Aloja Loja!

Hi Mom, Dad, Brandon, Grams, Auntie, Voutey Girls, Altieri´s, Kanoffs, family, friends, everyone I love!

¿How are you all? Todo bien I hope. Again as I sit down to write this entry, I feel like I have so much to say and am not quite sure how to write it--so many GREAT things have been going on in my life---the most exciting probably being the four day vacation I took to Vilcabamba, Loja this past weekend. Absolutely amazing. I´m going to try my best to update you on this crazy life, but my thoughts are most likely going to be scattered, per usual. Let´s see how this turns out.

Here goes....

So last friday at about 11pm, Mary, Megan, and I set out for our destination---Le Rendezvous Hosteria in Vilcabamba, Loja--aka the ciudad de juventud---or city of youth. Megan had been talking about Vilcabamba for a while saying that she really wanted to get back there during one of our long weekends, and based on her descriptions of this quaint little town, I knew that it had to be a place I visited before I left Ecuador. Let´s just say that this little town surpassed all of my expectations and now ranks pretty highly in my list of travels---I will definitely go back one day. Maybe even my honeymoon....well i guess i shouldn´t get ahead of myself ha.

You´re probably wondering why we left at 11 at night, and that is because in order to get to this lovely place, we needed to hop on a bus for 9 hrs---yeah that´s right, i was on a bus for 9hrs overnight. and surprisingly, i handled it pretty well, i guess i should also mention that this 9hr bus ride was up through the Andes mountains. so for about 2 hrs during our ascension up the rocky cliffs, i was pretty much scared shittless, but again--handled myself well ha---like i said, i´d do it again---well worth the trip. So we got to Vilcabamba at about 8am, and fortunately weren´t wiped from an overnight bus.

Our Hostel was absolutely adorable---when I say I felt like I was in a storybook--I do not lie. We had our own room, own bathroom, with HOT water, a little terrace with a hammock, and from our front door we had the most beautiful view of gardens and mountains. It was breathtaking. Not to mention, the climate in this town is described as a "constant spring"---perfectly temperate--so being there was an awesome reprieve from the hundred degree heat we face everyday here in Durán. The Hostel was run by a cute little french couple who moved to Vilcabamba after traveling there and falling in love with the place--i can totally see how that happened, so easy to do---they greeted us every morning so cheerily, and as part of our stay there we were given a DELICIOUS breakfast served fresh to us every morning on our terrace---overlooking the mountains, the gardens, the humingbirds, beauty, life etc----i need to elaborate more on this breakfast because for me it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip---fresh squeezed pinapple, mango, passion fruit and orange juice, hot, rich, brewed coffee in a cute little ceramic pot, fresh fruit cup with papaya, banana, watermelon, mango, scrambled eggs, crunchy, CRUNCHY real wheat toast with seeds and nuts and all that good stuff topped with real butter and french jam--maybe the best bread i have ever eaten--ya know what, maybe even the best breakfast i´ve ever eaten. i mean all of that paired with the view, the climate, the "vacation" feel----those mornings were beautiful. simply marvelous as my mom might say.

so after we started each day off with the breakfast of champions---we´d head out to do some more lovely things---i.e. go horseback riding in the mountains (1st time i´ve EVER riden a horse, also 1st time I almost died on a horse---well maybe that´s exaggerating a bit, but let´s just say once is enough), shop around at the cute artisan markets, sit in café´s and eat more delicious food---crepes being one of my favorites---oh, or get massages at one of the many spas that the town prides itself on....yeah this sounds ridiculous doesn´t it---it was---that juxtaposed next to my life in Durán--you really can´t get more opposite. and i´m not saying i "deserved" this vacation after living in Durán for 3 months, because it´s not like that either---it´s just that this was definitely a time to replenish---a time to focus on me for a little bit, and enjoy some of the beautiful things Ecuador has to offer. i hope this doesn´t sound selfish, well i guess in a way it kind of was...but a good selfish---like it was necessary for me to take care of myself, and breathe for a bit, so that i could continue to grow and take care of others---and i really don´t even think im rationalizing.

anyways---i guess what i´m trying to say is that Vilcabamba was the clean, pure, breath of fresh air that i was really craving. and we had SO much fun---Mary is just hilarious--so funny and real--traveling with her was a great decision because we were on the same page for everything we wanted to do. i never felt that stress or obligation that i had to sacrifice or "do" something i didn´t want to just to compromise with what the group wanted to do. we always agreed which was easy. and what else... let´s see---i mean there really isn´t much else to say---overall just so relaxing, so chill, so fun, and necessary. if i had to put a number on this trip it would definitely get a 9.5/10---the only thing that would´ve made it better would´ve been if my mom was there to have breakfast with me every morning. all i kept thinking about was---geeze my mom would love this moment---maybe one day she´ll come back with me, but i think we´d have to fly there because there´s no way in hell she´d ever get on the same bus i did--sorry mom!

back to work on wednesday after a lovely trip...however, i really wasn´t dreading it---redima wasn´t bad, and semillas was...well...okay---we had another incident on wednesday, but i really can´t even get into it right now---maybe in time i´ll be able to write about it, but for right now, it´s still pretty raw.

and today is friday---these weeks just keep on flying! 3 months! i´ve been here for 3 months, and i still can´t believe it. it scares me when i turn the page on my calendar without ever even looking at the month that passed. so bizarre.

well i´ve gotta run, there´s more i could say, but i´ve just spent way to much time and money in this stupid little cyber. oh! i need to give a little shout out to Big Bri---he needs to know how much he brightened my day this past wednesday after a really shitty semillas afternoon. so thank you for that. seriously.

i love love love you all, but i hope you know that. happy belated birthday Troy! i was thinking about you yesterday, but couldn´t get to a computer!

the letters have all been great! thank you everyone!

i´m going to try and put pictures of vilcabamba up soon---but also check out mary´s blog because she might get them up quicker than i can--marycarlton.blogspot.com

miss you mucho!
xoxox,
lupita