Gratitude in Ecuador

Today, we woke up at 7:30 am and started the day with a sándwich de atún, café o té, y yogur con papaya, manzana, uvas, kiwi, and granola. Then, we traveled to the German Abdo School neighborhood of Riobamba where the Glimpsers were divided into 4 groups and sent to assist 4 families that are a part of the German Abdo community.

One group of Glimpsers spent the afternoon playing games like soccer, volleyball, freeze-tag, and hide-and-seek. Another group helped a family plant alfalfa, pumpkins, and peas. The third group of Glimpsers helped harvest alfalfa and collect materials to help build an extension to their host family’s home. The final group went on a hike with the family to San Martin peak.

Throughout this experience, we were able to not only experience a day in the life of the community’s families who live in very different situations than us, but we were also able to appreciate the privileges that we may overlook and take for granted in our daily lives. This experience opened our eyes to seeing how people in various living situations are happy and satisfied with what they have, even if it is not what we are accustomed to in the United States.

After having lunch and saying our goodbyes to our gracious hosts, our bus driver Fernando took us to Riobamba’s city center for a tour led by our Program Coordinators Angelita and Mateo. We ate ice cream and learned about some of the historic plazas and infrastructure in Riobamba.

After reflecting on and sharing our small group experiences with the whole group, we returned back to our hotel, La Primavera to call home (“Hi!”) and have a dinner of burgers and fries.

At our nightly meeting, we passed the torch to our new Líderes del Día, who you’ll hear from tomorrow.

Big love, Elanor and Dulce