Hi all — hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! It’s been almost a month since my last post! Time is most certainly flying, as I head back to states in only three and a half weeks! As excited I am to be at home for Christmas, I can’t believe my time here is drawing to a close so quickly.

This past month, I’ve been spending much of my time working on a very exciting project: a photo exhibition featuring children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis living in Cuenca. This project is coming together with the support and supervision of FUNDAFIQ, the non-profit organization I’ve been volunteering with for the past few months.

The exhibition opens next Tuesday, December 4th at a venue close to the center of the city, and will be rotating between several of the local universities and hospitals in the following weeks. I’ll include some of the photos in a blog post next week, as well as an update on the exhibition! Above is one of my favorites — the subject is 4-year-old Arianna.

In addition to my work taking photos, interviewing subjects, and organizing the exhibition, I’ve also been volunteering twice a week at Cuenca’s cancer hospital, SOLCA. This is an opportunity that some of my parents’ college friends helped connect me with (thanks Dunbar family!). Tuesdays and Fridays, I talk to patients and family members in the pediatric ward — lately, I’ve been bringing cards and playing a lot of UNO! It goes beyond saying that teaching these kids a new game is a favorite part of my week.

Some other things worth mentioning:

– As you can imagine, there aren’t very many Thanksgiving celebrations here in Cuenca (though most Cuencanos I talked to had heard of it). Instead, a group of American and Ecuadorian friends and I had our own celebration with what we could find (no sweet corn or cranberry sauce this year!). I brought some very popular pumpkin bars (thanks Grandma Judy!!).

– Art students at la Universidad de Cuenca opened a very …haunting art exhibit last week, located on the second floor of an abandoned hospital. I was able to attend the opening night with my host mom Teresa, and was completely blown away by the eerie collections found in each room, ranging from porcelian hands reaching out of the walls to sculptures built entirely out of abandoned waiting room chairs to giant green flys constructed out of glowing neon. I hope to go back to the exhibit (during daylight) and take some pictures!

– It’s rainy season in Cuenca! Although the temperature is still almost always between 50ºF and 65ºF, every afternoon at almost exactly 2:00 brings thunderstorms that set off car alarms and leave unsuspecting pedestrians soaked (no matter how prepared I am — umbrella, rain jacket, etc — I’m always drenched).

Keep an eye out for an update on my exhibition! Miss you all tons!!