Dos Fiestas, Uno Dia

Mom's been asking for a picture of me, so here it is.  Awkward snorkeling picture!  I'm pretty sure I was freezing by this point.  This was also around when we were swimming with a couple of sharks. 

A bunch of sailboats arrived in town either last night or super early this morning (I'm not really sure which).  Apparently the sailors were extremely drunk this morning, so I'm betting a lot of them got in last night.  Anyway, there was a fiesta on the Malecon to celebrate this sailboat race thing (or just because fiestas are fun).  There was cebiche (which is amazing).  It's some sort of seafood + lime + cilantro dish that is very popular here.  There was also cake, an adorable puppy, and free alcoholic drinks.  I'm not really sure why the alcohol was free, but they were making all sorts of random stuff and just giving it out for people to try.  It was awesome! 

Then, we went up into the highlands for another fiesta.  My host mom and her nephew came as well.  Unfortunately it was really cold and rained for most of the time we were there.  The gringos ended up getting too cold and having to leave before the rodeo (with horse racing and bull riding) happened.  I was a bit disappointed in that, but we at least got to see some of the horses and the bulls.  That was cool.  There were potato sack races and several futbol games. 
I'd gone to the school where the fiesta was held on Wednesday to help clean it up in preparation for the festivities.  The weather was a lot nicer, which was good because there's this area where you can walk up and see the ocean and Leon Dormido.  It is a gorgeous view.  Today, it was a bit too cloudy to see much.  I'm amazed by how much the weather can differ between the town and the highlands.  We drove for maybe twenty minutes and went from cold, rainy and miserable to cool, semi-sunny and pleasant.  I think I prefer the weather at sea level. 

Mother hen and her chicks on the side of the road (the chickens all just run free here)

Sea Lions and Sailboats

Kitties!!!!!!

This is the view from the roof of my house

This is the house

This is what I would consider the garage.  The first door on the left is mine and my host mom's

You can kind of see Leon Dormido through the clouds/ mist/ rain

This is the cake that Sole, our professor, got Scott for his birthday.  He's had a sort of awkward relationship with the sea lions here.  They keep interfering in his transects. 

Me, Katy, Chancey, and Alexandra on the bow of the boat during our trip to Leon Dormido

And, of course, the obligatory cute sea lion picture. 

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