Holy knives and other adventures...

The other morning we were preparing to leave for Parque Jipiro to help with the fundraiser. Gloria (Adam´s counterpart) told us that we would need to bring the gas tank and tube from the kitchen. We were loading up their car and when Adam walked into the kitchen, he found Gloria´s son (who was visiting from Quito) using our good knife to cut the tube of the gas tank (because that is how it is done here). Before Adam could say anything, a huge spark burst from the back of the stove and Gloria´s son almost kills himself from the electricity and gas and whatever else that might have happened. Shaken up, he set down the knife and Adam discovered that it is scorched and missing pieces. So we were left with a holy knife... thankfully Gloria's son was ok. It took us about a day to get over being upset about the destruction of our beloved kitchen item that we brought with us from the U.S. Now we will just have to go out and buy an $8 Ecua knife.


Other than that, just been living the Loja life- playing with the dog on the roof (her name is Canela), going to our offices, visiting barrios, running errands and the sort. Since I know people enjoy seeing photos of our everyday life here in Loja, here are a few:

Canela is the dog that lives on the roof of the building, so when we go up to wash and hang laundry, she is there yapping, wagging her tail and rolling around trying to get attention

This is the view of our walk to the Supermaxi (up ahead)

How we light the stove and oven- with these terribly crappy plastic matches!

The view from our current bedroom window- the roof of someone's house. And they are up there really early in the morning washing clothes and making a ruckus.

The neighbors also have chickens and roosters, which sit in front of our window and cockadoodle and cluck all night long and keep us up.

The shawarma place that we go to. Jason, the fellow volunteer in Loja, doesn't eat here because the meat is off the street and he feels it gets contaminated by the dust, dirt and diesel. But we still go. :)

My PC cell phone that comes with Snake and a flashlight!

One of the city streets on a Sunday....completely dead and empty. Everything is closed on Sundays (except the Supermaxi and the morning market) and hardly anyone is ever out and about

Another photo from Parque Jipiro. You can rent bounce houses here!

Adam and I with Hermana Harrison. Her and her husband are serving as senior missionaries here, and they have been so kind in helping us with our apartment search (letting us know when they see signs posted on windows, because that is the only way to find an apartment other than word of mouth). They invited us over for dinner and we were treated to a wonderful stew straight from a crock pot!

By the way, Adam and I have heard the song "I Know You Want Me" by Pitbull everywhere. It is one of the worst songs but people love it here...on the bus, in the cafe, on the street, at home, wherever. It gets stuck in my head, not by choice... So between the music from the trash trucks that run all morning and late into the night and this song, I'm definitely feeling the "Loja- Ecuador's City of Music" culture!