engaged

dear neglected blog,

i apologize that you are always the last to know the news. and this time is no exception. but in case you haven't heard, i'm engaged. three weeks late, i know, but alas, here i am. check out the details at: www.tracy-dewayne.com

sincerely,
tracy

ecuador

ah, ecuador. what a fun trip. let me give some background as to what landed us in that beautiful country. grayden, a good friend of ours, has parents who are mission presidents in ecuador (guayaquil to be exact). they were getting ready to finish their three-years there and grayden offered to bring some friends down with him before they left. thanks, grayden.

it was such a great idea. grayden had been a few times, with reed accompanying him on the last trip. then you had odie and i who had never been, and sweet jess who this was her first time to latin america. luckily for us, both grayden and reed are fluent in spanish, and having both traveled in ecuador before, we were set to go.

i really couldn't have asked for better dynamics in the group. everyone just seemed to mesh so well. which you have to do when you're on buses for hours and gross and scared to be horseback riding (well, that was just me), and basically just together 24/7.

a quick overview of the trip is that we spent part of the time in vilcabamba, a sleepy town up in the mountains, cuenca, the colonial, bustling town, and quayaquil. please note that it's best to actually scroll down to the first post on horseback riding and then read backwards, they make more sense that way.

enjoy the recap!

ecuador: random collection of pics

by far my favorite part of traveling is seeing the different cultures and being with the people. i love watching them interact and hearing them talk. especially given that i don't understand exactly what they're saying, so it intrigues me even more. below are some photos of the people we saw, as well as some cool landscape shots.

this cute girl was at the incan ruins and i believe reed paid her to take her photo.







there was a nasty rain storm as we drove down the mountain


and of course, what highway would be complete without part of the road breaking away? yikes!

ecuador: guayaquil

quayaquil is where we started, and ended, our trip. as well as where we flew in and out of (by the way, away the panama city airport at all costs). guaya, as i like to call it, is the largest city in ecuador and is a port city. i over all liked the city, but probably not as much as cuenca. the highlight definitely included staying with grayden's parents in the mission home. it was beyond welcomed to have a clean, safe place to be. that and they have a "MegaMaxi" near their house, which is like a SuperTarget of sorts. Nothing makes you feel like home like going to a store that resembles Target...

this is grayden's cute mom. she made a birthday cake for all of us that had recently had birthdays. extremely nice and tasty.


reed's best "i'm sad that it's our last day" face. the best part is that you can totally tell he was holding back a grin.


the living/dining room in the mission home


we took a pirate ship around guaya the last night we were there. this is us waiting.


grayden and jess. reading a book on pirating, perhaps?


this game, along with skip-bo, took up all of our time. it was a solitaire game of sorts. odie won once. and i cheated once and won. so i guess i didn't really ever legitimately win.


cute.

ecuador: iguanas

everyone needs to visit a good iguana park now and again, and luckily, guayaquil has a great one. the iguanas there have somehow all congregated to this one square and they're everyone. i had to be careful where i walked as to not step on them. it's crazy. and you look up and they're all in the trees.

eveyone in the group sat down and fed them. besides me. i designated myself photographer and was more than happy to be on the sidelines...

here's how it works. you sit down, pull out food (preferably bananas) and up they come.


this was as close as i cared to get to one :)


ah, the animal lover


this guy gave odie a pretty nasty scratch


see how they blend in?

ecuador: ingapirca

we also visited ingapirca, which is ecuador's only major inca site with a building intact, the so-called temple of the sun. apparently it was erected in an eliptical form, coinciding with the movement of the sun. the site was mostly used for ceremonies and worship.




another one of the top five favs from the trip


ah, the one piece of clothing that odie took away from ecuador. compared to some pieces he was trying on earlier, this one is quite stylish. and it's amazingly warm. perfect for the ecuador sun.


random blind man playing the random instrument.


el presidente ridd (grayden's dad) along with a llama




the site from a distance. it was really neat to walk around


the main section

ecuador: cuenca part II

some more shots from cuenca:

reed giving his acceptance speech. this was the balcony attached to the room we stayed in.


this shot is so funny to me. these are the boys outside a cathedral with their candles they purchased for the intent of burning them to help grayden. you see, grayden has a fitness test coming up and they burned them in his honor :)


me and the view from our hotel

ecuador: cuenca

our second stop on the trip was the town of cuenca. cuenca is one of the top three largest cities in ecuador and is very colonial. i loved their cobblestone streets and the history, plus since it's a large city there's a great vibe.

here's the main church.


the gang at a lookout point




this still makes me laugh. odie was debating buying this under the idea that he could wear it in the winter. i can only imagine him sporting this down pennsylvania avenue.


view of cuenca below


jess had her sandal break, but no worries, odie found some dental floss and sewed them back together.


these boys are really too close...


watching the ecuador vs. colombia game


interesting poster






this is one of my top five photos from the trip. this man was too cute and i just HAD to buy something from him. so i purchased a red hammock :)


the boys in the market. i LOVE latin markets and haggling for prices.




i had probably around two gallons worth of ice cream during the trip. that and probably a pounds worth of "papas fritas" aka french fries.

ecuador: vilcabamba part II

thanks jess, for this cool shot


this is the life...


everyone celebrating a round of sprites for reed's new job. he received the call while we were in vilcabamba and we were so happy for him! please note how my hair looks sans a blowdryer.


reed's victory dance :)

ecuador: vilcabamba

vilcabamba was our first destination in ecuador. it's a charming town that's up in the mountains and known for it's longevity (apparently people there live to be very, very old). we stayed in a hostel that was actually pretty nice. each room had a porch with hammock and picnic table. we played many a game of skip bo there. probably my favorite part were the 75-minute massages for $18 that i had. those were heaven. minus the facial i had when i was sunburned. bad idea.

here's the view from our porch.


this photo is taken from the restaurant at the hostel. it was an amazing view.


we were walking through town one day when school got out. i love this boy's face.


ah yes, what would any trip be without some soccer matches. we just happened to be there when the ecuador v. argentina game was on. that was fun. well, it was fun watching people watch the game more than i enjoyed the game itself. apparently argentina is a pretty big deal on the soccer field.


this is grayden and jess at the hostel's restaurant.


these two are so close.



i love this picture of odie.


we were there when the church was having one of their first communion sundays.


this truck pulled up and the guy would get fishes out of the tank and the lady would gut them for you. you can't beat the freshness...