Art in the park

Today we spent the morning at a couple artisan/typical markets.  We went with a short term-mission team from our home church in Fort Wayne, IN (First Missionary Church).  The youth pastor and his wife, along with 2 of the high-schoolers, came to Ecuador to work with Extreme Response.  Our church also supports missionaries with Extreme Response and they have their office in Quito, just a few blocks from the guesthouse.  We were not involved with the team at all, but we were able to spend a little time with them today before they returned to Indiana.

We went with them to the artisan market, where there are rows and rows of shops that sell typical/Indian Ecuadorian "stuff", like blankets, scarfs, paintings, clothing, knick-knacks, and more.  Unfortunately we didn't take a picture of the market, that will have to come in a future post.

After our time at the market, the team left for the airport and Hannah and I walked a couple blocks to a park.  On Saturdays and Sundays many vendors come and set up their booths.  The booths have the same type of items as the market, and there is also a lot of art for sale.  That's why it is called, "art in the park". Below are a few pictures of the park, the booths, and the art:

The artwork is really nice.  We are planning on getting at least one painting for our living room.

After we left the park we had some lunch.  At most typical restaurants, a lunch ("almuerzo") costs $2.50 or $2.75.  The lunch includes soup, main course, and juice...and sometimes even dessert which is usually a piece of fruit.  Hannah had the chicken soup.

Yep, that's a chicken foot.  It adds great flavor to the soup.