tuesday and wednesday
Yesterday I taught my last normal class. After class I went home and ate a quick lunch so that I would have as much time as possible in the afternoon. I had decided I would go up the telef�rico on Tuesday because although I was gonna have to go alone, it would probably be my last free chunk of time while I�m here. So around noon I headed up to the telef�rico grounds. The telef�rico is a ski lift (except not for skiing), up Pichincha. At the bottom of the lift is an amusement park, and tons of stores and restaurants. It�s the kind of commerical stuff that I usually aviod. I waited in line for a lift ticket up the volcano for about 2 hours. Then I had my ticket but I couldn�t get in line to actually go up for an hour or so. So I spent more time than I would have liked in the lower section. I passed the time by finding some grass and sun bathing the Eileen way (in 70 degree weather, wearing long sleeves and pants). When I finally got in line to go up, I found myself between about 4 little kids who were VERY excited and about 6 high school boys who were trying very hard to attract some other girls� attention. I wasn�t sure which group I was routing for to go up with. I ended up with the boys and a father. They weren�t that bad. And the view was more amazing than I had imagined. When we arrived at the top I was happy I had brought my fleece cuz it was windy and cold. I have lots of pictures of what it was like up there that I�ll post later, but I�m sure it won�t do it justice. There are lots of trails you can hike and I walked around for about two hours before I headed back down. Quito is at a pretty high altitude of about 9000 ft, but you are up so high on Pichincha that I had to take it pretty slow and I felt the change even though I�ve acclimated to Quito. All in all it was completely worth waiting in line for so long and I�d do it again if I ever had the opportunity.
Wednesday morning I had a review session with both of my classes. Tomorrow is their written exam and Friday is their oral exam. I can�t believe it�s almost over. Tomorrow I�m going out to lunch with my second class. They are mostly my age and possibly one of my favorite classes I�ve had, so I�m looking forward to being with them tomorrow.