Valentine's Day in Quito!

El dia de amor y amistad so far has been great! I bought my tickets for Machu Picchu along with 3 other friends, and we could not be more excited.  I cannot wait to see the ruins, it has been a dream of mine for a while!
For Valentine's Day, my friends and I are going to a Thai restaurant and then possible to a rave, with free glowsticks!
My morning began on an interesting note.  I was so excited that I actually woke up early to go practice.  However when I was about halfway to school I realized I somehow forgot all of my music (the only time it has not been in my bag!).  So I decided to go to the university clinic because my ear has been bothering me.  The doctor looked in my ear and said "perfecto" and the same for my other.  She gave me a prescription for claricort (no clue why or what it is...) and told me to chew gum on the bus.  So we will see how that goes.
Ciao!

Lluvia! (Rain!)

Today I had to buy bus tickets for my trip to Salinas.  My friends and I are going to spend Carnaval (aka Mardi Gras) on the beach! We got off the bus and it started to pour, thankfully I had my umbrella! They were also quite impressed that I knew how to get there perfectly.  Cannot thank my host family enough for all of their help!
For lunch we went to McDonalds, it's very odd eating meat again because I'm so used to ordering a BigMac without meat.
It was also a very expensive day.  I had to put a $50 deposit for a class trip. I need $30 for DayGlow tickets for tomorrow.  I'm also buying my plane ticket for Macchu Picchu tomorrow.  It feels so weird to all the sudden be paying so much when normally I can get by on less than $5 a day.
Nothing much else to say, expect I really need to stop procrastinating.  I have so much homework!

How I love Ecuadorian Weekends

This friday I went to my friend's house for a huasipichai (the quichua word for house-warming party). Tricia taught English in the valley near Quito last semester and loved it so much that now she's going to USFQ for four years! She just got her own little house, it's very cute and even has llamas in the back! I met some great ecuadorians, so that was a nice change of pace from all the gringos I meet.
Then next day we went to Tricia's old valley and saw Star Wars in 3D.  It was the only movie playing at the convenient time, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.  The bus home took us to a station we'd never been to, but we figured it out and made it home safely! The buses are so cheap, generally $0.25 or for long trips $1 an hour.  Nothing like Chicago's $2.25!
Then today (Sunday) I had to take some photos for my photography class. I headed down to the park 15 minutes from my house and took photos of the bike plaza thing.  I talked to a little kid named Carlos, he was so cute.  On the way back my taxi driver talked to me about Whitney Houston, the debt in the US, Canada (I think he said something about moving there...), and Europe.  I'm not sure quite how I feel because about 30 seconds after I got in, he asked me where in the US I was from.  And here I thought I was getting so good at blending. Hopefully it's my blue eyes and not my Spanish...
Now I'm just trying to study for French, which is not going very well.  I think I've forgotten how to study...

Earthquakes and Volcanoes on a Tuesday Morning

Early this morning I was woken up and realized my bed was shaking rather vigorously.  And I'm quite proud of myself for immediately thinking, "Oh it's just an earthquake," then promptly going back to bed.  When I got up I tried to google about the earthquake but did not find any results until I started using google.ecuador.  Glad the rest of the world could care less!

Then on my way to school I saw Cotopaxi from the bus window! It was a beautiful view.  Normally there are too many clouds, but I was on the bus at just the right time! The picture to the left is basically what I saw, so majestic! I also learned that it is an angry mountain/volcano, so it can be one of the more difficult ones to climb.  I love the thought of the mountains, and everything on earth, being alive and having moods.  I'm definitely taking this mentality with me!

Fireworks on a Tuesday Night

I was just sitting in my room, thinking "I really need to start my homework," when suddenly I heard the familiar sound of the 4th of July.  I then thought, I'm going to watch those instead! No clue what they were for, and in Quito I don't think there really needs to be a reason.  It was a nice 10 minutes!

Other than the fireworks, nothing very interesting to report.  Just trying to get through classes and figure out when I'm supposed to practice.  It's weird living two busses away from where I used to spend my life (aka the practice rooms).  Looks like the luxury of classes that don't start until 11:30 is going to end for me.  Hello early morning practice sessions! 

I added some photos from my trip to the hot springs so check out my facebook to see them! facebook.com/nnelson1129

Goodnight! 

Hot Springs and the Super Bowl!

Saturday I went to Papallacta which is a town known for its hot springs.  We paid $7 to sit in delightfully warm pools next to a river nestled in between mountains.  It was relaxing and gorgeous.  It was a two hour bus ride to the city and when we got on there were no seats.  After we reached our city, we hoped on the back of a truck and rode up to the resort area.  It was quite an adventure! I purchased an empanada and some fresh chifles (potato chips made from plantains/bananas, not quite sure exactly, all I'm sure about is that I love them!).  It was definitely a day well spent.
Today was Super Bowl Sunday and in la Mariscal (the area we normally go for ladies night) there are a couple US bars and we watched the game with several gringos! It was super expensive, never going back to a US bar again! I'll take my cheap/free drinks!
I really need to do some homework, but cannot bring myself to do it. Sleep just always sounds like the better option! Buenas noches!

Flight, boat, bus, boat, Rainforest! Boat, bus, boat, flight Quito!

Sorry for the absence, I went to the jungle and then have been super busy since my return!
Tiputini, a biodiversity station in the lowland Amazonian rainforest, was AMAZING! I saw some many beautiful and interesting animals, plants, and insects.  After the 10 hour trip into the rainforest, we went for a swim in the Tiputini River, it was perfect! The next day we woke up bright and early (breakfast is at 6:30AM every morning).  My guide Santiago (who was the greatest!) took us to the canopy.  We ascended about 100 feet onto the tops of the trees.  We had to wear harnesses and walk across some very wobbly bridges.  The view was gorgeous, and we even same some Macaws (which is probably one of the coolest things I've even seen).  We spent most of our days walking through the rainforest, Santiago suddenly spotting wildlife or plants and explaining them.
Some of my favorite parts of the trip were the 5 types of monkeys we saw, the ants that tasted like lemons, the canoe that almost tipped and constantly had to have water bucketed out and got stuck for a good five minutes (but we also saw bats and a caiman), floating down a tributary to a tributary of the Amazon River (it totally had piranhas and caiman in it, thankfully I'm still alive!), the monkeys at the hotel who jumped on me and stole my fruit, and the great views from the canopy!
It was a fantastic trip that I will never forget!
Back to normal Quito life now, meeting lots of people, making travel plans (I really hope to go to Machu Picchu over spring break and a beach for Carnival).  I'm just trying to keep up with classes, which is hard with my lack of productivity in this beautiful city!  Tonight I'm going to salsa lessons with some friends and I'm quite excited!
I'll try to keep up with this a little more from now on!
P.S. Here's the link to my facebook photo album ( https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150575999858112.402644.519123111&type=3 )