It's good to be on vacation...

A short background note: because Guayaquil is just south of the equator, and because we're on the coast, the summertime is relatively cold, meaning low 70's, and the wintertime is a little warmer, up to around 95.
Due to these two factors, the school schedule is different here than it is in the United States-Even different than in the mountainous regions that don't have the same type of rainy season.
So... Today was my last day of school! I'm on winter vacation until April, when I will go back as a senior [ FINALLY going to rule the school :) ] until my return home in June!

Aside from that, we [the exchange students] are starting to settle into a fairly normal rhythm; that is, Spanish classes are over, we've done our sightseeing, our Spanish is much improved, and we've been here for- wow!- 5 months. This settling-in has been gradual since we got here, but now that it's more or less over, now that we know our way around the city and have memorized important phone numbers and know when a cabbie is ripping us off, I, for one, am starting to feel boredom- Not in the sense that I'm bored, per se, but more that I'm not so easily thrilled anymore. It's a good thing, for sure! But it's important in this period to keep busy [which makes summer vacation a mixed blessing], because homesickness is also a lot more likely when we're vegetating with our iPods or our telenovelas on TV.

The saddest even we've had as of late is Liz's departure: Liz is an Australian exchange student who, since she's also from south of the equator, was on a January-January year as opposed to an August-July year, like many of us are. Her going away party was Tuesday, and she will be greatly missed. She's been a great influence on us all: Never broke the rules, bonded deep-down with her host family, stayed involved in school, and really enjoyed speaking Spanish. I remember meeting her in August and thinking that she was the kind of exchange student I'd hoped to be. We wish her the best down undah!

That's about it. I'm happy, healthy, and about halfway back to Albany- Tuesday marks 5 months down, less than 5 to go!