Baños, 14.11.2009 16:30 Meine letzten Tagebucheintraege berichten von viel Beschwerlichem, aber es war auf keinen Fall meine Absicht, ein negatives Bild von Ecuador zu zeichnen: In Wirklichkeit habe ich mich laengst in dieses kleine bunte Land verliebt. Dabei habe ich erst einen Bruchteil davon gesehen, doch bereits jetzt bin ich zutiefst beeindruckt von der Vielgestaltigkeit, sei es auf die Landschaft, die klimatischen Verhaeltnisse, die Tier- und Pflanzenwelt oder die kulturellen und ethnischen Aspekte bezogen. Ecuador, mit seinen ca 250 000 qkm der kleinste der Andenstaaten, s [View Full Entry]

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For the last month or so, I’ve been eating dinner with the people every night at the downtown Center in my break in between classes, and it has been such a blessing. In the beginning, I thought it would drain me, and granted I am tired by the time I get to 6pm, BUT it is definitely one of my favorite parts of the day. Tonight, I sat with a few of my first grade girls and some other kids. One of my first graders, Evelyn, had a lollipop ring on her finger and was sucking on it with a smile [View Full Entry]

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We are in Banos now, after a very long day yesterday getting here from Puerto Lopez, almost 13 hours on three different buses. We arrived after midnight last night, found a hostel and awoke this morning to towering mountains and a clean, friendly, beautiful town. A little back log of the trip thus far to catch you up: We left Lima Peru after a few days in Miraflores. We met a Frenchmen there who offered to take us paragliding, for free! We met him the next day and he was able to take Danielle up for 45 minutes, flying around the [View Full Entry]

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Sorry that I haven't written in a while but nothing really has been going on here. Oh, expect for the lights are turned off everyday at random times. The eletricity here is generated through hydroelectricity. No rain = no power. It hasn't rained for a while so there is a power shortage. They cut the lights off in random parts of the city for about four hours at a time. It is kinda annoying when I am doing something on the internet and the electricity goes out. I'm making all A's in my classes except for one. I'm at the point [View Full Entry]

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First hour! Amazing! The Galapagos have not disappointed us and we’ve only been here 1 day! Our flight in was spectacular over the lunar arid landscape of Isla Baltra. Within 5 minutes of being in our room (which, by the way, has a balcony which overlooks the sea) we spotted sea lions on the jetty, thousands of huge red crabs, marine iguanas, other iguanas, other crabs, countless types of birds and all in the most turquoise water you can imagine. Rest of Day 1 The afternoon was spent planning our next 10 days on the islands. There was so much to [View Full Entry]

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So I set my alarm for 4:01am in order to get up today and be at the bus stop by 4:30. I woke at some point in the night very, very, VERY confused...I didn´t know where I was, or even who I was...all I did know is that I was in my birthday suit, on a bed, under some sheets. I started panicking and felt around on the bed to give me a clue as to who/where I was when I felt a plastic object...immediately it hit me...I was me, and I was in Montañita. The plastic object was my travel [View Full Entry]

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It´s Sunday...so there was no construction going on, so I was finally able to sleep in! I got up around 11 then headed into town for breakfast...the usual. After breakfast I headed back to the cabañas for a nap before watching the surf competition continue around 2pm. Sandy, Elyse, and I headed to the beach around 2 to hang out and watch the competition...however it actually wasn´t starting until 3, so Elyse and I headed to La Punta to go out onto the point. Big mistake to go without shoes since it is all coral and not too pleasant on the [View Full Entry]

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Well we have been blown away by Cuenca. We arrived 3 days ago after an arduous 11 hour bus trip from Quito, checked into an interesting Hotel where we stayed in the loft and had a very chilly night. After a quick change of hotel in the morning, we headed off to a Military Parade. We had timed our trip to Cuenca to coincide with their annual celebration of their Independence from Spain. (189 years this year). The parade was impressive and went on for well over an hour. So many people had turned out for the event that it was [View Full Entry]

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Nothing new this morning...same construction and sleep scenario. I headed into town to to check up on the civil strife in the states and low and behold as soon as I sit down, the power goes out all through town...so I guess it´s time for breakfast. I head down the row and find Morritz eating at Tiki Limbo, so I join him. I could only get eggs and toast since there was no pump for the water for tea and no blender for juice...yay. I waited around forever for the check and it never came, so I just dropped 2 bucks [View Full Entry]

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So I slept in today till about 11 then headed into town for breakfast. While waiting for my food to arrive, I saw Marissa passing on her way to the internet cafe. She sat down to join me. Apparently last night Raul got tanked again and made it back to the room around 5 am again...this time he apparently walked in circles for an hour in the room until he finally crawled into bed...half this time Sandra was in her bed scared of what he might do but didn´t say anything. Marissa told me Sandra is thinking about moving rooms because [View Full Entry]

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