Ecuadorian Dynamics

            So I’m sure you’ve all been just dying to find out what I’ve been doing over the last two weeks, and I can tell you it’s been something! After I last wrote I did a bit more working at El Refugio. Friday was the church service yet again, and it was quite interesting to watch Santiago “at work”… let me tell you why.

            As we waited for people from the church to come in, I started messing around with some of the drums. Santiago was with me but then left to greet some of the ladies that walked in. One lady in particular had stopped to talk to Santiago, and the next time I glanced over she was crying. I couldn’t make out much of what she was saying, but Santiago was listening patiently and putting his hand on her arm. I sat down to just watch them talk for a while until the service had to start and Santiago told her they would talk more later.

            Santiago shortened the service that night so there could be a time of prayer in which he said was “much needed”. He had all of us (there were only like 8) sit in a circle, holding hands. He asked for prayer requests from each person then had each person pray. What a cool time to hear each person’s unique prayers in Spanish. The dynamics of Christian prayer, in whatever country (as I’ve noticed, but I’ve only been out of the country seven times, hehe), may be slightly different, but how cool that we worship the same God!

            Then that Saturday we worked almost all day and night without electricity, which was interesting. Towards the end of the night it got harder, but as I was eating, the lights finally came back on! Just in time for Santiago to come get me so we could go to a party.

            Santiago had been working all week with his uncle to fix up his new house to get ready for this housewarming party he had planned. They did a wonderful job because it looked beautiful, and the party was a lot of fun. I hung out with Santiago’s cousins and even watched him love on his one of his little baby cousins (which I taped, of course). We danced and ate and said hi to a LOT of people. I also watched the little kids playing (I also taped this), and it was so interesting to think of how I played and even how American kids play. The dynamics of kids playing are so similar. They were playing some game of tag that we used to play in gym class, and the only difference was their language.

            Of course I was exhausted so we went home around 12 (pretty early for parties like that one). The next day was church so I wanted to make sure I could get up! We were originally invited to go with the Geneva team and El Refugio to Otavalo, the indigenous market, but there wasn’t enough space unfortunately. So instead we went to church and then Santy had to go to a church meeting. It’s really interesting, also, to see the church dynamics here, as well. Santy is always so worried about the direction of his church because of the things that are going on. They’re having some problems, but they’re working them out. They had this meeting, but Santy came back not completely resolved, as some of the leaders decided they had other priorities. Also, some of the leaders are being temporarily kicked out because they haven’t been baptized. Although I, myself, have been baptized (Friday the 13th on Elm Street back in 2010, no joke!), there are several things I don’t agree with when it comes to denominations (they’re Baptist), and that is one of them.

            After the meeting, Santy and I decided to go to Condado to get some shopping done. I didn’t buy as much this time, but I got a bunch of granola bars, some sweet crackers, and bread. Then we had McDonalds for dinner, which, as always, I love.

            The week that followed including a lot of working and being a little melancholy. I didn’t get to spend as much time with the Geneva group as I would have liked to, but getting to do the little notes on their beds (I along with another anonymous person) was something I loved getting to do. It’s cool to see what God does because one of the girls was telling me how before she got to Ecuador, her mother had given her the same exact verse that her note gave her. Every girl said that their individual notes said exactly what they needed to hear, which was so awesome to hear. I told them I think that Jesus went into their bedrooms and gave them those notes—not us!

            Anyways, so I spent the week in the kitchen and getting to know some of the Geneva kids. The group was such a variety of teens, which was cool to see! They were just as wonderful of a group as last year, but I wished I could have gotten to know them more. I wasn’t able to sing for them like I did with the group last year, but the girls got my Facebook name and now have me on Facebook! It’s cute because they would talk to Santiago and I, and they would ask us about our relationship and all. Some of the girls told me they want me to tell them when we get engaged, and they want to see our engagement pictures! Too cute!

            Unfortunately, every year I swear Geneva brings sickness to Ecuador, hahaha, because every year they get sick, then I get sick! So this year, upon hearing about the sicknesses of the team, I took a few half days and tried to avoid any sickness. Santiago got sick, and I stayed away from him, too!

            On Thursday, their last official day, I stayed for the campfire to watch Aurelio, a worker at El Refugio who is from the jungle, perform for the group. Santy and I ate and had smores with the group, and I translated a letter Jhonatan had while we waited. I took pictures with some of the girls but told the others I’d be there the next day to say bye. Then we got to listen to Aurelio’s music, and he dressed in traditional garb for us, which was cool! We got to take some pictures with him then headed home.

            The next day I was fully prepared to go say bye to the team, but, my plan of not getting sick failed yet again. I was terribly sick with a virus and couldn’t even get out of bed. Santy stayed with me for the day, trying to help me feel better. I was nauseous most of the day and wouldn’t drink or eat anything, so I became dehydrated, which made me significantly worse. Finally at some point I was able to drink some Gatorade and eat a little, but I was pretty miserable most of the day.

            Saturday I felt much better and took a little time to recoup, as we had the beginning of Calacali festivals. I took some pictures with my family then went to see them in the parade. My little brothers were playing in the band, and my little sister was walking with the rest of her classmates holding big balloons. We also found the other Americans from El Refugio and hung out with them.

            After the procession of several schools and bands, the president of Calacali gave a really long speech then introduced the candidates for the “Queen of Calacali”. It was interesting because it was like some kind of supermodel show or something. Each girl had a long white sheet hanging to cover them until some music played and they did a little strut. Then they would make a speech and strut around again. We waited for that part to be over so the band would come out and play music, and finally, after a long time, they did! That’s when we danced and had a lotttt of fun! There was a whole big group of us that danced together and hung out, and man, Ecuadorians are good dancers!

            On Sunday we went to church, which had quite an interesting service. The dynamics of a Baptist church are quite interesting, as well, as each person who is going to get baptized next week needed to give an overview of all of their classes that they took the past few months. Santy taught the younger group, and another guy taught the adults. Each person had to go up in front of the church and explain each topic that they discussed weekly. It was almost like a test, which was weird, but cool.

            On Monday we went for pizza yet again, which is always my favorite! We went to the place where the smoke alarms don’t go off (hehe), and even got a banana split that had strawberries in it! Yum! When we got back I also got to Skype my sister for the first time! I hadn’t talked to her since before I left!

            Tuesday Santy and I got into a bit of an argument, and I ended up coming back home by myself. The only reason I mention this is because, when I got home, my siblings were there, and I said hello then went to my room, where I hung out and just played guitar. When Angelica came home, they told her they thought there was something wrong with me because I came home alone and was just in my room singing by myself. It was so cute to hear about their concern for me. Santy ended up coming over later on, and things were fine.

            The next day Santy and I experimented with making some macaroni salad, which actually turned out quite good! Then we headed to San Antonio, where we had to wait for this store to open so he could get the certificates for the group getting baptized. We called up a friend, Pamela, who lives in San Antonio to see if she could hang out for a bit, and we ended up going to her house. It was cool to see her house because it’s definitely different than where I’ve been. Most houses here have hardwood floors, but her house actually was completely made out of cement. The floors were cement, too, which was interesting, and it was decorated with lots of gaudy stuff, which is pretty typical here! Nevertheless, it was quaint and nice.

            After waiting we finally got the documents we needed then headed to Quito for an adventure. We first went to Santy’s pastor’s house to get the certificates signed, and I got to meet their adorable dog who loved getting our attention. However, by the time we finished there, it was too late for us to go to the book center and buy an English workbook for Santy (which is what we originally planned on doing). So we walked around for a bit, and it was cool to see more parts of Quito. There was a school that had its outside walls painted with all these encouraging words on it, and then another wall that had the story of Christianity on it. It had Genesis 1 painted and then pictures of the fall and sin and then at the very end it said “God is calling” or something like that with a verse from Revelation. The paintings were beautiful, and it was so cool to see something like that. I also got to see several hospitals and even an orphanage. I mean, hey, I may decide to do something with social work here after graduation in December. Next year is still up in the air! =)

            After walking around a bit we decided to go to the mall and play videogames, but when we got there we found out that they got rid of the arcade! So instead we walked around for a bit then got pizza at Pizza Hut! We got a pepperoni pan pizza with garlic bread and French fries (which apparently automatically comes with pizza here). I swear Ecuadorians eat more French fries than Americans do.

            Because there wasn’t an arcade we decided to go to Condado, the closer mall, and play. It was pretty late when we got there, so we ended up just going to McDonalds to get McFlurries. So basically I ate pretttyyy well that day. I literally ate two ice cream cones (not at one time), pizza and garlic bread from Pizza Hut, and then a McFlurry from McDonalds! Needless to say, it was a pretty good day.

            Yesterday I got to spend some time with my little brothers, which was nice. I helped Kenner wash the dishes, and then I made smores for both brothers in the microwave. It was like something of my childhood, as we used to always make smores in the microwave and watch the marshmallows explode!

            I also got to help my little brother get the honey out of a jar so he could eat some oranges and honey. It was cute because I went to go blow dry my hair and I heard a knock at the door. My little brother was offering me some of his snack, and it was adorable. So then I went and grabbed my Sour War Heads (if you do not know what these are, you had a deprived childhood!!!!) to give to them. I, of course, had to tape their reaction as they ate it, and it was pretty funny to see their faces!

            Just as they finished their candies, Angelica came home with Rebeca. I hung out with them for a bit before going into Calacali with Angelica. I went with her to buy some stuff before going to Santiago’s house. I got to finally Skype my parents for a bit, who were celebrating the 4th of July, like the rest of America! I have to admit, when they told me they were barbequing, I got jealous! There are several things I do miss about America while I’m here, and, in short, they are as follows: barbeques, mini wheats, good butter, wearing shorts (without leggings), watching TV in English, and it being light outside until 8pm. But I have to say I know there are plenty more things I’ll miss when I go back to the States (which I’m trying not to think about right now as I still have a month to go here).

            After Skyping my parents, I helped Santiago’s brother, Dennis, with English homework. He had to make up a script in English and then make a little video where he read the script. It took a good amount of time to help him get pronunciation. He had especial difficulty with saying things like, “if it’s”, “poisoning”, and “I want you to go to”, but he did it, and now he gets to put it together for class. Santy watched it and told me I’m a good teacher, but, man, it’s hard trying to help someone learn another language! Hence why I know I could never be a teacher… =) props to the people who have real patience!

            Today I just kind of hung out until Santy was done work, and then we went to San Antonio to do some more errands, where he bought me ice cream, woohoo! But now we have to figure out how to make breakfast sausages so I can make burritos. If anyone knows, let me know ;)

            So aside from working and getting to know more of Ecuador and its people, Santy and I have also been getting to watch a lot of movies, including, “She’s Out of My League”, "Love Wrecked", “Valentine’s Day”, “13 Going on 30”, “Tower Heist”, and others. Santy and I have been able to spend some time with our friends, as well as our families, and as usual, it had been a blessing being here. We’ve both gotten to work and volunteer, and we have many more exciting things planned for the next month, including helping in a VBS, leading worship at church (in Spanish—yikes!), and going to the beach with friends. I know this post was super long, but I’ll try to keep it up to date sooner next time. ;)

            Until next time!