Weird Sleep Patterns

Sleep has been a bit crap this week...quite a few nights with just 4 or so hours. Different reasons: reading a book; out dancing; too much stuff in my head.

After work today I spoke to Mum and Dad (who are as excited as me about their arrival on Thursday!). Then I thought I'd have a little lie down to give me some energy for Andy's party. Next thing I knew it was 10.30pm. Now it's nearly 1.45am and I haven't been able to sleep again.

Been feeling stressed with lots of things to do at work...partly my own fault for not getting on and doing bits of paperwork as and when. I don't seem to be quite so good at being organised as I was for a lot of years - or maybe it's just that I don't need to be anymore.

Funny things have been happening since I got here...I've rediscovered drinking and the fact it can be good fun and doesn't always lead to throwing up! I've been to a football match and am going to another one on Sunday.* And I haven't been quite so strict on the vegetarian front!

Exciting things that have happened this week:

• Latitude ticket has been purchased
• One of my photos from last year's Latitude is going to be published by Rough Guide
• I went out to an awesome new salsa night in Quito on Wednesday night. It was great fun and it did my soul good to dance!

Y'know it really is good to write things down - I've been feeling pretty low. However now I look at what I've been doing and what I've got coming up and it's all good. I guess sometimes you just need to take a step back from things and look at the bigger picture.

I can't wait to hug Mum and Dad on Thursday!


*Actually not just any football match, but a World Cup qualifier, Ecuador v Brazil. I'm going to cheer for the team with the best looking players I think.

Old Photos...

Me on New Year's Eve 2004
(with the lovely Myles, Lisa & Kelly)

Blimey old photos are a powerful thing! The lovely Lou has put old photos on facebook in the past day or so and there are some of me from the 'Ritchie' years. They've really made me think. I have very few photos from that time because I stopped taking them for a lot of years - it's bizaare and I don't know why, considering how much I love photography.

Looking back at the photos from 2004 these are the thoughts I have:

• My god, I was slim.
• My god, I had no idea of the size I was.
• Part of me wishes I wasn't the size I am now and could turn the clock back to being that size.
• I remember the insecurities I had then which are a lot less now.
• Emotional remembering the night of New Year's Eve 2004, when Ritchie spent most of the night looking at Kelly's arse - which really didn't help my insecurity. Also the night when I was enjoying driving so much, I backed into Myles' truck and broke the light!
• Also memories of a really lovely night spent with good friends back at Lou's house after the Cider Shed.

So a mixture of memories floating about in my head today, both good and bad.

For years I struggled with how I looked, not really understanding or knowing how I did look. I knew that I wasn't large because of the size clothes I was wearing. Yet when I looked in the mirror it was not the slim Fi that I now see in photos that I saw then. Since my size has got bigger again I have found it hard at times but have tried, since I got to Ecuador, not to get hung up on it as I have done in the past. However it is difficult somedays. I know that I am not really badly overweight or huge. I also know that if I do more exercise and exercise more control around food I will lose weight. In addition I know that weight issues are something that I watched my Mum struggle with as I grew up and I can't help but feel that I maybe it's something I worry about more because of that.

Anyway writing it down helps.

Bad Penny Update...

Kate rang me this evening to thank me again...such a lovely thing to do, nearly made me well up. I'm so glad that they decided on South and Central America for their travels. I love that pair of bad pennies hugely!

In case you're wondering, Waller and Harvey are off to Colombia tomorrow...look out Colombia!

A great weekend!

I've had a really lovely weekend and thought I better catch up on here before I get into the working week!

On Friday night, I went to 'Cantos de Libertad' (Songs of Freedom) at the Coliseo Ruminahui. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to, but my Spanish teacher, Leo, was very enthusiastic and I thought it would be good to do something different! I went with Nicki, Tom, Tori and her brother Nick. It was nice to be heading out with different people from school.

The concert was great. I found it really interesting seeing how the crowd reacted to the bands; there was a lot of screaming and cheering! (It was almost as if there were a boy band there!) Leo was thoroughly enjoying it and singing along with many of the songs.



Most excitingly, at one point I was interviewed by Ecuador's answer to Ali G (well it looked like he styled himself in that fashion). Frankly I didn't have a clue what he said to me and just hope that I don't turn up on some stupid TV show as the entertaining 'gringa' at the concert!


We headed home at about 11.30pm because we were all shattered.

Yesterday I went to Papallacta with nine other people from school. We were booked into two cabañas situated around private thermal baths. It was just what was needed to recharge our batteries - this was also helped by having a treatment package in the spa, which included being blasted by a high powered jet of water and having an oriental massage (based on Chinese acupressure points). Although both were a little painful at times, they also left me feeling relaxed and revived.

It was fun to be with people from work and we all had a really good laugh - often at Justin's expense, it's great having a boss who accepts you taking the piss out of him! It was also really cool to see Christine, she's always good fun.

I spent twenty four hours relaxing, eating good food and enjoying good company.

I do like spending time with the people I work with like this, but I do struggle with the idea of committing myself to spending every weekend with them. I'm not used to having such a small circle of people around me. I like to be a butterfly flitting about...I like feeling free and unpressured.

I've also been thinking more about how this term has been for me and it has been harder than the first term in a lot of ways. However I know that this usually is the term that I find most difficult, regardless of where I am.

I've made a conscious effort to shout less in my class in the past few weeks which has resulted in me and the kids having a lot more fun and them working harder. I know that I was feeling down before - for various reasons: my foot; missing people; wanting to travel; just wanting my Mum and Dad to be here; loneliness. All very valid reasons, but it affected how I was with the kids, and that's not fair on them - although they were not putting in as much effort either. However since the laughter has been much more present in the classroom, the kids have been producing much better work.

I feel like I'm going into next week feeling pretty good about things - it probably helps that there are only two more weeks of term and that Mum and Dad's arrival seems much more tangible now.

Friends, old and new...

The bad pennies turned up again on Friday night and we proceeded to go out and get fairly drunk*. I had a great night and even if I say so myself, I was on top form! Much giggling ensued! Hilariously on Saturday morning, Kate accused me of being a bad influence (after all these years!!).

I met up with them again later that day in Quito - they'd gone off to be organised at about 11.30am, whilst I'd pottered about gently calling my family and such like. However I rediscovered them at about 2.00pm drinking in Plaza Foch! (Although they had gone and booked their jungle tour first!)

I was also with two of my newer friends, Adriana and Lani. The three of us headed off to shop with the plan to meet Chris and Kate at 6.30pm for dinner.

To cut the story short, I bought a new dress and a pressie for my brother-in-law Stu. Had a lovely time with the girls.

Dinner with Kate, Chris and the girlies was lovely - however it was also tinged with sadness because I knew it was the last time I would see me lovely old mates for a very long time. They had tried to persuade me to go with them and believe me I was sorely tempted - but I have resposibilities here and I'm not about to walk out on the commitment that I have made. Both Kate and I were close to tears when we said goodbye.

Spending time with the pair of them away from Norfolk has just been absolutely amazing. It has affirmed our friendship in so many ways. It has been an absolute hoot! Already I miss them.

I know that I am incredibly lucky to have all the amazing friends that I have and tonight I am missing each and everyone of you. I wish more of you could come and visit.

Waterfalls, but no kittens!

Last weekend I returned to Baños. I went after school on Friday with Sasha (whose parent's own a hotel there), her daughter, Jean (another teacher) and her kids.

Initially my main reason for returning to Baños was to check out the hotel, facilities and possible activities for my class' residential trip in May. However soon after arriving I realised that I was acually going to spend a weekend being spoilt rotten by Sasha and her family.

The Sangay Hotel is the oldest hotel in Baños and is a very stylish establishment. I had a very comfortable double room which would usually cost $80 a night - I'm a lucky gal though and was staying in it for free. On Friday night we were treated to dinner, with the possibility of a three course meal - I decided to go for soup and a salad! An early night soon followed!

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. I made my way to breakfast - a gastronomical feast: a wide variety of fruits; cereals; breads; eggs cooked to order in front of you! Jean and the kids were already there, so I joined them and we discussed possible activities for the day. My first priority was to discuss my residential trip with the hotel operations manager. However Sasha's Dad, Brian, had other ideas and offered to take us all on a tour of the waterfalls - it was too good an offer to be passed up!

The waterfalls were beautiful. First we stopped by Cascada Agoyan - here I experienced the thrill of flying over a waterfall in a cable car! It was brillant! (If a little hairy to begin with). The second waterfall visit was to Pailon de Diablo in Rio Verde. Here we walked down through lush vegetation, always surrounded by the noise of water. As we drew nearer to the waterfall, I became incredibly aware of the energy of water. Brian was an excellent guide giving us much interesting information about the area. People passed us looking quite wet, but I'd decided not to take a jacket - knowing it would just make me feel hotter. We walked to the viewpoint area and the feel of the spray on my face was wonderful.

Waterfalls are incredible and the Pailon del Diablo is the most powerful I have ever seen. I have always loved them and the idea of them, this passion is certainly being fuelled in Ecuador! It is possible to crawl up through a crack created by an eruption to the top of the waterfall and stand behind it - I have always wanted to go behind a waterfall, so was very excited about this possibility. However, as I crawled on my hands and knees, and bumped my head, I started to feel quite claustrophobic. I always forget that I can get claustrophobic because it is only on very rare occasions that I am in such cramped situations. I persevered though and luckily the tunnel wasn't too long. At the top it was amazing - I got absolutely soaked - it was great! Luckily the tunnel wasn't so bad on the way out.

We made our way out of the valley and back to the hotel for lunch, followed for me by a mud treatment and massage. Well, I'm worth it and decided some pampering was what I needed! Chillout time followed and a little bit of internet action - I discovered that Pete and Sha were also in Baños and we arranged to meet at 7.30pm. I was very excited because I really wanted to see them again. However there was a slight flaw to our plan, a case of mistaken identity. I waited for them in Casa Hood, whilst they waited for me in Cafe Hood. We all waited for some time, but by the time I spoke to Claire to find out if there were two places named 'Hood', Pete and Sha had gone a wandering. Messages on facebook showed that I'd probably missed them by minutes - damn!

I decided to head to The Leprachaun bar, I went there before when I was in Baños with Claire. On arriving, I was immediately accosted by William the guy on the door. He'd decided I was his girlfriend for the evening and there didn't seem to be a lot I could do with about it. I enjoyed dancing - particularly salsaing, but was not quite so keen on his macho posteuring and attempts to stick his tongue down my throat. I spotted two English girls and a guy come in and decided that they were my escape route! They headed out to the outside bar and it was not long before I followed them.

I bounced over to them and gave a big, friendly, "Hello!"

"Hello," exclaimed one of the girls, "You ignored me in Tena." This baffled me somewhat, I knew that she looked vaguely familiar, but didn't remember seeing her in Tena - I intimated this. Laura told me that she'd been in Buenos Aires and stated to her friends that I'd 'pulled' the fittest bloke at the hostel - this I couldn't deny! (Hahahaha!) I also let her know that he'd taken me out for dinner, etc. Ok, yes, I was showing off a little, but it was doing wonders for my self esteem! Turned out that one of her friend's had had a huge crush on him! It was actually really lovely to talk to someone who had met Mr Buenos Aires! Most hilarious quote of the evening has to be, "You're famous in South America!"

Laura, Helen and Rob were great fun - tequila shots followed and we laughed and danced a lot. As escape routes went, it'd definitely been a good choice. Amazingly, I had two mojitos and three tequilas and was still feeling relatively normal! Laura on the other hand was bouncing off walls, people, etc. (she did have more tequilas than me though!) Eventually we walked her back to the hostel and as it was really close to my hotel I decided to head to bed.

On Sunday, after another splendid breakfast, Brian took us up to the viewpoint to look at Tungarahua. He pointed out the refuge - when it was visible through the clouds. However the top of Tungarahua still eluded me.

I finally got round to discussing details of my residential trip at about 1.00pm! At 3.00pm we left Baños to return home. Sadly Sasha wasn't feeling well, so her parents very kindly asked one of their employees to drive us home. I couldn't thank Sasha and her parents enough, they were so generous.

The drive home was an experience in itself - the guy was a very good driver, but he also overtook cars when there were other ones coming towards us. It was a bit scary sitting in the front, luckily I slept quite a bit.

Back in Cumbaya, Kate was waving excitedly from my window - a great welcome home!

Out and about with Waller and Harvey!

Last Thursday, Kate and Chris rolled into Quito. We'd arranged to meet in Plaza Foch at 4.30pm.

I arrived a few minutes early whilst they were a few minutes late. I'm sure there were several guys in Coffee Tree who thought I was checking them out as I scanned about! Suddenly there they were, looking colourful, tanned and very relaxed. There were big hugs all round and a few watery eyes.

I then astounded Kate by having a beer, followed by about three more over the course of the evening (which also included a curry!). It was so lovely to catch up with them and we arranged to meet after work the next day so that they could come and stay for the weekend. Kate was a little bemused by my directions of 'Supermaxi, Cumbaya' (the easiest place to find near to my apartment), but was pleased to discover that the taxi driver on Friday did understand what she meant!

Friday afternoon/evening was spent chilling and munching, followed by a trip to Cactus and the pub. Kate and Chris got on really well with everyone and got very excited when there was talk of a football match in Quito on Saturday night. I thought...why not, it's something that I haven't done before!

Kate also indulged in a few cocktails and promptly invited a whole gang over for Sunday lunch (she was contrite the next day and apologised - I thought it was hilarious, plus they were going to do all the cooking!).

Saturday was spent showing them around Cumbaya. In the afternoon we got picked up by Ben and Claire and taken to the Deportivo Quito vs Liga match. Ben supports Deportivo, so we went into their end of the ground. To be honest, both Kate and I thought it looked a lot more fun at the Liga end - there was a lot more cheering, drumming, jumping up and down, throwing of flares...

Hmmm, maybe that was something to with the fact that they won 4-0!

Best quote of the game must of been when I turned to Kate and informed her she'd popped my football cherry - much laughter followed.

My favourite part of the match was probably right at the end. They don't let fans from opposing sides out at the same time, so we had to wait (with the need to pee becoming more and more evident amongst the girlies - wee dances were almost occurring!). Eventually we were allowed into the tunnel, where all the Deportivo fans started drumming and cheering - it was really cool. I enjoyed a bit of a dance to the drums! We also amused the security guards who let us into the men's toilets - there was no way through to the women's.

So thoughts on football...well...it was a fun thing to do; there were lots of elaborate falls (mostly by Liga players who seemed to fall over their own feet quite reguarly); next time I'd be at the Liga end (sorry Ben). Blimey, I just put next time! Haha!

Sunday lunch occurred with seven and a half people around my dinner table (the half being Fritha's little boy Sam). It was really lovely and I really didn't have to do much at all. I did contribute a little with some hummus and pudding. Also what was great was the quite complex dance we all performed around my kitchen as we prepared our different parts of the meal. There wasn't one moment of getting in each others way - great teamwork.

It was a very relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Waller and Harvey are now at large in Ecuador, look out Ecuador!