¡Buenas noches!
Nothing too exciting happened today, hence the interesting title of this post that I thought I would briefly discuss. So, I'll be walking across one of the many courtyards at school, or eating at the delicious empanada place across the street, or studying in the library with a friend, and I'll see some Ecuadorian guy who looks fairly attractive, and I'll think to myself, "oh hey, he's pretty attractive," but then...THEN...they'll turn their heads a little and THE MULLET APPEARS!!! Totally nauseating. For some reason, many of the guys here look like they have totally normal haircuts from the front, usually short and nicely cut, but then in the back their hair will be slightly abnormally longer!! It's so weird and I really don't get it! I was at the library today studying with some friends when I saw the worst one though - this guy had four or five LONG dreads growing out of the back of his head, while the rest of his hair was short. So disturbing. Other than that, most of the guys here, especially at school or in dance clubs, do dress very nicely and somewhat stylishly, which is pretty cool.
Today in my conservation biology class we discussed at length about the importance of biological corridors for biodiversity conservation. Corridors (wide strips of habitat, usually forest, that connect forest fragments) are important because many areas of forest remaining in the world are fragmented and too small to hold viable populations of some animals, and connecting these fragments is essential for the health of animal populations and the upkeep of diverse gene pools. Last semester for a final paper in one of my classes I wrote about a project that the Ceiba Foundation (the program I'm in) is doing to connect fragments of forest along the coast of Ecuador, called SocioBosque. Essentially, Ceiba wants to connect previously established reserves by getting private landowners in on conserving their forests - the landowners get some sort of revenue for not using their lands for agriculture or livestock instead, and some even turn their land into ecotourism places or reserves, which is pretty cool. Anyways, I think corridors are pretty awesome. We talked today in class about how roads are a huge culprit when it comes to habitat fragmentation, but biological corridors have become very important for lowering the rate of road kills. In a national park in Canada called Banff, this completely ingenious "living bridge" was built over the road that runs through the park (and I think a few more were constructed at other places along the road) so that animals could comfortably cross over the road from habitat to habitat without getting hit by cars. Fences were also built along the road to kind of funnel the animals across the bridge. There were trees and grasses and shrubs and all kinds of things on the bridge. The results were fantastic - road kill rates dropped a whopping 95%!!! Apparently they are trying this out in Vale, Colorado as well because every single animal type of animal ever documented in the park there has been hit by a car on I-70. A proposal was just approved for a bridge/corridor across the interstate. What's cool about it is that part of it will be forested, while part of it will be more like a clearing because some animals prefer to travel through cleared areas, while others like to stay hidden in the trees.
In my Spanish class today, I had to do a presentation on the waste management and recycling in Quito...or should I say "waste management" and "recycling." Trash pickups and management are really messed up here because many people can't afford the service, or sometimes are just too freaking lazy to separate their trash and recycling and put it out on the curb for pick up. The program here of course isn't all that great since it is a third world country, but I feel like the worst person ever whenever I have to throw away a plastic bottle instead of recycling it. The only place I've seen here that recycles is the school that I attend, which is good.
In exactly a week I will be in the Amazon :O For nearly three weeks!! How crazy is that!! Frogs and reptiles abound!
UPDATE: Pictures from this past weekend. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=267985&id=704687656&l=dba3fbb7fb
