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).