¡YANTZAZA!

Whoop whoop...I´m here finally! What a crazy past few days. Chris and I decided to leave on Sunday, that way we could rest a little. We were a little chuchaki from the crazy partying the night before. Let´s just say...things got weird.

So we managed to catch a 3 pm bus from Quito, hoping to arrive around 6 am in Loja Monday morning. I am now learning you need to have a 1-2 hour window for every bus ride...long or short. All night the bus was having problems; having to stop every few hours so they could make repairs. I also learned that the buses board not only the driver, but two extra guys just to help with repairs. Simply because they happen so often.

So at 6 am, the bus stopped and people started getting pissed. Like shaking the doors open to try and get out, I learned some new swear words...the works. So they let some people off and we started rolling again. Chris and I tried to stay on the bus as long as possible because we had so much stuff with us it was going to be a pain to try and transfer everything. Then at about 8 am, we were driving, a mere 10 minutes away from the bus station in Loja, and the driver lost control and the only way to stop was to run up into the side of a hill. It was a little scary at first but then I just started laughing. What a welcome...

The only way for us to deboard the bus was for them to rip the door off and our luggage had to be handed to us by the smallest Ecuadorian...luckily they are small and can fit into tight spaces, because the doors to the luggage area were blocked.

Then we hopped into a camioneta with 2 other families to get to Loja. So our first leg of the trip was 18 hours in total. My 3 hour bus ride to Yantzaza was fine...luckily. Then my host dad, Polivio, picked me up and I just chilled the rest of the day.

Felt a little more in touch when I talked to my parents last night. Big news about Sarah Palin´s daughter and her bun in the oven...nice twist to the elections. Should be an interesting race...

Things are getting heated down here as at the end of the month the whole country is voting Si o No on the new constitution. Monica, my counterpart/host mom, told me that President Rafael Correa will be visiting Yantzaza on Friday and Saturday, so I´m going to try and see that.