New Adventures!

Sorry I'm a little late but it's hard to keep up. Anyways, I realized something I did not mention when I was in the jungle was that I had termites crawl on my hands...apparantly after you rub them over your skin it is a repellent for mosquitos and such so I tried it! Also, I changed a few securities on here so now anyone should be able to comment on these.
Back to the past week, I went out with a few of my friends the past two weekends and we went to dance clubs with my host brother. We were out for a few hours and I had lots of fun! It's not something I could do everyday from Thursday to Sunday like some people can, nor would I be able to do it every weekend. I find it much more fun to go out here mostly because I can easily be pointed out as a gringo (slang term for an American) so I have an excuse to act weird...and because I don't know people and I will never see them again.
Nothing exciting happens during the week really. I have classes every morning but my afternoons are free to do whatever I please. Sometimes I meet up with friends in the afternoon and just walk around town or go shopping. Other times, someone comes home with me for a few hours or I go to someone else's house. Once a week, the group of girls I stay here with go out to eat for lunch somewhere. We have dance class every Friday night and I've learned how to salsa! There is also a cooking class that I want to do but there hasn't been a class yet. This week, midterms are going on so it's just a lot of studying and homework for me!
Last weekend, the school brought us to Ingapirca, which are ancient Inca ruins, and the most important archeological construction in Ecuador; the most important objective of it was being a place of worship for the sun. It was interesting to see these ruins because of how important they are to Ecuador and because I learned a little bit about the Inca's thoughts. They knew long before there were instruments that there were other planets in the galaxy! They carved holes in rocks to symbolize the planets' positions and even the moon.
This weekend, we had a full day of rock climbing on Saturday! This is the kind of rock climbing with a real rock and equipment, not plastic, colorful rocks nailed to a wall. It was so fun to learn how to repel down the huge rock we were on. We started off on a slightly sloped side of the rock to walk down the whole way but then moved to one where we were going down part of it with no legs on the rock! Both of our guides thought I had done it before because I looked like a pro. We also learned how to rock climb which is a lot harder. I started off on the harder side of the rock where it goes straight up and even a little bit out so I'm leaning backward as I climbed. It was so hard that I could barely make it to the first ledge-which I literally crawled onto. I could only make it a few more feet before I fell. After a little bit, I tried the easier rock wall. It took a lot of work, flexibility, and strength but I made it to the top! I did a lot of ballaying too, which is basically the person on the ground who hold onto the rope the climber is attached to and is responsible for their life haha. One of the guides said I was a pro at that too and that I should make it a job.
Sunday we went to two towns: Gualaceo and Chordeleg. Gualaceo hosts the largest indigenous market in the area. You can get anything from raw or cooked meat to vegetables to fresh fruit to spices to live animals like puppies, chicken, or guinea pig. It was here that I tried roasted pig-which was ok but not a favorite dish. Sadly, while eating lunch is also when someone in our group got their bag stolen. Someone walked by at a second when no one was looking and just walked away with it. Thankfully, the only real item of value in it was a digital camera; no money or credit cards were in it. This day we also stopped at a small house where a woman made us homemade tea, where everything came from her garden and was medicinal. We also tried some food from the market and, although I cannot remember the name of them, they were like tortillas cooked in a fryer. They were made of dough and corn basically and were very tasty! Chordeleg is famous for its jewelry and handicrafts museum. This is the place known for silver because it is very abundant and almost every piece of silver jewelry is made by hand, even the tiniest designs on earrings or rings.
So far, Cuenca has been amazing and in my mind, I've already decided that I will retire here in...what like 60 years? ahhh....so far away! But I love it here and I only wish that everyone could experience it. It is so beautiful and each day brings new adventures. Since the moment I came, I felt like this is home and, even though I am a gringo, I feel like I fit in so well with the locals with the exception of my lack of Spanish. My family is amazing and I think most of my friends in my group also really like them. I've really bonded with all of them (family and friends) and I do not want to leave-ever! I really enjoy hanging out with my brother Andres and I love having chats over coffee in the morning with my mom before I go to school. At night, I sometimes watch a movie with my mom or play a game with everyone. I think we are also moving into a different house 2 weeks from today, but it is only about two blocks away from where we live now.
This is where I leave you until next week because I do have to go study for a test tomorrow. Chau!