Awamaki Wins Global Giving Challenge!

The biggest news of the week so far is that Awamaki came in first for # of unique donors in the Global Giving challenge and 4th overall out of 150 projects for most money raised in one month. The Global Giving challenge began a month ago and we hoped to raise at least $4000 to fund part of the trip to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. The total cost of the trip will be around $10,000 to send the two Quechua weavers, a Quechua/Spanish translator (the Peruvian director, Miguel), and 2 Spanish/English speakers (our two directors, Kennedy and Emma). This trip is extremely important to the weavers of the community because this will allow them to get their textiles out to an international market and will secure an income for the women.

Anyway, the challenge rewards the project with the most unique donors as well as the project that raises the most money. We ended up getting #1 for the donors and earned a $3000 bonus for this. Then, because we came in 4th overall, we earned another $2000 in bonuses. So overall, in one month, Awamaki raised just under $16,000!! This is more money than we had in our bank account when this started. So we pretty much doubled our reserves. You donors are amazing!! We ended up with 378 donors! The money will fully fund the Santa Fe trip as well as go towards a 4x4 truck to help Awamaki expand to other mountain communities as well as towards a generator for the health clinic.

Of course, this is what I am extremely excited about since after watching a woman give birth by flashlight, a generator is so needed. This also means we won't be wasting vaccines every time we lose power. It is awesome. Last night we had a pizza and ice cream party to celebrate before our pub quiz.

Hallie and I went into Cusco yesterday to run errands and buy necessities for Awamaki. Our day started at 6am when we got up and went to buy fruit from the weekly fruit truck. There is fruit in the market every day, but on Tuesdays, the fruit truck has a better selection and is cheaper. We bought probably 30 bananas, 2 kilos of apples, a large pineapple, 20 limes, 6 mandarins, and a papaya for about $5. So fresh and so cheap!

We made our way to Cusco around 10am and it was one of those days where all of the outside forces were trying to work against us but we managed to succeed and check everything off our list. Whereas we had originally thought we would be back by 3pm, we didn't get home until 7! We were up against the worst of Peruvian inefficiency all day, but we survived.

My normal mornings begin at 6:30am with an hour and 15 minute round trip walk/hike up in the mountains with Hallie and Caylin. We always run into this family of 4 kids who are coming down the mountain from their house on their way to school. They are adorable and like to walk with us. They pretty much run down the mountain for an hour in the morning so I can only imagine how long it takes them to get home in the afternoon. I am trying to make sure I stay in good shape since we cook such great food in the house. Hallie and I made a complete menu for the week this week. Some of the goodies included taco night, lentil stew, sweet potato gnocchi, tuna and apple salad, just to name a few. It is absolutely mind boggling how many amazing dishes we can cook here with such basic amenities. we have no fridge, no microwave, no hot water. We are lucky that we have an oven. We splurged for that. Otherwise it would have been just the gas burner. Yet we have the freshest foods -- all organic. I bet my cholesterol has gone down a ton!

Okay, I am tired and have to go to bed to get a good rest before tomorrow's walk. I am having lunch at my old host family's house tomorrow. Fabricio is gigantic! I swear for a one month old, he is the size of a 3 month old! He is so cute with these huge chubby cheeks. Ana is going to take my measurements tomorrow for Brandi's bridesmaid dress. I will have to convert the centimeters to inches.

Tomorrow night is movie night at the pub. We had a really fun pub quiz last night but my team was robbed of the win by 2 points. It was hotly contested but the judge ruled against us! We really have a lot of fun here.

Photos FINALLY uploaded!

Okay, so after two days and countless hours of wasted time when uploads failed, I finally got the beach photos up! I even added captions this time so I hope those are available as well. If not, I can email you the Picasa web album. Just let me know.

We had a going-away party for Elio, the Intern at the clinic, yesterday. We played a gamed of soccer and then went back to our house for drinking games. We learned some new, fun Peruvian drinking games. Then we went on the search for a bar to go dancing in but Porfi's was already closed and the disco was closed as well. So we ended up at this bar near the plaza. It was a really fun night. I am pretty sure that everyone, both the volunteers and the clinic staff had a great time. Elio will be missed. He may be slow when seeing patients, but he has a huge heart and is a lot of fun.

Enjoy the pics!

Back Home Again in Ollanta!

As much as I love the beach, I was very happy to fly into Cusco and land in between the beautiful green mountains. My friend Porfi met me at the airport so it was great to see a familiar face when I got off the plane. He had to stay in Cusco for work things, but we shared a taxi over to the combi/taxi area for rides to Ollanta. I got home to the volunteer house around 12:30pm. I was quite impressed that my flight was actually on time. That has never happened here before. Keri and I did not want to draw out a goodbye so she went running when I headed down to my taxi. Her flight was later in the day than mine. Luckily, we know we will be seeing each other again soon. I will probably make a trip out to Rochester to visit her and we have plans for her to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family this year!

I love living in the volunteer house. We cook great food (and chocolate chip cookies) and just hang out and talk a lot. I share a room with Hallie and then Marjo and Ben have their own rooms. Will and Jessica come over quite often so our little crew has been reunited. We miss Keri and Michelle, but we are all happy to be hanging out together again. There are lots of new volunteers arriving every week. Some are really cool and others just need to break out of their shells.

I have settled into my room and already gotten into the swing of going to the market every day to buy food to cook. As there are no refrigerators here, we have to buy our food and cook it daily. We also go to the fresh juice lady and get juices every morning. Yesterday, Hallie, Marjo and I shared two pitchers of mixed juice that had carrots, papaya, pineapple, apple and oranges in it. All for just 75 cents each! Amazing!

We had movie night at the pub last night. And tonight we are having a going away party for Elio, the intern at the health clinic. We are playing soccer against the clinic staff and then going out drinking and dancing. We just had a big lunch for him a the clinic. It is just so nice to be back. Everyone keeps commenting on my tan. Hallie's old host dad said to me, "You have changed color completely!". My taxi driver in Lima told me that he thought I was Latina. It cracks me up because here, they do not want to be dark and yet we go and lay out as much as we can.

Today was the anniversary of one of the kindergardens (el jardin) in town so the kids all dressed up in traditional clothes and danced traditional dances. It was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. I took lots of pictures. I just wanted to squeeze them. You know how it is, 4 and 5 year olds really do not understand or remember all of the moves so you have some that are good and are dancing and others that are just kind of watching and others that are just running around. One of the dances involved the boys pretending to fight and fall down and the girls come and grab them by the collar and pull them away. It was so cute!

Okay, I'm going to try to upload my photos now so check back soon for a new and improved slideshow!

Cruz Del Sur Buses Rock!

So I am on the overnight bus to Lima as I type this. How great are these buses? We just ate a really good dinner, have watched 2 movies and now I am using the internet. I love it! Only about 13 more hours to go.

Our evening in Guyaquil ended deliciously with an amazing dinner at the restaurant Blu. It is one of the Zeller's favorite restaurants and I can understand why. We all had a starter, mine was beef carpaccio and then I had the sesame crusted tuna steak. It was amazing. The family then went with us to the bus station and Vincent wanted to make sure we were safe and got on the bus okay so they hung out with us in the waiting area. I think Vincent enjoyed it more than anyone as he had never spent time in the bus station. He quickly came to the same realization that we had the day before, this is an awesome bus station! So we said our goodbyes (which were hard to say as in just 24 hours, we had really become attached to this family) and then boarded our bus.

The bus was comfortable but we really didn't sleep as we left Guayaquil around midnight, then made it to the Ecuador border at 4am. It took another 20 or so minutes to get through the Peruvian immigration and then it was only 2 hours to Punta Sal. Keri and I still managed to have a grand time on the bus. We had this man sitting in front of us that we called "Smiles" because all he did was stare at us and smile. It is a little unnerving to look up and see a man just grinning at you through the crack between the seats. Imagine doing that about once every 20 minutes or so.

So we were supposed to be dropped off at Punta Sal. Around 6:15am, I asked the stewardess lady when we would be arriving in Punta Sal and she said in 10 minutes. So Keri and I got our stuff together. We were looking out the window and realized that we were coming into Mancora which is 30 minutes past Punta Sal. They had completely passed our stop. So the people on the bus rallied for us and ran up to tell the bus driver to stop. We were a little pissed because now we had to pay 20 soles to get a taxi from Mancora to Punta Sal. Unfortunately, there are no taxis to Punta Sal at 6:30am so we ended up taking a moto-taxi all the way there. It was hysterical. When I upload my photos, you will see. It took about 45 minutes and it is a bit scary when the huge tour buses go speeding past you, but we had a great time. It was so beautiful to be cruising along as the sun was going up and the wind in your face.

We got to our hotel, Caballito de Mar (which means Seahorse) around 7:15am and had to sit by the pool until Reception opened at 8am to get a room. It was a happy homecoming for us as we had gotten to know so many of the workers the week that we stayed at our beach house down the road. There were lots of hugs and kisses all around. We had breakfast, got our rooms (you pay the same price regardless if you share or not so we got separate rooms) and showered before heading down to the pool.

We spent the day by the pool and down at the beach. We had some fruity cocktails and hung out with our friend Gian. He has a break at 4:30 so we all went down to the beach to do some fishing. The kitchen manager cook is this portly older gentleman and when he was trying to fish, he got hit by a big wave that knocked him down and after rolling around in the surf, he managed to right himself, only to find three hooks from the lure attached to his shorts in the most unopportune spot. I will let you figure that one out. We were all dying with laughter, he was too. We didn't have much luck so we just hung out until Gian had to go back to work.

A family from Massachusetts checked in later in the afternoon so we all sat around the bar talking until it was dinner time. Keri and I had our favorite seafood dish and shared a bottle of wine. We were pretty beat since we didn't sleep much the night before so we went to bed. It was really hot though so it was a bit hard to sleep.

This morning, we just hung out by the pool, went into town to print out our bus vouchers at the only internet place and then came back to shower and head to Mancora to catch the bus. It was a sad, sad goodbye. Our taxi driver friend, Nito, took us into Mancora. He had a thing for Keri and we were both a little tickled yet also weirded out when he took a hair of Keri's that had transferred to him during one of his huge hugs to her and put it in his wallet to save. Strange, huh? Gian came with us to Mancora to say goodbye. He has the whole month of June off for vacation so we are trying to plan a rendevous in Cusco or Lima. We shall see. He is a really cool guy who helped us out a lot when we were in Punta Sal. One of those guys that knows everyone and can get things done.

So that brings us to now. On the bus to Lima. We are supposed to arrive at 11am. we have our hotel set up and Keri and I are planning a day of manicures and pedicures and massages. All of which we can get for only about 10 soles. Very cheap. Then it is to the airport on Wednesday to go our separate ways. Sadness!!! Oh, I gotta go. We just started playing BINGO on the bus and I love it!

Spoiled in Guyaquil

We enjoyed our last days of sun worshipping in Montañita and headed down to Guayaquil yesterday. The bus was very comfortable and only took 3 hours. We arrived in the biggest bus station I have ever been to. I swear, this bus station was bigger and better than most airports I have been in. There was a huge food court area, lots of shops and little stands. The only problem was that we were supposed to meet Soizick at 4pm in the station, but how in the heck were we going to find her in that huge place? We wandered around a bit and then decided that the food court seemed to be the most central location. We parked ourselves there, but were quickly moved on by some security guards. We were amazed at how many people came up to us to ask if we needed help. It was quite nice, even though they couldn't do anything for us. I found one of the telephone centers and called Soizick. Luckily this time she picked up and we made a rendevous spot.

Soizick and parents are wonderful! We had to go back to their office b/c a shipment for their cocoa company needed to be loaded up. So Keri and I got to go to the cocoa production plant!! We got a tour and tried some raw cocoa (extremely bitter) and got chased by the guard geese. Yes, you read that correctly. Evidently geese are amazing guard animals. The biggest and oldest goose is named Jose and he is very protective of his grounds. He squawks and goes after you. It is hysterical yet scary at the same time!

After they were done with work, we all (mom, dad, and us three girls) headed home. Their house is beautiful. Keri and I have been deprived of houses with indoor bathrooms for the last 3 months so this place seems like a palace. We have our own room and bathroom! They have a gorgeous backyard with a pool. It is heaven. We opened the refrigerator and the pantry and just stood there in silence as we absorbed what we were looking at. No fridges and pantries in Ollantaytambo!

It is so hot and humid here. At 7pm last night it was still in the 90s. After showering, Soizick, Keri and I went to this great mall near their house and had a good Italian dinner. We then came home and her parents drove us out to the area we were going to be hanging out in. We climed 500 steps to get up to where you have this beautiful view of the city and the huge Guayaquil River. Then we went to this really cool bar called La Paletta. It was bohemian and artsy. We stayed there all night just talking and hanging out with 2 of Soizick's guy friends.

Today we got up late, went to this really pretty park in old historical Guayaquil. There was this whole part where you go through and see animals of the area and of the Dry Tropical Forest. Then you went through all these old buildings that had been restored and saw what life was like in the 1800s here. There were people dressed in the clothing and acting like they lived during that time. It was really neat. We then went to the grocery and back to the house for a snack. We are going to shower and then go to dinner with the family to one of their favorite restaurants. After that, Keri and I are heading back to the greatest bus station in the world to catch an overnight bus to Punta Sal. We should arrive back at Punta Sal around 7:30am.

We are excited to stay at Caballito de Mar Hotel and hang out with our friend Gian, the bartender. We have set it up so that we get a good night sleep, then take an overnight bus, get a good night sleep, another bus then good night sleep and then fly our separate ways.

I cannot thank Soizick and her family enough for the hospitality they have showed us over the last two days. It has been great to be in a family home again. Guayaquil is definitely a much more enjoyable city when you have locals taking you around. Thank you Betsy and Phil for introducing me to your family!!!

Ask and you shall receive

This place is great! Where else can you lie on the beach and purchase brownies, carrot cake, cookies, empanadas, calzones, snow cones, ceviche or drinks? So we were on the beach today and it was around 3pm so we had not eaten in quite a few hours. This woman comes by with carrot cake and cookies! So, maybe eating cake and cookies goes against the "do what you can to look thin in a swimming suit" idea, but how can you resist homemade cake and cookies when you are famished?? You can get everything you can ever want just sitting on the beach. No need to go anywhere, it comes to you!

Also today, one of the most amazing things happened to us. So, here we are in this beautiful beach town with a fun night life but all we want to do is eat dinner, go to our room, hang out in the a/c, watch movies and go to bed early. Today, we were watching Erin Brockavich and wishing that it was in English instead of Spanish. So I started playing with the remote to try to get the English subtitles on, when lo and behold, I find the "idioma seleccion" and can change the language to English!! O Happy Day! We are bummed that it took us 4 days to figure this out! We only have 2 days to enjoy this momentous feat.

We only have one more day of sun worshipping so tomorrow will be a full beach day. We have to figure out our bus to Guayaquil for Friday morning and just hang out the rest of the day. We will drink as many fruit smoothies as possible and probably eat some more cake on the beach. We are bummed that our favorite fish taco restaurant is only open on the weekends. Our largest decisions these days are which restaurant should we eat breakfast in and which restaurant should we eat dinner in. I know, tough life. But this is what vacation is about. Every day I get more emails from future volunteers so I know that as soon as I get back to Ollanta, my role as health volunteer coordinator will be a full-time gig. Not to mention working in the clinics and trying to organize the epidemiology stats and public health programs that I see as a necessity. I will definitely enjoy my last few days of vacation!

If it doesn't come from a mobile stand, we don't eat it!

Yesterday Keri and I played a fun game. We told ourselves that if we couldn't buy our food or drinks from a mobile stand, we would not eat! It worked out well until the evening. We love the fruit juices from the fruit stands, we got roasted corn on the cob from a street vendor, and our plan was to get ceviche for dinner from the guys who push these mobile ceviche carts shaped like boats around. However, by the evening, the ceviche guys cannot be found. Of course, we realized that this was due to the fact that by the evening, the raw seafood probably is not good and they don't want to get anyone sick. So we ended up having an amazingly delicious meal of rotisserie chicken and beans and rice. All for the whopping price of $2.50.

Today's goal in life was a simple one: make sure we place our towels in a spot that will not later be washed away by the surf like we were yesterday. We managed (with the help of some nice girls) to save our books and clothes from the waves but my towel was drenched and covered in sand. Hence, I was then also drenched and covered in sand. The wave came at the most inopportune moment. I had my top untied to try to sun my tan lines and as I heard Keri give a yelp of distress, I sat up to save myself and my stuff but quickly remembered my top was untied and decided to cover myself instead of flash the beach. So far, we have been able to achieve today's goal.

It was pretty overcast today but we still had a good 3 hours of beach time. Keri tried to surf but the waves were really huge and rough so that didn't last long. She kept trying to get me out there with her, but I am not dumb enough to tempt the sea gods on a day when the swells are a good 9 feet high. She stayed in the white wash for the most part but she still was getting knocked around.

So far I am really enjoying this beach town. It is really quiet here today since all the Ecuadorians here for the weekend have gone back to their homes and work. It is like a different place.

We've run into some other travelers we had met at the Loki in Mancora. They are still all into partying and we just want to chill. So I don't expect to be seeing much of them. We are going to go out in Guayaquil with Betsy's cousins on Friday night and stay until Sunday there with them. Then we will head back to Peru.

Beautiful Ecuador

I have been happily surprised at how beautiful Ecuador is! Our adventure to Ecuador began at 5am on Friday morning. Our friend Nito, a taxi driver, picked us up to drive us up to the border. It was a sad goodbye to our dog Rex and to Ben (for Keri). We had pretty much adopted this dog named Rex (no we did not name him). The man who runs the rental properties, William, also owns a store/restaurant in Punta Sal. Well Rex is kind of the store dog but he also has the run of the town. So he started hanging out with us at our beach house. He was so sweet and good natured, you just couldn't help but love him. He was only 8 months old so he had the energy and affection of a puppy. One day, it just broke our hearts, we went into Mancora for money and groceries and Rex followed us into town from the house as we walked. Then, when we got into the mototaxi (think of a motorcycle with a little 3 person covered seat attached to it on two wheels), he jumped right in with us. So we had to go through the motions of getting him out and then him jumping back in and so forth three or four times. So we take off in the mototaxi and he starts running behind us. It was terrible! He followed us for a good 5 minutes before giving up. But sure enough, the next day, he was back at the house with us! Anyway, he became our house dog and it was like he knew Keri and I were leaving because there he was at 5 in the morning, cuddled all up next to my legs so that if I moved, he would have fallen over. Ben later emailed to say that Rex was just whimpering during the day because we were gone.

Anyway, Nito picks us up and off we go. It took just under 2 hours to get to the border. Thank God we had Nito with us. We were joking that Nito was our "Coyote" and that he was going to smuggle us across. There were tons of people loitering around the immigration area on the Peru side trying to tell us that they were Ecuadorian and they would get us over to the other side. Nito just kept telling them to go away, that he knew what he was doing. I guess most taxi drivers just drop you off and leave you to your own devices.

It was actually really strange. So we stop in Peru and get stamped as leaving the country, but then we get in the taxi and drive another five minutes or so before parking and then walking down this road that is the official border. So you get into Ecuador and have to go quite a ways before actually being processed in Ecuador. Nito took us to a little bus station and we got tickets on a van to Guyaquil. From Guyaquil, we planned on going to Montañita. Also, on a side note, why did I have no idea that Ecuador uses American dollars?? Who knew?? It was strange to take US dollars out of the ATM.

So then Nito gets us in a taxi to take us to the Ecuador immigration point and we say our heartfelt goodbyes. He is such a great guy. We process in Ecuador, catch our van and off we go! The first thing that strikes me about Ecuador is how fast the people talk. I mean, my Spanish comprehension is pretty fluent right now and I have a hard time understanding these folks. The second thing that strikes me is the absolute beauty of the banana farms and the surrounding forest hillsides. Coming from the dry, sandy desert mountains of northern Peru, it was like stepping into an oasis. For the 4 hour drive to Guyaquil, there was hardly a time when I didn't have banana trees on either side of the car.

Guyaquil itself reminded me of a south Florida city like Miami or Tampa. Keri and I liked it immediately. Much prettier and cleaner than Lima. We were dropped off and had to find our way to another travel agency that drives up to Montañita. So we figure that out and also figure out that we can't go directly to Montañita so we book a van to Santa Elena and from there we are told we can get a bus to Montañita. We grab a quick lunch (by this time it is 1pm) and then hop in our other van. We get to Santa Elena around 3pm and instead of waiting for the crowded public buses, we say screw it, lets just take a taxi. So our final hour or so of travel was along this beautiful beach highway speeding along in a taxi. We shop around for places to stay up the beach from the main town center of Montañita. We had enough partying in Mancora. We found a room for $15 each a night with A/C and cable tv! The A/C is a godsend. The cable tv is perfect since we just want to chill at night. Most other places were charging $20-25 each a night with no A/C or tv. The bugs here are gigantic!

We had to change rooms from our first one because there was an infestation of huge crickets. They were everywhere! Everyone who knows me also knows that I do not like bugs. I can handle crickets and grasshoppers and stuff because they generally don't crawl all over you and bite you (like spiders) but an infestation of anything is pretty disgusting! So now we are in a suite that is nice but for the same price. It is the low season here so there aren't many people around. It allowed us to bargain a bit on the price.

The beach here is beautiful. Much prettier than Mancora and Punta Sal. Keri and I are in heaven. We've already dropped our dirty clothes off at a laundry place, we had awesome fish tacos for $1.50 last night. I can buy fresh juice anytime I want from the juice vendors. It is awesome. I think we are going to meet up with some of my college friend Betsy's Ecuadorian cousins either today or tomorrow. That should be a lot of fun. Today there are a lot of people on the beach. Where we are staying is known as one of the best suring areas in this part of the world. I think there is a competition today. By Sunday night, I'm sure it will be dead again once the Ecuadorians go back home for the work week. I have to keep reminding myself that we are in Ecuador and not Peru. They definitely use different words here but we are still able to communicate just fine.

Our plan is to stay for the week and just relax. The lack of sleep has given me a cold and bad sore throat so I just want to chill and feel better. Last night we were in bed by 10pm and didn't get up until close to 9am. The A/C felt amazing.

I will try to download some photos in the next couple days. I got some really good ones of the sunsets off our deck in Punta Sal. Plus, there are some really funny ones from our fishing trip. Which I just realized I forgot to write about. It was hysterical. We were expecting a nice fishing boat like you might find in Florida or wherever. Well, you will just have to see the photos because I can't really describe what our boat was like other than small and wooden. However, the fisherman and his two teenage sons who took us out were so nice and funny. We were out for 3 and a half hours and Keri was the star fisherman. I caught 2 fish but Keri caught like 4 and an eel! We didn't use poles but actually just used drop lines. So you drop the bait and weight down on the line and let it go for awhile and just wait until you feel something and then start grabbing the line up with the hopes that the fish is still on it! Difficult but fun.

The neatest thing happened on the way back in though. Keri and I were sitting at the front of the boat and we all see hundreds of sea birds circling this one part of the sea and dive bombing in for fish. Well, as we get closer, we notice all these dolphin fins as well. So we drove through it and I swear there were at least 100 dolphins swimming through this school of fish. There were big ones and baby ones. It was so beautiful. It was straight out of National Geographic. We were in awe. It totally made the day even more perfect. So we paid some man on the pier to clean our fish and filet them for us and off we went with a nice big fresh fish dinner to cook.

That is a novel for today. Hope it doesn't bore you.

Just Gotta Go with the Flow

So we are still in Punta Sal in Peru. The plan of leaving yesterday fell through when Ben decided it wasn´t really worth it for him to travel up into Ecuador and then have to take 2 days to get back to Lima to catch his flight. So we decided to lounge here until Friday and then Ben will catch a bus back to Lima and Keri and I will head north to Ecuador. We will be starting at the beach town of Montañita -- sorry spelled it wrong in last post. We´ve heard good things and there look to be some really cute places to stay.

Keri and I are quite happy with our "absolutely no firm plans" approach to this trip. We have set up a deep sea fishing trip tomorrow for the morning. Our plan is to catch our dinner! Yesterday, we went into Mancora to get money from the ATM -- that should tell you how small this little beach town is that we are staying in -- and get groceries that aren´t extraordinarily expensive. We cooked dinner last night and were planning on going to a huge party to celebrate the anniversary of Punta Sal, but after the previous night´s party and the overall lack of sleep due to the music and late nights at the Loki, we all fell asleep around 9pm on the lounge chairs on the deck. We had to rouse ourselves to tell our new bartender friend that we wouldn´t be joining him for the party. I think I finally slept a full night for the first time in a week and a half.

Keri and Ben went off on a date today, so that left me just hanging by myself on the deck and in the pool. I am going to go hang out with Gian, our bartender friend, until he finishes his morning shift and then we will probably go down to the beach to go fishing with the other guys that work in the hotel. They do that in the afternoons. Maybe I will catch something.

Hopefully, the next time I write something, I will be in Ecuador!!!

Relaxing at a beach house in Punta Sal

So things haven´t really been going as planned for the last few days but luckily all is working out in our favor. We were supposed to check out of the Loki on Friday morning and head down the beach to a couple little bungalow type rooms. Well, on Thursday night, Ben got mugged down near where we were supposed to be moving to while he was running. Three guys surrounded him and stole his iPod and luckily wanted nothing else, but it still shook him up a bit. Then on Friday morning Keri went running and before she could even get near to where were were going to move, a security guard told her not to go farther. So, needless to say, Keri and Ben did not want to move down to that part of the beach but we were feeling a little screwed as it was the busiest day for check-ins in Mancora. Luckily, the managers at the Loki were not too keen on kicking us out and they had been careful not to over book for the holiday weekend and we were able to stay. Really, the reason they weren´t over-booked was that the bus coming in from Ecuador that day had not been able to leave Ecuador due to the driver being completely intoxicated. So we got lucky.

Anyway, we partied on Friday and then unfortunately, I was sick all day Saturday. I don´t know if I ate something bad, if the water just finally got to me or a combination of things, but my stomach revolted and I spent most of Saturday running between my bed and the bathroom. Keri and Ben had gone off to Punta Sal for the day on Saturday and came back on Sunday with a reservation at a beach house for really cheap. We checked out of the Loki in the morning and then headed to Punta Sal. After lounging on the beach and playing in the water -- Punta Sal is much more relaxed and chill than Mancora -- the landlord of the house came by and starting going off on Ben and I because he had agreed to let only Ben and Keri have the house and since more people were there now, he didn´t want us. Obviously there was some communication issues but the guy was being such a jerk that Ben and I decided to go find somewhere else. The guy was such an idiot. Everyone was gone now from the holiday weekend and he would rather not have anyone in the house and make no money versus making the money off of us.

Anyway, Michelle´s friend Gabriel had a friend who rents houses here in Punta Sal so we found this guy and he made a deal with us for a really nice beach house down a ways. It had three bedrooms, a big kitchen and a gorgeous deck with a little pool. We moved our stuff in, cooked dinner and enjoyed the waves crashing in front of us with a couple bottles of wine and good music.

Michelle had to go back to Mancora to catch a bus to Lima and now Ben, Keri and I are figuring out our next move. We are going to stay in the house here one more night and then head up to Ecuador tomorrow. Ben and Keri made friends with two men who work in a really nice hotel near our beach house and struck a deal for a taxi to the border -- only about 2 hours -- and then we will catch a bus to another beach town about 8 hours from the border. We can go fishing, whale watching, surfing, etc in Ecuador. I´ve heard it is a little more expensive but we shall see. Ben will have to leave us around the 10th, but Keri and I still have plenty of time.

We are now researching where we should go and stay in Mantanita -- the beach town we are headed to. So although our time in Mancora was fun in a "I´m in college and on Spring Break" kind of way, there comes a point in a 31 year old´s life where three or so days of this is plenty. We played Loki Olympics on Friday at the hostel and our team did horribly, but one of the other teams was named the Cougar Hunters. They were such young boys that I had to ask what constituted as a cougar in their eyes. Luckily I was not in that category, but the average age at the hostel was probably 22. I did meet a guy from Indianapolis though! Random! He lives in Broad Ripple.

Anyway, we are going to confirm our second night here, find the man that sells fish, buy some fish and then go cook our dinner! We have to be up and out early for our taxi to the border tomorrow.

Hope everyone is well. My tan is coming along nicely but I still would probably prefer other beaches to these ones. And it is hot as all get out. It was 85 degrees as I was trying to sleep last night. Muggy too!