Hello Friends and Family,

Today we woke up to the sound of music being played from a parade to celebrate Ecuador’s independence, despite the fact that it was in May. We then headed to breakfast at 8 am ravenously and had green plantain with cheese, fruit, and tea. Since we were LDDs, we got left with the short end of the stick and had to wait for Isabel to make more food so the PCs, GGLs, and so we can have a serving. After, we walked to the hotel to get ready to head to Chimborazo and we got picked up by Don Alonso. We enjoyed the bus ride filled with scenic views, even though some of us were getting car sick as we were heading up due to the altitude. We arrived at Chimborazo around 10:30 am and had a short self-reflection along with some cholas, coffee, and tea. Some people ended up not feeling that well and chose to stay behind with Paco while the rest of the group took a bumpy 20-minute ride to the first refuge in Chimborazo. There, we had to walk up to the obelisk in remembrance of Simon Bolivar and Alexander Von Humboldt where we learned about the history of Chimborazo, including the first person to be able to reach the top, the spiritual symbolism, and remembrance of the people who lost their lives trying to reach the peak. After another bumpy ride and Jaylen scaring us to death about the concept of acceleration going faster as we go down, we picked up the people who were ill then took a 2+ hour bus ride to lunch with Isabel who served us fried plantains, chorizo with carrots, chicken soup with vegetables, rice, fruit, and coca-cola with some sweet tea. After filling our stomachs, we went back to the hotel and wrote our letters to the donors. Then 6 pm rolled around and we went to Isabel’s for dinner where we had barbeque chicken, rice, graded potatoes, chicken soup with vegetables, fruit, juice, and tea. We then got an invitation to dance with the California delegation and then we headed to the hotel where we had our nightly meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you all very soon as tomorrow we will head to Quito where we will depart to the States.

Yours truly,
Geoviana and Sophia <3