The Weekend

Allow me to tell you that my experience with the water from those kids was NOTHING compared to a lot of other people. One of the girls in my group said she got hit with multiple balloons on the way home, as well as sprayed with a HOSE by an old man. I saw a girl just get pummeled with "bombas del agua" (literally: bombs of water, aka water balloons) as she was walking. These kids are cruel! But at least it's just water. 

This weekend we had Saturday to do whatever we wanted; I hung out with my family all day- went to the park, went to the mall, went to a relative's house. It was fun. I don't think I'm at much risk of buying shoes here: they are SUPER expensive! There was a Payless at the mall, and the lowest price on the shoes was $28. No thanks. 

Sunday, we (the whole group) went to Ingapirca, which is the largest place of Incan ruins in Ecuador. It was pretty amazing. We had a good guide that told us the history of the Incas and took us on a hike around them. Man, I was winded. Going up and down the hills at 11,000 feet is not easy, let me tell you. Whew. I'll put some pictures up at the end of this, so you can get an idea of where we went. 

So, you may be asking yourself what we eat here in Ecuador. A typical meal consists of soup followed by white rice, some sort of vegetable or starch, and a meat usually. The portions are HUGE! I ask for "menos, menos" (less, less) or "un poquito" (a little bit) at probably every meal. They like to give me a lot anyway ;) I'll ask for less rice, for instance, and they take away like two grains of rice :) It's so funny. They go "Ohhhhh como un bebe!" (Ohhhh like a baby!). When I finish eating, they're always like "Do you want more? Please eat more" (in Spanish, of course). They're so nice and sweet. The food is good though. I really like it. I haven't had any tacos yet (Dad asked); I don't really think they're an Ecuadorian food. We have fresh juice at every meal. My favorite is pineapple- yummmm. Blackberry juice is super tasty too; it's called "Mora" and we had it today. Snacks are usually fruit or fresh bread with jam. The bread here is PHENOMENAL! There are bread shops all over, and I love walking past them- smells delicious. There's one across the street from school, and you can get a large piece of fresh bread (in all different varieties) for 10 or 12 cents! Good deal. 

I'm going to walk home now, I believe. It's been drizzling pretty much all day, so that's a bit of a bummer. I think I need to take a nap. I'm exhausted. Have a good day!

Picture 1: Temple of the Sun

Picture 2: Straight ahead is the Temple of the Moon and to the right is the Temple of the Sun

Picture 3: The whole thing

Picture 4: Temple of the Sun again

Picture 5: Me at the Ruins