I arrived in Ecuador on December 6 and went on the 9th to Chontal, to bring Christmas gifts for the children.
A group of folks at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston had put together about 200 hand-made bracelets and 15 more earrings for the children of Chontal. I stopped by the school as soon as I arrived.
I have a good reputation among the children, so I had to hide a bit to not distract everything. But finally I had the opportunity to spend time with the kids and catch up a bit.
As the school day neared an end, The principal and I went to each of the classrooms and gave out all of the bracelets to a lot of happy kids!
A family that I know gave me a cocoa pod. These are pods of cacao, or cocoa. Inside, there's a white coating pulp that's sweet that you can east and suck on. The seeds inside are cocoa beans, which are eventually used to make forms of chocolate.
Enjoy the Christmas season!