Thanksgiving Weekend

While family and friends enjoyed their chilly Thanksgiving complete with turkey and other important fixings, I was in Banos with my roommate, Lauren, and our friend Tracy. We had a great time, and here are just some of the highlights.

Tracy and I enjoying our Moka Menta at Cafe en el Cielo (Coffee in the Sky or Heavens).

We visited this fun tree house. It had fun swings, and amazing view, and a small zip line.

The swing was really fun once you got over the height issue!

Betsy- our friend the cow

Amazing view 1

Amazing view 2

Outside view of the restaurant, Cafe en el Cielo

The day was beautiful, and for a few minutes we could actually see the tip of the Volcano Tungurahua 

View over the bridge in Banos

The wind was blowing so hard.

Lauren and I went on a Chiva tour. The bus with flashing lights and very loud music takes passengers up to a lookout over Banos. The view was beautiful.

Here is a picture when the bus was full and headed up the side of the mountain.

The view from the lookout over Banos

Lauren and I in front of the tree in Banos

Cuy- a delicacy here in Ecuador.  (Guinea Pig)

If you can't tell, that is the claw of the guinea pig.

This is how they roast the guinea pig.

Tourist Activities in Quito

When Lauren (my roommate) and I arrived back in Ecuador, we decided to act like tourists for a day. We went to Mitad del Mundo (Center of the World), Museo del Sol (Sun Museum), and to an inactive volcano crater.

My roommate and I

View of Mitad del Mundo from the top of the tower

Standing at the center of the world!

At the Museum of the Sun, their are guides to teach you more about the Ecuadorian culture. The tour is even in English!

These are gifts from other Latin American countries to Ecuador. The round ball structure on the left is from Costa Rica.

An example of a burial sight. Many times if the chief died, his wife or wives were buried with him (alive but drugged)

Apparently it is easier to balance an egg on a nail at the center of the world; however,  I wasn't able to do it.

Lauren, on the other hand, got it right away :)

At the inactive volcano crater

Trip to the Zoo & Termites!

The first full week of school was wonderful! We are having a lot of fun in sixth grade :) I have lots of pictures to share, but I do not have permission from all of the parents to share them yet.

So instead, I thought I would share some pictures from my trip to the local zoo last week. I know that I told several of you guys about how much I hate the termites. I have a few pictures to demonstrate why these bugs are not my favorite.

Lauren (my roommate) and I on the first day of school.

The teachers of NSMS on the first day of the school.

Our theme verse for the year. Our motto is TÚ Primero. Meaning You First.

This zoo is extremely small so the rules are a little different :)

Me with the nocturnal monkey.

He wasn't so sleepy :)

So the terminates go into some of our reading books!

I took this picture on one of the first pages of the book looking towards the end of the book.  The purple color is the wall.

Needless to say, we threw the book away.