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Hola amigos,
a quick update in writing and a promise for pictures of the new adventures to come soon! Since the last island adventure I have been doing pretty much the same stuff work-wise (La Playita, Los Frailes, Shark Monitoring & Measuring, etc.) So, work is going along at aout the same pace though I am working on a coral rehabilitation project on Isla Salango and we will be diving this week to figure out the details for the project-wyoo hoo!
I started Spanish classes with a professor who has a small school for éxtranejeros´here in PL. This was one of the smartest decisions I have made here so far. Getting a refresher on the general ´rules´ existing for verb conjugations and sentence structures is clarifying a LOT! The learning curve has been heightened and this is always encouraging as I LOVE when things flow and I feel like I am learning things in every conversation I have. Aside from being a great professor of Spanish I enjoy the company of my teacher. I am getting a good, thorough cultural education of life here in Lopez for all kinds of families (politicians fisherman, farmers, venders, artisans, etc.) Some of the stories he tells me are quite eye opening and bring up strong emotions of empathy, gratitude, sympathy, sadness, and respect all at the same time.
I was able to make it to Guyaquil and Salinas (both south of PL) for a short weekend vacation following the island adventure. Guyaquil I liked, it is the biggest city in Ecuador and I really havent heard many good thing about it. It is pretty modern so you don´t exactly get the ´nature-infused, culturally rich feel that you get from a lot of the pueblos and other cities like Quito) though the parks and rivers were beautiful and i enjoyed walking around the shops downtown.
We went to Salinas to watch the Junior Mudial Surf Competition which had competitors from 8 or more countries. It was a blast to watch, and i was particularly impressed with the girl surfers. Australia went home with 2 champions, Hawaii one, and South Africa one. Following Salinas we made it to Ayampe for a night. Ayampe is a tiny town on the coast in route back to PL. We snorkled the roack reef there, got some good hours of sleep, and ate a lot of good food. I spent most of the day writing and reading and overall felt super-charged upon making it back to PL!
Other than Spanish classes and short vacations I am out of exciting things to report.. Equilibrio Azul is expecting 6 new volunteers from the states this week. The house will be full full full onec again, and I am certainly looking forward to having more girlfriends (as a girl can never have enough of these ;-)
until next time...paz en tu dia, ciao ciao
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