The Journey of a Friendly Giant

During the week, Paúl, from work, told me about his weekend in Puerto Lopez and how amazing it was. He  described it as simply  Magical and I was immediately convinced. I quickly packed my bags, then a few friends and I were off to Puerto Lopez, filled with wonder and excitement about what had yet to come. Puerto Lopez is a small fishing village set in the Pacific coast of the Ecuadorian province of Manabí. It has a population of about 16000 and its main industries include fishing, eco tourism and jewelry making. It is known for its beautiful white sanded beaches, great seafood and the Machalilla national park that offers fantastic whale watching. A small island nearby named Isla de la Plata, also holds the nickname “poor man’s Galapagos” because it shares many unique seabirds with the enchanting Galapagos Islands. As a lover of nature and its many wonders, I personally couldn’t wait to learn more about the interesting biodiversity of the sea life. Puerto Lopez is located abo...

Every country has their share of crazy drivers. But here in Guayaquil, saying "just a few" is the understatement of the century. My ears eventually got used to the constant sound of beeping, and people shouting out their car windows, but that isn’t my main issue. Many of the street lights don’t work, and most the ones that do, don’t have a “walk/don’t walk” sign. When crossing the street, whether you believe it’s rightfully your turn to cross the street, you always have to be alert. Many cars don’t follow the rules, and keep driving even when it’s a red light for them. Sometimes, in the center of Guayaquil, there are more than 20 people crossing on both sides at one time, but that doesn’t seem to faze them. They simply keep driving, and people are forced to suddenly stop before them, or run across past them to not get hit. The people don’t have the right of way, and are not “royalty of the road”, as I was taught in Canada. Here in Guayaquil, the cars are in control. I almost ...

  An old tradition for the Pro-Bosque ( Pro-Forest ) foundation employees is an annual camping trip. It is probably the only time where all of the employees from the different departments, as well as the interns are at the same place, at the same time without their serious work faces on. This past weekend, I happily joined the rest of the team at the Cerro Blanco dry tropical forest at 5pm for our camping adventure. When I arrived, they were preparing what I consider a gourmet meal for camping. They had shish kabobs with beef, chicken and sausage, a big pot of rice, avocado, a garden salad and maduro , which translates as: ripe . It’s sweet cooked ripe plantain bananas. Everyone contributed to the cooking, while laughing, singing and taking pictures. Okay.... so we had a kitchen for some of the stuff :) Outdoor bbq Dig in everyone! The "young people" table :) After some great conversations about family, friends, and traveling, the food was all gone, and we we...

After settling in, and making some friends, we had already made plans to explore Ecuador. Time seems to have flown by, and next thing you know I found myself on a bus. Luckily enough, the first two seats on the bus don´t have any seats in front of them. This meant . . . you guessed it, endless leg room for the  giant lady . The city to city travel busses are coach style busses, much like Canada, with comfortable seats that lean back, and movie entertainment provided. We were going to Rio Bamba Ecuador, which was 4 hours away from Guayaquil.  Another CIDA intern from the College of the Rockies, British Columbia program, had a Lonely Planet travel guide for Ecuador. Our plan was to, relax, and settle in to the hostels we were staying at in the first day, in preparation for our big train ride the next morning on’ The Devil´s Nose train line.´´ Rio Bamba was a nice town, with many boutiques and very kind people.   Unfortunately for us, the Lonely Planet book had mislead ...

This post could be considered as my first ´´culture shock´´ experience. In the past, as a shy person, attention has never been something I looked for. However since I couldn´t help but get an abundance of it, eventually, I learned to work with it through humour, smiles and friendliness.  [cartoonstock.com ] For those of you who may not already know this, I am unusually tall for a female, and taller than most men for that matter! An old teacher used to tell me, ´´Feeling weird about your height, will only make other people feel weird about it. Strut, be proud, they will see your beauty if you feel beautiful.´´ Without shoes I stand at 6´3 inches in height. I´ve always been the tallest woman by far in every location, at school, in my neighborhood, and even in my city if you ask me. When I´m in Canada, almost every day I hear the following things: [torontodominicano.com ] Stranger : ´´Wow you are tall!´´ My response : ´´Thank you, I didn’t notice ;)´´  Strang...

When I’m asked to describe myself in a few words, “confident” is usually one of the words I choose without hesitation. I say that with confidence because I’m usually not the nervous type, I’m very comfortable in front of crowds, love public speaking, networking, and spreading the laughter.  However, during the CIDA International youth internship program interview, I don’t think I’ve never been more nervous in my whole entire life. I felt genuine fear because I really wanted to be chosen for this amazing opportunity, I wanted to be exposed and immersed into another country for 6 full months. The position was entitled “Economic Development Officer” with details that varied from country to country and the interns would be working with different CIDA’s partner organizations. To me, it was an opportunity of a lifetime, being a new graduate from a International Commerce and Global development Degree program, I knew finding a job would not be an easy task. And despite all of the classes...