Last Day of School and the Middle of the World

My class!

 Yesterday was my last day at the school, and I was so sad to leave the kids.  We went to music class and sang and danced.  It was mostly a regular school day, but I taught the kids an English lesson!  We went over hello, how are you, colors, animals and days of the week. The kids all kept giving me hugs because they were sad too that I was leaving.  At the end of the day, the kids lined up to each give me a hug and a kiss and it was just so sweet I almost cried.  My teacher, Juanita, told me too that she wishes I could stay.  She told me that I remind her of her son, who is a doctor and a professor at a university.  She told me to keep in touch and come back soon.

Dancing in music class

Las ninas 

Mi amiga Valentina and me in the courtyard

My teacher, Juanita

Teaching English

Playing on the playground

That afternoon, we went to the middle of the world, which is where the equator and the prime meridian intersect.  There is a big statue with North, South, East and West labeled on each side and the world sitting on top.  There were playgrounds, shops and restaurants, a museum, and a 

planetarium but we mostly just walked around and 

took pictures.

Today, we slept in (for the first time) and then walked the city of Quito.  We went in the San Fransisco church, which took 170 years to finish.  It was the most beautifully intricate church that I have ever seen.  Quito is actually a very nice city because they have a lot of parks that are super green and almost seem like they are straight out of a movie because people are actually jogging on the pathways and playing soccer and on the playground.  We also passed by a volleyball tournament that was kind of weird because they played with a soccerball and never spiked it. 

I also got to see how to get to the hospital that I am working at next week because I will be travelling there alone on the trolle bus, which gets very crowded.  Tomorrow we are going to the biggest market in South America to shop!