August Update!

Hey Everyone!  I'm back after taking about a month off from updating.

This past month has been very interesting and full of experiences: some good and some not so good.  My last day at the travel agency was July 31st, so I have just been teaching English for the past month.  I must say that I really do miss working at the travel agency and it is becoming very clear to me that I want to do something in the travel industry when I'm finished touring the world teaching English.

As many of you know, August started off with celebrating my birthday!  It was sad to not be home for this, but I have a great group of friends here that helped celebrate with me.  The next weekend was a holiday weekend in Ecuador.  The funny thing about Quito is that it's always easy to recognize the important dates since they name their roads after those dates.  For example, I live off of 9 de Octubre (Oct 9th), which is one block away from 10 de Agosto (August 10th).  I wasn't sure what exactly happened on August 10th, but if a big road is named after it, then you can probably assume that it will be a holiday.  Don't think Ecuadorians like to work too hard naming streets.  Turns out that August 10th might be their independence day- yes I was correct when using the word "might."  I thought I had heard previously that Ecuador's independence day was August 10th, so I asked multiple students about the importance of the day and no one was really sure what the reason for the holiday was.  They just knew that it was a day off from work.  This is completely baffling because EVERYONE in the US knows, that July 4th is our independence day.  And we can remember the date without having to name a road after it.  Go America!!

To celebrate the holiday, I went to the beach with a group of friends.  We decided to go to one of the closest beaches, Pedernales, which was about a 5 hour car ride.  Luckily, some Ecuadorians we know offered to give us a ride so we didn't have to deal with fighting the crowds at the bus station. The town was a cute little beach town, with the main street lined by bars in huts- which I somehow forgot to take pictures of.

A nearby beach town was having a fish festival, or something similar, so we went over there for an afternoon.  I'm not really sure what was supposed to happen, but there were lots of vendors selling food and we found some amazing "pincho camarones" which are like shrimp k-bobs! Very yummy!

Then, we just relaxed on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  One of the great things about the beaches here, is that there are vendors actually on the beach selling drinks, empanadas, and other food.  The people here are very creative because their "stand" is a modified bike, so it is much easier to move down the beach.  I think the states need this!

Unfortunately, we didn't have the best weather and it was overcast most of the time, but we did have a great time.  We almost saw a pretty sunset, but the clouds got in the way.

And of course, a trip to the beach in Ecuador wouldn't be complete without seeing a donkey on the sand.  This doesn't even surprise me anymore.  When in Ecuador, you learn to expect the unexpected.  Like of course there is a donkey walking down the beach, why wouldn't there be?

This trip to the beach was everything I could have hoped for and was very relaxing before going back to reality.

Later in the month was another friends birthday, so we rented a chiva or party bus.  These are always so much fun and its a great way to travel around the city.  In addition to dancing, you must balance since the bus is moving, so it's a great workout.  They give everyone whistles, which is probably the worse thing to give to people that are drinking, especially Americans, which have the tendency to be obnoxious.  So obviously, we had a great time!

When I moved to Quito, everyone warned me about the pick-pocketers on the buses, and usually I am very careful when on the bus.  However, one Monday morning, I was tired and not paying attention, and my bag got cut.  These people are super talented and can cut or open your bag without you feeling a thing.  The person took my keys, which had about $10, my ID, and a credit card in it.  I never carry much around with me just in case my stuff gets stolen, so it wasn't so bad.  Because I'm slightly paranoid about this, I never bring my phone with me, thank goodness!  Usually, I just have my keys and English books with me, so it doesn't really matter if someone wants to take my stuff- and I highly doubt thieves have a strong desire to learn English.

I will try to update this again soon, but this next month will be full of preparing for my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Peru and hiking Machu Picchu!! I'm so incredibly excited and can't wait to share that experience with y'all!

Little Bit of Reflection

As I sit here and write this post, I look back at my time here in Ecuador and can't believe it's been 6 months already.  I'm not sure if this is because my time at the travel agency is over, or perhaps because The Bachelorette is finished, or what, but lately I've been thinking about everything that has happened recently in my life while waiting on the bus.  There are many fears that I have conquered and amazing experiences had in such a short amount of time.

To start with, I conquered one of the biggest fears of all when moving abroad: finding a way to survive!  I came to this country not knowing anyone, not having a job, not having a place to live, and not knowing the language, so pretty much I hopped on the plane with faith and a prayer.  Looking back now, I can understand why so many people were slightly worried about me and questioning my mental status since it didn't seem like I was jumping into a situation where I would succeed.  From the moment I landed in Quito, I had challenges and thanks to some incredible strangers, I was able to make it through this journey.  Within a month, I had a job teaching English, a place to live, and was starting to make some friendships.  I learned to have no shame and ask for friends so I wouldn't be lonely, something I have never had to do before.  And some great friendships have emerged due to that!  It sounds so weird but there are people that I met at the Spanish school, who I only knew for 2-3 weeks but feel like we've been friends for years.  Something about going through the challenge of learning a language and exploring a foreign city together really creates a strong bond.

One thing that people tell me here is that I am so calm and adventurous.  Those are 2 descriptions that I NEVER would have used to describe myself while living in the states.  But looking back, I guess Ecuador Kim is all about faces fears and taking advantage of the opportunities placed in front of me.  Thanks to my Norwegian buddy, I jumped into a freezing cold crater lake in a volcano and climbed 5000m up another volcano to where the glacier started.

Before coming to Ecuador, I would have said "Heck NO," I'm not jumping into a lake that is freezing cold- No Thank You!  I didn't realize it at the time, but that must have been when Ecuador Kim was "born."  From then on, it has been constant adventures.  Heck, at the beginning, just trying to figure out the buses or going to the grocery store was an adventure.  Due to friends that I can only assume were a gift from God, I have done spontaneous rock climbing while trying to hike up yet another volcano and jumping off of a bridge.

And we all know that America Kim wouldn't even look over the railing on a bridge 100m above a river, let alone even think for a second about jumping off of it.  In a weird way, I feel freer here in Ecuador as if nothing can hold me back.  It's very cliche, but fears don't have near as much control over me anymore- and its only been 6 months!  Who knows what else I will do while in Ecuador!

Another cliche about traveling is how it changes your mindset.  And of course, in this short time, I feel that my mindset has changed too.  When traveling, things unexpected always happen like missing your bus stop or getting food poisoning in a tiny town.  I just had to accept things for the way they were and find a way to fix the situation.  Getting frustrated wasn't going to solve anything and would only make the problem worse.  Don't get me wrong, there are still things that frustrate me, but I'm much better and letting things go and just laughing it off while saying "Oh Ecuador..."  It's gotten to the point that I don't even think twice about the fact that you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet in this country- yep you throw it way instead.  I feel that I have a different perspective and am learning what is truly important in life.

Another opportunity I had was to work at a travel agency with some of the most knowledgable people in the industry.  Having no experience at all, they gave me a chance and I was able to learn something everyday whether it was more areas in Ecuador to explore, creating a website, or just learning about marketing in general.  And I'm sure along the way, my co-workers would look at me and think "dang those gringas are weird!"  I can only hope that I was given this chance to help prepare me for a job working with a travel agency at some point in my future.

Alright, sorry for all of the travel cliches, but I guess people always say those things for a reason.  This reflection makes me so excited to see what else is in store for me during my last 3 1/2 months in Ecuador and the adventures that will follow.

Surviving the Deep Jungle

As some of you may already know, the Pope is making his way around South America, which included a stop in Ecuador.  Since there were so many road closures, it was impossible to get to work, meaning no work last Monday and Tuesday.  Whenever you get a 4 day weekend, it is crucial that you take advantage and go on a trip and some friends decided that they wanted to really experience the jungle.  We were able to find a 4 day/3 night tour for a good price so we grabbed our bug spray and anything else that we thought was "jungle appropriate" and got on a bus.  We knew this would be an adventure, but I don't think we realized the adventure would start with the bus ride.

Since the bus ride to the town of Lago Agrio is somewhere in the 6-8 hour range, we figured it would be best to take an overnight bus.  Yes, I know that is a wide range, but with these busses you never know how many stops they will make and due to a lot of rain there was a possibility of taking a detour because of  roads being closed from landslides.  We got lucky and THE road to the jungle had just opened that day.  During the bus ride, we watched a movie that was highly inappropriate considering there were children on the bus, but thats Ecuador- these kids are tough.  At around 3am, the bus stopped and a police officer forced all of us to get off the bus.  We had to line up and show him our IDs.  I was praying that everything would work out since all I had was my drivers license and a horrible black and white photocopy of my passport-and being deported was not something I wanted to be a part of this adventure.  Pretty sure the cop didn't care and let all of us get back on the bus.  At around 6am, we noticed that most of the people had gotten off of the bus already, and we started to get a little concerned. Turns out, we missed our stop and went 1 hour too far-oops.  We thought Lago Agrio was the last stop, but you live and learn.  Take this as a lesson that when taking an overnight bus, always ask if your destination is the last stop or not because they don't feel the need to openly give you this information.  So we got off of the bus, walked across the street, and got on another bus heading back.  An hour later, the kind man that was collecting the bus fares told us that we had finally reached Lago Agrio!  Woohoo step 1 down! We got breakfast and waited another 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the tour company bus to pick us up.  Once we got on that bus, it was another 1 1/2 hour drive to the river.  Then, at the river, we all hopped into a motorized canoe for another 1 1/2 hour journey to the lodge.  I should also mention that it was pouring down rain during the entire canoe ride- not the best canoe ride but at least we made it to the lodge...finally.

The lodge was so cute and was basically 8-10 huts all connected by boardwalks.

After arriving at the lodge, we were fed immediately and the food was amazing.  There was also hot chocolate and coffee available to help warm up from being soaked.  My favorite part was the hut full of hammocks!!

If you can't tell from how long it took to get here, this place was REMOTE!  There was only 1 light in our room and no actual ceiling, no outlets in the room, and the lights were solar powered so they turned it off at 10pm.  There was a charging station down in the hut with the kitchen and dining area so we were able to charge cameras and anything else you needed charged.

After being fed and relaxing in the hammocks for a bit, it was time for our first jungle adventure.  We all got into the canoe and went around the different areas around the lodge looking for animals.  The first animal we spotted was a sloth, and it pretty much just sat there in the tree.  In the Amazon, there is a special kind of dolphin called the Pink River Dolphin.  I was very excited to see this since you have to be in a specific part of the jungle to see it and obviously because its a pink dolphin.  Apparently, the pink river dolphin doesn't have to be pink...it was grey, and I was disappointed.  Our guide explained to us that some of them are pink because they are older and have more muscles and that vasculature gives the dolphins a pink color.  Didn't matter the reason, I was bummed.  Once we were done with that ride, it was time for dinner back at the lodge.  Once again, food was great, but we were exhausted so it was an early night for us.  Being in the humid jungle, there were lots of mosquitos so we had to sleep with mosquito nets.  I must say that I have gotten pretty good and setting up this net.

Our room kinda looked like a crime scene with all of the nets.

The next morning we woke up to the sounds of bird chirping and the taste of instant coffee.  We all agreed that breakfast was by far the best meal- fresh bread, quiche, fruit, and pancakes were just some of what we had over the 4 days.  As soon as breakfast was done, we headed out in the canoe and went for a 3 hour jungle walk.  This time of year is rainy season in the Amazon so there were parts of our walk that were very flooded, so this was definitely a dirty trek.

However, we were able to see some lots of monkeys, birds, and vegetation.

Every afternoon was free for us to relax, take a nap, or play in the water near the dock of the lodge.  We passed a lot of time hanging out in the hammocks and playing cards, and it was such a nice break from civilization and social media.  That night, we went out again around dusk to watch the sunset and search for the night animals like alligators.  And we found this guy, which our canoe driver decided to get as close to him as possible- these jungle people have absolutely no fear.

The animal life in the Amazon is incredible, but the sunsets are even more spectacular.  I would say to visit there just for the sunsets alone.

The next morning, we woke up early for some group bird watching.  My ADD personality is not exactly a good fit for bird watching, but I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity so I climbed up the tower and watched some birds.  We saw a ton of vultures and other birds that I can't remember what they are.  Then, one of the guides took my phone to take pictures from the telescope, which turned out incredible-good thing I decided to join!

After a long 40 minutes of watching birds, we decided to go back to our room and sleep until it was time for breakfast.  Today's activity was paddling a canoe down the river to an indigenous village to learn and cook some pan de yuca with one of the indigenous women.  It poured the entire ride and we paddled for about 1 1/2 hours.  I definitely got my workout in for the day with that activity.  As we were waiting for the rain to stop, my friend and I decided to lay down in the hammocks that were hanging inside the hut.  All of the sudden, we heard a loud sound of wood breaking so we tried to jump out of the hammocks, but that takes about 2 minutes to get out off.  We looked behind us and saw that one of the support beams broke at the corner of the hut.  From the outside, you could see how that side of the roof was significantly lower than the rest of the roof.  We actually broke these peoples hut, I still can't believe that happened.  No more rice for us I guess.  In our defense, there was already a lot of termite damage in the wood and we just happened to finish it off.  So we wouldn't break anything else, we then went to collect the yuca, which is a root and looks similar to a potato.  We helped to peel the yuca and grate the yuca, then the woman cooked it for us.  It looked like she was making the crust for a pizza, and this pan de yuca was very good!

Since all of us were full, it was time to head back to the lodge.  The rain had stopped and the sky cleared up for a beautiful sunny ride back.  The rest of the day was spent playing more cards and relaxing in the hammocks, which we didn't break this time.

Our trip back to Quito was was much less eventful since we chose to take a private van for only $8 more than the bus ride was, and this van took us within a few blocks of where we live.  This trip was so much fun, but we were all ready to get back to civilization and to a place where our clothes would actually dry.  The Amazon is such an amazing place full of adventure and beauty, which I highly recommend everyone to see at some point in their life.

Cultural Differences

I decided to talk about some of the cultural differences on this post because honestly these are starting to become very apparent- and some are annoying.  To start, I should mention that I do absolutely love Ecuador and have never regretted choosing to live here.  The weather is perfect, I'm surrounded by mountains, and I can get to either the beach or the jungle within 4 1/2 hours.  I know, I know, I shouldn't ever complain since I'm able to live in such an amazing place and have the opportunity to travel to more countries on this incredible continent.

...but after living here for almost 5 months now, some of the cultural differences aren't so "cute" anymore.  For example, us Americans LOVE our personal space.  I'm pretty sure no one in Ecuador understands what personal space is, and my "bubble" is constantly being invaded. Last weekend, I was standing in line at the grocery store and the place was absolutely packed.  Like a normal American, I stood maybe 1 1/2-2 feet behind the lady in front of me.  A girl came up and started talking to the lady in front of me, so I thought "ok, she is with that lady, no problem."  Then, a few minutes later after they had stopped talking another lady with a completely full cart walked up and joined the girl in front of me.  I should probably mention that I was buying 4 things, not a cart full of groceries.  Right then I realized that they completely cut in front of me, only because I respected the lady in front of me's personal space.  UGH I was so frustrated and got even more frustrated that they had a cart full of groceries.  Now, American's aren't always known as the friendliest people, but if you have a cart full of groceries and someone only has 3 or 4 things, you usually let them go ahead, and you certainly don't cut in front of them.  To make things better, the lady behind me was so close to me that I just about felt violated by her cart.  I never thought it would be a bad thing to actually respect someone's personal space, but apparently you will never make it to the front of the line if you do.  

This is how you are supposed to stand in line

However, after I finally made it out of there, I went to the mercado, which is one of my favorite places- there is an abundance of fruit, veggies, and flowers for only a fraction of the price as in the US.  

Isn't this place amazing?!

I usually go to the same vendors and this time after I paid for my produce, 2 different vendors gave me a tangerine for free.  Maybe they could see that I was mad or having a bad day (yeah I know being cut in front of shouldn't make me so mad, but it did that day), so they felt that was the least they could do.  Whatever the reason, this very simple and unexpected act of kindness completely changed my mood.

As Americans (or maybe just Southerners), we are only passionate about one thing.  I'm pretty sure you all know what this one thing is, but in case you don't it's FOOTBALL!  I will admit that UGA football is, more than likely, the biggest thing that I am passionate about...and if you're being honest, I'm sure you will agree.  Don't get me wrong, Ecuadorians love their football (soccer) and the city did shut down these past 2 weeks when Ecuador played in the Copa America.  Unfortunately, Ecuador just isn't that good, and I do feel bad for them because they do love the sport so much but the sport just doesn't love them back- must be the Ecuadorian equivalent of being an Cubs fan?  As much as they love their football/soccer, they love their politics even more.  I have never seen a culture that cared and was as passionate about politics.  And I must admit, I really like that about this Latin American culture.  Everyone has an interest in what is going on in the country and when they aren't happy, they make sure the government notices.  In the previous years, the people have literally run at least 3 presidents out of the country.  I can't imagine Americans actually forcing a president out of the country fearing for his own life.  Yeah I'm sure there are people that would love to do that, but physically doing it is a whole 'nother thing.  Just last week I was walking to one of my classes and I noticed a school bus stopped in the right lane of a busy road during rush hour, causing a huge traffic jam.  Then, I could hear what sounded like the marching band from a college football game.  As I got closer, I could see that a group of about 15 people had somehow gotten ahold of a school bus, tied down a giant stuffed turtle and jaguar onto the top of the bus, and were playing instruments in the street.  

This entire protest was peaceful; the people just wanted to be heard not create violence.  This is something I think Americans can learn a thing or 2 from.  I love how passionate Latin Americans are about all aspects of their lives, and they aren't afraid to show any emotion.  

I do feel so lucky to live here and truly experience this different culture, which lately has shown to be very different from the American culture!

Learning a New Language

Since I have been in Ecuador now for a little over 4 months and am always surrounded by Spanish speakers, you would think that I would have a fairly decent grasp on the Spanish language...WRONG!  This learning a new language thing has been an incredibly humbling experience for me.  Growing up, I was in honors classes and got good grades, so I thought learning Spanish while living in Ecuador should be fine.  I mean, I do consider myself to be an intelligent person and school is what I was good at and this is just a different type of school.  Well, I can tell you first hand that this has been way more difficult and frustrating than when I learned French in high school.

Every time I feel like I am making progress and finally improving my knowledge of the Spanish language, someone out on the street asks me a question and I have no idea what they are saying.  I might be able to distinguish 1 or 2 words, but thats about all.  And out of a 10 word sentence, those 2 words that I understand don't really give me a very good grasp of what they are asking.  Usually, they see the "deer in headlights" look on my face, and then switch to English.  I appreciate them trying to make me more comfortable, but that is not helping me to learn Spanish.

For those of you that don't know, Spanish has about 3x as many tenses as English-or so it seems.  There are about 5 different tenses just when speaking in the past, so this has been very challenging for me to differentiate when to use which, and half of the time, I still use the wrong one-oops.  One day during my class, my teacher and I were going over one of past tenses and I just wasn't understanding why I should use this tense over another, and I about lost it.  All of the sudden, I put or more like threw my pen down and said "No no no...no..no.no."  At that moment, "no" was the only word that I could say.  My teacher had no idea what to do with me right then.  He tried to reason with me and help me with the worksheet, but I leaned back in my chair with my arms crossed.  I'm sure every one of you can picture this scene right now, and if you can't, then picture a 5 year old starting to throw a fit and that was pretty much me.  This was not one of my finest moments, but it happens sometimes.  Since we still had 1 hour left of class and I think my teacher was afraid of me, he decided the best way to calm me down was to play a game of "Guess who."  Playing this game did calm me down and also made class entertaining while using Spanish at the same time.  I guess the classes really are paying off because last week I was in a cab, and had a conversation with the driver for about 10 minutes.  And I understood most of what he said, so that was a perfect boost of confidence for me!  Then, when I didn't understand, I would just smile and nod...hopefully that was an appropriate response.

In the Spanish language, the word for "who" is "quien" which sounds very similar to Kim.  So when people ask me what my name is, I respond "Kim."  They will then say "Your name?" and I say "Kim" again, which then leads them to say "No YOU, what is YOUR name?"  Finally, I have to respond "MY NAME IS KIM."  It's like I'm living a real life version of "Who's on first."  I know my Spanish isn't that good, but after 10 weeks of classes, I do understand the question of "what is your name?"

I will say that people here are very nice and appreciate when you try to speak their language and they are usually patient with you as you try to put words together to get your point across.  But after a few experiences of being completely clueless when native speakers are talking to me, I have decided that I really need to step up my studying and practicing.  Luckily, both of my roommates speak Spanish, so I can practice speaking with them at home.  And I am watching one of the best shows of all time "Friends" in Spanish with Spanish subtitles.  This allows me to hear and see the words, which helps to reinforce what I already know as well as learning new vocabulary.  

Let's hope that my Spanish improves because it sure would be nice to have a full conversation for once!

Pushing My Limits

If there is one common theme to these past 4 months, it is the fact that I am constantly pushing my limits, whether on purpose or not.  This is happening in all parts of my life, and even though it has been uncomfortable for me, I know these situations are exactly what I need.

Two weeks ago, I got 2 new classes at work.  The student in my morning class is very similar to my previous students.  However, my student in the night class has been a very big challenge for me.  As most of you know, patience is not one of my strongest traits, and that is wording it nicely.  Well, this student is beginner of the beginners.  The first week, we went over the very basic vocabulary of "My name is..." "I am from..." and other introductory phrases.  Since I just recently was in this guy's shoes, I understand the difficulties of learning a new language.  I hoped that being able to relate to him would give me more patience, but I'm not sure it works like that.  I have been trying to use every last ounce of patience during this class, since it isn't his fault that he doesn't know English yet.  And he is trying, so I have been trying to stay calm.  But sometimes, it's so tough when at the beginning of class I ask him "How are you?" and it take 2 minutes for him to understand what I said and come up with an answer.  This has been a huge challenge for me, but I know that patience is something that I really need to work on.  Hopefully, over time, I will be able to improve on this.

Now, for the more exciting way I am pushing my limits!  This past weekend, I went to Banos with some friends.  Banos is this tiny adventure town, located about 3 1/2 hours from Quito.  So, 4 of us took a bus there Friday night and then met some other friends who where there as well.  We woke up Saturday morning ready to start our day of accomplishing many outdoors activities.  Unfortunately, the weather thought differently.  It was pouring, so we decided to get some breakfast and then see if the rain would let up any.  Quickly, we realized that the rain was going to be off and on throughout the entire day, so we said "what the heck, let's just go for it."  One of the biggest attractions about this mountain town is the abundance of waterfalls, one in particular named "El Pailon del Diablo."  Being the active group that we are, we chose to rent bikes for the day, only $5, and bike to the see this spectacular waterfall.  This was perfect because we were able to exercise and sightsee at the same time! Along the road, there are places to stop to view the scenery or zip line if you want.  Some people in the group wanted to stop at one of the many zip lines that we passed.  A few people wanted to do it, and I won't turn down a zip lining opportunity, especially when its 1 km long, beautiful scenery, and only $10!  As you were flying, you couldn't even see where you were going to, which made it very exciting.

Once we finished zip lining, we continued on our bikes to the waterfall.  We got to the town, then had to hike about 30 minutes, but the view was well worth the hike.  You can walk through almost caves until you are right between the waterfall and the rocks.  Since it had been rainy all day, the water was extremely powerful and we got soaked- although we were already soaked from the rain so it wasn't a big problem.  

You can walk down those steps and look up to see the waterfall.  Its like the rides at Six Flags where you stand on the bridge and get splashed from the spray of the water.  It was a really cool experience to feel just how powerful the water really is.

This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but we were able to get this close to the waterfall.  You could reach out and actually touch the water.

After walking behind the waterfall, we walked across a very suspect bridge to get this view.  I was absolutely terrified of the bridge and wasn't sure it would hold the weight of everyone.  People were jumping on the bridge and I was not too happy about that- thought I was going to lose it.  But luckily, the bridge held up and we all survived.  However, we now had to hike 30 minutes up to the town where our bikes were.  All of us were incredibly tired and hungry because it was almost 3 and no one had lunch.  Let me tell you, I think every one of us became very "hangry" so it was crucial that we got food immediately.  I'm not sure if it was because we were so hungry or because the food was that good, but Betsy and I shared a banana and chocolate empanada that was one of the best things I have ever eaten.  I think I would literally kill for that empanada.  Once all of us had eaten and were calmer, we decided to take this army type truck back into town instead of biking uphill for over an hour.

Once we got back into town, we grabbed a cab and headed to the Casa del Arbol or treehouse, which is home to the "swing at the end of the world."  I know it is just a swing, but it was so fun.  There was this guy up there that was an unofficial "professional pusher" He would literally push the people that were on the swing and then twist them around while they were swinging.  We were all very impressed with his skills, clearly that wasn't his first time.  Unfortunately, his family wanted to go right before it was my turn so I wasn't able to experience his pushing first-hand.  However, my buddy Betsy stepped up and did a pretty good job!

Now, it was finally time to shower and relax before going to dinner and then onto the salsateca.  Needless to say, we all feel asleep immediately that night once we got back to the hostel.

Sunday, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day.  After eating breakfast, Betsy decided that she wanted to do "puenting" which is almost the same as bungee jumping.  I had been debating on whether I wanted to do this or not, but I finally decided that I needed to face my fear of heights and prove to myself that I could do it.  We walked out to the bridge and I couldn't watch, I could only stand in the middle of the bridge staring at the road.  Betsy and I got our harnesses on and I was still okay.  Then, it was my turn to go!  As soon as the guy hooked the rope onto the harness, it all started to get real, like very real.  Next was one of the toughest parts, climbing over the railing.  My legs were starting to shake, and I could barely force myself to climb over.

I'm so glad you can't see my face in these pictures, because I'm sure I was as white as a ghost and had a facial expression of complete terror.  

Standing on this platform was one of the most terrifying moments of my life- and that is not an exaggeration at all.  I tried not to look down, but I just couldn't help it.  Here I was on this 1ft x 1ft platform looking down 100 meters to a river.  This one tiny piece of wood was supporting me.  I knew that I couldn't wait long, and I had already climbed over the railing, so I only had one option and that was to jump.  So the guy said " 3, 2, 1, JUMP!"

As soon as my feet left that platform, it was an amazing experience!  I absolutely loved it and wished it had been longer.  There was such a feeling of relief after doing this and conquering a big fear of mine.  I never thought I would jump off of a bridge, but I was able to not let the fear affect me.  Betsy and I were so proud and happy to be able to cross this off of our bucket lists- well it was on her bucket list, not mine but I'm glad I could help her anyways.  Since we were a little tired, we decided to walk to the thermal springs that are right outside of town.  There are 2 thermal springs, one is in town and the other is outside of town.  Most of the tourists go to the one in town so it is very "gringo."  When we showed up to the thermal springs that the "locals" use, everyone looked at us like we have 3 heads.  I think they were wondering why 4 gringas were there, since this was not a common occurrence.

Being in the water was exactly what we needed.  Our muscles were so sore and I was incredibly tense from the exhilarating experience of jumping off of a bridge.  There was a pool that was hot, 3 medium, and 1 cold.  So we alternated between all 3 of the different temperatures trying to get the full effect.  By the time we left the thermal springs, it was already 2 in the afternoon and us gringas were starting to get "hangry" again, so it was time to head back into town.  We had a great lunch then met the rest of the group to head back to Quito.

This was a great weekend full of tons of excitement and activity, but honestly, I was ready to get back to my calm life in Quito!

3 Months Down!

So I have now been here for over 3 months!  I can't believe that.  It seems like just yesterday I was packing for Ecuador and trying to figure out what in the world I was signing up for.  One of the most important things that has happened in the past 2 weeks, is that I finally got my student visa!  Thank goodness, since I received this the day that my tourist visa expired.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I had to go to the immigration office and wait for 3 hours just to drop off my paperwork.  Then, I was supposed to receive an email within 5 days saying if my application was approved or if more documentation was needed.  Of course, I never received this email, so I had to go back to the immigration office and wait for another 2 hours.  Luckily, I was told that my application was approved, and I needed to pay $100.  Let me tell you, it is so much fun waiting in the immigration office where everyone that is over the age of 50, with kids, handicapped, or who knows what other reasons they used, gets to go before you, and then you get to pay these lovely people $100.   But of course, the process wasn't done yet.  I had to drop off my passport, and come back later that afternoon only between the hours of 3:30-4:30 to pick up my passport with the visa.  No idea why, but this office has very strict requirements about what time you must come- not very Ecuadorian.  So I left work early to pick up my visa, and now I am legal in Ecuador!

Last weekend was a holiday weekend, but I decided to stay in Quito.  One of my friends and I wanted to hike Pichincha, which is a volcano located about 3 km from where I live.  We have been told that the weather needs to be good, or it could be very dangerous.  Well on Friday, it was cloudy in the morning, so Betsy and I thought we would take a day trip to Papallacta, which has hiking and thermal springs about 2 hours from Quito.  So we took the Ecovia, tram, to the bus station, which is 1 hour away.  Once we got to the bus station, we realized that the next bus left at 1:30 and costed $8, and who knows when the last bus leaves Papallact to come back to Quito!  I know this sounds very cheap to everyone back home, but the general rate for buses in Ecuador is $1 per hour, so this bus trip should cost $2 not $8.  We were so shocked by this and based off of principle alone couldn't pay 4x what the price should be, so we got back on the Ecovia and took it an hour back to the city.  Sometimes when you make spontaneous decisions they work out, well this one was a fail.  Oh well you live and you learn!  However, while we were riding the bus for a total of 2 hours, we were standing, which gave us a good abs workout since you must balance as the bus is turning, slamming on the breaks, or accelerating.  Now we know that we can simply ride the Ecovia when we want a good abs workout!  Anyways, we decided to pick up Dakota and walk across town to Parque Metropolitano and do some hiking.  Dakota was LOVING this since there were tons of birds for her to chase.  When we got to the picnic area, there was a beautiful view overlooking part of the city.

Dakota loved the view as well!  At night, we decided to do a typical Latin American activity-salsa dancing!  A group of about 6 of us went to a salsateca, which is supposed to be THE place to go for salsa dancing.  As you all know, I am not much of a dancer at all, but there is something about salsa that I love.  I think its the spinning and the fact that the guy has to lead you so it's not that important to know the steps- if the guy is good, he will lead you in a way that forces you to make the correct steps.  So basically, if I am not dancing well, it's all the guy's fault- that is a dance that I can support!  After dancing the night away, we finally went home and everyone was exhausted.  Due to all of the walking and dancing on Friday, Betsy and I decided not to try to hike Pichincha on Saturday.  And of course, the weather was perfect on Saturday ha.

The weather ended up being good on Sunday, so Betsy and I headed to Pichincha!  You don't actually start the hike at the bottom of the volcano, you take the Teleferiqo (cable car) up to the lookout area, then start your hike.  Most people just take the Teleferiqo up to see the views since hiking to the top is "sooo challenging."  It's hiking and if it gets steep, then you walk slower right?  I mean how hard can it really be?  Oh those famous last words...Here is a picture from the Teleferiqo with magnificent views of the city.

Once we were up the Teleferiqo, it was time to start hiking.  It usually takes around 3 hours to get to the top, but we wanted to beat that time.  The first hour of hiking was great: the weather was perfect, we could breathe and talk easily, and it was only steep for a little bit.

Yes, you are correct, we were heading towards the point on the tip of the rock!  We were lucky that we met new friends along the way, and would stop to talk to them for a minute then continue.  After maybe 1 1/2 or 2 hours, we were walking along the path and the path seemed to stop.  I thought we missed a turn off somewhere, but nope.  A group of 2 dads and their 2 sons came walking around the corner and said "...you're correct.  You need to climb those rocks and then the path continues."  Excuse me what?  We have to do some rock climbing?  So with the help of the dads, Betsy and I climbed the rocks, maybe 6 feet total- no big deal.  And then we went on our way and found ourselves in a part of the "trail" that was all loose dirt.  At this point, the trail started to disappear and you just had to find the path that you wanted to take that looked the easiest.  Now, I was starting to see why this hike could be slightly dangerous.  After we got through that section, the real fun started.  Betsy and I decided to take a path that involved intense rock climbing.  We didn't have a harness or even a rope, just our hands and feet-FUN!  Around 10 minutes went by of this climbing and I was really starting to second guess this decision; I just didn't see how I was going to be able to climb this entire thing, maybe 15 meters total.  Luckily, God sent us help right then as another group of dads and sons came along and said that we should come down and go another way which was much easier.  We followed that group and 5 minutes later, we made it to the top... in only 2 hours and 40 minutes!  I'm not going to lie, I was cursing Betsy's name in my head leading up to the moment we made it to the top, but once we got up there it was worth it.

It was cold up there, so we didn't stay for long.  Also, it was cloudy, so we needed to be able to get past the rocks before the rain came.  We spent about 2 hours getting back to the Teleferiqo and as soon as we got inside the building, the rain came pounding- perfect timing to end an exhausting day.

This past week, I was able to finish up both of my classes, which meant that I was free at night.  So Tuesday night, we went to trivia at this Irish pub because they do trivia in English.  We ended up getting 3rd place!  Then, on Friday Betsy and her housemates hosted a cookout on their huge terrace. I don't grill so I don't exactly know what the problem was, but the grill wouldn't start.  We had lighter fluid and matches, but we couldn't get the grill going.  Apparently, this grill has to be lit with a candle? And even that wasn't doing the trick.  After around 45 minutes of trying to figure this out, someone had the genius idea of using a hair dryer!  So yes, we used the hair dryer to keep the grill going so that the burgers could get cooked.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but we were starving and it worked!  So now everyone knows to have a hair dryer close by when using a grill, just in case.  Because this was a cookout, I was able to bring Dakota and she was the life of the party.  Everyone loved having her around and people were offering to watch her for me, this is an offer I will definitely be using in the near future.  People kept asking if she spoke/understood English or Spanish haha,  Of course my answer was, Dakota understands English, but only responds when she wants to.

The rest of my weekend was spent relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, and getting things ready for the upcoming week.  Now that it is May, rainy season is over so there will be lot of sun for the next few months.!