Doing laundry

Since we don't have a washer or dryer in the apartment, we have two ways to wash clothes. On Saturday morning I gather up my sheets and towels, and any other items that are too bulky to wash by hand and head down stairs to the local laundromat. For seven dollars they will wash, dry and fold two loads in just a few hours, unless the electricity is off... The rest of my clothes I take to what is called the washing rock. Next to the kitchen there is usually a a deep sink and a waist high cement wash board. It is slanted and has ridges to scrub against. The water can be turned on at the top to rinse the liquid soap the locals call Wu lee tei (Woolite) out of the clothes you have been soaking. The local stores carry several kinds of bar soap that will get almost any kind of stain out. There is something therapeutic about scrubbing, squeezing and slapping dirty clothes about. Now if it rains for days and nothing gets dry, your clothes can smell a little sour...That's when you take a third load to the laundromat. I'm still debating if I want to give up all this good therapy and break down and buy a washer and dryer.

Alliance Academy

Kinder playground and preschool classrooms

The front office complex.

The elementary atrium.

The Stomach Bug

For the most part Quito is a healthy place to live. The hospitals and medical care is good. The food is varied and plentiful. You don't have to deal with disease ridden mosquitoes or amoebas lurking in every corner. The only mosquitoes I've seen here were sickly and disoriented and seemed to have a touch of altitude sickness. :) BUT everywhere there are people, there will be viruses that they freely and generously share. The first day kids started showing up at school, the stomach bug began it's feeding frenzy among us. I fell victim this week for a couple of days then had an even harder relapse. I've survived but really hope I don't run into that virus again for a while. The cure for nausea down here is called Tea of Oregano. You smell like a pizza for a while but it does settle your stomach. I hope to get more pictures soon. Now that school has started and the construction is mostly done at school, I'll do a tour for you this week...barring any viral attacks.