A lil bit of my world

Friday we left for Baños as soon as Rachel, Kathleen, Liz and I got done with class. We ate a quick lunch, headed to the bus station, and after a 4hr ride made it to Baños at around 7pm. We found a great hostel (Café Hood, with a Robin Hood theme for all the rooms) for $3.50/nite per person and a good restaurant downstairs. After dinner, where we met a guy from Utah who'd quit his job as a software salesman in CA to travel S.America for three months (sounds good to me!), and we strolled around the little tourist haven before heading to bed early.
Saturday we rented bikes for $5 for the day and headed out for what was possibly my favorite thing that I've done in Ecuador. It was a 14-17 kilometer ride, mostly downhill, including one precarious unlit tunnel, which passed through some gorgeous scenery. The day before and after it rained, so we got lucky with perfect weather too. We passed by about 6 waterfalls, stopped to play in some of them, and then arrived at Pailón del Diablo. We had to hike about 15mins to get to the top of this waterfall, the biggest one in Baños (maybe in Ecuador?), and a beautiful end to our trek. We had milkshakes and snacks at the café at the top of the falls, then popsicles at the café at the base, then rode in the back of a truck back to the main part of town. Pictures are never quite good enough, or even close, but you'll be able to get an idea of where we were at least. During the bike ride we also passed a bridge where they had bungee jumping for $10, and a 7yo boy, after much trepidation, threw himself off the edge as we passed. I wanted to jump, but it was more of a jump-and-swing-over-the-water than real diving-head-first bungee jumping, so I passed this time (breathe a sigh of relief, Mom). We decided rafting was too expensive too, so we just relaxed for a bit in Baños in the afternoon before catching an early dinner and then heading to the thermal baths at 6. Amanda was weirded out by the whole ¨public baths¨ idea, and it was a little sketchy, but once I got over that it was really relaxing. There was a very hot pool, a hot pool, and an ice cold pool. Going from the very hot to the ice cold was enough of a shock to the system to about make me faint, but it felt great once we got out. It's supposed to be good for circulation I guess, and I was ready to go straight to sleep by the time we left. After changing into dry clothes though, we caught a chiva to go the Tungurahua Volcano. If anyone knows what a monkey bus in English, that's a chiva, but otherwise, it's an open bus where people stand on the roof as well, and here it's always pretty lively with music or a band playing as you ride. We drove around Baños for an hour to fill up the bus (we weren't originally aware that that was part of the plan), then drove up to the lookout point. Unfortunately, it was completely cloudy and starting to sprinkle at that point, so we couldn't see a thing. There was a bonfire and hot drinks, but I was ready to go pretty quickly. The saving grace of the excursion was a pair of 16-17 yo fire jugglers that were actually really good entertainers. By the time we made it down the mountain again, it was after 12, everyone was exhausted, and our plans to go out to a club for the evening were shot:(. It was still an incredible day though, so I wasn't too disappointed.
Sunday we were at the bus station by 7.15, tired and unshowered for the most part, but we made it back to Quito a little after 11. Alex and Amanda finished packing up their stuff, cleaned themselves up a little before their long trip home, and we were off to the airport. Diana's family met us there to give them going away presents and a package for Diana, we said our goodbyes and they were off already. This week flew by... It was so unbelievable and wonderful to have them here visiting. It was great to catch up in person with what's been going on in their lives, and to show them our world for this semester. It was cool too to see that they're doing well, that they're having fun and seem great for each other, and Esh said she was glad to be able to see that we're happy here too:). The only drawback is that now I'm going to miss them and other Goshenites all over again! Anyway, to avoid being sad after we left them in the airport, and to rest up after our weekend travels, I decided to take a short nap when I got home. I figured Yoli would wake me up for dinner if I overslept, but it turns out she hadn't noticed when I came back. So at around 8pm she came in to turn a light on for me ¨for when I got home,¨ and discovered I was already there; I'd been napping for 6 hrs! Which is why I am awake and blogging right now, instead of in bed (or um, doing homework...). Esh and Alex should be on the road back to Goshen about now. --Hope you guys had a safe trip!
Love to all our Goshen friends...Diana, Diana, Hannah, Liz, Dj, Sam, Erin, Nick-- sorry we didn't have time to write you all notes to send with Esh. It was great to hear from you, hope you all had fun on your break and that you're having a splendid semester! Miss you!
...that's the summary of our first spring break. Next weekend we're probably going to go the beach with Vane and Pablo, and then USFQ has its spring break and we're off to the Galapagos!
Pictures of most of the good times above are posted below, and I'll add a few more sometime soon when I get them from Kathleen and Liz. Hasta luego