A wonderful azure blue

We woke up quite early and after finding the DR lights, I read the New York Times and did work. Everybody gathered for breakfast and we filled in Maggie and Seija on our various Sunday activities, which included a tour of the equator and the old city, along with a successful shopping expedition at the artisanal market. During our meeting, Maggie agreed that we were far ahead of schedule, and we all further agreed that this would give us additional time to do some more painting and spend more time with the children at the center. On the way to the center Maggie and Mitch sharpened our Spanish skills.

As the day got steadily cooler and cloudier, we completed final touchups of the Center 2 building and painted the walls of the play area in the back. We also finished painting the buildings behind the center in a wonderful azure blue. Thanks to a brainstorm of Kenny's and an excellent execution by Colin, we took a long dormant painting accident on the back wall and transformed it into a spectacular multi-colored umbrella. During my lunchtime siesta at the center, I noticed and photographed snow still scattered at the top of a not-so-distant mountain and wondered at the idea of equatorial snow in late June.

The afternoon wound down pleasantly as we spent time with the children and thought through the few remaining tasks awaiting us on Tuesday. We gathered for one last dinner in the hotel (excellent tacos!) and then rehearsed our not-so-traditional singing and dancing routine for our Tuesday farewell session at Center 2. All went to sleep looking forward to a delightful final day there.

Entry submitted by: Stephen Blum

Middle of the World Monument

Quito 

Everybody hard at work 

Colin and his buddy playing ball

Eric bonding with some little guys 

Colin and Tía Katy painting

 Enjoying our taco dinner at Hotel Sol de Quito

Practicing “The Hokey Pokey” for our final celebration!
Varinda is awesome!

I spent most of the day playing with the babies, who seemed to cry a lot more than usual. After lunch I played a game with one kid where I would swing him upside down, and I found myself having to do it to every kid that walked by. One of the tías walked up to me and handed me a bucket of green paint and said “por favor”, then pointed at her two classroom tables. There were kids running everywhere, but they stayed away from the tables somehow. The paint on all the buildings looks great and I'm glad that we could help.

Entry submitted by: Emily Straus 

Baby Kelly and Emily 

Jeanne and Rony 

Tía Katy, Colin, Tía Marina, and Mitch

Seija feeding some hungry babies

Emily cleaning up the babies

Sammy and Tía Paty serving lunch

Emily and Rony being goofy together

Blair and two little girls who would not let him go

Message of the Day – Varinda Missett: “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha

Message of the Day - Eric Straus: "One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire helps to give light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act."  - Hannah More