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