As of today we end our seventh night here in Ecuador. As the leader of the day, I was a bit nervous because I wasn’t sure how to start it off. Thanks to my fellow peers, it worked out great. We had an important speaker today to come in and talk to us about how Ecuador has changed massively. His name is Roberto Gortaire. We actually worked with him yesterday at Utopia where we worked as a local. He told us how Ecuador only started eating bread about 60 years ago since only people in Europe used to eat it. After 30 years, Ecuador started producing their own wheat but then the PL-h80 was born. This meant wheat was being imported to Ecuador by the U.S . Soon, 97% of Ecuador was filled with American wheat. This caused Ecuador to pay 250 million dollars a year in taxes just for wheat!
We took the picture above with Roberto after the presentation. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trip to a cooperative named Senor Cuy where we were going to learn about the business of raising “cuy” (guinea pigs) worked. But luckily, Fernanda (one of our GG leaders) went out of her way to bring some cuy for us to try.
Since I don’t eat meat, I did not try it. Everyone else said it tasted a lot like chicken or duck. Afterwards, we headed off to the park where we played soccer with a lovely family. Overall, today was a great day.
Shout outs:
1.Thanks for leaving me comments everyday. I love , love, love seeing them! I dint know when I can call on the 22nd, but I will let you know when I figure it out! Shout out to my family in Belgium because I know you read our blog-I love you! Thanks for following the trip :)-Helena
2.Hey mom, dad, and amber I ate cuy today! it is good and it tastes like duck. I’ve been playing a lot of soccer lately and i’m loving it. i’m starting to miss you guys 🙁 but I love you! Tomorrow i’m going to the quinoa fields so that’ll be fun. y los llamo el 22nd.- P.S
3.Amber, how did the talent show go? Love you S.Y.I.T.F lmao!-Jordan Sandoval
4. Hey mom i’m sorry I didn’t call you on Friday, I got so busy and went on a tour at a church. It was really fun. I didn’t know you actually read the blog or else I would have wrote you! I’ll try to call soon! P.S how’s Alandra? and is there no tortilleras.-Ariana Rodriguez
5, To Arjun’s mom, thanks so much for the compliment! And to mom and dad, hope you are both having a relaxing, fun week!-Marcus
6, To Arjun’s family + Alondra. I miss you! I’ll give updates about times for calling when I can. I’ve been having such an amazing time experiencing the culture. I’ve also been hydrating exceptionally well. I love you!-Arjun
7. Special shout out to Ms. Burks for giving me this opportunity to travel to Ecuador. Much love to you! And yes i’m eating well! I will also like to give thanks once again to my dad and uncle for making this trip possible. Much love to the family. Also much love to Fernanda and Hector, you guys are great and really touched my heart.-El lider del dia Christian Martinez
Hey Champ nice blog. I am really proud of you and all the Glimpsers!! That picture of you guys playing soccers reminds me Los ahuehuetes in Atenco Mexico whit all your cousins playing. What a view, blue sky and no rain !! Yeaaaahh. Cuidate mucho hijo te extranamos en casa y te amamos. Say hi to all your new friends and have fun !!!
Hola Helena!
Now that you’ve taken to eating Guinea Pig, I don’t want to hear any more comments when I prepare my delectable wine-braised rabbit (Belgian and French cuisine at its best 😉 ) A big shout out to Fernanda, who went out of her way to procure the little ‘oinkers’! We had a typical, calm Sunday. Tomorrow however, Zander and I are going to see “Jurassic World” AND “Tomorrowland”. Thank you for thinking of the ‘Belgian Contingency’. I know that Tante Martine in particular faithfully follows your exploits <3 It looks like all of you had once again a fun and interesting day. Take care! I can't wait to read tomorrow's blog. I so look forward to it each day!
Super hug!
Mom
Christian, thanks for yet another great post! Sounds like y’all went with the flow – even when you couldn’t visit the cooperative – and big thanks to Fernanda for coming through.
Very interesting and sad about the wheat situation.
Marcus, you’re most welcome 🙂
Arjun, how very very much we appreciate your daily s/o. Means the world to us to ‘hear’ directly from you. Today, I’m especially glad to hear about your hydrating!
Love, Amma
Oh and Emmanuel and company: forgot to say yesterday – very nice banana phones and smile!
Also forgot to say Warriors are up 3 games to 2 over Cavs! Raani was sad about all the fireworks.
Hi Arjun. It doesn’t feel like you’ve been gone a week. Miss you too. Alyssa says to bring her back a pet guinea pig btw. Seeing your face in these pictures makes me happier than Disneyland. That’s saying a lot because I really love Disneyland. And you of course. Have fun!!
We have already learned a lot about Ecuador. Congrats to all. Enjoy your time there Helena. Hugs from tante en Charlotte.
hola christian!!!!!!!!ojala te estes divirtiendo y aprendiendo mucho de nuestros paises y nuestras culturas…te extrano mucho mi negrito..estoy orgulloso de ti.christian martinez el lider del dia..resibe saludos de tus abuelitos!!!
Marlene, du siehst ja sehr betroffen aus. Mach die nicht zu viel draus, zumindest hast du dich getraut. Du fehlst uns schon sehr. Liebe Dich!
Unser Fluffy wurde heute gebadet und hat auch noch seine Nägel gezwickt bekommen. Er hat auch noch einen Treat Stick bekommen. Madeleine und Emma haben ihn verwöhnt.
Der Besuch fährt morgen wieder ab, und dann wird es ruhig. Julia’s Klasse fängt auch morgen an, und Emma wird zur daycare gehen.
Fiona,ab sieht wie eine sehr tolle Stadt aus. Bis bald.
Hi mama I’m glad you’re having a good time. Alondra got in touch with her parents , but didn’t say where she is. She just said she’s with some friends. Don’t worry about my tortillera just bring me something pretty!! Surprise me. Love you to the moon and back.
Hola mija, I haven’t hear from you for few days, but I can see you in some of the pics and that make me feel happy. The field looks green with a beautiful day,just perfect for a soccer game. Well mija, I hope you having a good time, take care your self, Mom,Kevin and Eric saying hi, dicen que te quieren mucho,como desde san jose asta Ecuador, tu mami pregunta que cuando nos ablas,pleeeeeas
Hey Abbie, this is Haley as you might know. I reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy miss you and i am not just saying that because sometimes it feels way too lonely here without you. I am glad you are having fun in Riobamba and it seems fun to me as well. I can’t wait until you can call us again, i would like to hear from you. The family and i miss you, are proud of you, and love you.
Your sister,
Haley
Hi Jacob it’s me mom.. Glad to see your doing good out there. I’m so proud of you & can’t wait to see you. Gio says hi..:-) Awesome job to all of you. Love reading the blogs.!
Hi jacob! We are thinking of you often and so jealous to see all that you’re experiencing! Next time take me with you lol! Love u! – -auntie
Hi Licette! So glad to hear you have been learning about the importance of sustainable agriculture! I love seeing all the pictures. Abuelita and Tata are also following the blog. It looks like you are having a great time and Riobamba looks absolutely beautiful. Did you try the Guinea Pig?!?!?!? Nala would never forgive you, hahaha 😉 Miss you so much. Love you lots!!!
Sorry I could not comment earlier! I forgot how to get to the blog, but now I am here <3. I've heard about the Guinea Pig Helena 😉 Was it totes delish??? I love to follow you on your journey! Can't wait to see tomorrow's post <3 Love you lots Laynie!!!-Zander 🙂
Hey there Marcus
We sure miss you a lot.
Looks like a great time.
Mom has her cast off and is walking again.
Hope to talk to you on the 22nd.
Christian mijo hola me dio mucho gusto saber de ti y tu experiencia en Ecuador ojala y que conoscas mucho de culturas de otro pauses saludos in fuerte abrazo tqm
Sandhu
Looks like you are the goalie at the far end.
Patti was thrilled to hear that you were out and about @ 5:30 picking vegetables from the farm. Reminded her of her days in India many decades ago. Those plantains are ‘nethrankai’; perfect for making chips 🙂 Enjoy.
Nice of Fernanda to bring some Guinea Pig and awesome of the kids to try it.
Food & Sports – sounds like my kind of day! Katie did you eat some Guinea Pig?
Thank you for the great blogs and photos!
We love you Erica and Maddie!
The Warriors are the NBA Champions!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
CHRISTIAN!!! I’m so proud of you I could burst! Look at you, getting over nervousness and leading!!(lol-am I embarrassing you yet bc that is totally my goal). In all seriousness, thank you for the shout out- I am so glad you are having this opportunity. Also, I’m super excited to now research more about wheat in Ecuador… there will definitely be a case study in APES next year on this topic thanks to your post. And I’m sorry you had to be the leader on a day in which guinea pigs were eaten (which I also didn’t know about) – sounds like not the greatest for a vegetarian. Ps: I hope you went on that run they mentioned the other day and saw cool stuff!
Yo Christian ! It was awesome reading about your experience of being el lider del dia, brought back memory’s about how I felt on my trip haha. Keep making the most of everyday on the trip it sounds like a blast!
Maddie,
We love you so much. Hanna and I spent weekend in NYC. Sorry I missed your call I was in the 9/11 Memorial crying again but I did go into the “room” and cried a bit more.
Love you!!!
Mama Anne