March 26, 2012

Wow. So much has happened in the last month. Once again I havent had much time on the internet, so this is unfortunately the only time i havr to write all the amazing things that have happened since february 24th. Right after I wrote my last blog, we went to our homestays in Agualongo, a tiny village in the mountains of Ecuador. It was the most amazing and life chaning experience for me to date. I lived with my host mother, lauram host father, felipe, and 9 brothers and sisters. I loved every single one of them. They really changed my perpesctive on things with how much they appreciate life. While we were there, we participated in something called a minga, which is a time where everyone in the community gets together for a work projet. Our project was roofing their community center. It was so awesome to see everyone get together and work on something all day. After the minga, they awarded us with a delicacy, cuy (guiniea pig). It was.....interesting tasting...but i am very glad i tried it! Even some of the vegetarian girls in my group tried it, it was so awesome. We left the community after a week, and it was really hard to say goodbye to everyone. I miss my host family a lot, they were such a sense of comfort to me when we were in such a hard situation. After that, we entered the Amazon rainforest! The rainforest was the coolest experience of my life. We stayed at a variety of lodges, including two right on the Napo River. We went on day hikes, night hikes, and everthing in between. We had two amazing guides, Jerson and Cesar, and they taught us so much about all the crazy animals and plants in the Amazon. At one point, to get to our new lodge, we tubed down the Napo! It was so crazy. We also went white water rafting which was also so scary but so much fun. I loved every minute in the Amazon, even after 6 days without washing our dirty clothes (: After our rainforest trek, we went to Guayaquil for our midterms.Our hostal in Guayaquil was right in the city and right by the ocean, and evern though it was hard to concentrate, we got through our mnidterms! We then set off to the Galapagos! The Galapagos Islands are impossible to fully describe. They are the most amazing, lush, interesting, diverse islands I have ever seen. We stayed on a boat for 8 days, moving from island to island every day with our amazing guide katty. We went on multiple hikes and snorkeled every single day. We swam with sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, eagle rays, manta rays, fish, and PENGUINS! The first time I saw a penguin in the water was the most amazing experience! They are so cute and I love them so much. Anyway, that trip was again so amazing and mindblowing. We then got to celebrate three birthdays in a row! A teacher, Allegra, my friend Emily, and then me! It was really fun having them all so close. On my birthday we unfortunately were on the bus all day on our way to peru, but its not every year you get to spend your birthday in two amazing countries. We made it to peru yesterday finally! Now we are staying at another hostal getting used to the 10,000 foot elevation and getting ready for our treks! Our first trek, the Santa Cruz Trek, is so soon and i am so excited for it. I hope to have internet afterwards so i can describe how amazing it was. I love you and miss you all!!!

Sarah