Another day, another dollar

Today, although fairly ordinary, was a really great day, especially considering that I woke up with an awful sinus head/face ache, my nose was running uncontrollably and I felt like my lungs were full of sand.

But! On the bright side! I found out that CIMAS has this hidden little library where I was able to check out "The Poisonwood Bible" (in English) and "Mil soles espléndidos" or "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (in Spanish, obviously) . Reading has been a really delightful little vacation for my brain since being down here, and since I just finished the book I had been reading, this discovery couldn't have come at a better time. I had asked my family last night if they had any books in Spanish that I could read and the one that was on the breakfast table waiting for me when I got up was titled "Cómo lograr felicidad en su VIDA FAMILIAR" or "How to Achieve Happiness in your Family Life". Upon skimming it briefly, I found it to be chalk full of Bible verses. I'm actually not sure if it's a joke or not, because other than the requisite 2 or 3 graphic portraits of the Virgin Mary peeking from behind various calendars and wedding announcements, my family doesn't seem religious at all (I asked my dad if we were going to mass one Sunday and he was a little taken aback and nervously conceded that they try to make a point of going on the last Sunday of the month hahaha). So, I brought the book into my room and put it on my stack. We'll see what happens from there.

Lolita and I went to the little produce stand around the corner from my house to buy choclas (corn on the cob, one of about 4 billion different varieties of corn commonly consumed in Ecuador) and some cheese because we all have to bring in platos típicos ecuatorianos for class tomorrow. This means that I have to wake up at 6:30 in the mañana to cook corn on the cob for my fellow classmates and professora. It's an interesting life that I lead... I'll likely have pictures tomorrow.

Today we also went to this Colombian Panadería that we had visited before, which employs the tallest, most beautiful men that I've seen on my entire trip thus far. I actually think that in reality, they're just tall. And by tall, I just mean less than a head shorter than me. But that counts for a lot these days. Needless to say, I will be returning to this fine little establishment.

Anyway, I just finished my second giant mug of ginger/lemon/honey tea that Lolita made to help my cold, and I'm anticipating an early morning of cooking, so this is it for me tonight!

Besos!