Home

Finally home... so weird to be back.  Ten hours of sleep the last 3 days coupled with snow on the ground is making this a strange experience.  What an amazing adventure.  Thank you to everyone who helped me in my journey along the way, particularly the 27 other incredible people in the GAIAS program who were truly like family while abroad.  Another special thanks to all of you who have been following this blog since the start.  It's because of you that i wrote in here, and will now have this collection of thoughts for the rest of my life.

I hope you've enjoyed reading these posts.  It was a new experience for me to do something like this, and I definitely see writing a blog as something i'll do for future travels or adventures.

So thanks again for reading. To finish with the evolution theme (note the blog title and description)... i feel like i've truly evolved as an individual during this semester.  Seems like i've earned more about life in the last 4 months than i have in the previous twenty years.  What an amazing time.

your friend,
Joe

last day of island life

wonderful day.  went to La Loberia, about to email a final paper to a professor, say goodbye to some of the host family, eat dinner, premier the movie sam and i have been working on, and spend a last night in the islands with all my friends.

it's starting to feel like summer here, still warm at night.  just in time to go back to freezing weather.

Wrapping Up

T-minus approximately 150 hours until I'm back to the Bay State.  In the next 6 days I'll be pretty busy, but will definitely be appreciating my surroundings one last time.  I have a final tomorrow morning, an 8 page paper to finish up and edit tomorrow afternoon along with another 2-3 page paper.  Thursday is free, and will definitely involve a lot of beach, maybe some packing.  Friday we check into the airport early, and have the rest of the morning free before our flight around 1.  We'll get into the Quito that night, and i imagine it will be quite the project checking the 28 of us into a hotel.  Saturday I'll be meeting with my first host family for lunch before going back to the city to spend a final night with the whole GAIAS group.  Sunday is a day of shopping.  I hate to ruin the surprise, but your Christmas gift is coming from Ecuador.  Monday morning I have to be at the airport around 7:30 seeing that my flight leaves around 10:30 am. I'll stop first in Miami with a little bit of a layover before finally getting into Logan Airport around 8:35 pm.  

Those are the last few Ecuadorian days for Joe.  I'll make sure to get at least one more final blog in before i get back home.  Maybe during my layover if i'm in a contemplative mood.  

Wow, it's going to be weird going back to real life.   

Food!

No, not Ecuadorian food, we've all had enough of that here.  Going home is going to be bittersweet, but here's the sweetest part:

Arrival home dinner: Nick's Roast Beef (cheese and sauce), fries, and a coke.

Midnight snack after telling stories: Spaghetti and home made meatballs

Breakfast 1: Pancakes! Bacon, and eggs.

Breakfast 2: Bagel World. 1 French toast bagel, 1 Everything Bagel

Lunch: Anna's Taqueria

Dinner: DYC!

Yes, I have planned it out. It keeps going and i've also decided what i want at each meal but i didn't want to appear overly neurotic.  This post is for me to remember my schedule, and for you to pick meals to enjoy with me.

Fishing

Yesterday we went "vivencial fishing" with a couple local fishermen.  This type of fishing supposedly doesn't harm the coastal ecosystems, but at the same time allows fishermen to continue their artesian trade.  I've been taught its specifics a few times,  but to me it just seems like fishing...

Anyway, we couldn't wait to real in some enormous monster tuna that we'd later have for dinner.  After getting pumped to do a little fishing, we hopped aboard and took off for some local fishing spots.  Instead of getting our hands dirty with bait and tackle, we ended up sitting on benches watching one of the fisherman set out TWO lines. (Woah, easy there fisherman, wouldn't want to catch too many fish).  For the next five hours, the boat splashed along at a snails pace as the four of us students talked/slept/complained about the lack of organization of the GAIAS program.  After an entire morning of fishing, we ended up catching zero fish.   That's fishing though, right?

We had dinner that night with the fisherman who took us out. We talked to him a bit about fishing, and the ecology of the surrounding region.  He turned out to be a very personable guy who gave us some cool opinions on topics we've been studying all semester.

Kids & Harpoon Guns.

Certain things on the Galapagos are just accepted. Culturally, religiously, socially or for whatever reason it's simply considered OK for some events to occur.  Here are a few we've witnessed only to do a double take a few seconds later and usually start cracking up laughing.

-While walking along the sidewalk, we saw a boy (no more than 8 years old) snapping white medical gloves onto his hands.  Off to perform a tonsillectomy? 

-Two boys, also no more than 8 years old, hacking away at a small tree with a butcher's knife.  No parents in sight.

- Two enormous holes with construction workers almost blocked the street to passing cars with NO cones, police, or safety measures whatsoever.  I think the workers will be fine though, they whistle at every girl that walks by.

-Small child walking out of the house with a loaded harpoon gun.  

-Cooking a raw chicken, by hand, on stovetop.  Literally stove top. Literally by hand. No pots/pans/or  utensils used.

-Roosters tied to strings that are attached to posts in front lawns.  They're not scary until you get too close.

-Openly training the farm animals for battle. eg  cockfighting.

-Generally anything with unsupervised kids.  We always see them walking home alone, playing in the street, and generally causing havoc. 

-Animals in restaurants  (that aren't  dead and cooked.)  It's usually a family dog or cat, but we've also had salamander and bird visitors.

-People saying "pay me back later" or more commonly just not giving you change in restaurants or stores.  This isn't difficult change either, I shouldn't have to carry around a bag of nickels.

That's all we can think of now.  They literally happen every day, and every time we still laugh or at least make a remark. Thanks to Lori for the help on this one.

Warning: Warming

Welcome to the rainy season ladies and gentlemen.  Contrary to it's name however, it hasn't really rained all that much more. Instead, it's just become incredibly predictable

7am to 11am - Somewhat cloudy, but nice enough that i still walk to school in a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. (Like I'd wear anything else on the Galapagos, right?)

11am to 12:30 pm- The sun comes out! It's not hot yet, but it's turning into a really nice day.

12:30 pm to 2:30 pm- This is "beach day" weather.  Pretty hot.  A beautiful time to be outside on the beach, snorkeling, or kayaking.

2:30pm to 5pm- See ya later beach day, hello miserable light rain.  It's the worst rain.  Not enough to accumulate anything, but enough of a misty/rainy mess to make you go inside.

5pm to 7pm- Ehh not too bad again.  That rain from earlier has pretty much stopped, but now its getting too cool to do anything at the beach.

7pm and on- Cool. One should wear a sweatshirt to be comfortable outside.  Of course, i'm still just wearing the t shirt, shorts, and sandals combo from earlier.  Partly because it's the Galapagos and I'm morally opposed to wearing layers here, and partly because i haven't had an item of truly "clean" clothing in months.  Laundry never does come out right here.

So take that schedule, and repeat it every day.  Not too bad, except for that overcast afternoon rain.  Ironically, on the one day i do a blog about the predictability of the weather, it changes.  It's beautiful out right now and class isn't until the afternoon.  See you at the beach.

Another Not So Accurate Translation

So, for the last 3 months I've been wearing  my Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox shirt with pride.  For those of you who don't know, it says "Red Sox" on the front, and has a giant "Papelbon" on the back.  Pretty cool right?

Well, little did I know that "papel bon" in Spanish is equivalent to something like "printer paper" in English.  Needless to say I'm not feeling so cool about repping my Bean Town pride with an enormous "copy paper" on my back.

Haha I think it just lends more credence to the DeLorenzo=Crazy translation from the last blog.

DeLorenzo in Ecuadorian Means Crazy

Just wrapped up Isabela/Cruise! Highlights include jumping off cliffs into saltwater lakes on Santa Cruz, snorkeling while blue footed boobies dive bombed around you on Rabida (youtube it, there must be a good video out there), and swimming with PENGUINS on Bartolome.  I've seen more types of birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals than i could ever remember.  Isabela was very relaxing, and included alot of volleyball, bodysurfing, and laying out on the beach.

It was also really cool to snorkel with the Marine Ecology guys.  They know all the fish names, so i could ask them about all the cools ones i saw.  Some include Blue Chin Parrot Fish, Moorish Idols, Razor Tailed Surgeon Fish, King Angel Fish, Giant Damsel Fish, and my favorite, the Giant Hawkfish (or Hieroglyph fish or something).

Unrelated to the cruise, I've found out that my last name means "crazy" in Ecuadorian Spanish.  "Lorenzo" is the name of a mental hospital in Ecuador and is used by locals to mean "nuts/insane/crazy", so DeLorenzo literally means "of crazy."  I kind of like it, but then again I'm insane.

Classes here in Santa Cruz until Thursday, back to "home" on San Cristóbal Thursday afternoon.  The hostel we're staying in here looks like a castle, I'll try to get some picks on facebook.  Unfortunately I think my camera is broken, so i'll have to borrow a friends.

Can't believe I'm only here for 6 more weeks!

Your Crazy Friend,
Joe

So this is the Galapagos...

On Isabela now! I don't know what my last post was because the internet is so terrible here i can't even check, so sorry if i'm being repetitive. We just finished a week of class here on the island of Isabela, and today is our first official vacation day. We have all this week off for fun here before cruising all the islands, then I'll have classes for a few days on the last of the three inhabited islands, Santa Cruz.

This place is definitely what people think of when they think Galapagos.  Sandy streets and beautiful beaches everywhere.  It really is a great spot to be "forced" to vacation on.  Also semi-interesting is the comparison between the three inhabited towns.  More on that when after i spend a few days on Santa Cruz.

There are just six of us here right now (which has led to us getting to know each other really well.)  When the rest of us come tomorrow, we figured out that we'll be 1% of the population of the island.  This place is not going to know what hit it.

And yes, there are quite a bit of "good" stories, you'll have to inquire personally for those.  I can't put them on the internet though because they will certainly come back to bite me one day.  Happy Halloween! (almost)

Halfway

Yesterday marked the halfway point in my study abroad.  Feels like I've been here forever,  while at the same time I still feel like a tourist.

Just finished up a midterm (after 1.5 weeks of class.)  It's surprising how gratifying it is to finish a test when  you haven't taken one in a long time.  Makes me feel like I may actually be learning something... Yeah right.

Address

Joe DeLorenzo

USFQ - GAIAS
via Playa Mann, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
San Cristobal, Galapagos
Ecuador

Sending anything will probably take a while to get here!

island life

Sorry for the distinct delay in blogging.  Hopefully the following will help explain what I've been doing instead of keeping you all up to date.

I'm now SCUBA certified!  Well, almost certified.  I took the class here at Wreck Bay Diving Center, did all my dives, and just have to take the final exam.  Unfortunately, everything on the islands moves a little slower than back home, so we're still waiting for our books to study with.  I'm not too concerned about the test though, and for some reason i feel like studying out of a book won't be quite as exciting as the sneaking up on sleeping sea turtles, investigating sunken boats, and dodging sea lions that we did on our practice dives.

Salsa classes are 4/6 of the way done.  We're on a little pause right now because our instructor had to go to the mainland for a bit.  At this point the moves are getting tougher to learn, so i've found that the best strategy is just to spin your partner around in circles for about an hour until the class is over.

For my new class, our assignment for the next three weeks is to film, interview and edit Galapagos residents on life on the islands.  We'll be focussing on how the communities have changed, with each classmate taking a specific category like health, education, conservation.  My portion is on the political structure here, and i think will be really interesting.  Hopefully we'll get a good movie out of it, i'll let you know soon.

Mom and Dad came and left.  I won't go into detail about their trip, but will instead let you question and look at the 3 or 4 million photos they have.

As far as scheduling goes, we finished our second class of the semester a week ago and are now a third of the way into the third class, "Political Ecology."  Each class is three weeks, and for the third week of this class we'll be studying on the island of Isabela.  From Isabela, we'll take a cruise around the islands, and wind up on Santa Cruz.  My class will spend 3 more days studying on Santa Cruz before heading back to our home island, San Cristobal.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be the halfway point of my time here.  With the upcoming traveling, i think the second semester is going to fly by as fast as the first.  I miss everyone from home, and love hearing about how everyone is doing.  Keep me updated.  I may even post my mailing address soon.  Don't forget it will probably take over two weeks to get any packages, and will cost a fortune.

Enjoy autumn.  As it gets colder there, its getting warmer here : )

Coup!

A study abroad in Ecuador isn't complete without the overthrowing of the government. Banks and airports are currently shut down while the police riot against the President. Why does all the good stuff happens after we leave Quito?  Everyone here is pretty enthralled in it, and have been gathered around watching the TV all day talking like it's the latest drama on the "Jersey Shore."   Even though it's violent and dangerous, it's hard to be too concerned seeing that these coup attempts happen almost every year, and everyone is treating it as if it were about time we had another one.  Also, we're on the islands so no one is concerned about anything, ever.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/index.html?hpt=T2

Alive!

Made it through the plague successfully. We've come to the conclusion that it was something we ate as a group.  More than 24 of the 28 people in GAIAS ended up getting pretty sick, so our classes were cancelled and field trips were postponed.  My current class is titled "Health and the Environment," so we might do a project looking at food preparation and quality in the restaurants we ate at.  It could be anything from rice being left out too long to tap water getting into a soup.   It think it will end up being a cool project.

I hope all is good back home.  I miss watching football already, especially the pizza and wings that accompany it.  We have a lot of chicken, fish, and rice.  I actually don't think I've had a meal that didn't contain one of those three items.  There's supposedly a good pizza place here, I'll be the judge of that.

If anyone wants to Skype, I'm generally free in the afternoons.  The problem is I have to go to an internet cafe because the internet at school is too slow.  Send me a message, email, or comment and hopefullyl we can figure something out.  I'd love to hear how everyone is doing!

Buggin

So i've got a bit of a stomach bug.  Actually, the doctor said stomach infection.  I'm on anti biotics but have been instructed to rest and stay hydrated for at least 2 days.  Long story short, i'm feeling much better now, and have also realized that health care in the US is much more reassuring than health care in Ecuador.  However, at least here there wasn't a wait in the ER, and prescriptions cost $5 total.

All part of the experience, right?

GALAPAGOS

Sorry for the delay, very hectic around here right now!  If you want to hear about the Amazon, skype me up, i just haven't had time to write about it.  In case you didn't know, I am currently on San Cristobal island in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.  The capital city of the Galapagos, Baquerizo Moreno has about 6,000 inhabitants, and  boatloads of tourists.  It's a small port town with a main industry of fishing and tourism.  It's also the oldest settlement on the Galapagos. Blah blah blah now for the cool stuff.  Our school is literally right across the street from a beach.  Seriously, we have lockers for swim gear and clothes lines for wet towels.  This beach also happens to be full of sea lions.  A person can safely get within a few feet of them, and probably even closer.  We went snorkeling at a different beach today, and they would swim right up to your mask before darting away.  The only negative is they smell pretty bad.  At times it's pretty foul, but overall manageable.  I've also seen marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, pelicans, herons, and tons of fish.  The school itself is only about 5 years old, so everything is really nice (besides the mildly lethargic internet connection).


Anyway, I'm staying with a family who owns a local tourism agency.  I'm not really staying with them as much as I'm staying in a room that happens to be next to their house.  I also will be eating dinner with them a few nights a week, as well as a few breakfasts.  The good thing is we only live about a 5 minute walk away from the school, and 5 minutes from the main downtown.  Everyone in the GAIAS program lives generally close to everything though, seeing that the town is relatively tiny. It's truly awesome here so far, and I expect to get to know this town very well in the next 3 months.

Definitely more to come.  Since it's only the second day i'm still settling in, buying some necessary items, and getting the hang of new classes.  I'll do my best with pictures, the internet here is far from high speed


-joe

Sorry!

I apologize for the lack of blog.  Unfortunately, while in Ecuador I do have to attend classes and pass in homework. Don't worry, my mischievous adventures will be chronicled again soon.

While you anxiously wait, check out my photos on Facebook from Tiputini and also my host dad's 50th birthday party.  I'll be putting captions on the pictures soon so you know exactly what you're looking at, but again the whole school thing is taking up quite a bit of time this week.  It's the last week for course one of the program so everything is due sometime between now and Friday.

On a side note, I leave for the Galapagos on Sunday.  My new host family is "multigenerational" and owns a tourism agency!

Otavlo

So I just got back from Otavalo, home of the largest market in South America.  Our guide, Cesar, belongs to the group of people indigenous to the region.  Needless to say, he gave a fantastic tour and knew so much about the region.  Every mountain, stream, and lake has a name given to it by the original inhabitants, the Incas, then the Spanish.  All of the original names have to do with gender roles and such so it was pretty interesting to find out what they all meant. 
Going to Otavalo is almost like jumping into a TV show.  The men wear a hat depending on what group of people they are from, and almost all of them have a long braid of black hair as well.  The hats are some kind of combo between a Bowler hat and a Cowboy hat.  I really wanted to buy one except 1) I am a terrible shopper, and 2) They made me look like some kind of want-to-be Italian gangster.
The women mostly wore elaborate blouses and a skirt.  Again, the style of the blouse depends on what group they belong to.  Even the little girls look like old women because of their ornamental clothing.
Lastly, haggling was necessary.  It's kind of a mix between having conversation and reducing the price.  A lot of the salesman were fun to talk to, but everything was "hecho a mano" (made by hand) or "de alpaca y algodon" (made of Alpaca fur and cotton).  In reality, our guide told us, most of these products are made on an electronic loom and are synthetic materials (one of the perks of having an indigenous guide whose family hand makes tapestries, hats, and bags).  Some buyers would get excited to argue down a few bucks, but the prices are set so high it's tough to know what it's really worth.  Even with all this, it was an awesome time and we got to experience tons of Quichua culture.


PS-The market was only about 1/4 of our time in Otavalo.  The city and region also has amazing ecosystems, musicians, and a beautiful waterfall. Though, I have heard enough panflute to last me another 20 years.

1973

I often imagine that life here is what life was like in the 1970's, with a large South American twist.

Very limited cell phone use leads to more physical interactions than back at home.  Meetings aren't arranged by "I'll call you later" but rather with  "I'll see you there at 8:30." Goods aren't sold on Cragislist, but by word of mouth.  One day, as we drove down the street we pulled over next to a pair of boys walking a small dog.  My host mother then explained to them that she was selling a puppy and to call if they were interested.  We never recieved a call from them, but instead from a man whom a relative told about the puppies.  All information is spread by friends talking to friends.

Even when buying things, it's not done in a grand fashion.  People don't go to the supermarket to buy their bread, but to small bakeries.  Fruit is locally grown, or even grown at home.  I don't think Ebay has quite made its way to Ecuador yet.

On the way to town expect to encounter a pickup truck driving by with two or three people in the back, or a man riding a ATV/dirtbike down the main street.  These two things are common sights around here.  Driving rules here are pretty loose, and I've heard some residents say they've never even seen a traffic stop.  Adding to that, I've heard drunk driving laws aren't enforced nearly as strictly as in the US.  I once asked what the legal blood alcohol limit was and it took a group a few moments to finally agree on 0.08.    

Seeing that I didn't exist in the 1970's, none of this post is very accurate at all.  I do believe though, that if I could take away the merengue music and play some Led Zeppelin, bring back bell bottom jeans, and maybe switch languages to English I'd be living in small town USA, 1973 right now.

Food

So, I've received a request to describe food and drink here in Quito.  Surprisingly, it's actually quite good.  Since i'm not good at writing long paragraphs, I'll give you a run down of food for the average day here.


Desayuno
Every morning I have some combination of the following: Yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice, bread, and cheese.  I can safely say that I have had a bowl of fruit every morning since I got here.  I can also safely say that I literally have no idea what half the fruit is.  Regardless, I eat it and it's usually pretty good.  The yogurt is slightly thinner and comes in a bottle, not cups or a short round container.

Almuerzo
Lunch has differed quite a bit seeing that I haven't had a consistent schedule and have been eating everywhere. Here's an example of one standard lunch we had during our city tour.
Aji is a spicy pepper that is served as a sauce or ground up.  It has been at every single meal.  I'm a "good latino" because I like it.
This soup is made from potatoes and has cheese and avocado in it.  It has a specific name but it's hard to pronounce so I just call it "that potato soup."  It can be varied depending on who is making it.
The main course usually contains some form of meat, rice, and vegetables.  Here it happened to be pork, some type of corn, plantains, an avocado slice, and a cheesy potato thing.  As you can tell I'm not good at remembering names of things.

Cena
Dinner also varies a lot.  The only consistency is the availability of Aji sauce and some form of fruit juice.  Usually we have some type of meat, rice, salad, bread, corn, beans, and cheese.  It's very good, and we always have a small dessert after. 

Golosinas
As far as snacks go, Ecuadorians do pretty well.  My favorite has been the empanadas with rice and beef.  We have a large chunk of mozzarella cheese that we often cut slices off too.  Fruit is abundant and readily available, and even though I never know what I'm eating it's almost always delicious

That's your standard day.  Sorry if it's boring and non descriptive but we eat so many new things it's hard to describe them all. 

PS- I put an album up on facebook containing pictures from the first few days.  It's too much to upload here, but check it out if you haven't already.

PPS- When hiking through the Andes, wear crappy clothes because you will get literally covered in mud.  Here's one of my favorite pictures from the 10k hike, stole it from Mario.  Also, here's our group.  I'm in the back in the middle

$

Bus to meet up with new amigos: $0.20
More than sufficient lunch: $2.00
Bottled water: $1.00
Watching our group of 20 gringos sticking out like a sore thumb in downtown Quito: priceless

Seriously though, one of the most eye opening thing about Ecuador is how cheap everything is.  I spent the whole day walking around the Market, buying a few gifts, eating lunch, and taking the bus both ways all for under 5 or 6 dollars.  I heard a few beers will jack that up to 10 or 12 dollars, but that's still not a bad day.  No way could you do that in Boston.

I just found out Ecuador is actually considered a 3rd world country.  One can instantly tell when walking through the downtrodden markets in the nation's capital.  You can get some great gifts for just a few dollars, but it's distressing when you think that this is how these people make there living.  On top of that, they're probably better off than the majority of Ecuadorians.  While it's great for college students to save tons of money, it's a pretty harsh reality that can only be understood when witnessed first hand.  Alot of it has to do with the political system, economy, and general culture, but I'll save those topics for later.

Send me an email, comment, or Facebook message if you have any questions about Ecuador!

Jugo

Ecuadorians really like juice.

Things I've Learned: 48 Hours

Those who have been following, don't expect blogs everyday.  It's just that no one here has cell phones yet, we don't know where to meet up, and we aren't familiar with the sketchy and dangerous bus system yet so there's not much to do at night.

I've decided to do a blog on "Things I've Learned" every so often. Some are from firsthand experience, some are stories from others. I'm not going to say which is which. Here's the first attempt:

-Although we use the same dollar, 1 dollar in Quito can get you about as much as 3 dollars in the U.S.
-Vacillar means "to make out"
-Don't go to the La Mariscal by yourself, you will be robbed.
-Pepto Bismol makes your toungue turn black when combined with certain Ecuadorian foods.
-Spanish key boards are not like English keyboards.
-While they have American TV shows here broadcasted in Spanish, I've really only heard Ecuadorian salsa music or American music from the early 1980's.  I want to laugh everytime a cheesy theme song comes on the radio.
-An amendment to the first item, cell phones here are not cheap and use pay as you go plans.
-"Cui" means Guinea Pig
-Cui is a local delicay, the equivalent of our Thanksgiving turkey.
-There are no upcoming holidays. Dodged a Cui bullet on that one.
-The indigenous people have fantastic dances that I'm going to bring back to the US as the next Macarena
-Lastly, if you ask if something is spicy and they say "kind of" that really means "Yes. Don't ever try putting that in your mouth, it will burn holes in your stomach."

I thought of some more great "Things I've Learned" that I thought of today, but can't remember them now. I'm always tired at night since we do so much during the day and I haven't yet adjusted to the altitude.

Hasta Luego,
Joe

Ps. Pictures to come still.  I have to move them from my camera to my laptop to my usb drive to the desktop computer to the internet so it takes a while.

Tumbaco!

Made it to Quito alive... 11 hours of travelling later.  There's so much going on that it's impossible to encapsulate it all in any amount of words, Spanish or English.  I'm currently residing in Tumbaco, a suburb 10 minutes from USFQ (my university) and 20 minutes from Quito.  My host family consists of a mother, Elena and a father, Edgar.  Their daughter is currently studying to be a veterinarian in Brazil.  The entire property is walled or fenced in with a gate blocking off the street, and on the property are a few houses with relatives living in them. Our own house is down a long driveway at the end of the property with a phenominal view of the valley below, and part of Quito.  I'm not sure of exact numbers but so far I've counted that on the property are 8 dogs, at least 5 horses, and I think a few cows.  I was told there used to be cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs as well but that was just too much work.  Also, I think I'm one of the lucky few who have internet in their house. 

I'm absolutely exhausted due to altitude, travelling, and all day orientation.  Quito tour tomorrow.

Blogging

So as many of you know, I leave for Ecuador/the Galapagos tomorrow.  I thought I'd give this whole blog thing a try and hopefully post as many pictures and thoughts as possible from the trip.  Seeing as everything I will own for the next 4 months is currently scattered about the hallway I'm going to keep this one short and go continue "packing."

Peace out USA, see you at Christmas time.