It's been real

Steve, Angela and Isreal

View more photos 

So, I'm leaving Cuenca on Saturday at the crack of dawn... since I procrastinated on my planning until yesterday (oops!), the only flight I could get on this weekend was at 6:40am on Saturday morning.  I'm off to Quito for one day/night and then on Sunday will leave for the jungle.  That's the rainforest and it's going to take me forever to get there and be hot and sticky and full of bugs, but I am so excited for this, can't even wait!  I probably won't have access to email/blog for the four days I'm going to be there, so will be able to give a full update upon my return to the civilzed world.

Last night, we all went to La Mesa again for my last (tear) night of salsa dancing.  It was sooo much fun, but again out way too late.  Mom said tonight on the phone that it sounded like I was "reliving my youth" which I guess is kind of true... and no, most of them don't know I wasn't born in the mid-80s. :)  It's really been fun being here and I have had a great time, but contrary to popular belief I have also been doing a ton of reflecting on everything in my life here and I think, even five weeks into this adventure, coming here was the absolute right decision for me.  I may as well have picked Ecuador out of a hat for all I knew about the country, but I have met some of the most interesting, amazing people here.  So, hopefully, the adventures and education will continue!

Patrick

View more photos 

It's been raining like crazy and freezing for the past 3 days.  I finally had to bust out my 3 in 1 jacket.  It's strange to be on the equator and be cold, but they say it's because of global warming... actually there is a lot of crazy weather in the area right now.  Like 50 people died earlier this week in Peru because of the freezing cold -- this is definitely abnormal for here. 

Tonight, meeting up with some people at Cafe Eucalyptus for some sort of african music thing and then tomorrow is my last day!  I have to figure out how to mail stuff home (I've bought a lot of crap), and with the mail system, that is always an adventure... and then of course the wonderful activity of packing. :) Anyway, until next week.  Hope everyone is doing well and having what I hear is a great summer in the states. :)  xoxo