Tylenol PM

(Excuse my spelling....the spell check isn't working)

Well, 2 more bite the dust...Seth, Chris, Jon, Anna, Carolina, Esteban and myself(Angela) have all been sick within the last 2 weeks. I am currently ditching Spanish class as I write this. The temptation to walk over to Sano Sano and buy some $5 antibiotics is great but I am doing my best to resist it.

Last week was great! December 2-6th of every year are what Quito calls "Quito Days". It's 4 days of celebration; eating, drinking, dancing, etc. Each night, the plazas fill up with locals celebrating and the "Chiva" buses ( small, open aired, buses you can rent for $200 and pack in as many people as you want....drinking as many drinks as you want) are packed with Quitodorians hanging off the sides with thier cups of Canelazo ( a traditional hot drink of cinnamon, some kind of herb and some kind of hard alcohol. It will warm you right up!). Chris, Guillermo Jr. (my second cousin) and I hopped on a Chiva bus just to get a taste of what it feels like but couldn't hang for long...thier was soooo much energy on that bus! It was so fun!

We were invited by Jon and Anna to a dinner with American missionaries, Adam and Sarah, which was really fun. This is where I was introduced to my new favorite side dish: Quinoa. Why didn't anyone tell me about this precious food! I loved it...it's kind of like rice but full of protein. Here, in Casa Victoria, we appreciate any chance we get at some good protein.

We met our second cousin, Guillermo Jr. Tricerri. He is my grandpa's brother's son. He stopped by Casa Victoria last Thursday. We watched a video of my grandpa's 90th birthday and went out for some Ecuadorian food in Plaza Grande. It was really cool to hear about this whole new side of my family I have never met or heard much about. He shared with us the story of how my great grandfather came from Italy to Ecuador and married my great grandmother. It was cool listening to the history of our family.We are hoping to get to be able to meet the rest of the family at some point.

Chris is and I are wrapping up Spanish school this week. Yeah!!! We are looking forward to some "normal" days here at Casa V. Chris has been teaching the English classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will begin leading the "mom's club" on Wednesdays. All the classes/groups held here at Casa V are geared towards reaching out to the neighborhood. I know in the past Mom's club has struggled a bit. It's difficult for the moms to take time out of thier hectic lives and just hang out for an hour. Their time is precious and expensive. Their are so many other things that are calling for thier attention: kids, work, husbands, etc. Please pray that the moms would want to come and the Lord would use me to direct this group in the direction He desires. I want it to be a good investment of thier time. Our hope is that they will begin to connect with one another, realizing each of them share many of the same struggles and have many of the same desires.

Next week will be quite eventful.... Jon's whole family is coming to stay at Casa V for 10 days. Sunday is Casa V's Christmas Open House for all the friends and supporters. The kitchen will be filled with the aroma of sugar cookies, which the kids will help make during thier weekly "Kids Club". Our Christmas tree will be up and fully decorated! And, ....it's my 29th birthday! Chris and I will probably spend an evening drinking Chilian wine, eating Argentine steak, and hopefully getting our hands on some Creme Brulee!