grace like an ocean: john's visit!

So, my AWESOME boyfriend came to visit me for a week, although it felt more like 2 days. The week FLEW by. I took him to Mindo for a couple days and we went ziplining, hiking, and exploring. We jumped off a cliff into a waterfall and it was terrifying! I almost didn't jump. But I did. We found this awesome local restaurant that was off the beaten path and paid less than $5 for both of our empanadas and drinks. It was some of the best food I've had since I've been here.

From Mindo, we made a pit stop back in Quito, then headed off to Baños, which is about 4 hours away from Quito. We rented an ATV for the day and drove out on la Ruta de Cascadas (Route of the Waterfalls). It was awesome- we saw several different waterfalls and it was absolutely beautiful to be driving through the mountains. No pictures or words can do it justice.

We also went puenting (puente means bridge in Spanish), which was almost like bungee jumping- we jumped from a bridge and instead of falling and then bouncing up and down, we swung from side to side. It was John's idea and I was terrified but I swore to myself I was gonna do it...and even so all the way up until I was getting my harness on I wasn't sure if I would do it. Then our guides starting talking about how I wasn't macho and wouldn't be brave enough to actually jump- right in front of my face! Hello, I speak Spanish...So that made my mind up, ha. It ended up being really fun! I'm definitely planning on going back to Baños before the semester is over. We ended up crossing the gorge and going to this place right beside the waterfall where you can catch your own trout and they cook it for you. Awesome. I can now say I have caught and eaten a fish in Ecuador. Word. Although it took me FOUR tries to actually catch one...John thought that was real funny.

I had an exam on Monday, so we went back in Quito and I got to show John around my campus a little bit in the pouring rain. He bought a large number of movies to take back to the states. Tuesday we went to a market and John got really good at bargaining with the vendors! After our date Tuesday night, he had to be at the airport at 4am, so we stayed up all night.

What a wonderful week that went by WAY too fast. Although I love being here, in Ecuador, this is one of the hardest parts- I'm so far away from my friends and my family and my boyfriend. It was a breath of fresh air to spend a week with someone I am so close to. I am looking forward to being home and not having any more countdowns to see you!

Here's some pictures from the week...John has all the best ones. He also has like a million pictures from the week, we probably stopped every 4 minutes so he could take pictures. But I mean, I'll be glad to have them later :)