Down to Business, Finally

So I a lot has happened since I last wrote you all. My mom came to visit again, along with my dad and sister. We rented a car this time, in order to make traveling easier. But our driver didn’t quite know the roads as well as he thought he did, so we ended up going through some dangerous areas as well as taking the same amount of time a bus would have taken. Like my mom, my dad and my sister enjoyed staying in the Marriott the most. Their first day in Quito, I took them to the Teleferico, a gondola that takes you to the top of one of the mountains surrounding the city. It just happened to be an extremely cloudy day, so we saw nothing but clouds. After that, we went to the Equator, a line on the ground and a tall building with a museum in it. Then we went to visit my friend, Eva, at her site in Pacto. This is a two hour drive there through the mountains that would probably be a half hour drive if there were no mountains or a bridge going over all of them. After spending an hour there, we brought Eva back to Quito with us. She, Brian and Jeff joined us for the best steak dinner I have had in Ecuador. In the taxi for the six blocks back to the Marriott, our taxi ran out of gas. But anyway, my sister, Rakhee, came out with me and my friends to a couple bars after that, and so she got to know what kind of people I hang out with: gross ones.

The next day, we went to Riobamba so that they could see my old site, Mercedes Cadena. They all hated it as much as I did. Mainly because how poor they all are. This means that I should have stayed there to improve the way they live, to make their lives better. That’s my job as a Peace Corps Volunteer, isn’t it? But I’m really happy here in Bellavista, so I won’t worry about that. Besides, Kristy, the volunteer at Mercedes Cadena before me, is already back to visit as I type this. Anyway, after that, we went back to Riobamba and ate dinner with Lilly, Sarah, Meghan, and Mary Catherine. We were so sick of riding in the car that we went to the airport to see if there were any flights to Quito. There weren’t the place was totally barren. So the next day we got back into the car and went back to Quito, instead of coming here, to Bellavista, to see how much better my situation is now. But I enjoyed the time I spent with my family, so that is what counts. They plan on coming back to visit me in March. At that time I will bring them to Bellavista and then we will go to the Galapagos Islands.

For Christmas, I went to Eva’s house. She cooked an anorexic turkey and enchiladas. And, of course all the side dishes you could imagine. I contributed, of course, I made Jello shots! There, also, I got to meet Eva’s husband, a very cool man. He told Eva that since her favorite person in our group is Jeff, his favorite person in our group is me! I said that my favorite person is Brian.

After that, Eva, Brian, Jeff, and his friend visiting from the UScame to see my site before we went to the beach in Canoa for New Years.

This week I finally got to go to my other communities: La Guinea, Jaboncillo, Bejuco, and Valentin. I start work this Saturday, with the Youth Groups. I’m going to be working with a teacher from my elementary school, Mrs. Paula Keeton. I’m thinking of making her second graders and my youth group pen pals.

Well, that is all for now! Email me and let me know how you all are doing!

Love, Manisha