Living It Up in Ecuador

Wow where to start? So much has happened since I've been here. I think this is a good time for a bullet point blog :-) Here's some of the many things I've done since I've been in Ecuador!

• Mindo Ziplines: I had a BLAST goingon these things. You hike up a short way and there's something like 12 ziplines (I'm not sure the exact number but it's around there) you go on. They're super long and over these canopy trees in this foresty area of Ecuador. Breathtaking!

 

Doing the butterfly with the guide, Leonardo.

• Otavalo: This is the shopping center of Ecuador. You go here to get things made by the people in Ecuador for low prices. You can bargain and get the pice really low. It's super nice. Before, we get Bizcocho (butttery yummy bread) and after we eat at the pie shop.

• New Years Eve: We went to the Yorks' house and did what they call "burning the old man". We played hand and foot for a good portion of the night, then at midnight we headed outside to burn our paper mache (how the world do you spell that?) Shrek (our "old man"). Needless to say, it was a memorable New Years. 

Me with our old man.

• Going Through My Grandpa's Death: Yes, my grandpa died while I was here in Ecuador. It all happened really fast and I'm devistated, but doing a lot better. It's so hard going through a death without your family near to grieve with, but if I had to choose somewhere else, it would be right here with the Shedd family. They are so great and have encouraged me so much!

• Weekly Orphanage Visits: It would be hard to go more than once a week with all the homeschool and real school going on around here, but those once-a-week visits brighten my entire week. I am in love with those precious babies! They are too sweet and I really just want to take them home with me!

Precious little guy!

Oswaldo and Fernanda!

He is one of my favorites!

• Shell: This is a town about 5 hours away from Quito. It has this orphanage where the people are really relaxed. We went for just one night, but I reallly enjoyed it. We got to love on those sweet babies!

Me feeding Frixion.

• Papallacta: We went here for Carnival to get away from the madness of Quito. It's a city about two hours away. Julianna and I took a bus half way, and then her dad picked us up and drove us the other half. Her family went up a day before us, but we decided to stay so we could hang out with friends and not be in Papallacta so long. In Papallacta, we played lots of hand and foot (super long, but fun card game), ate everything,  played football in the rain, played bored games, did dishes for over 20 people (yuck!), and went to the hot springs at night. It was a great time!

Getting ready to leave :-( Micah, me, Nelson, and Malcy (Malcom).

• Movies: The first movie I went to was New Year's Eve with some friends of Julianna and Christina. It was a pretty good movie and lots of fun. The next one was Underworld 4 with Julianna, Christel, and Negro. Not a great movie, but it was still fun. During Underworld, I made the stupid decision of throwing Julianna's flip-flop in the theatre it it hit some lady's head. She was really mad (and rightfully so) and like yelling and everything. I couldn't find the shoe before the movie, but luckily I found it afterward. Note to self: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!

• The Beach: This was an absolute blast! 5 days of just relaxing and boogie boarding and pools! The only downsides: sunburns and jellyfish stings. Still, it was such an amazing time. Some guys asked to teach us to surf after we jokingly yelled "Ensenanos!!" as they surfed passed us. Haha. It was a great time, though.

This was taken from our patio. So stinkin' gorgeous!

At Paco Foco our last night at the beach. Super yummy food.

The sunsets every night were astounding.

• Making New Friends: With school and church I have made so many new friendships! None of them are very strong friendships (I have only been here 2 months afterall), but they are all so fun. Carlita, Stephy (Saarwr), and Solange crack me up! They are super nice and always have something funny to say. Erin (Jonky) is a hoot, too. She's very witty, but I usually don't understand the point she's trying to get across. Anabel is so much fun! She is so easy-going and gets along with everyone. I love that girl! Christel is super sweet and really fun to hang out with. Negro is my sis and is also super fun to hang out and talk with. Jorge is a different bird, but he is a real gentleman and not to mention super attractive. Salo is going to kill me... haha just kidding. Salo is alway playing around and is super cool to mess with. I'm sure I'm mmissing lots, but what do you expect at 11 o'clock at night?

Me and my sis Josue.

Julz, me, and Solange :-)

Anabel, me, and Christina

• Climbing Ruku (sp?): Or attempting to climb it anyways. I forget how tall the mountain is and the elevation we started at, but I do know we didn't have a long ways to go, but still didn't quite make it. We went with Brenden and Alyssa which was super fun. It was rainy and cold so Mr. Shedd set a time limit for the hike (1 hour I believe). We got almost there, but had to go back because time was up. On the way back I fell three or four times and got my butt all dirty. Whoops!

Yes, our butts did get quite dirty when we fell.

• Inside Jokes: Umm if I could list them all I think the list would go on forever! We have so many funny things happen!

• Talking in British Accents: The number one rule in this house besides love God.

These are our "British Faces"

• Teaching English Class: Actually, the credit for this one goes to Julianna. I don't really do anything except press the buttons on the computer.

• Lots of Computer Time: Ummmm I've definitely become lazy here! With no gym to go to and no car to go out with, I've spent so much time on the computer. I've been youtubing, chatting, pinterest-ing(?), and whatever else you can think of. I will for sure need to change it up when I get back to the states.

• Laughing: I laugh sooooooo much here! I love it. Julianna is super funny and we often laugh at things we have no reason to laugh at (especially late at night).

Our "science experiement".

• Going to Help at the Daycare: We were doing this every Thursday at school, but we haven't gone the last two weeks. Maybe we'll be able to go tomorrow! I certainly hope so. The kids there are so cute! Sexto is doing it as their "senior project" type thing.

• Eating Good Meals: Seriously, I've never eaten so good in my life. There is seriously dinner on the table EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! And it's good food, too! I love it, but my hips and thighs most certainly do not.

I'm sure there are millions more things I have done since I've been here, but I am much too tired to think of them now. For now, I'm sleeping. I can't guarentee I'll post again while I'm here (I leave March 22) so here's a little head up of what else I'll be doing. I'm hoping to go to a Liga futbol game this Sunday with Negro, Julianna, Katelyn, and Megan. Next Thursday I'm going on a retreat with the school to some cabins for a night. Aaaaaannnnddddd... that's about all I know for now. I'm super stoked for the rest of my time here, though and I pray it doesn't pass too quickyly.