This past week was spent eating typical Ecuadorian food, spending time with family and friends, dancing, partying and overall celebrating the foundation of Quito: Fiestas de Quito.

Recently made popular again, by The Fault in Our Tears movie coming out, Amsterdam was a must-see on our list for weekend travel. My roommates and I packed up and headed to the Netherlands for a short while. We arrived in Amsterdam Thursday night to an airport full of Christmas lights! We then made the trip to our cute little air b&b.

Today, I called someone out for making a bad joke. It wasn’t a “knock-knock-who’s-there,” it was about race and sexuality, and their insensitivity was laced throughout the entire delivery. I won’t say what it was because, to be honest, it was so foolishly narrow-minded that it made me wonder if they’re actually a real person.

I’d certainly anticipated Thanksgiving day to be full of homesickness, but, surprisingly, it wasn’t at all. Almost all of the students got together to create a miniature feast for ourselves in one of the apartments.

Well, the idea was that it would be a miniature feast. The actual event had more food than we knew what to do with.

While taking my Spanish course during the beginning of my semester abroad, I watched a documentary called Quebrando los Huevos de Oro. This documentary highlights the negative impact of the tourism industry in Costa Rica. Though it may contribute to the growth of the country’s economy, the tourism industry damages communities and the environment. Similar to what is happening on the islands of Bocas del Toro, foreigners come to Costa Rica and buy land for the purpose of building extravagant hotels, golf fields, and condominiums.