Last Week in Ecuador :(

My last week in Ecuador was amazing. I spent the first half of the week finishing up all of my school work but once it was over, the rest was all fun! I made sure to go to my favorite restaurant where for $2.50 you get a bowl of crab soup with a whole crab in it!

On thursday night, my friends I and went out for our last night together in Quito. We had an amazing night and stayed out till almost 5 in the morning! The next day, I went to the artisenal market to buy my last minute gifts and then we had our goodbye dinner at a nice restaurant. Everyone in my IES program came, along with our professors and our host families. It was a very nice dinner but very sad. 

Me and my host mom, Ibis!

After dinner, 7 of my friends and I went to the bus station to take an 11pm bus to the beach for our last weekend! We arrived at the beach at about 5 am and took a motor-bike taxi to our hostel that was right on the water. 

We slept for a few hours then hit up the beach! We spent all day Saturday hanging out, playing cards, and relaxing on the beach. The weather was cloudy but very warm and we spent lots of time swimming in the ocean. We also ate lots of Ceviche. 

The next morning was perfectly sunny and very hot. We spent many hours swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach, and playing the Ecuadorian card game - Cuarenta. 

There were tons of people walking around on the beach selling things such as Mangos, Ceviche, cold beers, sunglasses, and hair wraps. I got a purple, sea shell hair wrap! 4 of my friends took an afternoon bus home on Sunday but the other 4 of us stayed until an 11pm bus. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town and taking naps on the beach. We then sat on the beach until 11 eating burgers from a street vendor and drinking beer. It was a great last night at the beach.

On Monday, I met up with all my girlfriends and we got manicures together and went DVD shopping. Since there are no copy-right laws in Ecuador, DVDs only cost $1.50 so I bought a lot! We then went out to lunch and shared a Cuy! Cuy is Guinea Pig. I was very hesitant to eat it but my friends made me since it is a very popular dish in Ecuador. It did not taste like chicken like I was told, but it didn't taste too bad. I then spent the rest of the night packing and went to bed very early because I was so tired from the weekend.

By the time I woke up at 6:30 am on Tuesday, most of my friends were on their flights home. Two of my friends were off traveling with their parents and two friends, Addie and Zach were still in Quito. At 7am I showed up at Zach's house to begin Addie/Dana/Zach's day of fun! We watched Marley and Me at Zach's house since it was still very early. Then his empleada domestica (maid) made us a very good breakfast. Then we went to a really pretty park, Ichambia to hang out for a while. The park had a really nice view of the city.

It was fun to go to the park because we went to the very same park on the first day of orientation so it really brought the experience full circle. After the park we went and saw the Basilica which was beautiful. There are gargoyles out front in the shape of Galapagos creatures. After that, we went to lunch at my house. My host mom cooked a big lunch since my host grandmother and great aunt were in town, and because it was my last day. After lunch we hung out in my room and watched tv for a while. Then our Ecuadorian friend, Emelia came over and we went out for my last shwarma. We ate shwarma and drank beer and played Cuarenta for a while and our friend Nora (who just came home from a trip with her parents) met up with us. We then went back to my house and had some tearful goodbyes.