Neener's Travel Blog

Last Saturday Uncle Earl took us kids plus a couple of Zach's friends to Mindo. We went to a Butterfly House first. That was really cool. We got to see quite a few butterflies actually coming out of their cocoons. Had a couple butterflies land on me. We spent quite a bit of time just walking around looking at all of them, and standing in front of the cocoon cupboard watching them come out. After that we went on a zip line. It was really fun. There were a few cables that you could do tricks on with the guides. I didn't - I was feeling a little sick still. It looked pretty sweet though. We went with a few American girls and they were so funny to listen to. Some of them would scream all the way across - it was NOT that scary. XD Then the boys went tubing on the river while Eli and I stayed in the car. I slept. We were going to stay the night in Mindo, but by about 3:00 we had already done all we wanted to do, so we headed home.

I was in Makuma (a little jungle village) from Monday to Wednesday. That was an experience. Uncle Earl and another worker worked on motors and plants and stuff; they got a LOT fixed for them. I spent a lot of time hanging out, entertaining myself. Journaled, read, listened to music, stood there looking around. One sort of exciting thing happened I guess. The first day I sat down outside the little office and suddenly something flies toward me. It looked like a nut (it was actually a pepper of some sort). Then one flies at me from the other side. What on earth is going on? Then I hear giggles. And see someone peeking around the corner. As soon as I saw her, she disappeared back around the corner. There was a boy as well. They continued to peek shyly around the corner and giggle about seemingly nothing for quite some time, until they finally worked up the courage to come sit by me. Two other boys joined them. And I was actually able to talk to them a little!!! I asked t...

Went up to Papallacta for the weekend, this time with Uncle Earl, Zachary, Caleb and Caleb's friend Luke. We left Saturday morning and got back Sunday afternoon. It was so much fun! We went quading up to somewhere up the mountain... We all took turns driving, and I did pretty good! Contrary to what is apparently popular belief I CAN drive a quad without driving off the mountain side! We went to an old, abandoned cabin. It is said among the MKs to be haunted by a shape-shifter. She is an old woman who can turn into a young woman or a wolf. If you go exploring alone, she will eat you. If you are in a group and got the bad luck of being stuck in the back she will make you go crazy. One man walked all the way back down to Quito because she made him go crazy. And we went to explore the cabin she is said to haunt. It looked like your typical broken down, old haunted cabin. Holes in the floor. Rickety stairs. Grimy windows. People's names were written all over the wall...

Spanish classes are going fairly well, I think. I'm learning stuff, so that's a good sign. Today I went to Pan de Vida and people kept trying to talk to me. Yeah, 'cause I look like I would be fluent in Spanish. I actually answered one question the first time I was asked though without too long of a pause! This guy asked how old I was and I said 'diez y siete'. Whoot, whoot! Couldn't understand another word he said, but I was pretty proud of myself. Earlier today I went to chapel tribes and Eli had to go the bathroom and told me to tell our leader. When our leader asked where Eli was, I said, "She went to the washroom." "...Oh, ok." I was wondering why that seemed like a difficult thing to grasp until DK said, "Washroom is Canadian for bathroom. Just thought I'd translate for everybody." Then later on in Study Hall, this one guy asked what grade I was in. Since everyone here is American, I've gotten used to their...

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened recently. I'm just in Ecuador, why would anything out of the ordinary be happening? Haha, every day here is exciting. Even if nothing particularly exciting happens, it's all wonderful. I've been sat on, multiple times. By three guys. At once. Yes, I did almost die. And, yes, it will most likely happen again. But even that has become a normal occurrence. I have never walked so much in my life. And I love it. I love to walk places. I also love to wear shorts and flip flops almost every day. Seeing the mountains out of nearly every single window has become common place. Receiving some sort of injury (all small, but still painful enough to be annoying) compliments of Nathan, Josh and Daniel are to be expected. Laughing so hard that my stomach hurts has become a daily occurrence. So, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Unless, of course, you count when I scared the bajeebers out of Natha n during Honey, If You Love Me be...

I survived! Nathan and Eli didn't kill me!!! The jungle was really fun. On Friday we went white water rafting on a Class 3 river. So much fun. The third rapid was the best. The guide says people usually flip over on that one, but we didn't. We stopped a couple times along the way - once to take a break and once to eat lunch. When we were rafting, in between rapids, we could get out and swim alongside the boat. And towards the end we got to do a rodeo. Meaning we could take turns sitting at the front of the boat while we went through the rapids! That was my favorite part. It was so cool! I don't even know how to describe it. It was totally exhilarating though. Super exciting. Every time I hang out with Nathan and Eli, I manage to get wet. Somehow we always start to have a water fight of some sort. ALWAYS. And I nearly always get super soaked. I can never just get a little water on me. I get soaked. SOAKED. Fun fun. XD We went to the sunrise service this...