Big news for this blog! I finished up my grammar course on Friday and I’m ready for a change!  I decided to take some extra one on one tutoring to continue with some of the grammatical concepts (I guess that means I’m not officially done with grammar...).  The extra lessons started last week for 2 hours a day in the afternoons.  This next week I’ll start my literature/writing class.

As for other life news, I am officially going to Tucson, AZ with MVS!  I got the position with Borderlinks, the organization that interviewed me.  I couldn’t be more excited about the position, but I’m even more aware now of how important it is for me to learn all the Spanish I can here.  The position requires a lot of consecutive translating for groups. 

Another life event is that my parents have officially moved out of our house in Grandview Heights, Ohio.  They purchased a home in Ft. Collins, CO and will move in sometime in early July.  It feels strange to not be there as they say goodbye.

Now for Quito…I continue to experience all sorts of interesting things here.  I visited the Botanical Gardens which were gorgeous.  Ecuador has a lot of different climates so there is a lot of plant variety.  Last Saturday I went to Quilotoa (elevation 3914m), a volcanic-crater lake 14m north of Zumbahua.  We were really lucky and had a clear day.  We hiked down to the lake, ate a picnic and climbed back up just before a thunderstorm rolled in. 

On Sunday, I went to La Mitad del Mundo.  The French built a big museum at the equator except they were off by about 200m.  So there are actually 2 sites that you can visit.  Both were very different from each other but definitely worth it.

On Tuesday, I went with my tutor to the Basilica.  It is a really large church with gothic style architecture in Quito.  It’s still under construction and probably will be forever because the priests believe that the day the construction ends, Ecuador will no longer exist.  I got some really awesome views of Quito from the towers of the church.

Today (Sunday), I went to Cotopaxi a volcano surrounded by a national park.  We were really hoping for a clear day where we could hike a little.  Unfortunately, we got to the base to start out climb and it was sleeting/raining/freezing and really cloudy.  As we drove to the base, we looked out our windows, and saw people all decked out in super outdoor gear with ice picks and goggles.  We felt pretty outmatched and unprepared in our mismatched sweatshirts and thin socks.  So, we quickly took some pictures and jumped back into the van soaked.  We drove back down and walked around a lagoon.  Overall, the experience was a little disappointing, but at least I can say that I’ve been pretty close to the top!