Finally a morning to sleep in a bit. The faculty from UTPL took us out on the town last night. It was a great time for all, and funny to listen to all of our Spanish after a couple of drinks. The local drink canelazo is made from sugarcane and served like a hot toddy made with hotwater, aguardiente, lemon, and canela (cinnamon)- it is quite potent! Last year one of the students earned the nickname of Sr. Canelazo after an eventful night out on the town. Last night was not that eventful, but I did wake up with quite the headache this morning- even after just sipping one shot of canelazo last night.
This morning Megan and Haley headed up into Podocarpus National Park to start working on their Andean Bear Plots. Mikaela (my other roommate) and I walked around downtown for a bit. We found a great market that is just a couple of blocks from our house. I am sure that I will be visiting this market frequently in the next two months.

A couple of the fruits I brought back from the market. The large prickly looking fruit is a Guanabana. The fruit is white and pulpy and has a taste similar to a pineapple strawberry combination with a very perfume aftertaste. The other fruit is a  guaba. The pulp is white as well and very tasty!

The inside of the Guanabana.

Now we are off to Vilcabamba with Veronica, my mentor at UTPL. Her parents have a house there, with a pool! It is 45 minutes outside of Loja- a favorite retirement location for Americans. It is also famous for its drinking water which is suppose to lead to a long fruitful life. Some residents claim to be 120 years old! Have a fabulous weekend!