A lot to be thankful for. . .

Cuenca, the 3rd largest city in Ecuador is known as the city of beautiful churches, intellectuals, and great coffee cafes. We bussed down to Cuenca to celebrate Thanksgiving, potluck style, with 13 other P.C.V.´s. Cajas National Park has a big rustic cabin on the shore of a gorgeous lake so that´s where we slept and ate, played cards and listened to American music. The park entrance is at around 3,300 meters altitude and some of the hiking trails go up to 4,000 meters, so it wasn´t any hot tropical paradise but wow, the scenery was spectacular as was the bird watching. We highly recommend this park, high up in the cloud forest but be sure to bring your waterproof hiking boots and rainjacket.
If you wonder, what we spend our time doing at our site these days. . . here is a list: (Lucy is writing this entry and I do love lists) teaching English to 4 different groups, gardening and related activites i.e. the compost pile, repackaging and selling seeds cheap, researching and writing up the milking goat project proposal, planned and performed a skit regarding trash and recycling, chess and other foundation kid activities, keeping our tiny house tidy and functional and knitting socks and hats.
We´ve had a few stomach related health problems but nothing that "remedios" can´t fix. I am very thankful to be in Ecuador. Here is a list of a few things I am grateful for: fresh juicy mangos, kids that know my name and call out to greet me in the street, gorgeous Cajas National Park, the challenge of learning Kichwa, P.C. volunteers, my best friends here in Ecuador, e-mail, knitting shops that carry alpaca yarn, 3 papayas for $1 in the market, a dry day now and then, our Ecuatorian counterparts that are always encouraging and appreciative. We have quite a few family and friends arriving for a visit at the end of December and for that we are especially grateful. Happy Holiday season to all.