Life Is Grand Indeed....

Every week I have so many new adventures and stories....This week started off with a nice culinary surprise--really, I wish I could have seen my face when I found this surprise because it was totally unexpected. I went down the street to try a new lunch place on Sunday, and I could not wait to try the chicken and rice...it looked so good. It came with a side of soup (They LOVE their soups here in Ecuador) so I thought I would start with that, it looked good too! Well, as I was scooping up another spoonfull I realized that there was a funny shaped something in there.....I scooped it up and nearly fainted- there was a chicken foot in my soup!!! ahhhh I really did not like this surprise....apparently they are used to flavor soups, but I mean.... I did not eat at all on Monday. I do appreciate the food here....it is all so fresh and simple. It is amazing to me how America can put a man on the moon and not figure out how to make fruit juice. I have a few favorite things.....fried Bananas--they are so good. Cheese Empenadas--yum.....So most things here are very acceptable to eat.

This week was a long one at the school.....but good. I am getting comfortable in the class with my kids...some days I feel as though nothing gets done because they really are not the best at doing what they are told. They are still so cute though.

This weekend was great! Yesterday I met a lady who lives here and she took me to Mitad Del Mundo....the middle of the world!!!!! It is only about 20 minutes outside the city, so it is a perfect day trip. There is the coolest cultural museum there that has all the different regions in Ecuador and all the different customs of each....I loved it, and now I want to visit EVERY CORNER of this tiny country. Aftter the museum I did a little dancing in the middle of the world to a little bit of ecuadorian music. There is a big Crater near the Mitad Del Mundo and so we went to go take a peek....but the clouds were to heavy at this point, and so we could not see that:( However, we ate lunch at El Crater restaurant which was FABULOUS, so our trip had a very happy ending.

Today, I went to Pichincha! I woke up and it was sunny, so i hopped in a taxi and went! The weather here is very tricky....it will be cold, hot, sunny, and rainy all in one day--and foggy too. When I got my ticket I got in line and stood behind 4 people who seemed to be my age....one of whom was very good looking so I kind of researched them. Turns out they were staying at a local hostel and asked me to join them....friends for a day!!! All in all the week was good! I could have done without the chicken foot though....