technology, remedies, and communication!

i did a little more reading this morning on the London Tube fiasco, and learned that much of the first-hand footage of the bombings was from camera-phones. i dunnno, but something from my CMNS 253 class and the use of technology comes to mind. isn't it interesting that the footage from a tiny little cellphone camera, serves for us as the main lens into the attack? forget BBC reporters filming live on the spot...now, we can do it all on our own. it's definitely a shift in power, don't you think? now the news is using us for footage and raw material, rather than the other way round. hmmm, interesting...

so i had a bad case of...something in my stomach for the past few days, but yesterday was the ultimate worse. i took a cab home cos i was feeling so bad...and to help alleviate the pain, guess what Patricia gave me.... oregano tea! i was a little skeptical at first, but she gave me a huge jug of it to keep me hydrated (and i guess allow the oregano to do its job!) it smelled like spaghetti sauce, but tasted like normal tea. long story short, the tea did the trick, and im feeling soooo sooo much better. thank goodness for natural remedies, like oregano :) i have to remember that for when im back in Vancouver....no more over the counter medication.... oregano for me!

oh yeah, so in the middle of getting the new website up, james and i have been updating the new feature, and this month's focus is Russia. the Poland feature had been on for a really long time, so we changed it cos of this new need. if you get a chance, check it out - HCJB & Russia

q'mas....what else? oh yes, have i mentioned yet, that i think im falling in love with this country and the people? many of you said to me before i left, "be careful Debbie, you may go to Ecuador, and never come back." hmmm.... i think one of the many reasons why i love it is because it reminds me so much of Vancouver. and i love Vancouver. the Aguilars asked me the other nite which country is my favourite one that i've beeen to...and i said "to be honest, i have to say Canada." yeah, im a sucker for cool weather, mountains, the ocean and multiculturalism. and aside from the ocean, Quito has all of that. did you know that there are so many different kinds of Ecuadorians? it's sorta like saying there are so many different kinds of Vancouverites. there are asians, latin-american, caucasian, african-american etc. such a diversity here...

oh yes...have you guys ever heard of Quichua? it's a type of people and language here in Ecuador. if you're familiar with Elisabeth Elliott, she spent much of her life reaching out to the Quichua people. i guess it's probably the equivalent to canada's first nation's people. well, i learned my first little bit of Quichua the other nite! you know how sometimes in english we say "aiyaiyai" when we do something wrong, or make a mistake, or something hurts? well, that's actually Quichua for...either "gross" or "pain." i can't remember, but it's one of those :) i learned the other day that Wycliffe Bible Translators had completed translating the Bible in to the Quichua language in 1993...and they partnered with the printing division here at HCJB in order to print the Bibles so they could be distributed. it's neat to see ministries working together. what's cool is that when Elisabeth Elliot was here in the 50s or so, they had begun work on developing an alphabet system from which to build translation on. takes a long time eh?

dL