Update

Something weird happen today: I ran up 3 flights of stairs. Easily. No sweat. Piece of cake. Who AM I…?

Another weird but glorious thing: today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. All the public schools are out. We’re not but we did get a spa treatment today. I went upstairs to the Oven and they had turned it into a spa! I got a massage but you could pick also a facial or a manicure! Only in Ecuador… I could get used to this.

Obviously I haven’t written recently and I am sooo far behind on my blog posts. Ai-yi-yi. I still have to write about the 2^nd day in Mindo, the day we went to Otavalo, going salsa dancing, not to mention all the wonderful things I did and saw during Spring Break.

I have tons of assignments due for the university very soon so I’ve been working on those instead of writing my blogs, unfortunately. I probably won’t even get to writing some of them until I’m back in the States. So keep reading and be patient!

I’m trying really, really hard to enjoy these last two weeks in Ecuador but it’s hard. I have no more money. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. I have no more time – I’ve been working non-stop writing those KSU papers, not to mention grading my students’ papers in between tutoring and Spanish classes. I’ve also done almost everything on my traveling to-do list. The only thing left is Cotopaxi, which I’m going to splurge on the $15 train ride. We’re going to hike up the snowcapped volcano on Sunday (it’s the closest point to the sun in the world. Of course, I don’t have the skill or the equipment to get that high). I also haven’t built as many meaningful Ecuadorian relationships as I would have liked to, so there’s not many people I will truly miss (I most definitely will miss my family though).

Really, my heart’s already in the other hemisphere. I think anyone would feel this way regardless of how long they’ve been gone. Am I right? The last 2 weeks before you go back home – even if you’ve been gone a year – are always the longest, I suppose. I have loved being here and I have learned so much about myself and Ecuador (stayed tuned for that wrap-up entry). But I’m ready. So ready I’m going crazy. I guess you could also say I have senioritis. I’m allowed to have that, right? Even if I am in another country. Not to mention all the festivities that will be going on when I get home – graduation, graduation party, my aunt and grandma visiting etc…