So everything is going great here I am settling into my classes fine though now that I'm doing my service at Special Olympics my schedule is totally full and I don't have time for much between classes, service, and HW. But its all good. This weekend we went to Mindo which was amazing! We were hiking for 5hours in the middle of the cloud forest which is not much different from what you would think a rain forest looks like, its just in the middle of a mountain range. We were without a guide which made it so much cooler but we really had no idea if we were going the right way, but we eventually made it and the waterfalls we were looking for were amazing. The hike was pretty difficult because it was steep and full of mud and only about 1 foot wide so we all walked single file. After we came out of the forest there was a little BBQ and i bought a plate of chicken and potatoes (meal sized) for only $1. So good. The hostel we stayed in was $5 a night though because of the view area and ambiance it would have cost $100 in the US. A really good trip in general and I'm getting impatient for the next. Hope all is well at home! Ill put up the pictures when I can

Settling in...

So it has been about a week and a half since I arrived and everything is going very well, all my classes seem fine though it is a little more difficult to learn in another language. Ill get it eventually. So far I have only been traveling to and from school, besides some trips to different parts of Quito, but this weekend a group of us are going to Mindo which is just north west of Quito. The city here is on a random plateau int he middle of the country so once you you go five mins outside of Quito it is all mountains and vallies. One of the more shocking things is that it does not affect the bus drivers at all, imagine mass drivers x10! They pass on both sides around curved bridges, going 50 miles an hour going down a wicked steep incline. For some reason I feel safe on the bus too. Im still getting used to traveling around the city becuase there is no maps for public transportation, let a lone a sign at each stop telling you where you are; hence a failed trip to Old Town to see the colonial architechture. I have made it out to La Mariscal a few time which has also been deemed affecionatly "Gringolandia." I have come to accept my gringo-ness and the Ecuadorians do not use it as a negitive term, I know refer to other Americans as gringos. Though I never feel unsafe I can tell people veiw me as different becuase noone wants to sit with us on the bus and they are always looking at us. Ill try to add some pictures, there is a lot of graffiti here becuase of the upcoming election in March so I look forward to seeing how that plays out. I saw one tag that translated said "Jesus was born in Palistine" So that shows how Ecuador isnt a world away.

Ecuador So Far

So it has only been a few days in Ecuador but I love it here. When I first landed I was unsure if there was going to be a family waiting for me to pick me up becuase of some email confusions. I was prepared for thr worst, but I was very happily wrong. My host brother Omar was waiting for me a long with 100 other families waiting for their students. It was late so I was quickly introduced to my host parents Luis and Elvalicia and my host sister Maria Jose who became engagged that night, so I will be attending a wedding here in Ecuador. I have started to get the lay of the land around my house and had my orrientation at La Universidad de San Fransico de Quito USFQ yesterday. The campus is stright out of a movie and is called the Laguna Beach of Ecuador because it is the first private liberal arts school in the county. For only $5000 american per semester you can go to the most beautiful school there is. There are fountains, marble floors statues of philosophers and scientists, ponds, lawns, a Japanese style dojo and much much more. To take a bus one way anywhere is only 25 cents, our ride to school is about a half hour. thats less than a penny a mile! I havent taken maky pictures yet but I will post them when I do! Adios!