Quito Ecuador!

I have now been in South Americ for almost three weeks and I have experienced so much already! We just came out of The Amazon yesterday and I am now in Quito Ecuador! It is a pretty big city. We are staying in a Hostel called Posado de Maple. It´s so pretty because there are maple trees lined up along the whole street. Today is out study day rest day which is much needed because we have been running pretty strong for a while.

We left The Hacienda Guachuala (the first place we stayed for about two weeks in Cayambe Ecuador) on Valentines day. We then arrived in Tena and stayed at these beautiful cabins. On friday we went white water rafting which was probably one of the best days i have had in a while! It was amazing to be surrounded by the rainforest! We then visited a Quichua community which was so eye opening. The kids had arranged marriages at 14 and our boat driver Nilo was 18...he was married and had a child. It was so crazy. We also did a 6 hour hike into the jungle. It rained the whole time but it was really awesome. we ate ants that supposedly tasted like lime...i didnt really taste it. we hiked down rivers in our rubber boots. and we ate these really good plants. we learned all about hunters and animals. it was awesome! I was also shamanized by a shaman in the amazon. it was quite the experience. And i got to blow a blow dart which was super long and took a lot of arm strength to hold up. It was sweet!!

Well now we are in Quito and continuing this amazing adventure. I hope everyone is doing wonderful! i will keep you updated when I can.

Love, Phoebe

Hey Everyone,

I have now been in Ecuador for two weeks, and it is so amazing! All the girls on my trip are awesome as well as my teachers. I am now at an internet cafe in Tana, right outside the Amazon and it is soooo hot!!! We are going white water rafting tomorrow which I am so excited for! The academics are pretty challenging but so engaging. It is so awesome to be emmersed in what I am learning...right now we are reading savages for global studies which is about all the oil that is being extracted from the Amazon...I feel so connected when reading it cause we are actually here. Today we were in the bus driving to Tana and we drove uner the pipes that take the oil up and out of the rainforest.

In english we are reading the alchemist which is an awesome book about personal legends. We had a sweet class discussion about it the other day. Well I have to go and meet up with the group again but i will try and update this as much as possible! hope everyone is doing wonderful!

Love Phoebe