Oh man!

Well-- It has definitely been a while since I updated-- I've gotten at leat one written request for a new blog.. honestly I've just been SO busy I haven't had time or energy. Every day I catch the school bus-- which is really just a yellow van-- at 6:10 and I get home around 6:30 pm, at which point I have lessons to plan and food to eat etc. Plus, for as busy as I've been, nothing too exciting has happened.

Well- Banos was pretty amazing. I posted pictures. The pictures start in Quito when we went out for Andrew's birthday- it was insane.... as you will see-- but there was good dancing and it was FUN! Then we went out to celebrate that we were done with TESOL (teaching english as a second language). That may have been the most fun I've ever had in my life! Finally, we went to Banos, and you'll see pictures there too. We started out by taking this bike ride to el Pailon del Diablo-- I've included all the pictures, but it was one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen! I even jumped off a bridge! It wasn't bungee jumping because the cord wasn't flexible at all-- it was sort of like swinging. It was a RUSH for sure!

Finally- in this quick update- we had a MASSIVE Halloween party the day after Halloween... but it was Thursday and everyone had work off on Friday because of el Dia de los Fieles Difuntos-- or Day of the Dead. So we threw a house party. We had beer pong and flip cup- and we invited everyone we knew, which meant that there were Americans, Ecuadorians, English and Australians. We had 18 year olds and 60 year olds. It was crazy.... house parties are not really my thing, but it was a blast.

I dressed up as Smurfette (yes I got the idea from Emily Karrs), but I didn't realize that there was no such thing as blue face paint in Ecuador- so I bought blue eyeshadow and face lotion and I coverd myself. The result was that I looked more like a dead nurse than Smurfette, but it was fun. In the picture I'm with my roommates Rozana and Angie who dressed up as the Doublemint Twins!


Things have been going well at work. The Fiestas de Quito are coming up in December. December 6 is the anniversary of the Independence of Quito. Most of the streets here are named for state holidays, and so it actually makes it really easy to remember when things are. For example, one of the best malls is on a street named 6 de Diciembre. I actually live on 9 de Octubre (which I BELIEVE is the independence of Guayaquil- another big Ecuadorian city-- but I'm not sure.)

Finally-- I am starting to get kind of homesick- especially as Thanksgiving is coming up, but it's okay. I FINALLY got on the Skype train, and soon I will be getting my own Skype number where you can call me for CHEAP! For now, I highly recommend that you download it (www.skype.com). It's totally free, but you have to put money on the account to call. You call using your computer, but that means that anyone can call me for two cents a minute!! I talked on the phone for 2 hours today for 2 dollars! (my cell is 98920233. The country code for Ecuador is 593 and the code to dial out of the us is 011-- so to call me you dial 01159398920233... but on skype, just the 098920233 number.. fyi.)

Anyway- kind of laundry listy, but I'll be sure to have some great anecdores for you next time. I miss you all very much! Peace out.