Howard Johnson La Carolina Quito

... blackouts for the first time in my life. We are going through severe droughts right now, and much of the electricity is powered through rain. So, in order to conserve electricity, every day for at least 4 hours there are blackouts around the city. IT's been a little frusterating, becasue our interent doesn't work, but we are spoiled with generators.... which honnestly makes me feel horrible. Even though I live among the people, we still get better ...

... pretty interesting, including the hideous dolls of Mary and Jesus, created with brown skin instead of white to recognise the indigenous and mestizos (mixed race) people in Ecuador. We also went up the bell tower for a great view, but got a shock when we emerged on the roof high above the street with no railings to keep us from toppling off. Afterwards we visited Teatre Sucre Square and admired the lovely buildings including the Teatro Sucre hotel, before walking back to our hotel in ...

... Then it is on to the real showcase. This church at its height was covered with 7 tons of gold leaf. There is gold on almost every surface imaginable and the size of the hall is overwhelming. Too bad we couldnt take a bunch of pictures.<br><br>After the museum we headed of to the first monestary established in Quito, and it is still a place for practicing nuns today. We had a small tour of some gruesome art depicting tourture and ...

... in the bar (around 15 persons).<br>While watching the game I was trying to take on me the role of the anthropologist, observing and understanding the occurrences that happened. Though I didn&#8217;t rest my eyes much on the fans, instead I focused on the game and verbally and involved reacted upon how the game panned out. By what to me felt like an instinct, I was siding with the Ecuadorians, and that I think is easily understandable as I were in Ecuador, with Ecuadorians and personally ...

... team beat Bolivia 3-1. It was a spirited crowd - I cheered as loud as the locals! I love this game!<br><br>On Sunday Karen picked us up early for an amazing day. She is a friend of my dad´s and lived up to his high regards for her. First stop was a hot springs an hour drive into the mountains - the pools were relaxing and refreshing as advertised. I took every precaution to keep from getting sun-burnt, after all we were at 12,000 feet and almost ...

... humanity are the same all over the world. See thigns like this make you stop and evlauate your own life, country, and views.<br><br>Beyond that there has been meetings, time spent getting to know the staff of the centers, and the other community members. Tomorrow we will be given our scheduals for teaching, I am curious to see where I will be placed. We have one more week of orientation and then school starts... I can only imgagine what that will be like! <br><br>love you all<br><br>Lauren

... this church, which was only built in 1926, is protected by a collection of South American animals: pelicans, iguanas, lizards, pumas, and armadillos. I take excessive photos of these creatures, perpetually maxing out my zoom - which has kind of started working again. After a year on the road, my camera, though only two years old, is in rough shape.<br><br>We enter the basilica and being our ascent to one of the towers. So far, I have not mentioned the shape of our bodies after a day ...

The following are examples of what makes my life interesting here (various situations at the orphanage): <br><br>&#8226; I found 2 boys playing in the mud and a hose sprinkling from beneath the mud; then they decided to play hide and seek among the white bed sheets; the woman who washes the clothes was not very happy with me or the boys <br><br>&#8226; A child was picking out lice from another child&#8217;s hair ...

... Darwin. Remi and I have been comparing costs between our cities and Darwin comes out more expensive in a lot of things, Food (of course) but even a dorm bed in Darwin will cost 30 dollars each. In Melbourne it's more like 14 dollars. I've also gotten to know the chef David well, and he is fantastic. How he can pump out 30 meals from a kitchen smaller than the one we have at home I'll never know.<br><br>I've met a few Aussies travelling around which is nice, and while there are still ...

... counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3 meters away, south of the equator. Ohh! Ahh! you can appartently balance an egg on a nail on equator. i was not able to, but our guide did it. in addition, at the equator you weigh about 2 kg less; this also tranlates to less resistance. so, he partnered me and another girl my size. in the southern hemisphere, i was asked to lift up my arms above my head and she ...