The friends we have made are hilarious. They speak Hebrew, Dutch, French, and English. They are short, taaaaaall, quiet, loud, night owls, and adventurous. When we flew into Quito, Ecuador we luckily landed in the best hostel in town. We met Hans who is from Belgium. He is about 6 feet and has dreadlocks down to his buttocks. We also met Maya and Sheva, both from Isreal. Garrison and I left for Baños before everyone else but luckily Hans spotted us fro the top floor of a bar…perfect! We watched a local soccer game with everyone and then we all met in Cuenca. The highlight has been our trip to Parque National Cajas. We took a five hour hike through some of the most beautiful terrain I have seen on this trip yet. We have had dinners with ten or more people every night and spend the days roaming the city with everyone! Two days after my birthday we went out to dinner with everyone and Hans had the waiter bring out cake with candles! Everyone sang to me, five languages in total! This computer is extremely slow, so, the next time we have a better connection you will see photos and hear more about our adventures! We are going into Peru tonight with four other people and should get there tomorrow morning. We miss you!
Elena (and Gar)
