¡Que Sol!

Jer and I are sneaking in a few minutes of Internet time after our first ¨technical training" today. It was in a beautiful community north of us. For us, it was a long and dusty bus ride but the views once we got there were incredible. The afternoon sky was clear and we saw Volcan Cayambe more clearly than ever before. We visited a nursery and then our Habitat Conservation group worked to build some seedbeds, a compost area for worms, and an area to put the seedlings in the nursery. When we got to town, it was super chilly, but the sun came out and baked us. Despite using sunscreen and a hat, I got quite a bit of sun... I just checked the mirror and saw my rosy cheeks... ouch.

Let´s see, other highlights from the past week include: enjoying our first Ecuadorian beer on Saturday, a Pilsener. Warm, but still refreshing. Comparable to any cheap domestic beer in the states. We went to a suprise 3rd anniversary party at the house of one of our companeros. It was in his room! (which I think normally serves as the house´s living room). It was a trip. They had an absolutely beautiful cake...and although it looked good, it tasted pretty dry...and well tasteless. I miss my desserts! That´s something that we just haven´t had in our house. What else?...oh, the Ecuadorians totally get into Carnival... not quite like the Brazilians, but they have big parades in some parts of the country. In our area, the big thing to do is throw water balloons and spray fun foam on everyone. Jeremy totally got drenched last week...and got sprayed with the carioca foam pretty good, too, as we were waiting for a bus.

For Valentines Day, our family killed & ate two of their rabbits for dinner---which they evidentally do every valentines day. Very romantic. I declined to participate in the cleaning of the rabbits. I know we´re supposed to get involved in the family festivities and all...but I just couldn´t do it... Then, two days later, our lil´bro, Santiago, has one of the baby rabbits in the house playing with it....until it pissed on him. Then he took it outside.

On Monday, we helped our family make homemade wheat bread in their wood fired oven---not unlike a pizza oven... it was a LONG process. Jeremy helped knead the dough...and quickly got winded (we gringos joke about the stupid things we do that make us winded... I think the funniest was someone saying they got winded chugging some water...or maybe it was beer...dunno). But we definitely feel the altitude. When we were making our little nursery today, I kept getting dizzy from bending over and picking up rocks and carrying them to the nursery area and putting them down. Yikes! Anywho...back to the breadmaking process. We helped with the fun part of shaping the bread into fun things. (These are small, single serving breads, mind you, that are served at every meal.) The women made beautiful flowers and birds with their dough. I made a pig (chanchito) and a heart, and some other entertaining shapes. The best were our "cousin´s" Bob Esponga con pantalones cuadradas. Yes, sponge bob is big here with the kiddos. They kept talking to Bob Esponga and couldn´t wait for him to come out of the oven to eat him. Funny stuff. They made someting like 500 peices of bread. They worked into the night...we retired around 10:30 or so fatigued. We are usually pretty drained by the end of the day and go to bed crazy early...there´s a lot to absorb and think about and remember and translate and contemplate. Its all good stuff so far...but just a lot to take in.

On Sunday we went on a ¨walk¨ with our host mom, her sister, neice and grandson ( our lil´bro) which turned into a 3 hour hike up and down a mountain. It was a slow pace, a beautiful day and an educational experience. We picked berries, checked out medicinal plants and wildflowers...including several species of orchids (including one that makes a cool popping sound when you smash it!) Don´t worry, these aren´t the endangered kind. These little yellow orchids were all over the hillside!!!

Thanks to everyone that has emailed me!!! I laughed a lot at all your stories and the news of the weird (about Anna Nicole and Britney...keep the trash talk coming, I love it!) I am sorry I can´t reply to each one, but we just don´t have time today. We have to catch the bus back to our town...before dark.

We have a training-technical trip over the weekend and through the first part of next week, so I won´t be able to email for a while...or receive calls. The word on the street is that once we are sworn in as offical volunteers (on Earth Day!) we will receive cell phones...and we´ll be able to receive international calls...but not place them... (this is all contingent upon us being in an area that receives service, of course). We will find out where we will be placed in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!!!

Sorry we haven´t been able to upload pictures yet. I know many are anxious to see photos of Ecuador, our town, and us. I promise to try it when I have more time to play on the computer. Gotta run! ¡hasta luego!