Our retreat to Otavalo was two-fold.  It was a chance to reflect on this current school year and come together as a team that fell into place pretty quickly.  Half of our team arrived within days or after the start of this school year so we needed some time to step away from that.  

The second reason for the retreat is planning for next year.  That's right!  In April we were already starting to think about and plan for next August.  What will chapel speakers and themes be?  Who do we want to lead the Fall Spiritual Emphasis?  What should we keep doing that worked well this year?  What needs to be changed?  

Our team for next year is 40% smaller than the current team.  We also had to look at what we can accomplish, practically speaking, with a smaller team.  And what our new roles and responsibilities will be.  As part of this, Nate volunteered to take on the role of Middle School Coordinator for the next school year.  He has been heading up a lot of this already this year so it seemed like a natural solution.

The team had specific meetings times and agendas for each.  But that doesn't mean it was all work!  We ate meals together, played wet tennis on the flooded court, had time for board and had time for board games at night.  And families came so in between meetings the crew was big!

We did lunches in town at the Otavalo town center.  Otavalo is home to an indigenous tribe who are extremely proud that their blood lines were not mixed with the Europeans during the invasion.  They make beautiful textiles, mostly out of wool, and are known for their music.

Lunch overlooking the Otavalo market

A view of the market from above

These ladies were baby-wearing long before it became a trendy, yuppy past time!  And they don't need any instructions on how to wrap their baby in the moby wrap!

Selling a fruit traditional to Ecuador.  You can tell which people are Otavalen by their dress: embroidered white blouses, wool skirts and open-toed wool shoes.

Some of the artisanal wares you can find in the market weekly.