In Memoriam

Hugo Villalobos Pintag

The best buddy a Peace Corps Volunteer could ask for.

Hugo is no longer with us, may he Rest In Peace.

We miss you already, Hugo...

En Sevilla

Hace unas semanas estuve en Sevilla...



Pero, tal vez no la Sevilla que se imaginaban.

Sevilla de Oro, Ecuador

(Hay tantos amigos mios a los cuales me encantaría dedicar esa última foto
...pero mi gran amigo Owen creo que ganaría el premio. ¡Cuidado, chicas!)

Weddings in Cuenca

Once again I return to the virtual world...Below I'll drop you some of the most recent pics from down here in Ecuador, but I guess I should first give you an update on my life. I have now successfully completed my two years of Peace Corps service, which flew by...had a great time in Licto, made so many great friends and was sad to leave it behind, but I'm also excited for what lies ahead. I extended my service with Peace Corps, but now I'll be in the CITY of Cuenca for the next year or so. Thankfully, my girlfriend Gaby has been able to move back to Cuenca as well (she used to live here before I met her). Anyways, I've got really cool work going on down here and I'm excited to be here.

The two weddings you'll see pictures of here actually took place here in Cuenca, and going to these weddings in Cuenca are really what motivated me to ask for an extension in Cuenca. Both weddings were between an American Peace Corps volunteer and an Ecuadorian (I'll let you know when the next American-Ecuadorian wedding will be taking place...next year work for you all?)

Gaby and I with our 'bored' faces...some something like that.

Our friend Ceci and her dad.

After the ceremony in the church

Beautiful reception hall for the wedding.

Ceci and her husband Fernando

Gaby and I, a couple of the last guests to leave the party

The other wedding: our friends Joel and his wife Mayra

The first dance

Gaby and I at the other wedding.

Gaby and two former Peace Corps volunteers: Lonnie and Sarah

Gaby in Cuenca's central park

That's all for now, I hope to update the last pictures from Licto and the first ones from my house in Cuenca within a couple weeks. 'Til next time...

My 1st First Communion Tabacundo

A month or so ago, I took advantage of a Peace Corps conference in Quito to visit my host family in Tabacundo. It also happened to be the date of the First Communion of one of my 'cousins or nieces or something like that', so I got to go to that and celebrate afterwards with the family.

Jhanice on the left with the First Communion-er, Nadia

Cute picture of a girl helping her grandpa down the stairs of the church

The cathedral in Tabacundo

Me, shanking hands with El Che. He's a lot taller than I expected...
Nadia, praying during the First Communion

The family, with the Godfather and Godmother on the left

A somewhat-more complete family. The matron of the family who is 80 years old had 17 kids, so this is actually only about 10 percent of the extended family.

Don't forget to check out the other blog I posted today...

Wrapping up in Licto

Well, as some of you may already know, I've extended my time with Peace Corps for another year, but this time around it's going to be a little different...No Kichwa, no guinea pigs with peanut sauce, and a much lower proportion of smelly busses per day: I'm moving at the end of July to the city of Cuenca. Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador and (in my opinion) by far the nicest city to live in. But for now, I've got to get caught up on what's been going on in the last couple months that I haven't let you all in on. I'll start today with some pictures from the last months (and some older pics) in Licto.

The photos are a little out of order and some of them aren't mine (big thanks to my friend Eider from Florencia/Cali for a lot of the pictures of people in Licto...pictures I'd be too embarrassed to take)...

Inside Licto's colonial cathedral on Good Friday

A sweet old lady who wanders the street of Licto every day

Palm Sunday procession at the cathedral

An old guy from Licto...one of many

Cute little kid selling coconuts

Another old guy...

Palm Sunday

The quintessential hornado pig

Fruit seller in the market on Sundays...she always asks for help packing stuff up and gives me free fruit when I help her...but never takes the scowl off her face.

Yet another old guy...

And another...

Good Friday in Licto

Good Friday set-up inside the cathedral

Carnaval procession outside the cathedral

A friend of mine, on top of 'Mount' Tulabug...notice that he wanted his truck to show up in the background...He loves his truck.

Palm Sunday continued

Me, on top of one of the other big hills that surround Licto: El Sas.

Good Friday

I found it pretty hilarious that this guy had a keyboard and microphone inside the truck so he could provide live music for the Good Friday procession

Cristo

NOT the KKK, thank you very much.

Carnaval in Licto is a big savage at times...this year i got covered in purple paint in addition to the typical flour and egg.

I look happy, but only because of the moonshine they'd given me after covering me in paint

View from the top of El Sas. That's Licto down there. See my house?

Me, with visitors. This woman (American) and her husband came out to Licto while in the process of looking for a ranch to retire to in Licto (the guy on the right is the taxi driver, not the husband)

My good friend from Licto, Mickey on top of El Sas.

A little bit of everything in this post, but a pretty good variety of what goes on in Licto.

All play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy.

Beach Vacation in Esmeraldas

I'm getting REAAAALLY close to having this blog up to date now, with this blog getting me all the way into February and March, so here goes nothing...

A couple months ago I took about a week off from work in order to take a break to the beach, a place I've only been to about 3 or 4 times over my 2 years in Ecuador. I know, it's pretty pathetic to only got to the beach once or twice a year when you live in a tropical country named after the freakin' EQUATOR, but living at least 7 or more hours from the beach makes it a little difficult to just drop down the beach for a day or two.

My girlfriend (Gaby, for those who don't know her) and I, went to what is generally known as the most beautiful beach province in Ecuador: Esmeraldas. We hit a total of 5 different beaches during our week and had a wonderful time. The highlights:

Sunset in the surfer town of Mompiche, my favorite beach of all.

Living the good life.

This is not actually from Esmeraldas, it's from a bat-filled cave I found right outside my town...creepy.

Some friends at my house one night when we grilled out and made a bonfire in my patio. Not from my beach vacation, either, obviously.

Gaby, small. Trees, big. These trees line a secluded black sand beach next to Mompiche.

Gaby, sunbathing on the black sand beach.

Again, secluded...we spent two days hanging out on this beach and didn't see a single person.

Another Mompiche sunset.

Me, living the Peace Corps life.

Don't see many of these in the States anymore, huh?

Beach huts...the dream life.

Black sand.

View on the way to the secluded black sand beach

Ryan, small. Beach cliffs, big.

These houses reminded me of pictures I've seen of Greece. Actually, just a town called Same (pronounced Sah-may)

Me, boogie boarding...way too cool to surf...or maybe just too poor.

Drinking fresh-made juices and fruit milkshakes.

Bus stop...Gaby promoting Porta, my cell phone company down here.

Drinking juice...

Not from Esmeraldas...Me 'n' Killu

Killu's new preferred sleeping spot...under the bed.

A lady who sells stuff in Licto's market on Sunday's has a labrador and I offered to take care of him for a day...different kind of Lab than Killu, but they had fun playing anyways.

Gaby and Killu.

Dogs at play stopping for a water break.