While taking a break from writing about overfishing in the Galápagos for my environmental studies final paper, I figured I ought to write another blog post. The most exciting thing to happen since I last wrote was probably my trip to Cusco, Perú.

Last week we decided it would be fun to take a trip with CAUC to Mendoza, Argentina for the weekend.  The trip was scheduled to leave Thursday night and arrive Friday morning. We were supposed to meet at the Católica at 9pm. At 7:45 we were informed that the border has been closed due to snow and the trip would be postponed to the next night. We weren’t given much information at first, but it turned out that CAUC had shifted the trip one day over so we would be coming back on Monday night instead of Sunday night.

This post on the Galapagos is quite belated, but that doesn’t diminish how incredible the trip was:) Going to the Galapagos is truly a once in a lifetime experience, and I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity to visit the islands. For the trip, our program combined with the students on IES’ program at la Universidad San Francisco de Quito, so we were a group of 16. You are required to have a guide if you tour the islands, so we met ours immediately after arriving.

Last week, my parents came to visit! It was great to be able to show them where I’ve been living for the past couple of months and to act as a tour guide and a translator. In addition to showing them around the historical center and the area where IES is located, we also went to Mindo, a cloud forest town located about 2 and a half hours outside of Quito by bus. Mindo was one of the first independent trips the other girls and I took here in Ecuador, so it was cool to be able to go back and know a bit about the area.

Class gets out at noon every day, and we spill out of the school to begin the search for lunch.  All over town, small family-owned restaurants offer midday almuerzo ranging from $3-$5 and consisting of a glass of fresh juice, a bowl of soup, and a plate of food.  The soup usually features mysterious pieces of chicken (occasionally feet) or fish, potato, corn, cheese, yuca, and carrot, in various combinations, and the segundo, or second course, is usually rice and fish or some sort of meat.

Apparently the answer to the question in this blog post’s title is yes. One of my friends on my program has an internship in a building that also houses an Ecuadorian radio show called Radio Turismo Ecuador. The goal of the show is to give potential tourists information about Ecuador and let them know what it’s like to visit and live in the country. The show has programs in many languages, including English, which is where my friend comes in.