One of the biggest shocks when I came back to Ecuador was people's reaction to what I looked like.  I knew that after being sick for some time and backpacking for a while that I had probably lost a bit of weight.  I kept getting a lot of comments about how much weight I lost and how skinny I looked.  I stepped on a scale and it turns out I lost over 10 pounds.  I've been trying everything that I can to gain it back.  It's been kind of fun.  Between the start of school, earthquakes, snow, and another clasico I've started to settle back into a routine. The earthquake part was easily the biggest one that I've felt. I had felt a few last year but they weren't enough to cause any alarm. This one had me crying and screaming. Okay maybe not crying and screaming, but I did leave the building. It ended up being of 7.1 magnitude. The epicenter was pretty far away and it was pretty deep. It gave the students a lot to get excited about. Last weekend I took another trip to Cuenca with some of the new teachers. I ended up going to Cajas National Park for a short hike. It was raining the whole time. By the time it was time to try to catch the bus back to Cuenca it was frigid. We were waiting for almost half an hour when a mixture of snow and sleet came down. I never thought I would see snow actually falling in Ecuador. A few weeks ago I also headed to another soccer game which was a great environment as always. Below are a few pictures. It is just about time to start thinking of my future plans for next year. I wish I was better at making big decisions . . .

Much love and take care!!!