¡Hola! We could not be happier writing this blog sitting in the Hotel Mashany, our beautiful residence for our time here in Riobamba. This morning, as the sun peeked through our curtains and a gentle knock at our door woke us up, we slowly made our way to the rooftop of our hostel in Quito, Blue House Hostel. Sitting down overlooking the city, we ate our way through peanut butter and jelly (passion fruit jelly, that is) while watching people down below begin their day in the cool breeze.
We hopped on our coach bus for our four and a half hour ride to Riobamba through the countryside seeing many farms and markets along the way. Once we arrived, we had a few minutes to relax and receive our room assignments – certainly a learning experience for many of us!
It is just a short walk down the road to Nativa, a local restaurant owned by Mr. Cesar who is a FABULOUS chef where we will have most of our meals. The first of which was our lunch, sopa de pollo, pollo y vegetales, arroz con lentejas, papas, y jugo de piña (chicken soup, chicken and vegetables, rice with lentils, potatoes, and pineapple juice). As to be expected, we were famished from our trip and the meal absolutely hit the spot.
After our lunch, we made the trip back to the Hotel Mashany to spend some time getting to know each other in the warm sun on the back porch. Moments later, a group of dancers from Ballet Florklorico in elaborate traditional clothing appear through the arch, simply glistening in the sun. We spent an hour taking dance lessons from them, learning about the significance of the costumes they wear and the areas in which these dances originated. A little stiff at first, our dance moves quickly became more fluid as the dancers began dressing us up in their native celebratory clothing.
Our dinner at Nativa with Cesar and his chefs was next. Delicious hamburgesas, pasteles, y jugo de guayaba (hamburgers, cupcakes, and guava juice) in honor of the 4th of July!
Finishing our evening tonight was our nightly meeting where we shared thorns and roses, pluses and wishes, and discussed how we can make the most of every day we spend here in Riobamba. Giving big love to people is one of the most important features of our nightly meetings, trying to appreciate others for everything that they bring to this experience. And now, BIG LOVE to everyone who made our first full day in country amazing and to all of you supporting us and our work here from the comfort of your home.
¡Besos y abrazos! Mr. Marc and all of us here in Rosy Riobamba.
Welcome to Riobamba! Enjoy Hotel Mashany and Nativa! I hope you all have fun and say hi to Cesar for us!!
Love your blog with details of what all glimpsers ate, saw and did (danced!). I hope all glimpsers take lots of pictures and write journals. It was 89-90 F in Chicago. Can’t wait to read more of the blogs from the leaders each day!
Hello Erika. It’s me your auntie. I’m following you on your journey. I love the way the blog gave us a glimpse of the 1st 2 days. I missed you in the 4th but am glad that you seemed to be enjoying yourself. Hoping you had a good day today. Love you.
So glad to hear you all arrived safely, and it was wonderful hearing my daughter’s voice last night! I looK forward to hearing about all the wonderful adventures in store for you all. Claire, I miss you!! (And don’t forget to write every night because I want to hear about everything when you get back.) Make some great memories!
Querida Leah.
Me alegro de que estés divirtiéndote. Su primer día fue muy excitante y cada día va a ser una adventura maravillosa después de la otra. que gocen cada día con sus nuevos amigos..
Querida Leah.
Me alegro de que estés divirtiéndote. Su primer día fue muy excitante y cada día va a ser una adventura maravillosa después de la otra. que gocen cada día con sus nuevos amigos..
I’m Glad to know you all arrived safely enjoy and have a blessed time in Ecuador missing my daughter Kyra already!
I’m relieved seeing the smiling faces. I hope everyone enjoy themselves and come back with a different outlook on life. Grandmother of Kyra Turner feeling good.
Beautiful pics. I see you Czar! You are missed <3
I am in agreement with the other responders. I’m so glad to see all the smiling faces and the well written blog sharing your day to day experiences. Erika I really missed you for 4th of July fun. However it seemed that you are having fun. I loved seeing the smile on your face while dancing. Love you bunches.
This is fabulous! I see my lovely Czar dancing-say what?!(I need this on video). We tried so-o-o hard to stay up for your call but our old eyes couldn’t stay open pass the 10:30 curfew. I am glad you all made it safely and are having a wonderful time. I’m looking forward to the future blogs and pictures.
Hi Adriana, Forgot to mention I am sorry I missed your call and glad to hear you all arrived safely. (I stayed up until 1:30 am and overslept.) Daddy was glad to inform Grandpa you called. Love your smile. I hope you stay warm. Hope to hear about the English lessons you all will be conducting. Love, mom.
I’m so glad my daughter had this opportunity to travel beyond the states, I can’t wait until she returns so we can sit around eating pizza and hearing all the experiences you had. Love you Danielle N. And her bff Zilah, I miss u soooo much!
Hi Ymari!!!
It makes so happy to see you & everyone else enjoying yourselves. Your meals sound delicious. Can’t wait to hear all the great stories. Love you baby girl and God Bless you all ??❤?
I’m so glad everyone arrived safely. Sophia, I hope you are writing about your amazing experiences so we can relive it together when you return. Be safe and enjoy making memories that will last a lifetime. I miss you so much!
So happy for you Erica and proud that you got the chance to experience Equador. ENJOY!!!
You are all going to have such wonderful memories. Make the most of every day and have a wonderful time.
Thank you so much for sharing your blog with us. It is so good to see how much everyone is enjoying themselves. Hi Erika! Missed seeing you the other day. So glad you’re enjoying being in a different country and learning their culture. What a marvelous learning experience. Love you sooo much
Erika Pruitt’s Aunt