North Island Kiwi Camper Adventures

Let the kiwi land adventures begin!

We picked up our camper van, lucky rookie, and were on our way. First stop: grocery store.  We stocked up with snacks, fruit, tim tams, and bread for PBJ sandwiches, yes they have peanut butter in this country! So it's a good place here. We then hit the road toward the bay of islands, which is at the tippy top of the north island. It would be a 4 hour drive. Sara started driving and about an hour later we switched. It wa my first time driving on the left side and it went surprisingly well! The roads are narrow and our car is big so that's a little tricky, but other than that it was fine! I turned on the wind shield wipers instead of the turn signals a few times which just made us laugh. We were able to jam to my Kiwiland adventures playlist on spotify- follow it! I just got spotify before coming here and so far it's been great to use the downloaded playlists. As we cruised we enjoyed the beautiful scenery around every turn and we admired all the sheep we saw along the way!

We got into the town of Paihia around 4pm and found a campervan site to park at/ sleep at for the night! We decided it'd be a good idea to set up shop and organize our things and make lucky rookie our home. We unpacked our clothes and groceries and stored them in compartments under what would soon be our bed. We had been in the car all day so we were eager to get outside and be active. We went to the info center and they recommended a hike we could do. We drove over to this little parking lot and then started hiking from there. It was a pretty leisurely walk through a forest, then some mangroves, and then some more trees which ended at a waterfall. The waterfall was a little underwhelming, but it was still a nice walk! It took us around 75 minutes to get to the waterfall and it was around 7:30 pm when we got to the falls. We were a little nervous that we'd get stuck in the dark but we started to trek back. We were walking and then saw a family that we passed on our way there, remembering that people here are super friendly, I decided to ask them which way they were heading (basically u can we get a ride) because we were nervous we'd get caught in the dark. They were SOOO nice, of course, all kiwis have been so far. We thought they had parked by the waterfall buy actually they were staying at a holiday home near by which we walked with them to. The family lives in New Zealand and was on a weekend trip because the dad's work has holiday homes all over NZ that employees can stay at for free- how neat! We should do that in the states. The mom and one of her 5 kids joined and drove us back to where we had parked. It was so fun talking to them and learning more about New Zealand. For instance, on our hike, Sara and I thought we saw a kiwi because we knew what they looked like and figures they were common to see since they are new zeland's national bird. We told the family we saw a kiwi and they said wow that's awesome, they had never seen a kiwi in the wild. They asked where we saw it and we said in a tree on our hike. They said kiwis can't fly.. So I guess we didn't see a kiwi. But it was so interesting to learn that kiwis are rare to see, especially because they are the national bird. But then again, we don't often see bald eagles flying around the states.

We got back to our camping site, attempted to put together our bed of wooden planks and pads. We packed our bag for our snorkel excursion the next day and then went to sleep around 10pm, we would get the most sleep we had all trip that night. Sara set her alarm for 7:50 because we had to be at the wharf at 8:45 for our 9am excursion. 

In the am Sara rolls over and tells me it's 8:30, she was still in a daze but I popped up and said shit we gotta go. She had turned off her alarm when she heard it, I didn't even hear it, but we ended up sleeping until 8:30. Thankfully we had already packed our bag so we quickly changed, and even though we planned on walking over to the wharf which would take 15 minutes, we decided we would play it safe and drive over there. We were trying to find street parking but couldn't so we found a lot and parked and the tried to figure out how to pay.. There was no attendant, and then we found a pay station. However, the pay station only accepted coins and we didn't have any. It was 8:55 and we didn't know what to do, so I suggested leaving $10 under the wind shield and hoping for the best.

We sprinted to the wharf and they were literally untying the boat as we got their so we just hopped on and sailed away. It was a lovely boat and there were 12 of us total on it. The owners of the boat were a couple that lived on the boat in the summer and then had a home that they lived in for the rest of the year. The boat was adorably decorated with a little kitchen and then underneath were two bedrooms and bathrooms. Shortly after we got on the boat, we were served freshly baked homemade rhubarb, raisin and coconuts scones with homemade jams and butter. We also had tea & coffee, the coffee was delicious!  Then we went  to our first bay and did a small hike up one of the islands which had a beautiful view from up top!

We hopped back on the boat and went to another bay where we had the option of going on a hike or hanging out in the boat before lunch. Sara and I were the only ones who decided to go on the hike so we ventured out and did some climbs up this beautiful mountain! Seriously gorgeous views from every angle. We got to one of the best lookout points and then headed back down for lunch on the boat. Lunch was incredible. She made homemade Rosemary and sea salt focaccia bread- it was jaw dropping good. We also had veggie paella, salad, and chicken. After lunch we went snorkeling and saw some big fish and sea urchins. Our boat driver went to catch urchins to eat. After snorkeling for a bit we hopped back on the boat and were greeted with home made brownies with a rhubarb cream on top and homemade short bread cookies. I kid you not, the meal I had today was probably the best I'll have this entire trip. It was so good. We headed back to shore and relaxed on the boat soaking in the beautiful island views. We got back to shore for the moment of truth, which was checking too see if lucky rookie was still there and/ or if it had a ticket. We got back to the lot to find that we didn't have a ticket AND our $10 was still in the windshield. WOW! Either these people are super nice or someone wasn't doing their job today- either way, we were happy campers-- LITERALLY! :)

We the got back on the road towards Tauranga, our next destination. I drove for 4 hours and then Sara took the last 2 hour which were in the dark. We got in around 11 and tried finding a campervan park but they were all already closed. I recommended we park on the side of the road and sleep there, which Sara was understandably nervous about. Then we saw police so I hopped out the car and asked them where we could park to sleep, to which they said, the side of the road. So here we are, parked on the side of the road. Good night!

We woke up to rain pouring on our home. As our plan was to go on a hike that morning it wasn't looking too promising. We stumbled out of our lucky rookie onto the side of the street, and in our pjs, with our bed head look we opened the door to see many people walking and running. We figured if these people were hiking up the mountain this morning, we could too! So after getting cleaned up, we put on our shoes and began the hike! And then suddenly the clouds opened up and it stopped raining! It took us about 45 minutes to climb to the top. We were in Tauranga and climbing the mount there, which is at the top of their peninsula. Sadly because it had just stormed, it was pretty cloudy up there. When we got to the top we couldn't see much, but it was fun to be in the clouds up there! The hike was lovely though, tough, but wonderful views before we got to the top. 

After our hike, we headed to another town called Waitomo. Waitomo is famous for their caves, tomo means hole in their indigenous language. Their caves are not your average cave though, they are glow worm caves. They are filled with millions of little worms that attach to the ceilings of the caves and glow when it's dark. They hang nets from them to catch their prey. The caves were really neat, there was a group of 6 of us and we had a really neat 2.5 hour through a little family company that just opened 6 weeks ago, glowing adventures. The caves were really neat because since the company just opened, the caves were very untouched and less commercialized. Many of the tours in the mainstream area have bridges through them but we got real down and dirty in our gum boots and helmets with head lamps.

We got there and they gave us lots of clothes to put on and told us we could shower after our expedition. We were more excited that we would get a shower than actually going through the caves. Which says a lot because we were really excited about the caves.

It was an awesome experience. We  had to crawl through tight spaces and stomp through extremely muddy parts that felt like quick sand. I got stuck and Sara tried to help me but I ended up falling right into the mud. We saw stalactites and stalagmites and I even drank water from one of the little pools in the cave- our guide Heath said the water is completely filtered through the minerals in the stalactites. The water tasted great and was freezing cold! After exploring and admiring the glow worms we hiked back to the home, showered and had tea, biscuits and grapes with our group.

The whole time we were in the caves it was pouring outside and it was still pouring when we got out. We wanted to head to our next stop, Rotorua, but we didn't want to drive in the pouring rain so we waited around the house for it to clear up. Unfortunately it didn't clear up and we thought we should get on the road before it got dark, so we headed out of waitomo and our first stop was to get gas because our tank was very low. Then we were on our way to Rotorua. We got there and found a place that we could sleep in our parked car. It was called the backyard inn. We ended up chilling there for the evening because it was still pouring outside. We met some people in the comunal dining hall- a couple from Argentina, a guy from Germany and another three guys from Ireland, one of whom is now living in San Francisco! We enjoyed conversation and wine with people from all over the globe and then headed back to lucky rookie for another night of sleep. 

We again woke up to rain on our home. We were nervous we wouldn't be able to do any activities that day but decided to sign up for white water rafting because regardless if it was raining or not we'd still get wet. The night before, everyone at the inn had recommended it- saying it was the best thing they did! We thought we'd give it a go. We signed up for the 11:30 session so we had some time to explore in the morning. We went over to the Maori village which is a town where the indigenous people live. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal landscape -- hot springs, geysers, and more. The entire town reeks of sulfur, it smells absolutely awful. The thermal pools were used for them to bathe and the grounds were so hot that they are able to cook their meals on the ground in a wood box. We learned about their penny diving tradition- when the Europeans came to town they took their pennies out made a wish and threw them in the river. The Maori people were so confused as to why people would throw money away, so the kids would jump into the  river and grab the coins, then because they didn't have a place to store the coins, they would keep them in the cheeks- this tradition is still a thing! We walked around their village and got to see a geyser erupt, which was really neat! The thermal grounds were so interesting because of the many colors that the pools had and the different natural chemicals that they contained. We learned a little bit about their culture and traditions and then headed back to town get ready to raft! As we got our bag ready the sun decided to show up, so we were very excited we wouldn't be rafting in the rain! We got to the rafting center and were quickly geared up and given the low down and what to do- we were about to do grade 5 white water rafting, which is the highest level of Rapids. We had such a blast- in our raft was our guide Kim, and a German couple. We rafted over 3 waterfall- one of which was 7 meters- out of the three different rafts in our group, we were the only raft to not flip completely over when going down the waterfall! In addition to rafting over waterfalls, we went on a swim down the river into some Rapids, we got to jump off a platform into the river and we attempted to "surf" in our raft by pushing up against the rapids! It was a really good time and we got really wet!! 

After rafting we went back to the inn and chilled out for a bit and talked to two girls traveling in their gap year. A gap year is when you take a year off after you graduate high school and either travel or work or both before going to university. The girls were both working in Australia and were taking a trip to NZ! It was cool talking to them, they were both originally from Europe and one of them had lived in the states before too. I loved hearing their opinions on the cultural differences between the places they've lived. 

We then headed out to our next destination- Tongariro national park, to do a one day hike called the crossing the next day. On our way to Tongariro we turned off the side of the road and went down a Gravel road to Kerosene creek which is a hidden gem of a hot spring. All the hot springs in Rotorua cost money to enter, but this natural hot spring was free! We went for a little dip and the water was soooo warm! And it only smelled a little bad from the sulfur. I jumped over a waterfall into the spring which was super fun and I loved just laying in the stream with the water rushing past my body (almost pulling off my bathing suit bottom).

There were probably 30 people down by the creek so it wasn't too crowded and we were able to relax and enjoy. When I pulled my hand out of the water I noticed my silver ring was a completely different color, because of some of the natural chemicals in the water it had tarnished it to a darker color that reflected all these blue and purple colors. It was super interesting to see that happen.

We then headed out to the inn which we would stay called the crossing backpackers, in the town of Erua. Along the way we stopped at some lookout points and were able to see the sunset over lake Taupo.

We got to the inn, took showers to clean off all the sulfur, got our bags ready and hit the hay for our first night sleeping in actual beds.

We got up and our shuttle picked us up to go to Tongariro National Park. We couldn't drive to the park because the hike we were doing takes around 6 hours and goes one way, it's called the Crossing because you cross over and between the two sides of the national park and it'd be near impossible to cross over there and go back in one day. The park actually requires you to have round trip transport booked in order to do the hike. The crossing is known as New Zealand's best one day hike and it definitely didn't disappoint. We started for an hour going a little up and a little down, it was warm and we were in tanks and leggings. Then we started the first ascent- about an hour straight up! It started getting chilly so we put on our sweatshirts. Then we had about 10 minutes of flat land before another ascent that lasted another hour. By the time we climbed the second ascent we were in the clouds and sooo cold because of all the wind up there! We put on our wind breakers and then we admired the amazing views from high above. It was incredible how high we climbed. There was a red crater, volcanic ashes and dirt, and three crater lakes that were the most beautiful colored lakes I have ever seen. The first part of our hike felt like we were in a desert, then we trekked through  mountains, and on the way down on the other side of the mountains we felt like we were in a rain forest. 

We made it all the way to the end!!!! And just in time for our transport to take us back to our lodge. Our bus was leaving at 4:30 and we made it back at 4:20. We filled up and quickly drank our entire bottle of water because there was no water on the trail but our bus had a big bottle waiting for us- it was amazing. We got back to our lodge which conveniently had a hot tub that we relaxed our muscles in for probably way too long. We decided it'd be best to chill there and hang out at the lodge for the evening and get an early start in the morning!

We left early in the AM to head to the region of Taranaki which is on the west coast. I have a friend, Kirsty, that is from Taranaki and studied abroad at UW-Madison for a semester. It took us about 4 hours to drive there and we met her in New Plymouth where she works. We took a walk near the ocean, saw a sculpture carving festival, and I got an amazing flat white. We then headed to a cute restaurant in the city for lunch. After lunch we decided to drop our campervan off at her home so we would only be driving one car around. Kirsty lives in Stratford which is a suburb about 40 minutes from the city of New Plymouth. Her home is on a farm a little bit away from the main burbs, but her family still lives more in the town. After dropping our home off we went to get ice cream at her favorite dairy, because their town is known for good dairy, similar to Wisconsin, they have a lot of cows there! The ice cream was so yummy- the popular kiwi flavor is called hokey pokey and Sara and I both got it! Then we went over to her parents house and because her parents have traveled a lot through the South Island her dad helped us plan out the next portion of our trip. We sat down with him for about two hours and had a big map in front of us learning about the best places to see on the South Island. After trip planning we headed out with Kirsty and her sister to their netball tryouts. Sports are really big in her region, so even after college they have club teams that compete. Kirsty recently picked up netball which is a popular sport there. It's similar to basketball but you can't dribble or move with the ball, only pivot, and there is no backboard. There are a lot more rules but that is the gist of it. We went to try outs and observed and tried to learn the rules of the game. Sara and I both love spots so it was fun for us to learn about a new sport-- and these girls were awesome at the sport. It was so fast paced and really fun to watch! After try outs we took a drive by a nearby lake and also admired the huge mount Taranaki because it had finally come out from behind the clouds. Then we stopped by a take out place and got some food to bring back to her place, where we just hung out for the night! We also tried Marmite -- which is a New Zealand spread that I wasn't in love with. Kirsty said that only  people from New Zealand like it, and when there was shortage of marmite, a small jar cost $200!! After chatting for a bit we went to sleep in a nice comfy bed! Thanks you so much Kirsty for hosting us!

The next morning we got up early (are you seeing a theme here) and went on a hike. We had to drive to Wellington that day which is a 4 hour drive, so we decided to get s little physical activity in first. We went to mount Taranaki and hike for about 2 hours to some waterfalls before getting back to our car and heading south. 

We got to Wellington, first got lunch, and then headed to the Te Papa museum which is new Zealand's museum of everything! It was really interesting and fun to learn more about the history and culture of NZ in an interactive environment. After we had exhausted our time in the museum we decided to take a stroll around the city. We enjoyed checking out the shops, the city center, and I very much enjoyed getting a flat white at a cafe on Cuba street. Cuba street is their main Street that cars can't drive on,  there are a lot of shops, cafes, ethic restaurants and street performers there. We walked around and then went to move our campervan out of the parking lot it was in, to find a place to park for the night. We decided to try out freedom camping again-- aka parking on the side of the road. So we found a spot and then decided to walk around some more! We went to a night market on Cuba street that had a lot of different ethic food vendors, some live music and little shops. We then went to a free comedy show at a nearby bar which was somewhat funny! It was cool to go somewhere with a lot of local kiwis though, and they stereotypes about Americans a lot so that was sometimes comical. We then went to another bar which a friend of Sara's had recommended, it was called the library and it was a hidden gem. There was just a small sign for it and the we went inside up a flight of stairs, opened a door and inside was a low lit bar with the look of an old school library. Their hand-crafted cocktails were great- I had a peach mule, because as a fan of Moscow mules the drink jumped out at me. 

After hanging out at the bar, we went back to our home in a random parking spot- freedoms camping for the night! 

In the morning we drove to the top of mount Victoria for a scenic look out of Wellington. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy, but we were still able to see a good amount. We then drove to the ferry, and then drove onto the ferry! We were taking the ferry to the South Island and it was such a huge ship they actually had a parking garage on the ship. So we drove on and parked and then went up to the lookout deck, where after I took a few photos, I fell asleep. I woke up about 4 hours later and we were about an hour away and starting to go by some islands. I went outside and Sara and I were admiring the beautiful scenery when a guy came up and asked if we were sisters (about the 15th person to ask that this trip). She said no and after talking to him and his friend  for a bit they said they were from Israel- and Sara was talking about her experiences there. They were surprised she had visited until they discovered we were Jewish. There are very few Jews in the world, let alone NZ, so for us to run into each other was fun. We chatted with them until we reached the dock.

Time for some new adventures on the South Island!

Sending smiles from Picton,

Rebecca

Melbourne? Melbin?

We arrived to Melbourne early Wednesday morning and took the skybus into the city. We grabbed some breakfast and then attempted to figure out public transportation and bought Myki cards so we could get around the city. We got to our airbnb which is located north of the city in Brunswick. 

Our host, linden, gave us good directions to get there so once we hopped off the train we walked with our packs in the blazing heat over to her flat.

I was not kidding when I said blazing heat, the high of the day was 106 degrees. After settling in the place and talking with Linden, we found the tram stop and headed into the city. We grabbed a bite to eat in a laneway, which is what Americans call alleys. Melbourne is known for their laneway cafe scene & coffee. There are loads hipster cafes with sandwiches, smoothies, coffee and more crammed into this small alley with tables and tents filling the road.

Melbourne is also known for their graffiti. It is definitely a different kind of city. Very alternative with graffiti filling the laneways, lots of unquie shops, cafes, and people. It's a very artsy scene, a lot of people have tattoos, piercings, and dress in different styles. Remember when I compared Sydney to San Francisco, I'd say Melbourne is closer to a Milwaukee or maybe Portland, but I've never been to Portland so I can't say for sure. 

After grabbing a smoothie and a spring roll we went to the info station and got some maps. It was so hot outside that it was tempting to chill inside, but for some stupid reason I was insistent on exploring outdoors. We took a stroll through the botanic gardens which were very underwhelming. I would say they were more like a park, maybe one could call it an arboretum but I don't think I could even call it that. There were some nice statues along the walk that were difficult to appreciate considering we were sweating out of every pore in our body and the water we had was boiling hot. There wasn't a single sole in the "gardens" except for us. At the end of our garden walk we approached the shrine of remembrance which is a large temple looking building that is a memorial for all wars that Australians had fought in. There was an AIR CONDITIONED gallery inside that had a lot of neat paintings that reflected the wars as well as old flags and momentos from history. The museum also talked about recent wars and had a really interesting interactive map that showed the global peace index of all the countries. The US is 101 out of 162 countries, Australia is number 15 and New Zealand is number 4. Syria is the least peaceful and Iceland is the most peaceful. I spent a lot of time at that map!

Leaving the shrine we had a nice view of the city and when we got back we explored the town a little more and got Brazilian Acai Bowls which are like smoothies.

The heat plus lack of sleep was really getting to us, we were completely drained. While I wanted to keep exploring, we thought it'd be best to get a quick nap in so we could go to a festival later that evening.

We snoozed for an hour and then headed back out to the Queen Victoria Markets which on Wednesday nights have food stands, live music, and little pop up shops. There were sooo many different food vendors it was hard to choose what to get, and it was neat because they all had different international food. We went to a mozzarella bar and got this interesting type of mozzerella cheese that was hanging over a fire. Then we got pineapple rice that was actually served in a pineapple, and for dessert we got little Dutch pancakes dusted with powdered sugar and lemon butter.

We walked around and saw live music as well as checked out a lot of the vendors who sold everything from stuffed animals, to jewelry, to candles, clothes, and more. After exploring the huge market we checked out a new bar in town. About 2 weeks ago when Sara was driving in chicago she heard on the radio that a new bar opened in Melbourne that was George Castanza themed. As a Seinfeld fan, she was excited to hear this and check it out. I was familiar with the show but didn't know too much about it. The bar was neat, George's face was plastered on the wall quite a few times and then menu items and drinks were named after him or things from Seinfeld. We grabbed a drink and then headed home to pack for our full day ahead tomorrow: PENGUINS.

We had an animal filled day ahead of us, which really excited me! First, we planned on heading to the healseville wildlife sanctuary. We got to the train station early so we grabbed a coffee but then found out we missed our train.. unfortunately the lady at the info center gave us the wrong time! But as they say here, "no worries," we waited and got the next train. When we got to Lilydale station because we missed the first train, we had to wait an hour for the next bus. Because Australians are so friendly we went up to a random car and asked a stranger about what we should do for our hour waiting, she told us to check out a local coffee shop and she said she would have driven us to the sanctuary if she didn't have to go somewhere. We went to the coffee shop and even though I had gotten a coffee this morning I felt I should get another drink, so I did and it had really awesome latte art- a girl's face! We then walked back to the station, got a bus, and then transferred to another bus before getting to the sanctuary. 

A sanctuary is different than a zoo because it gives the animals more room to roam and the animals are typically all from the area.

At the sanctuary we saw lots of animals: wombats, koalas, platypus, emus, Tasmanian devils, wallabies, kangaroos, and more. We also went into the wildlife hospital which was neat! We enjoyed watching the Tasmanian devils, which look nothing like the taz from the looney toons, but more like a vicious pig. Their teeth are so sharp that zoo keepers feed them with tongs. I Also learned they typically don't kill other animals just prey off of all the dead animals they find because with their sharp teeth they can eat the bones of animals. We stayed at the sanctuary for a couple of hours but most of our time was spent watching a Joey (baby kangaroo) in its moms pouch sticking it's head out. If you remember from my last post, I was so fascinated to learn about how baby kangaroos develop, so it was a magical miracle that we got to see a kangaroo with a Joey in it's pouch. Also, a red kangaroo came up to me and let us pet it. 

We spent so much time watching the kangaroos that we had to run to catch the bus. 

We got back to town grabbed a sandwich and then hopped on our little penguin bus tour! We also stopped in a department store to buy some long socks because it was supposed to be chilly that evening and we wanted to make sure we'd be warm. In the department store there was a hugeee line. Not for people buying anything, but because the Australian open is next week and Serena Williams was having a showing at the store. We didn't get to see Serena but we saw a lot of her fans.

The penguin tour that we were doing took us to Phillips island which is home to the little penguin where thousands of penguins emerge out of the ocean water at dusk to go to their burrows. l learned lots about the little penguin: it's the only penguin with blue feathers- helps them camelflauge from above, blending with the water and below their white feathers help them blend in with the sky. It's the only penguin that's not monogamous, and it sleeps for 4 minutes at a time. We got outside to the viewing area and with our binoculars we were able to see large groups of penguins, called rafts, emerging from the water and heading towards the hills/ burrows. They often would come far out and then turn around and go back to the water, there were a few wallabys out too which sometimes frightened the penguins, but the wallabies were always nice to the little penguins. Unlike the local foxes which are not nice to the penguins. We watched them all waddle to their burrows from walkways. Some of the burrows were man made, others all naturally dug into the ground. The babies would wait for their parents to come back and feed them and because have a hard time with face recognition so they'd often go up to penguins and sniff them and then walk away, because they can tell by scent who their parents are. In the penguin museum we were able to peek into a burrow and see a penguin cleaning it's baby- so adorable. We hopped back on our little penguin bus and got back to Melbourne late!!

In the AM the next day we had another early wake up call. We had rented a car and planned on driving down Great Ocean Road to see the 12 apostles. We picked up the car in the morning and Sara was the driver for the day so my responsibility was to continuously yell at her to KEEP LEFT, and that she kept running into the curb on the side of the road. It was her first time driving on the other side of the road which is really difficult because our brains are programmed to work one way and when we change the way we do things it makes it extremely difficult! For instance, the drivers seat and passenger seat are switched and we would often go to the wrong side of the car. Here, you turn your blinker on the right side of the wheel and the wind shield wipers on the left. So often, when Sara wanted to signal she was turning, she instead put the wipers on. It was comical. She got used to it quickly and did a great job getting us there and back safely. Our first stop on the trip was in Lorne, which is one of the first cities on great ocean road. The road was constructed after world war 2 to give soldiers work when they returned from war. 

We stopped at the entrance of the road to take some pictures and then we continued on to some look out points. We made another pit stop in Kennet River where we saw some wild koalas. They were sleeping in the trees! 

Then onto Apollo bay which is a cute town where we stopped for lunch. On the drive to Apollo bay we went through a section of the road that was recently damaged in bush fires. Just a couple of weeks ago the road had to be shut down because no cars could go through because of the fires. Now, the road is back but all the trees around that area are burnt, many don't have leaves and the ones that do have leaves are all dried out and brown. It was very sad, but interesting to see!

Our final stop was at the 12 apostles which are 12 large rock formations that emerge from the ocean close to the shoreline. It was gorgeous! We had to run to make it back to Melbourne before the car rental place closed, but we really enjoyed our day driving around. The scenery was AMAZING. Around every turn was a beautiful view of the ocean, a river, rolling hills, or a mixture. It was an incredible journey that day and it was so fun to be on our own schedule! We were so excited to be going to New Zealand where we would have our campervan for over 2 weeks!

When we got back to Melbourne we had dinner plans with a friend of Sara's who had worked for Game On! in the past and is from Melbourne. We had a yummy dinner with her, her husband, and two adorable kids. Then, they were so kind to take us to the air port because our flight to NZ was that night!

Our flight was delayed which worked out nicely  because we did not have to pay for accommodations that evening and we didn't have to wait much for our transfer to the camper van rental because they didn't open until later. I knocked out before the plane took off and was asleep until landing :)  

Sending smiles from Melbourne,

Rebecca

48 hours in Sydney

Sydney was great! It was such a modern city that reminded me a lot of the US! It's interesting to me because it's the first time I've traveled abroad to a country that is more modern, it seems, than the states. Australia reminded me a lot of San Francisco, which I'll talk a bit more about in this post. Sara and I had a jam packed first two days, have a look if you'd like to read more.

I never experienced January 10th, 2016.

We left the U.S. on the 9th and after a 15 hour flight we somehow arrived in Sydney on the 11th!

We successfully retrieved our luggage and then unsuccessfully attempted to put our gigantic backpacks on.. Not because we overpacked, but rather because it contained over 15 pounds of Australian coins. You see, my father was so kind as so get us some australlian currency, unfortunately it was all in 20 cent coins. About $100 Australlian dollars (~$72 USD) in 20 cent coins-- HEAVY. I didn't really want to lug the coins on my journey, but my dad was insistent that once we arrived we would be able to take them to a bank and exchange them for bills. We went to two different places in the air port to try to exchange them and neither place would take the coins. We then waited in a 20 minute line for a taxi with our bags and coins weighing us down. I do have to say that it was extremely organized to have this winding line for people to wait in to get a taxi.

We arrived at our airbnb in an area of Sydney called Ultimo. Our driver was very nice, but when he pulled over to let us out and we have him a large bag of 20 cent coins that added up to $43 he wasn't too happy with us. He actually got quite angry and told us he wouldn't accept the coins.. I totally get where he's coming from, but he wasn't nice at all and money is money. He made Sara go to the bank and exchange the coins..so he took her in the taxi and I was sitting outside on the curb by myself with all of our luggage. Not an ideal situation as we promised to stay together this trip!

I was sitting outside waiting for the girl who was supposed to bring our key and she arrived around the same time as Sara got back with still a large heavy bag of change.. They went to two banks and neither would trade in the coins. After some more arguing with our driver we ended up giving him $20 US Dollars and $10 Australlian dollars all in coins. He wasn't thrilled but he accepted it and we were 50 coins lighter. We dropped our things off in our cozy loft, which is super nice for only $30 AUD a night! Then we got going because we had an itinerary to stick to! 

We were doing well on time and we headed out for lunch at Strawberry Hills Hotel which was a recommendation we got from a friend, thanks Bailey!!,  and it did not disappoint! It was super yummy and such a hidden gem. Looked a little grungy on the outside and on the first floor, but upstairs there was an adorable outdoor beer garden. We split a quinoa salad, bruchetta, and these potato wedges that you dip in a mix of sweet chili sauce and sour cream. Normally I would not try that sauce because i don't like chill sauce or sour cream, but it was recommended as a must have in Sydney, thanks Jake!! It was actually quite tasty!! It slightly reminded me of papas bravas that I ate in Spain, because it was a little bit of a spicy sauce mixed with a white sauce that mellowed out the spice. It was delicious.

Here comes the fun part of the meal, paying. We were lugging around pounds of coins and our backs were killing us. I talked to the waitress and asked if it would be possible to pay with coins.. She was very confused why we brought all of these coins all the way from the US here, but she was our second savior of the trip and accepted $60 in 20 cent coins, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAVING OUR BACKS!!!

After lunch we walked over to the circular quay (pronounced "key") to catch a ferry to go over to Manly beach. We purchased Opal cards that would allow us to add money to them to take ferries. We got to manly, which is a really cute beach town with this one nice street that cars can't drive on with palm trees. We walked down the strip and then settled on the beach to relax for a little bit. Lots of surfers and others enjoying the beautiful weather, it's summer here, so around 80 degrees at this time of year!

After relaxing we took a little coastal beach walk and then stopped in a grocery stores on the way back to the ferry. We were told by numerous people that we had to buy and eat Tim Tams, they are little chocolate biscuits and they did not disappoint. 

We hopped back on the ferry and returned to the circular quay, however since we were able to ride for free for the rest of the day with our opal card, we decided to hop back on another ferry that would take us to Darling harbour and give us a nice view of the bridge and the opera house.

We got to Darling and walked along the harbour. I stopped in a coffee shop and got a Flat white. In the states, starbucks recently started selling flat whites, which is an Australian type of coffee drink, I loved it, so I felt it was fitting to get one here, plus I was exhausted from our time traveling and needed some energy. 

We wandered back to our flat, showered, and went to grab a late night dinner around 10pm. The sunsets past 8pm, so this threw us off as to what time it was and when we were actually supposed to eat. We had a recommendation to try this place called Home Thai. It wasn't took far from our place, so we strolled over there. 

We walked in a few minutes after ten and there were people eating inside but they were already cleaning up, even though the sign said they close at 11. They gave us a table and a few minutes later came by to take our order. I love Thai food, but being the difficult eater that I am, I of course asked for some alteration, such as "no fish sauce on the pad Thai." Also, just asked if they have any veggie spring rolls. The girl that took our order wasn't the best... After she went to check if they have veggie appetizers she never came back. We thought she put in our order but then another girl came by and asked if we were ordering, to which we responded, we thought we already did. We gave it to her, and shortly after we got our food and were pretty rushed out of there. Not the most pleasant dining experience, but the food was tasty.

We walked by darling harbour lit up at night and then walked home and passed out for our first real night of sleep. Also, on our walk we passed these biking stations that you can charge your phone at-- it requires you to pedal in order for your phone to charge!! Super cool.

Some initial thoughts about Sydney:

When we drove into the city I first saw a lot of big buildings, many of them had the names of American companies, the first one I saw was Ernst and Young, and then I saw the other big 4 firm buildings as well, it reminded me of all my wonderful accounting friends. I felt like I was in America, because signs were in English, it's a big city, and it's a very diverse population, with a strong asian presence because of the proximity to Asia. The only difference was that they drive on the opposite side of the road, which we would quickly have to get used to. Because of this, people also walk on the left side of the road, we got in many people's ways that day because we kept walking on the right side out of habit. 

Sydney reminded me a lot of San Francisco. There are a lot of old fashioned houses and buildings, similar trees line the streets, the harbors, the bay, the bridge, when on the ferry it looked like rolling hills with lots of little houses, similar to SF. I like Sydney, so I'm excited to move to the Sydney of America.

Sara has a fit bit, so I have decided to add our (well assuming I have the same) step count per day in the blog: 33,062.

We got up on Tuesday and went to a breakfast spot called pancakes on the rocks, that a few people had recommended. I soon learned that the rocks were not actual rocks but just an area of Sydney. We of course had to get pancakes, and they all came with ice cream, which I wasn't opposed to but also not used to. It was the breakfast of champions indeed.

We then caught a ferry to Sydney's famous Toronga zoo. I've been to quite a few zoos, and this one was very unique! You get off the ferry and then take a cable car up to the zoo. From the zoo there are gorgeous views of the city, bridge and opera house, so behind the giraffes, you can see the ocean and city. We walked around and admired all the animals and we also learned A LOT! Some of my favorite things I learned were about Koalas and Kangaroos. I knew that koalas eat eucalyptus leaves, but I didn't realize that's the only thing they eat, and I also didn't realize that there is a poison in the leaves that would be poisonous to humans and other animals and only koalas have certain enzymes in their stomachs to break down the poison. Because of this, it takes a LONG time for koalas to digest the enzymes and it takes a lot of energy. So much energy that they really don't have energy to do anything else, except eat. We were at the koala exhibit for quite some time and I think I saw one move its hand for a leaf once. Another thing about Koalas is that they are illegal to hold in this area of Australia (New South Wales). The zookeeper said that it's for the wellbeing of the animals because when they are picked up, their digestion process is disrupted so it takes a longer time for them to digest the leaves. They are adorable animals, but as volunteer zookeeper Frank said, they are boring. 

Kangaroos on the other hand are full of energy and fascinating. We saw wallabys and kangaroos and we even got to pet a kangaroo, they are very soft! 

We talked to a zookeeper to learn more about the kangaroo pouch and how kangaroos are born and let me tell you, it is incredible. 

When a baby kangaroo is "born" it comes out of the womb the size of a jelly bean, yes JELLY BEAN. It doesn't even have back legs. The mother licks a trail up it's stomach/ pouch and the little jelly bean crawls up as it follows the scent trail into the pouch. Once in the pouch it attaches to the mother's nipple and continues to grow inside the pouch. The pouch is similar to a womb as that is where the baby is able to develop. Sometimes the baby kangaroo, also known as a joey, sticks out a leg or head, but it usually spends 5-6 months in the pouch until it is ready to come out and be self sufficient. HOW COOL!

We also spent a good amount of time at the penguin exhibit, which was great. We went to an awesome bird show where all different types of birds were trained extremely well to fly around the audience and respond to certain cues or noises. I was so impressed that the birds didn't fly away because we were outside and the birds would be free to go!

Overall, the zoo was time well spent and we learned a lot. 

Fun at the zoo!

We took the ferry back to town, grabbed lunch and then headed to "the world's most famous beach" called, Bondin Beach. We didn't spend much time there, what we did was a 4 mile coastal walk from bondi beach to cogee beach. It was gorgeous with amazing views around every corner. On our walk, we saw a couple of sand volleyball courts with people playing so I suggested we hop down there and go check it out! We sat on a bench and watched people play 2 v 2, and there was also a court with guys playing a different sport. It was like volleyball but without using your hands. I talked to a few of the guys and they were all from Brazil and the game they were played was called "football." It was the most impressive thing I have ever seen. The would kick the ball over, or head it over, pass with their chest, jump in the air and kick it. I was in awe. All the Brazilian guys now live in Sydney it was cool to learn more about their culture and how they ended up in Australia.

Bondi Beach

Then a lady from another court asked if we wanted to play, but they only needed one of us. We really can't say no to sports, so I hopped on the court and played the first game and then Sara jumped on another court that needed a player for the next game. In the first game I played with, I was teamed up with a guy who is from Slovakia, Peter,?and now lives in Sydney. After our games separately, we were able to play together against a team of a woman from Germany, susana, and a guy from France, Jeremy, that both live in Sydney now. We played 3 games of 21 and ended up losing the match with the last game going to 26. It was so fun to hang out with locals, take a break and play. After talking to quite a few of the people, I realized how common it is for people to move here. Everyone had come for a holiday (holiday is what they call vacation) and then decided to stay... Forever. Well, I am already in the air port headed to Melbourne as I write this, so I won't be one who traveled to Sydney and never came back. After volleyball, we continued on our walk to cogee beach. It was around 8pm and the sun was just starting to set. Lots of people run along the coastal path, and we saw one guy struggling up the stairs so I cheered him on to keep going, and then he stopped and ended up walking with us for about 30 minutes. He was from Sydney and loved American sports to he was happy to talk to us about the NFL & NBA. After chatting about sports and Australia, he recommended a place for us to stop in cogee beach and then continued his jog. Aussie's are SO NICE. 

We got to cogee and saw the place he recommended, it was called the Pavillion. It was such a cool restaurant/ bar! It was HUGE! It was beach town themed. Lots of table and a big bar on the first floor with a kids area in the back with a big scrabble board, ping pong tables and more. On the upper level there was an awesome beer garden--such good vibes up there. We had a yummy pizza and chatted there for a while until we decided to head back to the city. We stopped and got gelato, at gelato Messina, recommended by a few people, it was quite tasty! Then we went by the Sydney harbour to see the opera house lit up at night. It was beautiful and there was a really neat "opera bar" right on the water next to the opera house with great views of the Sydney bridge. It was around midnight and we were exhausted. We had a 6am flight to catch to Melbourne, so we headed back, packed our things, took a 3 hour nap and then took and Uber to the air port. Final step count of the day: 28,597.

Super breezy on the coastal walk! Almost got knocked over a couple of times!

We are about to take off, so I'll see you later Sydney! 

Sending smiles from Sydney,

Rebecca 

A Rocky Start

In my previous post I referenced how traveling rarely goes smoothly, and this trip would be no exception. However, I didn't realize how quickly things would go south. My mom & dad dropped me off at O'hare and I went to the kiosks to do a self check-in. I scanned my passport, verified my information, and then a screen popped up that said "Something something something YOU NEED A VISA something something something" alright, it didn't say all those somethings but as soon as I saw "visa" I thought AH shit I'm not going on this trip. Remember the part in my other blog post where I said how obsessive of a planner I was and that I had a 15 page Google doc with all our info, I even applied and received a New Zealand visa, but it never crossed my mind that I would need one for Australia, since I would only be there for 5 days.

 I was still waiting for Sara, and I was pretty sure she didn't have a visa either. She called saying she had just arrived and I frantically told her to get over here now. While waiting for her, my gaurdian Angel, Merced, approached. He worked for Untied and could probably tell something was wrong as I stood in front of the kiosk and frantically searched on my phone to learn how the heck I could get a visa. He asked if everything was alright and I was like actually no....

He said I needed to have a visa to enter Australia, but that I could apply for one online and it usually takes 30 minutes to go through. This made me feel a little better. I was trying to figure out the website on my phone, then Sara arrived and I told her to do the same. We were hard core struggling. He then told us we could use their computers in the office in the back. He brought us back their and his co-workers helped us find the website so we could apply. We chose the expedited option which said we would get it within 30 minutes, and it only cost $30. At that point I would have blindly thrown money at whoever could have gotten us on that flight. We both applied and when we submitted the information it said they would get back to us within 11 days... 11 days!!! Ain't nobody got time for that. So we played the waiting game and thankfully we got an email about 20 minutes later with our visa info. I ran my passport again, validated my info and this time it worked!! It is crazy how the system knows who has a visa! And I'm so thankful we were able to get them quickly and that Merced came to our rescue. MERCED YOU ARE OUR SAVIOR AND I AM CONTACTING UNTIED TO PROMOTE YOU AND GIVE YOU VACATION FOREVER!!! 

So happy, so surprised we made it on the flight!

The first leg of our flight We got through security, boarded, touched down in LA, then hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan, well not a cardigan, but we did have a dream to make it to Australia... After our 6 hour layover.

Luckily, Sara had a college friend, Jason, who now lives in LA. He picked us up and took us to Manhattan beach, a cute little area on the beach with restaurants and shops. We got there right after sunset and grabbed a bite to eat. We then walked around and looked at adorable houses that we would never be able to afford. Jason drove us back to LAX and we are currently sitting at our gate waiting for our 10:40 flight. 

At the Manhattan beach pier

Ooof, we are only 2 hours ahead, and tomorrow we'll be 19 hours ahead. Our flight is around 13 hours but we arrive in Sydney on Monday the 11th at 8:45am because of the huge time difference.

Hoping to get plenty of sleep on the plane- so I'll sign off for now!

Sending smiles from LA,

Rebecca 

Kiwiland Adventures

Hello World!

I couldn't be more excited to be taking a trip to Australia & New Zealand! My friend Sara and I will be going on an adventure on the other side of the globe.

We will be flying into Sydney and spending a couple days there, then spending a few days in Melbourne, then we fly to Auckland, NZ and will be picking up Lucky Rookie (LR), our faithful campervan. We will be driving and sleeping in LR as we journey all the way from the tippy top of the north island to the very bottom of the south island!

As the obsessive planner that I am, Sara & I made a 15 page google doc itinerary of our plans for just about every day that we are gone, although from all the adventures I've gone on, I know how easy it is for something to go wrong and for our itinerary to be thrown off!

After Sara leaves to go back to the states, I'm planning on staying in NZ a few weeks longer to WWOOF! WWOOF stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms, I will basically "work" for a family-- they will provide me housing and 3 meals a day in exchange for 4-6 hours of work a day. I've been searching the WWOOF database & I'm finding loads of awesome wwoofing opportunities. I quickly learned it's not just organic farming... there are people looking for help at their bar, restaurant,  yoga retreat center, watching their kids, working on their vineyard, and more. I've been in touch with a few families so I'm excited to have a little, well a lot, of unknown to my adventure! One of my favorite parts of my past adventures was staying with host families, so I'm thrilled to make this a part of my new adventures so that I can learn more about the kiwi culture.

And for those of you who think I'm talking about a fruit (Dad), the Kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand, and the locals call themselves Kiwis.

Cheers to the adventures ahead-- and America, I'll see you in March!


Sending Smiles from Chicago,
Rebecca

My Reflections

I thought I should decompress my thoughts from my experiences in Ecuador into a blog post. It was an amazing, challenging, and life-changing experience. Here's a peak into my thoughts I've had over the summer.

I loved it. Not everyday-- that would be a lie. Many days were really difficult, lonely, challenging and sometimes terrifying. But if everyday was rainbows and butterflies, I wouldn't have learned how to deal with adversity, I wouldn't have become a better problem solver, and I wouldn't have appreciated the simply amazing days when things went... smoothly. 

The many months leading up to my departure to Ecuador were slightly painful as I had very little sense of what I'd be doing when I arrived. However, it's probably best that I didn't know what to expect, because things often don't quite happen as planned here so I'm sure having a day by day agenda would not have been the best approach.

"The best journeys answer the questions that in the beginnings you didn't even think to ask."

As I reflect on my time here, this is the quote I keep returning to in my head. It really is amazing how much I learned here that I didn't even think about before landing in Ecuador.

Microenterprise work always seemed interesting to me, and I thought I understood what it was, but coming here and working with two different groups has given me a new sense of what a micro enterprise really is. I also thought that I would be able to help due to my education background in business and other experiences. While I'm sure this was a bit helpful, what I really learned is that many of the things I learned in my business classes cannot be applied to micro enterprise work. It'd be hard to apply things from my digital studies class to the camarones group, where there is no internet access in the village. Keeping track of finances and accounting for the la calera group is near impossible because the community is so grounded in sharing and helping others, that saved funds go right to community projects or children education funds. While business principles are still present in micro enterprises, the way of addressing different areas of the business: marketing, accounting, operations, etc., should be gone about in different manners than what I learned in the classroom.

The most interesting thing about micro enterprises is that they are just that- MICRO. They do not have the resources to operate like your average business, they don't "clock in" but rather work on their own schedules, they are not paid a wage, but rather just get the money from the sales they make. If they grow, gain many clients, take on more people to work, they are no longer a micro enterprise.

Aside from all I learned in the "work place" I also gained many valuable experiences from just living in rural ecuador. We can start with living on the basics. I brushed my teeth off the side of my balcony using a water bottle, hung dry my clothes, didn't use a flushing toilet, showered in freezing cold water, never looked at myself in a mirror, and didn't have phone or internet access for a month (except when I went into town). I was also able to quickly get over my fear of bugs.

What I will bring back to Madison from my Camarones experience is: you can survive anything and to live happily you don't need many things. & Take advantage of every resource available.

I plan to pack my bags for Madison almost as light as my travel bags for Ecuador (unfortunately, going back to madison means I have to wear business clothes again). I won't freak out if there is a bug in my room or even a bug in my soup, or if a piece of food falls on the ground, 5 second rules doesn't even matter, it's probably ok to eat-- you will be OK!

I was also often very frustrated working in camarones due to not having internet to do research, having no resources to be able to buy materials, it being so so so hot that trying to do work in the heat without AC was brutal, and when the electricity went out, which it often did, we couldn't work with the high school kids in the evening.

I'm going back to Madison with the everything is possible attitude-- using all the resources the school has to offer, feeling grateful to have AC (or in our case heating), electricity to be able to study at night (my host sister set up candles to study when the electricity went out), and a wonderful education system  and support system that encourages me to do well in school. I am also so grateful to have job opportunities. It is so difficult for women in camarones to find jobs because there are no job opportunities in Camarones and it takes an hour to get to a city and nearly no one has their own form of transportation to leave. I wasn't looking forward to getting back to the states and having to search for full time jobs, but now I am so excited because I am so grateful to GET to be able to apply for jobs and have the opportunity to earn an income to support myself.

Another important note from Camarones:

I wouldn't call myself a "feminist" however, I think my time here has just about turned me into one. Machismo was my least favorite thing about my experience here, although it did show me how lucky I am to live in the states, where stay at home dads and full time moms are options. I couldn't believe some of the things I heard and saw when observing the machismo culture in camarones. It was really eye opening.

I also have become more interested in learning about the age of mothers because in the rural parts of Ecuador it is likely for girls to start having kids at the ages of 13-15 years old. I would really be interested to know what the average age is in other parts of Ecuador as well as other countries in South America.

My Camarones Family

I guess this transitions into my appreciation for the medical system we have in the states. In my time in Ecuador, I made 14 hospital trips which included 7 different hospitals. I got to experience everything from cleaning fluids poured on my wound from gatorade bottles, getting a tetanus shot in my butt in a shared room with other patients, purchasing a shot at a pharmacy to bring to the hospital to administer it, having food poisoning and the hospital wanting to give me an injection (not the right treatment) and telling me the doctor I should talk with isn't in that day, having my rabies vaccine with the name of another patient, a nurse telling me the wrong day to get my rabies vaccine, my vaccination card having the wrong name on it, running around 3 cities in one day to find my rabies vaccine, AND MORE. While many, actually all, of these days and experiences were not  fun, nor ideal, they did make me so grateful for the extreme medical attention and care that is given in the states. They will also make great stories in the future.

That also leads me to lend a million thank yous to all the people who cared for me along the way! From taking me to hospitals, to running around cities trying to find vaccines, to hosting me in Quito, I was blessed to be surrounded by caring people who I can now call family.

My Quito Family


And another thank you to my mom and dad back home for not sending me home when thing started going south. Thanks for letting me go to Ecuador and stayig calm!

My Calera take aways: Engage with those around you and take in their culture.

At first, I was a little bummed out that I didn't have wi fi at my house in la calera, after going the first month without it. However, after a little bit I realized I was really bonding with my family because I wasn't ever tempted to look at my phone. It really makes a difference the level of engagement you can have with people if you never look at your phone. I am definitely going to try to spend less screen time when back in Madison.

Taking in the culture of people around you is extremely important. I was lucky to be here during their biggest festival of the year, Inti Raymi. I did not want to be a tourist for this event, but rather a participant and see what it was like from their shoes-- so I literally put on my host mom's shoes, and her entire traditional clothing and danced in the square with them, helped them sell beer, and even participated in a ritual bathing in the river at midnight.

My La Calera family

This brings me to another point about culture--experiencing another culture internationally will help you understand and work better with people. In the states, everyone comes from a different background, whether that's culturally, religiously, economically, etc. However, we're all really the same, just with different perspectives. The more perspectives you've seen the more you can understand how the world works.

List of differences in Ecuador:

When in Spain I always took note of differences I noticed and wrote about them in my blog, I also did that in ecuador, but saved them until now to talk about:

Instant coffee- here, disolvable coffee is a big thing, super convenient because you just mix it with hot water or milk!

Sign language on TV-almost all the tv shows, new channels, and commercials have little person on the bottom corner of the screen doing sign language of what people are saying- It's neat!

People sell fruit in the streets and do entertainment in the street- this was mostly in Quito- I think it's a novel way to try to make money. In Chicago, people often come up to your car and ask for spare change, here they juggle in the intersection while the light is red and then ask for donations. They also sell snacks, which is a great idea because Quito traffic is awful so if you want a snack on the ride home, no need to stop at a store, just roll down your window.

Broken glass instead of barbed wire- on the tops of walls instead of wire people break beer bottles and sink them in cement.

Buses are sponsored by Jesus- all the buses running through ecuador have some religious saying on the outside, on the seats, and even pictures of the virgin inside.

Things are named after dates- in tha states, we have a lot of things named after people like presidents, but here it's all about dates. Schools, streets, buses all are dates, like the 6 de Julio, or 10 de Augusto.

Don't flush toilet paper- almost all of the toilets I used in Ecuador had signs that say don't flush your toilet paper, but rather put it in the garbage. This doesn't include the dry composting toilets, because those didn't flush and you could toss the toilet paper down, along with some wood chips.

Specialized food stores or brands on women's dresses- this is a new marketing technique I garuntee you won't see in the states. At malls, movie theaters, and grocery stores you may see a woman wearing a tight dress with a brand plastered to the breast area of the dress. That's one way to get someone's attention.

dish soap in a bucket- the popular choice of dish soap comes in solid form in a little bucket.

Milk in a bag- In the states, milk often comes in a plastic gallon, in Spain it came in a box, and in Ecuador it comes in a bag.

They eat guinea pig-enough said.

Men with braids-this is a tradition in many indigenous communities. From the time they are babies, their hair is put into little braids until it is long enough to put it a big braid, usually surpassing their butt. Another note about braids, it's probably a requirement to know how to braid in order to be a mom here, because all the braids on these little girls are so amazing.

Drink beer sharing a cup- Drinking here is truly social drinking. When we had a beer, we litterally had a beer- and one cup. You'd pour yourself some beer in a little cup, drink it, and pass the cup for someone else to pour beer and drink from the same cup.

Megaphone if there is a missing pig- in la calera, there is a community house with a megaphone that the volume reaches all the houses in the community- it often plays music and acts as an alarm clock in the morning, and it also puts out special announcements, for instance, if someone's pig, or cow, or sheep is missing, they will put it on the loud speaker so everyone can be on the lookout. Except often people steal animals, so many times you won't be able to find them!

Picu placa- this is a government run program in Quito to limit traffic. As I mentioned before, the traffic in Quito is bad, so to try and limit it, the gov says, if your license plate ends in "this number" you can't drive in the city on this one day of the week during rush hours. So everyone has one day a week they are can't drive in the city in the morning and after work hours. 

High medium salt, sugar, fat on all foods- on all packaged foods there is a label on the back that notes whether the sugar, fat and salt are either high, medium or low- and it's color coordinated! Red is bad!!

Breast feeding In public- very very common. At parks, restaurants, really everywhere, you will see moms breastfeeding. 

Public schools where uniforms, private don't-this was on the coast. This is the  opposite of how it is in the states so I thought that was interesting.

Anything can be turned into a backpack: pots of food, plants, luggage, babies: this is mostly in la calera. You would be amazed at what people, mostly women, can carry on the backs and how they use a simple sheet to turn everything into a backpack.

Holidays that celebrate seasons- this is big for indigenous communities because the seasons and harvest times of the year are very important to them.

Parade for soccer- it's a big deal here

Quechua has 3 vowels; Quechua is the indigenous language that almost everyone in la calera speaks. The language has only 3 vowels "ah" "e" and "oo". I've learned a few words in Quechua, but my favorite is "ah chai chai" which translates to "I'm really really cold" I'll definitely be using that in the states.

Political campaigning as graffiti- all political campaigns are plastered on street walls, graffitied, hung up at all little stores! It's everywhere!

Juice with all meals- one of my favorite things about ecuador. I was thinking I'd try making some mora juice back in the states, but then I remembered it cost $4 for like 20 blackberries, where he it costs $1 for a pound.

Coladas are warm jam like juice drinks- and they are so tasty!!

3 "Ah ha!" Moments. 
I had an interview after my time abroad in Sevilla, and the first question the interviewer asked me was, "What were your 3 "Ah-ha!" moments from living and studying in Spain. I loved the question and it really made me think about my time in Europe, so I decided I would also answer it here for my time in Ecuador.

1. happy to work- we choose what path we take in life and we have the freedom to change that path at anytime. When you realize that you choose to go to work and have the opportunity to work rather than having to go to work, your perspective will drastically change!

2. The internet can be a great thing ( use the resources it offers) it can also be a terrible thing (don't sacrifice relationships)

3. Less is more- material items should be limited, and when you have less resources you become creative on how to solve problems and get things accomplished

Another point from my experience:
tranquilo, no pasa nada- the theme of ecuador.. Stay calm, don't worry about it. One of my biggest weaknesses I always talk about in interviews is that I'm very impatient. I have had to really learn to go with the flow and not glue my eyes to the clock while on Ecuador.

If you've made it this far in my post, thanks for reading. Here are my closing thoughts:

The whole "Change the world" goal is something I have completely rethought. Something this experience has taught me is that it is more important to understand the world first before even thinking about changing it. A way I have learned to help change the the world is by educating others about the world. When people know and understand what it is like in other places, we may start to realize the change that can be made.

And if you decide you want to make change, first seek to understand what you want to change, ask, why does this need to be changed, what will the outcomes of this change be?

My goals for working with these artisan groups this summer drastically changed from developing their micro enterprises to plain and simply just learning and observing. If I came in and changed what I originally wanted to, I also would have changed the culture and the way these people live, which is not what I intended to do. So instead of focusing on what I could change, I focused on what I could learn.

While it took me a while to accept that my work this summer would not be result driven, or something I could quantify on my resume, I truly believe I walked away with something much more valuable. Through midnight bathing rituals, to rabies vaccines, food poisoning, machismo, scary motorcycle rides, dry composting toilets, bugs to the extreme, indigenous festivals, and more, I have learned to overcome obstacles, enrich myself in new cultures, preserver, and be creative with very few resources. While I know I have learned so much from this experience, one of the most important things I learned is that I still have so much learn. Looking forward to the many adventures ahead but will always be grateful for the time I spent in the beautiful country of ecuador and the wonderful people  I lived with, became friends with, or just encountered along the way. 

So when I think about 9 months ago when deciding to come to Ecuador, I'd still say yes in a heart beat. Through the moments of frustration and fear although challenging, I never once thought, I wish I didn't come here. It's all been a part of the holistic experience of living in rural Ecuador.

Of course I will end with a quote:

"We travel because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. but something inside our minds has changed, and that changes everything." Jonah Leher 

Thanks for an amazing 11 weeks Ecuador (&Peru)! I will be back one day, but until then, hasta luego!

Sending smiles from Chicago,

Rebecca

Hasta Luego, Ecuador!