On Friday, we had lunch at the Farallón Dillon in Ballenita, where we could see whales way off in the distance. After that, my grandparents dropped Monica and I off at Punta Barandúa, where we’d spend the weekend for my friend Joti’s wedding. We stayed at an Airbnb with some of my friends from high school. There were 9 of us total, a mix of singles and couples. We called it the frat house. Those of us in the wedding had the rehearsal in the afternoon and then everyone hung out at the beach in the evening. Joti is getting her PhD at Cambridge and some of her bridesmaids are friends she made there. It was really nice to meet them. Her friend Tarrah lives in the US. I wish I had met her sooner so I could have visited her on my road trip.

The next morning, the bridesmaids left the frat house early to get ready for the wedding together. We spent most of the day taking turns getting our hair and makeup done, hanging out, and taking lots of pictures. In the meantime, those left at the frat house were singing karaoke. Then, it was time for the wedding. Our friend Dani sang at the Mass and she did a beautiful job. The party after the ceremony was so fun! I got to see more of my friends and we danced all night. It was Monica’s first latin wedding. She had a great time. Apparently she’s been invited to all future weddings.

On Sunday morning, we were all exhausted, but we left early to get back to Guayaquil in time for the World Cup final. Monica and I drove with Gigi, her boyfriend, Jorge, and her sister, Cristy. We left early enough to stop at El Café de Tere on the way back and eat bolón. I hadn’t had a chance to eat bolón yet, so it made me very happy. We made it back to watch the game and all of us, except Cristy, were happy when Spain beat Argentina.

On Monday, we rested and packed for our trip to the mountains the following day. In the evening, I had dinner with Dani, her boyfriend, Andy, Gigi and Jorge, and Rochi, who I hadn’t gotten to see yet. I had to leave dinner way too soon. We could have talked for hours.