Feb 8, 2024

We had to be at Centro de Convenciones Metropolitano by 8 am so today I woke up at 5 am to give myself enough time to arrive on time. I had breakfast with my homestay mother which is always delicious and filling, then I was off for the day. After the escapades that took place yesterday, I was relieved to be taking a taxi with a few friends from my program. The taxi was driven by a family member of my friend’s homestay family so it was much easier to communicate with them and coordinate the route to everyone’s house. 

We arrived on time to Centro de Convenciones Metropolitano we then headed to Parque Recreacional y Bosque Protector Jerusalem. The drive there was about an hour and a half through the mountains of Ecuador, it was very beautiful. When we arrived to Jerusalem we started taking notes in our field notebooks. The program director challenged us to find 15 different bird species during our trip so while we learned about the plants and ecosystem of the forest we also kept track of each different species we found along the way. 

After a few hours of learning about the ecosystem we took a lunch break near a large shallow  outdoor pool. Everyone had taken off their socks and shoes to wade in the water so I followed suit. I should have learned my lesson from yesterday, but I did not and slipped feet first into the pool up to my chest. It was a humbling experience for sure, but so funny. I’m slowly starting to make a name for myself as the girl who can’t stand up right. Luckily my pants were waterproof so they dried fast; however, my other clothes still needed a time to dry so a friend offered me his jacket while I tried to keep warm. Eventually everyone finished lunch so while we waited for our instructors to return we explored a bit around the pool and played some games. After about 30 minutes of enjoying ourselves, our instructors returned and we headed back to Quito. 

When we return to Quito the bus dropped us off at Centro de Convenciones Metropolitano where I waited for an Uber with my friends. While I waited I looked around at the clovers and to my surprise I finally found a four-leaf clover. I feel like I’ve been searching my entire life for a four-leaf clover and to find one in Quito after such an interesting day was marvelous. I cannot explain how excited and grateful I was to find one. I immediately lost it after entering the Uber, but luckily I took pictures and will always remember the happiness I felt after finding one.