I can't believe...

...that only two months ago I was sitting in an office chair in London and now I am the fourth week in Ecuador and am loving every bit of it! For example:
- The 16 hour rides in a little "busetta" to reunite a kid with his family and see that everything is good order for him.
- The reggaton and salsa music which plays in every corner of this country
- Nights up on 3000+x meters hight where you think you can grab a star so clear and close they appear
- Play Football/Basketball and American Football with the kids about every day
- Teaching teenagers at a local highschool basic Rules of American Football (btw. if anybody wants to contribute to a shipment of 20 American Footballs let me know)
- be surrounded by stunning nature
- eat fried pork, fried plantains and drink sugar cain lemonade... to die for....
- eat the fruit flesh of a cacau plant, chewed sugar chain, ate a fruit which makes everything you eat afterwards sweet for example salt or a lime....
- and much much more.....Joe

First true blog-entry

This time I got a bit more time to write a blog entry. After spending the weekend at the orphanage with a smaller group of kids (some of them got somewhat of a family with whom they spend the weekends with until they are ready to be re-united) I hit the ground full speed this week.
This Monday I started tutoring the orphanage employees in English (Mon - Wed - Fri) - which then got extended right away into a teaching job at a local high-school which I am going to now for 2 hours every day to teach English. At the same time I got asked to set-up a webpage for the orphanage... all along the regular tours... so my days are packed now. Todays schedule was for example:
05:00: Get up for 45 minutes work-out
06:00: Get breakfast ready for 40 kids and than sit at a table with 10 of them, trying to keep the order ;-)
07:00.: Join the tour to drop the kids at the school (20 kids in a bus for 10 people - horror :-))
08:00: Tutor orphanage employees for an hour
10:00: Teach English at a local high-school
13:00: Eat lunch with 10 kids at a table and still try to keep the order (which never works)
14:00: Play with the kids for an hour
15:00: Work at the webpage
19:00: Eat dinner with 10 different kids and still try to keep the order
20:00: Play with the little ones of the kids (they mainly have me run around with them on the back)
20:30: Spend 30 minutes with the middle-little-ones practicing english
21:00: Play football with the teenagers

This is physically much harder than a normal working day, but I am really enjoying my time over here - it is great to be around so many kids - though nerve-wrecking at times :-)

Hasta luego

ECUADOR

Now as the first week is over i got finally the time to get my internet access sorted...
I arrived a week ago and there are loads and loads of new impressions.... the live over here is simple but good, it is loads of fun to be around so many kids (about 60 between 5 years old up to 18) but exhausting at times as you got no time to yourself.... enclosed some first impressions....

T-4... last week in Germany....

... it is the last couple of days back home before I am gonna fly out to Ecuador... everything I need is purchased, all insurances clarified and I am starting to itch to leave this place and start the adventure... can't believe that this picture was only taken one month ago on my way out of the office :-) My corporate life in a nutshell :-) Blackberry, dbRas Key, US- Germany- and UK ID and two laptops in a locker :-)

First week of unemployment....

English:
... isn't to bad at all. I spent the first week with my brothers family on the island of "Sylt" in Northsea... beautiful island unfortunately the weather wasn't that beautiful. Still a good playground for my new found hobby of photography :-). I stopped on my way home in Hamburg to visit my old friend Philipp...

Deutsch:
... die erste Woche als "Arbeitsloser" fing gar nicht so schlecht an. Erst gings ab nach Sylt um dort mit meinem Bruder und seiner Familie eine Woche zu verbringen. Perfekter "Spielplatz" für mein neues Hobby des fotographierens. Auf dem Heimweg gabs dann noch einen Stopp in Hamburg um den guten Philipp zu treffen....

Bye Bye London....

English:
... this is it - since last week Friday I left the UK and London another chapter is closed and while I am looking forward to the things ahead - it was hard to leave London and Deutsche Bank behind. I got some great friends and colleagues in London and will always come back.... Thanks to everybody again for the great presents and to all my co-workers... yes now here the (showable ;-)) pictures for Natalies, Bens and my farewell party come:

Deutsch:
...nach 2 Jahren ist meinen London Zeit jetzt vorbei... und so sehr ich mich auch auf das bevorstehende freue, war es hart London und die Deutsche Bank zu verlassen. London ist sozusagen nach Reutlingen und New York meine dritte Heimat geworden :-). Vielen Dank nochmal an alle für eine wunderbare Zeit in London und hier kommen noch ein paar Bilder von Natalies, Bens und meiner Deutschen Bank Abschiedsfeier:

Preparations...

English:
... travelling over the last couple of years to Japan, India, China etc. made me realize that for proper trips, I need a proper camera, so I will be able to capture my experiences properly. So one part of my preparations was to get myself a Digital SLR camera (Canon EOS 550D with a 18-135 mm lense).
I knew having a DSLR is one thing - actually using it properly is another So I joined a starter (how to use my DSLR) course today and enclosed the best of my first shots (no I don't know the ppl on the pictures - they were "classmates" from the photo-course)

Deutsch:
... da ich bisher nie mit meinen Reisebildern so richtig zufrieden war und ich unbedingt meine Zeit mit schönen Bildern dokumentieren wollte - war einer meiner Vorbereitungseinkäufe eine digitale Spiegelrefelex Kamera (Canon EOS 550D mit einem 18-135mm Objektiv). Jetzt ist es eine Sache eine Kamera zu kaufen, eine andere sie zu benutzen, also hab ich heute erstmal einen Photokurs besucht. Anbei meine ersten Versuche (nein ich kenne die Personen nicht)