lately

first off, i am alive. there has been a lot of concern due to the current situation in latin america, but i am safe. for those of you who have not seen/read the news, you can read it here.

it is certainly an interesting time to be here. it is also really upsetting. at this point, ecuador and venezuela have severed all diplomatic ties with colombia, who has been fighting a civil war for more than forty years. the corruption is almost unbearable. sometimes i think maybe i should stop reading the news because nothing else makes me quite as depressed. aside from lots of ecuadoreans and venezuelans, i have lots of colombian friends here on campus. in fact, the colombians have become some of my dearest friends here. right now, they fear that they will either be deported back to colombia or not allowed to go back to colombia.

i do have hope though. last night i was watching the news. it showed an angry hugo chavez and an angry rafael correa, dead bodies, george bush, scared civilians, and military troops at the recently closed borders..... but then i went over to the cafeteria for dinner and sat down with my friends. right across from me sat a colombian, and ecuadorean, and a venezuelan. we all ate dinner together and talked and laughed. i know it sounds really cheesey, but i got really emotional at that moment.

enough of that.

anyway, i had a great four day weekend. we went to riobamba. so far, it is my favourite of all the ecaudorean cities we've visited.... here are some highlights.....

i climbed mount chimborazo. it is one of the highest peaks on the entire earth. although mount everest is the highest mountain, chimborazo is apparently the biggest because it is furthest away from the core of the earth. it has something to do with being on the equator. i am not sure i understand it, but hey, i climbed one of the tallest mountains on the world.






we also spent some time with an indigenous community, which was my favourite part of the weekend. i became quite close with some of the little girls. they taught me words in their native language, quichua, and they let me take lots of pictures of their most beautiful little faces so that i can always remember them.