I´m okay now..my head didn´t even really hurt me very much today, and I´ve only taken Excedrin one time. However, future note to self -- there is a good reason the antibiotics warnings include staying out of the sun. I spent an hour sunbathing today, and now my body is like completely covered with hives. We´re in Montañitas now, this ritzy little beach town in Ecuador..and it´s nice and stuff but really expensive! But tomorrow we shall continue northward. It´s a bummer though because I really wanted to do some serious work on my tan before I came back...Elas. I keep having these like brief moments where I can smell stuff. The moment lasts only like 30 seconds and then it´s gone, but it gives me hope. Unfortunately I can only smell really strong things like incense and burning garbage and Cesar after being in the bus for five hours, but at least I know my sense of smell´s not gone forever. It is an interesting world, this world without smell...

Cesar´s being with me so far has been more of a good thing than a bad thing, though of course he has bugged the crap out of me at various moments. But I think I have learned from the Jorge experience to just..let..it..go since I´m leaving anyway. Besides I like him a lot more than Jorge and we jive better. But still, he´s a boy, and therefore doesn´t understand women. But at least he´s carrying my big backpack for me, but that might only be because I´m sick. I´M actually a little more wordly wise on this trip than him (I´M the one who got us through the border with no problems, thank you), but I´m still very glad to have him with me, as it is comforting and more fun that way. And being back in Ecuador makes me remember why I liked Ecuador more than Peru, and I still do. Even though it´s way more expensive. It is way, way more tranquilo, and the people are super duper nice and helpful, and there are way less creepy annoying men. Right now I´m by myself, sort of as an experiment (and because Cesar was bugging me) and I haven´t gotten nearly as many hoots and hollers as I would in Peru. Well, none really. Only a few polite enough hellos, that´s all.

No, but I´m sort of kidding. I am glad Cesar is here and we are having a good time. It´s very exciting for him too because like, everything is very new, and where he comes is a desert, and here there are all these green things. Tomorrow we´re going to a coastal national park, and I think it´s going to be really, really pretty.