First SUNNY day!

When I walked out of my ‘house’ this morning and saw some blue between the clouds and felt a slight fresh breeze I KNEW it was going to be a good day. Turns out to be the FIRST SUNNY DAY I’VE HAD HERE! I’ve seen the sun here before for a few hours maybe, but never for a whole day like today! I don’t know what’s happening—there’s finally a sunny day on the equator! It’s also Week of Prayer this week so it’s a nice break in the middle of classes. Also, kids here are apparently really motivated to work for this Spelling Bee that we’re going to have in English. Needless to say, classes went well today! And it was sunny. And everyone that lives here at the school went to a pool this afternoon! First pool I’ve seen since I’ve gotten here! And it was sunny! Did I mention how amazing today was going? Us gringos even did a little gymnastics in the pool! When I didn’t look at all the trees and rainforest type bushes around the pool, I almost felt like I was in the U.S. today! It was quite entertaining watching the boys, one by one, throw everyone who was still dry into the pool. Some things about boys don’t change with culture! There were two adorable little girls that came along too and me and the other gringa had some fun with them. Some definitely embarrassing moments passed today…but sometimes those are the most memorable and fun to look back on. And did I mention it was sunny ALL DAY? When we got back to the school, and after the nightly prayer meeting for Week of Prayer, we had these fried banana tortilla things called ‘verdes’. Absolutely delicious! Who would have guessed the perfect end to a perfect day was yet to come? One of the pastors here gave us the most scrumptious chocolate cake with a peach on top that I’ve ever had! Simply amazing day! Just had to share it with you ….and let you all know that there are indeed SUNNY DAYS on the equator :) Sunny days always make good days. Now that I know they do indeed exist here, they ain’t got no more excuses for not coming ‘round more often! I love the sun :) I love today!

MIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE

So I’m a middle child. And on Sunday we went to the middle of the world. No joke! I was standing in the exact middle of the globe! Besides the sun being more intense there, you should really believe me on the whole toilet flushing opposite ways on opposite sides of the equator thing. Exactly on the equator water doesn’t swirl in any direction. A few steps to the south it goes clockwise and a few steps north of the equator it’s counterclockwise! Crazy I know. You’re reading this from an eye-witness. And I think you should go try and balance an egg on a nail. Right now. Go! Don’t worry, it IS possible. And if you get it—you’re an Egg Master. I am! Just look at that pic of an Egg Master! DOOO IT!!!! And be sure to tell me about it :)

FIRST VACATION!

After less than 2 weeks of being at CADE with the other student missionaries, we head to Quito for the weekend! First vacation with my new fellow teachers! It was quite an experience…like everything here! We stayed with a super genius family in Quito and went to the smallest church I’ve ever been too! I think it was about 3 families big. Unsurprisingly they made the white kids do special music. For those of you who know me, I don’t sing in front of people unless it’s in a group. That changed when I got here. There’s no option—you have to sing! It was fun though! The genius family we were staying with is also musical, and they had a piano! I hadn’t gotten to play a piano since I left the U.S. yet! It was amazing. I never thought I’d be so happy to play with 9 fingers! Turns out not to be quite as hard as it sounds. Good weekend. And good food! They don’t celebrate Halloween here, but they celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. There’s this hot berry drink called ‘Colada Morada’ that they drink with ‘Guaguas de Pan’ to celebrate. The guaguas look like little gingerbread dolls but they taste like a loaf of bread. It is quite the scrumptious tradition! I may even dare to say better than the Halloween candy…though chocolate is pretty hard to top! And good chocolate is hard to come by here…not that I’ve looked or anything :)

First time in town…nervous?

So Quito is the capital. It’s actually pretty nice at least in parts. Santo Domingo is another story. Nevertheless, us two crazy white chics decided to brave it cuz I’d never been and the guys wouldn’t come with us. I definitely felt like a nervous tourist walking around town. It kind of reminded me of Tijuana…we found a place with shirts for a dollar though! You can find quite the bargains here if you look for them. There were a lot of nerves running through me…but someone was supposed to pick us up and take us back to the school. No need to worry right? Well….maybe. These two white chics are left waiting in town for forty minutes before we finally decide the guy forgot us. We muster our bravery and flag a taxi to take us back. I don’t know how you feel about white girls and taxi drivers in Ecuador at night….the guy did take us back to our school though. Just a day of nerves I thought I’d share with you all!

Q-U-I-T-O

Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. CADE, the school I’m at, is about ½ hr. out of Santo Domingo, which is about a 3 hr. bus ride from Quito. The road from Santo Domingo to Quito is up a mountain of sorts for most of the time. Crazy roads and rockslides aren’t uncommon. The first night I moved in with my new fabulous roommate at CADE, fellow gringa sm, it turned out to be quite a short night. The day before someone had told me I had to go to Quito to do some paperwork, but I never found the person that was going to take me so I assumed I wasn’t going to go after all because I didn’t know when to leave or meet or anything! Apparently invalid concerns. 4 a.m. comes around my first night with my roomie, Brittany, and this guy starts knocking on our door. I’ve only been at this school for a few days and am pretty clueless and freaked out already. Needless to say me and Brittany FREAK OUT –who in the world could be trying to get into our room at FOUR A.M.?! It’s almost a miracle in itself that we understood what he wanted through the language AND lack-of-sleep barrier. Turns out I’m going to Quito. 10 min. later I’m in the car with this guy I don’t even know on a crazy 3 hour ride to Quito. He turns out to be a pretty cool guy…his driving is another story. I’ve never thought I was going to die so many times in a car ride. Apparently it’s pretty normal here though. It doesn’t matter if it’s a windy mountain road, trucks and busses and cars are all passing each other on a 2-lane road like crazy. About 80 MPH too! Add the factor of a sleepy driver to the equation and you may have a taste of my experience. It was definitely an exciting day. We even got lost in Quito! I wish I could share some of the excitement with you all…it was quite experiential. I’m still alive though, and the guy’s still cool. Life is good :)

Happy Birthday Ecuadorian Style!

The 29th of October in this lucky year of 2008 has definitely been the conclusion to the most interesting birthday yet. The birthday celebrations actually started back on the 10th of October when the 3rd grade class at Calexico Mission School had a surprise birthday/going away party on my last day helping out there. Then two days later it was my birthday again at HomeTownBuffet with my adopted parents in Calexico. On the 14th, about an hour before I left for LAX to begin my Ecuadorian adventure, I had my 3rd birthday extravaganza with my sis and grandpa cuz we’re all October babies. When I first got to Ecuador I had to stay in Quito with a super cool family before I worked out a bunch of confusion to finally go to CADE, my original destination. The sweet family in Quito also surprised me with a chocolate birthday cake—never tasted chocolate quite like it! And my goodness was it a surprise! By the time my birthday rolled around here at this schoool, CADE, in Ecuador, I had only been at the school for a week. I was still living like in a dream. I barely knew anyone here but somehow everyone seemed to know it was my birthday. First you should know that a few birthday traditions here include smashing your face into your cake and birthday whippings—not spankings. Hard core like with a belt! And you should also know that I am helping out one of the other student missionaries teach English to grades 1-7. However, the day before I had been in Quito all day long doing immigration paperwork. Apparently the other student missionary had the kids make birthday cards for me all during class the day I was gone. So when I got to class on my birthday I had a bazillion birthday cards from these crazy kids and a super cool one from my new roomie-the only other gringa here I know! Needless to say I got sang many a birthday song—some more embarrassing than others :) So I guess I’m gullible. Either that or the other sm’s here are super sneaky. So I was trying to get out of them all day what we were going do for my birthday and couldn’t get any exciting ideas out of them. Seriously? C’mon. It’s my birthday! We went to this small groups thing that night me still trying to think of what I could do after for some birthday fun. Little did I know another birthday surprise was awaiting me. Not only did I get TWO scrumptious cakes (one delectable chocolate one with grapes and kiwi), but I got a taste of a true Ecuadorian birthday. CAKE IN THE FACE! It’s quite the experience for those who don’t know…which is probably like all of you because it was certainly a first for me! Somehow I was lucky enough to escape the birthday whippings—I think I may have looked too horrified when they mentioned it :) Lots of food. Yumminess and surprises to the max! I definitely felt the love. 5 birthdays in one. Who could be luckier? It’s definitely been a birthday to remember. The one and only south of the equator….so far at least :) I wish you all happy birthdays like mine! And feel free to let me know how they go…I like birthday stories :)