Jambo from Kenya!

Jambo everyone! With just two weeks remaining we are wondering how the time has gone by so quickly. We are still enjoying Rafiki and learning to appreciate the many blessings that life in Africa brings. It is a simple life but has such an authentic feel to it. Tutoring, grading papers, making copies, fixing internet cables, teaching PE classes still consumes our time during the day. I (Barclay) have also been working on a detailed map of Middle Earth for the Lord of the Rings study for the 9th grade class. It took about 3 days and our team thoroughly enjoyed burning the edges of it to make it look like an old school map. The love for learning and the curiosity of a child can teach us all a little bit about what we may be missing. They never fail to stop asking questions, whether that be about taking a picture, how to do a karate chop, how to say words in spanish, how to be more dramatic when reciting a hamlet soliloquy or inquiring to what a "girl crush" might be. They are also extremely observative. I have a confession to make. I sit at a certain table, the Beersheba cottage with Mama Rose, the one night per week that dinner rolls (my favorite) are served because Mama Rose seems to be quite generous to me in the dinner roll distribution. Today I had a girl named Stephany from cottage Shalom ask me, "Uncle Barclay, why do you always sit at Beersheba when it's dinner roll night?" I could not hold in my laughter. She caught me. This gives our team all the more reason to watch what we do and be the best role models possible. It is awesome to be in the summer business of shaping kids for the rest of their lives. Our deputation team is doing awesome, and even though two weeks still remain we cringe at the thought of leaving these kids without the promise of ever knowing or seeing what amazing things they will go on to do in their lives to serve God and others.

Mingi Karama,

Barclay representing Kenya crew

PS. I am reading an amazing book about the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the reconciliation and forgiveness that has been taking place for the past 16 years. I would strongly recommend! The book is called "As We Forgive" by Catherine Claire Larson

Engineers > Soccer players -Team Haiti

The theme of this week was definitely soccer. A missions team of 13 people from the east coast arrived last week to run a soccer camp in Poste Metier. 90 kids came to camp every day, and there was a big tournament on Saturday with all the teams. We ended up putting our engineering and construction projects temporarily on hold to help with soccer camp. We had to set up the fields every day, and help the coaches run drills with the kids. Every day the kids would receive a Bible lesson from Pastor Chrisbon first thing in the morning as well as breakfast. Then they would go out and play soccer for the rest of the day. One of the best parts of our experience with soccer camp was that nine boys decided to accept Christ as their savior. During one of the morning Bible lessons Pastor Chrisbon asked if any of the kids were ready to make that choice, and nine of them stood up and said yes. Seeing how something as simple as soccer can bring people to Christ was a very powerful thing to witness.

This week was also filled with interesting travel situations. Due to the large number of people to cart around, we had to contract a tap tap to get some of us around all week. A tap tap is Haiti's preferred method of public transportation. It's basically a pick up truck that people pile luggage, produce, and livestock into and then sit where there's still space. The name tap tap come from the fact that when you want to get out you "tap tap" on the side of the truck so the driver knows to stop. During one of our tap tap rides, the was a huge rain and thunder storm. Since tap taps are open in the back, we had to cover ourselves with a tarp to get out of the rain. We call it the turtle ride. In the middle of the week, there was an even bigger storm that caused the rivers to flood. We were safe in the team house since we're on top of a hill, but the rivers rose by about 15 ft. The flooding wiped out several crops and covered the roads in a few feet of water. The next day the rivers were still high enough that they were difficult to cross by car. This meant that we had to wade across the river crossings and walk about 3 miles down muddy roads to soccer camp. It was crazy to see the destruction caused by the flooding. Luckily, the sun dried everything out by the time we had to go home. On Sunday, a bunch of us got to go to a town called Margo for church. This town is at a point high enough in the mountains that you can actually see the ocean on both sides of the northern peninsula of Haiti. The elevation at the team house is around 300ft, and the elevation of Margo is around 3000 ft so it was quite the drive to get there. There were parts of the road where we had to get our and walk because the road was too bad. It was obvious that not much traffic makes it up there. It was a beautiful place to go to church, and the mountain air did us a lot of good. This actual church building was only about halfway completed, and the congregation was tiny-only about 25 people were there, mostly children. But they welcomed us wholeheartedly and were very excited to see us. Worshiping at Margo was a very humbling experience for us.

The downside of soccer camp was that we ended up being out in the sun all day every day so most of us ended up feeling a little under the weather. By the end of the week we were all exhausted from being in the sun too long and from being bounced around in trucks. Please pray for our health and energy in the next couple weeks. Two of the other interns came down with malaria this week but have fully recovered already. Malaria is a fairly common illness in Haiti and is very treatable. So be praying for them also.

The soccer team left this morning for home, but before they left we got a chance to play them in a friendly game of soccer. They challenged us, thinking there's no way a group of engineering interns could possibly best them in their own game. But they were wrong. We beat them 8-7 in two 25min halves. The lesson learned: engineers>soccer players.

Now the interns are the only ones left in the team house. We got to take the day off to rest and recover from a very demanding week. We'll resume our engineering/construction operation tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers and support.

God's grace,

JJ&A

Chuticas...

Team Ecuador has had a full couple of weeks since our last blog post. To start with, we miss Kellie very much, but we´re comforted by the fact that she´s safe right now. It´s difficult to look back over everything we´ve done in the last two weeks and summarize, but here it goes.

To start with, we had the opportunity to travel to a remote community of Afro-Ecuadoreans to teach English. The village was called La Loma and was only accessible by a gravel road in the foothills. Getting there was an adventure; of the six times we went, we had car trouble at least half of them. We are now experts in the of art of riding in the backs of pick-up trucks. If it starts to rain, sit with your back to stay dry. (It also helps to remember your rain jacket.) When we actually arrived in La Loma, we had about 25 students from age seven or eight on up. The kids were extremely eager to learn as much as we had time to teach them. On our last day in La Loma we held a graduation for all of our students complete with English notebooks and lots of pictures. It probably took an hour and a half after the graduation to get pictures with everyone and we probably could have taken more!

This week we got to visit our families for the last time. Useful life skills we´ve acquired include peeling potatoes (with a knife, anyone can use a peeler), making empanadas, shuffling cards, and the ability to tell riddles in Spanish. It is sad that we don´t get to spend more time with them, but it has been a wonderful experience getting to share their lives for a little while. We can´t emphasize enough how wonderful the people here are. Many of them have offered us their homes should we come back to visit and we hope that we get the chance to.

At the end of this week we returned to Quito to see a little bit of the historic district. We got to see the Ecuadorean equivalent of the White House, as well as the national library and lots of churches. Construction on one church began in 1603 and it has been under construction ever since.

Our Spanish skills have improved greatly. Now we feel comfortable attending church and Bible studies entirely in Spanish. In fact, last weekend we attended a fire and life safety course in preparation for this week´s teen camp. At first it was a struggle because none of us speak Spanish, but gradually things have improved. We even met a group of college girls this weekend that were surprised to find out that most of us haven´t studied Spanish in years.

And in case you were wondering,¨chuticas¨is the Ecuadorean equivalent of the American expression ¨shoot.¨ The pastor here uses it all the time, even in sermons.

فريق بيت لحم (Team Bethlehem)

Marhaba kul wahad,
I hope everyone is doing well.  It is nice to finally find a break in the action where one can sit down and take at least a little time to write about what is going on here.  I myself have been volunteering at a children's Summer Camp so far.  Some of the options the children have are Arts & Crafts, Sports, and Singing & Dancing.  Standard fare, but incredibly fun nonetheless, especially when I am able to watch the younger children pull out some hilarious dance moves.  I cannot stress enough how much joy this has brought me.  The situation here is very difficult, but being able to see the happiness in the children that I work with day in and day out is such a blessing.  Though I must admit running around for hours in 90 degree weather isn't the least strenuous thing one could do, and for that I ask your prayers!  A great thing about these camps is that many children, especially during the Summer, have nowhere else to go.  Parks and other recreational areas that are ubiquitous back home are few and far between here.  It is much better than sitting at home or ambling through the streets because one's parents are busy with work or volunteering.  The people in this culture are very relational, and the children here are no exception.  Despite the dialogue being an Arabic-English pidgin, it's clear that having fun and spending time with one another transcends any barrier.
     It's getting late here, and as we must get up early for a trip to Hebron tomorrow I have to cut this short.  Please continue keeping us in your prayers, it is often difficult here and to have so many lifting us up is a huge blessing.  Much love, maa salaama.
Trey

Kenya Update

Well...It's been awhile so there is a lot to tell.

First we are all doing well. We are enjoying the kids a lot. We have been spending as much time as we can with them as we feel our departure date is sneaking up on us.

We got the opportunity to go on safari to the Masai Mara. It was the most amazing experience. We drove out there, a 6 hour drive, but through beautiful country. We then spent three days and two nights at a camp called Olamara. It was beautiful and they took good care of us. I (Drea) got pampered as they made me gluten free meals all weekend. It was the first time I had soup in a year, so I think I ate at least five bowls. We saw so many animals. Our favorite had to be the leopard and its two cubs (which is pretty rare to see). We also got to see a zebra being eaten by a lion family. It was a good weekend and helped us to refocus our work.

The last two weeks we have been working as teacher's assistants. Most of the time we grade papers, make maps, draw posters, and we have mastered the copy machine as we spend most of our time in the copy room. I am with the Preschool and Kindergarten and so am in the classes in the morning, as they get out at 12. In the afternoon I just copy or find random work. Julie, the Kindergarten teacher has let me teach. It is fun, right now I am just teaching math and handwriting. I am beginning to appreciate the beauty of America and all we have available in the states. It has become a challenge to find some materials and I spent hours making handwriting sheets. After school we either tutor the kids or rest as the day takes a lot out of us.

We have been spending a lot of time at Julie's house, just hanging out and watching movies. I think she enjoys the company and it is good for us not to just sit around and be bored.

Home office is here this weekend from Florida. We are staying in the village with them, helping to prepare meals and watch kids when the mamas are in meetings. Megan and I were hoping to cook ugali (a Kenyan dish that I despise but Megan likes) but instead we are making sandwiches? Oh the irony...

Last weekend I went away to Kisumu, a city in western Kenya for the day on Friday. I had set up a visit with a kid my family sponsors when I found out I was coming to Kenya. I flew out very early in the morning and came back that night. It was the most amazing experience. I got to meet the child, his grandmother, and see where he has grown up. About a week before I was to leave we found out he was in a bad situation, and because of my trip that was planned we were able to find out about it and help pull him out. God works in amazing ways and His timing is perfect. Helped to give me a glimpse of possibly why I was sent here. Barclay also went away for the weekend to go with a friend to an orphanage they are starting in Kenya. It was good to be back together as a team Sunday night.

Other random notes:

- The other day Joseph said that he was going to plant Megan in the garden so that she can sprout a bunch of little Megans. He can then feed her bread, beans, and popcorn through a straw.

- Barclay is giving out a prize to the first kid who can memorize the to be or not to be speech from Hamlet.

- Kindergartners talk a lot and like to chew on pencils.

-I have shopped so much and will most likely bring home over 50 pounds of just souvenirs.

-We are pretty much pampered here, with our beds and laundry done three times a week.

- We also get fed sooo much here. I have mastered the art of secretly giving away my food to the kids when the mamas look away.

Just continue to pray as we only have three weeks left. We have decided the best thing would be to have both worlds in one- home and the kids. Too bad it cant work...The kids have a strong hold on our hearts.

-Drea

Team Ecuador update

Kellie has been having some health issues over the past couple of weeks which led to her early departure from Ecuador. Kellie arrived in Seattle yesterday. Please join me in praying for her quick recovery as well as for the rest of Team Ecuador as they continue with their ministry.

"Hey guys...Don't do that in your mother's car"-Bruce Robinson (Team Haiti)

This week we made a road trip 50 miles south to Gonaives. It took us about 4 hours to get there, and we had to drive another hour to get to the dam we were working on so it was a long day of traveling. About halfway through the drive we had to cross Twa Rivie, a pretty big river. Water was literally covering the hood of the Land Cruiser the whole time, but we made it across safely. Once we got to the other side, Bruce stopped, rolled down his window and said to us, "Hey guys...don't do that in your mother's car." The lesson from this experience: Buy a Toyota, they can do anything and don't break. Anyways, we went to Gonaives on Thursday this week to help a friend of Bruce's figure out some ways to improve an irrigation dam. So we made the drive and showed up with our equipment to make some observations.

Our work this week has been very random, so we'll do our best to get everything down. We finished putting up the basketball hoop now that the court is ready to go. Kids have been playing on it almost non stop since we finished it. There is another missions team coming from Virginia tomorrow to run a soccer camp for 100 Haitian kids ages 9-12 tomorrow. We've spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing the shop and team house for their arrival. Jeff and Jordan went with Bruce one day to visit a worker who has been sick for some time. We have had some car troubles so Tuesday and Wednesday we were limited to within walking distance of the shop. That just meant we went out on a hike to a nearby dam to try and rework the canal gates on it. We continued working on a foundation and Bruce and Deb's house. One more engineer arrived Tuesday afternoon from Virginia. While Part of the team was gone at the airport, the three of us spent some time having a Bible study on the roof of the team house. It was awesome to finally get some free time to hang out. During an afternoon soccer game with the kids, Jeff twisted his ankle, but he iced it and stayed off it for a few days and is now almost back to full strength. It did buy him a few rides in the front seat of the Land Cruiser though. And Friday, after almost 3 weeks of bugging Bruce about it, we finally got to go to the beach again. We had a great time playing in the surf and soaking up the sun. That's pretty much been our week. We're finally all ready for the soccer team to arrive. Looks like Amber posted some pictures for us of the cement pour last week. Enjoy.

Hope you're all doing well. God's Grace,

JJ&A

Sierra Leone Update

Here is an update from Emma's mom: (note, this is from Emma's perspective but both Jessica and Victor are also doing well. Let's keep praying for all of them)

I wanted to let you know that Emma called today! They are now out of the no-contact time and she is hoping to be able to call weekly. She said that they are supposed to have internet access but that hasn't proven true. I told her about Team Ecuador and she was bummed on their behalf.

In brief, they are all doing well. There are 12 of them on the team and they are nearly all from Washington. They will be going on their retreat soon at a mining camp that is comprised mainly of Irishmen, who will be gone on holiday. They are excited because they will have hot showers, flushing toilets and American food. They have been to the mining camp before to watch some of the World Cup games, including the final yesterday. She said that they have been well taken care of in the village - they have all bottled water, they have their laundry done and everyone is super nice. The food is fine although they are tired of fried foods and no vegetables. And coffee .... I think they'll be drinking coffee the entire lay over in London!

Didn't get too much information on what they are doing. Sounds like four days a week they go out in teams to other villages to do work. Emma said that after the retreat there is one week where they will be helping with a youth camp and another week when they'll be doing a youth camp. She said that they will be leaving the village early in the last week so that they have a few days in Freetown to go to the beach, shop, etc.

Health has been good. She told Jeremy that she could send really big spiders, rats and assorted bugs that like to eat you home to him, but he didn't sound too delighted with that offer.

So, those are the highlights. Just wanted you to be in the loop.

Haiti Photos

Photos of the Haiti team on the marathon concrete day:

Sierra Leone Update

COTN informs us that the Sierra Leone team is at their mid-term retreat and unable to access the internet. No news is good news!

Mache nan limye Bondye (marching in the light of God) Team Haiti

So, it's been a week...what could've happened in Haiti...?

First off, we forgot to say...Happy 4th of July!!! Hope y'all had awesome celebrations. Ours definitely lacked fireworks, but had plenty of fire. haha. We had a small American flag to wave patriotically, and we sang every patriotic song we could think of. Including, Bow Down to Washington. I mean, Huskies are pretty much synonymous with America right? haha By the way, we had a 73 year old Haitian man named frere Augiste wave the flag for us as we drove down incredibly bumpy roads standing in the back of the truck.

The work week was also pretty busy for us. On Tuesday, we built a tin roof over the front porch of the team house and cleaned out a storage depot. The roof looks awesome and Bruce was very impressed with our work. Wednesday was an extremely important day around the shop. There was a concrete pour going on for the roof of the new office building. Literally, everything around the shop was put on pause so that everyone could help out. They got out the diesel cement mixer, and carried the concrete in buckets up stairs and ladders to the roof of the second floor of the building. The roof is poured and leveled bucket by bucket. This processes took all day, and was very hard work. Our team was tasked with loading the mixer with sand and gravel. A few of us got to take part in the bucket line. And, of course it started raining...so we all got soaked with rain and covered in dust and concrete.

Thursday through Sunday we got to go to a Haitian run spiritual life conference called Beraca near Port-de-Paix. This conference is run by Bruce and Deb's partner church organization. It is a time where people from all over Haiti come together to meet and worship. There were 6000-7000 people in attendance, and church services were held morning and night with about 4000 people at each one. We did have a small amount of work to do-designing a new amphitheater for future conferences, but overall the conference was a great time for us to rest and hang out as a team. We played some epic games of Risk and Monopoly, got to sleep in, played basketball and hung out with kids, and got to watch the World Cup final. Congrats Spain! We had a great time learning new songs in Creole and worshiping with thousands of Haitians. It was a really cool experience for all of us.

...And now we're back home enjoying one final night of hanging out and relaxing before we get back to work tomorrow. It's been really cool to check up on how some of the other teams are doing. Ecuador, that's terrible! We totally feel for you. We'll keep you all in our prayers.

God's Grace,

JJ&A

Welp...

Team Ecuador got robbed today. While we were in church upstairs, our room was apparently getting ransacked downstairs. The damage: 1 laptop, 3 cellphones, 1 jump drive and 3 cameras. the worst part? Literally ALL of our team pictures from this trip were on Mandi´s camera, which is one of the ones that got stolen. GINORMOUS bummer. We have the police looking into it, but we are doubtful that any of our stuff will make it back. Heck, it´s probably halfway to Colombia by now. Anyway, prayers would be greatly appreciated. And, if you´re wondering what our trip has looked like, all you´re likely gonna get is the one we posted last time... sorry folks. Wah wah wahhhhhhh. [To be continued.]

Canadians...friends or foes? (Team Ecuador)

Ecuador is home to the mountain that is the furthest point away from the center of the Earth. Fact. Taller than mount Everest you say? That's right ladies and gentlemen, Mt. Cotopaxi is the mother of all mountains, and we got to experience it from well, about the same distance we as Seattlites experience Mt. Ranier on a day to day basis.

On the equator, water doesn't swirl clockwise or counterclockwise. Fact.

In fact, water doesn't swirl at all, it simply drains directly down the sink and we have the video to prove it.

One hour in the sun on the equator is equivalent to three hours of sun in say Southern California. Fact. And some of us have the sunburns to prove it!

Team Ecuador has had quite the adventure over the past week. First let's discuss the fact that Ecuadorians have an unhealthy and irrational fear of rain. Funny because it rains here quite often. How do we know they have a fear of rain you might be asking yourself? Well it's because on our last visit to the San Juan festival in the main square of Cotacachi, we experienced screaming and sprinting for cover do to the surprise down pour in the late afternoon. This was extremely alarming to the five of us and we originally thought we were in some sort of danger, but we were pleasantly or more appropriate maybe, weirdly surprised to find that the fear and chaos came from such a simple, harmless thing like rain.

Another highlight was our touristy visit to Quito, the giganto capital of Ecuador.

1. We got to take cable cars up the side of a mountain in order to better view just how vast the capital is. Kellie tried, but failed, to talk the rest of us into renting horses to go up the rest of the mountain for a better view. Funny because she's not even legally allowed to ride horses due to her lack of balance. We reminded her of that fact and so descended the mountain shortly after our picture needs had been satisfied.

2. Pizza Hut is severely underrated in the sates. After 20 some odd days of mostly rice, beans, and vegetables, a trip to Pizza Hut in the heart of Quito was just what the girls of Ecuador needed. Yes, our lunch in Quito was spent ordering 4 medium pizzas and a 3 liter Pepsi.

3. Next stop on the tourist journey was a giant crater from a dormant volcano where a town is now present. Sounds a lot less cool in a blog, but trust us when we say that it was pretty legit to see a town in the middle of a volcano.

4. Now a trip to Ecuador wouldn't be complete without a trip to the physical equator line right? We thought that too and so we took a little trip to the place we Ecuadorians like to call the Mitad del Mundo, which in English translates to the middle of the world. This my friends, is the equator. That thick red line on the globe? Yeah that's real and we saw it. Not only that, but we learned a lot about it. For instance, it is possible to stand an egg up on a nail on the equator. Like we previously mentioned, water does not swirl in any direction on the equator. Your shadow on the equator is much more accurate to your actual size as well. Not only that, but fun fact, your shadow disappears twice a year at the stroke of noon for approximately three minutes due to the fact that the sun is directly above you. And don't worry if you don't believe any of this, it's probably all on Wikipedia and also Mandi's camera for documentation of course.

5. To end our fantastic adventure in Quito we went to a concert. Naturally all of the music was in Spanish, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Speaking of music Kellie has decided to learn the Shakira World Cup song, dance. Have we mentioned that dancing is not her strong suit to begin with? Let alone an African dance. We'll keep you updated on how that goes.

In other news:

1. We now refer to Jamie as Santiago because in Spanish Santiago means James. We figured close enough and hence forth she will now be called Santiago.

2. Kellie and Mandi both share the love for farm animals. Mandi's favorite animal is a cow and she has made it a personal goal to get a picture riding one before the 8 weeks are up. Kellie has a love for pigs and claims that pigs are good pets because if someone is attacking you, your pet pig will somehow kill the attacker for you. A guard pig if you will?

3. Speaking of farm animals, Erica seems to be some sort of chicken whisperer. Sometimes it's best to not ask questions.

4. On Sunday afternoons we work with jovenes (young people) and play games with a side of bible study. We have learned that games with instructions in Spanish are rather difficult and create a lot of confusion and asking "wait, what's going on?" Eventually the instructions are interpreted more or less and the fun ensues.

5. Diet Coke and Ruffles are a necessity in team Ecuador's kitchen and we can in fact consume a whole 3 liter Diet Coke and a large bag of Ruffles in the span of just one day. These two American products are definitely worth the extremely inflated prices.

6.Phase 10, a fun card game that can be purchased for just $4 at your nearest Target, has become a nightly past time because really, what else is there to do in Cotacachi after 6 PM?

7. We have become celebrities in a small village outside of Cotacachi. After working at a day retreat with young people, singing songs for them in Spanish and English, and also playing silly games that involve throwing paper in the air, we have earned celebrity status. That's right people, we got our pictures taken with the kids and everything.

8. Potatoes are extremely hard to find when you just want good ole fashion American potato salad on the Fourth of July late on a Sunday. And who woulda thunk that we'd find it in the last tienda (small store) we'd think to look? It just proves that you just never know in Ecuador.

This week and next week we will be teaching English at a village 2 hours away called La Loma. La Loma is home to a large Afro-Ecuadorian community. It is a rural village in the desolate and gorgeous mountains. We had quite the adventure getting there however because our car engine overheated and so we were stranded for approximately 45 minutes until we hired a truck to drive us the rest of the way. We are getting very comfortable riding in the beds of trucks and by comfortable I mean lots of bumps, but lots of laughs. Our first days of teaching English have gone well. Surprisingly, the older women know a lot more English then we thought and we are looking forward to working with them for the next two weeks.

Cars breaking down is a common theme throughout our trip as well because on Monday we had an expedition to some hot springs for a little fun in the sun, and ended up overheating our car engine for I believe the fifth or sixth time since we've been here. Good thing we're not scared of exploding cars or else we'd probably never drive anywhere here. Luckily we made it to the hot springs and had a great day. Erica and Mandi had a blast dunking the boys, but got dunked in return. I am pleased to report that even though both of them probably drank far too much hot spring mineral water, neither of them ended up sick and we all went home happy and exhausted.

To conclude this week's update we are all pleased to report that Spain beat Germany in soccer today. Life is good. Stay tuned for another update from the equator next week, until then...

"Ya neva know in Ecuador..."

Kenya Update

It just took me like 15 minutes to try and log into this blog.

Finally, success.

So the other day we went on a walk through Mwiki, which is the town that the Rafiki Orphanage is by. A few things to note:

1. Stephen, our dear friend who led us through town hates pigs. I think this is because he did not grow up reading Charlotte's Web or watching Babe. Cultural differences...

2. Kenyans love to display bloody raw animal carnage in the windows of the Butcheries.

3. Kenyan children love having their pictures taken, Kenyan mothers do not-once they see a mzungo (the word for a white person! Sidenote: one of our recent team goals is now to yell mzungo at as many white passerby's as we can find.) they go inside their home and close their door. It helps make you feel more like an awkward tourist.

4. Kenyans are really good at riding bikes piled high with crates. They're everywhere, it's impressive.

School starts next week. Weeeee! Can't wait.

I am assisting with grades 5/6

Eric is grades 3/4

Barclay(s) is grades 1/2 (There's a bank here called Barclays and Jeffery one of the men who works here repeatedly calls Barclay, Barclays)

Drea is grades pre-k and kindergarten.

We celebrated the 4th of July with some other American missionaries and we got to make apple pie-so fun! By "we" I mean me and Drea. Barclay and Eric helped barbeque chicken outside. We love re-enforcing gender roles. For example, Drea and I scrapbook or work in the library while Barclay and Eric mow the lawn.

Earlier that weekend Yeenlan arranged for us to visit two of her friends who live in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. After that we went to the giraffe center, and finally to this thing called Bomas where people preform tribal dances. The circumcision dance was the best-hands down.

Time is going by so quickly! It still feels like we just got here. Getting to know the kids and their mama's has been so fun, interesting, enlightening, rewarding...&c. There is so much to learn about them all.

Quotes from the week worth mentioning.

"Oooh you smell gooood. You smell like Chapatis!!" (note: chapatis are flat bread, painted and fried with lard.)

-Aaron

"Please, please during nap time I dream about you."

-Grace W.

"Please, Denise is fat, Denise get off the seesaw, please! Denise is too big!"

-Kilonzi

Also we have been making good use of Barclay's banana grams since the kids all scatter into their cottages around 7 pm. And now we are going to go catch some of the world cup at one of the Julie's (one of the long-term missionaries here).

Thank you for your prayers!

Bethlehem: Happy Day-After American Diplomatic Immunity Day!

[As written 7/5/2010 11:55am (+2 GMT) ]
[And as posted on Alex's other blog]

[Note: Anyone interested in seeing better quality photos or to comment on them, visit Alex's Picasa album]

Wow.

An incredible weekend.

I mean, seriously. If you could measure a time by the quantity of pictures one takes, well… I think I took about 200 pics. I feel tempted to overuse the word "breathtaking" to the point that I'd basically be admitting to suffocation.

Our group from Holy Land Trust had for us a weekend-long adventure through the northern bits of Israel and Palestine, giving us our first opportunity this whole trip to really be “tourists.”

Here’s what our weekend’s itinerary looked like:

Bethlehem --> Jordan “River” --> Sea of Galilee (Including a boat-ride! Complete with Titanic soundtrack) --> Capernaum à Mount of the Beattitudes --> The Golan Heights --> Haifa --> Mt. Carmel --> Caesarea (Beach on the Mediterranean) --> McDonalds --> Bethlehem

Now that I’ve just written that out, aswell as cross-check with my map, the prospect of describing all these places seems like an overwhelming task! How about bullet-points and pictures? Ya’ll good with that?

Jordan “River”

• Pathetically small, ever since the Israelies have been pumping out more and more water from the Galilee and creating dams and such, there really isn’t all that much to this water-way anymore. BUT, there’s this “Baptismal Location” you can visit (as we did… felt like they were – dare I say it – marketing baptism. It was honestly disgusting… get your photo while being baptized! Get your bottle of “Holy River Water!” Get your samples of holy dirt, holy oil, holy smokes! Felt like overturning some tables…) There was a place you could stick your feet in the water, and these fish would eat off your dead skin. Totally exfoliating.

Sea of Galilee

From Deputation

• Small wonder they called it a Sea! Seriously, the most vast body of fresh water I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t even see the farthest end of it! We took a boat to the otherside, ate some horrifically overpriced fish (“Jesus Fish”… the “same fish” that Jesus ate. So I gained like, 200 Spirit Points).

Capernaum

• Now, a Tourist Trap. It was pretty alright, had some sweet reconstructed ruins. A massive Aloe-Vera plant thing that seriously looked alien. Someone made a comment about it being a giant venus fly-trap. Ironic, visit the West Bank, get killed by a plant.

From Deputation

Mount of the Beattitudes.

• Traditionally believed to be the location where Jesus preached His sermon on the mount [Mathew 5-7]. I actually was just reading through that passage, so to be able to put a place to the words: ridiculous. The view of the Sea from there is breathtaking. The church there is also pretty alright, lotsa nuns. More gift shops.

The Golan Heights

[multiple pictures, coming soon]

• !!!!!!!!!!!
• Stunning.
• We spent the night here in a hostel, in this small town up by the border with Syria… I’ve never seen anything like it. The Mountains literally all around, a view down into Israel like nothing else… ending up playing soccer with some kids and Trey and Eric (another HLT participant)… sunset like nothing ever…
• Me and Trey both firmly belive we’d come back to this place… it was also the only place I’d say we got to more than simply “taste” for half an hour, like most the other places listed here.

Hafia

• Most industrialized city in Israel.
• Nuclear Power Plants --> totally sweet [photo coming soon]
• Ba’hi Gardens O_O
• Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

From Deputation

From Deputation

• Neither sticky nor sweet, yet had a killer view
• Place where Elija did some awesome stuff
• Spetacular view of the Meditterean and the Ba’ai Gardens
• Ice Cream Truck

Caesarea

From Deputation

• Beach on the Meditteren
• Were only there for 30 minutes… =(
• Ancient Roman aquaduct right there on the water! Poor choice building on the Sand, silly Romans. Should have visited the Mount of the Beatitudes first…
• Got my jeans pretty soaked, Trey and several others decided to strip down and jump in (Skivvies only…or, as Jenny our Brittish friend would say: Pants only)
• Never getting time at the beach = a piece of my heart never getting satisfied. Right next to the part of my heart that never get peanut butter or bacon or mashed potatoes or tacos or milk or OJ or cerial…..

McDonalds

• Our single act of patriotism. Supporting Cooperate American Supremacy. I opted for for the chicken sandwich from the 10-Sheckle Menu. Total Rip-off. Trey got a Big Mac ™ . Paid for it later.

Oh geez…. *takes big breath*

That’s a lot of stuff, there.

Infused amongst it all, and almost more importantly… I had ample time to reflect while on the bus when I wasn’t socializing.

Praying a ton, reading… and really feeling God working in me about patience and judging others… to unpack this statement completely would take more than what I’ve already said… suffice it to say, there’s some interesting characters on this trip. And my heart, being full, in some respects cannot wait to get home, or to someplace where I don’t have to be on edge. And being patient to let this time do it’s work is key… but I’m starting to miss home. The green forests. The deep blue bodies of water where-ever I turn in Seattle. The Music, oh… the music. The Friends. The Lady… it’s rough. And honestly, there are times where if I could, I’d teleport right over there from here. And then I have to tell myself:

no. This is where I need to be. If I keep looking forward, I’ll miss the significance of the right-now.

And keep telling myself.

And get to my host-home, and feel so completely the opposite of “at home”… almost the exact antithesis. To be tired regardless of how much I sleep.

It is trying to my soul, but I know it must be true: that I’ll be better for this. I’ll be stronger. I’ll have a better understanding of myself, and how stinky I can get. Of who I want to be, and who He wants me to be. Of me. For me. Through me.

Honestly, politics aside, people just need to be loved. That’s all I see here, when it comes down to it…. Everywhere. And we’re all just so stubborn and reluctant to do so…

Christ, preserve me. Uplift my spirit, encourage me and Trey. May Your peace soak us in this thoroughly dusty land…

India Week 2

O how the adventure begins! Our first full week in India has been jam-packed with school, site seeing, sampling of Indian delicacies, yoga, and much more. It’s been full of fun, yet a bit exhausting – needless to say we’re happy it’s finally Sunday, the day of rest.

School:
We thoroughly enjoyed our first full week at the school. Everyday our morning begins at 5am when we get up to go walking with our host mother around the park across the street. After walking around 5 times (30-40minutes) we come home and get ready to go to school. Sarah and I usually make toast or cereal for breakfast along with fresh papaya and banana – the fruit here is soooo good! (we’re spoiled). We eat our breakfast on the rooftop terrace and normally read our bibles for half an hour each morning after breakfast. This has become a great new habit and one we hope to continue when we return home. At 7:25am we catch the school bus to school and take the half an hour ride through the busy and chaotic streets of Bangalore. Once at school, I go to assembly with the younger kids and Sarah goes with the older kids. As assembly with the younger kids we usually practice spelling and saying the day, week, and month, greet eachother, and either sing nursery songs, or do a small activity (such as passing a ball around or learning to blow out a candle). At the assembly for older kids they practice morning exercises, sing a short song, and hear a daily bible story. I’ve been working with the nursery age kids (age 4-8) and Sarah has been working with the kids in second standard level class. The little ones are a bit of a handful, they are always running around, it’s hard to get them to ever sit still, but they are a lot of fun. I have multiple biting and pinching marks as evident battle wounds of struggling to get kids to sit quietly even for a moment. Sarah has been enjoying working with a few of the students one on one teaching reading and colors. In the second standard level class there are 8 students, 7 boys and one girl. There are many more boys than girls at the school, as having learning disabilities is more common among boys (according to our host mom). In the class, Sarah sits between Aswin, a non-verbal autistic child and Mouly, a deaf child. Her work with Aswin is to encourage him to stay focused on the lessons and his class work. In the past few weeks Mouly has taught her the abcs in sign language. She uses that and pictures to describe the lessons and help him complete his class work. Manjunath struggles with reading, so Sarah has created a few worksheets that use the words learned in class and pictures to make sentences. The school has about 100 students, housing a large range of disabilities. Getting to know the teaching staff has been a great opportunity to glimpse another part of Indian culture. The school is very different from schools at home. It’s nice that the entire school is dedicated to special needs kids as it creates a large community and safe place for kids to feel accepted amongst each other and form friendship with other students of their same level of learning. The work is tiring, but the kids are very loving. Prayers that God may work in and through us as we form relations with the students and teachers.

In addition to attending school, we have also had the opportunity of experiencing a little Indian culture on a daily basis. School finishes at 2pm, so we usually have the afternoons open for exploring. The following accounts our daily adventures and new experiences throughout Bangalore. Some come as a bit of a culture shock at times, but we are definitely learning a lot from the Indian people, gaining insights to a different way of life.

Sunday:
Last Sunday we attended church with Prem and Rita (our host parents) at the Indiranagar Methodist Church. The service was longer than what we’re used to; there was even a 20 minute prayer! But the singing was very nice and the worship music was good. We were familiar with most of the worship songs – they were a little taste of home.  Also, for Sunday dinner we went out for Chinese food (our host mother doesn’t enjoy cooking…hahaha). The food was very good. Every restaurant here tends to be a bit over staffed however, there were 4 different waiters watching us eat (a bit unnearving, o well, must be a cultural thing…)

Monday:
On Monday we were back to school. Monday afternoon was had quite the fun cultural experience! We went shopping for our very first saris! Our host mom, Rita took us to the silk and sari shop where we were quickly overwhelmed with a multitude of colors, choices, patterns, and designs of fabric. At the sari shop, they sit you at a table and then start pulling out heaps and heaps of different sari fabrics spread across the table. You simply shake your head yes or no and they continue to pour out more fabrics from the large display of folded saris that runs against every wall of the shop room. We were shopping for saris to wear to the upcoming wedding we will be attending next week! I was so overwhelmed with choices, I thought I wouldn’t ever be able to make a decision. Sarah was a bit more decisisive, but in the end, we both ended up purchasing beautiful saris. Sarah’s sari is deep magenta with fabulous gold trim and lots of sparkly accents – a perfect sari to wear to a wedding where the goal is to “see and be seen” according to Rita. My sari is deep purple (true husky purple pride thru and thru ...hahaha) and is trimmed with a simple gold floral design – chic and sophisticated. After the silk shop, we had to go to the Jeweler to get the appropriate bling to wear with our saris to the wedding. The jewelry is very lavish, yet extrememly inexpensive. It is strikingly similar to jewelry you might wear to play dress up as a child. It’s perfect for the wedding.  We each bought matching purple and maroon bangles. Also, the necklace and earrings come as a set, so we each got blinged-out, diamond-encrusted sets. The man at the jewelry store kept trying to convince me to buy a dangly head piece to wear on my forehead as well; I politely refused. With bangles, earrings, necklace, and sari to match, I didn’t want to over-do it any more than necessary. After leaving the Jeweler, we were off to visit the tailor! Each sari dress must get a custom made belly shirt top, known as a blouse, to match. Thus, at the tailor, they only measured from the bust line up. Hahaha. The front of the sari is covered by drapey fabric, but the back is open. We each got to choose a different custom design for the cut of the back of the blouse. This was a lot of fun.

Tuesday:
On Tuesday, we ventured out on our own! After reading the detailed guidebook section on Bangalore, we decided our best option was to visit one of Bangalore’s main attractions, the Botanical Gardens. We took an auto (small taxi rickshaw) to the gardens, which was a bit difficult, seeing as we’re obvious foreigners, so everyone always wants to rip us off. But luckily our host mom has taught us all the tricks of the trade, so we managed to get an auto for a decent price (still a bit over charged however…haha). When we arrived at the gardens, we followed the guidebook instructions, and hired a buggy tour guide to drive us around the whole of the gardens. The gardens are more than 96 acres. The buggy guide man took a huge liking to us! This was wonderful! He offered to hold our cameras and take our photos for us at EVERY SINGLE stopping point. It was a bit ridiculous to be entirely honest, especially seeing that there were at least 6 other people on the same buggy ride as we were, and he didn’t offer to take their pics nearly as often, it ever. At one point, while we were trying to take a photo of ourselves by outstretching our arm, he snatched up the camera and took a photo of not just Sarah and me, but of the whole buggy ride gang (!), forcing everyone else on the tour to stop and pose for my camera! O gosh, all I can say is he was most flattered when I asked to take a photo with him; I thought his eyes might have begun to tear up. All in all the gardens were a lot of fun. In addition to the attention we received from our guide, we also attracted lots of attention from other people passing through the park. Multiple people came up and asked to take photos with us! And lots of people tried to take sneak photos of us on their cell phones and cameras. People came up and asked our names and wanted to introduce themselves. At one point, a man asked me to hold his baby daughter and pose for a picture! He was so excited I couldn’t refuse. I felt like we were celebrities or something.

After we left the park, we caught an auto home and did some running around with Rita. We went to the grocery store and stopped along the street to drink fresh coconut milk straight out of coconuts! The man simple cut a hole and dropped a straw inside so we could sip on the sweet milk. After the milk was finished, we passed the coconut back to him and he sliced it open to reveal fresh coconut meat/cream for eating. It was delicious. I felt like we were in the tropics!

Wednesday:
On Wednesday afternoon we decided to go exploring with Rita. There is a small lake located fairly close to our house which Rita said had recently renovated with the addition of walking paths around the lake. We all jumped into an auto and went to the lake to take a lengthy stroll around. We started the journey around the lake, but after only 20 short minutes of walking, we encountered a slight problem. Come to find, the path we had thought encircled the entire lake, in fact only went half way around. Our 20 minute walk had landed us in the middle of a garbage pit and 12 foot fence with no exit and nowhere to turn but back the way we had come. Hahaha. I guess it was a naive to assume the renovation would have made a path that went around the lake, why not only half, that’s far enough I suppose. After our half-walk around the lake, we went back home and went out for Indian kabobs. Once again we encountered 5 waiters staring at us eat, I guess we’ll just have to get used to that…but after dinner, we stopped at the sweet shop to sample some Indian delicacies. Most of the candies here are milk based or rice based, as is every food in India. I had no idea you could use rice is so many different new and creative ways; rice cakes, steamed rice, vegetable rice, rice tortillas, rice dessert, rice milk, on and on and on. People who can’t eat wheat/gluten would be in food heaven here!

Thursday:
On Thursday afternoon we went to Rita’s friends house to attend a yoga session. Although we were looking forward to experiencing authentic Indian yoga, we couldn’t have been prepared for what the session had in store for us. The yoga instrucot insisted we come early to the session so he could introduce himself and meet both of us. What this really entailed was the instructor giving us a long-winded lecture on the philosophy of life and how it’s only through yoga a person is able to experience inner peace and happiness. Sarah’s brave soul was quick to counter his argument, stating that we find peace from Jesus and contentment with His plan for our life. This was not acceptable to the yoga instructor. He has been teaching yoga for 36 years and needless to say is a very eccentric man. No matter what we could have said, I doubt he would have listened to a word of it. After our awkward and slightly uncomfortable introducing, we proceded to the yoga class. This was held on the rooftop terrace and we sat on reed mats. It was lovely. Except for the fact that the yoga instructor kept picking on both of us throughout the entire session; there wasn’t one exercise we did correctly the whole hour! The session was more religion focused than anticipated (I have an inkling he was trying to convert us to Hinduism…haha), and the instructor was very intense about breathing properly. Hmmmm. It was a bit odd to say the least. After the session was over the instructor approached Sarah and me and proceeded to look us both up and down and then began evaluating us! I was in complete and utter shock. He told me I have funny spots under my eyes and that I have poor blood circulation and other physical things I should try fixing. He recommended I eat more fennel seeds and a bunch of other jibberish home remedies. The audacity of this man was simply outrageous! Sarah told him thank you, but surprise surprise we were happy with ourselves and our bodies before he began evaluating them and we weren’t in need of any of his advice! Hahaha. I was so happy when it was finally time to leave. I don’t think we’ll be returning for future sessions…

Friday:
On Friday we went to school and then had a very relaxing afternoon. We did a bit of shopping around when we live. I purchased my first India outfit (for daywear, not a sari) and we bought some pirated movies on the street. :) It was a nice afternoon.

Saturday:
We woke up very early on Saturday because we planned a daytrip to the neighboring town of Mysore. We booked the trip through a guided tour bus and were eager to meet the other people traveling on the bus with us. Since it was a guided tour, the only natural assumption was that there would be other tourists from around the world on the bus. I was looking forward to traveling with other American, European, or Asian tourists, so we would better blend in crowds of people. WRONG! When we arrived on the bus, to our great surprise we were the ONLY non-Indian tourists and the ONLY young women on the bus! We couldn’t have been more naïve in our assumption. It turns out Bangalore isn’t a very popular place among tourists and the schools in the northern part of India have summer holiday during the months of June and July, so many of the other people on the bus were Northern Indian Nationals. I have never felt like more of a minority. It’s exhausting always standing out from the crowd, never feeling like you really fit in, and receiving ceaseless stares from onlookers. But that aside, the day trip ended up being a lot of fun. Our guide took a liking to us (we must have looked like lost puppies on the street) because at every tour destination spot, he came and personally delivered the instructions to us, making sure we fully understood and guiding us through the security, camera checks, etc. We visited a beautiful palace, a Hindu temple (one of the eight most holy places in all of S. India), the botanical gardens with a light up dancing fountain, and the silk and sandlewood factory (what Mysore is known for). It was a very long day, but luckily we had packed plenty of snacks for the bus ride and took lots of great pictures. The only slight detraction was the constant haggling of street vendors. They are very persistent and would follow us for ages shouting prices for goods over and over again. Finally I told one man I thought his carving was very ugly and would he please go away. This didn’t work. Our tour guide was able to shoo off a few of the hasselers for us, but the day would have been much less stressful without the constant oncoming of vendors; we must look like easy targets.

That concludes our daily adventures for week one in India. It’s been quite a ride. 

Prayer Requests:
Prayers for good health as our host dad was been a bit under the weather and Sarah missed one day of classes due to pink eye last week. Also, prayers that we may connect with the other teachers at school and form friendships with not only the kids, but with the teaching staff as well. Thanks to God that we are getting along with our host family so well, they are wonderful to us! Prayers for safety. Prayers that God would continue to open our eyes and hearts to a world outside our own; that we may be open to new experiences and learn from different ways of life. Prayers that we adjust to being starred at all of the time and don’t get discouraged or frustrated by this.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read our blog and thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Blan! Blaaaannn! (Team Haiti)

More "blans" (White people) are here! And our team of engineers has more than doubled. Jeff made it here safely, along with another familiar face, Josh Kennedy, Reed a high school student from Georgia and Michael a physics major from Whitworth in Spokane.

Our first day with everyone here, we went out to a new job site to do some surveying. This particular place has a huge pumped water system that supplies irrigation water for 700 people. For those that may not know, surveying is basically taking digital data points with some cool instruments and using them to make a 3D map of an area. From that data, we can then design a solution to the problem. The existing system was washed out by hurricanes a few years back and now it's totally out of service. Our task was to survey the area and exiting pump system to 1) design a newer, better system, and 2) determine whether the existing equipment could still be used. It was a long day out in the sun, but we got everything we needed. We then had a nice lunch of MREs (Army food), picked up the bags from the airport that came late, and headed home for an awesome dinner with the Robinsons. After dinner, we had a great devo lead by Bruce and Deb, and then went home and had some time to hang out, play cards, make gatorade, etc...

Today, we went to Pastor Chribon's church again. It was really hot out, but church here is awesome. Every Sunday the pastors ask if there is anyone in the congregation who is new and wants to accept Jesus as savior. This time there were a few new believers there, which is amazing to see. Haitians also love to sing. There is always a lot of variety in the worship music. Some songs are done in Creole, some in French, some songs are sung by choirs, some are solos, some are duets. You can definitely hear an African influence on the musical style. It's very interesting for us to try and sing in a different language and still be in rhythm. And of course, Sunday means lunch made by Madame Chrisbon. Sooo good! New favorite items on the menu were breaded, fried cheese balls, and pasta salad.

Also this week, We worked on building a basketball court, pouring cement at Bruce and Deb's house, tying more rebar. Adam and I also got the priveledge of going deeper into the mountains than Bruce has ever gone before to find a new spring. It was quite the adventure, but we found the spring. We had to do a lot of off roading in the Land Cruiser, hike through a jungle, and climb halfway up a mountain to get there. We also took a little time to climb farther up the mountain. We reached a peak, and the view was amazing. We could see all of northwest Haiti. What an incredible experience!

We're all doing really well. Thank you all for prayer and support. Hope all is well with the other teams and at home.

God's Grace,

JJ&A

Ecuador: Las pollitas americanas = the American chicks. This is what they call us here.

Ginormous bullet ants. Tarantulas. Mosquitos the size of your hands. Giant flying beetles. A humidity that left us sleepless and heat rashed[Erica is still suffering from this malady, if you can believe it]. Staying in the basement in mattresses on a perceived bug-infested floor. This my friends, is Lita.

Last Friday and Saturday, Team Ecuador treked to Lita with a bus full of Kentucky doctors. Yes, they had accents, yes, they were cool. Though they laughed when we asked if they ate Kentucky fried chicken.

Anyway. Each morning we would clamber into the back of a truck and ride windy and crumbling roads up the mountain to a remote village of indigenous people. Although a bit terrifying at times [Jamie has video to prove it] the area is absolutely beautiful. Very much a jungle with beautiful butterflies, banana trees and the sounds of cicadas abound. We each had various jobs at the clinic the doctors set up. Mandi and Jamie weighed everyone who came through and put it on their charts, Kellie was compiling necessary meds and toothbrushes into take home baggies for the patients, Erica kept track of who came in and out and directed families to open doctors, and Allyssa treked supplies and food for the team up and down the mountain with our pastor host, Washington. There were a lot of heartbreaking cases of widowed 2o year old mothers who couldn´t take care of their children and one man who blew his hands off while fishing with dynamite. Don´t ask.

Other notable mentions about Lita: we pretty much suffocated when we all bug-sprayed the crap out of our beds for fear of waking up with a beetle on our faces. [Trust me, all the locals really built up the bug issue, so we were terrified]. Jamie slipped and fell in the mud multiple times while going up the mountain. Preeeeetttyyy sure she has the record for most falls in the dirt this trip. Erica is surprised because normally she is the biggest klutz. And last but not least, Mandi freaked out when a puppy woke her up one morning. It was a harmless, tiny, little white ball of fluff, people. Needless to say Erica still mocks her to this day for it.

On our way back from Lita we stopped in Otavalo, which has the biggest artesian market in all of Ecuador, if my sources don´t deceive me. We were all afraid to buy something at first, because seriously, in Otavalo once you start buying you don´t stop buying. FYI: Allyssa is a heartless haggler. "Cinco dolares. No mas." Accompanied by a flat out hand motion. That´s a direct quote. Erica also felt like a baller when she got a sweet handpainted item for 8 dollars instead of 14. Who knew?

The church we are living in, "Amigos en Cristo" also had it´s first ever service in English for all of the expatriates living in Ecuador. There was a great turnout, we heard a message from one of the German missionaries here and we sang worship songs. Everyone was really happy to finally here something about Jesus in English. Seriously. There is only so much you can get out of a sermon when you don´t fully speak the language. Unfortunately Erica and Allyssa were sick during this long-awaited for event. They were really bummed, but there is another one in two weeks, so they are eagerly awaiting it.

For the past week or so there has been a giant festival going on with all of the indigenous people celebrating San Juan. We had no idea that this many people even lived in Cotacachi. They are literally coming out of the woodwoork and mountains to celebrate in the town squares. Notable things about this festival: All of the men wear giant furry chaps and large black cardboard cowboy hat-ish-things. Also? They like to dance through the streets. And throw rocks and fruit at each other. You heard me correctly friends, they throw rocks at each other. For fun. Only in Ecuador! It has been really cool to see how other people celebrate and dont worry, we haven´t witnessed any rock throwing, only heard about it from everyone we talk to.

We have still been working with families this week: babysitting, working in restaraunts, cleaning, cooking and sometimes just sitting and watching how the people live here. We all really love the people here. They never hesitate to make us feel like we are family too and have a home in Cotacachi.

We also attend Bible studies three times a week and absolutely love them. Of course, the messages and conversations are all in Spanish. Sometimes we have trouble with Bible references - "wait, was that mateo veinte-cuatro or mateo treinta-cuatro??" But we absolutely love them since they are with the families that we work with during the day a lot of the time.

Other notables:
- pretty much everyone has been sick off and on. Save Mandi and Jamie. How they do it, I have no idea. Kellie, Allysa and Erica have all had their turns at being sick. Wah wah wah.
- Allyssa made BALLER cinnamon rolls from scratch. She will be getting a request for more soon. Trust me.
- Erica and Mandi changed their first diaper today while babysitting. Yes, it is gross. Yes, it smells. But you know what? They were warriors. And they high-fived after. Preettty much an epic moment.
- Mandi and Erica also very [almost] seriously considered buying a baby duck from a guy selling them on the street today. It was just so cute! After weighing the pros and cons, they decided that it probably wouldn´t be very practical to have a baby duck in the church. It also could have rabies. So sadly, they decided against it.

Well that´s all I have for you know, but stay tuned folks, and next week be ready for another exciting adventure with las pollitas americanas in the beautiful country of Ecuador!

"Ya neva know... only in Ecuador."

D.R.: The two weeks are up!

So we had to wait two weeks without internet access but now we are back online and able to update you all on whats happening! We wanted to give a quick update on some of the different things we've experienced thus far and go into detail a little later.

We started off with tons of mosquito bites, amoebas and bacteria. Totally agree with team Ecuador that all mosquitoes should die! We are working with six other ladies from Oregon and Tennessee plus our two fearless leaders; Ingrid and Desiree. Over half the team has gotten sick but we've got the process down of get to the clinic, deposit our samples and get some meds. (sadly Mary's in the middle of the process right now so please be praying for her!!)

Meredith and Megan purchased a live un-plucked chicken on a string and carried it from the market to our home base called Casa Betesda. This involved walking, a "concho" ride (a cross between a motorcycle and a dirt bike meets a scooter) and a van ride just to get Richard the chicken back home ...in time for lunch.

While talking about conchos we fit three girls plus the driver and managed to safely make it to our destination(s).

We are all getting used to living with our host families and think we can all agree that despite the language barriers and acclimating to their family rhythm and culture- we love 'em!

Theres been lots of plantains, yuca, mangu, chinola and RICE & BEANS. There has also been a phase with us Interns about CRAVING peanut butter and oreos, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter and ice cream, peanut butter and just about anything that tastes like home.

Last but not least for this quick and dirty update:

MWF- In the mornings Meredith has been tutoring grammar, reading and math ALL IN SPANISH in the batey Los Robles. In the afternoon she goes to the COTN Office to teach English to about 20 of staff's children.

Each morning Mary and Megan have been working in the clinic; helping out with a visiting doctor team, updating crazy storage spaces, and observing patient visits. On MWF afternoons they also go to teach English; Mary in the batey Don Basco with lots of younger children and Megan is off to the batey Algodon to teach about 20 older students English as well.

T/TH mornings, Meredith works at the office thus far creating order out of the chaos that is the storage room. Then in the afternoons we all head out to work with the Sponsorship Program, helping to update profiles and photos of the kids.

In closing- all of us interns are excited to be getting together this sunday for a Fourth of July Celebration- American Style at the beach (minus the fireworks, minus the hotdogs, plus all the fun!).

Until next time!!- M^3