words to accompany "more than a month too late"

Since I am not especially talented with working with computers, I decided to break up the photos and words in my blog so that I can make more sense of the two...

It has been way way WAY too long since I have updated this, so here I go..............

The group that went to Tena (the last picture) in the jungle was AMAZING! There were 9 of them, all older and more wise and mature that myself. We had a whole bunch of fun in the jungle, and there were a lot of big questions that came from being there.. in the jungle. For instance, the little kids all had large bellies because of parasites. That was one thing that our team discussed quite a bit... Shandia is about 5 or 6 hours outside of Quito (it really depends on who is driving you there...) and so not everything is as accessible as it is in Quito... while we were there one of the kids busted his head when a school desk fell on his forehead (so, really, it was our faults) and we had to take him to the local nurse, and there was a long line before he was able to be seen. Shandia is definitely in its own place, and it has its cons, such as good health care and things like that, but in my opinions the Pros far outweigh the cons. Community is HUGE there. 80% of the town is Christian, and the church makes announcements to the whole village through the loud speaker... it is really a great community. The houses are all really close together, and there is a river right around the town, so the kids and families swim in it all the time. The town really helps raise each other, and I think that is a very very beautiful thing to watch. I really really like Shandia, and part of me imagined myself going back to live there or in a place like Shandia some day. I am not sure if that was just a fleeting thought, or something that I might actually act on.

THEN- after Tena, all of the Quito Quest interns and bosses got to take a 5 day break to go to SAMÉ, which is a really beautiful beach in Ecuador, although the drive there is completely windy and ridiculous (but, still the drive is gorgeous.) The top two pictures are at the beach. It was a needed break, and it felt great to hang out with all of the other interns and to catch up on our past teams. We went WHALE WATCHING!!! BUT, we saw ZERO whales. Some people saw the splashes, or the tails FAR FAR away, and some say that they actually saw whales, but I say that is all LIES. I didn't see any, and it was disappointing. They were even supposed to be mating on the coast of ECUADOR!! Maybe they do all of that underneath the ocean as opposed to on the surface... who really knows? I don't. But, we still saw a shark/whale/not really sure... but we think it might be a whale shark. AND, we saw dolphins, and we spoke in whale a good bit... not as good as Dory, though. All in all the whale watching was a great experience : ), and no one ralphed, which was good news as well. (I for sure thought I would be the one to lose it first.)

After we got back from the beach we got started on Block 3... (the 3rd picture, which was taken on the equator) I was with Miguel and James- we worked with a team from Columbia, South Carolina. They were also a really great group... all of them were high schoolers and there were 6 adults. That was also a really fun and stretching block. We worked at a church called Carmen Bajo. We helped with any work they needed done, including tearing down a TREEEEEEEEE. A HUGE tree. I really thought someone was going to get hurt, so I am glad that everyone is still living. Our group lead a devotional, a Sunday school, a church service and a VBS... they were busy. And, then we would do sports ministry with the kids in the park, and that was a whole lot of fun. Our group did a great job of connecting with the children and adults at both Carmen Bajo and Episcopal Cathedral (both of the churches we were working with). I have a lot more that I could say about this team, the St. John's team, as well as the Gloucester team... but, that would turn this blog post into a novel...

And lastly, I put a picture of all of us interns together with the Casa G boys... actually, there are 2 pictures with the Casa Gabriel boys. That is definitely one of the coolest ministries I have ever witnessed. There are 10 to 12 boys (I am actually not sure of the exact number) that live in the Casa G house. They have all lived on the streets at one time. They are extremely faithful believers in God, and their testimonies completely blow me away whenever I hear them. I think some of my favorite snapshots of them are 1. When I was with the Gloucester group walking from the Basilica to La Plaza Grande, which is not the safest area... and, a few of the Casa G boys used to beg or rob people in this area... we were walking this strip of land, and when I looked around I realized that the Casa G boys were surrounding us on all sides and watching out for us the whole entire time. And, then when we stopped at La Plaza Grande they formed a outer circle around us, so that no one could get to us. I think that was the safest I have ever felt here... and it was an amazing picture of community. and 2. Casey Bryan is one of the missionaries that works directly with the Casa G boys. He has 3 kids and a wife, and their family is absolutely amazing... they are from the US and they moved here in March of last year. I was in the Casa G house one time and I looked over and saw Jefferson, one of the Casa G boys, holding Molly, the Bryans' youngest daughter, on his lap while they were watching TV. I really like the friendships that are formed across racial boundaries, and economic boundaries... that image is something that I could never connect to growing up, but something that I want so much for my family, and my family and kids in the far far future... The Casa G boys are pretty stinking great... and if you want to learn more about Casa G and the guys that are living in the house, then you should check out the Casa G webpage on the Youth World website.

That's all for now..

-emily

More than a month TOO late.

TENAAAAA!!!

YO, hey!

No pictures this time. I tried to find some online to illustrate where our team is going this next block, but I was not satisfied with the pictures that I saw. Anyways, me and my pareja this block, James, are heading to the JUNGLE on the 23rd, I believe, and I am SUPER excited!!

This is what I know about Tena, the town in the jungle we are going to: the community is great, the kids are great, the kids will swim with us in the river on our lunch break, there are sometimes anacondas or deadly snakes in the water so if the kids run out of the water we should run out of the water, the kids like to throw spiders at gringos (this is where I am preparing myself. Spiders and I don't get along.), there are bugs the size of my face, there are tarantulas. I am hosting a team with my pareja James who is 28 years old, and the next youngest person on the team is the same age as my 22 year old brother. I am really excited about having an older team. And, I am SUPER excited about being able to go to Tena in the jungle.

Other than what is ahead of me, as in tomorrow night because the next team comes in tomorrow night (CRAZINESS!). I just got back from watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua with some of my friends, and all I can really remember is the first half of the movie and then waking up when it was over. Leading up to the movie that we watched to night I was told by Adam DeVries that the movie had to be good because one of the lines was, "We aren't in Mexican't........ we're in MexiCAN." Possibly one of the most powerful movie lines on the face of this earth.

And, I was about to climb Pichincha, a freaking SWEET mountain in Quito, but there were a number of things that went wrong. Adam, Matt Smith Sr., and I were ready to go at 5am... we were picked up... we made it up most of the mountain to the place where we were going to start hiking, except that the car started to not run so well towards the top... thus, we had the option of hiking an hour and a half to 2 and a half hours to get to the place where we wanted to start... and then we would have 7ish more hours. I didn't think I would be able to keep up with them since we were in such a hurry... umm, and I would have died regardless of any time restraint... umm, to make a long story a whole heck of a lot shorter... Adam and I were going to hike a different section of the mountain, and after dodging cars that were 2 seconds away from killing us and finding restrooms in really cool schools we decided to hang out with Parish and Sara DeVries, Adam's wife and baby, for the day, which was GREAT!

And I just sneezed three times. I sneeze all the time. At least 3 times.

So, my time off has been really really great... and it is about to end tomorrow... umm, and last most important thing: Caroline, one of my friends and house mates, and I have been cooking the BEST meals ever, and I am in shock that we have been able to do so.

That's it.

good night!

To sum up my first team that came...

...it was FREAKING awesome!

Man, Steve the Pirate and I (Steve the Pirate = my pareja, or partner, and also the guy that I have been working with this whole time... his real name is M

att Smith, but there is another Matt Smith, and now this is going to be a more infrequent sequence of typing because my 11 month year old friend Parish DeVries just woke up and I have to entertain her so that she won't cry.)

This is what Parish had to say:

hg nb gvcbf nbhgfs mn

ewd nm ,mnkjm m ,m v bvc` nb bv nb n nb nb bv b bt bvgggggtb vvvvvvb bv5rtfj jmnjnbmjmhu mnj hgb b

and here is a tribute to Parish, the greatest baby I know right now:

But, to continue on to all of the FPC mission that just left today at 4AM!!... This group was AMAZING! Really great.

We had...

the fearless leaders: Mark, Trey and Linda!!! Everything would have gone HORRIBLY wrong without them. And, it would not have been nearly as fun or great or anything that is good. Then we had 16 of the coolest graduated seniors from high school I had ever met. I was pretty unfamiliar with this group considering that they are from my church. But, man, everyone that didn't know each other that well in the beginning got to know each other. People that may not have been friends became great friends. It was like the ending to a good book, BUT better. The last night every single one of the "kids" (they aren't kids... but for lack of a better word) declared what they were turning their page from... for example, I think I am turning the page from observing to taking action. That is what each of the graduated seniors did. I am super SUPER duper impressed by all of them. There is no way I can put everything I want to about this group on the blog. So, here are pictures:

Ok, I am definitely battling this computer right now in order to upload pictures and it is SUPER frustrating...

-emily

also...

YESTERDAY!!! My friend Trey got some SWEEEEEEEEET air off of my shoulders.

glances.

Today my friend Mark DeVries reminded all of us to look out for glances where we saw God throughout the day... kind of like when you are at a party and you see a friend across the room and smile at them... that kind of glance. He was wondering if we would see any of that throughout the day... I saw a lot of God glances:

The kids at Argelia Alta, when I would pick them up and look straight into their eyes.

When a bunch of the kids wanted to help us paint and were doing an amazing job! They couldn't reach the top of the wall, so Lacy had an idea to put everyone on our shoulders. That's another moment.

When I look out onto the city of Quito from the top of Argelia Alta and see houses and buildings scattered EVERYWHERE. I like to think about what is going on within those communities, within those houses, within those buildings, within those streets, within the families...

The youth in our group continually allow me to see God. Their are 2 guys that have been part of our group for the past few days, and they are both former street kids named Boris and John. Just another God glance.

"I don't even know what to do with the children after I say 'hola.'"

Thursday, June 11

Today was GREAT.

There were hilarious moments.
Sad moments.
Silent moments.

We went to Argelia Alta, the church we are involved with and worked and played with kids and ate lunches and had fun with each other. One of the greatest moments that I was going to take a picture of, BUT my camera died was... well, this guy named Kevin on our team was wheel burrowing a bunch of dirt from one place to another, and the kids really wanted to help or be involved. So, he would grab the wheel burrow when it was full and say, "LISTOS!?" and all the kids would scream and then they would run up the hill to dump the dirt. Was it efficient? Not at all, but that is what was beautiful about it. It's not about doing the most work after all. So, Kevin would take the empty wheel burrow back filled with at least 10 kids in it. This process continued until we had to leave. It was REALLY great! I wish I had a picture of it.

Also, last night we all met at Adam and Sara's house again to talk about our day. It was WONDERFUL. This group makes me laugh SOO freaking hard and they make me think a lot. At one point we were talking about how the day went at Argelia Alta... everyone was talking about the kids... we were talking about how it was hard, but great it was to hold kids for a long period of time just to have 4 more kids pummel you... and then Andrew, one of the guys in the group, said, "I don't even know what to do with the children after I say 'hola'" and at that moment everyone died laughing. He said he would say 'hola' to a kid and then wonder where his or her friends were so he could say 'hola' to them too. It was hilarious.

It was also really fun when we were singing a song, but forgot the 2 verses that we had already song... thus, we just hummed the verse except for the one line that we knew.

We also visited the dump in Ecuador, but I can't go into that today... 

-emily

WONDERFUL!!! first work day.

MANNN, today was SO great. All 24 of us that are now a part of the First Pres. mission to Quito, Ecuador made our way over to Argelia Alta, a church within the community of Argelia, which is freaking AWESOME! There is so much going through my head, so I am going to try to do my best to get my thoughts out as shortly and clearly as possible. Numbers work well for me...

1. I was SOOO impressed by the youth on this trip! They have all just graduated from high school, and they aren't all best best friends with each other... Still, I am continually impressed by their ability to open up to the whole group and their lack of complaining (as in I have heard little to no complaints on this mission... ummm, that is highly unusual of people that travel in groups doing work they may not want to do. Thus, I am blown away by these folks.) And, these great people are so much fun to be around. I laugh all the time... which is normal for me, but I think I laugh even more and even harder... especially tonight.
2. Ramiro: the pastor at Argelia Alta... he is GREAT, so GREAT! He is so freaking modest, but he has every right not be because he is probably the most accomplished person I know. He is very very generous, very welcoming, and well, these are the things that I have been informed that he has under his belt: he has 5 degrees... 3 masters degrees and 2 doctorate degrees; he played pro fútbol at one point in his life; he started Argelia Alta, which is a church that started out as one story, but now has 5 or 6 floors (RIDICULOUS), and not to mention that the whole Argelia community lives around the church... it is beautiful to see that done. I'm convinced he knows everyone. He has been asked to be an ambassador of many countries multiple times, but he turns the positions down every time because he wants to be at his church with the people that he loves. And, well the government calls on him for problems, questions, etc. There is probably more that I don't know about him because he is too modest to tell anyone. He didn't tell me this stuff... his friends did. SO, this guy is a HUGE lesson to me of a great great wonderful, humble, talented person.
3. These great upcoming freshmen in high school are making me think a lot, and I like it. And they said some of the greatest things at debrief tonight. It was ahhh!! SO great!
4. And, I hope you enjoy the pictures. This is what I've got: 1. a group of some of us tonight before bedtime. I like those folks a lot. 2. A picture of the Ecuador vs. Argentina soccer game at a University where we watched it with a whole bunch of enthusiastic, passionate Ecuadorians. Please put watching an Ecuador soccer game around Ecuadorians on your list of things to do. It is WONDERFUL! And, Ecuador won, 2-0!!! 3. and 4. WORKING on the SIDEWALK! Hard workers. 5. Linda and Mark wearing weed apparel that we pulled out of the ground.

I want to do better at remembering specific stories.

good night! 

-emily

Quito is the COOLEST.

YO! Today I hung out with the First Pres. Church team from my hometown and home church in Nashville and it was GREAT! I was nervous, that's a fact. But, it went really well. The whole entire group is amazing, and they are making me think a whole lot (which is a good thing).

All right, you HAVE to look at this picture of Quito! This city is INCREDIBLE! It is SO freaking huge, and I tried SO hard to get the most of the city in the picture, but that would never work. This city is SO freaking huge. The portion that you are looking at in this picture is only a small portion of the whole city. The whole city is 3 to 5 miles wide and 27 miles long and, umm.... it looks like this jam packed area for about, well, the majority of the city. It is nuts and it puts me in awe every time I look at the city. This has got to be one of my favorite cities. 

But, anyways it is really late, and I have to get up early. I included pictures without titles. That is probably what all of this blog is going to be like. Any questions, ask them!

Good night, friends!

-emily

I'M IN ECUADOR!

Contrary to the name of this blog, I will not be keeping a record of ECUADOR!!!!! or the history of Ecuador. Rather, I will just be talking about my time in Ecuador. I decided to keep a blog so that I wouldn't have to email all of you my updates on Ecuador in case you do not want to read them (if I am being perfectly honest... And I am not offended.) Instead, you guys have the option of reading this and I do not have to fill your inbox. I think that sounds like a good deal.

Anyways, I have been in Ecuador for over a week now, and I have finally finished orientation! There are 12 other interns that I have gotten to know and I really like them A LOT! I am working as a team host for Quito Quest, which basically means that I will have a pareja, or a partner, and we will be in charge of 3 to 4 short term mission teams coming down to Quito.

My pareja, Steve the Pirate, and I just went shopping for our first short term team that comes in tonight at 10:22pm, which I am SUPER excited about. Our first team coming is from my home church, so it will be really great to see some familiar faces.

But, other than the things that are to come, there are a lot of things that happened during the time that I have been here. There is no way that I will be able to touch on everything, but the major things that have happened are...

1. I met a WHOLE bunch of new people, a lot of sweet people from the US and some great people from Ecuador as well.
2. I visited a whole bunch of ministry sites getting to know the staff there.
3. My spanish has improved un poquito, but more importantly my confidence to speak spanish is increasing.
4. I have been really uncomfortable in a lot of new situations, but it has turned out to be nothing but good for me.
5. I had a hard time adjusting, but I am really hoping that by the end of the summer that I can think of Quito as familiar and homey (like home?) place to come back to.

I don't want to make this too long, so I am going to end.

If you guys want to read this and it keeps your attention, then that is GREAT! But, I always love a good email, so please send those on to me and I will be able to reply back! And I will really want to reply back as well!

BYE!

-emily