From August 18th, 2013

Excerpt from Travel Journal:

For Mom,
Today was my first full day here Machala with my host family. I still haven't met my host father because he has been busy working in Quito. I don't know when he will be returning. Soon, hopefully. First thing to know, there are literally thousands of arboles de platanos here in Machala, or on the outskirts of town I think. Look, there's another one. On our lovely 10 hour bus ride from Quito to Machala, most of the towns/cities we past had many shack like houses that people lived in while in Machala it is a little more urban. Not too many big skyscrapers though. I also noticed that there are a lot of stray dogs just roaming freely around town. Also, there were a lot of cows, donkeys, goats, sheep, and oxen along the road between Quito y Machala. Yesterday, my host mother Marjorie and sister Bernarda (Berni) drove through town so I could see the different things. We drove past the school I will be attending as well as Puerto Bolivar on the Gulf of Guayaquil which is part of the Pacific Ocean. Puerto Bolivar is about 15 minutes from Ciudad Verde, a very nice/pretty housing development where I am living. Today, we drove 1 hour to the smaller town of Arenillas. I think it's the last town of any size before you reach the frontier or boarder between Ecuador y Peru.

Here are some pictures from my travels so far:

Myself and my host sister's grandparents adorable puppy in Arenillas, Ecuador.

View from the bus ride of Quito, I think.

View of the mountains near Quito.

The church next to what is called Central Park in Machala.

Myself and my host sister Bernarda next to a sea-like thing. I don't know the name of the town.

The sign that made us really happy after almost 10 hours of driving. Welcome to Machala!

Me by a really old boat near the same sea-like thing.

Signs in the boarder town between Ecuador and Peru. It's called Huayquayas (I doubt I spelled that right).

Happy puppy!!! I took this picture right as the puppy was trying to lick the camera.

I'm on my way, finally, to Ecuador at the airport.

I thought the name of the street was funny. It translates to June 25th Ave. In another part of town, there are streets name after countries like Chile and El Salvador.