Weather: 85 but feels like 95. I sweat sitting still...

I could not tell you where this past week went, time flew by and now I only have two weeks left of my climate change class. Yesterday Sara and I led a discussion and we had a homework due. It all went over well which I was happy about. Next week, we have to work in groups and start working on a group paper I believe. It's an interesting class and I am happy to be learning more about climate change and the science behind it. My professor is nice but not too personable.

The fact that I only have 5 weeks left is mind blowing to me and I know that the last class will virtually be non-existent because of how fast this class is going. I'll be happy to have access to fresh fruits and veggies back in America. Fresh food as well as un-fried food can't come soon enough however, I think it will be hard to leave Ecuador as I've spent a lot of time here, and I have a connection to the culture here.

Yesterday, I went to class as normal and then at 2:30pm Sara and I had massages scheduled. It was a one woman show, so we split the cab and left after my massage and then Sara had her turn at 3:30. The massage took place in the dining room of this woman's apartment....it was definitely different than what I was used to lol. It was very relaxing and was only $20 for the entire hour which is an unheard of rate in the United States. I am excited for a massage when I get back to the states as my muscles are pretty tense and knotted so I am in dire need of deep tissue work. Around 6pm, Sara, Nicola, and I all headed to Giuseppes for some pizza, it's become a Friday tradition that we get pizza. We ended up meeting Megan, Chantal, and Micah there as well. It was really good to see them as I haven't talked much with Chantal or Micah much in the past couple weeks. When we split the large it only comes to about $6 per person and the pizza is delicious, I'd say way better than Calypso.

At 7:30pm, Nicola, Sara, Megan, and I headed back to the university because we were helping with another conversation club! This time there were far more students than international students, so we each had a group of our own local students. I had three girls in my group and they were 24, 25, and 26. They were level 1 English speakers and had only been taking English for four weeks now, so the conversations we had were in Spanish. Lara and Lina (who are the American English teachers here) said it would be a great opportunity for us to practice our Spanish, so that's what I did! I explained a couple of things to them partly in Spanish and then tried translating it to English for them. For the most part we talked in Spanish and I picked up a couple vocab words in the process. I am awful with names but I know one of them was named Marta. Anyways, the 25 year old asked if I had kids (obviously it was a hard no from me), when I asked them if they had kids she said she had a 5 year old. The 26 year old had a 7 year old son and the 24 year old did not have any kids and seemed pretty relieved about that. It's pretty common here that girls have babies extremely young but I just can't fathom having a kid right now. I give them a ton of credit because they all have jobs, and they're trying to learn English while balancing having kids. I really like conversation club and I wish it was more often because getting to know the locals is pretty cool and practicing my Spanish is something I need as well. I get to practice with my host family but it's not always enough.

After spending a bit over an hour at convo club Nicola headed to a tienda so she could get an energy drink and I got a soft serve cone that was strawberry and rum raisin twist. It was an interesting flavor but the rum raisin tasted a bit chemically so that's not something I'll get again. We headed to the pier after and watched the pelicans and just talked about life for a bit until some others from the program joined. It was a fun night with a lot of laughs and good conversations. I also got an email from the Alaska internship I applied to saying my application is being considered and they will contact me if I am chosen for an interview. This news made my night! I may not have an interview yet but the fact that my application is being considered is a big deal as the internship program is very selective. Receiving that email gave me hope for the Summer, and I am keeping my fingers crossed I get an interview. It was a good way to end the night.

Bouncing back to today, I had very fried empanadas for breakfast, they are really good and in reality it's probably the 4th or 5th time I've had them since being here. My host family has listened to me for the most part about how I don't want fried foods. The empanadas are good but you feel your arteries hardening as you eat them haha. Luckily I had a big bowl of fruit too with some papaya, banana, and watermelon. The shipment must have come in last night because there was no fruit to be found in any store I went in yesterday. The entire island was also out of Coke...I don't drink it but it's still crazy to think that it didn't exist on the island. It's also crazy that people consume that much Coke here! This was the first time where I have truly realized how easy it is to have food shortages.

This afternoon I went to lunch with Jhosias and Nicola which was really nice. We ate at Fresco and we have falafel wraps which were to dye for. It was Jhosias' first time eating there and having falafel and he was really impressed. I think he said the falafel was better than chicken which was pretty funny. Around 3pm I headed to Punta Carola with my entire family besides Anahi. She went to a pool with some friends, it was sad she wasn't there but I still had fun. I laid out and tanned for a bit and then ended up making my way into the water with Tania to go for a swim. The waves were crashing right on the rock line at Carola so to get into the water we had to use our hands and not move our legs because we would risk getting cut up pretty bad. Luckily for us we made it in and out with no injury. After we got back I headed to dinner with Megan and we hung out on the pier for awhile afterwards. It was a nice relaxing night and I have figured out Pelicans are my new favorite bird. They are actually really cute and the way they walk is hilarious to watch.