Thursday's post from Cathryn and Nika

Hey guys!!! Today was awesome!!

We got to Huantugloma early in the morning like usual and began our day by splitting up with our pairs and working with a classroom we haven't worked with yet. Nika and I were in different classroom. She observed the first grade classroom today. The kids did this cool activity where they cut out pictures that they felt represented their country from old books and used them to created posters. At the end of class, Nika, Mallory and the kids worked together to clean the classroom by sweeping the floors and picking us scrap paper. Funny/cute moment from the first grade class: The kids used their hands to swipe elmers glue over their pictures and got their hands so sticky. Nika offered them handwipes and they loved them! lol. They all wanted a handwipe.

In my class, 10th grade, Cindy and I taught the kids basic words in English. We covered how to hold a basic convo (Hi, how are you, whats your name, my name is, etc.) Then we taught them how to ask questions by going over the "question words" (who, what, when, where, why, how...). We practiced by going around the room and asking questions. I really loved this and the kids seemed to really enjoy it to. They are so smart and learned quickly. Afterward we did some vocabulary. Cindy went over how to say different nouns in English like boy, girl, mom, dad, friends, etc. When we got to girlfriend/boyfriend - the boys all wanted to know if she had a boyfriend! LOL

After a short break, we began our sustainability workshops. Plastic is one of the products that pollutes the most in the rural areas - so we tried to focus on how to re-use or avoid using plastic. This was very successful!! Nika led a workshop with Stephanie, Semira, and Melissa for the youngest kids. The main activity was making posters. On one side of the poster the kids drew a "dirty world" and one the other side, a "clean world." The posters were very beautiful. The kids drew pictures of the dirty world with a world smiling and included things like flowers and green grass and trees. The drawings of the dirty world had the world frowning with garbage and trash everywhere.

The main activity for my class (third grade) was showing the kids how to reuse plastic bottles. We cut plastic bottles to make a little at-home garden. We filled the bottom with water and the top with dirt - then planted a seed for them to grow at home. The kids absolutely loved this! They we so excited and interested!! After our activities, we taught the kids the difference between recyclable items and items that belong in the trash. Then we had them go outside and pick up trash laying around the area and throw them in the correct bin. We found SO many bottles/plastic and trash laying around the area so this really helped to tidy up the community. The kids had fun doing it too and some even raced each other to get the most trash!

After this we ate lunch and played with the kids!! One cool thing from today was when Dian and Michelle showed the oldest boys how to write words in Chinese! The boys really liked this. The little ones have really warmed up to us too and have even started to greet us in English (which makes us happy that they learned/remembered their greetings we taught them). They love dancing and piggyback rides. WHY IS TOMORROW OUR LAST DAY CON LOS NIÑOS PEQUEÑOS Y GRANDES?!?!! Ah!! We are going to miss them so much.

Then we left for a bumpy ride to a local lagoon. It took us about 20 minutes to get there. It was beautiful there (except the giant cow poop)! This was nice because we got to take a break and appreciate the beauty of Ecuador. We took lots of pictures and left our mark on the mountain stone (thanks Cindy!).

After this, we went to visit the Pumapungo Archaeological Park. The site had a beautiful garden with native plants from the region and had a small zoo of lovely birds (important symbolism for pre-Columbian cultures. We also saw the remains of an Incan city in the 1400's. So awesome. We stopped for delicious ice cream too (so sad they only had 2 waffles left LOL) ...and then we ended with a great reflection of our time here in Ecuador.

We can't believe we are leaving so soon. It seems like we just got here. We discussed our feelings about leaving this beautiful city during reflection and also talked about how much of an impact we are having in Huantagloma. This experience has been amazing so far - but it's not over yet so we will make the best of our last days here!!

After this longggg day, Nika and I got to go out to eat with our host family. We went to Tutto Freddo to celebrate our host mom's 10 year old niece's cumpleaños! We ordered awesome BOMB tasting pizzas and milkshakes. Afterward, we walked through the Parque Abdon Calderon across from the Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción to get home. The park is so beautiful at night - we saw people dancing, a guy selling bracelets, and a bunch a cute couples everywhere. It was a great night. Now time to sleep so we can give our best selves tomorrow!

Las queremos mucho Ecuachicas!!! Hasta Mañana!

Cathryn & Nika