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4 all my airS and waterSAugust 01 The past five weeksI'm about to start my 4-day long journey back home, stopping over at 4 cities in 4 continents.
I feel so tired as if the exhaustion has sipped into my bone marrow. I'm not sure which-Quito's altitude of 2800m, or the hundreds of vicious mosquito bites that have woken me up at night and have kept me awake for hours-is to be blamed.
My mind is not too clear at the moment, but somehow I feel compelled to write something about the past five weeks in Ecuador while my feet are still standing on this piece of land. Once I'm away, things are bound to be different, so are feelings and thoughts.
Many Ecuadorians asked me the question, "why Ecuador?" I have given a few versions of answers, but the truth is, it was random-I was merely looking for a Spanish-speaking South American country which is fairly safe and not too cold in July. I knew very little about the country before my trip, maybe except the fact that it has got 3500 different species of birds, which did not excite me too much as I'm not a bird-lover, or quite the opposite.
It didn't take me too long to discover how well-endowed this small country-small by the Latin American standard-is. From the east to the west spans the Amazon jungle, Mt Andes, and a long and charming coast line, not to forget Galapagos, whose amazing bio-diversity gave Darwin the inspiration for his evolution theory. I was lucky to see almost all of the different landscapes, except Galapagos which threatened to poke a huge hole in my tiny purse. I loved them all.
Looking back to the 5 weeks, the first two were intense. There was so much to see, so much to do. I had never lived in a city as high as Quito. The altitude made me exhausted despite 10 hours of sleep. I had my nose bleeding for the first time after almost 7 years. My whole body was peeling because of the dryness, no matter how much moisturiser I applied. I was looking forward to go to the jungle for a change in weather, and Anasuya laughed at me for coming up with such a bizarre solution to fix my dendruff problem. The weekend in Cotopaxi, the second highest peak in the country, was my first time visiting an active volcano. I was so proud of myself for hiking from 4500m to 4800m. I felt very ready for Tibet.
The jungle proved to be not as wild. We were staying in a very touristy lodge, not deep in the jungle. Nevertheless it involved so many first times, such as the encounter with a tapir, a night trip in the laguna, and a taste of ''lemon ants'', etc etc.
The last 3 weeks of volunteer work couldn't be described as fulfilling. On the contrary, it involved a lot of 'trying hard to pass time'. However, it kind of gave me the time I needed to let the emotion to settle down, to re-gain the peace of mind, to feel less like a tourist but more like one of the local people. It would be hard not to miss the days with humming birds zooming in and out the 'living room', and the insects and frogs sang me to sleep.
It's almost the time to go. Wish it a bright day in Atlanta tomorrow. May 26 懒人日记2收拾房间的时候觉得太安静，点开My Music, 发觉自己早已经无可救药的和任何语言的流行音乐脱节了。犹豫一下，解压了去年（？）就下载了的11月的肖邦。听着，就突然很想来Space看看。
上一篇entry是Hilary term的产物，照这个速度，下一篇将于11月诞生=.=# 写blog成了5th week's blue + RP发作的产物。
Trinity term - exam = heaven + essays = my life at the moment
昨天又去punting, 已经是这学期第三次。太阳很毒（当然是英国标准，和新加坡的米得比），居然在袖口处模糊分辨出两种肤色。背上那个去年在Sentosa晒出的叉叉依然清晰可辨，已经快一年了，真是神奇！！！这个夏天是不可能晒成那样了。。。
然后去打了去厄瓜多尔的预防针。甲肝+伤寒，白喉+破伤风+小儿麻痹症 （这个是没必要啦，可是和另外两种是混在一起的=.=），左右各挨了一下。很久没被扎了，心里还怪紧张的。过几天还要再注射黄热病疫苗并且口服防疟疾药片。一大堆病名搞得我还真有点心惶惶，要去的倒像是洪水猛兽出没的荒山野岭，夸张leh~
刚才去看了Pirates of the Caribbean III，真不咋样，情节冗长复杂又无趣。看到Will和Elizabeth在混战中的婚礼那段，我真想按快进键；Johny Depp依然搞笑，看多了也有了免疫力；唯一有创意的情节大概就是"sun set" vs. "sun down"那一小段吧。总而言之去电影院就不必了，网上看看就得。
March 03 I want holiday, now!!很久很久很久没有来这里了。弃坑是米有道德滴行为，所以偶来撒两把土~~
第7周结束，再坚持一点点假期就来了，撑住！
这个学期长得叫人忍无可忍（虽然和其他任何学期一样都是8周），又阴又雨又湿又冷的天气倒足了我胃口。一想到还要再经历一个这样的冬天我就怨念不止地想念新加坡的毒辣阳光，想象着站在沙滩上被晒到chaotah(好像拼错了，帮纠正下)，幸福啊~~
期待4月的马德里，期待晒得黑漆漆=D
December 25 K这几天一直在听K年初的专辑Beyond the Sea。
最初接触K的歌是H2的主题曲over...。下载这首歌纯粹是出于对H2的迷恋，爱屋及乌。听过几遍后对旋律和编曲都十分着迷，虽然也喜欢K的声线，但并不觉得特别出色。后来over...几乎出现在我iPod的每一个playlist上，当旋律已经不再新鲜，K声音细水长流的魅力才逐渐展示出来。
原来K也是像BoA一样，是在日本发展的韩国人，不知道他的日文是不是很地道，反正我是听不出来^^||| 专辑的歌以温柔抒情的曲风为主，还收录了《一公升的眼泪》主题曲Only Human(典型的日式英文，太别扭了），但也有活泼的及R&B风格的，很好的平衡，喜欢  December 20 Canada Day2: 休整叔叔阿姨的家在Burnaby, 属于Greater Vancouver, 离downtown of Vancouver大约有半小时车程。
公寓的地势很高，站在阳台上可以看到北温连绵的高山以及山顶的皑皑白雪，让人有种“我欲乘风归去”飘飘欲仙之感。
Burnaby的华人约占总人口的20%. 在shopping mall里转一转，却至少有一半是华人，广东话、普通话不绝于耳。许多sales girls长着东亚面孔，说一口漂亮的美式（或者应该叫加式）英语，已经不知道是第几代移民了。
台湾人开的连锁超市“大统华”在温哥华人气极盛，前不久还吃掉了在Richmond的八佰伴。不论是货架的摆放还是架上的货物，都让我觉得回到了青岛。在这里说的是中国话，买的是中国货，吃的是中国菜，华人已经把“四海为家”这句话发挥到了极致。
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