Views from the bus window

 For some reason unknown unto me, my computer has decided to upload all these pictures in reverse order from that in which they were taken.  So, this is kind of a backwards representation of our trip, which I guess will bother no one except perhaps me, and I guess it doesn't bother me enough to take the time to fix it!  So, starting at the bottom of this post and working your way up, you'll see a bit of our trip from Quito to El Cristal on Oct. 19.

Those are clouds, not water that we are looking down on.

I was trying to get a picture of the dog half on the roof and half on the terrace.  Perhaps if you squint and use your imagination a little, you'll be able to see him.  

Can you see the pig being sliced up?

A little foggy

Heading to preps

On October 19, Alberto, Jill and I traveled from Quito to El Cristal by bus to begin a couple of weeks of preps.

 

The sign at the front of the bus announced that this bus (San Pedrito 37) was "for elegant people like you."  

Ecuador Preps and Conventions 2022

El Cristal Preps - Oct. 19-29

Las Mercedes Preps - Oct. 19-24

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Las Mercedes - Nov. 4-6

El Cristal - Nov. 11-13

Lago Agrio - Nov. 19-20

Cuenca - Nov. 20

Ipiales, Colombia - Nov. 26-27

Quito - Dec. 2-4

**I will be at all the places in blue.**

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Here is a link for the Google Map of the Ecuador conventions.  I've never tried anything like this before, so hopefully it will work.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?hl=en&hl=en&mid=1Ru-qs2xtwquC9SkYTBPOKzSSEssgBaE&ll=-1.5223235835144031%2C-79.36337278301751&z=7

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And here's a picture of the map I just took with my phone, so maybe that will work better for some of you.  I'm definitely not a techie! 

Las Mercedes - Red pin

El Cristal - Blue pin

Lago Agrio - Orange pin

Cuenca - Purple pin

Ipiales - Brown pin

Quito - Green pin

I found dill pickles!!!

 

It took me two whole days to finish off the entire jar.  

New Bible

 

Sweet Joshua is very excited about his new Bible!

With enough cushions, you can make anything work!

 

I believe there were 4 cushions involved in this set-up - one underneath and three behind.  

Colada Morada & Guaguas de pan

The Day of the Dead is coming up here in Ecuador (as well as in other Latin countries), and one evidence is the smell of colada morada and guaguas de pan.  I'll paste a link here in case you would like more basic details regarding any of the things mentioned above.

https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/ecuador/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ecuadorian-day-of-the-dead/

This is colada morada (may be drunk hot or cold) and regular bread (not a guagua de pan).

BIG batch of colada morada

Last night's guagua

I decapitated him right away.