Tremor?

This afternoon as I was waiting for my usual 3:00 p.m. taxi I was staring out the window not really thinking about anything when suddenly the house started to shake. I didn`t know what to think because I had never felt anything like that before. It seems earthquakes are kind of common in Ecuador but this one only lasted about 5 or 6 seconds and wasn`t very strong. Sylvia called it a...well shoot I can`t remember but basically a tremor. That was wild. Sylvia was running to her father`s room yelling something which she later translated for me. She said during earthquakes you are supposed to stand under a door frame I guess so nothing falls on your head. So we stood there for like 5 minutes not really knowing what to do. So I guess you could say that was my first experience with an earthquake, or whatever you want to call it.

So I forgot to say anything about the pictures posted. The one with the water splashing was at a military base on our way to the beach. The waves are so strong here when they crashed they got me a little wet; that`s what the face was for.

The one with all the boats was where we bought the fish; and the men I accidentally called sinners

And the one with the men wearing strange hats was Father`s Day weekend with some of Sylvia`s family. I am between Sylvia and Manuel (the couple I am living with), the old man is Sylvia`s father (he`s 91), and the couple at the far right are Sylvia`s sister and brother-in-law and then there is their son.

Oh yeah thanks for the comments; it`s so much fun reading what everyone writes and makes me feel more connected. I miss you all!!

Jennifer

Weird Sayings

So as you may know it`s hard learning a new language and even harder when you try to speak it in real life. This entry is about the ridiculous things (that I can remember) that I have said to people.

I was eating with the Tates at the mall and I was trying to say something about curly hair and somehow I ended up calling it sausage.

One day at the office I was talking to one of the girls who works there. I tried to say that something I had been carrying was heavy and seems I said it was gassy-like it had gas or something, who knows.

One morning on the way to the office I was saying something to Caty about getting a pedicure done on my toes and I think I called them fingers (still not sure what I said exactly).

And the latest one I said yesterday while we were on the way to the beach. We stopped at the place to get some fresh fish with fishermen everywhere. I went to ask Sylvia something about the fishermen and I called them sinners. Even I laughed at that one.

I`m sure there will be more of these to come. Hope you got a good laugh.

Halfway Point

So it has officially been 4 weeks and this is the half way point. This week has been pretty busy. There are a lot of things coming up next month with the Foundation (Lluvia de Gracia). What`s coming up??

A group from Life International is coming for a week to do a training about abstinence to better enable everyone at the clinic to teach it themselves. The foundation has been going a lot lately to schools and churches doing some abstinence training and this should introduce some new ideas or ways or doing things. We are having a one day retreat I think on Saturday the 25th with different training sessions. I am not 100% certain but I think everyday we will need interpreters and I will probably be helping with that. One day we are having free and I think we may go sight seeing or to the beach. But there is a lot of planning that has been going in to this and a lot more to do so pray for the details to be sorted out and everything to fall in place. Also, pray that everyone from LIFE will arrive safely and that the information they share would be exactly what the Lord would have them to say.

So about this week. What has not happened this week is a good question. Mondays are always busy because there is a devotion with the girls that are part of the program at the foundation and sometimes counseling. The receptionist wasn't able to come 2 days this week because her son has sinusitis and asthma and was having a hard time breathing. So I answered the phones and helped with some of the accounting. Dont't worry I didn't do much with the accounting just EXACTLY what I was told. I don`t know much about Excel so I followed directions carefully. Sometimes I would understand what the people said when they called but when they had a question, I had to have some help. Monica, the receptionist, said her son is doing better, so that is good.

I think, in an earlier blog post, I mentioned that my aunt had cancer. Unfortunately she passed away Thursday morning. My family is doing ok as far as I can tell, but please pray for them. It`s really hard being so far away and not being able to see my family at this time.

I appreciate all of your prayers and support thus far and I will honestly try to be better about updating this blog. I miss all of you very much and can't wait to see you. This has been such a great trip and I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in the next month.

Third Week So Far

So I am in my third week here and I have already learned so much. It is definitely overwhelming at times but God truly has been faithful. I haven`t been in any situations where I truly felt in danger or like I couldn't explain myself well enough to get where I needed to go, etc. One time I called to get a taxi and the lady had no idea what I was saying. Pretty interesting because I had no idea what she was saying either! Evidently the directions I had for where I lived were incorrect. That was super frustrating.

But about this week; it has been busy and quite interesting. Monday I felt a little sick because I think I ate something at the mall that made me feel nauseated-pizza of all things. Go figure. The Ecuadorian food=no problem, but Pizza Hut= problem. Anyway, all that to say that I didn't go to the office Monday. I pretty much ate and slept and stayed in the house all day. I had all the fun things that go with traveling-except for throwing up. Sorry I hope that wasn't too much.

Anyway, yesterday, Tuesday was a super busy day. I helped the receptionist answer the phones and didn't`t do that bad if I do say so myself. I took messages and even called my own taxi! (I had a little help). I left the office about 6:45 to go with the Tate's to church which started at 7:30. I was the second person there. Then about 15 minutes later this group of about 15 American students walked in. I asked the girl that sat beside me where she was from. You would not believe what she told me. Atlanta, GA! I could not believe my ears. I pretty much yelled, "ME TOO!" Well not Atlanta, but GA, you know. Then all of the students started looking at me and introducing themselves. They were working at a medical clinic in a nearby town called Duran. They were all either first or second year medical students. They all could kind of understand Spanish but not many of them spoke it. They were so much fun to talk to. That night at church we sang and had a prayer service and it lasted about 2 hours. It was such a great day. I was thanking the Lord for those American students. They were definitely an answered prayer. Just a little taste of home that I needed.

Second week

So this is the second week. There are a lot of things being planned for the clinic right now. A few ladies from LIFE are coming next month for a sexual purity conference and none of them speak Spanish. Caty also said that Jim wants me to help translate for a clinic or something, I`m not really sure.

I realized that I haven`t really said much about the "routine" at the office. It can vary depending on if there are any unexpected clients, as with any office I assume. Usually if there are no clients at the office when we get there we do a devotion from one of the books that Caty has. It is of course in Spanish and usually a couple of pages long. Someone will read the devotion-they say they are reading slower so that I can understand but it seems pretty fast-and then we will share prayer requests. When we have another person's prayer requests we will take turns praying for whatever we want and for the other person. This usually takes a total of 30-35 minutes.

I realize it's been a while since I posted anything. Sorry about that. This past week I have gone with Caty a couple times to different places looking for somewhere to have the conference and retreat coming up with LIFE, etc. Most of the places are Catholic and are really big and nice. We still haven't found a place so that is one thing you can pray for. We only have a little over a month to find a place and plan everything, which may seem like plenty of time except there are people coming from out of the country.

One interesting tidbit I learned was that whenever they send mail around the city they take it themselves because the mail system isnt very reliable here. I was helping Caty fold some letters and I asked her where the stamps were. She looked at me a little strangely and said "we don't use stamps we just take them to their houses". Wow. Another thing. The driving. I will try and record my next "experience" in a taxi here if I can. It really is ridiculous. I don't think I have used my horn but 10 times since I bought my car and they use theirs about 10 times per minute.

Ok think this is pretty long but I will try to post sooner than the last time. Oh yeah the pictures at the top are at a place called Malecon which is like a river walk in the center of the city. The little girl is the daughter of the Tates and the statue is of Simon Bolivar and some other guy I can't remember. OK hope you enjoy.

Saturday, June 6th

I left my bathing suit in Thomasville so I had to buy one. Caty and I went to quite a few places and I finally found a one piece that fits pretty good and it's pretty. So I went with Eli, Philip, and Jim to the neighborhood pool but didn't swim-that water was too cold!

In the neighborhood where the Tates live (called ciudadella) there are about 500 homes and some apartment complexes. Atleast 1,000 or 1,500 people who live in just one neighborhood.

Anyway at the pool the kids were swimming and I saw this HUGE iguana. I forgot that Guayaquil is known for having lots of iguanas and when I saw it I was shocked-the kids even asked what I was doing when I grabbed my camera. Oh yeah I took a picture-he was a monster! It was my first sighting so I was excited. Hope you like the picture...we'll call him Ivan (eeh-bahn...with accent on last syllable :)

My first full week

Wow what a week it's been. I think I will talk about the clinic first. There are 3 ladies who are there at all times: Caty (director), Monica Mite (asst. director), and Monica Diaz (receptionist). There are 2 other ladies that volunteer; one is named Carol and she is from Texas and she and her husband are mismissionaries here, the other is named Axa and she is from Guayaquil. All of the ladies are really nice. The receptionist is about my age and really likes talking to me-not boasting just telling the truth :) The other, Monica, just turned 40 Thursday and everybody was laughing in a joking way-I kind of sat and listened. My speaking skills aren't good enough yet to make jokes!

Now I will talk about the food. Everything here is so fresh and there are so many kinds of fruits it's crazy. Papayas the size of a cantaloupe or larger, pitaya (I think it's dragon fruit), 3 kinds of bananas. I usually have orange or blackberry juice for breakfast with either cereal (like coco puffs), thick bread toasted with pineapple jam, and coffee with milk and sugar. I may have said some of this before but oh well. The fish is good. I think I had sea bass the other day in the food court. Corbina it's called I think.

Nathalie is the daughter of the family I live with and she works at a German school here in Guayaquil. They had a concert for the students who are in the orchestra and we went. It was really good. They played "All the Way" by Frank Sinatra and "Orange Colored Sky" but don't remember who sings it. Maybe Natalie Cole. A lot of American songs and a lot of solos: trumpet, saxophone, trombone, flugel horn (sp?). I really enjoyed it.

So about pictures. I will put some on my posts but I think I am going to try and put all of them on my facebook if anyone wants to check them out there. One is the view from my bathroom, one the view from Jim and Catys patio, and the other the street I live on.

The past couple of days...

OK I have a lot to catch up on. I will try not to make it too long. Sunday I went to church with the Tates and Jim preached...in Spanish. I understood about 90% of what was said but I don't have my notes so I can´t remember very well.

The people are very welcoming and whenever you greet someone new the females always kiss on the cheek. Sometimes this is awkward because I think they assume that since I am from the US I don´t know this and they don't try but I do...kinda awkward.

Anyway, you will never believe what I agreed to...sing in church. I want to help out and I think that is the only way I can...and yes I am a little afraid. I did meet a really nice girl my age named Lady and she wants to learn English so maybe we will be able to hang out.

So my first day at the clinic with Caty was crazy. Every Monday is a special program for moms and food is donated from the local supermarket. They watch different types of videos on parenthood or nutrition, etc and answer questions about it later.

Oh yeah and yesterday was Kid´s day..and it is a holiday. Kind of like mothers and fathers day but for the kids! I laughed out loud and somone looked at me like I was crazy. That´s why we have birthdays!! oh well .

I bought a cell phone yesterday but it is only able to do local calls. I am going to see if I can add calls to the states to it. It´s really cute.

The food here is really good to me. I get 3 meals a day at the house I am staying at and it´s good. Muy rica as they say here. Yesterday I had brown rice, 2 really big shrimp, salad, and some crab, and then ice cream with chocolate sauce and strawberries. mmmmmmmmm.... Ok that is all for now hope everyone likes reading this.