It's Raining! It's Pouring!

Well, I feel like I'm about to repeat myself, but a lot has happened since I posted last. Then again, it has been almost 3 weeks. So, I've got a lot to share! To see pictures, click on the title "It's Raining! It's Pouring!" and go to this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024948&id=1308660525&l=468fc5a9ce

Well, starting where I left off, Wednesday the 7th of October, we went to a Museum of a famous Ecuadorian artist, Guayasamin. His artwork is a little dark and it's not a style that I am very fond of, but I appreciate his work. His art tells the stories of people who have no voice, people who are oppressed, living under a dictator, dealing with war, or suffering.

Thursday night, the Benedick's invited us over to watch "End of the Spear." This movie is based on a true story that took place in Ecuador. It is about some missionaries, who lived in Shell, Ecuador (I'll be going there the last week I'm here in Ecuador). They were trying to minister to a tribe in the jungle. The tribe ended up killing the missionaries when after they landed their plane and started to talk with them. The families of the missionaries returned to the tribe to minister to them and were eventually able to bring them to Jesus. If the weather cooperates while we are in Shell, we'll be able to fly into the jungle and meet the tribe.

Friday, was a holiday. No one worked or had classes, so, our classes were canceled, too! It was great to have a day to just relax! We were supposed to hang out with the students, but not many of them were around, so I just enjoyed relaxing. In the evening, a group of us went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" or "Lluvia con Hamburguesas" in Spanish. It was a really fun movie to go see. Also it was in 3D, which made it even more fun.

Sunday, it was back to church with Carla. Normally, we take a bus to church and then try to get a ride back with someone from the church and we all pile in someone's car. This time, we met the pastor or the church in Carcelen and took a taxi to church with him. After church, we ended up getting a ride back to Carcelen in the weirdest minivan I've ever seen. Where there would normally be windows in the back, there were sheets of metal painted the same color as the van. Inside, there were no seats in the back, just a carpet to sit on.

Sunday afternoon, it got cloudy and cool. It started raining Monday morning. Since then, it's been raining on and off every few days. We'll have a few nice days, followed by a few cold, rainy days. Rainy season has officially arrived, a little later than usual, but it's here.

Wednesday, we took our next little field trip. We were supposed to go to the Teleferico, which is kind of like a ski lift that goes up into the mountains around Quito, but it was raining. So, we headed to our backup plan, the Vivarium (or Herpitarium). At the Vivarium, we got to see a lot of snakes and other reptiles and amphibians like turtles, lizards, frogs, and iguanas. At the end, we got to go into a room where they showed us a boa up close. Then, if we wanted to, we could hold it. So, I did! It was fun.

Friday through Sunday, Kevin and I did something I had been nervous about doing all semester. Each of us went and stayed with an Ecuadorian family for the weekend. This has probably been one of my best experiences of my time here. Evelyn briefed us on some typical etiquette for while we were there in class before we left and gave us our assignment, learn how to make a typical Ecuadorian dish, bring some to class to share on Monday, and present the recipe to the class. Kevin and I bought some flowers to give to our host mothers. The original plan was to be picked up by our families around 7. They changed the plan and moved it to 5 because they wanted us to help with something. Both of our families were from the same church. My family included the pastor of the church, Freddy, his wife Jenny, and their kids, Jeremy (4) and Yadi (11 months). Their house and church is in one of the poorest neighborhoods I've seen since I've been here in Ecuador. We went to their house and helped them make bread for a ministry the church has on Saturday mornings. They have a small room in the house with the metal bread oven. In front they have a machine that they use to hand mix the dough. When we got there the dough was almost finished. We went into the oven room and helped roll out the dough and shape it before baking. It was a lot of fun. Saturday morning, we went to the church and met with about 20 people. We split up into 4 groups, each carrying bread and juice. Each group had a route that they've been going to for about 4 months (it's a pretty new ministry). We went to certain houses and gave the children a piece of bread each and filled a container with juice. One person in our group also had survey forms to gather information about the people for the first time. It was incredible to be a part of this ministry. The people have basically nothing and are so incredibly gratefully to know that their children are going to have a meal every Saturday morning. Some of the situations the people were living in amazed me. One house we went to had at least 3 families living there, each with their own children. Another house had 8 children at it, the oldest probably only 12 or 13, with no parents around. I think they were working. The woman at the last house had a son who was 20. He had basically never been out of their house because he was physically and mentally handicapped. He was in a makeshift wheelchair made out of a plastic lawn chair, with the legs cut short, attached to some metal and some wheels. Being a part of this ministry was an unforgettable and eyeopening experience.

Now, this wasn't all I did with my host family. Jenny runs a little shop where she sells emanadas. Each night I helped her in the shop, both cooking and cleaning. I also helped with and played with the kids when they were busy with other things. I had a lot of fun playing with Jeremy and Yadi. I went to the market with Jenny on Saturday morning to buy food for the weekend. We also spent some time just having fun. We played UNO a lot. I also learned how to make Morocho, which is a drink made from some sort of grain from corn and milk. The grain is cooked in the milk and some spices and sugar are added. It's really good. I went to a youth Bible study on Saturday night. On Sunday, I went to church with them. Jenny teaches Sunday school for the kids at the church, so I went early with her. After church, they had a family from Colombia over for lunch. We enjoyed hanging out and talking throughout the day. Before I left, we had dinner. Dinner was at the house of some of their relatives, which was above their house. Kevin and his family were also there. We ate dinner and had cake to celebrate a birthday. Then, it was back to campus for the end of an amazing weekend.

Monday, we all got to share and eat our foods in class. Since food is always a fun thing (unless it's chancho and makes you sick), we enjoyed trying each other's foods. Dan had ham and cheese emanadas, Kristen had fruit with chocolate, Kevin had coloda morada (a drink made with many different fruits), and I had Morocho. After class, we had a party for Lucy becuase it was her birthday. We had a lot of fun eating cake and other delicious snacks.

Tuesday, the weather was nice, so we decided to go to the Teleferico again for class instead of waiting until Wednesday. When we got there, we were told it was closed for renovation, so we had to figure out a backup plan. As we were leaving, I found if funny that no one knew the Teleferico was closed because there was a bus fully of people trying to go. We ended up going to an archeological park called Riopamba. When we got there, it was closed, too. But Evelyn was able to convince them to let us in (something that would never happen in the states). We had a lot of fun seeing all of the buildings and things that have been dug up at this site.

Friday, was our last day of our second block of Spanish classes. That means I only have 4 weeks of classes left! Then I travel for 2 weeks and then I come home. It's crazy how fast everything is going by. This last block of class is mostly conversation and projects. Doesn't sound hard, but our homework can be kind of tedious, like watching the news in Spanish every day. But I know it will help, just like everything else has.

Friday night we went back to Colonial Quito to see it lit up at night. We went to La Virgen del Panecillo, which is the virgin of the little bread. It's a statue of an angel on a hill in Quito. The angel is standing on a snake and a piece of bread. It's called the little bread because the hill resembles a loaf of bread, so the loaf the angel is on is smaller. From this hill, you can get a great view of the city. After this, we went into the center of Colonial Quito to see all the buildings lit up at night and to take a quick carriage ride. We went to dinner at a restaurant that has an incredible view of the city. We sat on the roof and got to enjoy the scenery, though it was a little cold.

Saturday we went to Tulipe, which is another archeological site and museum. We got a tour of the museum and the site. It was really interesting. They have uncovered an area that had several man made pools of water that were used for certain ceremonies and a huge sundial. We also got to take a nice walk through the woods next to a small river. At one place, there is a pool where you can bathe. So, after our tour, we returned there and swam for a bit and had a pick-nick lunch. The only downside were the leaches. They were small, but we all collected a few.

Saturday evening I had fun relaxing and playing Euchre with my parents and boyfriend via Skype. My mom would hold my cards up to the camera and I'd tell her which one to play for me. It made me feel right at home. We also went and sang happy birthday to Kristina Benedick because her birthday was Sunday, but we wanted to be able to surprise her, and didn't want to get up any earlier than we were already going to yesterday.

Sunday, we left campus around 8:20 to get to an early church service. After church we headed for Mitad del Mundo, or Middle of the World. There are actually two Mitad del Mundo's. One is a where the Equator really is, verified by GPS. The other has a giant monument and if off by a few hundred yards, but they got pretty close for not having the technology we do today. We went to the Equator first and got to do some really cool experiments on the Equator, from trying to walk in a straight line with your eyes closed (much harder on the Equator than other places), moving a drain from one side of the Equator to the other and watching the water flow the other direction, and balancing an egg on a nail (yes, I succeeded in this!) Then we headed to the monument which is much more touristy, but still a lot of fun. We ate lunch here and walked around exploring the Insectarium and the shops. On the way back to the Seminary, we dropped Dan and Kristina off at the mall for a date on Kristina's birthday. Then, we headed back to get ready for the real party. When they got back, we were all ready in their house and had a birthday party!

This week is kind of weird. All of the NILI professionals are in Shell with Stan and his family. Kevin and I are alone in class once again and we don't have any classes with Stan in the afternoons (which will give me time to write my exegesis that is due a week from tomorrow). Dan and Mabel, and John and are all leaving to head home on Friday. So things are starting to change as we head into our last block. We still have a lot to do, but it's going to go by fast.

Always an Adventure

As usual, a lot has happened, both good and bad, since I last posted. So, I'll just start where I left off.

We've finished our first block of classes. Our second block consists of more conversation and a few short essays along with continuing our grammar. Kevin and I have been joined by Dan Benedict and Kristen in class which makes conversation much more fun.

Friday night (September 25th, yes I know that was a while ago), I went to the Nazarene elementary school in Carcelen with Jen, Lucy, and Salomone. There was a parent informational meeting of some sort and I went to help Jen with the kids while they were in the meeting. We told a Bible story, sang some songs, and colored.

Saturday, we went to Parque Carolina to help with a fundraiser. The children's hospital in Quito was selling used clothes in the park to raise money. We went and helped fold and sort clothes so it was easier for people to look through. It was a lot of fun, though Lucy's wallet got stollen while we were there. Just a little reminder that you have to be careful about your possessions.

Sunday, I went to church with Carla again and after church, we took a taxi to Carcelen and got Chinese for lunch. For dinner on Sunday, Carla and some other people decided to make dinner in the kitchen. Carla and Yoan, who are both from Venezuela made us a typical Venezuelan food, which for whatever reason I always have trouble remembering the name of. It's similar to our English muffins, but I liked them better. We had devilled ham mixed with mayonase and ketchup, butter, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese spread to put on them. I tried mine with the devilled ham and it was really good.

Tuesday night, I got sick again. I was up for about and hour and a half and then was able to go back to sleep. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was feeling pretty weak, so I decided not to go on our Wednesday field trip. I missed out on going to the fruit market. Throughout the day, I began to feel better and even ate some dinner and did my homework for class the next day.

Thursday, I woke up feeling horrible. I was in the bathroom every 15 minutes or so for 2 hours. I couldn't keep anything down and was getting very dehydrated and weak. I think that was the worst I've ever felt. Kim decided to take me to the doctor. At the doctor, they gave me an IV and some medicine through the IV for the vomiting and diarrhea. The doctor gave me some Pedialyte and wanted me to buy more and keep drinking it all day. He also gave me a prescription to help my stomach. Then, I was off to the hospital for some tests to see what was causing me to be so sick along with instructions to go to the ER if I threw up again, to come back the next morning to see how I was doing (especially since we were leaving for Otavalo for the weekend), and to eat a very bland diet (rice, potatoes, bread, chicken soup, no grease, no butter, no fruit, no vegetables, and nothing fried). I went and got the tests done and then came back to the seminary so I could rest. By the evening I was feeling better and ate some rice.

Friday morning, I went back to the doctor with my test results. The results: parasites! The doctor gave me 2 more prescriptions, 1 for the parasites and 1 for an antibiotic. He also told me to keep drinking lots of Pedialyte and stick with the bland diet for the next few days. With this information, it was time to head back to the seminary, pack up the Sprinter, and head to Otavalo. For pictures of our trip to Otavalo, click on the title, "Always an Adventure." We went to 3 towns before heading going to our destination, Otavalo. First we went to the wood town, where, as the name suggests, they make a lot of things out of wood. We also went to sweater town and then leather town. It was a lot of fun to look through all of the shops in these towns. Then we arrived in Otavalo. Now, the reason we went to Otavalo is because it has the world's largest open air market and it's a lot of fun to buy souveniers and gifts there. When we got there, we drove around the center square where people were busy setting up there areas for business Saturday morning. We then went to the hostal we were going to be staying at. I really liked the hostal. It had a big courtyard with trees and hammocks where we could all hang out and relax. By this time, I was already feeling much better and was able to eat some spaghetti at dinner.

Saturday morning, I woke up, ready for some shopping. But first, was breakfast. When I got to breakfast, everyone broke out in song. They were singing me "Happy Birthday," since it was October 3rd and my 21st birthday! After breakfast, it was off to the market! I had a lot of fun buying gifts and souvenirs all day. It was fun bartering and just looking around at all the different things for sale. For lunch we went to a "Mexican" restaurant, and while the menus said "Tex Mex," it wasn't what we think of as Tex Mex. It was good, just different. For example, my taco de res (cow) was mostly beans. After a long day of shopping, we returned to the hostal to relax until dinner. We went to a pizza place for dinner (I think Kim, Jen, and Lucy have a favorite pizza place in every city). After dinner, Kim, Jen, and Lucy slipped out and came back with an apple pie with candles on it (yes, I was feeling good enough to eat my pie). Again, everyone sang me "Happy Birthday" and I got to blow out my candles. They also had a purse that they bought in Otavalo for me as a gift and Kevin had a little figurine with 3 pigs on it as a reminder of when we got sick. Then, I got to be a part of a NILI tradition, where, on someone's birthday, everyone goes around and says things they appreciate about you. It was a really cool experience. I felt loved and at home with people I've known for less than 2 months. After dinner, it was back to the hostal. In the courtyard, there was also a fireplace, so we decided it would be fun to have a fire. Kevin, Yoan, and Lorena decided to go look for marshmellows so we could make s'mores. The only marshmellows they could find were small ones but we made them work! Dan and Kristina provided us with Amor con chocolate, which are waffer crackers with chocolate on the inside (they come in lots of flavors like strawberry and lime and some others). So, we had our makeshift s'mores! It was a lot of fun and a great end to a great birthday!

Sunday morning we went to an indigenous church. It was fun to worship with them even though we didn't always know the words to the songs. Their children also danced for us. After church, we drove to Cotacachi, an active volcano with a lake in it's crater. In the crater, you can take boat rides out on the lake and see volcanic gasses rising to the surface of the lake. I can now say, "I've been in the crater of an active volcano!" After the volcano, we got lunch and started to head back to Quito. On the way, we stopped at a little shack on the side of the road where you can buy roses (Ecuador's largest export), 2 dozen for $1.25!

Monday, it was a little weird to return to classes after not going since last Tuesday, but it was fun too and definitely nice to be feeling better. After class, I went to the mall, where I bought Piel de Ecudor which in English would be Skin of Ecuador. This is actually a shirt for the Ecuadorian soccer team. But, I figured it was time to get one since there's another World Cup Qualifying game on Saturday. It's in Quito and we're going to try to go!

Tonight, the Howard's (one of the missionary families) invited us to dinner. They grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and made potatoe salad. It was a lot of fun. We hung out for a while and watched the tiebreaker game between Detroit and Minnesota on ESPN! I love baseball, so it was really nice to be able to see a game.

Also, about a half hour ago, I took my last pill of all my prescriptions! Hopefully, being sick while I'm here is completely behind me. I know some of you were praying for me while I was sick, and I really appreciate your prayers. Thanks so much!