The Gran Mezquita

This weekend a little bus took us up to the highlands of San Cristobal.  It was a clear day and we could see to the other end of the island from El Junco, a crater lake at 2,000ft above sea level.  It’s the only freshwater lake on the Galápagos, and frigatebirds can be seen swooping over the water and rinsing the salt off their red throat pouches.  There was a strong wind blowing, and as I stood on the edge of the crater I felt cold for the first time in months.  The highlands are much greener on account of the clouds that tend t

It’s taken me a while to get here. When I say a while, I mean 103 days. That is how long it has been since my last blog post. I wrote it after my program ended, but I was in Lisbon and returned to my querido Madrid a few days later, so I didn’t count it as my final post. I hadn’t made my goodbyes yet. I have a confession to make, though: the real reason is that I was in denial that my time in Madrid was coming to a close.

Tuesday:

Monday the 25th marked exactly one month that I’ve been in Santiago. Time has flown by, and I feel like I’m definitely settled in.

I am most excited to start traveling and getting out of Santiago for the weekend. Most of the other students have already taken at least one trip somewhere. I guess I’ve had the attitude that “I have four months to travel,” but a month has already gone by!

This week in the Catholic faith is Holy Week. Easter is approaching this Sunday, and it is interesting to see how another culture and country celebrates this religious holiday. My family’s traditions on Easter usually include attending Church and brunch, dying Easter eggs, eating way too much chocolate, and playing cards or board games. We typically make a really simple dinner of baked ham and cheese sandwiches and deviled eggs. Sometimes, my grandmother will make a pound cake that is in the shape of a lamb—don’t ask me why.

Traveling other places recently has been amazing: Amsterdam, Budapest, and Spain. But here’s an update on my life in France. Just a couple things from each day, or nothing if the day wasn’t super eventful.

Thursday February 28th: Kelly, Zara, Caroline, and I all had dinner at Fajitas, a TexMex restaurant that… will have to do. Haha it was pretty great, but obviously nothing will compare to TexMex from Texas. We discuss our trip the next day, and we booked taxis from our houses to the bus station, and Zara looked on with sadness as she realized she was about to miss out on a cool trip haha. We snagged some froyo before heading home.