25 Things I Learned in Ecuador

25. The proper “bus stance”   (i.e. one that keeps me from falling into some else’s lap)

24. Some natural medicines are totally legit, I’ll be keeping oregano and jello on hand for tea when my stomach hurts. (No, one does not put those two together)

23. Its really easy to accidentally say bad words while learning a second language…and no one will ever let you live down something really embarrassing you've said… (learning another language always makes for good stories)

22. Anything goes with rice--lasagna, noodles, mashed potatoes…anything…and I am truthfully going to miss it.

21. Tuna is a fruit not a fish.

20. Taking too much pepto turns your tongue black.

19. There are proper techniques for eating certain foods…seminary students enjoy waiting until after the first try to explain them…I love my friends (…I may also be guilty of doing this to our new students :)

18. The tooth fairy is actually a mouse (Raton Perez)

17. It’s possible to get sun burnt when it’s cloudy

16. How to play “Settlers of Catan” …I think I’m better at it in Spanish than English, and for all of you skeptics… we've started a nerd revolution in Ecuador.

15. Bartering techniques: Step 1: Ask an Ecuadorian friend what a good price is. Step 2: Offer a price lower that what you’re willing to pay. Step 3: Buy in bulk or go in with a friend if possible. Step 4: Know when to stand your ground and walk away if necessary. Step 5: Enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you just bought what you wanted for half the price of the last tourist :)

14. Often you learn the most about your own culture while living in a different one.

13. Just because you literally live 20 minutes away from the Equator does not mean you shouldn’t bring a winter coat…and a scarf.

12. What American foods are “weird” for other cultures…raw vegetables, peanut butter, broccoli and cheese, cereal and cold milk, sugar packed deserts…I’ve also learned how to get my Latino friends to try them…hehe.

11. There are some things about living at 9,000 ft. that just don’t make sense. Although I’ve ran a 10K at that altitude, the stairs up to the NILI office still get me.

10. How to ask for directions in Spanish…I’ve been lost a time or two.

9. The closest I can get to scoring a goal in Ecuador is in Foosball.

8. Not all sermon illustrations are culturally relevant…even ones about chocolate chip cookies, darn.

7. Some cultures are better at sharing than us.

6. I have not outgrown pajama parties…

5. Often the things that change our lives most are the things we never saw coming…

4. Church services are way cooler in three languages…particularly if those three languages are Spanish, English and Quichua

3. Sometimes watching someone else experience something new for the first time is almost as good as experiencing it for the first time yourself.  

2. NILI is the best Spanish-immersion program in the world!...and I have no problem shamelessly plugging it.

1. I’ve fallen in love with Ecuador, its culture and its people.  What started off as a crazy adventure became “home”.  I made some incredible friends who will probably never truly know how much they impacted my life. I will miss you Ecuador, Seminaristas, NILI staff and Students. Que Dios les bendiga. 

 

Catching Up: New Experiences and Old Traditions

I hope you all are doing well. I’m over half way through my year in Ecuador…and I’m loving it! I’d like to briefly share a few of the new experiences I’ve had this year.

Galapagos Islands: I never went as a student because the trip was too expensive. This year our director decided to send me along as a member of the staff…talk about some job benefits. It was amazing! I went snorkeling for the first time (I almost drowned because I didn't know how to swim with flippers, haha--ironic considering I was technically on the Swimming and Diving Team in high school) Luckily I got the hang of it and now its one of my new favorite things and the best part was I got to swam with seals, sea turtles and sharks! 

Incan Ruins: Although the center of the Incan Empire was located in Peru (which borders us on the south), the Incan’s also controlled parts of Ecuador and I got to visit some of the ruins! (I'm a history nerd, so it was pretty awesome)

Easter Eggs: Another really fun thing about my time here has been the opportunities I’ve had to share about my own culture.  One Easter tradition we shared with our Ecuadorian and Colombian friends was dying eggs. Everyone found it really amusing.  Some of them were a little skeptical about whether it was really okay to eat a purple egg.    

4^th of July:We had fireworks, patriotic music, and typical campfire food.  For many of the seminary students it was the first time they had ever eaten a s’more... I had to explain how to do it. 

Mom’s Visit: This was definitely one of the highlights of my summer. It was so much fun to show her all the cool things about where I live and introduce her to my friends here.  She got to try a bunch of new foods, travel all over the country and we even went zip lining! (Yay, Mom!)

While I’ve told you about some of the fun stuff…don’t worry, I’ve being working too. Actually, the first few months here where quite a challenge as I learned my position while I continued to improve my Spanish.  However, I feel like I’ve grown more in these past six months as a leader, spiritual mentor, and administrator than maybe all my years in college.  Although NILI is a Spanish immersion program, two of our core purposes are to promote the on-going spiritual development of our students and to equip our students to serve God in intercultural contexts.  A number of our former students are now serving in ministry inside and outside of the States.  While they're here our students are involved in childcare for underprivileged children, nursing home ministries, Compassion International as well as involvement in various Nazarene churches all around Ecuador.  

We start off every semester by telling our students that they are here to serve, but what many of them don’t anticipate is the extent to which God uses this experience to change their own lives.  The majority of our students are in college one of the prime times in a person’s life when they are seeking direction for the future.  All of our students have to leave many things behind in order to come to Ecuador: their culture, their family, their friends, basically everything that is familiar to them. Every student also faces challenges during the semester whether that is culture shock, the language barrier or homesickness.  However, they are no longer able to deal with these challenges in the same way they did in the States.  Their closest friends/family are not here to comfort them.  Many times they can’t even depend on their own intelligence to get them out of a jam because they lack the ability to communicate.  This is the time that we really encourage the NILI students to reach out to God.  I have seen time and time again how much easier it is for our students to hear God’s voice among unfamiliar circumstances than while in their comfort-zone.  That’s why I think it’s so important to expose college students to experiences like NILI. The encounters they have with God can radically re-shape their futures, and we’ve seen this to be true on many occasions. 

Another exciting thing that God has been doing in NILI, is opening doors so that we can get further involved in training missionaries.  I’m so excited about what God is doing in Ecuador and how he is incorporating NILI into His plans. I would appreciate it if you would join me in praying that God will continue to send university students and missionaries to NILI and that He will use this program to impact the lives of our students and the people of Ecuador. 

Highlights: Jungle Trip--Ambushed

Jungle Trip: I’ve been to the jungle a couple of times, but it’s always an adventure. Although we do similar activities, this trip is never the same.

Chimborazo—made it to 17,000 ft.:  I finally figured out that the highest I’ve climbed to is probably around 17,000 ft. that’s 2,000 ft. higher than Mt. Rainer…crazy. Also, I discovered it’s really difficult, make that impossible, to light a match at that altitude. We tried to celebrate one of the girl’s birthdays on Chimborazo, but we couldn’t get the stinking candles to light because of the lack of oxygen. Haha, who would of thought?

Monkey!!

Monkey Ambush: As we were getting out of the van just outside the monkey reserve, we got ambushed. A few of the monkeys had escaped from the reserve and one decided to take refuge in our van…and he did NOT want to come out. We quickly discovered that monkeys like Doritos, Gatorade, and Bubble Gum…he left a few wet spots and sticky strings of bubble gum on the seats…we finally coxed him out with a bag of bread.  However, he outsmarted us in the end because when we finally got him out of the van and tried to toss the bread back in…we tossed; he jumped, snatched the bread out of midair with his tail and was 30 yards away, scarfing down our bread before we knew what’d happened.

One of the NILIs with Dewey

Amazon--Meeting Dewey: I had the privilege of flying back into the jungle with this group to visit the Waorani tribe.  The Waorani tribe is famous for having killed several missionaries but later being led to Christ by two women--a wife and a sister of the missionaries who were killed.  This time when I went I got to visit a different community. When we landed, we were met by Dewey.  Dewey was a part of the group of Waorani men who killed the missionaries. The first thing he did was pray for us in Waorani, his native language  As I spent time with him and his community I couldn’t help but be struck by the power God has to change a man’s heart.  Now, he’s people live in the peace and joy of Christ.  One of the local missionaries shared a stat with us that hit me hard.  Before the two women entered the Waorani tribe 70-80% of adult deaths were homicides. The Waorani people had literally been wiping themselves out. However, after just two years of living with the Waorani that number dropped to 5%.  The death of five men brought life to a whole people.

Carnaval—soaking the NILIs: This year I was on-campus during Carnaval…and I had a BLAST!  In Ecuador, Carnaval is a public free-for-all.  Any stranger has the right to drench you with water or cover you in floor.  People often start “playing” Carnaval weeks in advance.  By the time we reached the actually holiday I was wearing my swimsuit underneath my clothes.  I’m pretty sure I went through more changes of clothes than anyone else.   

We made sure the NILIs “enjoyed” this tradition to the fullest...aka we ambushed them.  We gathered together a group of seminary students and staff.  Several of the guys climbed up onto the roof of the building where they were having class and the rest of us hid around the outdoor stairwell that they have to use to leave.  As soon as they made it to the stairs, the guys on the roof started drenching them with buckets of water, while we pelted them with water balloons and flour. They got soaked, and as a result a seminary-wide water fight broke out and lasted for the next two hours….almost everyone on campus got involved seminary students, missionaries, and NILIs.  Definitely one of my favorite days so far...

 Next Up: Ministry Trip…off to the Coast!

I'm Back!!!

Well, I’m back in Ecuador and this time I’m staying for a whole year!  I guess I better fill you in on how I ended up back here…

Hiking Chimborazo

As you know last year I decided to go to Ecuador in order to study in a Spanish immersion program called NILI.  When I first arrived in Ecuador it was very clear to me that God had called me to NILI but for what purpose, I was still unsure.  I had a desire to learn Spanish, however, devoting an entire year of my life (between earning the money and the program itself) seemed a little extreme.  

My first few weeks in Ecuador were really difficult.  I knew very little Spanish and could barely communicate with my roommate. I ended most days with a headache and I just couldn’t understand what God was doing. On the way back from one of our first trips, God began talking to me about coming back to Ecuador.  It dawned on me that maybe the issue wasn’t that my circumstances were too difficult but that my expectations about God’s purpose for this trip were too small.   

As the semester went on I fell in love with Ecuador and luckily my Spanish improved.  However, I still couldn't imagine how I would ever end up back in Ecuador.  Over the summer a position opened up with the NILI program and I was asked to come back as a member of the staff. It's crazy how things worked out and when the time came I knew that God had been preparing me to make the decision for months.  What’s funny is that what I’m doing right now with NILI is a dream I’ve had for years but could never fully articulate.  God knows the desires of our hearts even when we don’t and he’s willing to lead us along that path amidst our own protests. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Israelites and God’s promises. This years’ experience has taught me two things: 1) How easy it is to stand just outside the Promise Land trembling in fear.  2) God is a God of abundance and He always fulfills He’s promises.     

What I’m Doing:

I am the Residential Life Director for NILI.  This semester we have a group of seven girls which has been great.  I’m really enjoying getting to know them. One of my main responsibilities is to coordinate between the NILI program and the seminary were we live.  It’s such a privilege to be a part of this community.  I love sharing life with the seminary students and the NILIs and I'm looking forward to getting involved in ministry in one of the local Nazarene churches as well. 

In my next blog a post some of the highlights so far for this semester.  Even though I lived here for 6 months last year. I’ve already had several “firsts”. 

I’ll be updating soon…

Two Weeks Left: Cloud Forest-- No lights, No water, No problem

A couple of weeks ago the NILIs decided to take a weekend trip to Mindo a small tourist town in a cloud forest, known for its bird watching and activities like tubing, hiking, and zip lining. A number of people had told us that we needed to go there before for we left, so we decided to squeeze into one of our last free weekends in Ecuador. I was extra excited for this trip because it was the first weekend outing that my roommate, Carmita, was able to join us.  

As always we took a bus to Mindo. Shortly before arriving in Mindo, we heard a huge thud as the bus came to a sudden stop…our bus driver had tried to run over a tree that was blocking the road…obviously he was unsuccessful. After unwedging and dragging it off the road, we were back on our way. By the time we got to Mindo it was dark. In fact, it was unusually dark; there wasn’t a light on in the entire city. Turns out that about an hour before we arrived, a huge storm had hit Mindo. It was the worst storm they had seen in thirty years. There was no power, no running water, and trees were down all over the city…some of the locals were comparing it to a hurricane. We weren’t entirely sure how bad the damage was since it was so dark nor were we sure if we’d be to do any of the activities that we were planning on doing that morning. It wasn't likely that the power was going to come on any time soon.  So, we went hunting through the pitch-black city for something to eat and we spent the rest of the night playing mafia by candle light. Afterwards, we all went to our rooms to try to figure out how to work the mosquito nets before dropping off to sleep.

The next morning it was clear that the storm had wreaked havoc on the city.  There were trees and power lines down everywhere.  Zip lining through the forest was definitely out of the question. We ate breakfast in a picnic area next to river while watching a number of different kinds of hummingbirds. Then we went on hike through the forest the forest.  A couple of people in group had to use machetes to clear the path since there were so many trees down. We ended the hike with coffee and tea, while we watched 50-some hummingbirds from our trail guide's back porch.  That afternoon we went to a chocolate factory and I ate the best brownie I’ve probably ever eaten in my life.  There aren’t many foods that I miss from the States but brownies are definitely one of them.

Later, our group decided split up.  Part of the group went to a butterfly garden and the rest of us decided to go tubing…and by tubing I mean like white water tubing. It was crazy! We had 5 tubes tied together, we sat on top, and hung on to the ropes. In order to steer, our guides would jump into to the water and try to push us off the incoming rocks. The water was freezing and we got soaked but it was amazing! Before going we had to wait next to the river for our guides. There was a swarm of bugs and within about 20 minutes I got over 100 bug bites…oops, I guess I won’t be forgetting the bug spray next time.

For dinner we ate BBQ!…I think the only food I miss more than brownies is BBQ (yes, I am from Kansas City). We were planning on having a bonfire and making s’mores ‘Ecuadorian style’ (which means using flavored marshmallows and the closest thing we can find to graham crackers) However, when we got back to the hostal the owners told us that there was a gas leak somewhere near by so starting a fire probably wasn’t a good idea. So instead we decided to all pool the snacks we had stashed away for the trip and tell stories. We huddled in one of the rooms dumped all our junk food on one of the beds and spent the night laughing about all the stupid stuff we did as kids…it felt just like camp.

The next morning we decided to hike down to a waterfall were we could all go swimming.  At one point on the hike we had repel down a muddy slope, some of us were more or less sliding down. I made it all the way to the bottom and starting celebrating my success just as I stepped back, tripped over the stake that was holding the rope, flipped over onto my butt and started sliding the rest of the way down the trail. The 20 people watching thought it was hilarious…there were even a couple taking video. 

The river/swimming spot had a huge water slide with a good 10 foot drop into the river. We needed some instruction before trying it out because there was a Gigantic waterfall a little ways down stream and the current was really fast that day, but no worries the was a proven safety system in place...all you needed to do was simply grab the close line that was strung across the river before going over the edge, no problem. Okay so there were some guys that would jump into help if it looked like someone wasn’t going to make it…lol. I hope my mom isn’t reading this. Well, the slide was amazing and the water was freezing! 

After the slide we decided to jump off a 30 foot cliff into the river. The trick was to not jump too far out because you didn’t want to hit the slope on the other side. I’ve jumped from that high up before, but I had a friend that wanted to try it for the first time.  Being a former diver, she asked me for a little advice. As soon as she jumped off I realized that I forgot to mention that it really hurts if you accidently sit down…when she hit the whole crowd grimaced at the sound. Having smacked a time or two myself, all I could think was, “yep, that hurt” Luckily, she’s tough and she got some really cool bruises out of the deal. (and by that I mean the back of her legs were entirely black and blue)

On the way back to the hostal, we rode on top of a “chiva”—which is an open air van with benches welded to the top.  We kept having to duck in order to avoid getting hit in the face by branches. Before we got into town we had to hop down and get inside because riding on top is technically illegal…um, the van has benches welded on top…clearly people sit up there… 

We grabbed lunch from a street vender and headed home. I did manage to squeeze one more mishap before we officially made it home. As I getting off the bus, I totally slipped down the stairs.  I'm way clumsier here…since we're at 9,000ft, I’ve just been saying that it’s the lack of oxygen to my brain. 

Ministry Week & Climbing the World's Tallest Mountain (if you measure from the center of the earth)

Week #: I've lost count

A couple of weeks ago we had a whole week off of classes in order to do ministry projects. We spent the first five days painting local churches. By the fourth church we were pros and sick of yellow paint.  Now we’re all resisting the urge to scrape the pealing paint that we find around campus, we can spot it from a mile away.  Several of the churches were lacking in the ladder department so we had to find lots of creative ways to reach the high spots…We tried scaling fences and exterior walls, stacking chairs, and tying paint brushes to bamboo poles.  We also did a little bit of concrete work…I started having flashbacks to some mission trips I went on to Brazil. However, here in Ecuador we had to mix everything by hand (and by that I mean 'shovel'). We had a lot of people so it went fast. Even though we were all exhausted by the end of it, it was an awesome few days.  

I think one of the coolest parts of the ministry week was when we were working in one of the indigenous churches along side some of the local people.  There is a guy in our group that is 6’2” and played football in college and one point he was standing next to one of the little (4’8”ish) indigenous ladies in her traditional clothing and it just hit me, “wow, we are all part of the same church, the same body, we’re getting a tiny glimpse of heaven. When we go on trips, we usually try to bring seminary students with us which makes trips way more fun and helps us speak in Spanish.  We spent most of the week in Otavalo and stayed in the same hostal that we’d been at before.  We spent several nights around the campfire playing games and singing songs in Spanglish.  Twice on this trip we ate hamburgers the size of my face and one was filled with French fries.  We also learned in Otavalo that if you hear an ice cream truck, don’t chase after it—you’ll be disappointed.  The ice cream trucks here don’t play music…but the trash trucks do…

For the second half of the week, we went to Riobamba.  We had the incredible privilege of attending the ordination of a couple of our professors.  It was a special time for all of us and it was particularly interesting for me since its something I’m looking forward to in the future.  Early Saturday morning we set off to climb Chimborazo which is 20, 561 feet high. Since it’s located almost on the equator, its peak is the closest point on earth to the sun.  For a couple of hours it’s possible that we were the closest people on earth to the sun.  

We started our hike at a cemetery of all the people who have died on Chimborazo…that wasn’t disconcerting at all… A few of us climbed way passed the end of the trail. We made it to the ice cap which was about as far as we could go without equipment.  About the time we made it to the ice cap rocks started falling, it started hailing and when we turned around realized we were totally engulfed in clouds. We had joked about bring sleds to use on the mountain side…we could have used them on the way down. The first part was so steep and full of the snow that we just slid down on our butts. Super fun, but so cold. Since most of us didn’t think to pack gloves when going to Ecuador we used socks.

After not having had classes for a week we were all a little worried that we’d lost a significant amount of Spanish. However, Monday morning after we got back my roommate told me that I had been talking in Spanish in my sleep the night before.  Apparently, a foreign language can’t even deter that little habit. 

Next Up...Mindo: Adventures in the Cloud Forest

What’s white, pink, and brown…and melts in the sun? …Me!

 Last weekend got off to a great start Friday night when we tried to teach the seminary students how to play the infamous “Animal Game”. To make it more difficult,  we used animal motions and sounds…we quickly discovered that animals have different sounds in Spanish which made the game absolutely hilarious. 

THE BEACH:  The next day we took off for the beach.  The city we went to was about 7 hours away so we took an overnight bus trip.  They showed the movie “Meet the Spartans”, a parody of movie 300. I thought this was super funny because the whole point of the movie is to make U.S. cultural references, so I’m pretty sure we were the only ones who fully understood it even though it was in Spanish.  Although it was pitch black outside when we stepped off the bus, I immediately knew we were at the beach because it was about 20 degrees warmer.  I got on the bus wearing two shirts and a hoodie because Quito is in the mountains…yeah, that didn’t last long. I hadn't experienced that kind of humidity since I lived in KC!  

CARNAVAL: The beach was packed for Carnaval, which is a world-wide celebration that takes place before the start of Lent.  Different countries have different ways of celebrating Carnaval. Here in Ecuador, people spray each other with ‘foam’ (‘espuma’- their version of silly string) and throw water, eggs and flour. Basically, if you’re not willing get wet or dirty, then don’t leave your house.  Several random strangers on the street squirted me with water...apparently I’m an easy target. At one point, I noticed some ladies leaning out of the fifth story window of their apartment…buckets of water quickly followed…Another time we (that is our group of eight 20-somethings) got chased up a gigantic hill by four ten year olds who were trying to soak us. We also discovered that the ‘spray foam’ can dye your skin blue. If I thought being a gringa screamed ‘easy target’, looking like smurf is worse.  It was all tons fun and what better place to “play Carnaval” than at the beach?

And of course the beach was gorgeous! The water was like bath water. We spent most of our time playing the waves, laying out on the beach soaking up sun, and chowing down on the local food. There were venders walking all over the beach. We ate a lot of frozen yogurt, ice cream, and salchipapas (hot dogs mixed with French fries). There was also a Reggaeton concert and some indigenous dancing. But I think my two favorite parts of the trip were: 1) the sunsets 2) sitting around the campfire at night on the beach looking at the stars…it doesn’t get much better than that.  We had a little bit of trouble making it back home…and by that I mean, we almost missed our bus, it was literally pulling out of the parking lot when we arrived. I loved the beach, but wow, I got burnt! Mom, promise I reapplied my sunscreen like 10 times a day, but apparently it doesn’t really matter when you’re as white as I am.  I should have known when I saw a notice with directions to the nearest dermatologist posted inside the bus on the way to beach, whoops. My fingers even got burnt! I didn’t even know that was possible! Now, I look like a Neapolitan ice cream: I’m a little tan, really burnt, and somehow still kind of white…what?

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING: Last weekend I went to the beach and this weekend I climbed a mountain!  We woke up this morning, hopped on a bus, and picked a mountain. We ended up choosing a mountain that overlooks the monument that marks the equator. The monument looked huge when we walked passed it on the way to the mountain, but once we got to the top it looked like one of the tiny key chains we had seen in the gift shop.  I somehow managed to get stuck by a giant cactus several times while I was trying to "pretend" to touch it for a picture, whoops. Well, we’re already planning what mountain to climb next--preferably one without dangerous plants...