,500 ft in Cuenca and were at 9,000 in Quito. Despite being at such high altitudes, both cities are located in valleys. The views of the mountains are gorgeous!

Elizabeth, Tim and Jesse are all really into food and cooking, so we´ve had fun discussing our favorite dishes and planning what to make. Early this afternoon, we went to the supermarket to go grocery shopping and then to the market. The actual market was amazing! There were so many fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of them I didn´t recognize, but we still decided to try them. I´m quickly learning to recognize passionfruits, of which there are two varieties. Maricolla, whose spelling I need to look up, is the one I´ve had so far. It is the more bitter of the two, but quite delicious and makes a wonderful juice. We didn´t buy any meat but did walk down the aisle. It was strange to see the whole animals hanging up, or the hooves and heads near by.

Although this trip is not focused on Spanish and does not require that we have any background, I am getting a fair amount of practice and am a bit surprised that I am doing okay with it. We are planning on having dinners where we can only speak Spanish to practice, especially when we´re in the field and won´t have the same opportunities. In the local villages, the indigineous speak Quechua, which is supposedly an incredibly difficult language to pick up.

We have a beautiful house in Cuenca, which is quite large for the six of us. The ground floor includes the kitchen, dining room, and living areas, while we have two more floors where we sleep. The house has a few balconies, huge windows, and skylights, so that we only have to use the lights at night.

Well, we are heading back to the house now, so I´ll have to describe it better later.

Various Forms of Conservation

As a physics major, I often use conservation laws--Conservation of Energy, Conservation of Momentum, Conservation of Electric Charge--to solve problems. But soon, I am embarking on a completely different set of problems involving conservation biology. However, the conservation of physics aligns more closely with preservation than ecological conservation.

Of course, Hetchy Hetchy Valley is the prime example of the difference between conservation and preservation. Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt's chief forester, declared that "conservation means the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time," meaning that resources are meant to be used wisely but in many cases still used. John Muir wanted to preserve the northern California valley in order to save the natural beauty for future generations. Both views are contribute to the current conservation movement, and of course, they are not always in opposition like they were over Hetchy Hetchy. Preserving a wildlife refuge may lead to the conservation of buffalo or bald eagles.

This semester, I will be learning to apply these methods in the highlands of southern Ecuador. Among the projects that I am assisting is conservation of Andean bears, hence the title of this blog. I'll attempt to update this blog so that you may follow along on my adventures. But first I have a few disclaimers:

• I will not have continuous access to internet, so I do not promise regular schedule. In fact, this blog may end up with only four or five posts, though I will attempt to post when I can.
  
• I am writing for a variety of audiences, and as always with a public blog, I may not be aware of all of my readers. Thus, you may not understand every reference I make, or I may explain something in greater detail than you as an individual need, since some of you have already traveled to Ecuador and others know more biology than I ever will.
• The picture at the top of the page is clearly inaccurate. Of course, bears do not live in the Galapagos, but I did take the picture on my previous trip to Ecuador and preferred it to those of Cotopaxi. At least it is the correct country.
  
• As my internet access will be limited, I might be rushed when typing an entry. Thus, I will suffice it to say, "Any instances of non-standard spelling, grammar or punctuation are hereby declared intentional and should be considered jokkes."