After leaving the Jungle we climbed higher and higher through the valley of Baeza until we reached Cosanga, where were met by Don Marco, the owner of a beautiful vacation home on the slopes of Vulcan Antisana. He told us the house was built in an exact location where positive and negative charges from the hemispheres cancel each other out and time comes to a stop. We're not sure if it is true, but we sure did sleep well in this beautiful house. The next morning we left to reunite with our friends from Liceo Del Valle, but before we arrived in Quito we stopped at a Hot Spring and enjoyed the soothing and calming theraputic waters. Ahhh! Talk about a relaxing way to go back up to 10,000 feet.
Yesterday was our first day running the Friendship camp. All the children were so excited to see us. They were entertained by games of futbol, basketball, pictionary, and all sorts of language games. The Friendship camp team poured all there energy into the day and the result was a lot of fun and excitement. The camp continues through Thursday, so as we move through the week the students will be tweaking the program to make it better each day.
The students are enjoying their homestay experience. Harrison's first words when we regrouped were, "homestays are the best part of the trip". He went on to say that he had great conversations and was happy that his family are runners so that he may get the chance to start training for the upcoming running season.
Carol was happy to be in a comfortable home and extended her language skills the best she could during the homestay.
Sarah was excited to be with a smaller group and enjoy living like an Ecuadorian
Will is eating up this experience. We don't think he stopped moving once yesterday with the children. He was also one of the first to jump up to help serve lunch at the restaurant. He speaks Spanish when ever possible, even when he knows the Ecuadorians he is speaking to can understand English.
Karen was a star during our big group games. She explained rules in Spanish to over 70 campers, translated when ever needed and used her strong voice to get the message across.
Chris taught in the art department and was very helpful with his creative ideas.
Clarissa was also in the art department and loved working with the kids.
Joe had a big vision of the camp and became the all around coordinator. He made sure we all stayed on a schedule.
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