Walking Water

On Wednesday we met at the park to fill our jugs with water. We were going to fill up with water at the park and then walk up to school carrying our water. It was up hill most of the way. It was kind of hard carrying the water because it was up hill. At the start the water didn't feel very heavy but by the time we got the top of the hill my shoulders were starting to get tired from carrying the backpack. We got to school and measured our water. I had carried 2 gallons. For extra credit I decided to bike home carrying my water. It was uphill for half of the way home. Carrying and biking my water made me very grateful for running water, that I can just turn on a tap to get.

My Visit With Rosa Day 3 (Final Day)

Today was my last day with Rosa. I had to get on a plane and go back home. I woke up early and went outside to see a man walking past on the street, leading a cow that he was taking to market. He stopped to talk to me and I learned that he had raised the cow and was going to sell it that day at the market. Then he would buy another calf to raise and sell and buy food and cloths with what was left over of the money from selling the cow. After that I had breakfast which consisted of some hot chocolate and a croissant (Spanish influence there). After breakfast I wandered down to the market where the man said he would be selling his cow. Rosa couldn't come because she had to work. I had arrived in Ecuador on Friday night and met Rosa on Saturday morning, and now it is Monday so she had to work. As the man had said he was at the market auctioning off his cow. He was speaking very fast in Spanish and I couldn't understand anything that he was saying but after I few minutes I could tell that his cow had been sold to a man in front. After I watched the man sell his cow I started to wander around the market. I smelled someone cooking food. I followed the smell and found a short women cooking some stew and rice. She told me that it was meat stew and that it was good. That was what I had for lunch. It was very good despite the fact that I could not figure out what kind of meat it was. After that I went back to Rosa's house, packed up my bag and got on the bus to go back to the airport in the capital. I was surprised to find Rosa at the bus station to see me off. I was sad to leave because I had only had a few days in Ecuador and felt that I hardly got to see any of it. I got on the bus and rode back to Quito, where the international airport was. When I got to the airport I was surprised. It had been dark when I had flown in, so I hadn't noticed how close the airport was to a mountain. The takeoff was quite scary because we took off and climbed steeply until we were over the mountain. The last of Ecuador I saw was a brilliant sunset over the Andes Mountains.

The airport in Quito

My Visit With Rosa Day 2

After a good nights rest I woke up early this morning and got to see the sunrise. It was an amazing orange color with a purple sky. For breakfast we had some kind of meat soup over rice. After breakfast we went to one of Rosa's Friend's houses to watch her weave. It is amazing that the Ecuadorians can weave so well. They have hardly any tools. They make a loom out of four sticks stuck into the ground and then the push the yarn back and forth to weave with a tool made of bone. For lunch we walked around town and found a empanada stand. Rosa said that they were good so I tried one. It turned out that they were some sort of meat and or cheese wrapped in dough and baked. They were really good. After lunch we went down the street to where a man was performing some music. He was blowing on something that looked like a lot of flutes tied together. Rosa told me that it was pan pipes, a common and traditional instrument in Ecuador. Again we had Ceviche for dinner and I went to bed early.

The sunrise

                             
                                      This is what the music the man was playing sounded like

My Visit with Rosa Day 1

I flew into Ecuador last night, but it was so late that I just went straight to my hotel and went to sleep. This morning I got up early and caught a bus to the town that Rosa lived in. It took me all morning on the bus to get there. When I got there it was just about lunch time and Rosa was waiting for me at the bus station. She took me to her smoothie and tostada store where we had smoothies and tostadas for lunch. They were the best smoothies that I had ever had. I had never had a tostada before but I liked them. A tostada is a green, unripe banana cut into thin strips, salted and fried. It was much like a potato chip in texture but it had a different flavor though it didn't taste like a banana. After that we walked down to the local market at the market there was food but what really impressed me was the crafts. The weaving was amazing. It was made with small string and knit tightly together. Some amazing images and patterns were woven into it. After that we had Ceviche for dinner. It is a dish of raw fish marinated in lemon juice and other spices. I liked it but it wasn't like anything that I had tasted before. I went to bed early because I was still tired from the plane ride the previous day.

The tostada

A small woven rug

Currency

There is no currency exchange for my country because they have adopted US dollars as their currency.

Language

In Ecuador the national language is Spanish. Here are the phrases that I would want to know if I was going to Ecuador:

1. ¿Dónde está el baño? -Where is the bathroom?

2. ¿Cuánto cuesta? -How much does it cost?

3. ¿Lo que es esta carne? -What is that meat?

4. Me llamo... - My name is...

5. Adios- Goodbye

6. Gracias-Thank you

7. ¿Habla Ingles? - Do you speak English?

8. ¿Puede ayudarme? - Can you help me?

9. Mucho gusto- Pleased to meet you

10. Por favor- Please

Transportation

I will be getting to Ecuador on a plane, then once I am there I will take a Taxi to where I am staying. After that I will walk unless it is too far, in which case I will get on a bus.