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.

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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?