Tropical adventure!

So it's been a little over a week that I've been here -- crazy! It feels like I've been here for a month or so b/c we have done so much! This past weekend we went to Mindo, a "rural parish" about 2 hours outside of Quito where the weather was very tropical and there were so many things to do! It is known for its ecotourism, as there is SO much natural beauty -- trees, waterfalls, butterflies, mountains, rivers, you name it. It was nice to be in such warm weather and to feel the sun, but the bugs were brutal! Even though I wore long pants & shirts for most of the time, the bugs still attacked my body. I have several battle wounds from the weekend, but we had so much fun! We went to the butterfly museum, went tubing on a crazy river, went ziplining went on many hikes, explored the waterfalls, ate delicious food, and slept in gorgeous cabins in the middle of a jungle-like environment. Here are some highlights from the trip:

This is the river that we had to cross every time we left our cabins!

This is where we ate all of our meals -- muy bonito!

These are my friends Casey and Maggie -- we were excited about our beautiful cabin!

We went to a maripasario (butterfly farm) -- I found a friend!

Then we went tubing on this crazy river -- it was pretty scary but fun!

Then we went zip-lining and this is our battle wounds (we hit our heads on the cable) - ouch!

Then we went on a strenuous hike up a mountain to check out some waterfalls!

Swimming in the waterfalls!

Although the weather was tropical and wonderful, the bugs definitely got me! OUCH!

So I was pretty excited about my community service project that I was originally assigned: I was going to work at a school outside of Quito that is exclusively for indigenous children, teaching music and chorus. However, apparently this school already has enough volunteers/interns so my program is trying to find me another assignment. I hope my second assignment will be as exciting as the first. I'm looking forward to serving my community here.

As for classes, I'm pretty sure I will be taking the following:

(1) Curso principal -- this is the main course that is required for each student in our program. We will be learning about Ecuador and the indigenous populations here and things like that.

(2) Populism and Neo-Populism in Latin America -- this is the intense class that I will be taking at a graduate school here, and it meets for 6 hours each week! It's going to be a challenge, but hopefully it will be interesting and enlightening.

(3) Social Psych -- I'm taking this at a local undergrad university here, b/c I'm obviously interested in it :) I'm looking forward to meeting local students and seeing how university life is different here in Ecuador!

(4) Kichwa - this is the indigenous language of Ecuador (not to be confused with Quechua in Peru) -- I'm excited to learn about the language & culture. I've already learned several words in Kichwa that Ecuadorians use on a daily basis!

I think I'm experiencing some kind of culture shock, because I don't feel like myself. I have not been feeling emotions like I usually do. I don't know what to do, but I'm trying to find myself here. It's hard but I know that this takes time.

The whole language thing is tough too. I understand a lot more than I can actually say, and I often find myself not being able to express myself. I'm really hoping that my Spanish will improve tremendously -- it would feel so much better to just be able to verbalize who I am without having to think so much!

I also just discovered that it costs $2 to buy stamps to send one postcard/letter to the U.S.! That's crazy! I was thinking that I would be able to send postcards for really cheap. So I guess that means that my American friends and family should not be expecting too much mail from me -- sorry!

Well, I'm off! I hope everyone is doing well! Love from Ecuador :)