I'm Officially Legal: El 7 de Septiembre

I have a lot to catch up on.  But before I do, let me just comment on how flattering it is to live here.  I finished registering my visa, so that I can legally live here.  This process is the equivalent to waiting at the DMV; however, Ecuadorians show up and hour or two before the place opens in order to get a good spot in line.  Having woken up late this morning, I rolled out of bed and ran to the office.  It's very much a "hurry up and wait" kind of place.

After waiting 2 hours, I received my Certificado de Empadronamiento!  On my walk home, two men confessed their love to me, and a third reminded me of my beauty. Having not showered or had my coffee at that point, I'd say Ecuador is not short on ego-boosting. 

Note: This is only valid for one year, so don't try to copy it for personal use after July 2013.

Last weekend, I went to Papallacta Hot Springs for the day.  It was nice to finally get outside of Quito.  The scenery looks like something off of a postcard.  Saturday, some of the other Vet students invited me to "practice" with them.  Turns out, we were assisting in various surgeries!  I was actually amazed at how relaxed the vet clinic was.  Some of the vets were on their cell phones when not in surgery.  At one point, gum was passed around for everybody, and some of the "attire" looked like they were going to go out dancing afterwards. Some of my professors in the states would be horrified.

The hot springs.

 This past week has just consisted of classes and running errands.  I found a cool little restaurant in Quito called La Naranjilla Mecánica.  It was a quirky little art gallery/ restaurant/ bar.  

This picture kind of sums of the restaurant.  But each room was different.

Today, I'm going to try to get a ticket for the Ecuador vs. Bolivia soccer game.  This is one of the qualifying rounds to the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

I even bought a knock off Jersey for $6!   

 There are more pictures on my facebook, if you're interested in seeing more of my trip.Here is the link!  
You will have to be a friend in order to see my profile, though.  Also, it was brought to my attention that Blogger.com has a confusing set up.  If you'd like to leave me comments, the link is below each post. It will say how many comments have been written about this post.  (For example, it might say "No Comments."  You can click on that to leave a comment!)