Visit to Milagro

Well Today Sept 20th I met up with 5 of the other volunteers and we went over to Washingtons house together to go to a town called Milagro (Miracle) for their city festival. It was fun to be able to introduce the other girls to Ws and his family. We went to Milagro on a bus for 1.00 and got to see lots of rice and sugar cane fields on the way there. This was really neat and exciting for me to see because both were new!


When we arrived in Milagro we learned that most of the celebrations for the city festival had ended but Milagro is known for it´s pineapple and thus it has a huge pineapple statue in it´s one of it´s parks. I had seen the picture in the paper earlier this week and had learned from Ws family that Milagro was known for its delicious and cheap pineapple. After hearing this I had 2 main goals for this trip to Milagro, both of which were met


1. get a picture by that sweet pineapple statue


2. buy some of this delicious and cheap pineapple.

When we arrived at the city it was evident that the festivals have ended so that was funny but it was still a good time.
Taking a small tour of the city, visiting the pineapple statue, the cathedral and the market, we took a bus back to Duran. Once in Duran we got off at one of the bus stops and saw W go talk to a guy he knew in a white truck. About 30 seconds later he looked back at us and said ¨get in¨. What was hillarious was the way he said this.... with a tone and gesture that questioned why on earth we had not already gotten in. So up we went and 5 minutes later we were safe and sound at W´s house.


Once back at Ws house we introduced the girls to Ws dad, Seg and showed them the pretty rose garden they had and their turtle. We also took pictures of us with our pineapples and had fun showing Seg how digital cameras work. He got pretty excited (naturally because it IS pretty sweet!) and had us take pictures of ourselves seated in the house, pictures of the roses, of everything! :) It was actually really nice.


Naturally, we could not visit W´s house without being served a full meal, so after a short time of talking and taking pics we were seated and served a really yummy meal of rice with a mix of some type of beef and veggi... almost stir-fry. In the middle of eating this Seg brought over a banana to me and told me that I should eat that with the plate. Well, apparently I wasnt moving fast enough because he took it from me and opened it up for me and plopped it onto my plate, telling me that I should really try it WITH the rice and stirfry. OKAY :) It wasnt too bad but really I think I prefer saving my banana for desert. :) Then I was given a bowl of tomato soup to try (i dont know why just me.... but I was super full already so I shared it with everyone)

First Retreat Group--Santa Clara

Well, Sept 4-14th I led my first retreat group- a group of college students from Santa Clara University in California.
(I wrote this a long time ago with the intention of adding ore but now I have so many other things to write about now that this one is going to be cut short....oops!)

What does this mean exactly? Well, this retreat group stayed at the AJS (where i live) retreat house. So, I took a week off of work at my normal jobs and instead spent the week with this group. We got up each morning and 3 of them walked with me to buy their group bread for the day. Each morning we would visit one of the places where the volunteers work. One of the places we visited was Padre Damien House-a home for people with Hanson´s Disease... and one of the places where I originally thought I may be working. It was really nice to be able to visit here and see my fellow volunteers, Lauren and Carolyn at work here. We were able to talk with the residents, sing with them, and we also were able to see the crafts that they make.... which are super awesome!!! They make these peace doves that are really neat, they make beautiful jewlery, belts, hammocks, bags, crosses and so much more!!! It was great to share these beautiful works of art with the students and it was especially awesome to see how much interest they took in the work that takes place at Padre Damien House. I would like to suggest that you take the time to visit the website http://www.thedamienhouse.org/ and learn more about this awesome place... I think just visiting the website will help to put into perspective why the group was so motivated and touched after visiting this place.

We spent other mornings taking the group to some of our neighbors houses, where they were kind enough to invite us in and spend around an hour conversing with them. This was also really super nice to do.

Ecuapoints.... Tracys story about W´s house

Hey everyone-- This is Tracy´s write up of our experience at W´s house last week. We both included different details and she is a great writer so I hope you enjoy!!!

Earning Ecua-points
Hola todos!Soooo usually I only update this thing on the weekends when I have a good chuck of time, but I just HAD to share with you a hilarious little glimpse of my life here while it is still fresh in my mind. This morning, Melissa and I went to the house of one of our AIDS patients that we visit often. We saw him last Thursday, and we made arrangements to come back this week to spend more time there. His mom is an incredible cook, and every time we even just stop by, we leave with full tummies and food to take with us. This is the house where I think I may have eaten cow tongue last week? Anywho...So, we had made plans to stop by at 8:30 this morning and spend a few hours there. In true latin fashion, we arrived a little late, closer to 9, and we were greeted as always with a welcoming hug. The house is lovely - small like all the houses, but this one actually has tile floors, a nice wooden dining room table, sofas in the sitting room, a little back patio, etc. Francia, the psychologist at Santa Marianita, told us that their house is nice because the father of the family has worked really hard all of his life. We had never met our patient's father before, but this morning, he was at the house, and he smiled and introduced himself as Segundo Lorenzo! I love his name - after getting to know him, I have decided that his name fits him well. He was an adorable man with such kind, welcoming eyes. He immediately embraced us and invited us to sit down at the table. We were going to share a cafecito (coffee) and desayuno (breakfast). We sat down at the dining room table, and they brought us out plates with two patties on them - they were green bananas (maduros) smashed down and fried with delicious melted cheese inside (kind of looked like flattened out cheesesticks). Next to it they placed a huge cup of coffee, and Segundo encouraged us to keep shoveling sugar into the cup, haha! After about 4 spoonfuls each, we finally convinced him it was sweet enough.The food was delcious, and Segundo was an incredible host. We sat there for almost 3 hours, just talking. We talked about everything under the sun, and he told us the amazing story of his life. When he was a boy, he grew up in the Ecuadorian province of Ibarra. As a child, he was orphaned. He came by himself to Guayaquil and lived on the streets for 4 years in his early teens. However, he always trusted in God, and he continued to look for work. He worked hard all of his life, and now, he has an amazing house, a wonderful family, and he continues to work hard even in his age (he turned 76 on Monday). He usually works during the week, but he didn't go today so he could stay and be with us, his guests. He said that after having spent 4 years on the street in a new city in his younger days, he knows what it feels like to be a stranger somewhere. For this, he always invites foreigners to his house, and shares with them as if they were family.He is so proud of his family, and so faithful to God -- another just incredibly inspirational person. He says that the Lord gave him an enormous heart, and because of this he always wants to be a good and generous person to everyone that he meets. He has always been a great example to his children, and to everyone. If you work hard, really hard, you can go far in life. He grew up without a father and mother, and without love, so he works everyday so that his children and grandchildren will never have to know that feeling.I was touched by Segundo's openness and by his deep understanding of what it takes to love others and to get the most out of life. On top of this, he was so charming, and funny! He has this amazing manner of speaking that just captivates whoever who is listening, and he is soooo wise! My favorite thing was how he delighted in listening to Melissa and I talk. He laughed when we spoke Spanish to each other, because he said we sound funny, and then he would ask us to speak to each other in English so he could hear how it sounds. It was sooo cute, his eyes would light up, and he would listen so intently, laughing and then saying, "No entiendo nada!" (I don't understand anything!)He also gave us some tips about living in Ecuador which I found hilarious. The buses that go just within our city of Duran usually cost 18 cents, and those that go to the Puntilla (where Nuevo Mundo is) and to Guayaquil cost 25 cents. Segundo asked us how much we had been paying for the buses, and of course we said, well, 18 and 25 cents. And he said something equivalent to "Nonsense!" He told us that if we are only going part of the way, to get on the 18 cent bus and give them a dime -- You are only going half the way, half of 18 is 9, you're even giving the driver a gift when you give them 10! On the 25 cent bus, give them 12. Melissa and I had never heard this before from anyone, so who knows if it's actually a common practice, but it was amusing, and so we agreed we would try it soon.After we had finished the coffee and fried maduros which were veryyy greasy and veryyy filling, they brought out ANOTHER plate of them, and slapped another one in front of us. Somehow I ate it. By 10 am I was sooo full and thinking I didn't need another meal the whole day. We continued to talk, and after a little while, Segundo's wife came in from having gone to the doctor. She greeted us lovingly as always and asked us if we enjoyed breakfast and of course we said yes. The time passed quickly, and soon it was almost noon. I always have to leave my morning job around noon so I can go back to the house, change clothes, and catch the bus to school with the kids at 12:45. It is always a tricky thing to escape from house visits on time, because Ecuadorians are soooo welcoming that often they don't want you to leave, and they are soooo patient that they often don't understand schedules. This is definitely teaching me PATIENCE above all. I often have to start aying goodbye a half an hour before I need to leave, and even then I cut it close. Well, it was about 11:45, and I was thinking, I should tell them soon that I have to leave...when, magically, Segundo stood up and announced that it had been such a pleasure to have us, but he had to go somewhere so he had to say goodbye. I was amazed...I would actually leave there on time! A miracle!We began to all say goodbye and as always they were sooo wonderful and loving. They told us "Aqui tienes una familia.(You have a family here)." They asked if they could be our parents here, and they told us that when our families come to visit, they will invite them to the house to eat! We hugged all of them a few times and then began to move towards the door. I thought we were safe....but then, Segundo turned to us and said "Wait, you aren't in a hurry, are you?"My heart sank a little. "Well, yes, unfortunately...I have to catch the bus to go teach..." I began, but it was too late. "Sientense, mis hijas! (Sit down, my children!)" Segundo exclaimed. "Stay just a few minutes and eat my wife's delcious caldito de pollo (hot chicken soup)! Ya esta (it's ready right now)!" I looked at him incredulously--"Ya esta?" I asked...because in latin cultures, "Ya esta" can mean right now, or in an hour, or maybe just sometime before the sun goes down, haha. "Si si si! Ya esta!" he assured. Melissa and I looked at eachother and smiled helplessly as they pushed us toward the table.We sat talking to our patient, and I watched the minutes pass on my watch...noon. 12:05. 12:10. 12:15. I felt myself getting nervous, and uncomfortable. I didn't want to offend them by leaving, but I can't be late to my job. Finally, at 12:18, I got the courage to stand up, and I started to say "I'm really sorry, but I have to go now..." Before I could finish, Segundo appeared rapidly from the kitchen and gently pushed me back down in my chair. "Alli viene la sopa! (Here comes the soup!)" He ran back to the kitchen and appeared with a hot bowl of soup and placed it in front of me. And at this moment began the chaos. The steam from the soup rose up and warmed my face as I bent over the bowl to begin eating. It was SCALDING. My eyes widened. I needed to consume it in about 5 minutes, but there was no way I could do it without burning my tongue off. I began to blow on the soup feverishly. Melissa laughed. "Sopla, sopla! (Blow, blow!)" they said. At this moment, Segundo's wife appeared with a bowl of soup for Melissa, and she began to blow as well. By this time, the whole family was standing around the table, as we sat there blowing forcefully on our scalding soup! As the parents encouraged us, our patient ran to the corner and turned on a fan to help out, haha! The fan blew on us, we blew on the soup, the family stood around cheering. In this moment, eating became a spectator sport.Finally, I got brave. I lifted a spoonful to my mouth, and put it in...OK, it was still hot, but I could do it. I braced myself and began shoveling spoonful after spoonful in my mouth. It was delicious, chicken broth, with yuca (like potato), carrots, and a chicken leg in the middle. Segundo and his wife laughed as Melissa and I ate and ate. I occasionally glanced at my watch and began to eat with more gusto as each minute passed. "Ay, me tengo que ir! (I have to go!)" I exclaimed. Segundo left and returned with an old plastic butter container. "Just eat the soup, and put the chicken leg in here to take with you!" I moved the chicken leg into the container, ate a few more bites, and got up to leave. "No!" exclaimed Segundo, pointing to the bowl, where there were a few swallows left. I sighed and sat back down, and at this moment, he actually lifted to bowl to my mouth, and tilted it up! I slurped as best I could as half the soup ran into my mouth and half dribbled down my chin. Oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard inside. Finally, I slammed down the bowl, and we were all laughing. Segundo smiled with a knowing look, like he was satisfied since we had had a good, healthy lunch. Melissa put her chicken leg in the container, we whisked our things into our arms, and started to run out the door!I looked down the street and saw a yellow bus approaching. "Can we take the yellow bus?!" I called, hoping we could. They said yes...I ran to the other side of the street to flag down the bus, Melissa followed, running out the door. Yellow buses cost 25 cents, but we were only going to be on it for less than 5 minutes. I looked at Melissa, and in that instance, our eyes both said the same thing. We were totally paying half. I quickly climbed up, placed a dime in the driver's hand, and without pausing, continued to sit down. Melissa did the same. The driver looked into his mirror, and for a minute I thought we had failed. I said "We're only going a short way." "Ah, vale (OK)," the driver replied, and with the grinding of the engine we were off!For the first time in a half hour, Melissa and I BREATHED, looked at each other, and busted out laughing! We were both bursting with food, out of breath, and we had just paid 10 cents for a 25 cent bus ride! hahaha. We were so proud. Ten cents, not even the 12 that Segundo had instructed us to pay. We decided that once you begin to learn little secrets like that about life here, you are well on your way to being Ecuadorian. At that moment, we created what we are going to call "Ecua-points" and decided that we had earned quite a few for our boldness.So, here I sit -- my heart is warmed by my new Ecuadorian "family" and the adorable Segundo Lopez, my stomach is full and probably will be for 3 weeks, and I am proud to know I am slowly learning to be at home here. And just like this, I go through each passing day, finding God in my life in Ecuador and, little by little, finding Ecuador in myself!

La Casa de W-- W´s home

Bueno!
This morning has been such a super morning and so crazy and interesting and worthy of what a fellow volunteer, Tracy and I have decided to call Ecua-points, that I just had to come and write about it immediately.
Thank goodness I have time!.... but be sure to excuse me if this seems like rambling or has lots of mistakes... i just had to share my excitement and I am not here to write like a novelist. Tracy will also be writing something about this in her blog which I will add at a later time to fill in any details I missed!

So this morning we had reserved time to go visit some of our HIV/AIDS patients that we work with at the Redima clinic, doing what we call home visits. This is my favorite part of my work at the clinic so I was very excited. Tracy and I met at 8:15 this morning and walked over to first visit not knowing if we would have time to make it to another patients house because this one loves talking. Well, we arrive to find Washington there waiting for us and food already cooking in the kitchen. We then were introduced to his Dad, Segundo Lopez, who began to talk with us after greeting us with a nice warm hug. While our intent was to come and visit Washington, Segundo invited us to sit down, and after bringing us our breakfast of what could best be described as a plantane patties or pancake with cheese in the middle, Segundo sat down beside us and started talking to us while Washington was still in the kitchen. I know Tracy and I were both thinking that Washington would enter at any moment with his own plate of food and join in the conversation... but insted the morning continued on quite differently. Segundo immediately insisted that we mix up our coffee and add plenty of sugar because one must eat these plantane pancake dealios with coffee because the two flavors compliment one another. I am not going to lie... I was not excited to drink coffee and I just about asked if I could drink tea instead. BUT I sucked it up and told myself to try it anyway, and made sure to add extra sugar (a decision that was well supported by Segundo). The sugar coffee ( I only but a lil less than a teaspoon of coffee to 4 teaspoons of sugar) really wasnt all that bad and did go pretty well with the patties! Tracy and I sat there conversing with Segundo while enjoying our plantane patties. The only time we saw Washington during all of this was when his Dad called for him to bring us more food.... thank GOD he only put one more on our plate because these patties are fried and so are plenty greasy.... it was funny because a few seconds after Washington put the third pattie on my plate I swear his dad Segundo read my mind when he said... Ya les van a engordar!!! which more or less translates to...You guys are going to get fat!! To which both tracy and I responded: Ya sé !!! or I know!!!!
I dont know how on earth I did it but I did get that third one down and seriously felt as though I had eaten enough for the DAY!
Segundo took our plates into the kitchen once we had finished and told us to speak to eachother in English while he cleared the table... So, we did... and each time he would enter to take another plate he would comment on how he didnt understand at all what we were saying and how we could be talking about him and he wouldnt even know it.... ¨but,¨he would say, ¨I like it... I like hearing your accents¨
We conversed with this man all morning. One thing that was really interesting was that upon hearing Segundo talk to us in the morning I did note how much easier it was to understand him than his wife or his son Washington. The reasoning for this was explained after Segundo commented on how well Tracy and I spoke Spanish, to which we responded with gratitude. He then explained that he was from the Sierra and doesnt like how the people here from the costa speak. (sierra is the northern region by quito and we live in the costal region in Guayaquil)
He went on to explain how in the Sierra they dont cut off the ends of words like they do here in las guyas and that in the Sierra they simply speak much more clearly.
(this conversation was super interesting and explained a lot to me. It also made me feel pretty good because I have been told by SEVERAL people here that I speak like someone from the Sierra... which makes the people here in la costa laugh.... but anyways...)
As the mornign went on Tracy asked a very good question of Segundo... how he and his wife met.
His response to this was quite long and had only one reference to meeting his wife.... instead he spoke of his life story.
He explained that he grew up in the Sierra region by the time he was 8 years old, both of his parents had died and he was left an orphan. So, he moved to Guayaquil where he lived on the streets eating the left over banana scraps found along the shoreline and sleeping on the street covered with newspaper. He lived like this for a couple of years, trying to find work, but without luck, until he was about 10 (if I remember right) when the owner of an Italian Restaurant agreed to offer him work. He worked there for 4 years working from 8 am until 4 am for no pay apart from food to eat and a place to sleep.
He then explained that one day when his restaurant boss sent him to the market, he was stopped by a police officer and had a conversation that clearly was God reaching down to offer him his help. This officer asked where he worked, how old he was, where his was from, how much he earned and why he was working at this place. After Segundo answered all of the above the officer found explained that he actually knew an uncle of Segundo´s and went back to the restaurant and demanded that the owner pay Segundo for his four years of work there. Much to my surprise, the owner actually did give him the money. Segundo then left and was able to buy clothing for himself and was cared for by this officer, eventually finding work as a police officer. Some years later he changed jobs and worked in the dining room of a college, which is where he met his wife.
Why do I share this life story with all of you? Well, because I found it fascinating and incredibly inspiring. This 76 year old man (just had his birthday Sept 1st) was so welcoming to me and Tracy. He told us repeatedly that we had a home here in Ecuador with him and his family and we were more than welcome to come by and talk with him whenever we wished.
Upon receiving such great hospitality and kindness from him, we asked where he learned to be such a kind and caring person, if he had so little time with his parents....
He explained that it was genetic and he got it from his parents... it was something deep inside of him and something he made sure to pass on to his children.

We continued to converse the rest of the morning, talking about our families, health, languages, foods, different types of people, work, and more.
He told us to be sure to tell our parents that we have a welcoming home in Ecuador and that when they come to Ecuador they are welcomed in his house as well. He likes to hear people speak English so he said that they could speak in English too :)
Anyways....
Segundo eventually said that he needed to go buy his wife some medicine. THis was actually perfect timing for us because it was about 11:50 and Tracy needed to get back to my house to catch the bus to her afternoon job. As we left we were each handed a bag of goodies that contained Guyaba Jam, two mandarine oranges and a banana. Just as we were leaving and saying goodbye to Washington and asking him why he didnt come out and join us while we were talking with his dad, his dad came in the room and insisted that we stay algungos minutitos mas... just a few more minutes and have some caldo de pollo or chicken soup with them. We explained that we really didnt have time but he insited, and here is where the adventure began!!!!
Tracy and I sat down and waited for the soup, which we were told was already ready. We should have know that in Ecua time this actually means it will be ready in 10 or 15 minutes, but we had no choice but to wait and so we waited and at 12 15 we got our STEAMING HOT bowls of soup. It was so hot that we explained we really didnt have time to eat it bc Tracy had to catch the bus at 12:45 and still had to change clothes. But this didnt matter.... their solution was to simply eat it faster. Segundo, the father, sat beside Tracy rooting her on as she grabbed her spooon and blowed vigorously over her soup trying to have hope of not burning her tongue. Washington then decided to help out by turning a fan on to help cool the soup. So the two of us sat there trying to shovel spoonfuls of this steaming hot chicken soup into our mouths so that we could catch the bus. After about 3 minutes them mom comes into the room and adds some wierd dark chunch of what may have been some type of meat to the soup. And Segundo again started rooting for tracy to jsut make sure she eats this piece (my guess is is was one of those inside parts of the chicken like a gizzard or something... I have no clue) Tracy is really brave and did just what Segundo said, and shoveled in that mysterious blob eating it up.
I suggested that we get a container to bring the soup home with us because we really did need to leave, and I was very realieved to see that the mom did bring us an empty margarine dish to put the soup in.... this brought me such relief because I was SO SCARED to eat that Unknown piece of meat!!!!
So !!!! after having Segundo cheer us on yet a third time while drinking up what was left of the broth, tracy and I left for the bus... where segundo´s wife (washington´s mom) told us to be sure we payed no more then 10 cents even though a normal bus fare is 25!
So... Tracy and I gave it a try and after getting a wierd look by the bus driver, we simply said that we are only going a few blocks and sat down.... the bus driver didnt say a word! SOOO we definitely won some more Ecua points.... living as an Ecuadorian and paying less than half of the bus fare because we werent going far at all! :)

Well I really hope that this write up can capture at least a tad of the excitement that this morning entailed.
If it all just seems like a bunch of random jibberish, just trust me that it was all super interesting, hilarious, nerve racking, intense, and very Ecua (Ecuadorian)!!!!!!

I wish blessings on all of you and thank you for all of your prayers and letters!!!

I would like to end this post with a prayer

Lord, Thank you so very much for this beautiful morning and for sharing your love with us through the family of Washington.
Lord, I pray that you send your blessing down upon all of the people of Ecuador and around the world who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. Help them to know your love. Please help those who are knowledgeable of HIV/AIDS to share what they know those who are confused by the myths that exist about HIV/AIDS.
I pray that through this sharing people can find hope for change.
Amen.