ANDES DANDY

[I was told after reading “… mesmerizing valley, with plants and birds I have never seen before.”  in my Dance like everybody’s watching post, my brother’s first remark was “Pictures, b*tch!” So Alex, I dedicate this post to you.] Yesterday, Charlie, Holly and I went to Vilcabamba to get away from Loja and spend some time together. The town is captivating. When you arrive, all of a sudden you feel all your problems vanishing into haze, and you simply except everything around you with all its beauty. After quickly looking around, we went for a walk next to the river nearby, during which I saw some amazing plants and insects. The mosquitos were killing us, so we turned back after an hour and went back to the town center, where we had vanilla ice-cream… And I mean there is ice-cream and then there is this. I was told it was made fresh that morning, and I think it ruined every other ice-cream in the world for me. A.D. Here are some more photos for you to en

As a tourist I can only stay for three months in Ecuador, so last Monday I decided to finally get my work visa papers started. Loja unfortunately doesn’t have a foreign-ministry office and the nearest office is in Machala., a mere five-and-a-half-hour bus ride from Loja. Equipped with the tips my fellow native teachers had provided me (“dress shabbily”, “look down. Don’t show your blue eyes”, “whatever you do, don’t go out at night”) I set off – terrified. When I got on the bus in Loja, and it started rolling out of the station, my heart rate must have been over 120 per minute, so I did what any normal person would do, I put on my headphones and cued the Indiana Jones theme song. This helped me think of the trip more as an adventure and not so much as a scary place I must go to. The scenery during the trip was mesmerizing. Hills covered with weeds, tall ficuses and palm trees decorating the side of the roads, and in the distance, the tops of mountains fading into