back to Quito

I went to Quito for the weekend to visit my host family and it was incredible to feel like I was home, comfortable and for the first time since leaving for Tena….cold. I made a deal with my Tena family that we would spend Friday in Quito together visiting their relatives, and then I would spend the rest of the weekend with my Quito family. We watched a famous procession in Quito Antigua with purple, robed people called cucuruchos, men dressed as Jesus carrying huge crosses and all sorts of other people from marching bands to women selling chochos. The streets were lined with thousands of people, which for me was the most interesting part – just watching all the families, children, vendors. The rest of the weekend was very low-key…..I helped to paint my host families house, we ate fanesca (a special soup for Semana Santa) and I went to my first Ecuadorian mass. There was a lot more music than I expected and the place was full of people because of the Easter holiday. I was supposed to travel with Tena family back that evening, but they did not call (apparently they forgot my number) so I spent an extra night and traveled the next morning the 5-hours back to Tena.