Fire Camouflage

Have I ever mentioned that the firefighters here wear red camouflage? Do they think they are going to blend into the flames? And even if they could, wouldn´t that be really dangerous? Wouldn´t you rather people be able to see you if you were surrounded by fire? The municipal police wear blue camouflage. That one remains a complete mystery...

I really like how cheap/easy it is to get clothes tailored/altered here. Volunteers leave old clothes in the office in Quito when they finish their service, and so I had some clothes from there that were too big plus some other clothes from the last few years that weren´t good for the climate here. I took a pair of jeans that I liked how they fit me and a pair of oversized men´s work khakis that I picked up to a lady in town and said ¨make these (khakis) like these (jeans)¨ and she did! I got a dress, two pairs of pants, two skirts, and three shirts altered for $5 and now I have all new clothes for work! =) =) =) Life is good.

death bells

I live next to the church, but the bells can be heard all the way to my work. There is one kind of ring (constant, quick ringing for about 30 seconds) to call the people to mass every day. There is another kind of ring (slow interval ringing for a minute or two) that signals that someone in the town died. I hate that ring, it´s awful. You get all worried because some deaths here are so unexpected...then everyone starts talking about who died, how they died, and get ready for the visitation, funeral, and burial, which is a town event here.

So, the guy who takes care of the church, Hooper, is kinda an unconventional jokester and sometimes, when he rings the bell to call people to church, he starts of slow like the death bell and then, before the priest can get mad, speeds it up. Gets me every time.