Tuesday-- I picked Chez up from the airport and went into the Mariscal to get dinner and meet the new 2010-2011 PDs. After dinner, we headed to the house in the valley for some much-needed rest.
Wednesday-- We taught exercise and Chez got a tour of the library and our communities. After we got home, we had a hearty breakfast, showered, and headed into Quito. We walked around the Mariscal for lunch and to book our Cotopaxi tour. In the afternoon, we climbed the bell towers of the Basillica and walked around all of the plazas in Old Town. We ate dinner at the house, and Chez got the full Manna experience of a family dinner. After dinner we chatted and played MadLibs. As I worked on my transition reports for the new PDs, Chez and Mike baked a cake to top off the night!
Climbing the Basillica
Thursday-- Here we ran into our first speed bump. We planned on doing a Cotopaxi tour on Thursday, but the guide forgot to pick us up. After waiting around for an hour or so and running after every gringo-filled bus, we headed into Quito to see what happened. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast while waiting for the tour agency to open up. We rescheduled our tour and stopped by the artisan market on the way home, where Chez got her nose pierced! Later that afternoon (after naps and report-writing), we taught exercise at the Centro. We ended the evening with dinner at the house, followed by a movie marathon.
Piercings (one is fake)
Friday-- The whole crew went to Rumiloma mid-day to give the entire Centro space a deep clean. Afterwards, Chez stuck around and helped me run the library for the afternoon. We closed up shop at 7, went home to a bbq with the new PDs, went into Quito for a Chivas tour (incredibly tacky and embarrassing party bus... dance floor, lights, and fog machine on wheels). After we were danced out, Chez and I decided to stay in a hostel for the evening.
Some of the gals on the Chivas bus (in our burger king crowns)
Saturday-- 6:00am wake-up call, and we went to meet our guide and the other couple for our Cotopaxi tour. We drove up Cotopaxi, to 4,500 meters elevation. We strapped on our gear and started biking down the active volcano (glacier-covered volcano, which is also the closest point to the sun on earth) in the snow. I have few words to describe this experience. The biking wore me out, but the views and the pristine landscape was breath-taking. We biked down the mountain, 28 miles through the National Park, ate lunch at some Incan ruins, peddled through herds of cattle, splashed through the mud... we had an amazing time. As soon as we got back to Quito, we hopped a bus for Otavalo. When we arrived, we had dinner and listened to some live music with Erik before heading up to our hostel. We were so exhausted and hit they hay immediately upon arrival. 
Biking down Cotopaxi, with the glacier behind us
This (awkward) picture doesn't do it justiceSunday-- After a good night's rest, we went into Otavalo to use our haggle-ing skills at the largest open-air market in South America. Shopping, pie, and a bus ride later, we were in Cotocachi (a little town famous for it's leather). Once we were leather-ed out, we took 3 buses back into the valley and went directly to the movie theater to watch Eclipse. We got home around midnight and Chez packed.
Krysta modeling some snazzy chapsMonday-- I put Chez in a taxi at 5:30am so she could catch her flight. I was sad to see my friend and sister off, but it was so nice to have her visit. Love you, alma gemela!
I can't wait to have both of you together for a whole week. what joy!love mmd
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