oh my word..

Oh my word...

I might start every one of these with those three words!

So...on Monday, we left Otavalo after breakfast and a couple hours in the market. We were encouraged to barter with the vendors...which was a little uncomfortable because I didn't want to offend anyone and what they made! But...I got some good deals! On our way to Quito to spend the night, we stopped at the Equator and learned about some astronomy and took lots of fun pictures :p soon to come on facebook! My professor asked the man explaining everything if the toilets flushed in different directions in the north and south hemispheres (here you go mom.....) and.........they do when they are farther away from the Equator....that's what I got out of the conversation. haha. After that, we went back to Hotel Quito and got ready for dinner at "Pim's" with Covenant missionaries who live in Ecuador. It was Sarah's birthday, so later that night we went up to the restaurant/bar on the top floor to celebrate! There was another group there who we later found out was from New York. Right before we left, the waiter came over to our table with "siete cervezas" (7 beers) and said that the group had covered the drinks some of us had ordered along with the beers. An awkward situation was presented before us....no one really wanted to drink because we were just about to leave, but we felt rude if we didn't take the already paid for drinks...so we took them and went over to briefly say "thank you." I think most of us drained the rest of them once we got back to our rooms.

On Tuesday, we left Quito and heading towards Cotococha (la selva - jungle)!! On the way, we stopped to get lunch in this tiny little town. After a few more hours on the bus, we arrived in the jungle! Abby and I were placed as roomies for the trip, which has been such a blessing! So..we started carrying our bags to our cabin when some workers at Cotococha took them from us and brought them to our cabin for us! So nice! Then we had a little orientation for our time in Ecuador before dinner. Dinner here starts with some sort of delicious soup..and then progresses on to rice, meat and vegetables (usually). That night we played "bananagrams" in Spanish...which was a bit tricky, but good practice, I suppose! Before we came back to play, Abby, Ryan and I went back to our cabin. We had lanterns, but I used my flashlight in the cabin, too (thanks dad!) ....but....I found a ginormous cockroach! Well...I think it was a cockroach, but either way...it was bigger than any bug I've ever seen...and I'm not really a fan! haha. The cabins were screened in so we were able to hear a lot of the noises in the jungle -- perfect for sleeping! :)

I need to sleep now so I can be prepared for classes tomorrow! But..I'll finish filling you all in tomorrow....and hopefully I'll finish getting you all caught up with my life here!

<3