Banos!

This past weekend the gang went to Banos. (Yep. We went to the bathroom. That's the whole post. Kidding.) Banos is the extreme tourism center of Ecuador--they have everything from puenting (essentially bungee jumping) to canyoning. Juliana (my new Ecua friend) took the weekend off of work and came with us, so we got to practice a lot of Spanish. Me encanta! I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm 100% loca, but she survived the trip!

We took a 4 hour bus ride out to Banos and got there in time to find our hostel, almorzar (lunch), and look at the different adventure companies. We practiced a little repelling with the cute guides and then a few of us took off hiking to the virgin. (There are so many virgin statues in the Dor...) It was a long hike of straight up stairs (literally....so steep. I may or may not have resorted to the bear crawl.), but the view from the top was incredible!

That night we headed out and I was so glad Juliana was there! She was so excited to dance (and if you know me at all, you know I'm all about bustin' white girl moves!) and so she and I took over the dance floor. OK, not really...but she did teach me some moves and we had a blast!

(Also, when you think dance, think salsa and the sprinkler, not hip hop music video! I ain't got Beyonce's rhythm and I definitely ain't got her booty.)

Saturday we got up early and headed out canopying (waterfall repelling) in our awesome wet suits--a fashion statement I plan on bringing back to the states for obvious reasons. The waterfalls were gorgeous and it was incredible getting to be right in the middle of them!

We almorzar-ed again before some of us decided to bike (yes, bike. stop laughing. I'm serious. see evidence below) to Pailon del Diablo, an enormous, beautiful waterfall for the afternoon. However, as soon as we paid for our bikes, it started raining. We did our best, but in the end, Anneke and I were cold, wet, and miserable, and turned back. The boys kept going (of course they did) and we went to get cafe con leche y chocolate caliente at Casa Hood (my house!!!!). I'd say we got the better end of the deal. We went back the next morning in a chiva and hiked to the waterfall, so we still got to see it!

Saturday night was the dOOK game, and by that I mean it was the dOOK-getting-its-butt-whooped-by-UNC game. Determined to live it up, we got the biggest, juciest burgers I've seen since arriving in the Dor, took over the internet room in the hostal, made a lot of noise (and maybe a few people angry) and cheered our team to an 18pt victory in Cameron Stadium. #goheelsgoamericagotheDor