Dum dum dum duuuuuuum! The long awaited post has arrived, but I´m not really sure what to put in it, so I´ll shoot for the highlights.

The quinceanera was pretty kickin´. I borrowed a dress from a friend and got my hair done for the first time. Unfortunately all the ecuadorians were fairly shy, so I only danced with Jenny´s brother and my friend Marcos.

We had to do a big project for physiology: a research paper plus a 20 min presentation on something physiological. I did it in 3 days, and it was over how sleep deprivation makes you fat. Chew on that, why don´tcha : P

We´re done with finals, except for the tests we have to take back at Taylor, so that´s a relief. I think they went alright, but we never have any clue what our grades are so who knows.

We went to the beach about a week ago for a weekend. It was alrighty. I came back without a tan, having lost my camera (still don´t know how, and this will severely deplete the pic supply), and a suitcase full of sand. On the plus side, we went to a beach which in spanish is called ängry/grumpy¨beach which had some pretty sweet waves.

Towards the end of our rotations I sat in on neurosurgery. The patient was an old woman with a head lesion from a fall. It was sooo cool. They peeled back her forehead, took out a piece of the skull, and opened up her nasal cavity and the eye socket. the surgeon was actually cutting into the back of her eye! Then he drained out all the fluid that had been pushing on her eye and distending it, removed part of the nasal septum that had gone bad, and put everything back together.

This week has been the time for catching up with people. We´ve been hanging out nonstop. Tomorrow I´ve got a racquetball match, pizza party, and more hanging out at night. It´s super nice to finally have time to be with people, but it´s awful that it´s right at the end. I´m not quite ready to go.

Random story from phys class: in our spanish physiology class I was asked to be the example so the students could take my bp. Afterwards they let me take the bp of one of the guys. It was 140/90, which is rather high for a 19 year old. The teacher asked him if he was nervous because such a beautiful person was working on him. Poor kid, he was very very red. I´m sure that didn´t do much for his bp.

We managed to get Taylor to pay for all of us to get matching tracksuits which we´re going to wear on the plane to get back to Taylor. Sooo tight!

See you all soon!

Here's the deal, 5 commentaries from different people for 1 new post. Capish? I've lost my incentive for updating, folks!

Thursday 4/2

After some of my compadres ditched physiology and nearly stuck us with the presentation, I was more than a little miffed.

My aunt is a high school teacher. Since they don’t have enough English teachers, that job fell on her so she asked me to come in and let her students practice English and hear what a real American accent sounded like. That was an adventure. First of all, I mostly talked in Spanish, telling them about what it’s like in the U.S. and how their country is all weirdie to me (all of this is in front of 30ish 16-year-olds). They got to ask me questions, one of the first of which was if I was single. In a gesture of good will, I said that if they wanted to practice English or play racquetball, (which apparently is quite common but I have yet to play,) they could call me, and I gave a few my number. That should be interesting.

Then I switched classes to a room of 40 13-year-olds. One sassy kid in the front commented that I had somehow gotten a whiteout stain on the back of my black pants. I asked him, in front of the whole class, why he was looking at my butt. Then this cute little Chinese kid asked for my number, and he was so cute, he almost got it. All in all it was super duper fun, and I hope I get to go again.

I went for a walk to the river and stopped to stalk a taekwondo school where some little children were pummeling the crud out of each other. The teacher eventually noticed me and I ended up making a new friend. He invited me to come participate in class anytime. Sw-eet.

In the afternoon we had Spanish and at night Sarah, her sis Gabbi, Jenny, and her brothers Mocho and Fetchie came over to watch a movie with my sisters and I. I have no clue what we put on, but it scared the crap out of me. Once the boys left, we all screamed and cuddled together. Good times.

Friday 4/3

For this week’s practicum we went to the public hospital, where the doctor met and promptly abandoned us. Having no clue what to do, we wandered. Eventually we befriended the physical therapists, one of which gave my back some electroshock stuff and ultrasound. **Cue heavenly music** She said I could come back any Monday.

After that I spent the morning on the internet, catching up with the zillions of messages that are bombarding me from email, facebook, and now hi5.

I made rice krispies for my fam. Score again for the B. My mom is seriously contemplating selling them for 70 cents a square in her catering business. She did the math.

So, I’ve been getting these weird calls, mostly missed calls because I’m busy in class or something, but when I called them back I heard an Ecuadorian “aloh” and then he hung up. I got so fed up, I called back a few more times until I got a real answer, but then I got so confused, (Spanish by phone is the absolute pits,) that I handed the phone to Gabbi to translate.

Needless to say, for as much as I needed her help she was a bit of a butt—throwing in middle school girl comments. This is what we deciphered: this kid’s name was Rodrigo. He’s a senior at the high school I visited. He’s 19 and he wants to go out with me. #1. I’m super hot. #2. I seem fun. #3. He wants to go out with me. Well, he had me sold right then and there. I asked for a description of him, since I had no clue which kid it was. He’s a tall, curly-haired mestizo who’s apparently taller than me, (when I said I was single I qualified it by saying I only date guys taller then me, which resulted in us doing a test with the tallest guys in the classs. Only 3 of the 30 made the cut. I’m pretty sure they’re 3 of 10 in the country who do. I told him I’m on vacation, but when I get back we’ll see, but there’s no freaking way I’m going alone. I figure taking me out is the least he could do, since that stupid phone call cost me $7! Rodrigo, you owe me. Peanut gallery, put your votes in for what I should do.

At the very least, it was a good bonding opportunity for Gabi and I.

Saturday 4/4

Our grand adventure began at church at 5 AM. We spent 9 very uncomfy hours in a bus eating junk food and playing a question game, Hot Seat.

Once we arrived in the jungle we got in a motor canoe and took a 10 min trip to Casa del Suizo, our hotel. It was like something out of Swiss Family Robinson. It was situated on a piece of land jutting out into the river. The rooms were duplex houses with grass roofs and porches with hammocks that overlooked the river. The rooms were connected by raised, covered walkways.In the middle of everything was the open dining area next to the pool, which also overlooked the river, and all of this in the middle of the jungle. Every meal was an incredible buffet. Hallelujah! I tried tongue again and had my first encounter with goat, which was so-so.

As we’d arrived completely sweaty and disgusting, we jumped in the pool for a good 3 hours before dinner, then played cards and unwound.

Sunday 4/5

7:30 breakfast. Oi vey. By 9 we headed out in canoe with out guide, Telmo, (who I had to resist calling Elmo,) for a hike in the jungle. It was kind of buggy, sweaty, and hasty but amazing. We saw giant termite hives stuck up in the trees, cicaidae mounds, and a Viagra-like root appropriately named for its form “Pene del Diablo”. In the middle of nowhere they had a big rope swing, of which I was a fan. We also broke open plant pods and ate ants, which taste lemony.

In the afternoon we went to a butterfly farm. It was absolutely gorgeous, and even though I’m not exactly a “girly girl”, I-LOVE-BUTTERFLIES

Julie, Sarah, and I went exploring in the adjoining town and watched a soccer game. My team lost, but we still had fun yelling for both teams with the fans.

The day was topped off by a well-deserved soak in the pool.

At night we piled all the girls on Jenny’s bed and told scary stories. Everyone was screeching like whoa. Leigh, Jenny, and I left for a moment on the pretext of retrieving Leigh’s shoes by the pool and recruited the rest of our group to scare the pants off of the rest of the girls. When we came back Jenny started her next story, and right at the climax, Ellie, Katie, Grant, and Will started screaming and banging on the door from the balcony. I have never heard shrieks of that decibel.

Monday 4/6

My ipod is dying from the humidity. Nooooo!!!!

We motor-canoed up the river to an animal refuge. There we got to see loose monkies, which we couldn’t touch since they were being rehabbed, various birds, a baby anaconda, and best of all: capybaras!

Afterwards we tubed down the river. We stopped at a big rope swing and jumped into the river from the rocks. Then most of us climbed a tree overhanging the river and jumped approximately 20 feet to the river below. It was awesome. After a quick lunch of sandwiches we continued down the river in our tubes, watching a thunderstorm for part of it.

Next we visited a Quichua family, where we got natural face paint, plant headbands, and tried on a flower that looks like a tucan nose. With the native family we tried chicha, an alcoholic drink from yucca or corn normally made from the spit of old ladies chewing the aforementioned plants. We also tested our blowdart skills, of which I possess none. We finished our tour checking out ceramic and wood shops.

Tuesday 4/7

Travel day- Ug. We drove to Quito and stayed in a hostel.

Wednesday 4/8

Started the day at 4:15 AM. I’ll spare you my opinion of the hour. From Quito we flew to the Galapagos. It was soooo hot when we got there. It was rather deserty in appearance, with short shrubbery and fatty cactus trees. The ground was reddish and composed of volcanic rock.

We went for a short hike followed by a dip in the sea.

We hung out with some sea lions who were crashing the fisherman’s dock. Not only did the pelican there hate us, but after the sea lion charged us, the fishermen told us to scram. I don’t get it. They’re the first Ecuadorians I’ve met who weren’t big fans of gringas.

We’re playing a giant game of Survivor Galapagos, complete with competitions, jerseys, and a photo scavenger hunt.

Thursday 4/9

Due to extenuating circumstances, I didn’t have my camera, and it made me very angry. We went snorkeling and played with sea lions, like 2 feet away from our faces, sharks, and fishies. On the islands we saw the infamous blue-footed boobies and penguins!

Jenny and I lost our room key, and were therefore locked out when we got back at night, so we had a sleepover in Sarah and Darla’s room.

Friday 4/10

More snorkeling. We did a hike on an island and checked out black, spitting iguanas and saw a ginormous millipede. In the middle of the island we found the Cliffs of Love, which had a water-filled cravass inbetween, so naturally we jumped off of them. First Sarah, Ellie, and I jumped from a lower rock about 20-30 feet to the water. Then after our Italian friend, Eduardo jumped from the highest rock, I was compelled to do the same. We were the only two to jump about 40 off of the cliffs. It was incredible, and I even stuck the landing—going in pencil-straight!

I’m starting to get tired of all the sun. My legs are a little over-toasted. Next we visited a beautiful white-sand beach where we played in the waves and hit the sand for a little Ultimate. Today was awesome, but after all of the swimsuit time, I’m starting to chafe.

After we got back and got all cleaned and cutied up, we had a nice dinner out.

Saturday 4/11

More snorkeling. We went to a place called Shark Canal, where there were indeed a very large number of non-aggressive sharks, (no worries, family). We played with the sea lions some more and I saw starfish the size of my head. One of our Ecuadorian friends got stung by a jelly. Poor kid.

Following that we checked out a new island that was formerly inhabited by pirates. There were more tortoises there, and we could touch these ones!

While we were traveling from the beach to the pirate hideout and from the pirate place to lunch, we rode on the roof of the van/bus thing. At lunch I had the pleasure of discovering a beetle in my cake. Delicious.

We had dinner in a restaurant, and our waiter was quite the character. First he messed up someone’s ice cream cone, so I got it for free. Then when my dessert came it said “welcome amore” in the syrup.

Sunday 4/12

Happy Easter! We flew out of Galapagos bright and early and landed in Guayaquil, from which we had a 4 hour drive home to Cuenca. In the McDonalds, the first one we’ve been to since arriving here, we did a rap in front of the whole restaurant. We got home at about 10:30, and got ready for class tomorrow at 7:00 am.

Monday 4/13

In physiology we, the gringos, were assigned to present on the cerebellum. Afterwards we made new friends who invited us to go dancing, shopping, and to the beach. Whoohoo! Our rotations with Dr. Torral were canceled, so Sarah and I went shopping and bought a boatload of rings. After Spanish in the afternoon, Gabi decided to help me find outfits for the quinceñera that we’re invited to on Saturday and for dancing on Thursday. It was a very chick-flicky scene. We pulled every dress she and her sister own out of their closet and I tried them out while she took pictures. Afterwards she made me try on the tightest jeans I’ve ever worn in my life to find an outfit for the disco. This is the typical “going out” outfit of an Ecuadorian chick: tight tight skinny jeans rolled at the bottom, a skanky shirt, straightened hair, tons of makeup, and heels. Basically, they look like really cute whores. No worries, I’ll have to wear my own take on the Ecuadorian dancing clothes, cause I have no clue how one dances in booty jeans and heels. Additionally, us Taylorites have a strict policy of dancing only amongst ourselves so we don’t have to worry about skeeze buckets.