Group after hiking Volcan Pichincha
My mom always used to ask me, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” Sorry mom, but apparently the answer to that question with the Manna group in Ecuador is… yes (but for the record, we did wear helmets). Yesterday, Zak, Craig, Seth, Annie and I jumped off a bridge in Baños, Ecuador. One hundred meters over a gorgeous river that is nestled between two lush, green cordilleras covered with waterfalls, each of us took a turn to literally dive off a bridge. The ropes attached to our harnesses caught us after about two seconds of freefall and gently swung us to the opposite side - like a giant swing. I might have cried at the top of the bridge I was so afraid (as did Annie), but valió la pena (it was well worth it).
The bridge-jumping was a nice celebration of our completion of month one in Ecuador. Since we arrived 30 days ago, we’ve finished four weeks of language school in Quito, lived with Ecuadorian families, found a house, bought furniture, appliances, etc. for the house, started volunteering with UBECI, learned the basic steps for both salsa and merengue, planned our opening ceremony in San Francisco (scheduled for Monday October 15th when we start leading classes), learned how to cook several traditional Ecuadorian meals, and have (almost) figured out the complicated bus system in Quito. Oh yeah, and Hilary even got her appendix removed in a nice Ecuadorian hospital about a week ago (she’s recovering quickly from surgery and is feeling much better now).
Our house, now with pretty brick-red paint in the dining room on the first floor, is about 35 minutes outside of Quito in a quiet, charming little town called Conocoto. Complete with a central plaza, a beautiful Latin-style church, and several small bakeries and produce stores, Conocoto is about 15 minutes away from San Francisco and Santa Isabel, where we will be teaching classes. Our house has an incredible roof-top terrace with a 360 degree view of the Andes mountains (including snow-topped Cotopaxi, the second highest peak in Ecuador standing at 20,000 ft!). We buy our food at local open-air markets and are currently in the process of building shelves and planning a house-warming party for our Ecuadorian friends and new neighbors (it’s tomorrow!).
For more stories and photos, check out our personal blogs (links can be found at http://mpiecuador.blogspot.com.
Thanks for reading! Abrazos y besos all around.
Chao,
Abbie
Craig and John playing musical chairs with kiddos at UBECI
John on top of La Basilica, overlooking Quito
Zak painting with kids at UBECI's market program
Me, Annie and Hilary before zip-lining over the jungle in Mindo
At one of the markets where we buy food
Group shot in Mindo
Craig jumping off the waterfall and me cheering him on!
Annie dominating at keep-away
Mark and Craig with the wine and cheese we bought to celebrate our first purchased furniture for the house (plastic table and chairs for the rooftop).
