n - It's only just begun.......... :)

Today Tavo took me around the back roads of Quito - well not the back roads, but places much less often visited by tourists. We walked down the most exquisite cobble stoned lanes, lined with high up balconies filled with flowers and early Christmas decorations. The skyline is dotted with the spires of Cathedrals and Churches and old buildings, many from the 15th and 17th century. It is really a beautiful city. Apart from the traffic! The drivers take no notice of the lines depicting the lanes - basically you drive where there is space, and an inch IS space! Cars pull out, pass and stop whenever they want and need to and everyone just adjusts to it all. I did not see a single fender bender, but there is a constant language being spoken - the honking of the horn. Mostly these are short toots that mean many things - "hello", "want a ride", "I am not stopping even if it is a stop sign", "ok go", and so on. Public transport by bus is the cheapest way around and there are more buses and taxis than cars and pickups by far. When you want a bus to stop - no, you don't have to wait at an official bus stop, you simply hold out your hand, it will slow down enough to hop on and then off it goes again.

Many of the streets were closed to traffic today, being Sunday, so we only competed with the trolley buses for walking place. The roads are,
in many places, made from the same stone as many of the buildings - also from centuries ago. Very few of them are level, so I had to watch where I was walking carefully. Around every corner there was a view of something fascinating or just plain beautiful. There are many doors
leading right off the side walks and I have obviously developed a love of these doors. They are incredibly ornate, many times with amazing
carvings, other times designs made of metal if the form of studs or swishy whirls - its hard to describe. I will have to put the photos up for you to see.

We came across the main town square that houses the San Fransisco Cathedral and two of the oldest and most expensive hotels in Quito, and there was an extremely colorful celebration going on. I wish I could
remember the reason for the celebrations going on all week here, but this one consisted of people from a good few countries dancing, singing and beating drums all the way up the road. The best for me was the costumes of the Mexicans - they were stunning.

 It was a lovely day and my camera got filled to the brim. I could not get enough of the insides of those ancient churches, the beauty of the
sculptured outsides and also the people walking everywhere. There were church services going on all over town, people walked in, sat down and
stayed for a while, or stood and took photos in awe, like I did. People were everywhere, playing street games, hop scotch and other, eating from
the food stands dotted everywhere, just sitting on the sidewalks watching the world go by. I love the faces of the older generations here - each of them tell of history that I hope someone else knows too.

The color everywhere is beautiful and there were plenty of smiles and laughter going on all around. This is a country with a strong culture, one that binds them and it shows in the general respect given to all. I love this place.

And so here I sit in my hotel room, bags packed for the umpteenth time, feet up resting and ready to go early in the morning. I don't want to
leave. I don't want to leave. But I am ready to get a day closer to coming back.

Its not over - I feel it in my bones that this part of my life has only just begun.... and what a great feeling it is!

When I first started looking at doing a trip on my own, I knew that I wanted, and needed, to do something way out of my comfort zone, something totally different from any other trip I have been on - I needed to grow. Also, and maybe this has something to do with age, but this time I felt that I had to do more than just 'go and see' the places.... I wanted to be involved in some way - to give back and to
make a difference. I also wanted to learn the language - there is a wall between people when a language is not known. Yes, sign language works most times, and struggling through 'talking' can be fun at times
and laughter is universal, but how to learn about their culture, how to ask the deeper questions and to have a conversation......that's almost not possible without at least a fair understanding of the language. Its all fine and well to be able to ask for water, food or beers, but there is so much more - SO much more.

I signed on for two weeks of Spanish tuition in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle....... this included a week at Yachana Lodge, a weekend in Tena, and a week at Sinchi Warmi Center. That's one sentence........... what happened is a lifetime of change for me. A learning that I could not have imagined, a growth that has particularly strengthened my mouth muscles causing a perpetual smile and a dance deep inside my soul.

The Napo River, in all its muddy glory has some kind of hold on me. I stopped trying to figure out why, or what causes that - it simply is the way it is. I loved being on the canoe, waltzing down the river watching the jungle go by, and tubing slowly downriver with Avel was an incredible experience. Apart from the rush of water, there was such a silence, a peace and tranquility that I have not had many other times in my life. Learning about the plants and animals, trekking through miles of slippery, mossy undergrowth of the jungle, sweating buckets per hour with the heat and humidity and seeing the most beautiful scenery, all brought me closer to the person I really am. At night I would sit on that deck at Yachana looking over the Napo River, or lay in my hammock and just soak up the sounds, smells and feelings of the jungle. There really is nothing like it.

The weekend in Tena - well, that really put me way out there in a wonderful way. I was left in the town not knowing anyone at all, not knowing the language enough to get me out of trouble - what is 'help!'
in Spanish anyway? Waving my arms to be rescued from that island did not help much at all either. I was very obviously different looking from almost every one there and really could not blend in. I loved
every minute of it though and would happily go back there right now! I am really glad that I did not go on the tour for that weekend, I absolutely loved being alone, discovering the town and discovering me.
I could have stayed there on my own for at least another week. Tena is a place I will definitely go back to again.

The short distance between Tena and Misahualli (correct spelling - pronounced 'Misha-wa-yee") where Sinchi Warmi is, surprised me - it was only about 30 minutes in total, and yet so many differences in
lifestyle, what is available and how life is done on so many levels. Also, the sun fleas and mosquitoes don't like Tena - they thrived in the lush, always dampness of the jungle

When I first arrived at Sinchi Warmi (Strong Women), I had serious doubts about what I had got myself into. Here were no private bathrooms - the shower hut only had a half door, the only air conditioning was no windows, no sign of internet or couches even. The tv is an old 13 inch in the main gathering area, nailed to a beam up near the ceiling and on which the kids loved to watch...... yes, The Jungle Book, with Mowgli and Sheer Khan and all. The kitchen was the hub of life at the Center, it was a busy place, most evenings filled with many family members cooking, chatting and laughing. Yes there were bugs flying around and yes the chickens walked up the steps into the kitchen sometimes, and yes
butterflies and other flying things whooshed their way through the gathering area quite often....... but it was so filled with a wonderful feeling that little else really mattered.

The people of Sinchi Warmi not only saw me as a guest there and a bringer of goods, but they seemed to fold themselves around me, giving me so much more than I could have imagined. The smiles, laughter - at and with me were beautiful. Their way of life here is amazing, its tough and I am sure not much fun most of the time, but they have such a grace about getting on with it.. It's really lovely to see.

Ecuador is so many things, its beautiful, arid, dry in places, lush green and damp in others. In the jungle, even my notebook had a dampness to it all the time. And here in Quito its dry, clothes dry in
hours unlike the days it takes the further inland you go. The country is seeped in tradition and in the Catholic religion and driving to Cotopaxi yesterday, we passed through towns of different cultures and
the differences were clear - and always with really beautiful church's in each town. It is a country of contrasts, color and a utter beauty. It feels as if each time I experienced something here, that it added
something to me, changed me in many ways.

I felt as if I were more in touch with the people of Ecuador this time, I loved being among them, walking, talking and eating with them and bouncing around insanely for hours and hours on those hot, sweaty, crammed bus rides or quietly floating down a wide rushing river in a tube with another. I could not help but smile my greeting at the ladies that sell toilet paper at the public toilets (yup - 15c for "twice
around the hand" amount), or the men that happily held out their hands to help me on and off the buses. It was good to watch the smile in the eyes of the people I spoke to in Spanish - to listen to their patience
in correcting me or smiling their understanding of my halting words. Heck, I even wear my mozzie bites with pride these days - maybe because they don't itch quite so much?

I frikken did it! I did it on my own and I had a blast. I learned a fair bit of the language, I loved being out of my comfort zone and coped well with it. I saw things, ate things and did things that I could not have imagined I would. I succeeded in what I wanted to do on this trip..... It was all I wanted it to be and then so, so much more! I am
proud of me, please with myself and am thrilled to bits that I actually did all this! This has been an incredibly deep, wonderful learning fortnight. I met beautiful people, laughed, learned and itched my way from the Amazon Jungle to the concrete Jungle of Quito, always with a sense of wonder and appreciation at being able to be here. I know I have changed in many ways and I know I will be back in Ecuador againbefore too long.

Another really big thank you goes to Gold Bond, the pencil company in Chattanooga, Tennessee that donated hundreds of pencils to the children of the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle. Another really big thank you goes to everyone that added to those suitcases that were so much appreciated by the Sinchi Warmi Community. You all made a very real difference, you all changed lives in such a good and positive way.

And I got the biggest benefit of it all. :)

Thank you all for coming along for the ride. I promise photos next week after I get over the flight back home tomorrow.

Love, light, laughter and....... more than words can describe

Annie

www.amazontravels.blogspot.com