MLP: Major League Pickpockets

Soon after I finished that last post Thursday afternoon, the city of Quito was plunged into darkness.... sort of. Lightning struck a power plant somewhere, which led to no electricity for 80% of the country. It made it pretty interesting to study for my first midterm, which was Friday at 8:00 in the morning. Power eventually came back, but my interest in studying didn't. Regardless, I still think I did fine on the test, but they said they were going to be a bit anal in the grading, so I'm not so confident.

This next weekend will be the first of the excursions. We're going bike down the side of Cotopaxi, an active volcano probably about an hour to 2 hours outside of Quito. This volcano is the single biggest natural threat to Quito, but a volcanologist friend of the school director that studies Cotopaxi daily says it's a safe time to go. However, even though the volcano is safe, I can't promise I will be. Because how many people can say they biked down a volcano with NO HANDS? I want to join the club. There'll be pictures.

Just kidding, Mom.

Second midterm this Thursday.

Observations about the country:
-There is so much fresh fruit here, it's incredible. Sweet, juicy, and delicious. This includes the strawberries on my chocolate sauce and strawberries Fruta XPlotion pizza from Domino's.
-The pickpockets are definitely major league. I have not experienced this firsthand, but a classmate lost his phone as he was getting off the bus yesterday, and Omar got his backpack taken.... and he's TRAINED to look after his stuff.
-Traffic is the worst I've ever seen, and I am now more thankful than ever for the U.S. federal highway system. Last night it took me two hours to get from my home to school on the bus, which is the equivalent of a bus taking two hours to get from High and Main in downtown C-bus to High and Lane at the corner of campus.
-Domino's Pizza tastes better. I've also heard that McDonald's tastes even worse. I don't plan on testing that.

Shout-outs go to: Mom, Dad, Erin, Buddy, and Horse. And Coop.

From Ecuador,
Andy