Cuenca! Cuenca! Cuenca!

I just got my guarantee form in today and I am officially going to Cuenca! I know I said I'd vlog this post, but I'm practically bouncing off of the walls over here because it's the city that I've wanted to be placed in the most ever since I found out I was going to Ecuador, so I had to announce it right away and I don't have a camera at the moment. :) Cuenca is located in the central southern part of the country in the mountains and it has a population of around 350,000 people (500,000 in the metro area). It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site. I also received the name of my host club, Cuenca Patrimonio, as well as contact information for my first host family, and I'm currently trying to work up the courage to send them an email, haha. And, I found out that the school I will be attending is the Centro Educativo "Las Cumbres," though I haven't been able to find much information about it yet. My guarantee form says that school will start for me on September 2, and I am expected to arrive on August 25, so I have approximately 83 days left until I leave! Woo! Now, I can finally start working on getting my visa as well. I am going to get some of the visa forms notarized on Wednesday and then send them off to IYWT so they can go to the Consulate of Chicago. I'm still in shock that I actually got placed in Cuenca! I've heard many times how great and beautiful it is, so this makes me even more excited than I already was to go. :) I think I'll email my first host family tomorrow, and I'll update again when they respond! But, until then, feel free to enjoy the beautiful pictures of Cuenca below (the background of my blog is also a picture of Cuenca). :D