Warp speed

This is the point in my blog where I should have had several posts about the post-Ecuador part of my summer, but quite frankly it was busy and full and I lots to do other than blog... such as hanging with my new niece


Visiting Georgia



Going to my high-school friend's wedding as well as planning my own



And, of course, helping build and then playing in a sandbox with my favorite little guy.

Ahh, summer in a nutshell...

Leaving Quito (Back to the Coast)

Old Quito

We spent a day hanging out in Old Quito which has some really beautiful buildings (although, oddly enough, the vast majority of shops in this part of Quito sell shoes or undergarments... it's a bit bizarre).

These pictures are of the Basilica, a rather old building that is still "in progress". From it you can get great views of the city. Unfortunately that requires you to go up lots of stairs and scary spiral stairs (think glorified fire poles...)A view of another tower of the Basilica, from the tower shown below. The arrow shows how high I climbed. Because I am a wuss, I didn't go higher--it would have required climbing up tall ladders made of rebar .

Teleférico

The Teleférico is a new and very cool thing here in Quito. As long as you can handle heights (or are capable of taking 15 minute naps when and wherever you want) it is an activity I'd highly recommend. Monday mornings seem to be the best time to go, provided the skies are clear.

If you've gone downhill skiing at a large enough resort, you've encountered this type of transportation before--boxes on cables. Quito itself is very high in altitude, but this takes you up to the top of a mountain that is about 4,050 meters.


When you get to the top you can walk to even higher lookout areas and get a fantastic view of Quito.

And yes, in case you are wondering, that is my fiancé :)

Middle of the World

The place where people go to visit the equator in Ecuador, near Quito, is called Mitad del Mundo which made me feel like I was going to see hobbits or something... Alas, the middle of the world is not Middle Earth...

On either side of the equator

The view from the top of the marker/museum

Something new...

Leaving, on a jet plane...Part 2a

It's pretty much like Cherry said--they switched the time on us...so I won't bore you with all the details.

No, actually, I had written this post but wanted to save it and edit it and so, like an idiot, instead of hitting the Save as Draft button, I somehow exited without saving it and I just haven't felt like rewriting it yet. Sorry!

In other news, my charming and adorable nephew can now say "iguana" and "camel" and he knows the Mongolian word for mushroom. How's that for a 19 month old?

Leaving, on a jet plane...Part 1

Flying from point A to point B within Mongolia...

Procuring tickets and confirming flight times:

It all begins a couple weeks before leaving town when Danielle and I went to purchase our plane tickets, only to realize after walking across town that we didn't have our passports or even our worker cards, which are the necessary ID for foreigners to purchase plane tickets. I was working on finalizing my students' grades at that point so didn't have time to make another trip to the AeroMongolia office, which meant that Danielle had to go a second time alone. When Danielle went back they sold her the tickets but said we should check back with them to find out what time the plane would be flying (since they like to switch flight times around on a regular basis). The day before we were to leave, I stopped by the AeroMongolia office to ask about the time and they told me, "The plane will arrive here at 8am." So, knowing how often people are confused about flight times, I asked a couple follow-up questions to verify that I'd been told the right time. "What time will it be leaving UB?" "It will depart from UB at 7am." (Check) "What time will it leave from here?" "It should leave around 8:20am." (Check, check) "What time should I get to the airport?" "You should arrive at the airport at 6:30am." (Why anyone would go to the airport before the plane had actually departed from UB, I'm not sure...but they still like to tell us to get to the airport 2 hours early.) So, having asked about the time, and having had the answers to my follow up questions confirm the time they'd told me, I went home and told Danielle that the plane would fly around 8:20am and we set about finding a ride. Our former director and current coworker came over to take some pictures with us and they decided that they'd take us to the airport in the morning at 7am.

Traveling...

Some of you are awaiting eagerly the story of my rather insane exit from the countryside and, unfortunately, you'll just have to wait a little longer. Tonight I head to the States for a summer of family, Disneyland, and Danielle's wedding. Yesterday was my birthday (Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday Mongol Mama, happy birthday to me) and my family called (of course while I was out and about in UB which gave the general public some entertainment, I guess) and my friend Heather cooked me some yummy Mexican food, so all in all, it was a good birthday. The past week, I've been running around UB trying to get stuff done so I haven't had time to sit down and write the whole crazy exit story--I promise I'll post it at some point!

Sain suuj baigaarai!