Sidewinding west from Quito, nine travelers brave through dense obscurity and semi-regular downpours with hopes of catching a few radiating glints upon the beaches of Mompiche; spending their final weekend enjoy surf, sand…and the bar. With that being said, there was plenty of just cause for celebration, for not only have three weeks of continued dedication to the comprehension of the Spanish language been applied, but also because one of our own gained another year in life; dancing barefoot through the muddied streets to the would jams of Latin flair, ringing in Claudia’s special day.

Alas as the eleventh-hour steadily encroaches, our once skeletal packs now seem to be bursting at the seams in preparation for the second portion of our adventure. Our heads now abuzz with silly rhymes and games; getting a taste of what Villa Maria should be like as we play entertainer to a horde of local Peruvian children. Taking our final venture up the Pichincha Volcano via Teleférico to appreciate the majestic panoramas of Quito, to bid a bittersweet farewell to the city we have grown to call “home,” we know this is only just the beginning…