Happy 4th of July!

It was very strange to be in a different country and have the 4^th of July pass like any other day. Lucky for us, one of the host families remembered our special holiday and threw us a party! We went to the hotel that they own in a neighboring town (Imbara). We had a pool party, “American” music (songs sung in English), hotdogs, beer, and Oreos. I didn’t realize how much I missed hotdogs until I had one last night! The family even put up red white and blue streamers for us; they were very thoughtful. At the end of the night they brought out sparklers and small fireworks. A perfect celebration!

My friend Kelly next to our ´Merica decorations

Day two of teaching was much better than the first! This was the first time I have ever had the opportunity to teach on my own (without a teaching partner or mentor teacher). I was amazed that everything went according to plan. We went over the difference of “I like (something)” vs. “I like to (action),” corrected sentences they wrote last week, then played a soccer review game using these sentences. The kids loved it – several of them were yelling “One more minute!” when I announced that class was over. It was a nice confidence booster to hear that!

    

I like...

The amazing soccer game.

After class today we went to see the Condor House and La Lechero. A Condor is a type of vulture. The Andean Condor is found only in the Andes Mountain regions, and is frequently seen in Ecuador. They were amazing to see up-close (and rather ugly/creepy too). Other birds are also housed there. We saw a gorgeous Bald Eagle, several other hawk-like birds, and many owls.

Condor - it had a huge wingspan! 

This was a really large, funny looking bird
that just had 16 babies!

The House is on top of a small mountain, so the views from the top were amazing. From here, we could easily see the “Heart of Imbabura.” Imbabura and Cotacachi are the two volcanoes surrounding the town of Otavalo (where we are staying).  Imbabura is called the “Father mountain” and Cotacachi the “Mother mountain.” If you look at the picture of Imbabura below, a heart-shaped crater is located toward the right side, facing the direction of Cotacachi. Legend has it that this is Imbabura’s heart, and that the Father mountain is giving his heart to the Mother mountain.

If you look closely you can see the heart shape in the right side.

Me next to the heart!

In the valley between the two volcanoes is a sacred tree named El Lechero. This tree is said to have grown out of the love of the two mountains, and when cut it bleeds milk; hence the name “Lechero.” (Leche = milk. I think that it’s probably just sap…) Many couples have carved their names into the tree trunk, because it is said that this is the tree of true love. 

El Lechero, with Lago San Pablo in the background.

This weekend we are traveling to Intag, where there is a large coffee plantation. There we will have the opportunity to see how coffee is grown and harvested, and taste many varieties. When we come back, week two of teaching commences!