There is a lot to blog about! We are having lots of fun! We feel a little trapped because we always have to do what the family we are working with wants to do. We don't know anyone else, and it isn't safe for us to go anywhere alone! We love the Zambrano's but there are a couple of the kids who drive us insane sometimes. For instance, the other night, Kass and I had made dinner for them, chicken alfredo, which was bomb by the way, and crepes! We had been in the kitchen for a couple hours cooking and then we cleaned up at least 3/4 of the mess while everyone else was relaxing, which was totally fine with us because that was the whole purpose of us cooking! Anyways, I walked in to the living room to get out of the kitchen for a second and the 14 year old said "You need to go back into the kitchen and clean. It's our rule that you leave the kitchen how you found it." I told him he was a brat and went back into the kitchen. THEN!!!!!!! the 30 something year old told Kassara the same thing. Obviously we were planning on cleaning the kitchen! We aren't morons!!! We were already so annoyed with them that day. The rest of the family is completely different though. Sister Zambrano didn't want us to do any dishes and told us to come sit down, and the younger boy is such a sweetie pie, so overall, we really like them. Minus the 2 bratlings.
We somehow managed to get away without our precious guardian (the 14 year old) and were soooooo excited to eat pizza! We were extremely disappointed when we realized that the pizza in Ecuador tastes like a quesadilla dipped in grease with a melted string cheese on top. (definition by Kassara Stratton)
Isn't she the cutest?
Our favorite movie store! They have NEW movies, 4 for 5 dollars! Needless to say, we bought 20 something...
Thrilled to be doing this with our favorite homie Juan breathing down our necks!
Cleaning a HUGE area of floor in the orphanage. This is the before picture! it was realllllllly dirty and it took forever!
Me and Nico, first sweeping the floor dry, THEN with water. A broom is apparently the solution to every cleaning problem.
Then we cleaned about 8 million chairs.
The AFTER picture! :)
The Nuns decided to show us all the animals at the orphanage. We soon discovered that all the animals are actually future meals and that Sister Rosa kills and skins the animals herself.
We saw the pigs, and the chickens...
Then we came to this odd little concrete building with tiny little holes for air.
We soon realized it was a bunny concentration camp. I (Kass) seriously had to stick my camera through a tiny hole to get this pic.
By this point we were going crazy trying to figure out what the nuns were cooking for our "special meal." Sure enough it was Conejo, freshly cooked little bunny. Our lunch was lovely. First we had mystery soup (water, veggies, bones and some mystery items... ash swears she found a heart valve in hers), next they brought out the main course- rice, grilled bunny, and chopped tomatoes. I tried so hard to finish my food, I ate all the rice, all the tomatoes (I HATE tomatoes) and took two bites of the bunny before Ashley pointed out the singed hair all over it. I really thought I was going to cry. Luckily, the nun left the room for two seconds and my new best friend, Washington Zambrono, ate my bunny for me. I seriously wanted to cry beacause I was filled with so much love that man! haha Ash tried to give him hers as well but he pushed it away; Nico was kind and ate it though. O we love them!! p.s. Ashley put all of her tomatoes on my plate at the end of the meal. I was furious because I put myself through all that torture for nothing. In the end it still looked like I hadn't touched my tomatoes. AHH! haha
Ashley was about to pee her pants so out of desperation we ventured into the orphanage bathroom. To Ashley's dismay, there was no toilet paper to be found. Also... the toilet seat was covered with dirt and pee so she had to hover above.
Being the nice friend that I am, I found her the best leaf in the whole garden to use as toilet paper. If this leaf had a brand it would be Charmin. I guess I should mention that before finding this plush baby butt soft leaf, I gave her the leaf nearest to me. It happened to be extremely dirty, crispy, and a little bit prickly. She did not appreciate my token of love. I am glad I have the bladder of an Elephant.
We made hygiene kits for the Orphans. toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and shampoo.
We also put together school supply kits.
After all of our hard work we went to the Indian Market. It was so cool, but crowded. Ash and I were worried about our money being stolen so Ashley took one for the team and wore the backpack like a fanny pack.
We went to a little town called Otavalo. The people there are Indigenous. I could best describe them as Navajo Ecuadorians. We set up a dental clinic and played with the little kids in between patients. We will post more pictures of Otavalo soon. (They are on Dr. Zambrano's Camera)
Our buddy doctor Garcia fell asleep on the ride home. We took a bunch of pictures of him before he finally realized. haha
There is grafiti Everywhere in Quito! It is pretty awesome looking though.
There is a little bread store a few blocks from where we are staying and we go there almost every day. We love it :) Today we got Yuca bread (smells like dog poop), smoothies, and tres leches. Ashley might have found her new true love cuz she couldn't focus on anything besides that tres leche all day.
