so, right now im in Guiaquil...the biggest freaking city I have ever been in....I.HATE.IT...the only reason im here is to go to the temple and get some sanity...let me start from the beginning...im going to read out of my journal and just highlight the last few days...im on a computer that I cant load my pictures onto, so I promise I will do that as soon as I get to Cuenca on Monday...just a whole post full of pictures! and trust me...I have some AWESOME ones!

okay lets start with Wednesday. I blogged right before I left to Latacunga. I paid 2 dollars for this 2 hour bus ride....the craziest bus ride ever...but I survived. when I stepped off I was in Latacunga! a beautifull little city near a river...I cant wait to show you photos I got to take, there were women herding cattle down the street with sticks and, honestly? I was the only white person in the whole city...its was...nice? ha ha I spent a lot of the day walking around and snapping photos because there wasnt a lot going in Latacunga, CUTE.STORY. tho, I sat on some stairs on a bridge and snapped photos of this little girl wh was selling gum, she walked up to me and sat down beside me, and we talked for a little bit, she was 5, and the cutest thing I have ever seen, we went walking a little and I bought her a little chocolate bar, we chilled for a few minutes sitting on the stairs ( I deffinately got some interesting looks from people walking by, me and a little brown girl just chilling eating chocolate...) a little while later I checked into a nice hostal and spent the night.
at about 6am I boarded a bus to Saquisili...it was REALLY hard to get on a bus to a place where I couldnt purnounce the name...I kept asing how I get to Saq-o-si.lay...or something, but it is actually SAK-I-SI-LI... when I finally said it right I gt thrown onto a bus and was off to the market!
oh, so good news, I have a travel buddy...ha ha dont get too excited...its this little...DOLL. its amazing...its made out of a little plank of wood, with a cloth face and cloth and straw for clothing, I named her amiga...simple, I know. she is strapped to the back of my pack and goes everywhere with me!
I made friends with some people from spain at the market...so ha ha STILL no english friends, but it was neat to be walking around with some white people...we walked from the main market over to the animal market down this dusty dirt road...it was like something out of a movie...and the animal market was SO.COOL. people would just buy a sheep or something, cut it up, right there, and then throw it in the back of their truck.
we hung out there for a bit then went to a fruit market, got some bananas for lunch, then I headed back to Latacunga to attempt to try and get to Guyaquil...I went from Latacunga to Ambato, hopped off at ambato for a break, before I headed off on a 6 hour bus ride to Guyaquil!
this is directly out of my travel journal - WOW...that was the longest, funniest, twistiest, bmpiest and MOST.BEAUTIFULL. bus ride I think I will ever be on .... my 6 hour bus ride took over 8 because we kept running to construction....scary when your stopped cold inches from a cliff...I hopped out because we were stopped, and as soon as I stepped out people behind me started yelling...oye! venga con nosotros!!! seega seega! haha basically going, hey hey! come ride with us! we will get you there faster! and were a lot more fun, bla bla bla... MEN...booo....I ignored the shouts, but when a group of men got out of thir truck and were trying to cat call me while walking towards me, I hopped back onto my bus and waited there.. the men are SO SKETCH here. ha ha
this indigeounous woman hopped on the bus a couple hours in and sat beside me, you know, one of those woman with the hats? here is a picture of one from the net...
exept this one wasnt this pretty...ha ha she got on and INSTANTLY fell asleep, cool...until she started leaning on me...then she was sleeping on my shoulder, and her hat kept falling into my lap...then she would wake up, take her hat back with a dirty look, and fall back asleep....then it would happen again, slowly creeping onto me, till the hat fell, then she would sit up, funny now, but not at the time...it was an interesting bus ride for me, it was beautifull, but 8 hours is a lot of thinking time. I try my best to stay away from oppertunities like that, but, it happened...I ran thru time in my head...I think I ran thru every relationship, friendship and other that I managed to ruin this last year or so...by the time my bus pulled over for a break it was late...and I kindof just wanted to be home...I got off the bus at this stop, peed in this bathroom....and like, I dont even want to talk about it..lol
then I called my dad to check in. its good to hear his voice when I feel like that, he said I sounded tired, he was right.
A few hours later I got into Guyaquil, it was chaos, I hopped into a cab and headed staight for the temple.
I didnt know what I was going to do from there...it was late, and I was exhausted...I wandered onto the grounds and ran into some people who spoke english. of course..tender merices, it was the temple president. when he told me I could stay there for the night I just about broke down. I layed down in a clean in an air conditioned room after a HOT.SHOWER (yesssssss) in a bed on the safe temple grounds and fell asleep.

the last couple of days have been amazing. up untill this afternoon I hadnt left the temple grounds, its been unbeleivable. I love the temple. its so peacfull there. I went to do baptisms yesterday morning and ran into some people who spoke english in the lobby...guess what? they were from LETHBRIDGE! ha ha I was SO excited, they asked for my parents number so they could call my house and tell my family I was alright, the wives were SO worried about me, it was cute, they were totally parents....since I have gotten to the temple I have had nothing but good experiences, before they left, one of the men slipped me some cash and whispered, ´be safe, to help you on your way´ I went in, did some temple work and made friends with the Fitches, some temple workers from the U.S...they had me for dinner that night...a home cooked meal...and good conversation with some people who missed their children, It was perfect, I missed my parents, they missed their kids...so we had a lot to talk about! I went home and fell into bed that night, feeling very loved, and very happy.
this morning I woke up, did some more work, and then set off to find a hostal, now here I am in hostal dreamkapture, its a wonderfull hostal, it took me AGES to find tho, I was wandering up and down the street looking for it and this girl about my age asked me where I was going...and I showed her the address and she went to ask her parents who were sitting in a car up the street...we talked for a bit and finally they go, okay, hope in.. well get you there (in spanish, of course) I was hesitant, but they seemed very nice (dont judge me! I was bieng carefull!) haha on the way over to the hostal the mom was lecturing me about bad people, and how I should be carefull of bad people...the girl gave me her phone number and wanted me to call her to go out...they were SO SWEET. we found my hostal...and now, here I AM!

sorry if this bored everyone...it seems like these are a little dull without pictures....this hostal is nice, but im excited to go back to the temple tonight for dinner with another couple from the temple...tomorrow I will try and get pictures up...but monday I get to go to Cuenca and see my little girl Vanessa...I left her all these years ago...and im DYING to see her again. I will finally have my heart close to me again!

.x.x.

.R.