Last Day at School

Today was our last day at Jefferson. There were so many emotions flowing as we said goodbye to our new friends and the school community that welcomed us for the last three weeks. We had two shows today and they both went wonderfully! Our kids had so much fun teaching the Ecuadorian students about the United States and Cincinnati, and the Ecuadorian students had a blast joining in our dances. They LOVED the chicken dance!!! Our hosts gave us some gifts and we had a tearful goodbye. At noon, we went to Miss Gabriel's and Mrs. Laudeman's host family's house for a cookout. We had so much fun and so much food!!!!!We are going on holiday Thursday and Friday and will have fun with our host families before we leave. Saturday we have to be at the airport at 3:00 a.m. and a 9 hour layover in Miami. Please pray for our safe travels. We cant wait to see everyone!!!!

Having fun at the cookout!

Receiving gifts from our hosts.

The students loved the chicken dance!

Fun in the pool.

Eating all the food at the cookout.

Shaking out our nerves before the show.

Our first show.

Miss Gabriel tying our shoes so they DEFINITELY won't come untied during the show.

Our Last Full Day of School

Today was our last full day of school! We started our day in prayer and finished up our homework. Some students got done before others, so they started playing quiet card games so they didn't disturb the others. After the first recess, we went to the spelling bee to cheer on our 7th grade hosts. Jack even participated! We had another dress rehearsal for our show tomorrow and then had lunch. The students went to their last Ecuadorian gym class today and played hard. After a 10 minute meditation to cool off and focus on the present, we did our very last dress rehearsal before the big show tomorrow! Wish us luck! 

Braid train

Putting on our sun screen.

An iguana heard how great the Americans are at soccer and wanted to watch.

Max in the Halloween spirit while doing some math.

Elaina is happy to have all of her homework done!

Speed tournament

Cece researching facts about Ecuador's government on Miss Gabriel's phone.

 

Lil rooting on Max to finish his homework.

Nutrition Day and Spelling Bees

We can't believe that it's our last week here in Ecuador! Our time here has flown by. Saturday, we came to school to participate in a nutrition program put on by the school. There were songs and dances about fruits and vegetables, skits, information about food labels, exercise, and healthy snacks. We had a great time!

Monday we went to classes with our hosts in the morning. After the first recess, we worked on some homework and our show. We got a lot accomplished! After lunch and the second recess, we went to the 5th grade spelling bee! It was fun watching the students from Jefferson spell English words. They did a GREAT job! After, we had a dress rehearsal for our show. It looked great! We can't wait to show the school our cultural show that we've been working so hard on! 

Max and Peter at a booth on Saturday.

Max's mini bananas.

Miss Gabriel and Mrs. Laudeman helped at the spelling bee.

Practicing the chicken dance

Our host families are packing us great lunches!

Miss Gabriel exercising on Saturday.

Cece and Anna at a booth on Saturday.

City bus tour and more!

Wow!! It's been a busy two days for us! Yesterday morning, we went to the historic park. There was an open animal exhibit and many historic replicas of houses, farms, trains, and more. At the park, we had lunch and played for a little before we went back to school. We didn't get back to school until about 12:30. At that time, we came together to work on our show, pray, and talked about our schedule for the remaining time in Ecuador. At 6:00 we met fir the city tour on the double decker bus! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Not only did we learn more about Guayaquil, but we let loose, sang and joked with one another. The driver stopped at the Iguana park for us to take pictures. There were so many! Because it was dark, they were all sleeping, but it was still so exciting to see so many! After the tour ended, around 8:45, we stopped and got pizza. We had our fill of pizza and appetizers that the parents bought for us. Once we were full, we all went home to catch some z's before school.

On Friday, we all came to school pretty sleepy. The students delivered the thank you notes and bracelets to the classrooms and went to some classes with their hosts. after the first recess, the students did some journaling and then we practiced our show in the space where we will be performing. Some students decided to stay in for recess and play cards to stay out of the sun. After recess, we went back down to the prayer space and prayed the rosary together. It was beautiful to see the students come together in prayer. We practiced the show a couple more times and when we ended, the show looked PHENOMENAL! We ended our day with prayer and a group hug! Tomorrow morning we have to be at school for a presentation about nutrition. Until Tomorrow!

Group picture in the Iguana Park.

Selfie with Miss Gabriel. ( And Peter's host sister!)

There were 27 iguanas sleeping in that tree!

The cathedral

View from the top of the bus!

"Jack, look I'm flying!"-- Gus

BSC coliseum  

Another view from the top of the bus.

We're ready to go!

Beautiful ceramic monkey sculpture.

Miss Ivonne called us her two kids.

A group picture before the tour.

A group picture on the train at the historic park.

We are all ready for the sunshine!

Max helping Miss Gabriel out by carrying her backpack because her back is sore.

Mrs. Laudeman made a new friend named William.

Practicing for our show.

Playing at the park.