One Test Down!

Whew! I just finished one test. Dr. Treber flew in for a few days to give us the AP spanish exam. It's about 250 questions, and I just finished it. It's relief to have it over, though I still have my speaking portion to do later this afternoon. Then, next week we'll be taking some more tests from our Ecuadorian professors about grammar and some culture as well. I've definitely been working hard this week studying, so the weekend will be a welcome break.

This weekend, we're heading up to one of the national parks here, a place called Cajas to do some hiking. I'm excited to be able to be outside for a whole day. Latin America seems to have to extremes: the urban and the rural. You either live in the city with no yard, lots of cars, and lots of people (like we do here in Cuenca), or you live out in the middle of nowhere, in farming towns in the mountains. There aren't really any suburbs, or even a lot of parks, so I definitely miss seeing green and having open space. Still, living in the city has its benefits. Food here is really cheap. We were at a pretty nice Sports Bar & Grill the other night, and the filet mignon cost, oh... about $6.50.

I'm really enjoying the World Cup. Unfortunately, during the week, I'm in school for most of the games, but on the weekend, I love watching them. This morning the US played Slovenia and tied 2-2. They should have one, but the refs called back a goal we scored toward the end of the second half. I was up in the classroom when I heard shouting and yelling from the downstairs. I ran down to see my group shouting at the refs on the TV. It was pretty funny!

Surprisingly, I only have about a week left in Ecuador. Time has definitely flown! Next Thursday we'll leave our host families and dive four hours to the coastal city of Guayaquil. From there we'll fly overnight into Atlanta, Georgia, leaving around 10:00 at night and arriving in the States at 5:00 AM. That's really going to kill. Then we have a few hour delay and the flight to Indy airport. So I'll probably get home the night of the 27th.

Well, I better go prepare myself to speak in Spanish to Dr. Treber! Chao!