robinmarie12

[robinmarie12]

We accumulate so much stuff. As someone who is going through my things and trying to purge and get rid of stuff for a move; I am amazed on how much stuff I have. I always have thought of myself as someone who has been good about getting rid of things. But if I have learned anything about this process so far is that, I wasn’t nearly good enough. I have already donated and sold somethings but there is still so much left to go through. No wonder moving is always so hard and time consuming. I am getting ready for a large move where I won’t be able to take most things with me and I might be traveling for a lot of my future and so I have really been in the getting rid of phase. I have donated already two to three carloads of things, given things to buy nothing groups, friends, and sold some of this material waste.

Why is it that we accumulate so much? I know for myself I have gotten a lot of it when I was in grad school and from over the years, but I want to strive to be better in the future. I want to not buy so much. What we buy just go into the landfills and most of it just sits on our shelves or doesn’t get used anyways. I want everything I keep to have some use for me, no matter where I end up. I am still young and I have a lot of things I have accumulated but I can’t imagine those who have had many more years to accumulate stuff or junk. We have become a nation of hoarding and accumulation. I remember going to thrift stores and buying things and not thinking about what I was going to use it for. Now I regret doing that. I do most of my shopping at second hand stores or thrift shops.

[robinmarie12]

I didn’t know if I was going to write about my trip on here or not, but I thought maybe I would just write when i was done with a location and about to move on to a new location in Ecuador. I left the grand United States and started my trip to Ecuador on Tuesday. It was pretty crazy because while in the airport in my city I saw my aunt and uncle and even crazier is that they were also riding on the same flight to Fort Lauderdale. Tuesday was such a long day. I got to Fort Lauderdale and had a 4 hour layover. Then my flight to Quito was late and I didn’t get to my Airbnb till like 1:30 am. But I have to say I enjoyed going to the Quito Airport more than the Guayaquil airport. I got through migration a lot quicker and it was easier to navigate.

I spent four nights in Quito and I have to say that was enough time for me to see the sights I wanted to see in Quito. I stayed in the historical area and I am really glad that I did. The first day (Wednesday) I walked the streets to get to know the area. I also decided to walk to Basilica del Voto Nacional, and it was a lot for the altitude. But very pretty.

Thursday I went to Mitad del Mundo, I wasn’t as impressed by it as I thought I would be. But it was cool, I probably wouldn’t need to see it again anytime soon though. I got to see some llamas. I also went to two malls in the Carolina. This area was so busy and I wouldn’t want to stay in this area because of that. One of the malls spiraled up and the other had like four floors. Way different than American malls.

Today (Friday) it was so busy. I guess because it was the weekend or almost the weekend. I decided to walk to Palacio de Cristal. I wrote down the street directions because here pickpockets are at large and you have to be careful with personal belongings; especially phones. Let’s just say, I got a little lost but I asked for directions and found my way. I was judged the whole way either because I decided to walk, I was wearing shorts, or because I am a gringo. But I was sweating like crazy. The people here think it is cold, I on the other hand think it is so warm. But then again back in Missouri it is sleeting and snowing and very cold. So the weather is very different.

Tomorrow I take a bus directly to Banos. I will be in Banos for a couple of weeks. I have friends in Banos and then I will be able to travel around from there. I am super excited for the rest of my trip but I am also so tired from walking a lot.

[robinmarie12]

For those of you who have liked my pictures and posts about my Ecuador trip I took back in October 2021. Well I will heading back to Ecuador in February 2022. This time I am going in solo. I started taking Spanish lessons privately so that I have a little more language knowledge and not only am I taking the lessons and completing the homework. I am also listening to podcasts for beginning Spanish, and looking up how to pronounce the double rr. Because I know that I have difficulty saying words with those letters. I want to do as much as I can to prepare myself for this trip.

I have joined expat groups in the cities where I will be staying so that I know I can reach out if there are any issues. I know people in Ecuador now that I can ask them for recommendations on places to stay or where to stay away from. I am spending a lot of my time around Banos because I would like to do some volunteering of either teaching or working with animals. I have a background in counseling, psychology and I have been teaching for four years now. I want to learn about the culture and working within that culture. I will probably visit Puyo and I will be in Banos during Carnival! I am most excited for this. I don’t know how much I will update on tumblr, because this time I won’t be taking my tablet. Just my phone. I will post mainly on my instagram. I will post an update to tumblr when I get back.

[robinmarie12]

That was the longest wait in the airport I have ever had to go through and it sucked even more because I had heartburn. Plus all flights from Ecuador are really late at night or early in the morning and I just don’t understand the logic.

When boarding was finally allowed I got on to this tiny tin can of a plane and I was thinking how is this piece of metal going to carry us to Florida let alone off the ground. It was old and small where we were all packed in like sardines. I am a bit claustrophobic and even though I was on an aisle I still felt too close to people.

Luckily there were a couple of seats open that we could switch around and I was able to get a seat with nobody right next to me. I don’t really sleep on planes and I had downloaded some Netflix to watch. Everyone else around me fell asleep and I watched some shows.

I didn’t start to fall asleep until we were going down to land that’s how it usually is.

Got into Fort Lauderdale airport and went through customs where they wanted to make sure I packed my own back and asked if I had any food.

I said I had a pear and cookies (I should have eaten the pear on the plane) they took my pear and said next time I could be fined $300. I could see others getting food opened with meat and having it thrown away.

I was lucky that this was my first offense but I will know for next time. It was a interesting but kind of stressful process. I wouldn’t recommend it for fun.

I had to open my suitcase though which is rather annoying.

Some people would have told me to lie; I remember that from when I went to Germany 11 years ago. But I am not going to lie about that. So I kept my cookies though.

Then I had to hurry along to my next flight so I can go home. I am so tired and ready for a good shower and some sleep.

[robinmarie12]

So my flight to the states leaves at 1:00am and I will be home around 10am. I will be losing an hour which sucks because I liked not losing an hour of sleep here and while everyone else has had a week to adjust I will just be getting into that time zone.

I am ready to sleep in my own bed and shower with consistent hot water. It hasn’t really hit me yet that I have been here for three weeks because I feel like time went by really fast and I want to come back to Ecuador but all in good time.

[robinmarie12]

It will be weird going back to the states because everyday the food here is fresh and I haven’t been eating really any processed food. I will be opening my etsy shop back up from vacation, and I will be going back to working. I guess I haven’t been on a long vacation like this in such a long time that it will feel weird going back and I have been trying to figure out what I really want to do with my time. I am looking into teaching English abroad or just doing something different. I have been really enjoying traveling and being immersed in a different culture.

There is so much more drama that happens in the United States that we are just surrounded by all the time that when we step away from it and look at how others are living instead of those who have paid television shows we see how people really live in the real world. There is so much we can do to change the world but people don’t always see what is in front of them.

[robinmarie12]

It has been difficult to write because I haven’t been able to use my iPad at every location we have traveled to because of the wifi and I am at the second to last part of my trip and finally able to write because the WiFi in Canoa was horrible and we stayed there 8 days but I would’ve had to use my phone to write everything.

We are currently staying in Ayampe, Ecuador and like Canoa it is a very beach surfer town. It is more wooded and jungly than Canoa was but both are pretty small. I tried looking up the population and I couldn’t find it but it is probably pretty small.

Our first night we stayed at La Tortuga and our cabana was super tiny with a double bed and a twin bed but there was barely any room to walk around and it was super cold at night with hardly any blankets. So we checked out of that hotel and came to Spandalus (probably spelled that wrong) and the room is much bigger with the best shower I have had the entire time I have been in Ecuador. Plus there were enough blankets (at least I thought there was). We will stay here one more night.

Yesterday 11/6/2021: we went on a small boat cruise to tour an island where we could snorkel and swim in the ocean and see different fish. At one point we could go to the beach. I didn’t really like using a snorkel mask, but I had my own flippers, goggles and nose plug with me. It was cool to see the fish in the water. The water wasn’t super clear but it was still a lot of fun to swim around. While on the boat we saw a sea turtle, pelicans and sea lions. On the beach I went to look at some barnacles on this rock the ocean riptide pulled and pushed me into some sharp rocks twice. I cut my toe and scrapped my leg.

On the way back from the boat ride we enjoyed Pepsi, watermelon, and a chocolate brownie. It was a cool experience and even though everyone except my dad and I spoke Spanish, I tried asking and talking to some of the people on the boat in Spanish.

For dinner we ate chicken on a stick because it is so good although at first we found someone selling carne (meat) on a plate and I got the chance to try pig intestines. I don’t think I will be eating that again. We didn’t eat the whole thing.

Today 11/7/2021: I found out that it was daylight savings time in the States and it was nice to not loose an hour although I will have to deal with that time change when I go back at the end of the week.

With the pain in my toe we decided to go to Los Frailes Beach. It is located in a national park and it was interesting getting in because we had to show our passports and get our temperatures taken. There is a lot of rock transformation in the water and there are a lot of little fish and crabs to look at. I was able to find another hermit crab on the beach which was really cool. The rocks there and in Ayampe are blue and their shells are all different colors. It was a long enough hike where we were able to get some walking in and see some of the sights without putting my hurt toe in too much pain.

Tonight for dinner we ate in Puerto Lopez and dinner was delicious. I had shrimp in a coconut curry sauce with a salad and rice with fried plantains.

Tomorrow we drive to Montanita.

[robinmarie12]

Today while walking on the beach looking for shells I found two dead puffer fish that the waves had washed up on the beach but they couldn’t make it back to the water. While I was walking back to the hotel we are staying at I saw something black in the sand and then saw that it was a baby sea turtle.

It had gotten washed up on the beach where it was going to have to make its way back to the ocean. I picked it up and walked into the waves and released the little guy. He was so cute.

[robinmarie12]

You don’t really know how hot the sun is until you are burned on random parts of your body that you didn’t know you could burn even though you put sunscreen on…. The tops of my feet, the back of my legs, my back, arms, need I go on? I laid my sunscreen on so thick today that I looked like a ghost. It was pretty fitting as Halloween is tomorrow although here a big celebration for Day of the Dead. Though you wouldn’t know it for Canoa because it is pretty dead. This is such a big change from most of the other places we have been because Banos was such a party city.

Everywhere I track sand and when the sand scrapes against the sunburn it’s like washing with a piece of sand paper.

I have been trying to work on learning Spanish, but it is a slow process as I don’t have anyone to teach it to me, but I am picking up things here and there.

I found ways to spot and find sand dollars that are alive, which are really cool to look at, and don’t worry I put them back down. I won’t kill anything unless it is trying to bite me. I haven’t seen any hermit crabs yet but lots of other crabs that run really fast and eat jelly fish. The beaches and water is pretty dirty here and so as for swimming it isn’t ideal.

Yesterday I walked 20,000 steps and my feet hurt so bad. Today I didn’t walk as much but we drove into San Clemente which is a small village/town about an hour from Canoa. There are some expats who live there and we found a restaurant with some pulled pork tacos.

At night I have been walking the beach looking for shells, learning Spanish (trying), starting to plan another trip to Ecuador but one to different places and learning more Spanish.

[robinmarie12]

We made it to Canoa Ecuador! We have a hotel right on the beach and when I was younger I didn’t like the beach or the ocean. But it is fantastic here. I love to swim and see all the creatures that I can find. It is so relaxing and so far there is a lot less noise than the other places we have been so far. I will write more later.

[robinmarie12]

I know I am waiting longer between days of posting, it’s because I have been tired at night and busy during the day. So I have to fit it in while I can. Yesterday I finally called my cell phone provider and unlocked my phone so that I could get a SIM card for here and stop paying for expensive data. But that also means that I can’t use iMessage and I have a new phone number for the time being. Or at least until I leave in a couple of weeks and give the SIM card to my dad.

I can talk on email, Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, etc. That is what the people here use anyways. Mindo is very warm and yesterday rainy. We went to one of the cloud forest sanctuaries and saw a lot of rain. It was almost like walking through a jungle but my dad said it was a cloud forest because it rained the whole time. We say a bunch of hummingbirds but no other birds. There were a bunch of different plants and luckily no snakes or spiders.

I almost slipped a couple of times because of the mud and my shoes are drying because of it but luckily I have another pair. Luckily I didn’t fall though and luckily the trees didn’t eat us like in “Life of Pi”. (Marie will get my reference). Everything is furry here; the trees, the leaves, the birds. It is kind of weird.

I have been eating a lot of chicken and rice for lunch/dinner because usually we eat a later breakfast of eggs, juice, black coffee, toast and then we go out exploring and then we eat lunch around 3pm and here in Mindo they have a great coffee shop where I had my first hot chocolate in 8 years. Yesterday I had a Chai tea latte and dad had a cappuccino for $5. Both for that amount. Then we don’t eat dinner. Like I had 1/4 chicken with rice, salad, and some fries and a drink and I was full the rest of the night. Eating here is so different.

[robinmarie12]

On our way out of Banos my dad had an appointment to see a dentist in Ambato which is an hour from Banos. Luckily we had Jose along for the ride because he was going to Quito (which was on the way) and he was able to translate for my dad during his consultation and for my dad’s X-ray. We wouldn’t have been able to get through it on our own and when we reached Ambato there was a protest going on for the raising of gas prices and this was a little out of my comfort zone because not knowing Spanish and being in a new city can be quite scary but also when there are a lot of police around and a big crowd, so it was nice to have someone who knew the area a little more.

Can you imagine if we had a protest in the USA about rising gas prices?

Once we were done in Ambato we were on our way again to Quito to drop Jose off. It was a longish journey although it would have been longer by bus. I still don’t know how to drive manual so my dad is doing all the driving and luckily even though there are a lot of curvy roads I haven’t been getting motion sick.

In the car I was able to ask how to say things in Spanish and ask more questions from Jose which is always great because things are a lot different here in Eduardo than in the States. We can’t say America because we are technically in America where we are as well.

Quito is a big city that sits up on top of mountains. There are many large road bumps, probably so people don’t speed. I like to call them sleepy policemen. I think I got that phrase from somewhere years ago. But they are annoying. So are the one way streets and my google maps likes to give me weird directions.

[robinmarie12]

Well we made it to Banos on Friday and I haven’t been able to write because Banos is louder and is much like a small version of Las Vegas. There are a lot more people walking around on the streets and so when I didn’t want to use my money belt I used my over the should purse and I didn’t ever feel unsafe, but you still have to be aware of your surroundings. I thought there were a lot of people selling the wares on the street and the corners, but here there are kids as young as 5 walking into bars and restaurants trying to make money for their parents because kids have a different pull for people. As I have mentioned in my previous posts until you come to Ecuador and see first hand how the population lives it is really hard to understand and even then, there is still a lot of information that I don’t understand.

Someone here might work a 13 hour day and get paid $8- $10 for that day. $400 a month and they are working just as hard if not even harder than some of the people in the states for less money. Cost of living here in Ecuador is cheaper and food is cheaper. As a US citizen I have been told by some expats that I wouldn’t want to move here and work the jobs that Ecuadorians are working. I would either have to retire or open my own business. I am not saying I am planning on moving here but while in Banos we stopped by a great little Brew pub and met some great people who we were able to hang out with and I was able to ask some great questions.

Some of the questions I asked were:

What time do kids attend school? 7am-1pm (this is a big difference than in the USA). It sounded like not everyone has to learn English and so you have to find someone who speaks English or it would have helped if I would have taken some Spanish.

Is University free? Yes

Is healthcare free? Yes, but it is hard to get into a doctor sometimes. But what I found out which I find this to be somewhat frustrating is that mental health isn’t something that taken into account here. It isn’t a part of healthcare and I don’t know if there are many counselors. I didn’t ask about school counselors, but I noticed some children with disabilities and there is no help for that which is really a disadvantage to this country.

I asked about rent and purchasing of a home and talked about how rent or mortgages in the states. Apparently you can get a really nice place to rent in a large city that includes water, electricity, internet, basically everything for and two bedroom- $500. Which as far as I know wouldn’t get you anything in any big city in the states. There is so many big differences.

So Friday we got in late to Banos and just looked around after checking into our hotel. Banos de Agua Santa sits in a valley surrounded by volcanoes, green hills and rivers.

Saturday we went to go visit the Pailin del Diablo waterfall (Devil’s Cauldron) where we had to walk pretty far, and for someone who isn’t used to the elevation it made the hike a little more difficult. The waterfall is the highest waterfall in the Ecuadorian Andes at about 40 meters high (131 feet). Once you get close there is a fee of $2 but it was well worth it and a much better experience than going to Niagara Falls. Make sure you pack a water proof case for your camera and a rain jacket. I got soaking wet but I also right under the waterfall. I had to of course crawl on my hands and knees to get to this other part of the waterfall and I was wondering if it was worth it but then when I saw the faces of these Ecuadorians when they saw me walk under the waterfall it was worth it. (Don’t worry I filmed it). I even got to see a proposal.

Saturday we also went on a zip line which was so scary at first but I am so glad that I went on it because it was worth it. It was a thrill.

Today we on a two hour horse back ride and let me just say that it kicked my butt. I wasn’t wearing the right shoes and so by the time I got done riding my feet were sore and I almost couldn’t feel them which is always a great feeling. My horse was okay, which I never seem to get along with mares anyway and it is hard to manage a horse who only listens to commands in Spanish. This makes it really difficult to the horse where to go and command the horse. After the horseback riding we decided to do a massage and I tried cupping for the first time. I have been feeling sore from all the hiking and horse riding and just different things that my body isn’t used to and I still haven’t been able to go swimming. It was nice and relaxing and for 65 minutes my massage and facial with the Chinese cupping was $25. Then since we had only had breakfast today we went for dinner at the brewery that we have been enjoying and had some drinks. We leave for Mindo tomorrow and I can’t wait to see all the colorful birds.

[robinmarie12]

Yesterday we drove from Alausi to Banos and we didn’t use active Google maps because I didn’t want to pay for the data and we have the most interesting drive through the back hills of Ecuador. Driving in Ecuador is a lot different than driving in the United States. The signs on the road for driving speed is different also because they use km/h instead of mph. For example I might see a sign for 100 km/h but that translates to 62 ish mph.

The drive was really beautiful and picturesque and everything was so green. It was like driving through a movie scene. The succulents are mucho grande and they are growing everywhere and different types of cacti.

We passed through small villages where the indigenous people were growing their own vegetables and food on the side of mountains and in green houses. Women were seen carrying large amounts of dried corn husks down the side of the road on their backs and I couldn’t even imagine carrying that much on my own back.

On our way down to Banos we took the very windy scenic route down a small road and I am very glad I wasn’t driving down this road because it went back and forth down the mountain and looking over the edge would just send your car tumbling down. We made it to Banos just in time as we were running low on gas and the gas tank symbol was lit up indicating that it was time to fill her up.

Driving through Ecuador we have learned there are many one way streets, roundabouts, and streets without signs. This can make driving anywhere and finding where you are supposed to end up very difficult. We managed to find our hotel as I had screenshot the driving directions from google maps back in Alausi.

We were greeted by two dogs, as they were barking thinking that we were going to attack the place. Our room is small with two twin beds, a bathroom, and a nice balcony to sit and look out into the jungle.

[robinmarie12]

Chicken with fried banana on a stick. Can anyone spot the chicken legs?

[robinmarie12]

Tonight for dinner we ate chicken cooked on an outdoor grill from a street vendor (they have a lot of these around). It was very good with a fried banana on top. The chicken was on a stick and there was also pork or beef as well. For two chicken sticks as I will refer to them it was $3.00.

Throughout the day I saw a lot of people selling their goods in the market and in their shops, but tonight I saw some indigenous people selling small candy on the sidewalks of Alausi. One was a young man who looked to be in his 20s holding a bag of candy and asking passerby’s to buy a piece. I am guessing he was selling the candy for 10 cents a piece. I had seen him earlier in the day and then again tonight. It is raining cats and dogs outside and heavier than it was last night. Most of the people who were out earlier had gone home.

In my head I was thinking if I give food/money to one person then what about the other people who are selling items to make money. It really in some ways made me think a lot about giving and being kind towards others like I had discussed in another one of my posts. I have heard people say “don’t give money to homeless people on the street” “they need to find a job”. I believe that what some people don’t understand is that finding a job for a homeless person can be more challenging than it looks. To get a job at least in the United States you need some sort of picture ID, sometimes a social security card, along with other information including where you live or how you are going to get to work. If someone doesn’t have any of that or say they have an expired drivers license like the woman I was talking about in one of my previous posts then finding a job and making money to stay off the streets and get a place to live to make money to eat to support yourself can be really difficult.

When we put judgements on those people standing on the side of the road and say things like why don’t they get a job then as I just stated those are just some of the many reasons why.

Back to the young man on the sidewalk he wasn’t begging for money. He was trying to sell candy to make money. He didn’t have a sign that read “God Bless Ecuador” or whatever they might say here but asking people if they would buy what he was selling. While I was eating my dinner, I asked my dad if it would be crazy if I gave him a dollar and my dad said no as long as I bought a candy from him. I believe it starts with a small act of kindness. My dad gave him some money as well. Even though he was speaking rapid Spanish and I couldn’t understand what he was saying I could tell that he was grateful. I asked him if I could give him a hug as I could see tears well up in his eyes and tears started to come to mine.

My dad went for some more food (beef) on a stick and bought the young man some. I want to be able to do more for the world, I just don’t know what I can do and so I try to be as kind as I can be to everyone I meet.

[robinmarie12]

Some observations from being Ecuador that I have noticed so far:

Little children like ones that would be in elementary school don’t have cell phones. This is a lot different than where I live and it is really great to see that they aren’t all engaged in their electronics. Instead they are walking with their friends or arm in arm with their mom. Kids are playing together and experiencing what it is like to live your childhood as a child without the realities of what adults maybe have to face.

I remember as a child loving to imagine I was a teacher or that I had horses. I never actually had horses but I was able to use my imagination and things that I had at home to pretend. I just don’t know if some of the generations that are now growing up in the USA have those skills with all of the social media and electronics. We are so worried about what other people think about us. That we miss that chance to really be ourselves and really have to pretend to be something we are not. I have one best friend and really almost if we had soul mate friends who I feel understands me and I her that I don’t have to pretend with and I can truly be myself around.

That isn’t to say I can’t be myself around my husband or my family, but that sometimes it can be hard to show who we truly are because of the judgements of others. It takes a lot to open up about things. Some people don’t have connections with others or they may not have a strong support system.

That is my rant of the day.