Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving away from home is hard to feel fully festive. There is no baking turkey for hours the morning of. There is no lefsa. No green bean casserole. I had plenty of turkey, but it just was not the same. This whole past week as been one of celebration, however. Monday some classes were canceled due to holiday preparations. Tuesday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the 3rd graders. One class dressed up as Pilgrims and the other as Native Americans (I was a Native American). We put on a huge feast for all the workers of the school (maintenance, cleaning staff, guards). Each worker received two cards of thanksgiving for all their work made by the students and then we ate a huge buffet of food. It was so much fun - it was the culmination of the American History unit the students had been learning and such a neat way to appreciate the staff. As if turkey weren't enough once in a day, we had Turkey dinner with our mission that night. It was simple, turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, and homemade ice cream, but everything was delicious and that was enough of a Thanksgiving meal for me to feel like I hadn't missed out in the food department (with the exception of lefsa, green bean casserole, and pie - my favorite parts of the traditional meal). Wednesday we had only half a day of school and it was basically a party the whole day... Thanksgiving breakfast with the fourth graders, Feast of the Nations with the sixth graders, and then a whole school Thanksgiving Chapel. All of the parents were invited too, so the gym was packed full. The last half hour of the service, the director opened it up for students to share what they were thankful for. It was so precious to see many of the elementary students lined up waiting for a turn to share. The high schoolers shared too, although they were more hesitant initially. It was really special for the school and for me to see that aspect of sharing within the school family.
Wednesday night a group of us took a night bus to the beach. We rode through the night and arrived at our hostel at 6am. I immediately put my swimming suit on and went to check out the waves. If I can't be at home for the holidays, I think the ocean is the next best place. It was a gorgeous weekend of sunshine, swimming, and batidos and shrimp (served fresh on the beach). We also went on an awesome boat ride along the coast. It was a little tour boat with a motor. The way out was decently calm. We passed a nude beach, but there wasn't anybody out sun bathing and landed at a little fishing town about fifteen minutes down the coast from where we were staying on Same (Saw-may). We got to jump out and swim around in the middle of the ocean on our way back. The ride was a lot rougher on the way back, and Nicole and I, who were sitting in the very front, flew high in the air on several occasions as we fought our way against the waves. It reminded me of a really well done amusement park ride, with thrill, terror, water splashing, and the fear of getting your camera wet.
Now home, I am excited for the last three weeks of school before Christmas vacation. I think its going to be one party or celebration after another.
Juanes, el artista latino del año, came to Quito, Friday, the 21st of November, along with eight other artists from Ecuador and three from Mexico. We arrived before 4pm to get in line for the show. Juanes, the final performer, didn't begin performing until 11:25pm, while the first started around 5pm. We'd purchased General, cheapest tickets possible, and were sitting furthest from the stage, but apparently hardly anybody had purchased the next closest, Tribuna, so we had hope of being allowed to sit in that section. There were several false hopes, where everybody in our section of the stadium (probably 500 or so people) got up and started running towards the gates in mass confusion. To make matters worse, there were doors on both sides, so some people headed in one direction and everybody else in the other direction, which created chaos... and then back to our seats quickly, lest we lose our spot, when we realized the doors were indeed not opening. It happened a few times before the real thing actually took place. A friend and I ran out of the stadium with the masses. The guards were yelling to go to door 5, so we stampeded over there. Everybody pushed and shoved to get closest to the door. Then somehow we discovered we needed to be at door 6, so we took off again and led the group to the door that was indeed opened. We spread out our jackets and called the rest of our group to join us. The view was awesome and the music was incredible. The vice president gave a speech during Juanes' part of the concert and a messenger delivered a message from the president. My favorite part of the night was when Juanes talked about youth being the future of the nation, of the continent, of the world. The song he was about to sing is called Bandera de Manos, (flag of hands) that talks about a better world, united under one flag, the black, the white, the mestizo, the indígena, the campesino. The whole experience was really awesome, although I was exhausted by the time we got home at 2am.
Sunday, the 23rd, I went to a Liga game. They played in Casa Blanca against Barcelona of Guayaquil. It was going to be an intense game right from the start, because whoever won could go on, while the loser was done for. It was Liga´s chance for redemption against the Quito team (I can't remember if I wrote about that). It was crazy in the stands. We stood in the Liga section, but there was a few fans of Barcelona on that section too, and pretty soon nearly everybody in the section was throwing stuff at them and yelling "Fuera! Fuera! Fuera!" (Out!) Things didn't settle down after the game was done (Liga won!)... five people ended up in prison from the Barcelona fans, for vandalizing the bathrooms in Casa Blanca. The trole was also shut down for an hour after the game to avoid rocks being thrown and damaging their buses. However, some angry fans did their best to rip the fence open and tried to sneak in. We quickly got out of there, so I don't know how that ended. Its crazy the amount of passion that is felt for the team of choice.

   This is my 3rd grade class... there are 3 Ecuadorians, 1 from Tawain, 1 from China, and 2 from Korea.  I love them.

This is my 6th grade class.  There are 3 Ecuadorians, 2 Koreans, and 1 half Ecuadorian/half Korean.  I love them too.  
   Time goes so fast, I can hardly believe how long its been since I've written.  We've now had all 4 groups of orphans down to Peg's house once each.  The last group was really fun, because the kids were older (3 four year olds, 1 seven year old, and I'm not sure about the other) and thus more talkative.  We played dress up clothes with them, and they loved trying on different costumes.  The saddest part was the little boy who kept referring to his parents... assumably the parents he has imagined and dreamed about for his whole little life, while watching many of the other kids being adopted (there are very few older kids who are not special needs at the orphanage, because by that age, most have been adopted).  

   I went camping this weekend... sort of.  We stayed in a cozy cabin with a great fireplace.  Its always so nice to get out of the city and explore.  

   Tomorrow is a holiday - Dia de los Difuntos, which is more or less a day to remember the dead.  Colada Morada (a thick drink made out of many fruits and herbs... we made it during Spanish class and it took over 2 hours) and Guaguas de Pan (loaves of bread shaped like babies) are very common everywhere around this time of year.  

   We had a halloween party on Friday, which included the limbo and piñatas.  Unfortunately candy here just doesn't compare to the halloween candy in the States.