Monday, December 29, 2008
El Mundo Real 5
¨Family and Friends¨
This episode chronicles the Gavilanes family tree. Most of the people whom Lacy and I have been hanging out with while in the country of Ecuador.
Monday, December 22, 2008
El Mundo Real 4
Diego buys Tony and Lacy a night in a luxury suite.
The duo hikes into the crater of a volcano and rides horses around the largest dome of lava. They zipline through the canopy of Mindo, and trek an ungodly trail to a spectacularly isolated waterfall.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
El Mundo Real - episode 2
El Mundo Real - Episode 2 (Atacames)
[just in case youtube is pooping out on you too, these videos stream wonderfully off both our FACEBOOK profiles]
Hey everyone!
We hope you've enjoyed our updates so far. We certainly enjoy turning our photos and video into El Mundo Real and we're happy to present this new episode based on our trip to Atacames.
Atacames is a small village just south of Esmeraldes on the beautiful coast of Ecuador. We were so fortunate to be able to stay in the Marbella Hotel, owned by uncle Fernando. Marbella hosted us just a half-block from the beach off the main beach avenue shown in the intro of this episode.
All along the beach side of the avenue, there were bars built from local woods, bamboo, and palm grass roofs. Lacy and I had a particular fondness for one of these which had swings hanging at the bar instead of stools! We had to go for a drink, which ended up being Lacy's very first Pina Colada (on a side note, she grew increasingly addicted to the Cocoanut flavor, ordering coco juice after coco ice creams, etc.). I, on the other hand, had my first Orgasmo, complete with dripping banana.
Although the nightlife of Atacames is what makes the pueblo most famous, we stayed most nights in our apartment at Marbella drinking the local and amazingly inexpensive Pilsener. Each liter cost us a mere $1... I don't know an option otherwise. In total, we drank over thirty of these in a week's time, which is shown in this episode as well.
You will find a special section at the end of this post about the drinking game we devised to keep ourselves entertained.
The reason we stayed off the avenue at night was due to an increase of violent crime, especially against gringos (eg. white folk). We stayed well out of trouble despite an encounter with - what would seem like - one of Atacames' most dangerous people... We made a habit of eating our bbq conch and camarones a la plancha at a Colombian restaurant at the end of our block. One night, a younger guy doubled back and sat behind me striking up conversation in which I mentioned our place of residence. Our waitress, whom we had become familiar with, came quickly with a look of grave danger in her eyes. I noticed this as clear as this guy's attraction to my pocket as I paid for dinner. As we went back to our hotel, Lacy mentioned that our waitress made it verbal as well that we should stay as far away from him as possible.
That night, we became increasingly afraid (as we had no idea how scared we should be) when we heard specific taps on our bedroom window, accompanied by two gun shots very close by. After flipping out the lights, we decided to move to the other bedroom on the inside walls of the hotel, barring the door with the other single bed. Our night of near-death turned out just fine. Bars on the windows and a guard at the front gate kept us from any harm.. Silly, we thought afterward.
So we spent the rest of our week there riding the motorcycle-rickshaws around the town, taking in its wonderful culture, and attempting to change our AMEX traveler's checks. On a side note... we would recommend NOT changing your money into traveler's checks unless you are traveling inside the US or Europe. In our experience, even the banks in Quito need to process these transactions over a period of no less than twenty minutes. In Atacames, we found that the banks could not help us in changing these, and that there was only one lady at one particular pharmacy that could. Of course on more than five trips to the pharmacy, this woman was not there. One day in particular we had only $1.70 left in cash, which we traded for five pieces of sweet bread, and tried to burn as few calories that day as possible.
[just in case youtube is pooping out on you too, these videos stream wonderfully off both our FACEBOOK profiles]
Hey everyone!
We hope you've enjoyed our updates so far. We certainly enjoy turning our photos and video into El Mundo Real and we're happy to present this new episode based on our trip to Atacames.
Atacames is a small village just south of Esmeraldes on the beautiful coast of Ecuador. We were so fortunate to be able to stay in the Marbella Hotel, owned by uncle Fernando. Marbella hosted us just a half-block from the beach off the main beach avenue shown in the intro of this episode.
All along the beach side of the avenue, there were bars built from local woods, bamboo, and palm grass roofs. Lacy and I had a particular fondness for one of these which had swings hanging at the bar instead of stools! We had to go for a drink, which ended up being Lacy's very first Pina Colada (on a side note, she grew increasingly addicted to the Cocoanut flavor, ordering coco juice after coco ice creams, etc.). I, on the other hand, had my first Orgasmo, complete with dripping banana.Although the nightlife of Atacames is what makes the pueblo most famous, we stayed most nights in our apartment at Marbella drinking the local and amazingly inexpensive Pilsener. Each liter cost us a mere $1... I don't know an option otherwise. In total, we drank over thirty of these in a week's time, which is shown in this episode as well.
You will find a special section at the end of this post about the drinking game we devised to keep ourselves entertained.
The reason we stayed off the avenue at night was due to an increase of violent crime, especially against gringos (eg. white folk). We stayed well out of trouble despite an encounter with - what would seem like - one of Atacames' most dangerous people... We made a habit of eating our bbq conch and camarones a la plancha at a Colombian restaurant at the end of our block. One night, a younger guy doubled back and sat behind me striking up conversation in which I mentioned our place of residence. Our waitress, whom we had become familiar with, came quickly with a look of grave danger in her eyes. I noticed this as clear as this guy's attraction to my pocket as I paid for dinner. As we went back to our hotel, Lacy mentioned that our waitress made it verbal as well that we should stay as far away from him as possible.
That night, we became increasingly afraid (as we had no idea how scared we should be) when we heard specific taps on our bedroom window, accompanied by two gun shots very close by. After flipping out the lights, we decided to move to the other bedroom on the inside walls of the hotel, barring the door with the other single bed. Our night of near-death turned out just fine. Bars on the windows and a guard at the front gate kept us from any harm.. Silly, we thought afterward.
So we spent the rest of our week there riding the motorcycle-rickshaws around the town, taking in its wonderful culture, and attempting to change our AMEX traveler's checks. On a side note... we would recommend NOT changing your money into traveler's checks unless you are traveling inside the US or Europe. In our experience, even the banks in Quito need to process these transactions over a period of no less than twenty minutes. In Atacames, we found that the banks could not help us in changing these, and that there was only one lady at one particular pharmacy that could. Of course on more than five trips to the pharmacy, this woman was not there. One day in particular we had only $1.70 left in cash, which we traded for five pieces of sweet bread, and tried to burn as few calories that day as possible.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Obama GANA!!!
So we know this is a little late, but we've just only been able to post.
Here is our reaction on ELECTION NIGHT Nov. 4, 2008
Here is our reaction on ELECTION NIGHT Nov. 4, 2008
El Mundo Real - episode 1
So this is the first episode of "El Mundo Real - Ecuador" (or 'The Real World - Ecuador')
In Episode 1, Tony and Lacy find themselves in a beautiful house surrounded by the flora of the entire world! It's the house of Tio Fernando and Tia Ceci about 15 minutes outside the limits of Quito..
Due to the beautiful - and out of the way - setting, this palace was equipped with the bare essentials: water and electricity. Telephone service is still about two to three months away from reaching their location, and internet... well, let's just thank goodness for the internet cafe at the bottom of the hill. On one beautiful day, we walked from there back to the house, and as the video explains, we were caught in the afternoon rains. Suffice to say that the Andes squeeze out much bigger drops than Seattleites are used to.
This house was designed and built mostly by my Uncle himself seeing as he had to fire the contractor for refusing to stick to its original design. And he also fired the original architect for the same reasons. Needless to say, his house is absolutely beautiful. Just down the road are the mansions of Sixto (a former president of Ecuador), and Guayasamin (one of our favorite and most famous Ecuadorian artists - painting to left).
We spent about a week out here enjoying cafe' con leche (hot milk with nescafe) and queso Gonzales, fresh herbs from Ceci's garden, and their two senile pups: Crusty and Claus. We have also been practicing our Spanish and both Lacy and I are becoming quite accostomed to the language. Maybe in future posts, we will show you our stuff.
At the end of our stay we departed to my Uncle Fernando's hotel in Atacames.
To be continued...
In Episode 1, Tony and Lacy find themselves in a beautiful house surrounded by the flora of the entire world! It's the house of Tio Fernando and Tia Ceci about 15 minutes outside the limits of Quito..
Due to the beautiful - and out of the way - setting, this palace was equipped with the bare essentials: water and electricity. Telephone service is still about two to three months away from reaching their location, and internet... well, let's just thank goodness for the internet cafe at the bottom of the hill. On one beautiful day, we walked from there back to the house, and as the video explains, we were caught in the afternoon rains. Suffice to say that the Andes squeeze out much bigger drops than Seattleites are used to.
This house was designed and built mostly by my Uncle himself seeing as he had to fire the contractor for refusing to stick to its original design. And he also fired the original architect for the same reasons. Needless to say, his house is absolutely beautiful. Just down the road are the mansions of Sixto (a former president of Ecuador), and Guayasamin (one of our favorite and most famous Ecuadorian artists - painting to left).We spent about a week out here enjoying cafe' con leche (hot milk with nescafe) and queso Gonzales, fresh herbs from Ceci's garden, and their two senile pups: Crusty and Claus. We have also been practicing our Spanish and both Lacy and I are becoming quite accostomed to the language. Maybe in future posts, we will show you our stuff.
At the end of our stay we departed to my Uncle Fernando's hotel in Atacames.
To be continued...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
On the beach
Hey yáll,
So we are on the Equatorial coast in a town called Atacames, we have been here since Monday. We have some great pictures and videos!......but we can´t upload them until we get back to the city which will most likely be on Sunday night.
Just wanted to give you an update and let you know we have more then just text coming your way!!!!
Love you,
Lacy & Tony
So we are on the Equatorial coast in a town called Atacames, we have been here since Monday. We have some great pictures and videos!......but we can´t upload them until we get back to the city which will most likely be on Sunday night.
Just wanted to give you an update and let you know we have more then just text coming your way!!!!
Love you,
Lacy & Tony
Friday, October 31, 2008
Arrived and resting
Heyo all the buddies!!!
Lacy and I are writing from a great little cafe near the house of my uncle Fernando.
We arrived well a couple days ago, and with a cold hitting Lacy and my ankle still on the mend, we´ve just been resting in these high altitudes. We´ll probably stay in tonight for Halloween because of the awesome time we had at our party.
Our Spanisah lesson today went very well with Lacy picking up words and conjugations very quickly. She.ll be speaking like a natural in a matter of hours.....
We´re doing very well and most likely going to Atacamas on the coast next week. It is a paradise on the equatorial beaches of this magnificent country. We´ll find all the rest, relaxation, and romance we set off on this voyage for. As soon as we have some video and pictures, we´ll post them here.
Well, as we still have much to do (ie opening a bank account, figuring busses, registering with the embassy.. etc.), we´re going to get to it. But we wanted to let everyone know that we love you all so much and that we miss you terribly. Our trip will be so sweet with each one of you ¨tagging¨ along, so keep up on this blog, subscribe, and we´ll all roll along.
Con mucho amor,
Tony y Lacy
Lacy and I are writing from a great little cafe near the house of my uncle Fernando.
We arrived well a couple days ago, and with a cold hitting Lacy and my ankle still on the mend, we´ve just been resting in these high altitudes. We´ll probably stay in tonight for Halloween because of the awesome time we had at our party.
Our Spanisah lesson today went very well with Lacy picking up words and conjugations very quickly. She.ll be speaking like a natural in a matter of hours.....
We´re doing very well and most likely going to Atacamas on the coast next week. It is a paradise on the equatorial beaches of this magnificent country. We´ll find all the rest, relaxation, and romance we set off on this voyage for. As soon as we have some video and pictures, we´ll post them here.
Well, as we still have much to do (ie opening a bank account, figuring busses, registering with the embassy.. etc.), we´re going to get to it. But we wanted to let everyone know that we love you all so much and that we miss you terribly. Our trip will be so sweet with each one of you ¨tagging¨ along, so keep up on this blog, subscribe, and we´ll all roll along.
Con mucho amor,
Tony y Lacy
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