"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Estas seguro quieres luchar... Are you sure you want to wrestle?

Bad idea.

Mitch, a volunteer who works in the south, came to visit for the weekend. It was interesting to show him the town and what San Isidro has to offer. Thankfully, a decent amount.

We walked around town, ate lots of snacks, and decided to take a trip to the beach with the kids.

We went to the park and hired a car. After an hour or so, we were there. Matal, a nice small beach north of Bahia.

Tourists hadly ever go there, or even know about it, so it's much better for us. It feels safe like being in town.

The kids built mermaids(?)...

Which turned into wrestling somehow!

Jimmy, one of the eldest kids always wants to wrestle me for some reason. We were at the beach, so I said 'yes' for once.

He was strong... but, well, you know how it goes!

We ended with a nap in our hammocks and cold coconut juice.

Not a bad day.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Bailes o Payasos, cual es peor?... Dances or Clowns, which is worse?

Trick question. Clowns are awesome!

Today there were all sorts of events taking place in town. For some reason, there was some sort of dance program at the elementary school. Rimber's son, Brek, had to perform.

He feels just like I do about dancing; hates it.

At the same time, on the other side of town was the Granito de Arena Foundation's welcome party. (The foundation is were Karen and Jennifer work, and provide assistance for children with disabilities).

There was a clown who was pretty hilarious.

The kids certainly like him and his dance-offs.

The reina's from the town were even there with gifts to show their support.

(Who knew they actually did stuff?).

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Viajes a la finca, el mejor Domingo aqui... Trips to the farm, the best Sunday here.

Lots of people seemed to be around today, so we took a trip to the family's farm, "Mono". (They call it that because there are monkeys in the trees sometimes).

As usual, the trucks were packed with anyone and everyone. There must have been over 20 of us going.

We walked around in the forest, eating crazy fruits along the way. This one was like pumpkin and mango; odd.

I was really there with the machete just making sure there weren't any snakes.

Mario found some cool little birds in one of the trees. He made sure I didn't tell anyone about them though. He seemed afraid that someone would eat them or something?

The new bridge over Rio Grande. Is that structurally sound actually??

And we finished the afternoon with a meal. I didn't really do much for the meal besides pick/carry fruit. But they were excited about the picture, so why not.

We ate rice with plantains and a peanut/tomato sauce.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Usando pintadores grafiti para lo que son buenos... Using grafiti painters for what they're good at.

Painting.

A few weeks ago Javi asked me to come see the bathroom in the high school. I was pretty confused, but I said "sure".

Thankfully when I entered, I knew exactly why he had asked.

There was grafiti all over the walls; something very new for San Isidro. Luckily, Javi already knew exactly who did it.

Lets just say, kids are not the brightest. This group decided to 'tag' "Los Angeles", the name of the neighborhood where they live. Town isn't huge, so only a few kids even live in that neighborhood. Why they didn't write something else, I have no idea?

But nonetheless, Javi wanted them to do something productive with their desire to paint.

And there comes Kasie and her love for painting murals. We called Brent, a volunteer who lives somewhat nearby, and we began. ("somewhat nearby" in Ecuador equals less than 5 hours away).

He, I forget his name, seemed to enjoy helping us.

Everyone did his/her part.

Just mixing the colors was by far my favorite though.

Brent is pretty into art, and he came up with this main image.

The finished product.

Not a bad few hours of work.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: No hay nada como pintar una pared blanco... There's nothing like painting a wall white.

Thankfully Kasie lives here in town too. Why? Well for a few reasons, but one of them being the fact that it's much easier to get back into the groove of things when someone is here working already.

She and the youth group are always painting something. And today we were working here... a wall in front of one of the main entrances to town.

Apparently this is how you mix paint in San Isidro? I usually just like to use a stick, but that works too!

And good thing this is a brick wall, this can't be even.

We're actually just painting it white because they want to paint murals on the wall in the future. Murals that will hopefully influence the behaviors of the people who see them while they are driving in to town. All jokes aside, it was really great. The kids worked hard and they were volunteering their time to do good, the most important part.

Umm, what happened to your face?

Whoa, what happened to YOUR face?? Rocked!

All of the kids.

I really didn't paint too much, mostly because there were tons of youth there to help. But I did take a good amount of pictures for them.

Afterwards, I went home and made lunch. Simple, but good. Salad, Grilled cheese on multi-grain bread (I buy that in Bahia), and pound cake(which Senora Cecilia gave me) with jam.

Yeah, it was pretty awesome.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Solo una vez cada ano, los fiestas y desfiles de San Isidro... Only one time each year, the parties and parades of San Isidro.

Parade time! If you happen to remember from my time in Cayambe, parades are huge here. Every school, every organization, every little group participates. It's nice. (It's nice that they care to do it).

The new Reina with the president of the local government and the mayor of the regional government.

Kasie and the local youth group.

And as usual, everyone in the entire county comes in to town to particpate/watch!

The high school was by far the best. They had all sorts of things. Javi and the high school professors.

The high school dance team. I have a video, but it's too big to post.

And the high school band was great. For a week straight I heard them practicing the same song over and over and over again. It paid off though. They nailed it. And as usual, the drummers were the cool kids in school.

After the parade we took a spin on the caterpillar train! (Really, Kasie just wanted to, so we went along).

It was fun though because we're in Ecuador. And in Ecuador, there are no rules.

My place is looking more cheery. I put up some card and letter people have given me. And I put up a t-shirt that the kids gave me when I went and spoke at their school.

Happy Birthday Slick!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Yo llegue en un buen tiempo para que? La Reina de San Isidro!... I arrived in time for what? San Isidro's Reina Competition!

If you don't know much about Ecuadorians, at least know that they love their Reinas. Reinas being Queens... Yeah, think Miss Virginia.

I'm back in Ecuador, and not too much has changed in town. The church seems to have a new paint job (at least the front of it).

And there are carnival type activities in the center. Think of a fair that you'd see in a movie out west; it reminds me of that. There is a huge moon bounce type slide, a caterpillar train, and foosball tables.

And don't forget the random street food vendors. There's the usual cotton candy and popcorn, but also the more Ecuadorian meat and plantains. (Yeah, I'm not touching that).

Back to the real story: Reinas. They are a huge deal. So huge in fact, that the entire town comes out. There is a guest emcee, judges, and even entertainment.

The show/pageant began at 10pm with Cotton Eye Joe and the contestants walking out. Really, Cotton Eye Joe. I knew this was going to be a long night. ("Cotton Eye Joe" is a song. A pretty bad one. Especially to be using in Ecuador).

There was the usual swimsuit category.

Some of the entertainment included a boy-band from Bahia. Everyone was pretty excited about them.

And there was intermission with some other performance some time around...

Yes, that late. And we still had to listen to the question/answer round!

I left around 1am, after seeing at least one of the evening gowns. I hear it all went until 2:30am though.

My first meal back was awesome. I really just made pasta as usual, but my dad had given me a black pepper grinder and crushed red pepper, so all my meals are 10 times better now.

And you may be thinking, "Wow, it's been a long time since you've written". But I hope you just read this when you're super bored at work ;) Happy Birthday Mom!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Feliz Dia de la Madre... Happy Mother's Day!

As usual, Basma didi threw a crucial Mother's Day brunch. (And as usual, Cesar was ridiculous).

Her rooms and tables straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog (or something even more propper!).

Not only was her house perfect, the weather was too; nice and Spring-like.

The food was yummy. Fried tomatoes, Beef, Biscuits, Crossiants, Mushroom and Asparagus filled pastries, Potatoes, and tons of desserts.

I don't know how she managed, but she did all of the cooking. (Score!)

Definitely a perfect ending to my trip home...

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Viajando por Washington en la noche solo puede significar una cosa... Heading towards Washington at night can only mean one thing

Night bike ride!

Really, it could mean a number of things... but by default, most of them are much less exciting! For me at least.

If you didn't know, biking is one of my favorite hobbies. I mean, what beats riding on the National Mall at night!?!

I won't even get started on me falling in the first 30 seconds. We'll just blame that on the fact that I've been in Ecuador for almost a year.

There are pictures by the Capitol.

And even better ones facing the National Monument.

And you know what this means...

That's right, crucial stands!

And even Lincoln thinks our helmets are pretty cool.

As nice as the monument tour always is, the real fun usually begins afterwards... when pictures cannot be taken. Rides through the city to Georgetown and around... and eventually something good to eat. Quick Pita was on the menu this night.

And when I'm back next, it will be pizza. Get your winter jackets ready!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Que podria haber sido mejor?... Could that have been any better?

Well yes, I suppose so. Longer would have been much better. But I'll take what I can get! It was a much needed break. And it worked out perfectly. I got to see so many of my cousins from around the country and world. Week 1 was all family dinners and preparation for the anniversary party. Week 2 was filled with other random activities. From softball (It had been way too long! I played horribly) to Garden Kitchen visits.

There was the always-ridiculous KAF lunch! We went to a greek restaurant and I had a salad; classic! It did have lamb on it though, so...

A nice quick trip to the lego museum. (Although Rajib's stash of legos is much better!)

I went and gave a talk at Liberty High School in Bealton, VA. There is a program through Peace Corps where I share my stories with a school in the States. Just by chance, my school happens to be only an hour away from Springfield! (Excitement for Springfield, of course). Bealton was nice, though I was only there to speak during the three class periods.

The kids were super good. They were well behaved and even had questions for me. Not only that, they had a pot luck lunch for me with tons of good food. I particularly enjoyed the grilled cheese sandwhiches, which some of the boys had thought I would have missed. Really, their teacher is awesome for setting all of it up. And yes, I totally bought that Ecuadorian shirt 12hours before my plane ride back home!

Naturally, we had to have a crucial dinner at home with (almost) everyone over.

Uncle Bacchu was hilarious as always.

We had a classic Popeyes night, which I definitely had missed!

And even kayaking in Georgetown! (No pictures from that sadly. I was too afraid I'd fall in... again).

The only regret was not spending more time at home. But that will definitely have to happen when I make it back next.

And no worries, I didn't forget about the night bike ride that almost everyone made. But that is a separate post in itself.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Que, estas en un teatro?... What, you're in a play?

Yeah, something like that. I went back to the States for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary! It was great. Not only because they have been married for 50 years, but also what my cousins threw together for the celebration: a crucial gathering with family and friends from all over the world, catered and all.

But first, the planning. For weeks and weeks Yves Dada had been writing a script for a skit that we were all going to put on as entertainment for the celebration, Jitu dada coreographed a dance while in India, Basma didi dealt with the caterers and made a crucial menu, and everyone got together through skype and by phone to discuss logistics.

When I arrived in the States, yard work! Rajib and I mowed/edged the lawn, trimmed the bushes/shrubs/vines, fixed the stepping stones in the backyard, and put down mulch! (Imagine, people actually hire companies to do this?).

The cousins that were in town met a couple of times to rehearse the skit and the dance. As usual, I made sure not to show off my dancing skills... or lack there of.

We also learned the Hokie-Coakie from Vernoica didi and the girls, which I could thankfully handle.

The day of the tea party was perfect. The weather outside was sunny and clear, like a perfect Spring day. The caterers did what they do and made the house look classy.

The food was great, or at least I hear. I didn't eat anything really until everything was over.

As usual, I was overshaddowed by the numerous babies that were over.

Just kidding. Well I'm not, but I'm always glad for that!

And the skit went pretty much perfectly. It was set up outside on the downstairs deck.

Big Uncle and Big Auntie of course had prime seating.

And my mom of course had to try and contain her laughter; the skit was just too good.

The skit was a journey through their 50+ years together. From when they first met in England... to trips to India... to times in Italy...

To Twister in the great state of Virginia!

Always good times.

After the play there was a toast and dessert; a fancy version of an ice cream cake! Winner!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Treinta y seis horas en San Isidro: Piscinas, Tortas, y Arreglando mi equipaje!... Thirty-six hours in San Isidro: Pools, Cakes, and Packing!

After a much needed shower, I hung all of my clothing to air out. They all smell like firewood from the few days in Tingo. And they all smell like me, seeing as how we didn't shower there, not even once. Gross!

I was back in town for a quick trip, mostly just to pack my suitcase for my trip home! To my surprise, Luis was in town from Guayaquil, which always means fun. He loves doing things, as opposed to the usual sitting around. First stop, one of the three pools in town!

Yeah, it's really odd that there are pools like this in town. They feel out of place, but I can't complain; they are refreshing. And only $1/day! Actually, that's like half a lunch, so maybe kind of pricey? The bar beside it serves water and the usual staple in Ecuador, beer.

After the pool we celebrated Zhary's birthday. She's a host cousin who turned 6 or 7? There was morrocho(a corn based dessert-drink), cake, fish, and of course rice! Needless to say, I stuck to the desserts.

And guess what?... there is Viennetta here! I know, San Isidro just became that much cooler.

Next stop, Los Estados Unidos!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Nuestro mundo necesita mas chicos como ellos... Our world needs more kids like them

Builders Beyond Borders(B3)/Engineers Without Borders and the Tingo Water Project. The reason we were in Tingo... well, moreso because of George.

George is a volunteer living in probably the highest site in Ecuador. Even while dealing with super cold temperatures and high altitudes, he is one of the best volunteers in the country. During his time here, he has been working with an organization called B3. They have been building a system to bring water to the people of Tingo.

B3 (http://www.buildersbeyondborders.org) is based out of Connecticut and basically takes high school students on alternative Spring Breaks around the world. The kids all raise a certain amount of money, and then they travel to a country and work rigorously for their holiday. It may sound like every other alternative spring break, but it definitely is not. I have never seen kids so dedicated to get work done.

Which is exactly why we were in Tingo as well. We were there to help dig, to share our experiences/knowledge of Peace Corps, and to help translate for the students. Clearly, I focused on the digging part! (Well, until I got sick on Tuesday night). The view from Tingo, like a picture in National Geographic.

The goal for the week was to dig a large section, lay the pipe, cover the section, and then hopefully install a faucet and see water come to town on its own for the first time ever.

We began our day with breakfast and more tea. This time it was made with oregano and tons of sugar; it tasted like a pizza. We all like hot liquids less now.

The digging begins. The girl in blue was hilarious, and we worked together for my few days there.

Wow, how deep do we need to go? 4ft!?! Thankfully this kid was a machine. I, on the other hand, was dying from the altitude.

Snack brought to us by the locals each day was a nice break. They always had tea and fruit/bread/popcorn. Yes, popcorn is very common here. Everyone seems to love it and eat it with their soup.

Speaking of the locals, they were very appreciative of the help, and worked alongside the kids to accomplish the project.

Marky Mark in the house! Nope, but this guy was even cooler. Former Peace Corps Volunteer... Engineer with Engineers Without Borders... Fulbright Recipient... AND coolest of all, he even had similar expressions as MM. He and George were in charge of the project.

By the end of Day 2, everyone was pretty tired. The altitude was rough, and stomachs were acting up. They all did a great job though.

And even while being tired, the kids would play EcuaVolley with the locals after digging.

We were in the Highlands; Llamas(Alpacas?) and cold times. Speaking of which, we(volunteers) all waited to shower until we returned to Latacunga. (5 days... gross).

Unfortunately, I left the project early because I needed to return to San Isidro to pack for home! But I hear all of the pipe was layed, the faucet was installed, and Tingo now has water! By far the best experience I've had here yet.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Espera, estas diciendo que Tingo NO es lo mismo??... Wait, so you're saying Tingo ISN'T like this??

No friends, no it is not. But it is pretty.

This past week a few volunteers and I were in Tingo, Ecuador. A small village outside of Guangaje. Guangaje is a small town outside of Latacunga. Latacunga is... If you get where I'm going with this... Tingo is tiny! And pretty far from anything!

But the people are very hospitable. When we arrived, all of children ran up to us and gave us hugs. It felt like being in a movie. They gave us lunch. An omelette, potatoes, and avacado. (And potatoes in the Highlands are like plantains on the Coast; you get them with every single meal. fantastic.) We also had plenty of hot tea. I'm still not a fan, but it helped a lot to cope with the cold weather.

Speaking of cold weather, I'm sorry, why are clouds at eye level on the way up to Tingo?? Ridiculous.

This is a community house they made using zero nails or screws. It was pretty cool.

Thanks to a volunteer, Tingo has composting toilets, which actually smelled better than normal bathrooms. I was surprised! Although running out to the outhouse at 2am was not exactly fun.

We were all pretty bundled up the entire trip. Even when we went to bed, some of us had on our jacket. Keyword being "some".

And no, we weren't going to bed together. We were watching a movie! (Yeah, not quite imax here). The sun goes down around 6 or 7, and it's freezing, so there's not much else to do besides get under your 5 covers. (I literally slept in my sleeping bag under 4 thick woolen blankets).

Oh, you're probably still wondering why we were in Tingo even. Well, that will come tomorrow!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Vamos a minga etso!... Let's minga this!

"Minga" - Not actually a verb. Not actually even a word according to my #1 National Bestseller Spanish to English Dictionary. (Maybe we need to rethink its #1 status?). A "minga" is when people of a community gather together to accomplish a task.

And today we did exactly that! Using a lot of help from Kasie's youth group, today the people of neighborhood "Los Angeles" destroyed the river. And by "destroyed", I of course mean cleaned it and made it look pretty.

We removed all of the trash (Really, more than one tire??).

We took out weeds (Those are some big weeds!).

We put up signs about protecting our environment and not messing up the recently renovated bridge.

We trimmed the tree over the bridge to allow for more light and to make the bridge a safer place to walk. (No worries Bubs, you know my massive arms would have held me if my feet had slipped. False).

We ate snack. Tuna sandwhiches and Juice. Yes, I just had a few glasses of juice!

Each person of the neighborhood was asked to clean in front of his/her own home. Then a huge dump truck came by for a few hours to collect all of the rubbish.

Basically, we made it rain. A lot of the people who worked, but not everyone.

Before (green is bad?):

After (that's a good thing we did, right?):

Yeah, we did actually do a good thing. The trees now have room to grow, and we removed tons of trash. It was about 4 hours of nonstop work (minus snack). Let's see how long it stays clean!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Reiste a nuestro grupo de aerobicos?... Did you just laugh at our aerobics group?

Yeah, right. No one would dare! Not with biceps like these. So I know some of you are probably wondering, "What does aerobics with Shantonu and Kasie actually look like?". Well, the answer is:" "Kind of ridiculous". (And not just because all of these pictures are blurry!)

Some of you(Rajib, Willy, and B Brown) will remember these moves from my workout back home. Don't be jealous guys.

Kasie and I usually alternate days, and her days are much more organized. I think she actually works through her routine before doing it with the ladies. I, of course, just put on the tunes and wing it.

We do a number of different exercises. Kasie loves her abdominal workouts.

And her 'squat' type moves. (Those kill my knees though!)

I'm a fan of 'dips' for our triceps. And the ladies are now that their arms are a bit leaner.

And my all-time favorite, 'plank'. (No worries guys, we do the real forearm ones too).

We also do other exercises and run a bit. Some days there are up to 30 ladies, while others as few as 3. I think one day I actually did it with only 3 ladies. Kind of awkward, but also better because I could tell how much or little I was pushing them. After aerobice each night, we almost always play soccer on the small concrete court. And yes, this is probably the best thing going on in San Isidro!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Disculpame, me preguntaste para ensenar computacion en el nuevo Infocentro porque estoy moreno?... I'm sorry, did you just ask me to teach computer literacy in the new Information Center because I'm brown?

Lucky for you, I can do just that!

For the past year or so, the government of Ecuador has been setting up computer labs throughout the country, primarily in rural and/or poorer areas. They have made it to San Isidro!

The Junta Parroquial(local government) fixed up a room in their building to set up the new lab. It's not too shabby. I told them they have to put in a roof and air conditioning though; it's way too dusty and warm in there.

The government of Ecuador donated 5 computers with tables and internet for the lab for 3 years. The government's main goal is to increase computer literacy in the country, so that the people can be competetive in the world.

For the time being, I'm kind of in-charge of the place. Whenever I have time, I open the lab for anyone to come and use. It costs $0.50/hr, which is half the cost of the internet cafe in town. Really though, I only go because I have classes to teach basic computer skills to kids and older ladies who wish to learn!

And by being "in-charge", it also mean I get to decorate it in any way I wish. Yeah, there's no need to even translate it. All that matters is that Bruce Lee said it!

Sadly, the majority of the people who come are high school students. And I only say sadly because the youth of Ecuador are like the youth of everywhere. Goooo Facebook.

False. But no worries, I'm hoping to change that when I return from vacation. I'm going to promote the center more and try to get more people who have never/barely used computers to come.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: "Queiro pagar alguien para hacer una casa para mi pero" / "O podrias preguntarme!"... "I want to pay someone to make a dog house" / "Or you could just ask me!"

Kasie's adopted street dog. Sad from being homeless, I imagine. (That or just from being a dog?).Yeah, we can change that. I've spent countless hours watching Bubs and Rajib make all sorts of things. And don't even get me started on our adventures with Ikea furniture around the world. We just need a good drawing and we can start with the base.And some good hammering skills wouldn't hurt. I'm pretty sure Bubs would not approve of the lolipop though.But we're off to a good start. A good base and a studry wall.What in the world Rimber, why didn't you tell us you have an electric saw!?! Yeah, we didn't actually ask, oops. I had measured and cut all of the wood already with my handsaw. But he trimmed of some uneven parts, which made it look a lot better at least.Nice work all around. She seems to like it (she being Kasie).Whether or not her dog actually uses the house, now that's a different story.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Despues de dos semanas: un fuego, un mural, y la clasura del programa vacional... Two weeks later: a fire, a mural, and the conclusion of the vacation program.

Things have been going as usual. Well maybe not completely as usual, but they have been going. The other day there was a fire in one of the houses near the center of town. Needless to say, these bamboo houses don't stand a chance against fires.The family who lived there are friends of Susana, my host-cousin and the president of the local youth group. She rounded up the kids, and we all went out to collect money, food, and clothing for the family. It was a great.Aerobics has been continuing as usual. More and more women have been coming lately. It's by far the most succesful project in San Isidro. I will hopefully post a video in a few days to show you our skills. Soccer after aerobics has become a regular. (Yeah, just imagine it less blury).The vacation program has come to an end; the kids will be starting school in two weeks. The other day I went to Bahia to give the students names to the municipiality so that they could print certificates.As I was traveling in the Costa Norte, I thought how cool it would be to work as one of the guys who collects the money. They're always on the outside of the car, having a great time. No worries Bubs, I won't apply for their job.The closing ceremony itself went well. I made a video of my students saying different phrases in English and Spanish. Kasie had hers speak in front of the extremely large crowd. There were over 120 students and family members. We passed out the certificates and took lots of pictures.Kasie and the youth group had a mural painted in the center of town. They spoke to an artist and he said he'd do it for free if they provided the paint. It looks really nice and it has a great message.The phrase above the mural says: Cuando hayas talado el ultimo arbol, Cuando hayas matado el ultimo animal, Cuando hayas contaminado el ultimo rio, Te daras cuenta de que el dinero no se come... When you've cut down the last tree, When you've killed the last animal, When you've contaminated the last river, you will realize that you cannot eat money.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Globos con agua por Dia de la Mujer; mi nuevo dia favorito!... Water balloons for Women's Day; my new favorite day!Yeah, it just so happened that International Women's Day fell on Carnaval. All I could think was... perfect.Carnaval equals trips to the beach and water fights. This girl was vicious with her water pale, so it was even.Kasie and the youth group organized a parade in the morning and events in the evening for International Women's Day. It was impressive.Unfortunately I was still not back in town, so I missed the parade and a lot of the work.In the evening the kids and Kasie had organized skits, speeches, and a dance from a local dance class/group.They showed a movie to conclude the day. It was in Spanish though, so I have no idea what it was about.Happy Women's Day.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Vamos a comer carne... Let's go eat some meat!

I took my usual walk in the morning as Jojo was asleep. And by "usual", I mean I had done this is Paris as well. The city was best in the morning. There were no mosquitoes, and it was nice and cool.At first I thought this place was an amusement park or something; look at the lines! It's actually the zoo. Must have been pretty impressive.And I found the city bikes! But sadly they weren't open. Next time?I stopped by his local bakery and bought all that I could afford.Breakfast was as amazing as it looks.After getting ready we went out to see more of the town. More clean parks and squares.

Some really cool apartment complexes. That would be ridiculous to live there.And this fashion district/street that reminded me of the girls back home.In the evening Jojo did some crucial research and found where we were going for dinner.Steak. It was time to try the infamous Argentinian beef. We got the 2 person meat sampler and the spinach dip. I'm not going to lie, we should have stuck to some classic steaks. The chicken and steak on the sampler were great; we didn't exactly try the other random things they gave us though (tripe, blood sausage, kidney). The spinach dip was great too.And the restaurant was really nice.Goodbye Buenos Aires.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Facebook, con eso basta... Facebook, that's enough.Really, people? Burke Lake better not have one of those when I get home.

After the ridiculous Italian lunch, we walked back to Jojo's place.Stopping along the way to look at different things. This was the library, I think.A tad bit ugly, but thankfully the neighborhoods make up for that.Especially the classic cars. Ford Falcon.And we found where we were going to have dinner! (Medio Oriente... Middle East).It wasn't like home, and by home I mean Auntie Haifa's, but it was still good. We had hummus, baba ganoush, chicken, beef, bread, and rice. And yes, there are potatoes there too, but that's just South America. (They serve everything with potatoes or french fries here).

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Todo la pasta podria comer? Compa, va a declararse en quiebra... All you can eat pasta? Buddy, you're about to go bankrupt.

After our money breakfast (muffins, fruit salad, and ice cream, if you forgot), Jojo showed me around town.We passed some crucial parks, as always.And saw some classic churches.Just as in Ecuador (and most places besides the US, it seems), the churches are the nicest buildings around.After a museum and a nice walk, we went to Recoleta Cemetary, the most famous in BA.It was gigantic, and probably one of the coolest things I saw there.They had street(path) signs, and we even used a map to get around.I mean, look at these graves; they're like houses!There are a lot of important people buried in Recoleta, the most famous of which being...Eva Peron, if you didn't catch that. Thankfully she was easy to find because of all of the tourists.We made our way out, as it was time for lunch.Umm, what? I think it said "see you soon". Not cool! But then again, I don't actually speak Latin.

Really, it was time for lunch while we were in the cemetary, but surpringly there weren't any restaurants inside! We found an Italian restaurant(surprise, surprise) a block away, and they had an offer we couldn't resist: Salad, dessert, and ALL you can eat pasta for $11. Sold!Yeah, did I mention this place was classy? I mean, this was definitely no Pizza Hut lunch buffet; everything was made to order. (I actually like Pizza Hut's lunch buffet).I did Yves dada and Rajib didi(still got it!) proud... 3 orders of pasta! I figured I should try as many different types of pasta and sauces as possible in one meal. This was just round one, a ricotta stuffed pasta with their red sauce.No worries, I won't show you everything I ate. But I had spinach gnocci with pesto and then cheese ravolis with meat sauce. I'd say this is why the rest of the world isn't exactly fans of the US, but I had to teach them what "All you can eat" really means.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Frutas, Molletes, Helado: El desayuno de campeones!... Fruits, Muffins, Ice Cream: The breakfast of champions!

Ridiculous, perhaps? Not at all; it would have been ridiculous not to! Buenos Aires had my third favorite ice cream(as a country) ever. (Only behind Italy and France). Naturally, I made sure I took advantage of that at least twice a day, and always with breakfast. The first day was Dulce de Leche, which Argentina is famous for.In the morning, I took a walk around town and tried to find some of the parks that Jojo told me about. His neighborhood reminded me of Pesaro.

I saw a roller blader and some runners, so I headed in the direction they were going.We ended up crossing one of the main streets, at least 9 lanes wide in one direction; insane. There were so many of them (parks)! They were all super clean (I've gotten too used to seeing trash everywhere).And they were all awesome. Some had fountains, some had dedicated bike paths.Speaking of bike paths, thankfully they have those along the main road, because that would be crazy to ride on. I saw this sweet old school truck that the police uses.And you know a city is developed if it has this...Right. I actually didn't have time to go in, but I'm sure it would have been interesting.

Instead I went to Fredo's, the ice cream nearest to Jojo's, and picked up breakfast.His place was really nice and modern. It was a good size for one or two people. Plus, you're in Buenos Aires; you never want to be inside anyway!Oddly, the only flowers I really saw were at the flower shops.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Setenta-dos horas en Buenos Aires... Seventy-two hours in Buenos Aires!

Jojo has been studying in Argentina the past few months, so now was one of the best times to visit the country. TACA Airlines, I hope you have good movies.Yes, you do! Jackie Chan starring in Eat Pray Love; can't get much better than that.The view while flying somewhere inbetween Ecuador and Peru. And where the highland turns into dessert in Peru. Pretty cool! I was hoping to see some Nazca(sp?) lines, but no such luck. (Yes, I probably should have looked up where they are before getting on the plane, instead of just looking out the window for two hours, ha).Besides quality movies, the stewardess(hostess? whichever is correct these days) told us she had to fumigate the plane before take off.That guy was not pleased one bit! And she is spraying something into the air. Go TACA!

When I landed in Argentina, I was greeted by Jojo. We took a really nice bus to the center of Buenos Aires, near where he lives.The city was extremely developed, and had a kind of European feel. It was extremely clean and it felt very safe. (And you could drink the tap water!). We walked around for a bit, and he showed me the town.Seeing as how many of the people are of Italian and Spanish decent, we had to start my trip off properly... with real pizza! Incredible.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Huy, piensan que aquel es seguro? Tal vez ellos podrian construir parques de madera y esas llantas gigantes!... Wow, they think that is safe? Maybe they can make wooden playgrounds and those gigantic tires!Really? Doesn't that just look like an accident waiting to happen? I mean, doesn't anyone remember how that kid fractured his arm on our pull-up bar. This is like 20 pull-up bars in one! Thank you Ecuador.But really, thank you. One of the activists in town just built this playground for the kids. It's a little ridiculous, but the kids sure do love it. (I know there's almost no one in the picture playing, but normally it's packed with kids, I promise).

And Kasie and the youth group she works with painted these signs to put around the park to promote protecting our environment.In case people aren't sure what this silver canister is (because they really don't seem to know; they usually just throw trash on the ground, even if they're two feet away from the trash can)...I've finally taken some pictures of the frisbee action we have going on at school on Thursdays!And yes, they really do almost get frisbees-to-the-face!This kid is great. I think he's always making fun of me, but it's like he's playing frisbee golf at Burke Lake.The vacation program actually ends in a few weeks, so I'm not sure how I'll occupy my mornings until school begins... maybe I should organize an ultimate frisbee hour each day?

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Y por, "Nosotros querremos jugar futbol", quisieron decir... And by, "We want to play soccer", you really meant...

Finally! The rains have been dying down... the girls in the vacation program seem very interested. It's time to begin planning girls soccer!

Or Futbol para Ninas, if you will. A few hours ago I had my first meeting about beginning a girls soccer program in San Isidro. I passed out these invitations to all of the girls and parents of girls that I could find.

The setup was pretty sweet. I borrowed a projector from the local youth group, got the keys for the main hall in the high school, and made some sign-up sheets for future coaches/referees and players.

If you didn't notice the meeting time on the invitation, it began at 3pm and ended at 4pm.

Yeah, that's okay, this is Ecuador. I'll just watch the boys play outside while I wait...

... While I wait to clean up. Fail.

At least there's nothing like a fig batido(fruitshake) after another succesful day.

Right. No worries, that was only my first attempt. Seeing as how this is one of the main reasons I came here, I won't be giving up any time soon.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Quiero agujerear a traves de esta pared... I want to punch a hole through this wall.

No, I don't have anger issues. For the second time, the paint in my shower has run. You may be thinking, "yeah, it's paint in a shower, obviously", but that's just how they do it here. So the first time it happened, I just figured I hadn't waited long enough for it to dry. False. Apparently the real problem was that the cement below the paint never dried completely. Needless to say, after paying for paint three times now and wasting way too many hours painting, I'm not exactly thrilled.

Thankfully, I bought this to cheer me up.

And I did learn a lot about Ecuadorians during the process, at least about the ones I spoke to. When the paint ran the first time, I asked Javi if I could just put tile instead. He said the paint this time will work. It's his apartment, so I said fine, and did the work. The second time it ran(this time), I asked him about the tile once again. Yeah, I'm painting after class tomorrow. Really??

I finally fixed all the stuff falling on my head from above! It was really just dust, so nothing too bad. It was just annoying to have to sweep my place 5 times a day.

And I got a really sweet package from home...

Nope, Papyrus doesn't make moli now. (You can look that one up!) And if you don't read the Onion, this is only more reason to begin!

This post is pretty random, so lets add to the randomness. These are some ladies I saw the other day returning from the river with their clean laundry. Yeah, I'm thankful for washing machines too!

And Bubs, because I know you're worrying if I'm eating or not, this is what I have like once a week.

Not too shabby indeed...

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Regla #1: No estan en escuela; este es su programas vacaciones; cuando si quieren aprender, la puerta siempre esta abierto, pero no hablan durante clase... Rule #1: You're not in school; this is your vacation program; when you do want to learn, the door is always open, but don't talk during class.

Goodbye half of the class!

Seriously, I think 90% of the boys went(go) outside to play soccer. I'm totally fine with that though. It's much better than them watching t.v. at home or getting into trouble. Plus, I'm still left with a little more than 30 students; the ones that actually want to learn.

Yes, insane. There are way too many kids in San Isidro... So Kasie and I are teaching in a Summer School program at the moment. She's teaching English and Health, I'm teaching English and Values/Habits(How to be a decent person), and teachers from the high school are teaching Math and Computer Literacy. The classes are free, and happen 3 days a week, for two months.

No worries folks, my handwriting hasn't gotten any better...

But in my defense, it's not easy writing letters all big like that... right. And yes, apparently Shereen has a zoo (but just imagine what I tell them you all have!).

I almost forgot, every Thursday we have a "sports class" with the kids. Last week I taught them Ultimate Frisbee. It was nuts, but at least no one got hit in the face! Pictures to come in the future. (Hopefully not of kids being hit in the face).

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: "Solo para mujeres: 30 minutos, 3 veces por semana"... "Only for women: 30 minutes, 3 times a week"Really Curves? I think you're going to have to try a little harder than that to entice women to come.

Naturally there are no gyms in San Isidro... I was in Quito for a night this past weekend. And it just became my second favorite city in South America. That may not be saying much, seeing as how I've only been to 3 major cities within the continent, but still, it beat my third favorite!

On Sunday I was introduced to Parque Metropolitano, my new favorite park in Quito.It's not too far from the center of town, but still has some good views of the surrounding areas.Quito, in general, is very modern. It's so modern it even had a dog park...Exercise equipment...Llamas (yeah, we're still in Ecuador)...Pull-up bars...And most importantly, bike paths (stoned and dirt)...That was the highlight for sure. I'm going to have to go back one day, get acclimated to the altitude, and rent a mountain bike for the trails.Not only are the parks great, apparently they sell cotton-candy at church on Sundays here!(?)After the park I went to the mall and discovered this treat...That's right, white-chocolate covered strawberries! I was actually there to buy sauces and spices, which I often can't find near town. (specifically the bbq sauce, olive oil, honey, and good salad dressing). No worries, I didn't go all the way there just to buy food...In the evening I watched the Superbowl! Ha.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Estoy muy sorprendiendo que lo consiguio... I'm very surprised that you pulled it off.

For the last month or so, Kasie has been working with Consejo Juvenil, the local youth group. This past Friday they put on a movie to raise money for their projects.

They wanted a night of terror, so they borrowed a local "garden" to hold the movie. They made a path and cleaned up the leaves and branches to make room for seats.They put a tarp above the seats in case of rain, and more so to protect the projector, computer, and speakers.They even brought new recycling bins to promote better trash habits.It sounded like a great idea, but what could go wrong, pretty much did.

Before the movie-night even happened, it was like pulling-teeth to get the kids to clean up the garden.Then the local government didn't want them to borrow the speakers, but thankfully after a little begging that was resolved.

Right before the movie was about to begin, it began raining. Unfortunately, here that pretty much means power outtages. Fantastic. They had to move some of the electrical equipment, but most of it was secured under the tarp already.

After 30minutes or so the power luckily came back! But, the speaker cable had broken while they were moving equipment when the rain began. It was after 9pm now, and everything was closed. Luckily this is San Isidro, and stores are just peoples' homes, so you can always get what they have if you knock really loud.

Finally, 20 minutes later, the movie began. Only an hour late; not too bad for Ecuador!In the end, it was a success. Out of the 90 tickets they sold, maybe 30 or so people came. (No refunds, naturally).And to make a little more money, they sold popcorn, soda, and water.Oh, and the movie was totally scary! (Possibly because I was on edge looking out for snakes the whole time. We found 3 small ones while cleaning up the place).It's called Unrest, don't watch it.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps." Phrase of the day: Yo comi demasiada comida este fin de semana... I ate way too much food this weekend. But I'm alright with that! And yes, that is lasanga. It was by no means Big Auntie's, but it was good. It had chicken in it and actual tomato sauce! (If I hadn't mentioned it before, no one here makes tomato sauce, not even with pizza!) It was this girl Susi's birthday. I only actually met her like two weeks ago, but I've seen her almost every day since. I'm not sure where she was these past 5 months, but she's good friends with Kasie now. Yeah, she was pretty happy. And no worries, she did get the usual birthday treatment. (Face smashed in the cake). Surprisingly, she was still smiling after that. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get it so good! Oh,the cake was great. It was super-rich chocolate cake with a chocolate sauce on it and vanilla ice cream on the side. (Yes, I totally did bring the ice cream. I mean, I don't know how they normally just eat cake plain... no thanks). On Saturday was the graduation for Colegio Tecnico San Isidro, the high school. It was supposed to be outside, but they were calling for rain. And by that, I of course mean it was just cloudy (most people haven't even heard of meteorologists here). Because it was inside, I didn't actually get to see any of what happened due to space, but I imagine it was nice. I went because a lot of the students graduating were from that class I helped teach when I first arrived here. They are all great. And in particular, I went to see Hugo and MaFer graduate. In the evening I went to MaFer's house for her graduation party/dinner. I kind of just listened to her aunts and uncles talk, but it was nice. More so, it was really nice of her for inviting me. (She's Liseth's sister. Liseth is Mario's girlfriend. They had invited me over for Christmas Eve dinner too. Yeah, they're definitely the most considerate girls I've met). Unfortunately no pictures from that night, but it was nice. And the next night more food! Ambar, the girl who studied to be a chef, made pizza. It was good, and yes, with tomato sauce; she did go to school for cooking and all. All is going here. There was a good turn-out at aerobics last night, so that's great. Hopefully it will continue. We also have the keys to a room in the high school now, in case it rains. Tomorrow there is a meeting about a vacation program of some sort that Kasie and I are supposedly running. Things work weirdly here, but I'll make the best of it. I think I may be teaching English, and I have a girls soccer program!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: La sistema de correo no fracaso; solo es poco despacio... The mail system didn't fail; it's just a bit slow.

Understatement. But I'll take it!

Big Auntie's Christmas cookies are still delicious! Yes, even after 2 months somewhere inbetween Falls Church and San Isidro!

I've been sick for almost a week, but I am much better now. For the first few days, my host mom swore it was Dengue Fever. Thankfully she's not a doctor! It was pretty rough, but I was still on cloud nine from the weekend earlier when I was able to talk with many of you. A good learning experience too, right? I'm not sure what's with this place, but it doesn't seem to be a fan of me. I think I've been sick more days here in only 7 months than in the past 5 years back home. Weak.

Back to my packages! I got my cookies from Big Auntie and more of my favorite foods from my parents. Chocolate covered pretzels, wasabi mix, and Big Uncle's classic dried apricots! (Mom, don't send anything more though!)

I could barely get out of bed some days, so I'll tell you a little about the kids here in town...

They like swings and they love playgrounds. We made this little park out of bamboo and wood for the most part. It has the tire swing, a see-saw, and a volleyball "net". Before Rajib says it, it is right next to the street. No worries though, hardly anyone drives on it!

Many enjoy playing in the rain, even in-between classes. (I don't see how the teachers like having muddy, wet kids in their classrooms?). It did look really fun though.

Side note: Speaking of rain, it may be time to bathe outside whenever it's pouring. The water from the river isn't exactly helping me get clean anymore.

And they all like to push the limit. Naturally, I had to show them how to make a better ramp. (No injuries, whew!)

Yes, they're just like the kids everywhere else in the world! Surprise, surprise, I know.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Interesante, pero por que solo no me pregunto por ayuda?... Interesting, but why didn't you just ask me for help?

Goal #2: Teaching people that it is okay to make mistakes and to ask for help. (Goal #1 is still opening up an ice cream parlor).

For the past few days I have been in Cumbaya at a project design and management workshop. I took the president of the local youth council, Susana, with me, and we worked on developing a recycling system for San Isidro. Yeah, quite possibly a bit bold for our first project together, but we'll see what happens! It was good to be back in the higlands though; I like it 1000x more than the coast. This was the view from the roof of where we were staying.Susana had forgotten to bring her camera, so I let her borrow mine while we were there. Clearly I didn't learn anything the last time I let someone from town borrow my camera. Yup, when I got it back, it had been reset and all of the pictures were erased. Fantastic.

I wasn't exactly pleased, but what to do? (that was for you, rajib, ha). And it also wasn't a huge surprise, thankfully. That's just kind of how things are here. Many people seem to be ashamed when they don't know something, and instead of wanting to learn, they'll just make something up. And that goes for everything, from why a person is sick to where to put oil in a car. It can get pretty ridiculous.

But anyway, back to Cumbaya. The workshop went well, and I got to see other volunteers and meet their community members. Some had great counterparts, and others not so much. The best part was naturally seeing the volunteers, as usual. The Tabacundo girls and Claire bought me strawberry ice cream when they went out, which was really nice of them (and delicious). My favorite part was probably looking at stars on the roof! That just isn't possible in San Isidro because of the cloudiness in the evening. There was also this ridiculous high school next door to us.It had an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, climbing walls. Suposedly most of the kids drive BMW's, so just a tad bit different than the rest of the country.

I'm back in town now, trying to plan the recycling system more thoroughly. My first brunch now that I'm cooking for myself; An apple, wheat bread with cheese and jam, and granola with milk (Yes, I know I didn't actually have to cook anything for this meal!):And my first dinner; cheese empanadas topped with sauted carrots and tomatoes:Not too shabby to start off, right? Riiight...

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Adios cabana madera; Bienvendios a mi casa nueva... Goodbye wood-hut; Welcome to my new home.

Sorry I haven't emailed many of you back in quite some time. I've been pretty busy moving in to my new place, a small apartment below the home of my previous host family.

So far I've only moved in all my things, put things in order, and had the place painted. I haven't fixed it up completely just yet, but that will happen little by little each time I get paid. I'm hoping to make picture frames and put those up in the next few weeks.

The living room before (looking in from the outside door):The living room after (looking at the door from the kitchen):The bathroom before/after (it still needs work, like a door perhaps?):The kitchen before (yeah, chose those colors??):The kitchen after (don't mind the messy table, I'm still in the process of fixing things):The bedroom/shower before:The bedroom/shower after:Next to my bed I put in some hooks, a plastic shelf, and my "closet". I'm working on a wooden bookshelf for my bedroom too.And by "room" always, I just meant space. Really there is only one door in the place, the front door.

I did get to use my wood-working skills (or lack there of) to make a frame for my window to keep the mosquitoes out.So far it's working pretty well.Speaking of mosquitoes, I put mosquito netting on all of the windows and cracks in this place. You know me and bugs; no gracias.Some of the highlights, besides my future picture frames, are my dish drying rack with lid (to keep the bugs out):And all of my food! I have Nestle Fitness cereal, granola, pasta, pretzels, nutri-grain bars, and an entire tupperware container filled with oreos, skittles, starburst, and chocolate. (Actually, the chocolate is in my little fridge). Ridiculous. No one send me anymore candy, please. I'm going to have so many cavities when I leave here, ha.Who ever thought living on your own would be a good idea? I don't think I've been more lonely in my life... but that will be a good thing. I will start working out again, and I will get my projects on track! If not, I'll see you home sooner than two years, haha. Oh my, cannot wait to be home!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Isla de la Plata, tiene suerte que Clark estaba aqui... Silver Island, you're lucky Clark was in town.

Yeah, his name is actually Chris. But he reminds me of Clark Kent(aka Superman). This could be because I was watching a lot of Smallville episodes, which Brian Brown put on my super-sweet netbook, when I met him. He's the one on the left.He's a cool kid from Kansas City, who, unfortunately, decided to end his service here a few months ago. Thankfully though, he came back to visit for New Years. Seeing as how he was in town, I figured I could shell out the $30 to tour Isla de la Plata, "The Poor Man's Galapagos". (Normally I wouldn't have a problem paying for new experiences, but it isn't whale watching season right now).We took a two hour boat ride out to the island. It was by far the craziest boat ride I've been on; the water was extremely rough and a few people got sick. Luckily I did not. This boat was cool, but thankfully not ours.When we got there, we ate a snack and headed up to the first landing.Our guide was named Cherry, and he was just as ridiculous as his name.Speaking of names, they mean nothing here. Sorry if I've already mentioned this in the past. It still baffles me though. Almost as much as you're baffled by the fact that I'm using the word "baffle". (Probably incorrectly, at that!) Ha. So yes, names mean nothing. Among other crazy names, there are kids named Coffee and Coca-Cola. Seriously. Anyway, this is one of the views from the first landing.We continued on our 7km hike, stopping along the way to take pictures of the island.I made sure to snap a few of Clark and Cherry too.The landscape reminded me of when Me, Rajib, BB, and Slick went to Zion National Park in Utah. It was very dry, but nice.We saw the infamous Blue-Footed Boobies, which the Galapagos Islands are known for. They were interesting. The older they were, the more blue their feet were.I'm not really a bird person, so the cliffs were my favorite part.Unfortunately there was no where good to jump from. Although the water was just asking for it! (No worries bubs, I'm not crazy).Cherry on the other hand... well this is him doing the Blue-Footed Boobies-Dance.We also saw the red-footed boobies and other bird species. Brent, Me, Clark, and Claire.After the hike, we had a quick lunch on the boat and headed out to do a bit of snorkeling. As usual, I was scared of sharks the entire time I was in the water.The island was nice overall. I'll definitely be back in the fall for the whale watching.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Puerto Lopez, sea mas tranquilo?... Puerto Lopez, could you be any more chill?

It was time for a much needed break from the usual. Things are still somber in town, so what better time to leave than New Years Weekend? And what better place than Puerto Lopez. Puerto Lopez is a small beach town located a few hours North of Guayaquil(the largest city in Ecuador) and South of Manta(where I had gone for the rugby tournament). During August to November it's mating season for the humpback(?) whale right off the coast. I will definitely go back in the fall.I traveled in the bus for most of the day New Years Eve. And by "bus", I actually mean "buses". 4 to be exact. San Isidro to Bahia. Bahia to Portoviejo. Portoviejo to Jipijapa. Jipijapa to Puerto Lopez. At first I was thinking "shoot me", but it was totally worth it. There were more than 20 volunteers in town, and Puerto Lopez is my new favorite town on the coast. In the evening the whole town was along the beach strip, hanging out in the many beach bars.Some of the locals were almost dancing on the sidewalks, but the volunteers brought it to the streets. It was pretty ridiculous. I even jumped in on this circle dance, which we all learned in Cayambe.The tradition here in Ecuador is making (paper matche?) dolls, usually of old people, and burning them. It's meant to symbolize burning away the past(not burning the old people in town, haha). This doll was Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story. I guess someone really didn't like the movie?We danced around until 5am or so, and then went to bed for a few hours. I was definitely done way before then, but I had to make sure everyone made it back to our not-to-shabby hostel, Hostal Itapoa.The highlight was definitely breakfast outside in the mornings.They give fruit, actually good bread, jam, and hot chocolate made with homemade chocolate.The place is run by a nice guy from New York named Raul. His mother is Ecuadorian, I think, so he's living here now, trying to make a difference. He has two nature reserves in the north of Ecuador, and he gives classes once in a while at NYU.After breakfast, it was time to check out the beaches. On the way there, this guy stopped Ronald. Why you may ask? Because he's black. Really, that was the only reason why. Me, Ronald, and this guy were by far the darkest people in town.After lunch, we decided to go to Los Frailes beach, a beach within the only coastal national park in Ecuador. It was pretty nice.There were some sweet rocks to climb at least!Yeah, I definitely miss great falls with the guys(and girls).Naturally I just played in the water, while the other kids read and what not.For dinner we went to the Whale Cafe; American owned, and fantastic as ever. I think I ate there at least once a day. I got my fill of pad thai, pizza, pasta, tomato salad, brownies, apple pie!, and homemade ice cream!Happy New Year!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Por que nadia me dijo llevar una corbata?... Why didn't anyone tell me to wear a tie?

Wow, it feels like forever. Where to begin even? I guess most logically with where we left off... New Years Eve.

Well, almost; actually New Years Eve Eve. (Yeah, lets just have as many days off from work as possible!).

Seeing as how Christmas was a bust here, and New Years is not going to be celebrated here tomorrow, the university kids wanted to celebrate in some way. They decided on a fancy-shmancy new years eve eve dinner.Yeah, I didn't think San Isidro even had(cared about) this kind of style. It was interesting for sure. Someone should have told me to dress better though. I wore my best(almost), but that's not saying a lot.

Ambar, the girl with the baby, studied to be a chef at one point. She was the cook tonight, thankfully! We had rice with vegetables, chicken stuffed with olives, and an interesting fruit salad. It was easily one of the best meals here in San Isidro.Thankfully I was sitting by these girls. (I got to finish all of their food, minus the rice of course).And to finish off the meal we had my favorite Ecuadorian dessert, Tres Leche! I'm not sure how it's made exactly, but it's a little cake soaked in three types of milk, topped with peaches here usually.Afterwards, we took a few pictures as usual. (If you haven't heard, people here love taking pictures. Like we took at least 20 just in that one position).No worries, I don't think New Years Eve Eve is actually a holiday here. I think it was just a convenient time for many of the youth to get together. It was nice. A little awkward at times, but that's just life here in San Isidro for ya.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Pues bien, estaba diferente... Well then, that was different.

Understatement. But we'll get to that later... I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

On Christmas Eve Eve (yes, the day before Christmas Eve), I went to Bahia to check my mail and use the faster internet. I was lucky(grateful) that I was able to speak to many of you on skype! I had to be sure of one better-than-normal-meal for the season, so I ended up at Hotel La Herrandura for dinner.

Yeah, definitely a bit more classy than I needed, but I went more for the food than the atmosphere. I started off with a banana milkshake and then asparagus soup.

It was pretty good. For seconds I had spagetti with chicken and olives. I thought about having lazagna, but I knew it wouldn't have been as good as back home, so no point in trying.

For dessert, naturally, I had the most expensive ice cream dish. It was watermelon, pineapple, and cantelope topped with ice cream, dulce de leche, and strawberry preserves. It was pretty good also, but I was missing Big Auntie's Christmas cookies! (Cross your fingers; maybe the post office people didn't steal them and eat them and they're still on their way!)

The way back to San Isidro was definitely interesting. Now that it has been raining for a few weeks, you're able to see all the green around here. And there are always cool pics right before it's about to pour. (Yeah, I got soaked).

I'm not sure if it made the news back home, but during the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Eve, the biggest bus accident that San Isidro has ever seen happened. The day was different, to say the least. And the night as well.

There was a candle light vigil, and I saw more people than I've ever seen at one time in town.

The priest of the Catholic Church here said that there would be no Christmas this year, and much less a Happy New Year. But the food was all prepared. To celebrate Christmas, the people have a second dinner at midnight. Mario's girlfirend, Lisette, is very nice and invited me over for it. It wasn't exactly the happiest, but it was nice.

Yeah, I definitely did not drink any of that... it's funny how they are just like my friends back home and they love pictures of me with drinks though. The next morning, Christmas morning, I was woken up by Mario before I had the chance to open my gifts from back home. Apparently we were going on a car trip to visit his grandmother in Portoviejo and then...?

It ended up being a whole day of traveling. We had lunch, probably the best home-cooked meal I've had in Ecuador, at his grandmothers, and then went up to San Isidro along the coast, stopping at towns along the way. In Crucita we went to the highest mountain and enjoyed the views.

I took some crucial pics throughout the day.

One of our last stops was Mario's great grandfathers. To my surprise, he had the most Christmas spirit. His house was decked out with Nativity scenes, lights, and a big Christmas tree. That was my second favorite part of the day.

When we got home that night, I opened my Christmas gifts right away. Could not have been better! (If you haven't tried these granola bars, go out and get some).

We'll see what New Years holds... Have a great one!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Tendra una Muy Feliz Navidad!... Have a Very Merry Christmas!

It's starting to feel a tad bit more like Christmas now. I guess that's a good thing, seeing as how it's in two days! People have been constructing Nativity Scenes throughout the town in almost every neighborhood.And the biggest store in town is selling fake Christmas trees. My host family doesn't have one, but a few people in town do, including Kasie's host family.Today, my counterpart brought me a bottle of hot sauce. I'm not sure if it was because of the holiday season, but it was perfect.At first, I was just planning on pretending it wasn't happening this year. This being the first Christmas I'm missing back home, I figured it would just be easier.

But then I received packages from Virginia.(Yeah, that one was actually from Thanksgiving, but I was saving my favorite candies for a rainy day). And well, nothing can beat packages from Virginia.That's right, those were legos!If you didn't know, Christmas decorations aren't complete without a lego Santa Claus! (seriously).I have no idea as yet what I'm doing Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but I'm super excited to get on skype in t-minus 3 hours to talk to whoever is free and would like to talk! That will be the best present for sure!

Merry Christmas!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Si, No quiero conocer como son los monsoons en India!... Yeah, I don't even want to know what the monsoons are like in India!

The rains have begun! (It's like an event here). It means 5-6 months with rain almost every single day. Thankfully I brought swim trunks!It means super muddy streets all of the time. There are days when you can't even leave town because the roads are too rough. Maybe they won't be able to bring rice into town? Ha.It means I'll be working from the hut for a long, long time. (Not a problem at all. It's probably one of the best views in town!).It means leaks in homes from time to time. (No worries, I keep my laptop in a water-resistant bag).It means kitchori (spelling?) for lunch... sike! This isn't India. It means all of the land is reviving, including the flowers. It's especially nice to see green grass again! (I don't think they have a lawn mower for me though).It means... nothing really. Life goes on, as usual! Today was Kasie's birthday. We went to Bahia to get our mail and to buy a few last second Christmas gifts for our host families. We both received a few surprises in the mail, which could not have been better! (More on that in the next post).

She, like a lot of people I know, does not like to celebrate her birthday. That just meant we were having two cakes instead of one! Chocolate with walnuts that the baker lady, Ermita, made and an Oreo ice cream cake. I liked the chocolate one more, surprisingly.Really, Kasie just didn't want to have her face pushed into the cake; the tradition here, as you may have noticed.As usual though, it had to happen in some fashion! Got 'em!And of course all of the family that was around came over to celebrate.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Balonmano de playa? Squash? Que tipo de Olympiadas si tenia aqui!?! (Usted tiene suerte que si hay rugby en la playa!)... Beach Handball? Squash? What kind of Olympics are you running here!?! (You're lucky there's beach rugby!)

The real reason I went to Manta was to see Tristan and the rugby team he is helping coach down in Cuenca. They were participating in a beach rugby tournament with the 7 other teams in country. Rugby is a relatively new sport here in Ecuador; it's only been around for 3 or 4 years. A little warm-up.

The tournament was interesting. The players had to wear socks or be barefoot. They played 5 versus 5 with 7-minute halves.

It was cool to see Tristan coach. Peace Corps Goal #2: Spreading our culture to the people of Ecuador. (I'm not sure if rugby is "our" culture, but it is moreso than theirs).

Tristan's team after Saturday's matches. They were a little beat up, but definitely ready to jump in the ocean and relax a bit before the championship on Sunday.

Sunday morning. The championship match could not have been more intense. The Aguilas from Cuenca versus the ever so-dominant Nomads from Quito. After 14-minutes and a 20-20 tie, the match went to penalty kicks.

Based on size and skill, the Nomads will always have the Azuay beat. 95% of the Nomads are taller than all of the Aguilas, not to mention probably everyone from the city of Cuenca. They have players from various parts of the world, including their best player, Daniel, who is from Arizona. But in the end, those with more heart can win!

See, it really was the Ecuador Olympics! Gold medals and all.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Despues de 6 meses, "Si encontramos pan rico?"... 6 months later, "Did we just find real bread??"

The rainy season has begun! I'm pretty scared. Just cross your fingers than I get the weaker Dengue, and not the hemorrhagic-type. But thankfully the change in season does mean blue skies for a few hours each day at least.

If you forget, there are only two seasons here in Ecuador. The cool-dry "summer" and the hot-wet "winter". Maybe I can just wear my bathing suit always? They both last for 6months each. You can thanks the Equator for that one. The "winter" also means that the land is becoming green and fertile finally.

This past weekend a few of us went to the beach in Manta. (Those pictures were taken on the way there).

Manta is Manabi's most populated city, and before the current President, it was home to the largest US base here in country. But really, what does that mean? Mobil!

That's right! I know it's ridiculous to say, but that was kind of nice to see. As was the beach, naturally.

After fruit salads Saturday morning, we just laid out on the beach. I stuck to under the umbrella unless I was in the water, of course. I'm super dark as it is.

Manta wasn't the prettiest city in Ecuador, but it did have ice cream! Pinguino to be exact. I'm not sure who makes Pinguino, but it reminds me of Good Humor.

Is it the same symbol even? Maybe Good Humor makes it? Either way, I need to bring one to San Isidro.

For snack we ended up at Hotel Oro Verde; the priciest non-American hotel chain in Ecuador. I think there are only 4 in country; I've decided I need to visit them all. They have the best food! I ate a warm carved-chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, and most importantly, real bread! I'm not sure if you're aware of the bread/pastry situation in Ecuador? But it's pretty drastic. Hardly anyone knows how to make real bread, cakes, or pastries. I went to town and bought all of this to snack on the rest of the day: Cinnamon buns, chocolate croissants, fig filled rolls...

(The real reason I went to Manta was to see Tristan's Rugby team. More to come on that tomorrow though!)

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Empujando el carro, probalamente mi parte favorito sobre San Isidro... Push(starting) the car, probably my favorite part about San Isidro.

You're probably thinking, "that's pretty ridiculous". Well you're pretty ridiculous.

No, I'm just kidding. About being ridiculous; I really do enjoy it. It reminds me of back home. (When we were in high school, there was a period of time when everyone would do the rolling-down-the-hill-start with their manual cars). It's a bit different here, happening on the regular and out of necessity actually. I mean, have you seen the cars that my host family has? You can thank the pothole-filled roads for their condition. (Unfortunately I always have to do the pushing, as Peace Corps prohibits us from driving).

So first off, no dice on the flip(video) action just yet for aerobics. The ladies are too shy right now. But they should be okay with it after a few more classes. Aerobics are going very well though. We're meeting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Last night we had our Women's Group meeting.

We spoke about the future goals of our group and made a pretty sweet fruit salad with yogurt.

It was probably our best meeting yet. The ladies brought their ideas to the table, and we now have a better idea of what they want to do in the next few months: 1. Begin planting brown rice for their own consumption. 2. Begin making notebooks, cards, envelopes, etc. out of recycled paper to sell in town. 3. Keep making/trying new foods because everyone loves eating.

Not only did people share their project ideas, they also brought new recipes. Rimber, Mario's uncle who just returned from living in Spain for the past 10 years, made a meringue-type topping for the fruit.

Yeah, I'm not making a very big difference here. Aerobics is great and all, but I do need to do a lot more. Mitha put up the food pyramid in the kitchen, but we'll have to wait and see if she (and all of the ladies) actually remember to look at it daily. How to actually get things done though? I still haven't found anyone motivated enough to do the projects with me, and I certainly can't do them alone. (Well I can, but that wouldn't be the point). Ideas?

Side note: In case anyone was curious how we get our mangos:

Yeah, where are those bare-footed coconut-retrieving indians when you need them!?!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Dia Mundial de SIDA... World AIDS Day

Today was World AIDS Day! I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've ever thought about the day itself as much as I did this year (but then again, it's not like I've ever had a job where it was one of our main priorities; teaching sexual education, I mean). That's right, I'm going to be teaching sexual education.

There were skits in the high school. And each class had to make a poster about HIV/AIDS. For the most part their information correct. But the most important part is that they actually new what HIV and AIDS are. In the evening, Kasie and I had our weekly Women's Group meeting. We began with a recap about Nutrition, which Mitha actually gave to everyone! I was impressed. (And yes, I am getting fruits and vegis from her now with my meals!)

Afterwards, Kasie spoke about HIV/AIDS, and we finished with a talk about Aerobics. On Mondays, Kasie is instructing aerobics and on Thursdays I am. My moves are mostly a combination of things we used to do at wrestling practice and my awesome workout from back home. Yes, the one that Willy, Brian, and Rajib always make fun of me for. (They can't make fun of me here though!) I'll try to flip(record) my next session. You can use it in place of your P90x workout... if you can handle it.

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Tu dijiste este "Mundo Medio"? No estamos viviendo en Lord of the Rings... Did you just call this "Middle Earth"? We're not living in Lord of the Rings!

Yeah, Ecuador's lucky it doesn't actually call it "Middle Earth"; that was just the person who was explaining it. It's really called "Mitad del Mundo"... Middle of the Earth. Much better.

I'm still in Quito. I slept last night in Marlena's aunt's laundry room. That may normally sound odd, but that's more luxurious than I'm used to here. The laundry room had a bed, full bathroom, window, and the usual laundry machines. I told her I was happy sleeping on the couch or floor even, but she still made the bed for me anyway.

Today we went to the Middle of the Earth park a bit north of Quito. It was very touristy, but good to see once. It was full of craft carts, food stands, and random museums (Insect museum, planetarium, ...). We didn't imagine that they could be better than our Smithsonians backhome, so we stuck to the equatorial line, literally.

In other exciting news, I saw my first real-live Indians in months now! Naturally, I didn't say a word to them. But I definitely called it out from 50yards away ("Indians!").

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Feliz accion de Gracias... Happy Thanksgiving!

I arrived in Quito last night to see Cristina, Julie, Pete, and Kenny, Marlena's cousins from Springfield, who are here in Ecuador visiting family. Thankfully, they wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving as much as I did. Not only did they want to celebrate it, they wanted to share the experience with their family. So Cristina decided we were going to cook for her 30ish family members at her uncle's place. Luckily, thanks to my experience at home and at The Garden Kitchen (www.gardenkitchen.com), this just seemed normal. [That's $5 for the reference Unlce B!).

So after breakfast we went shopping at this crucial grocery store and began preparing dinner. (Everyone should have woken up much earlier to begin).

We had a few mishaps during our cooking adventure. I guess that's not really a surprise, seeing as how we didn't plan our meal very thoroughly... or really at all for that matter. Salt in the ice cream instead of sugar? I thought that only happened in the movies!

Yeah, we had to throw that batch of ice cream out. But dinner turned out pretty well. We pretty much just went to the supermarket and bought everything we could find that was Thanksgiving-like... or at least good. (No pumpkin was found whatsoever, horrible!). We had a few random dishes, but it was her family's first Thanksgiving dinner, so they didn't know any better, ha. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, creamed corn, chicken, pork roast, bread, and greek salad. Yeah, no idea about the salad! But it was definitely the best dish. I stuck to eating it with bread and the mashed potatoes.

That's right, no turkey either. They usually only eat that for Christmas. But their uncle was nice and prepared chicken outside in his new grill. I didn't try it, but I imagine it was pretty sweet.

Oh! Lets not forget dessert. As usual, it was best parts food-wise. Cristina made a yam, marshmallow, and apple dish. And all of us helped put together strawberry ice cream(with sugar this time). If that wasn't enough, (it wouldn't have been; this was Thanksgiving!) we bought an apple pie and a chocolate cake to complete dessert.

It was nice to be in Quito with friends from back home, but the best part was definitely talking to many of you back home. I probably won't make next years either, but who knows... anything is possible.

Side note: Apparently we can now grant write and try to actually accomplish projects... game on for when i get back!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: De quien fuera este idea?... Whose idea was this again?

That was definitely the reoccuring theme throughout all of last week. (But not in a bad way).

It's been 3 months now as a volunteer, so everyone from my training class met in Quito for our "Reconnect".

Reconnect, being a time for volunteers to present their future work plans for the upcoming year, and the office to give more workshops. Definitely their first mistake. Another week of training? No thank you. Everyone definitely winged his/her presentation. They were all pretty good though!

It definitely reminded me of college; lots of information that we already knew. Unfortunately, this time I didn't have Willy sitting next to me to wake me up!

I did, however, have ridiculous skits to keep me entertained. The best ones were by this guy, Mitch, pretending to be macho. (Is "macho" an adjective in English even?)

Because of the budget/the office not wanting us to be near the center of the city, we stayed at a convent in the suburbs of Quito during the week. Mistake number 2. No real issues with the convent itself, but we had to be back on the convent's grounds by 9pm! Yeah, they were just asking for trouble. After we almost got eaten alive by some crazy guard dog though, I decided to listen to them and stay inside, ha. Luckily they fed us 5 times a day to make up for keeping us on lock-down (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner). (And I only ate rice like two times all week!)

One day we decided to go to the TeleferiQo!

It's this sky tram from Europe that goes up the side of Volcan Pichincha. I only say "from Europe", because the safety instructions are only in German, Italian, French, and English.

Yeah, mistake number 3. Why would anyone go when it's raining? Oops. We will have to go if you visit. You can (supposedly) see all of Quito from the top. There are some crucial hikes and bike trails as well.

I'm back in San Isidro now, and very ready to get to work! We can write grant proposals now and actually get stuff done. (hopefully)

But first, another quick trip to Quito Thursday, perhaps?...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Digas ese el oriente? Pienso que estuvo mas avanzado de donde vivo ahora... You call that the Jungle? I'm pretty sure it was more developed than where I am now!

The past 4 days I have been in Puyo, a relatively decent sized city (supposedly) in the jungle region of Ecuador.

The only part that had a real jungle-feel was the fact that our rooms were filled with ants:

Yes, our rooms were ridiculously nice! And although Puyo wasn't quite like the jungle experience I had imagined it would be, our hostal compound did have an electric fence around it. I mean, that makes me think of Jurrasic Park, and that's totally like the jungle, right?

I didn't take many pictures of the city itself, but only because I didn't spot any jaguars or panthers in it. However, I did take pictures of the landscape on the journey through the central highlands into the jungle region!

One of the many volcanoes on the way:

As in the rest of the world, many of the developed areas are built near rivers and other bodies of water:

In case you were wondering how they cross the gorge; by a tiny cable car, naturally (no thanks!) You may have to look a bit hard to find it:

The mountains leveling out as we get closer to the transitional zone inbetween the jungle and mountainous regions:

In case you ever wondered where those little wooden crates come from, it's totally all this lady!:

Oh, I was there for a meeting because I'm part of that student government-type group. The meetings went really well, and that was productive I have felt since being in country. I'm off to San Isidro for three days, and then back on the road for a few more meetings. November will/has been horrible for work because I haven't been in my site as much as I would have liked, but that will change come December!

This flower was more jungle-like, thankfully:

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Huy, estamos en Ecuador todavia? Espana, gracias por "le dio su cultura"... Wow, are we still in Ecuador? Spain, thank you for "spreading your culture".

I just returned from my new favorite place in Ecuador, Cuenca.

Besides the super clean street, Cuenca has tons to offer. I'm going to drop a little knowledge on you, only because I've been studying my Lonely Planet book as if I was applying to be a tour guide in Ecuador. Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador, and quite possibly one of the safest. The new and old parts of town are divided by the Tomebamba River, one of Cuenca's three rivers.

Okay, less boring writing and more exciting pictures! I enjoyed it so much, I probably took over a hundred pictures. Now I know that doesn't mean too much with there being digital cameras and all these day, but I meant after I deleted the blurry and ugly ones, I still had over a hundred! My favorite part was naturally the old town, a Unesco World Heritage Site:

It's filled with great food (which really just made me miss home even more):

Culture (who ever thought I would miss being able to go into Indian stores? No worries, I still didn't go in!):

Large, safe, clean parks (Volunteers Alisha, Lisa, and Jessica):

Streets that remind me of Europe (A nice break from the usual pot hole-filled dirt roads):

Spectacular churhes on every corner (I'm not sure why, but my church pictures seem to be some of my best shots):

And most importantly, real ice cream! (I only thought they had Stracciatella in Italy... It was good, but naturally not Germanos)

Really though, I shouldn't have been surprised with what I found in Cuenca on my first day. I mean, when your $9/night hostal looks like this, you know you're in for a good stay:

Flowers at one of the flower markets in town:

ps: You can even drink the tap water in Cuenca!!!