do you see the logs? holding up the next floor? this is how concrete is held up in order to dry.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
details.
oops. wrong order again. there´s a post after the photos. one of these days i will figure out a more graceful way to do this. love you!
prayer flags
drying laundry looks like tibetan prayer flags to me.
"please, let tomorrow be at least no harder than today. also, please don´t rain for a few hours"
Riobamba!
Oh man, it´s amazing what a comfortable, bedbug-free bed in a clean hotel room will do for your spirits!
We are now in Riobamba, we got in last night. We chose to stay in a hotel so we could get cable TV and watch the elections and I´m so glad we did. We were actually next door eating dinner when the prediction came in, but the restaurant had TV so we saw it there. Fun to know that in the future when we remember where we were when Obama was elected, that it was in Riobamba, Ecuador.
We are in much better spirits today which is nice. Geoff leaves on Saturday morning super early and then I´ll get to decide what to do with myself. I would like to spend as much time volunteering as I can in order to learn as much as possible about the pitfalls of philanthropy and the best practices that are out there. The place we stayed in the jungle has a great volunteer program so I might try to head there for a month or so. I will also do more researching once I´m back in Quito and no longer on vacation with Geoff.
It´s looking like the three month visa is pretty strict right now, though it may shift with Obama´s win. Many people have said that if Barack wins, the US and Ecuador can be friends again, if McCain, then no. It´s very hard to tell what´s real, so I will probably have to get a bigger pack and go through my things and send much of it home. I kept thinking I could pack as much as I wanted because I was moving here, but it´s looking more and more like I will be moving around. That´s cool, aside from costing a small fortune, it is a lesson worth learning.
There was a parade in Riobamba this morning that was pretty odd. Section after section of professionals - mechanics, hair cutters, artisans, secretaries, all the schools. Not sure what it was all about but it took about 45 minutes and we watched the whole thing. Figured that if they were going to the trouble of having a parade to welcome us to town, the least we could do was watch it.
We are now in Riobamba, we got in last night. We chose to stay in a hotel so we could get cable TV and watch the elections and I´m so glad we did. We were actually next door eating dinner when the prediction came in, but the restaurant had TV so we saw it there. Fun to know that in the future when we remember where we were when Obama was elected, that it was in Riobamba, Ecuador.
We are in much better spirits today which is nice. Geoff leaves on Saturday morning super early and then I´ll get to decide what to do with myself. I would like to spend as much time volunteering as I can in order to learn as much as possible about the pitfalls of philanthropy and the best practices that are out there. The place we stayed in the jungle has a great volunteer program so I might try to head there for a month or so. I will also do more researching once I´m back in Quito and no longer on vacation with Geoff.
It´s looking like the three month visa is pretty strict right now, though it may shift with Obama´s win. Many people have said that if Barack wins, the US and Ecuador can be friends again, if McCain, then no. It´s very hard to tell what´s real, so I will probably have to get a bigger pack and go through my things and send much of it home. I kept thinking I could pack as much as I wanted because I was moving here, but it´s looking more and more like I will be moving around. That´s cool, aside from costing a small fortune, it is a lesson worth learning.
There was a parade in Riobamba this morning that was pretty odd. Section after section of professionals - mechanics, hair cutters, artisans, secretaries, all the schools. Not sure what it was all about but it took about 45 minutes and we watched the whole thing. Figured that if they were going to the trouble of having a parade to welcome us to town, the least we could do was watch it.
Monday, November 3, 2008
lethargic apothecary
So after this morning´s post, Geoff and I found an apothecary and I asked them for something to help with my bug bites (my bed has bedbugs and I am COVERED in bites) and he went into the back and brought some little bottle of liquid and I paid him $2.50. I was expecting Calomine lotion or something and was sure I needed a MUCH bigger bottle than that, but so far it seems to be working great. Bites I put it on hours and hours ago still don´t itch again. I will try to go back and get another bottle for future use and also some sort of repellent. I have no idea what it is, but it totally rocks.
It´s cold and rainy here today and we´re having a hard time shaking the milaise. First we tried coffee, then booze, and then coffee again, but I think today may just be like this all day. Thankfully we have big fat books to read, so we go from cafe to bar and back, reading and ignoring each other. No wonder people think we are married. We aren´t mad at eachother, just trying not to talk as we´re both in sour moods for no reason.
Cuenca seems like it would be a great town to live in, if you had a house you could go home to and put in a movie and make some food and such, but after a few days of walking alllll day and seeing all the stuff we can find, we´re deciding it´s not great for an extended visit. Of course, neither of us are real big on nightclubs which seems to be what is on most offer here. We head out tomorrow I think it will do us both good to have a new town and a new hostel that we don´t hate.
Somedays are like this. Even in Australia. Or Ecuador.
Love to you all. We´ve tried to post to the video blog, but can´t get it to upload in any of the internet shops we´ve been in. We´ll keep trying.
On a little brighter note, we had a great time wandering around the other night. The street performers are fun and doing good fire and juggling shows. Drunkards love the US and especially Portland. We´ve run into more Oregonians here than from any other state in the US. Nice to have the comradery.
Tomorrow we´ll be headed to Riobamba and decide whether to do the Devil´s Nose train which is meant to be great when the weather is good, but starting at 6am is cold and wet and you can´t see anything according to the people we´ve talked to, so we´ll just wait and see how that goes.
I am tempted to not post this less than super excited note, but it will be good to remember that everyday isn´t a super duper one. I´m glad to at least have good company, even if we are ignoring each other.
It´s cold and rainy here today and we´re having a hard time shaking the milaise. First we tried coffee, then booze, and then coffee again, but I think today may just be like this all day. Thankfully we have big fat books to read, so we go from cafe to bar and back, reading and ignoring each other. No wonder people think we are married. We aren´t mad at eachother, just trying not to talk as we´re both in sour moods for no reason.
Cuenca seems like it would be a great town to live in, if you had a house you could go home to and put in a movie and make some food and such, but after a few days of walking alllll day and seeing all the stuff we can find, we´re deciding it´s not great for an extended visit. Of course, neither of us are real big on nightclubs which seems to be what is on most offer here. We head out tomorrow I think it will do us both good to have a new town and a new hostel that we don´t hate.
Somedays are like this. Even in Australia. Or Ecuador.
Love to you all. We´ve tried to post to the video blog, but can´t get it to upload in any of the internet shops we´ve been in. We´ll keep trying.
On a little brighter note, we had a great time wandering around the other night. The street performers are fun and doing good fire and juggling shows. Drunkards love the US and especially Portland. We´ve run into more Oregonians here than from any other state in the US. Nice to have the comradery.
Tomorrow we´ll be headed to Riobamba and decide whether to do the Devil´s Nose train which is meant to be great when the weather is good, but starting at 6am is cold and wet and you can´t see anything according to the people we´ve talked to, so we´ll just wait and see how that goes.
I am tempted to not post this less than super excited note, but it will be good to remember that everyday isn´t a super duper one. I´m glad to at least have good company, even if we are ignoring each other.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
