snapshots

Hola amigos! It's been a while as always! But finally Im back writing. I've been busy doing something(?) and my laptop still doesn't work so blogging from phone has been my only option for now, hopefully will change soon though! I have (way too) many photos from our Oriente trip and also some videos waiting but they'll have to wait a bit more until my white light smart friend works again. But for now I'll share photos from my phone then just to show that I'm doing well here and that Ecuador still keeps getting more and more amazing and home-like very day! My stomach sickness has gone away enough for me to go to coleggio and go running and see friends which is really nice, just hopefully it'd go away for good finally. Atleast I've gotten also the local hospital experience now a few times, something new that too! And I guess it did help. So in coleggio we're studying and practising for our Christmas program (I'm for example going to sing a part of Silent Night, Holy Night in Finnish haha!), at home we already have the christmas tree decorated with the 'nacimiento' decorations below it and I've been seeing friends here in Salcedo, Latacunga, Ambato, Riobamba and Quito too. The last one we visited with a group of four exchange students last weekend and had such a great time! Our norwegian exchangefriend lives there so we got to spend the weekend with her family visiting tourist attractions, shopping in the Quicentro mall, eating mexican food, singing karaoke and just talking since we got to be in the same city again! Normally we all live in different cities in the Sierra (= the Andean area of Ecuador, located at the middle of the country). From these few days I also have a lot of photos coming up, but here these for now!

Hola amigos! Perinteitä kunnioittaen (jotain perinteitä sentään, jouluperinteitä täältä nimittäin paljon kyllä uupuu!) taas liian pitkä aika siitä kun viimeksi kirjoittelin. Olen ollut kiireinen tehdessä jotain(?) ja läppärini on vieläkin korjaamatta joten puhelimesta bloggaaminen on tällä hetkellä ainoa vaihtoehtoni. Orienten kuvat ja muutama Ecuador video odottelee vuoroaan mutta ne tulee sitten myöhemmin! Tähän väliin ajattelin jakaa satunnaisia otoksia lähiajoilta ihan vaan näyttääkseni että täällä on kaikki hyvin ja Ecuador on joka päivä upeanpi ja kotoisanpi. Vatsakin on jo vihdoin tervehtynyt ainakin sen verran että viime viikot olen jo ollut koulussa, käynyt lenkeillä ja nähnyt kavereita, mikä on ollut kyllä ihan autuutta vuodelevon jälkeen. Päädyinpähän saaman myös paikallisen lääkäri-kokemuksen muutamaan kertaan, tulipahan sekin koettua! Ja kai se jotakin auttoi kun nyt kunnossa siis olen. Colegiossa siis opiskellaan normaalisti ja harjoitellaan joulu-ohjelmiamme varten (tiedossa mm. tanssia ja Jouluyö, Juhlayö suomeksi! :D), kotona täällä on jo joulukuusi koristeltuna ja "nacimiento"- seimi-koristeet sen juurella, kavereita olen nähnyt täällä Salcedossa, Latacungassa, Ambatossa, Riobambassa ja pääkaupungissa Quitossakin. Viimeisessä vietettiin viikonloppu neljän vaihtarikaverin kanssa, norjalainen meistä nimittäin asustelee siellä niin majailimme hänen perheensä luona ja kiersimme turistukohteita, shoppailimme, söimme meksikolaista, lauloimme karaokea ja juttelimee kaikesta mahdollisesta kun kerran samassa kaupungissa oltiin! Kaikki asumme siis eri kaupungeissa, mutta kuitenkin täällä Sierrassa (= nimitys Ecuadorin vuoristoalueelle, elikkä maan keskellä etelästä pohjoiseen jatkuvalle Andien alueelle). Tuolta viikonlopultakin löytyisi paljon lisää kuvia ja yksityiskohtia, mutta niitä sitten kun kone on taas kaveri. Tähän asti vaan hurjasti terkkuja ja haleja sinne!

1. Finados Feria (finados = local "Halloween", feria = a type of visiting market area) in Salcedo / 2. Finados ferias at the Victoria road, which is famous from its ceramics / 3. Also part of the finados are small traveling amusement that we visited with my host sister and her friend / 4. At the feria in Ambato with the ambatenas exchange girls , where my stomach forbid me from stding up so we ended up eating coconut on the street like homeless europeans.

1. Something Finnish at Victoria! / 2. The traveling amusent park in Salcedo / 3. Abuelito's birthday / 4. Cuy, aka guine pig - a typical food here that I also did try a tiny bit !

1. Helping to bake guaguas, traficional Finados bread / 2. Conejo = rabbits / 3. With my classmates after going to a crazy and unsafe viking-ship -like ride / 4. Ice cream with my host sister and abuelo in Columbia

1. With my german host cousin (other exchanger who lives with my host aunt's family) and the museum park in Ambato which's name I can't remember / 2. 100% ecuadorian chocolate and sweets-heaven / 3. Another erupting volcanoe near here which has been amusing the locals for about 15 years already / 4. With my host cousin, aunt and uncle with whoms I spend a weekend a few weeks ago

1. - 4. Some details of the beautiful park

1. A show of antique cars / 2. Small details on my room to make it feel more like my room, thank you Katsu & Anni for these ❤ / 3. The exchange girls from Ambato (there's also one guy but he never seems to be in the pics haha!) / 4. Mora-coconut ice cream in Ambato

1. Ferias in Pinllo, Ambato / 2. I showed them my way of eating bread and got my dearly-missed cucumber sandwich! / 3. Yoghurt with granola after 3 months break tasted better than anything / 4. Ambato

1. In the oriente ( = ecuadorian Amazon) walking towards our activity / 2. The favorite kind of hotel breakfast / 3. And the favorite kind of hotel / 4. The only way to move around!

1. Me and Maria helping at baking bread at 4.am / 2. & 4. One day we had special program with our godchildren from school, and had to/got to dress up / 3. The fruitmarkets need to words 

1.-3. With my formal classmates / 4. Basic kind of school day heh

1. Ambato views / 2. Latacunga / 3. My host aunt's christmas decorations / 4. With my classmates

1. The central park of Salcedo getting ready for Xmas / 2. Making the christmas tree! / 3. The built and decorated christmas tree at my house / 4. Our river here in Salcedo

1. Riobamba, known for it's frio (=cold) weather / 2. Watching Ecuador play of course - and they've played well in the Latin American championships! / 3. The closest thing to Starbucks and heaven that I've found / 4. When I cook it's taco salad! Also a new favorite of my host sisters

1. With the gringo, danish exchange student in Salcedo, and his host brother / 2. Ra A4 itsenäinen ei ollut ihan mikään miellyttävin uurastus mutta hyöydyllinen kyllä pakko myöntää / 3. Strawberries for 1$ all year round / 4. With my classmate

1. Trenzas by our classmate / 2. Yep, tired yep. / 3. Basic way to eat bananas / 4. Ice creams with my host family

1. At Cafe Paris with the Riobamba exchangers / 2. Papaya, my kind of dessert / 3. Trying to find ingredients to make "joulutorttuja" 4. The first time I've seen gingerbread in this country and probably the last time, it doesn't exist here!

1. Shopping at Quicentro / 2. The best ice creams in Quito ! / 3. At la Ronda in Quito with helados de paila & white chocolate strawberries (this is why Im happy I always walk to school instead of having to use a bus) 4. Enjoying the evening in Quito

1. La miradora en Latacunga, views 10+ 2. & 3. School friends / 4. The kathedral of Ambato

1. Our delicious brealfast in Quito / 2. Panaderia Anita, the german Anna and me who both are called Anita's here / 3. Visiting la Virgen in Quito / 4. Mexican food, so so so good

1. Our class on the god children's day / 2. My way of independe day of Finland here / 3. With friends at El Gringo y la Gorda cafe in Latacunga / 4. My class at some sort of special misa that we took part into at school, without me ever understanding what it was about

1. Finados y las chicas / 2. Classmates / 3. For sure the worst thing I've ever drank / 4. Happy with my new poncho!

1. Saturday with classmates / 2. In Quito with the views from the Virgen / 3. La basilica de Quito / 4. Con las chicas nuevamente

1. & 4. Oriente memories / 2. Quito snap / God children's day

1. In Quito after Oriente drinking the delicious hot chocolate of Republica del Cacao / 2. La basilica de Quito / 3. The best ice creams in Quito / 4. At school

1. Traveling local style at the back of a pick up truck / 2. In Quito after the Oriente trip, where do all the exchange students go? Mc Donalds of course since one of the only three in the country / 3. Papas fritas con mis compañeras / 4. Trying the famous Pinol of Salcedo (for the last time haha!)

Hugs ❤