Dias de Cuenca!!

Didn't have school today! Cuenca is celebrating its foundation..? haha The whole town has festivals, parades, art exhibits, mercados and more!! Not to mention Cuenca's flag lines the streets. I got to paint a little this morning and than went on a run with Jenny, Erin and John. We went up to Parque de la madre and saw all the hustle and bustle of the town! The streets were covered with paintings and artisan goods. The colors of the paintings were so vibrant and eye catching!! The jewlry- to die for and lots and lots of wonderful smelling street food! We came back later after lunch to shop around and see what we could bargain for.
We met up with a few others to shop and look around and later I spent the afternoon with my friend Freddy. He took me on a carriage ride!! And than we went to a carnival/fair. We went on this ride that was EXTREMELY sketch....because there were NO seat belts or harnesses whatsoever.. hahha. it was fabulous. It was just like the pirate ship ride that rocks back and forth and eventually goes up really high..but this one had nothing holding the people in!!! haha "when in ecuador".
This weekend we went to Guayaquil and Churute. I got eaten alive by misquitoes..probably will get malaria. I didn't take the pills and I got bit 20 times on my BUTT. no joke...( there were plenty of jokes about that this weekend..) We left the jungle-ish area after seeing some magnificently noisy monkeys and headed to Guayaquil. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador I believe but the 2nd largest in population. (Quito -the capital being the first, Cuenca- is the third) Its really dirty and dangerous. haha and really hot. Not one of my favorite excursions but it was fun because of the people. Our group has been so blessed to have each other. We are all sooo different but get along so well. I'm really starting to notice how much I'm going to miss them...:(
We are such a tight knitt group it's going to be weird being so far from everyone! I'm the only one from the west coast! This just means I need to travel to the east sideee!!! haha
Please continue to pray for my dad and for my grandma. She has been moved to her house to die in her home. After having a massive heart attack and now they have taken her off the meds she only has a couple days to live. I pray for my dad and my uncles for their strength while they see their mother off. I pray that they can be strong for eachother and that she has no pain.

my grandma maggie:)

i LOVE LLAMAS