i've been on crazy wild adventures for the past two and a half weeks, i now have precisely 8 hours left in ecuador, so i thought "what better time than to write about these crazy advenchs?" here goes the second to last blog about ecuador...
the day after i finished "exams," johnny, aliceann, and i headed south to buenos aires, argentina. when i stepped off the plane, i immediately fell in love. no, it wasnt because of a gorgeous argentinean man, but because there was no smog and i could actually breathe again! imagine that. we spent a week in BA being absolutely pampered and spoiled by aliceann's extended family. we stayed at abudelia's house in palermo - an artsy, trendy, fashionable neighborhood in BA. everyday, we got up, had tea and bread and jam for breakfast then went exploring. we hit up china town, downtown palermo, san telmo, boca, etc. i really liked downtown palermo because it is full of cute shops, delish restaurants and cafes, yet still has a very homey feel. but let me warn you: dont go into downtown palermo without your hippest, most trendy outfit on, because you will immediately feel out of place (thats the only downside). san telmo was also really awesome because of its humongous outdoor market. i literally stopped at every vendor and drooled over the beautiful things i couldnt afford but would kill to have in my house one day. and if you ever get the chance to visit argentina (do it do it do it!) def go to boca and la recoleta. boca is a little town on a beautifully-contaminated river with colorful buildings, cute shops, and lots of annoying vendors. it is touristy, but definitely worth seeing. la recoleta is a huge cemetery in BA. yes, it was a little disturbing to see buildings that families spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on just to house dead bodies, but again, worth seeing. really cool architecture, really ornate, and really creepy all in one place!
but i'd have to say my favorite part of the trip was seeing one of my bffs, caroline! caroline is studying abroad in la plata, argentina - 1 hour outside of BA - so we got to spend the weekend together. she toured and traveled around parts of BA with us, then i went to la plata for a day with her. la plata is adorable - very similar to BA, but without the city craziness and lots of tourists. we saw her university, drank mate in the plaza, went in some churches, enjoyed a merienda in a cafe, went to happy hour, and hung out with her amazing host family. but here's a funny story: we walk into a bar in la plata on a monday night, a guy holds the door open for us, he looks at me and asks "were in you ecuador rencently?" i respond "yes" very skeptically and sketched out. then he proceeds to ask "were you in baños in february?" at this point, im super confused and think i have a stalker on my hands but then all of a sudden LIGHT BULB and i remembered the guy! my friends and i had met him and his 2 friends in baños a few months back annndddd i even had pictures with him on facebook. how weird right?! and then, he tells us to sit with him because he's waiting for a few friends. well, he failed to mention he and his friends were there for a couch-surfing meeting so within half an hour, caroline, her friends, my new friend carlos from baños, his friends, and i were sitting with 40 other argentinean randos trying to explain how we all "knew" each other. definition of small world, eh? well it was super fun and definitely a night to remember!!
after an amazing week in BA, johnny and i spent 12 hours in the buenos aires airport (NEVER fly taca airlines), an hour in bogota, and finally made it back to quito at midnight - 11 hours later than originally planned. travelnightmaretotheextreme.
but it was fine, because the next day, my wonderful wonderful wonderful roommate from unc came to visit me in ecuador! myohmy did we have a crazy time together. some crazy bad things, some crazy awesome things, but overall, we had a blast...
we did so much while she was here! went to the mercado with friends, spent the afternoon with the melos, rode horses at the top of the teleferiQo mountain, saw my university in cumbaya (& ate empanadas at the delish empanada company), went to the movies, went to the old mitad del mundo monument and the REAL mitad del mundo where we walked on the EXACT equator and balanced eggs on nails, & partied in la mariscal con mis amigos... and that was just the first 2 days!
on wednesday, we got up early and went to baños. this is where the bad stuff started... we fell asleep on the bus and woke up to find chelsea's purse (with her passport, camera, money, credit cards, and phone) missing. i did my best to question every sketchy ecuadorian on that bus, but no luck - the purse was gone. so we spent our first evening, trying to figure out a way to get her a new passport. eventually, we finally got to enjoy baños... we took a chiva to the top of the mountain that overlooked all of baños - very cool sight, just wished we had had a camera. then met some cool israelies at our hostal and hung out in the deserted baños bars that evening so chelsea could drink away her problems (kidding!). the next day, we rode bicycles past all the waterfalls until we reached pailon del diablo - the most amazing waterfall i've ever seen in my life. seriously, if you are ever even remotely close to baños, ecuador - go see this waterfall, its beautiful. after waiting 2 hours for a bus to pick us up (there was NO WAY we were going to bike all the way back after biking all the way there), we made it back to baños just before puenting was closed. remember puenting? aka me jumping off a bridge? well i did it again. definitely less scary the second time and definitely less cool. but watching chels try to jump was probably one of the most entertaining things ive ever seen. the proper puenting form is arms out to the sides, swan-dive style. well chels was so scared to even jump, she obviously couldnt think about her form... hence the cannonball technique she employed. this style is def painful, but hey, she survived puenting! that night, we took a 7 hour bus to guayquil, then a bus to montañita and made it to MY FAVORITE BEACH IN THE WHOLE WORLD by 830am the next morning. we spent the next two days on the beautiful beach with our friends cole and fercho and then typical montañita night craziness occurred aka befriending dreadheads, making bonefires, and galavanting around the beach streets. on sunday, i had to say goodbye to my beloved montañita - but ill be back in the future fo sho! monday, we were stuck in the US embassy all day but moonwalked out of that joint with chelsea's temporary passport in hand aka success! we had just enough time to walk around centro historico, buy some ecuad shoes yeah, and eat at pizza SA. tuesday = otavalo. chels and i took full advantage of that market. we went in with eyes of the tiger and emerged a few hours later, having done some impressive bargaining for the items that filled our nine bags.
when today, wednesday, rolled around, i could not believe it. not only had chelsea's 10 days in ecuador flown by, but it was my LAST DAY in ecuador. where did that time go? we hit up supermaxi in the morning for some last minute ecua items i needed, ate a delish lunch at abuelita's cafe, and then i had to drop my little pumpkinheadroommatechelsita at the airport. i spent the afternoon my faves - the melos. seriously, one of the greatest families i know. they have been so generous and welcoming to me, its unbelievable and im just so blessed to have gotten close to them during my time in ecuador. it was sad saying bye to them but thankfully sofi and ale both will be going to school in dc so we will def reunite soon! after one last dinner at my house with my host fam and some last minute packing - here i am, now with precisely 7 hours left in ecuador. i never actually thought this time would come, but se acabø el tiempo y me voy a regresar a los estados mañana.
but i think this blog (& its readers) deserve one more entry summing up my crazycoolinsaneoutofthisworldamazing experience in ecuador. but this final one will be done from my house in alexandria, va...
love..love..love!
p.s. camera is fixed, computer is broken, but the states has mac stores. you know what this means? be expecting pictures soon!
the day after i finished "exams," johnny, aliceann, and i headed south to buenos aires, argentina. when i stepped off the plane, i immediately fell in love. no, it wasnt because of a gorgeous argentinean man, but because there was no smog and i could actually breathe again! imagine that. we spent a week in BA being absolutely pampered and spoiled by aliceann's extended family. we stayed at abudelia's house in palermo - an artsy, trendy, fashionable neighborhood in BA. everyday, we got up, had tea and bread and jam for breakfast then went exploring. we hit up china town, downtown palermo, san telmo, boca, etc. i really liked downtown palermo because it is full of cute shops, delish restaurants and cafes, yet still has a very homey feel. but let me warn you: dont go into downtown palermo without your hippest, most trendy outfit on, because you will immediately feel out of place (thats the only downside). san telmo was also really awesome because of its humongous outdoor market. i literally stopped at every vendor and drooled over the beautiful things i couldnt afford but would kill to have in my house one day. and if you ever get the chance to visit argentina (do it do it do it!) def go to boca and la recoleta. boca is a little town on a beautifully-contaminated river with colorful buildings, cute shops, and lots of annoying vendors. it is touristy, but definitely worth seeing. la recoleta is a huge cemetery in BA. yes, it was a little disturbing to see buildings that families spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on just to house dead bodies, but again, worth seeing. really cool architecture, really ornate, and really creepy all in one place!
but i'd have to say my favorite part of the trip was seeing one of my bffs, caroline! caroline is studying abroad in la plata, argentina - 1 hour outside of BA - so we got to spend the weekend together. she toured and traveled around parts of BA with us, then i went to la plata for a day with her. la plata is adorable - very similar to BA, but without the city craziness and lots of tourists. we saw her university, drank mate in the plaza, went in some churches, enjoyed a merienda in a cafe, went to happy hour, and hung out with her amazing host family. but here's a funny story: we walk into a bar in la plata on a monday night, a guy holds the door open for us, he looks at me and asks "were in you ecuador rencently?" i respond "yes" very skeptically and sketched out. then he proceeds to ask "were you in baños in february?" at this point, im super confused and think i have a stalker on my hands but then all of a sudden LIGHT BULB and i remembered the guy! my friends and i had met him and his 2 friends in baños a few months back annndddd i even had pictures with him on facebook. how weird right?! and then, he tells us to sit with him because he's waiting for a few friends. well, he failed to mention he and his friends were there for a couch-surfing meeting so within half an hour, caroline, her friends, my new friend carlos from baños, his friends, and i were sitting with 40 other argentinean randos trying to explain how we all "knew" each other. definition of small world, eh? well it was super fun and definitely a night to remember!!
after an amazing week in BA, johnny and i spent 12 hours in the buenos aires airport (NEVER fly taca airlines), an hour in bogota, and finally made it back to quito at midnight - 11 hours later than originally planned. travelnightmaretotheextreme.
but it was fine, because the next day, my wonderful wonderful wonderful roommate from unc came to visit me in ecuador! myohmy did we have a crazy time together. some crazy bad things, some crazy awesome things, but overall, we had a blast...
we did so much while she was here! went to the mercado with friends, spent the afternoon with the melos, rode horses at the top of the teleferiQo mountain, saw my university in cumbaya (& ate empanadas at the delish empanada company), went to the movies, went to the old mitad del mundo monument and the REAL mitad del mundo where we walked on the EXACT equator and balanced eggs on nails, & partied in la mariscal con mis amigos... and that was just the first 2 days!
on wednesday, we got up early and went to baños. this is where the bad stuff started... we fell asleep on the bus and woke up to find chelsea's purse (with her passport, camera, money, credit cards, and phone) missing. i did my best to question every sketchy ecuadorian on that bus, but no luck - the purse was gone. so we spent our first evening, trying to figure out a way to get her a new passport. eventually, we finally got to enjoy baños... we took a chiva to the top of the mountain that overlooked all of baños - very cool sight, just wished we had had a camera. then met some cool israelies at our hostal and hung out in the deserted baños bars that evening so chelsea could drink away her problems (kidding!). the next day, we rode bicycles past all the waterfalls until we reached pailon del diablo - the most amazing waterfall i've ever seen in my life. seriously, if you are ever even remotely close to baños, ecuador - go see this waterfall, its beautiful. after waiting 2 hours for a bus to pick us up (there was NO WAY we were going to bike all the way back after biking all the way there), we made it back to baños just before puenting was closed. remember puenting? aka me jumping off a bridge? well i did it again. definitely less scary the second time and definitely less cool. but watching chels try to jump was probably one of the most entertaining things ive ever seen. the proper puenting form is arms out to the sides, swan-dive style. well chels was so scared to even jump, she obviously couldnt think about her form... hence the cannonball technique she employed. this style is def painful, but hey, she survived puenting! that night, we took a 7 hour bus to guayquil, then a bus to montañita and made it to MY FAVORITE BEACH IN THE WHOLE WORLD by 830am the next morning. we spent the next two days on the beautiful beach with our friends cole and fercho and then typical montañita night craziness occurred aka befriending dreadheads, making bonefires, and galavanting around the beach streets. on sunday, i had to say goodbye to my beloved montañita - but ill be back in the future fo sho! monday, we were stuck in the US embassy all day but moonwalked out of that joint with chelsea's temporary passport in hand aka success! we had just enough time to walk around centro historico, buy some ecuad shoes yeah, and eat at pizza SA. tuesday = otavalo. chels and i took full advantage of that market. we went in with eyes of the tiger and emerged a few hours later, having done some impressive bargaining for the items that filled our nine bags.
when today, wednesday, rolled around, i could not believe it. not only had chelsea's 10 days in ecuador flown by, but it was my LAST DAY in ecuador. where did that time go? we hit up supermaxi in the morning for some last minute ecua items i needed, ate a delish lunch at abuelita's cafe, and then i had to drop my little pumpkinheadroommatechelsita at the airport. i spent the afternoon my faves - the melos. seriously, one of the greatest families i know. they have been so generous and welcoming to me, its unbelievable and im just so blessed to have gotten close to them during my time in ecuador. it was sad saying bye to them but thankfully sofi and ale both will be going to school in dc so we will def reunite soon! after one last dinner at my house with my host fam and some last minute packing - here i am, now with precisely 7 hours left in ecuador. i never actually thought this time would come, but se acabø el tiempo y me voy a regresar a los estados mañana.
but i think this blog (& its readers) deserve one more entry summing up my crazycoolinsaneoutofthisworldamazing experience in ecuador. but this final one will be done from my house in alexandria, va...
love..love..love!
p.s. camera is fixed, computer is broken, but the states has mac stores. you know what this means? be expecting pictures soon!
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