Blogs from West, Ecuador, South America - page 66

I realize it has been a while since I last updated my journal but I have been very.....ok, I will admit it, I have been just plain lazy. Anyway, here goes an update. My spanish is coming along, slowly but it is getting better. I seem to have a decent understanding of the basic gramatical structure ad the sounds of the letters. More importantly I am gaining enough confidence to be able to ask strangers for directions etc. Now it is just practicing my pronunciation and expanding my vocabulary. I will leave the learning of the 14 (yes 14) different verb tenses for a later date. I can´t help but to compare myself to a first grader (alright, comments from the peanut gallery are not necessary!hahaha)learning how to read. I see words and slowly sound out ... read more

So I have now been here for about a month. Amongst all of the new experiences have been a few lessons too. In my opinion, here are a few of the more memorable ones.... ...it is possible to determine which part of your anatomy remains exposed throughout the the night by the misquito bites. Currently I have "patches" on various parts of my body that look like I am suffering from a case of the measles. I figure between the bites and the tanlines eventually everything will blend together and I will become one uniform color, other than glow in the dark white! ...just because you was all of your clothes on a dark colors setting, to avoid the running of dye, does not mean that that you should do it every where. Apparently, here dark ... read more

It is hard to belive that it is almost Xmas. As the weather is hot and sunny I tend to forget the day is quickly arriving. There are some people who have their trees decorated and on their balcony, but other than that there are not many signs of the festive season. Today when i woke up and was still in a dazed state, I thought it was going to be a beautiful spring day. The birds were singing and what I thought was the rumble of traffic....which turned out to be the surf....just reminded me of spring back home in the city. For the last two days I have seen Manta Rays Flying above the water. Yes, I know rays are fish and swim in the water but they also fly. When you look out ... read more

The sun has finally come out! It has been cloudy and over cast since I got here and (I can´t believe I am saying this) cold. It has been about 15-20c but the wind has made it colder. Everyone is laughing at me, being from Canada and finding it cold. I am beginning to settle in nicely here. I have been able to discuss what my job will be and basically, for those of you who remember the Love Boat, i am Julie McCoy! Pretty easy job. Just making sure that the guests are enjoying their stay, that they know about the day trips and encouraging them to go. If I want to, which I do, I also get to go on all of these trips. I know, tough job but someone has to do it! ... read more

So i caught the bus to Gauyaquil and on to Montañita on Saturday morning, Montañita is such a cool place, full of gringo hippies and surfers. Found my hostel, the sister of Centro del Mundo in Quito - a four storey timber building right on the beach. Very back to basics, my walls had gaps between the boards, and no glass in the window, just a scrap of material: i tried to ignore the animals. Met some nice Canadian guys, Jesse, Tyson and Dev plus Andy from Portsmouth. Went out to eat some seafood then chilled in the boys room before taking to my bed with bad stomach pains. I spewed and had the runs all night - not so good on my first day. Next day i'd booked a surf lesson, and was pretty tempted ... read more