Day 419: Crossing into Colombia + Las Lajas Sanctuary

We were slightly nervous about the border crossing between Ecuador and Colombia. It’s not exactly recommended to travel up through the southern region of Colombia, but it’s significantly safer if you only travel by day, which was our plan! As it turns out, crossing the border was ridiculously easy – lightyears easier than getting into England. Making our way to Las Lajas Sanctuary and then Pasto afterwards to spend the night turned out to be equally easy. Las Lajas Sanctuary is a basilica church built into a canyon in Ipiales just five minutes away from the border. Andrew purposely kept pictures of the church from me so I would be surprised when we arrived. We had all of our bags in tow, and climbed down the canyon (and then back up again) to check out the church before continuing to make our way up through Colombia, well, as much as we could before nightfall.

We forgot it was Sunday, and arrived right in the middle of a mass. While we walked around the outskirts of the church, a local (from Ipiales) stopped to chat. He ran an English school and told us he always liked to practice his own English with visitors passing through. He was so sweet, and little did we know that he would be the first of many lovely Colombians that we would meet throughout the rest of this beautiful country.

With all of the doors to the church open, I snuck a quick picture in from the very back just so you could see what the interior looked like. Beautiful, isn’t it? We walked around to the other side of the canyon, still with all of our bags on our shoulders (and Andrew’s back) to get some pictures. Andrew decided to climb up to the top of the canyon to get even better pictures. I stayed below with all of our bags.

On our way out, I handed my camera off to get a picture of us in front of the church. I had the picture lined up and everything so the entire church would fit into the frame… but that didn't seem to matter. In other words, I should have just whipped out my travel tri-pod. I had it with us after all… I cropped and straightened the other image down because I think this was the first time we were in front of a famous landmark or site with ALL of our possessions.

And then sheer madness broke out. For some reason, we were bombarded by families wanting us to pose for pictures with them. Despite Andrew carrying 3 of our 5 bags, one mother practically forced her young son into his arms. When I managed to sneak away to retrieve my own camera back, Andrew was kept with a different family and I was snagged and ordered to embrace one woman’s husband.

We stopped to catch our breath on the way back up the canyon and this little girl caught my eye. She was sitting with her mother and we exchanged a few smiles while Andrew was busy getting proselytized to by the woman sitting on the other side of him. Not wanting to get sucked into the conversation I continued making eyes with her as she curiously watched both of us. When they left, her and her mother stopped and said hello. A few minutes later, she returned to sing me a song. I really wanted to film it, but she seemed a little nervous as it was. The song went something like this: “Hello Hello I speak English. How are you? Good. Thank you!” It melted my heart.

Day 418: Otavalo

Before making our way across the border into Colombia, we stopped for two nights in Otavalo, Ecuador. Otavalo is a little town that is most famous for it’s markets every Saturday morning and early afternoon. As we walked through town last night, I knew I was going to enjoy our short stay here. While the Ecuadorian coast was nice, and the historical center of Quito very pretty, I think the beauty of Ecuador lies in it’s small towns inland, or in the mountains. I loved Mindo, I had a feeling I was going to love Otavalo as well. It made me feel a little bad we spent most of our time in Ecuador studying Spanish instead of traveling around more smaller towns! We spent the morning at Otavalo’s main market, and then the afternoon searching down the Peguche waterfall outside of town.

It seemed as if the entire city shut down and morphed into a giant market. Granted, the city wasn’t that big, but when all of the streets are suddenly covered in tents and stalls selling everything from skeins of yarn to gold bracelets to pre-Colombian statues to slabs of pork on a plate for a quick lunch it felt huge and delightfully overwhelming. Andrew and I strolled around taking it all in, taking pictures, and seeing what was for sale before we bought anything. We could have bought small and unbreakable things, but we went straight for the pre-Colombian statues (some of which you can see below). More specifically, Andrew wanted them. It’s official. I have rubbed off on him. At least when it comes to buying (and subsequently having to carry around) breakable, slightly heavy and hard to pack souvenirs.

We’ve also seen reproductions based off of Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamín‘s work throughout Ecuador. They were everywhere. In our guesthouses, in restaurants, even on the walls in our Spanish school in Quito. I was hoping I’d be able to find a few prints or hear more about the artist before we left Ecuador. Fortunately the market offered lots of reproductions and we were able to hop from stall to stall pricing out different ones we liked and eventually decided on a few that our future walls simply will not be able to live without. Done shopping, we strolled through the food market (always one of my favorite areas of a market) and took pictures before ducking into one of the restaurants for lunch.

The outskirts of the market offered quieter streets which made it relatively easy to sneak back to our room to drop off our newly acquired art before trekking out of Otavalo to check out the Peguche waterfall. We took a public bus and got off at the suggested stop, but we felt a little lost wandering around a much smaller town with no clear signs of a waterfall.

We were also told it was a weaving capital of the area surrounding Otavalo, but we quickly found out this simply meant there was one shop with very pricey rugs and tapestries inside. I was more impressed with the street art. This little tiny two street town with hardly anyone walking through it offered up some incredible murals. Even in Otavalo offered equally impressive public art.

Even though we asked for directions, walking down this dirt road we were a little skeptical if we were heading in the right direction. There weren’t any signs, no other tourists, so when some locals walked past us, we simply followed them and were relieved when we found ourselves at the entrance of the park and winding trail towards the waterfall. Anxious to catch a public bus back into Otavalo before dark, we didn’t linger in the park too long.

Instead, we walked to yet another small town that wrapped itself around the outskirts of Otavalo in search for the bus or perhaps a taxi if we were lucky. Eventually we were told where we could go, and before the sandflies consumed my exposed legs entirely, we were back on a bus towards Otavalo and heading back to Taco Bello (yep, you read correctly) for another taco salad.

Day 417: Banana Spanish School: a cooking lesson

Banana Spanish School was our third, and last school of our Spanish studies between Peru and Ecuador. Even though I liked Banana Spanish School, I was disappointed with my second week and I have to admit that despite loving the owners/teachers of the school. Our second set of lessons at Sundown Inn (outside of Canoa) were a complete disappointment. That being said, my favorite school was San Blas Spanish School in Cusco, Peru. However, we ended on a super positive note, joining in a cooking class (it was basically a well delegated preparation of one meal for all of us to eat together) where we learned how to make ceviche (with boiled chicken instead of fish).

Our classes at Banana Spanish School were one on one, which reaffirmed my preference of small group classes. I also realized that I need more structure in my lessons. For example, I like following a book because I feel like it allows me to monitor my progress better than learning willy nilly grammar lessons and random lists of vocabulary. Another thing: I need homework. If I don’t have homework, I’m less likely to study after class. Even if it’s just one worksheet, it’s better than nothing. It will force me to practice later and tap into that section of my brain that will otherwise be turned off until class the following morning.

I wish I would have given this some thought. For some reason I naively thought that learning Spanish in South America would be similar to when I studied French in France… or Italian in Italy… or even the few classes of Czech in the Czech Republic. All of these other language classes offered books to follow and there were specific lists of vocabulary that were to be practiced with the given speaking practice assignments and then homework. It was all very similar to how I taught English in Korea. But for some reason, learning Spanish in South America- especially when it was one-on-one was quite different. I’m glad I spent a month learning a new language, but I couldn’t help compare my previous experiences and I felt I got more out of the more structured settings. So, if you’re planning on studying Spanish in South America… perhaps give more thought than I did to the different teaching styles and one-on-one vs. classes and even ask about the structure and homework and general teaching style before you sign up!

I loved my first teacher’s style, and I loved my second teacher’s patience and ability to help me carry on a conversation in Español… but for our second week at Banana Spanish School, my lessons were held in a communal area that was well traveled by other students, and often interrupted by a ringing phone or doorbell. I was so distracted to the point I felt like my progress halted. It pains me to admit this, because I truly liked the instructors, but I would simply recommend only taking lessons here if you make sure you can have lessons in a private room. And (even more painful for me to suggest, yet with the best intentions) request a teacher who is not one of the owners of the school. Because when it comes down to it, a teacher cannot be answering phones, the door, discussing class times with a future student, or even monitoring and grading another (future) student’s test simultaneous to trying to teach me Spanish!

Day 416: The Equator (part 2)

The real equator line lies a short walk away from the monument and park. By short walk, I mean a rather unmarked walk along an expressway where we spent the majority of the time wondering if we were going in the right direction or not. After turning down another unmarked road (that we were told to turn down) we kept walking until we saw a sign for the Museo de Sitio Intiñan. Once inside, we were led on a guided tour through the outdoor museum where we did some experiments and of course, had our picture taken on the real equator.

See what I mean about not knowing where to go? It’s a little bit strange how big and grand the official monument and park are for an inaccurate equator line and then how little (actually there is none) signage between the “two equators.” You would also think that the Museo de Sitio Intiñan would put more effort into the walk in between. For the record, we saw others walking in between, looking just as bewildered as we felt.

We started the tour in a huge group of German tourists, but quickly fled once we realized we couldn’t see, nor hear a thing and started the tour over in a smaller mostly English speaking group. The museum is nice, I think it was a bit more interesting than visiting the monument and fake yellow equator. We watched water drain in different directions on either side of the GPS calculated equator, tried to walk in a straight line with our eyes closed on the it, as well as balance an egg on a nail. Andrew walked out with a certificate confirming his abilities to balance the egg. I fully plan on framing it and hanging it up, if he lets me. An hour later, we were back in Quito for one more night, one more Spanish lesson, and one more afternoon in Quito before we started making our way north towards Colombia.

Day 415: The Equator (part 1)

Truth: This yellow line is not the equator, or “middle of the earth” as it’s known in Ecuador. This line, and the subsequent park were built around the measurements calculated by French astronomers in 1736. It’s slightly off though, and according to GPS calculations, the real equator is a short walk away. Don’t believe me? Read more about it here. (Because of bad weather in Quito this week, I split up our visit to the equator into two “days” on the blog, so the real equator is coming at you tomorrow!) I felt a little silly visiting this line, knowing it wasn’t even the real line of the equator, but it felt silly not going. Instead of posing like every other tourist there with one foot in each hemisphere, we walked the line. balanced on the line. tip-toed on the line.

Another truth: I’m not really sure who this dude in the last picture is, but there were lots of busts of explorers leading up to the monument, so I thought one of them deserved their picture taken.

Day 414: Quito hop on hop off bus tour

We left Spanish class an hour early this afternoon in order to ‘hop on’ the hop on hop off bus for tourists in Quito. We weren’t necessarily planning on hopping on and off throughout the day, but wanted to ride it around to get a different perspective of the city. I was pleasantly surprised when it circled up to the top of El Panecillo and stopped for thirty minutes for passengers to walk around the Virgin Mary Statue overlooking Quito. We did end up hopping out to see the interior of the Basílica del Voto Nacional and before we were ready to leave the skies broke open unleashing a torrential downpour on us. Who knew that Quito would be so cold (thanks to the altitude) with such temperamental weather (in October)? We didn’t. And I was cold a lot of the time. We had plans to walk around Quito, but the cold rain canceled those plans and instead we spent an hour trying to flag down a taxi back to our guesthouse instead.

We hopped on the bus at the Mariscal stop and rode past the El Ejido, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, and past La Basílica, which you can see below. For some reason Quito’s hop on hop off bus experience seemed a little different than those in other cities that we have been on one of those buses. Maybe because it seemed like there was less to really see and take in from the bus? It was still interesting, but just a little different. I most enjoyed the sprawl of the city because the buildings were so colorful and seemed to stand out against each other beautifully.

We drove around and up to El Panecillo, a volcanic hill where a statue rests at the top overlooking the city. It’s a beautiful view, and if you are feeling risky, you could walk up to the peak, although it’s not recommended as it has a reputation of being the most dangerous area of the city. The top is calm and other tourists milled about. My favorite part? The empanadas that were made to order. I have to say after nearly two months in South America, this was the first time I’ve had a fresh empanada and it was pretty life changing. Lightyears different than an empanada that has been sitting in a bakery for a few hours. Oh my yum. Go try one. Figure out how to make one. You must try one.

After El Panecillo, we rode back down through Quito, through the Plaza Grande and then we hopped off at García Moreno Park to check out the inside of the Basílica del Voto Nacional. It’s a huge, yet rather dark church. There’s a smaller alter, or if it’s possible another basilica within the church itself? I’m not sure of the technicalities of it all- but contrary to the rest of the church, it was beautiful and much more ornate. Unfortunately there were a few “no photo” signs throughout, and I abided by them.

We tried to wait out the rain. We even ran down the street in the middle of it to get a hot chocolate to try to wait it out even more. It was relentless. We gave up. Everyone else in the historical center must have given up as well, because it proved impossible to catch a cab. By the time we made it back to our equally cold guesthouse, we discovered a leak in the ceiling, one that was dripping water directly on our bed. One not so quick room change later, we were tucking into a bowl of mac and cheese and watching The Walking Dead. Yes my friends, we found mac and cheese in Ecuador, and it was glorious. Ok to be fair, I think the water messed up the noodles a bit, but I didn’t care. And next to it, cheddar cheese and crackers. Because obviously we were going for a well rounded meal. Oh right, and we miss cheese.

Day 413: Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal

Back in Quito after our weekend away, we went right back into Spanish lessons in the morning and exploring (and sometimes studying) in the afternoon. We stopped off at the Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal thinking it would be a bit… more than it was. After so many months of traveling, I think tourist markets like this one have lost their charm on me. I noticed this in Peru, with my Mom. She would be bout it bout it walking into a souvenir store or a market that was geared towards tourists. If you haven’t noticed by now, Andrew and I tend to prefer the markets that make your nose wrinkle a bit in reaction to the not so fresh smell of butchered meat. A market should have fresh produce and locals shopping in it. If the only customers are tourists (or travelers if you will) you’re in trouble. In my very humble opinion, if a market is clean and orderly, chances are you’re not going to find something unique, and you’re definitely not going to get a good deal.

I recently was talking to my Mom about bargaining. She’s not the greatest. At least, she wasn’t in Peru. She explained that she knew a few dollars to someone in Peru meant more to them than it did to her. I agreed that she was probably right, but pointed out that she hadn’t been traveling around the world for over a year, and she had to think of other travelers and their wallets, not just the woman selling scarves in the street.

“Just buy more souvenirs instead of spending more for than you should for one!” I insisted. If I really like a vendor, I won’t bargain hard, but I’ll still bargain. It’s usually expected, and sometimes it’s considered rude not to (not all the time, keep in mind). I might even buy two of something instead of one, or sometimes I’ll leave a little tip.

I love bargaining. Not necessarily because it gets you a cheaper price (even though of course what’s easiest on my wallet is always good), but because it’s a way to interact with a local. Sometimes it’s a way to practice a language. And sometimes it’s just plain fun. Unless, of course, you really really want something and you know your bags are already fuller than full. (Which obviously happened to me. a lot.)

Day 412: The birds and the butterflies

We read that we didn’t need to get up at the crack of dawn to go bird-watching. We could go to a guesthouse that had a yard that was full of birds until eleven in the morning. Had we known the only birds that would be at the guesthouse were hummingbirds, we would have definitely gotten up early to walk through the rainforest instead. Word to the wise: get up early. That’s when the birds are out! We watched the hummingbirds, and then made our way towards the butterfly sanctuary, hoping we would get a little bit more action. Fortunately, the butterflies were a plenty and worth the visit!

If you look really closely at the feeder to the right of the picture, you can see three hummingbirds- or rather, the blur of their wings. While we were looking forward to seeing some bigger, more colorful birds, watching around thirty hummingbirds buzz around was mesmerizing. And a bit fascinating. There were actually three different feeders, but one feeder was under control of a “boss” hummingbird who was not keen on sharing. When any other hummingbirds tried to approach his feeder, he would chase them away!

After about a half hour, we walked through town and then hopped into a cab to go out to the butterfly reserve. We’ve been to gardens before, but this was by far the most populated one that we’ve been to yet, even if there were a lot of the same butterflies.

We got a brief introduction, mostly so we could understand that the butterflies were in part harvested out in the rainforest, but also bred within the sanctuary itself. And then we were told we could feed the butterflies with any of the banana left out for the butterflies to feed off of. All we had to do was get a finger full of mushy banana and put it as close as possible to the butterfly’s mouth. Andrew was better at this than I was. Most butterflies seemed more interested in my orange sweater than any banana I had on my finger.

We tried – I tried to get a beautiful bright blue butterfly to land on one of us, or at least let us feed it, but failed for the majority of our visit. Right as we were about to leave, one of the blue butterflies landed on Andrew. He stayed long enough for me to get some banana for him to eat. Unfortunately snapping a picture of him with his wings spread, revealing the bright blue wasn’t easy.

You can see a little sliver of bright blue inside the wings as they are closed. These guys flitted all over Mindo. They were just beautiful. It was fascinating to see how different they looked when their wings were closed!

Day 411: Zip-lining with Mindo Canopy Adventures

When I turned 20, I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. While I was able to cross off roughly half of the list, I underestimated how long it would take to complete the entire list and it morphed into another list: 50 things to do before 50. The list is written inside a beautiful leather bound book with pictures of each activity (riding a motorcycle, sky-diving, surfing, etc. etc.) I was able to cross of the list. The book is in a box, in my parents’ house in Kentucky (much like the rest of my life at the moment). I’m almost positive “zip-lining” is on the list. We’ve been really great about mixing up our activities- paragliding in one country, whale watching in another, riding camels in a desert in India, sand-boarding in a desert in Peru… It’s been great fun to mix it up, and obviously, helps me knock off a few things on my “to do” list. Today zip-lining with Mindo Canopy Adventure turned out to be a blast! Our guides were sweet, the zip-lines were fun (some a LOT faster than others) and I was so glad we did it! Minor note to future self: “the butterfly” is upside down, “the superman” is what you really want to do (equally fun, minus the head rush)!

Day 410: Ecuadorian chocolate? Yes, please!

We weren’t sure we were going to be able to make it to Mindo between all of our Spanish lessons, but we decided getting out of Quito for the weekend was a good idea. I’ve realized throughout this trip (time and again) that I prefer living in bigger cities, and visiting smaller ones. Mindo is certainly much smaller than Quito, and just the idea of getting out into a smaller town made me so happy. We rolled into town late in the afternoon on Friday, and inadvertently explored the majority of the (teensy) town while looking for our guesthouse. Our priority was dinner, and then sleep before taking advantage of all of the activities Mindo has to offer the next day. Like El Quetzal, where we went on a tour of the chocolate factory. Who can refuse Ecuadorian chocolate? Not. me.

So yes, technically I’m cheating (again). We actually went to El Quetzal on Day 411, but I keep trying to spare you the long bus-rides whenever I can. Our bus ride wasn’t so bad from Quito to Ecuador, but a post about chocolate is so much sweeter! When we showed up at El Quetzal, we thought we were going to be indoors the entire time, in what we assumed was a more traditional factory like setting. We were wrong. The “factory tour” was mostly held in the garden where we saw cacao trees (above), banana trees (below) and so much more. It was great, but had I known we were going to be in the garden the majority of the time… I definitely would not have shown up in shorts. The sandflies were out. of. control. and by the time we got back to our hotel, my legs were covered in bites (more like welts) and I was suffering.

After the garden tour, we peeked into a few different rooms of the “factory” and learned more about the process of making cacao beans into chocolate- chocolate as we know it today (oftentimes with milk and sugar). We watched the paste being mixed and then readied to pour into molds. We tasted straight up chocolate without any additives. It was bitter. Then we added sugar, then we added chillies, and we even added vinegar to the bitter chocolate giving it different flavors and textures. It was interesting, a little redundant after our visit to the Choco Museum in Cusco, but nice. We even made it through the entire tour in Español as well! A group of American students were in the middle of a semester abroad in Quito and wanted to practice. We didn’t have much choiceindulged them. Despite loving the chocolate (with chillies was my favorite) and wanting to get some to bring home, traveling so close to the equator with a few bars didn’t seem wise. American chocolate might pale in comparison, but I have a weakness for those mini squares of Dove Dark. I guess I can wait until we get home (in the middle of winter) to purchase a bag of chocolate!

Day 409: La Ronda by day

La Ronda, more specifically known as Calle La Ronda is more popular at night. It offers a vibrant restaurant and cafe scene with live music and more. However, as we were in the area, walking around the historical center of Quito, we decided to check it out by day and planned to return another night. By day, La Ronda is quiet. It’s quiet in a good way and feels peaceful and safe compared to other parts of the city where it’s practically unthinkable to whip out your camera to photograph a door or the façade of an ice-cream shop.

La Ronda is one of the oldest streets in Quito. There are explanations set up along the street about who lived there, what shops were operated, and how the street came to be. It’s interesting, and would have been even more interesting if more of the cafes were open so we could have sat down for a warm cup of coffee in the surprisingly cold city only thirty minutes away from the equator. We ducked into a couple of art exhibitions, (above is a piece by Carmen Davila Falconi) walked the entire length of the calle, and looked forward to returning to a more vibrant night scene next week!

Day 408: Ecuador is going to the World Cup!

Ecuador is ecstatic, to say the least! After all, it’s now official: Ecuador is going the World Cup! The town center was quick to celebrate and we even caught glimpses of the team emerging from the president’s palace on the square. It was more fun to see everyone react to the soccer team than to see the soccer team itself. I desperately wanted to photograph (videograph) it all, but I was hesitant pulling out my DSLR in the middle of all of the commotion. Instead, Andrew filmed the performance (above) that was going on in the square. Whenever I don’t feel safe holding onto my camera, Andrew carries it in his backpack (on his front). We’ve become almost tactical in how we carry valuables. On this particular day, because we were relying on the public bus (something that made my Spanish teacher proud) I had money in my bra, my ipod in my underpants, and my camera with Andrew. We hardly ever both carry ATM and/or credit cards at the same time, and Andrew even has a decoy wallet. Generally I carry a little purse that often has nothing of value in it. We miss Korea often, where you can leave your laptop computer on your table in a cafe while you go to the bathroom (Seriously) but I’m glad we’ve had to watch our backs more than we’re used to on this trip, before we move back stateside. 

Day 407: Quito at 5 AM

Quito at 5 AM is not exactly the best time to be walking around with all of your worldly possessions in tow. We jumped in an overpriced taxi (we’re gringos after all) and headed straight to our hostel, where we weren’t sure if we would be able to check in immediately or not. When we found out we weren’t able to, we camped out in the living room, and not feeling comfortable enough to sleep, we both pulled out our computers. Until we were able to check into our room, around ten in the morning, I worked on the blog. Yep, for five hours, on very little sleep, I edited photos, videos, took advantage of the fast internet connection (the first time I had a fast internet connection in several weeks) and tried to get some work done. By the time we were sinking into our bed, I had five new posts up and was more than ready to crash. Which is exactly what we did for the majority of the afternoon. We were exhausted. We went out for dinner, and then amidst the excitement in the streets for another Ecuador World Cup Qualifier, we headed back to our room to watch the game in bed, instead of a bar. The best part was not being able to watch the game in my underpants- but that our television was on a tiny delay. Every time we would hear loud cheering on the streets, I would know to pay attention and wouldn’t miss a goal (or a save)! I’m sure not everyone would agree, but given how exhausted I was, it was the perfect way to watch Ecuador make it into the World Cup! 

Day 406: Canoa to Quito

This trip is a constant state of change and adjustment. We plan to travel during the day, and then we find out it’s better to travel at night (or vice versa). We get our hopes up to stay at one guesthouse, and then we find out it’s booked. We show up at a museum only to find out it’s closed. It’s never-ending. Today, we had originally planned on leaving from Canoa in the morning and arriving in Quito at night. And then we found out there wasn’t a bus from Canoa in the morning. We hung out at Sundown for one last afternoon before we packed everything up for another overnight, this time from Canoa to Quito.

Day 405: Sundown has the best sunsets

I’m much more of a sunset kinda girl than I am a sunrise. We’ve seen a few of these beauties from our room, but tonight, we all took the time to walk down to the beach and soak it up together. It was beautiful. There’s something really magical about being able to do or watch something extraordinary with a group of only days prior were strangers. We all may have just met, but it rarely feels that way after connecting over a fun activity or a beautiful view. It’s one of my favorite things about this trip. The constant reminder that we’re all connected, and that there probably is no such thing as a “stranger” after all.

Day 404: A break

There are times on this trip where I’m just… tired. Usually it’s from the stress of travel; long bus rides, wrapping my head around a new country/city/language and most of the time some international politics… I even tire after days of planning and catching up on editing photos and videos… Today, I woke up mentally exhausted from the intensive week of Spanish grammar. I took a break. I watched Scandal. a lot of Scandal. Apologies for the long walk on the beach (above).

Day 403: Ecuador World Cup Qualifier

My fellow Americans, most of you are missing out on World Cup madness. The rest of the world has got it going on. Why aren’t we getting in on all of this action? It’s not even time for the World Cup, but check out this Ecuadorian goodness below. If you’re American, can you even imagine getting all worked up over a World Cup Qualifier for our national team? No, I didn’t think so. I’ve had to explain this to my Czech students when I lived in Prague during the 2006 World Cup (held in Germany). I’ve had to explain this to my Korean students when we lived in Seoul during the most recent 2010 World Cup (held in South Africa). And today, I would have explained it to Luis here in Ecuador, had he took a breath from reading grammar lessons to me all morning long. However, later in the afternoon as me, Andrew, Tom (all Americans) sat with a few others to watch the game, we joked around about our country’s lack of enthusiasm for the sport, and tournament the rest of the world loves. At least I’ve been exposed to what it’s like outside of America. Now if only I can figure out where to watch the games in 2014.

Day 402: San Vicente

We needed cash. The nearest ATM machine was not so conveniently located in the next town, San Vicente about twenty minutes away. Had we had our own mode of transportation, this wouldn’t have been a problem. Instead, we had to wait by the side of the road for a half hour or so for a passing bus. I thought San Vicente would offer more photo opportunities (which is why I agreed to go with Andrew), but it seems as though the entire town is under construction. You may think that I’m exaggerating- but I assure you, I’m not. I felt a bit weird with my camera out, so quickly put it away after a few blocks, cutting the day in a minute down to a day in 50-ish seconds. Because we also needed some Ecuador gear for the big World Cup qualifier on Friday, we headed even further to the next town, Bahia. Bahia didn’t seem to be under construction, but it didn’t seem to offer a lot of opportunities either- at least ones that I was willing to risk ownership of my camera for. We picked up a jersey for Andrew, a headband for myself, and a cape (yep, a cape) for our new friend Tom for the big game tomorrow and headed back to Sundown to study some more Spanish.

Day 401: Studying Spanish at Sundown

Studying Spanish at Sundown Inn has not exactly been the perfect experience. This has really has bummed me out, because the family that runs the place is pretty great, the other students have been fun to get to know, and we were so looking forward to hanging out in one place for more than one week. But, my teacher, Luis keeps reading tons and tons of grammar lessons to me straight out of the book while I furiously copy down verbs and take notes on the many (many many) different irregular conjugations. The only speaking practice I seem to get is when I initiate a conversation by asking him random questions about himself and/or Ecuador. And don’t even get me started on my suggestion to read Aesop’s Fables to get some reading (and more speaking) practice in. Other students raved about their time and their teachers. But as the week went on, it became clear that we weren’t as lucky as the other students who were ecstatic with their time and Spanish progress at Sundown. To make up for our less than satisfactory lessons, Andrew and I hit the books hard every day after classes in an effort to walk away with something even if it was done by our own volition.

The biggest lesson that I seemed to be learning was how good our classes and teachers were at San Blas Spanish School (and cheaper, too). Speaking from experience, I’m completely familiar with teachers (cough, sometimes me, cough cough) showing up to class completely unprepared. However, I’m also completely familiar with how easy it is to plan a lesson and teach off the cuff. Maybe our teachers at San Blas planned every lesson perfectly before class. Maybe they didn’t. But they always came to class prepared with a plethora of materials. Experienced teachers have (or at least should have) a wealth of materials to pull from, be it vocabulary flashcards, grammar worksheets, finger puppets, you name it, an experienced (and might I add caring) teacher has it.

Luis didn’t even bring his own pen (or paper for that matter) to class.

“Maybe it’s because we’re used to teaching in Korea, where our students never brought pens to class, so we HAD to bring our own (and more) to classes…” Andrew suggested, but I wasn’t buying it. Especially after I found out Luis has been “teaching” for two years! WHAAAATTT???

Even though I’ve taught English as a foreign language for six years, I didn’t give too much thought to what I wanted out of my own Spanish lessons. This was a mistake. I naively thought everyone who taught a language taught like me, or like Andrew, or like our teachers at San Blas… Maybe none of us are perfect, but at least we’re all prepared to teach a student who knows nothing or a student who thinks they know everything. I didn’t realize studying at San Blas was exactly what I wanted until three days into studying at Sundown, when I realized studying with Luis was exactly what I didn’t want.

When we checked out, I talked to the manager about my disappointment. I even messaged the owner privately (in response to his response to my mostly very positive review on Trip Advisor – again, mostly because I liked the family so much) with suggestions for how to improve the quality of their lessons. I asked Andrew if I was being mean to Sundown. He thought about it for a minute and said I was just being honest. But between me and you (and Andrew) – I was brutally honest. Like so honest, that it’s quite possible the owner probably won’t appreciate my… honesty.

The thing is, I really liked Sundown. I wanted to love it. But I didn’t. Both the hotel and language lessons could have been awesome. Like the “I’m never leaving here ever!” kind of awesome. Maybe being honest with Sundown could help them become awesome, so other people would never ever want to leave. One can hope, right?

At least, that’s what I hope.

Day 400: Canoa’s “downtown”

Spanish was starting to turn into someone getting paid to read a grammar book to me. It made me a little nervous, but being a former language teacher myself, I planned on asking for some more conversation the next day and studied all afternoon except for the couple of hours Andrew and I closed our books and walked into Canoa for some snacks. We went into a corner market in search of popcorn kernels, and discovered ‘popcorn’ is not a universal word. The poor girl looked at me repeating “corn?” like she had never heard of it before.

“Maize… con pop pop pop pop pop” I tried again.

“Ohhh canguil” She answered with a smile, and quickly retrieved a small bag of popcorn kernels from under a pile of bags of rice.

Obviously, I have more studying to do.