Lychees, Trout, Hot Springs, and the Assembly

Last Monday and Tuesday Ashawnte and I weren't able to leave the house and walk through town at all because there was this big holiday going on called Carnival. It's a lot different here than most holidays at home because here they throw water balloons, eggs and flour at you. Oh yeah, paint too. It's a very dirty holiday and they target everyone. So we had to stay in, no service. Tuesday though we got up early enough that the people weren't out yet and we went with a group of friends from the congregation to Tufiño. There we went to some hot springs and swam all morning. The water is this greenish-brown color because it comes right from the volcano next to it and it is sulfur water. But it makes your skin really soft and you feel really good all day afterwards. It's just like being in a hot tub without jets.

After the hot springs we went to this fish hatchery and got 4 fresh rainbow trout for $4. Unfortunately they just kill them and give them to us to gut and fillet. So it turned out to be a disaster because neither of us know how to fillet a fish properly and it ended up being slaughtered. Haha!! But the experience was nice...interesting. (The link for the video of us getting the fish at the hatchery - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW4MbkUY23M)

Then we discovered this fruit called Lychee. I have a picture of it below. The skin on the outside looks spikey but it isn't sharp at all, it's actually soft and you twist it and it pops right open. The inside is like a grape. The flesh is white and slippery and it tastes just like a grape. Be careful though because there is a huge seed in the middle of it that is shaped like an almond and you can actually bite right through the seed because it is soft like an almond too. It's so good though.

Now all of the great spiritual news. Ashawnte and I went with Paola yesterday to Quito for the English Special Assembly Day. We left home yesterday morning at 1:45 because we had to be at the bus terminal in time to catch the bus that left at 2:15. We just made it in time because we couldn't find any taxis running that early in the morning. So we were on the bus for about 4 hours. Once we made it to the terminal in Quito we got in a taxi and asked him to take us to the Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. We think he played us because he drove and drove and drove until he finally "found" it. The taxis in Quito have meters in the car like at home, but in Tulcan it's just a dollar anywhere you need to go. So the fare was $15 just to get the Assembly Hall. *Sigh* oh well. So we get to the Assembly Hall at 7:30 (meanwhile we are all in jeans because we refused to ride the bus in skirts) so Ashawnte called in to one of the brothers and asked if we could change our clothes before the doors opened. Surprisingly they said yes and they let us stay inside even though it was before 8:00. The Assembly program was absolutely fantastic! I'll be posting my notes because I'm sure there will be many different points mentioned here than at home. Once the Assembly was over, we decided to catch a cab back to the main city of Quito and eat dinner before we came home. TACO BELL!!! Haha!! It was Paola's first time eating Taco Bell and it was absolutely fantastic eating something from back home. Then we went back to the terminal and caught a bus back to Tulcan. We got home at about 12:30 am. Talk about a long day. Well, I'll post more when something else exciting happens. Love you all and miss you tons!

P.S. Ashawnte and I got to visit a waterfall so there is a pic of that in here too.