Día 112 | Martes, 21 de Abril | 2009

April Showers...

I have a lot of work to do today.  Tomorrow is a grammar midterm that is important in terms of the grade for the course.  Thursday is my midterm for my South American Literature class.  Also, I should finish a draft of an essay for my South American Lit. class by tomorrow (to finally turn in by Friday).  On top of that, I need to write three short 1-2 page essays about some of my experiences on the trip.  

Tomorrow and Thursday will probably be the hardest days but all should be cleared up on Friday.  I'll just be really tired and then I'll need to start really making some progress in some of the books I need to read in the next week.  

There's always something to do down here -- always on the move.

I feel so bad because I am really behind on e-mails.  If you are reading this Rob, I will e-mail you in the next couple of days I promise.  On friday, I think I will get to writing some e-mails and hopefully send out some postcards too.

Picture later...

later:  Had pizza at Roma's Pizzeria.  Very good and reasonably priced.  Here's a picture of a flower in our courtyard.  

Day 43 | Thursday, February 12 | 2009

Caitlin...

I do not know how I made it through last night. My whole body was sore and aching from the Tetanus and Hepatitis shots that I had received earlier in the day. On top of that, I had to finish a 16-page paper that was due this afternoon that I had barely made any headway with already. Somehow, I managed to get enough rest and was able to write about 5,000 words in about 4 and a half hours. I am still in somewhat of a shock from all of this writing but hopefully things will return to normalcy soon. It'd be nice to get a chance to genuinely relax soon. We'll see..

Today I feel a little bit better from the vaccines but my arms are a little achy. I am sure that it will be pretty much gone by tomorrow.

I got my ISIC (International Student Identification Card) in the mail today! I am getting really excited about Ecuador with each passing day. I started reading The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller, as it is required reading for my program. It is interesting so far -- the whole premise of the book will be to study the manufacturing and eventual distribution and sale of Panama Hats, somehow shedding light on numerous cultural and sociological observations. It turns out that Panama Hats are actually manufactured in Ecuador (not in Panama) and there is a long explanation of why they (the hats) have been come to be associated with Panama instead.

To change the subject completely, I think this is a really good picture of Caitlin. I took it while we were walking from the library to Casa for dinner. She is so beautiful inside and out. Lately I feel that she has been really stressed with the demands of her music classes (sight singing and dictation in particular) but I believe things will work out for the best. I think that she will persevere and make it through this class and then will do likewise in the spring. A lot of weight will be lifted, it seems, once she is done with this dreadful sight singing and dictation classes. In the meantime, though, I will be there for her in her times of trouble as a simple reminder that things might not be so bad and also to remind her how beautiful she is.

Well, I have rehearsal in about fifteen minutes, so I really ought to go. Until tomorrow...