Weather: Sunny and 70

Today marked the last day of Wildlife Conservation Biology which was my first real class I've taken here. I cannot believe that this Sunday I will be traveling to the islands, and that tomorrow is my last day with my host family.

Throughout the duration of the course the most homework we've had is to read an article and answer some questions on it. When we returned from the Amazon that's when things ramped up a bit. We had an essay due the Monday we got back and then Thursday and Friday we had our field journals, research paper, presentation on our research paper topic, and a group discussion due. It was a lot for such little time, but I managed to get it all done. I just spaced things out and worked as efficiently as I could. Working efficiently was extremely hard as I feel like I am on vacation, and my motivation levels to do schoolwork are extremely low.

I did both my group discussion and research topic presentation on Thursday so in today's class I was able to just relax and watch everyone else present. After class a few of us went to get pizza from this fancier restaurant. It was only my second time having pizza in Quito but it was far better than the first place I tried. After lunch we found a gelato place that doesn't use sugar which was mind blowing because it was very good!

After class, I took the big green bus for one last time. I am going to miss it a little bit. Not the pickpockets and the constant paranoia that you're gonna have something stolen, but the amusement of it. There's the bus driver and then there's a guy that runs off the bus at every stop and runs back and forth ensuring he gets .25 cents from everyone leaving the bus. It's truly comical because while he is trying to collect change from everyone the bus driver starts pulling away. The money collector then starts running alongside the bus to catch up to the door and jumps on the moving bus. It's a true talent I'd say, as I know I would miss the jump on the bus and fall directly on the pavement. I truly believe conquering the bus system gave me a boost of confidence and it was an experience that truly made me a local. Us gringos would get stares but it just comes with the territory.

I returned back to my homestay, submitted my research paper, and went with Penelope to pick up Angie from a friends house. On our way back they said that I could choose a pizza place that I wanted to eat from either Pizzeria de Hornero or Papa John's. My first time ever having pizza in Quito I had Hornero so I chose Papa John's. I figured it was my last chance to have American food before the islands. It tasted a bit different than the states just because they use natural/all organic ingredients here. I honestly don't remember the last time (if ever) I had Papa John's. Anyways, it was really good. However, I felt like exploding becuase I had pizza for lunch and dinner. Of course it was only my second time having pizza for lunch so the odds were pretty slim it would be for dinner too. It was just funny.

Later in the evening, I walked with Conor to Sabai which is a brewing company that's near where we catch the bus in the morning. It was about a 15 minute walk and we met up with our friend Ethan. It was just me and some guys from the program for a bit until some of my really good friends from the marine track showed up. The music was really good, and really loud. It was my first time there but I guess normally it's a very low key place. Having the music and so many people was not common and unlike anything my friends have experienced in the past. There were people everywhere but we were lucky and got a long table to ourselves. There was about 15 of us there from the program and it was so good catching up with everyone. I may have written this before but I'll write it again because it bothers me how many young people smoke cigarettes here. It is crazy!! They do it as a social thing supposedly, but some of them are definitely addicted. I see so many people at USFQ's campus on the daily basis and they're usually walking by themselves so it's definitely not a social thing. Today was a great day, and I have a busy day tomorrow preparing for my move to the Galapagos!