After several weeks of looking for houses, we are finally home. We have chosen to live in the community of Conocoto, a fairly large suburb of Quito with easy access to both the big city and to the communities of San Francisco and Santa Isabel where we are currently focusing our work. Though they are worlds apart, both Quito and San Francisco can be reached by bus in less than 30 minutes, leaving us at a happy medium between the excitement of the city and the tranquility of the country.
Because I was in charge of the house-hunting process, the group was kind enough to let me take first choice on bedrooms and I ended up in the largest of the single bedrooms. Currently we have two double bedrooms and four singles for the eight of us (which will convert to three and three upon the arrival of Luke at the New Year). My bed is not uncomfortable, nor is it way too big, nor would one say that the bedding is fitting of a 24 year-old man, but I love it: I sleep great every night.
Zak, Hilary, and John are currently in charge of constructing our
shelves, so for the time being I am using lots and lots of hangers. I have got everything from coats to pants to dress shirts to short to t-shirts hanging up in my closet. I imagine that will change once our shelves are constructed. 
The house is now (almost) fully furnished, complete with painted walls and indigenous style curtains, and to celebrate our finding and furnishing a house we threw a huasipichái (house warming party) on the 6th of October. The party was a rousing success with guests ranging from the ages of three to sixty-three and hailing from as close as across the street and as far as Scandinavia. It was a really great opportunity to spend time with other Americans and travelers living in Quito, while at the same time really getting to interact with Ecuadorians.
The other day I had my first foray into line-drying my laundry, which was a surprising success. The interesting thing about living in Quito, especially during the rainy season (October-April), is the striking difference in the weather between the mornings and the afternoons. I was up on the roof at 9:30am hanging my first load of clean laundry and the weather was beautiful: not a cloud in the sky, sun beating down (on my wet clothes), and a beautiful 
view of Volcán Cotopaxi. By the time I hung my second load of laundry at 11:30am one could already note the change in the weather in that Cotopaxi was no longer visible, the sun was almost exclusively blocked out by clouds, and the clothing was drying more like a dog in its gyrating style of dancing in the wind. Then at 12:30 I was forced to run up to the roof and pull all of my clothes down as it began to thunderstorm and hail! I managed to get all of my clothes in the house in time, but the storm did not let up until late in the evening.
All-in-all, I am especially happy with the MPI-Ecuador living situation. Every person is working to improve the house. Whether that means painting the walls, building shelves, buying food, putting up curtains, or maintaining and clean and orderly environment, I am especially impressed with the team effort everyone is showing. We always eat dinner together around the dining room table and share the clean-up responsibilities. We don’t have to share the cooking because John is one of the most amazing (and economical) cooks I have ever met. I have not yet had a John cooked meal that was not better than just about anything else I have eaten in Ecuador. Thanks John!Finally, I wanted to provide my contact information if for any reason you feel like calling me or sending me some awesome stuff!
Craig Smith
Manna Project International
Calle Andalucía y Pasaje No. 1
Casa No. 3
Barrio Ciudad del Niño
Sector El Innfa
Conocoto, Quito, Ecuador
My cell phone number is
011 593 8 531 9972
And, the MPI House number is
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