I have discovered the 4,719th reason that I love living here (there are at least that many reasons... I may have lost count along the way)... I've spent the past 6 days going to the orphanage that I volunteered at last year, this time teaching intensive English to kids who are about to be adopted by English speaking families. I LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! In the weeks to come, I plan to go out there 3 times a week. The orphanage is in the north part of the city... usually 30-40 minutes by bus and 15-25 minutes in a taxi, depending on the traffic. The whole experience is lovely and unexpected. Sometimes the bus is packed full, so I struggle to find something to hold on to as we fly down the highway, with my arms full of games and activities for the kids. Sometimes there is live music, provided by somebody who wants to collect a few coins from the passengers, there are always vendors, with various goods to be sold, including gum, hard candy, and burned copies of cds and dvds. On the ride home from the orphanage, there are spectacular views of the sunset over the city, with the Pichincha mountain range in the background. Traveling daily on the bus I have joined a new realm of Ecuadorian culture... I am a working class person whose punctuality depends on the amount of traffic there is.
I'm learning a lot as I work with the kids. My goal is to make each time that I spend with them a fun experience. They've already spent the whole day in school and doing homework, so my job is to make learning English fun for them. We play all kinds of games. The two kids that I've been working with this week are so kind to each other... if one starts winning in a game, they immediately do poorly on the next turn, so they other one will have a chance to catch up. They are most happy if they are tied. But they love winning against me. Why is that! We spend a lot of time in the small play house shown in the picture behind Jessica and I.

Here's some pictures from the past few weekends...
Post running from Manta to Cuidad Alfaro


Kathe and I before our run by Cotopoxi


Lydia, Kathe, and I at a hacienda


Mama Negra in Latacunga

The tradition at this celebration is that men dress up as the black virgin (as noted in the photo).

Occasionally I really try to dress up for work. Last Thursday, one such day, I wore nice dress pants, a button up jacket, and heels. Fernando was the first one to arrive to my 9 o'clock class. The first thing he said was, "Why are you wearing that?" I, slightly caught of guard, responded with , "Uh, I don't know..." He said, "Just tell me what you were thinking when you got dressed this morning." I replied, "I thought it might be cold, so I put the jacket on." He silently nodded, saying more with his silence than words would permit. I was immediately suspicious. "Why, does it look bad?" I asked. He said, "I'm not going to say anymore." I persisted, so he said, "Yeah, bad." He proceeded to tell me that I looked like a banker. I tried to defend myself, by saying that I wanted to look professional. He said, "If you want to be professional, you have to look like it every day." "So I didn't look professional yesterday?" I questioned. "No, yesterday you looked like a hippy," he said.
Thanks, Fernando. There is some third grade honesty for you.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. This is what I bought:



This includes 6 bananas, a big bag of carrots, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, 1 cucumber, 3 pears, a bag of lettuce, a bag of blueberries, and a bag of chochos. It cost $4.23. Are you amazed?

Holiday in Ecuador. No school Monday or Tuesday, due to Dia de los Difuntos and Cuenca Day. The first is a celebration for those who have died. People go to the cemetary with food to share with their deceased loved ones. The typical food of this holiday is Guaguas de Pan (pronounced wawas de pawn), which are little bread loaves made in the shape of a baby, accompanied with Colada Morada, a hot juice-type drink made of a variety of fruits and spices, including mora. In the weeks leading up to Dia de los Difuntos, there are Guaguas de Pan and Colada Morada found in every bakery and cafe, on nearly street corner.

Due to the holiday, I went to the beach. The most notable moment of the trip was crossing the finish line of the 15K race I ran. It was my first race of that nature. We started in Manta and ran 15 kilometers to Ciudad Alfaro, which is 1 1/2K uphill from Montecristi... yes, the final kilometer and a half of the race were uphill. I don't mean a slight incline... this was a serious hill - it felt like a mini mountain that I was expected to summit after running already for longer than I ever had in my life. I cannot describe the shivers I felt as the people cheered me on as I ran past.

I went with 3 girls on the trip, two of whom are Ecuadorian, so they know more of what traveling to the coast can offer. Upon arriving the first morning, we hopped in a taxi and asked to be brought to the Mercado, a two story building with all the fresh meat, fruits, and vegetables a person could ever want. By fresh meat, I mean hanging slabs of red meat and plucked chickens, still in full chicken form, waiting for insects to land on them and for the hot coastal climate to spoil them before being purchased. Not exactly appetizing. However, upstairs were several little food booths. Here we found breakfast. Platano verde, mixed with cheese and sausage, fried into a delicious ball they call bolon.

Fresh seafood every day, playing the the waves, and batidos... oh beach, I love you.

Meet Stella.

She recently had her claws taken out... thus she looks forlorn and a bit perturbed with the world.

Today Fernando wrote me a poem...
Miss Petersen:
black= she is wering black today.
blue= she is wering bleue inside of black.
talle= she is tall like a basball man.
cute= Miss Petterson is cute.

I kept the original spelling.