Hello again!
So I feel like every time I write, something really crazy happens right after that I must tell you! Last weekend we went into the city for Mass at La Catedral and once we arrived, we discovered it was an ordination mass for 6 new priests! Crazy and exciting. A little while later, I start feeling ill and we tell the Sisters we’re going outside. After taking the bus back home and a little rest, the sisters were concerned that I didn’t have an appetite and decided that I needed to go to the doctor. I’m thinking, it just started this morning, it hasn’t even had time to do anything, but ok. After taking public transportation across the entire city, we end up in the ER of this clinic and I have to pay $24 just for them to see me, because I’m a foreigner. Once they come to talk to me, they decide I’m dehydrated and put an IV in my wrist. They didn’t really ask me about any allergies, medications, etc. which is a bit concerning, but I was sort of out of it and just exhausted. Two hrs later, they decided I needed a little more and gave me a smaller bag of still more fluids. Then the Dr. came in, said he thought it was an intestinal infection, wrote me a prescription and sent us on our way. We went back to have a lab test run on Wed. and it came back Negativo! So, now I’m just on a special diet for a while: no meat, no milk, no eggs and no grains (but apparently that doesn’t include tostada o arroz, toast or rice, which I should eat). :) ?Quien sabe?! (Who knows) has quickly become one of our favorite sayings.
School is going well; we had parent teacher conferences last week. Ours was more like a big meeting and overview of what we do everyday. It was funny; that’s the first time I’ve ever seen the actual daily schedule for our kids … I’m going to start next week, teaching English to half the class at a time (24 is a bit too many at once for foreign language). ☺I’m really excited and excited to be allowed to leave the house (since I’ve been sick, I’ve been here and not at school … without keys, so I can’t even get out of the yard).
This weekend we went to a Canonization Mass for Damian de Veuster, Apostle of the lepers; he was just declared an official Saint by the Catholic church. Brief synopsis of his life: He was born in Belgium the son of a peasant farmer, left school at 13 to help his family and then went to study French at 18 and discerned his calling to join the Order of the Sacred Heart; At 23 he volunteered to take his older brother’s place (he was too sick) to go on a mission on the other side of the world. He worked in Hawaii as a missionary on many of the islands and then went to live in Molokai, where the leper colony was located. He spent the remainder of his life living among the lepers, caring for them and loving them. I’m sure you can google him if you’d like to know more. Anyway, the mass was beautiful, the church was gorgeously decorated and there was even a little concert at the end with traditional music. It was very interesting and I just kept laughing when the sisters and priests all had their hands raised, clapping with the beat. The bishop officiated and there were many sisters and brothers of the Sacred Heart, His order. It was beautiful to see so many holy men and women come together to celebrate a life dedicated to service of the poor and those cast out by society. He truly led a life of humility, sacrifice and love. If only more people would follow this self-less example instead of judging or turning away in disgust.
We also got to visit the Capilla del Hombre by Guayasamin. He was a famous artist, dedicated to non-violence and making known the suffering of the poor and oppressed. His work is truly incredible and inspiring, I took a few pictures, but google him and see for yourself. We have one of his works hanging right outside my room, called El Ternura, The Tender. It’s of a mother and child and really profound. He sort of reminds me of a combination of Picasso and Ghandi.
We made it back to the city on Sunday to go to mass at La Companía, the Jesuit church that locals say is the most beautiful. It is really gorgeous inside, the ornate designs in the architecture and all the gold work around the altar and the ceiling is phenomenal. Next we went to a market where we saw a lot of indigenous artwork and clothing made from Alpaca fleece! :) Yay, my fuzzy friends! We climbed to the top of the Basilica, in 3 minutes flat after finding out it was closing shortly, so that we could have time to take in the view. It was worth it and we enjoyed climbing all the way to the top of the bell tower for a look out of the entire city. Next we went to a park called Alameda, where we went for a canoe ride. For $2, we figured why not?! All in all, another great adventure and great day!
One side note, I thought I’d share, my views on driving. Ok now, I’m sure some of you are thinking really, April, you aren’t the best driver ever. But, here the buses are on a schedule where they punch this card every few stops to be held accountable. The last bus I was on, was Obviously late … we were flying around every corner barely stopping long enough for the people to step onto the bus much less, be completely inside. It was sort of a frightening experience, but I just take for granted that people obey traffic signals, signs, care about other cars, etc. Here, not so much, although there are quite a few speed bumps just on regular city streets (thank you God!). I’m surprised constantly that there aren’t more accidents reported each night on the news along with all the robberies. People here are so desperate. It’s really despairing to see the crime, because you know its not out of vengeance or greed, it’s merely a means of survival. There are also many, many people (children included) selling everything: dried fruit, yogurt, lottery tickets, ice cream, even shoe shining services. Often these venders will hop on the bus, walk thru and sell their product out of a cooler bag, then hop off at the next stop. It blows my mind that they can (or maybe not) make a living this way. Please pray for the people and this great country.
Love and peace to you,
April
P.S. I put up pictures on Facebook. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065657&id=62902453&l=c8698b8d09
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Mitad del Mundo and Changing of the Guards
Estimados Amigos y Familia,
It has been another good and full week! This past weekend we went to a quinceanera Mass at the church in our neighborhood. It was beautiful and like a mini-wedding. There were roses on every pew and she was escorted by her brother (I think), two friends, her parents and many other relatives. In fact, I think we were the only non-related people there. :) We were a little underdressed in our jeans, compared to the beautiful pink dress she was wearing with roses all around it! Father gave a great sermon about how her family was presenting her as a woman to God and now she would have more responsibility in school, her home-life and her faith. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so excited to get to partake in this part of the culture! One thing that was really unique was the removing of her slippers and replacing them with high heels (that Father blessed with a rose) representing the transition from childhood to womanhood.
The next day we went to Mass at the Cathedral in Quito. It is known for its paintings and historical tombs. We saw where Mariscal Sucre (the leading man in Quito’s independence) and Pres. Gabriel Garcia Moreno were buried. Moreno’s story was a bit more descriptive and interesting. He was slashed with a machete (yes our book on Ecuador, thank you Cindy, used the word slashed) outside the President’s Palace and then carried dying into the Cathedral across the plaza. We checked out the burial sites and paintings of many events in Jesus’ life, including a Nativity painting complete with llamas after Mass. There was a children’s choir who sang and it was phenomenal. Especially in that larger church, their joyous voices just resonated throughout the place, giving glory to God.
Then we took a bus ride outside the city to El Mitad Del Mundo (The Middle of the World). We started at the Museum Intinan which was complete with Indigenous artifacts, solar instruments used by the ancient peoples and experiments proving the location of the equator. We balanced an egg on a nail, which is supposedly easier because there’s less gravity on the equator, watched water drain with a clockwise vortex south of the equatorial line and counterclockwise north, and took pictures standing on the equator! (According to our book, not all of these experiments are completely legit, but we still enjoyed them.) Next we ventured down a dusty trail to the actual Mitad Del Mundo Monument, a huge cement pillar with a globe on top. It was not as impressive as the live music, souvenir shops, planetarium, mini-museums, and view from on top. We spend the rest of the day here sightseeing and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Did I mention its lovely spring temperatures everyday? I have been getting a little pink, because the sun is so strong here! I guess we are about 3000m up (the elevation is a bit higher than KS).
Monday we took the day off from school (I know it sounds like sightseeing is all we do!) to retrieve our passports from the immigration office (we just really wanted them back!) It worked out beautifully because the changing of the guards happens on Monday, so we decided to catch that while we were there. What we didn’t realize was the students from a school in Guayaquil (who just celebrated their independence day) were there also for the festivities. We got in on not only the regular ceremony, but an actual audience with President Correa himself! It was awesome to hear the military band, see the armed guards, secret service agents, horseback cavalry and all the people gathered in the plaza to show their national pride and applaud the students and their President.
Our water line broke the other day and I was concerned it wasn’t going to be fixed. We had to go two days without showering (it felt like forever!) but then it was back on and I was so glad, I took a 20 minute shower! haha I am so thankful to have running water and a warm place to live. It makes my heart go out to all our homeless neighbors and people in the city. The poverty is severe here, and people are living in not great conditions. It scares me that at school, sometimes the kids drink the water from the faucet, I’m worried they’ll get sick. Not even the sisters drink the water in our house. It has begun the rainy season, and rains at least once a day. This makes it a little tough when the kids are at school and have to stay inside for their hour of recess. Since they spend the rest of their day inside its difficult to keep them entertained. Rosita, one of my students escapes multiple times a day. Other staff are constantly returning her to the classroom saying they found her in the boys bathroom, outside, kitchen, any number of places really. She’s quite ornery, but keeps us laughing. Some of the kids are just not very mature. They have been biting each other lately which scares me.
Well, I should probably stop rambling on and let you get back to your day. Hope all is well.
Love you,
April
It has been another good and full week! This past weekend we went to a quinceanera Mass at the church in our neighborhood. It was beautiful and like a mini-wedding. There were roses on every pew and she was escorted by her brother (I think), two friends, her parents and many other relatives. In fact, I think we were the only non-related people there. :) We were a little underdressed in our jeans, compared to the beautiful pink dress she was wearing with roses all around it! Father gave a great sermon about how her family was presenting her as a woman to God and now she would have more responsibility in school, her home-life and her faith. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so excited to get to partake in this part of the culture! One thing that was really unique was the removing of her slippers and replacing them with high heels (that Father blessed with a rose) representing the transition from childhood to womanhood.
The next day we went to Mass at the Cathedral in Quito. It is known for its paintings and historical tombs. We saw where Mariscal Sucre (the leading man in Quito’s independence) and Pres. Gabriel Garcia Moreno were buried. Moreno’s story was a bit more descriptive and interesting. He was slashed with a machete (yes our book on Ecuador, thank you Cindy, used the word slashed) outside the President’s Palace and then carried dying into the Cathedral across the plaza. We checked out the burial sites and paintings of many events in Jesus’ life, including a Nativity painting complete with llamas after Mass. There was a children’s choir who sang and it was phenomenal. Especially in that larger church, their joyous voices just resonated throughout the place, giving glory to God.
Then we took a bus ride outside the city to El Mitad Del Mundo (The Middle of the World). We started at the Museum Intinan which was complete with Indigenous artifacts, solar instruments used by the ancient peoples and experiments proving the location of the equator. We balanced an egg on a nail, which is supposedly easier because there’s less gravity on the equator, watched water drain with a clockwise vortex south of the equatorial line and counterclockwise north, and took pictures standing on the equator! (According to our book, not all of these experiments are completely legit, but we still enjoyed them.) Next we ventured down a dusty trail to the actual Mitad Del Mundo Monument, a huge cement pillar with a globe on top. It was not as impressive as the live music, souvenir shops, planetarium, mini-museums, and view from on top. We spend the rest of the day here sightseeing and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Did I mention its lovely spring temperatures everyday? I have been getting a little pink, because the sun is so strong here! I guess we are about 3000m up (the elevation is a bit higher than KS).
Monday we took the day off from school (I know it sounds like sightseeing is all we do!) to retrieve our passports from the immigration office (we just really wanted them back!) It worked out beautifully because the changing of the guards happens on Monday, so we decided to catch that while we were there. What we didn’t realize was the students from a school in Guayaquil (who just celebrated their independence day) were there also for the festivities. We got in on not only the regular ceremony, but an actual audience with President Correa himself! It was awesome to hear the military band, see the armed guards, secret service agents, horseback cavalry and all the people gathered in the plaza to show their national pride and applaud the students and their President.
Our water line broke the other day and I was concerned it wasn’t going to be fixed. We had to go two days without showering (it felt like forever!) but then it was back on and I was so glad, I took a 20 minute shower! haha I am so thankful to have running water and a warm place to live. It makes my heart go out to all our homeless neighbors and people in the city. The poverty is severe here, and people are living in not great conditions. It scares me that at school, sometimes the kids drink the water from the faucet, I’m worried they’ll get sick. Not even the sisters drink the water in our house. It has begun the rainy season, and rains at least once a day. This makes it a little tough when the kids are at school and have to stay inside for their hour of recess. Since they spend the rest of their day inside its difficult to keep them entertained. Rosita, one of my students escapes multiple times a day. Other staff are constantly returning her to the classroom saying they found her in the boys bathroom, outside, kitchen, any number of places really. She’s quite ornery, but keeps us laughing. Some of the kids are just not very mature. They have been biting each other lately which scares me.
Well, I should probably stop rambling on and let you get back to your day. Hope all is well.
Love you,
April
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Visas and Sightseeing!
Hello again! It’s been quite a week of adventures here in Barrio Quiteño. We have been working hard at the school, making sure all the kids are getting fed, clean clothes on at the end of the day and have tied shoes all the time! haha Oh, the joys of working with small children!
We had quite the trip into the city on Tuesday. We went to get our visas registered for the Ecuadorian census, I guess they are trying to keep track of who all is coming into the country and it was such a catastrophe! We first went to a place near the U.S. Embassy, got told we were no where close and sent across town by a friendly music store owner. Then we found the post office and I mailed a letter for $2 where we asked again, is the embassy close? No, no it’s very far, was the reply. And we were told to take another bus. We decided to learn from our last mistake and ask a second opinion. This kind doorman at a nearby hotel told us the same thing, but gave us a map and showed us the bus to take. We hopped on the bus, rode about 40 minutes back across the city where we finally found the hospital that is very close to the Embassy. At this point, I was so glad to see the hospital that we had been searching for, I didn’t even care. haha I was confident if we continued to ask, we would find it. So the next three people sent us in the same direction (always a good sign) and we ended up walking in a circle around the hospital to where the Embassy was, (we actually walked right past the block it was on when we first got off the bus!) But we were relieved and content to see the American flag flying high above the huge building. We waited 30 min. for the doors to open at 1:30 p.m. (what straining hours!) and after passing through the metal detectors and giving up our cameras and my electronic dictionary, were told we needed to go to the General de Extranjera del Ministerio del Gobierno (The General of Foreign Ministry). After walking about an hour, 3/4 of the way, (we didn’t want to risk another bus trip) we got on a bus after being told for the 5th time oh it’s very far from here. We got off the bus and walked to the dept. only to find out we needed a bunch of copies of our documents and to pay $10 into the Foreign Minister of the Government bank account. We were not too happy, but only had about an hour before the office closed so we caught a taxi to the bank, came back, made copies and cut people in line to have them say, ok, you can come pick up your passports in 3 days. Which meant, Monday because Friday was a holiday! So we will be returning in a few days, to our favorite place … to retrieve our most prized possessions.
Friday was the Independence Day for Guayaquil, the 2nd largest city in the country. We had the day off, but celebrated on Thursday with the children. We had a brief history of Ecuadorians fight against the Spanish, which we got more out of than the children. haha We have to learn somehow! Then we had traditional music and dancing. They were so precious!
So for Friday, Nicole and I decided to go into the city for our day off. We stopped off first at this large park, which turned out to be the Ministry of National Defense. We tried to take a picture of the outside, got waved over by the guard and thought we were going to get in trouble. Instead, he talked to us, asked all about where we were from and why we were here (don’ worry, we were very vague!) and ended up getting a private tour of the inside from another person who worked there! haha We took lots of pictures and then got a ride to the Panecillo, a beautiful statue of the Virgin of Quito. It is enormous and stands on a hill in the center of the city. You can see the mountains and Quito from all sides. Beautiful! Next we decided to stop for some lunch and tried almost everything my Ecuador guidebook recommended from this quaint little Cafeteria Modelo. It was just what we needed to head out for the afternoon. We went to the Palacio del Gobierno, where President Correa does much of his work, sort of their capitol building. It was a free tour and afterward we realized we didn´t take the free picture that went along with it, so we asked about it, waited, took the picture and went on the tour a 2nd time! Haha We were able to listen a little better since we weren´t worried about taking pictures. The first time around we sort of got in trouble, Nicole sat in the PRESIDENT´S Chair! The guards were quickly walking toward us, but we didn´t know! Oops! It made for a great story and lots of laughing from everyone in our group. Afterwards we walked around the Bohemian neighborhood, La Ronda. It was very artsy and cute! We stopped for coffee and enjoyed lots of music from the surrounding stores. All in all, a much better day than our last trip to the city.
We are adjusting to living with the sisters. Its going well. We try to get up in the morning, do our chores before breakfast and then get ready to be at school by 8.30. We get home around 5 and relax for a little while before evening prayer, followed by mass and then supper around 8 p.m. After supper we usually watch the news for awhile and then do our own things. It is a pretty full day, but we are enjoying getting accustomed to our surroundings and the people in the neighborhood are very friendly!
Thanks for all your comments and support. I really appreciate hearing from you!
Besos y abrazos, (Kisses and hugs)
April
We had quite the trip into the city on Tuesday. We went to get our visas registered for the Ecuadorian census, I guess they are trying to keep track of who all is coming into the country and it was such a catastrophe! We first went to a place near the U.S. Embassy, got told we were no where close and sent across town by a friendly music store owner. Then we found the post office and I mailed a letter for $2 where we asked again, is the embassy close? No, no it’s very far, was the reply. And we were told to take another bus. We decided to learn from our last mistake and ask a second opinion. This kind doorman at a nearby hotel told us the same thing, but gave us a map and showed us the bus to take. We hopped on the bus, rode about 40 minutes back across the city where we finally found the hospital that is very close to the Embassy. At this point, I was so glad to see the hospital that we had been searching for, I didn’t even care. haha I was confident if we continued to ask, we would find it. So the next three people sent us in the same direction (always a good sign) and we ended up walking in a circle around the hospital to where the Embassy was, (we actually walked right past the block it was on when we first got off the bus!) But we were relieved and content to see the American flag flying high above the huge building. We waited 30 min. for the doors to open at 1:30 p.m. (what straining hours!) and after passing through the metal detectors and giving up our cameras and my electronic dictionary, were told we needed to go to the General de Extranjera del Ministerio del Gobierno (The General of Foreign Ministry). After walking about an hour, 3/4 of the way, (we didn’t want to risk another bus trip) we got on a bus after being told for the 5th time oh it’s very far from here. We got off the bus and walked to the dept. only to find out we needed a bunch of copies of our documents and to pay $10 into the Foreign Minister of the Government bank account. We were not too happy, but only had about an hour before the office closed so we caught a taxi to the bank, came back, made copies and cut people in line to have them say, ok, you can come pick up your passports in 3 days. Which meant, Monday because Friday was a holiday! So we will be returning in a few days, to our favorite place … to retrieve our most prized possessions.
Friday was the Independence Day for Guayaquil, the 2nd largest city in the country. We had the day off, but celebrated on Thursday with the children. We had a brief history of Ecuadorians fight against the Spanish, which we got more out of than the children. haha We have to learn somehow! Then we had traditional music and dancing. They were so precious!
So for Friday, Nicole and I decided to go into the city for our day off. We stopped off first at this large park, which turned out to be the Ministry of National Defense. We tried to take a picture of the outside, got waved over by the guard and thought we were going to get in trouble. Instead, he talked to us, asked all about where we were from and why we were here (don’ worry, we were very vague!) and ended up getting a private tour of the inside from another person who worked there! haha We took lots of pictures and then got a ride to the Panecillo, a beautiful statue of the Virgin of Quito. It is enormous and stands on a hill in the center of the city. You can see the mountains and Quito from all sides. Beautiful! Next we decided to stop for some lunch and tried almost everything my Ecuador guidebook recommended from this quaint little Cafeteria Modelo. It was just what we needed to head out for the afternoon. We went to the Palacio del Gobierno, where President Correa does much of his work, sort of their capitol building. It was a free tour and afterward we realized we didn´t take the free picture that went along with it, so we asked about it, waited, took the picture and went on the tour a 2nd time! Haha We were able to listen a little better since we weren´t worried about taking pictures. The first time around we sort of got in trouble, Nicole sat in the PRESIDENT´S Chair! The guards were quickly walking toward us, but we didn´t know! Oops! It made for a great story and lots of laughing from everyone in our group. Afterwards we walked around the Bohemian neighborhood, La Ronda. It was very artsy and cute! We stopped for coffee and enjoyed lots of music from the surrounding stores. All in all, a much better day than our last trip to the city.
We are adjusting to living with the sisters. Its going well. We try to get up in the morning, do our chores before breakfast and then get ready to be at school by 8.30. We get home around 5 and relax for a little while before evening prayer, followed by mass and then supper around 8 p.m. After supper we usually watch the news for awhile and then do our own things. It is a pretty full day, but we are enjoying getting accustomed to our surroundings and the people in the neighborhood are very friendly!
Thanks for all your comments and support. I really appreciate hearing from you!
Besos y abrazos, (Kisses and hugs)
April
Monday, October 5, 2009
The City and Cooking!
So this will be a really brief update, since I just wrote earlier this week. There is so much happening everyday that is unique and different. I just love it!
I didn’t tell you much about the sisters last time, which was very rude. They are very kind and hospitable; we are well taken care of and definitely well-fed. We eat some type of bread for almost every meal! We all work at La Guardaría (the school/ daycare) together with a few other teachers. Angeles and Alexandra are teachers, I believe Carmita is the principal (she’s always working in the office) and Rosario (my favorite) does a little of everything. She is like the cute little grandma of the group and always working really hard behind the scenes. She was telling us the other day a few of the kids were actually calling her “abuelita” little grandma, which she just found really funny.
The sun is really strong here, did I mention that? The altitude is so high; we are in one of the highest neighborhoods of Quito, called Oriente Quiteno. Out our windows we can look down upon much of the city. It’s so beautiful! I also didn’t tell you Nicole and I have our own rooms with our own bathrooms! It is so nice and really comfortable here.
Some of our most recent experiences include:
- Trying to make banana bread with oritos (similar to bananas but much smaller) and having the dough overflow into the oven and of course having the sisters all notice before we could clean it. What a mess! The oven is sort of like the one we had in Spain, it takes forever to cook anything. We spent 2 ½ hrs. waiting for the bread to cook, finally took it out and this morning it was still a bit doughy.
- We made fried potatoes and scrambled eggs for our first cooking duty, the potatoes were very crunchy and the eggs a little well done … a bit of a fiasco!
- A trip into the city, getting on the wrong bus and riding in a circle back to the bus station to get on ours. We visited about 6 of the many churches (it seemed there was about two per block for awhile).
- Everything is really cheap here, they use American money but have different coins. I bought an icecream cone, in the city so it was more expensive but it was 50 cents. Toilet paper is like 25 ... oh we did have to pay 10 cents to use the bathroom though in Quito. That was crazy!
- The sisters leave sometimes without telling us, we’ve decided its better to ask multiple times to make sure we know what’s going on, which still doesn’t always guarantee anything. Last night the neighborhood alarm sounded and they all went out to see what was going on, we just kept doing dishes! haha. We have a shared alarm to sound when there are thieves. We’re not quite sure how it works, but a little nervous that its already gone off twice.
- I’m noticing my English is getting worse; I’m forgetting certain words and can’t always explain myself when Nicole and I are talking. My Spanish is improving, but it’s still hard to understand the kids all the time (we are learning together!).
- Cleaning everyday, it’s a little crazy but we are getting the hang of it. We finally know the schedule – sweep everyday, mop twice a week, water flowers twice a week, and dust once a week.
I’m adding a few photos so you can see, the house, the school and a little of the city. It’s so gorgeous! We have to stop almost everyday on our way to school to just look and enjoy the scenery. Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065657&id=62902453&l=c8698b8d09
Praying for you all,Mucho amor,
April
P.S. I love updates from you, send me an email and tell me about your life. I know what´s going on with me ... haha It´s fun to hear from everyone!
I didn’t tell you much about the sisters last time, which was very rude. They are very kind and hospitable; we are well taken care of and definitely well-fed. We eat some type of bread for almost every meal! We all work at La Guardaría (the school/ daycare) together with a few other teachers. Angeles and Alexandra are teachers, I believe Carmita is the principal (she’s always working in the office) and Rosario (my favorite) does a little of everything. She is like the cute little grandma of the group and always working really hard behind the scenes. She was telling us the other day a few of the kids were actually calling her “abuelita” little grandma, which she just found really funny.
The sun is really strong here, did I mention that? The altitude is so high; we are in one of the highest neighborhoods of Quito, called Oriente Quiteno. Out our windows we can look down upon much of the city. It’s so beautiful! I also didn’t tell you Nicole and I have our own rooms with our own bathrooms! It is so nice and really comfortable here.
Some of our most recent experiences include:
- Trying to make banana bread with oritos (similar to bananas but much smaller) and having the dough overflow into the oven and of course having the sisters all notice before we could clean it. What a mess! The oven is sort of like the one we had in Spain, it takes forever to cook anything. We spent 2 ½ hrs. waiting for the bread to cook, finally took it out and this morning it was still a bit doughy.
- We made fried potatoes and scrambled eggs for our first cooking duty, the potatoes were very crunchy and the eggs a little well done … a bit of a fiasco!
- A trip into the city, getting on the wrong bus and riding in a circle back to the bus station to get on ours. We visited about 6 of the many churches (it seemed there was about two per block for awhile).
- Everything is really cheap here, they use American money but have different coins. I bought an icecream cone, in the city so it was more expensive but it was 50 cents. Toilet paper is like 25 ... oh we did have to pay 10 cents to use the bathroom though in Quito. That was crazy!
- The sisters leave sometimes without telling us, we’ve decided its better to ask multiple times to make sure we know what’s going on, which still doesn’t always guarantee anything. Last night the neighborhood alarm sounded and they all went out to see what was going on, we just kept doing dishes! haha. We have a shared alarm to sound when there are thieves. We’re not quite sure how it works, but a little nervous that its already gone off twice.
- I’m noticing my English is getting worse; I’m forgetting certain words and can’t always explain myself when Nicole and I are talking. My Spanish is improving, but it’s still hard to understand the kids all the time (we are learning together!).
- Cleaning everyday, it’s a little crazy but we are getting the hang of it. We finally know the schedule – sweep everyday, mop twice a week, water flowers twice a week, and dust once a week.
I’m adding a few photos so you can see, the house, the school and a little of the city. It’s so gorgeous! We have to stop almost everyday on our way to school to just look and enjoy the scenery. Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065657&id=62902453&l=c8698b8d09
Praying for you all,Mucho amor,
April
P.S. I love updates from you, send me an email and tell me about your life. I know what´s going on with me ... haha It´s fun to hear from everyone!
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