The First Week in Baños

Hello All,
Hope that everyone is doing great. The first week in Baños went really well. On Monday and Tuesday we worked in Baños, Wednesday we went to Pondoa (a town literally at the foot of the Volcano Tungurahua--for part of the day we coold see the peak and the smoke coming out of it), on Thursday we went to Rio Verde, and Friday to Rio Negro. The volunteers have been great and I have already picked up with friends I made over the last two years and new ones that I have met during this time. My main job for the past week has been to help lead the volunteers when we have group activities (worship, a couple of devotions, trips) and translating for Dr. Chinenye Iwuji (Nigerian but working as a doctor in England). It has been a great experience and I have enjoyed working with everyone. I actually feel we are having too much fun and that I should be sacrificing a bit more. I will look for opportunities this week...
Yesterday I went with 15 other volunteers to the Jungle near Puyo. We went with guides from an agency in Baños. One in particular, named Angel, went with us last year also and is not only a great guide, but incredibly funny. In the morning we went to a monkey rescue home in the Jungle. There they had about 40 monkeys of 5 different species (spider monkeys, white something monkeys and 3 other types that I have to write down the names for). It was absolutely amazing being able to play with the monkeys. I held several and had others crawl all over me (they were pretty good size). One spider monkey dragged me around the yard holding me with his hand and tail (which they have very good control of) and tried to take me into the home. I took a really cool video while he was doing this. I also took other photos of all the monkeys and the other animals there...
But I lost all these photos this morning! I accidently reformatted my card and erased all of the pictures I took yesterday (monkeys, jungle, waterfalls, canoeing, hiking, rivers). Needles to say I am a bit bummed out, but I will survive and I will definitely have the opportunity to go back later. I talked to Angel about possible taking a week long treck into the jungle in September or October.
Today I went horseback riding with a few volunteers. We headed up into a revine at the foot of Tungarahua and could hear it rumbling almost the whole time. Tonight we are going to church at the Baptist church in town and I was asked to play a few songs for the service--I´m thinking: Holy Hands, You Said, Nothing But the Blood, and/or It Is Well With My Soul.
Well, I´ve got to go, but I hope that everyone back home is doing great and Happy Father´s Day to all the fathers! With love,
Owen