Christmas Work Party...Ecuador style

So I went to a Christmas work party on December 23rd, held at one of the nurse's house (photos below).  I definitely left my "amigo secreto" present at the house without opening it, still don't know what Dr. Luje got for me!! Amigo Secreto is Secret Santa. At the Christmas party we had chancho meat, which is basically a pig roast; choclo, or corn on the cob; roasted potatoes, avocado, a variety of salsas, and my apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert! I was shocked we did not have any rice nor soup, it was a Christmas miracle!! After dinner we moved the tables out of the way and danced for a good hour. We also exchanged our gifts at that point. I bought my secret amigo two music DVDs.  Who knows if he will like them, but I really didn't know what to get him! Also from the hospital every employee got an exercise outfit and a giant box from Super Maxi that was filled with all sorts of goods to make food for the holidays with (they call it a canasta, and it contained rice, hot cocoa powder, ketchup and mayonaise, cookies, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of vegetable oil, sugar, lentils, salt, and some other random items).  I'm assuming that after the holidays Super Maxi no longer can sell these boxes, so they donated them to the hospital for a cheap rate and the hospital gifted them, which is awesome! The exercise outfit is soooooo entertaining, and I will be sure to take a foto sometime in my lovely light blue on blue on blue outfit.  Also, I wear a size Large here, no doubt about it.

The rest of my Christmas went by nicely. On the 24th I didn't work; in the morning I listened to Christmas music on YouTube and tanned in my bathing suit...in the afternoon I Skyped with my family for quite some time which was fantastic. José and I went to church at 9pm, it was a nice service and the sermon was great. Interesting though that not many people dressed up, like what is custom for Christmas mass at home. What was fun was seeing the blessing of the "niño Jesús" - every family brought their own baby doll Jesus to be blessed by the priest at the end of mass. It was very funny to see the various sizes and colors and decorated baby Jesuses, as well as what a MAD HOUSE it was at the end of mass to get your baby Jesus blessed. Each family will keep their baby Jesus in their house to bless their home until the next Christmas comes around. I don't know if they throw out their baby Jesus or if they reuse their baby Jesus every year... The only time I cried (and SEVERELY missed my family and home and Christmas traditions) was during the sign of peace at mass, when everyone was exchanging peace.  If I didn't have José there, I would have been absolutely miserable. That was when my heart longed for home more than any other moment since I've been here. But, that moment passed and although I of course still miss my family, I continue on with my life here!

Recently I have determined that eating rice gives me sharp pains in my gallbladder, or "cólico". I have been trying to evade eating rice at all costs, and so far I've been doing okay.  Its almost like a game, how to avoid eating mountains upon mountains of rice here.    Rice is served almost every meal, even sometimes with breakfast (not kidding at all).

I have also started having moments where I say something, and have to think afterwards if I said it in Spanish or English. My Spanish is starting to flow a lot more naturally, which is such a relief! I know in a few months it will be even better. When I look back at my book of "new words" from when I got here, there are so many words that I cannot believe I didn't know how to use when I arrived because now I use those words all the time.  It is starting to become much easier to switch back and forth rapidly between English and Spanish also.  Yay!

Tonight I leave for the beach!! José and I are taking an 8+ hour bus ride to Crucita, and I absolutely cannot wait. I have been dreaming of this! I think I am going to start planning a beach vacation every month!

Next update will be allllll about the beach....pray for sun, 24/7 for me!

Me and my coworkers before our Christmas party, waiting to catch a taxi.




Dinner is served




Kissing the "chancho", pig. 




Waiting for food!




My four homemade delicious apple pies. I'm going to be a pro by the time I get back home to the states!!




The Christmas decorations at Monica's house where the party was held



El Pregón

El Pregón was a parade (one of many) of high school military bands and dance groups/baton twirlers. There were some groups with themes (for instance one school had costumes to represent el medio ambiente, or Environment) and other groups represented traditional Sierran customs/dances.  There were thousands of people in the streets all to watch the parade, which lasted several hours.  I couldn't get any pictures of good quality, but you get the idea!

Quito Love List!!

Long overdue my love list of Quiteño items thus far in my adventure here....First off, I love my "Quito family" that consists of Lupita, María, Elsa, Judith, Marco, José, Pablo, Yessenia, Elena, Darío, Felix and Mingo! I love my doggy, Mingo, that I have now started walking/running a few times a week. I love being surrounded by mountains, and weird unpredictable weather patterns. I love dancing to Banda y Cumbia, and listening to the endless love ballads. I also adore singing to these love ballads at karaoke! I love the returnable beer bottles, and Pilsener brand beer more than Club (even though both are Pilsener products).  I love cooking randomly, and that sliced chicken is called "jamón de pollo".  I love empanadas y morocho, my favorite and most unhealthy food here. I  love when I have a conversation and understand everything that is said. I love all of the beautiful parks in the city, and can't wait for a day off to go run around in all the parks! I love living in the tranquil ghetto of the city, in what I consider one of the best areas of town. I love the crazy bus system and that sometimes things just simply don't make much sense down here. I love reading books in Spanish and learning about the history of Quito and Ecuador. I love being included in a group down here, and having people to share my time with. I love keeping in touch with my family and friends back home, and that technology makes the distance so much more feasible...I hardly feel like I left! I truly love my time here and hope I'm not being missed in my abscensce too much!