Cotopaxi

My lungs have never hurt so bad in my life. Prior to yesterday, I've never had a reason for them to physically hurt. I went to the active volcano or Cotopaxi. It's beautiful. Although there were no trees, it still managed to be green from the little tiny bits growing on the ground. (See PICS.) It felt really nice outside the first time the class stopped to look at the rocks (friends volcanology class trip). The higher we went, the cooler it got. I bought a men's jacket for $21 for Friday. It did the job.
We got up to the highest drivable point on the volcano (by big bus), and got out. I put my men's jacket on, and started out with the class. We got to a nice slant area. He talked and then said, "Vamos!" He ran down the slant. A few people started out after him, but the rest were in shock. (This is the pic where the people look very tiny on the large brownish hill.) The second half was a lot easier than the first half. You could sink your feet in and get some traction. The top half was not as soft, so it was more difficult. All was good, we rested at the bottom to hear him talk, and all wondered, "How do we get back up?" Well, that was soon answered. We climb the way we came down. The bottom part was easier, and then the top laughed at us all. One girl needed a band-aid because she feel into a spikey lava rock. I have a small scrap on one knee, which is impressive because I was having major issues.
The class could go up the volcano to the station if they could make it. I started out with Kelsey, but did no make it far (Kelsey touched the snow). After getting over being light headed, I moved up a little further. I did that two more times. I sat in the complete volcano silence for about 30 minutes taking pictures, and made my way back to the bus. They were watching the Ecuadorian made, "Que tan lejos." I only caught the second part, so I didn't know what was going on.
Movies watched: SuperCool (Pirated SuperBad. Same movie, just translated to that), Sin City, and Yes Man. Food was random the entire day. We got to our hostal in Baños, and Deanna, Tricia, Kelsey, and I went to a place to get food. I hate a room temperature chocolate shake and a ham sandwich. For the 4 of us to eat there, it cost $4.90. One had a coke and a cheese sandwich. Another had a Sprite and chicken nuggets with frieds, and the fourth only had a shake. Yes, UNDER $5.

Tomorrow will be about Baños. I am covered in pyroclastic crap from a place we stopped, so I have to make that go away---not proofing this, so I apologize for spelling and grammatical errors.