Hello from Ecuador! + free yoga by lululemon

I never intended to be on the internet so soon in Ecuador, but I, um, forgot to send in an assignment, so I had to take care of that from a bajillion miles away. I can´t even begin to describe Ecuador … it´s a bajillion miles away. It has so much natural beauty bordered by poverty and apathy it´s amazing.

My brother and I stayed with his friend last night, whose two-story concrete house is palatial by standards here, but they ran all the electricity and plumbing themselves, and the wires dangle overhead. You can´t flush tp. You bundle up to go to bed because we´re in the Andes and there´s not heat. And somehow the hospitality of the people warms up the cold, cold concrete.

Today we came to Mindo, forest of clouds, and put our bags down in a charming hostel where you have to take off your shoes to enter. We immediately set off to hike up into the forest of clouds and jump off a waterfall, and as we walked up an undeveloped road, we passed fully-functional hostels and ramshackle structures long abandoned and hard-workers rebuilding teeny tiny shacks. The eyes take in vibrant green plants spotted with pink and yellow flowers, the ears hear a river rushing in the background, but the mind struggles to comprehend the roofless home, the potholed street, the barefoot child. But the wild dogs roaming the street are good-natured, and the people happily give us a ride up the road. Which is more than we can say for the States.

So those are my thoughts. My brother and I are having a blast catching up and plotting things for our new house, but we have yet to eat any awesome food. I hear empanada and get really excited, but this morning´s disappointed. As we´re staying on a river, tonight should hold fresh trucha (trout), so I´m psyched for that. Tomorrow we head to the coast for surfing and beaches and tons and tons of seafood!

For those of you in the states, lululemon announced they´re closing the Kerbey Lane store in favor of the new downtown one, so make sure you stop by and see if they have any deals–I obviously can´t check it out–but let me know what you find out! Also, they´ll start offering their free yoga classes at Whole Foods on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 17, so keep that in mind.