Baños

So, last Sunday the Oregon students went on a tour of the city. We visited a few catholic churches, which were absolutely amazing! The amount of gold in the churches is unbelievable. We also climbed to the very top of a church, the Basilica, and we had an amazing view of the city. This past week was long and busy. I finally have a set schedule now, I am taking the International Relations class, Grammar, Conversation, and Social Problems of Ecuador. I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays now, which is really nice because it will give me time to work on my research project and travel more.

Speaking of traveling, this weekend I went to a small town called Baños with four other Linfield students (Katelyn, Jen, Ali, and Elizabeth). We left on Friday afternoon and had a four hour bus ride to Baños. The scenery was amazing on the bus ride and I was so happy to just see land and trees everywhere (I really needed to get away from the city for a bit). When Katelyn and I got off the bus in Baños we were immediately bombarded by a guy who we later found out was named Daniele. He started to tell us about the Hostel he works for and asked us where we were staying, we tried to tell him that we already had a place, but he was very persistent. We finally gave in and asked him more about it, he told us it had hot water, our own bathroom, and was $6 per person, per night. When Jen, Ali, and Elizabeth got off the bus we decided to go take a look at it. It was a pretty nice place and we decided to stay there. After we settled in and ate dinner we went on a night tour of the volcano Tungurahua that was organized by the hostal. We went in Chivas (for those who don’t know what a Chiva is, it kind of looks like a double decker bus, but without a top, Chiva’s are generally known as party buses, however our Chiva was just used for transportation). The guides told the 5 of us to get into the back of the Chiva along with another American guy (so basically all of the Americans were in the back). When we were out of the city we were allowed to climb on the top of the Chiva, but as most of you know I am absolutely blind in the dark, so I climbed up and had no idea where I was stepping, there were two guys at the top who helped me up, but it was a little scary. On top of the Chiva I was sitting next to Katelyn and every once in a while I would feel something hit my head, I told Katelyn and a few minutes later she felt something hit her head. She turned to Elizabeth and said “Elizabeth, there are bats hitting our heads”, Elizabeth said “No, it’s not bats, it’s just the trees.” I felt much better when I found out what exactly was hitting my head, and I am glad it wasn’t bats. When we arrived at the volcano, it was pretty foggy so it was hard to really see anything, plus I can’t see in the dark anyway. We watched some guys do a comedy act and juggle with fire, so it was entertaining. Also, Katelyn was chosen to be in the center of a fire-juggling act between two of the guys. Shortly after that we got back into the Chiva and headed back to the hostal. The next day we went to the hot springs for a while and then drove 4-wheelers around to see the Watefalls. We had a guide with us (about 13 years old) and we stopped at a bridge that you could go bungee jumping off if you wanted. Jen was the brave one in the group who decided to go bungee jumping. I couldn’t believe it, but she jumped off the bridge (well she was actually kind of pushed off because she was a little hesitant to dive off). Driving the 4-wheelers was a lot of fun and kind of exhausting. We got back just as it was getting dark, we were a bit dirty after that, so we all showered and then went out to eat. Katelyn, Ali, Elizabeth and I went to a discoteca, but Ali and I left after about 15 minutes and Katelyn and Elizabeth stayed longer. Ali and I returned to Jen, who had already fallen asleep, we woke her up and played cards for a bit and then went to sleep. We left Baños this afternoon after a nice, quiet morning and now I am back in Quito getting ready to start another week.
For those of you who want to know my address here in Ecuador it is:
Nadia Abraibesh
C/O OSSHE
P.O. Box 17-12-280
Quito-Ecuador
If you send me something, please don’t claim any value on it because I will have to pay a lot of money to actually receive it. Also, if it is a package, try to put it in a manila type envelope and keep it under 2 kilos (everything over 2 kilos is automatically searched and most likely won’t make it to me). One other thing, if you have to say what is in it, it is good to say “used/old clothes” or “Bible supplies”, apparently no one wants your old clothes and people don’t dare touch someone’s Bible supplies.
Also, if anyone ever needs to get a hold of me by phone, my cell number is 087262860 (but you have to put the country code in front…I think it is 011?)

I hope everyone is doing well!
Peace.