My roommate here studied abroad for a semester last year and is back to visit for the summer.  She is originally from North Carolina and wanted to make us all some of her home-cooked food.  Cooking American food here is a challenge because is it hard to find all of the ingredients and they are usually a little bit different than we have in the states.  And trying to cook in the altitude is a feat with in itself.  But being the chef she is, my roommate was able to make a delicious hamburger cook-out meal for us, our family, and many of our friends. I tried making brownies, but people had to eat it with a spoon.  People laughed and told me my "fudge" was really good.

I also had my first exam of the semester in my history class and my first project assigned in my literature class.  Although it is summer and I'm experiencing so many great things, I do have to do work.  But I love the challenge of learning Spanish.  So me being the nerd I am, I don't mind doing the school work because I learn so much from even a simple assignment. 

This past weekend I was able to experience more of Quito.  We went to the markets on Saturday and practiced our bargaining skills.  After enjoying lunch in the Mariscal at a great Thai restaurant, we went to a park in the city.  They had tables set up around the walkway like the markets.  Artists also came and set up their paintings for display and for sale.  There were people doing spontaneous shows with crowds around them and many many families and kids spending the day playing there.  But the best part of the day was when we took my roommate on a teeter-tooter for the first time.  The thing about these "sube y baja"s is that they are much bigger than any I've seen in the states.  She and I trying to figure out to get both of us on it attracted many kids to stop and laugh and our friend to take out his phone to take pictures and capture the moment.

Today is the national fútbol game verses Colombia.  The University was very helpful in getting us tickets.  However, many more people came early in the morning to go to the game.  Therefore, there weren't many tickets left and they were much more expensive than anticipated.  Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the game, but I did get to see the excitement of a game day.  It reminded me of what it's like before a college football game, but even more energy!  Everywhere you looked there was a sea of yellow shirts and flags being displayed.  While we have big sports games in the states, it is usually American city verses American city.  Having a whole country unifying to show their pride was a very cool thing to see.