Feliz dia del amor y amistad

Valentine´s Day here is not just for lovers, but also for friends. So I bought my family some chocolates and I hope to buy them some flowers as well. Cayambe is known for selling flowers, so this is not only a great day for lovers and friends, but also for the many flower vendors here.

So far in Ecuador, I have:
- Stayed up till 2:30 am at a concert with my family
- Thrown up in a field in the presence of another volunteer and her host brother and several by-standing cows
- Drunk more types of fruit juice (fresh fruit!) than I ever have in the US
- Eaten rice and chicken for breakfast
- Met the president of my community
- Thrown water balloons at my brother
- Had water balloons thrown at me by total strangers
- Seen a mountain on fire
- Sent three letters (with 3 more in the making)
- Learned 6 pages worth of new Spanish words
- Taken 4 showers
- Eaten 0 guinea pigs (sorry Erik..but I´ll be sure to save one for you)
- Played Frisbee, leap frog, cards, and lots of soccer
- Walked outside while it was hailing...at the equator (figure that one out)
- Fallen in love with my host family and Ecuador (don´t worry, family at home, I still love you guys!)

I have Spanish classes for about 6 hours a day, which may sound terribly tedious, but is actually incredibly helpful and interesting. My group of four trainees has an absolutely amazing facilitator who always makes our classes interesting.

I´m happy to say my life is pretty stress-free as of now. I have Spanish classes in the morning and afternoon, then hang out with my family or walk around the community in the evening, have dinner, write some letters, do some homework, and then head to bed! Next week we start habitat conservation training, so things will be a little more intense. But everything here is tranquilo!