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.
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