Last Days in Casa Victoria

It has been an eventful few weeks. Last week, Chris and I, Charlie, Seth, and our friend Mateo all spent 8 days touring the Ecuadorian coast doing "La Ruta Del Sol". It was a great time of hanging out, visiting different beaches and eating lots of coastal food (seafood, fried plantains, rice, etc.). It was Charlie and Seth's last week at Casa Victoria before returnin home to Santa Barbara so we were grateful to get some time with them before they left.

During our trip Chris and I were able to meet some of my family members that live here in Ecuador. We met my grandfather's brother and wife, and their children and grandchildren. It was cool to meet the other Tricerris that I've heard so much about.


The weekend before that, all of us from Casa V went camping at "El Refugio" ( The refuge), up in the mountains. El Refugio is a retreat center that was started by a group of North Americans who are working for an organization called "Mundo Juvenil". The center focuses on leadership and team building exercises through a series of ropes courses, most of which you have to rely on one or more people to accomplish. This would be the last weekend as a house that we were all together. Within the following weeks, Jon and Anna, Charlie and Seth, and Chris and I would be moving out of Casa Victoria. It was the perfect ending for our season here in Casa Victoria.

Posted are some pictures of our time at El Refugio. One of the courses involved walking on a thin cable with a partner, having only each other to physically lean on to get to the other side. There was also "A Leap of Faith" in which each of us, individually, climbed up a tree and stood on a 10 inch platform (tiny!)before leaping in mid air to grab onto a trapeze-type bar. That was scary! There was a zip line, that was probably the easiest challenge) that cut through the forest. "Jacob's Ladder" required all of us to split into pairs and take turns climbing an enormous ladder, in which each "step" was seperated by about 6-8 feet. So, unless you and your partner were helping each other climb up, it was impossible.

We all had a lot of fun. It was a great time of team building and learning about one another's strengths and weaknesses. It also forced each of us to depend on one another (literally) and trust each other as we went through the different courses.

This past weekend we had a Casa Victoria "Unity" concert in the plaza next to our house. It was an awesome turnout! It was Javie's idea, one of the guys in the house. He put together the entire thing. We had about 4 bands perform Christian rap and hip-hop music. Oscar, the Columbian who lives in the house, played guitar and sang. We were able to share exactly what Casa Victoria is and what programs the house offers. You really had to be there to understand how cool this concert was. Where we live, in San Roque, is very poor and a pretty dangerous neighborhood. Most of the upper-middle class, who live in the North of Quito, would never step foot in this neighborhood because of it's reputation. So, setting up a concert in the middle of Plaza Victoria, in the heart of the neighborhood, was a risk but turned out SOOOO well! It was so neat to see the neighborhood take a pause from the usual hustle and bustle to listen to some music and hang out for a couple of hours. Javier worked sooooo hard to put the concert together and it worked out beautifully. The Lord's presence was obvious...even down to the fact that it didn't sprinkle ONE drop of rain and it has been raining EVERY SINGLE day for the past week here! We were so thankful.It was a the perfect way to spend our last weekend in Casa Victoria.

Chris and I are now living with our good friend Daniela Borja and her brother Rafael. We are excited to spend more time with Daniela and the Borja family. They have become our family here in Ecuador. We are sad to leave Casa V, however. We will miss living with the guys. It wasn't always the most physically comfortable environment ( especially with 7 guys and only 2 girls!!) but we have had some very special, precious times there. We are planning on returning weekly to volunteer with some of the programs.

**P.S.: sorry for the duplicate photo...but, in case you missed it the first time... ;)

Argentina Synopsis

Chris and I had a wonderful time in Argentina this past month. It turned out to be even more than what we had hoped for. The city, of course, is beautiful and full of life. There is a coffee shop on every corner and you can find people in them at all hours of the day. Dinner is usually not until 9pm or 10pm, so the city is still abuzz until midnight or so, on weekdays. Argentines don't seem to sleep much...but, that explains all the coffee, I guess. The food is fantastic. Lot's of meat (of course), cheese, salads, "tostados" which are little flat, toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, and GREAT desserts ( We must have consumed two full pounds of lemon tarts and flan!). The streets are lined with beautiful big trees with dark, almost black, trunks and bright green leaves. There is lots to do, between artisan fairs, theaters, soccer games, museums, dining out, boutique shopping, or just hanging out at one of their many parks...even in a month we hadn't seen it all.

Our month began at our host couple's, the Valazzas, country house in "Romenzo", where they go every weekend to escape the city and relax. It was a great time to hang out and get to know the Valazza's and their friends.

After that first weekend, we arrived in Buenos Aires, where we stayed in the Valazza's (Arnoldo and Mercedes) apartment in the Capital Federal district. It was a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood, with cobblestone-like streets. There were lots of families and young kids. We lived right in front of the train station, so we were able to get around with no problem at all. We were so thankful to be able to spend the month with Arnoldo and Mercedes. It felt much less touristy and more authentic. Some nights Chris and I would stay out all day and night on our own, experiencing the city and some nights we'd come home and eat dinner together. We got to meet their friends and family, which was great. They were so warm and friendly and hospitable. They took us right in and treated us like their own. It really made our experience there.

We also got to meet up with some of our friends who are Argentine natives but lived in the States at one point. Gaston, a good friend of ours who spent a year in DC, was in Argentina at the same time we were. It was such a surprise and treat to spend time with him. He showed us a few of the more non-touristy spots. He took us to a River Plate soccer game, where he was just as crazy and fanatical as the rest of the fans. Our last week in the city, we were able to meet his parents and sister and have dinner together which was sooooo fun! We also met our good friend Virgina Sanchez's family, which I had waited years for! I lived with Virginia for 3 years and she is one of my best friends. Anyone who knows her knows how important her family is to her...so, I had heard so much about them. It was icing on the cake to be able to meet them and spend time in their home, sharing a meal with them. It was perfect. Towards the end of our trip we met up with a former Ivanwalder, Thomas Castilieri. Ironically enough, we met at a Starbucks...out of all the great cafeterias (coffee shops). Starbucks, supposedly, is very popular out there and they are beginning to open more and more of them.

Chris and I also spent plenty of time being tourists in the city. We went to the "Malba" , which is the Latin modern art museum. We hung out in an area called "La Boca" which is famous for it's colorful houses. "La Boca" is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the city. Years back, many of the blue collar workers (painters, carpenters)would bring home left over paint from their different projects and use it to paint their homes. Since they were working with a limited amount of paint, their homes ended up being many different colors. It's a pretty cool area... unique. We spent an afternoon there, walking around, eating lunch and watching a tango show. We also went to a River Plate game with Gaston. There are two major teams in Argentina, River Plate and Boca Juniors. Most people are Boca fans. But, River Plate has a strong following as well. At one point, years back, River Plate and Boca were just one team....but, they split up and became the rivals they are today. So, River Plate fans HATE Boca fans, and vice versa. Going into the game we knew Argentines were passionate about their futbol but WOW!!!!! It was CRAZY! You'll never experience anything like it. Nobody sat in their seat for the entire game...not for one second. There is no assigned seating in the section we were in, so it's packed to the max...full of sweaty, shirtless, Argentines, chanting, singing and cursing at the the top of their lungs the ENTIRE game. We were in the "Barra Brava" section which are the people you always see on TV singing and banging their drum waving thier shirts and banners. It was sooo fun. They were so full of life and energy. They were not messing around. Even to the point that everyone had to wait 45 minutes AFTER the game was finished in order to leave the stadium. Why? So the fans from the opposing team could get a head start and leave without being harmed. Unfortunately, there is a lot of violence associated with these games. I thought for sure, I'd end up on the floor at some point and get trampled on...but, fortunately, only my sunglasses fell victim to the "Barra Brava's".

We got very accustomed to the culture there very quickly. A normal day was waking up around 9 or 10am, eating a light breakfast of break with coffee, make our way over to a restaurant for some yummy lunch around 2 or 3pm, and finally go out to dinner around 10pm...sometimes in between there somewhere we'd stop for a cafe cortado (coffee with milk) and alfajores (typical argentine shortbread sandwich cookies with dulce de leche in the middle) One night we came home early, around 8pm, and didn't plan on going back out...finally around 12am, we were ready for dinner...it was great!

All in all, Argentina was spectacular....we couldn't say enough about it. We loved every moment...the city, the country, Bariloche, the people, the food and wine (!!!), the passion and the life that runs through the veins of Buenos Aires...it was all perfect and exactly what we had hoped for. We feel tremendously blessed to have been able to spend a whole month there and can't wait to return someday.


**We'll post some more pictures later...right now, our internet connection won't allow us to upload photos :( **