We’re Back!!

Hello!

It’s been nearly six months since my last post; however, a lot has happened in our lives since that time. You might be asking why it’s been so long and I’ll tell you now–I’ve been living, teaching, and doing things related to traveling rather than writing about traveling. Here’s a list of things we’ve been up to:

1) Danielle and I spent about two months in Mahlaing, Myanmar teaching English to teenagers at Family Boarder Private School.

Some of our students at Family Boarder Private School.

Students practicing phonemic transcription.

An oasis in the middle of the plains of Myanmar. Mahlaing was about a 15 minute drive away.

2) We took a day trip to Mingun Pahtodawgyi, a Buddhist stupa which was constructed in 1790 and was intentionally unfinished.

Mingun Pahtodawgyi. It was fully constructed out of bricks. For scale purposes, you can see Danielle in the lower right corner of the picture.

Mingun Bell, the second heaviest ringing bell in the world.

Danielle and I atop Mingun Pahtodawgyi, overlooking the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River.

3) We visited Bagan, the plain of 2,000 Buddhist temples, for five days hiking, biking, scootering, and exploring the 1,000 year old ruins. It is quite hard to describe the experience of viewing such a plain so I won’t attempt to. Pictures don’t capture the feeling of smallness in such a place or the wind blowing against your face either.

Thatbyinnyu Temple at sunset.

Dhammayangyi Temple, the largest temple on the Bagan plain.

Thatbyinnyu Temple and the temples of Bagan at sunset.

4) We spent a month living in Thailand doing teacher training, waking up at 6:45 in the morning and not going to bed until 1:00 or 2:00 o’clock that night.

5) We visited our respective families back in the States for a month and a half, first going to Texas and then to Chicago. Oh yeah, we got married also!!!

6) We moved to Quito, Ecuador!

Palacio de Carondelet is the seat of government for the Ecuador.

7) We’ve been exploring Quito and the area around Quito for the last two months. This includes a 14,000 foot volcano, the old colonial city of Quito, the parks (which are more like forests here), and even venturing to the equatorial line.

Volcán Pichincha overlooking Quito.

Parque Metropolitano.

Plaza de San Francisco and El Panecillo in the background.

Near the equatorial line at La Mitad del Mundo.