Fail.

I was doing so well at keeping up my blog for a week. And then I stopped. FAIL.

Life these days is a bit odd. I’m busy all the time but I really don’t feel like I am accomplishing much. Maybe it’s trying to keep up with the pace of living in a big city but yet having to manage the chaotic public transportation system. For example, to get to my office in the mornings I have two options: the city bus which weaves in and out of the 6 lane highway and slams on its brakes to catch each and every $0.25 customer OR the Metrovia which is a street tram that has set stops and its own lane making for efficient travel time but if you’re not packed into the Metrovia like sardines then you must’ve caught the wrong street car and are certainly not on the Metrovia. Every morning it’s a debate of whether I would prefer to elbow onto the tram to spend 20 minutes standing, analyzing the pores and hair follicles of a stranger or spend 30 minutes in a seat on ride that reminds me of when Dad tried to teach Rachel Cahill (formerly known as Koehnke) how to drive a stick-shift. Oh the choices.

Last weekend was a holiday weekend so Jordi and I decided to take advantage of the extra time and headed to some of the northern beaches of Ecuador. It was an eight hour bus ride each but well worth it to soak up some glorious sun rays and drink fresh coconut water poured straight from its shell. We both also participated in the race that is traveling around all the provinces of Ecuador to raise support and awareness for a nature reserve that is being destroyed by oil companies. We had a great time and it gave us a wonderful chance to meet new people and contacts.

Speaking of running, now that I am down to having only half of my toenails I have finally given in and decided to buy new running shoes. Easier sad then done. Apparently the only Ecuadorian sportswear chain here refuses to carry any shoes larger than a women’s size 9. Which is frustrating when you’re a 9.5 and can almost squeeze into the shoes but not quite. After numerous unsuccessful trips to different stores all over town (just think about how many uncomfortable bus rides that cost me) and hearing from fellow runners the weekend past that big sizes just don’t exist, I spent an absurd amount of money on some ugly men’s shoes. While they have proven effective in protecting my remaining toenails in turn they have become the source for humongous blisters. Toenails or blisters oh the choices.

I spent this past weekend in Cumanda and it was just such a good weekend. Maybe I really am assimilating to Ecuadorian culture for I never truly understood why a large majority of Ecuadorians prefer to escape to the small country towns for the weekends but now I am defiantly on their page. Spending weekends in Cumanda remind me of how much I really don’t enjoy living amongst the stress and grime of a metropolis. I spent the weekend visiting the family and catching up with friends, attending the fiestas of a local community and the fiesta of a friend’s birthday, preparing food and devouring food. Nothing is as good as a home cooked meal. Everything is better in Cumanda.

This week is an exciting week for my site mate Alice and me. We leave on Thursday for the Dominican Republic with some really close family friends to partake in their family reunion. It’s an all inclusive vacation package for 5 days and 4 nights at a 5 star resort in Punta Cana. I’ve never been on a vacation like this and am suuuper excited yet a little nervous. I hope I can escape from living in my mindset of needing to be cheap and feel the need to eat and drink everything I come into contact with merely because its free. Oh the choices…

Well my friends, I think I will leave it at that. Cross your fingers for me that Hurricane Irene doesn’t cause any problems and I promise to post an update from the trip soon after! Love.

Not giving up...

Please forgive for the recent pause in updates. I was traveling all last week with work and was too busy to update. Let me tell you, it was a rough week; discovering new parts of Ecuador, spending a day meeting and checking up with volunteers, and returning each night to my $7 hostel on the beach. ROOOOUGH week. Would hate to have to suffer through that again...

Today I got a great letter in the mail. My mom does a fabulous job of keeping me updated on local news and monthly credit card statements by sending me weekly letters in the mail. Sometimes she'll even include a personalized post-note to say "hi". However today's letter included an INCREDIBLE full page hand written note from three fabulous cousins and one loving grandmother. Even though the letter was written to explain the absence of cookies being sent (they ate them all, shocking) their wittiness left me happier than a box of cookies (and guilt-free!) could ever do. You all have made my fridge, right next to my boyfriend. Ok not really my boyfriend but rather the super sexy latino who held the umbrella over my head while I got a FREE professional haircut the other day. Shall I touch on that story?



So last weekend (saturday) I was walking along the uber-touristy boardwalk (where about 80% of guayaquilenos spend their weekends) and noticed that a local hair salon was giving free haircuts and then remembered how badly i needed a haircut and how i much i loved the price of FREE. Apparently all I had to do was present a bottle of shampoo and they would give me a new "look" in exchange (they really do use the english word "look" but it sounds more like "luuook"). After emptying it out into numerous travel bottles, an old aloe vera bottle, and a reused salsa jar for it was recently purchased and returned the following day to the boardwalk with my almost empty shampoo bottle in hand. I wasn't sure if they were looking for full bottles, partial, or empties but there was no way I was going to turn in my practically full bottle of shampoo. Turns out they only wanted EMPTY bottles for a recycling project they were promoting (clarity must've gotten lost in translation) and dumped the rest of my shampoo into a plastic "to go" cup. They then add my name to the list, I'm third up, and am asked to wait.

Finally my turn comes, they wash my hair, give me a good scrub, and then set me in the main chair. The hairdresser presents himself, Marcelo, and tells me "Don't worry, I'm going to give you a super hot luuooook". So I sit, awkwardly staring up at the sexy teenager shielding me from the harsh sun with the umbrella meanwhile getting my head corrected to the forward position again while the crowd on the boardwalk gradually starts to build, gawking at me. I honestly can now say I now know how it feels to be a zoo animal. Being tall and white here obviously gets me a lot of stares and I'm used to walking into a room causing all conversations to stop and heads to turn to look at the awkwardness that just entered BUT this crowd was on a whole different level. Usually people understand that its rude to stare so when I catch them starring they'll nervously look away. This time however I put myself in the position where starring, gawking, admiring if you will, was completely acceptable. The crowd that formed to watch reached such a point that I had to clasp my eyes shut out of embarrassment. Shit, I'd take parading around in my swimsuit and heels over getting my haircut in public ANY DAY. But like Marcelo promised, I left with new friends (sadly no boyfriend despite my relentless stares and eye-battings) and a super hot luuooook. Free is free. Free haircut in exchange for free public entertainment. Winners all around.

Today I planned out my running schedule for the next 10 weeks. Its marathon time baby! Although I'm not really excited about the idea of running 16 miles in inner-city Guayaquil. I'll have to start getting clever with my long runs. I think a weekly trip to the beach might be my best option...Still looking for running partners if anyone is interested.

Welp thats about it for now...hope you all enjoyed and see you around for the next post. love.

gotta keep moving part III

Today's blog will provide you all with insight to the past few months of my running life...

So a while ago, I'd say maybe in May, I decided with a bunch of friends to compete in a half-marathon in Peru for the 4th of July and hence started my rigorous training schedule. Thanks to runnersworld.com I found a great 8 week half-marathon training schedule and i'd be lying if i said i stuck to it like glue; I'd rate myself a "mas o menos" or a 6 out of 10 on following the workout plan. Sometimes its hard to run 8 miles while dodging cars, inhaling city bus fumes, running through large packs of inattentive school children. Brief recap of races and "fun times" while training:

MAY 1st: Start half-marathon training

MAY 2nd: Actual first workout for half-marathon completed; yesterday's workout was postponed due to hangover.

MAY 15th: 10k Race over the bridges of Guayaquil. Ok so one bridge may have been an overpass but hey 2 out 3 is pretty good. Ran the race with an ecuadorian male friend and I left him in the dust at kilometer 6. Granted he hadn't been training and I convinced him to participate for the "fun of it". I had a lot of fun beating him however he wasn't the most thrilled about it.

...continue training like normal...started making friends with local security guards in my neighborhood. One had a tendency to run with me for a block. the first time it was cute, not so much the following 298304 times that he continued to do it. Running route has since been changed.

JUNE 13th: Almost eaten alive by a giant vicious german shepherd. I didn't even see the dog coming, i just merely sensed the presence of death behind me. Had I turned around a half second later I would be writing this story with one foot less. I felt the dogs presence, glanced over my shoulder to see his lips pulled back and some of the most gnarly teeth I have witnessed in Ecuador (thats saying a lot). Out of absolute, down to the bone fear, i threw my hands up in the air, screamed AUXILLO, SENORA, AUXILLO (attempting to get the dog owners help) as tears instantly began spurting from my eyes and was jolted into panic mode. Now I am pretty confident when it comes to running and avoiding dogs. In the country the dogs are much worse and more aggressive than these primped city dogs. In the country the most common technique used to shoo away a dog is to bend down and pretend like you're going to throw a rock at it (most of the time i don't pretend but thats because i know with my aim, try as i might, my rock will never hit intended destination). Anyways back to almost being eaten alive, after screaming to no result, i took a deep breath and remembered what I learned from my ancestors, "GET A ROCK" i thought. I bend down, keeping my eyes locked on the dog and grope the ground for a rock, anything i could pick up. DAMN YOU CITY OF CONCRETE AND ASPHALT. "don't worry" i thought "just pretend to throw something. surely the dog will get scared and run off". Despite numerous arm flailings and attempted imaginary rock launchings, the dog doesn't flinch. This is when real panic set in. so much that i seemed to have blacked out what happened next and actually have no idea how i came to free myself from this flesh-loving dog still intact (outside at least). The next event I remember is me sitting on a bench trembling and holding my knees to my chest. TRUE STORY. Running route has since been changed.

JULY 3rd: Time for Half-marathon in PERU!! woohoo! but i ended up not going to Peru to run my half-marathon. Why should I pay an absurd amount to travel to peru to participate in a painful two hours when I could do it right here in my home town? Thus, thats what I did. Along with 4 other volunteers.

We also participated with a local celebrity who is solely referred to as "la flaca". She is a talk show host on channel 2 and has become famous because she's a runner and just so fit that she's more famously known as "the skinny" than her actual given name. No, that is not resentment that you hear in my voice. Anyways she only ran the 10k (granted she was recently hit by a car about 2 months ago while on a jog and said she's still "recuperating) and we all did the 21k. After the race we got a quick photo with her which the instant i got home i upload to my facebook wall (famous by association, yes please) and looked up her results from the 10k. Her time beat my PR for a 10k by 4 minutes; and she's not even "fully recuperated". Yes, now we are hearing resentment. At least I've got a new goal to work towards...to beat la flaca!!

Fellow PCV Deanna, La Flaca and the Hunchback of Guayaquil

JULY 10th: Half-marathon # 2! This race was a little less formal, so informal that we used my garmin watch to track the distance of the race. With my rounding abilities hey really shouldn't leave me responsible for tracking the distance as I cut this race about a half mile short since I was too tired to go on. Close enough right?

This race is part of a fundraising project to support Parque Yasuni which is in the Amazon and being destroyed by oil companies. The project is touring the 24 provinces of Ecuador and running a 21k in each province. Its got a great atmosphere as everyone is out to support nature and healthy habits and there to have a good time. I'll leave you all the link to their webpage and even though its in spanish they have lots of pictures from the race (especially of Deanna and me). Check them out: Reto 21 x 24

UP NEXT:
August 14th: next half-marathon with the previously mentioned organization is in Esmeraldas, a province in the north of Ecuador, famous for its delicious coconut-infused foods and beaches. Yes please.

September 4th: 30k here in Guayaquil

October 9th: FULL MARATHON in BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. Still looking for a racing partner. Please email me for applications.

Part II "My Neighbor"

So to continue where i started the previous blog i would like to take this opportunity to introduce you all to my source of inspiration that i consider to be my new "neighbor". For those of you unaware, i changed houses once again (the good news is i'm back down to only 2 human sized suitcases worth of crap) and moved about a mile down the street into a fellow PCV's apartment because she has now become an RPCV (points to whoever can guess what the R stands for). Fortunately the apartment came fully furbished with two beds, two fridges, two chairs etc (fellow RPCV believed things were better when in twos, a bit like Moses) and i have been able to make a very comfortable new life amongst her old things. I even found a dusty bag under the guest room bed that was hiding a brand spankin' new stick of men's Old Spice. I honestly get more complements on my new, slightly manly smell than with my flowery perfumes. Who knew?

Anyways, along with acquiring a fully furbished apartment I was also blessed with acquiring a new "neighbor" whom is oh so much more than just a "neighbor". Jordi is a PCV (don't get her confused with the RPCV) that lives next door and so willingly shares many things with me, such as her kitchen stove. Like a poorly planned divorce, Jordi got the stove but yet I got all the pots, pans and kitchen supplies. Unlike a poorly planned divorce, Jordi and I have adapted an incredible ability to share and go about our ways borrowing and taking as needed. Jordi likes to think we have created our own ecosystem due to our high degree of co-habitation. She's a blast and has a real fun blog that I highly recommend you read instead of mine. Find Jordi at: jordaninecuador.blogspot.com. She will be able to use google's fabulous "Stats" options to know if I sent you, so read it. Oh yeah, she also has TWO cats (even more like Moses).

So on the news front of the housing situation: things are great. Life in Guayaquil has defiantly improved since i've moved in, my host family from Cumanda came and gave me a surprise visit two weekends ago, my artist friend Jorge adorned one of my walls with a beautiful tree mural and I feel very content and at peace in my (hopefully) final ecuadorian living situation.

Please note lovely handmade afghan made my talented dear friend and RPCV Megan Petras.

part 1 of 2389084

Okay so due to inspiration from my new "neighbor" I am going to catch you all up on life, but poco a poco or little by little so as not to overwhelm you with one looooooong blog.

First things first, did you know that with gmail blogspot you can check the "stats" of your blog? You can find out all types of information such as where people are viewing your blog from (germany, hong kong, japan) but the most interesting "stat" is what keywords people used to search google in attempt to locate your blog. My personal favorite string of keywords was "Amanda Sandau Swimsuit"...interesting choice of words being as how i haven't told anyone about my shoot with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and the magazine isn't even scheduled to be released until August.

Amanda Sandau Swimsuit:
A few weeks ago, a good friend and fellow volunteer hosted an all day fundraiser in her community in order to build a children's playground. The fundraiser started out as a sports day with an all day soccer tournament and turned into a community dance/swim suit competition and in the spirit of supporting a fellow volunteer I managed to be convinced into competing. Being placed as candidate number 5 of 5, not only did they choose the order by saving best for last but also choose the tallest, oldest (by 8 years), least graceful and most awkward to be the caboose of the candidate train.

Let me draw you a brief picture of the entire event...Candidates file one by one out of the one classroom school, waltz onto the basketball court (which is surrounded by approximately 100 heavily drinking men, their 100 annoyed and sober wives and about 200 wild children), strut a lap around the court while waving and blowing kisses, return to center of court, present yourself (Amanda Sandau, Age 20, Business Major living in Guayaquil, I like Sports), and then take place in line next to fellow candidates. Group lap around the court trying to out-do each candidates sexiness, friendly flirting with the judges and then back to center of court for question round number 1. Answer your pre-assigned question: "If you were stuck on a deserted island and could take three things, what would you take?" My tailored answer to the likes of the crowd: "My machete to make a hut, my boyfriend 'cuz i really like him, and an endless amount of local moonshine to make things fun!" After all questions are answered, time for another lap around the court, oh wait, they didn't get enough eye-candy, make that a DOUBLE LAP.

thats some pretty tough competition

Judges select the final two candidates: Candidate number 4 and candidate number 5. WHOOOOO i made the final cut. The two remaining candidates do a celebratory lap (by this time i'm actually starting to enjoy the laps), return to center and answer "Improv question". "If you could hold a conversation with God what would you talk about?" "I would like to talk to God about the members of my family who have passed away for I know that they are in Heaven under His care" (A well received answer amongst the strong catholic community). ANOTHER lap while judges make their final decision, return to center court, oh the anxiety, wait, is that "gringa" i hear the crowd chanting? Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner, through the final decisions of the judges and the applause of the crowd, we would like to announce CANDIDATE NUMBER 5 as this years Senorita Miss Tanga!!!!

judge #1 and me

Never have I imagined that I would be comfortable parading in front of a crowd scantily clad in a swimsuit and heels but I guess that's the beauty of living in the present and valuing each and every day. Stay tuned for there are many more exciting updates to come soon.

love.

Hello, goodbye...

Okay lets see where we last left off, last blog I was saying my goodbyes to Cumandá and embarking on a new journey to Guayaquil. Now that two months have passed since I moved to Guayaquil I feel it’s an appropriate time to send out an update…

Work wise things have been going fairly well. I split my week working between the Peace Corps office and my new organizations office (ACDI-VOCA). The first few weeks were a little rough getting my positions worked out and getting comfortable in my new environment but things are defiantly looking up. Between both offices, my main responsibility is to work as a supervisor of the new volunteers and so I have been making lots of visits out to their individual sites, giving advice, providing support and a helping hand where needed.

Life in Guayaquil has been slightly boring due to my constant fear of being robbed and refusing to leave the house after 7 pm but my courage is beginning to build; not sure if that’s good or bad.

Last week we celebrated Peace Corp’s 50th Anniversary in Quito and I was one of the few volunteers who were lucky to get invited. Although after the 10-hour trip there and 10 hours back in two days merely for a 3-hour ceremony was barely worth it. Had it not been for the yummy food and free wine it defiantly would not have been worth the trip. The things I will do for free food and drink these days…

I must share my yesterday (Sunday) with you all for it was so glorious it has me still on a high. I started the morning off by competing in a 10k, which was the race of the bridges, and I finally got to run across the two giant bridges here that I’ve always dreamt about AND I also ran a new PR. Yay. Directly from the finish line I went to the bus terminal where I met up with 4 fellow volunteers and we jumped on a bus towards the beach where we spent the whole afternoon lounging in the glorious sunshine. Great company, fresh seafood lunch and a couple ice-cold beers under our umbrella makes for the ultimate Sunday afternoon one could ask for.

I still go home to Cumanda just about every weekend. I still have my old room with my host family, which is super nice and convenient. It’s still my favorite bed and the place that I refer to as home.

Well that’s about it for updates from here, either things are finally starting to settle down or I am getting accustomed to life in Ecuador. Hopefully it’s the latter…I hope you all have a great May and a safe Memorial Day Weekend! Love.

long time due (like always)

March 4, 2011
After a total of 98 weeks, a few short of two years, I am finally embarking on my last official week of being a resident in Cumanda. The end has come a lot earlier than expected but I will be going out with a bang, as Saturday is the start of the four days of Carnaval. Following tradition the kids (and some adults) have already started launching water balloons, tossing buckets of water and spraying silly string; the holiday hasn’t even started and I am ready for it to be OVER.

My time here in Cumanda has been incredible and I have been avoiding thinking about leaving for quite awhile now. Looking back, its as if my time here is split in half, the one half which I spent looking forward to the day I’d be leaving Cumanda and the other half dreading that same day.

Well, that first part was written about 10 days ago and life has changed over night. I just completed my third day of work and I think its safe to say that I have done more work in these past three days than in my previous two years. Is it too late to go back to Cumanda??? I got really comfortable with being the celebrity gringa and getting by on my whiteness. I guess all good things do come to an end.

Gratefully I report that the move to Guayaquil was a safe yet tearful experience. Granted that I had lost the paper with my new host families name, telephone number and home address I was still able to locate the home and to my luck they were actually there! My biggest fear was the taxi driver throwing (more like painfully dragging) my suitcases out of his car and leaving me stranded in front of some random house HOPING its residents would allow me to stay.

I am happy here. Its different. I miss greeting everyone I encounter on the street. Here the strangers just stare at me and ignore my greeting. But its fun that everything is a new adventure. Like the 50 minute bus ride I took this morning when its normally takes me 20 to get to the office, but magically I arrived at my front door. I’m still baffled, 12 hours later about how we ended up in the perfect spot. The adventure of finding new running spots. I live two blocks outside of a very posh neighborhood (home to Guayaquil’s Mayor) with cobblestone streets and cars that stop giving me the right-a-way.

Tomorrow for work I am meeting 4 new PC volunteers who will be working in sites that ACDI/VOCA is also involved and delivering them to their new sites. I’m excited to witness their transition as I feel it wasn’t that long ago that I was the same over anxious volunteer ready to set the worlds problems straight.

Anyways I know this is short but I just needed to send you all an update that I have survived the change and am ready to start thriving. I have a few more weeks until the end of march and then it’s a week off to visit the Galapagos islands with my Mami! It couldn’t come soon enough. Well, actually it could wait ‘til my diet kicked in and sheds me of my “rice baby”. I’m worried I’ll be more of a site than those cute little blue footed boobies! Hope you all have a good lent and stick to your promises!! Love love.

already february

January 2011, done. What a month. January brought the end of the school year here in Cumanda and also a very important conference for my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and me; the Closing of Service (COS) conference. It was during this week long conference that the 29 of us remaining volunteers (we started with 46 back in February of 2009) submitted our final documents of completed activities, had our last medical examinations with the doctors (I’d say about 70% of us were diagnosed with amoebas) and informed the office our selected final dates of service.

It was a bittersweet week to spend time with all of the other volunteers and office staff. The office hosted a delicious dinner for us and presented with us a surprise slide show and Mariachi band. It was great to have the opportunity to share memories and stories of all the craziness that has passed in our time and incredible to see how much has developed skill and personality wise. There wasn’t a single volunteer that wasn’t grateful for their experience or without remorse to pack up and leave in a few short months.

It was during this conference that I was presented with an unexpected opportunity to extend my service and continue working in Guayaquil with the international development agency ACDI-VOCA. ACDI-VOCA has a strong relationship with US AID to develop food security projects. Here in Ecuador ACDI-VOCA focuses on working with Cacao growers (Chocolate) and teaching modern techniques to improve production rates and quality. The previous few years ACDI-VOCA has been responsible for creating Co-ops of cacao growers and assists them in matters of exportation. This past year Peace Corps and ACDI-VOCA agreed to collaborate on projects and with the new group of Ag volunteers that is arriving, 7 of the volunteers will be sent to ACDI-VOCA sites here in the Coast. The job that my boss presented to me is working in the Guayaquil office of ACDI-VOCA, visiting project communities, overseeing the projects and necessities of the 7 PC volunteers and also developing future sites for new volunteers.

While living and working in Guayaquil will be a complete change of pace, I am so thankful for the opportunity to stay and also to work in a more professional setting. I cannot say that the decision was planned out, but in the short time that I had to think about it I am absolutely positive that it is an opportunity I cannot (and do not want to) pass up. Thus, instead of coming home at the end of April I will continue with the Ecuadorian life until November 16th, 2011. Just in time for Thanksgiving and snowboarding season!

This past weekend was a great weekend here in Cumanda, celebrating my 25th birthday and the Superbowl with friends. Saturday night we had the typical night out at my friend’s bar full with friends and plenty of beer, dancing and live music. On Sunday (after a slow morning) we headed over to my sitemate Alice’s house to grill hamburgers and watch the Superbowl. We tried to explain the rules and game of American football to the Ecuadorians but they got bored after the first quarter and left. The only disappointment of the day was the lack of commercials during the game for the new ones weren’t aired here.

In the previous posts, I put up two videos. One is of Cumanda and the other is of Bucay. If you watch the Bucay one, you can get an insight of my friends and life here. The Bucay video was organized by my good friend here and thus he arranged that all of his friends be interviewed. There is also a clip of my friend’s bar, which we regularly frequent (it’s a great place to socialize as well). If it doesn’t take too long to download I recommend watching them. Sorry they’re all in Spanish though…

Well that’s about it from here. This week I am helping a friend teach swim class to 25 kids under 10 years old. Yesterday was the first day and it was an interesting and fun day. We shall see what events today’s class brings. I hope you all enjoyed the Superbowl and aren’t suffering too terribly with the storms and cold weather! Love.

Cumanda Ecuador Mundo Adentro

BUCAY

Welcome 2011!

Quick update on life: 2011 has started off on a great path! I was lucky enough to coerce a great friend of mine, Ali, to spend Christmas, New Years and her birthday here with me in Ecuador. We had an incredible time celebrating the holidays with my host family and traveling to Peru!

About a month ago, Ali and I were chatting online about the endless adventures her trip to Ecuador would bring when she mentioned Machu Picchu. On a whim we looked up tickets to Peru, found a steal of a deal and booked them instantly! And that was the extent to which we planned our Peruvian trip. Looking back I am amazed at how much we were able to accomplish in our ephemeral 6-day stint with such limited planning. All we knew is we were going to Peru to see Machu Picchu.

We coined our Peruvian adventure “the trip of compromising situations” and took to giggling when fellow travelers curiosity questioned us about hostels, reservations and planned means of transportation. Like I said before though, we did pretty damn well for how little prepared we were. For example, it might have been helpful to know before that its best to fly to Cuzco, not Lima, to visit Machu Picchu for it’s a mere 24 hours bus ride from one city to the other. Another helpful fact would’ve been to make advanced reservations on the train to Machu Picchu which would’ve allowed us to arrive at a reasonable hour to seek out a hostel, buy entrance tickets to the park of Machu Picchu and make a quick, well needed trip to the natural hot springs. Instead we bought tickets when we should up to the station and bought 2 for the last train up the mountain for 11 pm, giving us 8 hours of wait time (quickly passed with the help of Peruvian beers and fried potatoes) and putting us into the base town of MP at 1:15 am in the pouring rain. Having thought we learned our lesson about lack of planning ahead, Ali and I used a few spare minutes of our 8-hour wait to call and reserve a room at a hostel so as to have a place to lay our heads but after a good half hour of searching in the dark and rain we gave up and settled on a different hostel whose host was made so uncomfortable by my “tears of exhaustion” that he gave a us a very reasonable price. In bed by 2 am, up by 5 am in order to get in line for entrance tickets and bus seats and attempt to catch the sunrise from the tip of MP. I missed the sunrise while buying entrance tickets and Ali witnessed it from her spot in line for the buses. However we did arrive to MP by the refreshing hour of 6:30 am to catch the entire monument covered in a dense fog that prohibits seeing more than 10 feet in front of you. We just kept “giggling” and muttering “compromising situations”.

Machu Picchu was spectacular. We took a side-hike up an immense mountain that overlooked the ruins and took our breath away. The clouds burned off and allowed for serene views and photos. Despite the impossibility of watching the sunrise from the top (much recommended by guidebooks) our early start paid off for we were out of the ruins and headed back to town by time all the guided-groups were filling the tiny paths and lessening its innate beauty.

The rest of the trip went well; train down the mountain, mini-bus to Cuzco, 22 hour bus ride from Cuzco to Lima with an early AM stop at a questionable rest stop in the middle of the desert which caused sleepy, Benadryl induced Ali and Amanda to believe they had caught the wrong bus and were headed towards Iran. By noon the day after boarding the bus, we arrived back in Lima for a day of site seeing in its historical center. Well for me at least, Ali was a little “under the weather” and preferred the comfort of being near a toilet rather than meandering through the metropolis’s crowded streets. Our Peruvian trip (and Ali’s Ecuadorian one) ended with one last night in Lima, a quick flight to Guayaquil, bus to Cumanda, quick re-packing of all bags and one final night in Cumanda, bus back to Guayaquil, our last supper at a food court in the mall (I had a very satisfying hamburger from Burger King and Ali savored a few bites of Yuca bread, who was still attentively questioning the abilities of her stomach), and a gloomy final return to the GYE airport.

Last night I dropped Ali off at the airport and now I am attempting to remember what “normal life in Cumanda” is. I feel like I’ve had an incredible stint of visitors and grand vacations these past few months that life has been even more surreal than usual. However, much to my dismay I don’t see the “surreal-ity” diminishing for in two weeks I will be heading to Quito for our “end of service” conference, which is basically the beginning of the end. During said conference we are required to submit final reports on all projects completed in our two years, have another round of medical tests, attend workshops for resume building, job searching and how to deal with reverse culture shock and most depressing of all, we will select the date for our return flight home. RETURN FLIGHT HOME? I could’ve sworn I just got here.

Well now that I got thinking about the end and how near it is, I think its time to get out of this internet shop and enjoy one of my last Sunday afternoons in Cumanda. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and memorable New Years. Thanks all for your support in 2010 and I wish you all a prosperous 2011!!!! Love AES.