Cumbaya + Sushi Lessons

Hi all!
I cant believe it has been a month since I've updated my blog. I apologize! I have a couple things to update you on, and otherwise everythings the same! Today i went to Cumbaya (a city outside of Quito where Zita's daughter, Romina, works). She works at the University of San Francisco as a teacher so Zita and I went with the baby (Romina's daughter) to visit and take a look at the school. It was beautiful and we happened to visit on "Pirate Day" where all the students and teachers HAD to dress up as a pirate or consequences would ensue. Any student who was not in costume was subject to an extra test, and any teacher who came sans pirate attire was liable to watch his/her entire class walk out the door before it even began. The car ride down the mountain was absolutely beautiful but unfortunately i wasnt able to snap very many photos because i had the 9 month of baby on my lap. Here in Ecuador it seems that car seats are a rarity. Often times young children/babies are just held on the lap of someone in the car - even in the front seat!
A couple days ago was Zita's son-in-laws (Romina's husband and the baby's father) birthday. The celebration was held here at the house and a sushi chef came and taught us all how to make our own sushi. It's a much easier process than i ever expected. I'd love to make it at home but i'm not sure where to find the special rice that is needed. I made both kinds (rice surrounded by the seaweed, and rice on the outside). I'm going to attach a photo of my most elegant creation - a california roll!

my beautiful sushi roll ha ha!

Everything at work is the same, I have stayed with the same class of 4-5 year olds and whereas at the beginning it was a bit difficult because of the language barrier, it's become a lot easier to communicate with them as well as reprimand and establish my position as a teacher.
Below are a few photos from the drive to cumbaya.

drive to cumbaya

drive to cumbaya