Routine

Well, I'm headed back to work today.  I have to say I'm a little torn.  I like having a routine to follow because it keeps me more accountable for the time I waste BUT I really like being able to watch daytime tv and read books and go out to lunch with my friends. 

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts.  I think it has just taken me this long to get back into life here in the states and while I've been running around meeting people for lunch and dinner, I've just been using my old standby outfits so I didn't have to think too much. 

Here are a couple of pics from the last few days....

This one is of me and baby Theron!  He's the adorable son of my friends Joi and David.  We had a great visit with lots of smiles.  I think he likes Auntie Anna!

And then on Saturday evening my parents threw a party for my brother and sister-in-law.  This was for people that were not able to make it to the actual wedding.  Lots of food and conversation was had!

Now, I have to get in the shower so I can go to work.  yay.

Ecuador Day Ocho-the last day!

And just like that, the trip was ending!  I was sad to leave but ready to head home, but first we had some sightseeing to do!

Ready for our last day

 Oops, forgot we went to church at Advent St. Nicholas again first.  We went back and changed and then started sightseeing!  Martha, who is a member of the Kiwanis club and also worked as a tour guide for the Embassy, was our guide for the day.  She took us to a very nice lunch to start off our tour.  Then we went to see the Our Lady of Quito statue, which you probably noticed as the GIANT angel statue in the pictures from the unfinished church.

Our Lady of Quito statue

Closeup of OLofQ

 We had a great view of Quito from the statue!

Looking down onto Quito

Close up of Quito from near the Our Lady statue

Me with Quito in the background

 We then went down to Old Town, the historical part of Quito.  Our group did some of this earlier in the week and at this point I was just over it, so I didn't really take any pictures. 

With Christian, who works for Habitat Ecuador and their translator

We went to an interesting restaurant before going to the airport.  The menu had testicles, heart, entrails, liver, and other such treats on it.  YUCK!  I had french fries.  I figured those were safe!

Then it was airport time!  We said our goodbyes and started the process of checking in, getting bags checked, going through security, and then having my carry ons riffled through before I could enter the gate area.  But, we made it through and I was asleep before we even took off from Quito. 

I got home early Monday morning and boy was I exhausted.  I'm still not sure I'm fully caught up, but it was an awesome trip and I hope to return next year on the Habitat build.

Hope you enjoyed my recap!  We will now return to our regularly scheduled style blogging!

Ecuador Day 7

We are in the home stretch, folks! Day 7 is here with only one more day to go...

First stop.....Equator!  Yes, I've officially been in two places, two hemispheres to be exact, at once!  Below is the proof!  This was pretty cool.  There were some shops around this area as well as a bug museum (gross!).  Some of the group ended up going up into the museum, but I didn't because I thought it was too expensive.  Kind of kicking myself for that one now...

I'm standing in two hemispheres!

Melissa and I attempting to do something cool.  The photographer didn't quite catch it!

With our translator for the week, Erick, at the Equator

After visiting the Equator, we started making our way to the Otavalo Market.  It was quite a drive, about two hours, so we stopped for lunch along the way.  We stopped at a really nice little restaurant that was right against this lake.  The water literally lapped up to the glass walls of the restaurant.  There were some little bungalows that people could rent and stay there.  Also, there were llamas.  This lovely little place was called, Puerto Lago. 

Beautiful view at Puerto Lago

Pastor Lori, Melissa, and me

 We walked around Puerto Lago for a little while after eating and then loaded up and continued toward Otavalo.  Otavalo had a HUGE market.  Seriously, so big we only went through a fraction of it in a couple of hours.  This is where I got the majority of the stuff I brought home.  You had to haggle with the vendors, which I am terrible at, but I managed to get some good deals.  This was mostly due to Pastor Lori's great haggling skills.  Didn't really see animals at this market, it was mostly crafts, or at least the part we saw.

Shopping at Otavalo Market

Vendors at Otavalo Market

 Erick bought a hat at Saquisili and I could not be outdone.  So, I made it a point to get a similar hat at Otavalo, so of course we had to take a picture. 

Modeling our matching hats

 One last final look at Otavalo and we were off.  On the way home we stopped at a chocolate place.  I wasn't feeling well (to be fair, I didn't feel well the entire time-pretty sure it was altitude sickness) so I did not partake, but I hear the hot chocolate was awesome!

Goodbye Market!

We finished the evening at Pizza Hut for dinner and then went back to our respective hotels for the night.  We had to pack up because the next day was our last!

Ecuador Part 6

Since some of us decided to stay to work at Habitat, we awoke ready to work! Turns out there was a little bit of a different plan for us that morning. Instead of heading straight to the work site, we went to Cotopaxi National Park.

At a rest stop on the way-bought a hat and gloves here because it was SO COLD!

Pastor Lori at our rest stop

The views were so incredible!  And it was COLD!  I ended up wearing a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a fleece jacket-and I could have worn more layers!  

Can you believe this view?!

AH-MAZING!

Melissa and I

 We drove up a little further to a lake that was nestled in the mountains.  Again, magnificent views!

There was a lake in the park which provided for more beautiful pictures!

Could've stayed there for hours...

 And then we were off to visit Lisa's Angels again.  The Habitat group had not had the opportunity to visit the daycare, so we stopped by there before we went to the hotel for lunch.  Some of the kids were graduating and there was a little ceremony complete with caps and gowns and music.  I danced with a little girl for about fifteen minutes. 

Pastor Lori and one of Lisa's Angels

The graduates-don't they look excited? haha!

All dressed up in her uniform

 We had lunch at the Cotopaxi Hotel and then went to get our work on at the Habitat site.  The concrete mixer had been delivered so it was all about getting concrete poured into the rebar at the corners and sides of the house.  We formed a concrete line where we'd pass three buckets of concrete back and forth.  Lots of stopping and starting as we adjusted for the next column but we managed to get all six completed!

Making some progress

 There were two little puppies running around the site and I'm pretty sure they had never had that much attention in their little doggie lives!  I was concerned Pastor Lori was going to smuggle this one in her luggage!

One of the puppies at the site

 The grandchildren of the family gave some of the teenagers gifts.  Here was a picture created for them!

Tyler and the picture the kids made for him

 Even though we didn't get the entire house built, there was a great start!  At the end of the day, since we were all leaving, there was a ceremony with the family.  They each got an opportunity to say thank you to everyone that helped and I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye around!  The family also gave us each a small gift as thank you.  It was amazing that even though they had very little, they wanted to give something to show their gratitude.  A wonderful family!  We heard that there were four Habitat houses being built at this time and so it would probably be two more months before this family home would be completed for move in.

Ceremony at the end of the day with the family

 The family wrote a thank you note for us.  No clue what the entire thing says, but I know thank you was there at the end!

The thank you note that the family wrote for us

That night we had dinner with the family and then loaded up for the trip back to Quito and back to the Charles Darwin for our group.  With only two days left in Ecuador, it was starting to get sad-although I was missing ice, taking a shower without fear of accidentally getting the water in my mouth, and being able to flush toilet paper (their pipes cannot handle toilet paper so you had to throw it away-ick!).

Ecuador Mission Day 5

Are you getting tired of my recaps yet?  Hope not because we still have several days left to go!

Thursday was market day!  We got up and went to the Saquisili Market.  There were three parts to this market-a large animal market, small animal market, and a craft market.  Each one was just as crowded as the last.  Kind of intimidating!

The Saquisili Market was hopping!

Pigs getting a tan waiting to be purchased

MMMMMOOOOOO!

Llamas!

Isn't this lady gorgeous?

 I had to get a picture of me among the craziness that was the large animal market.  There were just animals tied up everywhere! 

Me at the Saquisili Market

I think I found Bo Peep's sheep!

 I couldn't believe this giant pile of banans was at the large animal market.  I'm not exactly sure why they were there but I did learn that pigs like bananas.

Banana anyone?

 As we traveled to the small animal portion of the market, we saw people selling chickens out of bags on the sidewalks.  See the chicken poking it's head out?

Bags of chickens being sold on the sidewalk

Fruit stand at the small animal market

Chickens

Lots of veggies!

Poor little cuy!

There was a flea market at the small animal market-this guy had a lot of stuff!

Poor June only wanted one banana but they'd only sell her this giant bunch!

Lady selling rope at the craft market

We had lunch at the Hotel Cotopaxi and then went with the Habitat group to tour a rose plantation.  Francisco was our tour guide.

Our guide, Francisco, telling us about the rose plantation

Roses ready for export

Francisco told us that flowers are cut and shipped within 24 hours.  Crazy to think that happens when they have over 2 million plants there!  I also learned that the longest stem on a rose is 10 feet long!  That would be one tall vase!

Sorting roses for export

Beautiful roses!

Standing among the roses

In order to cut the roses, the workers have to walk on stilts!

Roses as far as the eye can see!

Once we finished our tour we went to the Habitat site.  We were building the house for Martha, her husband, her son and daughter-in-law, and her two grandchildren.  Six people in a tiny house! 

Habitat site

Martha and some of her family

We were scheduled to leave Cotopaxi that night and return to Quito for a day of museums, however, some of us decided we'd rather stay in Cotopaxi and work on the house.  So, most of our group stayed behind to help out at the Habitat build for their last day.

After a rousing late night of Go Fish, day 5 was over!