Camping in Cajas!

On Monday it was just a work day for me-3 classes and doing homework all night. Tuesday I got to sleep in because I didn't have class until the afternoon, but I did have to get up to do some more work for my visa. All I had to do was go to a building and talk to a guy, get my picture taken, and pay over $200 so I can stay here legally...it almost doesn't seem worth it, I'd rather just stay illegally for one more month haha. Anyways, Wednesday I had three classes again and worked all night again. My group of friends and I also went out for lunch that day to a Mexican restaurant with a girl's family who was here last week. I sat next to the parents and chatted with them most of lunch.

Thursday I went to the sister CEDEI school and observed for a few hours. I caught a public bus in the morning with two other girls also observing from the group and we ended up taking the bus the wrong way! So instead of taking 30 minutes to get to school, it took 1.5 hours! However, when we got there, there wasn't much to do because I had a substitute teacher who didn't know much of what to do. She had taught at the school a few years ago so she knew most of the kids but the regular teacher didn't give her much instruction on what to do so we ended up just talking and playing with the kids for most of the class. Also, the school had off Friday and the kids were all hyped up so it was really hard to keep their attention. The other two Ambrose girls and I decided to leave earlier than we originally planned because our classes where we were observing weren't doing anything really. I came home and had lunch with my family before going over to Jillian's house later to help with her cheerleading tryout video. I was there for most of the afternoon before coming home and looking for an internet cafe around my house so I could skype mom and dad but everywhere was wither closed or didn't have wifi/skype. I didn't much appreciate that because I haven't talked to them for a month I think. Anyways, I came back home and ate with my family before getting ready to go out. My brother and I met up at a hostal with one of the girls in my group and her family, along with a group of nursing students from Ambrose here for two weeks. After talking and playing cards for a little bit, we went to a club called Black. It's really cool because it has an airplane as part of the discoteca and you have to walk through that to get to the main part of the building. After we were there for a few hours, we went to a place called Lush where it was part bar and part dance floor. I had a lot of fun that night because I taught 4 or 5 people how to salsa, including the girl's brother! And also I got to know a few of the Ambrose girls who I did not otherwise know because they are all seniors.

Friday I got to sleep in a little bit as well, which was good because I got home late the night before. I walked one of the nursing students to the hostal again in the morning, then my first and only class of the day I had a test...in Spanish. I don't think I did too bad because I had studied before I went out and I remembered most of everything. I will see Wednesday how I did! After class, I went home and ate. I took a short nap and did a little homework before going to Supermaxi with a few girls from the group. We bought things for the weekend and snacks for at home as well. When we got back to our houses we had to hurry up and get ready for dance class so I packed as fast as I could for the rest of the night. When I got to dance class, guess who I saw? The girl's brother I had taught to salsa and we did salsa during class! So I got to see how much he remembered and he did really good for being taught by me! Haha anyways, afterwards we went to Pizza Hut to eat (figures) and went to another girl's house for a few hours to hangout. Then we went to a discoteca called Gabbie where we were for the next few hours dancing. But my brother was a little sick and so when he wanted to leave, I left with him. But it was a good thing anyways because we left at about midnight and stayed up talking until about 2.

Saturday I had to get up a little early because we went to Cajas to camp! On the way to the mountains, we passed by a car wreck where someone hit and killed a cow on the road. It's very possible they even totaled their car, so they had to have been speeding to do that. Anyways, when we got to the trail, we had to walk about a half mile before we could set up camp. We carried a bunch of stuff before arriving next to a lake. There were a bunch of people in the group who have never camped before so it was really interesting to be with them on their first trip, and we all had to set up the tents. As soon as that was done, we threw our unneeded stuff into it and started hiking. We didn't very far up the hill before my knees started to get really sore and start shaking so I walked back to camp by myself but I sent one of my friends with my camera so she could take pictures for me. I got back and ate lunch with the coordinator who went with us, then when she and a guide who stayed behind went to go nap, I went into the tent and started doing some homework I had brought with me. I eventually fell asleep reading a book for class and then would wake up, read a little more and then fall asleep again. This happened multiple times before I gave up trying to read it at all. It was starting to get really cold (it can get to freezing level in Cajas) and so I just added extra layers to my outfit and then heard the guide ask if I wanted some hot tea. I got some and talked to him and the coordinator and realized that the 3 hr. hike my group had gone on was extending to about 6 hrs! They still weren't back but just as I started wondering of they had gotten lost, they came over a hill towards camp. Everyone was tired and I just thought that I was lucky I hadn't gone because I would not have lasted that long at all. We ate homemade cream of asparagus soup, pasta with beef stew, and tea for dinner. Then the girls and I who had gone to Supermaxi the day before brought out our supplies for s'mores and shared with everyone. Most of the guides had never had s'mores before so it was really cool to teach them how to make them and everything. After talking for a bit, everyone climbed into tents and went to bed. My tent stayed up for a bit talking but then fell asleep, but it was only 9 so I wasn't too tired so I listened to music until I fell asleep.

Sunday, I ended up waking up for at least 15 min at 4:30 in the morning with everyone in my tent because I didn't feel tired anymore, but also because we had a problem. One of the girls' eyes had swollen shut! After a while of her freaking out about it and taking some Benedryl and talking a bit, we all fell back asleep. We got a wake-up call about 6:30 so we could get ready to eat breakfast. The girl's eye was still swollen shut, possibly worse but we couldn't tell because we didn't see it much earlier. It could have possibly been from a bug bite along her hairline but we weren't sure. We also found out that a girl from the other tent had been sick during the night and threw up every few hours. The guides made us breakfast and so we had bacon, eggs, fruit, yogurt, tea, and frosted flakes. It was delicious! We then hurried up and packed everything back into out bags and took down tents. By the time some of us started bringing things back to the road where our van would pick us up, it was already 8:30. We reached the road and threw everything into the trunk and left as soon as we could. Everyone was cold and wet and we just wanted to come back to Cuenca. When we got back, we all went back to our houses. I came home and said hi to my mom before jumping in the shower. When I got out, my mom, brother, and I went to the market to buy meat, fruit, and other groceries. We came back home and had lunch then I started doing homework. As soon as I started reading again, though, I fell asleep for a few hours. I knew I had gotten plenty of sleep, but I didn't know that it was not good quality sleep at all from the weekend. Anyways, I woke up from my nap and did a little bit more homework before dinner and then going to bed.

Today, I only have two classes because my Spanish class is moved to Thursday. There is also a meeting going to start now so I have to go!