Summer '17

Well it’s been too long, again. I feel like I need to write that as my introduction to these posts more and more often. Since the last post, things have been predictably crazy. When we left the US and decided to move overseas the first time, we told our school at the time and went about spending the next three months getting shots, sending shipments, and a day in Miami getting our visas. It wasn’t that much different this time around. Perhaps the biggest difference was the sheer length of our to-do list.

In one of our most recent posts, we detailed how we decided to forgo our shipment, and all that the hassle that entailed. After Shannon’s mom left with our suitcases, we were still left with quite a few things in our apartment. After all of the farewell parties, school paperwork, and selling all of our stuff, our next task was sorting through the rest of what was left. We had finite suitcases left, and...well...a lot more stuff than suitcase space. Out came the piles. We had to ask ourselves questions like, “What MUST come with us? What can we do without? What will we bring if we have extra space?” Spoiler alert, there was no extra space. Our “if there is space” pile went right into the donation pile. Then we repeated this process two or three more times until our piles were small enough to fit in our suitcases.

Once our bags were packed, we finally got to enjoy a bit of our summer. Shannon’s sister Meagan and her boyfriend, Ian, came to visit us after we got out of school. Shannon planned an elaborate farewell tour victory lap week of events. It was a really cool way to see a lot of our favorite things about the country before leaving for good.

When they arrived, we went to a hacienda near Cotopaxi National Park. We marveled at the abundant hummingbirds, (some as large as seagulls) and the volcano itself. We then had a classically trained chef bring us course after course in a hybrid Ecuadorian-European fusion food tasting. We were seated in a candle lit open room with a roaring fire, and a snow-capped volcano looming outside of the window. Our party was the only one in the massive dining hall. The chef drove up from Quito, about an hour and a half away, to prepare the feast just for us. It included things like shaved smoked trout in a nest of plantains (literally woven into a nest), wildberry salads, and local fruit sorbets. The dude literally went outside while we were waiting on a course to pick fresh herbs from the hacienda outside, in his fancy chef outfit and all. It was without a doubt the best meal I have ever had.

The next day, we woke up early and drove to Papallachta, a favorite spot of Shannon and I. We threw on our rain jackets and boots and set out for the infamous Papallachta hike. It’s usually rainy, and almost exclusively downhill. It starts at about 16,500 feet above sea level and works its way down. It’s a hike we have done about 5-6 times over the past three years, and one that we really enjoy. As we took our taxi up to the top of the mountain to begin, I realized that...maybe the weather was a little too intense for the gear we brought with us. Outfitted in rain jackets and thin pants was not enough. As we began our hike, the wind was howling, and a layer of snow settled in on the mountain, covering most of the path that we needed to follow. We powered through it and as we moved into hour two and three of the hike and we lost elevation, the snow dissipated as well. The hike was cold, wet, beautiful, and fun. We arrived and filled our bellies with fried trout, and took the rest of the day to soak in the volcanically heated hot springs. It was pretty great.

After a day of rest, we set out for our third and final trip (for now) to the Galapagos. While there, we spent a few days on the beach, a few days snorkeling, and some time exploring the beauty of the islands. Despite being our third time there, the beauty of the islands and animals will never cease to amaze us. We visited some islands we hadn’t been to before and saw some big sharks, which we hadn’t before. We were able to see quite a few sea lions, unlike our trip in April as well. April is mating time for the sea lions, so they were all on separate islands doing that. As a result, during this visit, we were surrounded by tiny baby sea lions. There are few things in the world as cute as a baby sea lion. I’m very glad we had the opportunity to go to the Galapagos so many times. That quickly became Shannon and my favorite place in the world. It will always be a very special place for us.

After our trip to the Galapagos, it was time for us to say farewell to Ecuador and head back up to Florida. As soon as we got to Florida, we had to begin our month-long PD courses for our new school. We began right away. When we arrived, we spent a few days in Orlando visiting friends and family before Shannon had to go to Miami for her annual PTC PD session. Also in the middle of all of this, we were also juggling the requirements and errands that had to be run for our visa to Saudi Arabia. We had to arrange for blood tests, urine tests, medical appointments, criminal background checks, acquiring new paperwork, and paperwork that was lost in transit to D.C. for our visa processing. After a week in Miami, I went back to pick Shannon up. After another few days in Orlando, we packed our bags again and took a flight to visit some of my family in Washington D.C. for what was to be a whirlwind summer.

My uncle picked us up and we had a laid back day at his place catching up and telling stories. I had a
chance to see two of my cousins who were home from their college and jobs respectively. It was amazing to see them. I grew up very close to them both, and a lot of time had passed since we spent any time together. It was really nice to be able to hang out with them as adults. I also enjoyed introducing Shannon to some family members she hadn’t met yet. They loved her, of course. The next day, while in D.C. we met one of my cousins for lunch at a nice ramen restaurant. After that, we went to the Newseum and checked out their exhibits. It is one of my favorite museums in D.C. which is saying something, considering that there are at least 900,000 there. The following morning, we woke up to hop on a train leaving D.C. My uncle was kind enough to wake up early enough to get us to the train station by 6:00am. We rode the subway to Union Station, where we got in line to check in for our train. That’s where we discovered that I screwed up. Our reservations were for 8:00pm, not am...I am an idiot. Oh well. When we finally got on the train, we got some coffee and did some more homework for our online PD class.

When we got to Philly, my sister picked us up and took us to a friends house where we did some more homework, and then went out to dinner for our first wedding anniversary. Nailed it! We made it one year successfully. It’s crazy to think that insane week of chivas, bird fights, and the wedding happened a year ago. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice dinner together. The following day, we went to a Phillies game with a group of friends. On Sunday we woke up, went on a grocery run, and loaded up for our week in the beach house we rented in Ventnor. We spent the next week hosting various friends and family members on the beach. We grilled fresh fish every night, hung out on the beach every day, gobbled up some boardwalk delicacies like saltwater taffy and fudge, and hosted people for once. It’s hard to always be the guest while visiting. It was nice to be able to host other people for a change.

After wrapping up our time in the beach house, we went up to NYC to hang out with Shannon’s
sisters. As soon as we arrived, we set our things down, got changed, and went up to the Village Vanguard for their timeless and infamous Monday night house band performance. We enjoyed a nice cocktail and some great jazz music for a few hours. The next day, we spent some time catching up on our reading and rest. In the evening, we took a train to Brooklyn and went to the J Cole concert. Shannon had arranged for the concert for a birthday present for me. We sat in a fancy suite and enjoyed a great show, along with some food. It was an incredible evening. The next day, we woke up and Shannon, her sister Meagan, and I went to Coney Island where we spent the day trying out the various food delicacies, playing carnival games, and hanging out. The following day, our flight back to Florida was canceled. We spent some extra time with Shannon’s sisters and hung around NYC for the day. I am the rescheduled flight right now heading to Orlando. We will have about a week left in our summer before shipping off to Riyadh. We are both looking forward to NOT traveling much in the next week. We are both excited to go, exhausted from our travels, and ready for the next step. By my estimation, including our trips to Cotopaxi, Papallachta, the Galapagos Islands, Orlando, Miami, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and back to Florida, we have traveled about 6,139 miles. That’s in about 6 weeks.

We will update everything when we get to Riyadh and we get settled. I’m sure we will have a lot to talk about. It’s been an interesting summer, and it will continue to be one as we transition to a new country on the other half of the world.

Despedida

Despedida Ecuador

As I reflect on the last three years in Ecuador, I find myself filled with gratitude, humility, and a little sadness. It’s hard to believe that three years have passed since we first made the leap into international teaching, and now we are on to our next post. Living in Ecuador changed me in ways I did not expect. I have found that my entire perspective has changed. My world view has expanded in a way I could not have predicted. I feel so grateful that I have had this opportunity, and humbled by the prospect of learning and appreciating even more about the world, its landscapes, its people and their cultures.

So, what did Ecuador teach me?

Family. A different way to look at big families and the joys of large extended families doing everything together. Abuela comes everywhere! She is in the car when you drop the children off at school. She is at home when the children come home from school. She is in the kitchen cooking arroz. She is coming along for grocery shopping and she is going down to the beach with the whole family - even if they have to pick her up in her wheelchair and carry her down there.

Kisses! Kisses hello. Kisses goodbye. Parents kissing the children goodbye - several times, all over the face, even when they’re just leaving for a few hours of Pre-K. Kissing strangers. Little boys shyly kissing cheeks of his mother’s friends.

Dancing. There is a reason why Latinos are such good dancers. They listen to salsa and bachata music all day, and at every sort of event. They begin dancing as babies. I have seen this with my own eyes. True, the infants are being held up by adults as their arms and legs are moved for them in tune to the music, but the point is they are learning the rhythm before they can talk. Learning to dance is as much a part of infanthood as is learning to walk. Every single event ends in dancing. The American style “party” - where we sit around and eat chips and drink and talk, and maybe play some cards? Ecuadorians cannot for the life of them understand how we consider that a “party”. How incredibly boring! The word party implies dancing! How can you have a party without dancing?

Early childhood education. If it had not been for this school in Ecuador, I would not have had the

opportunity and experience of working in an elementary school and understanding how young children think and learn. I was slightly terrified in the beginning. (Their fingers are so small!) But after three years I can say that I learned a great deal about early childhood education, the importance of play, conflict resolution, and self confidence at the earliest stages, and how true it is that every child starts out wanting to learn. By the way, I can also say that the voice of a 1st grade teacher is a soft, beautiful, and enchanting thing.

-ita/-ito. The diminutive of everything you hold precious and dear. Would you like some coffee or some cafecito? Do you have a question or a preguntita? Do you need a minute or minuntito? Calling someone fat is actually a term of endearment, if you make it a goridito or gordita. Same with negrita. Is this for the children or the niñitos? Do you want a little bit or poquito? Are you going out with your friends or your amiguitas? Paola is Paolita, Juan is Juanito, Shannon is Shannoncita, and despacio is despacito.

Patience. Living in South America has taught me to have more patience. Not just in consumer goods and services like not having 2-day guaranteed shipping or same-day cable and internet installation and high speed 4G wifi everywhere (or anywhere), but patience in my interactions with people. Stopping to say hello to a coworker in the morning. Starting meetings five minutes late because you have to give everyone a chance to kiss everyone hello. Appreciating that qualities that we exhort in American culture - candor, directness, efficiency are not the gold standard for everyone, and maybe there is something to be gained by being more patient and polite with one another. Understanding that sometimes “mañana” doesn’t always mean, like, literally tomorrow, but tomorrow in the sense of just “not today” - and most of the time, that’s really okay.

Mountains. Before moving to Ecuador I never spent anytime living around, or even really seeing mountains. There is something incredibly peaceful and meditative about being able to look out at the horizon and see miles and miles (or in this case, kilometers and and kilometers) of vast mountain ranges, some snowcapped, some whose peaks are hiding behind clouds, some who block the sun, some who are covered with a green patchwork of agricultural fields, others who are rocky reds and browns. What’s really cool about living in the valley of a mountain range is seeing how the sun changes and reflects off of different surfaces. You can look to the left, and see the face of a mountain that is dark green and grey, shaded by clouds overhead and then look to the right and see a different face of the same mountain that is a vibrant and glowing emerald green and realizing that it’s all the same mountain, but changes colors because of how the sun and clouds are hitting it at a particular time. And then minutes later, the colors change again as the clouds sweep by.

I will always think of Ecuador as a special place. It was my first experience living overseas. It was the place I got engaged, and then married. I think fondly of the school that started this adventure for us - of the friends we made there and the amazing trips we took while living there. And I miss it already. I feel sad to being saying goodbye to Ecuador but so grateful of our time there and of the things I will carry away with me.

Now, as we are just four days away from moving to Saudi Arabia I wonder what this new country and people will teach me and how my world perspective will continue to mature and expand.

And so, Ecuador, as we say “farewell” I dedicate this to you...

From now on I will say good morning to people, even if they’re strangers.
I will appreciate when I see whole families out together - even if they’re just buying eggs, and even if they’re taking up the entire shopping aisle.
I will consider returning to an elementary school one day.
And I promise to dance at parties.

¡Despedida, Ecaudor! ¡Besos y un gran abrazo!

-Shannoncita

Farewell Ecuador

Well the time has finally come. It’s time to say my official goodbye to Ecuador. We set out on this mission to see the world, meet some new people, work in schools that weren’t run by standardized tests, and try something new. As we end our three years in Ecuador, we have accomplished all of those goals, and so much more. We have been incredibly fortunate. This adventure began with an overlying sentiment of “We’ll see how it goes, let’s give it a shot,” and has changed us both tremendously. We are better teachers, better people, more empathetic, and more well-rounded as people for having taken the chance to live here.

Shannon and I rolled the dice on the whole idea of international teaching. We went to a cold icy town in Iowa to give it a shot. Then, for all intents and purposes, we essentially closed our eyes, spun the globe, and picked a place to live. As I think back on that, and the macro view of this experience, it’s pretty crazy. We chose an amazing place to live, and the fact that we even stepped up to bat and made the choice has made our lives better.

We arrived here three years ago as boyfriend and girlfriend, with a dog and nearly zero international travel experience. During our time here, we got engaged in the Galapagos Islands! We lost the youngest, and furriest member of our family too soon. We experienced sadness, joy, adventure, and frustration. We leave Ecuador a married couple and I leave with a new passport (because I filled up my old one with too many stamps). We learned Spanish. We learned how to live in a new place. We learned a lot about ourselves. It’s remarkable how resourceful you can be when you have someone you care about by your side; even if you get dropped off in a new country with no idea where to go or what to do.

We have been fortunate enough to collect unique experiences we couldn’t have had anywhere else. We’ve witnessed political protests. We’ve eaten incredible Ecuadorian food, including grubs in a village in the Amazon. We didn’t visit. We lived here. We became a part of it, for better or worse. We’ve swam with sharks in the Galapagos. We’ve shot blow guns in the Amazon. We wandered into a field of bulls trained to gore people. We had fun. We got lost. We found our way. We drank wine in the mountains of Chile. We got married in a rose garden. We’ve walked around the sacred ruins of Machu Picchu with our 15 closest friends and family. We’ve hiked and ridden horses across the top of volcanoes. We’ve overcome a myriad of difficulties such as living without hot water for two weeks, and Shannon drying her hair with a space heater. And one of us…has defended our family from multiple vicious llama attacks. I have already named incredible, life-defining experiences, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this country and our time here, has been. All of those experiences surreal. None would have been possible without taking the first bold leap of faith and curiosity.

During our time here, we’ve met amazing people that I hope remain close friends despite our pending move across the world. We’ve met, and befriended some of the best educators I’ve ever seen. We’ve traveled. We’ve learned. We’ve grown. We’ve laughed. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it. We’ve been fortunate to enjoy it with people who were strangers three years ago, but who have become family. We’ve shared Christmas parties, Thanksgiving meals, vacations, frustrations, and victories. I didn’t expect to grow so close to our friends so quickly.

I am sad about leaving. Ecuador has been more to us than a place. Living here has been truly formative for Shannon and me. I look back at the blog posts that we’ve made over the last three years and I am humbled at the opportunity and overwhelmed. Nothing I can say in this post can do justice to the gratitude I have for being given the opportunity to come here. To live here. To experience all that Ecuador is. Our life has gone from ordinary to incredible. We live an adventure. We’ve had ups and downs, but we got through them together and enjoyed them together. We have enjoyed and endured. We have learned. We have broadened our scope of the world, of other cultures, and of what it means to truly be grateful. We are leaving Ecuador changed. Thank you to all of our friends and family for making our time here what it was. We have had many defining moments and experiences here. Ecuador, the friends we’ve made here, and the memories we’ve created, will forever be a part of me.

Luggage Haul

MAN have we been busy. If you’ve been reading this blog for its duration, then you know how hectic our spring was before we moved to Ecuador. We had to get visas, pack stuff, get immunizations, doctor’s appointments, etc. Well this go around was even busier. We’ve had to do all of those things for our visas to Saudi Arabia, and also take care of finishing up a lot of stuff in Ecuador. We’ve had that other stuff going on plus the paperwork necessary for selling our car (much easier than purchasing!), blood tests to make sure we don’t have diseases as we leave (nope!), and closing down all of our local accounts. That’s on top of our…you know…jobs and stuff, which always get busier at the end of the school year. Needless to say we’ve been busy.

During the hectic shuffling and preparation, we decided that we were going to opt out of using our shipment. Our original contract with our school in Ecuador includes a clause about covering our shipment. Shannon and I each had a weight allowance that we could use to send our stuff back to Orlando. It’s fairly common practice among international schools. We also had a shipping allowance for our new school in Saudi Arabia.

After thinking it over, we realized that our new school provides housing for us upon arrival. Included in that housing is a set of sheets, blankets, plates, pots, pans, and some basic level appliances. For all of the things we don’t get included, we can make a run to the local IKEA or have things shipped from amazon.com. We really only need to bring our clothes. So we decided that instead of shipping our stuff in April, living without it for a few months, waiting a few months for it to get to Florida, then doing it all over again to have it arrive in Saudi Arabia a few months after we arrive, we decided to forgo our shipment.

Instead of sending all of our stuff in boxes on a boat for months and months, we decided to downsize. We sold a lot of our bulky items and pretty much everything that we couldn’t wear. Then we bought some extra luggage. We asked Shannon’s mom to come visit us one last time to bring the luggage and to hang out for a last trip.

We found out along the way that this summer, for the first time, Ecuador is imposing some travel embargoes. It starts on June 1 and goes throughout August. People cannot enter or exit the country with more than their two bag allotment, not even for an extra charge. Hearing that was a significant blow to our plans. We would no longer be able to bring our excess baggage with us, and we missed the window for shipping as well. However, never fear when Shannon’s mom Candy is available to help. By sheer luck, we booked the flight for her the weekend BEFORE the embargo started, narrowly avoiding complete disaster.

We picked her up on Thursday night and she left on Monday morning. It was a quick trip, but a fruitful one. We got our luggage and had a lot of fun too. We went to Papallacta to soak in the thermal pools again. We went to the park to haggle and bargain and buy one last load of llama blankets and gifts. Then on Sunday, I got the heck out of the way and the ladies turned into a formidable packing force. Eight suitcases were laid out, reinforced, packed with padding, and crammed with about 95% of our remaining worldly possessions. It was a sight to behold. My job was to make food, bring them stuff they needed, and stay the heck out of the way.

When the dust settled, our apartment was a barren wasteland of nothing. All of our paintings were off of the wall and in suitcases. Clothes in the suitcases. Everything…in the suitcases. We dropped off Candy at the airport, two days before the embargo started, and now all of our stuff is waiting at her parents’ house, instead of waiting at customs or on a ship.

It was a wonderful trip, and proof, once again, that our three years in South America have taught us to effectively navigate the unnecessarily difficult procedural red tape, with loop holes.

The Great Garage Sale

As we have lamented throughout these last 3 years, things are hard to get in Ecuador. Import taxes are extremely high and the country doesn’t do much of it’s own manufacturing. As such, there is an entire revolving market for departing and incoming international teachers. Among the most coveted items are: clothing and shoes, electronics, kitchen items, and believe it or not - lamps. I bet you never took your table lamps for granted, and you wouldn’t, until you moved to a country that has no Home Depot, Target, or Amazon.com and even the dinkiest of the little lamps will set you back $60-$80. So at around this time each year, departing teachers start unloading their excess home goods, and local teachers and/or new incoming teachers start buying them up.

Since Justin and I made the decision not to send a shipment to our new school, we have a lot of things to unload. And since we will only be relocating with a few suitcases each, the time has come to weed out the non-necessities.

I took my first crack at this a few weeks ago. I made a cursory pass through my closet, pulled out some old blouses and sweaters that no longer fit or fancy me, and I posted these items for sale on our google community “garage sale” page. I was priced to sell - between $6-$8 for tops, $10 for coats. These were all items that I was no longer even wearing, mind you. Well. My inbox was overloaded with customers! Within one week, I had sold everything and made a quick, cool $300. This ignited a fire within me! What else could I sell? Had I missed my calling as a boutique owner? Have all these years toiling at teaching been wasted?

No, of course not. But this proves my point that there is a huge demand for quality items at reasonable prices here, and it encouraged me to go forth with the rest of our sale. Pretty soon I had photographed almost everything in our apartment, and created a garage sale slideshow.  Everything from furniture and kitchen appliances to linens, rugs, small homegoods, and the much coveted floor and table lamps. Once again I was virtually sold out within days. I could have sold the lamps five times over for the amount of inquiries I received. Next time you make a visit to Ecuador, consider bringing a suitcase full of lamps with you. You could probably fetch a resale value of 200%. Lamps. Who knew?

I have to admit, at first the thought of parting with all my “things” was a little scary. Thoughts such as, “Will I ever find a blanket that snuggly again?” and “I happen to really prefer this particular spatula” cross one’s mind. But the fact that we are relocating into a fully furnished apartment made the break-up easier. After all, it’s all just stuff, right? And once I was able to realize that, I had a light, care-free feeling that I wouldn’t have to be hauling a bunch of literal extra baggage halfway across the world.

There’s soon to be another closet purge, and I’ve already been asked by a few people when they can expect the next batch of clothes to be released. I can’t wait to see what I can actually get myself down to. Four suitcases? Three? Stay tuned.

Yoga Retreat

One of my favorite things I’ve been able to do in Ecuador is attend several yoga retreats. A couple of teachers from our school are yoga instructors and they have hosted a handful of weekend retreats. These are some of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had here, enjoying nature, reading quietly, and of course practicing yoga. I still haven’t mastered a completely unassisted headstand yet, but I’m getting close.

This was my second to last retreat before leaving, and this time we went to El Monte Eco Lodge in the cloud forests of Mindo. I enjoyed the significantly warmer temperature and the myriad of bird calls awakening me each morning. Plus, while Justin favors the beach, the forest is my happy place.
El Monte was actually the location of the first yoga retreat I ever went on in Ecuador, so it’s fitting that’s it's also one of my last. Nestled back in the forest, you can actually only access the lodge by use of a wooden plank pulley that hauls you one at a time, over the river. To do this, you must just shout across the river until someone at the lodge hears you. Then they come to the bank and send over the pulley, and haul you back. One at a time we crossed, with backpacks on our shoulders and yoga mats across our laps. Cars stay parked on the other side, and so this really adds to the feeling of quiet and privacy once you cross over to the lodge.

The lodge also feeds you three square meals a day, which are healthy and delicious. Our dinners, seated at the open-air dining table, were candlelit and we dined to the sounds of the forest around us as the sun set and moths, bats, and leaf bugs started encroaching around us. At first they may sound like something you don’t want around you when you’re eating, but I actually found it pretty neat. A few times you get dive bombed in the side of the head by a blind both, but you just shake your head and he clumsily flies away to leave you to your banana cake.

There were only 10 of us on the retreat this time, and we had the whole place to ourselves. We went for a nice nature walk on Saturday morning, where we saw dozens of palms and bromeliads, leaf cutter ants, birds, tiny tree frogs, and one fluorescent green iguana.

The yoga was relaxed and restorative, not too many arm holds or headstands this time, but a lot of prolonged stretching and meditation, which was lovely. All of the yoga is done on the open-air deck, which allows a 360 degree view of the forest, and provides the ambient sounds of frogs croaking and birds and insects chirping. The lodge keeps a small fire burning all day, and the smoke from the sandalwood helps to keep the no-see-ums at bay, though not totally. Most of us left with at least a few of the telltale red dot bites around our ankles, but a small tax to pay, I think, for the beauty of the place.

On Saturday afternoon, after a core vinyasa class, some of the other girls and I pulled our mats
around the smoky firepit, and had a silent sustained reading session. The air was warm, there was the gentlest of breezes, and soon we had all nodded off to a pleasant afternoon nap, right there on the deck. We were suddenly awakened by one of the girls gasping, “Toucans!” We all ambled up off our mats to see the spectacle - a flight of about 15 toucans, crossing over the forest canopy to settle in for the evening. They flew one at a time, and were recognizable by their impressive beaks. I wouldn’t call the flight graceful, but more of a torpedo-like dive. I can’t imagine with a beak that heavy they are built for sustained flight, but rather more short bursts of energy from one tree to the next. They resembled flying bananas, actually. To see a toucan in the wild, and not on a cereal box is an incredible experience. But to see a whole flock of them soaring right over your yoga mat - now that’s breathtaking. The show lasted about 15 minutes, until all the toucans had relocated to the other side of the trees, and we could go on with our evening. That night, after another yoga session, we gathered around the smoky scented fireplace, and shared a bottle of wine. Our entertainment this evening was the march of about a thousand tiny ants, on some sort of secret mission, relocating what looked to be larva from under the wooden plank floorboards to another location across the deck.

We had one final breakfast and yoga class on Sunday morning, before heading back to Quito. I left Mindo feeling restored and regenerated, and geared up to power through the last six weeks of school.

Cuenca

We are sadly beginning the final stages of our last days in Ecuador. In response, we’ve made an Ecuador bucket list so to speak, including all of the things we want to make sure we do before we leave at the end of the year. When we first figured out we were going to leave Ecuador, Shannon made a color coded calendar of our available weekends, and we didn’t have many left. However, we had a nice three day weekend at the end of April that fit our Cuenca trip perfectly. On my list of things I’ve wanted to do since we got here was go to the city of Cuenca. Cuenca is the third biggest city in Ecuador after Guayaquil and Quito. It is famous for its cobblestone streets, Spanish style colonial architecture, countless cathedrals, and being the best place in the whole country to go for consistently excellent food. It also happens to be the home of the famous Homero Ortega Panama Hat Company. Needless to say, I was sold.

So for some background on the city, it is in the south of Ecuador. It is considered the most European city in the country. It stands in the Andes at 8,200 feet above sea level. There are about a million residents total, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its famous colonial architecture due to its conquest by the Spanish in 1550. It is famous for its textiles, crafts, furniture, silver, and Panama hats. It also happens to be the reigning top expat retiree destination in the world, for two years running. The relatively low crime rates, significantly low cost of living, beautiful scenery, and welcoming attitude towards foreigners make it a hub for U.S. retirees.

With Cuenca being a 45 minute flight away, and our flight scheduled for 6:45, we were in a perfect spot. We’d be able to leisurely ride to the airport and we’d be in town by dinner. We left right from school and went to the airport with visions of Cuenca dancing through our heads. Well…it wasn’t that easy. There were two flights scheduled for Cuenca that evening. There was one at 6:45 and one at 8:30. We were notified of a delay at 7:00. That got delayed all the way until 8:45. Now both flights were delayed. In addition, passengers began heckling the airline. They would chant, whoop, holler, and boo. They even started chanting, “Fuera Correa fuera!” which is an anti-government chant against Ecuador’s current President. It is unclear to me still what Correa had to do with our flight being delayed, but the crowd was on the brink of riot until they passed out conciliatory Doritos. When we inquired about what was happening, they made an announcement. They had one plane for two flights. This was poor planning on their part. However, instead of letting the group who was checked in and on the first scheduled flight leave, they made a poor choice. They announced that all women and children and the elderly would be going on the plane. The plane would then fly all the way there, drop them off, and return for the rest at 10:30. They treated this as if their plane was a lifeboat on the Titanic rather than something that we booked ahead of time, as the earlier flight. Well when 10:30 came, they told us the flight was still in Cuenca and would be coming back soon. In the meantime they would pay for us to go to the airport’s VIP lounge while we waited. When we arrived in the VIP lounge, they knew nothing of our circumstance and turned everyone away. Right as everyone was about to riot, they “found” a plane to put us on. In total, we were delayed five and a half hours, and including check-in time, we were there for over seven hours, for a forty five minute flight. It was a full-fledged flightmare.

After checking in to our AirBnb, we instantly fell asleep. The next morning, we woke up and walked to a nice breakfast spot that had been recommended to us. When we arrived, we were shocked that literally everyone in the restaurant was elderly, white, and spoke English. The menu was in English, with Spanish underneath it. It was clearly an expat hub. The food was delicious and cheap. We each ate eggs benedict and had a sheet of hash browns the size of a music stand, plus coffee, and juice, for under $17.

After breakfast, we took a walk to the Homero Ortega factory, hat museum, and hat shop. We walked around and learned about extensive process of making handmade Panama hats. It was fascinating. When we finally got to the hat shop, we began looking around for some hats but we were rushed out of the store due to their pending closing times. Obviously we should have known that one of the major tourist spots in a tourist town is open from 11:00am-1:00pm on a Saturday. After wandering the streets some more, we went back to the room to read, nap, relax, and play cards. We went back out in the evening for a fantastic (and cheap!) dinner at a restaurant called Tiesto’s that we had been recommended by a few friends. The food was outrageously good. We were served fresh bread with 9 dipping sauces, including an apple pepper salsa. We had steak, fish, side dishes, wine, and anything else we wanted. The restaurant was beautiful, quiet, and delicious.

We had ambitions of a nice hike at the famous Parque Cajas on Sunday morning, but that was rained out. We found out that the temperature at the park was about 32 Fahrenheit and sleeting all day. We decided it would be a better option to stay in town and explore. We hiked around the city instead of a cold, wet park, although I’m sure it’s very pretty there. We spent the day walking around the cobblestone streets, past cathedrals, back to the hat store for an grueling exciting shopping experience. We went to a local park right outside of the city’s main cathedral where we were impressed with beautiful landscaping. Oh, and there were two full sized Saint Bernard models who were taking photos with passersby for a fee. After that, we walked along the city’s river walk area, which consisted of a nice paved walking path next to a beautiful river. We watched a basketball game at a local pub, also surrounded by retirees, before going back to the room to share a bottle of wine, play cards, and watch a movie. It was incredibly relaxing.

On Monday, we woke up, walked to another incredible breakfast place. We spent the day walking around town. We went to a local artisanal market where we scoped out the stuff they were selling. We went to a few jewelry stores (although surprisingly, Shannon didn’t end up with any). We went back to the park to wander some more and visit the famous model dogs. Then, we went to the river walk again, followed by a trip to a café. After all of that, we went back to the room to read and relax until time to leave. The trip was thankfully much less eventful than the first trip.

All in all, we were impressed with the city, the food, the views, the cost, and the casual atmosphere that allowed us to relax. We’re going to be gearing up soon for the end of the school year and everything that comes with that, along with preparations for our next stop. It was nice to do a little traveling. I got to cross another bucket list item off of my list and we had a great time.

Galapagos AGAIN!

For spring break, Justin and I had the fortunate opportunity to return to the Galapagos Islands, as guests of our friend, Narsiza. After much deliberating, we decided that this was an offer we couldn’t possibly turn down, and I’m so glad that we were able to visit this incredible place once more.

Tuesday: Manzanillo tortoise ranch & Darwin Station
Our direct flight from Quito arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Narsi was waiting for us with private transportation and we made our way to the ferry, and onward to Puerto Ayora. On the way, we stopped at a nature preservation called Rancho El Manzanillo. (Manzanillo is the name of the “poison apple tree” that grows along the property. The fruit, and even the sap of this tree are reportedly quite toxic. The owner of this once private plot of land partnered some time ago with the local government to establish this as an ecological reserve, where visitors can roam freely among the giant tortoises, and enjoy lunch on an open, breezy patio. Rubber boots are loaned free of charge so that are free to splash through the mud puddles (tortoises cool themselves in the mud) and avoid fire ants. This is the spot where Justin and I found the biggest tortoise we have ever seen, and we named him Big Papa.
The top of his shell probably came up to my chest.

After some exploring of the property, we sat down for a delicious lunch of grilled tuna steaks and fresh salad. To wash it down we had lemonade made with mint and hierba buena, and I think I nearly drank the whole pitcher myself. (It was extremely hot!)

Before leaving the ranch, we saw an empty tortoise shell on the patio, left behind long ago by some dearly departed tortoise, and couldn’t resist the fantastic photo opportunity this afforded. For those of you who may be wondering, “How does one get inside a giant tortoise shell?” I will paint you a word picture. First of all, it is far from graceful. The largest opening is in the front. So first you must stand in front of the shell, and then basically lay down flat on the floor in a push-up position, your feet facing the opening of the shell. Next, you perform a backwards shimmy-shuffle, easing yourself feet-first into the shell. There is a surprising little upward slope in the middle of the bottom of the shell, so you’ll need to navigate this as well. This provides quite the spectacle for anyone watching! Soon, you’ll be able to poke your feet out the back of the shell and voila! You are a tortoise! This was actually a lot of fun, and I’m glad we sacrificed temporary embarrassment for these pictures which make me laugh every time I look at them. The shell is also unbelievably strong, and we even able to sit on top of it without the slightest fear of it breaking.

We then continued our drive to Puerto Ayora and our hotel and home for the week. Per usual, the whole family gave us a warm welcome and we immediately felt like we were home with family. We unpacked our suitcases and spent a little time enjoying the AC. Once we were sufficiently refreshed, we made the 10 minute walk down to the Darwin Station.

After viewing all the tortoises and the baby tortoises with numbers painted on their shells we came upon a new exhibit - Lonesome George! In the flesh...or rather, shell. As you probably know, Lonesome George was the last of his species (Pinta Island Tortoise). For years, they tried to get old George to produce some offspring, but alas all attempts were futile and he finally died in 2012 at the age of 100 years. George’s body was then frozen and sent to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC to be preserved. After a short tour in the States, Lonesome George was finally returned to his home in the Galapagos in March of 2017. So, we were some of the first tourists to see him returned. The Darwin Station built him a small climate-controlled room, and to preserve the ambient temperatures necessary to preserve him, only 10 visitors are allowed in at a time, for a visit of only a few minutes. I noticed George was missing a toenail, but otherwise looked really good for a 100 year old taxidermied tortoise.

It is hoped that Lonesome George will serve as a reminder of the importance of conservation of species and human impact and responsibility of conservation and protection. We will remember, George. Rest in peace.

Wednesday: Tortuga Bay
We woke up on Wednesday and took our sweet time to get moving. Prior to the trip we reflected on how amazing our first trip was. However, our last trip was also our first, and we only had a few days. Plus...I had some other things on my mind as we prepared to go there. We resolved to make this trip much more slowly paced. We wanted to see the wildlife and the beautiful vistas, just like last time, but this time we had twice as much time to do it and we were hell bent on using it.

After a leisurely breakfast, we went to our rooms and packed our bags. In the spirit of taking it slow, we were going to spend the day reading books on the beach. We were told of a beautiful set of beaches within walking distance and that was all I needed to hear. We were warned of hot temperatures so we dressed accordingly and we began our journey to Tortuga Bay.

To start the journey, you need to take a taxi to the entrance of the national park. Once there, you walk through a beautiful long path made of lava stone. It is gorgeous, as is the surrounding vista, but it is HOT. We were warned, but we still had no expectation of lava rock. When the sun hits the rock, the rock undergoes a chemical reaction simulating a volcanic eruption of lava and fire. (Or at least that’s what I think…)

After a hour of walking through a cactus forest full of cacti more than 40 feet tall, and well...forest, a clearing opens up and BAM! You are smack dab on the most beautiful beach ever. I mean ever. Tortuga Bay is the epitome of white sugar sand beaches, clear water in the shallow that opens up to deep aqua blue. As beautiful as it was, we weren’t allowed to swim there due to park regulations and dangerous swimming conditions. So we walked along the beach to a little cove that was much calmer and 90% as pretty. Along the way, we spotted the first of many marine iguanas hiding out on some lava rocks.

When we got there, we set up our towels in a little shady spot beneath a set of trees. We spent the next four hours swimming in crystal clear water, reading, and guzzling a lot of water. It was HOT. After a little while, a small shark (19 inches) swam up to the coastline and along it for about twenty minutes. We could see it from 20 feet away due to how clear the water was. We decided to investigate so we rented a kayak on the beach and spent the next hour paddling around the calm cove looking for wildlife among the mangroves lining the beach. We didn’t see anything else, which was okay. We had fun anyway paddling around.

Around fifteen minutes after our kayaking, a big 30 foot boat pulled up to shuttle people back to the port for a fee of $10. They knew that no one wanted to walk, fully exposed, through the gauntlet of beautiful scenery and soul melting lava rock pathways. So we hopped on. I asked the guy as we boarded if it was returning to Puerto Ayora, where our hotel was. He replied with a quick “Si, si. Vamos,” and hurried me along.

Now I’m admittedly not the strongest math person, but in my mind, an hour walk, plus the speed of the boat, minus any lag in time for waves or the curve of an island means that we should have returned to the port after about 20 minutes of boat time. HA! An hour and fifteen minutes later, Shannon and I were convinced that we were headed for another island hours away. But eventually, after cutting through the water alongside a few sea turtles who popped their heads up to say hello, we pulled back into Puerto Ayora, had tuna for lunch, and retired to the hotel for an afternoon nap.

Post nap, we got all ready and headed over to the restaurant where Shannon and the whole family ate post-proposal. We spent the evening drinking wine, watching pelicans take turns plunging into the water, and enjoying delicious food, and each other’s company.

Thursday: Day Trip
Thursday morning, we woke up early and had a hearty and delicious breakfast. We joined Narsiza and her family, as well as a co-worker and her son, and we boarded the water taxi to a boat that we had all rented for the day. We spent about thirty minutes zooming through the water along the coastline that we passed the day before. (Note: We passed the Tortuga Bay Beach in less than ten minutes. Go figure.)

We arrived at a snorkel spot that Narsiza told us was a secret local place that had great snorkeling, lots of animals, and few tourists. I can’t say the name of the beach in confidence, but girl knows her stuff. We spent the next two hours snorkeling around. We saw stingrays flapping their wings, trying to hide under the sand, sea turtles gracefully gliding through the water, and countless fish.

We had already seen these things before, on our first trip, but snorkeling in the Galapagos this second time was just as magical. We were both filled with child-like glee at the sight of each and every new thing. Along the way, we saw a shark, about a meter long. Then we continued to follow our guide blindly through the water and found ourselves in some kind of shark dungeon pit. The next twenty minutes were spent swimming among between 16-22 sharks. They all varied between 24 inches and four feet long. It was so cool to float along the top of the water looking down on them. A glance to the right, and there were a dozen more. Look to the left, WOA! Sharks swimming towards your face to check you out. This went on for a little while, before we were spent.

We swam up to an island beach nearby and put our snorkel gear down among the mangroves and marine iguanas three feet or more in length. After a short hike across the inlet, we came to a jetty of lava rock. On the jetty we saw iguana heaven. The black rock eminanted heat that made me wilt, but attracted dozens and dozens of marine iguanas who sat content on the rock, cooled by the ocean mist of crashing waves. We took our customary pictures and walked to the other side of the jetty where we found a blue footed boobie that we got up close and personal with. We concluded our hike and walked back to the boat where fresh ceviche was awaiting our arrival, alongside some fresh homemade...well fried, fresh fish sticks. After lunch we hopped back into the water where we swam, waded, and wandered among the sharks and fish. I walked along the shallow water watching the fish encircle my feet. Then, a puffer fish decided to take a nibble of my toe as I watched. I don’t think he like what he found. He promptly swam away. It was absolutely surreal.

On our way back to the port, we did some troll fishing. We were only about 500 yards from the coastline, but considering we were more than 600 miles off of the coast of Ecuador, we were effectively DEEP DEEP sea fishing. After about fifteen minutes of trolling, one of the fishing poles snapped down. I hopped up and grabbed it and as soon as I hooked the fish, the captain yelled to the crew to get the belt harness. I thought I was in for reeling in Jaws but I knew I’d be happy with Nemo.
I fought the fish for about ten minutes or so until I brought the fish in. The mate gaffed it and we hauled it on board. It was about a three and a half foot “jurel” fish, which is something akin to a tuna or a jackfish. As soon as the fish was on board, the captain took it under deck and came back four minutes later with the freshest sashimi and carpaccio I have ever seen. It was delicious. We went back toward shore and after a day of shark filled swimming, fishing, and hiking, we were both exhausted. It was one of the best, and most complete days I had in a long time.

Friday:Grietas
After an exhausting and amazing day on Thursday, we decided to keep it light on Friday. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and read for a while in the hotel room. After that, we did some souvenir shopping, we threw on our bathing suits and took a short walk to Las Grietas. Las Grietas is a small local swimming hole and natural grotto. It is a canyon of crystal blue, chilly, water that goes about 30 feet deep at its deepest. It was apparently made by years of rain, tide, and time. It evolved slowly chiseling a crack into a gap, into a gorge, into a canyon. Rain water filtered through the lava rock and pooled at the bottom. The chasm shielded the water from too much direct sunlight, which kept the water chilly. We walked there and hopped in.

We were told to try to time it well since sometimes tour groups go there, in addition to the locals. The canyon is about twenty feet wide by thirty yards long. It would have been tough to enjoy ourselves had it been busy, but we took Narsiza’s advice and got there right at 12. On our way down the path (about fifteen minutes) we saw about 40 people pass us, going back to the port.

When we arrived, there were only about six people. There were three high schoolers, and two guys in their twenties. We swam around for about a half hour, and due to the intense noon, lava rock baked heat, the cool water felt incredible. As we floated along, we saw fish of all sizes swimming around below us. After a short while paddling around, we swam to the far side of the grotto and saw another marine iguana sitting on a rock. We swam up to it quietly and watched him pluck algae from a rock, at eye level, from about three feet away. As soon as the high schoolers saw this incredible sight, they swam up splashing, squealing, and yelling; which of course forced the iguana to take off. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

We went back shortly after and had our own lunch, another mid day nap, and then went out to the small beach town nightlife. We went to dinner and had a delicious meal and met up with a few friends who were also visiting the Galapagos on vacation. We had a few drinks to celebrate my birthday (the following day) and went back to the hotel to retire for the night.

Saturday: Birthday Beach Day
I woke up on Saturday morning to a new milestone decade. I had finally reached by thirties, which I felt like I had been in the middle of for at least five years. Shannon and I had breakfast, packed up our beach bags, and took the long hike back to Tortuga Bay to spend my birthday doing exactly where I wanted, the beach.

After arriving we set up shop again in the shade and spent the next few hours napping, reading, swimming, talking, and hanging out. It was simple. It was relaxing. It was everything I wanted and needed, and nothing more. We saw another marine iguala sauntering along the beach, commonplace to us by this point. After a while of sitting there, we met a few friendly finches. I named on Atticus and Shannon fed them cookies, which is probably totally okay. I mean, we were in the single most protected natural preserve in the world. They probably want you to feed the finches cookies. It’s good for their evolution...or something. Regardless, Atticus and his friends were happy.

We decided to walk all the way back instead of taking the boat for an hour and change. It took us about the same amount of time, but by 2:00 when we left in the afternoon, the lava rocks somehow got hotter than eruption level heat. Shannon swayed from heat exhaustion as we walked, but we soldiered on. We drank bottle after bottle of Gatorade and water, which we packed in anticipation of this walk. It felt like we were walking across the coals, but instead of on our feet, we were draped in a cloak of coals.

We finally arrived at a lunch spot where another cold water and the ocean breeze cooled us off. We went back to the hotel for showers and naps. (So much napping on this trip!) When we woke up from our slumber, we got dressed up for a family style dinner that Narsiza had invited us to. We were the special guests of honor. We had fried fish, plantains, rice, and wine. After the plates were cleared, the lights went out and out of the kitchen emerged a birthday cake. They sang “Happy Birthday” to me in English and in Spanish. Just before cutting the cake, I was told of an Ecuadorian tradition that I had to partake in. They were yelling “Bite the cake! Bite the cake!” in Spanish. After asking about it, they told me it was customary to take a bite of the whole cake. Then as I was biting it, they would lightly shove my face into the cake. I was skeptical, but didn’t want to offend our gracious hosts. They probably could have told me to sit on the cake and I would have done it. Anyway, I “bit the cake” and got smashed into it. I pulled my head back, with icing filling my nostrils, and everyone was laughing. The smashed piece containing remnants of my face outline was, of course, to be mine. The rest was spread amongst our Galapagos family.

All in all, it was a remarkable trip. We were hosted by Narsiza, who truly made us feel like family. We weren’t guests to her in her hotel. We were family. We saw mind-blowing sites. We swam. We ate. We slept. We hiked. We fished. We ate. We slept. We laughed. We ate. And we slept. It was the perfect vacation. We both needed it after a long stretch at work. It was the perfect birthday. Thank you to Narsiza for giving us a home in the Galapagos. We are so incredibly fortunate to have met her, to have traveled as much as we have, and to have spent time with such truly incredible people.

Election Update

The last time we checked in regarding the Ecuadorian Presidential Election, we were at a bit of a stalemate. To summarize, in Ecuador, if no candidate reaches 40% of the popular vote AND achieves a margin of victory of 10% or more, there is a run-off election with the two most popular candidates.

The run-off election was this past Monday. Leading up to the election, we were peppered from all sides with differing opinions. The majority of the Ecuadorian teachers we work with sided with conservative Lasso. The majority of taxi drivers and blue collar workers we ran into supported the left-wing Lenin Moreno (current  VP). Even our students got into it. We were told by our students that if ___________ won, it would mean the end of the country's prosperity and success. "We will surely become like Venezuela if __________ and their corrupt party takes power!" said the tiny echo chambers of their parents' political views. It was a touchy subject and both sides were charged with fear, emotion, and hope.

The weekend of the election, the city took on it's "Dry Law" again, banning the sale, consumption, or consideration of an alcoholic beverage. Hypothetically, IF we had consumed a beer, we would have been outlaws...

Election weekend was made a bit more complicated by our school hosting a ten person accreditation team (more on that in a different post) so we needed everything to go well. We were told that we needed to be prepared for riots in the streets, cars flipping, and general mayhem.

The Friday before the election, I went to the US Embassy for a community trivia night fundraiser with some friends. While there, the US Ambassador came to our table and spoke with us for about a half hour about the high probability of mayhem. He even told one of my friends who lives near the election office to "Go to a friend's house for the week...Just in case." Needless to say, we were all a little freaked out. He then told us that a one sided victory for either side would be the best possible solution, if the goal was peaceful transition of power. Anything close might put the entire city in a precarious balance of fury and protests.

The morning of the election, we had a meeting at a hotel with the accreditation team. "Don't worry visiting folks, nothing to see here, not impending political doom..." About an hour into the meeting, we realized that one of the candidates would be using the hotel as campaign headquarters again. So, we literally put them in the proverbial lion's den.

Throughout the day, exit polls showed close projections. Both sides claimed victory. But at the end of the night, the current VP, Lenin Moreno was declared the victor. Many people were upset at the results. They demanded recounts. They took to the streets in protest. On Monday, Lasso and his campaign workers went to the election offices to request a formal recount. There was allegedly proof of  improper counting, exit polls not matching ballot reporting, etc. On Tuesday the election offices declared that "Moreno wins and it is final, no further review would take place." The final numbers that were reported had Moreno at 51% and Lasso at 48.9%. Our school immediately cancelled all after school activities for concern that the buses wouldn't be able to get students home quickly enough through protests in the streets. Then the decision was made to dismiss classes about twenty minutes early. All teachers were told to get off campus at 3:00pm sharp. Road closures were coming, and there was a general feeling of impending eruption. We were told before 4:00, it was going to go down.

 At 3:10, tumbleweeds blew through the campus. It felt like that played out scene in every western movie where everyone goes inside and waits for the impending showdown between the good guy and the sheriff, only in this case it was people vs riot police. I texted Shannon and she wasn't ready to leave. She, as the woman in charge of our school's accreditation process, had to get everyone on the bus and safely to their hotel. She foolishly courageously offered to take them on their bus as a security escort. You know, since she has extensive training in Muy Thai, Krav Maga, CIA Training, Assassin Training, from watching the movie The Bodyguard one time.

We finally left at 3:25. This was no problem, because we had about 35 minutes to get home, and we only live 15 minutes from school. But wait, there's more. We found out as we were leaving that the normal route we take from school was closed off. The police were closing main intersections to try to contain potential marching protest routes. So now we had an issue. We had to take a back route that we had never taken before, not knowing how long it took, and based on everything we heard, 4:00 was the witching hour. That's when it was going to go down. We were told by someone at school that it was possible that since we were foreigners, and there were rumors of US involvement in the election, we were potential targets if things got really bad. We were told to go home immediately and stay inside, just in case.

In my mind, all I heard was "Get you and Shannon home before 4:00pm or the world is going to deteriorate around you in some sort of post-apocalyptic nightmare. I was on a mission. My family was at risk, and it was turning into The Purge. (Don't watch if horror movies freak you out)

We got in the car and floored it as much as possible. Traffic was already starting to pick up and we were winging it by the seat of our pants. I turned into a getaway wheel man. We may have gone up on two wheels once or twice as we navigated the treacherous winding mountain roads. We may not have. I can't tell. It was all a blur. We finally made it home and got inside.

We monitored the news and checked out as many potential sources as we could to get as much information as possible. There wasn't much. We were told to expect school cancellations, which did not happen. So we got up and went to school the next morning, as usual.

We were told that there were protests. They have been ongoing for a week. Luckily, the most unrest we experienced came in the form of rhythmic car horn blowing while people waved their Ecuadorian flags out of their window. There was shouting. But nothing serious. There have been protests around the country and the city, but luckily, for us it never turned into The Purge. It appears that Moreno is the winner and that is irrefutable. If that stays, I hope that Ecuadorians can find peace with the decision and get back on the same page, working towards making Ecuador a better place. That's the dream we all have for our countries. Being in democratic countries allows us to have a say in the way we want to be governed, but once the people have spoken (assuming no improprieties) time comes for the nation to unite again and work towards progress, regardless of who or what you have in the seat of President of your country.

Guys Weekend Pt. 3

In posts I've made for each of the previous two years, I detailed our annual guys trip. In the spring of every year, all of the expat guys rent a bus and take it to somewhere around Ecuador. We have BBQs, hang out, play outdoor games. It's a great time and a nice way to unwind with the fellas. The ladies have their own trip every year as well. This year, we went back to Banos, to the same location as last year.

We decided to return to the same spot because it's beautiful, secluded, has plenty of space, and is next to a rushing river. Banos is surrounded by cool outdoor activities. Last year we didn't have an opportunity to do many of the activities due to excessive rain. This year we rectified that. Check out the video below for a little snapshot of our weekend.

It was a nice way to say goodbye to some of the guys who I have grown close to. I made quite a few friends through our professional circles, and this was a great opportunity to spend some time with them before we go on our separate ways.