Que chévere!

5-21-2011

Yesterday was a very eventful day.  To start things off, the kids from the daycare run up to me as soon as I get in the gate and hold my hand for a while.  The girls at the daycare are extremely loving and want to be with you always, especially when they want to be pushed on the swings outdoors.  After helping the kids in the daycare, we went to help the older woman to the cafeteria.  She lives in one of the poorest houses I’ve seen in Ecuador, and she is extremely thankful for us bringing her to lunch.  Zack, Sandra and I went to Cumbayá to get some things done and then Sandra and I went to Quito to go to the market.  We took the busses to get to both places and the driving here/riding is crazy.  They honestly pack the busses until the doors can barely shut.  It’s a great experience!  

Since pretty much everyone is related in Lumbisí, my next door neighbors (my host dad’s brother and sister-in-law) had a party later in the evening and invited all of their family/friends. The party was to celebrate one of the girls’ they hosted a few years back (who came back to visit) and just received her masters degree in Public Health.  This was a very interesting night, since I didn’t know what to expect from an Ecuadorian fiesta.  First, the main Ecuadorian food is soup, rice, and some kind of meat.  You know exactly what you’re going to eat every day.  Another fact, they pretty much only use spoons.  So, at the party we had just a plastic spoon to eat rice, pork, and potatoes.  We started eating at round tables in the front area of their house, which also had a tent over it (not very common in Ecuador) and a DJ who was playing music really loud until 4AM.  Eventually people started to dance (Ecuadorians LOVE to dance).  Another interesting thing is that instead of drinking out of one beer bottle, they have one glass/cup that one person pours a shot-like amount of beer and they hand it to people while dancing.  The person doing the pouring goes around to everyone over and over again.  Also, since I’m from the United States, all of the guys wanted to dance with me and as soon as I would sit down, another one would take my hand and I would have to dance with him.  That was fine until about 3 hours into the night…:-) 


 
Sandra (another volunteer from Switzerland) and I at "la alameda" in Quito, Ecuador.  This is where the outdoor market it located on the weekends.