Temblores y terremotos

So, things in Riobamba continue to be interesting. I´ve been working at the hospital every day and this past week they let me take vital signs of the new patients, which involves sticking thermometers under their armpits, taking their pulse and blood pressure, and weighing them and measuring their height. I don´t really know how my project is going to become a 25-page paper in the next two weeks, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I haven't really had much time for anything else so I'm staying really busy.

More exciting news, there was an earthquake on Thursday night. I was flossing my teeth and noticed that the blinds on my window were moving and felt that the ground was shaking a little. I assumed it was the wind, until I looked into my closet and saw that all of the hangers were shaking. I thought I was just really tired until my family knocked on my door and told me that it was an earthquake. They were all slightly worried and told me to stand under the door frame but it was pretty much over by then. Some people slept in the streets that night but I wasn't too worried about it, though I didn't sleep particularly well. The next morning we found out that it was a 6.7, which I guess is pretty high. There isn't too much damage here. I guess there are just a bunch of earthquakes going on throughout Latin America and other places.

And, I found out why I'm so congested all of the time. There's a volcano near here, Tungurahua, which is in a state of continuous eruption. When it's not cloudy, I can see the smoke coming out of the top of it. Every morning there is ash on my sister's car. It's good to know that I'm breathing in this lovely material.

I'm also continuing to eat interesting food. Today it was hornado, a pig roasted on a spit until it's crunchy and brown, and delicious. A few days ago it was some kind of animal intestine which really didn't taste very great but I managed to eat all of it anyway. We'll see what they serve me next week.

Hope everyone is doing well. Chao Chao!