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Published: June 16th 2010
La Naranjilla Mecanica
Friday night - The bar which was more like a house! I was lovin´ the fluffy corner.Hey everyone!
Thanks for the comments received on my first entry. I´m slowly getting the hang of this blog malarkey.
I´ve been here nearly a fortnight and seem to be living for the weekends!
Friday 13th June Along with our new housemate Stephan (from Swizerland), Markus, Nadia and I went out after work for a meal before meeting Jorge (IAESTE organiser), Elisabeth (from Austria) and Laetitia (from France) at a bar that seemed more like a house. We sat in the fluffy corner which had fluffy walls, floor and cushions - very chilled! (I´m thinking we should make one in our house next year Omi haha.)
Saturday 12th June On Saturday, along with 12 others, I went to Mindo, a rural parish, located two hours north-west of Quito, in the province of Pichincha. We stayed there for one night at El Bijao, a wooden hut hotel. After grabbing lunch at ´the only restaurant Jorge trusts´, we walked down through the Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forestto to the cascada (waterfall) and its mini ´resort´. I wasn´t brave enough to jump the waterfall but I did go on the slide which had a pretty big drop at the end. On the
La Naranjilla Mecanica
The door to the toilets way down to the waterfall, there was a huge zip-wire (canopy) going across the mountains which you had to run off the cliff to do. Needless to say, I didn´t do that either! A few of the others did but I didn´t like the look of their equipment. One guy even got stuck in the middle and so was left hanging for a few minutes until the guide went out and started hitting his connection!
After the tiring walk back up to the top, we headed back into the town for showers before hitting Mindo´s few bars. Jorge is obsessed with karaoke and so we spent the evening singing cheesy songs!
Sunday 13th June - Mindo Ropes & Canopy! After breakfast, we drove up to an activity centre to hit their 12 zip wires! The sensation was incredible, it felt like I was flying! And the views were something else. The guides encouraged us to try different positions and so at one point, I was superman and at another I was upside down. (Never again though - I thought I was going to die!)
After grabbing a late lunch, we took the windy drive back to Quito
Trip to Mindo
Saturday - Views on the way to Mindo where showers and beds were desperately needed!
Work Work this week is much the same as last - my boss hasn´t been in! One of the engineers has given me a CAD drawing for one of their big drainage projects - I´ve been inserting manholes and connections according to flow direction which has been keeping me busy for a while.
Fausto got back from Manta yesterday which means the office isn´t so quiet. Every day the TV is on with the football world cup matches. My colleagues seem to just watch it whenever they want - somehow I don´t think that´d be allowed at Atkins!
Spanish Lessons Nadia and I had our first Spanish lesson last night. We´re paying $5 per hour for 1-to-1 lessons which is pretty reasonable. I think I´m going to have two per week, next one being tomorrow (Thurs) after work 6.30-8pm. It´s a short bus ride away and I´ll be sharing a taxi home with another IAESTE student every time. The teacher seems really nice and very helpful.
Results I get my final degree classification tomorrow - I´m having to get a friend to text it to me! I´ll hopefully receive
Trip to Mindo
We stopped off for an ice cream and look what we found! an email on Friday with a breakdown of my marks over the past year. So before my next blog, I should´ve been put out of my misery!
Anyways, I think that´s enough for now.
Hope you´re all well and speak to you soon!
Cathy xxx
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Mal Hewitt
non-member comment
well done
Hi Cathy - seems like you're having a good time. It will be good to have these meomories for the future. Don't work too hard! Well done on your degree - you deserve it. Love Mal, Phil and Megan