Today we left Quito and drove to Mindo. On the way there, we stopped at the equator line. We took pictures on the equator and then went to a bug museum. We all took turns holding Hercules beetles (I think that’s what they were called) and the best reaction to holding the bugs was definitely Sarah Jane’s. We also got our picture taken with the bug. After, we got popsicles and I think my flavor was Guanabana or something like that but I do remember that it comes from a sour sop plant. We drove to Mindo, where we’re staying in a completely different environment than Quito. It’s like in a forest and it rains a lot. We were all given money and put into groups and got to choose where we ate for lunch, which was pretty cool. Massimo (the photographer from National Geographic) then critiqued 3 of our photographs and gave us tips and told us how to shoot better photographs. We also had a pretty good dinner. Once we got back to the place we’re staying at, we all went back to our separate “cabins,” and since I am the only boy that is a student, I stayed at a house thing with some other people who were there. I met two boys who where from Ecuador (Andres and David) and one who is a foreign exchange student who lives in Tennessee (Aiden). We talked for I’d say about two hours and I taught them how to play a card game called palace (I also attempted to teach them how to play pelt but it didn’t really work out too well because the game is hard without shoes on). The first impression of Mindo was a pretty good one if I do say so myself. Happy Birthday Mom.

P.S. The internet didnt work in Mindo