Ecuador- Good-byes, familiarity , and salsa dancing with Icecream.

6-17

Sheri and Manaal left at a very early hour. I woke up at 3am to bid them goodbye. It was very sad to see them go. I wish I had been able to spend more time with them as they waited for their ride to the airport but I was much to tired. I slept until 10am and then proceeded to take hours to fully wake up to my usual cheery self.  Jen and I spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon taking care of some clinic things then went out. First stop was the Lavanderia to drop off our dirty clothes.  After all the hard work of dropping off our laundry, we got some frozen yogurt and pan de yuka.  Can I just say that I love pan de yuka. SOOOO good! We then visited two pharmacies; the first pharmacy stop was just to buy smell good lotion, and the second was to purchase bajalinguas (tongue depressors.). I love being here. We know our way around now and feel ok to walk around without a male bodyguard. Of course, now that we know our way around, it is time to leave our church home. 
After our early afternoon stroll, we made plans to visit the Malecon.
We had some friends that didn't get to go with us before and wanted to go with us and I was anxious to go back just in hopes of finding colorful beaded earrings. So we met up with Victor, Checho, Andres and another friend (I feel terrible that I cannot remember his name) and headed out for the Malecon. I walked the whole way there with Checho. We had a really good talk, and he also taught me some more Spanish and I helped him with his English. I love learning Spanish with him, he is such a patient teacher. Checho could not stay long because he had to do some sort of work. We said good-bye to him and then started walking up the steps toward the light-house. It was about 400 steps up.

The last 40 steps were closed, which kept us from the light house, but it brought us up high enough to see a beautiful view of Guayaquil.

It was dark by this point so we looked out and saw all the lights of the city. It was amazing. As we started walking down, we kept our eyes open for any places to eat. We found a really small place that was advertizing sandwiches and pizza. Once we sat down we were told that pizza really was our only option, so pizza it was.

We sat around the table eating pizza and talking about great things. YOu know the usual, "what are your dreams?", "what do you do now?" and things like that. I don't feel like I need to really type out all of that but know that those are the conversations that friendships are built on. AS we are sitting there eating our icecream, Salsa music can be heard outside coming from a nearby restaurant. Andres tells me that he will salsa with me even though we could only use one hand because of the coconut Popsicles in our other hand. OF COURSE I CAN SALSA WITH ONLY ONE HAND, SILLY BOY!
So he and I went outside and salsa danced while we ate ice-cream.
It was a pretty romantic (and lets face it, sappy) moment. I wouldn't trade it for anything though, and the fact that I had coconut icecream while it was happening makes it an even fonder moment. 
 We finished walking down the stairs and at the bottom found a bunch of tents full of pretty things being sold. I bought some bracelets. One has an "H" on it, thus I bought it, and I bought one like it (but not with an "H" on it ) also for Julia. HOORAY!
We all crowded onto a metro car to get back. It was so packed. Imagine the most crowded bus or train you have been on in the States, and then add another 50 people or so. It makes things exciting though.

Ecuador- Ceraceta, Lions, Mice and late night Ice Cream parties

6-16
It was an early morning departure. We left the church at 8am for Ceraceta.

We got there around 9 and had to start teaching almost right away. Manaal began by teaching about nutrition.  She got the kids excited and involved. We then did a skit about a wealthy king who dressed as a beggar to visit his kingdom. He found that those villagers who had the most would give him nothing and the family with the least gave everything they had.   The kids really liked it and laughed as we over exaggerated as we acted. I then did a teaching on dehydration. Eric was my translator this time. It was so different having him translate for me. I felt like my teaching was a completely failed attempt this time. Everyone else assured me that it wasn't but I still felt that I could have done better.

We then did one more skit. This skit was the parable of the King who asked his servant to pay back a debt, but forgave the debt when the servant told him that he could not pay. The forgiven servant then demanded a payment from one of his debtors that owed him the smallest amount. The forgiven man was unrelenting in wanting his payments. I hope you know the rest of the story.
In our skit we replaced the King with a Lion (the king of the jungle), A monkey was the forgiven servant, and the man with the small debt was played by me, a timid mouse.
It was a riot. The kids were laughing so hard.

After the children thanked us and gave us many hugs.  I couldn't believe how much love they showed us.  I was hugged by so many children that I almost fell over a couple of times.  When I sat down, a group of girl came and sat by me. I just wished I could have talked with them.

 We then walked to the church there in Ceraceta. We sat in the church and rested as a local family made us lunch. I taught the group how to make 8-pointed origami stars.

We then walked to a nearby house and rested in hammocks until it was time to eat lunch with them. As is a reoccurring theme in this story, the meal was HUGE, I was stuffed by the end of it and thought I might explode.
We then prayed with the family before leaving to do some house visits.
Manaal and I went with Andres and found a house with many people to do check ups on. It is always a great time to work on a team with Manaal.
We saw one lady with a crazy high BP and then an elderly lady in the same house with the BP of an active teenager, though she was having some other health problems that led us to believe that it could possibly be TB. Upon digging a bit deeper into the history of this illness we were able to better  determine what was going on and give appropriate advice. We made sure to have Dr.Sheri talk with her though.

church in Ceraceta

We prayed with the family quickly then and ran to the van to be driven to the Guayaquil church.  Next thing we know, 2 hours had passed and we were rushing around getting ready to leave when Christian and Marlon come upstairs and ask about Manaal and Sheri because they had gifts for them. They also said that they had a surprise for Manaal and Sheri tonight. We went downstairs and met Pastor Caluca (the pastor of the Nigeria church). We found taxis and all headed to Pastor's house.  At his house we sat around his living room and talked about many things. He asked me again about what my dream was. He thought that I had shared too little before and wondered if I really had more of a dream than what I had said a week or so before. I told him what was going on in my life. About my housing situation, my family's living situation, things about my work, and mostly I told him that I was just confused. I was LOVING life in Ecuador. My heart was so alive, I was so happy.

I was just struggling with the dichotomy of if I was so happy because I was doing the work that I am meant to do, or because i am in the place where i am supposed to be.
Manaal also told him about where she was in life right now. He encouraged us and prayed for us.
We were then served a large meal that his wife had prepared. We sat around the table laughing and talking. It is people like this that mae me love Ecuador.  We all were getting tired half way through dinner. It had been a long day for all of us.  I was so excited for a shower and bed once we got back to the church.
We all said goodbye to Andres and headed into the church.

I got out of the shower and expected to find the girls in the room packing and resting. TO my surprise I found a group of people sitting around the table, including Andres (who had never left apparently) eating ice cream and talking. This was the surprise that Marlon and Christian were talking about. A group of our friends were sending Manaal and Sheri off with a small party.
We sat about a bit and I could hardly stay awake. As soon as the party dispersed I shuffled to my bed and fell asleep quickly to the sound of Manaal and SHeri packing.

Ecuador- Clinic, friend filled lunches, and Nigeria good-byes.

6-15
Today was clinic day in the house of Andres's Grandmother and Aunt.

  We had a very large group of friends with us. We had about 4 guys from the church who came with and just talked with people about Jesus. Sheri and I worked inside the house seeing patients while outside Manaal and Jen did some primary assessments and send in only certain people to Sheri and I.

Checho went with us this morning. We found our selves short a translator so we called Checho who speaks enough English. Checho is the best sort of person. He is the sort of friend I don't  think I would ever get sick of hanging out with (not that I make it a habit of getting sick of my friends).

He helps me alot with my Spanish and I help him with his English.
 After the clinic we went to lunch with the group, and Victor and Christian also came and joined us for lunch.
I LOVE the people here so much!

Lunch was wonderful and so filling. NO matter how I tried to pace myself, I couldn't eat all of my meal. After lunch we had to rush around to be ready to leave for Nigeria.  It was our last day doing house to house visits there in Nigeria. A local lady who we had come to know well came with us along with her son Juan Pierre.
I worked with Jen and Eric today. We saw many runny noses again, and high blood pressures.  Before leaving Nigeria, we took photos with our friends in Nigeria. Jen and I would be coming back in a few days, but Manaal  and Sheri were leaving very soon.

Once we got back to the church we said our goodbyes to Eric and asked Andres if he would go with us to the Mall. Manaal needed to buy a dress for a dinner that she was going to as soon as she got back to the States. We hailed a cab to the mall and spend the next few hours walking around trying to put together a nice outfit on a small budget with a short amount of time to look. I fell asleep early knowing that I had an early morning ahead of me.

Ecuador- Guitar sessions, diarrhea teaching, and boys cleaning the kitchen

6-14

This morning was supposed to be about meeting with a small group and doing some sort of work with them.  For some reason or other we ended up on some random street just a few blocks from the church with the plan to go door to door as we looped our way back to the church.

This idea didn't work at all. This  plan wasn't working out. People were at work, doors were not being answered and it was more of a business area. Andres then suggested  we go to the area where he lives and see people there. We decided that sounded like a perfect plan, so we split up and found taxis. One illegal and one legal. In Ecuador if you are standing on a sidewalk  waiting for a cab, a car may drive by and flash its lights to signal that they will pick you up.

I took the legal cab with Jen and our two other friends, Juan Carlos and Byron. Dr.Sheri and Manaal  went with Andres in a random taxi.

 We met up with the other half of the group once we got into Andres's neighborhood. They met arrived in a different car then we saw them leave in. They got ride a cross the neighborhood by Andres's mild man or something like that.  We then tried going door to door, but found that people were reluctant to let us into their homes. We then walked to the home of Andres's Grandmother and Aunt. We did check-ups on them and talked with them and setting up a clinic in their home the next day.

WE also asked them questions about what we should teach on in Nigeria, and about the Ecuadorian government. These women were so bright and expressive , it was so fun to hear them talk even if I only caught a few words here or there.

Our driver was then able to pick us up from the nieghborhood and drop off back at our home base.

Jen and I headed out right away with the boys to buy lunch.

 We went to a place to get rotiserrie chicken and all the fixings that go along with it. Upon arriving at the place we were not attended to quickly at all and were barely acknowledged for that matter.

The American in Jen and I got the best of us and we could not possibly wait any longer for food. We asked if any of our friends knew of another place in which we could get the food we were lusting after. We were assured that there was another place close by that we could go to. Little did we know that this close by place was actually a mile or so away. We walked on and on and our patience was being tested as our hungry tummies made us grouchy. Once we got there we were served right away and caught a cab back to the church. We had to persuade the boys to stay and eat lunch with us. We were so hungry that we served the meal to them AMerican style. We set out a plate and fork for everyone, then we just put the containers of food on the table and told everyone to help themselves. We didn't even realize how strange this must be for them. In Ecuador your plate is dished for you. The plate is filled to the brink with so much food and everyone at the table is served this same amount of food. If you want to build a friendship with someone I am convinced that sharing a meal with them is the best possible way.

The boys then offered to clean up the dishes after lunch. It was so cute to walk in the kitch and see 3 boys washing the dishes and cleaning up. (I can't help but smile just thinking about it.)

I then went to the music room with Andres to listen to Victor Wooten. Next thing I know there is a guitar in my arms and Marcel is teaching me some chords. I start playing the chords how he tells me, and then Marcel starts doing these solos along with me.

I cannot even begin to explain how awesome, yet nerve racking it was for me.

I am no guitarist so playing with Marcel, who is an amazing guitarist, was crazy.

Marcel and Checho are the best people. They have such wonderful spirits and they are always encouraging. They are the sort of friends that I cannot ever imagine myself getting sick of. Checho then played a song for me that he had just recorded for his girlfriend. It was the cutest song. I stayed in the music quite a while with them until Jen came and got me to see if I needed resources from her for my teaching in a few hours time. My topic to teach on, Diarrhea and dehydration.I wrote down some notes and some of the ladies at the church printed some stuff out for me. We then headed off to Nigeria.

We spent a few hours doing house visits in Nigeria. We had a house with a mother experiencing headaches and  a pregnant daughter  with acid reflux. THe next house was one of those houses where the people just kept coming out of no where. We first checked on the mother who had a very high BP and but felt fine otherwise, then her husband had a hernia and back pain, then there daughter was anemic and had vision loss with exercise. This house hold was so sweet though. They were beautiful people and even gave us some frozen yogurt which they make and sell out of their home. We scarfed it down excitedly.  Once it got dark we headed to la iglesia La Roca. We had an hour and a half to finish preparing our teachings. Dr.Sheri taught on exercise, Jen on germs, Manaal on Nutrition, and liek I said before, I taught on diarrhea and dehydration.

I was last to speak and only had time to teach on half of my topic. The group we were taching got so excited and into what we were saying. It was so great. The teachings went very well. I never imagined I would be doing something like this. 20 year old me, teaching these men and women who some of them are old enough to be my parents, others who were my age already had 1-4 children. God loves the inconceivable.

I was so surprised that I wasn't nervous. I just didn't plan out what to say, but rather just taught what I knew just like I would talk about it with a friend.  I didn't trip over my words, and I didn't fail. A special thanks to the translators that are great though.

After we were done teaching, I asked Pastor Caluca if he would have work for me if I came back to Ecuador in the future.  He got very excited and told me that he would have work for me at the church there. I told him that as I long as I have a place to sleep and food to eat, I would be happy.  At that he got excited and said "THANK YOU JESUS!" in English. (He doesn't speak much of any English.)

It is days like this that assure me that I could spend my entire life doing this. Being vulnerable and brave (not to mention dirty and smelly) and trusting wholly in God everyday.

I started typing out more of my Ecuador story.

While you are waiting, I thought I would share some sketches with you. 

I did these this week.

This one was an idea I got while in worship last Sunday.

I would have liked it to have turned out better, but it is what it is.

This one really excites me. It is the first time I sketched something without a picture to look at, and I just imagined this instead. 

I gave it to Brenda. She saw it and was like "It's you Hanna!" haha

Oh man!!

I'll be post more Ecuador stories very very soon!

I'm sorry

I am very sorry to be taking so long to post more of my Ecuador story.
It is just becoming too hard emtionally to re-live it right now. I need a bit more time. I am very sorry.
Please be patient!

Ecuador- Salsa lessons, and the Malecon

6-13

This morning Manaal and I made breakfast for everyone. Eric called and

asked if he could come over for breakfast.  After eating a hearty

breakfast I taught Eric some salsa basics. I don't remember how it came up in the first place, but I was very happy it did. He caught on pretty well  but just wasn't very confident.

After some salsa dancing Eric went out with Sheri and Jen to visit

some hospitals in the hopes of making connections there. Manaal and

I sat around wasting time. At about 3pm Jen, Sheri and Eric returned. We

then met up with Andres and walked to the Malecon. 

We had been planning this for a while, and after sitting inside all day I was so excited to go out and explore.

The malecon is a long boardwalk with restaurants, shops and beautiful things scattered along it.

We walked down quite a ways taking in the view. 

It was beautiful with the water on one side and the buildings of Guayaquil on the other side of us.

(I'm not sure how in depth to get with this story.

Ok, I will tell you just because I feel that it will help you understand some things.)

As we were walking I could tell that something was bothering Andres. 

He wouldn't tell me what though and tried to look strong and fine.

I knew something was wrong though because he was way to quiet. At one point we

were atop of a look out and I got antsy and decided to walk on by

myself. Andres caught up with me and told me that he wanted to take me

to his favorite place. I walked on with him and he took me to this

garden area.

There were trees and flowers and fish ponds.- We sat down

on the edge of a pond and he finally told me what was going on.
(I don't feel comfortable typing this for the world to see. It is not my story alone to tell.)
I then asked to pray for him and his heart. He didn't understand why I would want to pray for his heart, and I

explained tohim that God had shown me a piece of his heart, and i really felt that I should pray for him
 .
When I finally got him to understand that I was serious he agreed.  I then prayed for him right there on a

bridge in this beautiful garden. It was so awesome.

We then walked on to meet up with the rest of the group. AS we were

walking he told me why he might not translate the last week.He said it

was because he knows I am leaving in a few weeks and he needs to be

prepared. Basically he was worried that if he translated the last week

he would get too attached and it would be very hard for me to leave. It

kind of broke my heart to hear him say that.I also had been thinking

about the future and how I was leaving. This talk caused me to tear up a

little bit which really concerned Andres.

 We finally met up with the rest of the group and got some frozen yogurt

and met a few more new friends.

 A little while later we found ourselves

standing at the top of some stairs. The topic of salsa dancing came up

as I mentioned that I had taught Eric some basics that morning. The next

thing I know, I am teaching a basic salsa class at the top of these

steps.

The whole group starts dancing with each other in spite of the

fact that we had no music.
I then find myself salsa dancing with Andres. After we salsa a few

minutes he starts teaching me a sort of ballroom dance. It was wonderful

thought at the same time I felt terrible for dancing with this guy that

is concerned he is getting too attached to me.

On the walk home Andres was terribly distracted and quiet. We all just

sort of walked on in silence. It wasn't until we were almost back to the

church that he and I talked again.

(sorry, this story is very sappy and you probably didn't want to hear

any of it. Feel free to stop reading.)

I told him the reasons I got teary eyed before was becauseI also hated the thought of leaving Ecuador, that I

had to go back to the states and to life there were I was alone, and  I liked him,

and the thought of not spending another two weeks getting to know him before I left

made me upset.

I couldn't handle being that open and vulnerable with him without

getting a bit emotional and embarrassed at my vapory eyes yet again.

I then composed myself and asked him what he had been thinking.

                              He said he had been thinking about what would happen if he just left Ecuador.