Horseback Riding!

Monday I only had one class at 8 am because my Spanish teacher had a funeral to go to and then my 3 pm class was canceled because Jillian wasn't going to come to class. (by the way, on Monday her eye was still really swollen.) So since we had walked to class for 3 o'clock, another girl and I went to get ice cream instead and then walked home slowly. I did most of my homework that night so I wouldn't have to do much the rest of the week.

Tuesday I just had one class again and it was at my teacher's apartment which is closer to me than school. So I got to sleep in longer and then go to watch a movie called Evita, which is pretty good considering it's a musical and it's nonfiction. Then I came home and ate lunch before going out with my brother for a while. We just kind of looked around different stores for a while because we weren't looking for anything specific. Then he had to go to class so I wandered around for a few hours by myself before coming home. I did a little bit more homework and then watched movies for the rest of the night.

Wednesday I had two education classes and one Spanish class. I also had lunch with my group and we went exploring to this restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It was alright, but I just wasn't very hungry so I didn't enjoy it as much. When we were done with regular classes, we had a conference about Andean music and musical instruments. It was in Spanish so I didn't understand everything that was said, but I think I got the gist of it. There wasn't much we learned that I didn't already know because most of the Andean instruments are different variations of instruments in the States. After the meeting was over, the lady let us try to play a lot of the instruments she brought and so I tried multiple ones; the speaker told me that I should be in a band here because I could play a lot of the different kinds of flutes. After that, one of my friends walked home with me and we hung around the house for a bit before watching a movie. After she left, I did a tiny bit of homework due Friday and then went to bed.

Thursday morning I woke up to get ready for observing at CEDEI but I didn't feel good at all. My stomach was churning and I felt like I might throw up but I never did. I was really weak and shaky but I thought that if I stood up for a while to get ready I would feel better, but it only got worse. When Jillian called me asking if I was on the bus, I just told her that I didn't feel well and might come later. I took some vitamin and minerals and an ibuprofen and went back to bed, not waking up until a few hours later at 11. Well, I felt so much better but it was obviously too late to go to CEDEI so I just never went. I spent the rest of the day in my room doing homework and working ahead and I watched a movie before I fell asleep.

Friday I woke up at 3am with the same feeling I had the morning before...I felt like I was going to throw up and my stomach was churning a lot and I was very weak. I went to wake up my mom to tell her I wasn't feeling good again because she told me to let her know if I needed anything. I think she felt bad for not knowing that I was home the day before, let alone not feeling well so she wanted me to get her for anything. Well, I don't know what I was expecting her to do for me at 3am but I went and woke her up anyways. She sent me back to my room while she went to go make me some drink. I was on my bed for about a minute or two before I stumbled to the bathroom and threw up. After cleaning up, my mom came in with a glass in her hand and sent me back to lie down in bed again. She told me to drink whatever in the glass, which I think was a homemade version of LemonFlu...it was disgusting. I took a few drinks and
took an ibuprofen before I couldn't drink any more and my mom left, leaving me to fall back asleep. My mom came back at 8 asking what time I had class and made me some tea. I drank it and fell back a sleep for a little bit longer and then went to school for Spanish class at 10:30. Mom told me that I should go to the doctor some time that day but I don't feel like paying a lot of money for tons of tests that will take a while to get results back for. Plus, I might have been okay after that since I threw up and got “the bad stuff out of me” as my mom had said. I spent the early afternoon in my room hanging out and watching a movie. Then I went to dance class and went out with a few girls afterwards before meeting up with another group at CEDEI and hanging out with them too. When they all went to the discoteca, I came home and finished watching my movie from the afternoon and went to bed.

Saturday I woke up just fine and went to our ceramics class. We went back to decorate our pots and I learned how to wax my pot using a rock! It was really long and boring but it was still interesting to learn. I was there for about two ours before I came home and hung out until about 7 or 8pm when I went to meet up with some of my friends for dinner and dessert. When I got home, my brother and I watched Avatar so I didn't fall asleep until about 2:30 or 3...bad choice.

I woke up early Sunday yet again for horseback riding! We met up at CEDEI at 9 and traveled for an hour by bus-van thing and, after getting lost a few times and asking directions, found the ranch. We all learned how to clean and prepare a horse for riding and then were matched up with our horses! At first, I wasn't too thrilled because I got paired up with a really sensitive horse because I have ridden horses before. Most everyone got horses for beginners and they all had really cool names like Gustav. My horse's name? 44. Clever. Anyways, after about 30 minutes into our 4 hour trail, however, the horse and I finally understood each other and we became best friends after that haha. Anytime I moved or shifted, it was like she was reading my mind because she knew what to do right away with me making hardly any movement and just talking to her. When we got back to the ranch, we ate lunch and were waiting around for a while so my friend and I asked to ride
horses again. This time, I got a different horse that another girl had. The horse was really nice and all but we didn't really connect well at all, she basically did anything I did not want her to do. After we got back to the ranch the second time, we got off and went over to milk cows. Yes, I milked a cow in
Ecuador...who can say that? After we all got to try, we went back to the van and drove back to Cuenca. When we got back, I came straight back to the house and hung out for a few hours before going to bed.

Monday, we had to get up early to go to the other CEDEI school. We were going to help out with the disabled kids who went horseback riding in the morning! It was really fun because I got to know them a lot better and got to spend one on one time with a few of them. When that was finished, we went back to the school and talked with the director for a bit before we were able to come back home. I took a quick nap before eating and heading to afternoon class. It wasn't a very interesting day at all because I just went home after talking with Wallis and my mom on the phone.

Tuesday my morning Spanish class was canceled because the teacher was sick and then I just had an afternoon class and a meeting afterward. I spent some of the morning doing homework early and changing my return flight details. The afternoon class consisted of chatting for a bit about a book we are reading and talking about classes for next semester. After the meeting, which was about architecture in Ecuador, I went home and did homework for the rest of the night,

Wednesday I had classes from 8:30am until 4pm, starting late and getting out early so I guess I was okay with it. I also had lunch with my friends and so we went to a random restaurant and then went elsewhere to get ice cream afterward. Tonight we are meeting up with a girls' family and then going home after...and then packing! We are going to the beach this weekend! Some of us don't have any family stuff for Easter and don't have class tomorrow and classes for Friday were canceled so we're going to the beach! We're leaving at 6 in the morning tomorrow but I am okay with that since I get to spend a few days on the beach! Anyways, gotta go find this girl's lost parents! Adios!