First half of the weekend, Thursday 30th and Friday 31st

Our weekend plans to Baños were "postponed" due to various health issues between the three of us (Anyel, Laura, and myself). Laura had a stomach deal Thursday night to Saturday morning, I have a bladder infection (SO SORRY IF THAT'S TOO MUCH INFO... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK), and Anyel started coming down with something Sunday night. Nevertheless, we had as much fun as we could between bouts of illness. Thursday night the three of us went to la Mariscal for drinks and chocolate cake. It felt good to be out among the youth, but not trying to keep up with anybody. We just sat and talked and watched the Quito world go by.

Friday, Anyel and I ventured to the bookstore at USFQ to buy our syllabi... we waited in line for about an HOUR because everybody that came in seemed to have a friend with which to stand in front of us. Anyel and I joked that we were going to just slip in front of somebody and see what happened, but, like the kind, easygoing souls that we are, we just waited impatiently and glared silently at the backs of their heads. She came over to bake a surprise cheesecake for her host mom's birthday, and at 6 we dropped her off on the way to my host brother-in-law's parents' house. That would be, Alexandra's husband's parents. Alexandra and family live in Canada, but the parents are still here. We had cafecito with the Leons, their daughter and son-in-law, their three kids, and another son. I was starting to feel pretty under the weather and they were an excited bunch, so it was difficult to keep up and stay attentive. Fun, nevertheless. Everybody wants to talk about the US when there's a gringa around, even if they aren't talking to ME, so I'm learning a lot about foreign perceptions of our politics and various states. If I say Idaho is close to California, I'm suddenly from California. If I say it's close to Washington, I live in the capital of the country. It doesn't matter if I make sure to say Idaho is in the northwest, and I've only been to California a couple times... I get a kick every time. I've also been transfered to Ohio and Iowa. They do, however, understand that we produce potatoes!