Masks, guinea pigs and fireworks

pLas Mascarillas was another Afro-Ecuadorian village we visited and they made these beautiful clay masks.

The ¨Limpieza de Cuyi¨
(Guinea pig cleansing...you can read more about this in the previous blog post)

We all had to give it a try...the Ecuadorian woman could do a push-up with the
bottle on her head but I wasn´t about to attempt that move.

The traditional dance called ¨Bomba,¨ Please notice the glass bottle on top of the woman´s head. (The saying is that if you can balance and dance Bomba with the bottle on top of your head, you are ready for marriage...this woman was an expert and ready for a husband)

Loved these girls!

Our children´s play on hygeine...I played la doctora

Before I knew it, there was a swarm of girls wanting to braid my hair. One of the villages we visited called Juncal. It was an Afro-Ecuadorian culture, and I loved their community! After our health workshop, a few girls started braiding my hair....

We even had sparklers! (Me, Rebecca, Sonya, Sam--Garrick and Ryan in the background)We had such a great 4th of July party!! I was sad to be away from home but getting together with all my friends here and having our own celebration was a blast!