(Advanced warning: this post is long, and written mostly for the benefit of parent's of Vanderbilt Spring Breakers: continue at your own risk!)

Dunc and I just got back from the Quito airport after dropping off our 9 wonderful spring breakers. Before I crawl back into bed to catch up on some of the sleep that's been sorely missed this week, here's a recap of the past 3 days for those who are interested. Pictures to follow later today, as I snagged a camera card and uploaded Alaina's before she left. Thanks girl!

Wednesday:
In the morning we headed out to parque Moya, the big park at the edge of Conocoto, to lay in the grass and plan out the children's English class they would be running that afternoon. Another almuerzo in Conocoto and a quick stop at the local dvd shop later, we were back on the bus (oh the constant busses) headed out to the community. Our afternoon was filled with Apoyo Escolar, Children's English (they talked about their favorite hobbies; gotta love creative college students), working in the library space (major props to Michelle for constructing the computer table!), and hitting up every tienda in search of a good Magnum ice cream bar.

Wednesday evening we were invited (thanks to Seth's awesome networking skills) for tea and a light supper at a local hacienda, a place we Program Directors have walked by every day since July but never been inside the grounds. And what an experience it was. Needless to say, after getting a tour of the grounds, meeting all 24 polo horses, seeing the two polo fields, walking through their private chapel, and sitting in awe under their chandeliers from Prague as their cooks made fresh empanadas, choclo pasta, and homemade cheesecake, we felt like we were in a completely different world. As if, by walking through the gates, we had passed through the wardrobe and were now in Narnia. The place was ridiculous, the family's hospitality was wonderful, and it definitely sparked some great conversations later that evening.

We rounded out the evening at a local restaurant in downtown Quito which featured a live Ecuadorian blues band; Manna is nothing if not cultural!

Thursday:
Another bright and early wake-up call. All 11 of us headed out the door, weekend bags packed, at 8 am to make our way to the base of Pichincha, the large volcano which stands sentinel over downtown Quito and is accessible via the teleferico, a gondola. After riding up, hiking around, taking a horseback ride to a little-seen waterfall, and standing in awe of the immensity that is the city of Quito, we sped over to the terminal and climbed on board for our 4 hour bus ride out to Banos, Ecuador.

We checked in to our rockin' hostel (free internet! a roof-top patio!), changed our clothes, and walked over to my favorite restaurant in Ecuador, Casa Hood. 3 hours, 5 smoothies, 11 amazing dinners and countless laughs later, we reluctantly left Casa Hood and walked back to our hostel, only to remember the top floor terrace. Places like that stimulate wonderful conversation (and a fair share of hilarity), and our Thursday ended with both.

Friday:
After convincing a few of the girls that it really was easy to remember how to ride a bike, we aimed our wheels towards the river route and spent the morning biking through the forested Andes Mountains: over bridges, through tunnels, along the river and past waterfalls in some of the most beautiful mountains South of the Equator. A long hike down led us to Pablon del Diablo, an enormous waterfall we were able to climb up and behind thanks to a new tunnel completed this past October. We rejuvenated ourselves with french fries, ice cream and cokes (maybe not the best combination) before treking back up the mountain, grabbing a couple of trucks, and riding back up to Banos for lunch. Massages, shopping, exploring and soaking up the Andean sun made our afternoon fly by, and before long we were back on the bus headed home.

Our spring break cook, Elida, had a wonderful costal meal waiting for us when we got back, and after pushing together three dining room tables, all 20 of us sat down together for our last dinner with Vanderbilt. Over at the apartment the girls packed, showered, and loaded me up with all the extra food and magazines they couldn't fit in their suitcases: Melissa, those yogurt covered pretzels are AMAZING!!! Yet another of the countless reasons I adore them.

So there you have it. One spring break week down, 2 to go. Dunc and I are pleased to report that no one got sick, hurt, or lost, and right now their plane is taking off from the airport with full numbers in perfect condition. We probably have a few ulcers, but so it goes :)

Best,
Holly

Museum Adventures with Vanderbilt

Tuesday

We started the day with a late morning, homemade french toast, and english class lesson-planning while piled on the couches. After Dunc headed in to Quito to pick up our banos tickets for this Thursday, Alaina, Kira and I stopped by the local venta to pick up supplies for the evening's fruit salad (for some reason our cook came to the house at 8:30am to start dinner preparations and clean the bathrooms...apparently she thinks she needs to invest a lot of time to make us clean/well fed) and walk around Conocoto a little bit.

Everyone was out the door by 1, posters and glue and paintbrushes in hand in order to advertise for the upcoming teen center/library grand opening concert on our way to the Casa Barrial. After a few rough starts (not a good idea to try and paste a poster to a wall with severely chipping paint flakes), we got the hang of it, which will come in handy tomorrow during round two.

At 2 we met with the 14 students from my art class for a really special field trip to the Guayasamin art museum in downtown Quito. After piling all 25 of us (and Mafe's dog, for reasons we're still not quite sure of) into a far-too-small van, we were on our way... first to Conocoto to trade up the van size, then through the maze that is downtown Quito, and finally to the top of a far hill and the base of the museum's grounds.

The museum itself was a force of emotion. As it was my third time visiting, I expected the waves of emotions to hit me with a little less force, and yet each visit is an island unto itself, an experience encapsulated in the present and incredible unto itself. Walking through the museum with my students, who just last Thursday studied Guayasamin in class and created their own interpretations of his works, and listening to their responses to our guide's questions and their enthusiasm for what they were seeing was indescribably wonderful. And it was even sweeter to experience it with the Vanderbilt girls.


After a long bus ride back (made worse by the expulsion of all the pent-up energy the kids had kept a cap on during the museum), most of the girls headed home with Dunc, while Alaina, Kira and I (my two new fabulous cohorts!) headed up to the church for women's exercise, an hour that left us aching in the legs and wondering how Serena does it 3 times a week.

I just left the group up on the roof around a bon fire, roasting marshmallows, making smores, and dissecting their time down here thus far. Such rich conversation, challenging questions, and positive discussions we've had so far, I can't wait to see where the rest of the week goes. And (big news!) Dunc and I still love each other! We haven't fought yet! Best co-leaders ever :)

Until tomorrow,
Holly

Exploring Quito with Vanderbilt

Spring Break: Monday

While Sunday was the Vanderbilt spring break group's first official day, I spent Sunday en route from the states (as you know from my whining yesterday) and so joined the crew officially today. 7am found me on our "new" Manna bike riding down to the local bakery for some fresh bread for breakfast, soaking up the most beautiful Ecuadorian morning I've seen in a long time.

After breakfast, we all headed out the door, hopped on a few busses, and ended up at the base of the basillica, one of the most famous and beautiful churches in downtown Quito. We climbed (for what seemed like ages) up into the very top spires and soaked in the views, then made our way over to Plaza del Gobierno (which I'm referring to as Plaza of the Government because I can't pull the actual name, which I'm sure Craig will supply for me in the comments), timing it just right to catch the changing of the guard. After getting our fill of the plazas, and witnessing a strange parade/protest with rottweilers and pit bulls, we spent a good hour wandering through the artesan market in the mariscal, where the girls got to practice their bargining skills.

After grabbing a typical almurezo across the street, we headed out to the Valle for our afternoon of programs (Apoyo & Children's English) and a walking tour of the community, then swung by the house for a few minutes of downtime before heading back out for dinner at Jenny and Alfredo's house, a local couple who Dunc and Eliah know well from the small business class.

Overall it was one of those Ecuadorian days where as you walk back to the house at night and think about what you did that morning, it feels like 3 days has passed between. Welcome to the chaos that is spring break! We couldn't be more excited.

Holly

And We're Back

After 2 flights en route to Durham, North Carolina, 2 five hour trips to the Smokey Mountains, 1 blown out rear windshield, 1 6am flight to St. Louis, 1 5 hour road trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1 wild wedding weekend ride, 1 11 hour road trip back up to St. Louis, and 3 flights back down to Ecuador, I am glad to say the travel is done and the blog is back.

Well, the travel is done until this Thursday when Dunc and I take our Vanderbilt spring break group to Banos, and the blog is back in the sense that most posts this week will be written in sleep-deprived stupors late at night...but at least progress is being made. No camera yet, so I might resort to posting pictures I find on the internet, otherwise you'll just be left with my words and we all know those can get old quick :)

Dana and I are currently both on our computers in my room (she's moved in for the spring break weeks so that the college kids can have the apartment to themselves), and everyone else is sound asleep. Apparently today's Minga at Alinambi went exhausting-ly well, and also apparently buying enough food from markets for spring break requires a truck bed. Oh the joys.

Welcome, March. Time for another monthly update...the first of the new year. Coming soon, I really do promise.

Holly

Recap

Sorry for the extended absence; instead of dwelling on the expected excuses (We're so busy! The afternoon thunderstorms have knocked out our internet! Holly forgot to post something.... again...), I'm just going to jump into highlights from the week. It has been an exceptionally packed one, even in MPIE terms.

Sunday: We hosted a dinner party for Mafe's family at our house, cooking up a Tex-Mex fiesta even the most pica-adverse (pica = spicy) Ecuadorian's could enjoy. It still confuses me how much the Ecuadorians in our circle despise spicy foods. Since everything lacked any spice of any sort, the collection of spices for us gringos on the table was prolific, to say the least :)

On a rather depressing note, my beautiful camera Cecilia (please just humor me that it's normal to name electronic devices) was stolen out of my backpack while Eliah and I were at markets shopping for the evening's feast. The daily photographs will be lacking for the next few posts until I can figure out an alternative. Sad news all around, but that's how it goes I suppose.

Monday: Another stellar team meeting, productive day at Apoyo and Children's English, and a hysterical evening at women's exercise. Jocelyn and I set up a circuit training rotation, something the women had never seen, and we suffered through each station together. Considering that all 7 women in my group got up together and "went to the bathroom" right before we got to station 5, push-ups, they figured out ways to manipulate the system.

Thursday: Children's Art was an...experience. We studied Jackson Pollock and his splatter, drip, and pouring techniques before beginning our own. Each student mixed their own paint color (how Alexis, the most machismo guy in the class, ended up with bubble gum pink is still bothering me) and "took turns" splattering (read: throwing) it onto the butcher paper on the floor. Taking turns quickly turned into everyone throw the paint at the same time while Alexis dumps enormous pink piles of paint everywhere, but eh, at least it was fun. Hopefully they'll remember some of it! Dana's mom and brother came to class, too, which was awesome, and once I get a hold of the video they shot I'll be sure to post it.

Friday: We all headed to our respective destinations for Carnival: I hopped on a plane to the states (where this missive comes from), Jos and Serena braved the mud-pit streets on a bus headed to Canoa (the coast), Seth headed down to Argentina, and Dunc and Eliah went somewhere for a 4 day backpacking trip. Posting will be a little light this week as well, but when I get some news from Ecuador I'll be sure to share some choice anecdotes.

~Holly