Sunday, October 15, 2006

Sunday, October 15
Just a quick update for the week....today is election day in Ecuador. We're not sure who won yet but it looks like one of the frontrunners is 'a candidate of the people'. He is running on an anti-poverty ticket and has ties with the indigenous populaton here ~ probably partly inspired by the last election in Bolivia. We even heard a report about the election and the candidates today while we streamed NPR over the computer. It's been a quiet weekend - lots of things are closed and no alcohol is sold on Sat. or Sun. when there's a presidential election.

Also, last Thursday at school we had an earthquake drill. I was teaching one of the fourth grade classes all week because the teacher's wife had a baby last weekend. So, we went through the procedures and all the 'what if...' questions and during the drill and I had all the fourth graders under their desks...

Well this morning (sunday) Chris and I were at school early doing some work and we were each in our classrooms when all of a sudden the room started shaking. It was kind of like a huge truck passed by the window (although I wasn't near a street) or there was a huge wind from a major storm. After it stopped, I went out to find chris and he was headed to the bathroom ~ his room was on the first floor and he didn't know we'd just lived through our first earthquake. While we were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine (it's officially the rainy season now so you really need to enjoy the sun when it's out) there was a little more shakey-shakey. So, it was kind of exciting but definitely a very minor earthquake. Apparently when you live tucked in between active volcanoes you are also suceptible to earthquakes.

That's about it for now ~ did I mention that chris and I are reinstating his tradition of celebrating halloween by hosting a party? We have two weeks to get ready and we'll definitely post pictures of our costumes and the decorations.
hope everyone is well and very happy,
Sharon and Chris

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the blog. Love the pics. We look forward to the Halloween pix. Remember, if you fill a glove (latex type) with o.j. and freeze it and while it's freezing shape the hand - it makes a great ice cube floating in a Halloween punch bowl. milde

Anonymous said...

hey guys, this is just awsome. sorry to be so slow on the take. johanna is studying the rainforest in school and will take this story with her tomorrow. that cable looks a little hairy to me, but nothing like an earthquake i guess. love and miss you lots. we are all living through you, so keep having fun and adventures. do they know what halloween is down there?
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
beth

Anonymous said...

Had a great weekend at the beach with my buds, there were six of us and Halloween was being celebrated all over the place, a parade in Rehobeth, lots of people in costumes. How was your party? How many folks showed up? Will you be putting any pictures on the blog? We must be on the same time as you by now. Daylight savings ended yesterday and it was getting dark when I left work. Really don't like it when we get to the point when I go and come home from work in the dark. Are the days pretty much the same length all year long?
Love from Mom