First SUNNY day!

When I walked out of my ‘house’ this morning and saw some blue between the clouds and felt a slight fresh breeze I KNEW it was going to be a good day. Turns out to be the FIRST SUNNY DAY I’VE HAD HERE! I’ve seen the sun here before for a few hours maybe, but never for a whole day like today! I don’t know what’s happening—there’s finally a sunny day on the equator! It’s also Week of Prayer this week so it’s a nice break in the middle of classes. Also, kids here are apparently really motivated to work for this Spelling Bee that we’re going to have in English. Needless to say, classes went well today! And it was sunny. And everyone that lives here at the school went to a pool this afternoon! First pool I’ve seen since I’ve gotten here! And it was sunny! Did I mention how amazing today was going? Us gringos even did a little gymnastics in the pool! When I didn’t look at all the trees and rainforest type bushes around the pool, I almost felt like I was in the U.S. today! It was quite entertaining watching the boys, one by one, throw everyone who was still dry into the pool. Some things about boys don’t change with culture! There were two adorable little girls that came along too and me and the other gringa had some fun with them. Some definitely embarrassing moments passed today…but sometimes those are the most memorable and fun to look back on. And did I mention it was sunny ALL DAY? When we got back to the school, and after the nightly prayer meeting for Week of Prayer, we had these fried banana tortilla things called ‘verdes’. Absolutely delicious! Who would have guessed the perfect end to a perfect day was yet to come? One of the pastors here gave us the most scrumptious chocolate cake with a peach on top that I’ve ever had! Simply amazing day! Just had to share it with you ….and let you all know that there are indeed SUNNY DAYS on the equator :) Sunny days always make good days. Now that I know they do indeed exist here, they ain’t got no more excuses for not coming ‘round more often! I love the sun :) I love today!

MIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE

So I’m a middle child. And on Sunday we went to the middle of the world. No joke! I was standing in the exact middle of the globe! Besides the sun being more intense there, you should really believe me on the whole toilet flushing opposite ways on opposite sides of the equator thing. Exactly on the equator water doesn’t swirl in any direction. A few steps to the south it goes clockwise and a few steps north of the equator it’s counterclockwise! Crazy I know. You’re reading this from an eye-witness. And I think you should go try and balance an egg on a nail. Right now. Go! Don’t worry, it IS possible. And if you get it—you’re an Egg Master. I am! Just look at that pic of an Egg Master! DOOO IT!!!! And be sure to tell me about it :)

FIRST VACATION!

After less than 2 weeks of being at CADE with the other student missionaries, we head to Quito for the weekend! First vacation with my new fellow teachers! It was quite an experience…like everything here! We stayed with a super genius family in Quito and went to the smallest church I’ve ever been too! I think it was about 3 families big. Unsurprisingly they made the white kids do special music. For those of you who know me, I don’t sing in front of people unless it’s in a group. That changed when I got here. There’s no option—you have to sing! It was fun though! The genius family we were staying with is also musical, and they had a piano! I hadn’t gotten to play a piano since I left the U.S. yet! It was amazing. I never thought I’d be so happy to play with 9 fingers! Turns out not to be quite as hard as it sounds. Good weekend. And good food! They don’t celebrate Halloween here, but they celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. There’s this hot berry drink called ‘Colada Morada’ that they drink with ‘Guaguas de Pan’ to celebrate. The guaguas look like little gingerbread dolls but they taste like a loaf of bread. It is quite the scrumptious tradition! I may even dare to say better than the Halloween candy…though chocolate is pretty hard to top! And good chocolate is hard to come by here…not that I’ve looked or anything :)

First time in town…nervous?

So Quito is the capital. It’s actually pretty nice at least in parts. Santo Domingo is another story. Nevertheless, us two crazy white chics decided to brave it cuz I’d never been and the guys wouldn’t come with us. I definitely felt like a nervous tourist walking around town. It kind of reminded me of Tijuana…we found a place with shirts for a dollar though! You can find quite the bargains here if you look for them. There were a lot of nerves running through me…but someone was supposed to pick us up and take us back to the school. No need to worry right? Well….maybe. These two white chics are left waiting in town for forty minutes before we finally decide the guy forgot us. We muster our bravery and flag a taxi to take us back. I don’t know how you feel about white girls and taxi drivers in Ecuador at night….the guy did take us back to our school though. Just a day of nerves I thought I’d share with you all!

Q-U-I-T-O

Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. CADE, the school I’m at, is about ½ hr. out of Santo Domingo, which is about a 3 hr. bus ride from Quito. The road from Santo Domingo to Quito is up a mountain of sorts for most of the time. Crazy roads and rockslides aren’t uncommon. The first night I moved in with my new fabulous roommate at CADE, fellow gringa sm, it turned out to be quite a short night. The day before someone had told me I had to go to Quito to do some paperwork, but I never found the person that was going to take me so I assumed I wasn’t going to go after all because I didn’t know when to leave or meet or anything! Apparently invalid concerns. 4 a.m. comes around my first night with my roomie, Brittany, and this guy starts knocking on our door. I’ve only been at this school for a few days and am pretty clueless and freaked out already. Needless to say me and Brittany FREAK OUT –who in the world could be trying to get into our room at FOUR A.M.?! It’s almost a miracle in itself that we understood what he wanted through the language AND lack-of-sleep barrier. Turns out I’m going to Quito. 10 min. later I’m in the car with this guy I don’t even know on a crazy 3 hour ride to Quito. He turns out to be a pretty cool guy…his driving is another story. I’ve never thought I was going to die so many times in a car ride. Apparently it’s pretty normal here though. It doesn’t matter if it’s a windy mountain road, trucks and busses and cars are all passing each other on a 2-lane road like crazy. About 80 MPH too! Add the factor of a sleepy driver to the equation and you may have a taste of my experience. It was definitely an exciting day. We even got lost in Quito! I wish I could share some of the excitement with you all…it was quite experiential. I’m still alive though, and the guy’s still cool. Life is good :)

Happy Birthday Ecuadorian Style!

The 29th of October in this lucky year of 2008 has definitely been the conclusion to the most interesting birthday yet. The birthday celebrations actually started back on the 10th of October when the 3rd grade class at Calexico Mission School had a surprise birthday/going away party on my last day helping out there. Then two days later it was my birthday again at HomeTownBuffet with my adopted parents in Calexico. On the 14th, about an hour before I left for LAX to begin my Ecuadorian adventure, I had my 3rd birthday extravaganza with my sis and grandpa cuz we’re all October babies. When I first got to Ecuador I had to stay in Quito with a super cool family before I worked out a bunch of confusion to finally go to CADE, my original destination. The sweet family in Quito also surprised me with a chocolate birthday cake—never tasted chocolate quite like it! And my goodness was it a surprise! By the time my birthday rolled around here at this schoool, CADE, in Ecuador, I had only been at the school for a week. I was still living like in a dream. I barely knew anyone here but somehow everyone seemed to know it was my birthday. First you should know that a few birthday traditions here include smashing your face into your cake and birthday whippings—not spankings. Hard core like with a belt! And you should also know that I am helping out one of the other student missionaries teach English to grades 1-7. However, the day before I had been in Quito all day long doing immigration paperwork. Apparently the other student missionary had the kids make birthday cards for me all during class the day I was gone. So when I got to class on my birthday I had a bazillion birthday cards from these crazy kids and a super cool one from my new roomie-the only other gringa here I know! Needless to say I got sang many a birthday song—some more embarrassing than others :) So I guess I’m gullible. Either that or the other sm’s here are super sneaky. So I was trying to get out of them all day what we were going do for my birthday and couldn’t get any exciting ideas out of them. Seriously? C’mon. It’s my birthday! We went to this small groups thing that night me still trying to think of what I could do after for some birthday fun. Little did I know another birthday surprise was awaiting me. Not only did I get TWO scrumptious cakes (one delectable chocolate one with grapes and kiwi), but I got a taste of a true Ecuadorian birthday. CAKE IN THE FACE! It’s quite the experience for those who don’t know…which is probably like all of you because it was certainly a first for me! Somehow I was lucky enough to escape the birthday whippings—I think I may have looked too horrified when they mentioned it :) Lots of food. Yumminess and surprises to the max! I definitely felt the love. 5 birthdays in one. Who could be luckier? It’s definitely been a birthday to remember. The one and only south of the equator….so far at least :) I wish you all happy birthdays like mine! And feel free to let me know how they go…I like birthday stories :)

Day 2: A day of 1st's

So I haven't woken up from this dream yet. I am nearing the end of my 2nd day here in Quito. And I have experienced many firsts here. My first veggie patty here--almost tasted like a garden burger! With rice of course which is definately NOT a first. My first day sleeping through breakfast. My first day gettting locked in the dorm in the morning because I didn't leave early with all the other girls. My first shower here at CADE which was cold like all the other showers I've taken since leaving SoCal. However, I also just took MY FIRST HOT SHOWER IN ECUADOR!!!!!!! It was quite exciting. The water is heated with electricity and since I've come the electricity has strangely been off a lot. Today, I also went running for the first time with Brittany! The other amazing sm that's beeen teaching all my classes for me before I got here :) I played my first game of soccer with some kids here that kept telling me I couldn't make a goal. Pssh I've never played soccer but heck yes I made a goal. I'm not a super gringa with no skills lol. I also had my first klutzy moment here. We were running along a sidewalk and apparently there wasn't any more cement underneath the grass along the edge. Hence, klutzy moment. I have a few scars on me knee to remember this memorable moment :) First time in the church here. NOT my first time listening to country cuz all the other sm's here like country. No bueno. Gotta make some sacrifices though right? Well, I'm nearing my third night here. The end of my second day is near. Adios Mundo!

CADE IN MY DREAM

so i think I'm here. Yesterday afternoon I found out that I was going to come to CADE just a few hours before I left the family I was staying with in Quito. I thought someone from the school was going to come and get me me but little did I know! Some guy that works for the conference in Quito got voulenteered that morning to accompany me to CADE. He had never been there before either, and we were going by bus so things were a little sketchy and not exactly safe. Thankfully I survived though! We arrived at CADE about 10:30 last night and I pretty much got dumped in a dorm room and didn't know what to expect. Apparently I was supposed to sleep there so I stacked a few materesses in the room and actually slept! Didn't know anything about the school. Or even where I was exactly. Or what I was supposed to do in the morning or anything! I figuered I should go to breakfast with them all and sure enough the other grigos recognized the new white girl and I met the other sm's! So crazy. I can't believe that I'm finally here. There's some sort of anniversary fiestas going on this week at the school so there's not much to do. It's crazy how much I've seen just this first day here! I feel like I've been here forever already! I'm still not sure I'm actually here. I'm pretty sure it must be all a dream. I'm just waiting for the moment when I'm going to wake up and still find myself in So-Cal. But so far, the dream's a good one!

NEVER HAD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?!

If you have any idea what has been happening these last few days, my first few days in Ecuador, you may understand why I had such a happy sabbath! Besides being exteremely relieved, I began to notice tons of similarites in the people here to the U.S. Especially in church, it made me feel quite at home to see old ladies getting made at all of us young people up in the balcony cuz some were talking during church. Some things just never change no matter where you go! I got to meet and hang out with a lot of the friends of the kids of the pastor's family I'm staying with. Some of them are pretty crazy and entertaining--felt like home! Then on sat. night, I went with the oldest daughter to hang out at a friend's house. Although most of them were in their 20s and some were married, it was still pretty fun! If not more than just to see what people do here on saturday nights! It was definately a good night's practice in spanish cuz women just talk and talk and talk--even more than in the U.S.! The men at this person's house last night were watching a movie and all fell asleep on a bed in the other room while all the girls ate and talked and listened to music and looked at pictures. They had this packet of chocalte chip cookie mix that you just add butter and an egg to but it was in english and none of them had ever seen it before! I don't think they typically have chocalte chips here...so they'd never tried chocalte chip cookies before! I was more than happy to help out! They were all so excited that i knew how to make them and i tried to explain that it really was quite easy..we had to improvise a bit though cuz she didn't have a cookie sheet. We baked them in a casserole dish with butter on the bottom. Also, we didn't exactly measure the butter so I think between the un-exactness in the recipe and the extra in the pan, they had too much. Also, the oven temp. on the packet was obviously in Farenheit but their oven is in Celsius. We were guessing. It took longer than it should have for them to bake, but they turned out ok! They weren't light and fluffy like they could have been, but even though they were a bit cruncy, they all loved them still! It's crazy the differences you don't even think about! It was quite a good way to spend my first saturday night in Ecuador :) I'm growing to love the family I'm living with more and more--they're so hospitable and generous i really feel at home. The sisters already told me they don't want me to leave cuz I'm like another sister--would you ever hear something like that in the U.S.???? I'll answer that for you. No! It'll be sad to leave here and go to CADE but I'm glad I got to know some people here so I can come back and see them on the weekends and maybe they'll even come visit me at CADE if they feel the urge to! I'm beginning to see at least one reason God kept me here for at least a little bit. I'm sure God has more surprises and revelations in store for me though! I'm excited to see what He'll bring me next! I hope you all had a good weekend too! And send me some sun when you get a chance. I was soooooo looking forward to my year of summer here in Ecuador--right on the equtor it HAS to be hot like all the time right? Well i've been cold ever since I got here. Sometimes in the morning there's some sun but it gets scold pretty quick and rains almost every afternoon. *Sigh* So...since I'm pretty sure you have more sun there even though you are farther north on the globe...send me some if you have any extra :)

Truly too good to be true now.

I can't believe how good God is! He never ceases to amaze me. Ever! Yesterday everyone here in Ecuador was pressuring me so much to say here in Quito and help out at this school, even though no one knows anything about it. The origional school I came to help out at is CADE in Santo Domingo. It was nerveracking to think that I would be here in Quito with no other SM's and knowing nothing about a school that I'd be teaching at! Honestly I was scared. No other gringos to vent to! But I was trying trying my hardest to get used to the idea that if this is where God wants me it'd be ok. I knew in my mind that it'd be so, but it's so hard to accept something even if you know it's the best things! When you have a plan, it's scary to make such big changes with so many un-knowns. Everyone was rather conerened especially about my safety here because no one has been able to tell me ANYTHING about this school here. We just knew that there was more of a need for me here in Quito so they were saying that there wasn't a place for me in CADE anymore. I couldn't get any real reasons out of anyone--only problmes that could easily be solved 'excuses' more like. I was pressured to make a decision by this morning if I'd accept this position here in Quito--but they didn't really give me another option--here or go home! Which of course isn't really an option. I expressed all my concerns to someone at the conference who did speak english and he shared with me the urgency of the need here and my help. Even though I didn't feel like there was a greater chance to go to CADE, I felt better about the possibilty of staying here because I believe we both had a better understanding of where eachother were comign from. Talk about a huge change of plans! This morning I went to talk with the president of the conference I belileve becuase they needed us to make a decision together on what I was going to do. Thankfully they had someone translate so we could both express ourselves more freely and say what we actually wanted to say. I still don't understand what happened in that room. Only God and the prayers of all of you and more could have brought about what happened. After explaining what happened and the problem with the miscommunication, they said they wanted me to make the decision. What?! Everyone has been pressuring me to stay in Quito and not giving me many more options and telling me all these excuses that I can't go to CADE anymore. Maybe they finally decided that for their reputation's sake they better let me decide where I want to go? I was assurred that they want me to go where I feel happy and safe. They told me again that the staff at CADE is complete but they have a place for me to teach here but wanted to know what I thought about it. I told them that I still wanted to go to CADE becuase that where I came to work for. I didn't know there was any problem untill a few hours before I left the U.S. CADE is the only place that me and my family and the missions director at Walla Walla ( oh Jeanne dear) know about and feel safe with. None of us know anything about this other school. The translator said it was a cultural thing--apparently it's just our culture that likes to go where we came to go? I didn't realize that but apparently that was enough! The president made a phone call and came back and told me that they were going to make a plan for me to go to CADE! I could hardly believe what I was hearing! I still can't actually! After all this they're gonna let me go anyways? Why did we have to go through this whole process then? They told me to give my all, and put all my heart and work into CADE and forget about the problems that we've just had. I think they're worried about their reputation but I think they made a pretty good decision to try and save themselves! I can't believe that everything changed completely so fast! From no other option but to stay in Quito to going wherever I want to go? Only God's doing! Thanks to all the many prayers that have been going up all over I believe a miracle happened in that room. It's still hard to trust that that's actually what's going to happen--seems to good to be true! First it seemed too good to be true to actually be going to my SM destination, and it certainly was for awhile! I got into the right country though. And God worked yet another miracle. I'M GOING TO CADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you ALL for EVERYTHING you were doing to help this to work out! I don't know how you guys felt, but for me, I was just getting used to the thought of changing my plans when God worked a miracle to continue in the origional plans! I am sure that this is the best thing now. On Monday I'm going to register with the embassy here then I'm off to CADE! Don't know many more details yet but I feel confident that they will work things out for me. At last. If it's not too good to be true this time, I'M GOING TO CADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a HAPPY SABBATH! THANK YOU JESUS! and thank you to all of you who were frantically working, worrying, and praying. THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER!! I love you all and am sure I will have a fantastic weekend here in Quito! I hope you all have a good weekend too--worry no more my friends! God has proven Himself once again! And I'm crossing my fingers this won't truly be too good to be true now :)

I'm Alive!

I'm FINALLY in ECUADOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm actually here. I arrived about 3 hours ago and am already in the pastor's house ready to sleep in the son's bed that he's so graciously sharing with me! I left L.A.X. around 2 A.M. this morning and didn't get much sleep on the plane. And obviously didn't get any before I left. Hence, I am very tired. When I arrived in Quito I was extremely relieved to find some people holding a sign with my name on it! There has been quite a state of last minute confusing down here! Misscommunication has led to them not even knowing I was coming until the other SM's actually told them I had a ticket! Consequently, they say they 'no longer need me' at the origional school in Santo Domingo that I was going to go to with the other SM's. I'm not sure exactly why. They now want me to help teach at another school here in Quito. I'm flexible and I could but I really want to go to Santo Domingo--that's where I came to teach! And seeing as no one has ever heard of this other school before, and no other sm's have been there....it's just a little sketchy...definatley more support in Santo Domingo. Anyways, we went straight to a place to eat when we left the airport and I tried my first typical ecuadorian food! it was pretty good but way too much! they eat TONS here! I met all the people that work at the conference here too. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go back to the conference and see where I will go. I'm crossing my fingers I can still go to Santo Domingo but I know God will work out whatever's best! So worry no more. I am here. And I am going to go to bed now and hopefully be able to update you with more news soon! Thanks for all the prayers! Hasta luego!

Too good to be true.

I'm pretty sure it has to be too good to be true. The doc. said my finger's well enough to go? no way. too good to be true. I got a ticket to leave from this country. too good to be true. I got the ticket for this Wednesday?! Too good to be true! I'M FINALLY GOING TO ECUADOR?! nooooooooooooo waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! WAY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!!!!!!!! i have this fear that pretty soon I'm going to wake up from my dream and no. i'm really not going to ecuador! but maybe if i can make it all the way to ecuador before i wake up i'll at least wake up over there? i haven't woken up yet...so far so good! I just spent my last week at Calexico Mission Academy and said my good-byes :( it was sadder than i ever imagined it would be after just 3 weeks there! It was such a good experience--more amazing than i ever dreamed my time there would be! Everyone there is so incredibly friendly and generous and hospitable it blows my mind! I'm going to miss them all :( I will never forget the people there though! Especially 3rd grade, the class that I helped with the most! I learned a ton and now have tons of amazing 3rd grade friends too! Most significantly, I will miss my new parents I adopted down there. I was more nervous than you could imagine to walk into their house the first day I arrived not knowing anyone down there. But now it's hard to believe that I won't be seeing them every day! So many laughs were exchanged and memories made. It's crazy to think about still! I will use the words they taught me in Ecuador and see if they really make sense to other people or if they were just pulling my arm :) lol I am now frantically trying to pack all my things in my luggage limit for Ecuador! I'm so incredibly excited to finally be going there! It's taken so long for it to work out that I almost don't think it will actually happen! It's just too good to be true! There's quite the battle of emotions going on now too. On the one side you have the extreme sadness of just leaving a new family in Calexico and soon having to leave all your family, friends, and things that you know behind. On the other side you have uncontainable excitement for a dream that is about to come true! Hence, I'm not sure what to think at the moment. Just live and love the moment right? And hope with all my might that it is NOT too good to be true!

Que Bueno!

Por finalmente estoy aprendiendo espanol. At last i'm learning spanish! Sadly I'm not in Ecuador yet, though I am in Calexico! I'm helping out at the mission school here and learning spanish until the Dr. says I can go! I'm waiting for my finger for those of you that don't know. Go check out my myspace pics if you dare with a queezy stomach. PRETTY GNARLY! ;) So I'm probably not going to fill your inbox with annoying mass e-mails. So.....if you care to know what will be happening on the equator you must come here and see ;) I'll post when I'm actually going to get there when I know. For now I'm waiting for my silly finger and helping teach in Calexico! Such an origional city name. And right across the border (that you can see from the school) is Mexicali. We've got some creative people naming cities is all I've got to say. Thank you to all my donors who have made this coming year possible! I'm so excited to see what's going to happen! I am going to Ecuador, just don't know exactly when yet...but your money will not be wasted I assure you :) I love you all and hope to have some Ecuadorian stories for you soon! ~The Soon-To-Be Ecuadorian :)