fear of heights (oh, and creepy hostels...)-conquered.

Well I have been getting some complaints about my lack of updating on this so I guess it's time to let you all know I am still alive here. Things are going really well as I get into my routine of classes and service. First update on my service:

Though the first few weeks were really difficult and long, I am starting to get used to the environment and feel of the school. It's way different from schools in the States with an apparent lack of organization and discipline...That was hard to get used to. But the kids are all crazy but super cute and fun at the same time. The loving part is going really well but the teaching part has been really, really hard. I have been given no materials to work with so I am basically just surviving day by day and making stuff up. But now I am starting to get a plan in place and going through different things so the lessons/weeks are more organized. But the biggest struggle is getting the kids to sit down, be quiet, and stop hitting their neighbor with colored pencils...and the teachers are constantly leaving the room so that doesn't help! But it's been getting better the last couple of days and I feel like I can actually make a difference in the lives of these kids.

School: Eh, it's good. I just wish I didn't have to go and could travel the country all the time because I am realizing my weekends are slipping away, and fast. Right now my most interesting class is my Philosophy of Buddhism class. It's in the Pagoda building on campus and we have to take our shoes off and sit on pillows for class! It's so crazy. And then usually we spend half the class meditating...we have done everything from walking meditation to just standing and meditating. It's so strange and um, I really don't do it ever. Basically I just end up praying for half an hour which is fine with me! But it's really funny to watch my teacher meditate...he gets really in to it.

Weekends:
Two weekends ago we all just stayed in Quito and did stuff around the city which turned out to be really fun and entertaining.
Saturday:
-Teleferico: It's a lift that brings you up Pichincha Mt. and has great views of Quito from really high up. (hence, the fear of heights, conquered) From the top we could have hiked about 3 hours more to the actual top of the volcano but we decided against that because it's really dangerous due to the robbers, and, oh, we were already feeling the altittude.
-La Basilica (a church): This is one of the historic churches in the Centro Historico and it is beautiful. It has been in construction for over 100 years and still isn't finished. But we were able to climb to the top of the towers which was really scary...I mean we walked up stairs for most of it but there were points were we had to walk across wooden bridges and up ladders to get to the next point of the tower. But we made it to the top and got to ring the church bells!

Sunday:
-Church: I have been going to church with my friend's family. It's a Christian church and the beliefs are similar to the one's at my church at home (i mean from what I can understand...) Ha. Just kidding it's actually suprisingly easy to understand, which is nice. But my favorite part is the worship because I am able to recognize some of the songs which is amazing because I realize that worship is the same in all languages. It's just amazing to see people worshipping God and know that there are people in all countries worshipping the same God.
-Parque Carolina: A couple weeks ago one of our friends stumbled upon an aerobics class in the park so today we decided to check it out. It was hilarious! It's just a bunch of people in a huge mass following this older man instructor and doing aerobics today. The four of us were definately a sight to see...
Well we decided to sit under some trees and watch the tons of soccer games going on. Probably not a good idea...these Ecuadorian men asked us to play soccer with them! Well we played the 4 American girls (only 2 of us actually play soccer) against the middle-aged Ecuadorian men. But don't worry, they were awful. I mean they thought they were good but we for sure won.
-From there I just explored another park nearby with Katherine and went to a market.

This past weekend:
Basically a failure. We were supposed to go to Banos where we were going to go biking, tubing, canyoning (rapelling over waterfalls), and go to hot springs...but we couldn't because there was a landslide and a couple people were missing. Oh well. So then we went to Cotocachi but we ended up staying the night in Otavalo because we didn't want to take another bus in the dark. Well, we should have just stayed in the same hostel as last time. Let's just say the hostel we stayed in was not worth the $3 we ended up paying. All 6 of us slept in one room. The smell was terrible. The ceilings were falling apart on our bags. And there were bugs squished on the walls. And then Saturday it rained. Which is great for the country because they are in a drought period but not so good for hiking around lakes. We ended up going to Cotocachi (the leather-making town) and wandering around the leather stores for awhile. We didn't go to the lake because we wouldn't have been able to see anything and just ended up coming home.
But it turned out to be a good bonding evening. But my host mom for sure wins the cutest mom award! All 7 of us went to my house were we had tea and coffee and then all sat on my bed and watched Ratatouille. And my mom brought us popcorn! And then we were going to leave and get dinner somewhere cause I wasn't about to ask my mom to feed all 7 of us but she was like, wait! I need to make you something. She made us the most delicious treat I have had since I've been here! It was basically flour, eggs, and cheese cooked in a ton of oil-probably not very good for me but really delicious!

Updates: I am for going to the Galapagos over Spring Break!!!!! (April 1-8) Which I am really excited about because I am going with a Volcano class so everything is planned out for us and everything sounds amazing. We are going snorkeling a ton of times! And just going to really expereince everything on the islands. But this weekend we are taking a trip with our program to El Oriente (the jungle) for 3 days so just pray I don't get too many bug bites or malaria. k thanks. But I'm sure I will have a ton to write after that adventure! And I will try and update more often so these blogs aren't so long! Love you all and missing you more and more everyday!