Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we had quite the Thanksgiving feast. I hosted Thanksgiving at my house and had about 10 friends come over. It was a mixture of both American and Ecuadorian friends that I know from all different places; one of the teachers I taught with last year, some of the volunteers from the orphanage, and some people from church. On Tuesday, I went to learn from my friend's sister how to cook the turkey... Ecuadorian style. It is quite a procedure, that takes about 3 days to complete. Part of the process is filling the turkey with orange juice and white wine, and it comes out very juicy. I took 2 pages of notes while she was teaching me, so I would remember later!
My friend Amy was a big help. She stayed over last night and helped me cook up some of the side dishes and desserts on Thursday morning. We also fed the entire staff at the orphanage - about 25 people! The Tias loved trying new foods and the meal was a big hit! Here were some of the highlights; the TURKEY, broccoli casserole, pumpkin bread, homemade apple cider, apple and pumpkin pie, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes. YUM!

Cutting the Ecuadorian turkey!

Rainy Days

I was asked this week to help out with one of the houses at 6 AM. They are down some staff, so needed extra help. Today was my first day of going over at 6, and I really enjoyed myself. I helped feed some of the special needs kids breakfast and got them ready for school. It is still very cold and rainy here so the last couple weeks we have been stuck inside. So I’ve been doing some inside activities with them. Today we pretended to swim in our “pool” (the carpet) and jump into the pool. We also made a fort out of sheets. The kids are so cute, and they have a great imagination. They were entertained for quite some time.

Choir

I joined the choir today. My friend is directing the choir at the church I am attending and she was in need of altos, so I agreed. There are about 15 of us and we have many performances coming up, including a Christmas caroling extravaganza. The choir has a couple people from Nigeria, Ecuadorians, Americans, and Canadians. We are quite the diverse group, and the music is even more diverse. We are singing in Russian, in an African language, and in Spanish. Next week we do not have church or choir practice because Ecuador is having its national census. The entire country must stay in their house from 7-5. If you are found outside your house, you are fined. That is one way to get it done! Apparently you also have to offer food to the census people who come. Most of them are students in high school who need to cover a certain neighborhood. We’ll see how that all plays out.

CocinArte

I think cooking class is one of my favorite parts of the week. The kids get so excited. When they see me coming in with my plastic bag of food they all come running and screaming "Tia Jennifer". Tonight we made puppy chow; Chex mix, chocolate and peanut butter melted together, and confectionary sugar. The best part is shaking everything together. Each child had his own plastic bag and shook away. You can see the results below.

Swimming

Thursdays are my swimming day with the special needs kids. Here are some pictures from today to document the experience.

It has been rainy and cold here the last four or five days. I have a sweater and scarf on right now, and I’m inside! My roommate and I have gotten hooked on the show 24. I had never watched it before, but she has the whole series. The other night we watched 5 episodes, do the math, that’s a lot of time watching a show.

I went to a meeting yesterday about teaching a values class in the public schools. I got there an hour late because of the rain and flooding. At the end of the meeting they called up my friend who is teaching this class now, to pray for her and ask her how the classes are going. After the prayer, I was called up! Now I had never actually agreed to teach. But I was prayed over and everyone came up after to thank me for my work I am doing….what work? So apparently I might begin teaching in a public school here, who knows?

The cloud forest was great that I went to last week. I jumped off a 40 foot waterfall, got to go to a butterfly farm, ate organic chocolate, and relaxed in a hammock. It was a most restful vacation. Also last week I went back to my school from last year. All of the high school students hiked a mountain nearby, so I joined up for that fun. As I was hiking I was thinking how this would never happen in the States because of liability issues. It was a super steep mountain and all the kids are spread out, most not within site. When the hike was over the kids just got on the city buses and made their way home….can’t imagine that happening at a school in the states.

Well I’m off to the gym, trampoline class tonight!

At the top of the mountain!