“the flavor of mangos para chupar always makes me think of christmastime and the new year”

--my sis at breakfast this morning, my translation
its funny how mangos, what we might consider a tropical fruit, are only sold in quito this time of year, and make my sis think of christmas. her statement over desayuno also brought with it another realization: time is flying! only one month left... my recent attempts to live it to the fullest:

last weekend we climbed the world’s highest active volcano, cotopaxi. freezing cold, a little scary, very fun. i hadn’t played in snow in over five years, so that was really awesome.

monday i climbed the tower of the basilica and sat outside on the roof. also a bit scary, but peaceful watching all of quito walk and drive by during rush hour. and then i ate in a fair trade restaurant under the san francisco convent! monday was also the opening night of the first-ever ecuadorian-made opera. it told the story of the feminist mistress of simon bolivar, who liberated ecuador from the spanish. very, very good for the first-ever opera in a country, with a very appropriate theme.

thursday brought an organ concert of bach and mozart music in quito’s cathedral, by an italian, which was quite beautiful. friday i got a perm with some other girls from the program. it turned out pretty disastrous. haven’t quite figured out what to do with it yet...

and this weekend we went to baños, a town three hours south of quito that has natural hot springs. the town had been closed for a couple months due to damage by the volcano tunguragua, which feeds the hot springs. and we almost didn’t go this weekend because there was a paro (strike where they close down the roads) made by all the people who had been displaced by volcano damage and had not received any government assistance, but the paro ended the night before we left. (considered a success because promises for assistance had been made, but they rarely are followed through with, unfortunately).
we ate good food (how i’ve missed pesto and hummus!), swam in the warm pools at dawn, drove four-wheelers to the top of a scenic overlook, and climbed down to a beautiful waterfall.


and now its time to prepare presentations, write papers, etc. until my ñaño chris comes to visit on wednesday!


leave with you a little laugh... "parks are not restrooms." only in quito...

latest photos can be viewed here.