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We survived the first day of teaching and got lots of hugs and smiles from the kiddos!  

I swear I’m not trying to tell them not to eat the chicken…

No, that’s not a real llama.

If you look closely in the window you can see Agosto y su abuelita laughing…

Mateo, the best dressed dog in the village!

Today we explored the markets in Paute and Chordeleg, two nearby villages. We had fun trying new fruits, smelling the 3,ooo species of orchids in one room, and trying other fun market items. We learned that this valley produces many flowers (mostly roses for the USA).

Most of the home stay families are farmers that sell to the neighboring towns and many people come from other villages to buy local fruits and veggies on the weekend. According to Elena she says this valley reminds her of The Shire (the Latin version!). Everything is super green and the towns are self-reliant and abundant in local everything. You can grow everything and all families raise many types of animals here and they do — so inspiring!

We also have lots of pets in our families… Our host dog, Mateo, dresses himself because it’s cold here. He has various outfits that he will bring to you when he wants to be covered and warm. We have a chatty parrot that likes to screech HOLA on repeat if you don’t respond to him.

Edwin is our local driver who is also the school bus driver here. On the weekends there are non-stop volleyball games (Ecuadorian style) happening in the town center (only for men) while the woman are busy cooking.

Zacarias Elijah has been doodling and writing a bunch while Felipe Uly Gavin is solving many math problems at the same time. Agosto literally has a soccer court right at his front door and Nacho Hans is fully of witty Spanish jokes. Silvia & Ezme are playing cards with their host family and Eva Kendra made a local friend who is studying English at the University. Felipe Felix burnt his ears but randomly spouts out comprehensive sentence in in Spanish, surprising us all. Bellaflora Annika has been absorbing so much Spanish with a healthy sense of humor. Estrella Gwen dances. Everywhere and even while walking. Elena bought a sweet poncho and I maybe sat next to Mana (a famous band) while eating lunch in Quito. I also ate chicken.

When it rains it pours and you can feel your skin burning instantly when it pierces through the clouds. We are indeed on the Ecuator!

Tomorrow we are teaching for the first time. (Insert nervous emoji face) We are eager to meet the kiddos. It’s so fun to be in a village where no one has ever hosted exchange students before, or come in contact with many foreigners. Everyone is so curious about us, welcoming, and eager to know us. Everyone has reported how lovely their families are even though they are overwhelmed with all the new information and even though in only Spanish is exhausting and at times awkward. But, it makes for fun stories when we all come together. 🙂

The connection is spotty right now so we cannot upload photos at the moment of the adventures today but we will try again tomorrow. Chau for now!

Ama & Elena

There was such a long line at the airport that we were worried we would miss our flight! We arrived at the gate with just 10 minutes before it was going to close but somehow were the first ones in line to get on the plane.. When we arrived in Cuenca, Ron and Fu Yu were there to take us to Bulán via bus. They gave us a tour of Cuenca on the way, and we stopped at a viewpoint from which we could see the majority of the city.

When we arrived in Bulán, the families were waiting for us in the town’s center. We were welcomed with lots of hugs and smiles and the energy was high even though we arrived hungry and tired.

We watched some soccer games with the whole village, and tomorrow we are off to see the big market in Paute and eat lunch in Chordeleg, another village here.

-Eva Kendra

We went to the official equator today! It was a little touristy but fun. We did lots of activities you can only do at the equator. We tried to balance on the line with our arms out, which is supposed to be hard because of the difference in forces, but we don’t think this is a true fact because it was just like walking. We also tried to balance an egg, but only a few people succeeded (Ela just did it in her picture). We only broke one egg 🥚👍. After, we all ate great food at small cafes, and right in time before a big rain storm. However, we still ended up walking around and getting soaked when we took the bus one stop too far. As we write this we are still soaked but stoked.              -Linnea y Annika

Agosto bumped his head 🤕  and Nacho ate a piece of 🥕 off his sock (gross!)…

-Ama

Look! We’re a rainbow 🌈 with our rain jackets…

We only slept 6ish hours but woke up to a beautiful day in Quito here at our hostel overlooking the city so we decided to take the teleférico up just to put our sea-level accostomed bodies to the test a bit more! Fun fact: Quito is the highest capital city in the world and the góndola is one of the highest aerial lifts in the world, rising from 3,117 m (10,226 ft) to 3,945 m(12,943 ft).

We met up with a friend of mine and ate delicious crepes. We went back to the hostel after a very long walk around the city and then headed out for dinner and a stroll through the historic city center….

Embarrassed by his water bottle he had to buy… so he decided to cover it up 😂

After Estrella tried to do my hair, we were a bowl of giggles and started to play cards and do exercises to pass the time…