Quevedo, Ecuador

Never did we even dream of visiting Luis Cedeno and his family in Quevedo, Ecuador. But when we were asked to visit Mision Quito a week ago, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to fly to Guayaquil after the our meetings in Quito. Quevedo is a small city three hours north of Guayaquil. It would have been faster to take a bus from Quito but a little dangerous because of winding, mountain roads which are not in the best condition.



Luis's sister and his mother have a fun sense of decorating. They change the decorations and colors seasonally. His sister's house is still decorated for Christmas.

Luis is a friend from our Chile Mission. He was serving as the medical connection in Mision Vina del Mar when we met him. When he needed surgery twice, we became well acquainted with him because stayed with us while recovering. He visited us here in Lima last March.

This was a fun and refreshing treat--coco agua or coconut water. The fellow selling the treat used a large machete to clean and shape the vessels.

On the three-hour drive from Guayaquil with Luis's cousin, a taxi driver, we passed groves and groves of bananas, coco palms, rice paddies, corn, and sugar cane. This is a farm house. Many houses are made of bamboo and reed and perched on stilts. A ladder is leaned against the front of the 8' square house.

On Saturday we went to market with Luis's mother who shops only at the open air market. She has her favorite farmers and buys only where she can pick out the fruits, vegetables and fish herself. This ice cream salesman carried his stool and ice cream around the market, stopping only when someone asked for ice cream. Unsure of the source, we didn't eat any ice cream.

Fish heads, anyone?

This double decker bus carried farm workers to market and back.

This was a fun scene--a young man was perched on a bag of vegetables reading the newspaper while a family member, most likely his mother, sold her produce.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of a family selling bananas on the corner across the street from the market.

To market, to market--one wonders what the purpose is for the live piglets at market...

A typical street scene in Quevedo--Luis and his mother live in the home behind the blue and yellow fence. Right now his sister and her son are also living with them.

Behind Luis is his mother cooking our dinner. Three bedrooms are on the left. We stayed in a small, comfortable hotel on the Rio Quevedo.

These are banana trees. You can see a blue bag in the lower right of the picture. The bananas are bagged to protect them from insects. When the bananas are cut, they are left on the thick stem. I took this picture from the car. The groves are owned by Dole and Chiquita. Great signs identify the companies. Just like the orchards in Utah, workers live on the property. Bananas grow year round and are harvested four times a year.

This is sugar cane in the early stages of growth.

Oscar stopped the car to take our picture in front of rice fields.

Typically a house in South American cities is behind a cement wall and iron fencing. There is no grass, just a cement patio and parking.

This statue of a nursing mother in the center of a busy intersection, a round-a-bout or "ovalo," was a fitting backdrop for a photo of Dad, the pediatrician.

Quevedo is on a river, and like many other cities, the water front is being developed for the citizens to enjoy. Before the water front park was developed, the area was dark, muddy, and dangerous. No families come to spend the day. There are many park benches, vendors of all kinds, and restaurants.

As the plane lifted off and gained altitude, we were treated to a spectacular sunset.