Day 5 Expect Miracles!

Buenos Dias Mi Amigas,

I´ll write quickly because this is my 3rd attempt and the internet is not cooperating. Also, I´ll try to incorporate some Spanish. It´s been a goal to learn some phrasing and single words because there are very few folks in Ecuador who speak a single word of English....very humbling for this gringo!

The children´s Center has proven to be a place of many paradoxes as is most of Ecuador. Children are kept fastidiously clean to the extent if they get a single spot on clothing, it´s changed immediately. The children are as well kept, if not better, than most middle class American kids.
It´s been fun getting to know them, mainly through hugs, smiles, and other facial expressions as we learn their language. I've learned that these kids are able to sit, attend to task, and do not expect to be entertained at every moment. I've become quite fond of the three year-olds especially. Later I´ll tell some stories about them.

The food that the kids eat is quite interesting...always soup followed by creamed fruit, rice and vegetables. Yesterday I watched them eat their bowls of creamed soup garnished with a freshly boiled chicken foot. This they ate with relish, particularly a little girl named Darling who even ate the toes!!!!

Since it was Friday, the tias or teachers cleaned all the toys and bed sheets by washing them in a large tub of cold water and soap in the play yard. They are very clean although not so worried about germs. Toothbrushes are kept in a common cup upside down and children sleep two to a crib. Our American OSHA would be up in arms. Kids are miraculously healthy.

Yesterday we also went to a public school where the young girls attend in the morning, coed in the afternoon, and adults at night. No resources are wasted. Girls were muy bonita in their navy uniforms. As we walked into their play yard, the little girls swarmed us as bees to honey. They wanted to warmly greet us in the little amount of English that they were learning at school. One little girl came up to me and annnounced ÿellow which I later understood meant to be hello! Very touching experience which brought me to tears. It´s good to feel loved for being American.

Last night we were invited by our Jewish friends to attend a synogogue sabbath service. This was magical....a beautiful place. It was led in part by a young girl who was having her batmitzfa this weekend. Later, we had wine under a white canopy in a portico decorated with tea lights and crystal hanging from the trees. Colored lights every where....magical.

Today we go to Atovalo Market two hours north of Quito. Looking forward to bargains and hand made gifts for you!!!!! We´ll see the Equator as well as a volcano and a lake! The photo above is Atovalo market showing indigenous Amerindians in native dress that they wear daily! The smiling lady had just sold me a beautiful hand woven bag. After a very funny round of bargaining that resulted in a sing song between the two of us, I bought the bag for diaz dollars....
the bidding started at twenty!

Hasta Luego!
Love