Destination Map

After a year of planning, Ecuador will be our home for the next six weeks.  Our major destinations are: Quito, Napo (Yasuni National Park in the Amazon), Cuenca, Guayaquil, and the Galapagas Islands.  

The main reason for our trip is to give Bill a reprieve from work, something that all family medicine doctors in rural communities who spend obscene amounts of time on-call should do.  Alex, Maddy, and I will get to spend real family time with Bill, without midnight phone calls or late nights at the hospital.  We appreciate that Bill's clinic is willing and able to support Bill on this break and give us all an opportunity to spend time together, explore a new culture, and grow in our Spanish language skills. 

All four of us are enrolled in Spanish Language school for four weeks.  Bill will be brushing up on his conversational Spanish, I will try to make the leap to more advanced Spanish, and the kids will be in a preschool setting.  We will also explore the country, try lots of new foods and immerse ourselves in Ecuadorian culture.  

I am excited to begin the adventure, but know that it won't all be easy.  A few temper tantrums, forgotten toiletries, wrong turns, etc., are expected.  What I hope is that Bill and I can handle the difficulites well enough that the kids develop their own desire to explore their world.  

At the end of this trip, I want the kids to look at a map and start planning our next trip.  Okay. We're ready.  Irvines on the Go!