Mindo

¡Hola!
So on Saturday morning, myself and three other girls from the program (Julie, Anah, and Sabiha) went to Mindo, a town 2 hours from Quito. We left in the morning and took a bus ($2.50) to Mindo. Before we left, I kept wondering why my tour book didn´t have a map of the town unlike Otavalo and Baños. When we reached, I realized we wouldn´t need a map because there is one Main Street and everything either on that street or behind it. We stayed at this place called Hostal Sandy which was very beautiful. I leanred that when looking for hostals you look for a few things: private bathrooms, hot water, cleanliness, and security. This place had all four things so we decided to stay.
We ate lunch and then headed over to the butterfly (mariposas) and orchid farm. This is why Mindo is famous. We saw about 50 types of orchids (very pretty) and LOTS of butterflies. We took the rest of the day to just relax. I learned how to play Hearts (a card game) and it´s similar to Spades and 28 so that was fun. On Sunday, we woke up early because we had a 2 hour walk to go see the Waterfalls. When we started, this dog (there were a lot of stray dogs) kept following us. When we turned around he would stop, but as we kept going he would follow. Now normally, I don´t think I would care...but I did not want to get bit and then have to be scared of rabies. Finally these people at a restaurant saw the dog following us and chased him away...v. nice of them. We walked about 2 hours and it was so tiring because of the sun but the scenery is fantastic. We saw the falls, put our feet in the H2O, and then walked back. Took us less time on the way back but overall it was fabulous. Total trek = 7.5 miles. WOO! =)
Once we returned, we ate lunch and then took our bus back to Quito. It was a good relaxing weekend. Today I have clinic at the Maternity Hospital from 12:30 to 4:00 and I am excited about this rotation. It is my last Monday in Quito so afterwards, we are going to do some sight-seeing around town...nothing serious, but yep. I have a salsa class at 10:00 (it´s good time pass and good exercise!) so I am off.

In other news:
-This time next week I will be at home.
-I can totally live out of my book-bag during weekend trips.
-I´ve been at one with nature so many times here in Ecuador it´s faboo.
-A lot of people in Mindo thought myself and Sabiha were Ecuadorian b/c of our skin color.
-I am off.

¡Chao!
-gina-