Today we had a jam packed day of activities today to learn more about the culture of Ecuador!

We started with a trip to the home of Adan Angulo, a local healer. We were able to walk through his land and learn more about the indigenous culture of Ecuador. He showed us a Chakana ritual and explained how he uses all the plants around him to heal various ailments. He also demonstrated a cleansing ceremony and answered many questions about why he believes it is important to maintain this part of his culture, and why he values it.

From there, we headed to San Lorenzo where our afternoon speaker, Maria Dolores, fed us a beautiful lunch with typical Carnaval foods from Guaranda. We were able to then learn how to make one of the typical foods, chiguiles with her as well as listen to some of the history of Ecuador and the celebration of Carnaval. Finally, to complete our Carnaval experience, we had a water fight with flour to celebrate together. We had so much fun learning and participating in all of the wonderful aspects of Carnaval.

After we dried off and changed clothes, we were able to warm up with hot chocolate and coffee while we reflected on what we learned.

We got back to our hotel with enough free time to play soccer and cards, the group favorites, before another delicious dinner at La Tortilla.

Our new Liders del Dia got the nightly meeting started with a dance lesson and a lot of energy so we are all very excited about Education day tomorrow!