Abandoned Baby and Spanish Lessons

So today was a pretty full day. After feeding babies and helping with preschool, me and Zoe went to wrap Christmas presents for 80 kids... well, we ended up having to go to town to buy 200 sheets of wrapping paper and 3 pairs of shoes. After lunch Jemimah joined us to wrap gifts. Then I went downtown again to check out the Spanish/English school... apparently on Monday I'm going to start teaching English Monday to Thursday 6:30 to 7:30 and get free Spanish lessons in exchange from 5:30 to 6:30. We'll see how that goes... Then when I got back I found out we have a new baby. Leonardo was abandoned on a porch so the police brought him here. He's of course very cute and looks a lot like one of the other babies.

Quito and Halloween

So on Monday at 4:30 in the morning I woke up to begin my journey to Quito. I needed to register my visa since it was the 29th day and after 30 days you have to pay a $200 fine! So we took a taxi to the bus station and took another bus to Quito... then we took the trolley to where we had to go. I made sure to have my passport and money in a very safe place because apparently lots of people have been pick pocketed on the trolley. It's extremely squishy, but only 25 cents for a 1/2 ride.

Then we took a taxi to where we thought we had to go, but of course we were sent somewhere else... this is after the first trip to Quito where we went to 2 places, both of which were not the right place. And after finally arriving we had to get photocopies and deposit money in a bank (meaning more time and effort), but finally I got it registered... However, they told me I'd have to come back in 3 days to pick up my passport because the director needed to sign something. Good thing, Neomi (who went with me) asked if we could see the director right away and it turns out the director had studied in Canada and was more than happy to sign it right away... thank you Lord!

After we got to eat some amazing burgers/fries/pop for only $1.50 and we could barely finish them because they were so huge! We also got to talk to the workers for a bit... they were siblings from Cuba and were really nice. Apparently, most people want to leave Cuba because of the political situation there.

On the ride home we (Neomi and I) were dying of thirst, but good thing about Ecuador is that there are always people getting on the bus to sell you something so you will never go thirsty or hungry for very long!

During the week, I got to work with the toddlers and newborns... and it made me really want to have kids! They are so cute. I also had the opportunity to take one of the toddlers to the hospital. Lots of the kids have been getting fevers and they were really young so we took them to emergency. That was fun getting to pretend I had my own kid (and it turns out the kid I took was my favourite girl! haha... she's just so cute and content all the time)

On Saturday night I was going to street church and witnessed only a small taste of Halloween... it's not that big here. However, I got to taste my first Colada Morada, which is this purple fruit drink that's amazing (and very Ecuadorian) and eat fries with a bunch of friends.

Sunday morning I went to church, which ended up lasting 3.5 hours! However, that included a program and concert... there were skits/songs/dances and the band for the concert was from Quito and was really good. Then I got to drink more Colada Morada and eat bread (which is a big part of the diet here... but the bread is so tasty). And that's the week in a nutshell!

Retreat

So yesterday La Iglesia de la Calle (street church friends) went to a nearby town for a retreat in the countryside. First we drove around for a while picking everybody up and then we bought ingredients for supper. We got to this house where we played volleyball, made a fire, sang songs, prayed, cooked and ate supper, and where some of us slept a little. Then at like 5 in the morning we left to go swim in these pools that are like hot tubs... it's really popular and so much fun. Since I didn't bring my bathing suit and neither did this other girl that wanted to swim we rented bathing suits for 50 cents! haha... that wouldn't happen in Canada! The stars were amazing and I finally got warm after a freezing cold evening. On the way back to the house we were staying at we had to help this car get out of a ditch. Then at the house we shared and talked about the stuff God was teaching us and prayed.

Now after having very very little sleep I have to go to Quito tomorrow at 5:00 in the morning to register my visa since the last time the office was closed. I'm looking forward to taking some taxis/buses/whatever to get there, but I think I'm going to be very tired.

Now

Hey everyone.

So I had a really good day today... feeding/changing babies, teaching pre school, sorting laundry, then finding Christmas presents for the kids.... apparently all the presents are picked out by August! Christmas is a lot of work here, but I think it'll be really fun.

Saturday night we had "street church" where we go downtown and sing praises/pray/read the bible. It was nice cuz I got to talk to some of the youth one on one and practice my Spanish. A few of us also went out to eat fries...

Then on Sunday morning me and Zoe took a few of the older girls to church.... I ended up joining the youth Sunday school group with a girl I just met that comes to the Ark to help out once in a while.

Kingdom Day and Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we made a double holiday by celebrating "Kingdom Day" as well. Kingdom Day is where we celebrate being the daughters and sons of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords... as princesses and princes we dressed up accordingly.

We fitted the girls with a dress and made them a crown and made the boys armor and weapons. That was part of Friday and all of Saturday! Lots of decorating hats and painting armor and crowns.

We also had an amazing turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we had pie for dessert, which was a real treat, especially since I had lemon pie... Mmmm...

Also, the last few days me and Zoe have been teaching the pre school class. We have 8 students and they are so cute. First we teach them a letter of the alphabet and then make a craft with the letter (usually glueing scrunched tissue paper onto the letter). Sometimes we go outside for a nature walk and sing a song (one I learned for my DTS when I was in the Dominican doing kids programs).

My Room and More

Hey Everyone! So it has been awhile, but I'm back. So first of all, this is my room... very nice, but very cold... at least my bed is super comfy and warm!

So to back up to yesterday, I went to get my yellow fever shot. The reason being I was planning on going to the jungle (Macas/Sucua) to drop off a kid that was returning to his dad, but at the last moment Glenda remembered that I should have my yellow fever vaccine, which I didn't so I couldn't go :( Apparently there will be more opportunities to go, which I'm really looking forward to.

I will also be making a trip to the capital (Quito) next week to register my visa... it's Jemimah's birthday soon so we'll also be going out for pizza and celebrating while we're there.

This next week we should be starting picking out presents for the kids/wrapping them and doing sponsorship letters... apparently it's tons of work! Anyways... to my next post...

Day 6

Hello all. Today (since it's the weekend) is a free day so I didn't do much work. However, I played cards with some kids, learned a game in Spanish, found an amazing ice cream store and did some other stuff I can't remember because I'm finishing this sentence days later!

This week I had to take care of the toddlers one day because some of the workers were fired. I also worked with the newborns... it's my favorite age group so far because you aren't dealing with disciplining the kids or their attitudes... if they cry you change their diaper, feed them, burp them or just hold them... they're much simpler. They are also so adorable... I love just holding them and taking them for a walk outside when it's calmer inside.

Today (Wednesday) I also walked with Zoe to get some ice cream and yucca (cassava) bread, then went with Ron to help carry groceries, and then Zoe and Chava and I wrapped birthday presents. Now we are waiting to go to a prayer meeting and some are watching Touched By An Angel.