Before and After Pics

I won't regale you with all the gory details, but the past two weeks have included:
- an afternoon accompanying a feverish, rash-covered, extremely dehydrated friend to the hospital (and then sneaking in some Burger King for her once the IVs kicked in);
- making 9 tire gardens out of used tires;
- 2 failed attempts at catching a bus out of town, followed by a successful third attempt;
- a weekend spent helping my friend run a camp for teenagers - and about 30 bugbites on my legs as a result;
- banana empanadas slathered in Nutella;
- building garden beds, filling them with soil, and starting in on a perimeter fence;
- and a bunch of e-mails to read and write that piled up because the internet was out for a week.

So, in the interest of time and to keep you up to speed, here are a few before and after pictures. Some of these are from the past few weeks. Some of them reflect changes from my first few months in Ecuador during training and the present time, because at this point I'm midway through my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer(!). Here goes:

Host family Before...

...Host family After.

View from the terrace Before...

...View from the terrace After.

Sitemates Before...

...Sitemates After.

Host family munchkin Before...

...Host family munchkin After.

Before...

...After. (Before and after what, exactly, I'm not sure.)

Before...

...After.

Before,

Before,

Before...

...and a very yummy After.

Hannah Before...

...and Hannah After. She's pretty consistent, which is a wonderful thing in a friend.

Perhaps the one thing that has undergone the most radical and most easily visible change is the space next to the Casita de Chocolate.

Here it is Before...

...and here it is After. There's a lot more to tell about this whole process, and I know I keep saying "stay tuned for more," but I'm going to have to say it one more time. It's been quite a process, and a fun one at that. Our garden project is off to a flying start, so flying, in fact, that this After picture is already obsolete. So: stay tuned for more. Hasta pronto.