Queen of the Jungle

What a weekend we had! I knew going to the jungle would be fun, but it really turned out to be the perfectly balanced weekend. We did everything, including busting our rears with physical exercise, lounging around in hammocks, and eating delicious meals so that my stomach was happy all weekend long. My only fear is that I am going to forget to write about something that we did, because the weekend was just so packed. But I will start at the beginning and hopefully I can remember the most exciting parts.

So Aubrey and I decided that there was no better way to celebrate her birthday than a trip to the jungle. We were hoping some other volunteers would join us, but because of the terrible flooding in the southern part of the country and on the coast, they couldn't make the trip. Aubrey and I had no road troubles though and left at 3:30am on Friday morning, took a 6 hour-long bus ride, and arrived to the town of Tena around 9:30am. Tena is Ecuador's most famous gateway into the jungle, and it's especially popular among white-water rafters. We grabbed some brunch and then headed to the jungle lodge at which we had made reservations. We paid one price for a package that included 2 nights, 7 meals, and 2 1/2 days full of activities. I think Aubrey and I both agree we got our money's worth!

The lodge we stayed at, called Shangrila, had the most amazing views (see below). You could see the river, the jungle, the mountains and volcanoes in the distance, and not another building could be seen. It also had a hammock outside every room, not to mention a loft overlooking the river with fourteen more hammocks next to one another! So once we settled in, we met up with our guide Darwin, and headed into the virgin primary forest. He taught us all about the various uses for the plants and trees that we came across, medicinal and otherwise. One plant had a spiral end that he took off and put on us both like earrings. We trudged a few hours through a creek and I couldn't have been more thankful that we were provided with rubber boots for the weekend. We saw a hummingbird nest, tons of bats in caves, and we even ate lemon ants! Mmmm, extra protein. Then there came a point in the walk where we had to scale canyons- two rock walls on either side of the creek. As I quickly learned, the key was not to look down. After our first jungle experience, we were exhausted and ready for dinner. The food we received over the weekend was incredible, and this first meal at the lodge started it off right. Then we capped off the night in the hammock loft, reading to the sounds of the jungle.

On Saturday morning we met up with two new guides- Ramon and his 17-year-old cousin, Jesus. They took us on another hike, this time through the secondary forest, so the scenery definitely had a different feel. We saw some beautiful waterfalls, and actually scaled up some of them with cables! And though we weren't lucky enough to see any monkeys, we did get to hear one screeching through the trees. Then we ate lunch at Amarangachi, another lodge owned by the same company, though this lodge had much more basic facilities- no electricity or hot water. This lodge was run by a couple and their eleven children, who were all running around us as we ate our fresh fish and rice. We also met an interesting man from Oklahoma who had been hiking alone and had just wandered into the encampment, and then a group from Germany as well.

After lunch we went to a lagoon formed by a creek that flowed into the river. The water was freezing- ah cha chay as they say in Quechwa. But it didn't even matter because then it started raining, and we headed toward the river with our tubes to get back to Amarangachi. We formed a big cluster of tubes and all floated down the river together, catching some rapids as well! After the rain and the freezing river, I was very happy to change into dry clothes. Then we went back to Shangrila for another relaxing evening.

After breakfast on Sunday, we got into a canoe carved out of a tree trunk, and went across the river with Darwin. Then we took another long walk, and along the way we ate fresh cocoa fruit off a tree, saw coffee beans and yucca plants, gathered plants and mushrooms to cook later, ate a palm leaf, and Aubrey got a birthday crown made of palms as well. We arrived to the tiny indigenous village of Santa Monica awhile later, and made ourselves at home in the house of Monica and Delfín. As it turns out, this couple founded the town, and their many children and spouses from other villages populated it, now consisting of 90 people! Talk about a dynasty. Monica walked around the home barefoot, looking about 120 years old, yet still carrying a baby in a sling on her back. She made us the traditional drink of chicha de yucca, which is a drink that ferments over the course of a week or so. In some villages they chew up the yucca first in their mouths before they make the drink, but we were assured that Monica instead had mashed the yucca up in a big bowl. Let's hope so! It surely didn't taste very good. We also cooked the mushrooms and plants we had picked up in the jungle, and they were delicious! Aubrey and I each bought some jewelry made out of seeds from the jungle, and we were happy to learn the profits help the the town's children commute to high schools in Tena once they have outgrown the elementary school there (which we saw- a one room schoolhouse with each grade sitting in a different row of desks). Finally on the walk back to Shangrila, Darwin painted our faces with natural face paint from a funny purple looking plant. Men from some other jungle communities wear this red paint in their hair every day, making a red shell on top of their heads.

Our Sunday afternoon could not have ended on a better note. The sun finally came out in full force and we took a leisurely ride down a different, and thankfully warmer, river. This time, not a rapid was in sight, and we just got to sit back and enjoy the jungle as it floated by us. We rode back to Shangrila in the back of a pickup, had dinner, packed our bags, and headed back to Tena. We found some great chocolate cake and ice cream to celebrate Aubrey's last night of being 22, and then we read some more on our patio as a thunderstorm raged on in the background. Quite a lovely weekend if you ask me!

This coming weekend proves to be exciting as well. On Friday night the new group of WT volunteers will arrive. I can't believe it was half a year ago that I was in their shoes. I am going with some other volunteers to welcome them at the airport in Quito, and then we are putting on skits for them about life in Ecuador on Saturday night. Then on Sunday the UVa ASB group that I have been helping to plan for will arrive! In addition to all their hard work in the school, they have a week jammed with fun activities, so there will be much to report next time. My students are even joining in on the effort, meeting the group for some of the activities in order to give them a true Ecuadorian welcome.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful last week of February and make sure to make the most of the extra day. Also, I want to make a shout out to Kate Meehan who is beginning her WT adventure in Bangladesh for their pilot program. There is really no one better to pave the way. Good luck Kate...and best wishes to all the rest of you as well. xoxo

Letting Ecua-Life Carry Me Along

It is always unbelievable to me how much happens within a week's span here in Ecuador. Not only do I seem to experience every sort of emotion, but also looking back I could never have imagined the course of the week's events. And even though I try to diligently plan everything out in my calendar, somehow what's written down never quite comes to fruition as planned.

Last Saturday I had plans to go to Riobamba, a town about an hour away, to visit my friends Annie and Hilary. Rio is so close, but for some reason I have never gotten myself there. Riobamba, like Ambato, is close to Volcán Tungurahua, but they have been hit by the majority of the ash fall. Annie said she could see footsteps on the ground where people had walked, much like snow. Anyway, I decided to go meet the girls for an afternoon coffee and to explore a bit of Riobamba's Colonial downtown. That afternoon, though, I got a call from Carla asking me to help her with a favor. Her friend is a photographer, and he was currently compiling a photo archive for the city government. He needed people to serve as models at a museum shoot that afternoon, and Carla asked if I would join. Me being asked to be a model for a photo shoot in Ecuador?! Of course I said yes. These are the things good stories are made of. So I decided to reschedule my Riobamba trip and met up with Carla and the other "models" at Casa del Portal in the town center. Basically I just walked around looking at paintings and laughing with the other people about how we had all gotten ourselves into such a ridiculous situation. And as often happens in Ecuador, this whole experience opened another door that I never could have imagined.

After the shoot we all went for coffee, and my fellow models, and now new friends, were just so fun to be around. You had Adam, the American photographer who has lived in Ecuador for 2 years, Victoria, the bubbly Colombian, and Diego, Stalin, Carla, and Alejandra representing Ecuador. And then Dan and I held our own as well. Victoria invited us all to her house, which turned out to be absolutely incredible! It had a sauna, an indoor pool, a full-out bar, and more. So we spent the entire evening playing card games and getting to know each other, and we even planned to have a costume party in March! So I was so glad that I had accepted Carla's offer, because I came out of the day with a handful of really enjoyable new friends.

The start to my work week, on the other hand, was a bit of a bummer. I was sick with a very sore throat and a terrible cough. I can certainly attest to the rumor that one's emotions and physical well-being are tied hand in hand, because being sick definitely affected my spirits. Eventually my host parents confronted me because they could tell that I had been upset. Though I really felt that all I wanted was to be left alone, I did appreciate their care and concern. Eventually they convinced me to go to the doctor, and thankfully because of that and the meds I got, I immediately started to feel better.

When Thursday came, though, and I could find nothing at all to complain about. I had such a fabulous Valentine's Day! Aubrey and I made heart-shaped sugar cookies with chocolate icing, sprinkles, and coconut that morning. Then Aubrey came with me to class since she has off all month (I know, no fair), so it was great having her as a special guest. I gave my students Snoopy Valentines that I had brought back with me from the States. It felt like elementary school all over again! Everyone in my afternoon class received roses from the class president as well. Then they had to draw names out of a hat and make each other Valentines, while we watched a chick flick, naturally. My night class decided they all wanted to go out to eat, so we went to a BBQ restaurant. They pre-ordered for everyone, so I was not at all prepared for the plate of food that appeared in front of me! The plate had steak, a pork chop, 3 sausages, a liver, and a potato. I have never eaten so much meat in my entire life, and I didn't even make it halfway through it all. But my students gave me a card that they all signed and a Snoopy mug! What a coincidence, eh? So who needs one Valentine on Valentine's Day when you can have 22 Valentines instead?

I spent all day Friday at the school in Pillaro making plans for the ASB group's arrival on March 2nd. I am so excited to have them come! I had a meeting with all the professors, and then later with the PTA, to go over all the details of the week. I got a little choked up because the families and administrators were just so gracious to be receiving these volunteers. They went on and on about what a privilege it will be to have native English speakers at the school, and how blessed their children would be. I even met with the families who will be hosting the volunteers, and they could not be more thrilled. Everyone is going so above and beyond, you would have thought they were hosting foreign diplomats or something! They are offering the volunteers free room and board for the week, and taking the group on a "field trip" on Friday to the jungle, as a thank you gesture. I have talked to the ASB site leaders a lot as well, and it seems like the excitement is running just as high back in the States as they all prepare for departure. So I really hope the week turns out to be a fruitful cross-cultural learning experience for everyone involved- the children, the UVa students, and the families, teachers, and administrators as well.

The highlights of the rest of the weekend include going to Baños to spend an evening with Liz, Brooke, and Joel, three Quito volunteers who were there for the weekend. We went out to a nice dinner, rode an open-air chiva (think those cliché city tour buses, but Ecua-fied) up to an overlook of the city, in the shadow of the smoking volcano (yes, maybe not the best of ideas, but tourism there is as busy as ever). Then I also started tutoring two little girls this past weekend, ages 7 and 12, in English. They could not be more sweet. Their dad is the brother of the student who takes me home every night, so I wanted to tutor the girls as a thank you to the family. I ended up staying late last night sitting around the dinner table with the parents, the girls, and some family friends, discussing everything from travel to politics. Again, so many nice moments like that pop up when I least expect them.

Then Sunday turned out to be student-filled day. Aubrey and I went to a soccer game with my students Lorena and Manuel. Not only did they insist on paying for my ticket, but Manuel had bought me a sky blue Mácara soccer jersey, so that I could demonstrate my hometown pride with the rest of the crazies in the crowd. Then later on, Diego and Richard took me to get fritada in my favorite fritada restaurant! As you can see, generosity never does seem to run dry here. And on that note, I guess I should mention that I owe an added big thank you to my students for their immense generosity. They were my inspiration for my journal entry into the WT contest, and I actually found out this past week that I won first place! It is definitely both an honor and a surprise, but I am certainly glad that other people will be able to read about my students and their huge hearts. I posted the entry that I submitted for the contest on one of my December blog posts if you would like to check it out!

This weekend I am heading to the jungle with Aubrey and some other volunteers, so hopefully I will have interesting things to report afterward. Until then, have a wonderful week and please keep in touch!

Fruits, Flowers, and Farewells

Well, the Festivals of Fruits and Flowers came and went in a flash. And what a crazy time is was! I can safely say now that I have had the true Carnival experience. And I understand why this only takes place once a year, because it’s exhausting! So much happened over the course of last weekend, but I’ll just fill you in on the highlights. But first, a little background on the history of the festivals.

Ambato suffered a terrible earthquake in 1949, which destroyed the majority of the city and some surrounding towns. This is why Ambato now has no Colonial architecture- the city pretty much rebuilt itself completely in the years after the earthquake. In order to empower the Ambateños and to give them a renewed sense of pride in their city, the Festival of Fruits and Flowers began in 1950. In 1951, the festival was aligned with the celebration of Carnival (or the period before Lent begins, much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans), and the tradition has carried on ever since. Ambateños are very proud of their rich agricultural heritage, and the immense variety of fruits and flowers they produce. Ambato also has the most famous bread in all of Ecuador, so of course that must be included in the celebrations too! There is a permanent committee in Ambato that works on the preparations for the festivals all year long, and thousands of visitors comes every year from Ecuador, other parts of South America, and beyond!

So now we get to the festivities themselves. Early Saturday morning I went with my host parents to the Cathedral for an outdoor Mass. Every year, the festival officially kicks off with the blessing of the city’s fruit, flowers, and bread that will then be used for the duration of the festivals. The scene was beautiful- a gorgeous blue sky set the backdrop of the white Cathedral and the thousands of people in the crowd. The most incredible part, though, was the huge mural made only of fruits, flowers, and bread that adorned the front of the Cathedral. It’s a tradition every year for the city to hang a mural such as this one on the Cathedral for the festivals, and there is a team that works all through the night before creating it with care. Every year the mural is different, and I actually saw an exhibit that showed photos of murals from the last 15 years. Incredible! This year’s mural showed Jesus with a family, and had an inscription about being disciples of God and missionaries of peace. Looking at it from afar, you would never believe that everything was made from entirely organic goods; it certainly is an impressive work of art.

I felt like a member of the paparazzi because President Correa came to Mass, and I couldn’t control my excitement or the amount of photos I took. I actually sat directly ten rows behind him, so I had a great view of him the entire time. I think I was more excited than the Ecuadorians to see him (in the photo President Correa has just received a basket of blessed fruit,and part of the mural is behind him). He did a reading at Mass, along with Ambato’s mayor and the newly elected Reina de Ambato (Miss Ambato, if you will). As you can tell from that lineup, being the Reina is a huge deal, and the weeks leading up to the festivals offered all sorts of pageants and events for the six candidates. The new Reina was sworn in while I was at the beach, so I wasn’t able to go to the ceremony, but it certainly was fun seeing her sitting a few seats away from the President himself! Can you imagine Miss America accompanying President Bush to all the most important events? Well, maybe it’s better not to answer that question, and to just leave this tradition to the Ecuadorians…

Then two other volunteers, Mark from Santa Elena and Sarah from Guayaquil, came to visit for the day. It was fun to play tour guide with the other Ambateñas and to show them all the sights, especially when the city was in celebration-mode. We ate an amazing dinner at our favorite restaurant, and then we went out dancing!  On Sunday morning we gathered downtown with every other Ambateño it seemed, to watch the parade. I have never had to fight so hard to see a parade in my life! Cars blocked the street entrances and crowds of people jammed the sidewalks. We fought for nearly an hour for a spot, eventually having to go down a hill and through the insides of three homes to get down to a street below! But Dan and Carla had saved us spots on the back of a dump truck, so it was well worth the effort. We had a great view of the parade and it was wonderful to see all the floats made with fruits and flowers (see the photo of one of the many high school's reinas on her float), and all the dance groups in costumes as well.

Right after the parade, we all headed to the town of Guaranda to meet up with some other volunteers. Guaranda is famous because the entire town “plays Carnival” throughout the festivals. Basically this means that for the weeks leading up to Carnival, and especially that final weekend, everyone in the town is subject to being sprayed with foam, getting flour thrown on them, being hit by water balloons, or having water dumped on them from roofs. My host family couldn’t believe that I was putting myself in such a situation, but it turned out to be such a blast! Even within our first minutes in town someone dumped a bucket of water on us, yet we quickly learned how to fight back. We all bought cans of foam and sprayed with vengeance. I felt like I was in a real-life video game, having to watch my back and every turn, trusting no one, and existing purely in survival mode. So walking in the street turned out to be a challenge in itself, but we found a huge dance party and ended up staying there for the majority of the afternoon. So picture this, hundreds of people in the street, foam flying everywhere, flour-masked faces at every turn, buckets of water being dumped on people, and of course salsa dancing! A fabulous combination if you ask me. My fellow volunteer Katie Skipper put it best when she said, “This is one of those moments when I think to myself, how did my life get to this point?” It really was a surreal experience, but all the more fun because of it.

After the Guaranda craziness, some volunteers returned to Ambato on Monday to see a different side to the festivals and to check out the nighttime parade. I ended up showing them to my favorite colada morada place in Atocha, and then I went and met up with my family to watch the second parade. Shenanigans broke out after the parade, though, with everyone spraying foam in the streets, even though it’s technically illegal in Ambato. Because of all my fun in Guaranda, I was over the whole foam experience at that point. I guess the rest of the Ambateños hadn’t gotten it out of their systems yet, though.

Yet finally on Tuesday the festivals came to a close. I loved my experiences over the entire extended weekend- from dancing with the Colombians in the park to spraying strangers with foam in the streets. Exhausted, I must admit that I was ready for a bit of a break. And with the festivals also ended another chapter of my life in Ecuador- my time with my dear fellow Ambateña, Eden. Eden’s last night in Ambato was Tuesday, and we certainly all lived it up together. On Aubrey’s request, we all took Eden to my new favorite restaurant in town- it serves grilled kabobs, choclo (over-sized corn), and plantains with an amazing cheese sauce over everything. I can’t begin to describe how delicious it was. Then we went to a fun park and went on some crazy rides. Let’s just say I will never forget what it looks like to see Ambato upside down from about 10 stories up in the sky. So after all the food and laughter, we called it a night…or so we thought.

At about 1am my host mom came into my room in such a fuss, jumping up and down and shrieking about the volcano…it was erupting in a fury! So of course she told me to hop in the car so that we could all take a look. I knew that Eden wouldn’t want to miss out on this her last night in Ambato, so she joined our pajama parade as well. Sadly, it was too cloudy to really see anything (though I would see lava from my classroom window in the following days), but we definitely heard Tungurahua and her rumbling. It sounded a lot like the ocean, though magnified about 100 times. When I got back home I went to bed with the radio reporting evacuations on the mountain and projected ash fall...yikes!

In the morning I came downstairs to about 8 huge buckets of water in the kitchen, which I was later told was in case of a water shortage because of the volcano. All high schools were closed for the duration of the week, people were encouraged to stock up on food, and everyone was told to have their masks handy (which I had!). It all turned out to be rather anti-climatic, though. Ambato hasn’t had any serious ash fall, though I know many smaller towns in the region have been greatly affected. My mom actually called to make sure I was okay because Tungurahua made CNN headlines. I really do feel terrible for all the poor men and women who have been evacuated from their mountainside homes, and for their significant loss of crops and animals because of lava and ash. Hopefully Tungurahua will settle down a bit soon, and the volcano will again fall back into the scenic backdrop of my Ecuadorian experience.

After debating Wednesday morning whether or not I should risk getting stuck in ash on the way to Quito, I decided that the blue skies were indication enough that everything would be okay. Thankfully that turned out to be the case! I traveled by bus on Wednesday night after my classes so that I could be with Eden, Aubrey, and some other volunteers for Eden’s last night in the country. I was so happy that I was able to be there! Aubrey and I took Eden to the airport on Thursday morning and it was such a surreal experience. I couldn’t get it through my head that she was actually leaving, because she has been such an integral part to my experiences here so far. But I know we will remain in touch and that she will still contribute so much to my time here. Not many people know what it’s like to walk down streets of Ambato, to teach English to Ecuadorians, to interact with my host family, or to experience all of Ecuador’s daily surprises. Now I am so lucky to have someone back home who I know will not only take interest in these aspects of my life, but will help me to understand and appreciate them as well. So Eden, you know I will miss you so much, but you are still here in my memories and will be a part of all my future experiences here too. I wish you the best of luck back in Ann Arbor and I’ll live it up here for the both of us!

So after a week of festivals and farewells, it looks like things will finally begin to settle back down into a normal (in the Ecuadorian sense that is) routine. I have passed my half-way mark here in Ecuador, and I just hope I am able to make the most of my remaining time in Ambato- through my teaching, my Spanish studies, my integration into the culture, and my own personal growth as well. Thanks for taking an interest in my journey so far, and I hope you stay tuned for part two! Mucho amor a todos.

Hometown Pride

Well, I have fallen in love. It's amazing how things can change so drastically over the course of a few days. I moped so much this past week. I think a lot of it had to do with the terrible gray skies, rain, and ash that plagued Ambato, but really I just couldn't shake the foul mood I was in. But today is a different story. It was like I woke up in a different city and I was walking on sunshine all day long. Yes, today will go down in history as the day I fell in love with Ambato. I know it won't always be easy, and that rough days still lay ahead in our future together, but I think I have found the inner beauty that I had been searching for these past 5 months, and I'm not going to let that go!

I should confess that this all started last night with my students. We decided to cancel class and to instead "practice our English sports terms" at a soccer game last night. I was so excited about my first professional soccer game experience, and it turned out to be more than I ever could have imagined. From the outside the stadium looked fairly similar to those you might find in the States- vendors, people proudly wearing their team's colors, and traffic like you wouldn't believe. The inside of the stadium, though, presented an entirely different picture- mishap and mayhem everywhere! Try to picture this: people cheering and waving flags, musical instruments screeching, everyone throwing millions of tiny pieces of paper on each other, fire-extinguisher gas traveling through the air, toilet paper thrown on the field, fireworks sent off into the sky, vendors selling boxed wine, a giant-sized team jersey big enough to cover an entire seating area traveling through the stands, and a band playing only Ambato-specific songs. What an experience!! So needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire evening. My students and I were all rooting for Mácara, the Ambato team, who was playing against Barcelona, Guayaquil's team. Though we tragically lost 0-1, I really can't imagine the night having been any more fun.

Mácara pride must have rubbed off a bit on the weather, though, because the sky this morning was the exact color of their sky blue team uniforms. All week long I asked people if they were worried that the festivals this weekend could be ruined with the awful weather we were experiencing, but honestly everyone I talked to had this resigned faith that the weather would turn. My friend Daniela told me that Ambato has never had bad weather during the festivals (knock on wood, right?), and my host mom and my Spanish teacher told me the same when I asked them. It looks like they were right, though, and that Ambato somehow has a sweet deal with Mother Nature during this time of the year.

So after my Spanish class at 7:30 this morning, I decided to stay downtown for awhile to check out the exhibitions and such for the festivals (today was the first official day more or less). I saw a group of children, definitely not from Ecuador, dressed in some type of traditional dress walking down the street, so I decided to follow them. When we got to Parque Montalvo, other similar groups were gathering, in the most beautiful costumes! There were groups from Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and the children I had seen were from Poland! Then they all processed into a gorgeous governmental building, and naturally I followed. The mayor and other governmental officials, the folk groups, and me along with about 30 other observers were all crammed into a very pretty auditorium. The mayor officially welcomed the other groups to Ecuador and gave the most beautiful speech about world unity, international amnesty, and a celebration of our unique cultures. I have to admit that I even got a little choked up. Sitting there amongst so many cultures, in seemingly random Ambato, Ecuador, I received such a message of hope and love. It was also fun sort of feeling like an United States Ambassador there with all the other cultural representatives.

The best part of the entire experience, though, was making friends with the Cuban dancers! They were my favorite group because they dance with such vibrancy and every single dancer has a huge smile on his or her face the entire time. I couldn't stop smiling when I was watching them perform. One of their group managers mistook me for an event employee (don't know how that happened since I definitely don't fit in, especially because I was in my gym clothes), and I began talking with him about how much I enjoyed his dancers and their contagious smiles. Then a few minutes later he called me over and presented me to the entire group! I felt so honored. When they walked away they said they would see me soon again, and since I am going to their full show tonight, I hope that turns out to be true! So I guess Mother Theresa had it right when she said that "peace begins with a smile."

I also made some other friends at the event- a middle-aged Ecuadorian couple and two of their female friends. I sat next to them, and I guess because they were confused about why there was a lone gringa in the crowd, they began talking with me. When I mentioned that I was on my way to check out some more exhibits across the street, they excitedly said they would accompany me, and we became fast friends. I actually sort of felt like I was on one of those Elderhostel tours of traveling retirees...walking through museums with my senior citizen counterparts. But they could not have been more welcoming and accepting of me as one of their own. On our way through the park, we got trapped amidst the Colombian dancers. Juan (my elderly friend) and I got pulled into the circle and we danced with the Colombians in front of everyone! I could not stop laughing, but thankfully I don't think I made too much of a fool of myself. When we finally escaped, we got to see some really amazing exhibits including artwork, photography, flower arrangements, a sarcastic presentation on the future of Ecuador, and even a singer. We are all going to the folk presentation again tonight, so hopefully I will run into my new friends there again.

Ambato just has a different feel today. Everyone is on a natural high because of the festivals- maybe it's the sugar from all the fruit disseminating into the air, this is the Festival of Fruits and Flowers after all. Walking through town today I had a delicious ice cream cone, I ran into people in old-time dress who let me take a picture of them and gave me a free magazine, I got a cappuchino from a place I had heard about often (as you can see I'm not calorie-counting this weekend), and a stranger on the street gave me a balloon "because we're in the festivals!" And then to top it all off, if you can imagine things still getting better, I had such a fun private salsa lesson with our dance instructor Julio! I really felt like I was on Dancing with the Stars- I had my very own instructor and by the end of the class we had an entire dance worked out.

Now I'm off to the folk dancing presentation and I finally get to see Eden and Aubrey after their week at the beach. I'm hoping they too can get hooked on this festival high and that the rest of the weekend continues in this same light. Never before have I written a blog entry on the events of one day alone, but today seemed too good not to share. So thank you for letting me blab on about my happy moments of the day, and I hope your day was blessed with much happiness as well!

Until after the festivals...chao!