Ecuador Ends

[Well, I'm not in Ecuador anymore, but there's a lot to fill in so I'm posting this from 'Quito'.
It's my birthday--- I do what I want.]

My last three weeks in Ecuador were filled with sea lions, mountain treks, and being run off the road by an 800 person protest. My parents and I had a lot of adventures.

The Galapagos Islands were amazing. My mother compared it to the Peaceable Kingdom, where the lion lays down with the lamb. Animals of every size and type were all living on these islands without any fear of each other. We'd see sea lions basking next to iguanas, birds nesting next to lava lizards, and nothing, absolutely nothing cared that we were there. You could have walked up to one of the birds and pulled out a tale feather and it would probably just stare at you.

At times this perfect Galapagos kingdom got a little ridiculous. The sun would be setting over the Pacific Ocean as you watched sea lions play in a cove while iguanas crawled up the rocks and sea birds flew over head. You half expected Elton John or Phil Collins to walk out from behind the cove to sing a Disney theme song or for one of the birds to land on your shoulder and start talking to you in Nathan Lane's voice.

It was a great trip.

No one in my family particularly enjoys Quito. But my dad liked the laundry service and we were able to find good food that wasn't filled with parasites (kind of). I finally tried Guinea Pig meat.

We saw Incan ruins, hiked on a 14,000 foot high peak, and ate a lot of ice cream while exploring Cuenca. The city was beautiful. It really felt like Spain.

It took a lot of convincing before my parents trusted me to take them in a rented car to the Yanayacu station. I had to assure them that there would be no problems. And unless you consider 800 angry indigenous people blocking the highway as a 'problem' everything went by without a hitch.
We were forced to stay in Papallacta for the night while the protesting passed. We were forced... to stay in a resort with natural thermal pools. It wasn't 'too' bad.

My parents did finally get to see where I lived. They met my co-workers and we ate peppercorn ice cream at San Isidros.

And then I came back to the states (please see photo). After a short time with Clay in Miami I was back in North Carolina.

Since my return I've been on parasite medication, I've had the very first tooth filling of my life put in, and an optometrist has told me that my corneas are scratched up. Living like a dog for six months can really do a number on your health.

I've gotten to see a lot of friends and spend a good amount of time with my family. A cousin's wedding, a trip to Charleston, and I'm working on a giant painting.

It's been really relaxing and I've been able to calm down a lot. That is, until I got to New Orleans. I'll write about that next time.

-Aaron

These photos are just highlights. I have about 300 if you want to see more.

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