Smoke Stack

This is all takes place on a class 'field trip.'
Smoking here is very common. One darling dear in my class got on the bus and asked our professor if he could smoke. All I could think was that the sign clearly says not too. The teacher told him to ask his class. He chuckles, then turns and asks the rest of the bus. No one cared, and one said, "only if I can too." He gave her a cigarette, and the windows were opened. (Since they smoked to and from Cumbaya, I smell like a smoke stack. It's unusual for me.)
I sat with Sofia, and we chatted. She really wants me to speak Spanish. I tried, but my Spanish is so bad. We laughed about it. woo. Thankfully, I had my baby dictionary and the words she didn't know, we looked up. (Lana=wool. That's what shigras are made out of. Shigras are bags made by indigenous people.)
Our bus ride was very bumpy and through towns. Outside the Panamerican highway, the idea of an inter-state does NOT exist. We stopped at a rocky destination and there were 4 English-as-a-first-language speakers present. All four of us are also in the English taught section of her class. She asked if we wanted English or Spanish, and one girl piped up and said Spanish. The other three of us just kind of took it. The Ecuadorians wanted Spanish, so it was in Spanish. Denise (prof) came to use to explain what she was saying to us in English aftewards. All the pictures are taken here.
We got back on the bus after about 20 minutes. Robert (not Roberto) turned around in his chair to talk across the row between us, and asked me something in Spanish. Then, without pausing, he sang-talked, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round." That made me laugh and I said, "uh-huh" through my girly giggles. He then turned to his friends, satisifed that he was right.
We got to our desitination (after some confusion on bus driver orders) of Papallacta. We went to see the mountain wall, but it was so foggy we couldn't see across the ravine. Two from the States got in the pool of hot springs. The Ecuadorians kind of made fun, but it was good fun. We all laughed, and then loaded back on the bus.
We walked from the university to the stop to catch the bus to Quito. I sat next to a guy who was taking up more than his own seat, but was not big enough to do so. Normally, I would fight as much as possible to avoid contact, but he was nodding off, so I let it be. I got a cab FROM the Rio Coca station TO my apartment. I told him the streets, like usual, and then asked how much. He said $2.50. I think he was waiting for me to question, but since I've be charged more for a shorter distance, I was expecting to pay more and did not argue. When we got in front of my apt building, I handed him a $5. He said he didn't have change for it, so I gave him the coins I had. I got that ride for $2.10. He wasn't super thrilled with it, but he took it. So, I WON! Eh eh eh! It's a big day. I've been charged $3.50 from my friend apartment which is half the distance from where I started at tonight. I dislike many taxi drivers.