Salsa

On Friday night our group from Tech as invited to go to the birthday part of- get ready- the VT guys host families niece. She was turning 19 and had a party at her house. The house was in a really beautiful gated community and her parents were very sweet! I learned how to salsa ( a bit) and had so much fun. I don't know what it is about Latin blood but EVERYONE has rhythm. The men are very good at leading so it's not hard to learn... It's just gets difficult when they try and change up the steps. All of the other Ecuadorians that were at the birthday party also go to USFQ so I can know some familiar local faces on campus. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the music here. It's really upbeat and easy to dance to. When the girngos got tired of dancing we hung out in the backyard and met new people. It was crisp outside but not cold to my standards yet we could all see our breath... Ecuador's weather is freaky.

Today I went with Ruth and Veronica to visit Ruth's mom on here birthday. She lives in a nursing home and I was interested to see the comparison between the US standards and here. The facility was nice but like all Ecuadorian buildings, there's no AC and they had a mix of mentally disabled people and elderly people. I know some facilities in the US do the same thing but the needs of both groups can be vastly different. I just hope the people that work there have all of the training to meet the needs of every person there. I am not sure what the grandmother is sick with but she doesn't have the use of her hands or legs and she doesn't speak. It was really sad seeing the family in pain at their abuelas [grandmothers] condition but they're all so loving. Sorry to get all sad on you folks! I can't crack jokes all the time ;)

On our way to the nursing home I finally saw the snow capped volcano, Cotopaxi! I supposedly pass it every day to and from school BUT I have never seen it before today. It was so beautiful and huge... oh and I didn't bring my camera. I will spot it again and take a picture so you can all see this monstrous volcano on the horizon.

I don't think I mentioned this before this post but no buildings have AC here. Everything is open and free for the breeze to flow through. At first I thought boys were not chivalrous here because I couldn't think of an instance where a guy held a door open for me but then I realized there are no doors to be held open. The university is all open as are all restaurants and stores. Every place has doors of course, they're just always propped open.

This is a message to Melissa. YOU NEED TO MOVE HERE! They eat cheese with everything. Cheese with corn, cheese with fruit, cheese with soup, cheese with hot coco, cheese with sweets, cheese with meat... you get the picture! Just get down here already.