Bug Bites

Dear Mom and Dad,

The bugs here are horrible at night. Poor Charlie suffers the most because he doesn't wake up to them biting him and gets eaten alive. We have bought some incents to ward away the bugs via smoke and bugspray to wear before bed. Hopefully it helps. We spent all afternoon looking for a pharmacy to cure his bites and a bank. Sometimes the simplest things take forever. We got Charlie a prescription for a gel that relieves the itch and is anti-inflamatory. It seems to be working! It was a little difficult to decribe what we needed without knowing the Spanish words. My sentences went something like this "bugs ate his back. we have bug repellent. we need something for (show Charlie's back at this point)....whatever works.

There are NO banks here in Mancora. This wouldn't be a problem because they have atm's that do accept our debit cards, but the atms depense $100 soles at a time, and no place will take over $20 and even then it's a stress for them, and they act all put out. How do you not have a bank with a teller in a town? What are the people supposed to do with their hard earned money that wasn't stollen from tourists? We have found we can take American dollars out of the atms and exchange them in local stores for smaller amounts of soles. This is really tedious to do because we can only exchange small amounts in order to not get big bills. We lose about $1 american dollar by doing this because obviously the stores exchange at a lower rate in order to make a small profit. Ugh.

Here are two pictures of our hostel. The first one is looking out our door at our beautiful oceanic view. The second one is of Charlie relaxing in front of our room. Cheap...but totally worth it because we do have two functioning legs to walk to the beach front and saving money is always a plus!

Our meals here have been great. There are so many deals if you decide to live like the locals. Every restaurant has a deal that's $3 and includes a small appetizer, main meal, and a glass of juice. The selection is limited and depends on the day. Typically Charlie has been eating Ceviche (raw fish with red onions, lime juice, corn nuts, yuca, and a carrot looking plant) and I have had tequeños (their take on fried cheese sticks.) For meals, I typically have a grilled chicken dish and Charlie usually has more fish. Most dishes are accompied by white rice and fries. Every place has a slight variation, but we have been super impressed with all of our selections. Today, we made our own lunch, which consisted of mac and cheese and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes I really miss meals from home. This was the closest we could do.

The beach is always calling our names. Here is two pictures of us enjoying the warm weather and sunning ourselves. If you look close enough or click on the first picture to make it bigger, you will have a slight idea of how bad Charlie's bug bites are just from looking at his arm. This was taken after we applied his medication and some of the redness has disappeared.

The beach always has ice cream venders. I swear they post up next to me everytime I hit the beach. Here are FOUR of them....No chance in losing weight here...

These last two pictures are of Mancora's newest beach talent...Looking to make the big bucks with these moves....

I must say the pointed toes on the last one screams "great form." He must have taken lessons from Dawn's Dance connection or had an instructor who was a former dancer ;)

Hope all is well!

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

Dear Mom and Dad,

A few things to end Ecuador...Charlie may come back with a mullet...not my idea! They are so prominent here followed  by the ever so fabulous rattail. I will do my best to NOT let this happen. KFC is the most popular restaurant. Not fast food, but restaurant. They are everywhere and everyone eats at them. They don't have mashed potatoes and gravy but rice and beans. Bummer for me. Everyone also answers the phone as "hello" and not "hola." I find this to be a little strange since the people immediately begin speaking in Spanish afterwards. Also, they sell milk here by the bag. It's so odd because once you open it, how are you supposed to use it without spilling it everywhere. This deeply disturbs Charlie, and everytime we see this, we have to have a dicussion about how stupid the design is.

We have saftely made it to Peru. The border crossing was super easy and we didn't have any problems except we were robbed AGAIN. It happened on the bus when Charlie and I popped a Nyquil in order to sleep and cure our stuffy noses. (We weren't able to sleep in the bus terminal and the guards didn't let anyone lay down until about 2 in the morning. By that time we had drank enough coffee and coke that sleep was out of the question.) The jerks stole our food bag. They managed to rob us of half a bag of doritos, 6 ritz crackers, cornnuts, a cookie, a full tube of toothpaste, two bananas, and two books that I was going to add to my teaching collection. The contents cost about $5 and the bag itself was probably three times that amount...You just can't trust anyone I guess even with food.

We first stayed in Tumbes, which was a decent size town that wasn't too interesting. The people were overly pushy and almost rude. We decided to travel to Mancora and have loved being here! Our hostel is a complete dive, but it's $9 a night, so completely worth it. We don't mind walking to the beach...The hostel in Tumbes had gross bugs crawling everywhere, so we basically slept the first day in Mancora from sheer exhaustion. Here are a few pictures from Tumbes. They did have a really cool statue of Jesus and two murals made out of tiny rock depicting his birth and death.

Here is a picture of us getting into Peru..There was a huge market going on and it took FOREVER to get through this. Highly entertaining to watch the bus driver stress out, and Charlie and I had front row seats.

This is a picture of Charlie and I enjoying some Sangria in Tumbes. Very delicious.

In Peru, the taxis look like this...A little nerve racking to say the least. They drivers are crazy and don't stop for anything. More or less..a Tricycle...

This next picture is of Charlie and I trying to act "gangsta." It the black community "Crystal" is a popular expensive drink. We were joking around and trying to act "thug" because the typical beer here is called "Crystal." The waitress caught us trying to take a picture of us and the beers, so she politely offered to take a photo for us. We had to smile in order to redeem ourselves.



Our hostel in Mancora is a dive hostel and like I said costs about $9 a night. It's super cheap and we have to walk a little ways to get to the beach..like we care.. More money for the $4.50 box wine they sell here. :) This is a picture that greets us everynight before we lay down....so classy...

And in case everyone does not already know this...There IS a HUGE difference between water resistent and water proof sunscreen. It's hott here and swamp ass may become a part of my daily life...

Love and miss you,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

PS more pictures to follow of Mancora...we are finally rested up and back on our feet.

Bored in the bus terminal

Dear Mom and Dad,

Charlie and I have some extra time in the the bus terminal, and we are bored! Two things that make me stare at people:

1. Breast feeding mothers. I know this should not bother me, and it really doesn´t other than I am so not used to seeing this. Mothers just walk around boobie hanging out to feed their child. Some kids seem sooo old to be breast feeding and I´m not making any judgements since I have NO experience in that department, but I would not physically be able to carry a three year old at that angle. They do this in line for groceries, the bank, in the bus, pretty much anywhere.

2. Laziness. We have been people watching in the food court today, and EVERYBODY leaves their tray behind. Why not dump it and stack the tray on the garbage that you are walking by to leave? It makes no sense to me especially when the court is full and there is no where to sit. I mean I don't want to clean up after you and I know the one worker doesn't have the skills to clean up 100 trays left behind.

3. Size of clothes do not matter. I feel out of place here not sporting a muffin top. Most women wear clothing that accentuates their chubbiness around their hips. Brazilian bikini´s also don´t descriminate. 100 lb 20 yr olds or 190 lb older ladies sport the thong suit. Cellulite everywhere. Who am I to judge? More power to you ladies.

That´s all for now....

Love and miss you!

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

Onward march

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hope things are well on your end! Charlie and I decided to leave the beautiful Montañita in order to stay on schedule for our trip, which realistically is no schedule. We would like to spend about a month in each country, so it´s on to Peru! We are leaving for Tumbes at 4:45 in the morning, which means we will be staying in the bus terminal tonight to save some money. Hostels in Guayaquil are the most expensive, and since we won´t be in the room for very long, we´re doing the cheaper route. We bused to Guayaquil earlier today, and won´t be departing tonight in order to ensure a daytime boarder crossing. It´s what most travelers have recommended to us. Apparently there has been some problems with people crossing the boarder at night, so we are staying away from the trouble at all costs. We also will have to convert money and find a hostel, which would not be as safe to do during the night. I don´t mind staying in the terminal because we have our sleeping bags, which does make a BIG difference. We will probably have to figure out some sort of alarm clock, but this terminal is HUGE with a shopping mall inside.

I´m sad to leave Montañita because I loved that town. Well, mostly I loved the beach, but Tumbes is on the coast as well. Hopefully we will have great weather there too. Charlie´s big toe is sprained from surfing. It makes me giggle when I watch him gimp around. We joke that our problems aren´t really problems. He said he´ll take a sore toe over the cold weather any day.

In Montañita, the people give kisses on the cheeks to girls when saying ¨hello¨and ¨goodbye.¨I don´t like this very much and feel really uncomfortable when doing so. Not to be rude, but most the people have B.O. and getting that close to them is not appeasng at all. Charlie gets to give them a fist pound. Lucky. I guess it´s okay though because at least we have made friends. Sad to say goodbye to the nice people that showed us a great time.

I´m also going to miss the ¨cake lady.¨ It´s this seven month pregnant lady who walks around selling homemade chocolate cake all day. She says I am her best customer. It´s probably because I would buy at least two pieces a day from here. It was SOOO delicious and I haven´t had a cake fix like that in a while. It´s no surprise that she would scout me out. I wasn´t ever hard to find. Always basking in the sun on the same sandy spot on the beach. Smart business woman, I´ld say.

Box wine is BOMB here. Franzia has nothing on this stuff. One liter of wine is $6. Best deal ever. It's from Chile and I don't think I´ll be drinking anything else. Charlie and I sold two stores out of their merlot and cab. They keep it cold, which is different, but on a hot sunny day it´s perfect.

Here we are enjoying our last fruity drinks.......in Montañita...

The buses here have started to give me motion sickness. They slam on the gas and brakes constantly. I don't think they have figured out they aren´t getting anywhere faster if they speed up and then have to slam on the brakes. A red light is a red light. The seats do extend outwards to give more space between the two people. "It´s every fat person´s dream." - Charlie Vaubel.

We love and miss you all!

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

Basking in the HEAT

Dear Mom and Dad,

Here's just a quick update, but not much has changed. Charlie and I are still in Montanita. LOVING the warm weather. Our food selection is limited because we don't want to eat out for every meal. Our breakfast consists of eggs and toast; our lunch is usually a toasted chicken and cheese sandwhich, and for dinner we have been eating out, usually pizza because that's the cheapest. Last night we did eat at cute little sushi place. The rice wasn't the best {I see I'm not the only one that stuggles to cook white rice} but everything else about the rolls were phenominal. Charlie even got just plain uncooked tuna. I tried on bite, and thought it was disgusting. It wasn't even seared. Nasty. Our bill for two rolls {10 pieces each} Charlie's tuna, and two fantas was $23, which included the tip as well. That's a cheap sushi bill, but that money has been covering all three meals for a day.

I LOVE the strawberry daquiris here. They are $2.50 and made with the freshest fruit. I can't stop drinking them and I keep telling myself that "hey at least it's a serving of fruit." Probably not a good excuss, but "I'm on vacation," right? 

We have made friends with the locals here, and everyone is super nice. One guy taught me how to make the hemp braclets, so if I decide to not come back to the states, don't stress I have a job here. We sat on the beach watching the sunset and the guys played guitars and sang a variety of songs. Charlie even got into the music and played\sang along with them. One of the songs was your wedding song that I think is called "Stand By Me." So beautiful.

Here's a few pictures of Charlie and I enjoying the sun...if you're not already super jealous of us.

......and there can be such a thing as too much sun.....

Well, we better get back to the beach! Stay warm!!

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

We've been ROBBED

Dear Mom and Dad,

I should not have titled my previous blog post "a boring update" because it jinxed us. Yes, the inevitable has occured, and we have been robbed. It happened on the bus ride to Montañita. (This is where we have currently been.) We knew something was odd because the guy sitting in the back of the bus made like eight people rearrange seats in order to sit behind us, but we just thought he wanted to sit next to his girlfriend. (This bus had assigned seats.) Well, it turned out that we were the biggest gringos on the bus and therefor the easiest targets. Charlie ALWAYS does a good job protecting our stuff, but for the 60 seconds it took him to get up out of his seats to buy me a sandwich (it was a long ride) the asshole grabbed our daybag from under the seat and ripped open the zipper with our lock, and quickly got off the bus before our scheduled stop. We didnt realize that the zipper had been tampered with because the lock was still in tack. Here's a picture to demonstrate what I mean.

The only thing the prick was able to steal was my cellphone, and we definitely learned our lesson! Charlie is super upset that he was "outsmarted." I can deal with a $90 loss, and NEVER let it happen again.

After this incident, I made a list of the things that I miss the most about home. In no particular order..
- Nice people
- my family, and in particular going out with my sister
- diet coke
- ranch = homemade version
- salsta = not ketchup because that's what they consider salsa here...ketchup
- Medium Rare steak = or any redmeat for that matter
- peeing with a toliet seat
- my mom or grandma's roastbeef and mashed potatoes/gravy
- desserts like cake and brownies = they do have better ice cream here.
- music = my ipod
- reading materials = books and magazines
- jewlrey and nailpolish
- skim milk
- my favorite pillow
- texting
- gossiping with my friends
- wearing black and gold
- regulated warm showers
- going to the YMCA with Dan
- my brother's smile
- I had dresses, but I just bought a cute pink sundress!

Things I do NOT miss....
- cleaning
- working
- driving
- cold weather = snow, ice, sleet, whatever you want to call it
- small town drama = this also kind of appears on my list of things I do miss "gossiping with friends" it does go both ways
- watching TV
- waking up early

Even though my "do not miss list" is shorter, I don't miss being in Iowa right now, here some pictures of what Charlie and I have been up too....and the main reason I'm content in being here....

Confession....I didn't actually surf...I just wanted to pose next to the board to appear like I was a surfer girl. I did lay out and work on my tan. Charlie did excellent, and I'll have pictures of him on my next post. The camera died before I had a chance to capture any good ones. He's stiff and sore now, but don't feel too bad for him as he is currently drinking a beer and listening to some locals jam on the bongos.

The next picture is of the view from our hostel. The ocean is just past the palm trees.

We also have a hammock to relax on when the sun is just too hott. I'm sporting my new pink sundress with a matching hand stiched handband. A girl has to accesorize even when space is limited. Charlie keeps warning me that he is NOT going to carry any of my stuff. I'll ditch a pair of pants before I ditch my dress.

 Dad, do you remember the survival kit you got me a long time ago? Well, Charlie and I bought the entire thing with us, and suprisingly we use it a lot! Charlie wears the whistle everyday because it has a compass on it, and he likes to know which direction we are going at all times. I like the whistle because there is a mirror on the inside. The matches, candle, and flashlight have also come in handy because we have lost power a few times here. He also gives me the whistle everytime he goes to the bathroom or leaves me for even a second. I can just blow it, and he'll come running. It's actually a really smart idea.



There has been a few times when we are riding the buses for a long distance, when the police stop the bus and make every male from the ages 17 - 50 get out. They then pat search the people and go through all of their bags. For some reason, Charlie has NEVER had to do this. They always let him stay on the bus. I guess he doesn't look like a criminal with illegal guns or drugs. I don't know how they know he isn't ecuadorian.

I'm glad everyone likes our alpaca hats. They do double as warmth in the mountains and to cover bad hair days. My Spanish is improving or maybe it's just my confidance; whatever the case, I like it! In fact, just now I had no problem in telling the computer guy that I stuck the memory card in a wrong spot on the hard drive and he was going to have to unscrew the plates to get it out. Opps, still a blonde american at heart.

Again, Charlie and I are happy to read everyone's comments! I'm sorry there is such problems in posting them, but we really do value reading them. Mallory, I'm glad to see you have not let your dog outsmart you even though she is writing in Spanish. :)

We don't have any major plans in leaving. It's sunny and hott here. Why would I leave this gorgeous beach town? The people are super friendly and love to have a good time. Charlie and I went out dancing last night. It was "ladies night," so open bar for the women. Charlie made sure to tip the bartender for his drinks, so he also had the previlage of drinking for free the entire night. People in the service industry just get it.

Well, I've clearly overstayed my welcome in this cafe, so I better get going. Peru is looking like our next destination, and I'll let you know when and where our next move will be.

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

PS. Stay warm

A boring update

Dear Mom and Dad,

Please thank Ruby for her wonderful comments. I didn't know she was so bilingual. Yes, we have been traveling many miles and Charlie has figured that we have spent over 20 hours riding a bus around Ecuador, which means we average at least one hour a day on a bus.  He also has figured that we have averaged spending $30 a day, so we should be good with money and buying small things for gifts. We can't mail them because it is so expensive to mail overseas. Currently, we have asked three different post offices and the price is between $55 to $75 dollars to mail a small package. Since the gifts combine don't equal that much, we are waiting upon our arrival to distribute them. Christmas will have to come late.

Riding the Devil's Nose train was very exciting and scenic. I loved looking and enjoying the landscape. To be honest, we snuck a bottle (or two) of wine on the ride, and enjoyed it that much more. Here are a few pictures of us riding the train, and some of the landscape in the background.

These next two pictures are of the indigenous people dancing their tradicional dance. Yes, Charlie and I joined them. We were the only ones from the group to do so. Shocker.

The next picture is of Charlie and I in front of the "Devil's Nose" The mountain in the background is supposed to be it, but I didn't really see it. It looks like a mountain. Maybe if you squint your eyes and tilt your head to the right?

 More train pics....

This next picture is of Charlie messing around in the "Children's Park." This was taken in Alausi, which is a pretty quiet town if you can't tell from the picture. I feel bad for the children that have to use this as a park.

These next two photos are of the San Pedro monument. The ONLY monument in Alausi, and we thought it was a Jesus the entire time.

We have bused from Alausi to Riobamba and now are in Guayaquil. It is HOT and HUMID here. Not complaining. :)





I may never leave the coast. This is where I'm supposed to be. Tomorrow we are taking off to another coastal town because it's pretty expensive here. Hopefully we will find nice beaches and beautiful waters for me to tan my white body. I'll keep you updated on where we are headed.

Love and miss you,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale

PS. Charlie has now requested that I sign his name as well because even though I am the one writing it, he's taking the pictures so the posts are equally from the both of us.