My Spring Break Trip

Hey guys! Spring break is over and I made it back to the states in one piece. I loved it over in Ecuador and in the Islands and if you want to know more the program click here. I have had many people ask what my favorite part of the trip was, and I must say it was snorkeling and ice cream. But really, I loved it all and I wanted to tell you about it, I kept a journal over the time span of March 2nd through March 11th and below I have provided it below. there are some random facts and sometimes is seems disorganized but I was just writing what was on my mind and what I wanted to remember.  So please, enjoy!!

March 2nd 2017

Well, we got an early start today, we headed for St. Louis airport at 7:30 a.m. for our flight at 11. We arrived in Atlanta, Georgia at 1:32 p.m. The take off was great, but the touchdown was a little shaky in long.  It took only one hour and five minutes from St. Louis to Atlanta. I hit my head on the top of the plane, big surprise there! While at Atlanta we had hours to kill our flight which didn't leave until 5:55 p.m. Rachel (one of the others girls on the trip) and I went looking for Buffalo Wild Wings, we ended up getting lost and wandering around the airport for 20 minutes or so until we found it. About 3:30 went to E7 area for boarding. And we played B.S. and E.R.S with Cass, Megan, Hannah, Shannon, Rachel, and I we ended up having a blast and it really past the time. I ended up with floor burn on my elbow, great way to start a vacation.

When we left Atlanta, it was a bit shaky, during the flight I finished my book, The Elite and started the next one The One. For being a first-time flyer, Travis (he was in charge of the trip) got all of us a book or a journal I ended up getting a book that was about poems for a young writer. For dinner, I had chicken salad on the flight, it was okay for plane food.

We landed in Quito at 11:19 p.m. the hotel was about a 40-minute drive from the airport, to the Solera house.  It's really nice, the beds are small, the bathroom is big and has enough room for 6 people. We had to ask for help for a warm shower, but it's still not warm. I'm in a room with Cassandra, Megan, Stephanie, and myself in 104. I'm writing this at 1:30 a.m. so I'm guessing I should get some sleep eventually, we eat breakfast at 8:45 a.m. and we leave at 9:30 a.m. and it's an walking tour of Quito about 2 to 3 hours of walking.

March 3rd 2017

 I woke up this morning around 6:40 a.m. and listened to music being played, is had a good rhythm, but I have no clue what it was. I got in the shower around 7:20 and it was cold water, so it was a quick and sad shower. It's 7:50 now and no one else is up yet. We have a long day ahead of us today.

We got started about 9:30 today we walked the old city of Quito which is absolutely beautiful and I'm making sure to take a lot of pictures. They have a big statue of the virgin of Quito like at Rio or the Statue of Liberty. Quito has a population of 2 million people which is a lot compared to where I’m from. We went to Independence Square which had a big statue of one of the people who saved them I guess you could say; I'm not exactly sure how he put it. But the church we saw there is one of the last churches that still has a school inside. We went to San Francisco which was supposed to be the center of the town, but Independence ended up being the center because San Francisco slopes down.

There are 4 schools in Quito and they run from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. I was a little bit surprised by that.  We went to chocolate store and we bought some real chocolate, we had time to walk around so I went around and got pictures with the police, there were four different uniforms that I saw while walking around. I learned how to say the Spanish phrase for 'one picture please' which is 'Uno photo profabor'.  We went to the church Museum and we saw different variations of Christ and the virgin which has many names. There's a lot of stray dogs walking around not many stray cats which I find odd, but what can I say I really don't know. Currently we have been stuck in traffic for quite some time around an roundabout we are currently headed to lunch which I wish you would hurry up. I got two empanadas for $2 and they were chicken and they were really good. I forgot to mention the stairs won the battle today of walking up, by that I mean I tripped a lot.

The joints in my shoulder and neck hurt but I assume it's probably just the altitude that is causing it. We went and visited the equator line today, the gravitation it's completely different being on the North side and different on the South side. I walked on the equator line in a straight line except the end I missed my step, but many people cannot do that, I guess band helped me in this.

The graffiti art is different than in the United States, it's more colorful there and animated and it's not really cuss words or kill or anything that you might see today in the States. Let me tell you toilet paper is a delicacy there, and some places you won’t find any at all!  'Banos' is the Spanish word for bathroom. The weather has been incredible! Very nice for today and yesterday as well. We got back to the hotel at 4:36 p.m. and we have to eat dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Today I  saw the new city of Quito, it looks a lot like  a New York or Chicago somehow, it looks like it's a bunch of big buildings nothing like old  Quito.  While at the equator line, I had my passport stamps saying I had been there and I ended up with a big sunburn on my face. Eventually we also got to see shrunken heads, they take out the skull and they mold their head, which is cool but weird.

Tomorrow we fly out early, we have to leave the hotel at 5:20 a.m. an early start to our day. Our dinner tonight was potato soup and then chicken and then some sort of dessert. but a group of us went out walking and we went to the club, we ordered drinks and we watched everybody dance on the Dance Floor.

March 4th 2017

Today I woke up at 4 a.m. and took another cold shower. We left at 5:15 a.m. we had to be at the airport 2 hours early. My bag weighed only 9.8 kilograms at the beginning of the trip a trade only 8.5 kilograms. I ended up getting a window seat on this flight and it had an Immaculate View. We stopped at a place that started with the k but I don't remember what it was and we refueled and more passengers  came aboard and then we flew to Baltra so we could go to the Galapagos Island, it was crowded and busy, but we got through. Then we had a 10-minute bus ride to go to the ferry which lasted probably five minutes and then a water taxi to a speedboat which was 2 hours long.

Myself and at least two other people got sick on this boat ride, I stopped counting after 3.  Breakfast was a croissant thing, lunch was chicken and dinner I didn't eat. The time on my phone didn't change to the time in the islands which is the time back in Missouri so I was reading it at two different times.

Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us. We have a 9 mile Hike, so tonight we went to the market and we bought souvenirs when we were at our hotel. We went swimming today in the ocean and I was training to get prepared for my recertification of my life guards license.

While I was swimming a seal swam right next to me scared the crap out of me, everyone in the water was looking for him. At 5 p.m. or so we got to our hotel called Hotel Cali. The Wi-Fi could only be located in the lounge which affected a lot of people because their Wi-Fi dependent. That evening Hailey and I walked to the beach and saw the sun setting it was beautiful; pictures do not do it justice.  I guess I should mention we saw the giant turtles in the highlands today and they were really cool. They can live to be up to 180 years old. From years 3 to 5 the turtles are at a greater risk of being killed by predators be as their shells are not strong enough yet.

March 5th 2017

Today I started my day at 5:26 a.m. instead of 5. The men do not get up, period, for breakfast we had guava juice with a croissant Empanada eggs and mystery meat. We drove for 45 minutes after we got done with breakfast to the volcano.  I went all the way to the halfway point with the faster of two groups then we waited for the slower group there. From there some of us went up to the very top of the volcano to see the lava from 2005. One of our tour guides, Franklin, said “now we run” and we ran I ended up walking with Rachel. The hike ended up being 15 miles up and down. When I got back to the restaurant we were having lunch and I, of course, got sick and we figured it was probably due to the heat. So Hannah and I walked back to my room and Shannon had followed us and we didn't know it, Hannah went to find me some ice cream and ice while I took a cold shower, Ice is hard to find on the islands.  Rght before we were going to head out to go snorkeling I ended up getting sick again so I didn't go snorkeling today, everyone else went to a volcano walk, a flamingo habitat, and snorkeling, all while I stayed in my room.

I ended up falling asleep and I woke up at 3:15 I washed some of my clothes and everybody got back about an hour or so later.  Dinner, I really don't know what I ate to be honest, but I did eat something, I think it was a pork chop. After the volcano walk today I noticed that I ended up putting a hole in my new shoes my mom probably won't be impressed when I get back. While walking up the volcano I tripped a lot there ended up being a huge gap in front of me and behind me by the time we got to the top.  My roommates for this island we're Hailey and Mary they both went to the bar but came back shortly after that.

March 6th 2017

Today my day started at 3:45 a.m. and we left Isabela Island and headed to Santa Cruz Island. Nobody got sick on this boat ride which is a good thing saying we didn't eat breakfast. Today, we went to the Charles Darwin Center and while we toured we saw the giant tortoises at all stages of life except for eggs. I went to the gift shop and got a shirts and keychains and some magnets. After the Charles Darwin Center, we went to the hotel and they had already taken our bags to our rooms except Travis said we would just stay with our original roommates and we ended up switching rooms completely. We had lunch at the hotel, don't remember what it was though. We headed for the beach today after lunch Shannon, Amanda, Cassandra, and I all walked ahead of the group because we couldn't wait go to the first Beach. But the beach we wanted to go to had waves that could kill people so we went to beach where we could walk out really far and still stand and I'm 5’7. We were disappointed but we still had a really good time we created a Woods Around the World cheerleading team. We didn't want to walk back so we paid $10 for boat ride which left at 4 p.m. Lacey, Rachel, Amanda, Bailey, Shannon, myself, the two older ladies, and two of our tour guides rode back on the boat.  We kept having to situate ourselves on the boat to keep it even that was an endeavor and we had to wear life jackets on this one.

 We got into town before everybody else did so we went to this little Shack or restaurant and we got milkshakes. I got a mova milkshake which is blackberry and it was really good.  We waited on the rest for quite a good time and then the bus showed up and we had to go back to hotel. The bus came and we all headed back to the hotel, where some of us hopped in the pool where we played guess the initials, I won once. It was fun, Baily came up with it. We went to dinner and I wasn't too hungry which was okay dinner wasn't all that great anyway the juice was great, have no clue what it was, but it was amazing. After dinner, some of us stayed and learned how to salsa it's so hard, a good workout, but really hard especially for a band kid. I was the follower (female) when we learned how to dance in a couple, I know for a fact I am not a good dancer. 

 The hotel has mosquitos so we sprayed down our room and everything with the bug repellent. The water at the hotel is so bad we can't drink or brush our teeth with it, goody. Right now we are chilling out in our room we have a TV here in this hotel which is great. We got to talking and saying how American guys should know how to dance and be more of a gentleman, but those seem to be high expectations anymore.

March 7th 2017

Today I started my day out at 4:10am, my contacts did not like me so it was a fight this morning. For breakfast we had some really good toast and jelly, I could eat that all the time. The speed boat was okay today, we were all really cramped together and it was hard to get comfortable. I about fell asleep and would shake myself awake. When we got off the boat and the taxi we headed for the hill where we would snorkel. The sea lions were very territorial today. One about touched me. My pictures came out awful, I'm not impressed. I did see a lot of things while snorkeling like a see turtle, many sea lions, and many schools of fish. As soon as we started to leave, it started raining and nobody really had umbrellas or ponchos, go us! We ended up walked in the rain for a while.

I really wanted to try and sneak back some rocks and sand, maybe hide it in my water shoes, since they have holes. I really wanted the shells, but it is illegal to take them off the island. The sand on the beach today was thick and chunky with a bunch of shells while the beach yesterday was firm and held together very tightly. By the time the bus got there we were all soaking wet, but it was fun. 

Lunch today was good, I had soup, chips, rice, beef, and I didn't know it at the time but fried squid. Not good, not good. At 1:30 we are going back out snorkeling I don't know how I feel about that, I didn't feel good while snorkeling the last time. From the rain my Spanish book got wet, the binding of my reading book got wet and my journal also got wet, not to happy about that at all. I hoping it dries in time to leave again tomorrow. I have to repack tonight. 

We went snorkeling again and this time it was great! I was able to catch better pictures because the water was so clear. The mosquitos were awful, everyone kept getting bitten by them. When my camera died, I decided I would play in the sand for a little while I loved it, I rubbed the sand on my legs and watched everybody else snorkel. 

At 4:30 we all walked down to the market area and bought things. Going through the shops and finding the cheapest price was actually fun. Cass and I went to get ice cream and Hannah was our own personal translator. 

At dinner, I had chicken, pork, and beef, all of it was really good. The food has actually been really good, which I'm very surprised by. Around 82:0ish or so, Lacey (not Lacey from the blog), Rachel, and I started playing cards. I thought them how to play kings corners, golf, and garbage, and helped them with their ers skills. We also played slap jack. We don't have to be up until breakfast which is at 8am so we get to sleep in for a little while anyway.

March 8th 2017

Today started at 6:45. We got to sleep in because breakfast didn't start until 8am. For breakfast we had eggs, ham, pancakes, and some sort of juice. I have a bump inside my mouth I think it's from the citrus. Around 9 Cass, Megan, and I went to the market Square to shop again I tried to pay the full price for a magnet at one store and she only charged me $3 and the bandana was $7 and she only charged me $5. Some of us met up at the pizza place. I got water to drink I'm not hungry enough to eat pizza right now. We have to leave at 11:30 for our flight. To go back to our hotel today we took a taxi back and Cass paid for it. It was faster than walking, I also have found so many bruises and I have a nice sunburn on my back. 

The plane ride back was okay, except the fact I finished one book and I'm about to finish the other so I won't have a book for the 6 hour flight to Atlanta when we go back. Also, someone kept kicking my seat and there were two little children in front of me on the first flight.  We got to Quito and it was cold and it was on the verge of raining. The food at the hotel was great and I'm glad we finally got food because I had ice cream for lunch. 
           After dinner, we went to the pastry shop and everyone bought some food. Then we went out to the karaoke bar, everyone drank except Tony, Stephanie, and I. I had a lot of fun today, we go into Otavalo tomorrow and free time on Friday for a while here.

March 9th 2017

My day was supposed to start at 5:30, that didn't happen I shut off my alarm and went back to sleep, or tried to, I was comfy. Breakfast was good I had eggs, some sort of meat, and a hash brown and cheese ball I believe. The juice, I think, was strawberry. 

My sunglasses came unscrewed and as I was working on them to fix them, the screw fell and was never to be seen by me again. At least I still have my hat to get me through the next few days. 

The traffic is a lot scarier here. They guide traffic as they see fit for that part of the day. When it's same lane on a two lane sometimes it will be going both directions and it super confusing, but I guess it works. 
We stopped at this mountain view and there were a bunch of dogs and we weren't allowed to feed them according to a sign, but Shannon "tripped" and gave what he bought to the dogs. 

I bargained today it was fun. I got the green alpaca blanket for $22, the ashtray for $5, the shot glasses for $6, the purse for $12, bracelets (3) $1, and a scarf for $3 So I spent $49 at the market today. I hung out with Cass and Megan, they are a lot of fun to hang out with. 

Lunch today was good, I had red spice meat. We also tried geanie pig, it tasted like deer jerky or just deer. I didn't find anything at the leather shops which is okay, because they don't barter as much and I don't want to spend too much money. 

Dinner was at 7 and we had pork and it was okay, we waited over an hour for our food and it was a screwed-up service. After dinner, we went out to the karaoke place again, I didn't drink again everybody had fun. 
Stephanie, Megan, and I were chilling in our room while they were packing and then the rest came back and our neighbors banged on the door that separates our rooms and yelled at us. Scared the crap out of us, I think they were telling us to be quiet, we weren't even being loud, this was at 11:10pm.

March 10th 2017

At 5:15 this morning our neighbors alarm went off for 5 to 10 minutes before they shut it off. I woke up at that time, but made myself go back to sleep, I woke up around 6:50ish and I decided to get out of bed at 7:15 and take a shower. At 9 we went out and walked the town, we went to the chocolate shop and I spent $18 there and $15 on a pot. Then $1 on biscotti and $5 for the tip for the bus driver. At 11:15 am we headed out to the hot spring which is a 2 hour drive. Our new tour guide is very boring. 

The time at the spa was fun, I swam in every pool. There was a pool where you could lay down, I spent over 2 hours laying in it. I may or may not have fallen asleep, but it was great. I was so relaxed. I was able to video chat with mom today which was really great. Later on in the day the clouds cleared and we got to see a snowy peak, boy I loved that, such a sight. 

Our dinner tonight was okay, very disorganized and I was the last one to get my food as well. I ordered beef and a Pepsi.  Tony kept feeding the dog out side, he had a heart for dogs. The highest elevation point we were at this trip was 13,000 feet. At 7:50 we are on our way to the air port. 

Well I got called into do a security check on my checked bag, absolutely terrifying. I made it through though. Ava and Stephine had to have their bags checked as well.

March 11th 2017

Our flight was supposed to take off at 12:30am but isn't taking off until 1am, which isn't bad it's just took forever. The flight was long, we had a screaming toddler on our flight. I ended up watching a few movies, Fantastic Beasts, Get Hard, and I started BFG, but didn’t finish it. We made it into Atlanta around 6 and customs took forever to get through, everybody was tired and wore out and didn’t have much left in them. Some of the people ended up getting held up in customs for a while.

When I went to go find food with Rachel and Lacey we went to a place like Starbucks and got a muffin and chocolate milk, we had about 30 minutes before we had to board to find food, so that is what we found. We made it back to St. Louis around 8:50am I believe and made it back to campus around 11am I think, where my mom and my sister where waiting for me. I’m happy to be back in the states, but I’m ready to go back again too.

Until the ‘morrow we will speak again

~Megan