Day 13: The Mail (12/10/09)
I woke up with the intention of sending a few emails and making a few calls. I also hoped to make it to Bahia to send a few letters and buy a glass to replace the one I knocked over/broke last night.
I did a little emailing and called my parents. Things seem to be going okay in Portland. It´s really cold, but my parents have been staying busy. The dog´s (Penny) back legs are still bad, but not any worse than when I left. She´s in good spirits and happy to get the few walks she gets. Katie is finished with finals and on break now. My dad is loving my phone (I knew he would). I´m afraid I may never get it back.
After talking to them for a bit Camila came home from school and we ate lunch. Elsa made ceviche. I´ve never actually had it before, but in the U.S. I´ve always seen it served more like a salad, but here it´s served almost like soup (with a lot of broth) with popcorn. I guess in Ecuador a lot of places serve popcorn with different foods. After lunch Camila and I got ready for the trek to Bahia.
The only thing on my agenda was to buy larger envelopes and to make it to the post office. I thought Camila also had things to do in Bahia (school supply shopping or something), but she didn´t.
We hopped a bus to San Vincente and then hopped a boat to Bahia. We walked close to the water for a while and Camila asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I didn´t know and asked where she usually goes when she comes to Bahia with her mom. She said the dentist and I laughed.
We turned around and walked the other way. She decided we should go to the museum. On the way to the museum we stopped at the Tia grocery store and bought my replacement glass. Then walked past a lot of other small shops, until we came to one that Camila thought might have envelopes. She was right.
We continued to the museum, but it was closed. I wanted to sit for a minute to finish up one of my letters, but she didn´t know of a good place to sit (and I couldn´t see one). So I leaned against the museums fence and finished my letter, and put all of them into the new envelopes while Camila whined. On our way back towards the post office, we stopped so Camila could buy a corviche (I don´t know how to spell it), a fried cornbread cover piece of fish.
At the post office, Camila talked to the man at the counter for about 5 seconds and then turned into a deer in head lights when I asked what he had said. So he and I played charades. I payed for the letters, he gave me a receipt, and I thanked him.
I asked Camila what she´d like to do next, but she didn´t have any ideas. I suggested we head back to San Vincente so we would be sure to catch a bus (it stopped running in 45 minutes).
So we hopped a small boat back towards the other side. There were a ton of sailboats in the water near Bahia, and they had made some obvious progress on the bridge.
I would really like to wander around some of these small towns and do some knick-knack shopping, but to be honest, it´s way too anxiety inducing at this point. Every vendor (probably closer to 80% of vendors) seems to be one or both of two things: 1. really pushy or 2. a gawk-er. In the U.S. pushy street vendors (etc) give me anxiety as it is and this is like that times 100-1000. At least in the U.S. I understand what people are saying and the context of their body language. The gawk-ers are nearly as bad. I´ve discovered I really don´t like being stared at blatantly.
The way going to a lot of places here makes me feel is similar to the way I felt in college. I hate feeling like that.
Anyway, we hopped a bus in San Vincente and made it to the condos just before dinner.
After dinner I tried to watch movies. The first one skipped a ton, so I moved on. The second one had a huge crack in it and the third one I only watched briefly, then headed to Elsa´s to call Gabe.
Brent was on Skype talking to his Oregon realtors office about the sale of his house closing. I was gonna leave and wait until tomorrow, but then Elsa got off her computer so I checked email (etc) until Brent was done. I managed to get a hold of Gabe. It was really good to talk to him even though it felt brief (we talked for 45 minutes, but when you´re used to talking everyday, it feels like very little). He had gone to a doctor about being sick and got strep tested (negative). He started looking for jobs, which I think is great. He seemed to think it was a good idea too. He only started yesterday though, so we´ll see how it goes. Looking for jobs sucks. I was yawning a lot so we said goodbye, but he asked me to call again tomorrow.
I think I might start forcing myself to go online less frequently, maybe only a few times a week, to avoid getting sucked into it (like I always seem to). I think I´ll start limiting my calls too. I probably shouldn´t be talking to people a bunch, ´cause who knows if I´ll be able to wherever I end up next.
Maybe I´ll try going for walks everyday and try talking to people at the hostels about what to do in town.
After talking to Gabe, I headed back to the condo and watched part of ¨Dogville.¨It´s very strange so far. It´s basically a play on film, but shot like a movie (hard to explain in writing). Then I slept.
I did a little emailing and called my parents. Things seem to be going okay in Portland. It´s really cold, but my parents have been staying busy. The dog´s (Penny) back legs are still bad, but not any worse than when I left. She´s in good spirits and happy to get the few walks she gets. Katie is finished with finals and on break now. My dad is loving my phone (I knew he would). I´m afraid I may never get it back.
After talking to them for a bit Camila came home from school and we ate lunch. Elsa made ceviche. I´ve never actually had it before, but in the U.S. I´ve always seen it served more like a salad, but here it´s served almost like soup (with a lot of broth) with popcorn. I guess in Ecuador a lot of places serve popcorn with different foods. After lunch Camila and I got ready for the trek to Bahia.
The only thing on my agenda was to buy larger envelopes and to make it to the post office. I thought Camila also had things to do in Bahia (school supply shopping or something), but she didn´t.
We hopped a bus to San Vincente and then hopped a boat to Bahia. We walked close to the water for a while and Camila asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I didn´t know and asked where she usually goes when she comes to Bahia with her mom. She said the dentist and I laughed.
We turned around and walked the other way. She decided we should go to the museum. On the way to the museum we stopped at the Tia grocery store and bought my replacement glass. Then walked past a lot of other small shops, until we came to one that Camila thought might have envelopes. She was right.
We continued to the museum, but it was closed. I wanted to sit for a minute to finish up one of my letters, but she didn´t know of a good place to sit (and I couldn´t see one). So I leaned against the museums fence and finished my letter, and put all of them into the new envelopes while Camila whined. On our way back towards the post office, we stopped so Camila could buy a corviche (I don´t know how to spell it), a fried cornbread cover piece of fish.
At the post office, Camila talked to the man at the counter for about 5 seconds and then turned into a deer in head lights when I asked what he had said. So he and I played charades. I payed for the letters, he gave me a receipt, and I thanked him.
I asked Camila what she´d like to do next, but she didn´t have any ideas. I suggested we head back to San Vincente so we would be sure to catch a bus (it stopped running in 45 minutes).
So we hopped a small boat back towards the other side. There were a ton of sailboats in the water near Bahia, and they had made some obvious progress on the bridge.
I would really like to wander around some of these small towns and do some knick-knack shopping, but to be honest, it´s way too anxiety inducing at this point. Every vendor (probably closer to 80% of vendors) seems to be one or both of two things: 1. really pushy or 2. a gawk-er. In the U.S. pushy street vendors (etc) give me anxiety as it is and this is like that times 100-1000. At least in the U.S. I understand what people are saying and the context of their body language. The gawk-ers are nearly as bad. I´ve discovered I really don´t like being stared at blatantly.
The way going to a lot of places here makes me feel is similar to the way I felt in college. I hate feeling like that.
Anyway, we hopped a bus in San Vincente and made it to the condos just before dinner.
After dinner I tried to watch movies. The first one skipped a ton, so I moved on. The second one had a huge crack in it and the third one I only watched briefly, then headed to Elsa´s to call Gabe.
Brent was on Skype talking to his Oregon realtors office about the sale of his house closing. I was gonna leave and wait until tomorrow, but then Elsa got off her computer so I checked email (etc) until Brent was done. I managed to get a hold of Gabe. It was really good to talk to him even though it felt brief (we talked for 45 minutes, but when you´re used to talking everyday, it feels like very little). He had gone to a doctor about being sick and got strep tested (negative). He started looking for jobs, which I think is great. He seemed to think it was a good idea too. He only started yesterday though, so we´ll see how it goes. Looking for jobs sucks. I was yawning a lot so we said goodbye, but he asked me to call again tomorrow.
I think I might start forcing myself to go online less frequently, maybe only a few times a week, to avoid getting sucked into it (like I always seem to). I think I´ll start limiting my calls too. I probably shouldn´t be talking to people a bunch, ´cause who knows if I´ll be able to wherever I end up next.
Maybe I´ll try going for walks everyday and try talking to people at the hostels about what to do in town.
After talking to Gabe, I headed back to the condo and watched part of ¨Dogville.¨It´s very strange so far. It´s basically a play on film, but shot like a movie (hard to explain in writing). Then I slept.
Day 14: BBQ Chicken (12/11/09)
I finally got out of bed around 9 am. I ate my usual yogurt and granola plus half a PB&J for breakfast. I grabbed the movies that hadn´t worked last night and headed to Elsa and Brent´s. They were headed out shortly to go to their property (future home site).
I put up 3 more days worth of blog (which took a ridiculous amount of time) and checked emails, etc.
I came back to the apartment and ate some lunch. I went back to Brent and Elsa´s to find Margaret´s Ecuador book and then did some reading at the apartment.
I tried to take a nap, but it was no use. There was too much noise from the road and the pool. So I just ¨rested my eyes.¨I wanted to go for a swim next, but the Russians had the pool, so I took a walk instead.
I walked almost to Canoa and then turned around. I took the camera with me this time. I walked until I got to the dead sea lion (there were several vultures eating it), took some picture. I also took pictures of an old light bulb I had seen and the sunset and crabs, etc. When I was nearly back I ran into Margaret. She wanted to get a little walk in before dinner. BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes tonight.
After dinner I tried calling Gabe, but he didn´t answer so I tried Christina. She did answer, but the reception was terrible. It was still nice to hear her voice for 5 seconds. I tried Gabe again, but he was watching a Blazer game so we only talked for a couple minutes. He asked if he could still send stuff with my mom´s friend´s husband (Jack). I told him that I thought he could because Jack was supposed to be having dinner at my parents´house later that week.
When I got back to the apartment I hit the hay.
I put up 3 more days worth of blog (which took a ridiculous amount of time) and checked emails, etc.
I came back to the apartment and ate some lunch. I went back to Brent and Elsa´s to find Margaret´s Ecuador book and then did some reading at the apartment.
I tried to take a nap, but it was no use. There was too much noise from the road and the pool. So I just ¨rested my eyes.¨I wanted to go for a swim next, but the Russians had the pool, so I took a walk instead.
I walked almost to Canoa and then turned around. I took the camera with me this time. I walked until I got to the dead sea lion (there were several vultures eating it), took some picture. I also took pictures of an old light bulb I had seen and the sunset and crabs, etc. When I was nearly back I ran into Margaret. She wanted to get a little walk in before dinner. BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes tonight.
After dinner I tried calling Gabe, but he didn´t answer so I tried Christina. She did answer, but the reception was terrible. It was still nice to hear her voice for 5 seconds. I tried Gabe again, but he was watching a Blazer game so we only talked for a couple minutes. He asked if he could still send stuff with my mom´s friend´s husband (Jack). I told him that I thought he could because Jack was supposed to be having dinner at my parents´house later that week.
When I got back to the apartment I hit the hay.
Day 15: El Matal/Jama/Manantial (12/12/09)
I woke up around 8:30 and talked to Margaret while I ate breakfast. Brent and Elsa were walking to the truck with a few things and said that they wanted to head out at 10.
Today we were going back to their weekly picnic beach.
When we got there, there were hardly any clouds. It was very hot, but thankfully there was a good breeze. The waves were to big and strong to swim, so I went for a walk.
I walked nearly to the end of the beach.
The water kept speeding up the shore and kept my legs nice and cool. There were tons of birds out, but hardly any fishermen.
There were gulls, small black birds, large black/white (fork tailed) birds, vultures and pelicans.
When I got back to the blanket it had been about an hour and a half. Time for lunch.
Deviled egg sandwiches. They were alright, but were too mayo-y for me. We all sat and talked a while, then all of a sudden the waves were making it to out toes. Margaret, Brent, and Camila disappeared, so Elsa and I packed up the truck. We waited a while, but Camila was the only one who came back, so Elsa locked the truck and the three of us walked down the beach (in the opposite direction of my first walk) to look for ¨treasures.
We didn´t find any, but Elsa and I talked a lot. It was very nice. She is really a very sweet woman. Brent is very lucky to have met her (through craigslist). We walked a long ways and Camila was bored and thought we should go back to find Margaret and Brent.
We were almost all the way back before we ran into them.
We piled into the truck again, and except for a couple short stops, went to the condos.
When we got back I called my parents and then called Gabe. Gabe said the stuff he wanted to send would be ready by Sunday and luckily enough Jack couldn´t make dinner tonight (Saturday) so Gabe´s stuff should make it to Jack in time.
I after the calls I hopped in the pool and played some ball game similar to volleyball (but no net, and apparently no volleying) with Camila, Brigit (the maintenance family´s daughter) and a girl from down the road.
We played in the pool until the sun was set. I showered and then Margaret and I had creamy chicken noodle soup and talked til 10:30.
I got a little sun today. Mostly near my chest/neck and my calves and feet. My feet/legs was because the water washed off my sunscreen while I was walking. But I guess I should´ve reapplied some to my chest/neck/face too. Oh well, the burn isn´t that bad.
Today we were going back to their weekly picnic beach.
When we got there, there were hardly any clouds. It was very hot, but thankfully there was a good breeze. The waves were to big and strong to swim, so I went for a walk.
I walked nearly to the end of the beach.
The water kept speeding up the shore and kept my legs nice and cool. There were tons of birds out, but hardly any fishermen.
There were gulls, small black birds, large black/white (fork tailed) birds, vultures and pelicans.
When I got back to the blanket it had been about an hour and a half. Time for lunch.
Deviled egg sandwiches. They were alright, but were too mayo-y for me. We all sat and talked a while, then all of a sudden the waves were making it to out toes. Margaret, Brent, and Camila disappeared, so Elsa and I packed up the truck. We waited a while, but Camila was the only one who came back, so Elsa locked the truck and the three of us walked down the beach (in the opposite direction of my first walk) to look for ¨treasures.
We didn´t find any, but Elsa and I talked a lot. It was very nice. She is really a very sweet woman. Brent is very lucky to have met her (through craigslist). We walked a long ways and Camila was bored and thought we should go back to find Margaret and Brent.
We were almost all the way back before we ran into them.
We piled into the truck again, and except for a couple short stops, went to the condos.
When we got back I called my parents and then called Gabe. Gabe said the stuff he wanted to send would be ready by Sunday and luckily enough Jack couldn´t make dinner tonight (Saturday) so Gabe´s stuff should make it to Jack in time.
I after the calls I hopped in the pool and played some ball game similar to volleyball (but no net, and apparently no volleying) with Camila, Brigit (the maintenance family´s daughter) and a girl from down the road.
We played in the pool until the sun was set. I showered and then Margaret and I had creamy chicken noodle soup and talked til 10:30.
I got a little sun today. Mostly near my chest/neck and my calves and feet. My feet/legs was because the water washed off my sunscreen while I was walking. But I guess I should´ve reapplied some to my chest/neck/face too. Oh well, the burn isn´t that bad.
Day 16: Cartwheels (12/13/09)
Today I woke up around 6, slept again til 6:30, then 7, then 7:30, then 9. At 9 I finally got up.
I made myself some breakfast and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, while listening to Ray Charles.
Camila and Brigit came by to ask me to teach them cartwheels. I agreed to after I finished eating and washed the dishes. As I was finishing the dishes Margaret came in and we talked a bit about plans while Jack is here. Then I went to find Camila and Brigit.
We did some cartwheels, but I couldn´t do too many because I haven´t been stretching and I was pulling muscles.
Then we decided to walk to Canoa because they needed something to do and I needed a few groceries. The walk was long and hot. The temperature is definitely going up here.
There were so many vultures on the sea lion today. You could see it´s ribs through the holes that had been ripped in it.
In Canoa, we got mosquito spray for the house (mosquitoes are breeding in our shower and living in my closet), a new swim suit for me (mine is starting to get thin because of all the pool swimming), and ice cream sandwiches. We walked around for a while and then got groceries and ran to the bus.
When we got back Margaret was napping and Brent and Elsa were laying in the hammocks.
I ate lunch and started thinking about napping. Camila really wanted to swim in about an hour, but I decided to nap anyway.
When I woke up and went to Elsa´s, Camila said that Brigit´s dad had to clean the pool, so no swimming for a few hours.
I checked emails, etc and tried to make some calls, but no one answered. Camila asked if I wanted to swim now, but it´s dinner time.
After dinner Margaret and I talked for a long time and then I tried to sleep.
I made myself some breakfast and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, while listening to Ray Charles.
Camila and Brigit came by to ask me to teach them cartwheels. I agreed to after I finished eating and washed the dishes. As I was finishing the dishes Margaret came in and we talked a bit about plans while Jack is here. Then I went to find Camila and Brigit.
We did some cartwheels, but I couldn´t do too many because I haven´t been stretching and I was pulling muscles.
Then we decided to walk to Canoa because they needed something to do and I needed a few groceries. The walk was long and hot. The temperature is definitely going up here.
There were so many vultures on the sea lion today. You could see it´s ribs through the holes that had been ripped in it.
In Canoa, we got mosquito spray for the house (mosquitoes are breeding in our shower and living in my closet), a new swim suit for me (mine is starting to get thin because of all the pool swimming), and ice cream sandwiches. We walked around for a while and then got groceries and ran to the bus.
When we got back Margaret was napping and Brent and Elsa were laying in the hammocks.
I ate lunch and started thinking about napping. Camila really wanted to swim in about an hour, but I decided to nap anyway.
When I woke up and went to Elsa´s, Camila said that Brigit´s dad had to clean the pool, so no swimming for a few hours.
I checked emails, etc and tried to make some calls, but no one answered. Camila asked if I wanted to swim now, but it´s dinner time.
After dinner Margaret and I talked for a long time and then I tried to sleep.
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