nu house boutique hotel Quito

... a bonfire. The next three days where spent lasily in the sun, eating patacones (fried plantains) and drinking batidos (smooethies). The bus ride back was also quite an expeirnce. Frist off, we missed the shuttle which would take us to the station, but a car randomly stopped and offered us a ride we 3 of us crammed in the little car with our huge bags... have I mentioned I love this country. Everytime the bus would stop, an ...

... move from the east side of South American culture to a more indiginous culture...bring on the ponchos, gringo pants and silly alpaca hats...<br><br>My final night was ESPECIALLY good: with the arrival of my parents, moved from basic hotel five star luxury. My first bath for 3 1/2 months (it`s the small things!)...the day after our meet up, we departed Quito for Las Encantadas - the Galapagos Islands!<br>

Here are some pictures (very tardy sorry) of Me and Tamra's apartment in Quito. We moved in on the 31st of July or around there somewhere. We will be staying here for two months while we volunteer in Quito. It is costing us $350 dollars a month for both of us so pretty cheap by US standards but a bit expensive by the standards here.<br>

... restaurants designed for the semi-moneyed tourist, and thumping Western music - could have been anywhere. We did go out one night there though to meet up with Ted and Rubria, the two Americans we´d met on the Galapagos boat trip, before they flew home, which was a great night. <br><br>It was time for us to move on too, and after the bag slashing we were even more ready to hit the road and experience a new country...................Colombia. <br>

... at a local sorbet shop where it is made by hand. I was able to try my hand at making the sorbet. The fruit juice (with a little bit of water) is placed in a metal bowl that is then placed in a large vat of ice and rock salt. Using a large pastry scraper, the mixture is whipped and scraped. You do this for about 20 minutes. So delicious.<br><br>Then into historic Quito, eating lunch at a restaurant located in the catacombs of the ...

... in your physical strength when you stand on or off the line, and of the course the "pouring water down the plug hole trick". And yes, it really does go down the opposite way. Following the museum we visited a site a few minutes down the road that had originally thought to be the middle of the world. A giant monument was erected in its honour, and a small town and community built around it. This "park", with its restaurants, bars and live music is now the sort of ...

... Coffee in Ecuador has been a sad sort of affairs after it was part of the lifestyle in Venezuela and Colombia. Our first experience was when we were served a cup of hot water and a pitcher of cold, inky black liquid to pour into our cups.<br><br><br>We walked up to a park accessible from our district that offered panoramic views of the city. It was a nice escape from the activity, and we all enjoyed our ...

... and move. for those you don´t know, i will be a psychiarty resident at alleghany general in pittsburgh, pennsylvia for the next four years. it is one of my most favorites cities in the states and i feel very grateful to have found work there. for those who have never been, or don´t go often enough, you now have a reason to visit...and i expect visits :) i love you all and hope that you guys feel like you are traveling with me through this blog. xo.vk

... could register our arrival. Thinking (wrongly) that we already knew the way, we declined their services and fought our way through the chaos. It was one of those stressful situations that can sometimes (fleetingly) make you question the wisdom of placing yourself in a foreign country at the mercy of the locals. We trudged for ages through the sweaty, fly-blown and garbage-strewn streets looking for the police station, with our unwanted guide, a teenage boy, insisting that it had moved and ...