apartments and a phone

We´ve been apartment searching today, looking at different neighborhoods closer to where we’ll be working. I think we´ve found a good deal (it would be cheaper than where we are now) we are going to call them tomorrow and let them know if we want it. It is an apartment attached to a home, but we´d have a separate entrance. The neighborhood is up on a hill close to lots of bus lines and it is a nice, safe place with a smaller-community feel than the place we are staying now. There is a floreria where you can buy a dozen spectacular roses for a couple bucks. I guess Ecuador is one of the biggest exporters of roses in the world — yea for cheap flowers! The family that is renting the apartment pretty much found us: we were sitting in front of a small store looking at the classifieds and a nice car stopped, a women asked us if we were looking for an apartment and said she was renting. So we went to their house, saw the apartment and they pretty much said “what can we do to the place so you would want it?” They said if we want they can set up a meal plan, internet plan, they can funish it, whatever we want. AND it´s recently painted, and the bathroom and kitchen are in the process of being tiled this week. We also would have a patio where we can dry clothes or just enjoy the view (which is beautiful since it´s on a hill). So, yeah, we like it. But we´d be sad to leave our host family, our host mom is an AMAZING cook. Each meal is better than the next. Tim and I have already asked her for cooking lessons. People warned us the Ecua food is bland, but whatever she does, it´s great and everything is so fresh that the flavors don´t need a lot of seasoning. I´ll have to write another post sometime just on the food. The juices here are unbelievable.

We also purchased a cell phone yesterday. Our director pretty much told us it would make life here a lot easier if we had one. We can text message other volunteers for just a few cents and this way we can receive calls from the US at no charge (to us– wink). She said there are international calling cards you guys in the states can use that are about 16 or 17 cents a minute, but we´ll try and look into it. Anyway, if you need or want to call us our number is 011-09-980-7971 We´ll probably get another one in a few weeks so both Tim and I will have one, but I think this number will be mine. Anyway, we miss you all, it´s been so nice to read the comments, keep em coming! Abrasos (hugs) Eileen