A life in Colombia
We have been hearing the odd horror story ever since we arrived in Quito. They are mostly tales of hapless tourists. There are tourists who let it slip that they are flying home the following day, only to discover some drugs have been slipped in their bag. Similarly, there are the idiots who think it is […]
MoreEcuadorian bureaucracy is a joy for which there are apparently no limits. It started at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where you need a mountain of paperwork, every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed, to obtain your visa. Yawn. It continued today in spectacular fashion. Last week we successfully obtained our full visas via the […]
MoreAmazingly, the zip wire incident managed to unlock my dislike of all things adrenaline and I LOVED careering down a river in an inner tube. That may sound harsh on our white water raft, but that is exactly what it was – eight inner tubes tied together, flying through the spray and rocks. We wandered […]
MoreMany people assume you need to be brave to be a journalist. That is absolutely not true. To be a journalist, you need to be a professional. If you are put into a potentially scary or dangerous situation you do not think about how potentially scary or dangerous it is. No. You think about the […]
MoreMy days in Quito have settled into an easy and surprisingly enjoyable routine – I am already feeling sad about swapping this city for the Galapagos (I know!) and even considering re-enrolling at the school again afterwards. This is how my day goes… 6.40am – Wake up. 7am – Say hola to Maria and devour her breakfast. 7.30am […]
MoreIt occurs to me that with all my ramblings about my life here, I haven’t said one word about the lovely city of Quito. I’m not sure which bright spark decided to build a capital city in a valley surrounded by volcanoes, but it’s beautiful. I love walking out of Ruth’s house in the morning and seeing the […]
More“Who here has their boyfriend?” Silence. “Who here has their girlfriend?” More silence. “Excellent,” beams Edi, our short and slightly rotund middle-aged dance teacher, who is atonishingly fluid of the hip. “In my classes we make romance. Sometimes we make marriage.” Fat chance Edi, fat chance. The warm up for his salsa class was not […]
MoreI am today recovering from one of the most excruciating dinner table conversations I’ve ever endured. The nine of us (seven volunteers plus Monika and her son) went out for dinner to a lovely Ecuadorian restaurant. I was seated near the end, next to Pippa, beside Monika and opposite Pa-ool (his name really should be […]
MoreThere was a scary first day of school feel about this morning. We left at 8am, after collecting the sandwiches Maria had prepared and walked to school in time for lessons at 8.30. The tuition is all one-on-one which is great because it meant my teacher, Maribel, could start with the idiot stuff for me. […]
MoreI thought I signed up for two weeks of Spanish lessons in Ecuador, but it turns out I have also signed up to learn cooking, cocktails and, er, salsa. The first two are fine. I quite like the idea of learning how to make a mean roast Alpaca or fix a particularly potent Mojito. But […]
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Banana Skin Flip Flops 