The following post features student writing.

¡Bienvenidos! This is Sam and Izzy. Today we started off the day bright and early with a walk through our host villlage, Turucu. After a traditional Ecuadorian breakfast, we headed out to see the children’s End of the Year parade in Cotacachi, the large town near Turucu. The parade consisted of 35 schools, each of which dressed in different traditional outfits which were influenced by both Christianity and indigenous culture. Even the youngest elementary school students danced for two hours! This afternoon we visited the village in which we will be completing our service projects, Morales Chupa, for the first time. The town residents welcomed us with a traditional dance and a delicious lunch. After lunch, we played soccer with the locals for over an hour, a game made more difficult as a result of the altitude. We’ll definitely be playing a lot over the next two weeks—it is an amazing way to bond with the locals even with a language barrier.

Till next time,

Sam & Izzy