Updates from South America!

After lots of travel to get to Quito, we spent three days in a quaint hostel getting to know each other and doing lots of orientation activities. After orientation we came and to Las Delicias farm where we have spent the week. Chari and Juan Carlos’s family have been incredibly kind and welcoming. This was our first week of Spanish classes, so every morning we went to our various classes and learned quite a bit. In the afternoons we did tons of fun activities. We worked on the plantation helping to collect, clean and package plantains which was very hard work. We all got to witness Owen and Nicole killing a chicken for lunch. We got to make chocolate from fresh cacao beans which was delicious. Between all of that we came to have a lot of appreciation for the food we eat. Many of us enjoyed swimming in the little lake on the farm, it was very refreshing in the hot afternoons. After a busy week we finished with a relaxing day at the beach. This week we bonded a lot as a group and made many friends on the farm as well. It was a week of Spanish learning, hard work, adventures and lots of laughs, mixed with lots of sweat and mosquito bites. We won’t have internet next week as well because we are going to another farm so stay posted for our next adventure!