Wrapping it up...but not for long!

Hey everyone! I am in Tena right now, wrapping up my internship. But I´m not wrapping up the work with her for long, hopefully - I got the internship that I applied for through Grinnell, so I´ve got the funds to stay here until sometime between July 14th or the 18th (depending on plant ticket costs). But what I am doing with the internship is yet to be determined.
I've kept working with the physical therapist, Nicole, and I am loving physical therapy. It is actually something that I think I might be able to do with my future. I would like to spend the summer working with her, to continue the research on physical therapy, but I have to get my grant shifted first. See, I originally applied for the grant before I started with this work, so its funds are technically for a project in Quito, researching the effects of pesticide use in flower plantations on the workers and their children. Which still sounds interesting, but I would be sitting inside doing research on computers all day. Here, I could be working in the PT office, interviewing parents, living with my amazing host family and working with Nicole, who is a great boss. And hopefully putting together a paper good enough to get published. I have to ask Monty Roper, the head of the grant program, if I can switch. We´ll see what he says.
In other news, today I learned to eat crabs. This morning I went out with Gabi and Cecilia (the empleada) (Francisco is staying with his grandparents for a couple weeks, so he isn´t home) to the open air market (the feria) to buy live crabs, green plantains, onions, and some mandarin oranges, and two fruits we don´t have in the states, one called a chirimoya and the other called a zapote. Then we went back to the house and cleaned and prepped the crabs (I took photos), and Ceci whipped up a plantain and onion soup and then at the end threw in the crabs to boil. We each got a whole crab and a bunch of plantain pieces, and encebollada, which is onions and tomatoes chopped up, a plate of rice, and a freshly made glass of passionfruit juice. It was pretty awesome. Ceci and Gabi laughed at me because I ate with a serious expression on my face, I guess. And when they were teaching me to eat the head, I accidentally started to eat the wrong part and had to spit it out because it was so disgusting. By the end, our hands were covered in crab juice and there were ants eating at the little bits that ended up on the floor. It was a good time.
Tonight, salsa dancing. I might let you know how it goes.

Oh! Grandma - I got your Valentine´s day card in mid-March, but I was a vaga, which means lazy, and forgot to tell you I got it. Thanks so much (a month and a half late)!