I’m in Ecuador!!!
Wow… where do I begin? I am so tired that it is hard for me to think of what to write about. I have had little sleep, we have been walking a lot, and I have been deemed the group translator, which is well beyond the scope of my ability. I am actually doing better with my Spanish than I thought I would, but I keep realizing how much I have to learn.
Well, let’s start with getting here. The travels here went very well. All of our flights were on time (!), and we made it to our hotel just fine. The next day we had a nice bus ride from Guayaquil (where we flew in) to Cuenca (where we are living now). It is about a four-hour drive through the mountains, but we stopped for a nice lunch at a restaurant where the specialty is trout. They raise the trout in the streams surrounding the restaurant, so it is always fresh!
When we arrived in Cuenca, we went straight to the church. As we pulled up, I saw my host dad waving, and I started getting really excited. Of the group (7 students total), I am the only one who has been here before, so I already knew my host family. We quickly unloaded our bags from the bus (most of which were strapped to the roof under a tarp because it was a small bus), and then departed with our families. Along with my host dad, my little brother, Juan Pedro (13 years old) was there. It was so amazing to see him. My other brother (Fernando José, 20 years old), was elsewhere, as was my host mom, who is away on a medical brigade with the church’s health foundation.
My host dad, brother, and I went to the house of my host mom’s parents. (Wow, that was a mouthful – basically, we went to my grandparents’ house.) After some time with my “aunts” and my little “cousin,” we returned home for me to unpack before the evening service at the church, Verbo. After a great service, we made a stop on our way home. We stopped by the house of Jason’s host family from when he was in Cuenca last month. He had left a few things for me, so I got them from his host mom.
I was so tired by the time we got home. I had gotten about 12 hours of sleep in the last 3 nights combined, on top of trying to speak/understand another language, on top of the altitude – almost 8,000 feet! (It really makes a difference.) I slept pretty well that night, but I still need a lot more sleep.
Today was quite tiring. We all met at the church office to discuss any questions we had and find out about our schedules. As it turns out, we don’t have class until 8 a.m. (we were told 7 a.m.!), and we will likely have every Friday off. I can’t believe it!! After that, Dr. Moore wanted us to have a little practice taking taxis and getting around town. He met up with us after we had walked around for a while, visiting the flower market and walking up and down one of the streets with a lot of shops downtown. We went to an ice cream place to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. After that we went home to have lunch. Needless to say, I wasn’t very hungry after having an ice cream sundae!
I took a nap before heading back into town. I think I am catching a cold, so I tried to recuperate some energy. We met at the Foundation (la Fundación Hogar del Ecuador is the health foundation started by the church) because the rest of the group had never been there. My host dad, Fernando, gave the tour and I translated for him. (I think Jason did the same thing when he was here!) Translating was difficult to do (even though Fernando was helping to make it easier for me), and actually wore me out because I’m not used to it. We proceeded to do even more walking around the city so that we could begin to learn our way around. It was a little frustrating for me because I can’t learn a city that quickly—it takes a lot of time—and I already felt like my brain was full...mostly of Spanish and being tired (the altitude!). I sort of found myself counting down the time until we returned to the Foundation, but it ended up being a good time with the group.
My host dad and I made a couple of stops on the way home today – one was with an older couple that is interested in opening their home for “iglesia hogar” (home church). They are going to have the first meeting there tomorrow! It was really neat. I am back at the house now, watching a movie with my host dad after having a little bowl of soup for dinner.
By the way, lunch is the main meal here, and sometimes dinner is practically nonexistent. For instance, Sunday night I just had some bread and hot chocolate right before going to bed. I wasn’t even that hungry for dinner tonight; it was already almost 8:30, but I decided to have a little of the soup leftover from lunch.
I digress. I miss my friends and family, especially today because I was so tired, but I am glad to be here. This is definitely a very special experience to have. I have peace that the Lord is in control of our being here, even if all the details still need to be worked out.
Thanks for reading this far, and thanks for your prayers. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you. (And I´ll try to post pictures soon.)
