oh, to speak freely

friday nite went well with James and his family. had a yummy dinner, and i got to feed Gracie - their youngest - ice cream! seriously, some of the cutest kids i've ever met. played two games of Settlers, of which i won neither...

weekend was aight...for the first time since i've been here, we didn't go anywhere and spent the day at home, doing stuff. after helping Faby pimp up someone's car for a little while (not only is he a graphics designer, but he does cars too) i watched a Seinfeld marathon. yeah, got a good dose of the 10 best episodes and the "special" that was featured at the end of the Seinfeld season. everything from the close talker, to the backwards wedding episode in India, to Celia's forbidden toy collection and Kenny Rogers Chicken...ahh, i felt at home.

i came to a low this weekend, however. as mentioned, being the first weekend that i didn't do anything, i was in a foreign state. back home, i have the liberty to leave when i please, to anywhere i want, with whomever i want...but here, im a little more limited, due to safety - (and the fact that the only actual friends that i made here returned home to the States a few weeks back.) it's not really the best idea for me to wander around Quito by myself, and i don't always want to keep asking various family members to take me here and there. so i stayed in my room...and read...and thought...and read...and journalled. and was then was reminded what of what a perfect opportunity it would have been to hang with God for a bit. it's sad that it takes that state affairs for me to remember to check in with Him... but i did, and it was good. it was a good time of reflection reminding myself why i was here again, and what the purpose was. i was reminded of how blessed i've been since arriving in Quito with my family, and work, and everything else. it's not the obligation of my family to take me out...heck, my siblings don't even have to talk to me, but they do, and we have great conversations. so one day of doing nothing....should be ok. i got a call from a good friend back home on thursday nite as well which probably also reminded me of how easy it is to just pick up a phone and call a friend.

as much as im progressing in spanish, there's still a part of me that yearns to speak fluently. i've received many encouraging comments from Ecuadorians saying that my spanish is getting much better, and that my understanding is greater. just the other day, Cristian and Edison were saying that my understanding is really coming along...but despite my progress.... i still am frustrated that i don't know more. this came up esp on sunday when Cristian was sharing something from his heart over lunch, and i barely understood a word. (had to ask Faby after, "uhhh, so what was Cristian talking about?? is he ok??") heck, i sang a song in my head because i was just so tired of trying and not getting it. it's strange though, because i CAN understand quite a bit of what people say...but i have my moments i suppose. Faby said that he can tell when i don't understand, and knows that i get frustrated cos i kinda zone out, and get really quiet (which im usually not!) and then said, "ok ok, we'll speak more spanish when we talk...it's not fair that im learning so much english, and you feel that you're only learning a little english." a good observation on his part, however, was that when i HAVE to speak spanish and NO ONE else is around, i can...quite well too. i said, "that's probably God." he said that he doesn't understand when James speaks english, or other people, but understands when i do. i guess it's the same with me...i understand my family, Cristian at work...but when other spanish speakers approach me, it's like my mind turns off. kinda of annoying...anyways...

many of you know that im a woman of many words, and to not be able to express them is quite possibly one of the most frustrating things. i love constructing and choose just the right words to convey my heart, and to "water down" the message because i can't speak the language is such a painful thing to do. for example, i was talking to Patty saying that one of the most beautiful things in the world is to see someone come to a deeper understanding of their faith...to see God grow and develop a person, and to see this person grasp the concept of what it means to be a follower of Christ. but the only thing i could say in spanish was "el mejor cosa de vida es mirando Dios cambio las vidas de Su gentes." essentially, "the best thing in life is looking at God change the lives of his people." not quite same punch, you know?

anyways, if you guys could continue to pray for fluency, that would be wonderful. as mentioned previously, my fluency will also help with the ministry at the dump...talking to the kids and having meaningful conversations with them, other than "what's your favourite colour??" i love going to the dump, so being able to speak more will be an asset.

language is a beautiful thing... and i want to embrace this one they call spanish.

dL

healthy as a horse!

just got back from my doctor's appointment - no more amoebas for debbie! im home free..and i feel great. and to top it off...when i walked out of the hospital IT WAS RAINING! WAHOOOO! i skipped across the street in the drizzling rain elated with teh results of the appointment.

i'm sitting here, eating the equivalent of a coffee crisp minus the coffee (because i can now!) and enjoying the vancouver-like rainy breeze flowing thru our office. it's a great day.. and we're about to launch another website - i'll fill you in on those details later.

but for now, im off to dinner with James and his familia, and a game of Settlers.

back-to-normally-yours
dL

i have amoebas!

hey all,

sorry for the hiatus in posting...i've been a little occupied the past few days.

last week, my famliy decided to take a family vacation to the coast, and asked me to accompany them, seeing as im a part of their family. prior to leaving, i already had a minor cold, with a tiny sore throat and some mild fatigue. well, by the end of the trip (tuesday, to be exact) i was nauseous, head achy, stomachy, and vomity. yep, as expected (i knew i'd get it at some point! my nurse friends here in Quito warned me...but as usual, i choose food over amoebas...or should i say THEY chose ME!) i had ingested amoebas in some of the food while on the coast. and get this...the coast isn't 20 minutes away like it is in Vancouver...it's a whopping 5 hour drive. aiyaiyai, i took a Gravol and prayed that i wouldn't puke on the way home. thankfully, the nausea subsided while i was lying in the laps of my bro and sis the entire trip holding my head cos it was throbbing.

i arrived home tuesday nite to a rainy Quito (finally!) but i couldn't enjoy the rain that i love so much, because i was so weak and had to sit. did i mention that i hadn't eatan anything all day except for a small portion of scrambled eggs and some plantain? when i saw lunch, i saw "perdon" and ran to hotel room... lunch didn't look very appetizing. all i had consumed aside from that was a bottle of Gatorade to keep myself from dehydration (my last hospital experience in Tanzania taught me to drink Gatorade when you puke/poop too much)

well, we took my temperature and i was only .4 over what's normal...so i wasn't alarmed. despite my lack of appetite i wanted to eat something cos i knew that it was affecting my body negatively...i was so weak! so, i ate one cookie, and drank a cup of tea...and immediately vommitted. dun dun DUN...time to go to the hospital. thankfully, as i've bragged since i've been here, HCJB has Hospital Vozandes right across the street from HCJB so...at 10pm, Faby and Fabian drove me to the hospital where we filled out the necessary paperwork and i was admitted into emergency. it sounds more drastic than it really was... anyways... the doctor came in and i explained to her what was happening, and Faby filled in the rest cos i forgot what else was wrong with me, and she informed me that i had to get an IV....NOOOOOOO NOT AGAIN!! i begged her NOOOOOOO (my last IV was in Tanzania, and while it wasn't bad, i HATE...LOATHE, DESPISE needles of any sort!) so...she gave me a formula to drink for the next hour...1/4 cup every 10 minutes. it was gross...so there i laid...trying to keep a conversation going with my bro so i would not think about the taste. after consuming this liquid, the doc informed me that she needed a stool sample. ick, yet again. but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

... ... ...

half an hour later, "i have your results Debbie...you have amoebas." i was half relieved, half laughing, because i immediately thought of my nurse friends, and my host family joking about getting amoebas, and was relieved that it wasn't something else like malaria! well, about 15 minutes later, i started to get all painful again, and she informed me that she had to now give me the IV. here's the funny part...I THOUGHT IT WAS AN IV, BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A SHOT OF MEDICATION. i don't have veins, well, very large ones anyways. in Tanzania, the nurse took 15 minutes to find a vein, and the same thing happened in Quito. so eventually, they shot a vein in my hand, and i screamed so loud! gripping my bro's hand trying not to pee my pants...yelling "why the heck is my ENTIRE arm hurting?!?!?!?!?" as Faby asked the nurse and tried to calm me down simultaneously, she informed us that it was a very strong medication and that my reaction was normal. gee, thanks. good to know, i was being "normal."

well, at 1:15am, we left the hospital, and i felt much better. the medication worked, i was prescribed some pills for my little amoebas and im home free. i still can't eat a normal diet, and am restricted to rice, chicken, bread...not cheese, yogurt, milk, boo. i have a follow-up appointment tomorrow with a family doctor to make sure i'm doing ok. all in all, i still have the sniffles, and a cough, but will hopefully deal with that tomorrow.

hey, this is what makes life exciting. maybe not for you, but it provides for a memorable experience on an already exciting journey. stick around, i'm sure there will be more!

for you nurses out there, or anyone else that knows, perhaps you can provide me with a better explanation of what exactly amoebas are and how they affect me long term, if they do at all?

my computer died this morning too...so it's getting fixed upstairs. (im writing this after work on James computer) i can't wait to get back to work...i miss work.

healthily yours,
dL

PS: the coast is beautiful, as always, and the ocean is tepid - perfect for swimming.

can't think of a better title

good times, that's all i gotta say. more musical experiences this past weekend.

on thursday nite, we had planned to go see a choral music concert at a place equivalent to Queen E or the Orpheum....cept much smaller. yet another long story short, we didn't end up going because show times were printed wrong on the sheet...go figure! don't worry though, this story ends well a little later. we, Faby, Gabby, her boyfriend David, and another friend Ceasar and i wandered around Colonial Quito checking out the sites...i don't think i can get sick of walking around that area. during our wandering, we saw a bunch of gringos (white people) and Ceasar recognized the "tour leader" - the only Ecuadorian in the bunch. so i chatted a bit with them and found out that they were a missions team with some Baptist group from North Carolina. my geography of the US is getting much better as i meet more people from the states, then head to my map of the US to locate where exactly they are from :P that was a fun nite of sharing and talking...laid back with no plan... and i wasn't upset! yay, im learning that it's ok if plans don't always work out :)

friday nite was spent at home - translating songs into spanish! it was really cool...we spent about 45 minutes getting just the right words to fit into the melody of "Hallelujah Your Love is Amazing". then Gabby and Faby sang it, and it sounded really really neat. i told them that we'd have to practice and then record it. i've heard this song translated into Russian, Swahili (last year in Tanzania) and now in Spanish. it was a great nite of jamming and learning more spanish words (and more english words for them!)

saturday nite made up for the "loss" of thursday nite as we made our way to the Teatro Nacional Sucre to watch the concert we missed out on. this time we got there earlier and got tickets, and even got a little dressed up. for $3 USD, i got to see 3 hours of some of the best music i've ever heard. and here's the catch, there were no instruments! it was all acapella. from the sound of a conga, to bass, to trumpet, to electric guitar...bands from Colombia, Venzuela, Cuba and Ecuador serenaded my ears with their very own voice boxes. we got some great seats in the balcony with a good view - and the tickets were general...some guy that looked like the Count from Sesame Street pointed us to sit there, and we were all like, "no waaaaay, soo cool!"

yah, and Sunday i went to La Mitad del Mundo - the middle of world - the equator. a little overrated, it was an ok trip. company was good, but the sites were mediocre. i later found out that the actual equator is another 20 ft away from where the ho hum scene was. well, either way, i've added a pic to show how magnificent it looks...tho really, it wasn't anything that special. i'd make a trip to the Teleferiqo or Colonial Quito anyday.



and here's ME in the NORTHERN hemisphere, and Faby in the SOUTHERN hemisphere...north america, south america...get it? :D his hair is getting longer...he's gonna grow it out. apparently about 3 months before i came, he cut it short like you've seen in the other pics. but before, he had hair as long till his lower back. REALLY long hair that took 8 years to grow!



im out,
dL

pictures from exciting days!

hey all, alright so here are some pics i was talking about... take a read on yesterday's post to see what im talking about :)



the drive up to Papallacta...



some pics from Grandma's birthday...and other family members...



Patty and little Amelia - i guess she would be my neice



lunch! these are pinchos...



aunt marcia, dominique, and the killer duck!



Abigail...soooo cute!



4x4 racing... look at how close the people are! we were on a little mound of dirt so only got really dusty...but not muddy



the extent of the dirt...lots on our face, hair, clothes and shoes...



another lunch :P this one is called hornado, basically shredded pork, fried skin, some sort of cereal grain thing, avocado, banana maduro, and more. it's sorta like Memphis Blues with the different types of meats



the view of the south of Quito from the top of Pinchincha after taking the Teleferiqo up. straight ahead is Cotopaxi.



valleys



it's me...in the middle of nowhere!



i am IN the clouds!

well, that's all. pretty nice eh? what do you guys think? i forgot to mention that there were signs up at the top of Pichincha that said "no running" or "no corra" because of the altitude. if you run, you'll be out of breath and faint....no good.

dL

exciting days!

hey all,

i had a great past four days. each day was filled with new sights, experiences, and food! it made up for missing out on Shell last week. i can't post pics yet but i'll do that tomorrow.

Friday
after doing some reading on how to optimize websites for search engines (fun, eh?) i joined James and his team for a daytrip to a place called Papallacta (pa-pa-yac-ta). This place was known for it's cooler temperate, and hot springs! the ride was about 2 hours...and it was absolutely beautiful. there were mountains after mountains...and just when i thought we had reached the top of a mountain, another peak would rise and stretch farther than the one before. the last 10 minutes until we reached the springs were a little nerving. it was a dirt road...and seriously was the size of 2 mcd's drive-in...and we were on a bus. without and traffic control, we ventured towards the springs on this less than stable road, and was informed that many buses had fallen off the side of the road. did i mention that the edge of the road was a cliff? yeah...we saw memorials for buses that had fallen, and were even greeted with an abandoned truck that had tipped over before. the springs were surreal as we sat in different temperatured waters. the warm, non-stinky water, was pleasant as cool mountain air breezed refreshed us from the pollution in Quito. there i sat in a hotspring, looking at a giant mountain right before my eyes...it was incredible.

that evening i learnt another spanish accent - people from Colombia. people from Colombia sound different from people in Quito (i can't even say Ecuador cos people on the coast of ecuador sound different than Quito.) anyways, i discovered this when i re-watched a movie called "Maria, Full of Grace" with my bro. i had watched this movie prior to coming to Ecuador to "brush" up on spanish...but watching it a second time was neat because i actually understood the language, despite the accent, and the setting of families and the culture and etiquette. it was like watching it with a new perspective.

Saturday
it was our grandma's birthday - el complean~os de mi abuelita. she turned 80! we celebrated at uncle Edwin's house out in La Armenia, a valley about 45 minutes away from Quito. big house, out in the country, and with 3 generations living in it. yah, families stick together here. we ate...shishkabobs but they're called "pinchos" here...with my favourite ceviche de camarone (shrimp cocktail). played some soccer, the guys did something with pellet guns and popcans, and then after i got to play volleyball! except it's called Ecuavolley...ecuadorian volleyball. basically, it's played with a soccer ball (needless to say my arm killed after, but it was still fun!) and with three people. so i played with cousin Emile, and Javier...someone's father in the big family... we were there the whole day...and it was fun. oh yah, and they have killer ducks that chase you and peck you if you're not careful!

Sunday
4x4 racing! ok, so i didn't race, but i went to go watch 4x4 racing. it was nuts. killer hot, and millions of people piled all over the track...mud everywhere, Pilsener (ecuador's official beer) and loud trucks! it was a lot of fun actually. i got to watch 3 races or 8 laps each, and got to meet more people. you know how races in canada...you would normally sit in the stands? well, there were not stands here...YOU were the stand...piles of dirt and earth were overflowing with people as the trucks went by. many people also had umbrellas to cover themselves when trucks went by cos mud flew everywhere. we managed to stay "clean" in that we didn't get mud, but our hair and faces were completely darkened by dirt at the end of the day. results? yet another killer tan, dirty face, and lots of fun!

Monday
got the day off. Faby and i ventured off to
Quito's Teleferiqonewly opened, the Teleferiqo is simply a cable car up to the top of Pichincha, the volcano/mountain range that is west of the city. my patience got tested more as schedules weren't running on time and we were waiting many times thru out the day. but thankfully, he reminded me "well, do you have anything else to do?" good point...no....i don't, so let's wait. there were many bouts of me saying "esperamos para nada!" - we are waiting for nothing. long long story short, we left the house at 10:30am, and got to the top of Pichincha at 5:30pm. the times in between were spent taking bus after bus, waiting, eating, waiting, finding out that time the info booth said the bus would be there was wrong, waiting, eating...waiting...and waiting! when i actually got into the cable car, i was still convinced that i would never make it up top cos of everything that had happened that day. but ye of little faith - we made it up...right to the top! all 4000+ meters of it! my pictures will show tomorrow, but i got to see ALL of Quito from the top. and just like the drive to Papallacta, it was mountain after mountain and valley after valley. man, i thought Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley was beautiful...the Andes and its valleys are endless, and stretch forever. the weather was obviously much cooler...about 5 degrees...but it was awesome. fresh, cool air, like canada! for a while, i felt like i was Frodo and Samwise trekking it up to Mordor... not only was i up atop a mountain, but i was in the clouds! we were up there for about 1.5 hours and got to see the sunset...or simply disappear since we were up top. there was a time where i saw clouds below me AND above me. i got a great pic too. anyways, when i was up there, i was totally reminded of Psalm 36 and verses 5-6:

5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

yeah, it was pretty cool.

additional observations:

i played with James' kids when we were in Papallacta! he has 3 little ones and all are so cute. so yeah... i thot it was just south american kids that i like...but i played with true blue white canadian kids too :P

i heard Spain spanish while in line for the teleferiqo, and they sound like Sean Connery...they pronounce their "s" like "sh." so instead of "como estas" (how are you?) it's "como estash."

christian my bro wanted to hear some punk/hip hop/ska music... so i got to share relient k, five iron frenzy, john reuben, and toby mac. it's been awhile since i heard all of them actually...since i've been listening to my "mature" music of norah, michel buble, and josh groban :P

can't remember if i already shared this, but WHITE pineapple is from the coast, and YELLOW pineapple is from everywhere else

10 de agosto (10th of august) is this week, so we get Friday the 12th off as a national or city holiday. lots of festivities to celebrate the Independence of Quito from the Spaniards

"Zorro" means fox, "aguila" means eagle - i learnt those from watching Apollo 13 with spanish subtitles ;)

ok that was long enough...i'll let you go now. thanks for reading!

dL

big plans for Zambiza!

hey all,

we had another wonderful afternoon at the Quito Dump. this week, we had James' short term team join us...and thankfully at that, because we had 37 kids show up! Ruth, the woman that i go with every week, said that it was the most they've ever had! apparently, during the school year they average about 20 or so kids, so 37 is definitely a LOT more.

i learned a little more about the ministry this week as Ruth was sharing with the group. The ministry at the dump first started when two HCJB missionaries felt God lay on their heart that they should do something to reach out to the residents and workers of the Quito Dump. being the lowest sort of people even in this society, these two individuals started visiting the workers and children and developing relationships. in thinking of how they can best manifest the love of Jesus, the couple decided to throw a Christmas party where there would be food, entertainment and new clothing etc. The first party (in 97' i think) drew 250 people. last year, there were over 2500 people at the party! not all of them are from the dump, but the party has gained much popularity that other needy people who aren't necessarily from the dump manage to find their way to the festivities.

yesterday, Pastor Jose - a pastor who counsels and ministers to people at the dump, spent all day yesterday talking to municipal officals. Extreme Response would like to implement 3 new buildings into the site. A medical clinic, a dining room with hot food (most people eat the food they find in the garbage) and a school for the children. what a great idea! since last week, the dump has been under some "renovation." they are currently moving the large heaps of garbage to another part of the site, and installing conveyor belts - this will make picking thru the garbage much safer, rather than climbing up on it.

by the way, if i haven't yet mentioned what it is that the people do....here it is. Quito does not have a recycling program like we have back home. rather they have individuals pick thru the garbage to recycle bits of paper and plastic. i learned yesterday that individuals receive 8 cents for every KILOGRAM of plastic they gather...that's a lot of plastic, and a hard day's work. so the conveyor belt will hopefully make it easier, more efficient, and God willing, we hope to have these new buildings in soon.

i remember the first day i was there, i was thinking "why don't we build a school here! after all, the kids are already here!" so, looks like i wasn't the first one to think of that.

Ruth said that she would also like to be able to paint the current room that we teach in with more fun colours for the kids...but until we own the buildings - Extreme Response that is - we can't do anything.

those are a few prayer requests for you guys. did i mention i can't wait for the Christmas party this year? i believe it's on Dec.3...which is cool, cos that was the day i was suppose to leave.

anyways... happy thursday

dL

no go

ok, so you know that verse that i just shared in the last post, about God's timing and such... i think i'm gaining a better understanding of it with each day. i am currently not in Shell at the moment. rather, i am at my desk in Quito, doing some research for someone upstairs. (since James is out, im working with engineers and informations systems people for the week).

Faby and i went to the place where i was suppose to meet my party to go to Shell with on Sunday morning - 9am...that's what the email said - and long story short, they had left at 8:30am. either the msg was not communicated to them that i was joining them...or they forgot. either way, it resulted in a rather bummed out Sunday where i returned home and slept for another 2 hours trying to forget about it. what i didn't tell you guys was that prior to planning for Shell, i was suppose to go to Guayaquil (about 9-10 hours bus ride) to visit my friend's sponsorchild...but that, at the last minute also did not work out.

ok, so i understand that things don't always work out. stuff happens and you move on...but for those of you who know me well, not only am i planner...i also expect plans of others to follow thru...and when they don't... i get peeved. but why? im not too sure, and i think this is another part of learning about myself...how anal i can be when it comes to plans. i was ready to bite off my tongue this weekend, but didn't because the food here is too good :P ok, but seriously... i need to find a balance - while planning is good, open-mindedness and spontaneity has its values too.

this also is a reminder that I am not in charge of what is happening here. it's as if God reminds me daily that He's in control, and that i gotta sit back for the ride in obedience, and practice the oh so tasty fruit of the spirit - patience. i tend to forget it wasn't thru my own efforts that i got here, but thru His efforts, and moving in your hearts to send my here. so i thank you once again, and i thank Him for allowing me to be in this place, at this time.

as much as i wanna be in the jungle right, im quite content at my desk helping out another department.

back to work...

dL

PS: as a result of me not going to Shell, i was able to watch a DVD of the Aguilar family. apparently they had MASSIVE family reunion on May earlier this year, and i got to see 90...90 familiy members party it up, eat, and party more. this is family on Patty's side. so all of her extended family - her mom's sisters, and their kids, and their kids, and their kids! for Gaby, Faby and Christian, it was their first time meeting their cousins, 2nd cousins, etc. yeah, it was huge...and the next familiy reunion will be in December. maybe i'll be around.

also, here's an update on my spanish. apparently, i speak spanish with a Quito accent - that's what my family said anyways. i didn't even know that existed, but that makes sense since people on the West Coast speak different than the people on the East coast of Canada...and the south of the States, and in England, and Ireland. so yeah...i've developed an accent that sounds like a true blue Quiten~o (actually, Quiten~a cos im a girl...)