Oklahoma

I ate cuy-guinea pig. It tasted like burnt campfire rubber. But, It's a traditional dish, so I'm glad I tried it.



This view of Quito is from the Yaku Water Treatment exhibit/museum. It's a beautiful museum. I went with Tricia, Jessalie, and Sofia.



This is a picture out the plane window. I didn't realize how wide the Andes are. When I thought of mountains before, I always thought of the Rockies-flat, 1 chain of Rocks-flat. The way that the Andes were/are created, according to my geology class, the Nazca plate constantly slides (little by litle) under the South American plate creating friction. Rather than the material going into the earth, it builds up. Since the plates are always moving, the moutains are very wide and still growing.



This is a view out my window of Oklahoma. Yes, this made me snicker. I'm still dealing with the evening light issue. Pichincha always stops the sun, so every night, the light goes away at 6:30. I'm having issues with how long I can study after dark. My first week of Intersession class, I didn't make it to bed before 1am, and had to get up at 5:30 or 6am to finish the homework or study.




Here is Mema. Her back chair legs sunk into the wet ground. This was Mother's Day/Mom and Karen's Birthday/Lacy Return shin-dig. It made me really happy that she would have this happen. That was 4 1/2 months without silly Mema. Of course, it was luck of the draw of who sat in the chair, but it was Mema. She didn't even spill her beloved coffee on the way down (see it sitting upright to her right).

To finish it off..

I woke up at 7:19am on Friday. Tricia, in the floor, magically slept through the lady saying, "up, down, up, down, side-to-side." We didn't leave my apartment until 12:45. We had Cinnabon for breakfast. Then, we went to Tricia's apartment, so she could get around. We went to a hospital near my house (but not the kids hospital). Our friend had a punctured lung and his surgery is today (19 May). I haven't heard how it went, but I am waiting. He wanted us to change our flights so that we could hang out more.
When we left after visiting hours were over at 6, Tricia and I walked to the bus stop. I was really sad. I said good bye to the friend in the hospital, and then I had to say bye to Tricia. We hugged, said stupid things about Liga soccer and such. Then, got on the Ecovia. That was my last ride on the Ecovia. I sat down and it was practically empty. Apparently, Ecuador wanted me to remember the Ecovia in a pleasant manner....
I took everything out of my bags to try to fix the weight problem. I took a break and had tea with Camila. Then, I went back at it. Margarita, Camila, and Ximena gave me a card and said sweet things. Margarita cried a little. We worked out how the morning would go. Ximena called me to come to the kitchen, so I did. She gave me a seperate card and a CD. It was sweet.
I stayed up until 2:00am. I took a nap for 20 minutes, then got up and got myself ready and finished throwing crap in the suitcases.
Margarita called Luis Eduardo (worker boy Luis) at 3:20 so he'd be up at the apt at 3:30 to take things down. The taxi arrived, and I hugged Margarita. I went down the stairs really sad. The taxi driver (mini van, the ONLY mini van I saw the entire time in Ecuador lol) and his friend talked back and forth and occasionally asked me things.
At the airport, I had to take 9 lbs out of 1 of my suitcase..nightmare. My hairdryer ended up being tied to my carry-on. I made my way to my gate, A4, and the people there searched my red pull bag and my bookbag. Then, we couldn't get either closed back right. I sat on the floor for 15 minutes before I got it all situated right. I got back in my chair and 10 minutes later, a lady collects 5 people, including me, because we have 1 bag that was randomly selected to be checked by the popo. 4 of the 5 of us went to USFQ. We all questioned how random that check actually was. When the guard asked me something and I gave him a blank stair, he asked if I spoke Spanish. Since it was 5am, I gave him the very delayed response of a little. He chuckled and went about his business.
I sat next to a couple who had a little baby, maybe 3 months old. They were sweet.
Flights all on time, made it to OKC at 3:50pm. Lindsey met me at the excalators to go down to baggage claim. Mom and Dad were late.... but they drove us and Ephraim to Norman.
And that was the end of Ecuador, Spring 2009.

My Last Week

Monday- I had my Geology test. I'm not sure how it went, but it's over. I'm very thankful for that. I also went to the Equator for the 4th time. This trip, I tried Cuy. It's a traditional dish of the indigenous Ecuadorian people. If you're wondering what exactly Cuy is, it's guinea pig. Most of the students I've talked to that have tried it, compared it to chicken and said it was likeable. I completely disagree. Mine tasted like campfire and poo. I'm very glad I tried it, but I didn't care for it. All rubbery..

Tuesday- Evolution of Jazz test. 83 baby. I looked over my notes on the bus, and that was all the studying I did. & The bus ride had a guy playing the panpipes and guitar, and singing really loud. I decided I would start packing this day. I thought I would pay the overcharge for a too heavy suitcase, but load it down. I looked online and FAIL. It costs $50 for a suitcase between 50-70 pounds (as in only 20 extra lbs). OR, I could check a 2nd suitcase up to 50 lbs for $25. Dumb.

Wednesday- I woke up at 7:20 to, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," by the loud speaker at the Andino School. Studied with Jessalie at 1 for Spanish. Ate at the empanada place across the street from school. Bused back to Quito. Little girl asked me if I had the time, and I was confused because of how she said it. The mom said, "La hora?" & I told her. The little girl thought that was funny. I bought a suitcase at Megamaxi, and took a cab home. I met Tricia (who just got back from Machu Pichu) and Andres. We split a banana split from Baskin Robbins. Mmmmm. Then, Tricia came to my house and helped me study for Spanish. We called her a cab later. The cab driver was having all kinds of issues. He reversed down my street, and I had to flag him down to come back up the street. hah!

Thursday- I waited on the Ecovia 17 minutes. The Ecovia had problems with the silver ramp when we were at the LAST stop before the station. My test moved rooms, and since I was late I had issues finding the room. I messed up the first 10 questions on the test, but think I did alright on the remainder. I met Tricia a little after 3 at the Metrobus stop 'Seminario Mayor.' Sofia and Jessalie showed up not long after. Jessalie had her phone pickpocketed at some point before getting to us. We took the bus to the Yaku water museum and had a good time there. Tricia and I raced up the hill. I won, but regretted running up the hill at such an altitude. We walked to a market so Jessalie could buy boots. Sofia gave me my gift--a pair of shoes that she painted. She painted the country onto the shoes. I love them. She left us for her little brother's birthday. We finally found Jessalie a pair of boots. Tricia asked a little boy if they had a cuarenta (40). He asked another guy, and the little boy laughed after he said it. Ecuadorians have tiny feet and hands. My size 9 or 9 1/2s are big. ya.
We took a cab to my apartment. Tricia walked J to the Ecovia line. T came back to my place. We waited to get the lowdown for our plans to meet our friends. We walked to 12 de Octubre and too a cab to Universidad de Catolîca. I met several new people, but we didn't hang out with them. We went for yogurt, but it was closed. Then, we went to a 'sketchy area' to check out a new Karaokee bar. Kelsey couldn't handle the smoke, so we tried again. We ended up going to a dance party-like thing at Andres, and Juan's school. We danced. Lacy---can---not---dance. It was great. We were all stared at when we walked in, but whatever. We had fun.

Brooke

*insert excited voice here*
blogging by brooke.
Brooke (I don't know how to tag her) gave me an award! I'm so excited! I read her blog everyday!

My queenly duties include:
1. List seven things that make US awe-summm!!!
2. Pass the award on to seven bloggers, I read religiously.
3. Don't forget to link the Queen that tagged us.
4. Copy the pic and put it into your sidebar

1. Singing
2. Country Kids
3. Hearts
4. Intelligence (spelling doesn't matter)
5. Sense of humor
6. Parked Cars
7. Mooning

Puentes y Cascadas

Wednesday-I karaokee'd again with Tricia. We were going to go ice skating. We bumped into a friend she and Andres know from youth group, so the four of us ended up going to the grocery store, buying things to make dinner, then went to 4th persons apartment. Turns out, he didn't have gas in the tank, so we did not make dinner. We played a little Cuarenta. We moved on frm that card game pretty fast to karaokee. The background kept showing things like barns on wheat fields. ya. This karaokee also had "Achy Breaky Heart," on it. Many many songs of all types.

Thursday-We were going to have sushi, but that didn't happen. We (Tricia, Andres, and Dianita) ended up getting mall food. I ordered a sandwich. I HATE MAYONAISE. I thought I would be able to wipe it off, but it was a lost cause. So, I had a $5 cup of orange Fanta. Then, Tricia and I got shakes and Cinnabon. That made us both feel better.

Friday-Didn't do anything until 2. It was nice. Went to the market, had ice cream, and went to the mall. Bought a dried peaches and a pack of PB. mmmm.

Saturday- WOOO, Saturday. Left the bus station at 9:00. Drove to Baños for 3 3/4 of an hour, longer than usual. Paid 10 cents to USE the bathroom at the bus station. No TP, no toilet seat, no soap. gross =). Then, Sofia managed to get us a taxi. The driver asked her if she was our translator. NO! We would have been over charged massively if one of us had arranged it. He drove us around for about 4 hours. We paid $20! The first stop, which we didn't know was the first stop, was the bridge. Jessalie jumped first. I jumped with Sofia. I have never screamed so loud in my life. Sofia and I neither one could remember how we got off that ledge, but one of the pictures shows one of the guys with his hands on our backs.



We've come to the assumption that he pushed us off. hahah. It cost $7. I didn't wear a helmet and signed no release form. Just a head nod, strap in, and a climb over. We paid after we jumped, so I suppose if we had died, they wouldn't have gotten their money. That was kind.


After that excitement, we loaded back up in the taxi, drove to a small waterfall, got out, and looked on from the road. We then drove to the Tarabita. That is a cable cart that goes across the ravine to the other side. We walked around a little bit, and then waited to take the cart back across to where the cab was. This is a lime tree. I liked it.


After that, we drove to our last destination. We walked downhill most of the way, which was nice. We paid $1 to go to the balcony area. Pailon del Diablo is beautiful. It's a waterfall that's suppose to be the face of the devil. It's large and monstrous, but pretty cool.

We went through the little tunnel way to the balcony closest to the waterfall. It was very..wet.
The way back to the taxi was mostly uphill. That was quite the workout, but we made it.

We looked in a few shops, had lunch/dinner, then got back on the bus. We almost missed it, but we caught it right before it pulled out of the parking lot. We got back to Quito, and all was good.

It's My Life..or Bon Jovi's

Friday night, I ate lunch/dinner with Tricia, Kelsey, Andres, Carlos, and Pablo. I had a miscommunication about lunch at my house, so I managed not eaten before I met up with them. I had a ham sandwich from Corral. I forgot to ask for no mayonaise. After I wiped it off, I loaded it with mustard. mmmm.
Kelsey left us for homework. We walked towards Jose's house. I tripped, over what I thought was Tricia's foot, and nearly fell on my face. Let's just say that all those who got to witness it found it very funny. I admit, it was funny.
We got to our next destination...Jose's house. He sat up his computer in the living room. We sang. It was fantastic!

For whatever reason, they kept singing love songs. Tricia and I sang the Backstreet Boys, among others. =)
Saturday, Tricia and I made plans to go to a museum, Hassan's (the Lebonese close to my apt.), and the Mariscal Market. We bought a few things, and had a good time. It rained. Amy called, and we met her at Plaza Grande in Centro Historico. After we were interviewed by several groups for English practice, we took a cab to the Panecillo (the hill with the Giant Virgen Mary on it). Since I didn't plan on this excursion, I didn't have my camera. I'll post pictures of this when I get them from Amy. Our cab driver waited for us, and drove us back down.
We tried to go into La Compañia (Tricia still hasn't been in it), but they were having mass. The church across the street had a wedding in it. We trekked up the massive hill to the Basilica (Gothic style church, but decorated with native animals instead of gargoyles). A wedding had just taken place there, and they were about to start mass. We didn't get to go in. We decided to head towards an ice cream place. After a brief stop at the grocery store, we found where the ice cream shop would be. It was closed. We found our way to the Trolle, were redirected to the North bound Trolle, and then got on. I got off at the park El Ejido. A man was walking towards me wearing a box on his back and head, homeless guy. He started saying things to me, so I veered and crossed the bus lane, then the car lanes. He gave up once I got in the road. I flagged a taxi, going away from my house, but I didn't care. When I said, "12 de Octubre y Cordero" he replied (in Spanish), "ya, where are you from?" haha. He asked me where my friends were, how long I would be here, how long I've been here, do I like Ecuador, etc. Other than asking about my friends, it was the pretty standard run of questions to a foreigner.

I was on Skype a while last night, rather than doing homework. Today, I woke up early because of the light through my window and because Tia Rita and Tio were talking loud like usual from the kitchen. So far today, I've searched high and low for my red jump drive (pockets of pants in the laundry basket, underware drawer..) only to remember I let Lily borrow it because her computer crashed. Now that everything is cleaned and straightened, I think the week might be productive for school work. Well, it has to be.
Leaving in about an hour to go to the store and have lunch.

+ & -

Quito from the TeleferiQo tram.


It's Friday morning. I've decided to make a good and bad list/miss and won't miss list, I guess. It's a good summary for the semester.



About Ecuador
+
-------------------------------------------
-Cheap travel (busing costs no more than $12 (and that's for a 12 hour ride).
-abillity to go to the beach, jungle, volcanoes, etc for the weekend.
-Popularity of Nutella
-Manjar de leche
-popularity of ice cream
-The weather
-Spanish
-Hot herbal tea
-Panaderias! Cheap, fresh bread
-Random shops, like the one across the street from me, to get cheap water, yogurt, habitas.
-Fruits not grown or sold elsewhere-Guanâbana, Cherimoya, Maracuya
-Freshness of the fruits and vegetables sold here
-Tangos (made by Nestle!)
-del Valle peach juice (sold by Coca~Cola!)
-Dasani flavored water (Again, Coca~Cloa. I'm writing them!)
-Dried fruit
-Yogurt
-Ecovia (bus)
-Friends
-The Food
-Sushi
-Prices (!)
-Habitas (fried Lima beans with salt)
-Support of National Products
-Fausto Miño
-Daddy Yanky



-
-------------------------------------------
-instant coffee
-Car alarms
-crime
-Spanish (hehe)
-Lack of brewed cold tea-agian with the instant
-Meat & Soup
-Meat & Soup
-Meat & Soup
-Ecovia (bus)
-Snotty rich kids
-Very small middle class.
-The Food
-SOUP...
-No Tresseme hair products
-Make-up costs
-Prices of Imports (because of Nat'l support)




-------------------------------------------
Things that I've missed from The States:
-Safety
-My bike
-PEACH COBBLER
-Recycling
-Norman CART (bus)
-Sirius Marcus Black Grotheer
-Not that it's necessary to mention, but my family and friends.
-Water from the tap
-The Smell
-My Kitchen
-Mexican food
-A good salad
-Pizza Shuttle
-Cell phone (mine here is a Go Phone and I'm on the ghetto company.)
-My Tea Kettle
-Kool-Aid
-Hummus
-My neighborhood
-Cleaning including: laundry, dishes, taking out the trash, laundry, laundry
-A walk around Boomer
-Cold Tea/Sweet Tea

Of course, this is only a general list of things that stick out the most. Aunt Patti, Kenny, and I have a Mexican food date pretty soon after I get home. Today is May 1st, or May Day, or Lei Day (Hawaii), and on May 16th, I'll be in the air. My flight arrives into OKC at 3:52pm, that is without delays. I'm really looking forward to coming home. There are things that I'll miss from Ecuador, but that is alright. I may end up in Ecuador again. I hope to at least visit it.

Mindo

I finally got to go to Mindo. The road had been closed for some time due to a mud side. I met Amy the night before we left, aka Friday night, at the bible study they've been going to all semester. {I told Tricia I would walk her there since it was close to my house and I'm overly paranoid these days. This also set me up for a must-attend-time-since-I'm-already-there. Anyway, it was fun, glad I went.}

I met Amy, Kelsey, and Tricia at La Florida bus stop. (I heard fantastic music in the cab, read the post before for a small mention). We road from La Florida to Ofelia Station. We bought tickets to Mindo, and headed out. The bus ride was uneventful, and I am so incredibly thankful for that. I honestly never thought I could feel so much joy for a normal Ecuadorian bus ride.
When we arrived in town at 'the bus station' (the 1 shop that sells tickets out of town), we were met by people with offers for us to stay at their hostal for such and such price, and food here, or zipline there. We walked to our hostal, got our room, and got everything ready for whatever was to come.
We walked back down the hill to the main block of town, decided on pizza (I had a calazone), and chatted.

(This is taken while we forded the river. hehe)


We all wanted to zipline, so we went to the company Amy had been too last time she was there. It was $10 a person and then $6 total for the four of us to be transported to and from the site.
It was incredible. I feel like safety standards in Ecuador are far below what I'm accustomed to in the States, but didn't feel unsafe dangling from a cable over the Cloud Forrest. There was an older guy, as in 35ish, who was in charge of the group. The one kind of goofy-odd guy, maybe 20, who went ahead to take pictures, but was behind the leader guy who helped stop us at the end of the line. Then, there was Crazy guy in the orange shirt who was probably 23 or so. There was also handsome, random guy who also went rafting with us later.
This is me in the bat pose. Yes, I went upside down the entire length of the cable. It bruised my hips, but was worth it.


After we returned to the town, we headed to our hostal to get ready for the next event, Tubing! I really had no idea what to expect from that, but it was great. There were maybe 8 black tubes tied together with little rope handles in the joints for people to hold onto. We sat where 3 tubes met. The river wasn't too much. It had just the right amount of rocks and current to be fun. We didn't do anything, but ride it out. The two guides turned us around, pushed us over rocks, etc. This is a pic of us after the ride. The guy on the left is handsome, random guy from ziplining.




After we changed out of wet clothes, we got ice cream (I had a Magnum--like an Eskimoe Pie, but no one I've met here knows what that means...) and sat in the town square. We watched a lady and a man play with a bunch of little kids. Then, a black lab mix joined us.
We decided to do something, but we didn't know what. At the corner of the park, we met the people staying in the room next to us at the hostal. We all decided to go to a place that was in the guide book to eat. We hitched a ride with some random guy after we had started out the wrong way. When we got to the place, it was closed. We ended up eating 2 places down from the pizza place. I had fried trout-pretty good. Jennifer and Justin are both 4th year med students, and graduate 2 weeks after they return from Ecuador, so in a month. We sat and chatted for a long time about our adventures thus far in Ecuador.

Back to the hostal, lot's of nationalities there. Lots of music.

Day 2. We had pancakes at the butterfly house. It was beautiful. Pancakes were good, and so was my banana shake. mmm. The 4 of us, Jennifer and Justin, and Kelseys random friend from her home county, Ben, went.

Here is Tricia holding a butterfly. We put old banana on our fingers to get them to land on us. My camera battery died soon after.

After lunch (fried tilapia), we walked for about an hour to a good place in the river to 'swim'. I didn't want to ride the bus back wet, so there was little swimming taking place on my part. I did get eaten by some kind of biting bugs. Where the water line stopped on my legs, the bugs began to bite.
We walked some, then caught a ride in the back of a truck. We headed back to Mindo. We bathroomed, bought snacks for the bus, and waited.
On the bus, Justin and Ben were without seats. Justin shared my armrest from his little platform. Ben was back and forth from the platform to the aisle standing. He gave up his seat about 30 minutes in to a lady sit down who got on mid-ride. Her little boy threw up about 10 minutes later. wooo.
All-in-all, good weekend.

900,000 tons of Steel

While the title has nothing to do with anything, it has been a sing-song day, and that one has popped up.

My friends and I ate at a place called Sake. We were given the typical treatment that we've come accustomed too: Lots of attention. We ordered martinis, and we had them with our sushi. All great! We then got a 2nd tray of drinks 'on the house.' HAHA!! When we were walking towards the door, the guy who seated us almost ran into me trying to get to the door before me (MY HAND WAS ALREADY EXTENDED TO OPEN THE DOOR). He succeeded. 5 other waitors came out and said by to the three of us. We giggled of course, but it was fun. woot.


I heard a great song in the cab this morning. Lyrics (On top of sweet electric music, and sung by a semi-raspy man voice): "No bailaba? No Bailaba? Quê horrible! Quê horrible!" teehee. Then, the next song, in English said, "What do I gotta do to make you sleep with me." Awkward!

Stereotypes, Thank You

If you are expecting something profoud from this entry, stop reading.

The Chinese place by my house (Casa China), is great for a few reasons. It has good food, very close to my house, has decent hours, and has two VERY attractive waitors (Hot MoMo Man and Karl {Because he kind of looks like Karl from Love Actually}). Well, My two friends and I have been there two times before together. We've definately caught the attention of most of the workers, and got a phone number last time (We don't know which one Geovanny was though).
Tonight, the security guard outside and a friend kept looking in through the window at us. Our waitor, not a cute one, walked to the window at one point where my eyes follwed him too. There, I caught eyes with the security guard and exchanged a wave. Awkward...

When we finally decided to go outside (after a very stiff drink for each of us, thank you staff), the guard and the other guy said 'Hola', and the Hot MoMo Man got on his bike and kind of showed off. We all noticed.
We wanted ice cream, so we walked down the street to a larger road. Fail. Nothing was opened, so we awkwardly walked back up the street. The guard and friend were still outside, and they crossed the street to talk to us. My friend asked where ice cream was avaiable. Since the guard was at work, he stayed at the resturant. His friend walked us to a store that was still opened. He then bought us ice cream.

Here is when the stereotype thing comes in. Not that it was really expensive, but he bought all three of us, and himself, ice cream. We walekd back to where the resturant is and a random third guy wearing way too much cologne was there. We talked for about 10 minutes (max) and walked back up to a larger road to get a taxi. We were only 1/2 a block from my house, but I went ahead and hopped in a taxi with them. The driver kind of laughed at us for going 2 blocks (yes, I walked further from my apt than I was), but I didn't want them to know I lived 1/2 a block away.
Stereotypes...I know I have mentioned this to certain people before, but not sure if it has made it to the blog. Americans are viewed as easy. Yes, as in, have sex whenever with whoever, regardless of how long they have known the person.
He bought us ice cream thinking he was going to get lucky with one of the three girls, and that is why random over-cologned guy showed up. 3 guys, 3 girls. Math is easy there.

Anyway, my friends and I are smart and try to be safe, so we didn't break the group. We got free ice cream because other people made them think we were the same. If my friends that I've made in Ecuador read this, you are truly fantastic.

7:11 am

Good Morning 7:11 am. Thank you wake-up tick.

Movies

I am yet to figure out why it is humorous for one to go to bed late, but wake up early. I had the oppurtunity to sleep in this morning, but woke up at 7:08am. I laid there until after Margarita and Camila left for Camila's first day of French lessons, so I didn't officially get up until 7:35am, but it's still frustrating. I had a similar morning yesterday. Whoever is in control of the wake-up button should really use it for good, like say, Evolution of Jazz. I made it to class on time for one a week ago Thursday, but saw someone get hit by a car (read 7 April). In my opinion, I would rather sleep through class than see something similar to that ever again.
I had cake for breakfast with a cup of Earl Grey. I love Earl Grey, but everytime I open a pack to get the bag out from this stupid box, there is NO STRING!! Every bag I have opened has been like that. I brought the box here so I could enjoy, but it only makes me frustrated. However, if I was still in the USA, I would not have taken the nox back because my peanut brain still gives the box hope that the other half will have strings. Funny joke.
I watched About A Boy while having my tea in my room.
I have also watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix with Camila. (Yesterday we watched HP & the Goblet of Fire because she is in love with Robert Pattinson.) We're also going to a movie tonight, but I'm not sure what we're seeing.

Tourist Week

I thought I was being cool, but the pictures loaded backwards. I tried really hard, so try to enjoy it, even though they are flipped from where they should be =).
Dad arrived Tuesday April 7th. We went to a museum on Wednesday and had a basic chill day. On Thursday, we rode 6 hours to The Esmeraldas area. We took a cab from the drop off point through Atacames to Sûa. We took curves at 122 km/hr which is about 75 mph. This has stopped bothering me, but my dad was cracking me up. Our hostal did not have a fan in the room or a toilet seat. Again, something that doesn't bother me, but my dad kind made a big deal about it.
Friday morning I kept thinking I knew the song playing from outside the room. Finally I figured out what it was, but couldn't hear the words. When we went downstairs to have breakfast, sure enough, The Prince of Egypt was on. I had been hearing Deliverance (the song where Moses is sent down the river). The movie was in Spanish, but I could still sing the songs.
We hung out at the Beach, had Guanabana drinks (MMM!), and a giagantor fruit 'cup' (size appropriate for 4 people, but officially in a cup). The day was overcast, but very enjoyable.

Got back to Quito around 8:30pm on Saturday. I took a cab to the airport and picked up mom, Aunt Patti, and Kenny (after waiting for an hour. Customs was busy). The fire alarm went off in the airport. That was tons'o'fun.
Sunday, we went to La Mitad del Mundo (equator line). We rested in the evening. Sofia met me at my apartment the next morning, and we walked to the fams hostal. We went to Papallacta and had a blast.

Tuesday, we attempted to go to Mindo, but FAILed. We went back to the hostal, left our things, and did the TeleferiQo adventure. That was very enjoyable. Wednesday, we tried to catch the bus to Mindo, but FAILed. Instead, we did something else. I'm missing one day on pics, so I'm not sure if TeleferiQo was Tuesday or Wednesday. O well.
Thursday, we had lunch at the Radisson because KP really wanted chicken fry. I had Paella, very good, minus the sausage. We walked around Old Town for a while, then it started to POUR.

We taxied north to Fundacion Guayasamîn. The site was beautiful. One building is his original house. His pre-colombian to Inca private collection was there. A lot of it had been restored, but it was still beautiful. At the time he began collecting, there wasn't much interest in the works, so he acquired many pieces.

Another building had a lot of his art work. Nice place. Highly suggest a visit there if you make it to Quito. (Calle Bosmediano y Jose Carbo-$3.)

My host mom had the fam over for tea. That was hilarious. She understands a good amount of English, but is shy to speak (like me with Spanish, but I think I understand less...). It was a good time.

7 April is Rememorable

Today has been interesting. I woke up at 5am (30 minutes before my alarm to turn on my hot water heater) to a something that sounded like a dying whale. I thought it was probably Maya, the dog downstairs, but the longer I listened, the less it sounded like a dog. I got up, saw the maid sleeping on pillows in the computer area outside my door, turned on my water heater, and laid back down until 6:50am. I decided I wasn't taking a shower because of how annoyed the wake-up was (& I was hoping to be all cheery and in a good mood today for various reasons). The noise continued until I left the apartment at 7:30. When I got outside, the noise was non-existent. I have no idea where it was coming from or what was producing it.

I took the Ecovia, had a man stand his front side to my back side, although there was plenty of room for that contact to NOT be happening. I managed to wiggle away and be slightly more confortable. The next guy only insisted on keeping his hand on the bar touching mine. I got to Rio Cocoa, walked to the Green Bus station, found a seat by myself, and got to ride to Cumbaya in a seat by myself. I let the lady in sitting in front of me out in the aisle, we walked to the front with all the other people, and got off the bus. Most of the people walked to the back of the bus after they exited, but the lady that sat in front of me, and 2 other people stayed at the front. A silver chevy slowed down to let us cross the road in the crosswalk, and the lady (late 30's) started to walk, but the car in the other lane wasn't stopping. I reached out, but I was just too far to have grabbed her. I started to say watch out at the same time I stuck my arm out, but then the white chevy spark hit her. The front left bumper of the chevy hit her leg and hip area. She spun in a circle, and then rolled onto the ground. I froze. I felt the blood drain from my face. I started towards her, all of 7 feet away, and the guy behind me ran to help her up. The other girl standing by me was also in massive shock. The car that slowed to let us pass stopped and asked if she was okay. I was impressed that she got up. The nice student who helped her, and stood with her. We saw a police truck take off after the car, but the car was going so fast, I'd be surprised if they got the person.

I was so proud of myself to be ableto get to Evolution of Jazz on time, but it all didn't matter at that point. I got there and told Deanna the story, and it was all of 8:35am.

Not that this has more importance, but it does add to the day thus far. I am 1 of 6 students in my Spanish class. The only other 2 people that showed up today were the 2 people that I can't stand. I didn't listen to half of what went on, and had issues on everything I said because I was so annoyed.

I had lunch with Deanna, and who else was in the same place that we went? None other than 1 of the 2 people from my Spanish class that I complained about. Deanna has been jittery all day because she is flying to Peru tomorrow (at least that's what we decided the cause was). She almost toppled over when we were getting up to leave the sandwich place because of her bag. After laughing at her, I picked my bag up and caught the picture on the wall. It bobbled, but didn't fall, thankfully. It was a huge frammed piece, probably 8 feet by 4 feet.

Now, it's 2:02pm. I think I'm going bowling tonight with the same group as my bowling usually has. Then, Dad gets in here tonight around 11.

Bullets in the blog, OPERATION

I want to start out with saying "HI" to my friend Brookeee. I still can't holla back at you via comments, but you are great!

I went bowling last Tuesday with some friends. The machine kept miscounting the girls pins, so the boys won. I had 3 strikes NOT counted, and since there were no pins to knock down the 2nd time, it only counted 9. Stupid 7 pin censor.

CLASS TRIP
Friday
-shot 10am
-cards on the bus with Sofia
-beach 6pm
-Macarana 12am
-sleep

Saturday
-breakfast at 8:30am
-map project at the resturant on the shore
-beautiful rocks at 3pm
-swim in the ocean where octopi were being hunted at 4pm
-giant fish for dinner with a group at the hotel (like) restuarant at 8pm
-Lîmon game at 10pm
-sleep

Sunday
-Breakfast at 8am
-laugh at all the hungover Ecuadorians at 9:30am
-asked if I was hungover and responded no at 10am
-stop for water, and throw up at 11am
-lunch at the chain place Gus at 1pm
-guanabana ice cream bar on the bus 1:45pm
-cards on the bus with Sofia, with Sebastiân and Robert helping explain the scoring system and the way I dealt was actually wrong and the rules call for one to count out 5 cards to 1 person before moving on, rather than a random 1 to you, 1 to you, etc. Yes, Sebastiân was very adament that it was an actual rule.
-stop at gas station because bus was having problems 5:00pm
-got off the bus because it caught on fire (small and localized) at 5:15pm
-was called pobrecita (kind of like poor baby) because I only had my green light-weight cardigan and awkwardly helped onto the bus by an Ecuadorian boy 5:30pm
-discussed how silly it was that Jessalie and I were just call pobrecitas when it was in the 50's outside 5:32pm
-reboarded new bus at 5:40pm
-Quito at 6:15pm
-in car of someone related to Doris, girl in my class, 6:25pm
-dropped Renato off at 6:35pm
-dropped Jessalie off, after minor confusion because she didn't say where she lived and Doris thought she lived with me, at 6:50 pm
-hit in the arm by possible nephew of Doris, to have him respond to the glance as, "Quê.." 7:08pm
-dropped off at my apartment 7:15pm
-taught Camila the hokey pokey after tea 9:45pm
-loaded pics onto the lappy and then Facebook at 11pm
-bed at 1am...

As for the picutre with the giant protrusion out of the ground...it's amusing.

Fuzzy Moment

While looking at carry-on bags at a store near my house that I like, a tote price tag caught my eye. It read $2.38. I don't have a card there, so I looked closer at the price under that one, and it said $2.50. I pulled the bag out and looked at it to see if it was worth buying. The pics included are of the bag. IT'S FROM IDAHO! Most things that are imported are more expensive, but that random tote with a zip top was under $3! I bought it, and used it for school today.

A lady got off the same green bus I did at Rio Coca with her little girl. I walked passed them, across the road, across the parking lot, and down the stretch to my bus stop. I got on my bus, walked to the front because there were still opened seats, and sat next to a lady. About 3 minutes later, the lady and the girl that I passed took the two seats in front of us. The little girl, probably 5, would not stop cuddling her face into the lady (mother or grandmother, not sure) because she was so scared. The two seats they were in were facing two other seats, rather than having the backs to them. The older lady had candy in her hand, and she reached to give some to the scared little girl. The little girl shook her head no, and the mother figure thanked her. The other lady smiled, then said something in a high pitched baby-talk voice ot the little girl. That seemed to help the situation. The little girl pulled her face out of her mom's side and pulled her arm around her instead. The 4th seat was taken by another lady, probably in her 50's. She said something sweet to the little girl too, and the mom figure made a response on behalf of the little girl, which encouraged her to shake her head. Then the little girl sat up, and stretched her neck and cuddled under her mom's arm. When she stretched, I saw that she had Down's Syndrome. She was so scared to be getting on that bus, and I don't blame anyone for that feeling, but the other ladies were trying to make her feel better. I know that many women, and men for that matter, would go out of their way to make a child feel comfortable, but it made me happy to see them being cheery with this little girl.
I feel like in the States most people would have taken the 'don't stare' approach and completely ignored the situation. I might be wrong for some, Mema could have been one of those ladies across the space to that little girl. I guess there is a difference in staring and doing what those ladies were trying to do. Why aren't we taught as children to be like that? Is that something that comes with age that we decide on our own?
The next moment on the Ecovia made me feel less warm and fuzzy. This guy takes the standing space next to my seat and the way my arms were folded, and me being me, all I could think was, "My hand is entirely too close to his package." Thankfully, the people in front of him scooted up, so he moved up. Then his girlfriend stuck her butt with to-tight pants in front of me. It always impresses me at how people can fit into such random spaces like that on the Ecovia. She was actually leaning into where my legs were in front of my seat.

When I got home, Camila and I had an umbrella/light saber fight. I chopped her arm off, but she killed me. I don't think I'll ever be to old to have an umbrella fight. =)

Little Blurbies

-Broke my old cuticle scissors, so good thing I bought that other pair, right?

-Been sick off and on. Last night, I laid on my floor for about 2 hours. There were many children running back and forth in my apartment. Yesterday was the big party for Abulita, but I stayed laying on my floor after I got back from doing my thing. I had a day to myself complete with movie (Revolutionary Road), Cinnabon, coffee, and buying playing cards, nail polish, and a bag from Idaho. I was really proud of the Idaho bag because it was under $3 and I bought it in Ecuador. Fancy.

-woke up at 3:45 this morning needing water. I drank about half my can, and thought I would go back to sleep. No, The last time I looked at the clock, it was 5am. That is an issue I never have. I'm going to blame Blair for this one since we just talked about sleepless nights. haha.

-Breakfast was cake, potatoes, a fruit that I can't remember the name of that I haven't had before, and chammomile tea. Cake and Potatoes? That's what I thought. It was some kind of spice cake that had guayanaba (mmm!) and some other fruit in it. Not my favorite, but it was edible. I have no idea about the potatoes. I can reference hash browns, but in reality if you had them, you would say, "Hash browns, Lacy? Really?" I know. They are not like hash browns, but as a breakfast item that is potatoey, that is what I would say. It was kind of a crumbley mess. I don't know.

-Camila's cousin Anna, from Germany, speaks German and Spanish (father's 1st language, mother's 1st language). She has had 5 years of French, and 4 years of English. She couldn't understand my two sentences to her in English because she is learning British English, so my accent is crap to her. I think that is really great to send your kid to learn a language. She's 14. Good for her and her family. It'll be something much appreciated later in life.

-Going to see The Watchmen with Deanna today. Maybe I'll take my peanuts and munch on them in the theater.

-Finished disc 2 of Season 2 of Scrubs. On to disc 3, maybe tonight? I love that show. It really is my favorite. Every line is great for one reason or another.

-still hate shaving. Why do we start in the first place? A lot of girls don't shave here. I may go back to that and everyone can deal because it's a personal choice. However, I am going to the beach this weekend for my final Geology field trip, so I'll go ahead and shave for that. woot.

Five

Lindsey and I were talking via Skype while she was in class last night and I listed my 5 Hottest guys to her. I thought I would go ahead and share them on here. Feel free to Google them.
1. Viggo Mortensen
2. Sgt. Paco Balderama (Thank you OKC)
3. The Chairman from Iron Chef America
4. Fausto Miño (Ecuadorian singer...he sings the theme song to the telenovela #5 is on)
5. Fernando Colunga (Thank you Telanovelas!)

I'm grinning right now. Lindsey made fun of my #5 choice because he is on a soap. Telenovelas really are better than Soap Operas in the States.

Today is moving slow. I don't mind it, but my eyeballs would prefer the lids were closed on them. I will hopefully watch disc 2 of season 2 of Scrubs tonight, and pretend to work on homework. I'm sleeping in tomorrow, and going shopping. I look a little on the homeless side since all my clothes are too big. My jeans today are barely hanging on my hips. My hand-me-down cardigan can over lap in the front, and my perfect-fit Old Navy is not so perfectly fitting. I tried to order clothes online, but both cards were not accepted. NY&Co has an anti-theft prevention system that doesn't allow you to buy outside of the United States.

My list is growing for things online that can not be done outside the US: NBC.com, ABC.com, FOX.com, NY&CO.com, FOXSports.com, where ever I tried to watch the SuperBowl. ok, a lot of TV related sites.
Avon and Sephora both will allow you to purchase outside the States.

It's funny that the internet frustrates me like that. When Leslie studied abroad (I was a JR in HS, so 2004), she didn't have access to Skype. It didn't exist, so she called maybe once a week to say that she was alive. I can call when I feel like it thanks to my Skype package. Internet has changed our lives. I can be as in touch as I want. My favorite thing was when I called Brandon and then Mema. Mema didn't know where he was, but I got to tell her he was at a BBall game from Ecuador. hehe.

It just thundered. I must note how weany the thunder is here. I miss silly Oklahoma weather. I'm doing better with the personal space issue.
On my way to the bus stop this morning, a guy gave me a political flyer, aka presidential candidate info. Lacy can not vote here, but aparently is looking less white. Then after I got on the Ecovia, a guy gave me the open seat rather than taking it himself. The guy I had been standing next to took the open seat next to me when it was availble. He asked me a question and I told him in Spanish "colegio, sî" as in the next bus stop. Then he mumbled something, and I said I didn't know. Then he waited for a few minutes and asked me something else. I caught the words, "Tumbaco, autobus verde." So I said Rio Coca (where the green buses to Tumbaco leave from), then he said something really fast and smiled, and I said, I didn't know and sorry. O my.
On Monday, the bus attendent asked me if I was Ecuadorian. I guess I can look it....?

More Cookies, Less Chicken and Soup

Lindsey and Laura brought my requested Peanut Butter Cookies from Mema. She sent them in a red plastic circle box with snow flakes on the side. She lined the bottom and between each layer with classified adds and bubble wrap. Mema bubble wrapped my PB cookies. I remember when people commented on her wrapping my coke can in foil to keep it cold. Mema knows what's up. There wasn't one broken cookie in that entire box..even though the lid popped opened in Laura's suitcase and crums got all over. I have never enjoyed PB cookies so much in my life. I'm sad because I only have 5 left. I have stretched them out from their arrival of March 17th to the present. I wish I could make those 5 last longer, but they'll be gone by Friday I'm sure.

Margarita's mom turned 80. I went across the street with Ximena to take candles and celebrate. Lucy, Margarita's sister from Germany, had me sit at the table across from Abulita. That is prime realestate, and it was given to me. I felt bad. Abulita offered me this and that and I took some habitas, but not chips, o my. I had cedrôn tea, which tasted really sweet. I have no idea how the family is divided now. I can't figure it out. I'll have to have Camila help me or something. I talked to Rosario for a while when things were winding down. It was mainly me saying basic sentences or yes and no. She was really nice. I was thinking she was around my age, but then, when I asked who the boys were to her, she said the two older ones were hers. The oldest boy was probably 13 or 14. I didn't see that coming. I also think she is married to Tio Fernando. Didn't see that coming either. O well. It turned out all right.

I want to make a brief mention of the mutilation of chicken bones. The only person that I have ever seen prior to coming to Ecuador naw on the end of a bone is Nanny. She eats the meat off. It grossed me out because I can't even stand to eat the stringy pieces on a piece let alone work every bit off the ends. People here actually break the knobbley end off with their teeth and suck the marrow out or use a fork to get it out. There is only 1 particular person who does this everytime we eat, but I have seen others do it irregularly. I'll probably go back to being primarily vegetarian when I get home. I'll eat meat at other people's houses so they aren't put out, but when I do my own cooking, it'll be veg.

No more soup please. I'm still hatin'.

Long, but an Entire week!

Lindsey and Laura arrived on St. Patrick's Day. I had on my Clover socks on, which is the only time they have been worn for the appropriate season. I bought them last year at Stein Mart AFTER St. Patrick's Day on sale.
Wednesday-Lindsey and Laura rode the Ecovia. Of course it was a jam-packed morning, but we managed. The Green bus wasn't bad. They waited on me. I took the hardest test of my life. I'm in my 8th semester of college and have never taken a test that hard in my life. It's a 1000 level class. The teacher told us it was OUR problem if we all did bad because we had all the information. The whole class met outside the building and we had a gripe fest.
After we got back to Quito, we went to Hassan's and had great food. I had the Falafel plate again and loved it. We walked took a cab to Old Town and walked aroud a while Laura was sick on the plane the day before and also sick off and on Wednesday and Thursday. We went to Rose's and bought a few things (grocery wise). We walked up the hill (5 streets away, BIG hill) to their hostal. Laura stayed there, but Lindsey went to my apartment with me. She met Camila and Tia Rita (my hater). We went back to the hostal and we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. My pirated DVD skipped, but that was tolerable. That movie was very disappointing. I was really excited about it, but O my! They could have done so much more with it. The movie was so incredibly slow. Disappointing. The night guy called me a taxi. Taxi driver tried to charge me $4 for 4 blocks because it was night. No Thanks. I gave him $2. Jerk.
Thursday- I went to campus by myself, took my Jazz test, got an 83, got back to Quito, realized I forgot my keys (THE FIRST TIME), let in by Luis, laughed at by Ximena for forgetting my keys, chilled, then we to L&L's hostal. The owner talked with me a bit. We walked down to a big street, got a cab, drove to the entrance of TeleferiQo. We paid our $8 for foreigners, got in line, and got in the sky cab. Two Ecuadorians got in the sky tram with us, and he took our picture. (TeleferiQo is a sky tram {like a cab on a sky lift} that goes up Pichincha.) We got to the top, Laura had altitude problems. The clouds came almost immediately, so we had bad, and then NO, visibility off the volcano. After taking a tram down with 3 Middle/High schoolers (they talked a little to us), we went to the mall and got ice cream. Then we went to my apartment, Laura met Camila, we grabbed Superman Returns, and walked up the hill to their hostal. I slept almost the entire movie. The nightman called me a cab again.
Friday- We planned on going to Papallacta (Hot Springs), but I didn't think I could handle the bus for that far since my tummy woke up in a bad mood. Instead, we went to the Equator. Ecuador said, "Hi, Here's some rain for you." We shopped and shopped. Then we went to the real line, and our tour group had 2 people from Maryland and 1 from Quito (AKA Married an Ecuadorian woman {Bless her} and now lives here). He was a know-it-all and needed slapped. One lady had a question or comment for everything like what the wood type in the remake of the hut was, or that she knew merrygolds were strong scented (They were/are used to keep fleas off the guinea pigs). UH! We got on the bus around 5, and drove to Quito in the dark rain. I expected the bus to go to the Terminal we got on because we paid .40 like last time. WRONG! We ended up heading back to La Mitad del Mundo. I asked a lady and she told us that, so we got off the bus at a random stop. We tried to flag a taxi, but no luck. We were standing there with 5 or 6 other people, but still not a great idea. A random silver car pulled up on the perpendicular road to where we were standing. She hollared, "Taxi?" We got in her car. If it had been a guy, we would NOT have done that. She said $2.50 which was very impressive. We got stuck in Traffic, but made it to my apartment. We mutually agreed on $3, because I had no idea where we were when she picked us up (Could have been anywhere!) + traffic, so I was thankful to make it back to my apartment. Nice lady. I walked them back to their hostal. Nightman called me a taxi.
Saturday- We were going to the market at Otavalo, and my friend Deanna was going to go with us. I saw a cab outside my apartment at 4:28am. By the time I got through all the doors and down 5 flights of stairs, the cab was gone. I walked to Lindsey and laura's and woke up the nightman AND the owner. We went back to my apartment. I messaged Deanna, and we took a cab to her place, then to the terminal. We got on the bus, and headed out. We bought lots of things, and left Otavalo. We had Sushi at Kukkos. The waiter was so bored and was cracking us up. He walked us out, and didn't go back in until we had turned the corner. Deanna went home, and L&L and I had tea with Margarita's family later that evening. Her sister and niece got in from Germany that day, so we met them. Margarita apparently has a brother too. I met him, and Tia Rita and Anita Sofia also came up to visit with us. Interesting. German, Spanish, and English were spoken off and on (majority was Spanish). Walked them back to their hostal, and the owner gave me keys to the gate and the front door so I wouldn't have to ring the bell (Thank you 4:30 wake up call, right?). Nightman went to the road and got me a cab. ($1 to my apt!)
Sunday- Deanna got to my apartment around 7:40am. We walked to L&L's, took a cab to the Terminal, and paid for 6 people to go with us. Then I held out my fingers and said "Cuatro." The lady shook her head and said yes. Then the 2 people standing behind us who I paid for, paid for themselves. Then Deanna said we only needed 4 seats, so the lady gave me back $4 and marker on our ticket 4 seats. Uh. A dirty man and a boy were in 2 of our seats. No big deal... Well, he stank, kept scratching, rammed his seat into my bag and bounced it until I moved my bag. Deanna called him a bad name and he turned and looked at her, then did nothing but continue to stay too close. Jerk. Papallacta was beautiful. It's a hot springs, and is incredible. It's higher up (3300m), so it was cool. We sat in several different pools, some warm, some hot, some cool, some with regular water--cold. We enjoyed ourselves. My camera is officially waterproof. I took a pic of Lindsey underwater. We had lunch, and stood outside in the 50 degree weather and light wind waiting for a bus for about 20 minutes. We managed to all get seats, which was impressive. A little boy on the bus reminded us of Ephraim. Cute, but is a brat. Go figure. We got around to go with Margarita's family to Old town. I went and got them, and we ended up not going with them. I bought Toto's Greatest Hits and A Lot Like love on Saturday, so we watched it. I feel asleep the last 15 minutes. Lindsey got snippy with me, and instead of getting the nightman to call a cab, I walked home out of sleepy anger.
Monday-Met them at their hostal at 6:30am, gathered the last little bit, paid, and took a cab to the airport. They got into check-in, and I left. I played Tetras all the way back to my apartment. I met Margarita in the hallway this morning, and she asked what I was doing with my sisters today. I said they just left and she told me about something and then asked again what I was doing with my sisters. and I answered thinking maybe she meant what they were doing tomorrow, so I said class. We ended up in English that they left today. Whew. I had Crunchy PB on bread and some rocking Strawberry juice for breakfast. Now, I'll get around for the day. (& I'M NOT RE-READING THIS TO PROOF IT. MY APOLOGIES.)

That Tattooed Guy and Scissors

Remember that guy with the tattoo on his hand that I absolutely praised on how adorable he was? I saw him again today. I thought it was him, but had to look at his hand to make sure. Instead of leaning on the place I was last time looking towards the front of the bus, I stood opposite of the doorway, where he had been the first time I saw him, and faced backwards. For whatever reason, I can stand up easier that way. When we pulled up to the stop, I saw the guy, made eye contact and immediately looked away. The bus wasn't crowded, so that made the odds of seeing him again were very low. I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't laugh. I'm sure he thought the same thing of, "why is that gringa staring at me?" His fault for being so adorable and standing across the doorway from me again! I feel so silly.
I keep expecting that my 12 year old self will grow up and not be so Ecuadorian boy crazy, but that has yet to happen. I have 59 days left, meaning I've been here longer than I have left. Downhill slope, but it just keeps getting worse. Well, I keep thinking in general I'll finally get past my 12 year old squeely girl self, but again, yet to happen.
I just ate a chocolate bar. mmm.
I had a Spanish test today. I feel like it went alright, but then I'm pretty good at not being able to judge my tests. I can feel like I nailed it and come out with a D, or feel like I got a D and do pretty decent. It's a special gift I have really. Tomorrow I have a Geology test, and then I have an Evolution of Jazz test on Thursday morning. Want to know the real excitement? Lindsey and Laura are on a plane right now to see me! They will be here in 3 hours and 16 minutes! WOO!

I should study for Geology before I leave to pick them up, but it's so hard to concentrate. We've seen each other on Skype off and on for the last 2 1/2 months, but really, is it the same? NO!

If you know me, you know that I'm kind of obsessed with my nails (Boogies are good for them, and that's why my finger inside B's {I MISS HIM!} nose) and always have been. Well, I pulled out my very condensed bag of nail things (makes me sick I didn't bring more) and went to use my cuticle scissors. THEY WERE GONE! I seldom misplace my things because everything has it's place. The pink nail file sits next to the semi-creepy angle. The striped shoes stay on the front row to the left. My carmex stays on my nightstand, in my make-up bag, in the bookbag's center pocket next to the yellow highlighter, in the bottom zipper part of my purse. Get it? The scissors stay in their little ziptop bag with the other things. I kept thinking I would find it, because if I manage to boob, I usually do find it. This discovery was made LAST Wednesday. That's almost a week. I broke down and bought a new pair at Fybeca (like Wal-Greens) yesterday. I assumed would find them since I just bought a pair, so I let them sit on my night stand, in their package. Nope! I opened them in the bathroom today, and then used them. I sat them back on the nightstand. Craving chocolate, I went to my right hand drawer where I keep my candy. I pick up the chocolate bar, and what is under them? THE CUTICLE SCISSORS. I didn't put the chocolate bar there until last night, so I don't know how I missed it. O my!

Cotocachi-today part II

Geology Field Trip
I woke up at 4:30AM yesterday, but laid there until 5 til 5, left my house around 5:30am. Rode with Sofia, her dad (oddly safe driver for being an Ecuadorian), Lily, and Jessalie to Cumbaya. We were suppose to leave there at 6, but did not actually leave until 6:37am. We drove to Zambisa and looked at the giant rock wall (folds, faults, and such). Sketched it. Back on the bus, drove, stopped at an ash cave. Got covered in crumbly wall dust (pretty neat).
The people from my class that went with on this outing were the good ones. There were issues in class Wednesday, and several other people couldn't go. The nice kids went, thankfully.
We stopped at a Mirador and looked around. My Camera said, "Hey, thanks for using me three times, but I'm gonna go ahead and die." I thanked it, and put it back in my purse. It was so beautiful. We were on a small hill/mountain in a valley that had several larger mountains around it. Very beautiful. There was some kind of bug that one of the English speakers called a bumble bee. I told her that it was solid black and not a bumble bee. She said it sounded like one...Yes, true, but not a bumble bee like in the States.
We drove a little further to Cayambe. This is ANOTHER active volcano that produced the ash cave (a long time ago) that we had just been too. This area is very green, as is much of the North. We stopped looking for Bizcohos (I think this is how it's spelled). The first place was closed, so we loaded back onto the bus and drove out of town to a place on the side of the road. We got Bizcochos there. I got some mozzerella like cheese wrapped in a banana leaf and my favorite drink of Lime fizz water. The Bizcochos (I didn't purchase any, but had one of Sofia's) were a little sweet, and kind fo dry, but not make you choke dry. They were squarish sticks about 3/4'' wide and 4 inches long. They were being dipped in Manjar de Leche (SO TASTY). One of the boys outside was eyeing my cheese. He's not in my class, so it made me feel very weird. He even said something about it, awkward!
We sat to where we could look at Cayambe. There was a llama tie up in the back yard just hanging out. I then bought a peach juice and loaded back on the bus with everyone else.
We drove further to Cotocachi. The lake was beautiful. We sat on a ledge looking onto where a boat was loading. WHen Jessalie went to the bathroom and I was alone with her camera with a full memory card that didn't fit my camera, I discovered that her battery fit my camera. WOO! Lily came over and said that the lake could kill us all. I said, "O ya? Why?" She said that it's actually a volcano crater opening and is a sulfur lake. It was so beautiful and bluish green, but a threat.
Then the teacher called us all over closer to the boat area. She talked about it being named in Quchua (indeginous language) meaning Guinea pig lake. The area had a lot of guinea pigs found there apparently. I also heard Toto on the little whistle pipes. I had to sing with it
We sat and waited. Lily and Jessalie asked about this phrase and that, and then we ended up learning bad phrases. Jessalie wrote them in my little notebook that I carry with me, since she was taking notes over what the teacher was saying. Really cool.
It started raining, but that doesn't stop anyone. We drove to a town outside of Cotocachi and had lunch. We had some kind of red seasoned pork, mote, little corn like kernals, a great cheese sauce, little potatoes, and some sweet banana (different kind that the US sells) empanada with a coke.
We waited to load the bus. Lily wanted to learn how to click her heals in the air (which I apparently can do and didn't know). She looked goofy. Then Jessalie tried and looked just as goofy and managed to bruise her ankle in the process. Then Sofia the ex-ballerina did it and made it flawless and look easy. The teacher walked up, and we got her to try, and she was also unsuccessful. Good laughes.
We made one more stop, less interesting. We got on the bus to head back to Quito. We all chatted with each other, which was nice. A lot of the USFQ kids don't socialize with the international students, but our class is cool. We got to Quito, let off at an intersection, and then I took a cab to Quicentro (mall).
I met Tricia, Deanna, and Kelsey there with the Ecuadorian boys. I made it in time to see her blow out 6, then 1 candle. (They were making her work her way up to 20). I got to hang out for a little bit with them, but was really tired. We split up, two walked Deanna and I to the Ecovia. They road one stop and got off. I rode by myself and walked up my hill to my street, and then my apartment. I had tea and bread with Camila and Margarita and was asleep by 10. woot.

Friday Evening-Post 1 for today.

I was invited to a Bible study by Tricia's friend Andres, but I told him I didn't know if I could make it. I needed to make a study giude for my test that was suppose to be tomorrow. I told them it depended on how much I got done. I worked on it until 7 (Bible study started at 6), so I missed it. I felt a little bad, but I also had not done as much as I wanted. Camila knocks on my door about 8 and said that she and her mom want to invite me to the movies. I said sure. I took my sock money house shoes off and put on my blue socks with hands on them with my bright blue shoes. Did I match? never.
I grabbed my jacket, purse, and keys. We got in the stairwell and I asked her what we were seeing. She said depending on tickets, we were either seeing the Jonas Brothers 3-D concert or that Brenden Fraiser movie about the book that comes alive. Loving Brenden Fraiser, I was really hoping for that. We stoped at the bigger mall so my host-mom could do something. Camila stayed in the car.
The store was closing, so the doorman would only let one of us in. I stood outside the store (in the mall open area) playing Russia (Tetras) on my phone. I heard "Wind Beneath My WIngs" and felt like I should be watching 'Beaches'. I got almost 900 points by the time she finished. We got in the car, drove to CCI and stood in line. Camila said the long line waiting to go into the theater was for the Jonas Brothers. I think she was heart broken. We got to the front of the line. What did we get tickets for? Jonas Brothers Concert in 3-D. I WATCHED THE JONAS BROTHERS. Camila and I got seats (not bad ones either...) and waited for Margarita. She bought us Lime Teas (I LOVE lime things and I LOVE tea. The two together are lacking however), popcorn, and hot dogs. (I haven't had hot dogs since I've been here. I think hot dogs are a scary concept of food, but had chopped pieces in my rice medley for lunch and at the theater in the same day.)
When the commercials started, all the 8-12 year old girls squeeled. When the movie started, the screaming was almost unbearable. When they first showed the boys, they screamed more. Kid you not. I have to say, I enjoyed it. Now, let me explain why I enjoyed this. The man sitting two seats down from me was saving a seat (I assumed his daughter). O no. His girlfriend, older than me, sits down next to me. She sand everyword to every song. She and her boyfriend laughed so hard. It was really funny. I'm still in shock that I actually watched it.

Novios?

I wanted to post a picture of my loveable dog, but since Brooke stole the day with Molly, I'll let her have it.

We celebrated Tricia's birthday with Bolwing and ice cream OR food. She brought Andres (who asked if my name meant someone who doesn't like to do things--lazy), Carlos, and Jose. Juan showed up mid-game. Ecuadorians apparently don't bowl. A few lanes down from us had a really fun group. Everytime one of them would knock down more than 3 pins, they hooped and hollared.
We had fun. My Spanish is bad, so that was tragic. The group got onto me several times (mainly Deanna and Tricia, but Andres helped eventually). Juan and I were doing just fine, until Andres heard him speaking English to me, so he said something to him. Juan said that I was answering in Spanish so we were both practicing. ha. fun.
Carlos reminded me so much of Casey Perry that I could barely stand to look at him. Talk about absurd. Casey Perry, blonde hair and blues eyes for those who don't know my dear friend, was looking at me in the form of a dark skinned, black hair and eyed Ecuadorian. Talk about creepy. I think their humors are similar too. creep-y.
When it was time to go home, one of the boys took a girl-as in, make sure she gets home safe and not mugged or knifed. haha. Deanna, Carlos, Juan, and I took a cab to 6 de diciembre and got on the Ecovia. Awe, all four boys were so nice.

TODAY.
After some confusion of what time i was suppose to meet Tio OR Abulito, Tia called and said her dad was leaving at 10:30. I went to his apartment at 10:30 and Hilda, his maid, was like, O, let me call him. She finally got a hold of him, and I met him downstairs outside. He was walking in, so I went out to the car. Driver talked to me, asked me where I was from, chit chat. He was nice. I've seen him around a lot, but didn't know who he was. He asked me HOW many boyfriends I have here. I laughed and said zero. He then asked about at home, and I laughed a little harder and said none. He didn't beleive me. After Abulito got in the car, he asked if I planned on returning to Ecaudor eventually. I said I want to. He then said that I would have to to visit my boyfriends. {Insert boystrious laugh of driver.} I said I don't have any boyfriends. and they both kind of made fun of me for sticking to my true no.
We got to the school. I met with Magali, the VP figure, and she instructed me on how they do their spelling bee which is different than the US. She said she had to finish some things, but I was welcome to walk around or sit up in her office. Well, I saw the little kids outside, so I assumed Patricio (teacher I met the first Tuesday I was here that was so nice) was outside. Lacy was right. Cesar (teacher I kind of met that same Tuesday) called him off shortly after we started talking, but he came back. We chatted for about 45 minutes, joked with me about partying til 5 or 6 am, my non-existent boyfriends, and how Little Grandpa was a funny name [Abulito]. Magali found us, both judges, and showed us the list. I did the best I could at concealing my horror for the words the English as a second language kids were about to take on. I'd list some, but that would you probably couldn't decifer them.
We met the third judge, Pablo. Patricio went and got his suit jacket and put on a tie, and the three of us went to the room where it was going to go down. We took our seats, and Magali had me write my last name on a piece of paper. I also corrected the spelling of my first name, LaZy...ya.
Camila won her grade. She had 5/5 right, but so did Abigail. They had a spell off. Abigail got a word that I didn't know and she mis-spelled it. Camila got her's right. The kids are so smart. I'm so happy for them that they are getting this chance to learn so much. The United States should really consider teaching languages at an early age. The US is arrogant in the fact that we do speak English and 'everyone else' does or should learn. Those 7-12 graders can spell in English better than I can. I know people have different strong suits, and that isn't one of mine, but those kids have worked very hard to learn new words (I helped Camila write sentences to help her practice. English teacher is from South Africa {tall, skinny white boy with blue eyes and blonde hair mind you} and gave them Apartheid). I'm 22 and struggle with my broken Spanish. It's incredible at how different languages are viewed around the world.
ok.
We had snacks in the teachers lounge. Tia Rita was Tia Rita to me. I answered her and she stared at me, so Patricio cut in and helped out. Thank God for Patricio. He had to leave for a seminar, so I sat with an empty chair between me and Pablo who was connected to the rest of the group. Abulito filled that chair for a bit.
When we left, we went to a fruit market. (O, Abulito played the basic Spanish game with me again, he's so sweet. What's a subject? What's a verb? teehee). I talked to him more, so I think he got the idea that I was slightly past that. When Abulito got out at the fruit market, I asked the driver what his name was. I meant to do it earlier, but didn't. He said Marco and stuck his hand out to the backseat where I was. I shook it with my left hand. (Pablo shook my hand to greet me, which threw me off. When he was leaving, he shook my hand and I started to good-bye kiss his cheek, so he did the same to me still hand in hand haha. It was weird because no one ever acknowledges my Gringaness in that way.) We talked more in the car, and Abulito asked me my name again. (For the 10th time today.) He said it over and over trying to convert it to memory. I get Dacy or Daisy a lot, so it's understandable. He then told me it was a very pretty name.
ok then.