Dear friends from the States come to visit

My good friend from childhood, Ariana, and her lovely husband Matt came out to Ecuador for 10 days. Their journey started in Quito where they did lots of site seeing and stood on the Mitad del Mundo. They took a day trip to the outdoor market in Otavalo to snag some Christmas presents (for next year...boy they are good at thinking ahead), and then hoped on a plane to meet me in Portoviejo. In a week, we saw the Pacific Ocean, participated in the nation-wide water fight, went on a country-side tour (in the back of a pick-up truck), hiked through the rainforest and played with iguanas…adventure from beginning to end.

My apartment turned into a big slumber party with Matt, Ariana and my friend Irena, from World Teach, all staying at my apartment. Thanks to Matt and Ari, I have a new air mattress!! Now I can have more visitors! (I now have two beds and the air mattress…..my apartment is coming along and ready to house more people. hint, hint.)

Now on to the photos of Ariana and Matt's visit...Ariana and I after we cleaned up from walking around San Clemente beach and having water, colored foam and other mysterious liquids thrown on us for the Carnival fiestas. For three days straight, people throw all sorts of water, mud, jello, etc on each other to celebrate Carnival.

The beach was packed from one side to the other with Ecuadorians, and we could barely find an open space to plant ourselves for the day.

Carnival: Crowds of people rode in the back of trucks loaded with ammo to toss at other passing cars.

Kids here live to participate in the Carnival celebrations. For three days straight, it is completely acceptable for them to throw whatever type of liquid they want at whatever person they choose without getting in trouble…a small child’s dream come true!

Although the tradition seemed a little odd to me, the kid inside me couldn’t help but pick-up a bucket and join in. My host brother had set-up his post early in the morning to start chucking water at all the cars that passed by our house. Ariana and I decided to offer him some more hands.

Still in my pajamas, I stood ready with a hose to drench any oncoming cars. I could tell Ariana was a little nervous, but after we had successfully soaked several people riding in the back of a truck (who were also throwing water at us), we both realized what a blast (and what a release) it was! All morning, we gave all the city folk who were coming out to the countryside (to spend the day at the river) a proper Carnival greeting. (hey, at least it was clean water).

Chillin’ on the patio drinking coconut juice after our water shenanigans

My host aunt wanted to “pasear” to show her co-workers some of the countryside, and I figured it was a perfect opportunity to give Ari and Matt a tour of my town. We hoped into the back of the truck to tag-a-long for the ride. What I thought would be a quick 15 min. trip to the center of town, ended up being a 3 hour ride up to the top of the mountain where people like to swim in the river. We were four-wheeling through the dirt roads, climbing hills and bouncing around in the back of the truck. We were laughing and having a good time but had no idea what we had committed ourselves to.

We found a donkey near the river and couldn’t leave without a photo with the sweet donkey.

Our spontaneous trip up to the scenic river site.

Us at the river. It was nice to show Ari and Matt the other communities that I work in, but we were not prepared to sit in the back of the truck for so long under the hot sun. We arrived back at the house several hours later, exhausted and a little pinker than we had started but you just can’t pass up opportunities like that to venture up to the beautiful countryside.My community youth group was excited to have visitors and wanted to give my friends a tour of Emaus but off the beaten trail. We packed lunches, water and swimsuits and headed into the jungle. Human pyramid at the waterfalls. See below for the video

I started teaching English class with my friend from World Teach. We teach every week to all the

Thank you Ariana and Matt for taking time to come out and spend an exciting week with me! I know that the campo life is an adjustment, and I appreciate you guys being up for all the random escapades. Un million de gracias for bringing me treats from the U.S. and for your generosity while you were here! I can’t say thank you enough….my house is always open to you for when you are ready for more good story moments!

Missing In Action No Longer :)

As the Ecuadorians would say, “hace los años que no te veo.” (It has been years since I last saw you.) Time has gotten away from me, and I can’t believe February has already come and gone. I have been staying quite busy since I last posted. (my birthday. Ahhh!)
So, I will do my best to catch you up to speed without writing a novel.

My host brother, Joselo, graduated grade school

Me, Joselo and his cousin Jennifer. (I could barely get him to stand next to me in a picture. It is a love hate relationship…hence, lots of patience required.) My host mom/counterpart, Cecilia, and I in Quito for Reconnect, a Peace Corps conference on developing projects.
It was Cecilia’s first time to Quito, and we had to do some scrambling before we left to find her some warm clothes to wear to bear the cold sierra weather. So, sporting a pair of my black shoes (she didn’t own any closed toe shoes), my counterpart and I took the 9 hour journey together to get to Quito where we met up with all my Peace Corps friends and their counterparts.
After the workshops for our counterparts were finished, they headed back to their sites and then my friends and I spent the rest of the week catching up, going out and speaking English!

After Reconnect, I went with my friend Chris to spend time with Sam in her site, Pacto. She lives in a cute little town that is similar in climate to my site. Good tranquilo time. My favorite part was our hike to the waterfalls. I’m looking forward to going back!

Random tree swing that reached out over a big crevasse with the river roaring below.

We headed to Ibarra for a Superbowl party. We made a seven layer dip and ate pizza trying to make the party feel as American as possible despite the fact that the game was in Spanish…(castigo! vs. penalty) Youth group conference at Crucita beach.

We are currently working on the theme sexuality, which is a very under addressed topic in my site. I help teach the workshops, and then I go to the youth group meetings to reinforce the info. that the youth promoters are teaching to their group.

Blowfish that we found out on the beach

Self-esteem activity with the Tamarindo youth group

More updates to come....

Cheers to being 24!

Friday, January 16th I turned 24-years-old. It wasn't until I had to blow out the candles on my cake (which were really matches because we did not have any candles) that I realized how many years have gone by since I graduated high school and became an "adult." I left Grandview High School in 2003 and was off to figure out my future and discover the world. Now 2009, living in a different country, I am still working on discovering the mysteries of life but I am realizing just how important is is to show kindness to all and to be true to yourself. PC has been a very humbling experience.

On Friday, my PC friends that live in Manabi with me took me out to dinner and dancing to celebrate my big day. Thanks to Kristen, everyone knew it was my birthday because she gave me a sparkly crown that I had to sport around the enitre night. It dressed up my outfit. Thanks friend. ;)Saturday afternoon, my friends from my community helped me celebrate my bday. These girls are the culprits of the future cake fight. (don't let their innocent faces fool you)My friend Jennifer personalized my cake for me with my Spanish name TaliaIt is tradition to make the birthday girl take a bite of her cake before serving it to everyone. Of course, with the person's face that close to the cake, it is just too tempting not to push their face into the creamy frosted dessert. This initiated a frosting fight and before I knew it everyone was flinging cake everywhere. No one escaped the party with out leaving with chunks of white frosting in their hair.

Saturday night, my host family also made me a special birthday dinner. For dessert, we got Jello in fancy glasses and an ice cream cake! Because it is the rainy season and there are lots of bugs, we ate by candlelight.

The second time around that I was encouraged to take a bite of the cake, I was more cautious about who was behind me. I thought I had it all under control, when someone's hand (my Aunt Monce's) quickly slipped behind my head and tipped my face into the frozen cake. Instead of icing, this time I had ice cream dripping down my face. It's one of those situations that you just have to laugh about because there is no fighting the tradition.

All in all, my birthday was a day to remember and to reflect. Thanks to everyone who sent me endearing emails, letters and care packages! Even from miles away, you know how to make someone feel loved. Thank you!

Christmas in my site

Here are some more pictures of the holiday season spent in Ecuador.
After our tour of the coast, it was time to head to my site to spend Christmas with my host family.

My host family (Aunt Gladys, Me, Aunt Monce, Host Mom Cecilia and brother Joselo) with their Christmas stockings from Dan and I.People in my community are not use to getting presents for Christmas so it was fun for Dan and I toplay Santa Clause for my host-family who has taken such good care of me. As you can see, Joselo was very excited about his new Leatherman tool kit that we got him to work on his bikes. It was also fun to introduce my host family to candy canes, which they found very odd at first. (Thanks Mom for all the Christmas goodies that allowed me to share some of the classic American Christmas traditions with my friends here in Ecuador.)Dan giving lessons to Joselo and the neighbor kids on how to use the new fancy Leatherman. The boys loved Dan and continue to ask me when he will be coming back to play soccer and to show them more bike tricks.My friends in my community threw Dan and I a Christmas party! We all danced until late in the night, played interesting Ecuadorian games and ate lots of Christmas treats. One of the games we played reminded me somewhat of "Truth or Dare." Each person had to choose a balloon and pop it to find a small paper inside that disclosed the challenge/dare. Dan balloon said he had to retrieve coins from a bucket of water with his mouth, which he successfully completed after he got a nose full of water. I lucked out and was only dared to drink a small glass of beer with a spoon. Others had to put on embarrassing performances and dance in front of the group.My good friend Delia had to put on a show as if she were in a beauty queen pageant.My friend Gladys had to put limes under her armpits for 5 minutes. After the balloon game, the party continued with "Amiga Secretas, " which is equivalent to our Secret Snowman. My friend Delia got me a beautiful purse that says Ecuador on it, and I love it! I don't know what I would do with out this fabulous group of girls.

Also, during our time at my site we had a Christmas party for the kids in my community. Maria Belen was chosen to be the "Queen" of the party. (Her and her 4 year-old little brother Alvin are some of my favorite kidsand are always over at my house.)

As I have learned through planning other events and activities in my community, many things tend to run late. At the kids Christmas party, when the food was over 2 hours late, we started running out of ideas of how to keep the kids occupied. We had over 50 hipper children running around on a sugar high looking to be entertained. Someone suggested we have a "Hora Loca," which is a traditional party activity where everyone dresses up in Mardi Grass costumes and dances for an entire hour to loud energetic music. Well, the youth group I was working with happened to have a bag full of costumes that even came complete with two random clown costumes. It was perfect!

After many pleas and begging, my friends and I had convinced Dan and another friend (also male) to dress up like clowns and dance with the kids. As Dan was hesitantly slipping into the clown suit (in what I’m sure felt like 100 degree weather), I helped paint his nose and cheeks red with finger-paint. I knew it was a big favor to ask but I also knew he would soon realize what a great thing he was doing for the kids. The Christmas party would be something they would never forget. Below is the video of Dan being such a good sport and playing limbo with the group. He was so great with the kidos.

La Ruta del Sol

After our adventures in the Galapagos, we worked our way up to my site by traveling along the Ruta del Sol, which lines the Ecuadorian coast. We spent time in several different beach towns. I was slowly letting Dan adjust to the "real" Ecuadorian lifestyle vs. the fancy full service Galapagos cruise lifestyle that he had gotten use to.
Dan and I's sand sea turle that lives in Los Frailes beaches

Our ecologically friendly hotel called Alandaluz...great place and highly recommend.We had a private beach in front of Alandaluz...so peaceful

We even found a random baby sea turtle that had washed up onto the beach!

We decided to put him back on track.
(When I got back to my host family's house to share my travel stories, they asked me why I didn't bring the turtle "home." I began to laugh at the idea of traveling with a little sea turtle and then looked back at my host families faces and began to realize that I don't think they were joking...a little strange.)

Lots of little sea creatures on the beach

Fish market days are the best time to visit the fish ports...white-tip sharks, hammer heads and sword fish just to name a few.

All the birds know where to hang out if they want their meals served on a platter...poor fisherman would be carrying heavy buckets of fish on their shoulders as birds would be stealing any fish they could quickly snatch up.Venturing out to Isla de la Plata
Isla de la Plata is full of boobies

It was breading season, so we got to see hundreds of baby Blue Footed Boobies

Los Frailes....pictures don't do justice, but these beaches are considered some of the best on the whole pacific coastline.

We ate mangos for lunch, but I sadly dropped mine in the sand.
We took a motor-taxi to Los FrailesAs you can see from the line on my forehead, the motor-taxis are a fun but very dirty form of transportation.

This Christmas season was spent with a very different backdrop than I am use to. The next post will have pictures of Dan and I's Christmas in my site.

I would like to take this time to say thank you for all my warm emails and Christmas cards. Thank you for thinking of me and for showing your support. I can't begin to tell you how much I missed spending the holidays with family and friends.
...and many blessings to you all for the new year!

(To be continued...)