Hola, familia back home!
Today was a great day! After breakfast, we started on the 4-hour bus ride to Riobamba. During the bus ride, we witnessed beautiful scenery, including farmland, cows, a llama, street vendors, and colorful graffiti. The houses built into the mountainside are beautiful and colorful, and are reminiscent of Brazilian favelas. Every object or person we passed by just added to our collective first impressions of Ecuador. The infrastructure is great. Simple family homes made of concrete line the roads. Today is Sunday, which means there was not a lot of auto traffic. We arrived at our hostel safely and on schedule. The staff here at the Hostal Primavera is so nice!
In the afternoon, we had our favorite activity of the day – learning indigenous dances! A local dance troupe taught us various cultural dances from all over Ecuador. My favorite was seeing the boys get to boogie down while rocking alpaca fur chaps! Jason, Drake, Ricardo, and Memo were all smiles and really seemed to enjoy the dance. Zandra, Paloma, Joan May, Carolina, and Lluvia looked beautiful in their indigenous skirts and danced their hearts out!
Today’s question of the day was, “How can you make the most out of every single day in Ecuador?” I think the way the group approached today’s activities gave our answer. All the students were open-minded, willing to try new things, approached tasks with energy and passion, and above all else, had fun!!! The students are having a great time getting to know each other. They’re all laughs and enjoy playing ice-breakers with each other. We look forward to an amazing trip with this all-star delegation!
Seems like the kids had lot of fun on Day 1.
Is there a way to view the Photos in a larger format?
HI Paloma!! Its Tia B, we missed you today since we came over for a carne asada.. I seen your pic, you look like a native dancing away… Anyways, I hope you are really taking it all in as you are blessed to have this opportunity! Take lots of pics, listen a lot, and take in your experience as this will be a true treasure of life!
Love you and miss you.. xxOxxxOOOoooXXX
Beatriz
Congratulations to all who Are there…. And thank you very much for sharing those excellent photos🤗 I am happy and very proud to see how my daughter Is there knowing new people and new cultures😊…. I love You LLUVIA ❤
Wow! What a great experience! Thanks for the update.
We love you, Francesca. Take lots of pictures. We can’t wait to hear your stories!
R, MG, S, and M. 🙂
Palomita! It’s great to bare witness to the wonderful experiences you are having via the blog. I have great news to share from Chiang! f you have time to call me on your free time, if not, no worries…relax and enjoy this transformative experience!
Love ya!
mom
Ricky nice dance moves! Hope you’re enjoying the trip.
Hola 🙋 lluvia día #2 en ese viaje tan esperado por ti.. aún recuerdo cuando pediste permiso para viajar ahí..tu carita llena de emosión por saber si tendrías la oportunidad de conoser Ecuador.. Grasias a Dios 😇🙏👼 lo lograste échale ganas y disfruta mucho esta experiencia única por ahora… Te amo Lluvia❤ y aun que te extraño mucho estoy feliz por ti🤗
Thanks for the update and for sharing the great pictures! The kids sure are having fun.
Hi Shalini, hope you are having a good time and learning new things about the culture and people of Ecuador.
So glad to see you are enjoying there Shrisa.
Make this your one of the life changing experience 🙂
We all miss you here
S L M A B
Hola Richard!
Deseo que estés pasando contento estos días de nuevas experiencias.
Y haciendo nuevos amigos y conociendo lugares diferentes en la mitad del
Mundo.
Te quiero y extrańo.
Dios los cuide y sigan disfrutando.
Te Amo!
Mamá
Thank you Sonia and Christian for the terrific photos and leading our kids on a cultural adventure.
Hi Drake: We check every chance we get and cheer seeing you in the photos…
Hola Memo te extranamos y te queremos mucho, miramos tus fotos y nos sentimos muy orgullosos de ti,te amamos.
Thank you for daily activities information and beautiful photos.
Hana! Hope you enjoy and learn more about the trip.
Sydney miss you and us too.
Love you… write to us “from the blog”
Love
Mom
Hello! Aleyah, finally got my Internet connection. Everyone in India is happy to see all the pictures. ENJOY!!!Take care.
Love
Ammu
Hey Shrisa
So nice to hear your voice but worried that you are not feeling so good 🙁 drink lots of water and rest babe. We’ll see you soon. Miss you
Love
Mom