June 28th is OLYMPIC DAY! So in honor of olympic day I headed over to the sports complex for a 6km race! The course was dreadfully painful for a sea-level runner like me who had just (kinda) recovered from a sinus infection...the first 1.5 miles were uphill (gaining almost 500 feet in elevation! OUCH!) so my legs felt like lead even once we reached the flat part. That coupled with the course being long (3.9 miles instead of 6k) made for a dreadfully slow time that will not be mentioned...ever. I still managed to get second, so I got a medal and t-shirt! Totally awesome! I'm actually kind of glad that I didn't get first place, as they got a trophy and I have no clue what I would have done with it since I have that nasty little weight limit for my domestic flights here. The funniest part of the day was all the runner guys wanting to get their picture taken with the "gringa runner" which was really awkward because these people were total strangers, but I humored them nonetheless. haha!

In addition to Olympic Day, Sunday was also Pope Day, so there was a huge fireworks display in the plaza, which was amazing. These people build giant structures out of bamboo with fireworks that go off in sequences making wheels turn, levels light up, etc. It is so COOL! They also make bamboo cows that people carry over their heads, chasing after people while fireworks shoot out of the head! (Real safe eh???) Needless to say, the gringos were targeted every time by the crazy guy running around with the firework-shooting cow on his head...and we all ran away screaming! You would have too if you had fireworks sparks flying at your face! It was a ton of fun (even if it was mildly dangerous)! I was going to film part of it but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries, so I only got a few pictures, which do not do justice to the whole scene, but I'll post them soon, promise! :-)