Ecuador! Home Again, Home Again...

Several of you have asked if my oldest Sprout returned safely from her trip to Ecuador.

Thank you.

I'm happy to report that J-Sprout's home safe and sound with hours of DVDs she'd recorded, hundreds of photos and all kinds of crazy stories about five-inch tarantulas and swimming in waterfalls.... Sounds like they had a blast.
(That's her on the right, standing exactly on the equator with two of her friends.)

The trip was sponsored thru Maranatha International and involved a bunch of students and staff from her school. While in Ecuador, the kids (well supervised, I was assured!) built a classroom for a school and a medical clinic I think. (As well as having days off for shopping, sightseeing, and whatever else teenagers do in foreign countries).

The crazy thing is that my middle Sprout (J's younger sister) just headed out with Grandparents for a similar trip. ALSO to Ecuador ironically. Grandpa is a retired Physician and goes on various medical missions all over South America - often taking older grandchildren along - this will be middle Sprout's first trip;

For your entertainment, amusement or viewing pleasure, here are two more pictures from my J-Sprout's trip - an open-air market as seen through the eyes (or camera lens) of a 15-year-old... this is her third (or maybe fourth?) trip like this, so she's an old hand at taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the local area...
Wish I knew what half those beautiful fruits were called!

(Caution, she was going for "Shock-Mom" value here with the pix of the meat market stall..).


Can we all just say "EEEwwwwwwww!!!"