Winding up

This jitney was completely decked out in Jamacian flag paraphonalia. It made for an fun ride!

This is Arrowack Cay (pronounced key) where the Junkanoo in June is held on the weekend of this month. I went with my neighbors and some of their out of town guests. Everyone had a great time!

Hey all, just a few weeks left to go until I return to Bellingham. We have 2.5 more days of school and then we pack up our classrooms and do other miscellaneous jobs. Here are a few pics from the latest events from this weekend. This last picture is one my friend took of me at Plantation Hill, an open air restaurant up on a hill with luscious greens all around! I don't know the name of the orange flowering tree but i will know sooner...check back!

Sunday in Ecuador...Cuenca in the Andes Mountains

This is the Cajas, on the way to Cuenca. The windows were hand tinted, but apparently they need some help with the bottom right...i didn't realize until later that this was in the screen. The 3 hour trip to Cuenca was interesting: foggy roads, 70% paved, and a driver who was going mach speeds and driving all over the place to avoid a bumpy ride. Let's just say, i think my knuckles were white for that hour of the ride.

Downtown Cuenca

Posing in Cuenca

Ecuadorian Man: Thanks to Camille posing, I was able to take this gentleman's photo

On the way into Cuenca

Saturday in Ecuador: Las Penas, the Malacon (Boardwalk), Rugby game

Las Riveras is the guarded community that Camille lives in.

Rio Centro is the mall where we spent Saturday morning working on getting camille's blog site up and running while enjoying cafe con leche and other tasty Ecuadorian treats.

This is downtown Guayaquil on our way to the Las Penas and the Malacon which are next to each other.

Waiting for the bus

Ecuador Blitz June 2-5th

Wow!!! What a whirlwind of a weekend! After my flight being canceled out Nassau and missing my connecting flight in Miami, I finally arrived in Ecuador on friday June 2nd! It was an eventful day, that is for sure. Once I was on the plane heading to Ecuador, the pilot came over the speaker and said that the co-pilot had not arrived yet because he had a flat tire on the way to work (i.e. our flight). So we sat at the terminal for an hour waiting for him. Then my seat buddy, good old Carlos Eduardo, wearing a bright orange striped shirt, was friendly as ever and made for an interesting conversation for the first 45 minutes...until he tried to move into the vacant seat next to me when I discovered the alcohol on his breathe. So you can imagine a VERY drunk Ecuadorian gentlemen trying to speak English and singing his little heart out the ENTIRE flight. Luckily, on the other side of me was a young gal, bless her heart, who made the very unfortunate mistake of telling the Ecuadarian drunk her name. He proceeded to try and distract us when watching the movie with sudden outbursts of "Al-lee-son....halllo Al-lee-sooon...i love you Al-lee-son." At that moment, i was thanking my lucky stars that he couldn't remember my name. Finally, i told the flight attendant what was going on and they began watering down his drinks...unforutnately i think we were a little late. The flight was full and of course the 1 of 2 empty seats was right next to me! Buggar! Needless to say, I have Carlos Eduardo to thank for the comic relief after a VERY stressful day, and that I arrived in one piece( physically; mentally i think i'm still recovering) to my good friend Camille.

Anyway, Camille and I had a great time together. We spent saturday going around to different sights in the buzzing metropolis of Guayaquil, followed by attending Blaine's (camille's boyfriend) rugby game and dinner out with the team. Then sunday we went up to the Andes Mountains to Cuenca, and walked around the quaint city taking photographs, eating and talking. The car ride was 6 hours round trip (3 hours each way--70% of the road paved, the unpaved 30% of course being at the summit where it was also VERY VERY FOGGY and you couldn't see more than 10 feet or so infront of you...we made it alive...:) All in all, It was so wonderful to be in the cool of the mountains, much like a fabulous spring day in Seattle! I hope you enjoy the photos. I'm curious to know what you think of the photos as i really enjoyed talking them...almost 200 in 2 short days! Can you believe it?

To top the weekend off, I celebrated my 28th birthday on June 5th, flying the friendly skies of our wonderful globe. I don't exactly recommend celebrating with perfect strangers, but it was definitely worth the trip to Ecuador and to spend quality time with a good life long friend. Carpe Diem!!! I give Ecuador 2 thumbs up!

Island Style

In typical fashion, things around the island are barely hanging on by a thread. This one just happened to be actually working. Where there's a will there's a way!

Yesterday, Karen and I found ourselves gathering sea glass at the beach by Traveler's Rest. We're hoping to add to our collection and use them in some sort of craft project upon our return home. She's thinking candleholders, I'm thinking mosaic! We were then zipped off to Old Fort Bay beach again with one the kids in her class to water ski. However, the water was too rough and so we just took a dip in the ever so beautiful crystal blue waves....life is rough here, I tell ya.

The heat is on! That's for sure. I haven't broken down and turned the A/C on. But the fans are on high, most of the time that I'm home. We're definitely heading into warmer weather now for sure. The water is fantastic, not even a bit cold when you get in.

Book Review III

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus: Simply captivated back into the late 1800s, Fergus's story teeters between fiction and non-fiction. I was frequently left wondering if this really did happen during the birth our of grand country. Written as journal entries, May Dodd takes us right along with her as she begins this "volunteer" experience. This is one book that I couldn't put down. I hope that you'll find time to read this amazing story of one woman's journey through life and the legend that lives on through her offspring.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho: Unfortunately, reading about someone's attempted suicide did not exaclty inspire me. Despite the strange behind the scenes set up of the lunatic hospital in which our young depressed character finds herself, new meaning to life await her and the rest of the residents. I enjoyed the style of writing and found it a very quick read. Perhaps I will have to give Coelho another chance and read "The Alchemist". If you've read this one, enlighten me: how did you enjoy it?

Currently Reading: Marley and Me by John Grogan and Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich

Out with the old...in with the new!!!

Old Fan

(Anyone want to take a stab at how old this one is?)

New Fan

Book Review II

Origins of Solitude By Garth Buckner: This little book is packed full of big issues: the migration of people. Where does solitude originate? How do the people who make a living off the total mistreatment of others sleep at night? While this is not exactly a page turner, it was chalk full of different perspectives of the smuggling of people from Haiti into the Bahamas. Again, not one I would have picked on my own but came way with a better understanding of the illegal immigrants, not only here in the Bahamas but across the world. Oddly enough, this is still going on today. Want to get an insiders view of this region? Then this book is for you.

Case Histories By Kate Atkinson: Couldn't put it down! A series of unfortunate events occurs and one individual is a common thread through them all. Without giving away many details of the book, I found it fresh and riveting. Atkinson has a wonderful way of giving you a snapshot view into her main characters while bringing you through the process of figuring out these mysterious occurrences. 2 thumbs up!

Upcoming reviews: "One Thousand White Women" by Jim Fergus and "Marley and Me" by John Grogan

Keep it or Cut it?

May 2006

August 2005

I'm currently taking a poll of whether or not I should cut the ol' locks or keep 'em growing...here's you chance! Let me know what you think.

May Days

Greetings to all of you regular blog visitors! It warms my heart to know that people are reading my blog and keeping up on the adventures that have presented themselves.

Many of you have been keeping up with me individually, but for those of you who haven't been, the news as of May 5th, 2006 is that I will be working at ChildLife Montessori in Bellingham, WA. It is an assistant position, but I will working with folks who have been teaching Montessori for over 20 years. It is a opportunity of a lifetime to be working there. It starts at the end of August.

I will be returning to Seattle on July 2nd and making the journey to Bellingham shortly after that. Would love to see as many folks as I can, so email me or you can call me on my old cell # after May 12th and leave a message. :)

Looking forward to heading back to the greater US of A.

Pao hana from the Bahamas....
Ana
P.S. Still looking for anyone who is insterested in flying here to visit and help me take some stuff home....7 weeks left to enjoy a free place to crash!!!!

Happy Easter

I spent Easter on Cabbage Beach with a co-worker

rough times I tell ya!

Old Fort Bay Beach: Does it get any better?

House from the movie "Into The Blue"

Sandy Port Canal

(SandyPort is where a lot of our families live, on these beautiful canals. We were truly spoiled!)

Karen soaking up rays

One big sand castle

Jamaician Easter Bread Ad

(the family whose boat we went on is both Jamaican and Bahamian, so were celebrating all cultures)

Old Fort Bay Beach

tough day on the job

Fort Montague

they do exist!!!

cannons cannons everywhere....

view from Fort Montague wall (little pink buildings in the backright are the towers of Atlantis Hotel)

my expat neighbors

camera happy

No Fear, No Regrets

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”
~Alan Cohen

First Monday of Spring break...go figure! The first few days were a complete down pour! And unfortunately the photo doesn't do it any justice...lightening, thunder the whole works!!!! The roads flood terribly here.

Spring Break begins!

beach at traveler's rest
my loot
this is conor, he's helping me find sea glass
Good Fellows Farm...sportin' my news shoes!