Please forgive my lack of entries for the past month. I have been traveling for most of the time. Let's back up to around Christmas time. I did in fact make it to Costa Rica, after a mild airline ordeal. I ended up getting there about 36 hours later than I had planned, but once I got there, the trip was fabulous. It was so nice to see my family and just relax. We went white water rafting and ziplining through the rainforest. I was so proud of parents for being so adventurous! Our last few days were spent chilling by the pool, hanging out on the beach, and deciding which bar to hit up for happy hour. I had an amazing time. The picture of me and Ari and Leora was taken close to mount Arenal, a very active volcano that we hiked around.
Once I got back from Costa Rica I had about two more weeks of classes before finals. I had to cram in the rest of the material that I wanted to teach and get my students ready for their exam. Then I had to rush to grade the exams and hand in all my paperwork so that I could leave for WorldTeach's midservice conference. Midservice was a fantastic experience for me. I got to see all my friends that I had not seen since our orientation in September. The conference was at a gorgeous hostel on the coast called Al Andaluz. It was right on a beautiful fine sandy beach. We had a bonfire at night and ate s'mores, we went swimming and played frisbee in the afternoon, and we got a chance to talk about our Ecuadorian experiences inside and outside the classroom. It was really nice to know that some of the other volunteers are having the same cultural frustrations as I am.
After midservice, I traveled with two of my friends to Montanita, a hippy, touristy beach town on the south coast. We stayed the night with one of their friends, Jessie, who lives and works there. She happens to work in a restaurant that is owned by Israelis! I was in heaven. I ate real Israeli shakshuka and falafel and I got to speak Hebrew. I was the happiest camper.
The next day we left Montanita at 7Am and I got home to Ambato at 6pm. It was a long day but so worth it, because the next day, I left for Quito to pick up my boyfriend, Avi, at the airport!!! Luckily, he was able to get three weeks off to come visit me!!! We had a fantastic vacation together. We saw sea lions, crabs and tons of iguanas in the Galapagos Islands. Oh, and of course giant turtles (see picture). We then traveled to the north Coast. We wanted to get to Mompiche, a secluded little beach town two hours south of the popular Atacames beach. We had to stay in Atacames one night because there were no afternoon buses to Mompiche. So we stayed the night and left in the morning. When we finally made it to Mompiche, we realized that there was no bank in town. The closest bank was in Atacames, 2 hours away. The next day, we tried to catch the first bus to Atacames so that we could be back by the afternoon. We were told the first bus left at 6, but really, it left at 5:50, and unfortunately that made a big difference. We attempted to chase the bus down the unpaved, rocky road in the dark with our sandals, but we didn't quite make it. Avi tripped in the process and cut his hand open. So, we got on the next bus that left Mompiche, but they were going in the opposite direction. When they passed a bus going in the right direction, they beeped like crazy, stopped, and then backed up to let us onto the bus going the other way. It was an adventure but we finally made it to ATM and back to Mompiche in one piece.
After the coast, we traveled to the Eastern part of the country, the rainforest. We went white water rafting and took a jungle tour. We learned about giant ants that would give you a fever for two days if it bit you. We made friends with a SLOTH!!! and hiked three hours to an indigenous village deep in the rainforest. We also went to a rescue center for monkeys were we played with them and they tried to steal things out of our pockets. (see picture with Avi and the monkey) Finally, we made it back to Ambato for the big festival of Flowers and Fruits. We saw the parade with all the floats carrying the queens of Ambato and the surrounding towns. We accompanied my host dad to a cock fight, which was a lot better than I had expected. It looked like an illegal underground ring, but it is in fact legal and all the men who went get really into it, shouting and betting. It was definitely an experience, and perhaps the highlight of Avi's visit.
Now, Avi has left :( and things have been very quiet around here. I have one more week of vacation before I start teaching again on March 1st. On March 11, one of my best friends in Ambato, Kat, is leaving Ecuador. :( (She's the crazy one in the last picture) She's been here teaching with worldteach for two years, and it is time for her to go back to Texas. I'm going to miss her terribly. but we are receiving a new volunteer here in Ambato. I have not met her yet, but I hope that we will get along.
That's all the news that's fit to print. A lot has happened since I last wrote. I promise to do a better job of updating this blog so that the next entry is not quite this long. ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment