Move to Cañar

On Februrary 22nd, after a meeting with missionaries from this area of Ecuador, we packed up and moved to the region of Cañar.   As our living quarters were not yet ready, we stayed with the director of the school in which we would be working and his family.  We were warmly welcomed from the beginning by this family, and were able to practice more Spanish, eat traditional meals, and try to learn a few Kichwa words.    There are two small children in the home, age 2 and 4, so it was here we learned the Spanish words for things like "tickle" and were glad for the children's books we had brought.

Each weekday we walked the short distance to school, and started to learn about the daily routine of the school and what our role would be.   There were four Norwegian Bible school students completing service at the school, so we spent time learning what they had been doing in the area of English teaching, talked to students and teachers, and observed what type of health education/work might be helpful.   In those first days, we worked out a general schedule of classes we would attend, and started making ideas and plans in the area of health.    We experienced a program for Día de la Bandera (flag), the first of many programs that take place at the school, and had our Spanish tested by having to introduce ourselves and our work in front of the gathering of students, teachers and parents.

We also had the opportunity to visit the home of the parents of the director's wife.  We walked about 45 minutes on a mountain path to an old adobe house, drank a traditional hot drink made from grains, visited with family, and saw where they raise the cuy (guinea pig) and rabbits for eating.  It was a beautiful day, and on the way back, we learned of a place to buy live trout.  

 

 

 We enjoyed these first weeks of getting to know the kids and our new neighborhood!