Catch Up

Hey everyone... WOW... it's been a long time! I don't even know where to start...

First, I've been teaching 2 English classes (one for beginners and one for advanced students) downtown for the last week. The most exciting thing happened when I got 2 packages... one from a very good friend from Switzerland (Debora!) and one from my mom. Debora sent tons of chocolate, which I'm so grateful for. My friends have been enjoying it too that's for sure! And I just couldn't wait for Christmas to open my mom's so I had an early Christmas! (hehe) I have put to good use everything she sent me and I'm so happy for it.

On Friday I went to Jessica's house (a missionary from the States)... I got super homesick for many reasons! We played a card game called Phase 10, but it's exactly like the game Frustration that me and my family would always play... then we made homemade chocolate chip cookies! (Mmmm)... and then the best part was watching the first Home Alone, which I've been wanting to watch for years!

That night, there was meeting at the Ark for the older kids where we prayed for a very long time... it was very intense and God showed me a lot of things. At first I saw a little bit of heaven... there was this little black boy that on earth lived in this little dirty shack, but in heaven he had this beautiful, clean, shining place to live... there was also this person just dancing with complete freedom... then there was this baby that had been aborted on earth, but in heaven he was in a different body and was hugging the doctor that had aborted him... the last thing was a bunch of Jews that had been gased in the concentration camps forgiving the Nazis that had killed them. It was so beautiful... the justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, and the joy.

Then God showed me a little bit of the pain he felt about the things that happen on earth... it was really horrible and I couldn't stop crying (more like bawling my eyes out!)... it was so bad and painful I don't even really want to share what I saw and experienced... things like a policeman beating a street child and kids hanging themselves with belts.

Also, Ron prayed for me about me being a courageous missionary.

On Saturday in the morning, I went to Guano (a little town close by) to this skateboard competition... there were a ton of us packed inside and in the back of the truck plus a ramp and a wheel chair. Since I don't skateboard I went exploring the town with a friend. We went by a bunch of touristy shops, then down this long deserted road, then to this little park and then up this mountain where they had all these cultural things. They had stone carvings from the the Indigenous along this path up the hill. At the top we just talked and enjoyed the view.

After we came down the hill and got some ice cream and Cholas to eat (kind of like a bun with cane sugar inside).

Then we came back to do the Radio show that they have every weekend. (haha) Last minute they asked me to say something and all I could think of was "Hola a todos... soy Anna!" haha... then we went back to Guano to go to a concert with a bunch of Hippies... we didn't stay long, but they had this tight rope thing, a climbing wall and some interesting music! After we returned to Riobamba to eat some supper on the street... we all got this huge plate of rice, lettuce, fried chicken and a potato for $1.60! And then we had some Cola too.

This morning I went to church with Naomi and a few kids, but they were having a free medical outreach thing so we just played in a park and came back. Now I'm here catching up... later I think I'm going to go to Calshi where Isaac teaches guitar lessons to do some hiking... and maybe I'll teach English to a few friends if we feel like it.