Traditions in Ecuador

So a lot has happened in the last couple months. I have been neglectful of my blog, sorry!

This is my fourth year in Ecuador and I like the fact that I now have traditions around this time of year to share with friends and really any random person who crosses paths with me. Going back to the beginning of November, we had a post-Halloween party since I was still stuck in NY with the hurricane. We introduced our Ecuadorian and European friends to some fun traditions such as bobbing for apples/donuts on a string and carving pumpkins. After putting in much effort into my costume, I went as gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe. This involved me getting dressed all in blue, painting my face blue, and tying a shoe to the top of my head. People were very confused by this costume.

A few weeks later we celebrated Thanksgiving. I cooked the traditional Ecuadorian turkey again this year, but there was an added surprise. Within the plastic wrapping of the turkey, there appeared a colored pencil. I removed it before cooking. Around 20 people came for Thanksgiving dinner, including a girl I literally met about 4 hours before the meal. We played the “Where did this colored pencil come from” game and I also quizzed our non North American guests on some Thanksgiving trivia. Here were some of my favorite Questions/Responses:

Me: What was the name of the boat the Pilgrims came on?

Ecuadorian: The Titanic?

Me: What does a turkey say (looking for gobble gobble here)

Ecuadorian: No me comas? (translation: don’t eat me)

This year I got to take part in a new tradition thanks to one of our Dutch volunteers; the celebration of Sinterklass. I’m still not completely positive of what is all involved on this day. But while doing work on my computer one normal morning, I was suddenly graced with the presence of Sinterklass (Santa---sort of) himself (this was Suzan with a construction paper hat on and a blanket wrapped around her). She came bursting in the door (and I don’t use the term bursting lightly) and began throwing cookies everywhere. Apparently this is part of the tradition. I got to eat them off the floor. I found some in the corner about a week after the fact.

Another new tradition was picking out a real(ish) Christmas tree with Kathryn. We went to a local park and purchased our shrub-like tree which was pruned right before our very eyes by our very nice saleslady. We then trekked across the park with bush in arms where we loaded it into our 15 passenger van. I broke out in some random rash on my arm.

With the tree purchase, came some lovely lights. When plugged in, we discovered that the lights actually play Christmas music in a dying music sort of way. I tried to get into it and even ate dinner in front of the tree one night with the lights on, it didn’t last long. However I am happy to say that as I am writing this I am sitting besides our bush, lights are on, and no music. We cut some wires and voila-- we are music free.

At the beginning of December are the Fiestas de Quito. This is the celebration of the independence of Quito. So there are special events planned throughout the first couple weeks. To celebrate I went with some friends on a chiva. This is a bus that goes around the city blasting music and you dance as the bus goes up and down streets that are as hilly as San Francisco. Each person is given a whistle to blow throughout the ride and you are encouraged to yell, “Que Viva Quito” often.  I participated in a dance off with some Ecuadorian girls for the position of Reina de Quito (Queen of Quito). This was done against my will, I might add. I did not win.

To conclude, tonight I was reading our end of the year report concerning adoptions and 23 children have either been reunited with their families or have been adopted nationally/internationally. That’s about half of the children that we care for on a yearly basis. God is good! Psalm 68:6 “God sets the lonely in families….” God has blessed me beyond belief these last four years. I am excited to see what He has in store for 2013!

Kathryn went as a washing machine

"Gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe"

On Thanksgiving

Our feast

The Chosen Marathon

So I’ve counted that I’ve been on 41 flights since January of this year. Crazy, right?!  In the past year, fundraising for the orphanage has brought me to 7 different States and 3 different provinces in Canada. I just recently went to Texas to run in a half marathon. The race was called the Chosen Marathon and it raises money for adoptive families and orphanages. This race was a lot of fun because my sister-in-law ran with me and also a close friend of mine from high school. They both traveled from NY to take part in the race! We raised close to $4,000 for For His Children from this race. It was very inspirational to see people running for children who live literally all around the world.

After being in Texas, I was supposed to have 1 day in New York before flying back to Ecuador. That 1 day turned into 1 week due to Hurricane Sandy and my flight being cancelled. So, I got to spend some quality bonding time with my family. This included flashlight tag, board games, Halloween celebrating, and birthday celebrations.

I am now back home in Quito. Just in this week we’ve had a baby boy be adopted by an Ecuadorian family. Also a newborn baby girl who was found on the street came to our home. I have been busy working with the international volunteers. We currently have volunteers from Germany, Holland, Finland, and the States. My friend from New York and college, Kathryn, has returned to volunteer at For His Children for one year. I’m excited to be living with her and I’m looking forward to many dance parties and sing-alongs with her. God continues to amaze me as I see the people He places 

in my life for different lengths of time. 

Melissa and I post race (it was a little cold outside!)

Diane and I pre-race

Fundraising

Jennifer is Adopted

This week Jennifer met her forever family!! Her parents are from Quito and they do not have any other children. This week, I got to spend some time with them as they first met her and then spent time bonding with her this week. They are very sweet and it is wonderful to see Jennifer with such loving parents. I am excited to keep in touch with them and continue to see Jennifer as she grows! 

The Anderson Family

I had the pleasure of spending most of the summer with an adoptive family from Georgia. The Anderson Family has been connected with For His Children for quite some time. They have four biological children. 10 years ago, they adopted a little girl from For His Children who is legally blind. After the oldest daughter came down to volunteer at FHC a couple years ago, God spoke to her about adopting one of our girls. After many miraculous events, the family started the process to adopt two of our children with special needs, Daniela and Leslie. They arrived in June and I was able to be present when they first met their girls – what an incredible event. These two girls have been waiting quite some time for a forever family. This family has been such a source of encouragement to me this summer. They have shown me what it truly means to obey God’s call. This was also a “first” for me that I got to spend so much time with a family while they were finalizing the legal process. They lived right down the street from For His Children so I got to see them most every day. We spent time at the park together, eating dinners together, and we enjoyed praying and fellowshipping with/for each other. This past Thursday, they were able to fly home. The girls are doing so well and I stand amazed at how God has chosen just the right family for them. Congratulations Anderson Family!

The Welcome Sign when the Family first met the Girls

The whole family

With the Girls one of their last nights in Ecuador

Vacation Bible School

A couple months ago, my friend Kayla and I decided to talk to our pastor about having a Vacation Bible School at our church. Vacation Bible School is not something that is very common in Ecuadorian churches. In fact, our church had never had one before. The response was overwhelming. Within a couple weeks we had about 25 volunteers committed to helping. The problem was that we only had 1 child signed up. Kayla and I drove around in the orphanage van to hand out fliers to restaurants and stores in the neighborhood. We then also decided to open up the VBS to a local ministry called Pan de Vida (Bread of Life). This ministry works with the poorest people in Quito. The children are often times working on the street selling candy or gum or performing in intersections in the hope to get some small change. In a few days we went from 1 child to 60 children. I had a group that was volunteering at For His Children for the week and I spoke to them before they came down about helping out. They had just finished their own VBS at their home church so they happily agreed to bring down their leftover craft supplies to help us out.

It was awesome to see God working throughout the week during the program. We had volunteers of all different ages and backgrounds, languages, and cultures; from different churches within Quito and really from throughout the world. The kids enjoyed Bible time, music, sports and snack, and crafts. Compared to most VBS programs, ours was pretty simple. It was put together in about one month and we had limited resources. The joy though that these kids felt was evident. For a couple hours, they were able to just be “normal” kids.

After living here for awhile it’s easy to become hardened to the needs you see around you. God has really opened up my eyes to the needs of so many children in this city.

I saw one of the Pan de Vida children the other day. He asked, “When do we get to go back to church?” I think it was a success!

"God loves us, We love our Neighbors" The handprints were done with the help of the kids from the orphanage

Random Thoughts from the Summer

Yes, I realize it’s been two months since I’ve updated my blog. One of the reasons behind that is that this may just be one of the busiest summers I’ve ever had. Summers at For His Children are always filled with teams from the States/Canada, new volunteers, and this summer we even had some adoptions taking place. Since part of my job is leading teams/volunteers there has been a constant flow of activity. God has put many different people in my path this summer and I am thankful for new friendships and being able to connect with people from all over the world, even if only for a short time. At the end of each day, I say to myself, I really need to be writing this stuff down. So many different things happen in the course of the day that it is easy to forget what I actually did. So here’s my post of some random things that have happened this summer.

I went on a search for 1 ½ hours to find guinea pig for a group to eat. Apparently guinea pigs are not commonly sold on Mondays and Tuesdays in Ecuador (this was a Tuesday). I was given many different directions from people who I asked out the window as I was driving the 15 passenger van. I was offered a live guinea pig. After explaining that I wouldn’t know how to prepare it, I was sent to another town. All the stores seemed to be closed down in this one. I finally ended up finding one about 15 minutes away from the orphanage for $20 – I got to pick which one I wanted! Expensive piece of meat – and there’s not really that much meat on it!

I got to go back to Henry Davis (the orphanage I was first working at) to see some of my students graduate high school in July. These were kids I taught English to two years ago. It’s always fun to reconnect with them. I also got to see my friend Amy who lives about an hour away. It was a nice day break from For His Children as it’s challenging to get away sometimes. We even got to swim in a community pool for about an hour near a house where she was house sitting. Very nice!

I am going to estimate that I’ve been to the airport about 30 times these past two months. There’s a countdown going on as to how many days it is until they open the new airport which will be located outside of the city. Sadly enough, I know this information, and I can tell you we have 66 days left. There’s a big screen outside the airport every time you drive in. ‘

The people at the Equator monument all know me now and I get in for free.

I have learned more than I ever thought I’d need to/want to know about construction, computers and IT work, and just fixing different machinery. My Spanish vocabulary now includes words like “tile nibblers” and “spray foam insulation” and “grout”. I have pretended I’ve know what I’m talking about as I help to direct groups with projects and go to stores to purchase materials that I don’t even know what they’d be called in English.

I went to visit a master weaver last week with a team that was visiting. Everything is done by hand and he walked us through the process of back strap weaving. Very interesting! We were out in the middle of nowhere in a little farmhouse watching something that has been done in this culture for hundreds of years.

I’ve learned my way around the cities of Salcedo and Latacunga where our other home is located. There are a lot of one way streets and I was with a team driving them the wrong way down these one way streets. At one point, I had to have a man get out of the van to stop traffic so I could back up the street.

Today I got to meet the Vice President of Ecuador. Check out the photo below! This was a huge deal for For His Children. He is handicapped so we were asking him to advocate for our special needs children.

I have not cooked a real meal for myself in probably about 2 months. I’ve been invited by my awesome teams for dinner or by families, friends – it’s been quite lovely. I’ll be back to reality very soon!

I’ve had four different roommates this summer.

I think that about finishes my random ramblings….

The infamous "cuy" guinea pig

Tribal Dancing II

I often tell the story of my very first weekend in Ecuador of how I got to participate in a celebration of the founding of one of the caregiver’s towns. As most of you have heard this story, you will remember there was throwing of oranges, tearing apart of a live chicken, and dancing for seven hours in a circle. Well the last couple years I’ve been unable to participate again as I’ve had a team or I’ve been away. Well this year it fell on Saturday and I didn’t have to pick my next team up from the airport until later that night. So lo and behold I got to take part again in this awesome festival. I invited two other volunteers from the orphanage to come along. We once again were given the typical dress consisting of blouse, skirt, poncho, hair wrap, and jewelry.  We drank the typical drink and ate some corn. All of the caregiver’s family members remembered me from last time. I’m pretty sure there are not many white girls traveling to this town. We paraded and danced this time only for three hours to the same song as I had to catch a bus to get back to pick up my team. Well since this is a pretty remote town, it was challenging finding a bus back to Quito. We eventually jumped in the back of random pickup truck (this was at around 7:30 – dark and cold!) who brought us to one of the main highways. We got there just in time to catch the last bus back to Quito! Unfortunately, I did not get to take part in any animal sacrifices this time.

This same little girl next to me remembered me from 3 years ago ---there aren't many foreigners coming into this town! This is my friend Christine with another little girl. 

Doesn't this sheep look fake?

This is me with Tia Alicia - she's pretty awesome!

Starting our parade down the street

Getting into our circle for some dancing

Jungle Trip

Have you ever been in a situation where at the time it doesn't seem too strange or unusual but once you remove yourself from the situation you think, what did I just do?  That happened to me this past weekend. I had the opportunity to go to the jungle with friends of mine who are considering adopting their godson who is 9 years old. This part of the jungle is about a 7 hour bus ride to Quito. At one point the bus turns off onto a dirt road, drives through a river, and after passing some huts and soccer fields, we arrived to the town of Santana. If you wanted to go any further you'd have to cross the Pastaza River on a pulley car that brings you to the other side.

The shaman led us into the town where we were welcomed by many kids and our hosts for the weekend. We all slept in the same hut under mosquito nets with the "bathroom" out back. Throughout the weekend we were invited to dance with village leaders, drink chicha (this is a traditional drink that is yucca chewed up by people in the village, spit out, then left to ferment), swim in the river, catch and cook toads, and catch various insects. Shortly after arriving, a village boy led us up a REALLY tall water tower. It was an amazing view from the top, but not sure how structurally sound the tower was...

We walked about 45 minutes to get to the hut where the family who is taking care of this little boy lives. Picture this - we are all inside this hut, sucking on sugar cane, a man who looked to be about 90 is laying in a hammock, and their pet coati - similar to a raccoon type creature- is tied up on the floor. We had a great conversation with the family and my friends are praying about what lies ahead. It was a great weekend and a wonderful reminder of how many Ecuadorians live. 

Climbing the Water Tower

My friends with their godson

On the pulley car to cross the river

A new pet tarantula

View looking down from top of water tower. If you squint you see our friends down below.

It was the boys birthday so we got a cake before getting into the jungle. This is how it arrived. Our cake was served on banana leaves. 

Drinking some chicha

The Pastaza River

Beautiful view at sunset

The pet coati

Preparing the toads we caught for dinner

Dinner!

I really enjoy being involved when an international adoption happens. I like spending time with the family and showing them around Quito and around the orphanage. This month one of our toddler boys was adopted by an Italian family. The family had been waiting four years to adopt. I am constantly amazed at how quickly the child adapts to his/her new family. Within days the child is attached to his mom and dad and soaks in all the attention he/she receives. I love seeing how God places each child in the exact family he is meant to be in. It is an amazing experience to be part of and I don't think it will ever get old.

Some Lovely English Singing

http://youtu.be/RSZBfSCtABs

These girls have got quite the singing repertoire. Each week they are learning new songs in English class. Such sweet girls!

Dad's Visit

My dad came down for a visit to Ecuador. My parents both came my first year that I was here. After some “challenges” that my mom faced (altitude sickness, fear of flying and really any form of transportation) it was decided that it was in everyone’s best interest if my dad came solo this time. During his time here, we went to Papallacta (a town where there are natural hot springs), Mindo (the Cloud Forest), and spent time in Quito and at the orphanage. Our schedule was action-filled and he got to see a lot in a short amount of time. We spent time with my roommates and friends and he got to see a lot more of Ecuador than he did last time. A highlight was the trip to Mindo. We went ziplining, visited the butterfly sanctuary, saw a lot of hummingbirds, and had a really fun hike. There was also a possible bat sighting. Thanks for visiting Dad! 

In the midst of ziplining

Dad's treehouse room in Mindo

Stopping for a little juice in the midst of a rainstorm

A toucan that we saw

Choir Concert

I have been singing in a choir the last couple years that my friend Jilly conducts. This year our group is made up of a mixture of North Americans, Ecuadorians, and Europeans. Last week we went to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) which is where the Equator monument stands. They have an amphitheater there where we sang. Then this week we went to Old Town and sang in a cathedral and in some of the plazas. We have quite the repertoire – our songs are in Latin, Spanish, and English. My personal favorite was “Creere” where we recruited some random beat boxer to accompany us.  I will try to upload some videos this week so that you can hear us!

Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Project

My friend Robbie runs a kids club in a rural area south of Quito. During the week, the kids come to get help with homework and to learn from the Bible. In January Robbie found out that his club was chosen to receive 60 shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse. In order to distribute the shoe boxes he had to organize a program where kids would be able to invite their friends and where they would learn about Jesus. It was such a fun event to help with. We set up carnival games and the kids got to go around to try out all different types of games. We handed out sandwiches and drinks to the parents and kids and then the kids received their shoeboxes. At this point it had started raining so there were a bunch of kids all in this tiny room. Some of them opened their shoebox right then and there and pulled everything out. Others held on tight to their box and ran home to show their family. In the past, I’ve packed up shoeboxes. It was fun to be on the other end this time and see the kids receiving them!

One of the boys with his new sunglasses, balloon, and shoe box!

I was asked to be the bouncer at one point. I put on my angry face. 

Helping with the bean bag toss. 

The kids as they were watching a skit