Tagged: Ecuador

Sep 12

Quisiero ir a quito

My host family in Ecuador still sends me email regularly, like once a week. Since she doesn’t understand any english, all her emails were in Spanish, and she told me she does that to make sure I can keep up with that language. And in every other email, she asks about how my teeth are doing (cos I had that accident a week b4 I arrived her place)

Sometimes I get a bit lazy, and I’d just chuck everything into an online translator and simply clicked ‘english to spanish’

Guess what her reply goes ‘I am very happy about the improvement of your Spanish’ in spanish.

I really miss her.

Will I go to Ecuador again in the near future? or even…. in the next few years?

She’s an old lady living alone in the city center of Quito, Capital of Ecuador.

I start to wonder if I’ll ever get to see her again.

Quisiero ir a quito… esta ciudad y las personas, me gustan mucho…

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Dec 25

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad!

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Dec 22

a trip of a lifetime

I can already say this is THE most amazing trip I ever had in my whole entire life.

Been to Galapagos Islands during the last 4 days, and I was on a ship.

Galapagos Islands is a remote group of little islands in the middle of the pacific ocean, and is the place where Charles Darwin did his research and eventually came to the conclusion of the theory of evolution. As a fan of Charles Darwin I think I really should visit this island (although I’m only halfway through his best-selling ‘Origin of Species’) Apparently 90% of the wildlife found in Galapagos Islands cannot be found elsewhere in the world. And every island has very different vegetation and animals… this is what amazed Charles Darwin. As an avid wildlife-lover I just HAVE to visit these islands… This is a trip of a lifetime

First of all, there were about 80 people on the ship and we were separated into 5 groups and there will be a tour guide showing us around in the islands. everyday there are 2 excursions in the different islands and we can observe and learn about the very distinct wildlives in these islands. What amused me most were the VERY VERY CUTE SEA LIONS!!! We were just inches away from them! But werent allowed to touch them though.. but that’s good enough, never been that close with sea lions!

There’s an island full of Marine Iguanas….. They look so much like dinosaurs haha…. there were so many of them we had to look at the floor and be really careful not to step on them!!!!!! My group members and I have been calling the island Jurrasic Park!!!! Steven Spielberg must’ve been to this island and got his inspiration!!

There are some blue-footed birds called blue-footed boobies, for obvious reasons, and that blue is so unnaturual you wont believe this is a real animal…

Went snorkeling. The underwater life was beautiful! Schools and schools and fish swam past me as if I werent there. I saw a shark, a starfish, a sea turtle, and even a few sea lions swam past me….. A male was staring at me as he swim past. I was kinda scared to start with since they said males can get very aggresive. But snorkeling in galapagos was delicious! Never seen any water so clear and clean, so unpolluted that I don’t have to dive in order to see everything at the bottom….

You know I took 5 Gb’s of photos just for these 4 days… I guess I won’t upload them here yet… I am definitely going to make a website exclusively for this Latino trip with all those photos and diaries!

There was an american family with 2 teenage girls. That day the father suddenly came towards us and talked in mandarin. I was so shocked and asked where did he learn that. He pointed at his daughter and said (in mandarin) ‘This is my teacher!’ (and his daughter’s about 16/17 only!) Then her daughter talked to me in mandarin. I answered ‘I am not going to embarrass myself, so I am just gonna talk in english. How can an american speak better chinese than a chinese??!’ Apparently they got a Chinese nanny at their home in US and she’s been working there ever since that girl was born. And the father wanted that girl to learn Chinese so he forced the girl to speak only in Chinese to the nanny. So the nanny is actually a private tutor as well. And you know what that girl can WRITE chinese without problem!!! So I guess Chinese to her is like English to me. Her mom then told me she studied university in taiwan!! There are 2 really old grannies travelling with them, and I heard that their grandma just recovered from her cancer surgery and the whole family came to this trip to celebrate!

There was a Piano Bar in the ship. I saw it and got excited. Havent played any piano for more than 3 weeks. there I went. playing a few of my favorite songs.

The next day, a girl in my group (Russian girl a year older than me) came to me and said ‘hey, I heard u play the piano last night’
‘Oh really?’
‘I liked it so much!’
‘haha.. okay… thanks’

Then we started chatting non-stop. About our countries, about our schools, about our lives, about the wildlife in theses islands…. everything. We saw a mom and baby sea lion then we started making up conversations for them…

That night during dinner she came towards my table and gave me her email. wakaka.

Then there’s that american guy. a bit older than me. I saw him drawing a lot, in the beaches, in the forest, in the mountains. Then I told him ‘I like your drawings a lot, they’re just soooooo goood!’ (I did mean it), then he asked ‘was that you who drew that picture on the sand in the beach yesterday????’ I said yes. Then we got all excited and started chatting about japanese comics and animations, for the whole excursion. During the last day we drew pictures in each other’s sketch book, and exchanged emails. I promised to give him a list of must-read comics.

I always sit with my mom and her friends during dinner, and as typical hk ppl we will start observing other ppl on the ship and comment on them.. one by one…. After dinner all the younger ones on the ship liked to hang out at the out-door pool area/bar. Of course I did go and meet them la. There’s a newly wedded couple having their honeymoon in this remote island, we started chatting then she told us how they have been observing other ppl on the ship and commenting on them… one by one… we then broke into hysterical laughters, since our comments on those ppl were exactly the same.. haha

Of course, at the end of the tour I got lots of emails… also some really pretty pictures in my book. OMG! Does these scenes look familiar? It’s so much like all those summer camps I’ve been to! Oh how I miss my summer camps…. those good old days when I wasn’t over-aged for summer camps….

Off to Peru tomorrow. Haven’t expected much, since I have enjoyed Quito and Galapagos sooooooooooooooo much….. I am starting to worry that Peru is going to disappoint me…. Should have done it the other way round.

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Dec 16

厄瓜多爾小女孩

2005 年 12 月 16 日 星期五

兩天前發生了一件很奇妙的事﹐令我想了許多。整件事就像是那些會令 lilian 哭得像不見了 agnes b 手袋的電影情節一樣。

我工作的診所有兩個醫生和兩間診症室﹐正常情況下每間房會有一個醫生註守﹐我是其中一個的跟班。那天因為我的醫生有其他工作﹐所以診症室只剩下我一個應付預約前來的小朋友﹐為他們的醫療報告紀錄身高體重。

突然間一個阿毛衝進來﹐用超音速西班牙文對著我吼叫了一番。當時我正為一個小朋友磅重﹐加上長期在旁埋怨等得太久的父母們的咿咿哦哦﹐我完全聽不明白她在叫些甚麼。然後﹐在這一切雜亂的聲音之中﹐我聽到了一個小女孩的哭聲。

我尋找著哭聲的來源﹐走出了診症室。我看見一個小女孩穿著一件染滿血跡的 t-shirt﹐坐在長凳上哭個不停。在她的後腦有一個一寸長的傷口﹐血仍在泊泊而流。我問她的媽媽 (即是那個阿毛)發生了甚麼事﹐她像機關槍般發射了一連串西班牙文﹐聽得我一頭霧水。

我立即帶小女孩去找另一間診症室裡的女醫生﹐她叫我用 torundas 幫那小女孩清潔傷口。然後我的阿頭醫生也進來了。他檢查了傷口﹐和小女孩的媽媽說了幾句話便離開了。那個女醫生叫我用棉墊緊按住傷口直至止血。當血流得沒那麼驚人時﹐醫生便用 savalon 清洗小女孩的傷口﹐再為她注射了 10cc 的 Buprex Ibuprofen。

“Muy bien,” 女醫生完成兩個小步驟後說了聲 “很好”﹐便打發那個母親坐到一旁按著小女孩的傷口﹐然後回頭便繼續她繁忙的一天。

“Is that it?” 就這樣算了﹖我忍不住問。

“Yes.”

玩我咩…針都唔駛聯???!!! 個傷口成一寸有多呀大佬!!

“頭髮也不用剪?” 我問醫生。

“不用了﹐這樣就行了。”

我數星期前被一個可愛的棒球打中﹐嘴唇和牙肉每 2.5 毫米便縫了一針﹐現在疤痕尚在﹔一個在腦袋上的整整一寸長的傷口卻不用縫上半針?? 傷口在一個四歲的小孩子的後腦上看來更顯得加倍可怕﹐又深又長﹐血還未止…

我望向她的媽媽﹐她也正在看著我。

我的醫療知識大概比那醫生落後幾公里 (或者幾光年)﹐而正在等候的小朋友亦越來越多﹐於是我便回到原來的診症室繼續工作。

你不會相信我見到了甚麼人。

我見到了厄瓜多爾小姐﹐如假包換從選美會燈燈燈凳選出來的那個。

被一群小孩子簇擁著在醫院內巡遊的厄瓜多爾小姐﹐實在胸前偉大。我確實不是有意將視線放在她那裡的﹐可是她不知是有意或無意地不停左搖右擺﹐兩團晃動的物體令我差點看不到她的臉。她應該剛從甚麼甚麼世界小姐選美會回來吧。

厄瓜多爾小姐以一副非常華麗並且嘈吵的姿態走進了隔壁的房間——醫生正在裡面診症、受傷的小女孩正在裡面休息的房間。有很多人跟在厄瓜多爾小姐後面﹐記者、保鑣、狗仔隊﹐相機的閃光燈閃個不停﹐醫院裡混亂極了。

那個小女孩響亮的哭聲再次傳到我耳中。當然啦﹐在你最需要休息和清新空氣的時候一班面目可怖的人打鑼打鼓地走到你面前﹐驚嚇程度可想而知。我的醫生立即從我們的房間走到隔壁﹐很英勇地叫那些人滾蛋﹐並叫那個媽媽抱小女孩到我們的房間。

我知道那些所謂名人經常會去親善訪問﹐在鏡頭面前扮成慈悲為懷的樣子﹐但事實上他們在醫院裡只是攪攪震冇幫襯﹐把周圍弄得一團糟﹐竟然還可以在大眾心目中贏得一個愛心大使的美名﹐救命。

混亂之中小女孩的媽媽掉了醫生給她的一瓶 Buprex Ibuprofen在地上﹐打破了。醫生有點生氣地責罵她﹐然後他們便吵了起來。那媽媽眼泛淚光﹐小女孩哭得更大聲了。

醫生離開了。那個媽媽也要聲不響地走了出去﹐剩下嚎哭的小女孩和我相對。

好…我現在應該做甚麼﹖我將所有我懂的西班牙詞彙都說了一遍﹐小女孩卻似乎沒有停止哭泣的打算。剛才的經歷大概太可怕了﹐現在媽媽又不在她身邊﹐只有一個陌生人在跟她不斷說“靚女你好嗎早晨這個賣多少錢芒果很好吃我很喜歡貓貓”…… 也夠令人沮喪的了。

我應該怎樣做﹖

我突然想起我隨身攜帶的相機﹐還有相機裡我在動物拯救中心拍下的照片。

我找到了一些美州虎,山獅,豹貓和美洲山貓的照片﹐遞給她看。慢慢地她靜了下來﹐想看看相機裡的究竟是甚麼東東。

“看﹗” 我叫道﹐”這是山獅…喵~~”

她笑了。

簡直是我在那數星期裡聽過最動聽的聲音。

我又給她看了些其他照片﹐然後小女孩睡著了。我翻開了她的醫療記錄﹐她的全名是皮依卡珊天安希莉嘉瑪里亞。醫生很快便回來了﹐問我安希莉嘉的媽媽去了哪裡﹐我說我不知道﹐醫生聳了聳肩﹐我們便繼續工作。

一小時過後﹐我們聽到了一陣敲門聲。原來是安希莉嘉的媽媽喘著氣跑回來了﹐手裡緊緊握著一個小包包。

是一個小小的手術用針線包。

我呆了﹐無言以對。(我大多數時侯都是這副模樣)

醫生也不敢相信自己的眼睛。

我聽見他問安希莉嘉的媽媽是不是去了另一個城鎮買這些東西回來﹐因為我們身處的鄉村基本上一無所有。即是呢﹐她用了整整一個小時把一套小小的手術用針線買回來。我猜想是因為醫生不肯替安希莉嘉縫針﹐她的媽媽大概覺得如果她把針線買回來﹐醫生就會願意幫忙了。

背景音樂……唔該晒。

安希莉嘉醒了。她的媽媽懷抱著她﹐整個手術在媽媽的臂彎裡完成了。醫生先麻醉了安祖莉嘉﹐然後一面為她縫合傷口一面講解縫針和打結的步驟﹐我在旁邊幫忙抹走流出來的血。安希莉嘉全程都是清醒的。

終於都完成了。

我告訴安希莉嘉她是個非常勇敢的小女孩。

她轉過頭去﹐笑著對媽媽說﹕ “她給我看了貓貓﹗”

她的媽媽也笑了﹐雖然她並不明白女兒在說甚麼。這個小秘密只有安希莉嘉和我知道。

醫生再拿了一瓶 Buprex Ibuprofen, 連同我寫的藥單給了她們。媽媽接過後﹐便抱著安祖莉嘉向門口走去。

她突然轉過身﹐走過來握住我的手﹐說﹕“多謝你。非常多謝你。”

悶壞了大家真不好意思。這個冗長的故事對你來說或者平平無奇﹐可是身在其中的震撼卻是無法言喻的。我覺得這件事令我明白了一點點東西……很難解釋哩﹐大家心照吧

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Dec 13

Ecuadorian Snippets

Actually, sometimes I wonder if it really is that special to be a CHINESE??? How come I get stared at just EVERYWHERE! I mean of course people do look at you in the streets, especially if you’re a different race, but anything more than 5 seconds makes you feel uneasy and uncomfortable yeah? When I walk in the streets they do turn their heads like a Ferrari just drove past! And when drivers drive past me they like to honk and go ‘Oy, Chinita (Hey, Chinese girl)!’ Argh. I remember the volunteer booklet told me that girls especially that of a different race should be expected to be stared at, whistled to and honked at. But well, I’m used to it and I don’t seem to mind anymore :p. I just try to get home before sunset everyday. For the past 2.5 weeks here I have only seen ONE Asian so far, it was a Japanese and he was walking alone, might be a tourist.

The weekend Banos trip was fantastico. The streets are pretty quiet at night so I tried to return to the hostel before the sky got dark. Nothing much I could do in my room so I watched TV. There was an English Channel… sth like ‘just for gags’ was on… omg… laugh die me… I gotta tell you guys about it when I come back to Hong Kong… I was laughing like an idiot on my own in the hostel room. I’m glad I booked a single room.

Saw the Ecuadorean Mok Hoi Him!! You know in Ecuador, the buses’ doors never close so it’s hop-on-hop-off, and lots of street kids hop into the bus once in a while to sell things to earn a bit of money, like 10 cents a bar of caramel, or mint, and sometimes they sell batteries (not sure if those still work) and Christmas ornaments during this time of the year… Then yesterday a kid (around 6/7 years old) hopped in with empty hands, said a few words, then started singing… OMG!!! And that must be a love song he was singing… since I heard things like ‘you are in my heart’, ‘I want to hold you in my hands’ – All those simple Espanol which I understood… and you gotta look at his facial expression and hand gestures… Very tou jui… he HAS TO sing in charn huk yut ding…. Will definitely make him a toi jue! Gave him a quarter before I got off the bus. I took a short video clip of him, but didn’t capture the funniest looks he had… Ask me if you wanna see it…

Hired an off-road kart, or mountain kart, or Mario kart(150cc)… not sure what it’s called… But they are driven on the road if not in the mountains, and the driver has to follow all road signs and traffic regulations like all other cars. I thought I need some practice in driving before I go back to Hong Kong or else I wont remember how to drive (Consider I have to drive the first day I go back… hehehe…) That guy in the rental store asked whether I got a driving license, I said yes, then he asked for my passport instead. Wow, so I don’t even have to prove my eligibility for driving. Then I took off. In the very first turn I made, I already made a serious driving error. All the cars were facing me. I was like wtf are these cars doing here facing ME??? Those drivers look back at me like wtf is this kid doing, driving in the opposite direction??? Then I realized… THIS IS SOUTH AMERICA! I am supposed to keep RIGHT! Omg, so I immediately drove back to the right side while all the cars honked at me. I headed for the mountains. I was driving at top speed. The road was SOOOO bumpy I almost fell of the kart. In fact I did fall off once but I landed safely on my feet. Driving that thingy was extremely SONG! Though that darn thing stalled a few times, checked under the kart and I realized the chain fell off the gears. I tried to put it back on but then I accidentally touched the exhaust pipe and burnt my hands!!!! Don’t worry I am fine, and I successfully put the chain back on. Now I wanna buy a motorbike when I go back to HK :p. Oh, and I became so used to keeping right now, I might now be facing the wrong direction in Hong Kong, which will be even more disastrous…

One thing I noticed in this country. Women love to breast feed whenever, wherever – in the streets, in the restaurant, in the supermarket, in the bus, in the museum, in the zoo, and the list goes on. I try not to look when they do it :p.

About work… There’s some kind of party today at the clinic and they are giving out Christmas presents to all sponsored families. Hundreds of people, parents and kiddos were queuing up at the front door to get their presents. Everyone except one doctor and one dentist had to help prepare the presents. Then my job was to roll up 2006 calendars. While I was doing it a few kids were watching me, then they started helping me roll them bit by bit, stick them, and eventually they took up the whole of my job. Okay, my turn to watch them then. They were very hyper and keen to help. When all calendars have been rolled up they asked if that’s it. I told them ‘Hay mas en la oficina’ (there are still more in the office), then one of the boys… about 3 yrs old, tiny built, skin head, brown hair, round face, tan skin, big glittery eyes, high pitched voice started jumping up and down and shrieked happily ‘Mas! Mas! Mas! Mas!’ (More! More!) Aiya… I wanna carry him back to Hong Kong.

That night my host wasn’t feeling well and she didn’t have dinner, so I dined with her nephew and niece. Her nephew started chatting with me about the World Cup, he told me how much the Ecuadorean national team has improved and they will be doing so much better this coming season. Then he asked what my favorite sport is. I said it’s Beisbol (I suppose you can guess what it is eh?) Then he got all excited and talked in bullet-gun speed and I couldn’t follow anymore. But I know he was talking about the World Series, how the Chicago white sox beat the Houston astros. Well, another White sox band-wagon fan…. I just went yea, it was such an exciting game, yea, white sox deserved that, yea, it was a brilliant team. Argh! I can’t even say ‘pitcher’ in Espanol!! FROM NOW ON, I am viewing the www.mlb.com site in ESPANOL!! Then I can chat with latinos about beisbol!

HEY JUDITH LING SZE MAN: You said you wanted a hot Latino guy as a souvenir right? What about my host’s nephew? Hahaha…

I am speaking more and more Espanglish, as much Chinglish as I have spoken in Hong Kong… haha…

NOW…. some photos, which everyone had requested… (Found it so hard to choose the ones to put here! Got lots more, will show u guys when I come back)

The streets near my host family (apparently this is like the richest part of Quito)

The clinic I work in

Area near it

Parents waiting for their kids’ turn

My trip to an animal rescue center in Santa Martha– The spotted one is an Ocelot, the Blotched/stipred one is a Margay.

A Jaguarundi — a strictly South American Wild cat

This Puma is SO SWEET, she loves to be stroked! And she is meowing here.

A Not-so-friendly looking Jaguar, but apparently he loves to play with humans

A Lioness and her cub!!!!!!!!! OMG! SO CUTE!!

A VERY old tiger rescued from a circus. He’s got no teeth and no claws, and finding it pretty hard to eat that chicken.

WOW!! Streets which celebrates my birtday!! Haha well actually 10 of August is quito’s independance day.. So they got 10th Aug Road everywhere.

Shoe polishing kids in hte city center

8 out of 10 cars I see here are Chevrolets… 1 is a Hyndai and the other 1 is all other cars. The only mini cooper I’ve seen in this country so far…

Domenica! Will grow up to be a really pretty girl

Look what TV I watch here….

Doraemon and Nobita are everywhere…

This is hilarious

Even their graffiti

Are they lanterns?

Me standing on the Equator

Cowboy Looch! wahaha, just to show you guys that I’m still in 1 piece.

Buenas Noches!

Little kids

Market selling typical Ecuadorean Cloth

The kids here are having sth like a parade.. And that one dressed as a doctor is in charged of delivering water… ‘Cha sui bo’ hahahhaa

Carolina Park… The Hyde park equivalent of Quito

OMG look at the rubbish

cute puppies for sale

10 cents to know our weight? omg ppl are doing anything to earn money in here

Look at the beautiful scenery

All surrounded by green

Some random Town shots

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Dec 10

ecuador =]

Medications I have ‘prescribed’ so far:

Metronidazol Genfar 250mg
-una tableta despues de cada comida

Complejo B Artiston Jar 120ml
-una cuchara cada dia

Chenamox Bioindustria
-una cuchara cada ocho horas

Clotrimazol Genfar 1% 40g
-Aplicar un vez cada dia en la mañana

Italbenzol Albendazol 200mg
-una tableta diaria

Benzoato de Bencilo 120ml
-Aplicar dos veces diaria por tres dias

Calcio 300mg
-una tableta diaria

Buprex 200mg
-una tableta cada ocho horas

do some research yourself if you are interested in what problems the kids got.

By the way, I am now in a town known as Baños, 4 hours away from Quito… Got here during mid day, and I’ll be staying in a hostel in this little town tonight, then go back to Quito tomorrow night. Wow this feels like backpacking… never done it before! Travelling alone is pretty cool, no restrictions, don’t have to compromise with anyone. probably I really am autistic. Went to Baños zoo in the afternoon, the big cats they got are Pumas, Jaguars, Ocelots and Jaguarundis. Then went back to Baños town center… actually there arent any things in this town apart from the mountains, waterfalls, zoos and volcanoes surrounding it. So I went into its church, believe it or not…. Lit a candle and made a wish.. not telling u what it is . Then a really old lady suddenly appeared behind me. I suppose she is a beggar and she was begging me for money… Well, what a place to beg for money. Okay I suppose I have to do sth good, yut hang yut sin. and I think its more practical to give her sth to eat.. thought of biscuits at first, but she might not have good teeth (just like me ) So I rushed into the streets to a bread shop and bought a bread, when I went back to the church I saw the guards were making her leave and she almost tripped… omg. ho charm… anyway I gave her the bread then she was so happy she kept kissing it. Wouldn’t forget this scene.

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Dec 07

a little update from ecuador

Another update on the previous few days…

Met a German girl in a travel agency and she told me that she’s also taking a Gap year, but she’s working in that agency since she studies tourism… So glad to be able to speak English finally in this Solo-Espanol country… She’s been here for quite a while so she knows quite a lot of locals, then she invited me to go horse riding with her and a few friends (alllll girls) up the Ecuadorean Highlands, The Sierra, the Andes, you name it… Sleep over for a night at the top of the mountains then ride the horse back down.

My horse was a black one which looks like that in the logo of Lloyds TSB (yes the british one). His name was Noche which means Night in Espanol…. reminded me of that little white pony I used to ride when I was a kid known as Puff… Still remember the day I had to leave he was crying and rubbing his face against me… aww… so sweet…. hmm… I wonder how he is now? A handsome white horse carrying a handsome prince?

the scenery was just soooooooo beautiful. The only color surrounding me was GREEEEEEEEN of all shades. And I was at 4200m!!! And I didnt have high altitude sickness!! I suppose I have already been acclimatized in Quito which is 2800m… Went up Mountain Ruminahui which is a volcano. Luckily it didnt erupt. And it was soooooooooooo bloody cold up there I still felt cold in my snow jacket!!!! Couldnt believe I was actually a few km from the Equator!! There were little villages once in a while and those little ‘tribes’ (sorry i really cant think of a better word) greeted us so happily when we rode past… So cool. We then ate by the camp fire at night… But eventually it started raining a bit, and it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezin cold….

Really felt like a local… Ho yau feel… Riding a horse up the mountains which has nothing but grass and trees and plants, Camping for a night then ride the horse down again… Love the great outdoors. wow. Acually I wish I had friends travelling with me… It’s always so different when I actually have some close friends with me up there.

After TWO FULL DAYS of horse riding my butt and thighs and knees hurted like hell!! OMG! And i was sooooooooooo tired and sleepy my eyes were bright red. And due to 2 full days of horse riding I was walking in that really funny way, together with my eyes my messy hair and that look on my face I looked like I was on drugs. Luckily there were no police around since I forgot to bring my passport…

Hey friends in Hong Kong, I was 4200m above you guys and I’m still 2800m above!

Oh one more thing, since it was some kind of Quito Festivals during the last few days, there were so many relatives sleeping over at my host’s place, and during dinner they were talking to me, and they didnt know any English as well… guess what they asked me to teach them Japanese. isnt this funny? A Chinese teaching Latinos how to speak Japanese?

After dinner I stayed in my room and wrote my diary, suddenly a little girl rushed into my room and hugged me soooooooooooooooooo tight, I went . Then she sat on my lap and read my diary, I asked her what her name is then she took my pen and wrote her name — Domenica. She´s been talking NON-STOP and VERY QUICKLY. She told me she’s 5 years old, then another little girl came in who I suppose is her little sister. Then domenica saw my camera and started taking pictures of her sister NON STOP… then she pushed me out of my room and forced me to stand by her brother and take a picture (Her bro is about my age i guess)

‘Que encantadora…’ I said to her bro (How cute…)

‘NONONONONONNO’ he replied, then he made his sister return the camera to me.

She then went to get some paper and started drawing pictures on the floor in my room. I went back to my diary then suddenly she came and sit on MY chair and used MY table to draw. I asked her if she speak english. Guess what she did?

She pointed at her head and said ‘head!!’

She pointed at her eyes and said ‘eyes!!’

She pointed at her nose and said ‘nose!!’

She pointed at her ears and said ‘ears!!’

and went on with every part of her body…

Que encantadora…

Once again, little girls brightened up my day

She played in my room for like 2 hours then her bro came in and asked her to go to bed. He then told me (IN ENGLISH!!) ’She is crazy….’

Okay and about my work placement…

I have been helping out at the doctors room, weighing the kids and measuring their heights and recording them, then I have to record what medication they have to take, then have to write the instructions for their parents for the medication (una cuchara cada dia — 1 spoon a day, etc)

As much as I enjoy this work placement (or in better words vacation) I am still missing Hong Kong badly, as well as UK… Cant wait to see you guys again

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Dec 02

teaching english

me again.

Guess What. I have been given a new task on top of the hospital work. that day I have been meeting the coordinator. I randomly asked ‘Anything else I can help??’

Then he went very excited and asked ‘would you like to teach english??’

sure…

So I will be an English teacher in the afternoon, starting next week.

The clinic which I work in is located about an hour and a half from the city center, in one of the poorest parts of Quito. Had to take a bus there which costs 25 cents.. omg. So I only have to bring 50 cents out to survive.

I really have to post some photos here soon. The area really looks like those in national geographic about extreme poverty. The clinic was quite clean though. But their medical documents were sooo messy… Lots of little pieces of paper stacked together, not in any alphabetical, numerical or whatever order. So the first 2 days I have been sorting out all their clinical files. Okay what have I learnt? Common Spanish Last names.

While I was busy sorting out the files today. 2 little girls came into my office and watched me. they must be wondering ‘What the hell is this chinita doing here??’

I looked at them and said Hola. they smiled and replied hola… so sweet

Then I went on with my work. They stared at the documents.

They started asking me questions in extremely fast and fluent spanish.. I went

Now is the time I REALY REALLY REALLY wish I have practised my spanish better before I come to Latinamericano.

They said some other things again, in really long sentances… then I asked…. ‘Hablan Ingles?’ (you speak english?)

they shook their head. but kept talking. So I answered:

Me llamo Lucci, soy de Hong Kong, Solo hablo un poquito espanol….

(my name is Lucci, I am from Hong Kong, I only speak very little spanish)

They went

omg… this looked like scenes from HKCEE English Oral exams, where people who cant speak english never seem to be answering your questions when you go ‘What do you think?’

They started dancing.. haha.. I laughed..

‘Te gustan los ninos?’

OMG!!!!!!! The first qiuestion I understood!!! It meant (Do you like children?)

So I went ‘Si Si! Me Gusta Mucho!!’ (Yes Yes! I like them very much!!)

Then they started laughing so happily… they were probably thinking.. this idiot is finally answering our questions properly…

so innocent…

Haha.. There was no english lessons after work today, So I took the bus back at 3pm. Halfway through I felt a sudden urge to hop off the bus and stroll around this unknown place in the middle of nowhere. I can always take the taxi back home anyway. So i did.

Everything’s closed, so I was really just walking and taking pictures. It’s funny how people here like to wave at strangers. I walked into a street and saw a castle like building… I was like wtf and took a picture immediately. Then I walked past it and saw a mosque-like building… Actually the whole street is colonized by weird looking buidings… YET inside the buildings are normal shops you would see in other streets…. cafe, book shops, convenience stores.. etc. Never seen anything like that before. So it was right to hop off, Always trust my own sixth sense…

Anyway, That is it. everything’s closed, nothing else I can do apart from slacking at my host family’s place, so I decided to go online.

Hence this entry

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Nov 30

Quito

Host famiy doesn{t speak english…. So i was forced to speak spanish… haha… could barely communicate la….. tengo quatro diente roto… no…no dolores… manana salgo temprano….. quito es muy tranquillo, mas que mi pais…. ok done with my broken spanish, i am like talking to myself now….

Anyways, Placement didnt sstart yesterday therefore I went on a day trip on my own…

Went to the mountains to look at the whole city of quito yesterady… yes i went all by myself, who can i go with? know no one in this place, but i do enjoy going on my own too. its actualy pretty cool.Took a bus, then went up by cable car, then walked up the rest. Felt my heart beating faster when i go up. Was that high altitude sicknes? or was I just simply tired? anyway I had to take in more fluids in order to stay hydrated.

There were quite a lot of kids u there, I guess there was a school visit. those kids were sooooo cute… i{ve always said i like latino kids, and i think due to the severe lack of asians in this country, i look very very different here. its so funny that i hear those kids saying {Chinita} again and again (which means Chinese girl), they come up to me and wave and say hola, buenos dias, como estas (hello, good morning, how are you)… soooooSOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!! of course i smile back and greet back la… and they seem happy about that. omg, i am like a celebrity here… wakakakakkakaka. ok enough with this bulshit. anyway, have a really special feeling in this place, and these kids really made my day :)

then I went to the equator (by bus). I felt hotter and hotter as I went there. is it because i was nearing teh equator? Oh by the way ecuador means equator in spanish and since Ecuador lies square on the equator. that{s how this country got its name from. There was a monument at the equator. and the equator line, which extended for a few hundred meters which was there just to let us know its presense. Okay then I stepped one foot on the northern hemisphere and one on the southern hemisphere. ok. now what.

I was facing East. The Earths diameter at the equator is 12756.32km. It completes one spin in 24 hours and it spins towards the East. 12756.32 divided by 24 = 531.513.So, after my precise calculations, I was moving forward at the speed of 531.513km/h!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was moving faster than a Jumbo Jet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, this country is really cool. The buses are really {dei dou}, the door remains open and there is a conductor standing by it, yelling out to the streets where this bus goes to (a Quito! a Quito!!!!) and ppl hop in when this is the bus they wanted, and hop out whem they arrive their destination. the bus is really bumpy.. haha this is really cool… what a taste of latin americano. But I bet people do have to know this place really well to get on buses. or else they wont even nkow where teh bus is going to and where they should get off. and the conductor goes in and collect the bus fare when the bus stops at the traffic light or sth. an hour and a half{s ride cost me 40cents. and they use US dollars here… OMGGGGGG 40cents for more than an hours ride….. 2 british pounds for 50seconds tube ride in London……

Been riding quite a lot of taxis too. jsut to go here and there within the city center. a 20 minutes ride cost me like 1-2 US dollars….. where else can I travel at this rate? So funny that the taxi drivers are chatting with me…. I cuold barely understand what they say…. ssuch as… where do u come from? what are u here for? how long are u staying? how old are you? when did u arrive this country? etc… all those ice breaking questions.. I{ve decided to trly more on public transsportation, to boost this countrys economy and at teh same time save time, so i can have more time to travel around and see things!! (well, the time for waiting for buses and taxis is quite long though)

Anyways, I am safe and sound, so are my teeth. no problem, apart from the fact that I need serious help in spanish. people hardly speak any english around. well, good chance to learn though! hehe… Entonce, I have to go back to my host family now… Will update u guys again! See ya all! 30 days until I go back to Hong Kong as a Latino!

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