A lil bit of my world

I realize I never talk about school, but I feel like- school is school. So here's the update on my latest extracurriculars.
Last Thursday I had one of the best dinners I've been privileged enough to taste! Kathleen's brother, Zach, was here visiting so we all went out to eat together at La Ronda, a really nice restaurant we would otherwise not fork up the cash to go to. We all had locro, an awesome soup that has slices of avocado in it, and rolls with ají (a delicious Ecuadorian hot sauce), and then I had sea bass with mussels in this incredible sauce. I couldn't quite handle myself it was so good, possibly as good as mango ice cream. La Ronda also has a really good music group that goes around playing Andean music. Anyway, we (Raq, Ann, Kathleen, Zach and I) spent hours there eating good food with good wine (I've found Ecuadorians don't drink as much wine as Spaniards) and good conversation, till we walked Zach back to his hostel and headed home. It was cool to meet Kathleen's big brother that she's always talking about:)
Last Friday night Raq, Ann, and I went out with Vanesa and Pablo, to go bowling, ahh yeah! It's been a while since I've gotten to wear those nifty shoes and use glow-in-the-dark balls. I actually broke 100 (106) so I was happy, plus we met a couple of Vane's friends who were cool. Her friend Andrés was a kick; he went to college all 4 years at Texas A&M (I asked, on the outside chance that he might know you Jules, but he didn't. It was cool to talk to someone from your world tho!) and he's totally Aggie-fied (Aggie being the A&M mascot). As in, cowboy-boot-wearin, two-step-line-dancin, country-music-lovin, G Dubya Bush-praisin, "aggie for life"-and-"don't mess with Texas"-proclaimin, "y'all"-drawlin, *Aggie-fied*. Increíble. He was also really nice so we had fun chattin with him, tho I could not quite get over how "Texan" he had gotten in four years. For example, he's the only Ecuadorian I've met so far that supports Bush, and would go as far to consider himself a Republican when he's Stateside. I mean, 4 years is a long time, and I give him lots of credit for really immersing himself in the culture he was in; it was just funny to meet an EcuaTexan. He says he doesn't feel out of place when he comes home either though-- that he feels at home in both environments--so he's actually quite the exchange student success story. Anyway, in keeping with this theme, after bowling we decided to go to Western, a bar/pizza place, but it was closed. So we went to the club/karaoke place next door and made total fools of ourselves but had a good time. Ann sang "Pump up the Jam" and I sang "Rodeo" by Garth, to give you an idea of the level of idiocy we were willing to engage ourselves in.
Saturday I played with the grandkids and got no homework done all day, and I have a ton lately, so decided to sacrifice my Saturday night and not go out. Miguel, the German guy from Ann and my salsa class had invited us (and half the university) to a party at his apartment though, where he lives with 2 Chilean guys. Ann and Raq ended up going and they said it was kinda crazy with so many people there, but the guys were nice. Ann and Miguel are often dance partners in class so they practiced salsa, and Miguel seems to have a crush. It might even be reciprocal;).