april showers

homemade carrot cakes :)

They say that here April is the rainiest month of all the year. Its actually pretty incredible how the weather here has its variations. These days I wake up to crisp clear mornings (which are a rarity here) and it will be a beautiful clear hot day until mid afternoon when the clouds roll in and we’ll have thunder, lightening and torrential rains that cause flash floods and force you to stay put where ever you are. Rains that bring the kids outside giggling and cheering, rains that knock out power poles and cell phone towers, rains that cleanse the street of dirt and trash (I’ll just pretend like I don’t know it all goes flowing into the river) and rains that bring me fresh, cloud free mornings.

We just finished the Easter celebrations. Easter is obviously a bring holiday here because of the huge majority of Catholics. Friday morning and evening there was a procession through town for the Stations of the Cross. I went with a neighbor friend Friday am and 3 hours in the blistering sun and 2 water bottles later we went to her house to eat a very traditional soup that they only make during Easter called “Fanesca”. It is a delicious, incredible soup and is made with 12 grains, each grain as a representative of an apostle. Last year at this time I was in Cayambe and with my host family we made Fanesca and they must have ruined me because the Fanesca here in Cumanda is way different and not nearly as good as it was in Cayambe! I was mildly disappointed but it was still delicious. Just goes to show how there are many faces and very distinct characteristics in tiny, little Ecuador.

The Monday after Easter is always the day when classes for the schools start up again. So being as how I recently agreed to teach 12 hours at one of the local high schools here I had to attend the “open ceremony” yesterday where they presented me to all of the students and parents. After introducing me, the director asked if I would like to share a few words. A typical Ecuadorian would’ve said yes, taken the microphone and obnoxiously ranted for about 10 minutes expressing their gratitude, their expectations, their life story etc but me, being me, hating public speaking and unprepared to give a thank you speech in Spanish, I said no and turned down the offer to speak. The director then continued to say that while I speak minimal Spanish, big words and formal greetings was something I lacked and it was for this reason I kindly declined the offer. She speaks the truth that lady.

Easter Sunday I had the opportunity to call home while the whole family was having Easter lunch at my parent’s house. It was great to be able to be able to talk to family members that I haven’t spoken with in over a year!

And as most of you know my family and a few friends recently visited me. We had an incredible trip here and I am so impressed by their dedication and patience. It was truly an honor to have all of them here, to share my daily life with them and also for them to share so much with my community. They left an incredible impact on the people here, I have had so many strangers come up to me on the street and ask me where my giant friends went and when they are coming back. Their presence here is a perfect example of how actions speak louder than words. Endless thank you’s to all of you that made this trip a possibility.

Can you believe that I am at my halfway mark here? I cannot believe how fast time has gone and even though I’m only halfway, that I still have another year, I know that this year is going to fly by. I have spent my first year struggling, learning, giving everything I can climbing up this mountain of nonsense and now its time to enjoy the descent (ha if only it were that easy).

Oh and for more exciting news, you’ll never guess what the Easter Bunny brought me this year. A beautiful new tent!! The camping trips are already in planning. In two weekends my friend and I are going camping to check out a 3 day hiking trail, which we have planned to attack in May. Time flies when you’re having fun…

Welp, that's about it from here. Sorry about the delay of updates. I’ll try and keep you updated between all of my camping trips. Take care and remember, it's a two person tent so there’s always room for one more!!