A Night in Ecuador

The other night we had a light rain then a beautiful sight. A double rainbow. Apparently rainbows are not common in Ecuador so when you get to see one it is special. and a double rainbow is extra special.

Then after  dinner we looked out the window again and another beautiful sight over the mountains. It reminded me of the great summers up north taking never ending sunset pictures for my mother. But he mountains instead of the lake was breathtaking. 

Last night we had an amazing dinner. Mom made homemade lasagna. It was vegetarian lasagna but so good. The ingredients were so fresh and extra yummy!

Then we went to the bar. an Irish pub called Finn McCool's. (They are not very clever) Ecuador was playing and we wanted a be immersed in the soccer craziness that all most all other countries except the U.S. has over the sport.Unfortunately they lost to Paraguay. There were a couple fights in the streets over the game but nothing too brutal! We did learn a cheer and got in the mood for when we actually get to go to a game live!

Weird hot drink that tastes like mangos and is made from moonshine!

Dia de los Muertos!

For Dia de los muertos( day of the dead)  it is traditional to make guaguas de pan (bread babies) and colada colada morada (a traditional drink).

My students made their own baby using the traditional dough.

Then after they bake they decorated them. This adds sweetness to the bread and gives them the illusion of a baby. 

 

This was also a way to start learning about the parts of the body in English!

When we were finished decorating we enjoyed eating our guaguas de pan and drinking our colada morada.

H-A-Double L-O-W-Double E-N Spells Halloween!

Yes, in Ecuador they celebrate Halloween. Well some of them. The Ecuadorians that have us roots or backgrounds. 

The students dressed up at school and had a parade and scary stories were told.

Here is a picture of all of them in their cute costumes!

Mi Casa

I love my house. It really is home away from home. It is very clean and beautiful. I love the gigantic pictures that are on all of the walls. 

My Room: I have a huge room. A twin bed with flannel sheets!,  a large closet (but I barley brought clothes so it is a little bare) 2 sitting chairs with a TV, a great view out at the court yard and my vary own bathroom. 

Entrance Way: Very inviting warm green walls

Sitting Room: Again very warm felling with the rustic orange colors and a real fire place.

Dining Room: Get this we actually use this room to eat in! Nana would be happy

Kitchen: Bright white and clean. Lots of counter space and two stoves because everyone in the family loves to cook.

Living Room/Office: It is upstairs but still is the hang out of the house.

Missy's Room: This is where she makes me stay and be her sister... or else!

My sister Melissa and puppy Ziggy

My brother Nick and puppy Kody

feliz cumpleaños a Katy!

November 3rd
Today was Katy's Birthday!

We started with a wonderful breakfast from the hotel again then off to the Mariposorio, the butterfly farm. We learned about the life cycles and actually saw one breaking out of its chrysalis! super cool!. The we we able to feel them and let them take a nap our our arms. This place was way better than the one in mackinaw or at Fredric Meijor Gardens. It was so hands on and the butterflies loved being fed by hand!  

Then it was off to the bus and back in a taxi.  Bye Mindo!






Later the girls had some girl time. We baked a cake and drank wine while singing Feliz Cumpleaños!

Then it was off to the bars. 

Maggi got her wish to work behind the bar and made our drinks she was so excited. Then Katy took some salsa lessons from the bar manager. We had scrumptious mojitos then it was bar hopping from then on.

 

We left and came back to my house where my brother nick was having a small party and stayed up till 5:30!

Happy birthday Katy! Big 24!!

MINDO.... continued!

November 2nd

We finally found out what happened to Peter and decided to be lazy until he arrived at 11am. We had an amazing breakfast that was complementary from the hotel. The pineapple is so fresh and juicy that it is pure white, not yellow like in the States. But we made plans to have a never ending fun filled completely packed day ahead of us!

After we picked up peter we went for a 3 hour hike through the Cloud Forest. There are many waterfalls which was our goal. The hiking was very hard at first. we are still trying to get used to the altitude change( 9,000 feet above sea level) but we seemed to get used to it quickly. The water was freezing and we had to get into look behind boulders to actually see the falls but it was amazing!

As soon as we arrived back in town it was a mad dash to the room to put on dry clothes then off to El Quetzal. This american couple came to Ecuador and decided to stay and make chocolate. We toured and learned the steps in making chocolate. Then we were given some samples. It was so yummy. I'm glad we went to because I am pretty sure Katy and Maggie would have killed someone if they didn't get their chocolate fix!

Once we were finish buying some amazing chocolate items we hiked across town to Mindo Lago. Here we had dinner and cervezas (beer). The food was amazing. The girls had steaks that were on volcanic stones. The best meat I have ever tasted! and it was cheap. The the reason we were here, the Frog concert. 

Our guide Randy, taught us that this is a conservation that one man started. They now have 37 registered frogs living here and all he did was planted native plats. We had an hour hike by flashlights around the property looking at the frogs, spiders, and a log that when naturally decomposing certain micro-organisms make the sticks glow. Randy called them Advatar hiking sticks!

Then it was a night on the town and small vendor shopping. 

The First Adventure! MINDO

November 1st
First we needed to get a cab to take us to the bus station. Kyle and I were in  wonderful cab and it took us to the wrong bus station which meant we were late for our bus at la Ofelia. Thankfully the bus driver was happy to wait for us, the guards however were very angry! While Kyle and I though we had it bad, Peter never showed up to the bus. We later found out that his taxi was hit by another car. then the taxi that he changed into got lost and eventually took him home for free. AKA crazy start to a great Vacation! The bus ride was 2 hours long!

When We arrived we checked into our beautiful hotel at he Dragon Fly Inn. It is owned by one of the faculty at the school I work at. Beautiful clean, fast stream as a view and awesome nature sounds to but you to sleep.

Then the 4 of us traveled through the tiny town of Mindo and found the agency we wanted to work with, it had a owl not a parrot on the sign! We did 10 zip lines of various lengths  in the canopy of the Cloud Forest. It was breath taking. I became friends with the guides, well they tried to teach me Spanish and I made them laugh a lot both with my broken Spanglish and my craziness. 


And then they made us do crazy tricks on the lines!


After a long day we ate a nice dinner had a few glasses of wine and played cards. Because it was a Tuesday night the town was completely dead. not one person in the many bars of Mindo! But that did not stop us from having a great time together!