partyin' in ecuador (well sort of)

Hola!
So last night, after I wrote the last post, I went to my friend Amina’s house, because her host mom had planned a little get-together since her birthday is Friday. There were six of us total- Amina, Leslie, and I, who are all exchange students, and three of Amina’s friends from school. It was a lot of fun! Since Amina’s friends from school don’t speak English, we all spoke in Spanish the whole time, which was good for us, since we’re learning, and it was also really impressive! I didn’t really know that I could do that until last night! :) Anyway, it was a lot of fun.
Today was the holiday for the patron saint of Portoviejo, so there were no classes, and I think that there was a parade and a fair as well. I didn’t go to the fair OR the parade, but I definitely enjoyed the no-school part. Today was also Ricardo’s birthday- he turned 5, and we had a party here at our house for him. I’ve been to four birthday parties in the month that I’ve been here (three out of four of them have been for kids under the age of 10), and I think I’ve learned quite a bit about birthday parties. First of all, if you don’t have a piñata, it doesn’t count as a birthday party. Second, you MUST have ridiculous amounts of food, and everyone MUST eat. I am about to pop.
If I survive, I will post again soon!
LOVE, Kirsty