What A Wonderful World

I apologize for such the long gap between posts. The internet here has been having problems, so I haven´t really been able to spend all that much time online.
I had an absolutely amazing weekend! KK’s boyfriend is back in Quito, so we did most things this weekend with him. First on Friday night, the three of us went out to Diablos, a new club that has great drinks. The owner is Cuban, and after talking to him, Craig wanted a Cuban cigar, so we went looking for one. It was rainy and cold, so we only walked about a block before we stopped under heated lamps. We decided the bar with the heated lamps looked cool, so we went in. I ordered French fries, a martini, and an amazing Oreo cheesecake. It was so worth it, everything was amazing.
The next day, the four of us (KK, Craig, Marie, and I) packed our bags and headed for Banos, the city that has Tungurahua, the currently active volcano. It started out great as the tunnels in Quito were filled with water, so we had to wade the water in the taxi. We caught the bus, and we paid this dude who we thought (we as in everybody on the bus, not just us) was the guy who was collecting money on the bus. It turns out that dude wasn’t really working for the bus company, so everybody on the bus got robbed $4 by this dude. Then, we spend SIX hours the bus in what should have been a 4 hour bus ride. Why? Because Tinguraguhua decided it was going to throw a fit and cause a landslide, so the road going into Banos was blocked. No worries, we had fun standing and fooling around on the bus. By the time we got to Banos, it was almost 10 at night. We quickly found a hotel and paid $3 for a tour that took us to a mountain high over Banos. On the mountain, we could see the whole city of Banos. We could also see Tinguraguaha, the smoke, and faint orange glow of the lava coming from the cauldron of the volcano. It was well worth the $3.
The next morning, we did some shopping after breakfast. I bought a shirt, a leather coat, and some souvenirs for my family. Next, we headed over to the thermal baths. These are truly amazing. In case you don’t know, Banos in Spanish means baths, which is what this town is famous for. The water from the baths all come from the volcano, and the one that we were in was about 118 degrees F. It was so relaxing and filled with minerals. We stayed there for about an hour. After changing and all that, we decided to rent dune buggies. This was probably the best adventure ever. We rented the dune buggies for 3 hours, Marie driving with me as the passenger in one and Craig driving and KK as a passenger in the other, and we drove to a waterfall. At the waterfall, we took a tram over the river and the water fall to the other side and then back. It was really fun. We also had a picnic lunch right by the waterfall too. Afterwards, I drove the dune buggy back. It was so fun, even flooring the petal we were only going about 10 miles an hour. It was especially fun through the tunnels. The dune buggy adventure was probably the best part of Banos. Afterwards, we stopped for more food and taffy (which is also what Banos is known for) and then headed back to Quito. Nothing exciting happened on the way back, except that we saw a flattened tractor trailer bed. We got back into Quit around 9, and by the time I got home it was almost 10. But it was well worth it. I had an amazing time. I will put photos up in the next few days, either when I go to an internet cafe or if the internet starts behaving.
Tomorrow night we are celebrating Marie´s 25th birthday. We are going to Rusty Burger, this amazing burger joint, then we are going to buy some beers and drinks and go to my house and hang out for a bit before going out clubbing. It should be fun. We plan to live it up as much as we can, because we all have less than a month left here!

I added my fourth photo album on the Blogroll, be sure to check it out! It is mostly of my trip to Ibarra and Mindo, along with the car that fell off the cliff.

Happy April Fool’s Day!! I don’t know where the time’s gone, but I am about halfway done. I finished the first cycle of Spanish classes, so I have a fews days off. I start classes again on Thursday, and when this cycle ends on May 9th, I will be heading home.
This weekend, the university took us to Mindo, a city about two hours west of Quito. There were tons of bugs, and I have about 30 bug bites. I don’t care; it wasn’t a malaria zone and there are no bugs in Quito since it is too high an altitude. Anyway, it was the rainforest, so it was so much warmer than Quito. We went rafting in the river, which was really fun. At first we were a little scared, because they were really strong rapids. However, we went rafting in groups and had two guides, both of which stood up in the water the whole time. I had a blast, and felt so refreshed afterwards. Later, we took a walk to a butterfly place. I have never seen so many butterflies! They had all kinds of butterflies, not just monarchs. They even had ones that look like they have eyes on their wings.
The next day, KK, Allison and I decided we didn’t want to go hiking, especially after we found out it was 2 hours to the top. So we decided to stay at the hotel and sunbathe. We relaxed, laid out in the sun, and went in the pool. We got back Sunday night at about 6.
We haven’t really done anything eventful since then. Yesterday Marie and Braulio came over my house and we watched tv and went online. The rest of the week looks to be that way, as classes start Thursday. Tomorrow night is ladies night at Bungalow6, which means that ladies get in free and there are free cocktails 8-10. We are thinking about going, especially after hearing it wouldn’t really cost us that much to do so.

I had a great vacation this weekend. We left Friday morning for Cotacachi, which is about 2 hours north of Quito. We took a bus for $1, which is really cheap considering how far we traveled. We got dropped off right outside Cotacachi, and took a cab to the center, where all the hotels are. We found a hotel that was really nice for only $10 including breakfast. Cotacatchi is known for its leather goods, and boy is it. Every shop that we passed was selling some kid of leather good. We ended up shopping at the artisan market, because things are cheaper and you can bargain. I ended up buying a leather wallet for $3 and a chompa (sweatshirt) for $8. I also bought souvenirs for people. Since it was Viernes Santo, they had a festival going on as well, which included a concert and a whole block of artisan shops. We went back to our hotel around 10. Around 10:30, we heard commotion outside and decided to see what was going on. It turns out there was a parade going on for Semana Santa, right there in the street. It was crazy, people just ran out of our hotel to go join it.
Anyway, we eventually went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to go to Ibarra. We were traveling with Eduardo, our friend here. He was on Ecuadorian time; he kept telling us were leaving in “10 minutes”. Those ten minutes became an hour and half. It turns out his friends were waiting for us in Ibarra, so we really needed to hurry. We took a taxi to Ibarra for only $1 a person, and met up with his friends. They would continue to drive us to El Angel, which is a small town on the outskirts of Ibarra. There, we would stay at Eduardo’s friend Jose’s ranch.
We got there about 50 minutes later. We had lunch, and I had an amazing mix of Norteño and Sprite. After lunch, we watched the men fight the bulls like matadors. Of course, since they weren’t real ones, it made it better. They were wusses, they would start to move towards the bull and then chicken out and run back behind the safe zone. It actually got better as the time went on, a few men got knocked down by the bull but there were no serious injuries. The men think it was the best thing in the world; they were laughing and arguing over who had the best injury. It was fun to watch even though it was very dangerous.
We headed back to the hacienda and ate dinner, drank, danced, and played darts.
The next morning, we watched the boys target practice. They were really good; they hit all the targets. We also walked around for a bit before leaving.
On our way back to Quito between El Angel and Ibarra, we saw a lot of cars pulled over the side of the road, and people looking down the cliff. Being curious, Jose pulled over so we could look. We looked down the cliff and didn’t know what the hell we were supposed to be seeing. Jose finally pointed out to us that the mileage (kiloage?) marker was bent over, as if a car rammed into it. Sure enough, way, way, down the cliff (at least 1,000 ft) was a car all mangled in the river. It was sad but cool at the same time, since us US people had never seen anything like this before. This kind of thing only happens in the movies. We got our cameras out and took videos and pictures of the poor car in the river. We were wishing we had seen it live, but then again thinking of how scary it would be to watch. Apparently, this kind of thing happens in Ecuador, and it’s not really a big deal. I’m just glad it wasn’t me, although I have to admit that if I were to die, that would be a pretty cool way to do it.
Anyway, tomorrow I have class. The good thing is that Friday is my last day of the first cycle of classes; we have until Wednesday of next week off. Marie’s mother is flying in, and we are going to be doing some traveling with her, as Marie invited me along.

I just got back from the Easter celebration. The fanesca was excellent, and now I understand why they call it a meal. It literally had everything in it. I could barely finish a bowlful, while my dad had two bowls. I also met my mom´s brother Rodrigo, who actually knew where New Hampshire was! He even knew the capitol was Concord. It turns out he lived in Seattle for 33 years, so he speaks excellent English. He was so funny, I got asked if I wanted wine, and he repeated the question in English to me, as if I didn´t understand. I had white wine, which is my favorite, and when he found this out, he kept trying to give me the box (it was boxed wine). After eating the soup, I could barely finish off my big glass of wine. Afterwards, I talked to my mom´s family about Ecuador, my classes, the Easter traditions in the state, what I dislike about the US, and all that. I was talking so much that I didn´t realize how late it was. I walked home from my mom´s parents house, which is only about a mile and a half, but I wanted to do so before it got dark. That was my day! Tonight, my friends and I are going out to the bar to celebrate a late Saint Patricks Day. We don´t want to stay out too late because we have to get up early!

Happy early Easter to everyone! In Ecuador, Easter (Pascua) is very different compared to how we do it in the US. For starters, Easter to them isn´t on Sunday, but rather on Thursday and Friday, and depending on the region, even Saturday. That is the reason why here they say Felices Pasuas and not Feliz Pascua.
Anyway, the typical meal here is fanesca, which is a soup. It is very thick, so they count it as a meal. In the fanesca is bacalao (codfish), along with twelve different grains to represent each of the 12 apostles. They put fish as opposed to meat so they can eat it for Easter (because I forgot that during Lent, for whatever reason, you aren´t supposed to eat meat on Fridays). It varies from family to family, so I don´t really know what to expect in my soup. You can see a picture of it and read more about Fanesca here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanesca
For dessert, we have arroz con leche (rice pudding). I´ve never actually had rice pudding, but hopefully I´ll like it.
Since I don´t have school until Tuesday, my friends and I are going to Cotocachi and Ibarra, both are close to each other and about 2 and a half hours north of Quito. Cotocachi is known for its inexpensive high quality leather goods, so I am very excited. We are coming back on Sunday sometime, and then we are going to relax on Monday. The good news is that this upcoming week is our last day of classes in the first cycle. That means we get about a week off until the second one begins. However, the bad news is that once the second cycle ends, I have to leave.
I will tell you all about my trip to Cotocachi and Ibarra when I return on Monday. ¡Felices Pascuas a todos!

Last Friday (Feb 29th) our school held a Welcoming Cocktail for all the exchange students. It was fun, having the waiters come around with bocabitos (h´ordeovers) and wine. We danced the night away until about 11, at whichpoint my friends left for Dragonfly (a bar). I had to wait for my brother in law and sister to come back because they were my ride to Dragonfly. So after a little while, they came back and we drove to the Mariscal. There was tons of traffic, and it turned out that we took forever to get to Dragonfly. My friends ordered food, so while waiting for them to finish the three of us walked around and looked for a club. The cheapest one was $10 plus consumibles, and we decided that we really didn´t want to drink, just dance, so we decided it would be a waste of money. Plus, we were starting to feel the effects of the wine. So, we went back to Dragonfly, and proceeded to bring Marie home because she was tired from the wine as well.
Nothing eventful happened the whole week.
This past weekend, we went to Otavalo, which is about 2 hours north of Quito. We left early on Saturday, and arrived at the artisan market at around 11:00. We walked around for a bit, putting up with the beggers who wanted money (they actually grab your arm so you can´t ignore them, but we pretended we didn´t know Spanish). I bought earrings, a nice suede coat, and a necklace. Oh and I also bought a shirt with an inappropriate Spanish saying on it that I am going to wear in the States since nobody will understand it.
After the market, we went to our cabins (cabañas), where we would be staying overnight. They were really nice, we each had our own bed (even though KK and I shared bunk beds, and my bed was like an army cot). We had lunch, which was amazing, and consisted of chicken, a baked potato, and some veggies. We then had a break for a few hours, in which we hung around in our room.
At six, we had a break from our break. We had dessert, which was different types of flan. I of course had to sample them all, which was quite alright with the owner, who kept asking if we wanted more.
After dinner, we had a cruise on the lake where our cabins were. A mariachi band also peformed, and they gave us ALCHOHOL. Yea, that´s right, PUCE let us drink on the boat. The drink was canelaso, which I have already tried and don´t like (it tastes like cinammon tea). After the cruise was dinner, which was chicken again. We went to bed after dinner because we were exhausted.
The next day, we woke up and had breakfast, which was also great. We boarded the bus to Pechuge for a waterfall and a presentation by the Indegenas (I forgot how to spell that word in English) people. The Indigenas taught us about their life, and showed us a native dance that was spiritual. We then hiked (yea, hiked) to the waterfall, where they performed a ¨Limpieza de la Corazón¨ (Cleansing of the Heart). It was so nice to hear that they are spiritual, and they worship nature and its beauty.
After the hike down, we then went back to our cabañas for lunch, which was fish. Needless to say, I had the other option of pasta because I hate fish. It was funny, Marie tried the fish, but she kept asking fish eaters if you are supposed to eat certain parts of the fish.
After lunch, we headed back to Quito. I lucked out, the bus we took ended up going near my house, so I asked the driver if he could let me off, and he did so. I was home before everyone else!
I also joined a gym here. I can´t believe I went about a month and a half without any real exercise. Anyway, the gym is right next to my house and I have a personal trainer. The gym is small and the owner always greets me everyday, which I like.
I can´t believe I´ve been here for almost 2 months! I really don´t want to leave. Most of my friends are indiffernet, they like Quito but don´t want to live here. I am the opposite, I love Quito and do want to live here. I want to keep in contact with my family here so that if I do move back, I have some people that I know in the city.
In any rate, that´s all I have for now. Next week is Easter, and because of that, we get Thurs, Fri, and Mon off of school. I love that this is such a religious country (and yet, neither me nor my family have been to church since I´ve been here). Talk about amazing! First, they party like crazy before Lent. I once again don´t have school in celebration of Carnaval, and don´t need to do anything religous. Lent comes, people don´t sacrifice anything for it, they just act like normal. Then Easter comes and people party again! I seriously could live like this, giving up school for religious purposes but not actually doing anything religious. I would suggest the US do the same, except I am agnostic and the US would probably force everyone to go to church or something. In any rate, I like that these people know how to party!
ETA: Wow, just read an article on MSN about the gas prices in the states. The average for diesel is over $3, whereas here diesel is $1.04 per gallon. Unleaded is also well over $3, but in Ecuador, they only have super or extra, and extra costs about $1.40 per gallon, and super is about $1.80 per gallon. But then again, Ecuador has oil, and Correa is in love with Chavez, whose country also has lots of oil, so no wonder gas is so cheap.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written. I started class last week, and so far they are going well. Most of it is reviewing stupid mistakes we make, so it keeps getting reinforced, which is good. I have a language class from 9-10:45, and then 11:15 to 12:15 and then I am done for the day.
On Friday, I went to a concert in Old Quito. The band that opened was a local band, followed by Las Tetillas, which are from Chile. It was enjoyable and fun, and alot of the songs were in English, which was fun.
On Saturday, my friends and I went to a nightclub for my sister’s 30th birthday. My sister knew the owner, so we were able to snag all you can drink for $12. It was easy to break even, because a rum and Coke cost $3, so after I had 4 througout the night. The party went all night, which is customary here for big celebrations. I had a great time.
On Sunday, I walked to the airport with my mom and watched the planes land. It was pretty incredible to see how close they get to the buildings, I will have to bring my camera and take a video and pictures.
It has also been raining here for about a week now. It kinda makes things miserable, especially since I really like to walk everywhere and as much as I can.
That’s all for now
¡Chao!
I have new pictures, so be sure to check them out!

I realized that I never actually talked much about my family here. My mother’s name is Becha and she is the sweetest woman ever. She definitely acts like a mother, even to me. My father’s name is Julio and he is a doctor specializing in kidneys (I don’t know what a kidney specialist is called, in Spanish or English). He is nice but I don’t talk to him as much as I talk to my mother. Many times I have to have him repeat himself so that I can understand him. They live with me in my house here. Our program requires us to have our own rooms, so I don’t have a roommate, nor do I have anyone else living with me. I have three sisters. My oldest sister, Maria, I haven’t met (and won’t) because she lives in N.C. She is 34, married, and has two children. She works in a furniture store, but recently opened a restaurant. I have a middle sister named Karla, who is 29 and a dental surgeon. She and her boyfriend live together here in Quito, and I see her all the time. My youngest sister (although she’s still older) Juliana, is 24 and married and lives in Quito. She is in advertising, and her husband, Mauricio, is a photographer and graphic designer. I am the closest with the both of them, as they take me various places in and around Quito. They often take me out to lunch or dinner, and I go clubbing with them a lot. I even stayed at their apartment one night when my parents were away. I absolutely love my family here; they are so nice to me and treat me like family.
Sunday afternoon Marie and I went running in a local park. I was out of shape and couldn’t run very far, so we walked a lot. We happened upon aerobics in the park, and decided to try it. It was fun but we quickly got hot so left to find water, and then continued to walk around the park. I think the US should have free aerobics in parks to help the obesity epidemic. Anyway, we decided to make this a weekly venture, so we are going this Sunday again.
We also tried to climb the Teleferico, the tram that takes you to the top of Mout Pinchincha, but it was closed. So we are going again tomorrow.
¡Chao!

We were supposed to go to the beach tomorrow morning at 7, but since it is flooded we aren´t going. So now my friends and I have a week of nothing planned. We were thinking of doing things in Quito that we haven´t yet done, or doing things again that we really liked. We plan on going to Mindo, which is two hours outside Quito. It is the tropics, so it´s very hot there. There are also waterfalls, like the ones you see on television that are in the jungle. We also plan on going to the top of Mount Pichincha, and going to this really cheap mall in the Centre of Quito. It is going to suck though because my family works during the week so if I don´t find something to do I am going to be bored!!!
In other news, I tested into level 4 Spanish, which is great. I really wish they had had a verbal test and not just a written cause I make stupid mistakes sometimes, but I speak better than I write. Anyway, the class goes from 9-12:15 everyday, which I like because I can sleep in!!
¡Chao!