Besitos

We have been staying with a host family. They a very affectionate family. Hugs and kisses flow like the mighty Amazon. Luly is the mother and Gaby is the daughter. Luly prepares breakfast and dinner for us...and we eat it. Her soups are particularly tasty. My favorite was the cauliflower and cream soup that she made that warmed my very soul. Brigitte's favorite soup was one that had a type of potatoes that are from the mountains nearby. Here is a sample of their affection...

This is a photo of us sharing a family dinner. It includes Gaby, Luly's daughter. Gaby is in the red shirt.

We had our first day of language school last Monday. Washington was kind to pick us up and drive us to school. You always have to document the first day of school.

Tuesday found us participating in a great Ecuadorian tradition. Karaoke. I killed it with Yellow Ledbetter (what is great about karaoke is that they show you the lyrics. This was the first time in my life that I actually saw the lyrics to this song...but listen to it and you will see that lyrics are a moot point), while Brigitte just took a chance to sing (and could not resist dancing as well...queen of dancing that she is).

On Friday we had a chance to spend time with my good buddy Steve Heinold's father in law, German. German is a pastor hear in Quito. We have gone to his church the past two weeks and have really getting to know him better. He took us to an area of Quito called La Ronda. It is a pedestrian only street that really fills up the later the night gets.

German took us to an amazing restaurant called Vista Hermosa. The view and food and the music were an incredible combination.

We went to the Mito De Mundo. This is a type of park that celebrates the fact that Ecuador is located on the Equator.

What is funny is that the park is actually not on the equator. They got it wrong by about a fourth of a mile. They realized this when they used GPS about 20 years ago. We then went to the real equator and documented our being in different hemispheres at the same time.

We also saw water drain counter clockwise on the north side of the equator, clockwise on the south side of the equator, and straight down without directly over the equator. We have video.