Warning: readers brace yourself. There's a wholeeee lot of stuff to update on here about!
Since my computer is still not working correctly, I have been experiencing difficulty updating my blog. Hence why I haven't written anything in almost a month. but no worries, I've been keeping track of everything in my journal so I will be sure to update you about EVERYTHING. Hope you enjoy because I have some rather interesting stories/experiences to share!
Let's rewind back to August 14th-21st (my trip to Rio Muchacho and Puerto Lopez) the coastal part of Ecuador
My BCA friends and I left early Sunday morning for a 6hr bus ride to the coast of Ecuador. Our first stop was in Canoa (very beachy town), about a 30 minute drive to Rio Muchacho. We were given a couple of hours to relax on the beach. The temperature in the coast is way different than in Quito. It's much warmer and people actually dress way more casual. It felt good to be wearing shorts and flip flops again! The water was pretty warm and it was a bit wavy. Clay, Eric and I explored towards the end of the beach a little, and climbed barefoot over huge rocks. We got some awesome action shots with the waves crashing into the rocks. Gorgeousss.
After spending 2/3 hrs on the beach, we hopped in the bed of a pick up truck and rode up to Rio Muchacho. This was just one of my many experiences riding in the back of a truck. SO fun, honestly is the best way to travel and see your surroundings!
Rio Muchacho is an organic farm that is about 80% sustainable! After we met the owner of the farm and were given our assignments for each day, we all dispersed to settle into our new homes for the next 3 nights. I stayed in a tree house type of cabin with a total of 12 girls. There were multiple bunk beds lined up in a row + we had a cool loft up top with hammocks as well! Our room was fully covered but my bunk was closest to the window, which didn't have anything covering it. I was on the top bunk so if it rained my bed would get very damp. I was usually pretty tired at night that it didn't really bother me. I probably had spiders crawling around me at night, but oh well, I was over it. haha
Out of the 3 mornings we were there, each person was required to take part in helping out with chores on the farm. We needed to be dressed at 6:15am and ready to work. Clay, Emily, and I were in charge of working with the horses and cows. We had to shovel cow/horse poop into a crate and then drop it off in its designated area. Each type of animal poop served a purpose on the farm. Many of times it was used as fresh fertilizer, along as a way to heat the water for the showers we took. Luckily, the poop didn't smell too bad so I didn't mind doing it. I would do it again if I had to. lol
As for our bathroom situation, we had a separate area that was located outside. We had a sink with running water and little showers that dispensed cold water most of the time. Our bathrooms were little outhouses, but were similar to natural port a potties. After you were done using the bathroom you sprinkled saw dust into the toilet. Human feces is also used to heat the water, kind of gross but interesting at the same time. haha
We had 3 meals a day on the farm, all were vegetarian, minus one meal that contained a bit of tuna. All the fruits and vegetables were so fresh! I enjoyed the food very much. There were also other students on the farm apart from BCA. It was cool to speak with the others who had traveled from other countries. Some stayed for a week, some for a month, and some for 3 months! Totally cool.
We had a really cool river that was a few steps from our cabin. After hikes and meals, we would take a dip in the river. Lots of fun. We also learned how to make chocolate and coffee from scratch. Both were lengthy processes, but the end results were amazing. Our hot melted chocolate was drizzled on top of fresh slices of banana. The coffee had to have been one of the best coffees I've ever tasted. Super deliciosoooo.
We were also given a tour of the farm. There is a primary school for children located on the finca. The children are taught basic subjects learned in school but are also taught about sustainability and the environment! I think that is such a great thing to learn about at such a young age!
On the 2nd day we had a small hike to a tree that was very old and MASSIVE. Its roots were so strong that you could climb up it as if you were rock climbing. I went up to the top and it was such an awesome experience. I climbed it barefoot and really got a good arm workout. We had the best tour guide ever, named Edgar! He was about the same age as my friends and I and was very knowledgeable about all the plants and animals that surround Rio Muchacho.
The next day we set off on a 2 and half hr hike to a Monkey forest. Some students took horses both there and back. I shared a horse with another student and rode the horse on our return to the farm. A majority of the hike was very simple, but it got a little intense when we entered the forrest part of the hike. While in the forest, we hiked up slippery/step terrain. We actually got to see 5 black little monkeys! The cool part about it was, we got the monkeys to hallow at us (holla back monoooooo, woo woo). I'm embarrassing, I know, but it was totally necessary to make that joke. jaja
The "horse" I rode back on was quite tiny. I would consider it to be a pony that you would find at a petting zoo. Just kiddin' but seriously it was slow at times, but when it wanted to race it really picked up the speed! For some reason it was very competitive with my friend Sara's horse. My horse refused to let her pass and would begin galloping next to her every time she approached our side. Very funny but a lot of fun!
After hiking, Edgar showed us how to make our own rings from a type of wood that is similar to the coconut family. We carved them down to fit our finger perfectly, and after an hour or so of intense sanding, our rings were beautifully polished!
Here comes the update on Puerto Lopez! ( a fishing town on the coast of Ecuador about 5/6 hours from Rio Muchacho)
After our last morning at Rio Muchacho, a group of 12 students (including myself) ventured out in route to Puerto Lopez. This trip was on our own, without the help of our director and assistant director. We needed to take a total of 3 buses to get to Puerto Lopez. How we didn't manage to get lost...no one knowssss. In total, the cost of the 3 buses I took to Puerto Lopez was no more than $6. Unbelievable for 5/6 hours of traveling.
When we arrived in Puerto Lopez, we were greeted by Clara (the owner of the hostel we stayed at/tour guide for the national parks in the area we stayed). Clara was the best! She hooked us up with the best deals ever and really helped make our trip run smoothly. She took care of everything and was a saint! The total cost of our stay in Puerto Lopez for 3 nights/4 days was no more than $150. That price included: our stay in the hostel, 3 meals each day, trip to a private beach, trip to a national park + beautiful white sand beach, a long whale watching boat ride, snorkeling, and transportation to and from each place. You can not beat that price!
The first day we were there, I went for a 30 minute run on the beach with Clay, Mah and Norito. It felt good to go for a run, plus it was SOOO much easier to run on the coast than it is in Quito. I can thank the lower elevation for that! Later that night we got to help volunteer an hour of our time with locals from the area. Clara owns a small school across from the hostel that has a language exchange program. We got to work with a group of 6-8 young adults and practice our Spanish as they practiced their English. It was very similar to the class I took last spring semester. I'm glad I was able to help out!
The next day we took a ride over to a beach that was about 15-20 minutes from our hostel. The weather was kind of crumy but we pretty much had the entireee beach to our self. The undertow was pretty strong but we still enjoyed our time both in the water and out. We saw many baby sized man of wars along the shore. Thankfully no one got stung. We also found the cutest little dog that was abandoned on the beach. He was so dirty but we tried to make him a little house out of pieces of drift wood. The entire day he sat on top of my favorite hoodie. I made sure I washed that hoodie good because there's a good chance that dog was covered in fleas. yuckk
Our 2nd night out, we hit up the center of the town. All along the beach are small bars with lots of music! It was very calming to enjoy a frozen cocktail while listening to the sound of crashing waves. We enjoyed each others company and made some new friends with the locals! At one point, a family who owned a bar, was calling me their 'profesora'. I would like to think I did a great job teaching them some basic English. hahah
The next day we took a ride over to a national park that is home to a small village of people that live in a way similar to those who lived during pre-incan times. On our small hike of the park, we saw almond trees, cotton trees, banana trees, etc. We also visited a natural sulfurous bath. A few students went in, but I only took part in the natural mud mask made from soil, sulfurous water and other types of minerals. It made your face feel very fresh and rejuvenated!
After the national park, we hit up a national park beach called Los Frales! A gorgeous white sand beach with clear blue, calm water. Clay and I decided to run up a trail to a lookout point. The view from the top was so beautiful. Our last night in Puerto Lopez we had a bonfire on the beach. We purchased small marshmallows, bars of chocolate, and vanilla flavored cookies to make s'mores. Not your standard US s'mores but still good!
For our last day in Puerto Lopez, we took an hour boat ride to a private little island. Before reaching the island, we had the chance to whale watch! Luckily for us, there happened to be two huge whales no more than 50-100 meters out from our boat! My camera died early on in this trip, so unfortunately I could not take any pics. Thankfully all my friends still had battery and memory left in their cameras! It was amazinggg to watch the whales pop in and out of the water from such a close view! You could tell which was male and which was female because of the way they would act. Whales are usually found in the Arctic Ocean during feeding times, but they come out to the Pacific for mating. Males are the ones typically seen doing flips out of the water. This is their way of showing off to the females. If a female likes what it sees, they flap their fins up and down in the water. I think it was pretty clear that the female was expressing interest in the male whale! hah
After whale watching, we went on a 3hr hike on a secluded island. We saw so many blue footed boobies! They weren't even scared when we walked by. The male and females make very different noises from each other. Males make a whistle sound and females tend to squawk more. They are usually seen in pairs and are very calm. I think they are adorable! Their fur looks so clean and their head is super cute! We also saw 2 albatross birds which is VERY rare!
After the hike, we went snorkeling for about 30 minutes in the water right by the island we hiked on. I have never snorkeled before so this was a really cool experience! It's a bit difficult to breathe through the tube at first, but after a couple of puffs of air you get the hang of it. I saw lots of colored fish, blue starfish, coral reef, big blue fish, and a clear little jellyfish. Muy chevere experiencia. I'm looking forward to more snorkeling in the Galapagos where the water is more clear and there is a better selection of species to see!
For our last night in Puerto Lopez, we decided to cook dinner on our own. Clara was nice enough to let us use the kitchen in her school to prepare dinner. You'll never believe what we made! Early in the morning a few of my friends went out by the shore in search of finding some fresh shark to purchase. Every morning fisherman are on the shore selling all kinds of seafood! We purchased 6.5 pounds of hammerhead shark for only $8! Although we recently found out that hammerhead shark is apparently on the "endangered species" list, I can assure you we had no idea previously. Sorry I'm not sorry shark, but you were delishhh. woops =/
The dinner was a total team effort! We had no idea how to cook shark, let alone how to filet a shark. We did our best googling recipes for shark but we kind of just went with the flow of everything. Clay and Alma did a pretty bad ass job of filleting our shark into small pieces and Meg was in charge of marinating the shark in cilantro, lemon and garlic. I was in charge of making fried sweet plantains and pan frying potatoes in garlic, onions and oil. Yummy. Jordan pan seared each filet of shark and let me tell you, this shark was SO good. I was expecting shark to have a very fishy taste, but it was not fishy at all. It was very tender and oh so delicious. It ranks up there in my top favorite type of fish! Sadly, it's technically illegal to eat so that could be my last time ever having shark for dinner. =[
After dinner, we gathered all of our belongings and headed home on our 7hr bus ride. 12 bucks for a direct ride to Quito overnight. not too shabbyyyy.
And here begins the the update on my sister and cousins 2 WEEK stay in Quito:
So I arrived to my house around 5:30am on Sunday ( Aug. 21st) after my long bus ride home from Puerto Lopez. Laura (my sister) and Dana (my cousin) arrived the day before on Saturday. They rented a really nice apartment in the historical part (old town) of Quito. Although the apartment was very nice and safe, everyone would continue to express their concern for my sister and cousins safety. At night the historical center is not the safest place to be in, many people try to rob those who stand out as foreigners or should I say "gringos". Luckily after their one week stay, nothing bad happened to them! That day we went out to la Mariscal to check out some places for different tours.
The next day I had my first day of classes. I didn't start my internship until this past Monday so I had a lot of free time to spend with my family even though I had to attend a few classes. The first week I shopped around for classes, to see what would fit in my schedule best and what would be required for me to complete my core classes at home. I was originally signed up for 2 classes: a water color class and a class that would be considered as my writing intensive course. Turns out, I am no longer taking either of the two classes. Who would have known! haha but the art class required me to buy $80 worth of supplies and come in every Friday for only one hour of studio time. Not gunna happen when I have no classes scheduled on Fridays and already have a ton of the supplies needed back at my house in the US. So since the school dropped my Poesia Ecuatoriana class (writing intensive) I was frantically searching for another class to take its place. I tried two other classes but there was not a lot of writing involved. Clearly a problem. After looking into more classes with my director and e-mailing Etowns registrar office, I came to conclusion that I could take American Literature. The class is taught entirely in English and the professor is a quirky middle aged man from the United States. I enjoy the class very much and their is a good mix of Ecuadorian students and foreigners. Usually it is very difficult to make friends with the Ecuadorians on campus (especially girls) but a few of the students in my class have displayed an interest in talking with me. =] It makes me glad that not all Ecuadorians at USFQ are afraid to make new friends with foreigners.
As for my other class, I am taking an Intermediate Conversation Spanish class. It is very fun and helps with oral speaking in Espanol. My professors name is Claudia and she is quite the character. She lovesss throwing in English words here and there and enjoys making students laugh. Some of her favorite words to use are "sexy" and "chevere". She also jokingly tells us that we can bring some cervezas to class if it will help us speak better Spanish. She also suggests that being "friends with benefits" (amigovio-cross between friend and boyfriend/girlfriend) can help your Espanol as well. hahahha Oh Claudia, such a jokster.
Did I mention all morning/afternoon classes were cancelled the other day? I got to school and found out that there was a celebration for USFQs 23rd birthday. First the President gave a little speech in the gymnasium that I didn't know existed, and afterwards we were escorted outside to the main center of the school. Here, I watched a runway show of students modeling the sport teams new uniforms and new school apparel that is sold in the bookstore. I thought this was a joke, but nope, apparently this occurs every year. As soon as the fashion show ended we had the most decadent cake that was prepared by the culinary students (USFQ has one of the best culinary programs in South America). Followed by cake was glasses of RED CHAMPAGNE. If I wasn't in shock enough by everything else, I almost died right there on the spot. Thinking only one glass per student would be given out, we were allowed to take 2nds, and after that waiters were fully refilling your glass. Some of us may have had too many free drinks, but wow was it good! What school in the United States would ever have such an event, let alone serve unlimited amounts of alcohol to students por GRATIS (for free). After taking advantage of a few drinks, I some how drifted towards a few other students that were from the US as well. We instantly became the best of friends that day and hung out with a few guys on the USFQ soccer game. After having a blast, I had to attend my American Lit. class with my friend Madde. I have never attended class before after consuming alcohol. What an experience that was. My school is honestly the best! The campus is beautiful, and the profesoras are great! How lucky am I to attend such a prosperous school?!
Back to more stuff I did with Laura and Dana. The first week they were here, we took a ride up on the Teleferico. A cable car ride that brought us up mountain Pichincha! Really beautiful view! The next night, Diego took us to Papallacta (a place that has pools filled with hot natural spring water). It was very relaxing! It's important to shift back and forth from the hot water into cold water, so you don't get dehydrated. I think Dana may have learned that the hard way! She was very ill the next day, and may have regretted not taking a dip in the cold springs! jaja
We also took a trip to Cotopaxi. Laura and Dana were already staying over in a Hacienda in Papagayo. I left early in the morning and took a ride with a few other travelers that were heading to the same place as me. While in the car, I met a young couple from Israel. Maya was visiting her sister that lives in Quito and works for the Embassy. I also met this cool guy from Germany named "Ole". He was about 25 yrs old and has taken the semester off to travel from the "middle of the world" to "the end of world". His deadline to complete this was 8 weeks! We became pals on our Cotopaxi excursion. The tour we went on was called "Cotobike tour". We were driven up to 4,500m on Cotopaxi (the tallest active volcano in the world) and hiked up to the Refugee center which is located at 4,810m! It was probably the most intense 300m I have walked in my life. I can run 300m on flat land in under 50 seconds, but just to hike up this 300m, it probably took at least 45 minutes to over an hour. Literally had to take a breather after every 10-15 steps. It also didn't help with all the wind that was there that day! Some how Laura and I managed to make it up to the refugee center without dying. We were supposed to go up another 200m or so to the top where the glacier is, but due to the intensity of the wind, it was too dangerous. What a shameee.
The hike down Cotopaxi was a piece of cake compared to the trip up! Laura was very cautious and I was literally running down the mountain. It was very slippery but reminded me a bit of what it feels like when I go snowboarding. Cool adrenaline rush. (Which reminds me friends at home, gotta start planning for this winters ski trip! haha)
Once we got back to the parking lot of the base level, we hoped on mountain bikes and were ready for the 9 mile bike ride down Cotopaxi. It was so step that you didn't even need to pedal. We had to hold down onto the rear break the entire time down the mountain because of how steep it was. There were huge rocks that we needed to carefully dodge. At one point I almost flipped over the handle bars when my tires skidded out from under me. My friend Ole asked if I wanted him to take a video of me going down the mountain. I'm glad he was video taping me, because sure enough I wiped out hardddddd when I squeezed the break too hard. I was wearing 2 pairs of spandex pants, and the fall was so hard that it put a hole in one of them. It also left me with a big cut on my knee! It took me a couple of minutes to walk off the pain, but once I saw there was no bone popping out of my knee, I was good to go. I hopped back on my bike and finished the ride down to a lake! Good times, good timesss.
The next day we went to Otovalo. I did pretty much the same stuff from the time I went with my BCA program. Laura and Dana bought quite a few stuff but I didn't buy too much this time. Only a small souvenir for my neighbor! Oh yeah and a new Alpaca sweater! so warm and cute! We also went to the bizcocho factory! Yummy biscuits made from flour, egg and lots of butter!
The following Sunday, Laura and Dana were supposed to return to the United States. At that very moment, Hurricane Irene was taking a tole on Long Island. JFK was not allowing any flights to depart or land until the weather calmed down. My family lives south of Merrick road so they needed to evacuate our home immediately. Luckily there was no damage done to my house, but my cousins block was hit badly! His house is right on the cove, so their street was flooded completely. There was so much water that his neighbor was kayaking in the street! locooo. As a result of this weather, Laura and Dana were required to stay another week. I know they were soooooo upset by this (NOT). hahaha they were LOVING Ecuador and had no desire to return back to the good ol' US. As much as I loved having them here, I reallyyy found myself spending way more money than usual! Obviously it's no where near how much I'd spend at home in a week, but for Ecuador spending, I was dropping cash like it was no tomorrow. Thankfully, I have a very generous cousin who paid for a lot of my stuff! =] I told her I'll make up for it when she has a baby that I can spoil! haha
That week we went on a tour to Mindo! We went tubing, zip lining and went on a tour of an Orchard garden that was a home to butterflies and humming birds! Tubing was fun, but it wasn't crazy exciting/intense. Still can't beat it for only $6. The canopy tour was so sickkkk! For $13, we went zip lining through 13 different canopy lines. It was seriously one of the coolest experiences ever! Most of the time, you rode alone on the lines. I tried 2 different positions with my tour guide attached to my line. One being called the "Superwoman" and the other "la mariposa". Both were a bit awkward because of how your legs and body were positioned (haha) but they were lots of fun! For superwoman, your body was positioned horizontally, and it felt like you were legit flying. Mariposa was upside down. Totallyy crazy! The orchard garden was beautiful, so many types of exotic plants! Some of the butterflies were gorgeouss in color! and the humming birds were so fascinating. They fly so quickly that they can remain in the air at the same place for a long period of time. They are difficult to get pictures of because of how fast they are! I love them!
Last Friday we got tickets to the Ecuador vs. Jamaica futbol game. It was just a friendly match, but Ecuador did awesome! Laura and I rocked our new jerseys with pride and had a blast at the game. Later on at night, we went out to a Mediterranean restaurant called "Aladdin's" with Diego and his high school friend Felipe! We had delicious falafel and tried some flavored hookah. Only $4 for everyone. wickedd cheap.
The next day, Diego's family took us to their families Hacienda which is only about 15-20 minutes from Quito. The hacienda is called San Jorge Eco-Lodge. The property was gorgeous and we got to go on an intense hike to a few small waterfalls. Awesome views! After the hike we had some lunch and headed back to Quito. That night, we all went out dancing in la Mariscal. It was especially funny to watch my sister try and dance salsaaaa. She clearly doesn't have moves as good as mine. I'm not sure where she came from because both my mom and dad are great dancers as well! hah
Early the next morning, Diego's dad Daniel made a phone call to a local "Shaman". What better way for Laura and Dana to end their stay in Ecuador, than to make a visit to a "Shaman". This experience was like no other! We drove about 45 minutes early Saturday morning and were right on time for our appointment with the Shaman. We actually needed to wait a few minutes for "Mama Mercy's" arrival since she was traveling from Otovalo (at least 2 hrs away). She is only present near Pifo on the weekends. We were lucky that she had time to squeeze us into her schedule. A shaman is someone who practices communication with the spiritual world. People usually see a Shaman when they have a specific problem that no others can solve. You don't necessarily need to have a "problem" to see a Shaman. People go to distress and free themselves from any bad energy they may be experiencing. I have heard that some Shamans make you strip down to nothing, but I was made aware that this Shaman lets you wear a bathing suit through out the whole process. Little did I know, she made me take my bikini top off and only let me wear the bottoms. Guess there was no arguing with Mama Mercy? haha
WARNING: SOME GORY/ INTENSE DESCRIPTIONS AHEAD: continue reading if you wish, it is actually very INTERESTING!
The first process of my Shaman experience, was a rather interesting one. Mama Mercy whipped out a live Guinea pig (Cuy-pronounced Kwi) and automatically snapped the spine and neck. All right in front of me. woahhhh. Next step, she rubbed the dead furry cuy all over my body. There was CUY FUR everywhere! (haha that just sounds terrible). It was very soft but it was a bit disturbing to hear it's body flopping back and forth. =[
Next part she had me turn around, and took a huge swig of alcohol from a water bottle. She then proceeded to spit the alcohol into a flame of fire that ferociously came at me. Luckily, the flame did not reach my body, just an immense amount of heat!
After this, she then skinned my guinea pig to see what problems I may have wrong with me. I was expecting her to use some type of sharp object/razor to skin the cuy, but nopeeee. She did it all bare handed! a hugeeee WTF moment.
She pretty much just took her fingers and ripped the skin up from the cuys butt. pobrecitooo!
The organs of the guinea pig seemed fine but she said I have bad lower back pain. Which is totally true because I hurt my back very badly several years ago. She also told me that I have very tense shoulders and neck. also true.
Next step, she rubbed some type of herbal/alcohol liquid all over me. She then had me inhale a rag soaked in more alcohol stuff. Who knows what that was, but whatever, she was doing her thing so I just obeyed. It at least cleared up my congestion for a majority of the day.
After that, she took more swigs of alcohol and began spitting it out all over my body. Including directly in my face. Thanks Mama Mercy, you're too kind. I then tried to open my eyes, but alcohol slowly began to drop into my eyes. What a burning sensation that was!
Mama Mercy then grabbed a bundle of shacapa leaves? that were covered in another type of alcohol. She began to hit my body with the bundle and say some type of shaman words. The leaves didn't seem to hurt, but the alcohol began to burn my skin a bit. I also developed a few small welts on my body that resembled bug bites. They went away about an hr or so after my Shaman experience. After being smacked by a plant, she rubbed a candle all over me that she then lit and told me more things about myself. While looking into the burning candle, she told me I'm the type of person who sets big goals and that I do my best to achieve them. She also said I have a lot of good energy, which I was glad to here!
The whole experience took about 20 minutes and was $40 a person. You're not supposed to shower for at least a day, but I kind of forgot and found myself swimming in a pool later that day. Mah baddd. I was expecting to smell gross after the whole thing, but you really smell very clean and my body felt so relaxed and pain free! I still think it was a great experience whether or not it truly works!
This past week was the start of my internship at an organization called ABEI. It's for children with mental/physical disabilities. At first I was trying to work at a school that was only a 2 minute walk from my house, but there wouldn't be enough social work kind of stuff to do. I need to leave my house by 7am on Mondays and Wednesdays to get to my internship by 8am. It's annoying to have to get up so early each time and take 2 buses to get there, but it really is a great organization. On my fist day, I was a bit disappointed because I did not work with the social worker. I got to play with the children which was fun, but other than that I had to feed them, change their clothes for nap time, and clean dishes. Not a whole lot of social work there. Luckily I had a much better experience on Wednesday! I worked the entire day on the side of ABEI's Social Worker (Trabajadora Social). Fabiola (Social Worker) put me right to work. We were so busy throughout the entire day. It's a very fast paced environment which I like! At one point in the day, we had 3 families in Fabiolas office at once! so crazyyyy. I was working on interviewing new families that were looking to receive support from ABEI. I worked on Social Histories which was cool because I just learned how to write those up my junior year of college. Doing everything in Spanish, makes everything a bit more difficult. It's such great practice for me if I want to work in a setting that serves a large Hispanic population. Questions that would normally be so easy to ask, require a lot more thinking because I need to translate everything in my head into Espanol. All the documents are in Spanish, so I have learned new words that I never knew before. I like that Fabiola let's me get a "hands on experience". I learn very well when I get to try things out on my own. During the interviews, one of the documents asks you what problems are presented in the family. Fabiola always asks my opinion so I need to think on my feet and come up with an answer in Spanish! I think it's going to be a great place to have my internship this semester! Totally looking forward to this Monday! =]
I think that just about does it, for updating the last month of my life here! I can't believe that it's been almost 2 months already! Only 3 more remain =[ If I think of anything I may have forgotten I shall re update this but until then, chao chao my friends!
P.s.: Since this update took me foreverrrr to write today, I can't guarantee I can attach pictures just yet, but hopefully I'll have pics by tomorrow to match up with their descriptions!
Muchas gracias for your patience and attention span to read this whole post! <3
New favorite word/phrase: Siga no mas! (meaning: Go!)
you would think this means: don't go anymore, but nope it means CONTINUE! don't stop! =]
