Travel by number

I'm an English teacher. You know this. I love words. I enjoy inventing new ones. Today, though, I'm going to recount our excursion to Mindo with numbers. Try to work the other side of my brain perhaps.

$7.20: cost for 3 one-way tickets to Mindo
2: number of hours in the bus from Quito to Mindo
$15: cost of 3 tickets for chocolate tour at El Quetzal

Our friendly tour guide, Jake (who already knows me by name because I may have an obsession with El Quetzal), explaining...something...I don't remember exactly what it was because I was intoxicated by the smell of roasting cacao.

12, or 17, or maybe 23: number of chocolate items purchased from El Quetzal between Mom, Dad, and me

The sampling at the end of the tour is brilliant. Sure, we'll take 6 bricks of cacao to make these delicious brownies you've just teased us with.

3: number of meals we had at El Quetzal within 48 hours

Pollo with chocolate sauce. Like I had just stepped into the birthday scene from Chocolat.

59: number of times I pondered the chocolate bars, chocolate caliente, brownie and fudge at El Quetzal within 48 hours
5: games of Hearts we played as we watched countless raindrops fall outside of The Dragonfly Inn's windows
2: hours of hiking in the bosque behind The Yellow House
0: number of monkeys and bears we spied as we hiked

Oh, but we did run into 1 herd of cattle and had a stare-down with a calf and his mama. 

10: zip lines at Mindo Canopy that Dad and I ventured to cross...or ride...or fly on

Dad, me, and some pretty hunky zip line guides. I learned later that someone died on the zip lines in Mindo last year, but that was the other company, so you know, no big deal. 

4:45: por la mañana--time the alarm went off to go bird watching
5: number of male Cock-of-the-rocks that we saw putting on a show to win the affection of one female

See the three red spots? Cock-of-the-rocks with their fannies facing the camera.

8: number of butterflies that landed on Mom and Dad at Nathaly Butterfly Garden

11: am--time we left Mindo to return to Ecuador on Friday

As I finish the blog tonight (4 days after I began it), it's just Mom and I hanging out in my living room. Dad left Sunday night to head back to the States. I've enjoyed every minute of having them here. Feeling a little twinge in my heart as I have to send Mom back to Minnesota tomorrow (where it might reach 5 degrees in the afternoon). The next countdown: 2.5 months until the three Baci sisters are unleashed in Quito together!

Les extraño, mi familia y amigos.

Jame

Bienvenidos a Quito a mis padres

Day 1: Tuesday, January 28th
All's quiet on the Quito front here right now. It's 6:20 pm and Mom is napping and Dad is playing on his iPad (perhaps reading). Mom and Dad arrived last night, landing in Quito at 8 pm. At 9 pm (I was supposed to be at the airport at 8:30) Mom had found an Ecuadorian with an Ecuaphone and somewhat frantically dialed my number. "Jamie! Why are you so late?" came her concerned voice. My response: "I'm 15 minutes away. I'll tell you about it later." This was their first taste of the workings of South American life. The best laid schemes...

I was late in picking up mis padres because the driver I had called (recommended by a friend)--a sweet woman named Franny--picked me up a few minutes late. No big deal at that point. Then we proceeded to drive to a part of Quito foreign to me, pick up a saxophone player, and go deep into the valley suburb of Tumbaco to drop him off to play his gig for the night. My own anxiety was rising as each minute past 8:30 ticked by as I knew Mom's head would be weaving tales of why I hadn't arrived when I had promised.

In the end, we all made it back to my apartment by around 10. I continue to feel some kind of high here when I come to realize that I, the "expert", get to show off my world in Ecuador. After a solid night's sleep, our itinerary today has been as follows:

7 am: I hear Dad get up.

7:30 am: After laying in bed trying to catch a few more zzzz's, I arise to make some coffee and read while Dad busies himself on his iPad.

8:00 am: I begin making breakfast, llapingachos, a traditional Ecuadorian food, thanks to Mariana, my amazing housekeeper.

8:10 am: I can't help myself, I have to wake Mom from her slumber. Lo siento a mi mama, but sleep is for the frigid Minnesota winter when you return home.

8:30 am: We chow on the llapingachos served with Marian's homemade aji, and avocado.

9:00 am: A walk around La Carolina gives Mom and Dad a glimpse of my part of town. Note: It is nearly 90 degrees warmer in Quito than Minneapolis. En serio.

10:30 am: We're showered and walking back to the part of La Carolina where we get on a tour bus for a 3 hour ride around the city. My camera's battery goes dead as I am taking my first photos of the tour, as we are stopped at The Virgin of El Panecillo. Altogether, though, the tour is pretty cool, taking us to places I had yet to discover and giving us a bit more history than I have come to learn at this point.

2:45 pm: We are heading to Ana's restaurant Papas Fritas a lo Bestia for a late lunch. My stomach's eating itself by this point, but great chicken and french fries are just around the corner...well, really up a pretty steep hill. Mom and Dad are troopers as their lungs are getting acclimated to the altura. They haven't seen Ana since summer of 2006. Abrazos fuertes all around.

Mi prima can perfectly season a chicken breast and fry up some fantastic papas fritas!

5:00 pm: Nap time, reading time, simply quiet time. An HSP will never argue with this.

7:00 pm: Time to head to Vista Hermosa for an Ecuadorian dinner and an unbeatable view of the city.

Rain inclined us to dine inside, but still it was a lovely meal. 

Tomorrow we are off to Mindo. Between Dad and I, we'll probably buy El Quetzal out of chocolate.

Love from Ecuador,

Jame

Circumferencing a volcano

800 years ago a catastrophic eruption occurred in the Western most volcano in Ecuador. After 14,000 years of dormancy, this final eruption caused volcanic ash to permeate the northern Andes. It also produced a 2-mile wide caldera, known today as Quilotoa. This past Saturday I, along with four other Americano friends, joined Paypahuasi once again for a good hike, which meant a 3:30 am wake-up call. A bit rough, but worth it.

After about 4 hours in the bus, we arrived to the province of Cotopaxi where Quilotoa is located. For the next 4.5 hours we circumferenced the entire ridge of the volcano, stopping to take in some vistas hermosas and have a bite to eat. (Aside: I realize "circumference" is not a verb, but as an English teacher, I feel entitled to make up my own words.) It was no walk in the park, but it also didn't rival Pichincha in difficulty. Really, one of the most amazing things about Ecuador is the amount of outdoor adventures one can engage in in a country about the size of Colorado--biking to waterfalls, hiking volcanoes, eating amazing chocolate. Yes, when I eat artisanal chocolate after the chocolate tour on the picnic table at El Quetzal, it is considered an outdoor adventure as well. The following are photos that will bring you a bit closer to my latest escapade outside of the city.

Note: Mom and Dad bought me a camera for Christmas and I love it, but Charles Denson takes beautiful photos that do much more justice to the sites and scenes than my very amateur ones. As resident photographer, his photos are featured here. I highly recommend taking a minute, or maybe 10, to look at more on his webpage.

Americano teachers and bomberos! The most incredible man here is the one with the sunglasses. He is blind and was guided by his friend the whole hike. 

Quite breathtaking, isn't it?

Admittedly I missed the wildlife because I was too busy trying to get to the spot for lunch. 

The whole Paypahuasi group. 

No, we're not in Kansas anymore. 

Cuy, an Ecuadorian delicacy. 

After arriving home from the hike, it was time to celebrate my birthday. Wish I could tell you more about that, but this blog isn't for those shenanigans. Most of the time I am 31 going on 60. Once in awhile I am 31 going on 21. Thank you Michelle, Vale and Pedro for helping me celebrate 3-1!

Miss you always,

Jame

A Gringo and his Translator came to visit

Meet the Gringo and his Translator

Tomorrow marks the end of Hannah and Eric's stay in Ecuador. They've pretty much been the perfect houseguests, praising my cooking, doing the dishes, being great company...yes, I'm bummed to see them go. Having these "newlyweds" in Quito with me has renewed my appreciation of the city, and perhaps deepened it altogether. Hannah and Eric are eager to learn about a place and their excitement about most things Ecuador made me kind of proud of this place I am currently calling home. Observing Hannah chat up so many of the locals has inspired me to do more so myself. Too often if I don't understand a cab driver or the woman doing my pedicure I go a bit mute rather than asking for them to repeat what they said or changing the subject to something I may have a more robust vocabulary around. These two's presence here has also pushed me to take advantage of some of the city's perks and tourist destinations such as Mitad del Mundo where you can stand in both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. More than anything, I think I have just enjoyed having my world from the States bridged with my world from abroad.

As we were chatting about this blog entry, we were trying to come up with a super creative way to share their stay. A spin on the Newlyweds game show? A choose your own adventure? Jeopardy? Quirky things about Quito for 300, anyone? As it stands, I had my fair share of vino tinto anoche and Hannah and Eric have been bopping around the country for the past two weeks, so we're a bit fried today. Below is an interview with my first visitors, though, where you'll find out more about their stay and their perspective on Ecuador.

What Ecuadorian tradition do you think the United States should adopt?
E: The New Year's celebration in general. Hannah chimes in her agreement here. The tradition they speak of is the custom of burning a straw man called an Año Viejo in the street. H: While the New Year's celebration is violent, it has nice symbolism. So you write down the things from the past year that you want to be done with, things that aren't serving you anymore. Then you reflect on the things for the upcoming year that you want to come into your life. It feels richer than just making a New Year's resolution for some reason. E: It was also funny when the guys dressed up as women and stopped cars in the street for money, but what I liked even more is when the kids pulled a rope across the street so that cars couldn't pass until giving them money.

What is a vivid image from the trip that you will remember for years to come?
E and H together: El Diablo cascada in Baños. After pausing for a moment of reflection, they continue. While staying in Canoa we watched the tide coming in and as the water was approaching we took in the sight of thousands of red crabs scurrying across the beach to find safer sand.

What is one new word or phrase that you have learned? 
E: With a giant smile, and before Hannah can open her mouth, exclaims, Batido! Batidos are essentially fruit smoothies, though we would all argue the fruit in Ecuador makes these fruit frappes superior to what we can make at home. 
H: Largàte. It means "get back." The phrase is derived from the reflexive verb largarse which is a colloquial way to say "leave." What we have to sensor here is that Jorge, the driver from Manta to Canoa, indirectly taught Hannah this phrase while translating Linkin Park lyrics. Suffice it to say, there was more to the phrase than just "largate." 

What should gringos be sure to do when they visit? 
E: The dishes at Jamie's place. Eric chuckles at this, as do I, while also considering how lovely it's been to cook for my friends without having to do any clean-up. 
H: Hike in Metropolitano. Buy fruits and vegetables from Jamie's admirers in the fruit market. Bring good walking shoes.
E: Eat as many fresh fruits as possible. Cyclopaseo. That was awesome. That was really cool. Each Sunday Amazonas, one of the larger roads through the city, shuts down on one side so that bikers can ride from Centro Historico in the south of the city through the Mariscal (Gringolandia) past Parque Carolina and continues north out of the city. 
H: Time your trip so that when you are enjoying the beautiful weather in Ecuador, you will also be missing 20 below back home in Minnesota.

What is your most memorable South American misadventure?
E: We really didn't have that many misadventures.
H: Misadventure Hannah states pondering. We shouldn't say we haven't had any or else our return travel could get messed up.
E: Well, we could say our flight to Manta. H: One, it was a really early flight. We sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes, the plane didn't pass the safety check, then we had to de-plane and no one knew what was going on. Then they got a new plane, but still no one knew what was going on, but eventually we made it. Par for the course, my friends, par for the course. What could an acronym be for Tame, the airline we flew to Manta? Eric and Hannah play with some words. They come up with Time of Arrival Mostly Estimated. 

Here's a million dollar question: Where do you think all of the change in Ecuador is stored? (A bit of background for you: Whether you are at the grocery store, paying to go into Mitad del Mundo, or getting a coffee at Juan Valdez, the business expects you to have exact change more or less. Where can one get change in order to have smaller bills to use? Mystery to us, but one is often met with a scowl when trying to pay with a $10 or $20 bill.)
E: With Juan Valdez. Whoever he is, wherever he is.
H: I think it's underneath the decorations the cab drivers put on their dashboards.

What is the most interesting conversation you had with an Ecuadorian?
E: I really enjoyed talking with Jorge. H: It was truly a half Spanish half English conversation. E: I would also say Jose, who lived in Shakopee and worked at Valleyfair and let us use his phone.

What is something you learned about your spouse during the past two weeks?
E: Hannah is very good at making small talk with street vendors, taxi drivers, and people on planes. She's received a dozen compliments on her Spanish.
H: Eric is not afraid to try to speak Spanish even when he knows very few words. Here Eric reflects on his personal pride of ordering coffee at Juan Valdez in Spanish. 

What are Jamie's best qualities as a hostess?
(As an aside, Hannah and Eric have hijacked Jamie's blog at this point).
H & E:  Jamie is generous, patient, flexible, up for anything,  a great cook and an exceptional conversationalist.  We are already planning our next adventure with her (Machu Picchu, Summer 2015).  We love you, Jamie. Thank you for making our trip amazing -- we look forward to reflecting back on our adventure with you 30 years from now.  Keep up the good work in Ecuador.

My heart's homebase...and my first visitors!

As I sit here (with a mind of mush after little sleep upon returning to this place of high altitude--sleeplessness is a side affect of being 9,350 feet above sea level) pondering the past couple of weeks, it almost feels like Christmas didn't happen. Or it did happen, but in some parallel universe. It often feels something like I am living two lives. When I was home for Christmas, it felt like the past 4 months in Ecuador had been a dream, as if I would be returning to Jefferson to teach the following week. Sometimes so much of life seems surreal I question what is real. Maybe a topic for a night of philosophizing...

Being home was pretty unbeatable. Some highlights:
*Hanging with my little chicas bonitas

Exhibit A: Big smiles on our way to see Cinderella at the Children's Theatre Company

*Hanging out at Mom and Dad's new house: sauna, comfy bed, my puppy...Yes, please!
*Daily kick-boxing/dance workouts with Linds (beachbody.com)
*Being able to attend Cass's wedding dress shopping (she said yes to the dress!)
*Drinking, dining, and chatting with some of my favorite people (life is so easy when I just get to play)
*Everbodydancing on the PS3 with my awesome familia (shout out to Matthias and the Timster...and Gram, next time you are going to shake your booty too!)
*Movie with my NieNie (Philomena has my endorsement)
*Family.Time.

Exhibit B: Sporting their Alpaca ponchos from Otavalo. 

Yes, my Christmas break was quite lovely. It had me reflecting, once again, on how I will spend my whole life working on a compromise between my desire to travel and explore and my desire to be where I feel so grounded, near my family and many friends.

I'm feeling a little Dr. Seuss coming on here...
You have brains in your head. 
You have feet in your shoes. 
You can steer yourself any direction you choose. 
You're on your own. And you know what you know. 
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...

So be sure when you step, 
Step with care and great tact. 
And remember that life's 
A Great Balancing Act. 
And will you succeed? 
Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) 
Kid, you'll move mountains.

Dad used to read us Dr. Seuss. Little nostalgic. Even as an adult, I can appreciate this brilliant author's wisdom...perhaps more so than I did when I was young. 

So, my transition back to the Southern Hemisphere (where I may boast it is 70+ degrees right now) was eased as I am fortunate enough to have Mr. Eric Antonson and Mrs. Hannah Julien in Ecuador now, helping to bridge my two worlds. I am loving being a hostess and tour guide. As I write, the duo is currently at the beach in Canoa soaking up some coastal sun, but we've had a blast hanging out in Quito so far. I know one of my favorite things thus far about their visit is that I have had people to cook for...and someone else does the dishes! Eric is ready to move to Ecuador as he is a big biker--the mountain biking culture thrives here. Hannah, well Hannah's favorite thing about Ecuador (besides me, she says) is Guitig, which is naturally carbonated water, a miracle of nature for certain. 

My apartment feels a bit lonely without their presence tonight, but I look forward to their return as I am sure they will have plenty of stories to tell. I'm going to ask them to be guest writers on the next blog entry, so stay tuned...

Love you. Miss you. Think of you often.

Feliz año nuevo a todos,

Jame

I went to Baños but not for the baths

When I was telling people about my weekend plans to go to Baños, I was afraid I was going to pull a Romeo. Some declare this cool little town about 3.5 hours outside of Quito to be superior to Mindo. "Shoot," I thought. "I've just gone on and on about Mindo, and now I´m going to go fall hard core for Baños." It seems acceptable for a 15-year-old boy's love to be so fickle and flighty, but a refined 30-year-old woman should have a better idea of what she wants. (Though, on that note, I think I know more about what I don't want...) In the end, the worry that my heart would turn so quickly was for naught. While I wouldn't say I prefer Baños to Mindo, Baños does offer a number of outdoor adventures, great restaurants and über cheap spa treatments. It was another lovely weekend.

Last week, due to Fiestas de Quito, we finished the school week at 10:45 am on Thursday. Michelle, quickly becoming a surrogate older sister (or sugar momma--more on that later), and I hopped in a taxi to the bus station, bought our tickets, and boarded a bus to another sweet South American town. To get this far without any misadventures was, honestly, pretty refreshing. I am still kind of amused at how the buses work here. As we are making our way to Baños, the bus stops fairly frequently and the driver's assistant, as I will call him, hangs out the door and yells out our destination. People get on and off the bus all the way to the destination. There isn't really such a thing as a bus that just goes directly to a town, at least not as I have experienced it.

My first impression of this "gateway to the jungle" wasn't all that enthralling, but, well, first impressions aren't everything. After checking into our hostel, Posada del Arte, which was pretty freakin' cute, we headed directly to the spa we had told about, Yerbabuenas.

Room with a view...

Super chevere!

While I opted for a facial, Michelle went for the massage (I had been told to keep your undergarments on for the massages as the masseuses climb up onto you on all fours--I kindly passed along this information). By this point, I was taking quite well to the town. Follow inexpensive spa treatments with dinner at a place like Quilombo, which is a super eclectic Argentine restaurant that serves generous glasses of vino, and yay, I'll be cool hanging out in this place for awhile.

7:00 pm is a bit early for dinner in the Southern Hemisphere, as you can see, but check out the decor!

There were all these funky figurines hanging from the ceiling.

Those blocks are the menus. Michelle and I share a passion for fine cuisine. #kindredspirits

As we went to pay for dinner, I came to find that my Produbanco bank card is missing. I was certain I put it in my purse, but it was MIA. A bit of panic set in. In addition to worrying about someone having access to my funds, Michelle would once again have to foot the bill. It has become a running joke as she is often having to front me money for silly reasons. She was kind enough to give me a generous allowance for the weekend. (I have since located my card at the Swissotel, where I had sushi the week before.)

After dinner Michelle and I bummed around town a bit, found that there are actually some very cool little town squares, and retired at a reasonable hour to read and catch up on sleep. (Meanwhile in Quito, many of our friends were livin' it up for Fiestas.)

Breakfast in our hostel Friday morning proved fruitful, not just because they served delicious huevos rancheros, but because a fellow traveler told us about what an adventure it is to rent bikes and ride to a number of cascadas, or waterfalls. While Mindo is a bit more of a sleepy little town, Baños is one to offer lots of outdoor adventures. In fact, when my students heard I was taking this trip, they all began suggesting I do some good rafting and four-wheeling. As I continued to think about massages and pedicures, it occurred to me how likely it is that I am quite un-fun these students' eyes. Anyhow, they'd be a bit proud that I opted for something more than a relaxation retreat. 

sunscreen: check
 helmet: check
gafas del sol: check
"Let's do this!"

So the biking trek started off by riding down a road, a highway really, to get to each cascada. Have no fear, I was wearing a helmet, so the huge trucks whizzing by weren't intimidating at all. (Mom, I still think this was a safer bet than trying out the swing that gives you a view of the edge of the world.) 

See that big bike? That indicates to the truck drivers that they must share the road. As you probably already know, driving laws are very respected here. 

Just as I was feeling pretty smug about how in shape I am from those spinning classes, we turned off the main road and started quite the climb uphill to the first waterfall. Mmmm, there was a lot of walking the bike up that hill going on. After that bike-walking-climb, there is another little hike where you leave the bike behind before reaching the actual waterfall. It looked something like this:

And here is a look at the second cascada:

There are a number of waterfalls that one can hike to along this path, but after the first two, our legs were already burning, so we opted to go the one we were told was The Best! and then head back to town for yet another spa treatment.

El Diablo, as the waterfall is endearingly named, proved worth the effort. After climbing through some tunnels cut out of the mountain, we arrived. Check out the power of this cascada...nope, sorry, Blogger doesn't want to upload the video. Little devil. 

Well, anyway, after checking out the falls, we needed some sustenance of course, and, after lunch, as we were walking back to where we left the bikes (and would catch a truck back to town), I stopped at a juice stand where I had the best carrot-mango juice of my life. Previously I had never had carrot-mango juice, but even if I had, this was still the el mejor de mi vida! After exclaiming how delicious my second glass was, the juice stand man poured me even more. Really, I was good marketing for him. 

As we were arriving back into the center of town, we stumbled across a parade. Couldn't miss it really. 

Bright colors and festive music. 

A lady and her gentlemen.

It is quite unfortunate that we never found these mariachi men in the evening. They had awesome moves. Michelle and I are convinced the eligible bachelors are kept in some locked room. Whose got the key??

After a manicure for me and another massage for Michelle, we met up with Sung (a fellow teacher AND Minnesotan) and his girlfriend Liz for dinner at a great French restaurant. Crepe with spinach and cheese? Yes, please! Seeing as it was Friday night, Michelle and I though we'd find the action out on the town after dining with the lovely duo. What we found were definitely not those steamy mariachi men, but much younger, drunker men who wouldn't take no for an answer when they asked us to dance. We went back to the hostel a bit disappointed, but altogether the day had been quite nice. 

Before heading back to Quito on Saturday afternoon, guess what we did? Yep, another spa treatment. I went for the massage this time. The rumors proved true. Glad I headed my friend's advice. 60 minutes and $30 later, I was unknotted and unkinked, though. 

After such a weekend, I am sure I will make my way back to Baños as well. I am feeling quite fortunate for these experiences. I've long appreciated one of Twain's quotes: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

So now the Christmas countdown begins. Home in T-10 days. 

Cheers to the holiday season!

Mucho amor,

Jame

Thanksgiving in the cloud forest

Note: Unless otherwise specified, the photos are courtesy Charles Denson. You can see his whole Mindo collection, which is amazing. 

So, it's happened again. I'm in love. Like the totally enamored, can't-stop-thinking-about-you kind of love. And, I'm so good at the honeymoon period. As this is a long distance relationship, that's bound to endure for some time. The apple of my eye? Object of my affection? Mindo. Mindo is magic. No, I see none of Mindo's flaws because I am too busy swooning over Mindo's chocolate factory, El Quetzal, the butterfly garden, a dozen quaint hostels--such as Caskaffesu where we stayed and the Dragonfly Inn where we were served a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner thanks to one of the school counselors and his lovely wife--beautiful hiking trails, and divine coffee (and the attractive British barrista at The Beehive doesn't hurt). I'm not going to lie, it was difficult to come back from this retreat.

Left to right: Bethany, KC, Amanda, Me and Michelle outside the hostel.

We had a half day of school on Friday, so a number of us boarded buses and hopped in cars to travel two hours north of Quito to magnificent Mindo, which, in addition to the above, is also one of the top 20 places in the world for bird-watching.

Hummingbirds are quite popular, but thousands of species call Mindo their home.

Located in the cloud forest, Mindo's climate is often wet, but also warmer than Quito. We lucked out with a dry, sunny weekend.

Swings at the juice bar.

After a pretty easy bus ride (the tour buses do boast comfy seats), we checked in to our hostel and began to wander around the town a bit. I know I am gushing, but seriously, love at first sight. The whole feel of Mindo is just so warm and charming. One can wander its whole perimeter in about 15 minutes. As you meander, you'll find a cute town square, dozens of delicious little restaurants, and an abundance of cute tiendas. We took in these sites as we made our way to El Quetzal for a chocolate tour. I love this chocolate factory/restaurant/hostel for its organic farm growing methods and the absolutely delicious chocolate it produces. Spent a pretty penny on Christmas gifts (and perhaps about a dozen chocolate bars for myself).

Later, as people went different directions for various restaurants para comer la cena, I went for Italian at El Nomada. I sampled a friend's gnocchi, which was scrumptious, and took down my own plate of tortellini. After dinner all the teachers gathered at The Dragonfly Inn, where many of us were staying, to hang out and savor the fresh night air and a cocktail. I retired at a decent hour to save myself for the big dinner and dance on Saturday.

Me levanté a las ocho mas or menos en sábado. After throwing on some running duds, I made my way to The Beehive for a light breakfast. So, I love Mindo, but I might have been drawn thus to take another look at that cute Englishman. Anyway, after breakfast I met up with Rebecca, Alli, Charles, Kim, and Bethany so we could hit the trails for a pretty intense uphill jaunt. Many of you did your Turkey Trot to prepare for a big Thanksgiving dinner. Well, we did the Jungle Jog to earn our mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It was quite breathtaking. Mindo isn't officially the jungle, but it certainly feels like it when you hit the trails that surround the town. I'd like to say I was tranquilly breathing in the cloud forest air here, but really I was sucking wind. I can't complain, though. As I was bounding up the trail (in the company of Alli, who competes in Ironman competitions, and Charles, her fiance, both of whom have been personal trainers), I was feeling tough. I had one of those moments where the perfection of the moment just hits me. I soo could not be doing this back home I thought to myself. As we've previously concluded, the daily grind of life is not charming, or picturesque, or romantic, so when you do find yourself in such a moment, drink it in. Taste it. Smell it. Breathe it. Savor it. Just be with it.

If you check out the view, you'll see why it is called the cloud forest. 

We followed our run with lunch back at El Quetzal. I bought more stuff. I am currently obsessed with candied ginger. Lunch was then followed by a couple of hours of reading, sitting on the porch of my hostel...and at The Beehive. After this lounging, it was time to get fixed up for the Thanksgiving dinner, which has become something of a legendary tradition. Amanda and I made our way over to the Dragonfly a bit before 7 and walked into the dining area to find white tableclothes and wine glasses already filled with vino tinto. As more of the Americano teachers gathered, we chatted and milled about a bit before Todd requested we find our seats. Our meal began with ceviche, non-traditional, but a perfect warm-up for our taste buds. The main menu, prepared by Todd´s wife, Lorena, included turkey, stuffing, green beans with real fried onions, and mashed potatoes. Honestly I was grateful the food was plated for me because I could easily have gone back for seconds. Instead, I was still up for dessert: maracuyá (passion fruit) mouse and a light pumpkin pie bar. Both were delicious, and I was especially grateful for the pumpkin pie as this is one of my favorites!

After a good Thanksgiving dinner, I am content to doze in front of the TV, with the football game playing as ambient noise, but this year, after dinner, the dancing commenced. Rumor has it that there has been dancing on the tables at this belated Thanksgiving celebration. While we kept our shoes on the floor this year, we spent many hours gettin' jiggy wid it and shaking our booties until the early morning hours. My new friend, Mr. Mark Englishman, even joined us. A girl does appreciate a fun dancing partner. Again, I had one of those life is so grand right now moments. A couple of months ago I would never have known this is what the holiday would look like this year. Sometimes I really can appreciate the unpredictability of life...the unknowns.

So, the rooster crowing woke us all at an early hour on Sunday, before dawn broke, but I managed to drift in and out of sleep until 8:30. Sunday began with breakfast at the Dragonfly, followed by a great mochaccino at The Beehive. After packing (and feeling a bit of the Sunday blues about leaving), Amanda, Charles, Alli and I checked out the orchid and butterfly gardens. Turns out Mindo has even more Zen than I originally thought.

Photo courtesy Ms. Amanda Manning. Feeling like the butterfly whisperer here.

This...is a bit butterfly.

After lunch at Caskafessu, we boarded the 3-o-clock bus back to Quito, arriving back to the city in time to grab groceries and begin preparing for a short week ahead. (Fiestas de Quito this week means 3.5 days of school. Baños, the hot springs, beacons. I'll be chillin' here:
Posada del Arte.) It goes without saying that I will be returning to Mindo in the not too distant future. Mom and Dad come in January and I have quite the list of places to take them; Mindo will certainly be one.

Each week continues to get a bit easier here in South America. I am really looking forward to Christmas, though, when I will get to cuddle with my adorable nieces, eat plenty of homemade ravioli, thanks to Dad, Grandpa Red and Uncle Joe, and just enjoy the love and company of my family and friends back home. I´ve got Christmas music streaming in my classroom right now; while I haven´t missed the cold and snow, I´ll appreciate it for the holidays.

Mucho amor a todos,

Jame

BTW! A shout out to my littlest sister and her NEW fiancé Tom! The Baci clan is happy to be welcoming another great man into the fam!