la visita de mi hermana!

This week was a whirlwind of traveling for Meredith and me! She arrived in Quito on Friday night, and I spent Saturday and Sunday showing her around Quito. We actually got to do some classic Quito things that I hadn't done yet -- the TelefériQo up Pichincha and Mitad del Mundo. We also went to a surprise goodbye party for Ashley on Saturday night, which was a lot of fun. Ashley, Meredith, and I celebrated Mother's Day here by cooking an "American" meal for our host families (who are actually all the same family). We made cheesy chicken, twice-baked potatoes, rice, salad, and chocolate chip cookies!

At the top of Pichincha with a view of Quito

Meredith in Plaza San Francisco

The girls at Ashley's despedida

Amigos :)

At Mitad del Mundo

At Mitad del Mundo

Family Mother's Day dinner

The familia

Monday morning, we headed to Baños, where we stayed until Tuesday afternoon. Meredith did puenting (bridge jumping), and we took a chiva (party bus) up to the top of a mountain on Monday night to see the town and drink canelazo. We were supposed to be able to see the erupting Tungurahua Volcano, but it was too cloudy. Tuesday, we rode horses up to some waterfalls and then headed back to Quito!

After Meredith jumped off the bridge!

Canelazo and the night view of Baños

Horseback riding to the waterfalls

At the waterfalls

Of course, any tour of my Ecuadorian favorites has to, and will always, include Canoa. It almost feels like a second home to Quito now, after being there four times. Meredith loved it, just like I knew she would! We left Quito on Tuesday night and got to Canoa around 5AM on Wednesday. We spent the next three days relaxing on the beach and walking down to the cliffs. We ate Surf Shak burgers and ceviche, of course, and had a great time hanging out with friends there.

Meredith in Canoa!

My friend Payaso spinning fire

Meredith's first Ecuadorian ceviche!

Canoa <3

Sunset

Mere & I with my friend Fabian

It was a fun week, and it's hard to believe it flew by so quickly! Today's my last day in Ecuador, and tonight is my goodbye party/my host dad's birthday party. And then it's back to North Carolina!