Annalise at the mission

Annalise getting ready to feed Aspen, the mission horse 

Annalise playing at the mission pond

Sister Julia brought out a colander for Annalise to catch fish with

Another day at the river

Annalise and her friend, Paula

Notice the woman washing clothes on the other side of the river 

A lizard that Annalise noticed on the hand rail of the footbridge

Three Landys missing Kate

Kate returned to Tacoma to work at Tacoma Family Medicine.  She was gone for 11 days which included two days travel on both ends of her journey.     We missed her and are happy and relieved that she is home with us.    While she was gone we had Father Jorge over for dinner one night.

Emmett and his buddies

Emmett and his friend Ismael, who has 2 sugar cane stalks tied to his bike  

Emmett and his buddies, Isamel, Joel, Anthony, Leechi and Kevin.   Who is the gringo? 

A Saraguro woman walking a cow in front of our apartment building

Annalise with yet another hair braid style 

Emmett chasing a "choncho" (pig) before daddy told him not to

Annalise walking across the footbridge with one of her schoolmates

La Ronda pictures

La Ronda is the street surrounding the colonial Central Plaza in Quito

Welcome home gift for Kate (ssh, it's a surprise)

A "Welcome" sign in Otavalo (written in Queshua, indigenous language that Annalise and Emmett are learning in school)

 

A few days in Guadelupe pictures

Emmett, Annalise and friends playing at the river

Salome, Annalise and Emmett crossing the footbridge over the big river on the way to the swim river

Mercedes, the women who teaches Kate and Annalise how to bead jewelry, braided Annalise's hair

Church decorated for St. Teresita Novena prayers

Salome likes to braid Annalise's hair

Emmett, Salome and Annalise at the river swimming

a few days in Guadalupe

Kate has returned to Tacoma and we very much miss her.    The routine of school, playing and church helps, though.     The week started with a bang.   On Monday evening, two extremely loud firecrackers went off very close to our apartment.    We've grown accustomed to how different life is here from home and while the firecrackers were startling, I was not surprised.    Walking to the river the next day,  Emmett and Annalise's eleven year old friend, Salome, answered my question about the loud noise from the night before.    The firecrackers are part of the celebration of St. Teresita.   St. Teresita is the patron saint of the Hermanas Teresita, the order of nuns living and working at the Catholic mission.      We are in the midst of a nine days of Novena prayers.     On Tuesday night, Annalise and I went to the service at the smaller church located in the center of Guadalupe.    Emmett played soccer with his buddies in the "concha", or enclosed athletic court, also located in the center of town.    During the service  Annalise sat with Salome and some girlfriends and I sat nearby.   Of course, there were prayers and music.   A Sister (nun) spoke about the challenges for girls and young women living in Africa, where she also served as a missionary.    I am grateful that Annalise has the opportunity to live and feel welcomed among devout women who are committed to their community, family and service.   The church was filled with mostly women and Sister Julia presided over the service.    Salome was among many who recited prayers during the service.    The church was filled with many familiar faces and women whom we interact with regularly: two shopkeepers, Angelita (who cooks lunch for us) sang in the choir and the women who Kate works with at the mission clinic.   Before the service church music on loudspeakers which could be heard throughout the center of town  (this music can be heard during the first video of Emmett playing soccer).     On the next night the choir guitarist played some music at the concha while socializing and watching the local boys play soccer.    I am grateful that the community of Guadalupe warmly accepts us

La Ronda

On Friday night we went down to La Ronda, a famous street in old town Quito that houses work space for lots of artisans, and that comes alive with music and restaurants on weekend nights.  It is kind of a hot spot for going out on weekends, and we wanted to see what it was like.

The thing about old town Quito is that it has looked very much the same for hundreds of years.  It is apparently the most well-preserved Spanish colonial old town in the world.  For that reason, it is a UNESCO world heritage site.  You can walk around and almost imagine people in colonial clothes walking around.  It's pretty great.

We got hungry and had dinner at a restaurant in La Ronda.  We decided to go for some traditional Ecuadorean food.  John and I ordered stewed goat with rice and potatoes, and the kids had the most enormous cheese empanada in the world.  It was the empanada that ate New York.

I also ordered a traditional hot drink called "morocho," which is slightly sweet and made of milk and soft corn.  It was a little bit like drinking thin rice pudding -- it was pretty good.
The kids got a traditional form of hot chocolate that was to die for -- nice and thick and chocolatey, but not overly sweet.  It was a really fun evening.

La Ronda at night

And here are a few more shots of old town Quito -- just to give you the flavor of it.  It is famous for incredibly ornate churches (in many of which you are not allowed to take photos).

Spanish colonial architecture

Now a museum, this building functioned as a hospital for 450 years

The chapel inside the old hospital

This hill is called "El Panecillo," or the little loaf of bread

Old Quito rooftops

One of many churches in Old Town