No comments this time, just couple of pics with captions. Will write more soon!
Nieko daug nerasau, veliau parysiu daugiau!

Japan - first 2 months

Sorry guys, it took me some time to get back to blogging, not that I had no time (the usual westerners' excuse, usually a dishonest one), just didn't have much to say. OK, what I gathered from skyping with everyone it seems everyone wants to know how different Japanese life is from that of theirs. I have to say it's very different in some ways and quite the same in others. I'll just share some of my impressions, don't take it as a hard core truth, they're just my personal opinions based on observation and conversations (both with westerners and Japanese).
One of the strongest impressions I have is the never ending rules or conventions for everything... The way you dress, they way you appear, the way you eat, the way you behave in public... I'm glad we don't know much of the rules since we are foreigners and I really don't care to follow any even I know them :). For example, during the business meeting, there is usually tea served and one cannot take a sip unless their superior has already done so. What's up with that? Or, talking about keeping appearances (which is a national sport and preoccupation #1! here), mothers compete on who would make the prettiest bento lunch box for their kids (here's a link to pictures of those, Maiko, my Japanese friend sent them http://www.ffa.ajinomoto.com/recipe/chara/). Again, what the hell? Another thing that I despise here (mildly put) is the role of women. In this regard, Japan is way behind all the western world. Women don't seem to be treated equal to men. Job market is different for them and if they have a job, a lot of them quit once they get married. It's a pity that country that wants to be among the leading countries of he world doesn't even open a national discussion on how to use the potential of half of their population. Oh, and talking about national discourse, not sure such a concept exists here anyhow.
It may seem harsh what I'm saying, but again these are my personal opinions (which you know I never lack :)). On a more positive note, I love walking around Tokyo exploring nooks and crannies of the city. The architecture is really amazing! If I was an architect, Tokyo would be a city #1 to visit. For example in the middle of a super modern complex of apartments and shopping they put a garden! Also, I'm loving the variety of restaurants that are available here. Unfortunately some of them are very expensive, but at least there are endless possibilities for exploration!
Finally, we are starting to meet people that are slowly becoming our friends. I'm very excited about new friendships! Also, very keen on keeping the old, very dear friendships going. Please, please, please skype and write us! We miss you all very much!

Atsiprasau, bet uzeme biski laiko pratesti mano bloga. Tarp kitko ar nera lietuvisko zodzio ar pakaitalo angliskam zodziui "blog"? Nerasiau ne del to kad neturejau laiko, kaip zinia as jo dabar turiu nemazai (kuo labai dziaugiuosi), bet atrode, kad netruriu ka paskyti... Bet parasius angliskai supratau, kad vis delto turiu ka pasakyti ir galeciau dar daugiau... bet daugiau tingiu :)
Taigi, Japonija... Turiu geru ir blogu ispudziu! Pradesiu nuo blogu :) Japonijoje taisykles svarbiau visko! Cia labai svarbu kaip rengiesi, kaip atrodai, kaip valgai, kaip elgiesi (tiek viesoj, tiek privacioj erdvej), vienu zodziu kaip save pristatai yra svarbiau nei ka moki ir koks esi zmogus, kas man asmeniskai labai nepriimtina. Duosiu pora pavyzdziu kurie iliustruoja ka noriu pasakyti. Pavyzdziui, per verslo susirinkimus dazniausiai yra geriama arbata; taciau galima siurbteleti pateiktos arbatos tik tada kai tavo virsininkas ar bet kas uzimantis aukstesnes pareigas siurbteli pirmas, kitaip tenka laukti. Kitas pavyzdys, motinos daznai konkuruoja kurios pataisyti pietus vaikams bus grazesni (visi vaikai atsinesa savo pietus i mokykla), kai kurioms uzima 2 valandas padaryti visokia imantrybes!! Stai keleta pavyzdziu: http://www.ffa.ajinomoto.com/recipe/chara/. Mano reakcija, kas cia per nesamone? Vaikai per daug islepinti ir moterys nebegali normaliai grizti i savo darbus, net jei jos ir nori. Is viso elgsena su moterimis ir ju teisemis cia labai atsilikusi palyginus su vakarieciu salimis. Daziniausiai kai moteris isteka ji iskarto iseina is darbo ir sedi namuose, galima ir kuokteleti turiu pasakyti! Kita idomi puse, cia beveik nepriimta skustis ar bandyti kazka keisti kaip mes iprate, su demonstracijom, kalbom, laiskais laikrasciams... Visi sedi tyliai ir viskas.
Na is pozytivios puses, tai man cia labai patinka architectura. Visokie architecturiniai sprendimai tiesiog pasaka. Pavyzdziui, didelio modernaus kompleso viduryje yra pasondintas sodas kuris labai graziai ikorporuotas i besitesianti asfalta. Taip pat man cia patinka pabandyti ivairiausio maisto. Pat Japonu maistas gana nuobodokas, tik sushi skanu, bet uztat yra maisto is viso pasaulio, nors kartais jis labai brangus (5 bulves mums kainuoja 2$!).
Na ka, rasykit mums, mes labai laukiam, nes esam visu labai pasiilge!

Japan/Japonija/日本国

Just to recapture: in the past six months we went from Seattle (after graduating) to Ecuador, back to Seattle, then to Poland for half a day, then to Lithuania, from Lithuania - back to Seattle, then to Alaska, back to Seattle and finally we arrived to the land of Nihon/Nippon.
First impression? It's awfully quiet! People don't talk much in buses and trains...
Second impression? There are many, many, many (did I say many?) rules that guide Japanese life.
I won't say much in the blog entry, just read the captions under the pictures.
As nieko daug cia nerasysiu, perskaitykit komentarus po nuotraukom (abiem kalbom)

Kenai peninsula was our favorite place in Alaska! Since we were by the ocean, the temperature was a bit warmer, we even got to walk in our t-shirts couple of days! Since we are in Japan now, I won't go into much detail about the last leg of our trip, I think everyone is waiting for our impressions about Tokyo :)

From Matanuska we went straight to Cooper Landing, famous for fishing. The rivers were boiling with fish, especially sockeye salmon which turns a beautiful red color once it leaves the ocean for the rivers. We enjoyed catching salmon and watching bears on a Russian river. It's thrilling to be close to a wild grizzly who doesn't pay attention to you being there whatsoever!!! From Cooper Landing we went to Homer, self-proclaimed "capital of halibut fishing". It was a very cute mellow town with an active artist community, great food (of course I've never tasted fresher halibut in my entire life!) and local wine (who knew?). From Homer we went to Seward where we took a tour with Kenai Fjords Tours and visited Kenai Fjords national park. We saw sea otters, whales, seals, variety of birds and of course many glaciers which never ceased to impress us with their grandiosity...



Next stop - Hope. A little community of maybe 15 buildings where the showers were in the convenience store right next to Spam and ATM :). The local hostel was the worst accommodations we've had yet! However, the lady who runs the place gave Ian all the equipment needed to pan for gold, which in my opinion was a complete waste of time, but if it brings happiness to my husband, hey, why not? The best part about Hope was King Boletus mushrooms (baravykai!!!!!). They actually paved a way to a deep discount at a very nice lodge in Cooper Landing where we went again the next day. The owner (Bob) let us stay for three nights in a very nice apartment for only 70$ while it usually costs 125-150$. I would highly recommend the place: Drifter's Lodge. They have a sauna, smoker house and organize fishing tours.

Our last adventure on Kenai peninsula was canoeing on two lakes. It was probably one of the nicest and peaceful evenings in Alaska. We had freshly caught trout with wild mushrooms while in the background bold eagles where calling as the sun was setting...
At the end of the trip we went to Fairbanks, which did not impress us much, I wouldn't go back... The only highlight was Chena hot springs, we walked outside in our swimsuits!!!
The trip back on Denali highway was even more impressive than the first time. Tundra and taiga changed - red, burgundy, yellow and brown were dominating colors, I don't think I've ever seen fall so beautiful...
Finally, we spent our last two days in McCarthy and Kennicott, two old mining towns where I went wild photographing...
Overall, the trip was all what we expected, and I realized that I like nature and hiking in doses, not as a full-time lifestyle :)

After our time in Denali National Park and breathtaking views of Mt. McKinley we decided to drive the Denali Highway. Our guide book warned us about possible road problems, but we found the gravel road (not sure why it's called a highway...) to be in an excellent condition – all 135 miles of it. We spent all day driving, the views from the road were truly breathtaking and inspiring! I would say it rivals the drive through the National Park itself; beats me why so many people don't take the time to drive the highway! The expanse of the land, the tundra, the taiga and the mountains is incomprehensible until you see it for yourself. Now I get it why Alaska is called the last frontier, it's still wild and in many ways untouched.

At the end of our drive we stopped for a night at a place that had only bunk beds left in a run down little shack with a wood burning stove, but it was 20$ a bed and came with WIFI!!!!! They had to generate their own electricity, but they had internet; civilization is creeping into Alaska :). (Check out the video of the place).

After our drive on Denali Highway we went to visit Matanuska glacier (we got lucky – it was warm and sunny). It was our first real encounter with an ancient remnant of the ice age and it left us speechless. We were able to walk on the glacier, feel its coolness and hear it melting. Its frigid beauty impressed me and brought home the point about global warming: the glaciers are receding, the planet is getting warmer, the proof was all around us – gushing creeks of meltdown, falling down pieces of ancient ice and forming of freezing lakes in the middle of ice peaks.

Now it was time to go to the Kenai Peninsula where we spent more than a week... (blog to follow in couple of days).

Praleidus kelias dienas Denali nacionaliniame parke ir pasigrozejus McKinley kalnu, pasukome i rytus Denali greitkeliu. Cia reiktu pridurti, kad taip vadinamas “greitkelis” (highway) yra tik paprasciausias zvyrkelis. Musu gidas (kynga) perspejo, jog kelias cia bus prastokas ir teks letai iveikineti visas 135 mylias. Is tiesu teko vaziuoti labai letai, bet ne del kelio kokybes, o del neitiketinu vaizdu atsiverianciu uz kiekvieno kampo. Aplinkui rudenejanti tundra, ezerai, o tolumoje boluoja kalnu grandines. Vienoje vietoje matesi net trys kalnu grandines vienu metu. Neimanoma apibudinti zodziais tos beribes tundros erdves. Reikia ja pajausti!

Vakarejant apsistojome salia greitkelio isikurusiame viesbutelyje, o tiksliau kazkiame neaiskios paskirties namelyje, nes kambariu laisvu nebuvo. Tai patalpino mus i ta kamurke. Skustis negalejom, nes uz du sumokejome $40, o i kaina iejo dvi lovos, burzuika ir... BEVIELIS INTERNETAS! Zodziu, i krosnele malku isimeti ir toliau sekmingai “googlini.” O fone girdi generatoriu elektra begaminant. Kaip rusai pasakytu - romantika balshoi darogi.

Kita diena patraukeme i pietvakarius. Pakeliui sustojome pasizvalgyti po Mantanuska ledyna, prie kurio privaziuoji per koki puskilometri. Mantanuska mus tiesiog pribloske (geraja to zodziu prasme). Atrodo, jog vaikstai ledynmecio eroje. Aplinkui tave stukso ledkalniai, po apacia ledo girdisi ciurlenantys upeliai, o viduryje dar ezeriukas. Grazu ir tuo paciu gaila, jos su kiekvienais metais to grozio lieka vis maziau. Aliaskoje ledynai labai sparciai tirpsta del globalinio atsilimo. Kaip zinia, zmogiskasis faktorius yra pagrindine siu liudnu pokyciu priezastimi.

Siek tiek atsale ir susizaveje siuo gamtos stebuklu, ta pati vakara patraukeme i Kenai pusiasali. Tenai musu lauke nauji nuotykiai ir ispudziai, bet apie tai uz keliu dienu.

Alaska... What comes to your mind when you hear the name of the 49th state of the USA. Before the 44th president's elections I imagined bears, seals, big spaces, tall mountains and tough people. Now I can't banish Sarah Palin out of my mind and all the negative images she brings with her. For my international friends and family outside the US, she was a vice-president candidate for the republican party, McCain's running mate. Let me put it gently: she wasn't the brightest cookie around... or subtle, the moments she brought to Saturday Night Live were precious!

Anyway, here we are in Anchorage, Alaska, in the middle of the night and it's raining. The cab driver (who had some teeth missing and sported long blond hair) told us that they are expecting their first snow storm in October and they are allowed to put studded tires on in September, suddenly I felt an aching need for a mojito on a warm beach... What the hell was I thinking, running away from the summer into the winter? I will answer this question (maybe partly... I am still longing for that mojito though :)) as I go along telling about the trip.

The first night we spent in Anchorage in a Alaska Backpackers Inn which looked OK on the net. Once we got there I couldn't believe how little 60$ buys in Alaska, we got a room with one bed, no blinds and had to take dirty sheets out of the room ourselves (mind you, from the previous inhabitants!). There were two showers for the whole floor. Well, at least we had showers and didn't have to camp the first night!! At that moment I felt nostalgia for Motel 6 in lower 48 (or Outside as they call the rest of the world) which costs only 35-50$. I never thought in the past I would miss Motel 6... ever... We kept thinking maybe it's only Anchorage; it's the largest city in Alaska after all. We were dead wrong, the prices in Alaska are outrageous! They are trying to make a living in 4 months since the rest of the year is too cold for tourists. We will have to figure out a way to afford this state...
Next stop: famous Denali National Park. As always we didn't plan ahead and reading the guidebook I was under impression that you need to book campsites and shuttles 4-6 months in advance to get the best spots and times. Private cars are not allowed into the park after 15 miles (the road extends 89 miles in total), so the only way we could get into the park and spend couple of nights without worrying about campsites would be to do back-country camping. We stopped at one of the reservation points at the entrance and got lucky (!) there was a last minute cancellation for the best campsite in the park for the next day which we took in a heartbeat (85 miles into the park, the campsite is located at the Wonder lake, it's rated as one of the best campsites around the United States). We spent the night in a remote campsite where we prepared our first meal with wild mushrooms after Ainius was stung by wild wasps 10 times!!! Poor guy...

The next morning we got back-country camping permits as we planed to head out into the wild... To get the permits we were required to watch an orientation video which extensively warned about bears and rushing rivers that need to be crossed... With a healthy dose of fear about the wild and a bear canister in hand we were ready for our adventure! The shuttle took about 5 hours to get to our campsite deep in the park. It was raining during the whole ride and it didn't seem like it would lighten up... The first night in the tent at Wonder lake was quite miserable; it rained and it was quite cold, I shivered for most of the night. Rain stopped the next day and we were able to go for a 6 mile hike through the taiga, it was truly nice, but we still couldn't see the mountains, they were hidden under a cloud cover. We kept thinking why we came all this way while we can see similar views in Washington state. The answer came the next morning! We woke up at 6am to a frozen tent cover (it was bellow freezing) and a magnificent view of Mt. McKinley. We caught a 6:30am shuttle and then walked for another half an hour to get to a pond that reflects the mountain range that you see in pictures. It was an awe inspiring morning. We ended up going for another hike to admire the mountains from a different vantage point and finished our three days in Denali National park on a good note without trying to venture into the back-country after two miserable nights in the tent. The following night in the hotel felt truly deserved :) Next – on to Denali highway and Kenai peninsula (coming up in three days :))

Aliaska... Kokias asociacijas jums sukelia 49-ta JAV valstija? Juratei ir man ji visada siejosi su laukine gamta, kalnais, gelianciai saltomis upemis, ir zverimis bei zuvimi atsiduodanciais zmonemis. Pries kelius metus sis ivaizdis pasipylde dar viena asociacija – respublikonu partijos kandidate i viceprezidentus Sara Palin. Uztenka pasakyti tik tiek, jog ji buvo moteriska Buso kopija.

Nusileidome Anchorage velai vakare. Pliaupiant lietui is oro uosto nuvaziavome pasiimti masinos is nuomos punkto ir tiesiai i moteli. Svelniai tariant viesbutukas buvo kuklus, o kainavo visus 60 baksu. Po keliu dienu supratome, jog Aliaskoje viskas kainuoja dvigubai. Kodel? Pasak vietiniu, jie teturi 4 menesius uzsidirbti bakpes visiems metams. Tai atseit todel ir plesia devynias skuras nuo cia atvaziuojanciu turistu. Taigi, jei nori issisukti pigiau, pasiruosk nakvoti palapineje.

Butent taip ir mes nusprendeme pataupyti kai kita diena atvaziavome i Denali nacionalini parka. Pirma naktele praleidome salimais kazkokiame kempinge, kuris primine siukslyna, o ne nakvynei skirta vieta. Dar berenkant sausuolius lauzui, uzkliudziau vapsvu lizda, tai siek tiek sugele, gyvates. Na bent jau pakeliui prisigrybavome raudonvirsiu, tai vakariene buvo fantastiska. Kitas dvi dienas praleidome bludindami po Denali (ir be abejo valgydami grybus, kuriu cia, Aliaskoje, gyva galybe). Aisku, vel nakvojome palapinese, bet jau paciame parke.

Pirma nakti lijo be perstojo, o temperatura sieke gal kelis laipsnius silumos. Kita diena nuotaika siek tiek pasitaise, nes islindo saule, bet kalnai vis dar skendejo debesyje. Guodemes ir tuo, jog vaziuodami parko autobusu (privaciu automobiliu eismas ribojamas) pamateme grizlius, karibu elnius ir kalnu avis. Tiesa is toli. Is arti tik meskos kakuciu paliktu vidury takelio teko “pasigrozeti.”

Tik antros dienos ryte pagaliau pamateme tikraji sio parko grozi. Sesta ryte islindome is i ledo susaliusios palapines (nakti prasigiedrijo ir gerokai pasalo) ir pries musu akis pirmuose saules spinduliuose maudesi kalnu virsunes. Vaizdas nerealus!!! Veliau sie zodziai tapo nuvalkiota klise, nes vos ne kiekviena diena tekdavo juos kartoti. Butent tada pradejome suprasti, jog sios keliones metu musu lukesciai bus virsyti su kaupu. Net mums, kurie gyvenome kalnu apsuptame Sietle paskutinius devynis metus, teko ne karta aikscioti zvelgiant i virs tundros platybiu pakibusias sniego nubalintas virsunes.

Back to homeland! Atgal i tevyne!

So, I left off with Ecuador as we were flying to Lithuania (or Poland to be exact, we got a ride back to Lithuania). To sum it up: it was AWESOME to be back home, eat familiar food (waaaaay... too much of it) and see faces of our families. First we went to Vilnius and spend the night (a VERY drunken night I might add) with good friends Eladijus and Snieguole. They were so welcoming that Ainius stayed up till 5 am or so (see the first picture him sleeping like a baby after too many drinks :) ) I passed out at around 2 or so. So the marathon of eating, drinking and visiting had a good start. After that we went to see my parents, friends left in Klaipeda and then Ainius's family and other friends along the way. It would be way too long and boring to describe how we ate smoked pig ears, fried bread with cheese and drank kvass (bread drink) until we gained solid 5 pounds each! I'll mention couple of highlights:
- suntanning by the Baltic sea without a bathing suit (loved it!)
- fishing in the lake in Moletai (Ainius loved it)
- huge party at Jurate's parents' place (great success - the whole fam showed up as well as some dear friends)
- Sea Festival in Klaipeda
- oh, did I mention food? :)
Back to the biggest reason why we went to Lithuania - passports... We got them with no problem along side with the Japanese visas, we are set to turn a new page of our lives - work... well, I should say work for Ainius, I'll try to figure out how to live well (financially and socially) without working for more than 5 hours a week!! :) I tasted the freedom of being absolutely lazy, I am willing to work a bit to be lazy for the rest of my life :) I'll keep you updated how it goes... I'm working on the first step: come up with some business plan, got a couple ideas, will share once I flush them out.
Anyway, next stop for now Alaska... Look for the next blog sometime in couple days or a week.




Paskutinis blogas buvo apie Ekvadora, sustojau ties skrydziu i Lietuva (tiksliau Lenkija, i Lietuva parveze du suvalkieciai, pakeliui nusipirke desros ir sviesto Lenkijoje...) Trumpai apibudinus musu kelione: buvo NUOSTABU pamatyti tevu, seimos ir draugu veidus, paragauti pazistamo maisto (tiesa pasakius neparagauti, bet prisipusti) ir pasibastyti po pazistamas ir nepazistamas vietoves. Pradejom viska nuo to kad susitikom su Snieguole ir Eladijum Vilniuje ir praleidom naktele gerdami bei kalbedami, as nuluzau apie 2 valanda, o Ainius baliavojo iki 5 ryto (paskui miegojo kaip kudikis [pirma nuotrauka]). Daug labai nepasakosiu, nes bus gana nuobodu, nes tikrai labai daug nenuveikem, tik valgem, gerem ir matemes su draugais ir giminem.
Ryskiausi musu keliones momentai:
- nudistu pliazias Giruliuose
- zvejyba Moletu ezerelyje
- didziulis balius pas Jurates tevu namuose
- o, ar as paminejau maista?
Labai malonu keliauti, noriu sugalvoti kaip gyventi labai gerai labai mazai dirbant! :) Kai sugalvosiu kazkokiu konkreciu planu, papasakosiu sitame bloge, turiu ideju, bet nera dar nieko konkretaus.
Kitas blogas bus apie Alaska! (Jau greitai uz poros dienu)

I'm flying over Canada (Quebec to be exact) with Polish airlines (Chicago - Warsaw) heading to Lithuania... Ecuador seems far away... (talk about globalization, really, that's a lot of continents in one sentence :)). It's been a bit crazy, but I feel compeled to finish writing about our trip to Ecuador, because last 2.5 weeks were the best! We went to Montanita, where Ainius began learning surfing and we finally got some sun. Montanita seems a little, but not quiet town filled with "gringo" (white people) hippies, drugs and lots of loud music. After two nights we decided to head north for a bit more relaxed pace of life (not that it was really hectic in Montanita!). First we went to Isla de Plata "poor man galapagos", which is part of the Machalilla National Park, the bus trip was nice and short from Montanita to Puerto Lopez (about 2 hours), there was only one problem, I ate something the night before that didn't agree with my stomach, so it was a hard day for me to say the least... Once in Puerto Lopez we got into a boat with only 11 people and we were off. The first pleasant surprise was seeing humpback whales that typically mate around this time of year in the shallow waters between the continent and the island. We were told that right behind the island where the deep water begins is the favorite spot for the sharks to hang out (unfortunately we didn't see any). Once on the island we went for 3 hour hike to observe the birds and any wild life that inhabited the island. Totally loved it! My favorite - blue foot boobies (I'm not making the name!).



Then we went to Canoa... We stayed there for 5 nights because we just couldn't leave, there was a good saying painted on the wall on some house (everything is painted on walls: adds, opinions, political associations, I guess they don't believe in removable signs?): "despues cielo, Canoa... (after the heaven, Canoa...)" We spend our time doing pretty much nothing! It was an achievement if we made it to the internet. Ian learned how to surf without falling, I got a chance to read and sun-bake, (not sun-tan, I got pretty burned...). One day we went to a bigger town 16 km away St. Vincente to get some money because there are no banks in Canoa (talk about being relaxed!) and along the money we got 10 live crabs that were successfully boiled and consumed just an hour later. Ainius was determined to finish every little bit of them, but gave up and there were 3 little legs left... So wasteful :)
From Canoa we went back to Quito, picked up our passports with US visas and without any delay went to the jungle. When I say "the jungle" I really mean THE JUNGLE, not a little park or imitation of it. It was the real deal (with bugs and all!). It took us 8 hours to get to Lago Agrio, hot, dirty oil town. From there another bus and our guide Gairo took us to a place to get a motorized canoe which simply is referred to as "the bridge" (another 3 hours). It was actually really exciting, the weather was warm and muggy, it felt good. It was also nice to escape the noise and confines of the bus (we spent 11 hours in the bus!). Five of us got into the canoe and the first thing we saw were... monkeys! A whole troop of them! They were squirrel monkeys, little brown and super cute. It wasn't the end of the excitement, in total we saw 4 kinds of monkeys on our ride, I couldn't believe our luck! The one thing I really wanted to see was monkeys! In the subsequent days that we spent in the jungle we got to see in addition one more kind. The first night was a bit eery for me :) I'm not a big fan of bugs, and boy did I come to the wrong place to avoid them!!! There were tarantulas in our rooms (on the roofs), cockroaches on the floor and on the walls (they were so big, that I didn't even get a temptation to squash one, too messy...), ants and all other kinds that I can't recognized waaaayy to close to our bed... Mosquito net helped, but there were almost no mosquitoes (!), I used it as a tool for psychological comfort, did not want to face a tarantula in my pajamas!



The next day we had a day packed with adventures. After breakfast we went for a walk in the jungles armed with our boots and insect repelent. It was such a delight to get our of the boat and walk around. Our guide showed us some cool things, like a tree which bark can help malaria, a poisonous frog and a sloth. One memorable experience was eating ants that taste like lemon! (check out a video where Ainius is trying them) After lunch we went piranha fishing. The lake that we swam before (and after) is teeming with these fish. I got three piranhas and even one catfish! Ainius got two nice piranhas also! It was really cool when the guide put a piece of a leaf stem in the piranha's mouth which it promptly bit off with just one bite!!! Everyone was a bit squeamish to swim right afterward, but we all made it out alive! That night we met some more of our roommates, we had tropical frogs in our sink and shower! They have really cool limbs with rounded finger tips that stick to everything! Before going to bed I check if tarantulas were all in their place (they are territorial and tend to stay around one place), I still didn't have much desire to face one in bed...
While we were in the jungle, Ainius had his birthday and got a whole pancake on a plate for his birthday!!! That day we left for Quito...

We are chilling on the beach in Montanita, but let's start where I left off: Otovalo. It was so nice to get out of Quito!! We felt like we could breath again... Less pollution and less fear! People were extremely nice and helpful. We got there Friday night, went out for a nice dinner with some local, indigenous music played by a local band. I got llapingachos (a very typical dish for Ecuador) which is potato patties with meat, eggs and a salad, I should say it's really nice (in the picture)!The next morning, Saturday, the town filled with an amazing array of colors, crafts, smells, food, people and animals... You could buy pretty much anything that the indigenous and mestizo people make! Otovalo has a very high percentage of indigenous people, they basically run the biggest indigenous outdoor market in Ecuador. I went a bit crazy and got three rings... Two of them made out of the caw´s horn (check it out in one of the pictures, it's big and black, I love it!)! Ainius finally got a shark's tooth after bargaining with a guy on and off for a whole day :). It was really fun andwe spent most of the day "shopping".



The next day we decided to go to Cotocachi a little town 20 minutes away from Otovalo and to our surprise ended up in laguna Cuicocha where indigenous people were celebrating Inti Raymi or Solstice celebrations (Jonines). We took a pick up truck there and back, it was fun, but really cold! It seems that it involved getting drunk (pretty much completely hammered :)), dancing in circles and sacrificing fruit and chickens! We stayed there for a couple of hours, first took a boat road around the lake and then tried to make sense out of the rituals that were taking place there. After that we went back to Otovalo and decided to stay there one more night since we didn´t feel like going back to Quito. Monday we had no choice and went back to Quito to check whether our passports with visas arrived from the American embassy, alas no passports yet... We were told they might show up some time this week...



We met up with Josh and Jysea (Australian friends) and they were going to Montanita (a famouse beach for surfing), so we decided to go with them and left that night with a bus. 10 hours later (!) we were on the beach enjoying fresh juice, sun and surfing (I tried, but decided it´s too hard and just enjoyed staying on my belly on a board :), Ainius was much more serious about it and has tried to stand up for a whole day!). We´ll stay here for another night and then we are going on a tour to Isla de Plata or ¨poor man´s Galapagos¨, hopefully we´ll see some wales!!

We have an update! We will be back in Seattle July 8th and will be flying to Lithuania July 12, but will show up in Vilnius only 14th (we hope :)). United didn't want to give us tickets for miles first, but Ainius was brilliant, he talked to the supervisor and we finally got our free tickets with layover in Chicago (which is cool, we get to see Viktorija!).
Seattle people, we want to see everyone in 4 short days that we are there!!!!
Tomorrow we are planning to go to Otovalo, an indigenous market and then either jungle or the beaches!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some photos from Katy when we were in Papallacta (thermal baths).

Musu planai paaiskejo, griztam i Seattle liepos 8 diena, ir LT turetumem pasirodyti 14, nes atskrendam i Varsuv 14 ryte ir reikes kazakaip nusigauti iki Vilniaus ar Klaipedos ta diena, kitaip negavo bilietu... Isskrendam rugpjucio 3 vakare is Vilniaus. Na o ryt varom i vietini indenu turgu (gal ko reikia?) ir po to i dziungles ir prie vandenyno!!!! Nuoraukos is Papallacta, kur svenciau savo gimtadieni (siltos vonios!)

Tomorrow we are going to the US embassy, hopefully we can get visas to go back to Seattle...
We are feeling fine and now are in the stages of planning the next step of our lives... aah vacations end so fast...
Anyway, I forgot to tell about a soccer game between Ecuador and Argentina that we were lucky enough to see in the stadium! We got there 3 hours before the game because it was getting packed to the capacity!! It´s kind of interesting how they do not assign seats for you (even in the theater), so you need to get there early to get good ones (some people got there early in the morning, while the game started only at 4pm). The weather was beautiful once we were waiting for the game, but it started pouring down right before the game... and never stopped for the duration of the game... Fortunately there were vendors that were selling ponchos for 2.50$, we got one each! Before the game and during the game, people (Ecuadorians) were swearing all the time! I´m glad we learned all the swear-words so we could pretty much follow what was going around us ;). Ainius most enjoyed a moment when after each Argentian player was announced, the whole stadium was shouting: ¨son of a bitch¨ :) Needless to say, it was really loud and fun! I didn´t really care who is going to win, not much of a football fan... However, we were wearing yellow shirts with Ecuador spelled on them. Ecuador won 2:0, which was quite unexpected from what I understand, traditionally Argentinian team should be much better.
One interesting thing about Ecuador, it seems everyone is selling something somewhere all the time... Sitting in the stadium, we had vendors with food, snacks, drinks passing by ALL THE TIME... We bought one traditional stadium dish: it had tiny boiled potatoes with toasted big kernel corn (no suprises there!) and interesting parts of the pig, soft, chewy skin being one of the stragest things that I´ve tried so far!
In general, it´s really suprising how people are selling everything and everywhere, even if you are in a taxi somebody is trying to sell you fruit, clothes or flash drives (!). Even in restaurants, people come in (children in tow) with trays of candy, cigarettes or fruit and try to sell you... Really not liking it.
Well, my birthday celebration started Friday and ended Monday (can´t remember the whole Monday night... only that there were lots of shots involved and one of them was on fire! :))
Sunday we went to thermal baths in Papallacta 2 hours outside Quito. http://www.papallacta.com.ec/termales.htm
Oh, how glorious it is to sit in steaming hot water with sun shining and doing absolutely nothing else!!! There were many pools with different water temperatures, we tried a few and enjoyed our time there immensly... Love being 33! :)

Couldn´t write anything sooner, our plans for the trip turned completely upside down... We got robbed this week, we are both OK, not hurt, but very upset... We lost our computer and the camera, I´m sure you know what it means for me... In addition, we also lost our passports. Now we are in the process of obtaining temporary travel documents which last only for 30 days and the worst part about it is that we cannot really travel with it anywhere except back to Lithuania. But there are some good news :) we might be able to obtain a US visa to go back to Seattle within those 30 days and from there we will be going to Lithuania to get new passports and visas for Japan. In addition, I just filed a claim with the Visa and might be able to get money back for the camera... Fingers crossed!!!
On a more personal note, I am trying not to be angry at every single person in Ecuador... The sad part is that almost every gringo (white person) whom we met either was robbed or an attempt was made to do so. At first, we didn´t really believe it, but now... On the other hand, all the people that know us from school are trying to help us so hard! We even have some friends of our host family looking for our things on the black market of Quito. They were able to locate the computer, but the robbers want too much for it... We are still looking for the camera, not sure if it will ever resurface. This made me realize how little things or stuff really means. Everything is replacable! I can´t replace Ainius or my friends, but other stuff... really can be all replaced with time.
We´ll let you know how it goes with the documents and other stuff, but so far we are getting back to enjoying ourselves (with or without pictures :)).
Oh, we´ll stay in Lithuania for at least 3 weeks, I´m sure our parents are excited about that! Cheers and don´t worry about us, we are BACK! I don´t want to remember my birthday (tomorrow) as a sad day. Some friends (Australian, Ecuadorian and American) here helped me celebrate it yesterday which was really cool! We sang, ate and had a nice time till 2am (Carlos and Edith are trying to make us feel at home). Tomorrow is an election in Ecuador and alcohol is not sold anywhere in the country, but since we know people that know people we´ll manage! :)

Atsiprasom, kad taip ilgai nerasem. Musu kelioniu planai gerokai pasikoregavo, po to kai sios savaites pradzioje mus (o tiksliau mane - Ainiu) apvoge salia parduotuves. Netekome kameros, kompiuterio ir netgi pasu... Kita savaite turetume gauti laikinus keliones dokumentus, kurie leis mums grizti atgal i Lietuva ir pasidaryti pasus. Sie laikini dokumentai galios tik 30 dienu ir is esmes negalesime keliauti, kur buvome suplanave anksciau (Peru ir Bolivija). Is kitos puses, atrodo, jog galesim parskristi atgal i Sietla. Tai gerokai palengvins mums grizima Lietuvon, kas, aisku, yra labai gera zinia musu artimiesiems ir draugams.
Kadangi praejo jau keturios dienos nuo vagystes, palengva pradedame atsigauti. Tiesiog psichologiskai sunku susitaikyti su sia netektimi, o taip pat numalsinti pykti. Ziuri i zmones gatveje ir vos ne kas trecias pradeda atrodyti, kaip vagis. Aisku, tai netiesa... Mes cia suradome labai maloniu ir paslaugiu zmoniu. Musu ekvadorietiski "tevai" - Edith ir Carlos - bando padeti kuo gali. Per kelias paskutines dienas teko apsilankyti ivairiuose Quito turgeliuose, kur chebra prekiauja vogtais daiktais. Kompiuteri atrodo, kad suradome, bet parduoti jo dar mums nenori. Bijo, kad policija pasakysime. Is kitos puses, mes turime draudima kamerai, kuris galbut padengs islaidas. Ziuresim...
Beje, rytoj Jurates gimtadienis (su kuo ja kuo nuosirdziausiai sveikinu!!!). Nors aplinkybes truputi liudnokos, vakar (penktadieni) labai fainai atsventeme Jurates gimtadieni - valgeme, grojome, dainavome, ir pan. Pravakarojome iki paryciu. Gerai, uzteks man rasineti, reikia prie mokslu vel sesti. Dar sia savaite mokysimes, o po to norime link pajurio varyti.

Forgot to tell about the market on Friday! Our teacher Anabel took us to a closed market that is held everyday at least in that neighborhood. We saw so many fruit! The colors of fruit and flowers are magical! Also, they had meats and fish and little places you can eat. It was kind of funny though, we were going through the stalls and Anabel was pointing at different things and saying their names in Spanish while we were repeating them... :) We were quite a spectacle! At the end we tried their snack: fresh boiled big kernel corn mixed with toasted corn and some sort of beans topped with one of my favorite things here: Chicharrones, which is fried pork cracklings (which was only 50 cents!!!!!!).



I am finding that very few things are hard or are annoying here. In general we've been enjoying pretty much every aspect of the culture. I thought it will be a bit harder to get used to a new culture, but to my surprise it's been really easy! The only thing that is a bit annoying is the unpredictability of our shower... It's either freezing or hot... Can never tell! :)
I love how the people are so relaxed and really know how to have a good time. For example yesterday we went out for dinner (had typical Ecuadorian fair: potatoes, rice, slowly stewed lamb and avocado) and later went to ta club to dance, it was packed!! People love to dance here! They definitely dance in a more sensual manner than everywhere else that I've seen! And once the salsa beat is on, the beauty of the movements is hard to describe, it seems that everyone knows how to salsa... except for the white people :)! Oh well, we are learning, hopefully we'll be able to salsa at least a bit...

Penktadienis - turgaus diena? Praeita penktadieni mes su savo ispanu k. mokytoja Anabel bludinome po vietines reiksmes turgeli. Nors jau anksciau bandeme nemazai mums nezinomu vaisiu, si karta uztikome dar kelis. Viena is ju - chirimoya - mane tiesiog apzavejo. Taigi sekinejome savo mokytoja is paskos ir kartojome vaisiu, mesu, zuvu ir kitu padaru bei augalu pavadinimus ispaniskai. Pietus pavalgeme uz 50 amerikietisku centu - kukuruzai, kepta kiauliena (Chicharrones) ir pupos.

Hola everyone! Thanks for the comments!! Let's see where did we left off? Ahh Banos! We are still thinking what a good time we had there!
At first we were thinking to leave Quito and go somewhere else, but as many of you know Ainius got a job offer in Tokyo (which he accepted, in case you are wondering :)), so there is some paperwork we have to complete and send to Japan, therefore we are staying for another week till Friday afternoon and then we're thinking to go to Otovalo, the most famous indigenous market in the country and travel north for a week.
Tuesdays and Thursdays we are learning how to dance salsa!!! It's really fun, but most of us are pretty bad compared to the teacher... However, we are learning some pretty sweet moves! Maybe we'll get a video next week... (key word - maybe :)).
Wednesday was a really fun day. In the evening we learned how to make Ecuadorian ceviche! Ceviche in Ecuador is very different from Peruvian ceviche which is more known outside South America. Peruvian ceviche is usually with fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices while ceviche (at least shrimp ceviche) in Ecuador is made with ingredients that I would never put in one plate. But here it goes: toast big kernel corn (I've never seen it in the states) in oil (just like Ainius is doing in the video! :)), make regular popcorn, cut tomatoes, mild red onions, peel shrimp, squeeze lime and orange juice, get some beer. Cook peeled shrimp with beer for 2 minutes, reserve liquid, pour lime juice on the shrimp. Meanwhile mix cut tomatoes with onions, pepper, salt, cilantro, lime and orange juice. Finally, liquify some of the tomatoes, add their juice along with shrimp, shrimp cooking liquid, some mustard, ketchup, a little bit more beer. Serve in a bowl with toasted big kernel corn and popcorn. I have to say, it's not bad, it's actually pretty good, but very unexpected!



After cooking class we went to watch Jacchigua, which is indigenous ballet/theater. We loved the music (which was live!) and the dancing was really cool. It was truly a treat for the eyes and the ears! (You can check them out here: http://www.jacchiguaesecuador.com/eng_principal.htm and here's one video of the ballet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohwVy_5uc4s )
Yesterday (after salsa!) we went on "a city tour at night" with the school, just because it's safer in a group at night. It was really nice! We had some nice conversations with some truly interesting people and saw some very pretty sights of Quito.



So far, I'm absolutely in love with the pace and lifestyle here! It's just so human, things are not rushed, not many rules, people are chill. I totally see myself spending more time here, Japan seems kind of out of the context, but hey we're up for it!

Sveikuciai dar karta! Labas aciu uz jusu komentarus. Lauksime nauju! Paskutiniame musu dienorascio lape raseme apie Banos miesteli. Iki siolei ji prisimename su ilgesiu...
Mes pradzioje planavome pasimokyti ispanu k. dvi su puse savaites ir tada dumti kur nors kitur. Taciau planus teko siek tiek pakoreguoti. Visu pirma, musu ispanu k. gana varginga. Dar viena savaite tikrai nepakenks nors jau galime islementi kelius padoresnius sakinukus. Kita priezastis - netiketai atsiradusi galimybe pagyventi ir padirbeti Tokijuje (Japonijoje). Taciau japonai paprase visokiu dokumentu, sveikatos liudijimu ir tt ir pan. Zodziu, reikia viska susitvarkyti, kol esame sostineje, nes dziunglese rysio nebus. Taigi iki kito penktadienio sedesime Quito, o po to zadame pasauti iki Otovalo, vieno is zymiausiu indenu turgaus salyje.
Kiekviena antradieni ir ketvirtadieni mokykloje vyksta salsos sokiu pamokos. Nors musu sugebejimai dar gana kuklus, taciau jau pramokome keleta krutesniu zingsneliu ir apsisukimu. Be to praeita treciadieni mokemes ekvadoriskos virtuves paslapciu. Gaminome ceviche, tradicini ekvadorietiska ir peruviestiska patiekala. Is esmes, ceviche paprastai asocijuojama su Peru, taciau ekvadorieciai irgi turi savo patiekalo varianta. Neversiu viso recepto, tik paminesiu, jog kai kuriuos ingredientus: zuvis arba krevetes, alus, svogunai, pomidorai, pomidoru padazas, garstyciu padazas, keliu rusiu kukuruzai ir dar dievai zino kas. Kai ka pakepi, kai ka paverdi, kai ka pabarstai ant virsaus, sumaisai ir gaunasi toks idomus marmalas. Man visai patiko, o Juratei - pusiau su beda. Peruvietiskas ceviche variantas paprastesnis ir bent jau Jurates nuomone - skanesnis.
Uzkirte ceviche's, vakare nuvareme pasizmoneti i nacionalini teatra. Tenai vyko koncertas-baletas, kuriame pristatoma ekvadorietiska kultura, muzika, sokiai bei istorija. Sio "sou" rezisierius (Rafael Camino) yra labai zinomas vaikis tiek salyje, tiek ir uz jos ribu. Jis laikomas tradiciniu ekvadorietisko sokiu ir baleto tevu. Daugiau info, galite atrasite angliskoje dalyje prikabintu adresu.
Vakar patrype salsa, vakare vaziavome i naktini miesto tura. Aisku, Jurate fotografavo kaip paselus. Be to autobuse pabendravome su labai idomiu chebrantu is Kanados, kuris yra vienos Kanados indenu genties vadas ir padeda spresti ivairiu saliu vyriausybems su ciabuviais susijusius klausimus.
Praejo jau dvi su puse savaites kaip esame Quito. Pradedame priprasti prie cionykscios tvarkos bei gyvenimo ritmo. Chebra - atsipute, niekur labai neskuba. Mes irgi gryba pjaunam kol galim, nes aiskiai suprantame, jog Tokijuje s... malti neteks.

Couple movies! Keletas filmuku! Sokam virtuvej salsa su Carlos (dancing salsa with Carlos in the kitchen). Carlos groja tipine Ekvadoro muzika (Carlos and typical Ecuadorian music). Sokam kartu nuo tilto!!!! (Bungee jumping off the bridge!!!!)

Quito and Banos

We are beginning our second week in Quito and finally had a chance to walk around a bit more. I have to take back a statement that Quito doesn't feel like a metropolis... We went for a walk to Centro Historico (old part) and climbed all the way to the Basilica tower and finally saw how Quito looks - it's huge! It also has many tall buildings that I didn't see on my previous walk, after all it has 2 million people!



We went to the old town couple of times and it's quite nice, but we are growing quite tired of the big city feel, its pollution and lack of activities that we usually enjoy, such as hiking or walking without chocking on fumes :) I think we might be moving on at the end of this week... We might take one or two more weeks of Spanish in Cuenca which people tell us is much smaller and much nicer than Quito (it's 10 hours south of Quito).
It's also interesting to see how such a big city contains extremes: nice new cars alongside poor indigenous people that have almost nothing. We've been talking a lot about politics and economies with our teacher Anabel and learned a little bit about the inside workings of the country. It seems that they really like their stubborn president even for his lack of diplomacy and flexibility, it seems he is like a breath of fresh air after so many conservative governments that tended to benefit mostly rich people.
This weekend we went on a trip to Banos with other students from the school (organized by the school). We LOVED Banos! It took us about 4 hours to get there on Saturday morning. We went biking right away once we got there... total 4 hours!!!! Let me tell you, it was hard for me to enjoy it in the very beginning, it was drizzling and wasn't very warm. However, it was a very cool ride through the mountains; we visited 4 or 5 waterfalls. During one of our stops we bungee jumped... Ainius convinced me it would be fun... Well I'm not sure if I would call it fun, you go against all self-preservation instinct, plus landing is not as pleasant as it might seem... On the other hand, the rush of adrenalin through the body is like nothing else! I think Ainius would go for it again, me? not so sure :)



The second day in Banos was my dream come true!! I spent 4 and some hours at the spa a bit outside the main city. Katie (I met her at school) and I did 4 procedures. First we walked barefoot on rocks and dewy grass and had to get rid of all the bad thoughts before they started working on our bodies, and what a work that was!!!!! First, we had mud mask all over our bodies, then we went to banos de Cajon, which is pretty much like sauna with herbs and aromatic leaves from the jungle in a little box that looks like a torture chamber :) They gave an ice-cold water shower for 4 times during the sauna - quite extreme! Finally, we got a very nice 1 hour massage that culminated with hot rock massage! Ahhh, really best time ever! You are wondering how much? For all of that, plus unlimited tea and some fruit - 30$!!! Meanwhile, Ainius went rafting for whole 2 hours which he says was very much fun. They not only enjoyed beautiful scenery, but also throwing each other into cold river water :) Who was the most active initiator? Who else if not Ainius!!!!

There is so much to tell! We left off on the second day in Quito. Friday we had our second class with Anabel, the language seems easy, but still there is so much to remember!! I'm afraid our brains are getting a bit old to absorb the info easily. We didn't do much Friday night (were missing our dinners with Jurate and Remis...), stayed at home and made traditional Ecuadorian dinner with Edit. We made tortillas from potatoes and cheese, then fried them in the pan and ate these delicious little "pancakes" with onion and peanut sauce (surprisingly I liked the peanut sauce, as you know, I usually can't stand peanuts in my food...) over an egg sunny side up. I have to say Ecuadorian food reminds me a little bit of Lithuanian food: lots of potatoes, filling and lots of it! :) In general, people do eat a lot of fruit here, especially in the mornings, which delights us to no end. Just Friday we bought five different fruit (one of each kind) to just try, some were absolutely delicious, others not so much :). One of the fruit helps regulate digestive system, you know what I mean :). Another really cool thing about mornings is fresh juice! They make it from absolutely everything, just this morning we had berry juice; can't say exactly what berry, they call it either raspberry or blackberry, but apparently it's something in between. In addition, there are so many kinds of pastries!! At school they always have fresh buns (light white bread with either sugar, extra egg yolks or plain) that you can enjoy during a break with coffee or herbal tea (they use real herbs, that are really good!).
Saturday Ainius had to work all day on reviewer comments for his book, so I got a chance to spend most of the day alone with Edith. After breakfast we went to her brother's car shop (Fernando is a mechanic), it took us 2.5 hours to walk there! Quito is really long - 40km and most of it is situated along side the mountains. The first thing we noticed right off the bat is pollution. The buses are spitting black fumes and you can tell the cars have no emission standards. Also, there are no real skyscrapers, so the city doesn't feel like a bit metropolis, most of the buildings are about 2-3 stories tall. Anyway, it was really nice to go for a walk with Edith and meet some of her family. Ecuadorians are really warm people that highly value their families which are very closely knit. They also show immense respect to their elders.
Once we got to her brother's shop, we had to wait for her brother to put a new radio/CD player in her car and of course it took longer than expected. Many things here take longer than expected, so I guess it's the best not to have any expectations! I like this laid back culture: anything goes :). While waiting we decided to get some lunch and it was an opportunity to try some food from a street vendor. We got a dish that I can't remember what they call it, but it was baked/fried pork with extra crunchy skin with potato tortillas and big kernels of corn (maiz). I have to say, it was absolutely delicious!!! My favorite part was crunchy skin (it's time for my American friends to say: ewwww :)).
Since Ecuador is right on the equator, the sun rises and sets exactly at the same time every day: at 6 it's up and at 6:30 it's down, no exceptions! Also, the weather seems to be also pretty much the same all year round: around 50-60F in the mornings, 65-75F (might get to 80F) during the day and about 40-50F at night. It's not the tropics I was hoping for... However, it makes sense that it's not so warm here since Quito is the second highest capital in the world (after La Paz, I believe).
Sunday, we went to visit one of their highest active volcanoes Cotopaxi in the national park of Cotopaxi. It was drizzling in Quito as we set out to visit the volcano. Once we got there, the weather was absolutely miserable! The wind was blowing horizontally with little ice crystals with such force that we got soaked in 10 minutes... Also, I couldn't climb up... I think I have altitude problems: I was short of breath, nauseous and lightheaded, couldn't walk up longer than 20 minutes... Felt like a complete woos... especially when Ainius didn't feel a thing and probably could have run up the mountain with no problems. Oh well, we just hung out by the bus with others who also were experiencing altitude problems. The views were amazing even from where we were, so we didn't miss much. Once we got home, Carlos and Edith came back with a huge pot of Edith mother's soup (with potatoes, meat, pasta and beans), which was really good! To top things off, Carlos played some of his favorite music, as he says it's his only addiction :).
Tomorrow more Spanish classes and hopefully we'll go for a walk in the old part of Quito.
Laisvas vertimas. Penktadieni vakare kartu su Edith ir Carlos kepeme tradicinius ekvadorietiskus blynelius. Jie gaminami su trintomis virtomis bulvemis ir svieziu suriu. Viskas sumaisoma, padaromi blyneliai, o po to jie pakepami. Ant blynu uzpilamas zemes riesutu padazas su svogunais. Jurate paprastai nemegsta tokiu "taivanietisku" padazu, bet si karta jai labai patiko. Beje, cia chebra valgo labai daug vaisiu, ypac pusryciams. O mums ju tik paduok. I mokykla kiekviena diena atveza svieziu bandeliu, tai per pertraukas raminame skrandzius.

Sestadieni Ainius visa diena darbavosi prie knygos projekto, o Jurate tuo tarpu bludino po miesta su Edith. Tiksliau Edith nusivede Jurate pas savo broli. Vaikis - mechanikas. Kadangi cia chebra atsipute, tai nenuostabu, kad ir sesei tenka laukti, kol brolis pataisys masina. Tuo tarpu mergikes isalko ir nusprende uzkasti. Na mesa ir kukuruzais lietuviu nenustebinsi, bet kepta kiaules oda valgom ne kiekviena diena. Atveze ir man pabandyti. Labai skanu, bet turi buti labai gerai pakepta, nes kitaip neimanoma atsikasti- guma ir tiek.

Kadangi Ekvadoras yra tiesiog ant ekvatoriaus, visus metus dienos (ir nakties) trukme nesikeicia. Saule kyla apie 6 val. ir leidziasi 6:30. Bent jau paskutines kelias dienas temperatura irgi atrodo labai pastovi. Ryte kokia 10-12 laipsniu silumos. Link vakaro susyla iki 20-25, o po to vel zemyn. Kas antra diena nulyja, bet nestipriai. Zodziu tropikais ne nekvepia, bet visu pirma del to, kad Quito yra labai aukstai virs juros lygio.

Sekmadieni vaziavome i ekskursija su grupe studencioku. Dauguma chebros arba is Vokietijos, arba is Amerikes. Nuvareme i Cotopaxi vulkano nacionalini parka. Niurus debesys gero nezadejo, bet vis tikejomes, jog rastas prapus. Atvaziave greitai isitikinome, kad musu viltims neteks issipildyti. Islipus is autobuso mus pasitiko vejas su krusa. Tiesiog "kaifas"! Be to dar 4 kilometru aukstis irgi daro savo itaka. Palipe kokias 10 minuciu ir gerokai suslape, nusprendeme grizti atgal (nors dauguma lipo toliau). Buvo pasiryzes zygiuoti iki galo, bet negi aimanuojancia zmona paliksi... ;) Is esmes nieko daug nepraradome, nes debesys praretejo tik po to, kai visi grizo atgal. Pasidziaugeme graziu vaizdeliu ir susoke i autobusa grizome namolio, kur musu lauke seimininkai su sriubos puodu. Vaizdelis vos ne lietuviskas - viraliukas su mesos kauliukais, bulvemis, pupomis ir pan. Zodziu, parijom kaip uz tevyne!

Siandien (pirmadieni) po pamoku zadejome pasitrinti po senamiesti, bet oras link vakaro subjuro, tai dareme namu darbus. Ech, tas studentiskas gyvenimas! Lyg mums jo kada truko!!

Cotopaxi May 24

We are finally in Quito!! Remember I was hoping for a smooth flight to Quito? Well, the flight itself was very pleasant, but there was mucho stress before we got on the plane. Since our tickets are for more than 4 months, one of the AA agents didn't want to let us check in because if a person wants to stay longer than 90 days in Ecuador, they need a visa... So, we finally bought plane tickets from Ecuador to Peru to prove that we will not stay in the country longer that allowed (we had about 1,5 hours to do all that). However, passport control people didn't even ask for such a proof once we landed!! Anyway, I was able to cancel the tickets today (thanks Orbitz!) and save over 400$!!
First impressions of Quito and the family we are staying with? The family is really nice! Carlos and Edith are great hosts and I'm sure we'll have some good times in the future! (We already shared a round of mojitos yesterday :)) Can't say much about food yet, haven't tried much, but more expensive restaurants in Quito are not much cheaper than in Seattle (!!), so note to ourselves - we won't be eating at upper class restaurants, otherwise we'll have to cut our trip short :)
Today we also had our first Spanish class. We totally love our teacher Anabel!! We learned a lot, but our brains are fogging up a bit, I think the altitude is kicking in a bit :) Hopefully we'll remember something of what we learned today... Anyway, I'll ask Ainius to translate some to Lithuanian, my brain is really fogging up.
Nors musu siokiu tokiu nesklandumu su musu kelione is Los Angelo iki Quito, vakar vakare jau buvome Quito. Mus pasitiko oro uoste ir is karto nuveze i namus. Musu seimyninkai - Carlos ir Edith - labai malonus zmones! Vakar dar su jais nuejome islenkti kelis mojitos (kokteilis su romu) i salimais esanti restorana. Kadangi buvo daug nauju ispudziu ir kalbos, tai lova pasiekeme tik apie pirma ryto. Gerai, kad nors ryte pavyko gerokai nusnausti. Bet ilgai ilsetis neteko, nes 12 val. prasidejo pirmoji ispanu kalbos pamoka. Musu mokytoja Anabel kankino mus keturias valandas!!! Biski daugokai, bet is kitos puses - labai daug ismokome. Dabar svarbiausia atsiminti tiek daug informacijos!
Siaip jauciames neblogai, bet sioks toks nuovargis jauciasi. Neaisku, ar mes dar neatsigavome po kelioniu, ar keli tukstanciai metru virs juros lygio daro savo itaka. Zodziu, eisim siandien biski pailseti. Jei bus sveikatos ir noro galbut pasimokinsime sokti salsa!

We are stuck in Miami... But let's start from the beginning. Saturday, May 16th we gathered at Nomeda and Arvydas house for a good-bye party. Everyone agreed - they have a sweet spot, especially for partying!!! We were so happy and grateful to see many of our dear friends. As I am writing this, sadness grips my heart, we didn't want to leave the people that we love... Thanks again for coming out and sharing those last moments together face to face. Also, due to your generosity we raised 460$ for a cause that we'll find in South America. I hope you enjoy the photos!
We got home after 3:30am!!!!! It was some good food, dancing and conversations!
Then, the packing started in earnest...
Of course most of the packing had to be done the last minute (you know us...)
We were running like mad around the house from 6 am (!) trying to put everything we own in boxes. If it wasn't for Andy, Raulis and Jurate, we would have missed our plane or left lots of junk for the new owners (both options not so preferable). Once we got in Raulis' car, sweating and panting, Ainius realized he forgot to put socks on... So our travel has started :)
Once we got to LA, where we had an overnight overlay, we were told that we couldn't pick up our bags... Once again, thanks for the generosity of our friend Mitra (we were so happy to see her and catch up) we were provisioned with fresh t-shirts to sleep in and everything else. Ahh, the blessings of good friends. As we were getting to our next flight we remembered one of our most favorite quotes (from the movie "In the wild" which we didn't like that much): "happiness ir real when shared."
You'd think that everything would go smoothly, but no, that's just not our style :) Once we've been in the air for 20 min we find out that there's a medical emergency in the plane, we turn back for LA... So, we missed our flight to Quito and got stuck in Miami till May 20th 3:40 flight. Will let you know how it goes :)
PS, Elsa, I'm waiting for more pictures!!!! :)
Dabar reikia truputi lietuviskai. Sestadieni labai gerai pabaliavojom (su balta misraine ir lasisa!). Sokiai ir gerimai tesesi iki 3:30 ryto, paskui visa sekmadieni ir pirmadieni teko pakuotis. Mes kaip visada optimistai, nepaskaiciavom kad uzims pakuotis gana ilgai, tai paskutine diena (pirmadieni) kelemes 6 ryto ir kaip pamate galvas begiojom ir bandem pabaigti visus darbus. Jei ne draugai, tai tikrai butumem pavelave i lektuva arba nespeje viska sutvarkyti (kas butu buve nelabai gerai...) Andy, Raulio ir Jurates deka viska suspejom (gal sakyciau pusiau, nes uzkrovem darbus ant ju peciu).
Pirmas skrydis buvo i Los Angeles, kur praleidom nakti pas drauge. Po to kita ryto skridom i Miami, Florida, bet vienam zmogui lektuve pasidare labai blogai ir teko apsukti lektuva ir gristi i Los Angeles trumpam, ka reiskia kad pavelavom i skrydi i Quito, Ekvadoras. Dabar sedim viesbutyje Majamyje (uz kuri sumokejo oro linijos) ir laukiam rytojaus skrydzio. Papasakosim kaip sekes nusigauti rytoj!

Our Southwest roadtrip

Our Southwest roadtrip

Our Southwest roadtrip

We are starting our first travel blog! We haven't planned to cover our Southwest roadtrip, but then again why not? Most of it will be in English, but I (Jurate) have to comply with my mom's request and will translate some of the posts to Lithuanian so that our families can also follow us.
Our roadtrip began in Seattle (naturally) after the mechanic checked our old car and gave an "almost" clean bill of health. "We should make it, no problem" Ainius said and we set out in search of the sun and warmth (it has been raining for almost half a year nonstop in Seattle, or so we thought).
Musu kelione i pietvakarius. Pradzioj trumpai, kai pradesim keliauti po pietu Amerika - papasakosim daugiau.