Welcome to the third blog of the year. February was one of my favorite months in Ecuador. I enjoyed it so much, and like always I am looking forward to letting you all know about my adventures. 

We began the month by celebrating our dear friend Monica Palacios. Our queen graduated from a well known University here in Cuenca with a Clinical Psychology degree and I could not be any more proud. In the past we had talked about how much this field meant to her and all that she wants to accomplish; there is no doubt she picked the right career. She is so passionate and has a huge heart for others. We were lucky enough to get invited to her graduation party and it was nice to celebrate such a huge accomplishment with her and to see the Palacios family once again. We also got to meet some of her friends who were nice. We are both so grateful for the Palacios family and all they have done for us. Once again, congratulations Monica!!!

Our outfits for the night

With Monica at her graduation party 

Another highlight of February was celebrating Valentine’s Day with my kids at the Fundacion. The kids made cards for each other and many gave their friends and siblings roses and other gifts. They also played a lot of games and had the chance to win prizes. It was so beautiful to witness the love in the room and enjoy each other's presence. I had a blast dancing and singing with the kids and seeing so many happy faces. I felt so grateful and continue to be grateful for having these wonderful kids in my life. I received so many hugs and love that day which made me so happy. It was nice to see the kids be kids and not worry about their circumstances. Overall I had an amazing Valentine’s day and enjoyed spending time with my favorite humans. 

Dancing with my kids 

A card from one of my kids 

Friends giving each other cards

The best highlight of the month was celebrating Carnaval. In Ecuador, this holiday is celebrated toward the end of the month but truly basically all month. It consists of many traditions such as comparsas, Bailes, espuma but one of the most popular ones is throwing water at each other.  Everywhere you go there is someone throwing water. You can not even go to the store without getting wet. You are safe nowhere! Another tradition is spraying this soap called kareoka which gets you all full of foam. This is the favorite of the kids who love to spray you any chance they get. The first thing we did to celebrate Carnaval was attend this huge event in Plaza San Francisco. At first, it looked very calm but soon it got very crazy. We met up with some friends from work and then began to walk around to see what it was all about. Soon enough we began to get sprayed with soap, got Maizena all over our hair and body and got paint of all colors in our faces. I even got an egg broken in my hair.   It was a very fun experience and truly something I have never experienced before. The only bad thing was that I got Kareoka, paint, and Maizena in my eyes which hurt badly and was hard to see. Over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit other Plazas and parks to continue the celebration of Carnaval. At Plaza el Otrongo they had a huge stage with live music and many food stands with traditional food eaten on Carnaval. A famous dish that is eaten on Carnaval is “ Igo en miel” and I was fortunate enough to try some. Another place we went to also had live music and a huge foam gun. The music was fantastic and I had a great time. 

The beginning of the night 

The aftermath of Plaza San Francisco 

At Plaza San Francisco for Carnaval

At Parque la Libertad 

Eating Igo 

I also got the chance to celebrate Carnaval with my kids at the Fundacion. The program included a lot of fun games and it was so fun seeing the kids enjoy themselves. There was also a dance competition for each family and the kids dressed up as comparses (like the kings and queens of Carnaval) and they looked so cute. The kids also had the chance to get all of the staff and volunteers wet which trust me they enjoyed themselves so much. They took every opportunity to throw water at me and at the end of the day I was soaking wet. 

The winning female comparse 

     

Celebrating Carnaval with my kids 

For the most part, life is good. I continue to love my time here and be grateful for this experience. Thank you so much, Mark and Linda, for this opportunity. I am looking forward to seeing what will happen during the rest of my time here in Ecuador. Thank you all for tuning in.