Wow! It's November!

I can't believe it's already November! This semester is going by so fast. I have less than 2 weeks of classes left and then we go to the Galapagos and then the jungle and then we fly home December 5th.

Tuesday the 27th of October, I went to an orientation at a nearby orphanage so that I can help out there some. Since then, I've gone to the orphanage the past 2 Saturdays to help out. Both times I've helped out with the toddlers and have had a lot of fun. I basically get to play with the kids and since I'm there during dinner, I help feed them, too.

Thursday October 29th, the NILI professionals returned from the jungle. Kevin, John, and I went to the artisans market in Quito so John could buy some last minute things before returning to the states the next morning. While downtown, we stopped in a small shop to enjoy some colada morada and guaguas de pan (more explanation of these items to come). Thursday night, the Fischer's (the missionary family in charge of Work and Witness here in Ecuador) had a party at the Work and Witness Center for us. It was a combination get to know the Fischer's party, birthday party for Jael's first birthday, and a going away party for the Mappus' and John. We had a lot of fun eating, watching Jael, with the help of Caleb, open her gifts, playing with the balloons, and just hanging out.

Friday the Mappus' and John left for the airport and headed back to the states. This was kinda sad, because we all became kind of a little family while they were here. Also, the same day, though much later, my roommate, Carla left for Peru for a week with one of the other seminary students for a young adults event. She got back after a great trip, this past Sunday morning.

Also, on Friday, we went to the Teleferico (finally). We went up Pichincha, a volcano right next to Quito, in something like an enclosed ski lift. We were up about 5,000 ft higher than normally in Quito, so there were warning signs because of the thin air. The view of Quito and the surrounding mountains was great even though it was a little cloudy.

November 1st and 2nd are a very important holiday in Ecuador and most of Latin America, Dia de los Defunctos, or Day of the Dead. It is kind of like our Memorial Day, where people remember their deceased relatives. There are also many traditions that go with this holiday, which we were able to see and participate in. On Monday, we went to 2 cemeteries. The first was a cemetery of mostly indigenous people. Outside the cemetery there was a carnival like atmosphere with people selling flowers and decorations at increased prices along with homemade rides for kids. The cemetery was very crowded with people visiting graves. The graves were very unorganized, so that you couldn't always tell where one started and one ended. These people were cleaning and decorating the graves along with eating. It is traditionally thought that on this day, the dead can return and eat with their families. The second cemetery we went to was for mostly people of mestizo heritage or mixed Spanish and Indigenous. These people tend to be higher in social class and more educated. This cemetery was huge and much more organized. It was still very crowded, but people were only cleaning and decorating graves. No eating here. Then we went and got ingredients to make coloda morada and guaguas de pan, our project for the next day.

Tuesday was a day full of cooking. First we made colada morada and guaguas de pan. These are both foods traditionally made during the holiday. Colada morada is a drink that is made with all kinds of yummy things and is purple in color, giving it its name. Guaguas de pan are bread babies. Guagua is the word for baby or child in the indigenous language. The bread is made into the shape of babies and then decorated in a way similar to our ginger bread men. If you want to see some of the ingredients, cooking process, and finished products check out my pictures by clicking on the title of this post, "Wow! It's Novemeber!" After finishing our making (and sampling) our food, we took some to all the missionary families. During the holiday the students cook the meals at the seminary. Tuesday night, it was NILI's turn to cook. We cooked spaghetti with meat sauce, made a salad, and shared the colada morada and quaquas de pan we had made earlier.

Thursday night, we went to a soccer game! La Casa Blanca, or the White House, is near the seminary. This is the stadium of one of the countries teams, called Liga. The game was against a team from Argentina for the quarterfinals of the Latin American Cup, so it was a pretty important game. The security to get in was pretty impressive (3 checkpoints) along with a lot of police in full uniform and crowd control gear inside the stadium and on the field. At the start of the game, there were rolls of paper thrown onto the field from the stands, sparklers that flashed really brightly held by fans (just another example of lesser safety laws), and songs sung. It was really exciting! The entire game was a lot of fun with the fans singing and chanting the whole time. Argentina scored first in the 1st half. But Liga came back and won with 2 goal in the 2nd half. Great game! Though the traffic afterwards was horrible.

Friday was a slightly interesting and frustrating day. First, the power went out, though this was expected, and it was only out for an hour when we thought it would be for 4. Ecuador is in the middle of a power shortage. They use hydroelectricity to power everything. Right now, we are in the rainy season and the reservoir should be getting refilled after the dry season. But instead, it has barely rained. Not only did the season start later than it normally does, it seems to have ended, hopefully only temporarily. To deal with the power shortage they are turning power off to certain areas of the city at a time. This, of course, causes many problems, especially with traffic, since the police often aren't informed of where the power is going to be out. So, if you are wanting something to pray for, pray for rain. Ecuador desperately needs it. The second reason it was a frustrating day was that the power cord to my computer decided to die. Thankfully, I have some good friends here who are willing to let me borrow theirs to get homework done and to keep in touch with people.

The tickets we bought to the soccer game on Thursday came with tickets for the game on Sunday, too. Since the game was at 11:30, we went to an early church service and then headed to the game. This game didn't end up being nearly as exciting. It was just a normal game against another team in Ecuador and they ended up tying 0-0. But we still had fun.

Monday, we started our last week of normal Spanish classes. Next week we just have group presentations followed by our final projects which are also presentations. I only have 1 day of my New Testament class left, followed by a test. I also registered for classes for next semester on Monday. I'm working on making plans for when I'm home over break. It all seems crazy! I'm going to be home before I know it. I'm looking forward to being home and seeing everyone I miss, especially Dallas, and eating things that I miss. But I'm also really going to miss Ecuador.