Fiesta de Cumpleanos

So today was Alex's birthday and her host mom invited us all over for tea. We had a blast! We spent several hours talking and laughing and eating cake, and then Jenny and I decided we'd try our hand at salsa! Which led to more laughing, since white girls can't dance!

I think one of the hardest things about speaking Spanish is that I've almost completely lost my personality. I know textbook Spanish. But I'm still picking up on slang and figuring out sarcasm and humor. And tonight for the first time, Ecuas laughed at me. And not because they couldn't understand me, but because I was able to make fun of myself in Spanish. It was the most I've laughed in such a long time, and it didn't matter that it was at my own expense. I just loved feeling like I could be 100% myself!

Bonus: got to play a really gorgeous guitar that belonged to Alex's mom's grandmother (over 100 years old) and listen to Alex's host brother play the piano. It was quite a fiesta!

Also, I've decided that all teenagers should want to live in the Dor. I told my mom I'd be home around 8, but since we're on Ecua time, it wasn't strange at all that I rolled in around 9:30. For those of you who don't know what Ecua time is, it basically means that if we say we're going to meet at 5, I'm still on time at 5:59 because its still 5. 6:30 I'm a little late, and 7:00 I should really call. Why does this not apply to curfews in high school?!