Traje de baño

So my triathlon class has proved to be about 99% harder than expected. We run for 1 & 1/2 hours one day, swim the next class and then bike the following class. It's really intense and all outside but I have another friend with me in the class. We bought one piece bathing suits yesterday so we're committed. Erin and Sara, you two should be happy that I finally bought a one piece after contemplating it for months. Also, the other students int the class are really nice (and Ecuadorian) so I get to practice my Spanish more [mainly the phrases "can we walk now", "how much further", "anyone have water"]. I am excited to see how much I can handle but I'm taking it easy until I'm fully acclimated to the altitude. It's a lot easier to exercise now than when I first got here but I get shortness of breath long before my body gets tired.

We have two projects for my ecology class. One is with groups of four where we have to analyze an article and the other is groups of two where we have to observe Ecuadorian ecology for 30 hours. I am the only gringa in my class so both of my groups are entirely Ecuadorians. I'm excited because #1 I'll be forced to communicate in Spanish and #2 I can finally make some local friends. My partner for the big project is named Santiago :) Mom, I didn't seek out the Ecuadorian boy, we both just came in late and didn't have partners. My group of four has two other girls and one boy (I don't remember their names).

The bus ride to school yesterday was horrible. The bus was late getting to the stop and was so packed I could barely enter. There was no way I was going to wait for the next one to come so I squished in an had to stand on the steps by the door. I held on for dear life over the turns because I couldn't trust the doors to catch me if I fell into them. For some reason traffic was the worst I've seen so far and I ended up being 20 minutes late for my ecology class. Good thing no one cares about tardiness at my university. About five other students and I just walked in and sat down as if we were right on time.

Last night I went with Ruth to her sisters birthday party (at 9pm). It was so great meeting her family; they're really funny! Only bad part was that we left at 12:30 and I had an 8:30 class this morning. Apparently shoving cake in the birthday girl/boys face is tradition here. The birthday person has to take a bite out of the cake and everyone around jumps and tries to shove their face in the pastel (cake) as they attempt to take a graceful nibble. The birthday girl got caught in a headlock and got a face full of cake.

Tomorrows triathlon class is swimming in an uncovered pool so I will bath in sunscreen before I go. I'm interested to see how well I can swim since the last lesson I had was at age 6ish. Let's hope I don't drown. If it comes to it, I might just doggy paddle back and forth the whole time. For the record, one piece bathing suits are the most unattractive things in the world. I hope the water isn't cold... the ladies should get that one. Sorry to any other males that got it too :) Before I forget, the title traje de baño means bathing suit.

No pictures today and definitely no pics of me in my awesome one piece