Saturday

Made at least 120 bricks today… and that was in less than 2 hours, because the power was out until 10am. Painted pallets with what looked like motor oil for lubrication, then carried freshly formed bricks from the machine to the grass to dry. Afterwards, I ate with the nuns, said a rosary in their chapel, hung out with little kids for a while… finally ran into Juliana (better known among attendees of the Christmas break trip as the "Da me cinco centavos…" girl) for the first time this trip. I shared my spanish textbook with some of kids, and it turned out to be a hit, because they seemed to be at that age where they want to show off their ability to read. Camila, Juliana's older sister, especially liked the book, and afterwards directed me to their house and introduced me to their family.

Next, I went to the hotel to talk with Marcelo, but spent most of the time with his mom and his niece, who is enamored with Lady Gaga and Katie Perry and asked me to translate some of their lyrics for her… not surprisingly, she liked the songs better before she knew what they were about. They also dictated the Act of Contrition for me and explained to me how to make a confession in Spanish, because there was actually a priest in town tonight (came in from Pedernales, since pastor Padre Gustavo is currently in Rome) and I hadn't been in a while. Fortunately, it was actually way less awkward than I thought it would be.

After Mass, I did my best to chat with some of the congregation for a while, got back to the hotel, ate some dinner (fish that kind of looked like pihrana) and went to some town meeting sort of thing about tourism with Marcelo's mom. Archi was there, and (I think) the mayor. I didn't really understand what was going on, but it short. Afterwards, I returned to the hotel and met some lady from Quito that married a Belgian guy and apparently lived in Rockville, MD of all places (my former hometown) for a year, but now lives in Ecuador. Small world, I guess.

Oh, forgot to mention. I'm staying at the hotel tonight, in a double four-post bed with a mosquito net. I feel like a total princess, but it definitely beats my new arrangement at the ranch (tent on top of single bed). Tomorrow, we milk cows and learn how to make cheese, Ecuadorian style. Can't wait.