Off to the farm!

Mike and I are in Canoa, Ecuador on the coast right now! No more big city living. We said goodbye to Mayra without the rest of the family last night. :( It was sad that we couldn´t see the kids and Wilson one last time, so we´re going to try and visit them before our flight to Peru in mid-January. Right now we´re hanging out a bit near the beach before our meeting to register as volunteers at an organic farm called Rio Muchacho. http://www.riomuchacho.com/ We´re kind of going into this blind, but we´re really looking forward to learning a lot and living in a different way! We´ll be working at the farm for two weeks, and we´ll keep you updated on how it´s going!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Yesterday we had the most beautiful sunny day! We went for a walk with some friends to a nearby park that we recently discovered. The park is near a river with nice trees, and it's smaller than other parks, so we had it to ourselves! The guys climed a tree and I sat in the sun to read and chat. It was so nice! Such different weather than back home on Christmas Eve! Then we walked to the mall to do some last minute shopping, and stopped at a frozen yogurt  place, which insisted on taking our picture with Santa. It was hilarious because just as he was snapping it, this fog machine shot out fog right behind us for the photo! Can't wait to see the pic hehe!

After our last day teaching at Albany School, Mike and I were invited to a Christmas celebration with all of the teachers for dinner. It began at 5 and ended close to 11. It was a really nice time, and we had an amazing traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, rice with raisens, cole slaw, potatoes, and peaches with icecream. We played games, prayed together, and the principal went around the table and told everyone individually what she appreciated about them this year. The most different part about Ecuadorian parties (that I´ve experienced) is that they wait to eat until the end of the party.

We also celebrated Mike and Kassidy's birthdays with a family and volunteer party. (They both have their birthdays on the 27th!)  It was a surprise for Mike, so I was being sneaky all day with our host family to set it up. They got them a yummy cake, and we played many of Wilson's games all night! It was a great time! Before the party, we exchanged gifts with the family and had a special pasta dish with steak! We will really miss them!

The day after Christmas we went to Pim´s Restaurant, which is right next to the Panecillo virgin statue and looks down on the whole city of Quito. During Christmastime they have huge lights set up around the statue that is sort of like a Nativity Scene. From afar they look small, but up close they´re huge! I guess everyone had the same idea to wait until after Christmas to see it! There was so much traffic on the road going up that it took us an hour and a half to get there, when it usually takes 10 to 15 minutes! It was well worth the wait though, and we even got to have dessert at the restaurant! On the way back down we hitched a ride on the back of some locals´truck. ¡Las adventuras en Ecuador!

 Here we are with our chocolate egg gifts!

 We went to Pim´s Restaurant and to the nearby Panecillo to see the Christmas lights!

 The photos don´t show how big and beautiful they were!

 The Simpson´s showed up!

The view of Quito outside of Pim´s Restaurant!

 Our last day with the kiddos at Albany School...The whole school played all day!

 The Albany School Christmas program!

Check out our 6th and 7th graders performing TobyMac!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylbnpp85z80

 Nuestra familia de Quito...

Mindo swing

Science class!

Mike and I have been teaching Science at the elementary school in the north. We have a seventh and sixth grade class for Science, and we also teach a third grade class English. The kids that are in seventh grade are 11-years-old, the sixth graders are 10, and the third graders are 6, so they are much younger than in America! The Science textbook and vocabulary we teach are all in English, so the kids are very good at reading and comprehending the language! Today in 6th grade we reviewed the words fusion, condensation, sublimation, evaporation, and freezing. We played Pictionary and Around the World. They love games! (Now they expect some kind of game from us hehe!) It's funny because the first day we played a game with them and a couple of the kids were asking us why we weren't reading the book and having them copy things into their notebooks. The school appears to be pretty traditional in that way. Since we have our own classes and never really observed anyone, we just do it our own way. For third grade, we have taught them a few songs and tongue twisters in English. It's almost like gym class too, because we can play games with them outside. I'm soooo not used to teaching 6-year-olds though! This has been a great experience! Time is flying by though! Since Christmas is already next week, we are almost done teaching and will be heading to the coast to do some organic farming soon. It will be sad to say goodbye to everyone here in Quito, especially our awesome host family and the kids!

The sixth graders!

Mike with the third graders!

Fiestas de Quito

Last week was Fiestas de Quito, which happens every year the first week of December to celebrate the founding of the city. There were carnivals, parades, concerts, party chivas (buses), and celebrations everywhere! On Friday night we had a celebration at the volunteer office with all of the volunteers and host families. We had a fun time playing games like musical chairs, the three-legged race, and cuarenta, which is a traditional card game played this time of year. Mike placed third in the cuarenta tournament! At school on Friday the kids also had a celebration for Fiestas de Quito. We cleaned and painted the school for the first part of the day, then we played games like dancing with a a tomato between our foreheads, the potato sack race, limbo, and jumprope.

On Saturday we went to the historic center of the city to check out some museums, since many were open with free admission. The plan was to check out a band earlier in the day at a park, but it was pouring rain, and it even started to hail! We ended up spending some time at the mall in the north to escape the storm for the morning, so we missed the concert. The Museo de la Ciudad was cool! As we walked in the doors, we heard people clapping, and noticed a bunch of police officers playing instruments. Then, one by one, older couples began to perform a dance. It appeared planned out, but more and more people began to dance! It was so cool to see! Some older women danced with Mike and I! The traditional dance for the national music is really simple! All you have to do is clap and hop around, and you bump into each other every once in a while. Good times!

This Thursday we went to La Ronda to have some pie with group of volunteers. We've done this a few times, but we finally brought a camera to take a picture of the yummy dessert! They put up lights for Christmas, and as always, they have live musicians.

Teaching English and Baños!

Today was our first day with the teaching English program in a private school that just happens to be the same school our host sister attends. We will be doing this for about a month! They teach English through certain subjects like Science, Health and Social Studies so that the students gain useful vocabulary in another language. Today we introduced ourselves and the kids asked us many different questions in English. They really surprised me with their English! In a couple of the classes I asked to take the kids outside to play some circle games like Simon says and Frogger, since the teacher left us alone and we didn't have a lesson plan. Good times! The class size was between 12 and 18 students, and they had a 20 minute recess. During recess the kids were going around campaigning for student senate. So cute! Also during recess the kids sat around and ate snacks like crackers and tunafish. Tomorrow I'll teach my first lesson in Science class to fifth and sixth graders! I'm excited to be teaching again! It worked out perfectly because their usual Science teacher has been out sick and lost her voice, so I'll be substituting! She gave me the textbook, so I'll make up a 40 minute lesson! (It's been awhile hehe!)

Our last day at the market with the kiddos...

This past weekend we went to Baños, which is a must-see adventure and tourist destination in Ecuador. It was beautiful and we did do some adventurous activities! We took a three and half hour bus ride on Friday after our last market with the kiddos. We arrived pretty late at night, but noticed right away how beautiful it was! There was a waterfall right in the middle of town! Usually you have to take quite a hike to see a waterfall!

Oh, and I never wrote about Thanksgiving! On Thanksgiving night Mike and I went out with a group of volunteers to La Ronda to have dinner and pie. A couple of the volunteers really wanted to try cuy, or cooked guinea pig, so we were checking out the restaurants. Mike was making a joke how he was the only guy in a group of girls, then, as we were standing outside of a restaurant, a group of guys were just walking in at the same time. They were all American, so we put our tables together and sort of had our own Thanksgiving dinner with traditional Ecuadorian food! Mike and I actually tried the cuy/guinea pig! It was like dark chicken or turkey. It was not very appetizing though, as you could see the entire body of the animal, including the head, teeth, and tail!

So, back to Baños! We met up with the guys we spent Thanksgiving with in Baños, and had this amazing crepe breakfast with spicy cappuccinos, macciatos, and mora juice, then went to the CASA DEL ARBOL to swing at the end of the world and go on a little zipline. I actually wasn't planning on swinging since I'm terrified of heights, but I did it! It was awesome! It really wasn't as scary as the pictures made it seem!

The yummy crepes and coffee!

Swinging at the "end of the world" at the CASA DEL ARBOL in Baños!

"Look! No hands!"

The next day Mike and some other volunteers wanted to try bungee jumping off a bridge for $18. I told Mike that I couldn't watch, so I took a nap back at the hostel while they went on their adventure. Well, they came back, and said they didn't actually go through with it. It was a good thing because it was pretty sketchy I guess! They just tie a bungee to the bridge, and put a platform down. I guess they didn't have the equipment, so nobody was able to do it.

Later, we rented ATVs and buggies and visited some amazing waterfalls, including el Pailón del Diablo, or the Devil's Cauldron. It was a powerful amount of water, and fun to get to with a winding rock staircase (Devil's staircase) and a little tunnel/cave to go through! Then we did a little bit of hiking, and went on a hanging bridge. Next we had a little bit of time before the sun started setting, so we decided to check out another waterfall on the way back. It was pretty, but a mistake to try and fit it in, as it got dark fast! We realized that our buggy didn't have working headlights, taillights, or reflectors. Also, did I mention that the only way back was on the main winding road through multiple tunnels?! Scariest thing in our lives! Also add to the fact that we couldn't go the speed limit, and the locals passed us multiple times by crossing the double yellow line without a second thought! We were doing okay at first following an ATV, then as we were going through the first tunnel, the overhead lights cut out and it was suddenly pitch dark! We were following the ATV, and nobody else was in the tunnel, so we couldn't see anything! We slowed down, but that was even scarier because we were like sitting ducks. We somehow made it through that one, and then went through another, with again, no overhead lights! This time a car was coming full speed the other direction on the two-way tunnel. Mike couldn't see. I screamed, "Move to the right!" I could see a bit, and the car's lights showed that we were riding right in the middle of the road! We made it through! Then, came another one! This time, thank God, we were behind this huge bus, and it was a one-way tunnel. It was the longest of all of the tunnels too! We pulled over to the side after that one, and I got out my phone and used the flashlight as a headlight/taillight. It was the longest half-hour ride home ever!! If I would have known that was going to happen, I would have never gotten on that thing! Scariest. Thing. Ever!

The top left is us trying out a buggy. The one we actually rented was yellow and much faster. I didn't get any pictures from the ride home needless to say!

This is at the Pailón del Diablo!

This is the second waterfall we visited just before our dark ride home!

That night we had a great dinner at this Swiss restaurant with the group. Mike got up early the next morning to go whitewater rafting with the boys! They had a great time, and flipped a few times! I debated going, but realized I was going to be the only girl, and they were doing level 4! I ended up doing some market shopping, and got some more crepes and a spicy cappuccino. It was a really nice weekend, and we're glad to be alive!

A visit to the Equator at the Intiñan Museum

Yesterday we took a short trip to the "Middle of the World!" There are actually two places you can visit the equator because one of them, the huge monument, is a bit off the equator. We visited the real one at the Museo Intiñan. It was a really fun day! Before we got to the equator experiments, we started our tour learning about the indigenous people of Ecuador and how they used to shrink human heads because they believed the head contained the spirit of the victim. We also saw some big snakes and spiders native to Ecuador, and even saw the fish that goes up your urine stream if you pee in the water--yikes! We learned about their weapons, their tombs, their food (guinea pig), and their homes. 

We then did the experiments, like trying to walk the line of the equator, balancing a raw egg on the top of a nail, and watching water drain in different directions in the north and south. The water draining and the egg balancing were cool simulations, but sadly, they weren't actually real...

That's the "penis fish" in that jar Mike's holding.

A real shrunken head!

Someone of the Wuaorani tribe, which nowadays are part of modern society. 

A weapon of the Wuaorani tribe; it's a blow gun.

A replica of an ancient indigenous tomb, shaped like a womb on purpose.

The line of the equator.

Horizontal and vertical sundials, both showing it's 4 pm. They were pretty accurate, it was 3:50 pm.

Mike is in both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time!

An original choza, or hut, from around 1875.

The inside of the choza.

Here we are proudly showing off our diplomas, since we successfully balanced the raw egg on a nail!