Atacames-- once again.

Hi!

Last week was a busy one. Two presentations and two tests. But last weekend we were rewarded with a wonderful girl's weekend at the beach. Julie's host mom let us use her apartment in Tonsupa (about a twenty minute taxi ride from Atacames,) which was extremely nice of her. Julie, Cari, Sam, Angel and I left Thursday night and arrived Friday morning. Once we got there, we were in awe. This wasn't just a little apartment by the beach. This was a resort with six pools, two hot tubs, two tennis courts, two full length basketball courts, and our own private beach. And..... the five of us were the only occupants! It was such a treat. The first day we got there we laid out on the beach and got delicious seafood. I think every meal I ordered had shrimp. We had beautiful weather the entire weekend. We were too tired to go to Atacames and out to the bars that night, so we all fell asleep pretty early. The next morning, we went to a little tienda and bought eggs, bread, cereal, milk and coffee. Cari cooked us all breakfast in our apartment :) Afterwards we laid out on the beach again and then that night we went to Atacames. It was a lot fun to go to Atacames again, it brought back good memories of the first trip there.

Here are some beautiful pictures of our bachelorette pad.

Pool side bar

View from our apartment

Our little private beach :)

Thanksgiving in Ecuador

HI!

Thankgiving was last Thursday! I was looking forward to it very much, even though this year I wasn't going to be with my family. I have made some great friends here and knew it would be an awesome American holiday anyway. I have to admit, it was strange going to class on Thanksgiving and not seeing any commercialized products or advertisments about the holiday. Of course I'm not exactly proud to celebrate the holiday for what it started out as (let's face it americanos, matamos todos los nativos) but I am proud for what the holiday has become. A time to feast with your family and realize what you're thankful for. I'm thankful for my parents first and foremost. I am thankful for many things, of course, but as I celebrate this American holiday in Ecuador, I can't help but be grateful for this opportunity to study abroad here. I have had so many great times here, this truly was a life changing experience. I am also thankful to have a loving extended family back in the States who care about me and are interested in my experiences here. I am grateful to have a beautiful home in Portland and a new home in Eugene (thank you Alex). With only three weeks left, I plan to travel as much as a I can (thanks for supporting me financially, mom) and really enjoying the Ecuadorian culture and my gringo friends I have made. I will miss you all more than you know.


Here are some fabulous Thanksgiving/ after party pictures.

Our OUS Thanksgiving dinner!

Sam and I

Julie and I

Julie, Cari and I

Arturo, Elaine, Grant, Jesse and I

Jesse and I

Alex and I

Con todo mi amor,

Audrey

My Dad, Galapagos Islands, Montanita

Hi all!

My dad came and visited me for a week! I am so extremely happy that he came. I was very happy to share this experience with him and show him around Quito. He met all my friends, tried the beer (he said it wasn't bad!), we went to Otavalo, my school, the teleferico, and the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS! The Galapagos Islands are absolutely incredible. Everyone, if they have a place in mind they want to travel to, should go to the Galapagos. The landscape is beautiful.. it turns from desert to lush vegetation in about a thirty minute drive inland. We were on Santa Cruz Island and Floreana Island. It's so beautiful I could live there. And the food is delicious! My favorite part was seeing the GIANT GALAPAGOS TORTOISES!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty sure it's been my dream to see those guys since I was little. And I saw them with my dad :) My second favorite part was laying out in Tortuga Bay, a white sand beach with clear waters and hardly any people. We  saw blue footed boobies, sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, sting rays, pelicans, marine iguanas (endemic to the islands), land iguanas, baby tortoises and soo many finches. Here are some pictures.

After we left the Galapagos (our tour was three nights, four days), my dad and I went back to Quito for two days. I made him try Ceviche and we went to an artesanal market not far from where I live. He stayed at my host mom's house and she enjoyed his company very much, regardless of the language barrier. On Wednesday morning, the 31st of October, I dropped him off at the airport and said goodbye. He said he really likes my friends and was very proud of me. I was glad to be the person with him on his first adventure to South America. That same morning I caught a bus to Guayaquil, a city about 10 hour bus ride away. From there, my friends and I took two more buses to get to Montanita. Montanita is a little coastal hippy town that everyone loves. It was beautiful there! Everyone was so happy. There was great food, music, bars, and the weather was good (it didn't rain.) There was a group of about fifteen of us who went, and all stayed in the same hostel. We were there for three nights and four days. We came back early Sunday morning and were beat. It was an incredible fall break and I will never forget it!

Until next time, chao! :)

Baños

Hey all!

So I've been falling behind on keeping up with my blog. A couple weeks ago some friends and I all went to Baños. It's about a three hour bus ride from Quito. We got there Friday afternoon, got two rooms at a fantastic hostel (by fantastic I mean it had hot running water and toliet paper). There were about ten of us total. We got some delicious food at this restaurant as soon as we got there, and ended up going there two more times throughout our stay as well. That night we went out and had a great time. The next morning, Saturday, we were all planning on going white water rafting; however, I got a little sick, so I stayed home. Sunday morning I was feeling a lot better and we all went puenting. Puenting is similar to bungee jumping but instead of bouncing, you jump off a bridge and the rope is actually attached to the other side of the bridge, so you swing back and forth under the bridge until they let you down. It was amazing. I kind of felt nauseous afterward, but I think that was because I had already been sick earlier that weekend. I wanted to do it again though. It only cost twenty bucks. Baños is crazy. Really. Ecuadorians have some sick fetish for adrenaline. I want to go again.

Sam, Julie, Andrea, Cari, Cammie, Kirstin, Alex, Angel and I

There was a futbol game last Friday, Ecuador vs. Chile and we won!!!!

Tiputini

TIPUTINI BIODIVERSITY STATION--

Tiputini is located in eastern Ecuador, almost on the boarder of Peru. It is a biodiversity station created by my school, USFQ, and Boston University. It is deep in the Amazon rain forest. It took us seven hours to get there. We had to take an airplane, two bus rides and two boat rides. Though it was entirely worth it. It rained and stormed so much there, and I've realized how much I've missed the rain. I saw a lot of cool animals like caiman, a snake, tarantula, poisonous frogs, macaws and so many other birds I couldn't name them all. I ate ants that tasted like lemon. I ate a leaf that made my tongue blue. I saw the biggest moth in the world (jk, I don't know if it's the biggest, but it was huge.) I only took cold showers. I saw some terrifying spiders. We played with monkeys. I helped a turtle get to where it wanted to go. I climbed to the top of a tower and saw across the entire canopy of the Amazon. I crossed these sketchy bridges that would not be legal in the U.S. And last but not least, I floated the Tiputini River with caiman, piranha, and anacondas.