Mindo

I finally got to go to Mindo. The road had been closed for some time due to a mud side. I met Amy the night before we left, aka Friday night, at the bible study they've been going to all semester. {I told Tricia I would walk her there since it was close to my house and I'm overly paranoid these days. This also set me up for a must-attend-time-since-I'm-already-there. Anyway, it was fun, glad I went.}

I met Amy, Kelsey, and Tricia at La Florida bus stop. (I heard fantastic music in the cab, read the post before for a small mention). We road from La Florida to Ofelia Station. We bought tickets to Mindo, and headed out. The bus ride was uneventful, and I am so incredibly thankful for that. I honestly never thought I could feel so much joy for a normal Ecuadorian bus ride.
When we arrived in town at 'the bus station' (the 1 shop that sells tickets out of town), we were met by people with offers for us to stay at their hostal for such and such price, and food here, or zipline there. We walked to our hostal, got our room, and got everything ready for whatever was to come.
We walked back down the hill to the main block of town, decided on pizza (I had a calazone), and chatted.

(This is taken while we forded the river. hehe)


We all wanted to zipline, so we went to the company Amy had been too last time she was there. It was $10 a person and then $6 total for the four of us to be transported to and from the site.
It was incredible. I feel like safety standards in Ecuador are far below what I'm accustomed to in the States, but didn't feel unsafe dangling from a cable over the Cloud Forrest. There was an older guy, as in 35ish, who was in charge of the group. The one kind of goofy-odd guy, maybe 20, who went ahead to take pictures, but was behind the leader guy who helped stop us at the end of the line. Then, there was Crazy guy in the orange shirt who was probably 23 or so. There was also handsome, random guy who also went rafting with us later.
This is me in the bat pose. Yes, I went upside down the entire length of the cable. It bruised my hips, but was worth it.


After we returned to the town, we headed to our hostal to get ready for the next event, Tubing! I really had no idea what to expect from that, but it was great. There were maybe 8 black tubes tied together with little rope handles in the joints for people to hold onto. We sat where 3 tubes met. The river wasn't too much. It had just the right amount of rocks and current to be fun. We didn't do anything, but ride it out. The two guides turned us around, pushed us over rocks, etc. This is a pic of us after the ride. The guy on the left is handsome, random guy from ziplining.




After we changed out of wet clothes, we got ice cream (I had a Magnum--like an Eskimoe Pie, but no one I've met here knows what that means...) and sat in the town square. We watched a lady and a man play with a bunch of little kids. Then, a black lab mix joined us.
We decided to do something, but we didn't know what. At the corner of the park, we met the people staying in the room next to us at the hostal. We all decided to go to a place that was in the guide book to eat. We hitched a ride with some random guy after we had started out the wrong way. When we got to the place, it was closed. We ended up eating 2 places down from the pizza place. I had fried trout-pretty good. Jennifer and Justin are both 4th year med students, and graduate 2 weeks after they return from Ecuador, so in a month. We sat and chatted for a long time about our adventures thus far in Ecuador.

Back to the hostal, lot's of nationalities there. Lots of music.

Day 2. We had pancakes at the butterfly house. It was beautiful. Pancakes were good, and so was my banana shake. mmm. The 4 of us, Jennifer and Justin, and Kelseys random friend from her home county, Ben, went.

Here is Tricia holding a butterfly. We put old banana on our fingers to get them to land on us. My camera battery died soon after.

After lunch (fried tilapia), we walked for about an hour to a good place in the river to 'swim'. I didn't want to ride the bus back wet, so there was little swimming taking place on my part. I did get eaten by some kind of biting bugs. Where the water line stopped on my legs, the bugs began to bite.
We walked some, then caught a ride in the back of a truck. We headed back to Mindo. We bathroomed, bought snacks for the bus, and waited.
On the bus, Justin and Ben were without seats. Justin shared my armrest from his little platform. Ben was back and forth from the platform to the aisle standing. He gave up his seat about 30 minutes in to a lady sit down who got on mid-ride. Her little boy threw up about 10 minutes later. wooo.
All-in-all, good weekend.

900,000 tons of Steel

While the title has nothing to do with anything, it has been a sing-song day, and that one has popped up.

My friends and I ate at a place called Sake. We were given the typical treatment that we've come accustomed too: Lots of attention. We ordered martinis, and we had them with our sushi. All great! We then got a 2nd tray of drinks 'on the house.' HAHA!! When we were walking towards the door, the guy who seated us almost ran into me trying to get to the door before me (MY HAND WAS ALREADY EXTENDED TO OPEN THE DOOR). He succeeded. 5 other waitors came out and said by to the three of us. We giggled of course, but it was fun. woot.


I heard a great song in the cab this morning. Lyrics (On top of sweet electric music, and sung by a semi-raspy man voice): "No bailaba? No Bailaba? Quê horrible! Quê horrible!" teehee. Then, the next song, in English said, "What do I gotta do to make you sleep with me." Awkward!

Stereotypes, Thank You

If you are expecting something profoud from this entry, stop reading.

The Chinese place by my house (Casa China), is great for a few reasons. It has good food, very close to my house, has decent hours, and has two VERY attractive waitors (Hot MoMo Man and Karl {Because he kind of looks like Karl from Love Actually}). Well, My two friends and I have been there two times before together. We've definately caught the attention of most of the workers, and got a phone number last time (We don't know which one Geovanny was though).
Tonight, the security guard outside and a friend kept looking in through the window at us. Our waitor, not a cute one, walked to the window at one point where my eyes follwed him too. There, I caught eyes with the security guard and exchanged a wave. Awkward...

When we finally decided to go outside (after a very stiff drink for each of us, thank you staff), the guard and the other guy said 'Hola', and the Hot MoMo Man got on his bike and kind of showed off. We all noticed.
We wanted ice cream, so we walked down the street to a larger road. Fail. Nothing was opened, so we awkwardly walked back up the street. The guard and friend were still outside, and they crossed the street to talk to us. My friend asked where ice cream was avaiable. Since the guard was at work, he stayed at the resturant. His friend walked us to a store that was still opened. He then bought us ice cream.

Here is when the stereotype thing comes in. Not that it was really expensive, but he bought all three of us, and himself, ice cream. We walekd back to where the resturant is and a random third guy wearing way too much cologne was there. We talked for about 10 minutes (max) and walked back up to a larger road to get a taxi. We were only 1/2 a block from my house, but I went ahead and hopped in a taxi with them. The driver kind of laughed at us for going 2 blocks (yes, I walked further from my apt than I was), but I didn't want them to know I lived 1/2 a block away.
Stereotypes...I know I have mentioned this to certain people before, but not sure if it has made it to the blog. Americans are viewed as easy. Yes, as in, have sex whenever with whoever, regardless of how long they have known the person.
He bought us ice cream thinking he was going to get lucky with one of the three girls, and that is why random over-cologned guy showed up. 3 guys, 3 girls. Math is easy there.

Anyway, my friends and I are smart and try to be safe, so we didn't break the group. We got free ice cream because other people made them think we were the same. If my friends that I've made in Ecuador read this, you are truly fantastic.

7:11 am

Good Morning 7:11 am. Thank you wake-up tick.

Movies

I am yet to figure out why it is humorous for one to go to bed late, but wake up early. I had the oppurtunity to sleep in this morning, but woke up at 7:08am. I laid there until after Margarita and Camila left for Camila's first day of French lessons, so I didn't officially get up until 7:35am, but it's still frustrating. I had a similar morning yesterday. Whoever is in control of the wake-up button should really use it for good, like say, Evolution of Jazz. I made it to class on time for one a week ago Thursday, but saw someone get hit by a car (read 7 April). In my opinion, I would rather sleep through class than see something similar to that ever again.
I had cake for breakfast with a cup of Earl Grey. I love Earl Grey, but everytime I open a pack to get the bag out from this stupid box, there is NO STRING!! Every bag I have opened has been like that. I brought the box here so I could enjoy, but it only makes me frustrated. However, if I was still in the USA, I would not have taken the nox back because my peanut brain still gives the box hope that the other half will have strings. Funny joke.
I watched About A Boy while having my tea in my room.
I have also watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix with Camila. (Yesterday we watched HP & the Goblet of Fire because she is in love with Robert Pattinson.) We're also going to a movie tonight, but I'm not sure what we're seeing.

Tourist Week

I thought I was being cool, but the pictures loaded backwards. I tried really hard, so try to enjoy it, even though they are flipped from where they should be =).
Dad arrived Tuesday April 7th. We went to a museum on Wednesday and had a basic chill day. On Thursday, we rode 6 hours to The Esmeraldas area. We took a cab from the drop off point through Atacames to Sûa. We took curves at 122 km/hr which is about 75 mph. This has stopped bothering me, but my dad was cracking me up. Our hostal did not have a fan in the room or a toilet seat. Again, something that doesn't bother me, but my dad kind made a big deal about it.
Friday morning I kept thinking I knew the song playing from outside the room. Finally I figured out what it was, but couldn't hear the words. When we went downstairs to have breakfast, sure enough, The Prince of Egypt was on. I had been hearing Deliverance (the song where Moses is sent down the river). The movie was in Spanish, but I could still sing the songs.
We hung out at the Beach, had Guanabana drinks (MMM!), and a giagantor fruit 'cup' (size appropriate for 4 people, but officially in a cup). The day was overcast, but very enjoyable.

Got back to Quito around 8:30pm on Saturday. I took a cab to the airport and picked up mom, Aunt Patti, and Kenny (after waiting for an hour. Customs was busy). The fire alarm went off in the airport. That was tons'o'fun.
Sunday, we went to La Mitad del Mundo (equator line). We rested in the evening. Sofia met me at my apartment the next morning, and we walked to the fams hostal. We went to Papallacta and had a blast.

Tuesday, we attempted to go to Mindo, but FAILed. We went back to the hostal, left our things, and did the TeleferiQo adventure. That was very enjoyable. Wednesday, we tried to catch the bus to Mindo, but FAILed. Instead, we did something else. I'm missing one day on pics, so I'm not sure if TeleferiQo was Tuesday or Wednesday. O well.
Thursday, we had lunch at the Radisson because KP really wanted chicken fry. I had Paella, very good, minus the sausage. We walked around Old Town for a while, then it started to POUR.

We taxied north to Fundacion Guayasamîn. The site was beautiful. One building is his original house. His pre-colombian to Inca private collection was there. A lot of it had been restored, but it was still beautiful. At the time he began collecting, there wasn't much interest in the works, so he acquired many pieces.

Another building had a lot of his art work. Nice place. Highly suggest a visit there if you make it to Quito. (Calle Bosmediano y Jose Carbo-$3.)

My host mom had the fam over for tea. That was hilarious. She understands a good amount of English, but is shy to speak (like me with Spanish, but I think I understand less...). It was a good time.

7 April is Rememorable

Today has been interesting. I woke up at 5am (30 minutes before my alarm to turn on my hot water heater) to a something that sounded like a dying whale. I thought it was probably Maya, the dog downstairs, but the longer I listened, the less it sounded like a dog. I got up, saw the maid sleeping on pillows in the computer area outside my door, turned on my water heater, and laid back down until 6:50am. I decided I wasn't taking a shower because of how annoyed the wake-up was (& I was hoping to be all cheery and in a good mood today for various reasons). The noise continued until I left the apartment at 7:30. When I got outside, the noise was non-existent. I have no idea where it was coming from or what was producing it.

I took the Ecovia, had a man stand his front side to my back side, although there was plenty of room for that contact to NOT be happening. I managed to wiggle away and be slightly more confortable. The next guy only insisted on keeping his hand on the bar touching mine. I got to Rio Cocoa, walked to the Green Bus station, found a seat by myself, and got to ride to Cumbaya in a seat by myself. I let the lady in sitting in front of me out in the aisle, we walked to the front with all the other people, and got off the bus. Most of the people walked to the back of the bus after they exited, but the lady that sat in front of me, and 2 other people stayed at the front. A silver chevy slowed down to let us cross the road in the crosswalk, and the lady (late 30's) started to walk, but the car in the other lane wasn't stopping. I reached out, but I was just too far to have grabbed her. I started to say watch out at the same time I stuck my arm out, but then the white chevy spark hit her. The front left bumper of the chevy hit her leg and hip area. She spun in a circle, and then rolled onto the ground. I froze. I felt the blood drain from my face. I started towards her, all of 7 feet away, and the guy behind me ran to help her up. The other girl standing by me was also in massive shock. The car that slowed to let us pass stopped and asked if she was okay. I was impressed that she got up. The nice student who helped her, and stood with her. We saw a police truck take off after the car, but the car was going so fast, I'd be surprised if they got the person.

I was so proud of myself to be ableto get to Evolution of Jazz on time, but it all didn't matter at that point. I got there and told Deanna the story, and it was all of 8:35am.

Not that this has more importance, but it does add to the day thus far. I am 1 of 6 students in my Spanish class. The only other 2 people that showed up today were the 2 people that I can't stand. I didn't listen to half of what went on, and had issues on everything I said because I was so annoyed.

I had lunch with Deanna, and who else was in the same place that we went? None other than 1 of the 2 people from my Spanish class that I complained about. Deanna has been jittery all day because she is flying to Peru tomorrow (at least that's what we decided the cause was). She almost toppled over when we were getting up to leave the sandwich place because of her bag. After laughing at her, I picked my bag up and caught the picture on the wall. It bobbled, but didn't fall, thankfully. It was a huge frammed piece, probably 8 feet by 4 feet.

Now, it's 2:02pm. I think I'm going bowling tonight with the same group as my bowling usually has. Then, Dad gets in here tonight around 11.

Bullets in the blog, OPERATION

I want to start out with saying "HI" to my friend Brookeee. I still can't holla back at you via comments, but you are great!

I went bowling last Tuesday with some friends. The machine kept miscounting the girls pins, so the boys won. I had 3 strikes NOT counted, and since there were no pins to knock down the 2nd time, it only counted 9. Stupid 7 pin censor.

CLASS TRIP
Friday
-shot 10am
-cards on the bus with Sofia
-beach 6pm
-Macarana 12am
-sleep

Saturday
-breakfast at 8:30am
-map project at the resturant on the shore
-beautiful rocks at 3pm
-swim in the ocean where octopi were being hunted at 4pm
-giant fish for dinner with a group at the hotel (like) restuarant at 8pm
-Lîmon game at 10pm
-sleep

Sunday
-Breakfast at 8am
-laugh at all the hungover Ecuadorians at 9:30am
-asked if I was hungover and responded no at 10am
-stop for water, and throw up at 11am
-lunch at the chain place Gus at 1pm
-guanabana ice cream bar on the bus 1:45pm
-cards on the bus with Sofia, with Sebastiân and Robert helping explain the scoring system and the way I dealt was actually wrong and the rules call for one to count out 5 cards to 1 person before moving on, rather than a random 1 to you, 1 to you, etc. Yes, Sebastiân was very adament that it was an actual rule.
-stop at gas station because bus was having problems 5:00pm
-got off the bus because it caught on fire (small and localized) at 5:15pm
-was called pobrecita (kind of like poor baby) because I only had my green light-weight cardigan and awkwardly helped onto the bus by an Ecuadorian boy 5:30pm
-discussed how silly it was that Jessalie and I were just call pobrecitas when it was in the 50's outside 5:32pm
-reboarded new bus at 5:40pm
-Quito at 6:15pm
-in car of someone related to Doris, girl in my class, 6:25pm
-dropped Renato off at 6:35pm
-dropped Jessalie off, after minor confusion because she didn't say where she lived and Doris thought she lived with me, at 6:50 pm
-hit in the arm by possible nephew of Doris, to have him respond to the glance as, "Quê.." 7:08pm
-dropped off at my apartment 7:15pm
-taught Camila the hokey pokey after tea 9:45pm
-loaded pics onto the lappy and then Facebook at 11pm
-bed at 1am...

As for the picutre with the giant protrusion out of the ground...it's amusing.