Not a whole lot of new things to report, except that yesterday all of us Taylor students decided to explore the city all by ourselves! We were very proud that we took all the right buses and everything! It was a great time of group bonding, and "following our hearts" around the city. We stopped by a gorgeous little flower market and bought flowers for our families. Flowers here are dirt cheep, and I have a feeling I will be taking advantage of that fact as often as I can. (I included some pictures on facebook, sorry blogwhatever is still being silly.) We also found our selves in a Panedaria (bakery) trying a variety of different breads and such. SOoo good! OH! And I also must report that our group was ATTACKED by some Carnival-ers throwing Bombas de aguas (water balloons).
Note: Carnival is a HUGE holiday here. It's similar to Mardi Gras, in that it is a time of celebration before the beginning of Lent. However, here, they celebrate by throwing water balloons, shooting squirt guns, dumping water on people, and pushing people into pools. I have been warned by my host dad, that he will be pushing me into a pool this weekend....hahaha. Apparently, I am going with my family and their extended family to the country this weekend, for Carnival. I am told that we're going to swim, play volleyball, and "play carnival." So exciting! And, one of the other Taylor girls, Claire, is staying with my host-dad's sister, so she will be there too!
I would like to share that last night I watched my first Spanish tele-novela (soap opera). It was so funny. After dinner, my mom came into my room saying, "Lindsay! Vamos a mirar tv. Quires?" (Lindsay, we're going to watch tv, do you want to come?) Well, of course I did! In short, it was HILARIOUS. This show, Peptio Feo (Ugly Pepito) was like the O.C. in South America, except all the girls looked about 13 and all the guys looked about 25. Ridiculous.
This morning, we all got together and talked about our schedule for the semester. It's really exciting to see it all down on paper finally. Before, we really had no idea what was going down, but I think I speak for all of us in saying we're really pleased. We will be starting our Spanish classes next Wednesday (after Carnival) and Physiology will start the next Monday. I guess, for the first month we will have our physiology class in English, and we will cover the entire book. But then, we will begin the physiology class again in Spanish with other Ecuadorian students who are taking it for the first time. Yikes! They also have numerous trips planned for us such as going to Quito, the Galapagos Islands, Incan Ruins, and...the JUNGLE (I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the jungle)!!!
I think that's all for now. I am going to go with Sarah (another Taylor student) to reload our phone cards...I ran out when I was talking to my mom last night...sorry mama!
~Linds