So I'm officially done with the first week of classes. And they are HARD! They are normal-difficulty college classes, but in Spanish. You try reading forty pages of dry historical theory. It takes a while. Now try reading that in Spanish- that takes MUCH longer. I'm also worried for writing essays… I was told going abroad would be a GPA booster (obviously that's not why I chose to travel…), but I am having my doubts.

On a happier note, on Friday we went to Papallacta, a town known for its hot springs (naturally heated by a nearby volcano!) Seven of us from the BU Liberal Arts program woke up early to catch a bus to a town called Tumbaca. Here we waited 20 min or so for another bus, on which we had to stand because it was so full. After over an hour of standing and struggling to breathe the stuffy air, we were dropped off on the side of a mountain in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful, sure, but there were also no signs of civilization other than a small dirt road. We were beginning to wonder about our decision when a man drove up in a pick-up truck with a covered truck bed. After a few minutes of him pointing to us and yelling "un taxi!" we paid fifty cents each and jumped in. One harrowing ride later, involving a lot of screaming (the driver must have gotten a kick out of that), we arrived. And it was SO worth it- multiple swimming pools of varying temperatures of hot kept us from getting bored. Even better, the BU Ecology group showed up later in the afternoon and we were able to catch a ride back with them.

Saturday we had a program trip to Otavalo, a town known for its market of traditional Ecuadorian crafts and handiworks. First we took a detour to Cotocachi- a lake on the top of a mountain. The lake doesn't have any water leaving it (other than water evaporating) and the only water that enters is from rain and snowmelt. Apparently this makes the lake a sort of ecological gold-mine. But back to the market. It had everything- clothes, hand-painted plates and trays, jewelry, carved figures, artwork, food, and even children's toys! I do feel like I got ripped off on my purchases from early in the day; I hadn't quite reached my bartering stride at that point and I didn't know what deals I could expect. We go back in December to do Christmas shopping, and I will be much better preparedJ.

(P.S. I hope y'all are enjoying this, because apparently I'm to be disowned from the family for publicly blogging...)