Day 9

Ellie: Once I finally opened my eyes at noon, today started to pick up. I thought I was dying through lunch but I started feeling better around 2 or 3 PM. Lindsey had gone to the construction site and I heard about a really cool thing that happened. One of the guys in our group had asked if we could take some of the donations we were handing out to schools with school supplies, to the school where we were doing the construction work. He got a bunch of school bags and school supplies and they took them up there. It was amazing because we learned that the school had run out of paper the day before and the amount of paper we brought them would last them for two years! Thanks to everyone and your donations! They were widely spread and appreciated in Ecuador.

Lindsey: That was a really cool experience and the school teachers were giddy, they were so excited! Here's a pic of the kids shaking our hands to thanks us! This morning we also helped paint the outside of the school & bathroom and also started some murals on the sides.
The boys continued working on the roof, prepping for the new materials that hadn't arrived yet.

A guy in the group, Dan, was quite the talented artist and the school faculty tried to take advantage of his skills by asking for as many images as we had time to paint! He was sketch out the design and we would fill in the rest. They looked amazing!
Now back to Ellie: After the work day Lindsey went with some of our friends back to the wood market to pick up a few more gifts. (Lindsey: We hitched a taxi ride, where we experienced the "3rd lane" epidemic where drivers create a new line right over the double yellow line, in between buses, semis, you name it! It was pretty scary, but we made it!)

When they got back I was feeling much better and so we all went with a group of friends down to a pizza restaurant for a dinner to spice things up for a us a bit and awaken our taste buds from the rice and meat options we had been having - although delicious, we all wanted a change. We got 4 super gigante pizzas, which were basically the best thing any of us had ever tasted. We made Andrew, a friend and contestant in American Idol, sing us some songs! That boy does the best Aaron Neville impression I've ever seen!

After dinner, Lindsey took a break in our room and I played a card game (Golf) with some friends downstairs. I was finally feeling well enough to not be in our room and I had to get out. I couldn't stop talking because I had so much energy after laying in bed for two days, which caused some laughter among some friends of mine - good times! (Lindsey: I can vouch for that, because we were on the 4th floor and I woke up, hearing Ellie roaring with laughter in the lobby! Glad she's back to her old self!)