Traveling About

So the last few days have been a little crazy-we've been going all over the place! But let me start at the beginning.
  Wednesday my friend Cris dropped me off at Hotel Quito (a very nice hotel by the way) where I met two other girls taking the same TEFL course. One of our teachers (who teaches at St. Ambrose in Davenport, IA!) and our coordinator were at the hotel as well. The rest of the people taking the class hadn't arrived yet. The afternoon was pretty relaxed, and then one of my friends who lives in the area stopped by. He took us to the mall, and then we went to watch Hombres en Negro (Men in Black) 3. And yes, it was in Spanish, 3D Spanish to be exact. It's a good way to get back into a Spanish mindset:)
  Thursday I had the most amazing continental breakfast of my life! I will try to take pictures tomorrow. At the top floor breakfast was served. I had to write down my name, room number, and signature before entering to eat. The buffet had so many fruits, the best yogurt, granola, different meats and eggs and breads...I was amazed. And the waiter would always be coming around to refill our coffee cups. I kind of felt like I didn't belong and was way underdressed, but I think that's how our whole class felt.
 After breakfast, we had one of four orientation meetings. Some things I already knew, but some things were helpful to know more in depth about Ecuadorian culture. Then we left for the "Mitad del Mundo." I thought I have been to this several times growing up; I have actually been to two. This one however is fairly new, and it is exact because of GPS use. This one was very simple, displaying the O O latitude and longitude, and even if I  am not exactly sure which one is the right one, I now have all my bases covered!
 Then we drove to a smaller town called Otavalo. There we checked into a very quaint and colonial hotel, and then we were allowed to walk around, find some lunch, and do some shopping. We enjoyed the afternoon. Peguche is a small town close to Otavalo where we had a few tours. One was about weaving; it's really becoming a lost art, but the Indigenous people are trying there best to keep it alive. Then we were shown how certain musical instruments were made, and we even got a little demonstration! The night was pretty relaxed, and most of my class (10 students all together) went to find some food and hang out for the night.
 Today has been quite jam-packed as well. We returned to Quito where we were given a lecture about Freebright program (a scholarship grad program) that was fairly intriguing. Then we went to an art museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin; he is a very famous painter. He was influenced by Picasso and felt that it was his job to display the racial injustice of all people. The whole place was very sobering. After that, we went back to downtown Quito for a tour of the city. The city definitely has a lot of history, but one of my favorite parts of the day was when we stopped for juice! Although drinking water can be tricky sometimes, our guide nad coordinator assured us this place was safe. We got to choose from so many fruits, many native to Ecuador- it was delicious!
 Presently we are still waiting on one member of our group, but they all are from Ohio University. I am definitely the random member of the group. I have had some opportunities to share my faith-thank you for those who were praying. I would appreciate your prayers as this is the biggest challenge for me presently. I hope to be a good testimony and talk about my Father in the right way, but I don't feel like I am doing the best job at the moment. Moments like these make me thankful that God is so much bigger than my comprehension.
For now, I need to get some rest. Tomorrow we start our journey to Cuenca. I am looking forward to it because tomorrow we are going to do some more things in the country. Sunday is when we will arrive in Cuenca- I am excited to be in Cuenca soon. Thank you again to all of you who are praying- hasta pronto!