So to explain my previous blog as best I can, without breaching confidentiality, I was essentially assigned to bust up a prostitution ring as part of my internship. That's really all I can say, but I assure you it's one of those instances where the real story is even better than anything you can create in your imagination. Fortunately(?) it got postponed until next week, so I haven't been 'taken' yet. Other than that little snag my internship is still going great! I'm still working primarily in the same room and I love the teacher I work with. It's so weird though, the difference between Monday and Wednesday, because after a weekend at home, with less rules, the kids return as MONSTERS on Mondays. They are the most horrifying, adorable, terrors in the world. I admire my teacher sooooo much. She is the most patient person in the entire universe.

School... well last week & this week the flu has been going around among the kids at my internship. So naturally, because I have the immune system of a premature baby I got it. I feel totally fine now but last week I was just tired and.. blah all of the time. THEREFORE, I thought I had a legitimate excuse to skip jewelry-making, even though it was sort of giving me an anxiety attack. I thought he would be really evil but I sort of had a stroke of luck. Yesterday there was a car accident and he was really late for class so everybody wrote their name on a list and left. BUT then he called me (as I was peeing in the bathroom) because he has my number from when I had to buy all of the supplies for the class and was like "where is everyone" etc etc. So I went back to class because he's psycho but because I was the only one there he was really nice to me and I got a lot done! For the next 2 weeks in Spanish class we have a substitute and she's Cuban and I can't understand anything she says which is hard, but that's about as exciting as that class is right now. I have my first essay due tomorrow (3 pages) but still don't have the rubric sooooo we'll see how that works out.

Yesterday I skipped aerobics to go for "a beer" with Carlos. I've decided, even though I love aerobics, that having that break for socializing is a lot more important. I feel like I don't talk to anyone all day when I just go from class to class to class TO CLASS. So anyway, I drank a liter and a half of beer, at 10am, and then had to go to my leadership class. It was awful/hilarious. However, on the bright (most likely humiliating as well) side I was volunteering to speak in Spanish in front of my entire Ecuadorian class. Definitely more humiliating, but luckily my memory is a little foggy. And tomorrow we're doing it again- yay!

Friday morning- Saturday night Liz, Lily, Andres, and I went to Mindo. It was really nice to get away because I hadn't really traveled in a while. Mindo is about 2 and a half hours away and supposedly gets pretty packed during vacation times but it was very relaxed when we were there. The first day we went ziplining and made "friends" with the guides. So later they met us in the town square where we were drinking rum and coke (only in Ecuador). So we went dancing, well I went jumping or whatever, and then they took us to go ziplining at like 1am! It was SO awesome in the dark! The one guy turned out to be a total creep/stalker though, seriously. My latest text message from today (after about 10 unreturned phone calls and 20 messages) said (in Spanish so it's even creepier sounding) "I would really like to go to the movies with you. I insist, even if I have to find you." So. I'm a little scared.
The next morning we had breakfast and I had my first cup of coffee!!! I literally mixed it half and half with milk and coffee and probably put enough sugar in it to kill a small child, but I would even go so far as to say I liked it. Then we went to this butterfly and hummingbird conservatory. It was beautiful! They are supposed to have really nice orchids too but I don't think they were in season. After that we took this cable car across a giant ravine to walk to these waterfalls. It was supposed to take 45 minutes, 30 if you're fast... well it felt like we were running but it took us over an hour. Must be Ecua-time. We reached this little waterfall and were all trying to pretend we weren't incredibly disappointed but then I spotted these natural steps that led to the most breathtaking waterfall ever. I had to stop myself from taking pictures because there was really no way to capture it. It was just this cavern/paradise...ahhh. I just had to.. soak it in. After a late lunch we caught the last bus back to Quito and all passed out.

Sunday I pretended to do homework and hung out with my family. Today I got my tattoo finally and while I agree I've felt better, the ribs weren't THAT terrible. My tattoo artist was awesome though. I'm debating getting another just to go talk to him again. Oh! I had the most crazy 'it's a small world moment.' So he is from Ecuador. When he was 18 he moved to NYC for school and then started tattooing in Philly. I was like "Omg I'm from Reading." Then he was like oh "So you've heard of Pottstown? I lived there for about 5 years." Whaaaaattt. That is bizarre. Bizarre.

This weekend is a FREE music festival in the park called Quitofest (http://www.quitofest.com/ --if you're interested). Friday has psycho bands like Dying Fetus and Lamb of God, but I'm DEFINITELY going Saturday. I'm really excited :) Oh last night mom finally booked the tickets and her and Johnnie are really coming!- for 8 days over Thanksgiving, so now I have to start making our itinerary! Well I guess I have some time actually... Also, in exactly 4 weeks I go to the Galapagos!

I know I say this every time but I'm really going to start blogging more. The week nights just turn into a blur after a while.
Ciao!