It has been brought to my attention (repeatedly) that I have fallen behind on the updates. I had a good reason at first and after that it was just hard to sit down and think up everything that you all need to be caught up on...I will finally give it a try!
The school in Manta had 5 students during my first week, one who flat out told me that he didn't want to be my friend because he only wanted to do things with Ecuadorians, one introvert, and 2 students who had class in the afternoon (which was my only free time). Although my homestay was physically amazing (pool, wireless internet!!), no one was ever home and I spent all of my time alone. Between being super sick, sweating in the insane heat and spending each day beyond lonely, I was pretty miserable.
My first weekend there I took a trip to Isla de la Plata with the afternoon couple and the introvert (who I eventually convinced to love me). It was a glorious weekend, I never wanted to leave. As luck would have it, Nikki, the female half of the afternoon couple, is a doctor! She helped me get my hands on some parasite pills (you don't need a prescription for anything here!!) which I took on Saturday night...with mixed consequences... But I am getting ahead of myself!
That first day we got up early and drove from Manta to Puerto Lopez where we were supposed to catch our ship to Isla de la Plata (the poor man's Galapagos). The fish market was just ending on the beach so we headed down and got a look at hammerhead sharks, manta rays, and men running with buckets of fish on their heads and birds swooping down in an effort to steal a free meal. Haha!!
Such chaos! It was all great fun until Nikki noticed the puppy with the compound fracture to it's front leg. She spent the rest of the trip obsessing about the dog. She even came up with a plan for us to amputate the leg and take the dog home at one point. We were later told that the police “take care of” these animals. I was glad to not see the puppy again when we passed by that spot again, I didn't want to be part of an impromptu surgery on the beach!
Our trip to the island was fun, we saw tons and tons of attack Blue-footed Boobies, a snake!!, and a shark surfing in the waves just off the beach. We spent about 3.5 hours hiking the island in the glaring sun, so we were thankful to get back to the beach for lunch and gallons of water. After that we went snorkeling off the coast of the island. This was hilarious: the tour company gave us each a pair of flippers and a mask and then most people got a snorkel. Nothing more. Eventually a bunch of us snuck back for lifevests because treading water with a mask on was an awful lot of work. We saw some fun colorful fish and even an eel. Steven claimed that he may have seen a shark (or a shadow) but either way we both headed away from the “deep end” after that.
That night was the night of the parasite pills (which turned out to be ameoba pills...). Most of us were in bed by 9 (we shared a big room with various bunk and full sized beds). In the middle of the night I was having a dream about a shaman and got up out of bed to get away from him. When I got up, my entire left leg was asleep causing my foot to drag behind me. When I went to put weight on that foot (clearly) it couldn't support me and I pitched forward. Since I was still asleep, I didn't reach out to break my fall and fell straight into the bedpost of the couple's bed. The crash woke up Steven (male half of the couple) who was also having a nightmare, so he woke up screaming and kicking. Nikki turned on the light after she had calmed Steven, and I was still laying dazed on the floor announcing “I'm fine, I'm fine,” in my embarrassment, and cussing under my breath. I very quickly went back to bed, where I discovered that I was bleeding. I cleaned up my cuts on my hand and foot and returned to bed in extreme pain. I woke up in the morning to discover that in addition to the cuts, I had broken several ribs. I had never felt such intense pain before, I found myself grabbing my ribs in pain whenever I laughed, sneezed, or rode in a bumpy bus. By saving this story for so long, I can now tell you that I am recovering nicely. I no longer have the shooting fiery pain that I had for the first 3 weeks. I still hurt, but it isn't nearly as bad anymore. I should be all healed up in just a few more weeks, but my amazing sleepwalking/rib breaking story will last forever. :)
When we returned to Manta, I made the announcement that I would be returning to my sweet Quito to finish out my classes. My reasons for going to Manta had been to surf, but between being sick and then breaking my ribs, surfing became impossible. I was finishing my second round of parasite pills (really for parasites this time) when I returned to Quito, and between that and not eating fried foods at every meal anymore (gah homestay!!), I finally began to feel better.
I had originally planned to study for 6 weeks, 4 in Quito and 2 in Manta, but later decided to add a 7th week in Manta. I returned to Quito for the 7th week and decided to stay for an 8th in which I would stay in my apartment (I am done with homestays, I want to eat my own food!) but not take classess, in order to give myself time to finish my coursework for the Seattle school and do my taxes.
Haha, then I finished my 8th week and decided to take more classes during my 9th week, and then “shoot, why not get a one-year student visa so that I can bounce back into Quito for more classes whenever I want?” I spent a couple of weeks visiting notaries and the ministry working on getting my visa. I finally got the visa, but it is only for 6-months due to the fact at I am “only” studing a language. However, we are under the impression that if you leave the country and return, you get another 90-day stamp. (this was supposed to have changed, but I guess it really hasn't)
The current plan is that I will study until mid-late April (during which I will be volunteering at a local HUGE park in the mornings with the reforestation team) and then I will head north to the jungle (or 17 minutes from the airport...whichever ecolodge wants me) to volunteer at an ecolodge for 3 months. After that I will return to Quito for 1-2 weeks before heading to travel Peru with my friend Jill who I met here (and with whom I am currently sharing an apartment!) and then I will volunteer at an ecolodge in Peru for 3 months. After that things get hazy, but considering how many times the plan has changed, I don't see any point in trying to plan those last few months.
Since returning to sweet sweeeeeet Quito (can you tell that I like it here?) life has settled in and things are much less exciting. I actually kind of love this, I know how to use the buses, where to buy cheap used books in English, and where to get fresh strawberries and bread for the best prices. I also love being able to teach all of the new students how to navigate Quito. I miss teaching so much!
I visited Banos one weekend (Ecuador's outdoor sport paradise) with the idea to try bungee jumping, but quickly nixed that idea due to the fact that my broken ribs could puncture my lung during the jump. Awwwww!!! Instead we rode horses, bathed in the nature hot springs, and shopped. Banos made it up to me when we had REAL cheese in our eggs at the hostel...suddenly the world was so much brighter. :)
Jill's mom came to visit last weekend which was great fun for me. I declared very early that I was going to pretend that it was a visit from MY family, and this worked out very well for me. She brought me presents (books and M&Ms!!!!), gave me mom hugs, and took a couple of packages back to the US for me (they made it to my parents in only TWO days, that seems impossible after waiting 5 weeks for my ATM card to arrive in the mail here).
Geez, this is getting to be huge long again so I should probably start to wrap it up. Tomorrow (or today when I send this out) I start my volunteer work at the Parque Itchimbia so my next e-mail should be full of stories about that. I am currently being treated for what may or may not be bronchitis and am getting tested for ameobas/parasites with the thought that I didn't actually get it cleared up last time.
Clearly life here is a kick in the butt :) but really I am enjoying my time here in Quito. I am living with my closest friend, obsessing over Spanish, and trying not to think too much about how easy life is in the US. :)
I love you all and think about all of you often! I hope everyone is staying safe, healthy and employed!!
:) Amber
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