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Long Time, No Blog

Okay, A lot of time has passed since my last blog. I know. I am not sure where I left off on the business front but this blog is way too exciting to start with how my internship savings groups are not working out. Instead, I would like to recount for you all the story of how I became and engaged woman last week.

It all started, at least on my end of things, last Wednesday. I went to MTW team leader Craig and Stacy Pohl’s house for dinner b/c they had invited me for that night the week before. Stacy said I could come early and talk on their phone and use the internet if I wanted. So, while dinner was being prepared I went upstairs to call my mom on Skype. While talking with her, the little daughters came upstairs and told me they had a present for me. They then gave me a tiny origami bunny. I immediately wanted to know where they got it b/c Andrew, my boyfriend, used to make little origami things for me all the time. I asked them over and over who gave it to them but they kept telling me they didn’t know until finally they went back downstairs. All the while I was still on the phone with my mom. Then Stacy came up and told me dinner was ready and to come downstairs. I told my mom bye and she told me to call her back that night if I could. I don’t usually talk to her twice in the same day but I thought nothing more of it. I also asked Stacy where the girls got the bunny and told her how Andrew makes them for me. I jokingly said “Ok, Andrew, you can come out now”. But when I came downstairs and turned around, there he was, IN THE FLESH! IN ECUADOR! HANDSOME AS EVER! I was shocked beyond belief and covered my mouth, hugged him, and began to cry, cry, cry. Mike and Robin where there watching and Craig was capturing all the tears with his camera. Robin then informed me that we were not eating dinner in the house but going out, and I was to stay at the neighbor’s house while Andrew stayed at their house.

Andrew had contacted Robin six weeks earlier and told her that he wanted to surprise me in Ecuador. She helped him organize things to make the surprise successful and worked really hard to keep everything a secret from me, even though I bet 25 or other people knew he was coming before I did.

That first night we went to a Greek restaurant called El Mosaico. It sits up on a hill/ridge that looks over the historical district that has all the old churches and a view of the Panacillo, a huge statue of an angel on a hill that looks over Quito. We sat out on the covered deck/patio place.

The next morning we planned how we would spend his three full days in Quito. We decided to go to Pululaua, the only inhabited volcanic crater. We would hike down and have lunch at the hacienda that’s at the bottom. So that’s what we did. When we got to the hacienda, I was tired from to walk and wanted to sit down and have a rest. I saw this tiny yellow little children’s play house that we could barely stand up in. I really wanted to go inside, so we did. I was sitting in a little bench inside and Andrew told me he wanted to look outside at a pavilion that was near. I stayed inside and watched out the little window. Then he popped up in the window and startled me even though I knew he was gonna try to do it, still scared me. He told me to wait inside the house for a second while he got something. I thought he was getting me a piece a candy from his backpack b/c he brought chocolate hugs (like kisses but with white chocolate swirl) and fruit snacks, but he came inside with three more origami bunnies. He told me he was going to juggle them and I had to grab one. So I did. When I grabbed the first one he told me to look inside. I did and pulled out a chocolate hug with a message written on the little flag. (secret message, I’m not telling) Then he juggled the other two bunnies in one hand and told me to grab one. I looked inside the second bunny and another secret messaged hug was inside. Finally, he told me to grab the third bunny. When I looked inside I saw the back of a ring. When I looked up a saw my future fiancé on one knee and he asked me to marry him! I nodded energetically but apparently responded with “No. no, no! I have not seen the pretty part of the ring yet. You have to put it on my finger!” So I gave the bunny back and he took it out and put the most beautiful pearl engagement ring on my finger that I have ever seen or could ever imagine. Nine months ago we decided to use the engagement band of his great grandmother. It is a white gold band with four tiny diamonds on each side of the band. It was lacking the diamond since now it is in his aunt’s ring, which was perfect b/c we wanted a pearl anyway. So nine months later the ring is on my finger.

We had lunch at the hacienda, wonderful chicken with mushroom sauce and higos con queso for dessert. Andrew loves the fact that Ecuadorians give you cheese with a lot of stuff. Higos con queso is a dessert from Quito which is sweetened figs in syrup with a thick slice of mozzarella. We stayed and the man who runs the hacienda as well as the only other soul down there took our picture for us. He was soooo nice. Then we started our hike back up.

The next day we went to Salva Una Vida for the ladies there to meet him and then we spent the rest of the day in the historical district. We brought back dessert for Mike and Robin as well as their two dinner guests and visited with them for a while.

Saturday we spent the day with two of my little friends, Patti who I worked with at SUV, her daughters Debi 12, and Sara 15. I told Sara that Andrew had a younger brother and she is dying to meet him! Saturday night we were able to go out with my group of friends from my Bible study from San Marcos church. We went to this street that is filled with cafes and shops called La Ronda. We watched some Ecuadorian dancers do a South American culture fest show and then ate and listened to music at another restaurant.

Anj went back home on Sunday morning.

One of my reflections from this dream is that I really thought it was a dream. No Joke. When we were at the Greek restaurant the first night I really, really thought I was dreaming. We had discussed so many times that Andrew would not be able to come to Ecuador that I could not believe that he was indeed here. I also could not believe how God had blessed me so with this surprise visit and proposal, not to mention, this awesome Christian guy that actually loves me enough actually want to spend the rest of his life with ME! I am still working on accepting that last part, but I have a lifetime to let the reality of Andrew’s love sink in and an eternity for God’s love to sink in.

Please pray for my last two weeks in Ecuador. I currently do not have an active savings group. The church members, though were told otherwise very clearly for months even before my coming to Ecuador, thought that I was going to supply a loan capital for them. When they really realized that these groups were run by the generation of their own savings, they decided that they didn’t want to do that because it was not instant. I had a really hard time with that because of how clear we were from the beginning, but I have been told that this misconception of what we do happens a lot by people all over the world. So, the only real interest in the church is the youth. The youth have plans to start a savings group, which is soooo cool. One or two other ladies may join in with them as well.

This Sunday I have a community wide meeting to inform those who are interested about the different group options. We have given out 200 fliers and talked with others. Saturday we will do more last minute reminding and publicizing for the meeting.

PRAYER:

I thank and praise God for all those who helped surprise me with Andrew’s visit. It was the best time of my whole life.

I would like continued prayer for these last weeks for safety and for my goodbyes

Also, please pray for my Spanish as I talk for the meeting on Sunday afternoon, for clarity and my nerves.

MAs y Mas

Hello to everyone.
Thanks for reading my blog and taking interest in my labors and my life.

Well, The last time I wrote I had just begun my research. I still feel like I have just begun my research but I go home in less than 9 weeks!
I have been learning that there are no active savings and loan groups where I am. No one that I have talked to has heard of any group and many people are interested. Now I am just sad that there is no one that we know of right now who can get these groups started right away. I wish I could just stay and take this on as my project. Don’t get me wrong. I want to go home, but I see how vulnerable the people are and how they have been turning to the Colombian loan sharks of Atucucho for fast easy loans where they end up paying sky high interest rates just to buy their children some medicine. Others are not capable of taking advantage of obvious beneficial business opportunities. Many people are interested in groups within the neighborhood because all the cooperatives are at least thirty minutes away and it’s not easy for them to make a special trip just to deposit a couple dollars of savings a week. We are going to have a meeting in several weeks, one of the biggest activities of my research, where all the interested community members that I have talked to will come to a meeting where I can inform them of all the options for the different types of groups. I have found that some are very interested in loans while others are only interested in a group of accountability for savings. This is when I can receive all the information from the people like who they are and where they live.

Other than research…

This past weekend I went with my group of young people to the jungle. It was really cool to see yet another way of life and more options for community development. We went to Mondayacu. Here there is a mission church of San Marcos church in Quito. On Saturday morning we visited the houses of the church members of the church in Mondayacu. In the after noon we were they had their childrens program for ages up to 13, and in the evening we had the youth group for 14 and up. They had a good showing at these groups, more than were at church on Sunday morning.
Church service was at 7:30 in the morning, which I was happy about b/c that meant that afterwards, we had time to hike to this place called Gran Canon, Grand Canyon. It was way down in the jungle. I can’t explain it very well. It was another one of those places sooo beautiful that any description I give won’t do it justice. Like I said, It was way down in the Amazon and untouched by the corruptive hand of humans. I just imagined how trashed this place would be if it were in Soddy Daisy like the rest of our blue hole swimming holes. There was a few water falls flowing out of holes in the walls of the canyon. We climbed in and around and walked over one in order to get to the cave where the water comes from. Then we climbed up a tree with knotches in it to get to the top where we jumped off. Luckily, I learned from my cliff jumping last year to keep my arms down instead of over my head. My shoulders stayed properly located this year as I hold on tightly to my shorts. I hope to get Emilio’s pictures from this and put them up sometime next week. I am glad Emilio (our leader) takes pictures like he does b/c he is documenting my journey for me. I hope to borrow his camera one day to take a few shots of where I am living and researching.

Right now there is a group teaching skills and offering certificates that say they have the capacity to do a certain skill, but there is no help to assist these people actually start new business to utilize their new skills. Some of the skills do not require large loans right a way, like the people who learned how to cut hair. The other skill Se Cap taught was making bread. This, I believe, would require a larger loan to start a bakery.

I ask for continued prayers for safety, research, relationships, focus on my research, and health. Thanks

First two Weeks of Research

Hello all,

I have been living in the community of Atucucho, mas o menos, since Monday. From the very first day God has blessed me with things I didn't know to ask for. The biggest of all is the girl who is going around with me. Her name is Angelica. She is a church member and in the praise band. She completed high school last year but was unable to start college classes right away, probably due to the cost. She is 18 and has lived in the community her whole life. Her dad is also involved in the community and is educated in what happens in politics and community affairs. Thus, when her dad talks to the family Angelica learns a lot. She is really smart and quick, she picks up on everything.
She first thing I did was compile a tiny list of eight basic questions to ask the church members to familiarize them with the types of things I would be researching. I feel like all of them are pretty comfortable and more trusting of the project now. There are about ten families in the church. Pretty soon we decided to utilize the surveys I had. I actually did not right the survey b/c another young woman who did this type of research in Peru gave me her surveys and I just adapted them to my context a bit. I have one survey for households and another survey for small business owners. Sometimes I end up giving them both b/c they have both in the same place. I don't like doing it b/c it can be exhausting for them. I will probably just try to do about five surveys a day. The after the field research I return and type up the notes, mark on the map that Angelica drew for me where we went, and write journals and other papers to submit. I like the schedule b/c I am not just working all the time. I really thought I would not have time to hang out but I do, and that is good. I am making reallllly good friends here.
I was sad about leaving for the first time the other day. I come home in eleven weeks from tomorrow. I do miss Family, Covenant, Friends, Chattanooga, Independence, and Andrew a LOT but I just realized how sad I will be when I leave b/c I hang out with these people all the time, every week, multiple times a week. I know with my friend Daniela its like making a new best friend for 6 months, sharing and encouraging each other and then just leaving never knowing when I will see her again. By the way, she one of the girls I went to the beach with. Which, by the way, I plan on uploading those pictures today too. I will go do that now.
but first, other things I have done or things that are coming up:
I went back to Otavalo for the third time. It was soo good to just be with the children again. Some really don't receive a lot of love. One boy named Alex was a give away child and is being raise by an older woman. He is only 8. The second day I played with him and thre others. The others are a brother, sister, and their little cousin, Jefferson 9, Anna 8, Anderson 5. They pretty much live alone in there little earthen house b/c the dad is responsible for them but he is never there. So I just asked said "hi, what are you guys gonna do today?" and they tell me nothing, and I ask them if they want to play today, so we did. The first day I was with my little friends as I call them. They are 1,4,4,7. but now i am friends with 12 year old Anita too. She taught me how to make two kinds of bracelets. When I asked her what she was going to do today, she just told me she was making bracelets all day. Also the other younger girls fixed my hair like they were it while I was making a bracelet. Two braids up top on the side which go into one braid int he back. The braids have a string through them to tie off at the end.
On next Saturday night we are having a pijama party with the youth where I live in Atucucho. FUN! but we have church the next morning and I am pretty sure there will not be much sleep at all, considering it does not start until eight and we have church at 9am. I am looking forward too it though. Okay. Now I go. ta ta.

A lot of stuff. Long overdue

Helllllo All.

I know it has been along time since I have written so I will try to give a complete recap.

I believe the last time I wrote I was about to leave for a week in Otavalo with a group of young people from South Carolina. Well, they were all great. There were four college students and around 12 highschoolers, about five adults as well. It was a really fun group and I had a great time with them. I was a translator for the group but a participant in almost everything they did as well. (Otavalo is in the Andes, north of Quito, same climate, high Indigenous population, Quichua)

In Otavalo we stayed on a ranch style property in a really nice house that is a bit like a bed and breakfast b/c it has a lot of rooms with bathrooms. This place was really, really nice. It was the nicest place I have seen in Ecuador. An extremely hospitable member of their church in SC owns it and that is why the group stayed there. It is down the hill from the community where the group did VBS and other projects. The community is called Pigulca. This is the same Quichua community that Robin, my missionary host, is doing her Masters in Community Development project.

I am so glad that I will be able to return on several occasions with her b/c I have fallen in love with the community, particularly a few children that I hung out with all the time I was in the community. It was really cool for me b/c most of the time I did not have a real job in the VBS b/c they did not know I would be with them until they got here. So, I got to hangout with the kids who did not fit into the age group of that particular VBS. The older kids were in the afternoon but the younger kids would still be hanging around so I played with them. There were three sisters that clung to and that clung to me as well. Linda 18 mos., Yarina, 4, and Pacha aka LaLa, 7. Yarina pretty much cared for Linda every time I was with them but LaLa was never too far off.

One woman asked a Quichua lady what the little kids liked to do, like games or something but she replied with this “ They like to walk” so that was funny. One time we played duck duck goose so much and then I go bored, not them, and asked them if they wanted to walk and they got so excited. At this time I was with two other 15 year old American girls who don’t speak Spanish. So we all went on a walk. We just started walking up a road. Three Gringas and about ten tiny kids. I asked them where we were going and they said “To the school to pick flowers”. I thought, “Okay, cool, whatever, we have like two hours”. To me it was funny b/c we just kept walking for like 40minutes in one direction, to the next community actually. On the way back they kept picking flowers and giving them to us to make bouquets. The flowers were from flowering bushes, grasses, and wildflowers but when you but them together they were really pretty.

There was a llama on the ranch. It was funny and if you scratched her neck she would lean into the scratch and lower her huge neck/chest. Also, there is a HUGE golden retriever named Fidel. He is a beast and the most beautiful dog I have seen with the best personality. You can almost ride him. A little kid could saddle him up.

This group also was helping with a Presbyterian young leaders retreat for all the Presbyterian churches in Ecuador. In all there were 80ish young leaders who came. It was in another part of the mountains in the cloud forest. The hot air from the Orient rises on the edges of the Andes and creates a lot of condensation making the cloud Forest. The community was called Pacto, near Mindo (a beautiful naturey place with butterflies and ziplines and water).

On Saturday night of the Retreat of youth leaders, after I had been with this group for a week, I got really sick. I think it was started by an allergic reaction and then a few days later caused a strong cold. During the worship part of the service I was fine and singing, and in the one hour of the sermon my throat closed a lot, it hurt really bad, and I lost my voice totally. I was sitting by my friend Paul. He is a guy who studied agriculture in school and one day up and decided that God was calling him to move to an Indigenous community and learn Quichua and teach sustainable Agriculture techniques. He’s pretty interesting and awesome. So in the middle of finishing his thesis he moved to Naranjito, a community in Otavalo also, but not close to Pigulca. Anyway, he could attest to the fact that all this happened in less than an hour and we were both bumfuzzled. That night I had asthma attacks in my sleep and it was scary but I just stayed very calm and it was fine. The next day I was supposed to go to a youth retreat of the church in Atucucho but I could not. Robin and I thought it best that I stay in Quito so that if I need help I can get it. So I went to Mike and Robin’s house and stayed. Everyday I thought I would magicly be better then the day before but this reaction turned into a pretty bad cold. That was two weeks ago from today. That week was pretty much a blah blah week.

There was another unofficial intern house hopping and bumming too. His name is Jordan and he is goes to Purdue. We had been involved in many activities together helping with random stuff with MTW and he climbed Rucu with us. He looks like an assassin (at least that’s what Ecuadorian’s think) but looks are deceiving. He’s quite goofy, in a good way. So he ended up bummin on the couch here when I was sick. He was good company and cooked tasty food and boiled water for me.

So, a while back I discovered that I was supposed to register my visa within the first thirty days of being in Ecuador, but I didn’t so Mike took me to get it all settled and to pay the 200$ fine. Well, after I did this I thought of Jordan. Turns out he didn’t read the fine print Spanish at the bottom of his visa either. If you don’t register your visa and you try to leave the country then you have to spend the night in jail. So we went and did that one day. But we made it fun b/c we met a friend for lunch in the middle of it all. She is my best friend here and a bit special to Jordan. Daniela is her name. She is amazing. There are like 10 different immigration offices in Quito so you really do have to go all over the city for something that could be quite simple. The guy who owns the ranch has a saying when things are screwy that he tells everyone who comes to Ecuador. TIE This Is Ecuador.

Jordan was supposed to go to the coast but since he had all this confusion come up a week before he was supposed to return to the states he came to Otavalo with Mike and Robin and I. I was so excited when I heard they were going back so soon. I got to see my girls again and play soccer. We went to a lake in a crater. The water was chilly but it was sooo blue and CLEAN that I just wanted to jump in soo bad. It was soo beautiful. We also went to a really neat waterfall. Its only neat if you hick up and explore all the hidden pathways of the water. I wish I had pics of that. Maybe Jordan will but them on facebook later. I could ask. I will.

Since my camera was carried off by some of Fidel’s friends, the pictures I have documenting all this were taken by others--Which is cool b/c I am actually in some of them now!

Last Saturday we wanted to go out b/c Jordan was leaving so Daniela, Jordan and I went to this really good sushi restaurant called Noe’s. My first meal of sushi and I really liked it. The next day on Sunday I visited my church in Atucucho for the first time. Its small but I will write more about that later since I am moving there tomorrow. Then after bible study at Daniela’s house on Sunday Mike and Robin took Jordan and I to a tasty Greek restaurant that looked out over the lit up historical center of Quito. It was cool and fun.

Monday I left for the beach and said goodbye to my friend as he was leaving on Tuesday. I went to the beach with Daniela 22, Belen 23, Jean-Carlos 32, and Emilio 42. All these people are from the group of singles from San Marcos church. We went to the Province of Manabi. It’s the largest in Ecuador I believe. It is very diverse. The prettiest beaches in Ecuador are there b/c they are further away from Quito then the beaches of Esmeraldes. We stayed in the Cabana of Emilio’s father. It was a concrete house with two beds, a little kitchen and a bathroom. We passed most of our time outside. The climate was great. I didn’t get sunburned at all!!!! WOAH. Milagro. We went to Canoa, Bahia, Manta, Crucita—all beaches, and of course the beach of San Clemente, where the Cabana was. It was only about 15-30 paces from the beach. Very cool. The beaches here are not really super cool. They are like Hiltin Head actually. But then there are cliffs and stuff that are cool. I have to get the pictures from Emilio the next time I am at his house.

We went clubin on the last night. It was FUN-NY b/c we went with Jean-Carlos’s cousin and her friends. He is 32, his cousin is in her upper forties and so are her friends. They are totally coastal though. They love life and have fun accents.

There were a few running jokes on this trip. One was that I am the Reina de Chone. The queen of a town called Chone. It’s where were ate lunch on the way to the beach. A long time ago several gypsies settled here and so there are a bit more white looking people. So they called me the reina de Chone. I’m not from the states, I just from Chone.

OOOKKKAAYYYY. NOW you know Everything!!!!! Almost. Tomorrow is when it all begins. My project. I am moving in to the apartment in the morning.

Prayer!

Please pray for my safety. It remains a concern in this neighborhood.

Pray for opportunities to do research since I have to be so cautious, I am afraid sometimes I will want to go out and research but won’t be able to b/c I won’t have a buddy to go with me.

Pray for my time with the Lord. My prayer life and study of Scripture.

Pray for my family, my grandparents, and wisdom for my parents and aunts.

Pray for my sister, Katie, as she makes a lot of big decisions and for doctor’s appointments she has coming up.

Pray for my brother, Hunt, for wisdom.

God is soooo Good!

Brief updates: 

My camera could not begin to capture the beauty of Paltabamba and Guaranda. Nuff Said

God sustained my health throughout the week despite conditions my body was WAY not used to. Thanks for prayers SO MUCH. I would not have enjoyed being sick there in the least...I am enjoying being sick here, in my house, AFTER my return!

Okay, so I went to Guaranda, Ecuador, WAY smaller than Quito but bigger than Ringgold by a few times. It was way in the mountains and more beautiful than I could describe. We slept in a hotel in Guaranda, a huge blessing I was not expecting. I think it proved to strengthen our abilities during the day as well as grow our gratefulness. Zero or painful sleep would not have been good to run on, especially since I didn´t get any sleep the night before we left for Paltabamba. I was and am sooo grateful! 

Paltabamba is the name of the area directly to one side of Gauranda. It is across a small gorge with a large creek flowing through it that comes from a nearby snow capped volcano called Chimborazo. Each morning a truck from Palta came and picked us up and I enjoyed the view from the back like all the other Quichua. Its kind of like a Quichua taxi system. Everyone starts walking in the direction the need to go. The trucks have metal bars on the sides up to my armpits-ish and another bar along the middle as high as my shoulders so a ton of people can fit in and we all stand up and hold on to the bars, if ya want. When you want a ride you simply yell ¨Espera!¨ , Wait.  then you hop in. When everyone is in you yell ¨ya¨. When you want out you yell ¨Gracias¨. then you pay the driver 20 cents. One morning when it was only me and Cefora, age 9, granddaughter of Cecilia, an Ecuadorian missionary in charge of the VBS, I took some video. I would not take out my camera if I was with Ecuadorians other than missionaries b-c no one has camera and it shouts to my wealth even more than my pink face and what they call blonde hair. I took pictures all during the week at the church though. One of my jobs for the team that week was to be the photographer.

This week was a wonderful leadership opportunity for Cecilia. She is an amazing organizer and knows a lot about Quichua context. When we go do VBS´s in these communities it is more than just a VBS. When the MTW missionaries are involved it is for the purpose of teaching church leadership in young churches with little or no leaders or pastors. This was the first VBS for the church in Paltabamba. The Sunday school teachers were the main leaders. they are girls all younger than me. During this time the three or four men leaders, typically the father´s of these girls, were learning some basic doctrine from Segundo and Rick, other missionaries who know Quichua (Even though they use Spanish for almost everything). 

The first day we had about 80 kids. But we ended up with 125. I did the games. This was a unique opportunity for me and for the community b-c I was the only Gringa there. In Quito my nick name is ¨La Gringita Bonita¨ but while I was teaching in Paltabamba they called me Lacy and ¨Señorita Gringita¨.  We had a meeting after the first day with four older men from the church. The four girls who led the groups and us three from the MTW team. (Me and Cecilia and Ritha) Cecilia asked me if I would teach English lessons to the kids as one of their activities. Apparently they think it is really fun. So thats what I did for the rest of the week. It didn´t go exactly smoothly considering I had no materials so we improvised.  That night I brainstormed and tried to remember the games I learned when I was learning Spanish in middle school. The next morning I drew some hideous pictures of people, clothing, and animals. It was quite humorous b-c I had an audience of about ten kids. I drew the pictures and let them color them however they liked. Ha ha. a few times I started drawing one four-legged animal and then I asked them what it looked like so by the end it was a different four-legged animal than I had intended.  All the kids learned Head and shoulders, knees and toes. 

The miracle of my health.  Yes, I am sick now, but I was not sick at all last week. The reason it was a miracle is b-c my body could not have been prepared in any way for the conditions of what I ate last week. I ate normal food, potatoes, corn, chicken, but the church does not even own soap and we all shared dishes that they had been sharing for years and had never been washed. Food was served from the same containers where we put out dirty stuff. This is why it is a miracle of God I am not sick until now.    

After VBS one day I learned the game called Tira Libre. Free Throw. It was super intense. One day I only watched the game and took an inconspicuous video and explained it from an aerial view. I hope I end up playing it again somewhere.

Que Mas... Que Mas...

The women received gifts from the older women who prepared the food. Me, Cesi, Ritha, and Betty all received a big ole honkin thing of queso. That was a super nice gift for us. 

Interesting business story:

The man who drove us to and from Gauranda was Ritha´s niece´s husband. They own a fingernail place. Manicure´s for a 1.50 ladies. Any takers?  I have never gotten a manicure before but I am going with Ritha and her daughter Marina sometime soon. I like to be fixed up and pretty but I am way to cheap to spend money on a manicure in the states. Here, I am making an exception for the bonding experience with Ritha and Marina. plus, a dollar fifty is quite different than the states....actually, I don´t even know how much it costs? Katie, How much would you save by getting your nails done here, excluding the cost of transportation??  

I sat in the front of the manicure van with Rodrigo on the way to Palta. We got in a conversation about my internship so I asked him how he saved enough money to start the nail salon. First, he saved enough money to buy a cheap car, then he bought a nicer one, then he bought a nicer one, then he bought a nicer one, then he sold it to start the business. Isn´t that an interesting way to save?! (maybe not the safest, considering a car is stolen every 15 minutes in Quito, and there is probably no car insurance involved, and the car devalues pretty quick, but still fun if you like cars, and what else are ya gonna do if you don´t trust a bank?).

There are a LOT of cooperatives here, including a lot of Quichua cooperatives. One example is Mushuc Runa. That means New Man. It is either Christian by name or has christian influence. I am going to visit one with Segundo  sometime so that I can ask questions and stuff. He has friends who work in one near his house. That would be a shame if I came all the way here and never visited a cooperative. 

I don´t know when I will be able to put the pictures up. The wi-fi I had been picking up from one of the neighbors is down. 

  

I'm changing to Quichua

Hey party people

Nothing much has happened since the last blog. I hung out with Patti's daughters and they made me put on this dress and tiarra. Probably b/c I am the Gringita bonita. (joke). it means pretty white girl. The joke is that I have so many rules here of what I am not allowed to do by myself, almost everything. So I say No puedo hacer nada sola porque soy una gringita bonita. - I can't do anything alone b/c I am a pretty white girl. to see pics of princess Lacy you can clickear aca http://picasaweb.google.com/LacyEThompson .

I ate pizza hut today. It was good. They give you french fries. I didn't eat em though.

I thought the day would never come...I hate to say it...I think I like coffee. a lot.

And another weird thing happened. but maybe I won't tell you.

The purpose of this blog is to ask for prayer for the week ahead. Tomorrow I am going to get my hair cut with a friend. From what I have heard, I should be praying about this, or at least be very careful. If I don't watch out I will end up with the swoopiest of swoopy bangs and layers up to the top of my head.

But really, I need prayer for this week b/c I am going to Palta Bamba, outside of a smallish city called Guaranda. It's a Quichua village and I am going with the Ecuadorian missionaries. It will be fun hangin with those women! But please pray for our safety in the mountains, health, my back b/c I think I will be sleeping on a concrete floor, but that may be better than my bed now, I don't know. I'm going with no. My back pain has gotten worse since I have been here, worse but not awful by a long stretch. The Quichua church asked the missionaries to teach church leadership and doctrine basics as well as help them do a program for the kids, VBS. I am doing the games. and no shower for five days, woo woo! Fo ril, here, if there is no hot water you DON'T want to shower. We're talkin Andes cold! and Palta Bamba is higher and colder than Quito.


Please pray for this trip, me, the others, safety, and the church attendees. I leave at 6am on Wednesday, so I'm spending the night at a my friend's house tomorrow, the girl I am going with to the peluqueria tomorrow, Marina. Her mom is one of the missionaries going. And we will be back late Sunday.

The time will really fly after this b/c when I get back I am go go go.

Here's the lineup

When I get back I will have a few scattered days at SUV but will probably to up to Atucucho to help ready my apartment.
Next Wednesday missionary Rick is taking a few of us hiking to climb Pichincha! To the crater! or what's left of a crater.
Then, the next wednesday, July 29-Aug 1sh, I'm going to the beach with the singles young people from San Marcos.
Then, Otovalo with an MTW group. We will be in the community that Robin, the lady my future research is for, will be doing her project for her masters.
Then Pacto, Aug 8-10, for a conference with all the young leaders of all the presbyterian churches in Ecuador (10) and the same MTW group.

I'll just wait to move to Atucucho until after that. I met up with the couple a few days ago. I think we will have fun. David and Johi (Joy). The pastor and his wife. My age ish.

Prayer:

Please pray for my parents and grandparents. The Lord will know what you mean.

The trip to Palta Bamba

Spanish

Safety

Salva Una Vida is still in Crisis mode. Pray for good leadership.

I have really loved reading scripture these past few weeks. That's a praise! Pray for continual growth in my relationship with God. Also, I have not been afraid here. That's a praise. God has really calmed me and made me trust him with my life and plans.

A Series of Coincidental Events

Where did I leave off anyway...

The past couple of weeks I have been going to Salva una Vida. I never know what is going to happen or who I will meet. A few weeks back Patti, and employee at SUV who has a twleve year old and a 15 year old daughter, asked me if I could talk about abstinence to the youth group at her church. It is a very small church but they still manage to have about 12-15 regular youth attendees. I was a bit nervous about how this was going to go b-c I was to talk to both the boys and the girls together. That´s different from the way I grew up and I struggled with what to share. Another guy talked a few weeks before me, the son of the doctor at SUV, 24. I wanted to call him and talk for just a minute about what he talked about but the ladies here at SUV told me he was in Argentina for the week.

A couple Saturdays ago I went with Dani and her father to this sky car thing called Teleferiqo that takes you up the mountain, actually volcano, that is by the city. It is actually the volcano the province is named for, Pichincha. This is the day I was to talk to the kids about sex and relationships in the afternoon. I still did not know exactly what I wanted to say. I prayed about it but nothing really solid stuck. Anyway, There I was, atop Pichincha, and I hear a familiar voice and recognize the back of this one guy´s head. It was the doctor´s son from SUV! I thought, really God?, no way! so I was able to talk to Benjamin for about five or so minutes and I felt alot more comfortable though still not knowing what I was going to say.

Atop Pichincha I also saw a girl with a small group of white people wearing a Trinity College soccer shirt. A friend from highschool plays there so I said, ¨Hey, I know a girl who plays for Trinity, too...¨  We chatted for a second, ironic, but end of story.

So, talking at the youth group was a little nerve wracking but hey, I´m just a Gringa learning Spanish so No importa that I said some funny stuff that might not have made sense. The kicker here is that JUST as I was beginning my talk two tall, dark, and handsome Ecuadorians my age-ish come in the room to give a camp promotion. The leader of the group, Patti, says they can go ahead and give the promotion first instead of waiting until the end but NOOOOO, they decided they would be polite, since I had just started, and wait till after to talk about the camp. (Yes, I told Andrew the story) So now, Not only am I about to tell teenage boys about my past relationships, I am about to tell two Ecuadorian guys as well... ha ha. Im pretty sure this was some kind of joke God was playing, not for his sake, but for mine b-c I´m sure God knows I think its hilarious that these two guys had to listen to me ramble in Spanish for an hour+. To make things a little funnier, one of them said they could help me translate but some of the stuff he translated for me was wrong so when I heard it said back in spanish I had to say...thanks, but ummm, no, thats not what I said, or at least not what I meant. One example is this: I asked him what the word lust was in spanish and he told me the word for lost. so without thinking, clearly, b-c i know the word for lost, I said ¨The big enemy in relationships is lost¨and they all just stared really confused. Eventually Patti´s 15 year old helped me translate. Her english is good.

So, the theme of what I said was very appropriate for both sexes. The theme was relationships and your goal entering into a relationship, that it should be to try to help the other person become more and more like Jesus as possible. We want God to use us as a tool to help our partner grow more like Jesus, soo, if we aid in their sin, for example, sexual sin, then it is not helping them become more like Jesus and therefore not loving them. She also asked me if I regret dating so young and I said yes. Then she asked me what the right age to start dating was and I got out easy by saying ¨You are ready to start dating when you are ready to prepare yourselves for marriage¨ha ha, that leaves it pretty open but it also makes them think about why they would date a jerk or and air head if they know they would not marry them.

On Fridays I have a singles group I go to with a church other than my own, but there is a girl from my church who goes too. I really like this group b-c it is actually adults, not teenagers all the time, but i do like the teens too! We get together and do something fun on Sunday nights too, which is after the Bible study for my church consisting of college age. There is about 6 or 7 from my church and about 6 or seven from my other group as well. So, Sundays are long and late for me-- Sunday school, church, lunch, Bible Study, Hang out group from other church.

During the week I taught more jewelry and stuff. Today I made a powerpoint of pictures for tomorrow´s big SUV meeting. Last week I hung out with Patti´s daugthers a lot. They are really, really fun. I went to their house and learned how to make Chulpi. Its like popcorn but bigger kernals and it does not pop open, just puffs slightly, we ate tres leches cake, and watched journey to the center of the earth. I´ll probably make more chulpi tonight. Its healthy.... corn.... Its a super crunchy and a tiny bit sweet too so pretty much perfection puffed in a pressure pot. I went with them to Patti´s siter´s house to surprise her on her birthday. While I was there I talked to Patti´s nephew, who in a engineer in economics, about what I will be studying. He helped me out a lot by clarifying about why Ecuadorians don´t save money and why the marginalized communities were hurt more in the economic crisis of the 90´s and the change of currency in 2000. I learned a lot that day. They even offered for me to conduct my study in the country where they run a hotel type thing (but still very poor region). They said Atucucho was too dangerous for me and that I should go live with their family at this place so I´d be safer. But don´t worry b-c I won´t be doing any research alone. I am going to primarily use focus groups. This limits the amount of door to door i have to do, and what I do door to door i will be with a church member volunteer or the pastor.

Patti´s girls wanted me to do something on Saturday but Melbi asked me if I could come to the church and help clean and prepare for VBS. She said there would be a small work group of north Americans working as well. When I saw them I thought...Wow, they look familiar. It was the same group that I saw atop Pichincha. Apperantly Pichincha is the place to be really early on Saturday mornings!!! REALLY Ironic. And one of the guys went to highschool with several of my friends from college, and my roomate´s husband. There were 8 of them and all were super nice. We talked about random stuff and my perfect braces-less teeth. Not of my choosing but hey, whatever. Anj, I told your story and they give you their sympathy.

I just now found out that I will be going to a Quichua Village next week. I think from Wednesday until Sunday. I am not positive but will find out later today the days. This will be quite different for me. I am going with the National MTW missionaries. They have been working with them on church leadership stuff. 

The End.

Update!!! The Pastor from the church in the south came up last week with two pregnant ladies. One preg with twins, and two other kids and no man and super poor, the other with two kids and a husband but really poor. I enjoyed talking to the pastor for a good hour. Life is really not that different. (YES, CULTURE VARIES... I KNOW CDV professors) but I am learning that people are people with families, with decisions, with families, are people just the same. (that sentence made sense to me...you?) He used to work for a travel agency that had him traveling for a week every other week so he quit to go into the ministry and be able to spend more time with his family even thought it pays a lot less. Sound familiar? My dad quit his job that had him traveling a lot too so that he could be at home with his family even though it pays a lot less what he does now. We talked a bit about this. It was nice to relate on something even though our lives have been very different.  He is a 30 year old with two young girls and a wife. I like him b-c he cares a lot about helping the pregnant ladies in his community get to the center for help and he wants to help SUV with promotion too. Jorge is his name and his church is Palabra Viva. (Living Word)

The plan is to do a community health day at the church along with education and to continue to spread the word about SUV in the south and to help the girls who need to come be able to come since the utra sound machine can´t move south all the time.

PRAYER: 

Please pray for Salva Una Vida. Its crazy right now trying to transfer the leadership b-c the old leader is suuuuupppper busy and seems to be difficult to work with. 

Please pray for my Spanish. I really want to understand my new community in Atucucho, the couple, and the church members. I will be spending a lot of time with the church since our apartment is in it. 

Safety 

You can pray that I will listen to God since there are so many activities I have to choose from in the following weeks. 

One BIG Week

¨Observing¨ the Short Term Team

A lot has happened here since my last entry. Last week I had the opportunity to observe an MTW short term team. When Mike, an MTW missionary, told me that I could tag along if I so desired I was really excited. Not so much that VBS really gets my juices flowin...I was much more excited about seeing how MTW and missionaries who have been trained in how to do short term missions without doing harm operate a short term team. I wanted to see how the missionaries encouraged the team and the relations between the local churches and the team. What I did not plan on was becoming attached to the team and the churches for the whole week. This was by choice mind you. I loved every minute of it. Right now I am in the wealthy part of Quito, the north. The south is a completely different story; no high rises, no mercedes, no perfect people with perfect clothes and hair. One of the other leading reasons I wanted to tag along is b-c I wanted to see how the majority of Quito lived. Honestly, I would much rather be there right now. Aside from every person in the north telling me how dangerous it is, It seems like a much friendlier place to be. I suppose I am referring to the more rural areas. The poverty grows as the communities creep up the mountain sides. In the states the higher you are the wealthier you are, here, its the opposite here due to potable water issues.
Any way... My short term adventures began last Tuesday. I was picked up from my house and taken to the mission house (nice, but not luxerious like some) where I met the 15 people I would be spending next two days with. They were from a Presbyterian Church in Memphis called River Oaks Presbyterian Church. SUPER nice people. Three highschool girls, one college girl, one highschool boy, his mom, their youth pastor 33 yrs, another 33 yr. woman, older man, older couple, 28 yr old guy were among those included so it was QUITE the diverse group and WONDERFUL b-c of it.
We partnered with a Quichua church of about 30 or less members. This church had decided that they wanted to reach out to another community. Well, they advertised to an entire elementary school in a rural area called Caopicho Alto that they would do a vbs there after school. So the 15 of us along with about 15 of them did a VBS for OVER 300 kids!!! like 350 somedays. I will skip details but it was AMAZINGLY organized! Crazy organized, really. I was going to only come with the group on Tuesday and Wednesday but they were so welcoming and needed as many translators they could get so I stayed with them the rest of the week. I even ate with them afterwards as if I were a part of the team. I loved my time with them...
My lesson learned...I need community. It was super encouraging to be with the north Americans for a week. I practiced spanish a lot too b-c I was translating. REALLY FUN WEEK. I went with them to Mitad del Mundo one morning. That is the Equator by the way.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE...CUY!
One day before VBS our group and the Quichua church had a cultural exchange... ha.... ha...hmm. They taught us how to prepare Cuy and we taught them how to prepare...Smores. ha! One involved quite a but more prep than the other. If you don´t know what cuy is, its guinea pig. we were mingling in front of the church when one of the MTWers announced, ¨if you want to see the live cuy come now.¨ So we went upstairs on top of the church. The had a bunch of BIG OLE HONKIN cuy. The women do the prep. They hold the cuy and it looks like the crush the head with their hands but really they are snapping the neck. Some die at this point and some and just stunned. Then the dip the cuy in boiling water and rip the hair off. Then they do some kind of shaving to make sure its good and clean. We did not help kill them but everything else was a group effort. Soon they had a big bucket of dead naked mole rats. I did not partake in the following part. I washed the poles they would be cooked on. Im not good with flesh wounds... They clean out the mouth and the teeth...and the butt. WARNING: GRAPHIC They cut the hole a bit bigger at the back end. Then they squeeze all the guts out like a tube of toothepaste from the head down to the butt. One of the cuy was preggo. Then I think they are cleaned a bit more. Aftern that all the guts are in a pot and they use it for stew. We didn´t have that though. Then we spooned in salt and onions in the same hole everything else just came out of. Then we put it on a big stick and tied it on. I am saying ¨We¨ b-c the group I was with did all of it. It was a learning cultural exchange. I had little contact with the animals. If you look at my pictures you may understand why. Any way every thing was cooked and we ate. Cuy is served with potatoes. GOOD potatoes. I ate my cuy but my piece was a rib piece, not a hip piece so it didn´t have a lot of good meat. The flavor is that of chicken but some is pretty tough or fatty.
After lunch we pretended to teach how to make smores in just as dramatic of way as the cuy process. It was humorous for all cultures and ages present...pretending to snap the neck of a marshmellow and chocolate bar. I also have pics of the Quichua church rosting their mallows. They really loved it. All I could think about the whole time was the line from Sand Lot when the fat boy, i think his name is Ham or something, teaches Smalls how to make smores in the club house. ¨First you take a mallow...then you STUFF¨

News from the Pregnancy Center
On Friday and Saturday we were at a church in the south called Palabra Viva, Living Word. Mike told me that the pastor knew of a young woman with two small kids and now preggo with twins, no man in the picture. The center, Salva una Vida, Save a Life, is in the north of the city--VERY difficult for those in the south to get to. It takes between 1.5 and 2 hours to get to on the bus from the south end of the city. Plus, some of those who need the services could not afford the 25 cents to take the bus.
Any way, When I got home I talked to Melba about it and she said that if the pastor wanted to, the center could come south and do a day in the community. So, the next day I talked to Pastor Jorge about it and I told him stuff about the center... yadda yadda. Well, Now we are in the process of planning a big day at his church. The main thing is that we have to promote it really well b-c we don´t want to go all the way down there with equipment and no one come. I will emphasize this to him again. There is a boy my age, guy I guess, who is down here for the summer. He is living with Jorge in the south but we will attend the same young people thing on Friday nights. This way I can get a ton of posters and cards and pamphlets to him to get to Jorge. This group is every Friday at the church where several MTW missionaries go but not my church.

Jewelry Lessons
As many of you know, I make jewelry. After I had been here a few days I told Melba about my hobby. She asked if I could teach the clients of the center this skill as well as educating them about all the materials you need to make jewelry, primarily earrings b-c it uses less beads. I was super excited about this. THANKS TO ALL YOUR LOVING SUPPORT I was able to purchase all the materials SUV needed to get the courses up and running. I bought several tools and all the other basic materials used to make many different designs of earrings. The first lesson was on Monday. It went very well. Patti, a lady who works here, gives a Bible lesson before I start the jewelry lesson. I have all the materials drawn and labeled on a white board. They copy the info and I show them what they real pieces look like. Then I show them how to use the tools for each piece of material. Melba and I made several models of earrings and they are on display for them to see of each piece is used in an earring. Melba is more creative than me by the way. All she did was watch me make like two pair of earrings for her daughter´s birthday present and now she makes much more beautiful pieces than me! she is really good with color. After the lesson the girls are allowed to make one pair of earrings. We don´t want them to make a ton and stuff b-c if they are going to have ownership over their efforts they need to buy their own beads and materials rather than depending on the center. We also have set up more lessons for girls who want to buy their own materials and bring them to the center for more assistence. The tools really take some getting used to. I was super worried that the girls would learn their skill and then not have any finds to buy there own materials. So, when I was in the south I wrote down the name of every cooperative I saw. I got about ten different ones and there are multiple locations of these. Now, the only thing that I feel bad about is that I don´t know specifics or reputations of each of these cooperatives. A cooperative by the way, is an alternative to the bank. They help you save money and get credit. I have more lessons today, next monday, and wednesday.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for the jewelry lessons that the girls come to their appointments and can find a way to purchase their materials after learning.

Pray for my Spanish. --its getting a little better now, but just a little.

My safety and the safety of my loved ones here. Quito is a very dangerous city with a LOT of thievery.

PLEASE PRAY FOR the day when Salva Una Vida goes to Palabra Viva in the South

I added pictures. Now, anytime I add pictures they will be put on a public picasa web album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/LacyEThompson

Hola Mis amigos. DISCLAIMER: I did not proofread this much.

I know I have not said much on what I have been doing here and will be doing so let me tell you what I know.

First I know God has blessed me with the most amazingly hospitable and welcoming people that he possibly could have. Every one is soo nice. At least all the women and girls. ha ha. Nothing against the men at all! I have not met any!!! I met couple of older men at the church (2) and they were very nice as well.

I go to Salva una Vida (SUV) every day. It is a crisis pregnancy center. It mainly serves the poor. Girls come from all over the city for help. Sadly, a lot of girls can not come even though they need the services becuase they cannot afford the 25 cents the bus costs.
I mainly study and practice my Spanish while I am there. I run little errands with the women and play with the babies when they came in.
Friday we celebrated Child's Day which is celebrated in many countries but not the US. We had a party to celebrate all the lives of the babies and their mothers. There was a short bible lesson, a health and nutrition lesson, SUV gave out recipes. Education on how to keep a healthy baby is very low here. Most of the babies that come in are underdeveloped. Small children have very poor nutrition b/c they eat a lot of junk food. I think that it is due to lack of education b/c I don't food is relatively cheap here, even healthy food. I know in the states healthy food is a lot more expensive than junk food and that is a large reason for malnutrition in the States. I need to ask if it is due to lack of ed or a cost difference but I think it is lack of ed.

Ecuadorians eat a lot of rice and a lot of bread. Fine by me! There is also a lot of fruits and vegetables. A typical meal is a hearty bowl of soup with potatoes, veggies, tiny bit of chicken, big fat noodles. Then you have a plate of rice and other food like veggie meat mix or something. I don't know very much b/c I have only been here a week and eaten with the same woman everyday. My Melba!

Saturday I went to the church (La Iglesia Reformada de Gracia) Reformed Grace Church. There was a clinic set up by some American vets that come every year. They cared for 59 dogs in one day! Then that night the church showed a movie. Fireproof! Now I have seen it in Spanish and English. It is funnier in ENGLISH b/c if you have seen it you know it takes place in Albany, Georgia. Some southern humor only southerners can understand. It just Does not translate. Sorry Ecuador. But everyone thought it was really really funny. Every one laughed out loud and cried too. Even the men. But I bet my dad cried in the movie so... What ev.

Sunday was CRAZY. Sunday school. We talked about Justification. Church was atypical b/c the American vets were there so it was translated. After church their was a program for Child's Day. A puppet show performed by two church leader men. I met them both. They are both very funny.

Then we ate these giant hotdogs and their were games for the families and children outside in the back yard of the church. During this time a met a really nice girl (Danielle)who is 22 and trying to get a college age Bible study going. At 2:30 we went to church member's house, Canadian missionaries, and had the first meeting of the college age students. There were six girls and one boy. We are going to look at the Christian apologetic approach to certain issues common among young people. The book is a John Stott book actually.
I stayed at that house with young people until almost 9 pm. I played the game of life with three 14 year olds and a 13 year old. They all are soo nice a I think they like to teach me new words. they kept saying "Miercoles!" (wednesday in Spanish). I asked them why they kept saying it and they said it is to keep from saying a bad word. I am lucky not to know any bad words in Spanish but if I keep hanging out with teens then I will learn plenty of substitutes.

I have had a difficult time explaining my internship in Spanish because I have had a difficult time discovering the names of savings groups in Ecuador. If any of you don't know what I am doing here goes: Near the end of July or into August I will move to a different part of the city. It is up on the side of the mountain. Its name is Atucucho. It is a LOT different from where I am now. It is quite poor and not developed near as much as this part. The research project is called a financial landscape analysis. This just means I will try to find out from the people how they save their money and how they acquire lump sums of money to operate or open a business. (By business I mean extremely small business where most of us have had garage sales bigger.) I will be staying pretty close to the church in this "survey" process. Questions that need answering are: What types of savings methods have the people used? I have a list of a few methods thast consist of saving in groups and savings through another person. What did they think worked? Why? What did not work? Why? What would they like to see in the community as far as a community bank or solidarity bank? Would they like to form a rotating savings and loan group. etc. This data is for the McMahan couple with MTW so that they can help the community organize what ever type of group the community wants. I will primarily use focus groups and we will meet in neighbors homes or the church room/garage.

On Sunday Danielle was trying to tell me what she knew about the Ecuadorian names for microfinance activity. A man who spoke English overheard and he told me what types of savings groups were legal and illegal. He had participated in these types of groups when he was in the states a while back. Names for these groups can change city by city and community by community.

Okay I think that pretty much covers it.

Please pray for
My relationship with Dani -- Melba's daughter who I live with too. She is a lot harder to become friends with than everyone else I have met. She is really really nice too but we never have any time together.

It looks like I am going to be teaching Jewelry lessons to several women. Pray for that. Thanks to the overwhelming support of my financial contributors I am able to purchase a lot of jewelry making supplies and teach women from SUV and Melba and her sisters. There is also a cool girl in the study at church who makes jewelry too. I told her I would let her know when Melba and I were having a bead party. I think Melba and I will go to the store on Friday to buy a lot of the basics. Teaching the women at SUV could potentially be very fruitful for them. If they like it and decide they'd like to try to start a small business selling sets of jewelry then maybe they could get a micro loan to buy the basics. It only takes a loan of a couple hundred dollars to get a jewelry business up and going.

I am having really good prayer time with God, but please pray for my Bible study. I am going through John and looking closely at what Jesus says in hope of learning and falling in love with him all over again. Please pray that God opens my heart to his message. I just don't know what I am supposed to come away with after I read. Pray for that please.

JUST TO LET DANIEL KNOW...I DO MISS YA'LL!

Estoy en Ecuador.

I don´t have a lot of time --- I won´t lie, it is because I just wrote a long personal email and now its time for me to go to bed, yes, at 8 o clock.

I got in really late last night-made it through customs-unpacked- and got in the bed around 1 am, then unknowingly I woke up at 630 rather than 730 because though my phone is picking up Ecuador signal and says something in spanish across the front, it still has eastern time. No se porque, I do not know why. 

I am staying with Sra. Melba and her almost 19 year old daughter Dani. They are both really nice and really patient with me. They seem to have quite the high expectations of when I will improve on my Spanish comprehension but... umm... We will see. 

The apartment is super d dooper nice!!! way nicer than the dorms. I have a small room at the very top of the apt and it has its own bathrooms. I was like... Yeah, this is my community development internship and I have my own bathroom. There goes roughing it. SoOoO It is clear that god has other ways of making me suffer on this internship. I mean learn. Not suffer, learn, ya know, like a learning experience. Yeah. Interns are supposed to suffer a bit, thats why I say that. Just to clear the record, I in no way believe God plans to make us suffer, only grow in our dependence on him. which I plan to go do right now and read more Bible bc I miss someone a lot, ohhhh did I say someone. I mean everyone. I miss you all. Nighty night. 

No- I have not taken any pictures yet. I want to soak in the experience before I start looking through a lens everyday. MAYBE you can expect pictures in the next two weeks.

Viva Ecuador. I Blog to Please. I Blog to Appease

Okay. Here Goes. No one knows this blog exists yet, and no one knows If I will get to go to Ecuador yet. I wait (patiently or not so patiently) but none the less, I wait on the Lord. Please Read the following scriptures if you are WAITING for something in your life, be it good or bad. They have reminded me where to look.

"The LORD is my portion; Therefore I will WAIT for him. The Lord is good to those whose HOPE is in him; It is good to wait QUIETLY for the Salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:24-26

Even though we treat God with an awful attitude daily...
"The Lord LONGS to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of Justice. Blessed are all who wait for him." Isaiah 30:18

Amen, Amen, Amen, And all God's people say "AMEN TO THAT SISTA GIRL"

Peace Out.

Pray for my parents. They are amazing parents to their children and just as amazing children to their parents.