Another Great Weekend!! :)

Lots to talk about from Thursday through Sunday so here we go!

Thursday evening CEDEI had a program at one of the malls in Cuenca with both children from the school and students at CEDEI Central. So many families and others were there watching it was really neat. The Segundo de Basica class (1^st grade in the states) did a super cute dance and Septimo de Basica (6^th grade in the states) sang a song that one of the children wrote. It was so fun. A couple classes at CEDEI Central did a song or skit including the fall semester students. They did a play about what it is like to study abroad including living with a host family, learning Spanish, and just going different places in Ecuador. It was absolutely hilarious because it was all so true; it was exactly what we have experienced! Being at this program made it really hit me that we are not going to be here much longer and I will never see these people ever again. It was very bittersweet. Earlier in the day I had been so ready to come home but being in this setting made me sad my time here is almost over!

Some of the kiddos all dressed up and ready to dance!

Septimo de Basica singing at the CEDEI program!

On Friday before class we had a tour of the Panama Hat Factory in Cuenca. They make lots of neat hats there of all different shapes and sizes. The tour wasn’t really much of a tour though and there really wasn’t a whole lot that they showed us so that was a bummer. I don’t think this factory is very big, though. Maybe they have another one somewhere that is bigger? I’m not sure. This factory is actually owned by the host family of two of the other Whitewater girls here. There were lots of hats there to buy from anywhere between $15 and $500 depending on the tightness of the weave. The cheaper hats take 2 days to make and the toquilla straw is thicker but the more expensive ones use thinner straw and take 3-4 months to make! I had already bought a hat so I didn’t buy one but some of the other girls found some really cute ones. (Then there were also some crazy ones that we tried on.)

A huge hat hanging in the entrance of the Panama Hat Factory.

All the hats to choose from!

A bunch of different hats in the stages of being woven.

 

 

 

 

 

A dress made out of toquilla straw like the hats.

Isn't the huge hat the perfect size for Ash?!

The whole crew with our hats on the roof of the factory.

We had our last dance class this week so that was sad. I had one of the people at CEDEI come in and take pictures and videos for me though so I will be able to teach everyone my moves when I get home! Our supervisor from Whitewater, Dr. DeVore, is here now so she came to dance class with us too! We went out for supper after class and it was a fun time.

Watch out for our moves! :)

Saturday morning was the morning we have all been waiting for since the first week we arrived in Cuenca…we finally got to go ziplining. One of the directors mentioned it to us as a possible weekend activity during our first week here and we have been so excited for it ever since. It was definitely worth the wait and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The weather had been awful for over a week and we were all really nervous it would rain but we woke up to a bright, sun-shiny morning. It was warm and a perfect day to go ziplining. There were 6 lines and it wasn’t any big extravagant course but can’t beat what we got for $8!! The first few lines were not very big or high up and that was perfect to start out. We got all geared up and the guide explained to us what we had to do and then it was time to go. When he asked who wanted to go first no one really sure they wanted to so I jumped up on the platform and headed on my way. It was amazing! So fun!!! By the end the lines got much longer and higher up and it was such a rush. On the last line I got to go with one of the guides so I got to fly like superman instead of going down in a sitting position. It was a blast! We were able to get some good pictures and videos even. I am so glad we were able to do that and would love to do it again!

Geared up and ready to go!

Here I go! The first line!

That´s me in the center coming in at the end of one of the lines.

After lunch on Saturday we decided to go on the double-decker bus tour of Cuenca. We tried to do it last weekend but got rained out so we thought we might as well try again. Dr. DeVore, her husband, Bill (our culture professor), and his wife all met up with us for the tour, too. It had been a beautiful morning all morning but it was after lunch so it of course had to get cloudy out and as soon as we sat on the bus and paid for the tour it started raining; just our luck! It rained throughout the entire tour but we were insistent we were staying on the top of the bus because what fun is it to sit inside a bus where you can’t see anything? Don’t worry we got soaked even with our raincoats and umbrellas but it was all about the experience! Haha  There were parts of the tour where the bus made a siren noise to warn us of low electrical lines ahead that we had to duck for. That was interesting with umbrellas, especially the first time they did it when we had no idea what was going on. Gotta love the experience! We were super bummed it rained because it definitely put a damper on the number and quality of pictures we were able to take. It stopped raining briefly when we got to Turi, though, so that was nice. Turi is a church on the side of the mountain that overlooks all of Cuenca. It was beautiful! Cuenca is huge and you could see everything. A little bit of a bummer of a tour but we got to see a little more of Cuenca nonetheless. Oh, and don’t worry, it stopped raining and the sun came back out as soon as we got off the bus…

The cathedral in the middle of the city that I absolutely love!

The street that we walk down to get to class every day.

This is one of the places our family took us during Fiestas de Cuenca.

Just 1/3 of the city from Turi. It was beautiful just too bad it wasn't sunny.

Aimee and I trying to stay dry on the top of the bus

Off to the market we went after the tour (of course!). I think some of the people at the market see us coming and we make their day! They honestly know us now and we do get laughed at on occasion when we go to the same stand 2 days in a row. That’s not over-doing it, is it? haha We love to shop and why wouldn’t you when everything is so cheap? Where else can you get a cute scarf for $2.50? Can’t beat it! Now, I know some of you are probably getting concerned about how I am going to get all of this stuff home but have no fear, I will manage! Don’t forget about the suitcase I brought school supplies in which was empty for me to fill. I may be wearing layers and have pockets filled on the airplane but it will all make it home!

We were all cold, wet, and tired so we opted to just have a movie night at Ashley and Jenny’s instead of doing anything extravagant. Their new family is so sweet! The dad absolutely loved having us there; he ate it up. They even made all of us supper, which we did not ask for or expect. The girls didn’t have a very good experience with their first host family but I think this one is making up for it.

Sunday was another day with our families. Our dad is away on another business trip so it was just our mom and younger sister this weekend. Our plan was to go to a little fair-type thing because our sister wanted to do rides and such but when we got there I guess they had taken it down. I’m not sure if it was just a temporary thing or why it wasn’t there but our sister was definitely bummed. Off we headed to a flower exhibition at the airport in Cuenca instead. There was a contest of different plants and flowers and there were some beautiful arrangements! I would have loved to have bought some of the flowers when we were done but that obviously wasn’t possible. It was neat to see all the different flowers from different countries, though. There was even a small section from the United States but it wasn’t too exciting compared to the other flowers. From there our mom took us to the mall in Cuenca, Mall del Rio, as a replacement stop for the fair. It was all decorated for Christmas and there were Christmas things all over; it made me very excited. There was a very pretty Christmas tree in the middle of the mall. Overall the mall was very similar to a nice, two-story mall in the states. We didn’t do any shopping but it was neat to see what a mall was like comparatively. There was a Toyota exhibit outside of the mall today and they were doing demonstrations of how good a Prius handles so they were letting people ride with a driver through a small course of cones and such where two cars were driving like crazy. It was fun to watch but it would have made me sick if I rode in the car. We were home in time for lunch so it was a nice little morning with the girls.

Part of Mall del Rio where our host mom took us.

Some of the flowers at the exhibit

A few of the neat arrangements

Aimee and I of course headed to the hippy market this afternoon because we had nothing else to do and why waste time sitting around when you’re in Ecuador?! We don’t even bat an eye over the 45 minute walk to the center anymore because it is just so routine for us. We barely even got rained on today so it was well worth the walk!

The Christmas tree in Mall del Rio. Whitewater colors just for us!

It has been another great weekend in Ecuador. I can’t believe we only have two weeks left until we come home! We only have one more weekend in Cuenca because we leave for Guayaquil the following Saturday. There is still so much to do! We better get busy!!