For the love of sweet baby Jesus don't put paper in the toilet!

Hello all!
This is the very first sign to greet meet at the Peace Corps Ecuador headquarters. After spending 2 days in DC for staging we spent 3 days at a hotel in Quito going to PC headquarters for training info (basic PC policy etc.) Quito is a very large city...though not the largest in Ecuador. We didn't have many opportunities to go out so I can't say much about it. Now I am living with my host family in a small town called Santa Rosa de Ayora. I live on a farm with my host mom and dad (who are only about 12 years older than I am). I also have host siblings Darwin who is 16, Vicki who is 8 and Janina who is 1. They live on a small farm with running water only every other day. They put a door on my bedroom and the bathroom just for me...other than that there are no doors. The whole family lives nearby so I've met all the aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins. I've spent a lot of time playing with the kids...they are so cute. Saturday I went to a confirmation party and danced with the whole family. It was pretty fun! Sunday was father's day so we had a special meal for dinner...guinea pig. It acutally wasn't too bad. I watched the grandma prepare it which was interesting to say the least. The girls asked me to do their hair special for their dads so I braided their hair in crowns and put wild flowers in it. They loved it! I really like playing with the kids...plus they aren't afraid to correct my spanish and teach me new words. The whole family is super nice and always wants to talk to me and help me out.

We have PC trainging during the week. Today was the first day. We had to walk around our communities meeting importent people like the leader of the community, the midwife, and the kindergarten teacher and how to take public transportation. Tomorrow we are going to a special chat on our projects specifically.

The landscape is beautiful!!! Everything is green and wet--a wonderful change from arizona. It rains pretty much everyday for at least a little bit. It's normally in the 50s during the day and colder at night. When the clouds clear, I can see the view of a snow covered volcanoe.

So far I'm having a great time. The people are great (both the ecuadorians and other PC volunteers).

I miss everyone back home!!! I hope everyone is having a great summer and I would love to hear from you (even though I only have internet access about once a week).

Besos!!!