Good news, Bad news

These last two weeks have been up and down. I have gone from being excited to see a good firend (Nick) to crying my eyes out for a few hours over huge miscomunications. I don´t know how much I´ll share on here but it´s been interesting to say the least!

Good news:
Last week I started house visits. I really enjoyed it. As I walked along the highway to meet the woman I´d be accompaning, my guide and I spied two blue hearts on the road. You see, there are a lot of people who get killed walking on the roadways here and the blue hearts are like the little crosses you`d see in the U.S. Pedestrians don´t have the right of way here, but there aren´t many safe places for them to walk and the drivers are just plain awful! Any ways, so as we crossed over the hearts, and I´m not over exagerating, a huge simi-truck wizzed passed with in a few inches of us!!! But I´m glad to report I´m not a blue heart and we continued on to the houses. Some of the houses I vistited were really dark and dank, similar to what you would think a dungon would look like. Often the only piece of furnature was the bed which we sat on to do the Bible study and play with the kid or kids. Some where nicer but for the most part where all made up of sement. Because I don´t speak English I just played with the kids so the moms could do the Bible study. It was a nice break from teaching English and I acctually felt like I was doing something useful (instead of spending an hour at a time stuggling with kids to get them to sit down and listen). I came home smelling like mold and who knows what else, I can´t imagin having to live like that. Really makes you check yourself and appricate what you have.

Bad news:
Not to scare anyone but a teacher at the school got hit by a car this week on his way to work, luckily he servived. I had trouble understanding the exactly what happend but I know he was hopitalized and is either at home or in jail (it´s illigal here to cross the street if there is a bridge, so aparently the driver that hit him is pressing charges). Also there has been a lot of miscomunication from a lot of ends and has caused me some major and needless grief. Then there are other situations that are completely out of my hands and out of control which are hard to stand by and watch. That´s all I can say but it´s for sure not good.

Good news:
God´s still in heaven. Also, I might be figuring out a better schedule so I can a least have a couple days off a month (because my "day off" is only a half day and I´m mostlikely going to have Spanish class for a few hours that day). And hopefully I will get to go to a church and possibly have a Bible study with the Extreme Response (ER) people. I got to visit centeral Quito yesterday with a few of the girls from ER. I had a blast! A rude lady wouldn´t let us see the basillica towers that we paid for, even though we had 10 mins to climb up. So we went down and snuck back up another way... I´ve never ran up so many flights of stairs in my life! She tried chasing us, but gave up being older and well... fat. We made it to the top at the exact moment the bell chimed!!! It was beautiful! We took our vitcory picture and climbed down. You should have seen her face! When then looked at some other cathidrils and went to the Rotunda (spelling?) street in Quito, which is beautiful at night, so quaint it could almost be out of a movie. I got to see the middle of the world with Nick which was pretty cool (I´ll try to put pictures on FB, I´m not really sure how to post them on here). And I took a nap today after an emotionally haggerign week, thank God for naps and being able to stay at the very quiet ER building one night a week!

Bad news:
Just found out that you shouldn´t put any comerical value on things that are sent to me because I´ll have to pay huge fines to get it. And worst of all... I´m writing with a Spanish keyboard and the spell check isn´t working, so this post is probably not going to be readable!

Small things

Good news! I have a schedule worked out now. I'll be working at the school 3 days a week teaching English, 3 days at Compassion International after school program, 2 to 3 days helping teach English at a few different seminaries, one day of house visits to single moms, and helping out with Sunday school at the church. I must confess, with some hesitation at being judged, that God's been showing me my selfishness, because I'm battling the thoughts of having no time and getting really burnt out (which happens a lot, I'm told). I know I'm here to serve, but I wonder just how much can one person do in a week? Any ways, I do have Mondays off, so on Sundays I'll go to the Extreme building (about an hour away by bus) and spend the night so I can sleep in at least until 8:00. Then I'll hopefully get Spanish lessons and maybe meet with a mentor on Mondays.
Getting up at 5:30 everyday can be really exhausting, especially to a person who generally thinks getting up at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday is unreasonable and/or unheard of. So with that said, I was extremely tired by about 12:30 yesterday and truly felt like I couldn't make it through the rest of the program. I had no idea what classroom I was to help with (and I now know I was also fighting off being sick). In tears I locked myself in the bathroom at the school praying and trying to pull myself together. Finally I left but once outside no one seemed to be around and I started panicking again. Then out of no where one of the girls in the preschool class beckoned me upstairs, told me to sit down and just watch the kids play while she went to do something and I understood all of it! Small as it may have been, it was an answer to my desperate prayer to be able to get through the rest of the day. And that's how I'm taking things now day by day which is probably a better way to do it any how!

Out of Control

So have you ever had that feeling like the fact that you are completely uncomfortable is a complete waste? I have. I mean I know that it's not, but that's how I feel. Still not quiet sure what I'm doing on a day to day basis. I'm currently not helping with house visits like I first thought, although that could still change. I'm really hoping I'll be able to do it if it's God's will... I think it'd be much more fun than teaching (but then again I have no idea).
The little girls here are my saving grace. They are so affectionate and just hugging them sometimes gives me something to do when I'm unsure of my place or what to do. A few of them have really taken to me and it's just been great.
I really love the food here. There's only been a few things I haven't liked. I'm totally going to get fat! I'm not going to have my own kitchen like I first thought so it's a lot of soup, rice and potatoes for me! They really love to drink hot thick drinks here. They have one called "quacker" which is basically Quaker oatmeal ground up! Most of them are good, just have to be prepared for texture. The other day I was hot from being out in the sun for a few hours and saw that they were serving kool-aid or punch of some sort. When I went to drink it I got a surprise, it was more like jello instead of fruit punch!
I took a taxi all by myself today. I have to say I'm a bit proud. All I did is some shopping at the mall and then back home again. It's funny to have the sales people talk to me, I have no idea what they are saying. Sometimes I pretend to understand.

Sick Day

So I'm at the house sick today which is giving me a chance to update this.
Life here has been constant changes, so it's hard to fall into a grove. I have my school/teaching schedule but it is probably going to change over the next few weeks because of possible house visits which I'm currently not doing. I have a lot of gaps in the schedule and I'm not sure what to do with all that time during the school days. My living situation has been kind of up in the air... I was initially supposed to have my own room in a flat in the first floor but I'm living in the study and the other northern American girl living here gave up her bed to me and is sleeping in the little girls room at the house. They are building on another room for us to share, but not quite sure when that's going to to be finished.
The culture is very different from the U.S. especially when it comes to personal space and privacy. There isn't much. They also greet each other with one kiss on the cheek, which I really like because makes me feel welcome, being an outsider and not speaking the language makes me feel really awkward a lot of the time. I'm hoping and praying for Spanish lessons so I can start communicating better. Most of you wouldn't know me here, I'm so shy and quiet because even if I had something to say I'm unsure of how to say it. I try not to take to heart the giggles at my horrible Spanish, but I've got to be honest it doesn't encourage me to keep trying. The other night I had people practically yelling and repeating words and phrases to me and I have no idea why... it was really frustrating but now it's kinda comical. Sometimes I've got to repeat "don't cry" over and over, but I'm told that feeling is just part of the culture shock.
It's really beautiful here! I haven't had my camera with me on the really clear days but it's amazing! Volcanoes and mountains all around with a lot of eucalyptus trees and a few pine-types as well. I live in the south which is considered the poorer area but can still be really beautiful.
I feel like I'm kind of crazy for doing this, but then I have to remember that I'm really in love with Jesus and that's the driving force behind this. I'm really truely excited to find out how he's going grow me and use me in others lives.
Thanks for the prayers guys, I really need it! I welcome any emails or letters too, I haven't had a chance to get home sick yet but I know it's just a matter of time.

Prayer:
Spanish lessons and conprehention of the language
Getting over the sickness I currently have
That the room situation would come together soon or whatever God's will is for it

Until next time...

Pre-Ecuador

I never know how to start these things. Well let's see how about I go back to 2009. I was having trouble getting ahold of the Justice Department to get my fingerprint paper work back so I could apply for my visa to Ecuador. Finally after a month after not getting through they finally sent me paper work, the wrong ones but at least I was getting somewhere. Long story short I got my visa on the 23rd about a week and a half before I left for South America.

I visited my friend Maia in Chile, and had a really good transition into Latin American culture. Let's just say I've never stuck my hand in a toilet so many times as a I did the 5 days I was in Chile. You see, if you didn't know, you can't and/or aren't supposed to flush paper. Sigh. But I am proud to report I'm getting the hang of it now. When it came time to leave I was given directions and written phrases so I could get the correct buses back to the air port. Once on the bus I read Little Women, which I brought for the trip, and a random verse popped up: in love there is no fear. This came in handy for the rest of the day, but at the moment I didn't think much of it. It turns out, I ended up at a slightly different bus stop than we first thought. So after walking a few blocks the wrong way with ridiculously heavy baggage, and tears in my eyes (repeating the verse over and over to keep from crying) I turned around and went back and tried out my Spanish at the bus stop I was dropped off at. After asking and then asking again, I found the correct bus. My troubles were over and I could now rest, right? Right... well apparently you can be too early to check in. So I was told the flight was already bored which didn't make sense (the woman didn't really speak much English) and then I was told to wait. Then 10 minuets later the lady "helping" told me the flight was full. I told her I already had go tickets a while before and somehow magical after arguing I had tickets again. She told me to weigh my bags and one had too much weight, so I tried to repack. Then she told me that it was the other bag was too much, so I was repacking the wrong bag. Then I tried to put it into my backpack and at this point I was tired (I should mention at this point that I had only slept for 2 and a half hours because of the stupid rooster outside the house the night before) and hot. Finally someone who spoke English came over and told me that the bags where too much altogether and I'd have to pay $165 USD to check the bags. I burst into tears (funny now, not so much then). I have to say that the flight was smooth and I arrived safe and sound (well somewhat) in Quito, Ecuador.