Let's Do Some Living

WARNING: About 80% of the things that I am about to mention are things that I want to do with my mother, one Petra Hothorn Amrein, when she gets here in just 9 days. I have asked her not to read this and I will ask you all who may contact her between now and then that you do not mention all the ridiculous things I am going to force her to do. Thanks!

That being said, I haven’t been able to write on here for a bit because this week has been an absolute whirlwind. Between eating an entire family-sized Hawaiian pizza which may have ruined Pizza Hut for me for good and taking Ecuadorians out for their first St. Patrick’s Day, lots has gone on here in Quito Quito.

The Competition: Before.

Little backstory: While in the jungle, I noticed that Jess Dever and I both eat more than your average girl. SO I decided that she and I should face off and see once and for all who can eat more. Nghiem somehow got in on it (somewhat unfair, we all noted), and we settled on pizza as our medium.

I may look nervous here but thanks to Brianna I ate that entire pizza you see there without crying (there were a couple rough spots along the way though). Nghiem, however, was able to eat a pie and a slice, reigning victorious.

...And after. Jess fared far worse than I and also violated one of the rules just after this picture was taken (I won't go into details but let's say there were only 2 rules and she didn't go over the time limit), and was automatically disqualified.

We met a little Ecua leprechaun!

Apart from that, last weekend a group of us went to a little town 2 hours from here called Mindo and absolutely fell in love with it. It was very small and not a lot of nightlife, but the things that are available during the day are just incredible.

When we first got there, after consuming far too much peanut butter as we tend to do on trips where we go grocery shopping beforehand, we headed off to a butterfly garden and hummingbird __________ (please insert word that is comparable to ‘garden’ but applies to hummingbirds, suggestions welcome). It was really phenomenal but somewhat daunting. I felt like Robbie or Christie who both have an irrational fear of ladybugs, but when something with huge wings starts flying toward you, you’re going to scream.

After that, we ended up white water tubing down a river which for sure should never have been traversed by humans. We had the time of our lives though. In the freezing water with our helmets on, I couldn’t stop dying laughing looking at the girls in the other raft, completely soaked and all rocking a wet-dog look that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Emily, me and Mateo, holding on for dear life.

We had an early night of tacos for dinner, Gabriel García Márquez as a bedtime story, and the never ending Boston College name game. The next morning we woke up and set off for the zip-lining adventure of our lives. Pictures speak louder than words in this case. Despite my slight fear due to the kindergarten broken left arm incident (and the lack of belief on the part of not one but both of my parents afterwards), I had an absolute ball on all 13 of the rides through the air, even the one where the guides thought it would be funny to bounce the ropes up and down.

Leila declared this Extreme Sports Weekend. True story.

Yes, I am pretty super.

All in all, life is pretty good. I fall more and more in love with the group with each day and my family could not be more perfect for me. The week ahead doesn't promise to be quite as exhilarating as the last but we'll see what happens, you never know around here.

That's all for now (General Mills I hope you're happy, I may have just sacrificed my Lit grade to write this).

Our Endless Numbered Days

I’m sorry to have been so inactive here for the past couple weeks, it’s hardly a reflection of my life here these days. Just the opposite, really. In my non-cyber life I have been so busy I’ve barely had time to keep you all up-to-date.

This will be explained much later.

Anyways, here are the highlights since the last time

My soccer team, Gasolina, is currently 2-0-0 and we hope to continue our winning streak for the next couple rounds of the girls tournament at the University. The games are really exciting and although we play in straight dirt and the fields are the size of the ones I used when I was part of teams like the Blue Sharks and the Red Devils, they’re quite intense.

Not so successful have been the salsa classes here for the Monday group (Jess, Emily, Brianna, Liz and I). We have seriously regressed and after skipping class two weeks ago because it was “too hot to walk”, we have now been prohibited from ever attending the Thursday class (the rest of the group) because they are so far ahead of us. Oh well.

Brianna, had 4 friends here from BC this past week and it was fabulous to visit with them, talk about what’s going on back at school and show them all of our favorite spots. We spent a night at Papallacta, a spa-type place with baths heated by a nearby volcano, with them as well. It was absolutely beautiful there and so relaxing. We spent the night in cabins and had three hot tubs all to ourselves, half the group got massages, and no one wanted to leave.

Peanut Butter Jelly time at Papallacta

Liz provides us with fire.

I'm sorry there aren't more pictures from our night there, it was a very water-based adventure, I hope you understand.

Yesterday two important events happened here in my Ecua house.

1. One of our two dogs, Lisa, died. She was 13 and died in her sleep and everyone was very sad. This is terrible to say but I was rather ambivalent. Lisa had cataracts so her eyes were bright white which always terrified me and any guests I brought back. In any case, may she rest in peace.

2. We had a crab feast. It was one of the most fun meals I have ever had in this country or any other. My family was shocked that I knew how to eat crab and I tried to explain to them the annual Carla and Amy dinner but my Spanish isn’t quite proficient enough to describe how much my actual family is able consume in one night.

Oh, also 3. I think one of my brothers here just got engaged. When and how this happened I am not quite sure (I feel like Robbie here), but lately there has been a lot of discussion about location for the wedding so…I’m slowly getting the picture.

In other news, Jackie Draper in Chile is a-okay, yesterday a group of us went to a soccer game of the two rival teams here in Quito (so much fun, fútbol fans go crazy from the get-go here, as evidenced by groups of them busting down doors to enter before the game had even started), and although I have a somewhat tough week coming up at school, things are going really well!

Matt, Leila, Ryann and me at the Liga game

Due to the lack of exciting pictures I'll add this one of Leila and I with Jess' host brothers, whom we love.

I know pictures of flowers are boring but my host mom and I just came back from the botanic gardens here and they were just too gorgeous not to include.

¡Hasta la próxima!