Hola todos!! I’m in Ecuador! If you’re wondering what I’ve been up to, you’re in luck. I’m so excited to tell you all a little bit of what life/ministry has looked like here so far!
We arrived in Quito, Ecuador last week and settled into Inca Link, the base where we are staying. This place truly already feels like home. Our squad had been split up for the past two months in South Africa, but now we are all back together in one house and WOW is it a joy to be with everyone again. I’ll be honest, it definitely took me a few days to get used to 30 people in one living room again, but community here is the BEST. There’s never a moment where laughter isn’t echoing throughout every room in the house, and you’ll never go more than a few minutes without hearing your squadmates discuss what the Lord is doing in their lives. Our hosts Mabe and Fabi are incredible and are quickly becoming our Ecuadorian parents!!! They cook meals for us during the week, and teach and encourage us every second they get! On our second night here we had a 4.5 earthquake around 4:00am, and Fabi immediately ran upstairs to make sure we were all okay (everyone is completely fine) and to say “well, welcome to Ecuador!” He is ALWAYS keeping us laughing. Mabe and Fabi also got us the cutest little Christmas tree for the house, which some of our squadmates decorated by popping some popcorn and stringing it with dental floss. I think we are planning on hanging some “stockings” (aka our gross socks we’ve been rewearing for 4 months lol) up in the living room to leave little notes for everyone. Christmas away from home doesn’t look like it’s going to be all that bad 🙂
About a 10 minute walk from the house, there is a little strip of shops where we spend a good portion of our days. First there’s a pizza shop (the only place with WiFi, which means I’m posting this blog while eating a pizza hahaha), a fruit shop, a little convenience store where I buy plantain chips, an amazing empanada shop, and a new family owned restaurant. The community we have already built at these shops is amazing. Every single day we see Mariano the empanada man, who sits in his shop all day every day. He greets us with a wave and yells “tengo hamburguesas hoy!” Then there’s Carlos the pizza man, who is the only person nearby who speaks English. He makes the best pizza and we’ve definitely shown him a lot of business. The new family owned restaurant is my favorite, because I have never seen people so happy to see us when we walk by. The family only speaks Spanish, and I find myself having to translate for every group who eats there. It’s a lot of fun. The owner, Freddy, gets SO happy when we walk in to say hello. His six year old son Tomás quickly took a liking to me and I hang out with him every day, ask him about how school was that day, and if his dad says it’s okay, I buy him ice cream so we can sit on the curb and eat together. Every day when we walk to and from ministry, we wave hello to all of these new friends of ours, and it makes my entire day every time.
And speaking of ministry, I’m so excited to share what my team has been doing! Team Refinement has been working at Camp Hope, a day care for kids with disabilities. Every day we split up into our respective rooms. The different rooms at Camp Hope differ depending on the kids’ level of development. I am in a room called “paciencia,” which means patience. I love the kids so much, but let’s just say they are definitely teaching me to have patience. I’ve never done anything like this before, and it’s stretching me in the best ways. My days at Camp Hope consist of helping the kids in my room with physical exercise, motor skills, and just having fun with random activities like playing with legos. I’m also learning a LOT of patience from spending lunch time feeding the kids who aren’t able to do so themselves. It can be frustrating at times but it has taught me so well how to love and serve these kids in any way I can. I also only speak Spanish all day, which is such a blast! (but not for the rest of my team who can’t speak any Spanish and sometimes need me to translate instructions…) Our walk to and from ministry is about a mile and a half each way, which means if we have time we can grab some street food for the walk back. It’s a lot of steep uphill walking, so sometimes you need an empanada or a chocolate covered banana to motivate you, you know?
Overall I am so happy to be here, Ecuador truly feels like home already and I can’t wait to spend Christmas AND the next three months of my life in this beautiful place. The Lord is already doing BIG things here, and I’m so excited to share more about all of that so soon.
Hasta luego! See you later!
