Chicago Marathon

I would just like to publicly say, to all of my friends and all of the participants, CONGRATULATIONS on running the 2010 Chicago Marathon! 26.2 baby, 26.2!

No, but seriously, the Chicago Marathon is such an inspiring event, for runners and non-runners a like. If you live in the greater Chicago-land area and you haven't been, mark your calendars because you need to get there!

Rose Cottage - 4 Stars

We haven't even started to review hotels and restaurants like we originally planned on, so I thought today would be a great day to begin.

Rose Cottage - Otavalo, Ecuador - 4 Stars
The Rose Cottage is an amazing hosteria outside of Otavalo, Ecuador. The best thing about this hosteria is the location.

A Special Day

Today we're celebrating a holiday here. It's called LFC Homecoming. Actually, we aren't celebrating, but I really wish we were.

Just a little shout out to all my friends at LFC that have probably already consumed too many beers and too many burgers. Remember - the pig roast may taste good now, but it won't settle quite right. Also, cough syrup and beer is not a good combination.

Who knows maybe you can take photos with the class of '79 again, make it some sort of tradition.

Most of all, miss you all and miss this glorious day of celebrating! Hopefully it's a little warmer this year!


MULUB,
Taylor

Problems with our Compost

A while ago (think: August) we started a compost and it's still not ready to use as fertilizer. I think we have a problem but we're composting newbies so I don't really know what to do, how to fix it, if I should even worry. 

Here's the situation:

We followed the directions online at this website to make a hot box compost. We don't have a yard, so we needed something that we could contain. The reason we decided to compost is because we have a pretty good sized flower bed outside of our windows that we would like to grow herbs and maybe tomatoes in. When we moved in, the flower box was disgusting but we fixed it up in August and we're just waiting to add our nutrient rich and organic fertilizer to the soil. 

Use your imagination a little with this one. Here the 'composts' are under the sink instead of on the patio. Also, in this photo only the white bin is compost material and the blue bin is garbage. Now they're both compost. (Don't worry we got another bin for garbage.)

What we have is two small garbage cans sitting on the end of our deck that have decreased in volume by about half but still haven't fully decomposed. We've tried a couple of things based on what I've read online. We mixed it all up a couple of times, although it's hard for us to get to the bottom with our hand shovel. We've also watered it a bit (it dries out very quickly in the sun). Other than that... I'm at a loss. I really, really don't want someone to say just start over, but if that's what we have to do, then that's what we have to do.  

Any of you out there that have composted before, have the slightest idea of what we would need to do or not do for that matter... we would greatly appreciate your help. Either leave a comment (anyone can now) or email me at taylor.bogdan@gmail.com.

MULUB, 

Taylor

What we feed that dog...

Chuki is HUGE, almost 50 lbs! If he were a small child, people would ask 'what are you feeding him?' But because he's a dog, people don't ask that. I'm not sure why.

There are a lot of ways you can go about Home Cooking. You can cook everyday, once a week, once a month, once a year (if you have a REALLY big freezer). Or you can cook when said dog happens to run out of food. We tend to fall in the later category. We cook, he eats, when food runs out, we cook again. You have to decide what works best for you.

We're Back to Normal!

By noon yesterday everything seemed, for all practical purposes, back to normal on the streets of Quito. My morning classes were cancelled because no one knew what the situation was going to be when the city got moving. But when we turned on the news around 10, telenovelas were back on. We took that as a clear sign that the country had recovered. No more 24 hour news coverage. At noon, when I called my 1pm student, he confirmed that yes, we were indeed having classes today.

On my way from home to class I couldn't help but be super observant. I only saw 5 police officers the whole way there. My class is at Naciones Unidas y Amazonas, two of the biggest streets in Quito. Plus, I have to pass Naciones Unidas y 6 de Deciembre, another one of the largest intersections in Quito. I usually see between 40-50 policia and yesterday, no more than 5.

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