Homesick!!

We have taken so many weekend trips and they have been so amazing. We are both getting homesick around the holidays and really wish we could make a quick trip back home. It just doesn´t feel like Christmas unless you are in America. We can´t wait for Jef and Angie to visit in two weeks!!

Happy Halloween!!

Update at last:

For those of you who have been checking our site looking for an update, we apologize for the delay. We have spent the past two weeks in Jima, and our now finally made our way to Cuenca and to the internet. We actually have written these entries in Jima, and as I write, I’m (Casey) battling my first bout of diarrhea. Nothing to make a person miss home more than spending the better half of a morning on a cold toilet chasing what is leaving with rehydration solution, which basically tastes like a sweet version of sea water. At least I don’t feel that bad, actually almost normal except for the occasional stomach cramp followed closely by a quick dash across hard woods with slippers to “el bano.”

Exploring the Area:

After flying back into Quito, I stopped by the Military Institute of Geography and purchased some topographical maps of the surrounding area of Jima, as well as some around Cuenca in Cajas National Park and some detailing parts of the Inca trail. According to our map, and our best guesses at reading it, Jima is about 9,500 feet above sea level.

Lara and I started exploring almost immediately with a 10 mile walk and over 2000 of vertical feet on the Saturday the day after I got back. It was pretty amazing even to just walk the roads as we would have miles between little villages. We even found a beautiful spot on a river to have a picnic lunch. We headed in a north easterly direction on the main road to the town of Cushig and got within a few miles of the town, prompting those in Jima to think we were crazy when we told them about it…as apparently we are the only ones…ever…to go on such long crazy walks purely for the enjoyment of it. We didn’t have much trouble with dogs, as we both now carry large sticks (mine is 6 feet tall and Lara’s 4 feet) with us wherever we go. I must say, the vicious dogs really respect the stick, and a rock held high. Whenever we go for our walks, besides the sticks I also take a handful of rocks for my pocket. In the past week we have gone on 3 long walks, or hikes exploring 3 different directions. The second walk, it was extremely wet and we decided to head south east on the road that winds its way over the continental divide and into the rain forest…of course we didn’t make it nearly that far but it gave us some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys, as well as built our leg strength as we each were carrying about 1 pound of mud on each boot. The 3rd walk we headed north along our trusty running trail, which we normally do about 4 miles and over 600 feet of vertical feet. We passed our normal turning back point where the River Moya meets up with the main road. The road then became flat, with exceptional scenery and we found another beautiful picnic spot, at least that is until the local ranchers brought their cows down for a drink of the river. The cows besides gulping the water used the river as a bathroom, which has Lara and I rethinking our plans of swimming in the large pools below some of the rapids.

Paqueri or Paqi for short, our dog, one of only two white dogs in Jima (how fitting) loves to follow us on our hikes. He pees about every 15 feet marking everything, which ticks off the local dogs, prompting me to lower the stick and raise the rock every so often. He sprints around in circles everytime we stop near water, whether it is a river, reservoir, or big mud puddle.

Cuenca:

Oh boy. Lara and I are very excited to head into town. Nice showers, good food (maybe a Burger King Whopper for me), internet, and of course wine. It actually should be pretty fun, because it is the Independence Day of the city of Cuenca and there is a big fiesta, which has been talked about in the local papers for weeks. We are going to stay in a different hostel for $3.50 per night with other “ The Organization” volunteers who are coming in for the fiesta. Should be a good time. Lara and I might head back in on Nov 4th so that we can follow the election on cnn.com and watch the wonderful dividing of our country into red and blue in real time.

Panama Hat:

Just writing about this might get me into trouble with Lara as she is tired of me bugging her about the hats, but I figured you’ll see it in some pictures and it needs some explaining. The guide books we read prior to our visit to Ecuador kept talking about the Panama Hat or the fashionable straw hats worn by Al Capone and other more politically correct dignitaries, that are so misnamed and are actually from Ecuador. Once in Quito, I actually found a book at the English Bookstore called Panama Hat and for a mere $5 was able to borrow the book. The book traces the history and making of these hats and explains how the hats and those involved in their making, selling, and exporting have played roles in the shaping of Ecuador. For example one of the first major exporters actually bankrolled a civil war with the proceeds and the industry of making hats actually transformed Cuenca from a religious center to a wealthy city back in the day. Needless to say, because I’m such a big dork, I have been constantly bugging Lara about these hats. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for Lara who has a strong dislike for the hats, in Quito and Cuenca they are quite expensive. However, I was able to find a cheap, lesser quality version of a cowboy hat here in Jima and for $10 I couldn’t resist. It is actually a practical addition to our long hikes as it shades my entire head from the strong sun, unlike my American baseball cap, which leaves my ears and neck open to abuse from the sun. The $10 purchase is worth it just for chuckles I get from Lara every time she looks at me with it on!

Tiger Stripes – The $1.50 Haircut:

After my visit to Missoula, I’ve decided you can tell a lot about a place from barbershop. In Wallingford, at my usual spot, the “stylists” sport a minimum of 15 tattoos, have dyed hair, pho-hawks, and all play in bands. While cutting my hair they blast music, complain about his/her boss or how they are getting evicted from their place of residence and they charge extra for washing my hair. Haircut = $20 + tip. Now in Missoula, you get a drink of your choice (including beer, wine, cocktails) while you wait on the most comfortable couches imaginable while watching sports (Euro 2008 while I was there) on a giant plasma screen. The barbers/barberesses (?) are the friendliest down-to-earth people imaginable talking about their families, friends, and the on-goings in town. Included in the $20 is a single-blade shave, a warm towel for your face, and a hair wash. You can even grab another beer and continue to watch the game afterwards! Now in Jima…wow. So apparently after stopping by for 4 days in a row, it is only open on Sundays, although there is no sign indicating such. The ceilings must be no more than 6 feet 2 inches from the floor, with a dangling not-working light dangling to about the middle of my forehead, which does smart a bit. When we got their (Lara for moral support) we either third in line or second in line with one of the men representing a kid who was already getting his haircut with one of the 2 women who where cutting hair. As far as we could tell they were almost done with the two kids who were getting their haircut so we figured it wouldn’t be more than 20 minutes, which was confirmed when another man walked in and was told that it would be 20 minutes for him. Well after 20 minutes, they still weren’t done with the two whom they had been working on when we arrived, and now there was at least 5 people waiting. When they finished with one of the kids, all 5 waiting people (except me) stood up as if they were next. After some confused looks, a few Ecua-wines (Lara’s favorite as she gets this nearly constantly from her kids….it is short for Ecuadorian wining) one of the persons who was there prior to us did take his place in the chair. Something Lara and I are learning is whether waiting for a bus, to pay for food, or whatever, there is no concept of a line in Ecuador. Anyways, finally I was up and got the old switch-aroo, as the woman who was cutting the other guys hair stopped halfway through and came over to cut my hair. I was probably still a foot taller than her when I was sitting down, so I had to slouch in order for her to reach the top of my head. After a quick once over with a #2 guard on the electric razor the second switch-aroo was made with the woman who passed on my hair at the beginning stopped with the other guy and came back over to me. She proceeded to shave my neck and sideburns…so I was thinking okay, specialization of labor, one is better at using the electric razor and one is better at shaving the neck, except after paying the $1.50 and leaving the dark room and into the bright sun light, it was obvious that electric shaving was not the specialty of the first woman to cut my hair because their were stripes all over my head.

Farming

Man can these people work! Lara and I were invited to help work the garden on the property of the clinic here in Jima. The plan is to use Jima, which has the central clinic in the area, as having the central garden for which they grow natural medicines and then can give seeds to the other surrounding towns so they can grow some of the natural medicines as well. We aren’t exactly sure what specifically they will be growing, but I’m sure it is the same stuff that they brought with them when I went to Zhamar and they taught the mothers how to make the elixir. Anyways, the area they are going to use as the garden was basically a maybe 40 yard by 20 yard area of grass, mud and trash. When we got there at 9:30am in the morning there were already 8 or so volunteers from the community already working on the area. They handed both Lara and I hoes and told us to turn up the soil. We worked until about 12:00, both Lara and I aching in our backs, hamstrings and hands…oh the hands. I had 4 blisters open up with another 8 blisters on my fingers and Lara had at least 3-4 blisters on her hands. We then went out to lunch at our normal restaurant with all of the other volunteers, paid for by the Ministry of Health.

The Virgen Rosaria

Starting on Tuesday this past week Casey and I have been woken up in the middle of the night to firecrackers in preparation for the fiesta and rodeo on Saturday. Casey and I were on our way to breakfast Friday morning and all along the road were passed out men from the night before. It was so funny and then at breakfast teachers that I work with were taking shots before school. There are four big fiestas in Jima and the whole village just totally cuts loose. Friday night Casey and I went to mass. The village brought the Virgen into the church in a big parade with everyone dressed in traditional clothes on horses. Then Saturday was the rodeo and a big fair. It was a lot of fun. I will post pictures when I get a chance.

One week in Jima

So Casey and I arrived in Cuenca yesterday to stay Saturday night and today in Cuenca. It feels so weird to leave our village which seems like ages away from the rest of the world. One week without the internet felt like an eternity. We both feel like we have been in Jima for much longer than one week because already everything seems strange.
This past week has been amazing and frustrating at the same time. I started teaching which was fun but a whirlwind. In the States kids get so excited and talk so fast when they feel something so you can probably imagine that craziness in another language. ¨So and so took my pencil, he hit my arm, she cut in line, I have to go to the bathroom!!¨ They are typical kids and I can´t understand a word they are saying. At this point I can get my point across in the worst grammar possible (oh and all in present tense!!) but trying to understand responses is impossible because they use so much slang. Ecuadorians put ïto/a¨at the end of everything. My name is Larita and Casey is Casito. Just as I feel I am getting a grasp of the language I go to school and try to talk to people and realize how little I know. I will be starting at the high school next week which should be more my element. I am really looking forward to teaching at the high school.
Casey had a great week at the clinic as well. He gave vaccinations and TB medication and it looks like volunteering at the clinic is going to be a great experience for him. He is really getting a lot of responsibility but he is reluctant until he learns the language better. Both of us have been trying to study as much as possible.

Some Pictures of Jima

I have finally gotten around to uploading some pictures from our site visit to Jima. It is the most beautiful place and I hope the pictures do it justice. We leave Thursday morning to Jima to start volunteering. We can't wait to get settled and into a normal routine. The pictures are as follows, the town, our house, our dog and my school.

Our One Month Anniversary!

Today is our one month anniversary and Casey took it very seriously. He has been looking forward to this day all week. He met me at 12:00 for lunch with a bouquet of flowers. He wanted the same flowers that were in my bridal bouquet and he found them! Then he took me to this amazing Italian food. It was very expensive but well worth it. I have been dying for some good spagetti with parmesan cheese. For the past week he had been asking all around town for a nice place is to take me to lunch. It was amazing food. Even though we only had two hours to spend together at lunch it has been such a great day. I have such an amazing husband.

Turning the corner

I am starting to feel un poco mejor!! I just took a shower and ate a piece of bread which I wouldn't of even thought of doing yesterday. This really bums me out because I have the weekend off and Casey, a couple of friends and I were going to travel to the hot springs. Oh well, at least I am feeling better.

I am miserable

I have never been so sick in my entire life!! I have the worst case of the flu. I don't think that it is food poisoning because this is the second day I have felt like this. I think it is a virus. Being sick in a foreign country is seriously torture. Whenever I smell the nasty food here it makes me start gagging and the pollution, I can't deal with all of these smells. Not to depress anyone but I seriously want to get better. I will update soon.

Our Paradise

So we have arrived back in Quito after our site visit. Let me first start off by saying that Jima (our site placement) is the most beautiful little pueblo in the world! We both absolutely love it. It will be quite an adjustment because not a soul speaks English and there is nothing much there. There is one T.V. in the entire village, no internet, and no mail. We are probably going to get a P.O. box in Cuenca, the closest largest city. When we first got to Jima we were shown around the village by the principal of the primary school. She kept introducing me and telling people that I was teaching at the primary school. Of course I corrected her and told her I was teaching at the high school but she continued to tell people I was at the primary school. She told me to come to the school the next morning and she would get me all set up. Well I show up at the primary school the next morning and she throws me in front of a class of fourth graders and tells me to teach for two hours. I was flustered and couldn't communicate because I don't speak the f**** language that I wasn't prepared to teach. It was just easier to teach. So I guess I am at the primary school (what the hell is going on?) Now I know why two year olds throw tantrums. It is really frustrating when you can't communicate. I have succumbed to the fact that I just have to go with the flow. This year will be a lot of head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes. I do feel truly lucky because the kids are soooo cute and very well behaved. They are in awe at the tall white girl. So fun!
Now that we are back in Quito I have to teach in the morning and then classes until eight at night. I leave the house at six and don't get home until nine. I am so exhausted. I love my classes though. It is so fun teaching people who want to learn. Every student in my class is so motivated to learn English. It is so much easier than high school history. I love it!

Casey in Quito

C-

Since Lara started in with her busy schedule with ¨the organization¨ we've been having quite different experiences, so we might try writing seperate entries.

I've started taking private Spanish lessons yesterday. Even after 1 day, I can tell they are really helping. I'm starting out with 2 hours / day and then spending the rest of the day studying Spanish and then reading all of the heavy medical books I brought down to keep me up to date. Despite having an unstructured schedule, I've managed to keep really busy. So far our schedule has been getting up around 6am. We try and run and then have breakfast, which consists of granola and yogurt, along with some NesCafe coffee (instant coffee). Then we take 2 different buses, each $0.25 and walk about 10 minutes to where World Teach is holding the training. I then go to a coffee shop and do my studying and reading until lunch when I meet back up with Lara. After lunch I have lessons until she gets off around 6:00 or 6:30. We then go home and have dinner with our host family and try and speak with them, then we get an hour or so to ourselves before bed. I found all 4 seasons of The Office (TV show) for Lara's B-day, so we've been watching a few episodes on our computer before going to sleep, with Spanish subtitles of course.

Both Lara and I are very excited about our "site visit" starting Thursday, where we will be traveling down to Jima for the weekend. I can't wait to check things out, especially the clinic and see if there are opportunities for me to volunteer. I'm also excited to check out Cuenca, as that seems to be my "back-up" as apparently there are many hospitals and even programs that I can take part in. I'll have a much better idea what the rest of the year will bring after this weekend.

As far as the altitude, it doesn't seem to bother me anymore. We ran for about 25 minutes this morning and I feel pretty good...no headaches or dizziness anymore.

We lucked out!

Oh my god, our host family is awesome!! This place is nothing like Guyana and I love it. We have not seen a cockroach, I haven't had to wait in a long line for the one phone in the village while famished cows pass by, I didn't fall in any dirty nasty drain ditches, and I don't have braids in my hair! So sweet. Oh and Joan, I have only seen a couple of polyester suits. Our family has been great so far, except the parents don't speak a lick of English. Our mom (Jeey) keeps speaking to me like I understand and I pretend like I do to make her happy because she really likes to talk. They have one son (Andres) who speaks English very well and he has been a huge help but wants us to learn Spanish so doesn't speak a lot of English, only when it is necessary. He is 25 and will be moving to Texas next week to work in a hotel. He seems very excited and just went out and bought a new suitcase today for his trip. Our meals have been very good. For desayunos we had granola, yogurt, fruit and cafe con leche. Lunch was a little more sketchy because we had salad that they washed with tap water (my stomach has held up so far!), chicken, hot dogs, potatoes, mushrooms, cheese and juice. It doesn't sound sketchy but Patricio (the father) kept stirring the raw chicken with his fork and then eating with the same fork. And for dinner we had soup with noodles, cheese and potatoes. They live in a gated apartment in a safe neighborhood. Casey and I went out walking around several times today and felt completely safe. It was fun. We walked down to a park where WorldTeach was hosting a picnic. We played some soccer but I only lasted a couple of minutes because I was sucking wind. There is no oxygen at 10,000 feet! It was a very fun day. Casey and I have just spent the last two hours speaking with Patricio and trying to learn Spanish. I don't know if I am ever going to get the hang of this and if I don't soon my brain might not be able to take it. We shall see. Buenes Noches.

It´s my birthday!!

And I am stuck in meetings all day. It sucks, but we are going to our host family tonight which should be interesting. I can´t believe that it is my last birthday in my 20´s AHHHHH I am old!

We´re Back in Quito

We left for honeymoon on Monday after meeting with the ¨organization¨ coordinators. We have decided to visit the coast instead of going to Jima, as we will be doing a site visit at the end of the first week of orientation. We headed off on a bus towards Guayaquil, which only took 10 hours. The scenery on the bus was absolutely incredible. We dropped 8,000+ feet in the span of an hour on one of the scariest roads we've ever been on. Beautiful views of the Andes! After spending the night in Guayaquil, we headed out for Puerto Lopez a small fishing village known for the mating area of humpback whales.

Once in Puerto Lopez, we splurged on our accommodations and stayed at a beautiful place called Hosteria La Terraza for $26/night, where we stayed in our own cabin with sweeping views of the town and bay. It was owned by a very nice German couple who have decided to retire in paradise. We took a whale-watching boat, which while a great experience is probably not one we'd do again, as we felt horrible at how close the boat would get to the whales, almost harassing them. We got to go snorkeling, however the visibility of the water was probably only a few feet. We capped the trip off with an amazing Italian dinner! The next morning we embarked on a 12 hour bus trip directly back to Quito.

Oh the altitude

Today we were humbled by the altitude. After another amazing sleep of 14 hours we headed off with high ambitions of walking all around town. After about 2 hours, we both were very light headed, luckily we found rest in the basement of Cathedral San Francisco, which was built back in the 1500s. We had lunch, and cafÈ con leche, both our favorite and rested enough to walk to Plaza Santo Domingo, where a live Salsa band entertained well-dressed crowd on their way home from Sunday mass. I was so happy to see kids playing soccer in the square. We have some errands to run tomorrow and are hopefully headed off to see the breeching humpback whales, which happens only once a year during this time. We are very excited and loving our trip so far!

Quito

Our flight from Seattle to Quito was great as soon as we were out of the States. Delta sucks and LACSA was awesome. We managed to fit everything we need for the year in two backpacks and one duffle bag. We were jumping up and down in the airport when we put them on the scale and none of them were over fifty pounds. We didn’t have to pay any money for our bags. LACSA had a full bar that wouldn’t give Casey just orange juice they insisted he have a screwdriver and I passed out the entire flight and normally I can’t sleep on planes. It was sweet! They didn’t lose our luggage which allowed me to win the bet with Casey. The landing into Quito was amazing because it is in such a deep valley that the pilot really had to twist and turn the plane for a safe landing. Everyone on the plane was clapping when we landed. It scared the shit out us. Casey and I slept for about twenty hours upon arrival in Quito. We couldn’t manage to get enough sleep in the States leading up to our departure so we are catching up here. Quito so far has been a great city to us. I remember more Spanish than I thought I would and I have managed to get our room in the hostel (agua caliente!!) and order breakfast. We have met a lot of people that we can’t seem to get rid of. Casey and I keep implying that we are on our honeymoon but there is always at least one person who wants to walk to city with us. Oh well! At least we know the Israelis and British don’t totally hate Americans.

The Wedding Day

Well the day is over and went absolutely as planned. It was the best day for numerous reasons and Casey and I keep reliving all of the great memories that occurred throughout the weekend. It was truly a great day and that is why we decided to have a wedding. All great memories that we will never forget. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Glacier National Park

Spontaneous. I guess that is what we are. The day after we arrived in Missoula we headed up to Glacier National Park. We didn't have a plan and didn't have any idea what to expect. We showed up at the ranger station to get our backcountry passes and told him we wanted to spend three days in the backcountry so please send us in that direction. He directed us to this small room in the back of the ranger station to watch a short video on the dangers of bears and what to do if you encounter one. The video did its duty because it thoroughly scared the shit out of both of us. But we persevered. It was late afternoon by the time we got to the ranger station so the first night we car camped and did a day hike to some beautiful waterfalls. We got up early the next morning armed with our bear spray (industrial strength pepper spray) and 40 pounds of water and food. This was a point of contention between us because he had never been backpacking and he didn't understand that even 5 pounds makes a huge difference on the bottom of your feet. He wanted to eat like a king and I was going to let him learn his lesson. We hiked in 10 miles to Glenns Lake and by the time we got to Glenns Lake I have never heard someone complain more. We stopped every hour so he could rest his back (trust me, he will never live this down:) But to his credit for the next two days we ate like kings and queens. We pitched our tent, read 8 chapters in our book before the sun went down. We like to read out loud to each other switching the reader every chapter. That way we can still read and spend time together. The sun went down and we went to sleep. We fell asleep quickly after our long hike. At about 3 in the morning I get a tap on my shoulder and a voice whispering in my ear "I don't want you to get scared or move abruptly but there is something outside our tent playing with our bottles of water". Immediately my heart starts to race and we both hug in the middle of the tent. He hands me the swiss army knife and he has the bear spray. The wind is howling and all we want is the sun to come up. Our imagination is going wild and all we can think of is this beast that is outside our tent and about to maul us. We stay together for the next hour and finally I realize that we hung our backcountry pass on the outside of our tent and that is what was making the scratching noise. False alarm!
The next day we took a couple of day hikes and saw some bear skat. When we get back to camp I was making my way to the pit toilet and I turn the corner and there is a grizzly cub right by the pit toilet and I am ten yards away. I immediately turn around and the bear scurries off. After that encounter I felt much better about the bear situation because they really are scared of humans and don't want any trouble.
We made our way back in about half the time because of the all the food that we ate. I had an amazing time not seeing a car for three days. I love the feeling I have when I make it back to the car having not showered for four days and being tired and sore. I can't wait for our next adventure into the backcountry. He caught the bug. Sweet!

Blake Island

We kayaked out to Blake Island from West Seattle. It was amazing being out on the Puget Sound in such a small boat. It was a fairly busy boating day in Seattle because the weather was so nice and we scoffed at the motor boats because we used human power! It is an empowering feeling to kayak and be so close to the water and watch your paddle go into the water and know when you are going across the Puget Sound it is only your strength that is going to get you home. I love it!!