We spent almost the entire day on the beach Monday, which I’m
regretting with the sunburn now, but was quite wonderful. There were 6 other
volunteers there, so we hung out with them a lot, which was nice because I hadn’t
seen them since November. I also got to see Kirsten, a good friend of Kathleen’s
from Baltimore who I met a few times at CC. She was visiting Ecuador with a
tour, so we hung out with her group a bit.
Eating lunch on Monday, I ran into an old friend who I grew up with and
haven’t seen in about 5 years, so it was funny to randomly run into her on a
beach in Ecuador!
We decided to take a night bus home on Monday instead of
losing another 16 hours of travelling during the day, so we left Puerto Lopez
at 7pm and got into Shannon’s site at Tisaleo at 7am. We spent the morning
resting in Tisaleo, then went into Ambato to get our nails done, do some
shopping, and enjoy our last day of vacation!
I went to work at the foundation today where I made apple
cobbler with the kids, which was a huge hit! The baking group has been the most
successful part of summer classes because the kids all love it, and they enjoy
having a little dessert after lunch! We have made cookies, carrot cake, tres
leches cake, and now cobbler. Hopefully I will be able to continue with the
baking group once regular classes begin again in September, although it’s
harder when the kids have homework that they have to get done. Tomorrow I am
only going to the foundation to check in for a few minutes before I leave to
catch a bus to the Amazon. I am going to meet up with the medical brigade in
Misahualli tomorrow night and begin working with them Friday, which I’m looking
forward to. It should be a great experience!
Tomorrow is the last day of classes, then the foundation
closes for the rest of August so they can do some repairs and have a little
time off before regular classes begin again in September. I can’t believe how
quickly time is flying – we are just 2 weeks away from completing one year of
service, which means there is only 1 year to go! I’m looking forward to our
mid-service conference in September to see everyone again, then in October my
parents are coming for another visit!
I am keeping busy with extra activities since things have
been slower at the foundation, but things are always hectic there. Last week we
took 36 kids on a trip to Chambo, just outside of Riobamba, to do an exchange with
another KNH foundation in the area. It was a sports day, so we had a young boys’
team, a girls’ team, and a teenage boys’ team. There was of course of election
of the sports princess, and then my group presented the traditional dance. All
of the bosses from the KNH office in Riobamba were there and loved the dance,
so that was good and my counterpart was happy. All of this happened before
lunch, and after lunch all the kids went swimming (because we were at a little
ranch). I was elected to go into the pool to help with the kids since neither
they nor the adults know how to swim. Luckily it all ended well and it was a
lot of fun just hanging out with the kids!
I’m still working on my embroidery, so hopefully next time
we have to present the dance, I will be wearing my own blouse! We’ll see…might
not get it done that quickly.
Cora is doing well – someone commented on how fat she was
the other day, but she is really just well fed, unlike many of the dogs here.
Her ego was only a little bit hurt. She and Precioso are still best buds, and I’m
so happy to have a family that doesn’t mind taking care of her for me when I’m
gone. It is so much less stressful leaving when I know that she is in good
hands, getting fed, and playing freely all day!
Those are the updates for now! Things are going very, very
well and I will have more updates about the jungle in the next few weeks. I
hope everyone at home is doing well – I miss you all!
Un abrazo,
Kerry
