Latest from Quito

To day is a national holiday, the freedom of the city of Guaquil in the south 9 October, so there are streets named 9 October. Ther are also streets named-- 18 Dec, 10 Aug, 24 May and any other random date you wish to mention. I think they are mostly commerating the liberation, from the Spanish, of each city in the country. The fight for freedom started in earnest in 1809 and continued until 1822 when Simon Bolivar added his weight to the freedom fight. The streets are named also after all the heros of the fight for independence, Mariscal Sucre, Olmeada, Montafur etc etc.
The other big event is Ecuador vs Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier to morrow,, and the tension is building up( May also be part of the reason for bringing the army onto the streets!)
The government has put in place measures to allow the army take to the streets to combat crime! I have only seen the army once in action at a roadblock, but the reality of street crime has come a little closer to one of our group.

In the UBECI world yesterday I was giving the kids in St Isabel school an introduction to Ireland. Questions.. "is it in Ney york? " "is it in Africa" etc, but I think they enjoyed it and perhaps even now know it is in Europe, wherever that is-- oh yes that´s in Spain because Tio Miguel is there-- Many , many have relations in Spain.

Measuring height and weight of all children. Their BMI for 80% is below the norm, (but is the norm appropriate for Ecuador?). Next is to move to nutrition. The diet here for the children is a combination of carbohydrates and ice cream or other sweet pacifiers.