Today we began the day with our orientation with Padre Juan and Madre Miguel and Judie who is Madres sister. They made us feel part of the "family". At 10:00 we started our tour of the center. It was difficult as none of us speak Spanish and our guide only speaker Spanish. But with the little Spanish we did have got us through the morning. First we visited the stores in the front of the center and saw the woodwork that is done by the carpentry shop. It is as good as anything that we can buy back home. We went through the auto shop, the wood shop, the daycare center, the library, math, language, and computer center, the special needs center, and the art center.
After the tour we helped prepare for Monday nights dinner for the center. We peeled and both cut up both carrots and yuca. We all had the start of blisters and we all ended up wth sore hands. After lunch we had a break and at 4:00PM went back to the daycare center which is known as "casa cuna". We all had the opportunity to play with the 2-3 year-olds who just loved being with us. They are so friendly and are willing to hug and smile. At 6:00 it was our turn to help the cooks prepare dinner. Again, we cut up carrots. There was also some cabbage one of the cooks was slicing for coleslaw. So I began to help her but I couldn't get the process down. So after both of the cooks stopped laughing at my attempt, they took my knife away. After dinner we had clean up, then our day way done. We are looking forward to tomorrow. Home sweet Quito!
Matt Brothers