some notes...

-My mom is coming in May for about ten days...so now I am starting to plan some possible adventures!
-Last night I understood my first Spanish joke. Pedro came into the room as I was doing my homework and he said, "there were two tomatoes in the refrigerator... and the first tomato said "Que Frio" (or how cold) and the the other tomato said "AHHH a tomato that talks!"" He was so excited that I finally understood a joke, so he proceeded to teach me a couple of knock-knock jokes as well.
-Beer is cheaper than diet coke at some restaurants.
-When the mail arrives at CIMAS (the school) everyone gets really excited and runs around handing out any letters and packages. It felt like Christmas when I received a wonderful letter from E. Jach today!
-I purchased "Little Miss Sunshine" in Spanish for $3 but it has a different name.....
-Nora and I walk daily to and from school and along the way are many little stores, all selling mostly the same things. The big news was that the tiny store close to our building sells phone cards and the lady that works/runs the store is great.
-In 2000, Ecuador adopted the US dollar, however, they have their own coins including a very useful 50 cent silver piece.
-Ecuador has a special type of mango that is palm-size and amazing.

roses

we went to Cayumbe, which is north of Quito and known for its huge rose industry. we toured one of the plantations and it was incredible to see how much work goes into exporting roses....

Perrito!

We went to the house of an indigenous leader in Cuyambe and they had this puppy. They made an incredible lunch and they served Cuy (guinea pig) along with other Ecuadorian dishes such as potatoes with salsa de mani, which is a peanut sauce.

Flower Plantation

Minga

Cayumbe

Los barcos