Mindo

February 6-7

My program went on our 2nd excursion to Mindo, Ecuador and it by far was one of my favorite trips! Mindo esta localizado en el noroccidente de la provincia de Pichincha, enel camino hacia el norte de la costa ecuatoriana Se podra observar elbosque nublado (cloud forest) y la increible biodiversidad de esta zona de la provinciade Pichincha.

I actually think that pre-planned excursions are the way to go-everything is planned, no issues with buses breaking down, you are always gauranteed great hostels, food and activites, and everything is pre-payed for. :)

This was our intineray (nuestro itinerario):

Sabado 6. 8:20 a.m. Nos encontramos en la puerta principal de la USFQ para salir a Mindo a las 8:30 a.m. Muy puntuales. Puntuales means punctual in Spanish. haha Definitely did not happen. We left at 9:15 am instead. La hora ecuatoriana!

Sabado 6. 10:30 a.m. Llegada a Hosteria El Descanso en Mindo, recibirsus habitaciones y dejar sus pertenencias en las habitaciones.

Sabado 6, en la manana. Visita al jardin de las mariposas y tubing en el rio. Almuerzo en Mindo.
--Of course our first time actually doing any outdoor activities-and our first time visiting a cloud forest-it would rain-and i mean downpour. Probably 1 of the 4 times it has rained since I've been here. But it was amazing all the same. The butterflys were beautiful. You actually could put some sort of banana juice on your finger and they would land on you however i had bathed in bug repelent before leaving so they didn't come anywhere near me. And then tubing was an absolute blast. The raft literally was about 8 or 9 big rubber tubes tied together with rope (lol) we looked like nerds freezing our butts off in our swimsuites and helmets (they made us wear) in the middle of a chilly rainy day and im pretty sure it was the coldest water i've ever felt-but you got num and it was a blast our guides on the raft would always yell "FUERTE FUERTE" which means strong for whenever there was a strong current or a big dip We were soaked at the end-especially with the rain but we had lunch right away (chicken, rice, and vegtables-suprise!!!) and we all went in the diner in our towels and swimsuites because our clothes got wet in the rain- one ecuadorian who was eating in the restaurant actually asked if he could take our picutre haha

Sabado 6, en la tarde. Caminata y canopy.
--since it was nasty weather we did this the following day. and instead we all got to take some R&R before dinner and I took the most amazing 3 hour nap!!!

Sabado 6, en la noche. Cena en Mindo.

--we actually ate at the same place-and had the same chicken, rice and vegtables lol But dinner and that night were really neat because the whole town of mindo had no luz (no electricity) for the entire night- the restaurant actually had a generator but our hostel did not so afterwards we all went out to buy candles and matches so we could sit and play cards and talk by the candle light

Domingo 7, 8 a.m. Desayuno en Mindo.

--one word: huevos!!!! And then one of my favorite moments of the trip, on my way back to my room after breakfast one of the caretakers of the hostel was actually holding a hummingbird because it had mud on its wings and couldn't fly and he let me hold it and then set it free (since he cleaned his wings) he said it was a sign of good luck to hold a hummingbird :)

Domingo 7, en la manana, canopy y caminata a cascadas de mindo y si desean puede nnadar en la cascada.

--canopy or "zip lining" was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I've had. There was a course 12 cables, some up to 500 meters long. The further along the course, the higher up you got and the more steep the cable was. It was absolutely breathtaking once you remembered to breath and not think you were thousands of feet above a cloudforest hanging by a cable. I've never seen so many trees. I actually admit that I was the only one who couldn't go by myself the first time. I couldn't bring my feet off the groud so one of the guides had to go with me haha but little by little i got more brave and at the end i ended up doing the mariposa (butterfly) where you go upside down on the cable and then superman which is literally like it sounds-face down instead of a sitting position. It was a rush. Then at the waterfalls-the water was like ice-but we still all got in. There was actually a slide and a cliff to jump off-i did them both. I was definitely daring that day. On the way back into town instead of walking in our wet clothes we traveled Ecua-style on top of a bus through the cloud forest-which was almost more scary then jumping off a cliff or zip-lining lol Throughout the day I had to laugh and say-"my mom would NOT like these ideas lol" (Sorry mom)

Domingo 7, al mediodia, almuerzo en Mindo.

--we all maxed on pizza which was amazing after a diet of nothing but chicken and rice

Domingo 7, en la tarde, salida para Quito.

=GREAT TRIP

Home Is Where the Heart Is

ok first off before I say anything else- I am almost sure I saw my breath this morning at 8am on my way to class!!! very well could have been an illusion considering my brain doesn't funcition very well at that ubsurd time of day-especially after walking up that damn mountain :) but thought it was interesting-definitely caught me off guard but dont worry-at the worst it was a frigid temperature of maybe 50 degrees F-and worked its way up to 61 degrees F brrrrrr lol get out the winter coats....

the weather is something i definitely can't complain about but I do admit at some times I have no problem finding other problems

my mom wrote me today-scolding me about my lack of consistency with my blog (my apologies- i believe me falta (i am missing) two which i plan to catch up on very soon but in my defense this is the longest i have ever kept up with any ritual to date) she also continued to say that she thought in ecuador my life would slow down and that "i would take time to smell the roses..." even though salome and edwin do own a huge rose plantation and there are always fresh roses in the house-let me tell you ecuador is kicking my butt.......

along with roses i have been able to enjoy: pink eye-TWICE, mosquito bites (and i swear the mosquitos are on steroids they itch sooo much), sun burn and diarrea WELCOME TO ECUADOR lol

i have been home sick lately probably due to all the thinks mentioned above i lost it the other day (this past sunday) and the weird thing is i had a great day-i had a great weekend ...

on friday me sarah and molly (LOVE THEM) went to the supercines movie theater in quito to see "El Dia de los Enomoradas" or in english: Valentine's Day (cute movie) which was amazing because in the supercines movie theater there is the option of the "sala VIP" (VIP room) which is like a balcony above the theater and you get to sit in extremely comfy oversized leather lazy boy seats WITH a recliner pure genious!!!!!!! and on top of that the VIP sala has a waiter to bring you your concession snacks and drinks lol quite the experience!!!

on saturday the three of us met op with some other friends to go see my first soccer game in quito! it was against the quito teams Espoli and Deportiva Quito it wasn't a lega game (the most popular team in ecuador) so it wasn't too packed but nonetheless the fans that were there were loco soccer definitely isn't a sport here-it is a way of life
and then after the game we did the unthinkable---we went to chili's the chipotle chicken alfredo????AMAZING lol i'm not ashamed to say it originally we were going to join our friends at some shwarma place but considering our last trip during carnaval (which i will tell you about in my next blog) was similar to the exorcist due to food poisoning....american food sounded just fine lol

And on sunday was my favorite day-we celebrated salome and edwin's granddaughter, Isabela's 7th birthday at our house we acutally had celebrated on her original birthday on the 10th but since it was a school night-we didn't do much but we did order in chinese!! who would have thought that ecuador would have half way decent chinese food???!? (definitely NOT imperial palace or rainbow garden tho) :) and we had cake and sang happy birthday (IN ENGLISH which was weird but i guess that is the think to do) and then it is tradition here for the birthday person to take the first bite out of the cake just with their mouth before cutting it

anyways we celebrated again on sunday outside with a group of about 20-25 people-the whole family and friends of the family it was a great day and it reminded me a lot of home ....before the party i accompanied salome and edwin to their church for an early morning service-the church was beautiful but it reminded me of being home at faith church and then when the whole family was over- we went to the park in our barrio (neighborhood) and played a game of soccer later on...it reminded me of being with my family at home with all my cousins :( so when the day was done and everyone left and i was in my little casita (house) alone talking with ron I lost it completely lost it just how much i miss everyone completely hit me dont get me wrong i love it here (mosquitos and all) but you really dont know how much you have until you're gone i have to admit i didn't know it was going to be this hard missing everyone

but the good news is my dad gets to come visit in a little over a month!!! I couldn't be more excited! He is coming April 2nd and is going to stay with me during my spring break here (Semana Santa-Holy Week) It is crazy how time flys its weird there are some days-especially the days we have beans with salchipapas (hot dogs) and rice for lunch (DISGUSTING) I think that 3 months is forevvvveeeerrr but then on the flip side: i counted and i only have 12 more weekends!!! and only 8 of those are free because 2 of them are planned trips with my program and then the other two are with my dad

8 weekends doesn't seem like that much-especially when i still have so much that i want to see and do and learn but i do know i will be in much need of home sweet home by the end

i already started a list of things that i want my dad to bring me when he comes the list is:

#1-A sandwhich-any sandwhich-from jimmy johns (#5) or spicy Italian from subway or panera mmmmm my number one craving that you can't find anywhere in ecuador
-another one of my bras bc i left one of mine at one of the hostels i think-i cant find it so i only have 2 right now grrr
-FRUIT SNACKS
-starburst they dont have them here either
-more sunblock (more like SPF 80)
-A&F green bag
-Gummy life savers (berry)
-My black shorts- I cant believe they told us not to bring shorts!! it is ecuador!!! it is 80 degrees EVERYONE has shorts
-imperial palace :)
-more underwear-im getting bored of mine here hahahahaha
-someone to thread my eyebrows
-SUPER POWER bug repelent-or maybe just the mosquito exterminator in general
-chicle (gum)
-the book spanish for dummies lol
-my boyfriend
-and if there is room in his suitcase, some olive garden :)

Montañita- Part II

Montañita-there really are no words that can do it justice. After we arrived-and we practicaly kissed the ground when we did-i literally felt like we had arrived on this new planet or atleast a place tucked so far away that no one really no it actually existed other than in movies or our dreams. i clearly showed how far out of the way this little town is-8 means of transportation i believe to get there- the good news (buenas noticias) is that it might have been worth it lol (depending how you look at it) looking at the town-or more of a paradise consiting of a beach and about 4 streets it was definitely worth it. It was...

hot, paradise, tourist central, crazy, beautiful, too good to be true, hippy land, care free..... extremely hot

there were only 3 types of building in the town: hostels, restaurants, and bars. And it had the rule : no shoes no shirt no problem We stayed at the hostel Casa Blanca complete with breakfast, two double beds-one in the loft, bathroom with hot water (which was key because not every place offers that) and a small balcony with nonetheless than a hamock
One of my favorite things-i mean other than the beach, the waves, the weather, the amazing food (the restaurant Ola Ola was my savior) and strawberry daqueris- lol was the fact that every other person you met was from another country-literally our neighbors in the hostal were from Argentina, Germany, and Chile. And my favorite was a guy we met who said he lives in the galapagos islands-and was here on vacation???.... Last i checked the Galapagos was the destination for a vactaion but clearly vacation is year round here. And i couldn't have loved it more

We napped on the beach, read a little (i had to stop reading dear john because i was crying too hard), jumped in the water to cool off, and then napped again...pretty rough Also, probably one of my highlights of my trip was that on our last day there we got private surfing lessons! So much harder than I remembered in Hawaii. I definitely blame the surf board because it was so small and the waves (olas). They weren't olas-they were tsunamis!!!! (*this beach is world known for surfing competitions). I think i might have got up 4 or 5 times-ok maybe 3 or 4 in the two hour lesson. I spent more time taking in water up my nose. But it was so much fun-and i somehow managed to get a pic that makes it look like i know what i am doing. It was also comical to see all of us "practicing" how to get up on the board on the beach. People actually stopped and stared haha Our lessons ($13 per person for 2 hours) were compliments of our new friend "Rico Suave" haha he is prolly 22 or 23 and lives in montonita. his job is teaching surfing lessons and occasionally working at a tiki bar with his dad.....tengo celos (im jealous) I told my own dad that if there ever was a place to wear his hawiian shirts and swim and have a hut on the beach this is it. You could make a living selling hotdogs on the beach.

However if you're looking for sleep this is not the place. Music-LOUD music blasted all through the night and i mean all night these people put a whole new meaning to partying. Idefinitely couldn't keep up-I told molly we should have trained going there. lol People either didn't sleep or would take a nap from like9-11 after dinner and then would go out-until 7 in the morning It didn't stop. The town was more alive at night than in the day. And it didn't stop. I'm pretty sure we got called lame for going back to our rooms at like 3am. Lame. haha To get an even better idea of what it was like we had to wake up super early on sunday to be sure to get a ticket for a busride back (because we didn't think to get one as soon as we got to the beach-but that is fo later) but anyways....we got up at 6:30am (after 3 hours of sleep) and walked a block to the bus station in our pjs-and i am not kidding. I felt like i was in some sort of twilight zone-EVERYONE was still out. There were still people waiting to get in the bars.......the small tiki bars lining the streets were just closing up-i had nooo idea. The sun was just coming up!!!! and i also had always wondered where all these people stayed at night because there was a TON of people and it was a very small town with only a few hostels-then i realized the answer...either they dont sleep OR they crash on the beach. There were atleast a 100 people sleeping on the beach-some even with tents. lol

once we got to the bus station-our nightmare travels started-again. You'd think we would have all our mala suerte (bad luck) behind us after our trip here. nope. First off-the sign at the station said it opened at 7am-but no one was there. Welcome to ecuador. That is when i lost all my patience (prolly due to a lack of sleep). And on top of it there were a couple of ecuadorian guys who clearly had just gotten back from the bar were trying to talk to us in spanish. And we were trying to ask them when someone will be here to sell us tickets......it is soooo hard to talk spanish in the morning. So-we went back to bed until 9 and then came back thinking worse case scenario would be having to leave at a time a little earlier than we wanted-we were wrong.
worse case scenario= ALL the buses being full

we had no ride back. but then this guy was yelling "Guayaquil! Guayaquil! Guayaquil! Quiere ir a Guayquil??" (Do you want to go to Guayaquil?) Of course we did!!!! That was our halfway point where we could get another bus to Quito. The guy said he was taking a van-first come first serve-and it was leaving in 30 min!!!!!!!!!! crap!!! (actually that is not the exact word that ran through my head) lol we were in our pj's still and had planned on leaving around 3pm-not 10am. So we literally ran back to our hostel, threw our stuff in our suitcase, and ran back to the bus stop where we were crammed into a 12 person van-hot stinky van full of people with hangovers-but it was a way home. That was until not even into the next town-the police stopped the van and turns out-the driver didn't have a valid business license. So.....everyone got their luggage and got out of the van. And the van left. and there we were. On the side of the dirt road with our luggage-just outside of Montañita....12 hours away from home.

Looking at the glass half full instead of half empty-everything worked out-and all our bad look could have been really really bad luck. We got instructions from one of the passengers who spoke fluent spanish-told us that we would just wait for the next public bus that passed by and take it to the next town and buy a bus ticket to Guayquil from there. We only waited about the longest 10 minutes of my life for the bus.. But it came and from there-we had a smooth-even though that word is probably out of the question by now-trip home. Lesson learned: always book return tickets ASAP and dont wait to the day of.

We learned a lot that trip-valuable traveling lessons - other than sufing : ) Like how to pack for example (none of us thought to bring a beach towel lol) You might not agree but it was an amazing trip : )