Weather: Sunny in the AM, lots of rain at night

One month from today I will be sitting at home relaxing, eating all the foods I've been missing, and hanging with family and friends. It will fly by, and the fact that I am starting my last week of climate change on Monday is crazy to me. I literally feel like I just started it. I leave the islands on Friday May 3rd so that is less than a month away which is bittersweet.

There has been some drama with this girl Stephanie who came with me and Kayelyn on our day tour while we were in Santa Cruz. Over break, I mentioned that I was going to Bartolome as a weekend trip after this class is over. She said she wanted to go and I was like "yeah, let me know when we're back." I mentioned I was gonna plan it as soon as I am back. I already had made these plans with Nicola prior to Spring break, and if I'm being honest, I don't like Stephanie at all because she is extremely loud and obnoxious. During the day tour we did she would raise her voice while talking about all the guys she's slept with. It was so uncomfortable as there were complete strangers on the boat listening to her as well. It's like she wanted them all to hear and I just hated every minute of it. I talked with Sara post break and she wanted to go to Bartolome too, so a week after we got back from Spring break that's when we started planning the trip. I knew how Steph is and I hadn't heard a single word from her the entire week, so I wasn't going out of my way to see if she wanted to come. I considered us acquaintances rather than friends so I went ahead and booked the tour for Nicola, Sara, and I and it wasn't easy since we almost couldn't find a tour with three spots (we sure as hell wouldn't have found 4 spots). Anyways, long story short Steph found out that we were going (not that it was a secret) and she texted me passive aggressively saying she felt I did this purposefully. I apologized that she felt that way and hesitantly sent her the number to the agency we were going with so she could see if there were any spots available because at this point I did not want her company. I wanted this to be a relaxing weekend trip and I knew if she came it would be anything but that. Come to find out the next day, Stephanie began insulting Nicola and Sara. She couldn't believe that Nicola is doing something without her and she was behaving like a five year old. Now, Steph won't even look at me or Sara and is only talking to Nicola about school things. I could care less because I only have 4 weeks left here and I plan on enjoying them as much as I can. Nicola is more affected by it because they were pretty close but they are also neighbors and are in class together. I told Nicola we apologized and there's not much more we can do. I'm done stressing over it and she should be too, we can't change the way someone handles conflict.

Yesterday was actually a really tough day for me, and completely unrelated to the drama that is occurring. I was really overwhelmed thinking about the possibility of getting this job in Alaska and all the planning I would need to do. I know it's silly since I haven't gotten the job yet but between that, being a bit homesick, and having my monthly gift I was on an emotional rollercoaster. Luckily a talk with Mum made things better, and I know if I get this job in AK I am going to take it and I will get through whatever adjustments I need to when I am there. It would be an incredible experience and I would be so stupid to turn it down. Today was a better day, although a lot of other people in my program seem to be having a hard time too. There was a girl that got into a fight with a friend back home; other people in an ecology class had a class project and tensions were running really high. I swear something was in the universe. I initially didn't want to write any of this because I don't want to look back on my abroad experience and remember any hard days. However, going abroad doesn't take you away to an alternate universe where all your problems or worries go away. Life still happens and it's okay to have not so great days even though I am in a different country experiencing amazing things.

On a more positive note, I went to dinner with Megan, Chantal, and Sara tonight. As a Friday ritual we got pizza and then we headed to Baquero. We saw Nicola and pretty much and played some card games vibing to some good beats made by the DJ of the night. Megan had never been to the disco before and wanted to see what it was like just once. We walked over there in between the pouring rain and there was a cover of $3 so we left as it's not worth it. We checked out Sunset Bar which is right down the street from my house. It's one of the three bars here and I had yet to check it out. We just sat and enjoyed the view of the bay for a bit and headed home shortly after. It was a good night with good friends, and I'm looking forward to enjoying my final month in Ecuador.