freezing my butt off in the great outdoors

The weather was great this weekend, sunny and 70s, so I spent as much time as possible outside!  On Saturday we trekked out to the canteras (quarries) south of town, for a picnic and a swim.  We knew the water was going to be ungodly frigid, but we were hoping that with the sun and our long hike we might feel like jumping in once we got there.  It was me, two other volunteers, one of their host brothers, and the host brother's girlfriend.  What would have been just an hour-long walk ended up being two hours, because we tried to take an alternative route (through the woods!), got very lost, and ended up back at the exact same spot on our original path an hour later.  An adventure!  Once we got there we had some sandwiches and the boys jumped in.  It took a lot of convincing, but I was finally persuaded to jump in too. 'You can't feel the cold! your body gets used to it,' they said.  Lies and manipulation tactics. To be fair, by the time I scrambled frantically out of the water, I could no longer feel the cold, but that was more because my body was numb.  Could be worse, I guess... But then we hiked through this creek to a cool waterfall among the quarry rocks! By the time we got home much later, I was absolutely exhausted--a sign of a good day! 

our meeting point: the site of an old burned-down church on the edge of town

...the haunted forest...

fields covered in bright orange wildflowers

And then Sunday I had another dose of beautiful picnic adventure.  My host family, along with my host aunt, uncle, and cousins, drove about an hour into the hills north of town, to a little riverbend that has apparently been their family camping/cookout/picnic spot for years.  It's not a park or anything, just a little path off the main road leading to a clearing next to a big swimming hole and sandy riverbanks.  We had a big lunch and stretched out on the sand to read or take naps or play cards, and in the afternoon we went for a dip.  Based on my experience from the day before, I was hesitant, but this water was not quite as cold, so I agreed to try it out.  I ended up, with my host sister and her cousin, relaxing in natural massage beds among the rocks in the waterfall. Yet again, by the end of the day I was blissfully worn out.  

our sandy headquarters

queens on their thrones

So that was my sunny weekend.  This week we have only three days of classes, so there are some plans to to go the beach over our long weekend! I have been warned that the ocean water will be even colder than either the canteras or the river, so I am already bracing myself...