Day One in Ecuador!!!!

 Wow! And.... WOW!! Today has been so amazing! So I will skip the airport because that was a crazy but fun experience that I can just relate later when I see everyone again. For now I'm going to focus on today. We started by waking up to the most beautiful voice I have ever heard in my life!!! Bianca, a new friend that's from Australia, sings so beautifully. I believe that our friend Courtney was playing guitar. She carries her guitar around as if it were a precious porcelain doll. I cant wait to hear more of her playing.
 Ok, just to let those know that dont know. Courtney is the fantastic sister from New Zealand/Australia that has been living here in Ecuador that has helped us get a place and has become a very close and dear friend in only one day! She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, but with a fantastic sass behind it. Figure that one out :)
 So Bianca and Courtney headed off to the airport because Bianca was going back to Australia. And me and Kell stayed at the bed and breakfast and had a bonito y delicioso breakfast! Papaya with granola and grapes, a juice that neither of us could identify but that was absolutely magnifico, eggs, and toast with pineapple marmalade. I love that pineapple marmalade with every fiber of my being!!! Its so mouth wateringly amazing.
 After breakfast and our daily text, Gabriella (the one who made us such an amazing breakfast) took us in her taxi to the bus terminal. Thank goodness we met back up with Courtney at this point! We would have never made it to where we needed to go and we would have been robbed of all our money because we had no idea what we were doing.
 So we hopped on a bus and headed to Machalilla (pronounced Motch-uh-lee-uh). We had a stop over in Jipijapa. And from there it was true Ecuador. We got on a bus that was dirty, old, dusty, and had fringe in the windows, stickers everywhere (hello kitty, barbie, jesus, winnie the pooh, etc...). The bus driver sat in a lawn chair with his shoes kicked off. The baggage guy had to lift up a floor board that revealed the engine and he used a crowbar to adjust something, and then off we went to Machalilla :)
 Once we got to Machalilla we finally got to meet "The Legend". Max. She is no legend, because this wonderful woman is the real deal. She seriously builds from hardly anything and makes whatever she can work whatever way it possibly can. Thanks to her, we have a toilet, a shower area, electricity, internet, a bed, a washing machine! The washing machine is a long and complicated process since there is no running water. But it works!!! And we wont have to go stinky the entire time we're here :)
 We have met so many locals here! And they all live within 10 feet of us... literally! I can't remember how many there are, but I dont know how I'm going to remember all their names!!!! Everyone is super loving and fantastic. Even though we have no idea what they're saying, they try and mime it out for us, and they laugh it off if we just cant get it :) Thankfully we have had Max or Courtney with us to help.
 The bad part though is that we will only have Max with us for three more days. She leaves for Australia and doesn't come back to Ecuador for two and a half months. At the last minute things worked out for her to leave a lot sooner than she had originally planned. So we will be by ourselves for two months in this house. But I'm not too certain I can say that we will be "by ourselves". The houses all surrounding us are full of other local witnesses. And thankfully, some of them can speak a little bit of english. So we will be just fine I am sure :)
 Courtney isnt too far away from us either. It's about 15 minutes by bus. Totally easy to do. Buses run about 40cents to go into town. Me and Kell bought groceries for the week at $17
 Here are some honorable mentions. The bathrooms. It's no joke what I had been told about the bathrooms. When we got into the marvelous town of Jipijapa (pronounced hippy-hoppa, hehehe) we were at the bus terminal and needed to use the restrooms. To get toilet paper we had to stand in line and pay 20cents to get toilet paper. Then you could not flush the toilet and you had to put your toilet paper in the trash can next to the toilet. On top of that there was no running water to properly wash your hands. So you had to dip you hands in this little yellow cup that everyone used already just to "rinse them off". Needless to say I will not be shaking hands with anyone without hand sanitizer as an immediate chaser!!!!
 Then when we got to the bus there were many shouts and hollers over the two foreign girls boarding. But standing and waiting for a bus is way worse as me and Courtney experienced later on.
 That is all I have time to relate tonight. I have to go to bed so I can wake up early enough to bathe in the ocean.... literally :) Much love to my friends and family! I miss you. Buenos noches!