The past two days have been very busy!  Yesterday I went to the market with Evelyn and Alex, got to practice my Spanish, and then helped Evelyn make lunch.  We made a Colombian soup, mashed potatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a meat dish.  That afternoon, a woman from Belgium, Baggie, came to the house to view the project.  She volunteers for Europe Third World and is visiting her boyfriend here in Quito.  She's also interested in getting involved with the cafe and 235, and I will be traveling with them and Alicia to the village on Saturday.  We spoke a lot about the cafe, and had an idea to make it a volunteers' cafe, to draw in individuals volunteering in Quito and making it a destination for them to connect.  That night I went with her and Gustavo to a show that celebrates Ecuadorian culture through dance and silent scenes from the coast, mountains, and cities of Ecuador.  It was incredibly colorful and high energy, and represented their love for dance and music.

Today we spent the morning pulling together fliers and information for a meeting this Sunday for AA that Casa Victoria is hosting.  We've had to send out letters, emails, and fliers to the community and prepare the room.  Afterwards I went with Esteban, a friend of Alicia's who's very interested in the cafe, to several cafes in the area.  Most are in churches or main plazas, and serve both coffee/tea and food.  The Tianguez in el plaza del San Francisco was a more touristy destination with an expensive shop attached offering local chocolate, coffee, and art.  I loved the architecture being under a church with open rooms leading into each other but want the CV cafe to be a less expensive and relaxed atmosphere.  Afterwards we looked into a few cafes in larger buildings that are more formal sit-down establishments, and then visited Cafeto, an Italian style cafe with high ceilings that has a large window overlooking a convent.  They served very good coffee, juice, and small plates and desserts.  We enjoyed that atmosphere more and it gave us some good ideas for our own.  Later this afternoon we had to clean up the volunteer quarters in the house and visited with Lenny, the only person from 235 to attend college.  He stopped by to check in and see Alicia, whom he's known since he was 5, and then the girls and I spent some time talking to him about the village and his upcoming trip to visit his brother in Belgium.  He speaks fluent English and is studying hospitality and tourism in school.  He may be there this weekend when we go to visit and is excited to help bring coffee to 235.  It was fun to hear about the village, which is only about 200 people most of whom are related, and his experience in the states.  He spent a month in D.C. last year to speak at the prayer breakfast and loved the city.  He hopes to return soon and is thrilled to see Europe this summer, his visa was just approved.  It was strange to hear how difficult it is more Ecuadorians to travel abroad, it took 6 months for Lenny to be approved for 3 weeks.  He said they worry people will leave to find jobs, in contrast to Americans being able to travel for the same amount of time easily without needing to apply (or at least I didn't).  Tonight we are hoping to finally be able to go to the hot chocolate cafe, we've tried three times since I arrived here, and then walk around the city a bit.  The painting is also coming along for the outside of the house, it'll soon be a goldenrod/maize yellow.  Until next time!