We are back in Quito. When I woke up and looked at my foot it wasn´t blue or even that swollen, which is really good. But it still hurts. We finally had to buy a ticket to Lima Peru, which is more, much more than we were expecting to pay. We did it and its official. We leave Ecuador tomorrow...hopefully.
So today we spent the day at the internet cafe getting caught up on blogs and still uploading pictures. Hopefully the next time I catch up we will be in Peru.
02/21/08
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Machala/Guayaquil/Quito
This morning we woke up and had some breakfast. Next we were off to the airport. We were supposed to get there at 11. We were there. Our plane was supposed to leave at noon and we would be in Guayaquil by 12:30. Well, by 12:30 the airport told us that the plane wouldn´t be ready until almost 4 and to come back around 3. We were not pleased. We had no place to stay and our plans were getting changed again. We had our tickets changed and at this point our final destination was going to be Quito. Only becasue the way things were going we would be there late and Guayaquil, the city we were getting ready to go to was flooding! So we decided to go to Quito...again and leave for Lima Peru the next day.
We went and had lunch then came back to the ridiculously small airport. Still no plane. they were trying to get us a new one because ours had a flat and the airport was so small that it didn´t have room for a spare tire. So we kept waiting. This airport was so small that the people who worked at the ticket office were also the people who worked at the airport. We kept waiting and waiting.
It came to the point that it was 6:00 and we had no plane. People were walking back and forth through security without caring. Finally at 6:45 we had a plane. it made it so that our 7:00 connection to Quito would be shot. Finally a little puddle jumper plane came, for all of us 12 passengers. they didn´t even turn off the engine for us to get on the plane. There were no flight attendants. We barely had our seat belts on before the plane started moving. No safety talk. We were off! Once we lñanded in Guayaquil our connection was delayed due to rain (rain came in handy). We had about 20 minutes to wait some more for our plane. We got on and were headed back to Quito.
I was done with Quito and now we are headed back. We can´t take buses because of all of the mudslides. It is such a mess. Finally when we arrived back into Quito we grabbed our bags and ran for a cab. We had an hour before our hostal would close and we would have nowhere to stay. At thispoint we weren´t even sure that the hostal would have a room for us.
Outside while going to the cab in the rain with my two backpacks, my foot gets caught in a trench filled with water and I face plant! It was painful. A little man tried to help me up, but with ll of my bags and having him try to help from another side of the fences, it just wouldn´t work. So I got up and in the cab, covered in nast and water.
We got to the hostal and they only had the dorm room left. We took it with 15 minutes to spare. Once I looked at my foot, it was swollen and a little blue. The man who runs the hostal massaged and put some weird ointment on my foot and wrapped it with a bandage. He was taking care of me. It was cute. Then we went to bed after a long day of waiting...and falling.
02/20/08
We went and had lunch then came back to the ridiculously small airport. Still no plane. they were trying to get us a new one because ours had a flat and the airport was so small that it didn´t have room for a spare tire. So we kept waiting. This airport was so small that the people who worked at the ticket office were also the people who worked at the airport. We kept waiting and waiting.
It came to the point that it was 6:00 and we had no plane. People were walking back and forth through security without caring. Finally at 6:45 we had a plane. it made it so that our 7:00 connection to Quito would be shot. Finally a little puddle jumper plane came, for all of us 12 passengers. they didn´t even turn off the engine for us to get on the plane. There were no flight attendants. We barely had our seat belts on before the plane started moving. No safety talk. We were off! Once we lñanded in Guayaquil our connection was delayed due to rain (rain came in handy). We had about 20 minutes to wait some more for our plane. We got on and were headed back to Quito.
I was done with Quito and now we are headed back. We can´t take buses because of all of the mudslides. It is such a mess. Finally when we arrived back into Quito we grabbed our bags and ran for a cab. We had an hour before our hostal would close and we would have nowhere to stay. At thispoint we weren´t even sure that the hostal would have a room for us.
Outside while going to the cab in the rain with my two backpacks, my foot gets caught in a trench filled with water and I face plant! It was painful. A little man tried to help me up, but with ll of my bags and having him try to help from another side of the fences, it just wouldn´t work. So I got up and in the cab, covered in nast and water.
We got to the hostal and they only had the dorm room left. We took it with 15 minutes to spare. Once I looked at my foot, it was swollen and a little blue. The man who runs the hostal massaged and put some weird ointment on my foot and wrapped it with a bandage. He was taking care of me. It was cute. Then we went to bed after a long day of waiting...and falling.
02/20/08
Cuenca7Machala
I felt a little better today. We woke up and had breakfast then were off to the bus station. We were on our way to Machala. We were one of the only people on the bus for a while. But it stopped and picked up some more passengers along the way. We watched a really bad movie in Spanish that was a horrible bootlegged copy. The bus ride was about 5 hours or so. We were witting right in the front which wasn´t bad. The ride was pretty good. It was bumpy in parts but nothing too bad. It was like a ride at Disneyland. Then it started to rain a little and our window leaked. That was fun. So we ended up holding the bags we brought on board.
Once we got to Machala, the supposed banana capital of the world, we found a hotel. Once we found a hotel we went to get a bus ticket to Tombes Peru. When we got to the bus station, we were shocked to hear that the bus we wanted is not running now due to a strike in Peru. We don´t know if its a boarder strike or a transportation strike, or how long it would go on. So our only option was to fly. We spent forever at the tame(local airline office) andbought a ticket to Guayaquil for noon the next day. This hassel has taken all day. we went back to the hotel ate dinner and went to bed.
02/19/08
Once we got to Machala, the supposed banana capital of the world, we found a hotel. Once we found a hotel we went to get a bus ticket to Tombes Peru. When we got to the bus station, we were shocked to hear that the bus we wanted is not running now due to a strike in Peru. We don´t know if its a boarder strike or a transportation strike, or how long it would go on. So our only option was to fly. We spent forever at the tame(local airline office) andbought a ticket to Guayaquil for noon the next day. This hassel has taken all day. we went back to the hotel ate dinner and went to bed.
02/19/08
Cuenca Day 1.5
I woke up and felt a little better. I still had cold symptoms, but didn´t feel the ickyness. I called my parents and let them know that we made it and were finally making our way South. My dad meets us in Peru in March, so we were heading that a way. Then we walked around the town.
We found this very nifty Inca wall formation. it was jsut there. Then we went to the Banco Central Museum in Cuenca. It was so neat. it had plenty displays of cultural dress, festivities, traditions, art, artifacts and many more displays. It was really interesting, despite the fact that I couldn´t read many of the information signs because they were in Spanish. It had a display on tribes in the Amazon, which Sarah loves. They had 5 shrunken heads. I still have an issue with those. The kinda give me the willy´s.
Behind the museum was another traditional Inca rock formation and crop graden. There were many different kinds of corn and vegetables in grand designs. They also had a giant flower/botanical garden full of great flowers. The flowers of course attact bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It was so great. They also had ducks! So cute. Further along they had an sport dedicated to different types of tropical and local birds. That was nifty! Beautiful colored parrots and other birds. As I was leaving...llamas caught my eye. I have seen my first llama. it was so much fun. We spent a lot longer at the museum than I though we would have.
Then we had lunch. I had the best sandwich and lunch since I have been here. I love sandwiches and everytime I try and order them, they say, we don´t have any. But this place did. And it was good. So after lunch we tried to get a taxi to the bus terminal so we could buy a ticket to go to Machala. A costal town that has buses that will take us accross into Peru. We stopped 2 different taxis and they said that they wouldn´t take us. So we walked back to our hotel and caught a taxi there. We got our bus ticket and went back to the hotel. We got all packed up again and went to bed. Very cool day.
02/18/08
We found this very nifty Inca wall formation. it was jsut there. Then we went to the Banco Central Museum in Cuenca. It was so neat. it had plenty displays of cultural dress, festivities, traditions, art, artifacts and many more displays. It was really interesting, despite the fact that I couldn´t read many of the information signs because they were in Spanish. It had a display on tribes in the Amazon, which Sarah loves. They had 5 shrunken heads. I still have an issue with those. The kinda give me the willy´s.
Behind the museum was another traditional Inca rock formation and crop graden. There were many different kinds of corn and vegetables in grand designs. They also had a giant flower/botanical garden full of great flowers. The flowers of course attact bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It was so great. They also had ducks! So cute. Further along they had an sport dedicated to different types of tropical and local birds. That was nifty! Beautiful colored parrots and other birds. As I was leaving...llamas caught my eye. I have seen my first llama. it was so much fun. We spent a lot longer at the museum than I though we would have.
Then we had lunch. I had the best sandwich and lunch since I have been here. I love sandwiches and everytime I try and order them, they say, we don´t have any. But this place did. And it was good. So after lunch we tried to get a taxi to the bus terminal so we could buy a ticket to go to Machala. A costal town that has buses that will take us accross into Peru. We stopped 2 different taxis and they said that they wouldn´t take us. So we walked back to our hotel and caught a taxi there. We got our bus ticket and went back to the hotel. We got all packed up again and went to bed. Very cool day.
02/18/08
Quito Day 13/ Cuenca Day 1
It´s official. i woke up today with a cold. Sore throat, sniffles, headache, fever. I am not to happy about that. But, we are leaving Quito. We packed our bags and checked out of the hostal. We were allowed to leave our bags until we had to catch our plane which was nice.
We and one of the girls from North Carolina, Kimbough, went to one of the best views in Quito. We climbed into the virgin. This is the only statue in the world where the Virgin Mary has wings. So we went up to her and climbed inside. She did have a pretty good view of the town. So we could leave Quito saying that we have been inside the Virgin and had a great view of Quito.
We came bck to the hostal and had some lunch. The jewelry man came back for our second round picks. I am very happy with what I bought. Then we were off to the airport. We are on our way to Cuenca by plane because they only have 8 hour night buses, and we think that 8 hours is a little much and the night buses are not supposed to be the safest. So we decided to take an hour flight instead. We were originally going to take the bus to Baños, then RioBamba and then Cuenca, but plans changed due to the errupting volcano near Baños.
Once in Cuenca we checked into our hotel, had some dinner and crashed watching an english movie. I had a cold and was not up for much. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and with lots of rest we can explore Cuenca.
02/17/08
We and one of the girls from North Carolina, Kimbough, went to one of the best views in Quito. We climbed into the virgin. This is the only statue in the world where the Virgin Mary has wings. So we went up to her and climbed inside. She did have a pretty good view of the town. So we could leave Quito saying that we have been inside the Virgin and had a great view of Quito.
We came bck to the hostal and had some lunch. The jewelry man came back for our second round picks. I am very happy with what I bought. Then we were off to the airport. We are on our way to Cuenca by plane because they only have 8 hour night buses, and we think that 8 hours is a little much and the night buses are not supposed to be the safest. So we decided to take an hour flight instead. We were originally going to take the bus to Baños, then RioBamba and then Cuenca, but plans changed due to the errupting volcano near Baños.
Once in Cuenca we checked into our hotel, had some dinner and crashed watching an english movie. I had a cold and was not up for much. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and with lots of rest we can explore Cuenca.
02/17/08
Quito Day 12
So today we picked up and extra Spanish class. We could use it. Then we took our teacher to lunch to say thank you for all that she has done to help us. I was a little on edge today because I woke up with a sore throat. So we went back to the hostal after lunch and hung around. Later in the afternoon a man came buy selling unique jewelry. It was great stuff. i ended up buying some. I was scraping for change and needing to have him come back tomorrow so I could have time to go to an ATM. He was very willing to do so. I was so excited. He was so nice and all of his jewelry was unique. He even custom made pieces. It was so much fun.
Later that night, I had promised these two girls from North Carolina that I would go out dancing with them. I didn´t feel good at all but I had tols them I would go and the other person who was supposed to go baile dout on them, so I felt obligated.
Once we were ready to go out, the hostal family called us a cab, walked us to the door, spoke to the cab driver, it was all very cute. They were very protective of us. When the cab dropped us off....5 blocks from where we needed to be, we were a little irritated. The Mariscal, where we were, was not the safest at night. We knew this once we started walking and heard 8...EIGHT gunshots. I was ready to go home right then. I didn´t want to be anywhere where people were getting shot! But I trooped on. We got to the club and had a pretty good time...
UNTIL...I found myself a stalker. I was being nice and said that I would dance with him...once. it was a BobMarley song, I knew how long it was. But the DJ decided to play a Bob Marley medley that went on forever The guy started to sarinade me. I was not having it. I told him I was done. The girls with me were bad wing people too. So I was making up all sorts of excuses. Then when the guys was following me around the club, I got to use a little assertiveness training. NO MORE DANCING! His friend eventually got the clue and made the guy leave me alone.
Then while we were getting our groove on...the music changed and we had a sailor man do a little striptease. That was interesting. He was a freaky little sailor. Once his little show was over me and one of the other girls were waiting by the door so we could all go home. While we were waiting for our third person, we spent plenty of time oogling this really pretty door man. We could have watched him for quite a while. It got to the point that everytime he would walk by we would giggle because we had talked so much about him. HE WAS PRETTY.
Once we finally got our slacking third party we took a taxi home. I´m glad I went out, but I would have been just as content staying at home. I still didn´t feel well and I heard people get shot and picked up a stalker. Not my idea of a fun night. But despite the unfun times, overall, I had good time.
02/16/08
Later that night, I had promised these two girls from North Carolina that I would go out dancing with them. I didn´t feel good at all but I had tols them I would go and the other person who was supposed to go baile dout on them, so I felt obligated.
Once we were ready to go out, the hostal family called us a cab, walked us to the door, spoke to the cab driver, it was all very cute. They were very protective of us. When the cab dropped us off....5 blocks from where we needed to be, we were a little irritated. The Mariscal, where we were, was not the safest at night. We knew this once we started walking and heard 8...EIGHT gunshots. I was ready to go home right then. I didn´t want to be anywhere where people were getting shot! But I trooped on. We got to the club and had a pretty good time...
UNTIL...I found myself a stalker. I was being nice and said that I would dance with him...once. it was a BobMarley song, I knew how long it was. But the DJ decided to play a Bob Marley medley that went on forever The guy started to sarinade me. I was not having it. I told him I was done. The girls with me were bad wing people too. So I was making up all sorts of excuses. Then when the guys was following me around the club, I got to use a little assertiveness training. NO MORE DANCING! His friend eventually got the clue and made the guy leave me alone.
Then while we were getting our groove on...the music changed and we had a sailor man do a little striptease. That was interesting. He was a freaky little sailor. Once his little show was over me and one of the other girls were waiting by the door so we could all go home. While we were waiting for our third person, we spent plenty of time oogling this really pretty door man. We could have watched him for quite a while. It got to the point that everytime he would walk by we would giggle because we had talked so much about him. HE WAS PRETTY.
Once we finally got our slacking third party we took a taxi home. I´m glad I went out, but I would have been just as content staying at home. I still didn´t feel well and I heard people get shot and picked up a stalker. Not my idea of a fun night. But despite the unfun times, overall, I had good time.
02/16/08
Quito Day 11
Today is my day of rest. My knee is a little sore, but I think the weather was changing. It suddenly got cold and rainy. I have taken in 6 days of Spanish in 4 hour chunks, my brain hurts and we are getting ready to leave. So I hung out at the hostal after Spanish and chatted with some people.
In the evening somehow I became a translator for the hostal family and a guy claiming he had paid his bill. I am not the person who should be in the middle of this battle. Surely there had to be someone else who spoke English and Spanish. Nope! i was apparently it. That is a sad state. So, I tried my best to translate while they fought with each other. it was a difficult posission to be in. I believe the hostal family. The guy did many things that I didn´t believe and he kept changing his story. But I was strictly translating.
It was a very low key day with spanish movies and trying to label some of my pictures from inside. A day of rest with no paranoia about being on the streets. Just sitting and talking with people. uneventful, yet interesting.
02/15/08
In the evening somehow I became a translator for the hostal family and a guy claiming he had paid his bill. I am not the person who should be in the middle of this battle. Surely there had to be someone else who spoke English and Spanish. Nope! i was apparently it. That is a sad state. So, I tried my best to translate while they fought with each other. it was a difficult posission to be in. I believe the hostal family. The guy did many things that I didn´t believe and he kept changing his story. But I was strictly translating.
It was a very low key day with spanish movies and trying to label some of my pictures from inside. A day of rest with no paranoia about being on the streets. Just sitting and talking with people. uneventful, yet interesting.
02/15/08
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