One week!

I'm so excited I think I'm gonna barf!

I packed my bag a few days ago, then realized how nerdy that was, so I unpacked it again and shoved my backpack under my bed.

New Adventure

Well, it's been months since I have even thought about this blog, but today I decided to take it out and dust it off in time for my newest adventure. This trip is the result of a little spontaneity, a lot of stress, and a few birthdays on the horizon. Initially, I was planning to head to Korea, to teach English for a year. However, it just didn't feel right (at least, not right now), and after a lot of soul searching and some sleepless nights, I figured out what a lot of my loved ones had realized ages ago...I wasn't going to go to Korea. Then, my boyfriend asked me what I thought about traveling in Mexico for a few months, and an alternative adventure was born!

This journey is more of a tourist trip, with more lazing on the beach and R&R than I'm used to. I'm revisiting a much loved part of my past, Central America! Tickets are bought and paid for, and this time, I will get a chance to travel in Mexico (which TECHNICALLY isn't part of CA, but should be, for heavens sake!). I will also get a chance to see mi Familia Guatemalteco in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, which I am immensely excited about.

We arrive in Cancun on February 16th, and as far as I know, we don't have any particular plan of what to do after that. I do know we plan to be back in Mexico by March 20th, for the Spring Equinox. In between, who knows!? It's Chris' birthday on the 22nd, and mine on the 23rd (don't forget!!), so I'm hoping we get to someplace warm and tropical with yummy drinks by then.

I'm not really a "foodie," but I'm looking forward to eating Mexican everyday. Maybe it's because the few places I've already traveled have...lacked...a little in the culinary department. Maybe it's because I love tacos and tamales and enchiladas and quesadillas. But everytime I think about going, I also think about eating. And then my mouth waters.

This is the least thought out trip I've ever been on, which is both fun and scary! I know I'm a stressful traveler (love to travel, but it sometimes scares the crap outta me!), but it's a lot easier to let things slide when you've got someone with you. I have realized that when things go wrong and you're alone, your first instinct is to sit down and have a little cry, or maybe a temper tantrum. But when there's someone else to share in your distress, you can't help but laugh about it. Like they say, misery loves company! And I guess it's nice to have company for the good times, too...Especially company as enjoyable as Chris'!

Top Threes of Ecuador

Things I ate
1. Fresh fruits and fruit juice EVERYDAY
2. spinach ravioli with carbonara from Clasico
3. Cuy (roasted guinea pig)

Things that bothered me
1. They put cilantro in everything!
2. Machismo
3. Pollution and "The Cuenca Cough"

Thoughts about my students
1. Everyone had a cell phone
2. The nice boys are going to grow up to become disgusting men
3. Good looking kids

Interesting people I met
1. Big Renee - May have been a lesbian, may have been a man, scary laugh...such a character!
2. Martin - has been all over the world, was left for dead in the Australian outback and had to survive on his own urine.
3. Sunny - the only American I met who knew where Cranbrook was!

Places I went
1. Vilcabamba, the Valley of Longevity, nestled in the Andean range
2. Canoa, a surf town with water as warm as a bath
3. Banos, the adventure capital of Ecuador

Things I want to remember
1. The look on Dad's face when the horse spooked
2. The taste of fresh maracuyas
3. The giant turtles on the Galapagos

Things I want to forget
1. Food poisoning
2. The rage I feel whenever a man is inappropriate
3. The hell of my first semester

People I'll miss
1. The Canadians
2. My roommate, Kristi
3. The guy at Clasico

Things I'll miss
1. The fruit and veggie market
2. The shy smiles of children
3. Rio Tomebamba

Cultural quirks
1. There's chauvinism without chivalry
2. Everyone litters and doesn't think it contributes to pollution
3. It's okay to call someone fat, or ask them embarrassing questions about their love life, but it's not okay to want to have personal space

Reasons it's good to be back
1. Hot water, hot water, hot scalding water
2. You can put TP in the toilet!
3. Hanging out with family and friends again

Homeward Bound

Today is my last day in Ecuador. It is a bittersweet goodbye, because I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends back home, but I am sad to leave this country I have grown to love. It`s been a long journey towards loving Ecuador, which I think makes it harder to leave. I`ve just gotten the hang of things!

I spent yesterday in Otavalo, an indiginous market town in the north of Ecuador, buying last minute gifts and souvenirs. The market is the cheapest I`ve come across in my travels through Latin America, and I went on a good day, because it wasn`t very busy. On market days, the place spreads out four blocks in every direction, but on other days, there is a smaller market in the center of town. It was pretty great to make it up to Otavalo, since I wasn`t planning on going, despite everyone`s insistance that it was not to be missed.

It was a long trip back from Peru, where I left my parents to return to Ecuador for my last days. My first flight was canceled, and the second flight was delayed for hours, so I didn`t arrive in Quito until nearly 11pm, after leaving my hotel in the morning at 6:30am. That`s how long my flight to Vancouver is going to take!!

Machu Picchu was absolutely amazing. We got up early so that we could see the sun rise over the ruins, and had a very stunning view of the Lost City of the Incas until the clouds drifted in and covered it in a mystical mist. As we climbed the thousands of stairs (literally) up and down and around the ruins, we couldn`t help but think about the people who lived there long ago. Apparently the word "Inca" means "King" and the everyday people who the Incans ruled were called Kichwa (sometimes written "Quechua"). The Kichwa people still live in the Andes, from Columbia to Chile, and are famous for their knowledge of flora and fauna, their weaving and their pottery. The largest population of the Kichwa still live in Peru, and are very proud of their heritage. It makes me think about the indiginous Canadians, who have lost huge portions of their culture because of colonialism. A lot of parts of Latin America are similar, but Peru is unique in how much they have preserved of their culture.

Anyhow, here I am, heading home tomorrow morning. I`m not sure how I feel about it, although I am excited to be embarking on a new adventure.

If I could do it all again...

Coming into the Valley of Longevity, is like entering into a painting. The mountains are as green and picturesque as any imagination could conjure up, and the quaint little town of Vilcabamba, tucked in amoung the giant rolling hills, looks as if it were plucked out of a storybook. I love it here. I have been looking forward to returning since I first visited the south of Ecuador at Christmastime. It was one of the first things on my list of places to go when my parents decided to come and visit me, and I`m glad it will be one of the last in my memory before I head back home.

The weather has been pretty much perfect since my parents arrived in Ecuador, ten days ago. After complaining about months and months of rain, the beautiful sunshininess has been embraced by me, and by my parents, who left a blizzard behind in Canada. Our first adventure was to the Galapagos, another second for me. I realize that most people don´t even get to go to the Galapagos once, and here I am, going a second time!! I do know how lucky I am, and I enjoyed it almost as much the second time. There was so much I wanted to share with my parents, and I think that both my parents were as delighted with the turtles and sea lions as I was. We snorkled, hiked, and sailed, and saw many of the animals I witnessed the first time around.

From the Galapagos, we headed to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, and one of the most important ports in South America. There we walked along the Malecon 2000, a newly renovated boardwalk, with seaside eateries and colourful buildings. After hearing so much negativity about the dangers of Guayaquil, and having seen firsthand the poverty and pollution from the bus windows, I was pleasantly surprised to see another, unexpected side. We head back to Guayaquil tonight, our last stop before heading down into Peru.

However, that now brings us to the Sacred Valley of Vilcabamba, where many of the inhabitants are over 100 years old, and the energy is so relaxing and friendly, I`m sort of sad to leave. Yesterday, the parents and I went on a three and a half hour horse trek through the mountains, and it was amazing. I`m very proud of my parents for submitting themselves to it, though I know it couldn´t have been the most comfortable way to see the beauty of the Andes. I do think they both enjoyed themselves, and it is the best way to see the mountains in a short time.

I`m very excited about our next adventure, into Peru and to the ruins of Maccu Picchu, pretty much the only part of the trip so far that I haven`t previously done. And then, in less than two weeks, I`m heading back to Canadian soil. I`m not quite sure how I feel about that, but I`m looking at it as another opportunity to grow and figure out what the heck I`m doing on this great Earth.

The Not So Adventurous Amazon

Dreams of river rafting and jungle tours led me to Tena, a large town in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. However, adventures have eluded me in the four days I have spent here. The first day, I went for a walk around this little island that separates the rivers Tena and Puno. It was very beautiful, with the average leaf being larger than my head! There were monkeys and birds and even an ostrich?! Not quite sure what it was doing there, but it made me giggle a little bit. At one point, as I was watching a small monkey flip and play, I noticed a rather LARGE monkey walking towards me on the trail. Everytime I turned to look at it, it would stop walking and pretend to be interested in a leave or a stick or whatever happened to be around. But as soon as my back was turned, it would start stalking me again. It sort of freaked me out a bit, since the exit was back BEHIND the monkey, and I was walking deeper into the jungle to get away. Everytime I turned around for the next half an hour, there was the monkey, getting closer and closer. I wasn´t sure what to do. I was pretty sure beating a monkey in a national park with a stick would be frowned upon, and possibly get me arrested. Thankfully, a family coming the opposite direction distracted the monkey long enough for me to duck off the trail and make my way around it!

That is about the only exciting thing that´s happened to me thus far in the jungle. My name has been on a few whitewater rafting lists, but as it is a weekday and not peak tourist season, apparently I´m the only one in town interested in a trip. So, for the past 4 days, I´ve walked around Tena, which is hotter than Hades, and tried to get myself on a boat. However, I´ve now given up. I decided it´s not meant to be. I´m heading back up to Quito tomorrow morning in preparation for my parent´s visit.

A few last thoughts about the jungle: The rain is absolutely incredible. Everyday I´ve been here, it´s rained for a few hours in the afternoon. Insane rain. Torrential doesn´t even begin to describe it. But it´s one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen, with the wind blowing the trees in half, the lightning and sunshine combination...it´s like those shots of hurricane rain they show on the news, except it´s not killing anybody. Amazing. Also, I`ve realized that I`m just not a jungle person. While I appreciate the beauty (words can`t describe how amazing it is!!) and the million different colours of green and the animals, I don`t like to be knee deep in the nitty gritty. I don`t like the bugs, the humidity, or the possibility of a snake falling out of a tree onto my head. Or under my foot. Or in any vicinity of my body. Let`s just say I`m not a fan of snakes anywhere. *Shudder*

Anyhoo, in a few days time, I will be back in the Galapagos. It´s okay to be jealous.

The Wheels on the Bus

I have spent a LOT of time on buses these past few months, traveling around Ecuador, into Peru, and even just around town. I now know that Ejectivo buses are the best, because they USUALLY have air conditioning, and don´t stop every ten feet to pick up new passengers. Also, nearly every long distance bus I´ve been on will show a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. The last bus ride I took, from Bahía de Caraquez to Guayaquil (7 hours), showed THREE Jean Claude Van Damme movies. In a row. In Spanish. Now, I´m not saying I´m an expert on acting or plausibility or anything of the sort, but I just don´t get how a loving father and husband just HAPPENS to have a loaded AK47 under the drivers seat of a mini-van, or how a white guy with no weapon can fend off a whole gang of kung fu mafia with machine guns. Maybe if the movies were in English, I would have understood. Or, maybe if I had a penis.

Anyhoo, I digress. All of the buses in Ecuador are retired USA/Canada buses, although some of them are still pretty recent models. However, some are most definitely not. My favorite are the ones where the drivers seat is basically a metal lawn chair bolted to the floor of the bus. These are the buses where my imagination gets the better of me, and I envision my cartoon self riding in the most rickety, ancient bus possible, careening around hairpin turns on the edges of cliffs on the wrong side of the road (actually, that sounds about right for reality...). At any rate, as we´re going, I´m imagining nuts and bolts flying off willy-nilly, so that once we reach our destination, all that is left is an empty shell of a bus, and upon stopping the front and sides of the bus flop over like a card tower, where all the people in the bus are sitting, hair on end, completely and totally shell shocked.

As well, nearly every bus has a dashboard shrine, some big, some small, to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Possibly this is the reason they feel safe enough to drive pedal to the metal, and pass on double solids. Also, most have a pom pom ceiling runner across the windshield, which does more to impede vision than it does to add to the decor.

Generally, I´ve noticed that people don´t bathe or brush their teeth before getting on a bus. The odor on some of the long distance buses have ranged from unwashed to fetid, and I´ve had the pleasure of sitting next to them many times. I guess people don´t think about polite hygiene here, or make it as much of a priority as we do in Canada. Although, to be fair, I´ve sat by my fair share of stinkers in Victoria, as well.

Even though I´ve made it sound like riding the bus is not a great experience, I´ve found most of my rides pleasant and comfortable enough. It´s maybe not my ideal way of traveling, but it´s a great way to see the country in which I live, and for that, I wouldn´t trade it for anything.