Day of Rest

I know this is a lot of blogging at one time but today was a day of rest. I did not know it at the beginning and I struggled with it, but there it is. Sundays are a day where museums and attractions are closed or close early.

I slept in till 9:30 because I got up at 6ish in the morning prior and did not get to bed until midnight. I also started my period. I had ridden a bus for three hours to Chiclayo and stubbornly refused a taxi. I walked and almost got lost, but my gut instincts prompted me to turn left instead of right. Cool because that would have been tiring with all my gear with me. I walked around Chiclayo. Got a mint ice cream cone and ate at Tia's restuarant. Good, good food but slow service. Talking about food. I weighed myself and I have gained 5 pounds. Not so bad since I use to eat ice cream or a dulce everyday. The one day I did not buy myself anything, Antonio surprised me with two chocolate bars. I denouced him for trying to fatten me up like the witch in Hansel and Gretel. He was totally confused so I thanked him and gave him a kiss.

Back to Chiclayo, I walk to the bus stop and the next bus does not leave until 5:30. In Peru, there is not bus terminals, each bus has its own location so I walked to Linea. It's bus left at 5pm. It was 4:05 so I was pretty sure I had missed the bus by 5 minutes. I chilled in the bus station until 15 minutes before. I was very self congratulatory because I seemed to have got traveling done a bit easier. Using the bathroom early, having toliet paper that I already bought at a store. Go to the bathroom and my lunar cycle has started. Shit! I packed all my pads in the big backpack and that was already turned into the equipment guys. Alright, just use toliet paper. Wait, duh, buy pads. Found a store and waited forever but got my pads. Also got a plastic bag so I could put my already opened crackers into it so the crumbs do not go everywhere. Already dealt with that situation and I was very very slow about cleaning out that section of my small backpack. I was lazy and just stopped using it. The whole pad situation lead me to getting in the line for the bus late and the guy sharing the same row as me had already taken my window seat. I want my window seat! It always get stolen from me and I never speak up. Not again! He also did that annoying guy thing where he needs to spread his legs into my area. I have tried pushing back with my legs or keeping my legs where they are. Guys never care. I did speak up and he moved his legs for all of 5 minutes. Seriously guys, do not do this. I don't want to touch you and you have no right to my space.

Anyway, I was expecting the ride to take 3 hours maybe 4. It took 5 hours. I did not get in until 10pm. I then stupidly took a white taxi with no number. I'm not sure why but I was tired and grumpy so I apparently go stupid. It worked out and he was nice man. I just kept thinking "Do not kill me". I got to Casa de Clara at 10:30pm. Told the lady of the house was not in so just wait 10 minutes. 15 minutes later I go searching for a bathroom. Clara's brother comes in and talks Spanish to me very cool. Hard to talk about politics in Spanish at that hour after traveling so much, but I passed the test! I also met an Austrian guy who told me he took Linea (same bus company) from Chiclayo and it took 2 to 3 hours. Blah! An hour later, Clara comes home and I get to get a bed. Took another hour to relax to sleep.

That brings me to today. I felt like I should do more. I'm traveling. Other people see more! Oh well, I'm a bit slower and bit more relaxed. I ended up going shopping for yarn with Clara the crazy lady. She is not crazy but she is like an annoying grandma always talking and giving advice in the middle of any conversation. She would walk incredibily fast and cut off anyone. I mean I saw her cutoff a highly pregnant woman. Wow. She would then stop randomly. I went with her because she said she knew where it was. Nope. I did get some yarn but probably not enough for what I plan but no biggie.

I just talked to this girl and she highly recommended Chan Chans. I had just looked at pictures and I have to agree. I'm a bit sad because they did Huachas yesterday and Chan Chan and the beach today. I wandered abound town. Oh well, yoga lessons. No comparisions. I'm where I'm at. I think I will spend one more day in Trujillo and then onward. I plan to end my trip in Cusco with Machu Picchu. Then fly from Cusco to Lima on the 14th. Find a hostal and explore Lima for a few hours. Sleep for a few hours and get up at 3am. Get a taxi to the airport and fly back to the states arriving at 9pm in Phoenix. Woot! Shower and sleep. Glorious sleep.

Tomorrow I will go to Chan Chan with the tour here at the hostal or book one separately. I might also see the Huarchas. If I miss the beach, no biggie.

Ending with a cute story about Antonio and I. The family played the music of Amelie quite often which I love. The first time, I grabbed Antonio and we danced through the house. He does not normally dance (except techno) but he liked me and being close to me. His mom loved us dancing! She would play the music more often just to get us to dance. Well Antonio seemed to really enjoy dancing with me. He said he did not like to dance to salsa and other music but he started to ask me to dance all the time. We danced to Hey Jude and some metal song that I did not like on different days. My favorite was when he looked into my eyes and shyly asked if we could dance to a Zelda song. No problem! Later that night, he turned on the Gamecube and we danced in his room to the opening song of Zelda: Windwaker.

Super powers activate!

I had forgotten something that is a huge joke in Arizona. It just has not happened and I have not thought of it.

I was in the bus for Piura. Peru in the north is a huge dry sandy desert and the bus has been driving through it for an hour when I noticed something.

My hands were dripping sweat. Literally, liquid was collecting and if you have seen it, I'm not exxagerating. It made me realize I have not had my sweaty palm power in Ecuador. Apprarently it is only available in really dry climates.

There goes my claim to fame. I only get this super power when in certain place in the world. But still it is back!

Super power activate!

Bye Cuenca and Ecuador

I left on Thanksgiving for Loja. I left a crying boyfriend. I guess he is an ex now. It is weird to break up on such predetermined and good terms. I miss him quite a bit. I took a bus with Antonio's sister and her foundation. I got into Loja at midnight which is not what I planned.

I left Loja this morning at 7am. I crossed the border from Ecuador to Peru at 1pm almost 90day exactly. I got my entrance stamp on August 31 at 1:34pm and my exit stamp today at 1:05ish. It was not that hard and my nerves are gone. I ran into two Ho,land girls and are sharing a room with them. Would like to spend more time with them but they leave tomorrow at 6am. I cannot stand anther long bus ride. I was 6 and 1/2 hours yesterday and 9ish today. One day of break! Even if it is in the unexicting town of Piura.

Got to run because will have lots of time tomorrow.

Champions of the World!

of bowling that is. I was in a tournament with Antonio for his work and we made it in the finals! Of course there was only four teams so not that hard but today was the day. The number 1 team (Team Manager, I like to call it) versus number 2 team (Team Antonio). There had been a total of three games where all the points had been added up. We were only 20 points behind Team Manager. Found out that Ruth's team (no I do not know her either) blew the other team out of the water. They had 5 players and a combined score of 588. Wow.

The excitement was high. I started out with a strike and so did Nivel! Antonio scored 1 and Rosa scored 0. The other team did about the same. I followed up with a spare while Nivel did a double! We were so giddy and we could tell that we were kicking Team Manager's butt. The only thing that made me kinda sad (but not really) was that I ended with a great score of 121. Not highest score but good for the level we were playing at. Antonio beat me with 124! He came out of the blew at the end. I was just consistent. Grrrrr. I then beat him at air hockey 6-7. So close which put the final score of games at 3-3. Cool to end in a tie and I'm excited that Antonio got his highest score of his life today. We actually went to practice last Friday which was a beat expensive for Ecuador (8 dollars for the 2 of us). To put that price in perspective, Antonio gets 200 dollars a month plus tips. He has a pretty good job as a waiter in Cuenca as well.

I leave tomorrow. Wow. I do not want to leave at least for Peru. I almost wish I was going directly home but I paid for the tickets. I have them and I questioned the wisdom of buying tickets that I have to have in paper. I hope I do not lose them or get them stolen. If anything bad happens, I will just buy new tickets. Expensive but whatever. I plan on leaving tomorrow at 3pm for Loja. That has taken 6 and 1/2 hours twice in the past. I plan on arriving at 9:30pm and then hopefully can buy a ticket to Piura, Peru that leaves at 10:30 or 11pm (whichever is open). Another 8 hour bus ride later and I will be on the coast of Peru around 6am.

I do not know past that at this moment. I will spend probably a day or two in Piura to recover and see the sights. Then another 7 hour bus ride to Trujillo. Same system and arrive in Huraz a couple days later. No one has told me great stories about northern Peru. Scratch that, one did, but he was excited because a girl and him did not know Spanish but yet found their way by catching random buses. Woot. That seems fun. Probably was but I know Spanish and will use it. Antonio has visited Peru twice and highly recommends southern Peru like everyone else. I looked into flights from Cuenca to Cusco and other options. All are to expensive. If I make it to Cusco, I will probably fly from there to Lima. It is only 250 dollars and I can afford that. Oh well it is traveling which for me means I have no clue what will happen. I know I did not plan on spending three months in Ecuador especially one of them in Cuenca.

No regrets. I was a bit lonely in Cuenca and I did fight with Antonio but it was great. Still is. After this blog, I will head back to Antonio's and pack my things. I have not had to pack in like two weeks. That was really nice. Part of me does not want to deal with the dangers of Peru (actually having a bit of travel nerves similiar before my trip to Ecuador) but the other part is pumped. Running into random people and seeing beautiful or just new sites.

I get back Dec 15. That night is planned with family and I get back around 9pm so will be tired. The next night I hope is a small get together with close friends (still in the works) and the night after that is a different party not associated with me coming back at all. Crazy. I will get social overload. My days will be playing bass and looking for a job. My life in the States is more planned than my life at this moment.

I have been celebrating Thansgiving everyday this week by eating at a nice restaurant for lunch with Antonio. Tomorrow I will be traveling a lot.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

UPDATE! What is my life like in Cuenca?

UPDATE! I was so nervous about the flea situation. I think I found one in my long underwear and I shoved them into a plastic bag. I was itching all night, and I kept waking Antonio all night long. In the morning around 7am, I examined every inch of my body for bites. None new ones! One or two must have jumped on my long underwear on the one day I wore them out (it was cold) and bite me in the night. I was so happy. No fleas! and I did not have to clean so much. Whew.

I called my brother. I wanted to talk to him because our last conversation involved me being very angry because it was about Whiskers. It was actually a miscommunication on my mom's part that made me thought that Whiskers had been sick or dead longer than she had been. I had not talked to my brother for about 4 days and I wanted him to know I was not angry. He then asked me an interesting question.

What is life in Cuenca?

Hmmm... I have a feeling that I have been away to long to see the differences. I do not even think about differences that much anymore. Okay, sometimes. I get up in the morning next to a guy. That is different. I usually get up first unless he has to work that morning. He is nice and sweet, but not the guy for me later in life. I usually chat with him. I then wander downstairs. I have to run the gauntlet. Greeting everyone that I see and saying "No I do not want whatever (eggs, wierd beans, coffee, etc). I like hot chocolate and bread. No, no I do not need more bread. Gracias, no tengo hambre." The day then depends on whether I have school and what Antonio has to do.

Life is really not that different here for me. I do not work nor do I feel like I have to get a job but that is the vacation life for you. It is a bit different because I have never lived with another family other than my own. I love it. I enjoy randomly have encounters with the 5 year old girl or 3 year old boy (or sometimes both together). They are a bit spoiled in the house but they are learning poco a poco that I can be fun but if you do not listen then I do not play. The dad is really nice if a bit preoccupied for my safety. He and Marta (the mom) treat me similiarly to a daughter but one they cannot understand that well. The grandmom is really cute. She could not remember my name so asked everyone (which I could hear) and finally reintroduced herself so she could ask my name. The family has really gotten used to me being there and I think they will be sad to see me go. So family are still the same. There is family politics that they mostly try to ignore or hide from me, but it is still there. There is pressure to eat and people worry for your well being.

Otherwise, outside of the house, it is on the normal side for traveling. It is a bit hard to gauge because I do not work or have volunteer projects. I have school which is teaching me quite a bit of spanish. I get frustrated and angry more easy like I do at home (and unlike how I have been since travel so maybe a byproduct of living somewhere). I use the internet quite a bit and listen to music. I read. This morning I stayed snug in bed, warm and cozy, for two hours reading. Felt just like home. I still clean. Antonio is so neat. Blah! I only make beds so that no dirt gets on the sheets and to make it easy to get in. It does not need to be pretty! I hang out with mostly Antonio and his friends. I would make more of my own if I was actually living here.

Differences - the bathroom. I may have never told you this, but I judge you by your bathroom. I want it clean (does not have to sparkle but no growing or moving things). I want running water, soap, and a towel for my hand. I hate not have soap or a towel! If you do not have soap or a towel, part of me dislikes you. If you are a close friend, I will give you a hard time. Oh yeah, toliet paper! These things are luxuries in Ecuador. Running water usually happens but no guarantees. It is similiar in Antonio's house. We buy our own toliet paper and I hoard it. No sharing. I will share my cheese and other food, but sharing toliet paper with a household of 10 means I get none. I usually remember to bring my own soap and towel with me. I look forward to having my own bathroom.

They love starch (Ecuador in general). A meal is meat and rice, bread, and sometime of corn thing, and/or potatoes. Seriously, I like starch but vegetables are so yummy.

In general, I feel the same. I get bored and restless. I still clean and interact with other people. I still do my favorite hobbies. The only biggest difference is no pets and no bass. I miss music. Hopefully this gives you a small glimpse of how I live.
Ciao.

Pulgas!

Yay! I get to experience new things all the time in Ecuador like... flea bites! woohoo. I have been bite a few times the past couple days like 3 times but Antonio said it was a spider bite. Heck it might have because they look different than the other ones I got. That is right - others. I got the two bites that were "spider" bites this morning but they are gone now. I have a bunch more that my teacher said was pulgas.

I though flea but the nifty internet informed me I was correct. Antonio does not know yet but all the bedding is being washed tomorrow. It is too late now. Also going to wash the floor with hot soapy water. Tomorrow is a day for cleaning. More good news, Antonio has no bites so apparently I attact them. Well, I do not get bite by mosquitos so all is fair.

Other news, I might go out salsa dancing tonight. Who knows? A girl on couchsurfing responded to my message and I will have dinner or drinks with an English speaking person. Cool. Antonio made an alright chili carne this morning. I have had better but seriously I have attended chili cook offs so it is to be expected. I made LuAnne's guacomole and it is good! Not to LuAnne's ability but better than what I expected for my first time. Spanish is coming along. When I was sick and learning subjuntive, not good. I broke through a plateau. I took the ASU placement test and recieved a pretty high score. Very cool! Living in Cuenca is good even with pulgas.

Mundane Life

I stopped in Cuenca to have some since of normality and stability. Lately I was getting restless. Anyone that knows me that this seems to be standard for me. I have not experienced it on the trip nor had I experienced much boredom. Periods of boredom - yes. For some reason, the one hour bus rides are the worst but the 5 to 8 hours are not that bad. Well, I got some feeling of normal but it was not quite what I wanted. What reared its ugly head was my Restlessness. The idea of traveling on did not cure it.

It was really bad when I was young. I drove my family crazy. I would wander around the house just looking around and maybe grumbling. I would complain to my family that I was bored. Mom, "Why don't you clean your room or do the dishes or etc?" "Why don't I poke a sharp object in my eye?" This was during the angry stage of my life or from about 10 to 20. I did get more tactful in the later stages. People would offer suggestions. My brain would offer suggestions. Video games, books, clean, dance, play with the pets, garden, something completely new? lie what? I do not know. (This is a conversation with myself). All ideas were not good enough. I slowly learned how to calm that beast.

The answer revolves around music, the outdoors, and/or physical exertion. I discovered that for some reason I absloutely adore Dvorak. Dancing seems to relax that part of my brain that is crazy. Or hiking outdoors. Yoga also does it, but not quite as well as hiking or dancing. The crazy part of my brain thinks "I SHOULD be doing something." That is what has been happening the past week.

Does it matter that I'm taking Spanish courses? Nope not enough. This is why I have so much going on and how I get so much done at home. I think about volunteering, learning to dance, or trying to make more friends. I am doing that last one but I tried harder. It is harder here since I'm temporary and have less options than Phoenix. I wanted to go home pretty bad as well for the past week, but that part has released for now. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I'm on vacation and I'm enjoying myself. I will be more friendly with people. But if I do not hang out with anyone else, no problem. I'm getting a tiny bit excited for Peru.

Restless uncleached for a bit but it will always be there. I leave Cuenca in a week. I feel like I'm playing house with Antonio and I love it. I'm getting to attached but I knew that would happen coming in. We had a serious conversation about me living. He called it my "rules" so I discussed it with him. I have to leave because it is the law. Technically I guess I could marry him to stay but NO. Did he want a long distance relationship? Nope. Me neither. All right, not just my rules but reality. Now back to playing house for a week. Today we went shopping for food and tonight he is going to make chili while I try to make guacomole for the first time.

I also am going through my photos. They will soon be in order and in the right direction. Seeing the pictures reminds me of all the things I have done and how beautiful Ecuador is. I hope I'm taking enough photos of Cuenca. Never mind, I'm taking pictures when something catches my eye. I will take pictures of the house I'm staying at and maybe the family.

I look forward to seeing everyone in the future. I honestly look forward to looking for a job and working. So weird.

Things change

I knew that when I left that things would change back in the States. I was and still am quite excited to see what has and has not changed when I get back. I changed my ticket so that I got a refund from the Buenos Aires ticket. I bought a ticket to leave from Lima, Peru on December 15th to arrive in Phoenix on the same day. I'm doing great. I do not mind living with Antonio and my Spanish is really improving. My teacher is amazing. I'm have the flu right now but am getting better. It was only a two day event.

It is not hard to live with Antonio because it is not like living with someone really long term. I do not have all my things to fit into his life. I'm not changing his set up and I do not worry about bills. It is a short term thing and once I stopped freaking out about it, easy to do. I'm getting restless and will move on in a week or so, but I'm not so excited about traveling on. In the future, if I travel again, I will make plans to stop and actually live somewhere. Have my own place that I need to clean and make decisions about.

That is all normal. Back in the States, there is a new president. There is still people caring way too much about social issues that do not effect their lives. I have a friend going to Russia for a month. And I lost Whiskers. She was put down yesterday because she was old and turned anemic. I do not let myself think about it because that is what I do when I grieve. I have no pets now. She was very important to me. I have made very few plans for my return. Get a job and live with mom. But I had already started to plan on when I would get her back and trying to figure out the kitty litter situation. So that is the main purpose of my blog.

My cat is dead.

Riding in the Front of the Bus

Remember when riding in the front of the bus meant you were a loser or good-to-shoes or just go on to late. Not yesterday! As you might have been able to tell, I was feeling trapped in Cuenca. So what did I do? I left!

Not for long, just a day trip. I want to learn more Spanish and I can feel that I'm ready to learn more. I decided to go to Ignapirca, an insteresting antropological site. Antonio walked with me to the bus station. (Bus stations here by the way can be amazing. They are well organized. Busses are really important here so the terminals can feel like minature airports except for the on in Guayaquil which is bigger than their airport.) Ciao. I'm off.

I just chilled in the bus for two hours as I'm on my way to Canar. The view is beautiful. Ecuador is poor and maybe they do not know or notice but the views are gorgeous. Everything was really green and hilly. I get to Canar feeling confident. Then I wandering around for a place to eat. I'm the only white person that I see in all of Canar. I forgot how lonely traveling can be. I love it. And I'm totally comfortable by myself which is a good thing because really I do not talk to that many people in a day. It depends but usually around 1 or 2 for a good conversation. The same old conversation of where are you from, where have you been, where are you going, how long are you traveling and etc can happen quite a bit but still only about 1 to 4 times a day depending on the hostal and surroundings. This trip reminds me why I wanted to stop somewhere and just rest. I was getting restless not making friends but have to remember that it is pretty normal for traveling.

I eat at a cheap joint in Canar, which might have been a mistake. I also got reminded what traveler's diarreaa is last night. Fun! I also got to use a restroom that was at the bottom of a narrow stairway in the basement that did not have a light, toliet paper, water for washing hands, or soap. Actually pretty typical except for the light situation. I love my hand sanitizer. I get done with the lunch and get to wander around the area asking for the right bus. Most people are friendly but have no clue. Kinda like asking for directions in the States. I was directed to a bus that said Tambo express, not going to Ingapirca, off to Tambo. Makes sense. The bus driver says I can go with him and it is on the way, but nah. I wandered around that intersection because it is the place to be. The driver I talked to honks and directs me to the bus next to him that just showed up. Run across traffic ( a bit dangerous since pedestrains do not have the right away) and jump on a crowded bus. Directed up front by the driver! Very exciting because it is new. (Kinda reminds me when I rode a motorcycle for the first time in Vilcabamba. Motorcycle was more fun but both thrilling). I end up making change for the driver and just enjoying myself throughly.

I get to Ingapirca. Hmmm, old stuff. I do not care. Lovely and I'm glad I came but really I do not care. I take a hike to look at old rocks and the view is just sublime. There is a creek but in the distance a river in a valley and everything is green. Everything is green because it rains a lot which is shown by all the mud around. And on my shoes. I look at the rocks. There are just rocks with moss. I will take a picture of a rock to show everyone how it looks like a rock. Alright, look a the photo. Dangit! I can see the face. Well that proves nothing.

I took the bus back to Cuenca and I feel recharged. I'm going to change my flight today and it is only costing me 480. 100 dollars cheaper than last time. It was 432 on the weekend and I was hoping it would decrease more but does not appear to be.
Ciao

Push AND Pull

I'm a bit more condervative than I thought. I was staying at this cool hostal called Hostal Cuencana. The owners were nice and it was very tranquil. The only problem was that I was paying 8 dollars a night to stay there and I was not sleeping there. I was sleeping at Antonio's house and one day Antonio's dad talked to Antonio. I thought it was an arguement and got all upset. I knew that I should not be sleeping over at his house when it is a primarily Catholic country. I got all upset and distant.

Totally wrong. Antonio's dad was just inviting me to live with them. Wow. Ummm... hmmm. I do not know. I mean the cheap bastard inside of me says "Score!" I offered 50 dollars because they keep on feeding me and they never ask me to clean. I do a bit but they have a cleaning lady. I did not want to be a leech in their life. The rational part of me thinks, "Antonio is already more attached than you like and there would be no privacy. Do his parents really approve? Will Antonio drive me crazy and I will start wishing I could hit him with a piece of wood?" Okay no violence but I will probably fill caged and stuck. Another part of me is like "Freaking live in the moment. You will not know until you try and you are not responsible for Antonio's feelings. You have made it clear that you are leaving, that this is temporary, and he is an adult. He can make his own choices". All in all, I felt like it was a dumb idea. But what a story! but dumb.

I thought about it. Okay, I will do it. The cheap bastard and traveling girl parts prevailed. I told Antonio. Later that night, after he was driving me crazy, the rational part reared up. I told Antonio, "Umm, I can't do it". A small roller coaster for Antonio. Then I got space and was geniunely happy to be there. Okay only one thing to do. Ask Mom. I called her up and she had no clue. Thanks Mom. But the main thing for me was that she did not think it was completely stupid or crazy. I guess I needed my mother's approval. So I did the deed.

I moved into an Ecuadorian's man house after knowing him for about a week and a half. I did not think I would posted it on the web because it is hard for me to admit. Not that I'm ashamed. I planned on telling everyone when I got back but there is just to many stories. I just need to not overthink things.

Even though his parents invited me and seemed nice, I could not accept that the whole family approved. I still believe that my underlying instinct is correct on this. They do not have a big problem but do not really approve. But as long as they are nice, I can ignore that feeling for a few days.

I got home two days ago at night. Antonio was working so it wsa just me. I had already dealt with this being hard for me the night before. I said hey to the dad and went to the room. It was a pretty good night. I saw a free concert which had some really good singers but had some sound problems and music problems as well. Later my teacher told me it was more like a school performance even though the performers are middle aged or older. It reminded me so much of my symphony. That made me realize that I truly love music. I personally thought that I kept on doing it partly out of duty and some enjoyment. Nope, my soul loves music and I love to perform. I love the people I play. So when I'm in Antonio's room, I'm in a good mood. There is two doors in his room, the main one and a cool little closet area that goes to another room. I decide to grab the big blankets to make the bed warm. I tried to go through the cool closet area. The door is locked. Dangit, Antonio must have locked it. Go for the main door, start to push. It will not budge. Wow, is the door locked? It is! I'm completely stucked in this room. Antonio's parents do not trust me and have locked me in!

The rational part of me is like "That does not make sense". Try again. I try pushing the door again. Won't open. I start crying and freaking out. I try the other door. I try the main door. I think about trying to go out the window but the rational part reins me in. I truly believe they have locked me in. It does not makes sense but I believe it. I start to knock on the door. I did not want to wake the house but screw it, if they lock me in, they can deal with my noise. The dad finally notices the noise a few moments later and figures out where it is coming from. He comes up and pushes the door. It opens. My brain clicks. He pushed. I pushed to get in. I needed to pull. I'm so dumb and feel so embarassed. I then have to try to explain in poor Spanish. The dad is a dear and tells me his room is just down there. Yes, yes, it is my fault. I start feeling really bad but push it away. I made a mistake. This is a learning situation. I usually do this but next time take a big breahe and think.

I told this story to Antonio when he got home. He then told me that there is like 5 ways to get out of his room. Two involve climbing but the other is just going to the restroom and unlocking the side door. His room is kinda makeshift. I feel more dumb but still realize that I just freaked out. It happens. I also believe it happened because I was alreay feeling trapped. My brain was already there so it just went down that path. The next day Antonio brought it up during lunch. His parents thought it was a funny story. I'm sure one day I will to, but not yet. i said I was embarrased and the parents were like "Why?" Really. Really it is not obvious but they were very nice.

I do not regret making the decision of moving in. It has been a learning situation. The main thing I have learned is that I'm no where near ready for a relationship even one that is temporary. Ye gods, having to communicate and comprimise. I do not want to. I enjoy being single and do what I want. When I get back, dating will be fun, but where I can see the person once a week or once every two weeks. Something completely not serious. This has been a good experience. I was scared that I would stay in a bad relationship again in the future just because I like companionship. Not a fear now. Antonio is a good guy and sweet. We are not right for each other in the long term. To be frank I'm not sure about the short term, but we do have fun together. Just the language barrier can be hard and I'm not great at living in the moment. But if this was not temporary, if it did not already have an end date, I would end it. If I was dating Antonio in the states, I would say "Fun but it has run its course". Of course, in the States I would have more of my own life (family and friends), we would not have seen each other almost everyday, and I would not be living with him.

I will try living in the moment and I do want to take one more week of Spanish. I'm not sure past that. If it is fun, I will stay. If not, I leave for Peru next weekend. I got really frustrated last night and almost decided to leave sooner. Part of the problem is I did not want to have serious conversations about emotions and crap, but since we are spending so much time together, it had to happen. Whatever happens in the future, it has been really interesting if not always fun. I definitely taught me quite a bit about myself which has been a great side effect of this trip. Not something I expected but great.

I'm keep on being surprised by my money situation. I know I'm good with money but even when I think I overspend, my budget is stilling doing great. Always better than I expect. I have money for school, around 20 dollars a day right now, and 30 dollars for when I'm not living with Antonio. I calculated it for me leaving next ween and in twenty days. Just so cool. This is with me being conservative and leaving 200 dollars for any unexpected airport taxes or fees. If it all works out, I will come back being able to affor eating out. Which I have to do. Elmer's, yummmm. I'm also getting better at asking what I need. I did not do so well with the last teacher but that will change next week. I changed schools.

Pictures are up of Galapagos and some of Cuenca.

Princess Angel Fairy Kitty Cookie

My last blog was so tired and grumpy. Things have changed quite a bit. I met an English bloke named Gaz, and he and I ran around Cuenca. He was like a little brother and he told me his problems with his girlfriend. I also got invited to a local's house named Antonio to play video games which Gaz and I did. We played Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, a Mortal Kombat puzzle game, and Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube. It was amazing and I also got bored. Just like home.

I stayed in Cuenca for four days because I was tired of traveling and the idea of trying to get to Buenos Aires by December 17th was draining. I called to change my flight to Santiago but too expensive. Dammit. Gaz left late at night and I planned on leaving the next day but I had been flirting with the local named Antonio. The next day I called him up and we had an awesome day. The next day I left for Loja and Vilcabamba. I needed to move on. I started to plan my trip through Peru, Chile, and Argentina so I could get there in time. My heart was not in it. 6 weeks of traveling everyday or two days by bus. It did not feel right.

If there is one thing I have learned by traveling, it is to do what makes you happy. I make all my own plans so if I do not want to travel that way I just have to think of a different solution. What do I want? I never really wanted to leave Cuenca. It is a normal city but I usually move on when I'm done with a place. This time I left because I felt I should. I looked online. Only 590 for a flight from Lima, Peru on Dec 16th through Expedia. My other flight is completely refundable so I would actually be saving around 200 dollars. I will stay in Cuenca. I will stay until I get bored or Nov 26 because I have to be out of Ecuador by Nov 28.

I got all excited and I finally admitted something to myself. I wanted to return also because I really like Antonio. He is an English student who is a waiter at El Cafecito (how I met him because it was my hostal) and also volunteers as a tutor for a local school. He is also an artist and I was infatuated with him. I was a bit scared that he did not really want me to return but it would be okay because I was also returning so I could find a sense of stability and something mundane.

I had a really long day of riding buses becaue I missed a connection by 5 minutes and there was a construction delay but like 9 hours later I was in Cuenca. Vilcabamba was beautiful by the way and I highly recomend it. I called Antonio and left a message. He calls me back like 10 minutes later but just because he wanted to and not because he got my message. So... for this next month I have an Ecuadorian boyfriend. I have agreed to not date others and vice versa. Not the biggest scarifice on my part since I have not dated anyone since February. So that is why my facebook status changed. I just made it blank because I have a boyfriend but it is temporary.

I'm really happy and it is really really nice to dating someone who actually likes me quite a bit. I'm also excited about the election tomorrow. I did not vote because I had no clue where I would be to send a ballot. No matter what happens I will not complain and in the future I will plan better. I'm also rather excited to be coming home. I miss you all. Even if at the same time I plan on leaving again in the future.

I will write more in the future because I should have plenty of time
Shilo the Romantic Fool for a Moment