Obama Rally

Emily and I got in line outside of the Xcel Center at 3:00 in the afternoon. We promptly bought 7 Obama buttons for 10$. What a steal!

We did a lot to pass the time... including a few games of SkipBo. One game we played with a 6 year-old named Ella. She rode her bike for several hours (with her mom) to see Obama. Pretty devoted for someone who can't vote for another 12 years...

"Change"

Obama onstage. 9:00 pm... after 6 hours of waiting. This is without zoom, so you can tell we were fairly close.

If only the teleprompter wasn't there....

Barack Obama and his beautiful wife Michelle

check out the video bar to the right...

Back!

Well I'm back!! And making the decision that I won't abandon my blog... I know you were all worried at the possibility of it coming to an end. But have no fear, I have lots of time on my hands (aka I haven't started my job yet and am BORED) and can keep on!! First, I'm going to see Barack Obama today with Emily! It's the last day of primaries (did anyone ever think this day would come?), and Obama chose to do his last rally of the primary season in none other than St. Paul! Doors open at 7pm, and we're planning on getting in line in early afternoon. HOPING that will be early enough..you never know, this is a historic day! I'll fill you in on that experience tomorrow.

So it's good to be back in the good ol' US of A. We had an amazing trip as a family and saw lots of great sights. Machu Picchu is absolutely beautiful. You know, I had pondered about the possibility of being disappointed with the site, since it's such a tourist attraction...could be overrun by world travelers and therefore lose it's sense of awe. I was wrong. Granted, there are a ton of people there, but the pathways and route around the ruins seems to contain people so that when you get that first postcard view of the site, it doesn't appear that there are many people inside. A highlight for me was when Tim, Dad and I hiked up to Wyna Picchu, which is the peak you see in all of the pictures of Machu Picchu. It was an incredible view, and we felt like we were literally at the top of the world. For tons of great pictures of the trip and hilarious stories of what we did, check out Adam and Andrea's blog (feel free to blog stalk, people). Andrea has done some great posting!

Heading home

I´m at the bus terminal in Guayaquil, Ecuador-- just got in after a few days at the beach. The fam comes tomorrow and I´m meeting them in Peru which just seems unreal and incredible to me. I will be in the U.S. in less than 2 weeks.... and I have very mixed feelings about it. I can´t wait to see my grandparents, friends and family, but there is a lot I´m going to miss about Ecuador. This is an amazing country, with an incredible amount of diversity. Time moves slower here- interactions oftentimes have more meaning and people value relationships more than anything else. I´ve learned to just live in the moment (sorry if this is getting incredibly cliche) and stop planning my future so much. People live with more passion for life here, and I´ve learned a lot from this culture. I don´t have a lot of time to write more, but I´ll definitely keep posting after I get back. This has been an incredible experience, and I´m really disappointed to see it end. But, I´m super excited to see all of you!!!! I head to Peru tomorrow, and home on the 25th. See you then!!!

love from chels

Read post below for explanation

Chicken foot anyone???

I'm back in Quito!!! What a different world than Tocachi. This is the week of presentations, and time to turn in our thesis papers. Recap of the last couple weeks in Tocachi:

1. I finally ate Guinea Pig!! We went to a baptism party WAAAAAAAAYYY up in the mountains on my last Saturday in Tocachi, where I finally got my chance. I couldn't eat the skin (although everyone else does) because it was really tough. The meat was...chewy...had a charred, grilled flavor... All in all, not great, not horrible. (No mayonaisse, for the record). At least I can say I tried it!

2. There was a chicken foot in my soup. At the same baptism party, we ate chicken soup (soup is ALWAYS the first course here). I discovered an odd looking thing in my soup.... so I asked Hirma, my host mom. She laughed and said it was the foot of the chicken. Indeed, it was. Exactly as you would imagine the foot of a chicken to look like, toes (do they call them toes?) and all. I didn't want to be rude, but my brain could not justify eating it. Franklin, my host dad, laughed at me and showed me that the head of the chicken was in his soup. AHHH. Luckily Hirma let me put the foot in her bowl, so I was saved..... but OH MY GOSH THE FOOT OF A CHICKEN???

3. The next day we killed a pig to eat. It was Hirma's birthday, so we went to Tabacundo to kill the chancho (the pig). Pictures included. I think it's honestly the first time I've watched the killing of an animal. So... they hung up the pig in Hirma's mom's one-room house, and cut it apart. The head remained.... so as we were eating the body of this pig, it's head was hanging above us watching. OH my. It was tasty though, I have to say. :)

Rafting Pics

The few pictures I managed to get from Tena and rafting (it was raining the whole time)... with the colors enhanced just a bit!