Friday Food Market

Luis had definitely died and gone to heaven. As we drove in I knew we were going to be there for a while. It was packed out with people, food stalls and other things for sale. It is our local Friday night market and it is pretty special. Lola enjoyed what Luis decided he was not fond of, which to be fair was not much. I think in total he spent under 5 dollars and ate like a king.

 Decisions Decisions

 Six pieces of sushi, one dollar

A lovely way to spend a Friday night. As we have no internet or tv (how did people survive!), it was a great find.

Learning Lessons

Not even a week in and we have learnt some key lessons 1) NEVER make decisions jet lagged 2) Follow advice 3) Spicy means spicy 4) And oh my goodness I now know what hot is.
We moved into our new place yesterday. It is lovely and bright, 3 bedrooms and a garden and totally not us! Whoopsie!! Luckily our landlords are amazing and have agreed to shorten the lease, so we are viewing this as our temp home.
Last night we had dinner with a couple from the school (their place is so amazing it was a little depressing!), we got some tips and feel like we are finding our way around.
Today we drove down the Coast to see Patong, Karon and Kata. Beautiful beautiful beaches, but our local ones are pretty fabulous too and ten minutes is better than thirty.

Lola looking at the view in Kata beach. She is hot but happy to be the beach dog she has always dreamed of being.

Finally!!

Finally, I have managed to crack Google security! I have had the most frustrating week trying to get this blog running again, google drive (all my files in the world) and email.  But finally I did it and I can tell you they do not make it easy.  Not one bit, but hey ho I guess that should make me feel better really (not that there are anything in my folders to hide).
So we made it, all of us, no scratches, maybe Lola is a little more shaky but all in all here in one piece.  We have found a place to live and are moving in later this morning.  I have also started a second blog including Luis. But I have decided to keep both going as I just think if is safer to have two of everything!
I shall update this one soon with photos.

Last Full Quito Day.. for now

I cannot believe it, tomorrow me and Lola will be on our way to join Luis (who left today) in Phuket!  It is a strange feeling having no idea what to expect in just a few days.  We still have to find a place to live, explore the place and I have to get my head around a new job!
It has been a great two years, full of some pretty major life changing events. The biggest of course is meeting Luis, I feel so blessed and lucky to have such a great man in my life and cannot wait to start this new adventure together.  I got to live in Ecuador, I have now been to the jungle, cloud forest, the galapagos, I have seen some truly amazing things here.  I also had some events that were life changing but not ones that I care to ever repeat, a gun point robbery and of course the major Earth quake in April.  But I cannot say I did not learn a lot about my self and actually other people through these.
And of course I will miss all the fabulous people I spent these years with, many of them scattered around the world now, and a few still here.  I also have a new extended family, the Endara´s who are kind, generous and pretty much alround fabulous.
Tomorrow when I get on the plane it will be with a sad heart.  I also know Lola will miss it here loads, she has loved it very much.

 We have spent the morning in Lola´s favourite park, and tonight will have dinner with the man who got me to come here and made all these experiences possible, Mark.  Next stop Phuket!

Getting Close!

What a ridiculous crazy time the last week has been, who knew that moving was going to be such a long process!! Every day the list of things to do seems to be getting longer, it is never ending.  But now we are really hitting the deadline to finish all with Luis flying out very early tomorrow morning.  I will then fly on Friday with Lola, we are trying to save a little money (or maybe we think we should behave like the Royal family and not fly together).
Tonight will be Luis´s last family meal in Quito before he leaves tomorrow.  I imagine it will be very tearful, they will all miss each other loads.  I guess I am a bit use to it by now, not that I do not miss my family each and every day, just more use to the goodbyes. 

We have spent quite a bit of time with them which has been really nice.  I even  cooked a big lasanga lunch on Sunday, which I must say looked really good (of course I could not eat it as I made it with meat).  I also made two fabulous salads that I was very pour of!

 I have no idea why this is turning like this, will find away to fix it.  The original table, but the family brought a tent.

 Which was a good idea in theory, but the sun positioned itself that the tent did nothing to shelter all (fine by me!).

 My lunch

 Sobrinos and Sobrina

.A lovely family day. 
 

Endara and San Pablo Lake

Yesterday was Endara family day, we went to a lake near Otavalo called San Pablo.  Lunch was meant to be at two but in keeping with Endara tradition the lunch was more about four! But I love this about my Endara family, it also gave us some extra time to shop around Otavalo (is the big indigenious market in Ecuador).  

 The family, just missing Havier, my new brother in law.  It was a lovely lunch with beautiful views.  We are having another lunch today, cooked by me :)

Gracais Canoa

Thank you Canoa for such a fantastic week and lovely honeymoon.  We had such a lovely time, we love the hostal we stay at and our new friends there, the towns people, the food, the beach and all the volunteers there.
My final thoughts are different than my initial ones.  You can see that something has happened here, the rubble is mainly cleared but when walking up and down the small streets there is still more to be done.  We also learnt that many other buildings still need to come down.  But my thoughts about the people remain unchanged, their spirit is unblieveable.  I also can see what a fantastic job the organisations are doing and how well organised thier effort is.  Most are staying for two years and who knows maybe longer, they are organised, efficient and most importantly trusted by the people.
We were sad to leave and now ar very very busy trying to get ready to move next week!

 Luna, really the boss of the hostel

 She loved Luis and we spent most days playing with her

 Lola on the beach, her favourite place to be

 Lola exhausted after long day

Lorena and Diego owners of Hostel Alamur, we love them!