On Friendship: Part 1 of 3

The idea of friendship is one that I commonly think about. I also commonly think about all of my friends, both old and new, near and far. But the idea of friendship also creeps in quite frequently. What is it? How does it work? The evolution of friendships over time, distance and through changes. What does it mean to be a friend? How to be a good friend when you're not there to give a hug or to hang out.

Anyways, I have lots of different ideas on friendship rolling around up there and I wanted to get them on paper sooner, rather than later. So here goes an attempt at trying to successfully convey some of the ideas in my head.

Why I Blog

The point of this blog was originally to keep our friends and family back home updated on our daily life while we were away but its certainly turned into more than that. I find comfort in knowing that this blog is here and that it will be here for me to look through long after this experience here in Ecuador is over. It's become an outlet for me to express big idea ticket items and small everyday changes and occurrences.

Saving Money at the Grocery Store

So If you're anything like us, you're always looking for new ways to save money at the grocery store. While we're not experts, we've certainly gotten much better about shopping since being in Ecuador. There are a lot of differences with grocery shopping here, verses in the States, but these ideas can still help shave just a little bit off the bill.

TvCable

We finally have cable and internet! I can't believe we went so long! I'm actually glad we did. It forced us to get out there and explore, yada, yada, yada. But now I'm ready to watch some good old tv. Grey's Anatomy, Big Bang Theory, The Kardashians.... here I come! Plus Ryan got some ESPN stations and so he's happy. All we have to do is make sure Chuki doesn't eat the remote!

MULUB,
Taylor

PS Now this means we can plan skype/gchat dates with actual confidence!

Ranting, not Raving

Most of my posts have been positive about living in Ecuador, so I struggled with whether to post this one at all. Plus, let me preface this with I understand the W theory of living abroad and I know that all things ebb and flow. With that said, I am feeling so frustrated with Ecuador right now.

A Full Weekend

We've had a relatively eventful weekend, which is sometimes unusual for us. Friday, I only had class in the morning, which was amazing. I've been having so much class lately that I don't have a minute during the day. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, it's just very different from the summer months. It's actually really good that I've been having a lot of classes because 2 of Ryan's classes have finished. Like always, it's taking forever to reconfirm the classes. Therefore, he's been home more and I've been teaching more. Anyways, Friday was a nice change for me to be home during the day. I was able to get done some of the things that I wanted to accomplish. Actually, I was far less productive than I wanted to be and my Friday's To Do list has taken all weekend.

To Do List

Here's my to do list for today this weekend: