Hot springs tomorrow?

Hey erry'one...so I realized I haven't posted about Colombia yet, but it was great! I admit that's not a very good description of the trip, but I also wasn't there for a whole lot of time (only several hours).

"Colombia es pasión" -- On the back of a car. My dad also gave me a silver pin with Colombia's heart logo on it a couple years ago. Do I know where he got it from? No (seriously).

But in any case, the city I visited, Ipiales, has an EPIC cathedral. Photo:

Is that not epic????? Reminds you of that one Swiss (?) castle in Sherlock Holmes 2 that was built around that waterfall, right? (Kind of? This cathedral has a river flowing under its arch...)


So anyway, we went to visit the cathedral up close (Santuario de Las Lajas/Las Lajas Cathedral), and it is beautiful. And then we went to downtown Ipiales to do some shopping. That was really the extent of my stay in Colombia...although I want to go back one day (maybe when it's not so dangerous?) because I keep hearing how beautiful it is (and it was, even the small part I visited).

And tomorrow, I believe I am going to a place called Chachimbiro with the family (the Ecuadorian family). It contains.......hot springs! Whoo!!! =]

And then this Saturday, Rachel and I are going horseback riding for ~7 hours (whoo!!), starting in Otavalo and going around Lake Cuicocha (a beautiful volcano crater lake), and then whitewater rafting (class 3-4) on the Río Mira on Sunday (whoo!!). Haha YES I am going to be pumped so full of adrenaline this weekend!! Not to mention, we will also be celebrating Father's Day with all the fam (aka lots of people) this Sunday after rafting (yup, Father's Day is the same date here as in the States! And if you didn't remember that it was this Sunday, this is your reminder heh).

And then next weekend, Rachel and I will again be traveling, this time to Atacames, which is one of the best beaches in Ecuador (whoo!!). It does, however, take a looooong time to get there (so we leave at 7:35pm by bus, and will arrive at 6am the next morning.....whoo). This will be a Thursday night to Sunday trip.

And thennnn in two weekends, if all goes well, I will leave Ibarra to go to Quito, from which I will then take another overnight bus with Michelle (who is a friend from Rice--I was so shocked when I first arrived in Ecuador and saw her name on the schedule of arrivals for the same organization! Also Michelle, I realize you might be reading this lolcats --> that was for you) to do a 4-night, 5-day tour (or 3-night, 4-day tour) of Cuyabeno, which is in Ecuador's Amazon jungle (they say that you absolutely must visit the Amazon because it's so beautiful here). And I'm SO sorry for that ridiculously long sentence.

And then from there (I'm also sorry that the last five paragraphs have started with "and" or "and then") we will return to Quito, and I will be flying out of Ecuador and back to Houston!! Ahhh!!!! I'll arrive around noon on July 5th.

So, as you can see, I really don't have much time left in Ecuador, but I have obviously planned to enjoy every bit of it as I can. And I really am also enjoying the work I'm doing here, as well as a good relationship with my co-workers! The two people Rachel and I work with the most are Milton, a feisty old man, and Betty, a very carefree and slightly intimidating woman. Milton is actually Brazilian, but moved to Ecuador when he was little, so everyone's nickname for him is Miltinho (pronounced Meel-chee-ño), which is the Portuguese diminutive for Miltonito/Miltito. He's acquired a habit of always greeting us with "HELLO BAY-BIES!!!!!" (yes, in English), so several days ago, I started responding with "HELLO PAPI!!!" (aka....hi daddy), and now that's become the norm because Milton and Betty love it so much. Haha...it makes me feel as if Rachel and I are in Charlie's Angels, Milton being Charlie, of course. And Betty...oh Betty. If she gets hold of an empty plastic bottle, rolled up sheet of paper, or anything like that, she will start hitting anything within reach, repeatedly (table, person, chair, etc.). While simultaneously yelling (especially when there's music on). Haha she is not actually scary, just really shocking to the eardrums sometimes.

Us four (Milton, Betty, Rachel, and I) went out for shrimp empanadas tonight, since we had a really long day of work (till 6:30pm or 7pm), and the empanadas were DELICIOUS. And, of course, Papi paid because he had lost a bet with Rachel and me (heheheh...it was silly--over what days the night market happened, and of course since Rachel and I love the night market, we knew we were right, but he didn't believe us....to our benefit). And then we visited said night market afterwards for a little stroll.

So yes, that's what's happening right now....oh, I also will be learning how to drive a stick-shift one of these days! From our young taxi driver friend (really, pirate taxi driver friend, but he's reallyyyy nice!!!). So that's exciting!! Whoo! Haha okayy..........I'm going to bed now. Good night guys! =]