June 11th, 2011

June 11^th, 2011

            Hoy fue un dia libre! And, it was much needed. Some of the boys and Brielle and I had planned to go white water rafting today, but when me and Brielle awoke at 8 to potentially leave to meet the boys, we decided rafting wasn’t in the cards for us, and went back to bed.  We might have gone had it not been dark and cloudy, not to mention cold as usual, when we woke up. The idea of water in this temperature and weather was chilling our bones, and we weren’t even there yet. So we went back to bed until eleven. After gathering ourselves and our computers, Brielle and I met up with Andres, Cara, and Katy at a café called La Bondiet to camp out and get homework done. We sat there for atleast three hours, and I was able to get a significant chunk of my assignments completed. Not to mention, I had the most amazing fruit salad and a nice coffee to keep me going. It was very relaxing to just unwind, type, and chat with my friends, instead of the constant continuing the constant bustle we’ve been maintaining. I was so content being at the café, so I knew I had made the right decision to lay low and not go rafting.

            After La Bondiet, Brielle, Syeda, and I walked over to the artisan market for some shopping. It’s a huge red building with all the knick-knacks you could imagine. Very touristy, but lots of fun. I always manage to be mesmerized by the colors in this country. Here in particular, it was the bright  reds, pinks, and oranges of the gloves, hats, and chompas that lined the aisles. I was pretty unproductive in my gift-buying, but Briellle managed to find something for everyone on her list. After the market, we stopped at a grocery store that was on the way back to the Plaza de Armas so I could purchase apples, per usual. We decided to go back to the Israeli restaurant/ hookah bar and have dinner there, since we have been dreaming of the hummus ever since our first meal there. I ordered the falafel again and couldn’t have been happier.

            After dinner we cabbed home. Yianni, Scott, Andrew, Klevis, and Tomas came over our house for a bit to hang out before we planned to go back out to the discotecas. We ended up having tons of fun and laughs just sitting in our room, and soon it had been almost three hours. At about 11:30 they decided to head to the Plaza de Armas, but I, not surprisingly, changed my mind and stayed in for the night. We have to get up early tomorrow for a big day of touring, and like I’ve said before, since I have been feeling tired and rundown lately, it’s best to save my energy.