Hello Everyone,
Just a quick note here. We just came back from the Amazon Jungle, it was really good. We visited a rescue centre called ´Amazoonica´ by a canoe and saw lots of animals including monkeys and a sleeping anaconda. When we left the lodges or ´shacks´we were given a goodbye by the families living there who did their traditional dances for us and then asked for us to dance as we do in England and all we could come up with was the Macarena from Spain...bit embarrssing really!
The trek up Cotopaxi was fun but really tiring as I and many others found it difficult to breathe due to high altitude. We all made it up though to the refute even Pele who was really ill. I think everyone of us has been ill during this trip.
We leave tomorrow for home, it´s been a really good experience and I have loved it so much here in Ecuador especially the team I´ve been with...they have been a right old laugh! Sometimes....I can´t even control myself!
Have to go now..bye xxxxx
Love from Ecuador
xxxxxx
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
In Ecuador they just stick their number plates onto their rear windscreen
or don´t put them on at all....and Devon´s trousers like to fall down when she is walking down the street.
Today, we went to the spanish school and made 200 sandwiches. The whole team (10 members) made a production line in the kitchen with each person doing something different. We were making 200 sandwiches to take to a local children´s hospital in Quito. When we delivered them to the ward, we gave each person a sandwich and a drink, the parents were so thankful towards us and you could see it in their eyes. It was a really great experience leaving a dual mixture inside us, we felt to happy as we knew it was great to give something but also sad as you felt sorry for them. We tried really hard to deliver the meal with a smile which we thought was relly important.
Yesterday, was out last day at the day care centre in El Tejar. In the morning, I felt really ill as I had a tummy ache and on the bus I felt even worse, when we got to the day care centre Sophie also felt ill which wasn´t a good sign so we sat out the first part of the morning. During the day we were dropping like flies, Mouland felt slightly ill and Pete did in the evening..Joyce was also ill and missed dinner. That day we finished the 14 metre mural on the wall and the coordinator was so grateful and said that words were not enough. The mural was a rainforst scene and we also painted a small play house with snake on it. The team were all very good at painting and every put a good input. We also have our shoeboxes to the children and they were too really happy. The kitchen lady told Florien that ´he is the most good looking boy she has ever seen´and that ´she will wait for him´...it was quite funny when we told her that he has a girlfriend and she felt embarssed. In the afternoon, we visted the old town which was really nice and then we got taxi´s up to the angel on top of a hill in Quito. It took us absolutley ages to get taxis...Pele, Sophie and I had to wait loner than anyone and it was a really bumy journey up. The angel was huge and the view was really spectactular, some of us brought presents. When we wanted to leave, we had to wait ages because the taxis don´t come up the mountain very often and so when we found one we were so happy as it was so cold...and so we didn´t really mind that it was an illegal one without the metre. Lets say it was an experience, in the taxi I was in Tom Mouland was in the front and in the back was Karolin, Sophie, Pele and I..yes that is 4 of us in the back and it was pretty cramped...Pele said his bum was stuck outside the window. Don´t worry the journey was fine and was pretty funny .
Also, I must add that todday after lunch we went to look round a local market and a woman was being filmed in the square which we saw. About 15 minutes later she came up to us with a camera and wanted Sophie, Devon and I told wear these bags and strut round the market with out hands on our hips looking at the camera and twirling in circles..it was soo funny and we were all in stiches. Flo and Pete were also asked to stand in the background but they looked silly. We later found out we were going to be on TV on wednesday at 8.00am....but we are leaving at that time for the Amazon so we might leave a bit later.
Tonight, all of us feel pretty good in terms of health....we have had a ood rest this afternoon and went shopping. We found this really nice painting shop and some of us will be going back on the last day. Tomorrow, we are climbing Cotopaxi which will be hard work but we all hope that we will make it to the snow line.
Tonight, we are going out to the CoffeeTree for dinner and we called Macarena at lunch if she wanted to come with us and she agreed. Macarena is out ecuadorian friend from La Hesperia.
Love fromn Ecuador xxxx
Today, we went to the spanish school and made 200 sandwiches. The whole team (10 members) made a production line in the kitchen with each person doing something different. We were making 200 sandwiches to take to a local children´s hospital in Quito. When we delivered them to the ward, we gave each person a sandwich and a drink, the parents were so thankful towards us and you could see it in their eyes. It was a really great experience leaving a dual mixture inside us, we felt to happy as we knew it was great to give something but also sad as you felt sorry for them. We tried really hard to deliver the meal with a smile which we thought was relly important.
Yesterday, was out last day at the day care centre in El Tejar. In the morning, I felt really ill as I had a tummy ache and on the bus I felt even worse, when we got to the day care centre Sophie also felt ill which wasn´t a good sign so we sat out the first part of the morning. During the day we were dropping like flies, Mouland felt slightly ill and Pete did in the evening..Joyce was also ill and missed dinner. That day we finished the 14 metre mural on the wall and the coordinator was so grateful and said that words were not enough. The mural was a rainforst scene and we also painted a small play house with snake on it. The team were all very good at painting and every put a good input. We also have our shoeboxes to the children and they were too really happy. The kitchen lady told Florien that ´he is the most good looking boy she has ever seen´and that ´she will wait for him´...it was quite funny when we told her that he has a girlfriend and she felt embarssed. In the afternoon, we visted the old town which was really nice and then we got taxi´s up to the angel on top of a hill in Quito. It took us absolutley ages to get taxis...Pele, Sophie and I had to wait loner than anyone and it was a really bumy journey up. The angel was huge and the view was really spectactular, some of us brought presents. When we wanted to leave, we had to wait ages because the taxis don´t come up the mountain very often and so when we found one we were so happy as it was so cold...and so we didn´t really mind that it was an illegal one without the metre. Lets say it was an experience, in the taxi I was in Tom Mouland was in the front and in the back was Karolin, Sophie, Pele and I..yes that is 4 of us in the back and it was pretty cramped...Pele said his bum was stuck outside the window. Don´t worry the journey was fine and was pretty funny .
Also, I must add that todday after lunch we went to look round a local market and a woman was being filmed in the square which we saw. About 15 minutes later she came up to us with a camera and wanted Sophie, Devon and I told wear these bags and strut round the market with out hands on our hips looking at the camera and twirling in circles..it was soo funny and we were all in stiches. Flo and Pete were also asked to stand in the background but they looked silly. We later found out we were going to be on TV on wednesday at 8.00am....but we are leaving at that time for the Amazon so we might leave a bit later.
Tonight, all of us feel pretty good in terms of health....we have had a ood rest this afternoon and went shopping. We found this really nice painting shop and some of us will be going back on the last day. Tomorrow, we are climbing Cotopaxi which will be hard work but we all hope that we will make it to the snow line.
Tonight, we are going out to the CoffeeTree for dinner and we called Macarena at lunch if she wanted to come with us and she agreed. Macarena is out ecuadorian friend from La Hesperia.
Love fromn Ecuador xxxx
Thursday, 22 July 2010
The Wall at the Day Care Centre
Hey Guys,
Today, we went back to our school project in Quito just a short drive from our hostel where we are currently staying. The school is a day care centre where parents drop their children off when they go to work and there are 120 children there throughout the day.
On the way to El Tejar (The Centre) there was a lot of traffic and it took us longer than expected this morning. When we arrived Pete´s friend who is a little boy called Yakam was watiting for him when Pete arrived at the door, this boy adores Pete so much and clings onto him throughout the day. The whole team got straight into painting the wall which is about 14 metres wide and 4 metres high in places. On the mural, the art students have designed a rainforest scene for the children of the centre to enjoy, as some of them will never get the chance to experience the rainforest as we have in La Hesperia. Everyone was really good at painting and played to their strengths, of course Florian was used for the tallest parts of the mural as we couldn´t reach that high.
Everyone worked really well together and we have almost finished the mural, tomorrow we return again to finish it and add detail. Also, tomorrow we are taking our shoe boxes to the centre. The shoe boxes were made up from the year eight tutor groups from out school and we finished them off with more presents and wrapping paper. These presents we shall give to the children tomorrow and it shall be lovely to see their faces glow.
Yesterday night, we went to the Magic Bean again for dinner (our favourite restaraunt so far) and I kept on syaing ´cheers´and so that´s my nickname now from Pele...at least it´s not one face (Pete´s), Danger Devon, Stomach Sophie or mine before Dung Bettle when I was rolling weeds in the veggie patch.
I really must remember to get the wire for my camera so I can put the photo´s up soonish, I have got some really awesome ones of us and the children..oh and of the kiss.
Speak soon :)
Love from Ecuador xxx
Today, we went back to our school project in Quito just a short drive from our hostel where we are currently staying. The school is a day care centre where parents drop their children off when they go to work and there are 120 children there throughout the day.
On the way to El Tejar (The Centre) there was a lot of traffic and it took us longer than expected this morning. When we arrived Pete´s friend who is a little boy called Yakam was watiting for him when Pete arrived at the door, this boy adores Pete so much and clings onto him throughout the day. The whole team got straight into painting the wall which is about 14 metres wide and 4 metres high in places. On the mural, the art students have designed a rainforest scene for the children of the centre to enjoy, as some of them will never get the chance to experience the rainforest as we have in La Hesperia. Everyone was really good at painting and played to their strengths, of course Florian was used for the tallest parts of the mural as we couldn´t reach that high.
Everyone worked really well together and we have almost finished the mural, tomorrow we return again to finish it and add detail. Also, tomorrow we are taking our shoe boxes to the centre. The shoe boxes were made up from the year eight tutor groups from out school and we finished them off with more presents and wrapping paper. These presents we shall give to the children tomorrow and it shall be lovely to see their faces glow.
Yesterday night, we went to the Magic Bean again for dinner (our favourite restaraunt so far) and I kept on syaing ´cheers´and so that´s my nickname now from Pele...at least it´s not one face (Pete´s), Danger Devon, Stomach Sophie or mine before Dung Bettle when I was rolling weeds in the veggie patch.
I really must remember to get the wire for my camera so I can put the photo´s up soonish, I have got some really awesome ones of us and the children..oh and of the kiss.
Speak soon :)
Love from Ecuador xxx
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Hello from Ecuador :)
Hey Guys,
Sorry, I haven´t written since we´ve arrived...I´ve just been too busy enjoying myself with the team here in Ecuador.
Just to let you know, we all arrived safety in Quito (Ecuador´s capital) although Karolin´s bag didn´t arrive with us and came 4 days late which was a pain but we adapted and later it was dropped off in a building which local people call a ´house´(that´s what Flo put in the team diary).
Since we´ve been here in Ecuador we have done some very hard work! On the first day, we had a relaxed morning and afternoon to rest outselves from our long plane journey which turned out to be 3 plane rides as not expected. Then the next day, we travelled to a reserve called La Hesperia which is a conservation area in the Cloud Forest. The drive there was 3 hours long and it was along Ecuador´s most dangerous road and we came along an overturned lorry on the cliff side which was awful. In La Hesperia, we all shared a ´villa´ together and we did lots of work, first of all we had a machete lesson from the ´Machete man´which the boys loved and with this we cleared paths and planted hardwood sustainable trees. Pele and Pete killed anything in their path and knocked down a banana tree but then again Pete did wake up thinking we were doing DEforestation and not REforestation...we kind of mocked him for that. We also cleared a vegetable patch and went on a waterfall hike with 2 guides which was the one we think Mawer warned Pele not to go on...and it was really good fun but slippy and Devon fell in but carried on really well.
ALso, when we were mailing the cows which we had to do everyday and make break, a cow pooed and Pete moved Devon in front of him, so she got the poo on her!!!
White water rafting was a great experience for all of us, I fell in with Flo and we got pushed under the boat which was scary as you don´t know where you are but once I reached the top I just floated down the river laughing in hysterics. In the other boat was Pele, Sophie, Tom, Devon, the guide, Karolin and Pete and their boat hit a rock and bounced and Pele, the guide, Devon and Pete were thrown out but they survived...and that was Pete´s birthday and I think he enjoyed it...he got a cake too by the side of the river.
Today, we went to the Day Care Centre in El Tejar where we are going to be based for the nbext few days. The children are so cute and we are painting a rainforest mural for them which should be good fun.
Also, I must mention when we went out for Dinner yesterday for Pet´s birthday, these American people were slightly drunk and started to talk to our group and Pete told them it was his birthday and this girl abour 20 got up and kissed him as she thought being seventeen deserved a kiss and before that she said he was ´So Damm Cute´which we keep`mocking him about..haha )I´ll put the photo´s on facebook.
Anyway, nice to speak to everyone back at home, we are going to collect out laundry now and then to dinner.
Love from Ecuador xxx
Sorry, I haven´t written since we´ve arrived...I´ve just been too busy enjoying myself with the team here in Ecuador.
Just to let you know, we all arrived safety in Quito (Ecuador´s capital) although Karolin´s bag didn´t arrive with us and came 4 days late which was a pain but we adapted and later it was dropped off in a building which local people call a ´house´(that´s what Flo put in the team diary).
Since we´ve been here in Ecuador we have done some very hard work! On the first day, we had a relaxed morning and afternoon to rest outselves from our long plane journey which turned out to be 3 plane rides as not expected. Then the next day, we travelled to a reserve called La Hesperia which is a conservation area in the Cloud Forest. The drive there was 3 hours long and it was along Ecuador´s most dangerous road and we came along an overturned lorry on the cliff side which was awful. In La Hesperia, we all shared a ´villa´ together and we did lots of work, first of all we had a machete lesson from the ´Machete man´which the boys loved and with this we cleared paths and planted hardwood sustainable trees. Pele and Pete killed anything in their path and knocked down a banana tree but then again Pete did wake up thinking we were doing DEforestation and not REforestation...we kind of mocked him for that. We also cleared a vegetable patch and went on a waterfall hike with 2 guides which was the one we think Mawer warned Pele not to go on...and it was really good fun but slippy and Devon fell in but carried on really well.
ALso, when we were mailing the cows which we had to do everyday and make break, a cow pooed and Pete moved Devon in front of him, so she got the poo on her!!!
White water rafting was a great experience for all of us, I fell in with Flo and we got pushed under the boat which was scary as you don´t know where you are but once I reached the top I just floated down the river laughing in hysterics. In the other boat was Pele, Sophie, Tom, Devon, the guide, Karolin and Pete and their boat hit a rock and bounced and Pele, the guide, Devon and Pete were thrown out but they survived...and that was Pete´s birthday and I think he enjoyed it...he got a cake too by the side of the river.
Today, we went to the Day Care Centre in El Tejar where we are going to be based for the nbext few days. The children are so cute and we are painting a rainforest mural for them which should be good fun.
Also, I must mention when we went out for Dinner yesterday for Pet´s birthday, these American people were slightly drunk and started to talk to our group and Pete told them it was his birthday and this girl abour 20 got up and kissed him as she thought being seventeen deserved a kiss and before that she said he was ´So Damm Cute´which we keep`mocking him about..haha )I´ll put the photo´s on facebook.
Anyway, nice to speak to everyone back at home, we are going to collect out laundry now and then to dinner.
Love from Ecuador xxx
Monday, 12 July 2010
It's The Final Countdown...
Ahhh, I'm leaving today! Literally jumped out of bed today at like 8ish (I normally just roll :P) and took my lovely malaria tablets which weren't so good. Ahh, well don't want to die...or get Rabies..but at least I have the jab so I leave a few more hours to live which is pretty nice of the scientists who made it haha.
waaaarggghhhhh I can't wait!!!!!!!!
I've got to go now and get ready; mainly so I can have breakfast...finally at 10ish my family decided to roll out of bed. Then shower and off I go to Warminster School to get the group bus.
I CAN'T WAIT TO I REACH ECUADOR...although I'm not going to lie, I am a teeny bit nervous
Love you all lots and lots
Byesssss Xx
waaaarggghhhhh I can't wait!!!!!!!!
I've got to go now and get ready; mainly so I can have breakfast...finally at 10ish my family decided to roll out of bed. Then shower and off I go to Warminster School to get the group bus.
I CAN'T WAIT TO I REACH ECUADOR...although I'm not going to lie, I am a teeny bit nervous
Love you all lots and lots
Byesssss Xx
Sunday, 11 July 2010
There is only ONE more sleep to go!!
After a year plus of planning and fundraising, I can't quite believe there is only 1 sleep to go before I leave for my Ecuador Expediton. As you can tell, I am very excited and from those who have me on the 'BookofFace', you might have seen that I have been counting down for quite a while.
Extremely excited about seeing all the team members tomorrow early in the morning at 12.30...ok not so early normally but it is the holidays after all :)
Anyway, just a few things to do now before the departure day, so I must get on :) See you tomorrow!
Not so long now .................
Extremely excited about seeing all the team members tomorrow early in the morning at 12.30...ok not so early normally but it is the holidays after all :)
Anyway, just a few things to do now before the departure day, so I must get on :) See you tomorrow!
Not so long now .................
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