Less than 100 days

Less than 100 days left.  That's right.  Time is FLYING here.  Well, it feels like it passes slow but in reality, it's not.  I've done so much the past two weeks so I hope you all are patient enough to read through all of it.  Nothing has topped the Otavalo trip yet, but Mindo was fun.  Last week, I went to Mitad del Mundo with Laura and that was pretty cool but not something I think is a necessity when you come to Ecuador, especially if you only have a week or so here.

I guess I could start with the fact that I was offered a dream internship in Colombia for the summer, although it is unpaid.  Chances are I will try to look into it but I would really like something paid.  Then again, nothing can beat international experience, especially with a second language under my belt.

This weekend, I went to Mindo with my friends Bo and Kendall and we had a blast.  The bus ride there was interesting; the bus was pretty full so Bo and I had to sit in the little rumbler seat behind the driver. We made friends with the driver and his two friends; they wanted to go eat with us later that night but the restaurant we agreed to meet at in Mindo was closed.  Mindo is only about two or three blocks worth of a town--tiny and kind of a hippie town, with a number of world travelers passing through.  Friday we enjoyed dinner at Mindo Café, where I had fried shrimp.  To say I was in heaven would be an understatement.  We talked and had a blast and got everything in order while we ate, then went to a little shack across the street to buy some fresh fruit juice.  We walked back to our hostel, la Casa de Cecilia and decided to relax for a while.  Our rooms were semi open-air and really great. We were practically in a tree house all weekend with hammocks hanging out right outside of our doors in the open-air hang out area.  We were relaxing in the hammocks when one of the guys staying on our floor came upstairs--turns out his name is Damien and he's only 21, from Canada, but plans to travel the world.  He has seen all of Canada, the United States, and Central America so now he has moved onto South America.  This morning, he left our hostel at 6 AM to catch a bus to Colombia.  It's kind of sad to say bye to all the new people you meet on trips like this. 

Saturday morning, we all woke up and ate breakfast together, including our new Canadian friend. Fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, eggs, and lots of fresh bread.  Seriously breakfast was so good.  Afterwards, the girls and I got ready and went zip lining.  The most expensive thing we did all day, it was $20 for 10 lines but WELL worth it.  We made friends with the guides, go figure.  They helped us figure out what to do on the zip lines and what to do around Mindo for the rest of the day.  After leaving Eddy and Danilo, we hiked up to the waterfalls and took the tarabita across the way.  It was like being in a cable car on a zip line.  A little sketchy, but once we got to the other side, we began the long hike to the waterfall.  Although a very long, tiring hike, it was definitely worth it.  The waterfall was beautiful and although the swimming hole was not exactly a swimming hole (the tides were pretty strong) we were able to relax and cool off for a bit.  Afterwards, we hiked back and started to get to know one another a little bit more.  It's pretty cool what a hike in a foreign country can do for three girls who met only 3 weeks ago.  

After FINALLY finishing our hike and returning on the tarabita, we went and had almuerzo.  For only $5, I had a drink and a MASSIVE plate of what appeared to be shrimp fried rice.  It could have fed me for probably three days straight.  Afterwards, we tiredly walked back to our hostel and showered up, before relaxing for about half an hour, and going on a chocolate tour at Al Quetzal.  Mindo is actually famous for it's organic chocolate and my God, they have the BEST brownies in all of South America!  Apparently they have a store in Michigan too, so if any of you all are interested, definitely google Mindo chocolate in Michigan.  We toured the place to see how the cacao and other fruits were grown, processed (but not actually processed like American food, it's all organic), and handled before being put into the markets.  Seriously though you guys, these chocolate brownies were HEAVENLY.  Goodness.  Anyway, we returned to the hostel in a chocolate coma, waited about another hour and a half, then went to get dinner.  Cheap dinner once again, but as always, a ton of food.  Waddling our way back to the hostel, we met more travelers.  Although I didn't think it could get more interesting than Damien, we met an Australian named Luke who's traveling South America right now, two Germans--Fabian and Christina, who taught us how to play a card game called shit head, and then an Englishman named Tom.  We all sat around and played this game and laughed for a while.  Everyone somehow knew English, only making me feel even worse for only being bilingual.  Luke brought up a pretty cool fact while we were playing--that you tend to find like-minded people in hostels like that in the middle of South America.  Not many people choose to see Ecuador.  Anyway, Christina was sweet like all of the German exchange students my Aunt Nancy once had and Fabian was even more high energy than me.  Luke was one of the younger ones, about 22 so closer to mine and the girls' ages.  Anyway, after a few rounds of shit head, Fabian turned on his "space music" as he called it, and we just laid in the hammocks until everyone was pretty much asleep--so we all decided to turn in for the night.

The Germans left fairly early this morning, along with Damien, around six AM.  So we all said goodbye last night.  Pretty sad to say goodbye to them all, it was hard.  I'm not good with goodbye, just because I love people.  I added them all on Facebook because I think relationships with foreigners is one of the coolest things you can gain from being abroad.  Luke and Tom had breakfast with us though and we talked about Wales and Melbourne and how in the world we all ended up in the same hostel.  We got cleaned up and packed and from the hostel, Luke, the girls, and I all went back to Al Quetzal for one last taste of South America's best chocolate.  What a beautiful weekend full of beautiful people.  I'm biased and Luke was my favorite, but I like meeting people who are just down for whatever and as talkative and personable as I am.  The bus ride back to Quito was much easier--we actually had seats.  When we got back to Quito, we all said goodbye to Luke and went our separate ways.  Kendall and I meandered to McDonald's to grub before we returned to the world of nothing but soup and rice.  $5 for mcnuggets!  But they definitely aren't the same here.  We walked back through Parque Carolina to my place and Kendall took the Ecovia back to hers.  To say the weekend was successful would, yet again, be an understatement.  Those of you that know me know how much I enjoy meeting people, so you know that I enjoyed this weekend a ton.  Even funnier--we met a couple of Canadians on our hike back from the waterfall and one of them said "AH! I knew you were from the South, I could hear it in your voice!"  It's always funny to me when people tell me that because I have never felt like I had a thick accent.  Nonetheless, we all had a good laugh out of it.  So a weekend filled with adventures of zip lining through the cloud forest and tree tops and hiking to waterfalls and really really REALLY great people, I have yet to be able to complain about being in Ecuador.  Nonetheless, here are a few pictures and things from the past two weeks.  Enjoy!  And for those of you who have been asking, I finally have a real address for you all to send letters to, so just message me if you want the address!

Don't be dismayed by goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

-Richard Bach