Watch out for agua mala/mala agua
Last Sunday, the 4th, I came home from Church so that Katie, her parents, Jim and Bliss and I could head to Baños. We left around 2:45, so we got there around 6:30pm. Anyway, I started Kite Runner on the way there, SUCH a good book. When we got there, we checked into the hotel (Katie and I stayed with her parents) and we went and found a bar to watch the Superbowl. The only thing that sucked was that they didn’t have the commercials which are the best parts! ☺ Oh well. I got a drink called the Grasshopper, NOT very good. Katie and I played a little pool with some of the locals, and after the game when Jim, Bliss, Ann and Stan went back to the hotel, we stayed out. We danced with this guy named Paulo and his brother, I’m not sure what his name is, but they taught us to Salsa.. So the next morning we woke up at had breakfast at the hotel and rented bikes for $4. Since Katie had already ridden the path, she was our tour guide. I think it was about a 7-9 km bike ride. Along the way we passed 5 waterfalls. We stopped at one point to ride in a cable car between these canyon like things. It was SO beautiful… Once we got across, there was this woman there who had this pet monkey. It JUMPED on me, I was only scared b/c one girl got bit by a monkey and supposedly got rabies. Don’t worry mom and dad, no rabies… yet ;) haha, just joking! Anyway, so then we made it down to Rio Verde, this small town, where we then hiked down to Rincon del Diablo (I think I spelled that wrong) but the English name for it is Devil’s Cauldron. It’s this HUGE waterfall, that was SO SO goreous. It was about a 20 minute hike to it, and then once we got back, we ate lunch at this cute little café. We got a ride back in the truck, and then afterward, Katie and I had to head home to work on our stupid Public Health paper. Jim and Bliss and Katie’s parents are so, so nice. Oh, and Jim brought with him granola, candy hearts and cherry sour balls that my mom sent. She also sent a Valentine’s Day card. I honestly have the greatest parents in the world. So, on the way back from Baños, Katie and I worked on our paper and I finished Kite Runner!!! We were up till about 11 that night working on the paper. (We missed Spanish Monday in order to go to Banos)
Tuesday we had our presentations and we were the only group to present in Spanish. Our presentation went really well. During lunch we walked to El Jardin and el Centro Commercial (two malls). I bought 3 DVDs for $4.50. (The Holiday, The devil wears Parada and Brokeback mountain). After school, we went down to the Mariscal to a bookstore and I bought two books. Then we bought our tickets for Puerto Lopez. Marco Emilio (my Ecuadorian brother) invited us to a soccer game Tuesday night, and I thought it was going to be some small league game. It was HUGe, with tons of people, drinking, swearing, etc. I tried an empanada borocho which was good, but really greasy. Liga, the team was playing Paraguay and ended up winning 3-0. The atmosphere there is incredible. This one section, I think it’s called White Death is CRAZY, jumping up and down and yelling the entire time. The third goal scored as a bicycle kick, it was INCREDIBLE. I found out Tuesday that I have a phone interview Friday with Northeastern University. That would be awesome if I have to make a choice between schools. We didn’t get back from the soccer game till 11:30. I was so exhausted because I had woke up that morning at 5:35 to walk/run with my mom.
Wednesday morning Katie, my mom and I went to el parque Carolina and we ran and stuff. It feels so good to run, I miss exercising. After school Wednesday, I treated my mom to a pedicure and manicure. It cost $11 (well $10 plus a little tip) for BOTH of us to get both things done. CRAZINESS.
Well, this past weekend was ABSOLUTELY fabulous. Thursday we just had two seminars and then everyone brought in an Ecuadorian dish. I brought pineapple juice and ahí. Ahí is made with tomate de arbol, onions, green onions, chochos, and I’m not sure what else. It’s a typical Ecuadorian salsa, people put it on anything! Anyway, katie’s banana bread deal was REALLY, really good, and so was Jeannie’s avocado salad. Britt made this chocolate stuff that tasted like brownie mix. It was delicious. After school, Katie and I packed up, went for a little walk and then flew to Manta. It was about a 30 minute flight. We then took a bus to Jipijapa and then from there to Puerto Lopez. In Jipijapa, we bought this banana that was on the grill, it was SO delicious! When we arrived in Puerto Lopez, this guy in a blue car with dark tinted windows offered us a ride in his “taxi.” I think he actually was a taxi driver, but we took a little moped deal that’s like a “Tuck-tuck,” at least that’s what Bliss called it all weekend. So, we checked into Hostel Mandala, ordered some popcorn and went to bed early. They were little cabanas, each named after a different animal, so we were the Tortuga, haha. The beds had mosquito nets around them… eek. The next morning we woke up fairly early on our own, and ran for about 20 minutes, walked another 20 and then we went and ate at the Whale Café. We each had fruit, granola and yogurt with a fresh juice. We met some guys who were from Ohio who had been climbing all the mountains, they seemed nice, but were heading to Montañita. After that, I had my interview with Northeastern University. The woman was really, really nice. She actually graduated from UW and got her Master’s there. She asked me why I wanted to do Nurse Practitioner and what experience I had. I asked her questions about the program… There was over 200 applicatants. They cut it down for interviews, but only have spots for 35 people. I’ll find out this coming week if I get in or not. Scary! I hope I have to choose between schools, but U of Rochester is a great school as well. I’m getting excited for nursing school, very excited. After my interview, Katie and I layed on the beach for an hour, and then by a pool at Hotel Oceanic, waiting for her parents, Jim and Bliss. I don’t think they ended up arriving until around 2, so we got some good sun time in. ☺ We then ate a late lunch at the hotel, went into town to set up a tour for Saturday. We came back, swam and all went to bed early.
Saturday was soooo much fun. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to Wiston Churchill (HILARIOUS name, no?) his business, because he was going to be his tour guide. His 9 year old daughter Alena came along, and she was so incredibly beautiful, sweet, adorable, etc. There were two other guys on the boat, I can’t remember one of their names, but the other they called “Africano” because he is so dark. Anyway, so the tour included seeing blue-footed boobies, some beach called the beach of love, snorkeling, La Isla Salango, more snorkeling and some swimming to this deserted beach. The first spot we snorkled at though, we all got stung by what they called “mala agua,” which apparently is either a small man-of-war, or a jellyfish. It hurt like HELL. We all had little welts and/or red lines all over our body. It stung for a good thirty minutes, haha. After the first snorkeling, we then fished, which was so much fun!! The “fishing poles” were blocks of wood with the fishing line attached. The fish we were trying to catch though were really, really intelligent. There were many times that they got the bait off the hook without getting caught. But, I ended up catching 4 fish which was really fun for me. Between the 6 of us, I think we caught 17 fish which Wiston and his two men used for Ceviche for lunch. They soaked the fish in limes, which caused it to no longer be raw(?), sort of (?) and then put in tomatos, green peppers and onions with a little bit of ketchup, mustard and peanut butter. It was really, really good. We snorkled at two other places, one of which had coral, so that was pretty cool. The prettiest fish I saw was this really small, floruescent blue one. I saw a lot of cool ones though, including starfish, so that was fun. We also saw a dead tortise ☹ apparently, it probably got hit by a boat. Sad! We also swam to a really pretty, deserted beach. Wiston invited us over for dinner Saturday night with his family, to cook up the rest of the fish we had caught. So, once we got back around 3 (we were out for about 6 hours,) we all napped. It was SO hot that day… I was exhausted. Katie and I got “Coco Loco’s” on the way to Wiston’s house… I think it’s basically the same thing as a Piña Colada without the pineapple. Anyway, it was SUPER strong, would have been better without alcohol lol but it was really good, with coconut chunks in it. Dinner at Wiston’s house was fun. The fish was AMAZING. We had fish, rice, some veggie salsa type thing and patacones. It’s crazy though. He has six kids and they live in this tiny place, with a loft area where they all sleep. No one in the town has running water. They gave me a shark tale necklace made out of a clam shell. They did an eenie meanie miney mo thing with Katie and I. His family was really sweet…
Sunday morning we slept in and then went to eat breakfast at the Whale Café again. Katie and I split a banana pancake and we also ordered the fruit, yogurt and granola. The pancakes were AMAZING. We then spent about an hour or so talking to the owner of the restaurant. He’s from California, has been in Ecuador about 24 years, and Puerto Lopez about 11yrs. He came to Ecuador because he was a shrimp biologist… Now he and his wife just own the restaurant. It was pretty interesting all the things he was telling us about the complications in getting land property, just the ways of Ecaudor, etc. After that, we shopped around a tiny bit, and Ann (Katie’s mom) but each of us a tie-dye dress, which is SUPER cute. It was so nice of her. Katie’s parents and Jim and Bliss are so amazing. We then came back and Katie and I layed in the sun for a last few 30 minutes, and we took the bus to Jipjapa. On the way there, I was sitting next to a guy who was like 40, and just kept talking and talking. I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was read, but that wasn’t possible. He was asking questions about like if I had a boyfriend, and he wanted me to meet his friend, etc. Thankfully, he got off about 25 minutes later. But THEN, this guy behind me, with like missing, crooked, grayish teeth wanted to take my picture with his camera phone, asking when I’m coming back to Puerto Lopez and his friend would take me to some national park. I was like NO, I’m not coming back here… and he’s like “why, it’s not pretty?” I was like it’s very pretty, but I don’t have time, etc. He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, in the US. Then he asks about here? And I was like “of course not, because I have on in the US.” So he’s like “infiel?” (Unfaithful) I was like NO. I don’t know what he was getting at. Gotta love public transportation, huh? Anyway, he finally got off as well, which I was very, very thankful for. Then a really sweet girl got on and talked to me for awhile. She said she had gotten on the bus with her “enormorado,” which means the person she’s in love with. It was really cute. Anyway, we then took a bus to Manta, waited for two hours or so and flew home. Now I’m home and SO ready for bed. I’m exhausted and going walking with my mom at 6am. I feel sort of chubby. My arms are definitely losing their muscle which is sad, they are kind of floppy! ICK. I’m going to Canoa EARLY Friday morning for Carnavalwith my brother and Katie. David and Kyle (both from CIMAS) are going as well. It should be really fun!
Love you all and miss you. I can't believe I'm halfway finished here... hope all is well
Tuesday we had our presentations and we were the only group to present in Spanish. Our presentation went really well. During lunch we walked to El Jardin and el Centro Commercial (two malls). I bought 3 DVDs for $4.50. (The Holiday, The devil wears Parada and Brokeback mountain). After school, we went down to the Mariscal to a bookstore and I bought two books. Then we bought our tickets for Puerto Lopez. Marco Emilio (my Ecuadorian brother) invited us to a soccer game Tuesday night, and I thought it was going to be some small league game. It was HUGe, with tons of people, drinking, swearing, etc. I tried an empanada borocho which was good, but really greasy. Liga, the team was playing Paraguay and ended up winning 3-0. The atmosphere there is incredible. This one section, I think it’s called White Death is CRAZY, jumping up and down and yelling the entire time. The third goal scored as a bicycle kick, it was INCREDIBLE. I found out Tuesday that I have a phone interview Friday with Northeastern University. That would be awesome if I have to make a choice between schools. We didn’t get back from the soccer game till 11:30. I was so exhausted because I had woke up that morning at 5:35 to walk/run with my mom.
Wednesday morning Katie, my mom and I went to el parque Carolina and we ran and stuff. It feels so good to run, I miss exercising. After school Wednesday, I treated my mom to a pedicure and manicure. It cost $11 (well $10 plus a little tip) for BOTH of us to get both things done. CRAZINESS.
Well, this past weekend was ABSOLUTELY fabulous. Thursday we just had two seminars and then everyone brought in an Ecuadorian dish. I brought pineapple juice and ahí. Ahí is made with tomate de arbol, onions, green onions, chochos, and I’m not sure what else. It’s a typical Ecuadorian salsa, people put it on anything! Anyway, katie’s banana bread deal was REALLY, really good, and so was Jeannie’s avocado salad. Britt made this chocolate stuff that tasted like brownie mix. It was delicious. After school, Katie and I packed up, went for a little walk and then flew to Manta. It was about a 30 minute flight. We then took a bus to Jipijapa and then from there to Puerto Lopez. In Jipijapa, we bought this banana that was on the grill, it was SO delicious! When we arrived in Puerto Lopez, this guy in a blue car with dark tinted windows offered us a ride in his “taxi.” I think he actually was a taxi driver, but we took a little moped deal that’s like a “Tuck-tuck,” at least that’s what Bliss called it all weekend. So, we checked into Hostel Mandala, ordered some popcorn and went to bed early. They were little cabanas, each named after a different animal, so we were the Tortuga, haha. The beds had mosquito nets around them… eek. The next morning we woke up fairly early on our own, and ran for about 20 minutes, walked another 20 and then we went and ate at the Whale Café. We each had fruit, granola and yogurt with a fresh juice. We met some guys who were from Ohio who had been climbing all the mountains, they seemed nice, but were heading to Montañita. After that, I had my interview with Northeastern University. The woman was really, really nice. She actually graduated from UW and got her Master’s there. She asked me why I wanted to do Nurse Practitioner and what experience I had. I asked her questions about the program… There was over 200 applicatants. They cut it down for interviews, but only have spots for 35 people. I’ll find out this coming week if I get in or not. Scary! I hope I have to choose between schools, but U of Rochester is a great school as well. I’m getting excited for nursing school, very excited. After my interview, Katie and I layed on the beach for an hour, and then by a pool at Hotel Oceanic, waiting for her parents, Jim and Bliss. I don’t think they ended up arriving until around 2, so we got some good sun time in. ☺ We then ate a late lunch at the hotel, went into town to set up a tour for Saturday. We came back, swam and all went to bed early.
Saturday was soooo much fun. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to Wiston Churchill (HILARIOUS name, no?) his business, because he was going to be his tour guide. His 9 year old daughter Alena came along, and she was so incredibly beautiful, sweet, adorable, etc. There were two other guys on the boat, I can’t remember one of their names, but the other they called “Africano” because he is so dark. Anyway, so the tour included seeing blue-footed boobies, some beach called the beach of love, snorkeling, La Isla Salango, more snorkeling and some swimming to this deserted beach. The first spot we snorkled at though, we all got stung by what they called “mala agua,” which apparently is either a small man-of-war, or a jellyfish. It hurt like HELL. We all had little welts and/or red lines all over our body. It stung for a good thirty minutes, haha. After the first snorkeling, we then fished, which was so much fun!! The “fishing poles” were blocks of wood with the fishing line attached. The fish we were trying to catch though were really, really intelligent. There were many times that they got the bait off the hook without getting caught. But, I ended up catching 4 fish which was really fun for me. Between the 6 of us, I think we caught 17 fish which Wiston and his two men used for Ceviche for lunch. They soaked the fish in limes, which caused it to no longer be raw(?), sort of (?) and then put in tomatos, green peppers and onions with a little bit of ketchup, mustard and peanut butter. It was really, really good. We snorkled at two other places, one of which had coral, so that was pretty cool. The prettiest fish I saw was this really small, floruescent blue one. I saw a lot of cool ones though, including starfish, so that was fun. We also saw a dead tortise ☹ apparently, it probably got hit by a boat. Sad! We also swam to a really pretty, deserted beach. Wiston invited us over for dinner Saturday night with his family, to cook up the rest of the fish we had caught. So, once we got back around 3 (we were out for about 6 hours,) we all napped. It was SO hot that day… I was exhausted. Katie and I got “Coco Loco’s” on the way to Wiston’s house… I think it’s basically the same thing as a Piña Colada without the pineapple. Anyway, it was SUPER strong, would have been better without alcohol lol but it was really good, with coconut chunks in it. Dinner at Wiston’s house was fun. The fish was AMAZING. We had fish, rice, some veggie salsa type thing and patacones. It’s crazy though. He has six kids and they live in this tiny place, with a loft area where they all sleep. No one in the town has running water. They gave me a shark tale necklace made out of a clam shell. They did an eenie meanie miney mo thing with Katie and I. His family was really sweet…
Sunday morning we slept in and then went to eat breakfast at the Whale Café again. Katie and I split a banana pancake and we also ordered the fruit, yogurt and granola. The pancakes were AMAZING. We then spent about an hour or so talking to the owner of the restaurant. He’s from California, has been in Ecuador about 24 years, and Puerto Lopez about 11yrs. He came to Ecuador because he was a shrimp biologist… Now he and his wife just own the restaurant. It was pretty interesting all the things he was telling us about the complications in getting land property, just the ways of Ecaudor, etc. After that, we shopped around a tiny bit, and Ann (Katie’s mom) but each of us a tie-dye dress, which is SUPER cute. It was so nice of her. Katie’s parents and Jim and Bliss are so amazing. We then came back and Katie and I layed in the sun for a last few 30 minutes, and we took the bus to Jipjapa. On the way there, I was sitting next to a guy who was like 40, and just kept talking and talking. I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was read, but that wasn’t possible. He was asking questions about like if I had a boyfriend, and he wanted me to meet his friend, etc. Thankfully, he got off about 25 minutes later. But THEN, this guy behind me, with like missing, crooked, grayish teeth wanted to take my picture with his camera phone, asking when I’m coming back to Puerto Lopez and his friend would take me to some national park. I was like NO, I’m not coming back here… and he’s like “why, it’s not pretty?” I was like it’s very pretty, but I don’t have time, etc. He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, in the US. Then he asks about here? And I was like “of course not, because I have on in the US.” So he’s like “infiel?” (Unfaithful) I was like NO. I don’t know what he was getting at. Gotta love public transportation, huh? Anyway, he finally got off as well, which I was very, very thankful for. Then a really sweet girl got on and talked to me for awhile. She said she had gotten on the bus with her “enormorado,” which means the person she’s in love with. It was really cute. Anyway, we then took a bus to Manta, waited for two hours or so and flew home. Now I’m home and SO ready for bed. I’m exhausted and going walking with my mom at 6am. I feel sort of chubby. My arms are definitely losing their muscle which is sad, they are kind of floppy! ICK. I’m going to Canoa EARLY Friday morning for Carnavalwith my brother and Katie. David and Kyle (both from CIMAS) are going as well. It should be really fun!
Love you all and miss you. I can't believe I'm halfway finished here... hope all is well
posted by Mariah at 5:44 AM
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