Ecuador: Check!

SOMEHOW, it's the night before we fly out to Cordoba, Argentina. Where in the world did the last three months of my life go?! When I think about all the things I've done, places I've gone, and people I've met I guess it's a pretty impressive list for just ninety days, but still! In the beginning it seemed like I had FOREVER to be down here, but I'm starting to realize just how fast this year is going to go... And that's not something I'm happy about!


Needless to say, Renae and I have had an awesome last couple of weeks. We got to spend another perfect week in Latacunga with the best group of kids in all of Ecuador (no, not exaggerating). I can't really explain what it is about that place, but the moment we step through the doors we are both immediately filled with so much love and happiness. We know we are needed there, the kids are SO affectionate and deserving, and we love giving every minute of our time to them. Again, I think we left the orphanage gate maybe two times the whole week. The last time we were in the 'Cunga, we were there with our friend Andrea, who spent most of her time

upstairs with the older, more severely special needs kids, while Renae and I hung out with the babies. This time it was just us two, so we decided to divide our time: mornings upstairs, afternoons/evenings downstairs. So we soon had a whole new group of kids to love up on. We got to help with physical therapy every morning, walk laps on laps around the building with Jose Luis, and help feed them lunch. We were 0% wanting to leave by the end of our week there, but the Ecuador time clock was clicking and we still had tons to do!

Somehow we ended up having the best timing ever and were still in Latacunga when Dr. Bob Brunsvold, the guy who set our whole trip in action back in Fargo this summer, came through on his way from Quito to Shell. He picked us up on the side of the road and brought us along on a little leg of his journey. We spent about 24 hours in Shell (you know, right next to where we had just been in Santa Clara the week before... so much traveling!), pigging out on hamburgers and ice cream, listening to Bob's stories, and getting to visit another orphanage, Casa de Fe. It was good to see the inner workings of another site, and to meet more inspiring people and adorable kiddos. And of course getting to hang with one of our favorite guys... if you're out there Bob, thanks for everything! You are always so encouraging and are a huge inspiration for us. We love you!!!

After that it was back up to Quito for another one day stint, this time helping out at a church and school in the slums of the city. We had hoped we would have longer to work with Pastor Fabian and his crew, but like I said, time was ticking. It was an amazing day though, and we are super glad we got to meet everyone and see what Carmen Bajo is all about. We got to help in a pre-kinder class all morning, while the kids made glitter angels and practiced for their Christmas program. I wish I knew how to upload videos on here so you could all see them screaming Feliz Navidad for us at the top of their lungs: unnecessarily loud but still adorable. We spent the rest of the day helping out in the kitchen with the 5 or so lunch ladies. The school feeds about 300 people every day, in one small dining area. It took hours and let me tell you I will never complain about hand washing and drying dishes again, assuming I never have to do it for that many people! But the time was spent in good company, and we are hoping we'll be able to go back and do more work there the next time we're in Ecuador.


That night we took another dreaded night bus back to the coast, to spend Christmas and our last week in Ecuador with the guys who we had become so close with and couldn't imagine leaving the country without seeing again. We were prettyyyy sick of bussing anywhere and everywhere by that time but it was definitely the perfect way to end our time here. Back to the care of the abuelitas, to starting every day with an ocean swim, to knocking mangoes out of the tree to snack on, to making the trek to Bernardo's shack at the edge of town every night to cook, watch movies, and play cards with the guys. We took day trips to the beaches in Ton Supa and Mompiche, spent a day in Bolivar visiting Jonathon’s family, and a night on the island of Portete, where we stayed in tents and spent a few hours in the middle of the night looking for sea turtles. We didn't end up seeing any, but the night was absolutely gorgeous and it was low tide, so still well worth the trip. We spent another day helping out at a Christmas party for all the kids in Bernardo's neighborhood, which is one of the poorer ones in Sua. There was a sack race, egg race, and of course tons of soccer. There was also a game in which the kids had to figure out how to get someone to the top of a huge pole to get the presents down from the top. I should mention that the pole is all greased up so all you do is slide right down it until you can figure out how to stand on top of each others heads to get up there... hilarious to watch, but they got it eventually! Everyone was given candy bags and little presents, and they were SO happy. For the majority of those kids, that day was their whole Christmas.

Renae and I both thought we were going to be pretty homesick for Christmas, since it is about as opposite here as you can possibly get. No snow, just sand. No oven to make cookies, so we settled for dipping animal crackers in frosting. Couldn't find any Harry Potter movies in town, so we watched a crappy recording of the Grinch in Spanish instead. But we did both get to skype our families, went to Spanish church, and got to share Christmas with more people than either of us ever had before. We ate a big lunch out at Jonathon’s house with his family, jamming music as usual and hanging out in the yard in hammocks. For dinner we were invited to eat with the abuelita that owns the hostal, Anita, and her family. It was just her, her husband, their daughter, and Renae and I, but it was super heartwarming that they thought to include us, and we got to try some delicious traditional Ecuadorian desserts. After that we went to spend the night with Bernardo's family, eating even more (we both thought we might puke at some point but that's pretty normal for both of us on Christmas I'd say), and hanging out while the kids lit sparklers. So although it was a very different Christmas than anything we'd experienced before, we went to bed feeling yes very full but also very blessed that we got to spend it with three awesome families. It's amazing how a part of it all each one made us feel. It's more than we could have asked for.

And actually, our whole time here in this country has been more than we could have asked for. I can't even begin to explain how much I've learned in the last three months, or how much my heart has changed. I'm so thankful for every single person I've met, and hope I can hold onto every lesson I've learned.


As for now, I need to try and squeeze in some sleep before heading to the airport at 3:30 a.m. It's going to be a long couple days of traveling, including a 23 hour layover in Santiago, ick! But we're both beyond excited so start off a new part of the adventure- I can't wait to see what it has in store for us. And actually we literally do not have ANY idea what's coming, since we failed to do any research whatsoever on Argentina before today. Where should we stay? What do you mean the Spanish is way faster and harder to understand there? How exactly do we exchange our dollars for pesos without getting scammed? What documents do we even need to be let in? Don't ask us. But guess what, it's all part of the adventure, and we have never once said we're actually that good at traveling. So as usual we'll stumble through it somehow... Bring it on!


Missing this amazing country before I even leave it,

Jenna Flynn

FHC Newsletter Shout-out

The founders of For His Children included a thanks to this year´s volunteers in thier December newsletter. Jenna and I feel so blessed to have experienced this as a part of our journey. Our hearts have grown so much and have changed in the best of ways. It is true what Melinda says: "The rewards are usually beyond our expectations".

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/For-His-Children-Connection---December-2013.html?soid=1112227716753&aid=7FwiOkxvcoo

the JUNGLE

I have to start off by explaining how the end of the cross-country bus trip out here to Santa Clara went...

After blogging, Jenna joined me in a deep sleep (to be clear, by “deep” I mean the most continuous amount of actual sleeping you can get on a bus that's speeding through the jungle, while also making sure that your backpack doesn't get snatched and that you don't fall out of your seat). We woke up, at around 3:30am in a town south of Santa Clara called Puyo, to where we bought our tickets, assuming that was the end of the line for that bus. Actually, the bus we were on was heading through Santa Clara on its trek north, BUT they had sold our unclaimed seats at the Puyo station. The next bus was not rolling through until 7am, and instead of waiting for 3 hours at the vacant station, we thought it would be better to stand. So their we were, standing in the aisle, towering over all of the intelligent Ecuadorians who had paid for their entire over-night trip. Of course, it was a very winding road through the jungle and we had to block everyone's overhead bags from falling on top of us, and, if you're still following the story, it was only about 4am, so naturally they turned the lights off and we were in the pitch black. Santa Clara is a town of only 3,000, and without a terminal, the bus driver dumped us at a little bench on the side of the road at around 5, and drove away. Did

this town for sure have a hostel? Internet? How could we contact the people we were supposed to meet? We couldn't help but crack up over the entire situation. Only us. We waited on the bench until the sun came up to meander through the little rainforest town looking for a place to stay. We found a $15 hostel and immediately passed out. We decided we'd try to figure out a plan after a little much-needed sleep...Yep, that's how we travel. Gracefully.


What we woke up to though, was one of the most gorgeous places either of us has ever been to: a little town nestled in the magnificent Amazon rainforest. We had previously contacted a couple named Isaac and Kirstie who are volunteering with the Peace Corps and were assigned to Santa Clara for their two years. Luckily our hostel owners had wifi and we were able to Skype-call Isaac. (Our back-up plan was to go knocking on doors asking people where the gringos lived, so I'm glad Skype worked out.) We met up with Isaac on his way to his English class with the “bomberos” (firefighters), and he invited us to come along. We obviously said yes, and herein started an amazing week of adventures with Isaac and Kirstie, and the people of Santa Clara. Isaac and Kirstie have been working with the bomberos and a few of the schools in town doing different projects, activities, and various classes. They were very accommodating in letting us come along to help out with their endeavors all week. Isaac brought us to English class with the bomberos, and asked Jenna and I to prepare a dialogue so they could hear a little Midwestern English. (We've heard many times now that Jenna's accent is stronger than mine, and so it provided a little bit of an extra challenge for the beginners.) We also went to the first-aid session and I acted out the part of a victim of a machete accident and was bandaged up by the training firefighter.

With Kirstie, we went along to English club, where we met an amazing group of 6-11 yr olds. We played games to practice the parts of the body, clothing, numbers, and colors. In one game, Kirstie had teams face-off to be the first to name in English what she drew on the whiteboard. The kids loved when Jenna and I faced off, in Spanish of course, and were giving us quick little lessons on all the body parts in Spanish. The second time we went to the club, the kids has a “sorpresa” (surprise) for Jenna and I. They had heard it was my birthday a few weeks back, and prepared a whole surprise party for us. They brought cake, pop, candy, and gave us bracelets and earrings. They also wrapped up a little Spanish-English fairy agenda book for me. Para (To): Rene, De (From): Domenica y su hermana (sister) Melany. Thee sweetest thing that has ever happened to me. They had known us for what, two hours? It was so heartwarming.


We also went to another school to see about weeding the garden Kirstie had started with them. It is a bilingual Spanish-Kichua school, Kichua being the language of the indigenous people form the area. Instead of gardening though, we spent half the day with a class of 6^th and 7^th graders (each teacher has 2 grades due to the lack of funding). They wanted to know our names, where we were from, what the weather was like there, and all kinds of other questions. Then they wanted us to play a game from the states with them. Heads-up 7-up. They had never played before. They dug it. After that, they insisted we sing a song, in the holiday spirit, we sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”- in perfect harmony ;). Jenna and I went back to the classroom the next day and brought along paper to make Chinese Fortune Tellers. These they had seen before, and it wasn't so exciting, but we threw in some English words to spice it up. We ended our time with more Heads-up 7-up, and then had to escape when they started ripping out Jenna's hair to keep... If you're blonde and in Ecuador, don't bend down around teenage girls.


Outside our time in the schools, we tried to soak up as much of the nature as we could. One day, the bomberos had a plan to hike to a waterfall in the jungle. As usual, all 4 of us gringos had no idea what to expect. We just put on sunscreen and trail pants and hopped in the police truck. We drove about 30 mins out of town, along winding roads through smaller and smaller villages until we were in the thick of the jungle. The police dropped us off (one decided to join us on our expedition, handgun and all), and the “comandante” (fire chief) immediately broke ahead, swinging his machete to make a path through the trees.

We were literally running at various times to keep up with him during the hour and a half trek in, splashing through rivers and mud puddles and crashing through spider and ant-infested trees. We started noticing that he didn't seem too sure of where this waterfall actually was, and I heard Jimena (also in the bombero English class) asking Isaac how to say “perdida” in English, which is Spanish for LOST. The comandante gave in and decided we should head back out the way we came. The policemen were going to pick us up at 5pm sharp, and we didn't want to risk not being there; no one had a cell signal. We trekked back out and found another river. Apparently this was the one we wanted to originally follow upstream. Weary from rainforest sprints, we were all hesitant to chase after another mythical “waterfall”. We decided to take the chance, though, and, as we were saying for the rest of the day: “Vale la pena”. It was worth it. We finally reached a huge waterfall jutting out from the cliff side into a large pool below. It was breath-taking. We all stripped down and swam under the ice cold, pounding falls. And even after a swim, we made it back to the drop point just in time for the police truck to be pulling up.


Other highlights of the week:

• We cooked the bomberos a huge ceviche dinner (the first time making it on our own) and it turned out great!
  
• We hung out with wild monkeys on the beach and played soccer in a town called Misahualli.
  
• The bomberos fed us some of the typical food of the region: a drink called wayuza, and fish grilled in a leaf called Maeto. ( It was weird to eat it while the poor guy just stared back at you...)
  
• Jimena and her family let us crash at their place one night to save money and we met their pet Agouti (look it up, the things are giant rodents).
  
• On night we were eating chicken-on-a-stick on the curb with our favorite stray dog and were picked up by Jimena and her friend, Anita, and invited over for tea and snacks. We all spent the whole night talking about Ecuadorian life versus that in the states.
  
• Getting schooled by a bunch of kids in a game of soccer.

The only lowlights of the week were: A. That we got destroyed by biting gnats and mosquitoes and are now experiencing something similar to one of the ten plagues of Egypt, and B. That we were hit on by a creepy bus driver and his assistant without a choice but to take the blow until we got to our destination. (I mean the guy was literally trying to search for me on Facebook while weaving the bus through cars and motorcycles along curving roads... No gracias.) Oh and C. The fact that after a few days worth of clothes that had braved jungle humidity our room REEKED. It didn't help that the shower only had ice cold water as well, so showers were few and far between. For those of you who predicted whether or not would reach a whole new level of hippie, barely showering or shaving? ...yea.


Other than that though, and the fact that our legs look like land-mines, our time in Santa Clara was completely amazing. And the people? The most generous and heartwarming bunch I've ever met. It is crazy to me that even though we're the ones who are supposed to be helping, the people of Ecuador never fail to help us! Everyone we met in that town offered to take us on adventures, feed us meals, and put us up for the night. People we had met only minutes before would ask if we could stay longer. Just one more week, por favor! That little jungle town has the most poverty we've seen so far, and yet the people opened up their entire lives to two white girls who showed up out of the blue. I cannot fully explain how humbling it is to experience a generosity like that. I mean, kids that share a tiny shack with their entire extended family threw together a surprise birthday party for girls they had met for a few hours... It makes me think, what kind of life am I living that in all my blessings I would ever even hesitate to give anything to anybody, while these people have so little and give so much? I pray that the humility I am feeling from such love and generosity has the power to influence my heart forever. I don't think either of us were expecting to be so deeply moved by our short time in that town, but we left feeling so blessed by the opportunity to fall in love with the people and their culture. I hope God can keep our hearts and minds wide open, and that He can show us how we can give back to His people who have been so amazing to us along this journey.

As for now, we just got back to the Latacunga orphanage for the week. Hopefully we will have time to recoop after a long trek all over the country, as well as spend a bunch of time with these kids here that we've been missing!


And sorry for such a long blog, it had to happen.


Surviving on bananas,
Renae

The Coastal Adventures Continue

Well, it's about 8:30 on Sunday night, and Renae and I just hopped on a bus for the 9 hour trek over to the rainforest. We're pretty sad our time on the ocean is over, but it could not have been 1% better than it was. Plus, we are SUPER excited to be moving on to the next part of the adventure, and onto an entirely new part of Ecuador as well. I cannot believe how much the culture changes from one part of this country to the next. I'm pumped to see what surprises the rainforest has in store for us. I'm also hoping everyone wasn't serious about how often they eat bugs over there....


Like Renae said, we decided to stay in Sua for one last weekend with the guys, in honor of Jonathan's birthday. We spent the afternoon at his house, eating delicious homemade food and hanging out with his family. They are about the most welcoming people you could meet. The night was spent hanging out at the beach-side bars, jamming to reggae and, like always, trying (and failing) to keep up with the guys' salsa. How does EVERYONE here know how to dance so well? They tell us it's the Latino blood, but I hope that's not the case because that means I'll never catch up. Sunday we had one last lazy day, watching movies and making taco-in-a-bag for the boys. I know it's nowhere near their cooking skills but they loved having U.S. cooking night anyways.

Monday morning proved to be a rough one: I don't think we had realized how much we had fallen into the Sua lifestyle, or how comfortable we were there. The hard goodbye's started with the 3 abuelitas, who had taken SUCH good care of us and made us feel right at home. From there we had to say goodbye to Batido Man, and some of Bernardo's neighbors who we had gotten to know over time. We had one last breakfast feast with Bernardo, Jonathan, and Anthony, said some tearful goodbyes, and hopped on the bus. It would be an understatement to say we've missed them ever since. As usual, we ended up meeting the exact people we were supposed to, and I know the 5 of us will be friends forever, regardless of when we get to see each other again. (Which may or may not be for Christmas!)


Feeling lonely, Renae and I headed to Canoa, a beach town a few hours to the south. The stretch of beach was absolutely gorgeous, and we finally got to use the tent, but other than that the town was a bit disappointing. It's a big tourist town, but as it's currently off season the town was pretty dead. There was a handful of other gringos (white people), but not the travel sort. Mostly it was older couples or families, there for a quiet vacation. Totally fine, but not exactly what we were craving after our lively days in Sua. But then we realized Tuesday was the big Day 50 of the trip, so we decided to adapt to the Canoa lifestyle and spend the day walking the deserted beach, reflecting, and answering a series of questions we came up with for ourselves to answer every 50 days. It may have been just what we needed. Plus we got a laugh out of being the town lunatics (not that it's a new thing): whereas everyone else was sitting around in cute beachy outfits, texting and sipping expensive cocktails, Renae and I would come crawling out of our tent, pitched right in the middle of it all, with our peanut butter and smashed bread in hand. It also may have been a few days since our last showers, oops!


Having had enough of Canoa, we spent the majority of Wednesday bussing down to Puerto Lopez. It took about 5 minutes after hopping off the bus to know we were going to love it there. It is bigger than Sua, and therefore has more to do, but still has a friendly, small-town feel. It is a fishing village, so the bay is always filled with little blue fishing boats, and tons of birds overhead. We found a lively hostal, Turismar, ran by a big Ecuadorian family, and settled right in.


The next day, Thanksgiving, we decided to hike over to Machalilla National Park, which has some of the most gorgeous beaches on the whole coast of Ecuador. We wanted to save some money, and everyone said the walk was super easy, so we hiked the 12 km to the park entrance, down the highway. It took a bit longer than expected (2.5 hours to be exact), and I don't think walking on the same expanse of highway as all the loco drivers around here is actually that safe, but we finally made it. We had to hike another few miles through the park, which was pretty exhausting by then, but it was definitely worth it. The beaches... WOW, way too beautiful. We got to talk with a nice Colombian couple and take in lots of sweet views. But the day's surprises weren't over. We made it to the final beach, Los Frailes, with the plan to swim to our little hearts' content. I'm not sure if we even made it 2 minutes in the water before realizing it was jellyfish central! We both got stung on the legs multiple times, and were soon running back to the sand as fast as we could. So that was pretty painful, but we couldn't help but laugh. What a day. On the bus ride back to town (that's right, no more walking!) we decided to treat ourselves to ceviche, the best seafood ever, for Thanksgiving dinner. But when we went to find some, we found out that all the cevicherias were closed, and wouldn't be open until the next day when the fishermen returned with the week's catch. We were super sad, and told our hostel people about our troubles, just to have them say, “no, let's go buy some fish now and we'll teach you how to make your own!” So we hopped up in the back of a truck with one of their sons, 10 year old Jordan, and went to buy some fillets from one of the family's friends. We set up a little table and some plastic chairs out on the sidewalk, and got to work chopping veggies and slicing the fish. We were super surprised to find out how easy it is to make, and that it only takes about 15 minutes, since all you do is marinate the fish in lime for 5 minutes and throw it all together. So you can all expect some ceviche made by us when we get back! The whole crazy extended family was there helping, including a grouchy old abuela, a son who wanted to know which one of us wanted to date him, and a bunch of kids running around and grabbing food off our plates. So although it wasn't quite a typical Thanksgiving dinner, we were FAR from lonely.


Having discovered that we like settling into a town and getting to know it and its people, rather than moving to a new place every day, we ended up staying in Puerto Lopez for 4 nights, until today. One day we went out on an ocean tour with Wiston, one of the hostel guys, for super cheap since he already had a group going and of course since we were now a part of the family. The group consisted of a couple with dreads from Belgium, two girls from Germany, Wiston, the boat captain, and us. We piled into one of the tiny blue boats, and got to fish out in the ocean, which was super exciting since you catch something about every 4 minutes. Then we boated over to Isla de Salango to snorkel and lay on the beach while Wiston made fresh ceviche from the fish we had caught. It was a perfectly gorgeous day, we got to see a sea lion, a squid, and a bunch of blue footed boobies, and literally for a minute there we were considering if we had actually fallen off the boat, died, and gone to heaven. We spent another day in nearby Montanita, taking in all the travelers and shopping in the street markets. We also made friends with an adorable couple from Florida who manages a coffee shop right on the beach, ate the most delicious fried street vendor food I have ever had (I take back the millions of times I walked by platanos in the grocery store without a second glance, because HOLY they are delicious), and got to work on our salsa some more last night with the locals. So it was a pretty perfect way to spend our last few days on the beach.

The last couple weeks have been so amazing I would say I don't think it can get better from here, but I've said that at least a hundred times before in the last 50 days and end up taking it back every time. So here's to hoping the rainforest is EVEN better than everywhere we've been so far, although right now it seems impossible. I am VERY excited to get back to volunteering though, so assuming we survive this crazy long bus ride across the country, we'll get back to you soon with details of what we end up doing over there, as well as how big the bugs actually are. Gulp!


I also gotta give a birthday shout out to the best mama out there, who turns 50 tomorrow! So everyone make sure and make fun of her old self at least a little bit, since I'm not there to do it myself. Kidding, love you, mom!


Yours truly,

J Fly

Coast Life

Don't worry, we're still alive (but barely... I'll explain later). I'm sorry it's been awhile, ever since we left Quito, internet has been harder to find, and our days have been jam-packed, but we decided it was past-time to fill you in on our time on the coast.

We spent our last couple of days in Quito finishing our rock mosaic project for the orphanage. It turned out great, so everyone's nervousness was calmed (especially ours- we didn't want to destroy the monument!). Then, last Tuesday morning, we packed up for our expedition to the coast. We had to say some hard goodbyes to the kiddos and to our friends. It was especially sad saying bye to Andrea, who won't be there when we visit before flying out in December. Then, we once again lugged our huge packs down to the side of the road. Crunched for time to catch the bus to Mindo, we got the taxi driver to speed through the traffic and hopped on the bus at the last second (typical). It was 2 hours to Mindo (a town on the way to the coast) and when we got there we dropped our stuff in a hostel room, with one small bed, right on the river. We immediately headed out for the zip-lining course at the top of a long mountain road. The 10-cable course through the jungle was awesome, and some gorgeous toucans were flying through the trees with us. (We have to do some touristy stuff ya know?) After that, we headed back to the hostel and were playing some Spanish

Scrabble when we met a 23-yr-old traveler from Portland named Sam. We spent the whole night with him, eating our first pizza in forever, and swapping stories. He had been living in Panama working on a forest ecology project for the last year. He was also a biology student, and he and I went on-and-on about different projects and interests; Jenna was having a blast I'm sure. That night, Jenna and I crammed into the tiny bed, covered ourselves with the huge mosquito net, and fell asleep to the sound of the river outside.

The next morning, to start off my last day of being 22 we took some river-showers, said bye to Sam, and hopped on a series of buses to the coast. The trek to the coast was very different; all along the way were tiny villages of shabby houses, lots of palm and banana trees, and more and more darker and taller people,

naturally. We got to the town of Atacames just in time for sunset, and, for the first time in my life, I saw the ocean. To put it lightly, it is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and literally the largest birthday present I've ever received. Jenna and I spent the entire next day walking and running the beach, swimming, and rescuing beached blow-fish. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday. Oh, and did I mention we made friends with two awesome Ecuadorian surfers? They met us on the beach and showed us their favorite hang-outs, took us to watch a game of beach soccer, taught us how to salsa, and then spent that night celebrating my birthday with us. Jenna and I ordered a drink called the “Cucaracha” to start off the night. Cucaracha is spanish for cockroach, and it seemed fitting since we found one in our hostel room that day.

Not knowing what to expect, we winced when the bartender brought over a bowl of tequila on fire. We just looked at each other and laughed as the bartender showed us how to put out the flame and put in two straws for us. Weird, but hilarious. Also that night, 3 older Colombian men tried to sing happy birthday to me in broken English, which I wish I could have recorded. The whole night was very fun, and a great way to start off our time on the coast, and of course my 23rd year.

The next day, Jenna and I packed up once more (we've moved camp about 6 times in 7 weeks now- I cannot believe we've been here that long!). We took a motorcycle “ecotaxi” 10 minutes south to the town of Sua, which people told us was a much more chill town. It probably would have been, if it wasn't, very fittingly, the weekend of the town's birthday party. We met two other Ecuadorian surfers, Jonathan and Bernardo from Sua, and spent all last weekend celebrating with them and all the locals (including attending a ceremonial crowning of the “Reina de Sua”= Queen of Sua). This past week, the guys also took us dancing,  gave us some beginner surf lessons, and introduced us to all their friends and family. They are two of the most fun-loving, easy-going people I've ever met. They both have huge, dark, curly hair, and are known

around the town for it. Bernardo lives in a stilted shack in a part of town called the “Mangar” known for its mango trees. When we first went over there, we were introduced to someone who was soon to become one of mine and Jenna's favorite people in the world: a 33-yr-old Englishman named Anthony. He's been living with Bernardo for the past three months learning Spanish and volunteering in Atacames with kids. He is thee funniest person, and doesn't let barely knowing Spanish, or his British accent, get in the way of talking to everyone he sees. The entire town is in love with this guy. His plan was similar to ours: to stay in Sua for a day or two, but we've all fallen victim to the charm of the town and it's people. Anthony now plans to stay for another month until Christmas, and Jenna and I have been living on this gorgeous small stretch of the Pacific coast for over a week now. Us and the 3 boys have been traveling to other beaches nearby to check out the waves and experience the culture. (One afternoon we spent the day at Jonathan's sister's house on an island with sandy roads and cows meandering through yards and ate fried tuna caught that day. Her house consists of 2 small rooms, a kitchen, and a hole-in-the-ground bathroom, and her and her husband and 2 daughters were just the happiest people. Talk about eye-opening.)

Jenna and I already know a lot of people in this cozy town. We have a great hostel staff of three older ladies we call the “abuelitas” (little grandmas) who watch out for us and make sure we come home every night. Our other friends include “Batido-man” (Batido=shake, and we buy from him every day and he gives us life talks about enjoying life while we're young), Bernardo's sweet DJ brother, Paul, who threw the best parties at his beach-side bar for the town celebration, and three other Colombians who fed us free snacks and took us for a ride on a huge floating banana out in the ocean.

Today is Jonathan's 23rd birthday (also fitting) and we decided we'd stay for that, and then pack up and leave on tomorrow morning. Life has been so amazing that we can hardly say goodbye. We've gotten to experience a more real side of Ecuadorian culture off the Gringo-path: we've eaten interesting food every night (like ceviche, guava, shellfish, platanos, shrimp pizza, and a bunch of random fruit the guys pick off the trees to snack on), we've practiced Spanish 24/7 (which has improved exponentially since we've met them), and we've spent quality time getting to know friendly people from every walk of life. Also, you can't beat swimming in the ocean every day, while pelicans fly overhead. These 3 guys already feel like family to us, and coastal life has been the best experience yet.  I think we'll both feel ready to get back to volunteering next week, but for now, I can't imagine being in a place where we would learn more. This is a whole other side of Ecuadorian life, and one that's not in the guidebooks. I think that is where the real adventures develop though. Jenna and I are still keeping our pact to do anything and everything that comes our way. Even if at first it seems random, for example, to go to breakfast at someone's house in the jungle who you just met, you might fall into a lifelong friendship and be thanking God for the experiences He puts in your path.

Health update/Why I say were barely alive (or why I'm barely alive, rather):  First of all, I got pretty sick from something the other day, fish maybe, and was puking all night and slept all day yesterday. The abuelitas asked Jenna what was wrong and they were very worried. They gave Jenna some medicine to give me and

made me an Ecuadorian remedy drink called ojita. How adorable are they? We are not going to be able to leave this place... Also, just when I thought I was getting better, we went for an ocean swim today and I got stung pretty bad on my leg by a jellyfish. Not to mention, I got sand in my eye and haven't been able to wear my contact for the past couple days. I just walk around with one eye squeezed shut all the time; the townspeople probably think I'm half blind.

I also want to say thank you to everyone for all the birthday love this past week, it makes it much easier to be here knowing all the support and prayers I have back home. I know this next year as a 23-yr old is going to be a great one. I miss and love you all very much!!

Loving being a beach bum at the end of November,
Renae

Latacunga

Hey ya'll! (Yes, I do think I'm allowed to say ya'll now that I have a friend from Alabama)


What a great couple weeks it's been. As Renae described, we obviously had way too much fun in Banos the other weekend. (Ps I just had to squish the biggest spider we've had yet in Casa Sol... why do they keep getting bigger and bigger?! Ahhhh! U.S. spiders ain't gonna have nothin' on us when we get back) Anyways, ever since an exciting vacation in Banos, we've been back to work with the kiddos.


On Sunday we made our way over to the other branch of FHC, located in Latacunga, about two hours south of Quito. It's a bit of a funny feeling to hop off a random bus on a random corner in a town you've never been to with no one to call and nothing but a hand-drawn map in your hand, but luckily our taxi man was able to decipher the map and get us to the orphanage safely. It's a bit different than the Quito location, because it is mainly kids with severe special needs, some of whom are past the age where they can be adopted. We planned to work only through Wednesday, but quickly realized that wasn't going to be enough time. The site is absolutely gorgeous, the Tia's are so helpful and so appreciative, and the kids.... we fell in love FAST, that's all I have to say. Although we were both a bit intimidated going into it because of the big special needs factor, we were soon a part of the Latacunga family, and were spending all day every day hanging out, lovin' up on the new cuties in our lives.


Some highlights of the week:
-Renae and I going along with 1 of the tias and 6 of the boys to get haircuts in town one afternoon. Our job was to sit in the van with the 4 that weren't getting their hair cut at the time and make sure no one got into TOO much trouble... but let me tell you it was easier said than done. When your Spanish is less than mediocre, and 5 of the 6 boys have special needs, a half hour jammed into a van can seem very long! But we all survived, and the boys all looked way too adorable with their new haircuts.

 -One of the boys, Josue, is OBSESSED with elephants, and won't let any movie be shown that does not center around them. So we watched the movie The Blue Elephant more times in one week than I care to remember. But whatever makes them happy, I guess! By the last day we had the theme song down and had all the kids shouting it out along with us, although I don't think the Tia's appreciated that part very much.

-We got to celebrate Dia de los Muertos in the 'Cunga, complete with gua-gua's de pan (aka bread babies) and colada morada for everyone. Although us Americans all thought the colada was a bit questionable, it was a great party, and a great way to spend out last morning on site.

-Another long-term volunteer from the Quito location, Andrea, met us there so we did lots of interesting cooking combo's with the food left behind by the last group, and of course played lots of card games.

-Every day we had wonderful afternoon time with nowhere to go and no one to play with since all the kids were napping... aka reading, writing, playing games, cooking, training for the 10k out in the country (it's this coming Sunday, ahhh!), and best of all, NAPS for us too!

-The best part of Renae's week was spending time with Wilma, an 11 year old with cerebral palsy. She is nonverbal and in a wheelchair, but is SUCH a happy, carefree, caring little girl. They struck it off right away, and spent the week cracking up at their inside jokes that sometimes drove the rest of us crazy. (We couldn't hear the elephant movie over the laughing, damn it!)

-I especially loved hanging out with Stalin, chubbiest (and cutest) baby there is, and Christina, who has already acquired a pretty big attitude for a 2 year old. Whenever we tried to scold her with “No asi” she would turn around and scold us back saying “No” with a death glare and her finger pointed. Way too cute to ever be seriously mad at her.

So the days passed easily, happily, and quickly. I wish I could describe the feeling that came over both of us that week. It was extreme contentment in its purest form, and Renae and I both came to the conclusion at the same time: we were in the exact place we were supposed to be, at exactly the right time. There was something about that place and those kids that affected us more than anything else has so far, I think. They were just SO special and wonderful to be around, we wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by them all day, and left the compound I think 3 times the whole week. We were excited to get back to the other kids in Quito, but are already missing the Latacunga gang like crazy, and scheming to find time to go back before our days in Ecuador are up.


Saturday we traveled back to Quito, Sunday we spent with some friends, going out to eat and playing Frisbee in the park above the city. We got talked into eating cuy aka guinea pig, but I didn't end up liking it very much... tasted like fish :/ so I think the one time was enough for me! We also talked crazy Renae into eating the guinea pig eyeball, so that was gross but entertaining. Ever since then we've been back at it at the orphanage, soaking up our last week here before we venture off to the coast.


Some of this week's happenings:
-We happened upon some pot shards on the street on Sunday, and it gave us a project idea for the week... a mosaic path! We had to pass it by the office ladies first, and they seemed pretty hesitant, which we were annoyed at.. didn't they trust us?! But they agreed to let us work some magic on the memorial for Clark Vaughn, the founder who died last year. So we spent a day painting rocks with the kids (Yes, more rock painting. Surprising, I know) and thought we could do it, no problem. We soon found out why the ladies were a bit hesitant.... cement laying is hard work! It was one of those times where we think we can do anything and take on big projects without thinking about if we actually know how to go about it. Luckily, our favorite tia, Tia Jenny, came to the rescue. That woman can literally do anything. So she took us to the store and helped us buy the right material (no it was not what we were thinking at all), fed us some cevichocho (yum), and spent the afternoon teaching us how to mix and lay cement. It was a lot of work, but it turned out great, and I think even the office ladies are impressed. Thank God for Tia Jenny!
                                 

-Our other project of the week has been coming up with little activities to do with some of the older kids in the afternoon to get them out of the house for a bit and to have some one-on-one time. So we've been hosting music classes, rock painting, and bracelet making. And of course, loving every second of it. It can get pretty crazy at times with everyone in Casa Harlow, so it's nice to have a couple kids to yourself and really get to hang out.

 

-We've also been continuing the games every night with Jen and Andrea. We've discovered the game Ticket to Ride, which everyone should own. I love our relaxing nights SO much, and am going to miss the comforts of a cozy, warm apartment filled with games, movies, candy, tea, and people who have become such close friends in such a short amount of time.


So that brings us to this weekend... 5 weeks complete already! Where in the world did the time go?! I know we'll both be super sad to leave, but hopefully the excitement for the adventures to come keeps us from dwelling on it. That's one of my goals for the trip, after all: practice living in the present. I don't want to always be missing something from my past or thinking about things that haven't even happened yet, I want to be alive and aware and in the moment. So bring it on!


Love you all.

J Flynn

Orphan Sunday

Today, November 3rd, is Orphan Sunday. Even if I had known this day existed before now, I can say it definitely means a lot more to me now than it ever would have before. Tomorrow marks a full month down here in Ecuador (crazyyyy, I know!), and the majority of the time so far has been spent with some of the most AMAZING kids, making the orphan crisis in this country seem so very personal. We've met so many precious kids, heard their stories, and our hearts have broken for them time after time. But more importantly, we've gotten to see how much love and life these kids have to offer. Many of the children here have been through more in their few years, or even months, of life than the rest of us have in all of ours, yet they are still so happy and full of affection. It is SO inspiring and perspective-altering to be a part of. 

This is a video we watched in church this morning:

So make sure and say an extra prayer today for all those cuties out there in need of a home. They really do deserve the world. And know that there are a million ways to help, whether it's a prayer, adoption, child sponsorship, some time volunteering, or anything else you can come up with! One cause in particular is pretty close to the heart for us: there is a family in the U.S. who is raising money to be able to adopt a little girl we've gotten to know here in Quito. Here's the link so you can read a little about her story and help them out if you feel the urge!

http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/-when-will-my-forever-family-come-asks-a-9-year-old-orphan/98457

I also know For His Children is always looking for people to sponsor the kids here both for education and living expenses, so check into that too if you want!

http://www.forhischildren-ecuador.org/get-involved/child-sponsorship-program/

Thanks for reading and we'll try to blog again this week so we can fill you all in on the details from our week at FHC Latacunga... It was crazy fun, I'll tell you that much! 

Have a good week errybody!

Baños

Happy Halloween from Ecuador!


Last weekend we officially survived our first adventure out of Quito. We paid for our time at FHC, said goodbye to the kiddos, tias, and Alfredo at the gate, and walked to the bus station with our humungous packs (in case we didn't stand out already). The bus experience was an adventure in itself. Sticking to the “no-plan plan”, we waited to figure out which bus to take until we got to the station. The staff helped us get on the right buses though, and we were off! We had 6 hours of busing and were accompanied by two locals who bought us treats from the vendors who would walk on the bus when it stopped in town. We got fed ice cream on a stick, chocolate bars, and cheese wrapped in a leaf: just your average bus snacks.

When we got to Baños, we scouted out a cheap $8/person/night hostal where the front desk staff said they didn't care when we paid, “Today, tomorrow, whenever you want”. No-plan plan. We were sold. “Welcome to this crazy town!”, he couldn't have said it better. Starting that night, the town was constantly celebrating. Fireworks, bands, parades, and loud music were going on the entire weekend. One of the days we realized it was for their Saint, Santa Agua, but the rest I don't know... Maybe everyday they're just like, “Hey, we live in Baños! Its the weekend! Life is awesome!” And hey, that works for me. 

Not only were the people fun and energetic, but the town itself was an amazing experience. The hot springs were extremely comical. The first time we went it was 8am and we had no idea what to do. We paid for our ticket, went in, and just watched the 20-some old men to try and figure it out. Where do we put our stuff? Do we need to shower first? Do we all have to wear those swim caps? The lady at the ticket booth walked in a few minutes later and saw our confusion. “Que pasa?” (What are you doing?). She instructed us to buy the ugly hats and we hopped in. It was definitely worth the embarrassment, the hot water was amazing with the cool of the morning. Oh, and there was some Amazonians showering naked in the waterfall next to the springs. Typical. Our second hot springs attempt was a lot less relaxing. We tried going at night, and after we'd already paid and went in, we found out the biggest main pool was drained. Everyone and their mother was crammed into a small side pool. It was too cold to stand there in our swim suits, so we squeezed past people to get to an open inch of hot water. We were just cracking up at the lack of personal space and getting splashed in the face by little kids when suddenly out of the murky water floated a pad. Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking. It whirled by us and then disappeared again. Jenna and I looked at each other with terrified faces, and immediately hopped out of the water. Extremely sanitary I'm sure.


Other than the hot springs, the town is also known for it hiking. We went on hikes every day and saw some amazing views of the town, mountains, and a volcano nearby. One day a engineering professor from Spain named Angel caught up with us and we spent the rest of the day hiking and sharing travel stories. He is biking across South America through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru for the next couple of months, and on top of that he has been EVERYWHERE. His stories were amazing.

Another trek led us to a wooden bridge over a deep mountain-ravine river. The view was breath-taking. As we were exploring we noticed people were also bungee jumping off of the larger bridge above us. At first we commented that “it would be sweet” to do it, but no way. Then, after watching a few more people jump, and talking to David from Seattle who said it was totally worth the 15 bucks, we decided to do it. I was terrified to say the least. I told Jenna I had to go first or else I'd chicken out, so they strapped me up and hooked on the ropes before I could even hesitate. I was asking them, “How many people have died? How long have you guys been doing this?”. “Okay, well I'll be the first to die I guess!” The local guards monitoring were cracking up at me as I freaked out. I stepped up on the platform hanging over the ravine below and started to panic hilariously. “Is it attached over there?!” They counted to three and I was still standing there. A crowd started to form and Jenna got a couple old men to chant my name. “Just push me!” Jenna told him too, “You're going to have to push her off”. I finally just let myself fall off the platform, and lemme tell you, it was worth it. A little whiplash, but the fall felt awesome, and guess what, I survived! I climbed up the mountain and watched Jenna go next. “Renae, you got me freaked out now, I wasn't before! What do I hold on to?!” Her time on the platform was much shorter than mine, though, and she counted down for herself and fell off. She also survived. We of course had to buy the videos of our near-death experience so we can remember just how unintelligent we can be, and because they are hilarious. I'll try to post them online for everyone to admire our bravery and poise.

To sum it up, Baños was a great first-weekend-on-our-own-in-Ecuador experience. We hiked, bought tons of souvenirs, got serenaded by a guitarista at breakfast, ate the best nachos I've ever had in my life (literally), and cheated death twice (once over the mountain river and once in a hot spring full of who-knows-what; there could be bodies hiding in that cloudy water...). So I hope we continue to make you all proud ;)

We left Baños on Sunday morning and headed for the other branch of the For His Children orphanage in a town called Latacunga where we are now. I will let Jenna detail the fun we've had here next week, but just know that it has been great. The kids are amazing, and they have a staff of the most loving and light-hearted tias in the whole country (based on the wide range of tia communities I've seen so far). We're having an awesome Halloween hanging with the kids, watching yet another elephant movie in spanish with them, and relaxing. It seems like life couldn't get any better, but I think I've said that before...


Living la vida loca,
Renae



P.s. Teeth-breaking, wood-flavored taffy we bought in Baños and some sprinkles that were left in the cupboard are the extent of our Halloween candy. Can anyone send us some Reese's Pumpkins por favor?

How to explain this feeling...

As you can tell from our past couple blogs, our lives have been absolutely crazy (in the very best of ways). We've been facing life head on, and keeping our promise to do anything and everything put in front of us. I can't believe the number of adventures and experiences we've jammed into just a couple short weeks. Every day brings new and exciting things, whether that includes an excursion into the city, a sweet encounter with one of the kids, or some new Spanish vocab. Here's a few things that have happened since Nae's last post:


-We went on an early morning run one day with Jen, or at least tried to... With the mountains and the altitude, we made it maaaybe a mile and a half, and it was absolute torture! If we had tried to run before we signed up for the 10k we might have thought twice... if we can crawl over the finish line in a month I'll be impressed.


-We've been putting our ability to do manual labor to the test, and have been continuing the tree removal work. I'm wishing I had lifted weights even once in my life, would that have been so hard?! I even spent all day yesterday with a machete in my hand, and have the blisters to prove it... never thought I'd be able to say that! It's also more proof of how laid-back everyone is around here: Renae and I were running around the yard by ourselves all day, unsupervised, machete flying, burning the crap out of everything in site, 50 feet from the orphanage. And for some reason we were more scared for ourselves than anyone else was, they just kept laughing at us and saying “burn the big stuff so we don't have to move any more!”

-For some reason I can never help but laugh my head off when we take the city bus somewhere. I've just never experienced something so cramped, hot, uncomfortable, awkward, and pushy. It's every man for themselves and there's no doubt in my mind that if for some reason you fell to the ground you would be trampled to death, even though that would never happen because you are so jam-packed in you can't scratch your own face let alone make it to the floor. I can't explain exactly why I find this so funny, because it actually is pretty awful, it's just such a different idea of personal space (or lack thereof) I can't help but crack up at the ridiculousness. Plus we are always at least a head taller than everyone else on the bus so we get the whole top-of-the-bus-air to ourselves which keeps me from freaking out.


-One thing we are pretty proud of is our up-and-coming cooking abilities. We can only afford the basics, and our oven doesn't work, so we're having to get creative with rice, potatoes, hamburger meat, veggies, and the stove. I know people don't really care to hear about other people's food (especially when facebook pics are included) but I gotta brag for un momento: last night we had onion cheeseburgers minus the bun, fried eggplant, and fried rice with veggies. Might sound like a weird combo but let me tell you... YUM.


-Today we decided we needed to get a little nature time amidst the city life so we bussed on down to La Parque Carolina. It's kinda like central park, with people everywhere and tons of paths and trees and things right in the middle of the city, with huge buildings all around. While there we went to the Jardin Botanical (botanical garden), El Museo de Ciencias Naturales (museum of natural science), and a Vivarium. The flowers were gorgeous and the bugs were freaky. Aaaand Renae was of course in heaven the whole time.

-I also got to go horseback riding with some of the kiddos this morning, they do it for therapy and all loved it. It's fun to be at such a good orphanage, where they do so many different things for the kids. We have still been trying to do pool therapy with the babies as many mornings as possible as well, which is always way too adorable.


The ironic thing is, that as chaotic and exciting and crazy my life is right now, my soul has rarely been so calm, so content, so sure. It's such a good feeling to not have to question if I'm in the right place, or doing the right thing. I know I am. It's something I lost sight of for awhile, and I can't explain how refreshing it is to be able to return to living life with the same conviction and sureness that I used to have. I think post-college-graduation is a weird time for lots of people... it definitely was for me. How do you sift through the infinite possibilities ahead of you and choose just one? How do you be SURE you're making the right decisions, especially when the people around you are making such different ones? Even this summer, as excited as I was to leave, I would have moments of hesitation. What if leaving for a year meant that I would be behind when I returned? That I would have a harder time pursuing another degree or a job? That I would give up meaningful relationships in order to follow my own personal dreams, when it should've been the other way around?


But being here, being able to be a part of these kids' lives, feeling so ALIVE and HAPPY and EXCITED for each and every single day, makes every last trace of that hesitation disappear. I'm so grateful to finally be feeling like I do, and hope it's a feeling that lasts not just the whole 8.5 months, but my whole life long. That'll be the real challenge though, won't it!!! After all, it's impossible not to love life when you have the cutest kids in the world in your arms and the most gorgeous places all around you, waiting to be explored!


XOXOXO,
J. Flynn



P.S. Not to be confused, it's true that as happy as I feel right now, I do have moments of sadness... always when I'm missing my family, friends, or the Miller kids (who are of course included in that whole cutest kids in the world thing as well). Know that I think about all of you often, and send my love your way every single day!

Exploring Quito

In case you're wondering, it still feels surreal...

We have been living in Quito, Ecuador for 11 days! As expected, Jenna and I dove headfirst into everything right away, and have experienced a LOT in a week and a half. Spanish is coming along little by little, and we actually had a tutor come to the house today to give us individual lessons. Were still out of the loop on the jokes especially, but I have faith that with practice we'll understand everything soon. 

Mateo

During the past week, so much has happened. We typically start off every day helping with the babies in Casa Vaughn. We take them swimming and feed them lunch. And can I just say that we are falling more and more in love with the kids every single day. They are the most precious little people I have ever met, and I am already dreading the day we have to leave them (not as much as Jenna though).

 

The second halves of the days are where the adventure begins, and so I'll try to remember all we've done so far... 

Last Wednesday (our second full day) we went to a soup kitchen and ended up in a girls bible study class, where I played guitar and we sang and read from a book and prayed with some of the local girls. 

Thursday we signed up for a Nike 10K in Quito which we will run on November 10th. 

Friday was a local holiday “Dia de Guayaquil” and we watched the Ecuador-Uruguay soccer game. Ecuador won and has officially made it to the World Cup in February. The Ecuadorians we watched it with were THRILLED to say the least. We also got some Spanish practice with some bilingual Catch-Phrase.

Santiago

Saturday Jenna's bag came! Finally!! We though it was a lost cause, but fortunately God sent it from NYC to Quito in one piece. Also, the kids celebrated a huge party for one of the orphans, Mateo, on his 1st birthday (in the wagon above). After that, Jenna and I tried out the bus system and ventured to a part of Quito called “Old Town” where there are a lot of historical buildings and monuments.

Sunday we attended church with the volunteer coordinator, Jen, and then went to the equator (El Mitad del Mundo) with some new friends. 

Monday was very rainy and so after watching the kids we spent some down time and then had cooking class with the toddlers.

Dulce Maria

Tuesday was tree removal. A giant tree had fallen down in the compound a few weeks ago, and so with the help of some locals, the tias, and only a few men, we slowly but surely cleaned up the trunks. 

Wednesday it poured all day again, and Jenna and I were given a FHC photo project. 

Yesterday more rain and some more projects. 

We are hoping to go on a trip this weekend to a hiking spot and we also need to start training for our run next month, because we just about DIED trying to jog a mile this morning! I swear I was about to cough up an entire lung. The altitude might be the death of us...

 

 

Some interesting things 

about Ecuador so far: 

 

A) Prices of things are very different than in the states, and it's interesting to see what's cheap, and what we have to give up during the trip. JIF peanut butter costs $12 here, new clothes are very expensive (a sweatshirt that would be 8 bucks at Walmart sells for 40 at the “Megamaxi”), and our favorite tequila, which is only $20 in North Dakota, is $46, so I guess we won't be having any drinks in the near future! On the other hand, transportation is extremely cheap. A bus ride anywhere in the city is $0.25. Also, fruits, vegetables, bread, and decent meals at restaurants are definitely in our budget. We paid $3.61 for two plates of rice, chicken, and tomatoes with glasses of juice and coffee.

B) People are having a hard time saying my name. Renae is not rolling off the latina tongue at all. And someone told me that it is more commonly a boy's name here, so I'm going to try out some different nickname options I think... 

C) The weather in Quito is completely unpredictable, and changes very fast, multiple times a day. You can drive out of sunny skies and 10 minutes later it is down-pouring. Also, it is their rainy season right now and we have been wearing our raincoats more than we'd probably like.

D)We've only seen a few bugs so far, but they aren't small... One spider we saw during tree removal was thee biggest and nastiest thing I've ever seen and I hear it gets much worse in the jungle... Gulp.

E) Jenna and I stand out a lot here. It's impossible to miss us among the Ecuadorians. We are at least a head taller than most of the population, and with our light skin, American get-up, and Jenna's blonde hair, everyone is always staring at us.

F)  Some popular things here are those jeggings without the butt pockets, the slicked-back ponytails we rocked in 5th grade, little baby-shaped frosted bread rolls called ¨Guagua de dulce¨(Sweet baby), oh and, of course, lots of rice with every meal. 

G) My favorite thing I've discovered about Ecuadorian culture so far, though, is definitely their slow-moving, never-on-time, easygoing pace. If any of you thought Jenna and I were bad before, you should start avoiding us when we get back. “On time” means 30 minutes late. If you do should up at the specified time, you will be standing there alone waiting for everyone else. Also, you cannot make plans here. People ditch out at the last second, make new plans, and introduce new ideas constantly.  Every plan Jenna and I have even tried to make has been completely uprooted, so we don't even try anymore, which I love. This place was MADE for me. Everybody just does what they want, whenever they feel like it, and are very easygoing. So beware of Renae and Jenna 2.0. :)

Mitad del Mundo

To sum it up, life has been very good the last week. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I miss my family and friends very much, but I think God needs us here right now, and I would hate to let Him down ;)

My love from the across the world,

Renae

P.s. We posted some more pictures under the Photo Links tab. Just select the link to go to the picture hub. And we'll be posting them there along the journey!