Days 71-77

Right now, things are starting to get to the point where not everything is new or different to me anymore. 

Tuesday, all the girls in my class were super excited that I had finally been able to get What's App on my phone. Now it'll be easier to talk to them outside of school. (: In art, we drew a really cool design on this big piece of wood/cardboard but we're going to paint it next Tuesday and I'm not the best at painting. I just hope it turns out well! After lunch, I headed back to school for gym and history. I always have the most fun in gym class and I'm one of the people who talks the most. I'm not really sure why I'm not the same in all of my classes. We took a "test" on gymnastics and then played soccer for the rest of the period. I'm enjoying soccer more and more every time we play it but that definitely doesn't mean I'm going to be going out for a team anytime soon! Later that night, I went to a Roteract meeting with Adrianna and we got tickets to go to a "Feria de Pastel" that Roteract was having to raise money for something. A lot more people have joined Roteract since the first meeting I had!

Wednesday after school,  I actually had homework (in math) so I finished that before watching a movie on TV. Then around 8pm, mamá and I headed down to the Fexpo (fair) to watch her models model shoes for her store. She really wanted me to model but thankfully I got out of it. I can't walk in stiletto heels very well (especially on a runway in front of hundreds of people) and I definitely cannot model like the other older models!  Before the show started, I walked around all the booths, set up for different businesses, with some of mamá's employees. We ended up leaving the fair after her models were done but by this time, it was already midnight.

It was really hard waking up on Thursday because I had gone to bed so late the night before for a school night. After I was done with alll my classes for the day, I went to Karla's house to hang out for awhile. It was nice to have tea and talk to her Great Aunt who had lived in New Mexico for 58 years and just recently moved back to Bolivia to be with family. Aunt Albertita (her great aunt) is super sweet! Later, we went to the CBA (the school where lots of my classmates go to learn English) so Karla could pick something up and I talked to the director there. The director asked me to come in next year and help with a class so the students can hear a native English speaker. She also told me she can give me prep materials so I can take the SAT at the CBA before I leave if I want to. Finally, I walked home and it had rained super hard all day so it was a perfect night to be outside with the cool, fresh air.

I had a math test first thing Friday morning, and I was actually prepared for it. I'm finally starting to understand the way my teacher teaches and remember what we're learning about from my classes in the US. In literature, our teacher wasn't there so we got to watch the movie "The Blind Side". For lunch, we had charque (dried meat), mote (the big corn kernels), and some othe stuff, so it wasn't my favorite lunch but I managed to get it down. Then at 3, I walked to Karla's house where we watched a movie with her sister and had tea with her Aunt and Mom. I really like her family and Karla and I get along really well. We talked a lot about how our accents in the opposite language differ even when we think we sound pretty good. (: Around 8, she walked me halfway home and once at home I ended up going to bed pretty early for a Friday night because I was really tired for some reason.

I had a lazy day Saturday. I woke up extremely early and couldn't fall back asleep so I watched cartoons, cleaned my room, and got some other needed stuff done and by then, it was time for lunch. We had some really good soup! After lunch, I watched a movie and did a little bit more cleaning until I got hungry for supper. When I was done eating, mamá and Nico got home so we sat in the kitchen talking about Christmas for awhile. It was nice to joke around with Nico the way we had the first month I was here. That was always so much fun. He showed me the dance you have to do in order to recieve each Christmas gift and mamá said that we will probably make some Christmas cookies so I'm super excited for that!

I woke up bright and early to the usual Sunday "alarm clock" of the paper boy yelling EXTREMELY loud through the streets "Correo!!!" (that's the name of the newspaper). So I watched Sunday morning cartoons until mamá came to get me for breakfast. I was kind of surprised that she had made breakfast for us but it was nice. It makes me miss mornings in the US when I would wake up to the smell of one of my parents making pancakes and eggs. (: Anyways, we had eggs with ham, green peppers, and cheese on some fresh bread, with a nice warm cup of tea/coffee. Afterwards, I did my normal Sunday chores and watched more cartoons until noonish. Then I met Adrianna at the Glorieta Hotel (where we have Rotary meetings) and we walked to the Feria de Pastel to have lunch and a bunch of desserts. Then her host mom picked us up and we went to Eduardo's house (he's my youth exchange officer and also Adrianna's host grandpa) to hang out and spend time with her host relatives. Her cousins had brought their dog along, Mara, and her 7, month old, adorable golden retriever puppies!! I wanted to take them all home with me! Then Adrianna and I went to my house to hang out, watch a movie, and have supper. Afterwards, I walked her home and then came home to get ready for bed. 

We finished "We Are the Nobles" in religion class today (Monday) and the rest of the day was pretty normal for me. After lunch, I spent the afternoon relaxing, doing my laundry, and wasting time on Pinterest (of course!).

Some of the models (not my mom's) from the fashion show. 

Karla and me 

One of the ADORABLE little golden retriever puppies and me

Some of the other golden retriever puppies running around

Days 64-70

Sorry this entry is going to be really short without a day by day explanation but all I've really done was go to my classes at school and lay at home not feeling well over the weekend. 

However, on Tuesday I had to say goodbye to Tía A because she was heading back to Chile. She had been here so long that I was so used to having her around and it's weird without her here. On that same day, for lunch before she left, we had cow stomach with spicy sauce. It was actually really good but once again, I think I would've liked it better if I wouldn't have known what it was! Later that night, I finally got a chance to talk to the ladies in the salon salon again and show them all my pictures from my previous trip so that was really fun. 

Wednesdays are always the most boring days at school for me cuz they're classes I don't exactly have to take or the teachers just done give me work or tests. That night, I went to one of my classmates' house with a few other girls from my grade to make a low calorie meal (salad), medium calorie meal (suuuuper delicious meat with mushrooms and sauce with a side of fries), and high calorie meal (pizza) for our biology class the next day. We had a lot of fun and Shadia (the friend whose house we were at) had a Yorkie that reminded me of my sweet Yorkie in the USA, Dolce. 

Thursday, we tried the other 5 groups' food along with ours and did some work with the calorie count in each dish. That afternoon, after my afternoon classes, I had Spanish classes and afterwards is when I started to not feel good. It wasn't my stomach this time!! But my whole body ached really bad. This lasted until this morning (Monday). 

On Friday, I had Spanish classes for 4 hours in the afternoon and then a rotary meeting that lasted later than normal. I got home from it at 1:15 in the morning! Adrianna (other exchange student here) and I were both almost falling asleep durning the meeting!

I finally finished up my 2 weeks of Spanish classes (remember I had started in September), that were interrupted by all my trips, in the morning on Saturday. My teacher and I ended up talking about some more personal things rather than reviewing other stuff but I really enjoyed talking with her. When I got home from my classes, I was supposed to model for my mom's salon and shoe store at the fair thing that's going on in Sucre right now and then hang out with my friends but I literally felt like I could not get up. 

Sunday, I did some major cleaning in the morning before heading to eat salteñas with my family. After salteñas, they dropped me off at church so I could meet my grandparents there. After church, I went out to eat with everyone (mamá, papá, Nico, Abuelita, and Miguel) and I got my craved mashed potatoes! I had been wanting them for so long! The rest of the night was sitting around trying to get rid of a headache. 

Today, Monday, we watched a movie that I liked during religion. In English it's called "We Are the Nobles". The rest of my classes were normal and boring. During the afternoon, I walked to buy some art supplies for tomorrow, pick up some papers from the Spanish school I had attended, and buy a Spanish bible! Then I just relaxed the rest of the night hoping to actually get some sleep!

The adorable Yorkie, Shusha, that my friend Shadia owns. 

MaJo, Ara, and me while we're bored at school

Days 57-63

On Tuesday, school was boring as usual but at least we got to watch a movie, The Red Violin, during music. For lunch we had pique and I can't wait to make it for my family back in the United States! It's one of my favorite meals. I went back to my afternoon classes and we didn't do anything but walk for about 20 minutes and then stand around talking. We actually had a test in history but I haven't been there for so long that I didn't have to take it. After classes, I was going to hang out with some friends but I got a call from mamá saying I needed to come home right away. When I went into her office, she told me I had a trip over the weekend with the other exchange students! I had no idea about it and neither did Adrianna so we almost missed it but I'm soo glad we didn't! Mamá and I got everything organized for that. The trip was to a place called Concepción, about 5 hours from Santa Cruz, for El Festival de las Orquídeas.   

Wednesdays are the worst, most boring days at school for me because I only have one 45 minute class in which I have to SOMETIMES do something. The rest of my classes are ones that I'm not expected to take. At least not for the rest of this school year. Finally school was out and I went home to eat lasagna with my family plus Abuelita, Tía A, and Miguel. After lunch, I went with Tía A to El Mercado Campesino so she could buy some things she needed. I didn't have anything else to do the rest of the night, so I watched TV until I fell asleep.

Nico and papá had left early for Nico's tennis camp in Tarija on Thursday, so I didn't actually have to be at school at an unnaturally early time! In biology, I listened to my classmates give presentations and then was added to one of the groups to make food for a project for the next Thursday biology class. I'm pretty excited for that. After the second break, I got to leave school to meet Nelly, the girl that works with papá, at the ID card place. I finally got my ID card and I'm done with all my visa/citizenship stuff for the year!! Thaaaaank you! After lunch, I packed and got everything ready for my trip and mamá took me to the airport at 4. My plane ride to Santa Cruz was only 30 minutes (compared to the 14 hour bus ride!) and it was the worst and most fun plane ride I've ever been on because there was SO much turbulence! Marlene (the Youth Exchange Chairman for Bolivia), one of her sons, Gabriel, and the only exchange student in Oruro, Brock, met me in the airport and we had AMAZING cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon before driving to Marlene's house. We had some burritos for supper and just sat talking for 2 hours. I also met Marlene's other son and one of her family friends. After supper, Marlene, her friend, Brock, and I went to La Plaza and they showed us around a bit. We also listened to some big concert going on and took a picture with a humongous Saint Bernard named JimBo. (: At 10, we went to a café and I had some really good icy berry tea drink. 

Early Friday morning, Marlene took Brock and I to the place where we met the other exchange students and loaded the bus. Altogether, there are 24 of us Rotary exchange students here in Bolivia. The 3 from Cochabamba couldn't come, there's one in Oruro, two in Sucre, and 18 in Santa Cruz. Of the 21 of us that were on the trip, there was 1 from Belgium, 1 from Denmark, 5 from France, 3 from Canada, and 11 from the United States (2 from New York, 2 from California, and 1 from Alaska, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Oregon, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia). We drove 4 hours to San Javier where we had lunch, were given a tour of the beautiful church, and learned how to make cuñapes! Then we drove one more hour to Concepción (a small town) where we settled into our hotel before heading to the church for mass and then a violin/choir concert afterwards. It was very humid and hot but it still doesn't beat the heat in Trinidad! After church, we had a buffet supper where we got barbecue meat and then we all went swimming in a pool across from the hotel before bed. I love all the other exchange students. It feels like we're all just one big family and I have NEVER been in a group of people that have so much in common. Even with the groups of exchange students before I was leaving for Bolivia. 

Early Saturday morning, we had a nice breakfast from the hotel (with lots of mango juice!) and then headed to the church where we went to mass the night before so our tour guide could tell us about it. It had the same structure as the church in San Javier but there was a lot more gold and red in the design and it was just absolutely beautiful. We also went to a museum of the Jesuit missions that were here a long time ago and that was really neat. When we were done, we had some free time to walk around. We saw a little dance thing in the center of La Plaza and a lot of us went to some tables of vendors that were set up and bought some souvenirs. At noon, we drove to a different hotel for lunch and then after lunch, we drove 2 hours to an area with mountains to go hiking. We hiked for about an hour and a half and it was so much fun! It wasn't the best trail and it was really steep going up (we even had to use a rope to drag ourselves up) but from the top the view was outstanding! We took all of our group and solo flag pictures at the top too. I thought going up was crazy but going down was awful! Especially for a clumsy person like me. I was just hoping I wouldn't slip and go rolling down the hill taking out everyone in my path! There was lots of gnats on the hike but surprisingly, there weren't mosquitos. Back on the bus, we got juice boxes and it was probably the best juice I've ever drank in my life. It was so hot and we were all tired! We drove 2 hours back to the hotel to rest until our buffet supper, and after supper, some people went to the pool while others just stayed up late talking. 

I got sick really early Sunday morning so I must have eaten something weird and I couldn't eat any breakfast, but after taking some medicine and laying down for a bit, I was ready to go to the lake with the group at 9:15. We didn't swim because there was piranhas and we didn't want to take risks, but it was all really beautiful. When we were done at the lake,  we drove to a little village to see how the indigenous women work. We got to help grind some special kind of rice, learned and helped weave part of a scarf, and saw the ladies turn cotton into string. It was so cool! We could also buy beautiful woven scarves or purses and some had purple or yellow orchids painted on since orchids are indigenous to this region of Bolivia. (We had seen lots of orchid plants while we were here but we didn't actually see many of the flowers themselves.) Then we went back to our hotel and packed up all of our stuff to leave. We drove to the other hotel to have lunch where we all traded our pins and business cards. Our lunch was cut short by pouring rain though and we got back on the bus to drive 5 hours back to Santa Cruz. Mille (from Denmark) and I ended up being able to sleep really well because we were leaning on each other but not everyone else had that much luck! We woke up when the bus stopped for a snack break, and of course being exchange students, we bought a huge load of junk food to share around the bus. That's what we've been doing all weekend. We finally got to Santa Cruz at 8 and I was so sad to tell all of the other exchangers from Santa Cruz goodbye! Marlene picked Brock and I up and we went out for some super delicious, best I've ever had, stuffed crust pizza for dinner with her and her sons. 

Because I was sleeping in a dark room and I was so tired, I slept in until 10 today (Monday). What a miracle! I only woke up when Marlene came to get me and tell me that she was taking Brock to the airport. I was sad to tell him goodbye too! Then they left and I was alone at the house for about two and a half hours so I got ready for the day and caught up on some stuff. When Marlene got back, we went to a café to have a nice healthy brunch. I had a nice, cold, strawberry smoothie and a teriyaki salad. Then we went to her office so she could get some work done but instead of work, we ended up talking about previous exchange students and the pets she used to have until we needed to leave for the airport for my flight. Marlene waited (and bought rolls from Cinnabon of course!) my flight was called to go through security. Then I waited to board my plane and was surprised when Adrianna showed up. She had been staying with her aunt and uncle and I thought she was staying in Santa Cruz until later in the week. She sat next to me for the flight and we had a nice 30 minute flight (with complimentary peach juice, wow, they're fast) to Sucre. I took a movíl home and gave mamá and Abuelita a HUGE greeting. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them! I went upstairs to unpack until mamá came up to have empanadas filled with meat for supper that Tía A had made earlier today. I told mamá all about my trip and possible upcoming trips and she was so excited to hear all about it!

Brock (from California), me, and Marlene in La Plaza in Santa Cruz

Hanging out with some of the awesome masks at a museum.

Joanna (Texas), Perrin (Virginia), Victoria (Michigan), me, and Mille (Denmark) in Concepción

Showing my pride in my country on top of the mountain 

Watching the women in the village turn cotton into string 

Grinding some of the special rice in the village 

My big, goofy group of exchangers (minus 3 who are elsewhere....) 

At the airport in Sucre when I finally returned home

My big goofy group of exchangers again

The whole group (minus 3 of the French) showing pride in both our countries and Bolivia on our hike in the mountains

Days 51-56

This past week hasn't been the most eventful for me. On Wednesday, I was actually smiling when I walked into school. Crazy right? I hadn't realized how much I had missed all of my classmates! Apparently they all missed me too and they were SUPER excited when they alll saw me. It's easy to notice when I'm gone because a blonde like me really stands out. We didn't do anything all day. Well in the classes where I actually usually have to do something anyways. (: Nicolasa, the maid, wasn't at the house for a few days so for lunch we ordered chicken and noodles. I was just happy that it was roasted chicken instead of fried, and that it was pasta with carrots instead of french fries! After lunch, I had to help mamá clean up and I loved it because I felt more at home since it was a habit to clean up after meals with my family in the USA. That afternoon, I went with Nelly, a girl who works with my dad, to get my ID card but the place was closed. It was nice to learn a little about Nelly though. After we realized the place was closed, she went to work on something with my dad close to La Plaza before he left for his flight to Santa Cruz for a business trip. I walked home and on my way I bought some bananas to make banana bread, three slices of a DELICOUS pineapple that the vendor talked me into, and a TON of mangos to have for breakfasts and afternoon snacks. (: Gotta love mangos! That night I had supper with mamá, Tía A, and Abuelita and it was nice to be able to sit down and talk with all of them.

Thursday was a little crazy. I seriously have had more stomach problems since I've been here than I've had in the last 3 years combined! We didn't have school because it was some government day or something. I helped Nicolasa and mamá clean and organize EVERYTHING from the kitchen to the pretty glasses and vases filling the china cabinets in the living/dining room. I didn't mind helping out at all and of course I LOVE organizing but when I wasn't the one choosing how to organize things, I was glad when my Tía A came down to make "calzones rotos" with me. She's from Chile and calzones rotos are a traditional pastry from Chile. They taste similar to funnel cakes but not quite so soft. You can also put powdered sugar, jam, or other toppings on them if you want, but we chose to leave them without because they tasted sooo good. I was extremely happy to finally make something while I was here and it was even better that I learned how to make something new to take back to make for my family in the US. That night, it was drizzling rain but mamá, Tía A, Nico, and I went for a drive through Sucre. We went to a place called the Recoleta where there's a school, two museums, and a amazing view of the city!!!

It was really rainy and cold on Friday so all I wanted to do was go home, grab some hot chocolate and a blanket, and watch a movie but sadly, I had to go to school. Of course, I didn't really do much anyways. For lunch we had soup which was perfect because I had been dreaming of soup all morning at school. I spent the afternoon learning a little bit of German. It's amazing how much more your mind is open to new things on exchange! Afterwards, I went down to talk to the ladies from the salon who I haven't talked to in FOREVER. They all asked me where I've been living! I walked to my Rotary meeting around 8:30 and enjoyed talking to everyone there and hearing about how Adrianna's expierences are the same and how they're different than mine. The guy from Europe who's in Sucre's Rotary club this year gave a video presentation of the orchestra that he's with doing a show type thing for the orphanage that my Rotary club sponsors. I'm really hoping I can get into some kind of volunteer oportunities with an orphanage this year. Once I got home that night, Nico decided it would be hilarious to hide around the corner with a plastic gun and scare the crap out of me when I was coming up the stairs. Mamá, Nico, and I all had a HUGE laugh about that.

On Saturday, I woke up to find one of Nicolasa's 3 year old kids at our house. He was adorable! When I was cutting up my mango for breakfast, he just stood there watching me with big eyes so I gave him a piece and he ran away super excited to show his mom. Then I brought a piece of paper and some of the 4th of July stickers I had brought from the US and I sat down with him at the table. I would help him peel off the stickers he wanted and he would stick them on the paper. I think he liked the stickiness of the stickers more than what they actually looked like. He had the BIGGEST smile on his face the whole time! It was so cute! He liked it so much that I gave a sheet of stickers to Nicolasa to take home for her 3 year old daughter as well. Afterwards, I got ready for the day before helping Nicolasa get ready for lunch. Later, Adrianna was going to hang out with me and help me make banana bread but she wasn't feeling good so I made the banana bread by myself. Between trying to find all the ingredients, learning how to work a new oven, having to use the wrong pan for banana bread, and Nico thinking it was hilarious to be constantly scaring me when I was most concentrated, it was a pretty interesting night. Then I skyped with my parents for a couple hours and it was so nice to talk to them. (: I think I almost talk to them more now than when I'm living with them!

I was actually able to stay asleep until 8 today (Sunday)! It's a miracle! I started off my day right by watching some cartoons (in Spanish of course) that brought back a ton of childhood memories. Then I cleaned and organized my room until my grandparents (papá's parents) picked me up to go to church. Church was the same length as last time but it was a little different. Instead of the bible study, there was just a really long sermon. Even though I don't understand everything the pastor dude is saying, I enjoy listening to it all. For lunch, I went with my family to the same restarurant where I tried the interesting cow parts and Nico started a fun little question game for us. It gave us all some good laughs. After that, Miguel, Paula (the girl from the salon who went to eat with us), and I were dropped off at the house while mamá, Abuelita, Tía A, and Nico went to get ice cream, take Nico to tennis, and pick up papá from the airport. I ended up skyping with lots of my family in the US (relatives too) since they were together for a special occasion and it was nice to catch up with them. Once papá and the rest of my family got home, we sat in the kitchen talking and then us 4 went to my parents' room to watch the movie Django. It was really nice to have one of those Sunday family movie type nights. I miss that from when I was really little. I also tried some Bolivian coffee. I'm not much of a coffee fan but natural coffee, from Bolivia and from Haiti, I have really liked! Before I headed to bed, mamá showed me some pictures of Natalia (my host sister in the US) during homecoming week so I got to explain to her what homecoming was. 

Today (Monday), I went with Nelly to get my ID card papers turned in again since the place is actually open in the morning, and by the time we were done, it wasn't worth going back to school so I got to go hang out at home. Sadly, I think Thurdsay morning (to pick up my ID card) is the last time for this school year that I'll get to miss school. We had some really good fish for lunch and at 2:30, I headed to my Spanish classes. I have a different teacher this week, Áleida. I really like her too and we played some fun games to help me improve my speaking with pronouns. We also started watching the movie Slumdog Millionaire. However, I have to admit my favorite thing about my Spanish classes today was trying apí. Apí is a thicker drink made from purple corn with sugar and cinnamon. It was SO good!!! After my classes, I walked home to relax for the night. 

Calzones Rotos

Part of the Recoleta

Apí

Days 44-50

On Tuesday during music class, I somehow ended up having to play a few of the songs I knew by memory for my entire class. They all loved it though and clapped for me but it was kind of embarrassing to play because I don't like all the attention focused on me. The rest of my day was normal but I didn't go to classes in the afternoon because I was getting everything ready to leave for Trinidad. At 7:30, Miguel and I left for the bus station where we met his girlfriend, FaBiola, and at 8 we headed out on our bus. It was a tour bus so it was pretty nice. We made a stop around 10 so everyone could have supper and there were 7 dogs surrounding our table! We arrived in Trinidad around 4:30am and then took a taxi to meet Abuelita and Tía Angelica at the hostel to get some more sleep. 

Wednesday we woke up at 7:30 and headed down to La Plaza and mercado for breakfast and shopping until out flight. I started my day off real healthy with a fresh fruit salad! (: I will never get tired of those! In the airport, I met some more of my family from La Paz who were traveling to my he wedding on the same plane as us. On the plane, FaBiola helped me learn a little more about the 9 departments of Bolivia: Pando, Tarija, Chuquisaca (where Sucre is located), Cochabamba, Beni (where Trinidad is located), Oruro, La Paz, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. When we landed in Trinidad, more family was waiting to meet us and they drove us to the hotel we were staying in that my cousin (the groom) owns. After lunch, Miguel, FaBiola, and I walked around Trinidad for awhile until we were all ready to leave for Laguna Isireri. A few things I noticed about Trinidad: 1) They don't eat potatoes at every meal, instead it's rice and yuca. 2) There are motorcycles EVERYWHERE! A car really stands out amidst all the motorcycles. Even the taxis (unless you call a movíl) are motorcycles. 3) There's not as many stray dogs until you get closer to the edge of town. 4) I only saw one of the more indigenous people my whole trip. 5) There aren't many tourists so you get a lot more attention from the guys even getting to winks and air blown kisses. 6) It is EXTREMELY hot and it's only the beginning of spring here! - The lagoon was absolutely beautiful and Roberto (Abuelita's brother) Miguel, FaBiola, and I played with Roberto's two Rottweilers that he had brought from La Paz. The water only went up to my mid thighs and apparently no matter how far out into the lagoon, it's the same level. I didn't have a swimsuit on and the bottom was slippery so we didn't try going out extremely far. They all kept saying an alligator was coming to get me but that didn't bother me. Now if they would've said worms that would be a different story! After the lagoon, we all went to get coconut milk an it was super cold and refreshing. For supper, we had leftovers from lunch along with bread with nata (similar to butter) and then we sat down and talked until people starting getting tired. 

On Thursday I had breakfast with a distant great Aunt from La Paz and her friend, Rosaria, and afterwards Rosaria and I took a little walk. We stopped at the church in La Plaza and we got into a big discussion about God. I've noticed that each place I go to has a central plaza with lots of trees and plants, benches, and statues representing that area's independence. Back at the hotel, we headed up to our rooms to rest and a little while later, I went with FaBiola and Miguel to walk around. We got coconut milk and we were going to go try Pirannah but the restaurant was closed so we bought some sugar cane juice instead but it was a little too sweet. For lunch, us three, Abuelita, Tía A, and Rosaria went to a fish place (fish is a really popular dish here) and I had Milaneza. IT WAS AMAZING! I almost want to say it's better than the fresh salmon I've had in Alaska! It was a huge portion of food for a small price so I shared some and took some home for later. Then we went to El Mercado Campesino where we bought swimsuits so we could swim in the pool at the other hotel that my other cousin (brother of the groom) owns. After we had swam for awhile we went back to take showers and relax in our hotel until Miguel and FaBiola were ready to go get supper. We had some soensos (not sure how to spell it), which is yuca with cheese, and fresh strawberry juice! We were going to try alligator but we didn't know where a good place to try it was. When we were walking to get ice cream, Pablo (the groom), his fiancée, Mercedes, and their 8 month old son, Rafael picked us up on their way for supper so we had ice cream at the hamburger place they ate at. Afterwards, we drove around for 2 hours and they showed us around Trinidad before easing back to the hotel. 

After breakfast on Friday, everyone worked to clean glasses and tables to get ready for the wedding on Saturday as when we were done we went to the little zoo/park that there was. Some of the animals like the deer weren't in cages and would just come up to you. The snakes were HUGE but they were in cages. We were supposed to be back at the hotel for lunch by 12 but we didn't end up leaving until 1:30. We went to a place by the river and had fish again. Almost everyone in my family who was coming to the wedding was there so we set up tables to fit about 40 or more people! I don't even know my relation to half of them! After lunch, we went to the river and fit onto a wooden river boat for an hour and a half ride up the river a ways and back. Back at the hotel I was covered in so much dirt that I had a new tan line. I took a nice long shower and relaxed until our big group was ready to go have supper at a nice restaurant. We ordered Pacumuto (a kind of steak) that came with cheese rice, fried yuca, and salad. During our supper, a guy came in to play the guitar and we got him to come to our table and play the songs we requested. He's a great singer! Then we stuck around the restaurant talking for awhile. 

Saturday morning, mamá arrived and some of us went out for empanadas and chocolate beniano (similar to hot chocolate) for breakfast. Then FaBiola and I spent some time together and we got our nails done for the wedding. Afterwards, we met mamá and Miguel in la plaza and while mamá went to take a little tour of Trinidad, Miguel, FaBiola and I went to the pool until lunch. For lunch, we went up to the top floor of our hotel to Pablo's apartment and had the same meal as last night. Then FaBiola and I went to get our hair done for the wedding  and we were there for a long time! The service wasn't the best. At 8, we went down to the room of the hotel where the wedding was taking place. The ceremony was mixed in with the party. There was a lot of similar things that there are in the US but also some differences. A small group of dancers dancing the Tobas came in for awhile, along with the bouquet and garnet, the single girls pull strings out of the wedding cake and two are connected to rings. The girls who pull out the rings will be the next ones married. I pulled out one of the rings. Also, for part of the party the girls wore masks and the boys hats. I really like the dances here unlike in the US because it's actually dancing and not just jumping to electronic music. I stayed down at the party until 3 and I had a blast! The only thing I didn't like was the heat. EVERYONE was dripping sweat and if someone wasn't then they must've had some secret behind it. I danced with so many people though and after awhile, you just got used to all the sweating. A little gross, I know, but there wasn't really anything you could do about it. 

On Sunday, we went to buy some fish before having salteñas at the other hotel we weren't staying at. Then mamá, Abuelita, and Tía M headed to the airport and the rest of us went in the pool all afternoon. After the pool, Miguel, FaBiola, my aunt, uncle, cousin and I went to eat and I had the best Fettuchini Alfredo I've ever eaten! Then we went back to the hotel to relax until it was time to take FaBiola to the bus station (she had to be back earlier for her text at her college).  Then the rest of us left at 10pm and I was on the second level of the bus by the window, with lots of room for my legs, big, comfy seats, a clean bus, a warm blanket, good roads, and my music. I slept like a baby for the 10 hour bus ride!

After arriving to Santa Cruz on Monday, we bought our bus tickets for the trip to Sucre and then went for breakfast. Then we went to my Abuelo's house and all of us fell asleep until it was time to leave. We had a 14 hour bus ride on a bus that was the opposite of the previous one plus we were on winding, bumpy, dirt, unpaved mountain roads for most of the trip. When we arrived this morning (Tuesday), my tons of mosquito bites from Trinidad itched like crazy and my feet were swollen to twice their normal size! It's nice to be home resting right now! 

La Plaza in Trinidad

The Lagoon

My AMAZING Milanesa meal

Tía A, Abuelita, me, Rosaria, and FaBiola

Me, my aunt, and FaBiola at the zoo/park

The boat we took up the river 

My huge family at the restaurant by the river