I am not packing anything. The joy of the internet is that it is "limitless" and I have no idea how to officially close my account. I have been instructed to pack what I want, throw out what I don't, take the keys and go. I wonder when internet space will become limited and someone will learn how to delete a site.
Well, no matter, for those of you that care, follow me on over to my very own website
carolynfulton.com
See yall in my new palatial suite, which is still under construction but I do have the blog in place.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The final day in Quito.....
and I am still in bed. I got up around 7 to say good bye to those that are going on to the Galapagos Islands, I checked in for my flights tomorrow, picked up a router for my room, and came back to bed. I am mostly still in bed because it seems that most of the shops are closed and there is not a lot to do. I am definitely not complaining because I have been on the go for two weeks and I am quite ready for some down time. If my spelling is more horrible than usually in this post, it is because i cannot see. I have the first thing in the morning blurriness that I get sometimes.
I guess that I should mention the people that I have been traveling with. You already know about Bernhard but there were others heeee. If I have not previously mentioned, our guide was Fernando and he is about 25 and the most adorable Peruvian that you will ever meet. He had never done the Ecuador tour so he was a little nervous but if he made any mistakes, we surely didn't notice. He got us to the towns that we needed to go to and on and off of the chicken buses without a hitch. If I decided to tour Peru, I will only tour it with him.
Katherine and Anna are sisters from Australia. Both are in their 20s and Anna is a nurse and Katherine is going to school to be a doctor. Both very, very nice girls and fun to be around. Their parents arrived in Quito last night and they will continue on to the Galapagos with the girls. Fernando fell head over heals for Katherine. Too bad she has a boyfriend but it was funny to watch.
Catherine from Canada is my evil twin. She is in her early 40s and doesn't often mince words. She is awesome:) Another friend that I am leaving this trip with is Hirsh who is also living in Canada. He is a dentist and a very nice, easy going, fun loving guy. He has a brother that lives in Palm City, which is north of West Palm Beach.
So, Catherine, Katherine, Anna, Bernhard, and Hirsh are the real friends that I am leaving this trip with. Not too bad because I didn't expect to leave with any:)
I guess that I should mention the people that I have been traveling with. You already know about Bernhard but there were others heeee. If I have not previously mentioned, our guide was Fernando and he is about 25 and the most adorable Peruvian that you will ever meet. He had never done the Ecuador tour so he was a little nervous but if he made any mistakes, we surely didn't notice. He got us to the towns that we needed to go to and on and off of the chicken buses without a hitch. If I decided to tour Peru, I will only tour it with him.
Katherine and Anna are sisters from Australia. Both are in their 20s and Anna is a nurse and Katherine is going to school to be a doctor. Both very, very nice girls and fun to be around. Their parents arrived in Quito last night and they will continue on to the Galapagos with the girls. Fernando fell head over heals for Katherine. Too bad she has a boyfriend but it was funny to watch.
Catherine from Canada is my evil twin. She is in her early 40s and doesn't often mince words. She is awesome:) Another friend that I am leaving this trip with is Hirsh who is also living in Canada. He is a dentist and a very nice, easy going, fun loving guy. He has a brother that lives in Palm City, which is north of West Palm Beach.
So, Catherine, Katherine, Anna, Bernhard, and Hirsh are the real friends that I am leaving this trip with. Not too bad because I didn't expect to leave with any:)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Saturday shopping is......
amazing in Otavalo. I know, I probably use that word a lot when discussing this trip but it is appropriate. The Saturday market in Otavalo covers almost the entire city. Every street, nook, and cranny has some kind of shopping. It is like a neighborhood garage sale except, there are streeets that are selling nothing but veggies-fruits and streets that are selling nothing but meat. Then there are the sections that are selling clothes, jewelry, and other stuff.
I was out at 7am and I just walked and looked. I did not take many pictures because this is the kind of stuff that must be committed to memory and no picture will ever do it justice. I imagine that the locals, and those that are not so local, start setting up before 6am because there were over 100 booths that were up and ready to go by the time I came out. I walked for an hour and a half, then I went into a cafe and had cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and some cake. I secured a window seat and just watched all that was going on.
We are leaving Otavalo at 1pm to head back to Quito as today is the final day of the tour. Tonight, we will have our farewell dinner and tomorrow some people will head home while others will join tours going to the Galapagos Islands. I wish I were going too, but I did not have enough vacation time to couple that trip with this one. No matter, I have no regrets.
I had to stop in this internet cafe because I had a moment of panic as to whether or not my mortgage got paid. Fortunately, it is the only time that I have thought about anything related to my real life since I started this trip. Yep, it was paid as scheduled, I just like to panic every now and again.
Well, I must head back out so that the men can tell me how beautiful I am. Apparently dark skinned women are appreciated down here....heeee. Perhaps I shall stay. Off to pay my 40 cents for 30 minutes of internet usage.
Buenas Tardes! Adios mi amigos-amigas! Amor! (heee... is my bilingualness (not a word) totally annoying?)
I was out at 7am and I just walked and looked. I did not take many pictures because this is the kind of stuff that must be committed to memory and no picture will ever do it justice. I imagine that the locals, and those that are not so local, start setting up before 6am because there were over 100 booths that were up and ready to go by the time I came out. I walked for an hour and a half, then I went into a cafe and had cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and some cake. I secured a window seat and just watched all that was going on.
We are leaving Otavalo at 1pm to head back to Quito as today is the final day of the tour. Tonight, we will have our farewell dinner and tomorrow some people will head home while others will join tours going to the Galapagos Islands. I wish I were going too, but I did not have enough vacation time to couple that trip with this one. No matter, I have no regrets.
I had to stop in this internet cafe because I had a moment of panic as to whether or not my mortgage got paid. Fortunately, it is the only time that I have thought about anything related to my real life since I started this trip. Yep, it was paid as scheduled, I just like to panic every now and again.
Well, I must head back out so that the men can tell me how beautiful I am. Apparently dark skinned women are appreciated down here....heeee. Perhaps I shall stay. Off to pay my 40 cents for 30 minutes of internet usage.
Buenas Tardes! Adios mi amigos-amigas! Amor! (heee... is my bilingualness (not a word) totally annoying?)
Friday, January 2, 2009
Winding down in Otavalo....
and getting ready to return to the real world. We arrived in Otavalo from the Hacienda in Cayambe today and we will leave tomorrow at 1pm to return to Quito. Otavalo is pretty cool, I am sitting in an internet cafe right now. They charge a dollar or so for an hour of usage, which is not to bad.
We are in Otavalo to view the local market and buy some things. I am pretty much done shopping but I will probably pick up one or two more things. I have replenished my supply of meds (depo provera) to be exact. In the States, this cost me 60 bucks, 30 when I order it online from Costa Rica, and 11.44 when I fly to Ecuador and get it myself. Yes, we Americans subsidize the drug costs for the rest of the world. So, I have bought a 2 year supply of the depo and I am good.
Haven´t seen a whole lot that is new in the last few days, but that is the way it is with most long vacations. After a while the sites start to repeat themselves. And, you might not belive this but I am actually tired of taking pictures. I have taken over 1k and I really have no desire to put a camera to my eye anymore. I am very glad that I have one extra day in Quito after the tour ends and I have one day off when I return home before I have to go back to work.
Oh, the Hacienda where we stayed was pretty amazing. They have done little to restore the buildings and it was amazing to walking through them and still see the old paint and furniture that has been there for many, many years. I have no idea how long because the people that work there speak no english so we were on our own. I also walked around the grounds and found several trails that took me to higher and higher elevations.
Today, we were back at about 12k feet when we went to see some volcano. Again, we drove a while, turned a corner and it was freezing. The fog rolled in and out within a matter of 5 minutes. Then we came back down the mountain and the temperature increased by at least 15 degrees and the rain stopped. I cannot express to you how incredibly sudden the temperature changes are around here. Yesterday, I was sitting by the pool at the Hacienda and it was soooo warm. Just like Otown. Some one walked in and said, this humidity in here is unbearable. I said, are you kidding, this is how I live. I stayed by the pool for about 4 hours yesterday. Sun, as we know it, does not happen in Ecuador (maybe the Galapagos). It is only sunny for a few hours a day if that and the temp will reach the mid 70s. As I sit here in this cafe, car are driving by, picture the tiny European streets that you have seen in the movies, the door is wide open (like a garage door) and I am freezing. Amazingly, I feel pretty good about being here. I know I have said this before but the people are so friendly, there are no stares or odd looks (except for the one time the lady recoiled in fear when I asked what she was doing) I just feel like I fit right in. If I could deal with the weather, and I cannot, I could live here.
Another thing about Ecuador, as we have covered about 5 of the major cities, the people look distinctly different in the various cities and the cities also have their own distinct ambience. Right now, I hear loud music coming from a car that is sitting in traffic and I just heard the honk of an emergency vechicle. However, we have also stayed in towns where we have seen very few cars and emergency vehicles were unheard of. We have also stayed in hotels where there was no phone in our room.
At the Hacienda, I was having some trouble catching every 3rd breathe, a common problem at higher altitudes, and I thought hmmmm.....we are out in the middle of no where, and there is no phone in this room. The only staff was the night security guard. I prayed I would make it til morning, then I fell asleep....heeee. The next day, several people said they had the same problem. I am taking Diamox to prevent altitude sickness but the short, shallow breathes and having a hard time catching a breathe cannot be cured with meds. Time is the only solution.
My buddy Bernhard left on Jan 1 to return to Austria. I miss him a lot because he made me laugh and he had some interesting things to say. A few of my buddies in the group bought me a stuffed doll as a replacement. There is a story behind the stuffed doll - they get burned at midnight of the new year. So, it was only named Bernhard until 1155 then they wrote the names of people they dislike on it and set it on fire. At least that´s what I was told because I went to bed. Had some food that did not agree with me. So, I slept through the New Year at the Hacienda.
Well, that´s it for now. I will see you all in a few days. I must go and get under the covers and warm up.
Good nite.
We are in Otavalo to view the local market and buy some things. I am pretty much done shopping but I will probably pick up one or two more things. I have replenished my supply of meds (depo provera) to be exact. In the States, this cost me 60 bucks, 30 when I order it online from Costa Rica, and 11.44 when I fly to Ecuador and get it myself. Yes, we Americans subsidize the drug costs for the rest of the world. So, I have bought a 2 year supply of the depo and I am good.
Haven´t seen a whole lot that is new in the last few days, but that is the way it is with most long vacations. After a while the sites start to repeat themselves. And, you might not belive this but I am actually tired of taking pictures. I have taken over 1k and I really have no desire to put a camera to my eye anymore. I am very glad that I have one extra day in Quito after the tour ends and I have one day off when I return home before I have to go back to work.
Oh, the Hacienda where we stayed was pretty amazing. They have done little to restore the buildings and it was amazing to walking through them and still see the old paint and furniture that has been there for many, many years. I have no idea how long because the people that work there speak no english so we were on our own. I also walked around the grounds and found several trails that took me to higher and higher elevations.
Today, we were back at about 12k feet when we went to see some volcano. Again, we drove a while, turned a corner and it was freezing. The fog rolled in and out within a matter of 5 minutes. Then we came back down the mountain and the temperature increased by at least 15 degrees and the rain stopped. I cannot express to you how incredibly sudden the temperature changes are around here. Yesterday, I was sitting by the pool at the Hacienda and it was soooo warm. Just like Otown. Some one walked in and said, this humidity in here is unbearable. I said, are you kidding, this is how I live. I stayed by the pool for about 4 hours yesterday. Sun, as we know it, does not happen in Ecuador (maybe the Galapagos). It is only sunny for a few hours a day if that and the temp will reach the mid 70s. As I sit here in this cafe, car are driving by, picture the tiny European streets that you have seen in the movies, the door is wide open (like a garage door) and I am freezing. Amazingly, I feel pretty good about being here. I know I have said this before but the people are so friendly, there are no stares or odd looks (except for the one time the lady recoiled in fear when I asked what she was doing) I just feel like I fit right in. If I could deal with the weather, and I cannot, I could live here.
Another thing about Ecuador, as we have covered about 5 of the major cities, the people look distinctly different in the various cities and the cities also have their own distinct ambience. Right now, I hear loud music coming from a car that is sitting in traffic and I just heard the honk of an emergency vechicle. However, we have also stayed in towns where we have seen very few cars and emergency vehicles were unheard of. We have also stayed in hotels where there was no phone in our room.
At the Hacienda, I was having some trouble catching every 3rd breathe, a common problem at higher altitudes, and I thought hmmmm.....we are out in the middle of no where, and there is no phone in this room. The only staff was the night security guard. I prayed I would make it til morning, then I fell asleep....heeee. The next day, several people said they had the same problem. I am taking Diamox to prevent altitude sickness but the short, shallow breathes and having a hard time catching a breathe cannot be cured with meds. Time is the only solution.
My buddy Bernhard left on Jan 1 to return to Austria. I miss him a lot because he made me laugh and he had some interesting things to say. A few of my buddies in the group bought me a stuffed doll as a replacement. There is a story behind the stuffed doll - they get burned at midnight of the new year. So, it was only named Bernhard until 1155 then they wrote the names of people they dislike on it and set it on fire. At least that´s what I was told because I went to bed. Had some food that did not agree with me. So, I slept through the New Year at the Hacienda.
Well, that´s it for now. I will see you all in a few days. I must go and get under the covers and warm up.
Good nite.
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