Hi Everyone!

         Trinity and I have a few highlights of the past few weeks.

One farm ("finka") we visited was owned by a family of a father and his 3 sons.  We visited for lunch and requested fish.  Little did we know that they would dive into their tilapia pond and catch their own!

This is the much coveted cocoa fruit.  The white stuff in the middle is a sweet fruit surrounding the cocoa seed.  The seed is purple and after it's been fermented and roasted, it's dark chocolate!

This is a stevia plant.  You may have seen a new sugar replacer in the grocery aisles.  It's made from this plant.  The leaves taste just like splenda; you just add a few to your drink and enjoy!

The organic farm has an ostrich named Don Carlos.  When he eats from your hand, he strikes your palm at about  50 miles an hour, thus my surprised face.

Trinity and I visited an island called Isla de la Plata off the coast about 45 minutes. The island is named either for the silver (plata) that Sir Francis Drake left somewhere on the island or for the bioluminescence of a special plant on the island).  The island is a safe haven for all kinds of birds including blue footed boobies!

Another inhabitant of Isla de la Plata is a bird that blows up a red sack on its throat to attract a mate.  I'm glad I didn't have to resort to such techniques to attract my spouse!

Here's Trin gracefully alighting upon the surface of the water.

Quito is a beautiful colonial city with tons of monuments and cathedrals.

Also, Trinity and I ordered coca tea at a restaurant last night, and we have to say, we’re hooked!  Coca (not to be confused with its illegal refined counterpart) is a green leaf that apparently helps with acclimatizing to altitudes.  It has a very mild flavor similar to green tea, but with no bitterness or tannins.  We’re trying to figure out how we can bring some into the states without getting sniffed out by a security dog.

Trin and I have entered into our 8th week living south of the Equator, and it’s amazing how quickly the time has passed!  Trin’s program has started picking up and she spent all of last week interviewing various people from the community she’s working with.  Now she has the laborious work of transcribing each of the 15-25 minute dialogues that she recorded.  She interviewed an elementary school teacher at her school, and you can hear children screaming in the background while the woman is trying to explain how climate change has affected the lives of her and her students.  It’s very challenging for her!  Right now, we are in Quito for a week while Trin visits the headquarters of The Nature Conservancy in Ecuador.  We flew in yesterday, and I was amazed at how winded I felt at the top of the stairs of our hostel!  Quito is at an elevation of about 9,000 feet, so it’s going to take us a few days to get used to the heights after having lived at sea level for several months.  Quito is very similar in architecture to Cuenca, with many brightly painted facades and balconies filled with colorful flowers.  Thanks for reading and enjoying!