I’m just about to leave this hostel that I have been calling ‘home’ (base) for the last few weeks…and about to join up with a Dragomon tour thingy that will take me through more of Ecuador and Peru…ultimately ending on the top of Machu Pichu just after Christmas. As I was packing, I found a CD that a friend made me…so I have some pics to share with you guys!!

This first one is of the Eco-Lodge near Las Tolas…this was a clear day. The First week I was there, I was just surrounded by clouds. But when Candice and Chris came up, it got even clearer than this so we could see a stunning mountain range.

This is part of the town of Las Tolas. The sign indicates the artisans that we worked with.

This is the hot springs that I just got back from a few days ago…really relaxing!!

This last one is of the largest church in South America. The part of Quito that I have been staying at has a lot of old colonial architecture…sadly, there are also a lot of 70’s buildings sprinkled over ‘new town’…I guess that dark phase of architecture affected more than just North America L


I have finished 20 hours of Spanish lessons now, and yesterday I picked up a Spanish novel about the indigenous people here…I sat in a café yesterday afternoon and poked my way through the prologue…4 pages took me 40 minutes, but I at least think I understood what the author was saying!!

In South America, there are a LOT of people selling random things on the street (ie lottery tickets, shoe laces and a chance to weigh yourself) and any bus you ride has a bunch of children or men jumping on to sell you anything from fresh fruit to meet on a stick to watches…also, one thing that was kind of funny is that here is it the norm that they sell motorcycles in the same stores that they sell refrigerators! A friend pointed out that anytime you see an appliance store, you also see a few bikes too...

One last thing… a long time ago a friend of mine moved away to Ottawa and I was terribly sad. But he told me this little rhyme that I thought of last night (it was the first time I saw the moon through the clouds since being here). It goes:
I see the moon.
The moon sees me.
The moon sees the people that I want to see.

Chances are that if you are reading this blog, I thought of you last night when I said that little poem. I am having a great time here, but I miss a lot of the little things about my friends and family back home.

Lots of love,

Adrienne J