hey everybody!!! So ya we are still in Ecuador and it´s day two. Today has been good we woke and had an amazing frut salad make by Kevin and Nadia. The fruit here is soooo great. So then we went on a hike to a waterfall. Then we almost got lost on the trail but we figured it out somehow and made it back to Otavalo.

So we are desinging and building the playground of our dreams right now. We have been doing lots of research all around by going to random playgrounds. We are also trying to get input from the kids about what they want in there playground. These kids should get the best playground ever because they are amazing. We played with them last night and when we were going to bed they knocked on our door to see what time we would be able to play with them tonight.

-Annie

EDOR!!!!! : )

okay you guys....WE ARE HERE!!!! It is fablouso. We got here. The bus ride was a bit crazy but we made it. The movie...was interesting. : ) The hostel we stayed at in Otavolo was really awesome. A sleeping bag was lost in the airplane..but I think we might have found it. : )

We will be going to the community today. We got home at about 1 last night so it was way too late then to go. Everyone seems to be getting along. This small group has really got it going on!! : )

Thanks to everyone who has helped us get here. Our parents, I-i members, and all our friends who support us. It´s a great thing to have done in your lifetime.

Thanks :)

I just wanted to say thank you to all the I-i members who took the time to answer questions, listened patiently as we sorted through our thoughts, and gave countless words of advice as we planned for the trips this winter. From the random e-mails checking up on us to the amazing phone calls just when we needed them, it was all appreciated. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you. Have a wonderful winter break, everyone, from your many different corners of the world!

Here's to having a fabulous time in Gmala and Edor... :)

I'll let someone else take over writing from now on *hint hint group participants!*

~Megan :)

And....then...it's WINTER 2006!

Strange to think that at this very time last year, I was heading to O'Hare to board a plane to Ecuador with 7 (almost) strangers. It was surely a whirlwind....getting a call the week before fall break to trying to cram insurance, plane ticket buying, vaccinations, pills, and packing into a month on top of final exams. I never thought that one year later, I'd be heading off to...

GMALA!

All I've heard is about Lake Atitlan, the volcano, Father Greg, Tono, lakes, kids, ceremonies, and monkeys for a year. It's a crazy image in my mind...I mean, try to fit all those into one image in your head. There's a monkey climbing a volcano above a beautiful lake with kids and llamas everywhere.

So I don't really know what I'm writing, but when Miriam mentioned the I-i blog, her face just lit up with excitement, almost as if you had just given her a new bunny. She made me promise to write, so here I am...writing away.

Funny because I just read her post from this past summer, where she said "I always think, it'd be so much EASIER to just stay home...and then next thing I know, I find myself boarding a plane...". That's how I feel now. I've never gone home for an entire break in my entire college experience, and I wonder how it'd be. Probably boring and frustrating, but there's that ideal situation of rolling out of bed at noon, working tons of hours so I can actually pay my college tuition, seeing people, lots of laughing. But Gmala, oh gmala, will be much better.

Here I sit with more shampoo, soap, medication, and hand sanitizer than I would know what to do with, but when you multiply me by 12 people, I can see how it will all vanish. Hopefully not the medication though.

Fumi and I have talked over and over again about how much we love our group. Each person has something great to contribute to the dynamic, and we think it'll be fabulous. Though, as Francis continually mentions to me, "we're just acquaintances still, not really yet friends". 17 days, I hope, will be a lifetime of memories that will produce an amazing friendship.

I call that "I-i Magic".

Good luck, Edor, we'll be thinking about you from good ol' Gmala. I know you'll have a fabulous time, and I would've loved to go back (yeah, I'm kind of jealous :)). Buy out the Otavalo market, you hear?

See you all on the other side of the volcano....
~Megan :)