Thursday, July 10, 2008

Bienvenido! (I think that means welcome!)


Well, after a long day of traveling, I made it to Ecuador all safe and sound. It was a fairly uneventful trip and I even saw a famous celebrity on the plane to Ecuador. I also remembered how cool it is to watch clouds out of the window. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's really cool flying through and above clouds. When flying over the Pacific it looked like each cloud was its own little island of cotton candy. Or marshmallow. Anyways.

I was kind of bummed that I couldn't fly in during daytime to see everything we were flying over. But it was worth it when we approached the city. The overhead view of the city lights was spectacular.

So funny story. For the past 2 weeks Shan and I have been laughing about our eventual meeting in the airport. We were envisioning some sort of dramatic embrace, where I'd walk through the airport and see her standing there with a sign waiting for me. Suddenly, the lights would dim and then shine directly on her. I'd drop by bags and start running in slow motion, while the some sappy acoustic guitar song would play in the background. Or something like that. So I landed, walked briskly through the hallways, sped through customs, and was fortunate to walk into baggage claim and immediately spot my bag. So I continued to follow the crowds until I saw where everyone was waiting for their loved ones. There had to have been 150 people waiting with signs and smiles. I kept looking for Shan and my sign but all I saw were people that didn't look anything like her and were holding signs for Eduardo, Victor, and Julio. I frantically searched for her but couldn't find her. I wandered around for 10 minutes and finally just stood int he middle of the crowded hallway by the door waiting for her to walk in. And waited. And waited. 25 minutes later I had to text her (not sure how much that costs...). Turns out they hadn't even left yet! Her host mom said that they could wait for a while since it usually takes a while to get off the plane and grab my bags and such. I also landed about 15 minutes early. So while I waited all by myself in the middle of the Quito airport, Shan was at home watching Juno with her sister. Fortunately, she only lives about 3 minutes away. So we eventually found each other and it was fine. We're still laughing about this.

I know yesterday I said I wouldn't be online at all, but I'm currently at the University killing time while Shan goes to her last class. Not sure if I'll be on again though anytime soon. I'll be in touch sooner or later though!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Ecuador!

I'm leaving in 5 minutes for the airport! I can't believe I'll actually be in Ecuador tonight....
en
I'm not sure how often, if at all, I'll blog from there. I'd like to, but at the same time, I'm also looking forward to being internet-less for two straight weeks. There's something appealing about being away from a computer and the rest of the world for a while so that I can really enjoy the culture, being with Shannon, and soaking in what God has put in Ecuador.

So on that note, see you all in 2 weeks!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

My Half Birthday


When I was a little kid I'd always joke around that I was the only one who had their half-birthday celebrated with fireworks (along with all the January 4'ers out there). It was cool. And I always followed it with a plea for half of my normal allotment of presents. I tried again this year and was swiftly denied. I think I'm now 0 for 18.

Anyways, I've always loved the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays for two reasons: 4th of July parades and fireworks. I love them because they are so timeless. It's not like easter egg hunting and trick-or-treating, favorite pastimes that become less cool and fun as you get older (unless you're me). Of course, now that I think of it, I do appreciate those kinds of things that are usually for the younger audience. After all, one of my favorite moves is A Goofy Movie. Does anyone else enjoy these holiday traditions as much as I do?

I went to my first 4th of July in Mason. It's weird to me that I've never been around for the holiday. It was quite the experience. Practially the whole town comes out for the parade, which is ingredient #1 for a great 4th of July parade (for the record, Northville has a GREAT parade). I loved it. Some of the highlights:
  • About 92% of the entries were tractors
  • I received my own mini flag to wave around from a Colonel
  • Several "USA USA" chants
  • A decent collection of Starbursts and Watermelon Dum Dum suckers, which are infinitely better than the parade staples (Tootsie rolls, Now N Laters, and Super Bubble). I did bring home a lot of those too
One of my favorite games to play while watching fireworks (well, the only game I've played) is to name the fireworks. My favorites are (see if you can picture these fireworks; they're classics):
  • Paparazzi (the one with all the flashes of light with no sound)
  • Gettysburg (flashes of light with sound)
  • Death Star (any huge firework, kind of the like the one I posted)
  • Weeping Willow (self-explanatory)
I tried to take pictures of the fireworks with my phone, but as usual when taking pictures of fireworks, they didn't turn out. Here's a decent one