Quilotoa Video Live

I had been waiting to mix together my video from Quilotoa because I wanted to use my new Mac for the project. I'm glad to say that it has come out well and was worth the wait. It's amazing how much more iMovie offers you over Windows Movie Maker. To me, it feels like I've upgraded from the Flintstone's car to a Bentley. Here you can watch my video on hiking around Quilotoa, and on YouTube you'll be able to find other videos that I have added throughout the year. Enjoy.

Keeping Thoroughly Busy At Home

Last week was a blur of mixed emotions, reunions, and adjusting to life back at home in Sharon, MA. I'm only here for a little under three weeks, and I like to think of it like a longer vacation, and soon enough I'll be heading back to South America. The only difference is that instead of returning to Cuenca, Ecuador, I'll now be starting over and moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This time without the support of an organization like WorldTeach behind me, and it will be up to me to secure a job and everything else that comes with that.

So my last blog post was a few days back, and it's time to catch up a little bit. On Wednesday I'd gone into Boston for a coffee with my old multimedia professor, Steve Fox. Steve was attending a journalism conference at the Sheraton in Copley Place, and he invited me to sit in on a panel discussion about internships, and pointed me out as an example of someone who has continued working in something related to my internship. I used to intern and blog for Gonomad. After that I went and bought myself a new MacBook Pro, knowing that my three year old Dell Inspiron E1505 was about to buy the farm.

For the next couple of days I had to relearn how to use a Mac and transfer all of my files from the old computer to the new one. I got really bogged down when I tried to transfer my music and accidentally transferred a whole bunch of music that I'd long ago deleted. I had to go through song by song and choose which music I actually wanted.

Besides dealing with computers, I continued with running. The first couple of run attempts were not very rewarding, and sharp cramps stopped me from running further. But I persisted, and have been able to run about 4 and a half miles each attempt for the last few days. My lungs feel great now that there's actually air to breath, and if it weren't for my legs getting tired, I'd be able to continue running. Unfortunately, high altitude training will only last for a couple of weeks upon returning to sea level. So in just a few days I'll be back to normal again. But it was good while it lasted, and I'm going to continue running.

I'd only seen a couple of friends throughout the week, and very sporadically. Most people I grew up with have moved away, either into or just outside Boston, or to other cities. And everyone has jobs, so it's hard to do anything during the week, especially during the day. But on Saturday I had a coming home/going away party, and some of my closest friends from back home and college came for the day. It was great to see everyone again, and things felt like they always had. We cooked food all day and drank into the night. One of the highlights of the day was seeing my grandma, who made the trip from Brooklyn, New York, which isn't an easy thing to do at her age. I've always wanted to be able to speak in Spanish with her, and we did just that. She laughed and marveled at how well I spoke, and since this was the first time we'd spoken in Spanish it was all new to her. I'm just glad I was finally able to do that.

I've been working on an article about coming home from Ecuador that I hope will be published soon, and will also be working to finish a video on my trip to Quilotoa, Ecuador. And just like that, there are only 10 days until I leave for Argentina. Soon I'll be on the road again, hopefully successful in finding employment in Buenos Aires. Keep checking in for more updates both from home and from the road.

Now Featured on Travel Blogs!

I'm happy to announce that this blog, Travel Guy, is now featured on the Web site Travel Blogs, which features some of the best travel blogs on the Internet. You can find the link for my blog here, though it will take you back to this blog in the end anyway. This will mean, hopefully, some more exposure for this blog and more work ahead. In addition to being featured on Travel Blogs, I'm going to be taking part in some panel discussions on various topics related to travel from time to time. So besides checking up Travel Guy and La Vida Idealist, where I also blog, you can also check in on Travel Blogs and see what some other unique travelers are up to these days. I've been busy the last few days but today will be publishing a blog about what I've been up to while at home, as well as a video I'm working on with footage from the last trip I took in Ecuador, to Quilotoa crater lake. So check back in soon!

I've Jumped On the Mac Train

I've written in previous posts that my 3 year old Dell Inspiron E1505 has been on the outs for the better part of the last year. I've run out of memory and there are constant problems that force the lap top to shut down. I knew that I needed to get myself a new machine before leaving for Argentina because to go down without a reliable lap top would leave me unable to complete my work and, obviously, leave me very bored if I had no way to play movies or listen to music. But the biggest question was what to get?

For as long as I can remember I was against Macs, mainly because I was raised with PCs in the house and that's what I knew. I'd used Macs in school but they had never charmed me very much, until this past December/January break when I stayed with my friends in Santiago, Chile. Both of them had Macs and so for almost two weeks I was using their lap tops to check emails, listen to music, and watch shows from time to time. I slowly realized that I liked using a Macbook.

But the next decision came about the cost. It's hard to switch over to a Mac and not incur a large expense, and coming off of a year of volunteering, heading into a new country without a job, I don't have much to work with. But my dad said he would help me out because it was something I needed, not only for entertainment but also for work. It's all but a fact that Macs have better programs for video/audio/and photography editing. Since I'm working with multimedia more and more, especially for this blog, I want to have the best technology that I can afford. So I took the leap this morning and went ahead with what I sort of knew all along I'd wind up doing. I bought a Macbook Pro.

I knew I wanted a lap top with at least 250 gigabytes, because my last one had only 50 and I've been deleted things like a madman just to keep afloat. But I don't want to have to delete anything anymore. It's all important at some level. I was able to get a student discount even though I'm no longer a student, and as a result got an 8 gigabyte iPod touch that will be free once I get a rebate. This will help to replace the last iPod I had that was stolen the first week I was in Ecuador. I'm still fumbling with the fact that everyone seems to have Blackberries or iPhones, and now I'm joining the ranks myself.

For the next couple of days I'm going to have to transfer my old files, articles, photos, and music to my new lap top. But soon enough I will be back to the grind, working away and hopefully finding success as a new user of a Mac. I have some video from my hike around Quilotoa crater lake that I am looking forward to editing with iMovie and will post to the blog. And I still have some good stories to share. So check back in and hopefully you'll be able to see a bit of a difference in the multimedia section of the blog.

La Vida Idealist!

I'm happy to now finally announce that my first blog post has been posted to La Vida Idealist, a new blog about volunteering opportunities in Latin America. This blog is part of a larger network for Idealist.org, a Web site that helps people from across the globe find volunteering opportunities, jobs, and other organizations around the world. I'm excited to be working with this team of bloggers on this new project. So far, the site is in a soft launch, meaning that it's just being started up and hasn't been fully promoted yet.

But keep checking in because in the next few weeks the site will be officially launched and content will be added daily. I will be blogging at least every Tuesday, but have the opportunity to blog more if I choose to. You should definitely check up that blog, in addition to Travel Guy, because I'll be writing different content on La Vida Idealist. Every blogger has a different angle, and my theme will be life after you've finished long term volunteering. I'm currently in the United States, but in few weeks will be moving again, this time to Buenos Aires, Argentina. My main goal will be to find a job opportunity, either with a non-profit organization or any job that will allow me to sustain myself and be able to write as well. So the experiences that I share will be of interest to a wide range of groups and demographics. So keep reading!

A Welcome Home

From Yesterday, at Miami International Airport.

We were somewhere over Georgetown, getting closer to Cuba when I started to feel nauseated. I was hot and sweating, especially from the armpits, which had gone through months of draught while living in the mountains. My stomach betrayed me—aches and pains and the feeling that I could puke at a moments notice. All I needed to do was give the go ahead. I opened up the window shade and looked out at the light blue/green water as we got closer to the Florida Keys. I was coming home.

This was my second attempt now to fly from Quito to Miami, since I was bumped from an overbooked flight yesterday morning. I had to spend the rest of the day hanging around a 3 star hotel, way too nice for what I needed, courtesy of LAN Airlines. But I’d finally made it on the plane after 11 months of living in the South American country, and we were about to start the descent into my home country.

For the most part, I’d already taken care of the thoughts that most long-term expats experience while coming home the day or two before I was originally supposed to leave. And since I was now placed in Business Class, I was pampered and watching, “School of Rock” with Jack Black, taking my mind away. Yet once the movie ended, it was back to the impending descent. Anything but that.

Stretched out on the comfy seat, I was already in a bit of culture shock. This was all too nice, and I wasn’t ready for it. I had expected my reverse culture shock to start at home, but in the morning I was already invited to the VIP room, and there I sat like a pauper, stuffing food and drinks into my bag as other passengers left half eaten sandwiches on their plate, all from the complimentary buffet.

We descended and my heart rate jumped. My palms, sweaty and clammy, would not stay dry as I rubbed them on my jeans. My head ablaze with thoughts, one moment happy to be coming home, another moment silently freaking out. I knew it would not be easy. Simultaneously hot and cold, my body was just a mess. I expected mixed feelings, but not like this. 11 months is a long time to be away from home, after all, but I was not expecting this.

And then it was touch down. A smile would come and go quickly, then return and leave again as I walked through the terminal, through customs, and to pick up my bags. I anxiously snapped my fingers and moved around like a kid with ADD, a cross between excitement and fear. I’m back in the United States, and I’m already seeing things differently. First, as a general impression, we are a bigger people. We are fatter and taller. There are so many fat people here, and I don’t mean to say that as an insult, but when you see a fat person outside the U.S. they are just fat. But here they seem obese or on the way. It’s just something you really notice after being outside of the country for a while. And we are taller. I was used to being average height in Ecuador, but now I’m just a short guy again, and I feel almost like a kid having to look up to talk to people.

After picking up my luggage I went across the airport to check in with American Airlines for my connection to Boston. But at the counter the woman told me there was no record of a reservation for me. LAN told me they had taken care of my connection for me because they bumped me from the flight, and now they were saying that LAN had done nothing. I guess they just plum forgot about it. I had to walk back across the other side of the airport, where I was told to go downstairs. Downstairs, I was told to go upstairs, where again I was told to go downstairs. Getting the run around, someone finally went to figure out how I could get proof of blame from LAN. I waited over 30 minutes, but with the patience learned from life in South America, I kept it calm even though inside I was getting pissed off. We were still on Ecuadorian time. I was in Miami, of that I was sure, but for all intents and purposes we were still in Latin America. Everyone was speaking Spanish, and those who were speaking English had an accent suggesting that it was a second language. I didn’t mind it as much though, as it still feels natural to speak in Spanish. So basically, it’s like being in South America, but with more, fatter gringos.

After running around the airport a few more times I finally had my boarding pass and was able to pass through security, though each minute here so far has just made me feel worse. I went to the Au Bon Pain to ask how much an apple was and the woman told me $1.18. I laughed and walked away. I’d rather go hungry. I hear conversations and feel almost sick. “So I was like, what the hell, and he’s all, whatever, and then they’re like…” Do we all sound this shallow?

Maybe it’s too soon, and I just need some more time to adjust. I have this layover in Miami before heading home to Boston, but I get a feeling that the layover will last much longer than that. Eventually I’ll feel right at home again, but I’ll never forget how I feel right now. I do not fit in here. And that means I don’t fit in anywhere. Luckily in three weeks I’m going back to South America, where I can at least be assured that I shouldn’t fit in there.

Yesterday, sitting at the pool in the hotel, I was watching the clouds moving back and forth like a school of fish floating with the current. It was beautiful. It was the same sky in Cuenca, and Miami, and Boston. And looking up at the sky right now, I know that some of my friends in Cuenca are walking down the street looking up at the same thing. It’s a big world, but it’s all connected some how. Yet it comforts me not at all to know that they are there looking at the same thing I am. Because they are there and I am here, and nothing will change that, not even the popcorn clouds in the sky. So the chapter of Ecuador has now been closed in my life, but like any good book, you can always go back and read it again. And like all good books, you never forget what you’ve read and learned. And the next step forward is a new chapter. The hardest part could still be ahead.

Just Let Me Go Home!

It was a night of sleeping on and off between a combination of being very tired and the excitement of traveling home. But I finally got off my friends couch at 5:30 am to quickly shower, brush, and put in my contacts. We ate breakfast and then played the waiting game. My friend Amy, who was kind enough to let me stay with her for three nights while I was in Quito, just happened to be going to the beach early in the morning as well, and her boyfriend offered to drive me to the airport. This would be more convenient and save me a couple of bucks along the way too. The only catch is that he’s Ecuadorian, and so sometimes you have to adjust to their schedules.

Last night he said he would pick us up at 6 am, and my flight was at 8:20. This should have been more than enough time, but 6 am came and he called to say he would be 10 minutes late, which really meant around 20 minutes late. So we sat around still, and he finally came to the apartment around 6: 45 am. I was a bit nervous, but Amy had reassured me that she got there an hour and a half before her flight once and was fine. Driving early on a Saturday morning, there was no traffic, and we cruised along to the airport. It was mostly quiet in the car, and I was thinking about a lot of things.

At the airport Amy helped me take my luggage out of the car, we hugged goodbye, and then they drove off as I tried to figure out where to go. I got in the LAN line and twice was asked if I was going to Miami, as the departure time was nearing. Finally they allowed me to cut everyone else and I checked in. Or so I thought. My luggage was taken away but the clerk sat there at the desk with a phone in his hand for a few minutes until I asked if there was a problem. “The flight’s full,” he told me. Well that can’t matter much to me, because I bought this ticket over three months ago, so I’m definitely going on it.

Time was slipping away and I was wondering how this would be resolved. Next to me a girls from Raleigh, North Carolina was having the same problem, but without 11 months of experience in Ecuador. She was getting impatient and seemed on the verge of tears, and another clerk soon took her away to another window. Mine and another clerk tried to convince me to give up my seat, saying tomorrow I could have Business class, I’d stay in a hotel today with all of my food and transportation paid for, and I’d get $170. It was a nice deal, but I told them I didn’t care if it was Business or Economy, I just wanted to get home. I’d been here for 11 months and just wanted to see my family that was waiting for me.

Being here has taught me new levels of patience, and that you can’t just get upset because it’s not what you had planned for. I talked kindly with the clerk and he asked me questions about what I’d been doing. I told him, and where else I’d traveled, and we joked around for a couple of minutes. No sense in getting angry, but if you can get them on your side, you might just stand a chance. And he really did try. We took me to another LAN window and tried to get me onto a flight to Guayaquil, then to New York, then to Boston. But that was also full. Then he tried to get me to Lima to New York to Boston. The problem with that flight was that I’d leave Quito very quickly but have to stay in the airport in Lima until 11:30 pm, then get into New York around 4 am. Not a good choice. The next option, Quito to Bogota to New York, also wasn’t working out. So nothing was looking good.

As frustrating as it was, I wasn’t incredibly surprised, nervous, or down. But in my mindset, I was already out of Ecuador, and I’d already said my goodbyes and made peace in a sort of way. And now I was going to have to stay another day, and I just wasn’t ready for that. I told the clerk that, and he assured me that I could relax in the hotel all day. So with no other options, I had to agree to take their package deal. He helped me carry my luggage to the curb, waited until the hotel bus showed up, and shaking hands as I got in, he told the driver to take care of me. A real trooper, that guy was. Meanwhile, the girl from Raleigh was still at a counter stressing and trying to figure out what to do while behind a line of several other people who’d also been bumped. It was clear they were not from these parts and had no idea how to deal with the people. Outside I could see my flight taking off while I stood on the ground.

So off to the Swissotel, one of the nicest hotels in Quito, we went. Along the way I chatted it up with the driver in my own personal transport. As we checked in I was taken aback by the class and price of this place. I felt like they could tell I didn’t belong here as I insisted on carrying my own luggage, yet they would hear nothing of it. Someone handed me a hot towel and a glass of watermelon juice. I was informed that LAN would pay for my breakfast today and tomorrow, lunch, and dinner tonight. And they would also take me to the airport in the morning, making sure I was there with more than enough time.

Once in the room I could see that I had a regular room, but to me it’s a suite. A king size bed with 6 pillows, satellite TV, a huge bathroom, and a comfy chair. All I wanted today was a crowded airplane and a layover in Miami to get me home to my house just south of Boston. But now I need to kick around town today. But it could be worse I suppose. LAN even took care of my connecting flight for tomorrow in Miami. All I have to do is make use of the hotel pool and gym and maybe take a walk outside for a bit. And I was so close to home! Ecuador just doesn’t want to let me go. Tomorrow I will have to go through the same process again, but hopefully with better results this time through.