Greg's Ecuadorian Adventure

By the end of the next two bus rides, I would resolve with a sweet-and-sour decision. Natalia and I arrived to the terminal about one hour early and the place was completely packed with people. We checked in at the office to see where we needed to go, the lady told us, and I had to leave my checked-backpack with her before going downstairs to the buses. What the... ? I have never had to do this before and I was paranoid about not being able to see my bag go underneath. Street Art in La Paz There were buses everywhere they could fit but ours was there... so I thought. I walked up to the conductor, he looks at my ticket and tells me, "otro bus." Nooooo, this is my bus? It was in the stall / carril assigned to us. But as the time got near to board and depart, the marquee said they were leaving at 7:45 P.M. Ours was 8 P.M. Hmmmm... Street Art in La Paz Luckily, a local walked up to us and started explaining everything that was happening. There was another bus for us.....

Natalia and I boarded the bus. Actually, it took us about 10 minutes to figure out which bus it was. Our ticket said bus 1 (with normal seats) but we paid for bus 2 (semicama). This was my first time boarding a bus in this country on time, and it was difficult to figure out what is normal and protocol. One of the many times we had to get off the bus. This time was because part of the road was dug-out. The previous bus, the one I chased down in a taxi, provided blankets for everyone. This came in handy because the was no heat on the bus and the temperatures inside fell below freezing. When I walked onto the bus to Sucre, I noticed there weren't any blankets but this was definitely our bus. I walked off to ask the ticket lady if I could use a blanket... all I got was a confused and blank stare. There was NO  way she was providing me with one. I figured, "okay, it is only an 9 hour ride. It can't be that bad, right?" I hopped back on, turned to Natalia and said...

Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats) After officially arriving in La Paz, ten hours later than when I was supposed to, I immediately headed to the hostal that Carrie recommended to me-- The Adventure Brew Hostal . All I really knew about it was that it would be cheap, and after 8 P.M. I would get a (small) free beer. What I didn't know was how close it would be to the center of action AND  how cold it would be inside the hostel. In Ecuador, there are no central heating systems and most places lack fireplaces. This makes sense because it is on the equator ( hence the name )... but this is 1300 mi. / 2100 km. southeast, in the mountains, with snow and ice. I was not expecting almost every place to lack some source of heat. I quickly unpacked my stuff in my dormitorio, added a couple of layers of clothes, and set out on finding the best deals on tours for Salar de Uyuni. After walking around for a couple of hours from location to location, I found the best deal at Madidi Travel . Th...

It feels so good to be finished with work for the school year, and now I can begin my travels. I've been anticipating this trip for months now that it has become a reality. Bolivia has always been a one of my dream destinations... and I got mixed responses from people when I shared my plans. Most were of the "Bolivia? What's there?" nature. The other camp of responses were from people who have  already traveled there. Unanimously they said  that Bolivia is very poor but extremely beautiful. Now, you may has asked yourself "Why would that ever be a dream destination?" Well, when I was growing up, my mom recorded what-seems-like dozens of VHS tapes with Disney programs. On one of these tapes, Donald Duck travels to Lake Titicaca and this captured both my attention and imagination: The actual cartoon segment is much longer than this brief clip, but it makes me feel like a kid again to view it, nonetheless. I booked my flight from Quito for a steal ($550 in...

It is my final day of work for the school year and, my goodness, I have experienced and changed so much already. I can't help but reflect on this past year and the events that led me here, and I want to share some of these with you. Firstly, here is a new and improved video promoting my school:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdr_qaEGkaY I start of the 2013-2014 school year brought a lot of promise and hope for me. I attended a workshop in the Summer of '13 for SEPA at UW-Milwaukee with Rochelle to bring real-world science experiments to my students. I was going to use zebra fish and earthworms as models for understanding how environmental toxins affect embryonic development and nervous system function.  I was also going to have a new room space, which I immediately started to infuse with color, to change the feel of my space from grey prison to legitimate classroom. I also had a blessing of donations for supplies from DonorsChoose.org , a new class I was designing, and pr...