US Thanksgiving

hey all,

so i celebrated my first US Thanksgiving, with a bunch of Ecuadorians! haha, yesterday, Harriett, one of the other missionaries had a Thanksgiving lunch but invited a bunch of Ecuadorians. so we sat around a table layed with turkey, veggies, carrot soufflé, and all the fixings... oh man, it was delicious! i lucked out on Canadian Thanksgiving cos we had BBQ chicken.... this turkey was JUST what i needed. i ate waaaay too much - thankfully, i'm going hiking for the next 4 days, so i'll work that bird right off!

last nite was a fun nite with Kara and Bonnie. we hit Plaza de Las Americas - the open mall version of Convocation Mall at SFU - to enjoy some fondue, and a jazz concert. cept it wasn't your usual jazz concert - it was an incredible fusion of hip hop, latin jazz, and techno. they're a band called Hidjaz, and they reigned from France, tho the leader - bass player - was from Ecuador (the fans enjoyed that!) concert was from 9:30-11:30pm and it was free! the place was filled with young ecuadorians soaking up the tunes.

this weekend, im trying to cram in as much as i can before i leave... ahhhhhhh, im leaving. i don't know if that was an excited "ahhhhh" or a scared, and anxious "ahhhhh." either way, ahhhhhh. the plan...hike to the glacier of Cotopaxi Volcano - i've heard that even tho it's a short hike time-wise, many people are out of breath because of the extremely high altitude - some 5000 meters above sea level - and that you're also hiking in gravel and ash. then sunday i hope to make it to a soccer game. the monday and tuesday i'll be hiking at another volcano, cept it's a crater lake. should be fun.

have a good weekend all!

dL

Guayaquil - Day 1, 2, & 3

hey all,

had a fantastic day yesterday! right after i finished blogging my last entry, i got all ready to meet Cristhian, my friend´s sponsor child. at 1pm, the Children International truck showed up at HCJB-2 (dunno why they call it "2" here but they do!) and i met with Anna, a girl i had only ever known thru phone. she would turn out to be our visitation coordinator. her, and another man Carlos accompanied us for the rest of the day.

we made our way to small community about 30 minutes outside of the main city center of Guayaquil. the name escapes me right, but even if i remembered how to say it, i wouldn´t know how to spell it. something with an M. anyways... we made our way first to the Children International sub office in this community. i didn´t know this, but they have 7 sub-regional offices spread out over Guayaquil helping different communities. sponsorship funds go towards a PROJECT that is being worked on in the area. so when you sponsor the child, the funds go to the project that will be serving that child. each child is given a yearly medical check-up, dentist, materials for school, and other similar helpful aids. we arrived at the office, where i met 17 year old Cristhian and his mother Miriam. dressed in their best, im guessing, they smiled and said hello. both were somewhat reserved at first, but Miriam started talking more on the car ride to her house.

we left the office to visit Cristhian´s house... they asked if i wanted to go, and i said yes...i wanted to show my friend the living conditions of her child. i thought i had seen poverty in Quito... at Zambiza in the dump, at Pan de Vida, but this was unreal. what sponsorship foundations show you on tv IS real. Cristhian lives in what seemed to be a mud-floored house held up be thin pieces of wood. the view they have is amazing - the north of Guayaquil i believe... but the in their humble home, i saw two queen beds, where i believe 6 family members sleep in. there was an upstairs as well, but the foundation didnt look strong enough to hold more than one person.

as i chatted with Miriam and Cristhian, she offered me a coke along with Carlos and Anna. there was also a photographer, Nelo, who shot for us the whole day so i could spend time talking to them. Miriam showed me a photo album, but it was more of a paper journal with precious photos glued in with a few captions. she showed me what Cristhian looked like he first got sponsored at the age of 4. and him in elementary school, and various other special moments. she then pulled out a photo of Corrie, who looked like she was 16 in the photo. the photo, however was accompanied by a letter dated 2002... it was quite a special moment. Cristhian then proceeded to open his gift from Corrie - an orange Roots Canada shirt, along with board shorts. he really liked them. he went to put on the shirt, and it fit perfect! i told them that corrie spent quite a while trying to think of what an adolescent boy would like...and it turns out that it was just perfect!

i had decided that we would go visit a famous park in Guayaquil called Parque Historico. was a good choice cos neither mom nor son had been there before. we spent about an hour and a half at this place with a guide and it was really informative. at this park we flora and fauna found in tropical coastal regions of ecuador, we saw many different animals like parrots, anteaters, sloths, monkeys, and crocs. we then saw old town Guayaquil with original buildings, and roads. we then made our way to the jungle feature of the park, cept i knew what the REAL jungle is like...and i must say they replicated the house pretty good. we then finished off the time looking at medicinal plants and in a cage with 100 bats!! i think Cristhian had fun, and so did mom.

during the time in the park we talked about many things. his favourite class is Science, and he likes to listen to english music...tho really he likes all types of music. in his free time, he likes to hang out with his friends at the mall, which to me seemed like quite aways away from his home. he has 5 siblings, and he´s the 3rd child. his father left them two years ago, and mother is left to fen for herself. mom suspects that he´s with another woman. money is really really tight in his family... here in Ecuador, fathers who leave don´t necessarily have to help pay for the child´s future. it´s quite common to see single ecuadorian mothers doing everything they can to ensure their children have a good future.

im gonna upload my pictures when i get back to Quito, so be sure to come back and check out the photos. it was a great day, and a privilege to have spent time with Cristhian and Miriam.



path to Cristhian's house...



Cristhian, reading Corrie's letter after opening the gift...




Mirian showing me a photo album...



a blur, but depictive shot of their home...



a shot of us three at the park

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later that nite, i had another awesome experience. i went with Allen, Director of International Radio, and HIS sponsor child Marco- who is now a man with his own baby!!! - to Malecon, the boardwalk area of Guayaquil. no joke, i felt like i was in Seattle. we ate dinner at a little stall on the pier...warm wind blowing in my face, chatting it up with Allen and Marco. it was such a beautiful sight to see the fruit of Allen´s sponsorship and time. Marco named his son Allen, in honour of his Allen! Marco´s father left the family when he was either 2 or 4, and so Allen is really the only father´s he´s ever known...he calls Allen "mi papa" in front of his ecuadorian friends...isn´t that precious?!? we ate, we laughed, we walked for an hour down the boardwalk..and i heard many stories of when they first met. Allen had started sponsoring Marco prior to working with HCJB. he lived in California and came down to visit Marco. he remembers when Marco was 12 years old...and they were saying good bye at the airport...Marco said to him, "i´m going to pray that God will bring you back." i believe it was no more than a year or two later, Allen joined the mission field and has been in regular contact with Marco ever since... Marco works in a steel factory, and seems very happy with his wife and child. good times.

part way thru the nite, we met up with James and company from the volleyball tournament. in a moment of spontatneity, we all decided to hire a children´s train for 50 cents a person and ride around the malecon. we didn´t know what to expect...but it was about a 7 minute ride, around in circles on the board walk...it was hilarious, a memorable moment.

----------------------------

this morning was an exciting day. i was given the opportunity to present the Spotlight Listeners´ Club at another church in Guayaquil. while my spanish is proficient enough to communicate, i still needed a translator for the whole presentation, so Allen came along before he started his day. Guayaquil already has 200 people on the email list for spotlight so we´re praying that this group will start. oh yeah, did i mention that the group in Shell is starting on Nov.24??? im so excited to hear how it goes.

the ride made me feel sick. drivers here are even crazier than in Quito...nuff said. i rested for a bit, then made my way down to the other part of the Malecon...it´s about 2.4 km...and i only had hung out in the south. i made my way to an area called Cerro de Santa Ana and Las Penas. THIS was cool area. never thot i was huge into ships, but being a pier and all, there was a lighthouse monument and many ship memorial thingys, complete with pirates! this area had many colourful houses, and a freaking load of stairs. BUT, it´s soo easy to climb them now cos i´ve been acclimatized to the altitude in Quito. no joke guys...i can´t walk two flights of stairs in Quito without gasping for air - most ppl too...but here, i walked 444 (they numbered them all!) with no problem. i think running around the Alliance Academy with the altitude has boosted my respiration system...i think. i climbed to the top of the lighthouse and took a bunch of photos...being touristy of course. i basically hung out here because this is the only safe placein Guayaquil where you can walk around alone and you won´t mugged...cos there´s security guards everywhere...

i then made my way down and had lunch. OH MY GOSH...i finally discovered what the fruit guayabana is.... the flavour was sooo familiar (always thot of my brother when i ate/drank it!), and i loved it instantly. i always eat guanabana icecream in Quito...and now i know what it is....SOUR SOP! ok, for your gringos, you won´t know what that is...but it´s an east asian fruit that´s sooooooo good! i only found that out cos Allen´s a twinkie...he went to a chinese church when he lived in california, and how in Quito he STILL goes to a chinese church. tee hee....no other white guy would know what a sour sop is! good to know.

i then read for 2 hours with a warm breeze outside...i felt now like it was a warm Lonsdale Quay. got up to walk all the way to where i was again last nite...and received a call from Allen. he was at the airport (WHOA SIDE NOTE: HCJB-2 WAS JUST PLAYING DAVID CROWDER. allen said they try to put one english song every 4 spanish songs...but THAT was cool!) heading back to Quito and wanted to make sure i was good. i then called Angel and met up with them... Edison from my dept is here too, along with another guy from radio, Pepe. together we went across the street to a market - which allen told me not to go to cos it was super dangerous for pick pocketing - and bought some shorts and shoes. good times. i had 3 ecuadorian men with me, what could go wrong? ... ... ...

i just found out today that we´ll be going to the beach tomorrow. who knew?! so it´s me, and the boys...Angel, Edison, Pepe, and Luis (works here in Guayaquil.) it´ll be like hanging out with uncles...and a cousin (edison.) i definitely feel integrated into the culture now!

i´ll let you guys know how day 3 goes. seriously, when i think about this, and my trip to Shell, im reminded how good God is and how His plans aren´t mine, and neither are His thoughts. He´s got things planned for me that i can´t even imagine...and really, im so glad that im able to be here NOW, and went to Shell when i did rather than before, otherwise i wouldn´t have had the opportunities to help in other ways and meet other people.



Bario de Las Penas...



walking in the Bario de Las Penas, an old part of Guayaquil that was recently restored. if you look to the right of the photo, they numbered the stairs... all the way up to 444!



colourful houses on Las Penas...



shot of the coast while walking up...



El Faro - lighthouse - at the top of Las Penas in an area called Cerro de Santa Ana



walk back on the Malecon...

good times...

till day 3

dL

PS: im typing on a spanish keyboard waiting to go for dinner. so to kill time, here are a bunch of spanish letters on the keyboard ºª¬¿ç

DAY 3

short and sweet...we went to the beach, about a 2 hour drive..hung out there for about 3 hours, and came home. relaxing time with the boys. we took a boat ride around the area and saw a bunch of navel ships in the ocean!



HCJB-2 in Guayaquil...



one of the many navel ships in the ocean...



the fine gentlemen i had the privilege of hanging out with this weekend! they're crazy...all of them. L-R: Pepe, engineer in radio, Angel, accountant, Luis, administrator in Guayaquil for HCJB-2, and Edison... computer buddy. don't they look beautiful?

protests and strikes, but i made it!

hey all,

i write this from the studios of HCJB-2 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. it´s about 10 hour busride south of Quito, and is quite a lot warmer. i´m here in Guayaquil until Sunday... purpose of this trip... visit my friend´s sponsor child from Children International, and do some adventuring while im at it.

the original plan was to bus down here overnite... last nite...but yesterday in the afternoon, i was informed, after watching the news, that there is a nation wide bus strike that is going to start on Monday Nov. 21. however, the strikes have already started in Guayaquil, Cuenca, and the province of Loja. go figure...! i tried to go every route i could without taking a plane cos i just didn´t wanna have to pay...but in the end, the safest, most sure way was to grab a plane with AeroGal. im quite impressed with this airline...the logo sorta reminded me of Canadian Airlines. i left Quito at 8:10am and arrived Guayaquil at 8:50pm. what a short ride, AND they served us breakfast...that was second breakfast for me.

i first thot i´d be in Guayaquil all by myself, but things have been changing by the hours since yesterday! i flew in with a guy from Angel, an accountant for HCJB, and am also here with Allen, director of radio in Quito. tomorrow, Edison, my buddy in internet department is coming down as well to do some tech stuff here... AND not to forget James and his volleyball team. what a blessing to have people that i know here! things jus sorta kept on unfolding and they kept on getting better and better.

the drive thru the city from the airport to the studios of HCJB was an interesting experience. i felt like i was in a hybrid of Seattle & Singapore & California all at the same time. Guayaquil is on the coast, so there´s a lovely boardwalk all over - sorta like Pike's Pier in Seattle, but the open stores, and street vendors remind me of singapore...cos they´re CLEAN places. AND there are palm trees everywhere...don´t see that too often in Quito, cept for at the Marriot. im telling you, Quito is very much like Vancouver. people speak here with a completely different spanish accent than Quito...it´s a little bit difficult to understand, so i was practicing with my family last nite. i suppose it´s the same as a westcoaster trying to talk to an eastcoaster in canada. i heard from some people that´s it´s really difficult to understand people from Newfoundland.

i think i MAY be heading back here on Nov.30 to work...i´ll be helping out with an annual radio sharathon. because HCJB-2 in guayaquil is much smaller than Quito, they need all the help they can get. not confirmed yet, but pretty sure.

what else... im hot.... k, well, it´s not THAT hot..but it is humid, and i don´t function well in heat. i wanna just lie on my bed like a kitty kat and not do anything. but alas, i meet the sponsorchild in half an hour so i should go get ready..

tonite, allen, angel and i are gonna meet up with James (he´s somewhere else on the otherside of Guayaquil!) and take a stroll in Malecon, the famous boardwalk sector of Guayaquil.

if you guys happen to know of anything interesting or exciting i should check out, lemme know before sunday at 3pm your time!

more soon,
dL

back log

hey all,

alright, so i THINK i've figured out why i can't post pics...i've been trying to upload high res pics, so im gonna lower them and hopefully they'll load. wow, i should know this...i do this everyday. for my regular readers, im usually quite detailed, but alas, time does not allow such a luxury at this time...so i'll brief you thru the medical caravan and my weekend...

the medical caravan was an amazing experience. we went to a place called PUEBLO Viejo, not PORTO Viejo, like i had originally thought. the difference? about as different at weather in Saskatchewan NOW, and weather in Vancouver. i was packed for warmer weather, and found out 10 minutes before we left we'd be up in the mountains. yep, i was actually in the clouds. my duties were to take highblood pressure and prep the patients for the docs. we saw over 400 patients in 3 days!!! they were looonog days....breakfast at 7am, clinic closed around 7pm, dinner, then Quichua service...hit the sack, and repeat. killer long days, but amazing experience. we slept on the floor in a school. the air was fresh, and cool. so yeah, i got my taste of medical-ness...what did i learn? i have a deeper appreciation and utmost respect for medical staff...nurses, docs, and everyone else in between. to aid patients all day long... diagnose, and not go insane is awesome. that said, it gave the work that i do in the internet ministry more worth - not that it didn't already have that already. this experience showed me the ministries i was supporting as a result of doing internet ministry. when i post an article about a medical caravan, or a water project, i now KNOW that our staff are working with real people in the middle of nowhere, helping them and meeting a need. yah, amazing experience....so blessed to have gone on this caravan.

weekend was INSANE! kara, dan and i went to Riobamba (basically where i was for the entire week on the caravan cept the city, not in the mountain) and caught a train to El Nariz del Diablo. we sat on TOP of a train for 7 hours admiring amazing views of countryland, mountains, valleys, rivers etc. El Nariz del Diablo - the Devil's nose, is known as the most difficult railway in the world, because the track zigzags back and forth on the side of a rock mountain. yep... we went forward, then backward, then forward, then backward, until we reached the bottom of the mountain. good times spent this week.

k, so what follows are pics i've wanted to show awhile. if you don't understand the pic, scroll lower down to the actual post...you'll find it :)

enjoy!

dL



pic from the jungle... people of the community eating breakfast on a bananaleaf



me, trying to stand on a rock as a waterfall showers me in Hola Vida!



me taking someone's blood pressure...felt so medical!


a shot of us on the top of the train whizzing by the side of a mountain!



kara, me, and dan at the bottom of the devil's nose



ok, so if you look closely, you'll see that this pic was taken from on top of the train...then you see a cliff... then you see another railway..that's the railway that the train went backward on....forward, then backward down a mountain till we reached the bottom. tight squeeze!



birthday festivities at my house... Gaby baked 3 cakes for me...well and to feed the rest of the extended family!

off on a medical caravan

hey all,

well, it's currently 7:48am and we're leaving at 8am, and being me, i had to blog for you guys. before i forget, thanks again to all of you for the birthday wishes...i felt so incredibly loved tho we're miles apart! i'll reply to your email individually when i return to the office next weeek.

im off to Portoviejo, looks like it's about 5 hours away, closer to the coast, and much hotter. im not sure what else to say other than to pray for our safety, and work there. im sure i'll have lots to share when i come back - and hopefully by then i can post pics!

oh yeah, so Pan de Vida was great yesterday - we served bout 155 ppl...cept a little episode happened at the end that i ask for your prayer. there was a guy who just got outta jail that was there - he was in jail for murder, but i guess yesterday was his first or second day out. anyways, Oscar went over to say hi and welcome him, and the guy freaked saying "why are you asking for my name? what do you want?" long story short, he said "don't mess with me" and pulled a knife. my friends rony, and paul, and a couple other guys, along with Oscar had to escort the guy out civilly. after he left, the volunteers were having a meeting about safety and security...and at that moment a little girl came running to Oscar saying "the guy's got my dad!" well, longer story shorter, there was a fight...more of a struggly btw the guy and a bunch of ppl, and the security guard from English Fellowship Church across the street came to help. he chased the guy down the street and walked a way with a bloody finger. Kara and i were quite shocked, didn't know what to do but just stop and pray. i hope Oscar doesn't get discouraged when stuff like this happens. that's what happend...so please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers.

sorry for misspellings and anything in this post that made no sense. im typing like made right now.

love you all!

peace,
dL

holidays in Ecuador, and next week

hey all,

this past Nov. 2, and 3rd were national holidays in Ecuador. Nov.2 is known as la dia de los disfuntos - which roughly translated means "day of the dead." on this day, families make a drink called "Colada Morada" and make bread in the shape of a baby. and that's what i did with my family this past Wednesday. we headed out to uncle edwin's house out in La Armenia Valley, and spent quite literally the whole day making this drink and making the bread. of course, in between there were many laughs and chats. it was a cool experience to be taking part in an Ecuadorian tradition.

thursday i went to a place called Puerto Quito about 2.5 hours north of Quito with some ecuadorian friends. in Puerto Quito, we went to a place called Cascada Azul - Blue Waterfall. well, the waterfall wasn't blue, but it was surreal nonetheless. we were a group of 5, and we had the entire lagoon and waterfall to ourselves! it was breathtaking to be in the lagoon, and then swimming under the waterfall itself as it poured its waters on us. yah, it was just about as good as Hola Vida. can't compare cos both cascadas were just gorgeous!

im in the office today, working on some last minute things before i head out next week. yes folks, im gone for another week, this time to a city called Portoviejo. it's a Quichua community close to the coast, and i'll be going on a medical caravan. i've already been told that i'll be helping with taking the names of ppl for the clinic, and taking blood pressure, and possibly some other things. thank goodness Bonnie taught me how to take vital signs...ooh, i feel so medical :p just kidding...i think it's a group of 7 - a dentist, a doctor, a nurse, then 4 assistants. i'll be out there till late friday and im really looking forward to be helping out in this way. medical caravans go to the poorest places of the poor in ecuador to meet the needs of the less fortunate who don't have access to healthcare. hey, if you get a chance, say a prayer for our safety, and relationship building, and that ppl will be healed physically and spiritually thru our visit. i've heard that we also show the Jesus Film during the week - super cool cos i did that in Tanzania last year! for more info on medical caravans, check out the site

by the way, the Spotlight Listeners' Club site that i have been working on for the past month is LIVE on the hcjb.org site. i'm so happy to have been a part of this and helping to start clubs around the world. the site will primarily be used as a hub to access resources, and share ideas.

eek, yet again my prayer letter for October is late...i'll work on it this weekend, and hopefully upload it early monday morning before i leave for Portoviejo.

thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. i definitely feel loved. my friends kara and harriett started planning a little fiesta for us tonite so the plan is to hit a place that's like Boston Pizza called Sport Planet, eat cake, then watch ZORRO....oh man, i've waited so long to watch this sequel! i hope it's good!

OH yah, did i mention that we served 130 people at Pan de Vida last week?? it was AWESOME!

love to you all,
dL