Ba Ba Black Sheep!

Hi again my loyal subjects--

So here I am in Chugchilan Ecuador and the BSI. I am writing you whilst looking over the canyon and watching the day's clouds come in, as they usually do at this time of day. Sometimes there is rain and we have even had some thunder and hail! The weather can change here in a New York minute and often does. The sunset lasts about 5 minutes, so when I tell the guests to go check out the sunset, they all run up to thier rooms to grab thier cameras. The sunset is usually over before they get back with them!

Things are going really well here. I am enjoying my time here and am learning a ton of information about hospitality and ecotourism. The owners are one of the coolest couples I have ever met. You people know how impressed I always am with meeting people who are living a life of their own design. These folks are doing just that and have built everything they have here from the ground up with little to no experience. The are also getting to enjoy the trails and tribulations of trying to accomplish anything in a developing country, so those are always fun stories to hear!

I am trying to work on my spanish a bit more and studying a bit each day. I am also climbing hills each day in order to get in better shape for all the walking I will need to do in Machu Piccu, so that is good for me as well. I am enjoying perhaps a bit too much boxed Chilean wine, but in general not doing too bad. The food is yummy, and for a vegetarian place, we (the owners and myself) are sure getting to enjoy a lot of meat for dinner! hehe!

They have about 9 local employees working here and the girls are fascinated with the size of my breasts and scandalized by the fact that I am divorced. And old. And have no children. They are constantly asking why I am divorced, which is a loaded question in English let alone in Spanish! The only answer I can come up with is "no me gusta me esposo". Which translates roughly to "I don't like my husband". I have yet to reach the point of being able to use that verb in the past tense, so they just have to deal with it for now! They are also constantly on the move to try to set me up with every Ecuadorian man in the village, married or not. My heart lies elsewhere, so I am working the smile nod I-don't-understand look pretty often. Often it is actually even true, so not that much of a stretch for me!

So that is all I have time for now--but here are some pics to start with and will write more later!

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Black%20Sheep%20Inn/?start=all

Colombia, New York, North Carolina, Ecuador...I'm so confused!

Hola travellers!

You people will think I deserved it, but there I was, on a 17 hour overnight bus from Santa Marta to Bogota surrounded by children. Thankfully after a while the parents smarted up and drugged them and they went to sleep.....so ended my last trip to Colombia which I have to say is one of the best places on earth and I highly recommend everyone go there if given a chance. I do have some secrets about that trip which I will not divulge here (a girl has to have some secrets!), but suffice it to say it has been a highlight of my trip here to South America.

I know it has been forever, and tomorrow I am off to the Black Sheep Inn www.blacksheepinn.com to do some volunteer work so who knows when I will actually find the time to update this again!

Some thoughts as I sit here at the Papayanet here in Quito before I head out tomorrow. Coming back to the states was a lot of fun for a while, although I probably spent too much time, as now I have to get back in the groove and try to think en espanol again.

I sit here listening to, of course, Culture Club because it is all about the 80's here, and consider the differences 24 hours can make. Last night I was having drinks at some semi ritzy hotel in Manhattan with a friend who flew out all the way to NYC from New Mexico to surprise me, and then not 10 hours ago I was browsing the sky mall catalog on my flight from New York and pondering the real need in the world for an instant doorway puppet stage (complete with working curtains!) and something called the marshmallow shooter, which as you have probably guessed, is a gun that shoots marshmallows. But all is right with the world as not more than a half hour ago I got to through the toilet paper in the trash again. Although in reality I now know someone who would actually probably like the marshmallow shooter (you know who you are, but your secret is safe with me!).

I think we last left off in Cartegena which is very beautiful and very hot. Those folks speak very fast and apparently have collectively decided to do away with the S is all Spanish words. I got to wear the shorts I have been carrying around in my bag for 6 months there and so justified packing them to bring back, although in reality don't think I will wear shorts again for 6 more months. I also got to tour one of the old forts in Cartegena that was constructed to protect the city and see the museum of the inquisiton. Creepy. I did get to have drinks at an awesome outdoor restuarant at sunset, so that was cool. Very romantic and I was there alone, but that is kind of the story of my life...sigh. For my trouble I got to spend 27,000 pesos on a mojito! Preparing me for my reentry into New York, I guess.

I then pressed on to a small town called Taganga which is in the Northeast of Colombia near the Venezuelan border. I did nothing there but look at the amazing view, sweat, and try to think of ways to foil the mosquitos. I took a "direct" bus from Cartegena which turned out to involve sitting in Baranquilla (has to be one of the ugliest cities on the planet, I don't care what Shakira says!) where the same bus then picked me up an hour later to continue on to Santa Marta. I have a total of about 1 picture of Taganga which is the lovely bay picture you will see in the photos.

Other photos are of the statues in San Augustin, which apparently come from a civilization no one really knows anything about, and our horseback ride into the hills to see some of them and Lucas, our guide, demonstrating his horseriding abilities. Of course the guide kind of started stalking me in town after that, but did give me a lovely pair of earrings that I wore on my birthday, so it's not all bad! Weird, but not bad. Before I forget, here are the photos

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Colombia%20dos/?start=all

I am hoping at some point to figure out how to make that a link rather than something you have to copy and paste, but for now you just get to deal with it.

Better run for now as the music has decidedly turned 90's, which I will take as my cue to head back to the hostel, where they even put me in the same room as last time, which is somewhat comforting. It was great to see everyone in New York and North Carolina, and thanks to dad, Cheryl and Kris for coming to see me in North Carolina, and to Maryann for coming to see me in New York. Kudos to Doina for a surprise well done!

Further updates will include the sordid details regarding my realization that it is not only my life that is all about laundry, but it is everyone else's life here too. I finally fit in somewhere as these people can all appreciate my issues!

Love you all!