Counting Down the Days!

I have been a terrible blogger recently so I´ll catch you all up!

My classes are winding down and finals will be next week and the week after. I feel confident that I´ll do well on them but I need to study a lot for both ecology and archaeology.

Tomorrow is Labor Day and I don´t have classes so I´m going to go back to Otavallo. It is the artisan market about two hours away that I adore. I won´t spend too much money (because I´m basically broke) but I have a couple knick knacks and presents that I still need to get. I have a few pairs of worn out flats that I can throw away before leaving as well as extra toiletries so everyone cross your fingers that I´ll have room to bring all of my stud home. As most of you know, I was quite over the weight limit when I came so… we´ll see!

This past weekend I visited two beaches in the area called Las Esmeraldas. One was called Atacames and the other Tonsupa. Both were pretty and very fun. Tonsupa was very small but super relaxing and Atacames was bigger and had a lot of shops. Don´t worry, I didn´t buy anything! The goal of the weekend was to spend the least amount of money possible and we succeeded. Including hostel, food and bus tickets we managed to spend under $50. I had no idea that was possible for a beach weekend but it is! I´ll post pictures later.

This coming weekend I´m going to Tena. Wikipedia gives this description “Tena, the capital of the Napo Province, is an attractive and quiet city in the Amazon rainforest. It is known as the “cinnamon capital" of Ecuador.” Our plans are to go kayaking and visit an ecological reserve that has a lot of native animals. I´ll be sure to take a lot of pictures since this will probably be my last trip out of Quito while in Ecuador. Next weekend I´ll probably stay in Quito, study for finals and spend time with friends.

I have been getting waves of sadness as I realize a lot of things will be my last in Ecuador. This past weekend was my last time at the coast, this weekend will be my last time in the Amazon. It is so fun thinking back to all of the adventures I have had in Ecuador so far and I feel so blessed to have had this experience. Now that mom thinks I don´t want to come home and is probably crying… I´ll tell you all about the things I miss most about America.

#1 thing I miss about the US is my family. You never realize how great a big bear hug from your parents is until you haven´t had one for 5 months

#2 is the food… of course. Home cooked food is first. Then chipotle! And sushi! And chick-fil-a!

#3 Chivalrous boys that don´t hiss at me or say “hola princesa” when I walk by.

#4 The fact that every meal I eat in the US has only 1 carby food or none at all. I don´t know how many times my dinner has had potatoes with rice and French fries. (This is also the source of my growing belly, yikes)

#5 Drivinggggggg! I am going to have to re-teach myself how to drive after being out of capacity for 5 months (not that I was very good from the beginning anyways…)

That´s all I have for now. I´ll be home in less than two weeks. My how the time has flown.