Are Baños people called Bathroomers?

I visited this cute little town this weekend called Baños nestled between the Andes. The town also sits next to Tungurahua Volcano that has ash spewing from it on most days. The town has many hot springs and you can bathe all over the place :). Of course, the town has become a major tourist spot so the baths are a bit overrun.

Nonetheless, I fell in love with the town. There´s ton of excellent food and activities! We (6 of us) only spent Saturday and Sunday there but we packed in the adventures. Saturday, we went on 4-wheelers up to the top of one of the mountains for some excellent views. Sunday, we went on a 4-hour hike outside of town and rode on a cable car to cross over a river. We ate well and partied Saturday night away.

There is still much to discover in Baños (people keep asking me if I visited the waterfalls - what waterfalls?). Hope to head back very soon!

To Improve or Not to Improve - That is the ?

I am in the process of making an extremely difficult situation. I have a perfect living situation right now - two other CEC teachers and two other gals. In the apartment we are like a family. We sit down to eat dinner almost every night (Sarah is an amazing cook/chef/bread-maker/etc) and we have fabulous conversations! I have really enjoyed it!

BUT, everyone is a native English speaker so my Spanish has NOT really improved since I arrived.

What to do? I know my mom would say to make a pro/con list and weigh the options. And, some of my students have offered to help me find an Ecuadorian family to stay with. So I´ll probably go meet some of them - of course, I don´t want to offend anyone.

I´ll keep ya posted!

Results: Cuenca - 0, Guayaquil - 0

Visited Cuenca and Guayaquil last week and I have to say I wasn´t too impressed. The highlights of the trip were hiking in Cajas National Park, dancing at a bar called Lamè, seeing iguanas running free in a park, and watching E! on the TV in our hostel room.

Cuenca was cold and rainy everyday. We all expected huge parties for their independence day on Thursday but not much was happening. Later, I discovered that everyone had to work on Friday (not us!!) so the parties were pretty tame. The city was nice (sort of an European feel) and the ice cream was the best I have had in Ecuador! My travel companion Katie and I met up with others and shopped, ate, and relaxed. Oh and of course, dancing at a bar called Lame (in Spanish, the verb `lamer´ means to lick)

Friday, we went hiking around this gorgeous lake in Cajas. Shortly before the end of our 2-hour hike, I ended up falling in some mud. To make matters worse, it was the only pair of pants I brought on the trip. I spent that evening in my PJ pants, going to the lavanderia and paying 45 cents to have my pants cleaned.

Guayaquil is not much of a tourist town. They have modernized the coastline with shopping centers, restaurants, and much more (aka the Malecon). There are some gorgeous parks (one with iguanas) and gardens, but that´s really all the city has to offer. Ok, we did have some excellent ceviche there too!

I came back with a cold because of all the weather changes..Cuenca - cold, Guayaquil - hot and humid (wait was I in Houston?), Quito AM - rainy and cold, Quito PM - warm. Finally a week later, I am starting to feel better!

So there you have it! I wouldn´t recommend Cuenca except for the helado. I would recommend Guayaquil except it´s the closest point to fly to the Galapagos so I hope I´ll be going back for that!

Lions and Tigers and Mites - Oh My!

Over the last month or so, I have been sleeping with the `mites´. Every morning I would wake up with little bites on my ankles, hands, and sometimes my belly. After some investigation by my flatmate Sarah and my parents, we determined that I would need to wash all my sheets, covers, blankets, etc in hot water, cover myself in some scabies medicine, and spray my mattress with disinfectant. Ugh!

But, today is the 4th day since the above tasks were completed and I am still without new bites. What a relief!

Vaquitos a Quito?

My parents came to visit for not 1, not 2, but 3 days! It was a quick visit but we jam packed the weekend with tons of fun-ness! And they brought me more stuff than you can imagine!!

Friday: I showed them places I had been before and we went to new places. First to the Teleferico (cable car) where we were totally in the clouds with no views of Quito up there! Off to Old Town to see the Plaza de La Independencia and lucky for us there was a protest in progress. This was followed by a visit to the Basilica which offered much better views of Quito. Lunch at Pims, the restaurant on the same hill as the Virgen (or Panecillo) that watches over the city. Yet more wonderful views of Quito! Back to the hotel - we need a nap!

Saturday: Off to Otavalo, a town with an excellent and cheap artesian market.. The bus experience was a new one for them but they enjoyed it. Only $2 to go two hours away! We bargained and bought a few things. When we were on the bus back, my mom observed that the bus driver´s assistant hangs out of the bus yelling out to people. At one point, she thought he was talking to the cows - Vaquitos a Quito (precious cows to Quito)? Nope, there was someone standing on the side of the road that we couldn´t see. But excellent idea, Mom!

Sunday: The middle of the world is waiting and we went to see it. We saw some excellent experiments (same ones I saw with Ilan but awesome to see again). Then we headed to the Capilla del Hombre (Guayasamin´s museum) which my parents loved! Before they can leave, there is some necessary shopping...so off to some stores and markets to buy!

And then early Monday morning, with tears, they were off. I return home in 7 weeks for a visit so it´s not too far off. I am really looking forward to being home for some time!

But FIRST, tonight starts a 5-day weekend! I am off to Cuenca and Guayaquil for the celebrations (Cuencan Independence Day on Thursday). Have a good week, y`all!