Monday, November 12, 2007
All Souls' Day
Halloween is not much celebrated in Ecuador. Rather, this country has a national holiday on November 2 - All Souls Day. It's a very important occasion, with huge numbers of people traveling back to their towns and cities of origin to join family and remember their deceased loved ones in prayer and celebration. Several times in the days leading up to the holiday we had a chance to partake of the special "colada morada" which is an essential feature of the celebration; this is a delicious and exotic purple fruit drink, thick with chunks of peaches and blackberries, often served warm, and almost always accompanied by "guaguas de pan" sweet rolls shaped like babies. On All Souls' Day itself we were in Quito, walking around the oldest part of the city, and were served colada morada and guaguas by the monks of Saint Francis church in a garden so lovely and peaceful we could have been in Assisi.
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Christ the King Habitat team visitors
When the Habitat For Humanity team from Christ the King was in Santo Domingo doing a build across town, the medical professionals in the group took a couple of hours off to visit the Hombro clinic and meet the staff there.
Julio Jaramillo School
This elementary school is a couple of blocks from the Hombro clinic; its students are among the many who came for pre-school physical exams, required by the state.
At Santo Domingo's Botanical Garden
About the only place of natural beauty in Santo Domingo (other than the Catholic University campus and a few private homes) is the botanical garden. This little guy had just helped himself to a piece of carrot from somebody's hand.
Agnus Dei
This is the chapel in the Agnus Dei religious community, where we attended a 3:00 a.m.(!) Easter vigil/sunrise service. There were about 40 people in attendance. The music was exquisite.
In-kind payment for Leonardo Oviedo's cardiology services
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