This week

This week has been good overall, and we're getting into a routine now. On Tuesday night we went to the gym right near our place to do Zumba. Mike stayed on the sidelines on the bikes with all of the other guys. It was fun, and I'm sure we'll do it again soon! Yesterday Mike and I went to different markets to work with the kids. The market I went to was new for me; it was the Cuapicho market. I really liked it! It's a very quiet town, and there happened to be a lot of kids that came for the afternoon...I would say at least 50. I even had the opportunity to lead a group in a name game at that market. Mike and the other volunteers that work in the afternoons went to the park in Villa Flora. (This is the park that we visited this past weekend and took the video.) There, they worked with the kids that sell goods on the streets in town. Today we went to the Sangolqui market. This is the most challenging market because we have the most kids in the youngest age group from ages 2-4. It's also a very busy street market, and cars drive up and down the road all day. It makes me nervous with such little ones! It was the most challenging, but most rewarding day today!

Unfortunately we didn't have the best night last night. We realized that our cash was missing out of our clothes drawer shortly after we came home from volunteering. I first noticed my clothes were moved around in the drawer, and then we counted the money, and we were $200 short! We have been very cautious about bringing money out of the house, and here it happened at the place we least expected. It was obvious who stole it, because the new maid cleaned our room the same day it disappeared. :( We told Wilson, our host dad, and he immediately knew what happened. Mayra and Wilson were so upset, and they took care of it by visiting the maid at her home last night. They told her that if she didn't return the money, they would be calling the police. The maid did not admit to stealing any money. The maid's husband was very surprised by how much money she stole, and the woman just cried and started putting the blame on other people, when she is the only other one with a key. The good news is, they did get the money back. What made me sick is that the money wasn't even sitting out. We hid it, and she went through all of our bags and drawers, and all of our things. I understand people make mistakes, but just admit it, and solve the problem. Needless to say, she will not be returning to help out in the house. Mayra told me she does not want to see her again, and she just can't trust anyone. It's too much of a risk of her losing her job with the volunteer program. They really are the sweetest family, and I feel bad that this happened. Nothing like this has ever happened in the program. Mayra started crying and apologizing, since she wants this to be a safe place for us, and for us to be happy here. It's not their fault, and we know that this won't happen again. The good thing is that we do feel safe now, and the problem is solved.