This past weekend we had 5 days off for Semana Santa, also known as Holy Week. Ecuador PDs split up for this holiday, traveling all over Ecuador and the US.
Our Country Director Darcy went to Guayaquil to visit friends (she spent a year living in Guayaquil before working with Manna).
Watkins’ mom was visiting for the week and they spent a night on Cotopaxi and then traveled to the Oriente, experiencing an extreme change in altitude and climate. They also got to witness some of the elaborate religious processions that took place in Quito on Friday.
Rachel was home in Chicago visiting family for her birthday and her niece’s (which both happened to fall during the holiday). Feliz Cumple Rachel!
Emily was lucky enough to spend a few days in the Galapagos with her mom and brother who are visiting. Her family is still in town so they have gotten to see and help out with some of our programs here as well.
Nicole, Charlie and I took a long bus ride to Cuenca for the weekend. We expected it to be a little more lively, but found that most of the city was shut down for Semana Santa proceedings. We still managed to have a great time walking around the city, sitting by the river, and drinking lots of coffee. Charlie got to try Fanesca, a typical dish in Ecuador during this time of the year, and Nicole and I managed to find plenty of suitable vegetarian options.
Taylor stayed in the Manna House to keep an eye on things and continue a work project that the Small Business Development program is working on with some Oxford University students who are currently staying with us (more on this soon!). She also got to try some homemade Fanesca, specially delivered by our friend Ivo.
We all had a lovely and much needed vacation and now we are ready to take on the end of the quarter, which will be very busy for us in Ecuador.
