Ian: As the first to write a blog entry I want to say ¨¡Hola Ecuador!¨ We are currently staying in a small town called Mindo in an absolutely lovely hostel called Cabaños Bambus. Our journey here was pleasant if a little tiring and long. On the flight to Ecaudor I was able to practice my Spanish with a Colombian girl which was very nice. Flying into Quito through the low-hanging clouds and seeing the city sprawled across the jagged countryside was a magical moment and got me really excited for the experiences to come. We´ve spent a majority of our time since we got here getting acclimated to the environment and culture as well as getting to know each other better. I´ve found that sometimes it´s the smallest differences that are the most surprising. For example, when I tried paying for one of my meals the cashier frowned and held up one of the $5 bills up to the light and seemed to be thoroughly examining it. I had forgotten how much of a problem counterfeiting is here and it didn´t even cross my mind that he might not trust my wrinkled five dollar bill. Another thing that has been amazing here is the food. Every meal I´ve had has been delicious in it´s simple, natural style. Today we began to explore Mindo on a bit of a scavenger hunt and in the proccess had many interesting encounters. We ended up talking with a woman named Pati for about an hour and a half about a wide variety of things including here surprise quinceañera and the cultural differences between Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. Overall, it´s been a wonderful experience and I can´t wait to see what the future has in store.
Marina: !Buenos días! It is an incredibly amazing, if peculiar, feeling to be typing that from here in Ecuador (on an admittedly confusing Spanish keyboard, which is just different enough to cause problems!) The last few days have passed by in an enjoyable blur, as our group catches up on some much needed rest and relaxation after so much international travel; that is easy enough to do, when you´re staying at a hostel that includes a pool and 360 degree views of the cloud forest! But of course there is the barage of new experiences to keep us on our toes. Yesterday, we tried a fruit called something like ‘guayava’, which is like a banana-cotton ball combo surrounding dark purple seeds in a grooved three foot long pod. Very peculiar, but absolutely delicious. Living in a group situation for such an extended period of time in a foreign country is also new territory for most of us, and I´d say we´re doing a pretty good job of it so far; everyone is getting along just swimmingly and there have been some pretty intense discussions, in both English and Spanish, about everything from philosophy to the little throngs of stray dogs that roam the streets here. Robbie and Michelle, our leaders, are awesome, and very skilled at making us all feel comfortable. Ecuadorians are quite friendly and quite willing to put up with our broken Spanish (and I´m sure they are quite amused with us as well). Anyhow, we will soon be leaving Mindo behind, on our journey to Baños and our first homestay! Cheers to everyone back in the U.S. and ciao for now!