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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.   photo 2 (7)

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.

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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