I'm missing my friends and life in Guayaquil a lot tonight.

I miss sitting out by my house with a cup of tea as the sun set and watching all the different vehicles- trucks, motos, cars, 3-wheeled creatures- driving by. I miss waking up early every day to go to school to teach all the miniatures. I miss hanging out at youth group and I miss dinner with Heather in the back yard, even though we were paranoid about ENORMOUS rats getting us, or lagartillas falling on our heads.
I miss laying in the hammock in the living room and realizing that the Vinces boys are outside the house, not saying anything, just waiting for me to realize it.

I miss arguing with Mauro. Not really. but I miss that guy- his showing up right when I was in the middle of something, and his sitting and watching. we had some really good convos sometimes and i miss them.

My heart is aching a bit.

la ultima semana

Hey guys, happy Saturday!

Another week of camp is over and another one begins not this upcoming Monday, but the next one. It'll be campamento mayores- the sr.high and a wee bit older camp.

Just a reminder to pray for the people that will be there. Both the people in leadership positions and also the campers. There will be ones from all different walks of life.
I wish I could be there. But alas, I cannot be. So I'm doing my part here by talking to the Big Guy and by reminding all of you too!

when is it ok......

.... to quit entirely?
to give up.
to throw in the towel.
please tell me when.

I'm home from Ecuador now. One week went so fast. It was a bittersweet week.
SO good to be back. SO good to get to spend some time with so many of my good friends.
SO hard to just jump in and jump back out.

Camp was crazy as always.. nothing else is to be expected! It was a lot of fun, and there were several kids from my fourth grade English class from last year at camp, so that was really nice. But it made me realize that I much prefer the normal day-to-day life that happens back in the city. The coming and going. The waking up early to go to the school. Things like that.

While there were a few friends that I didnt get to connect with at all during my time, I did get to see and chat with the majority of them.
Some conversations were serious. Others left me laughing to kill myself. While others yet left me wondering what is the best way to refuse a proposal??! (only one of those)
Others sent me home with a sore heart.
One of those conversations... more like a confrontation actually... was continued tonight. And it left me feeling shaken up and a bit nauseated to be quite honest.
Some people are hurting so so much that the only way they know to make themselves feel any better is by hurting other people around them. This particular friend is someone that I really love. And to be honest,I dont really know why! I couldnt tell you the number of times I'm been in the "friends penalty box" with this dude- receiving the silent treatment every time. And usually about nothing. Maybe a difference in opinion or my forgetting to say hello or something. And yet he holds a little section in my heart, and I cant seem to kick him out of it.
The other day I was praying LORD, when is it ok to just quit? When is it ok to stop caring about this person and to move on... because quite truthfully I'm tired of the games and of having to hide the fact that my feelings are actually a bit hurt- and, by the way, how does it happen that after so many times it sort of doesnt even hurt anymore?!
And you know what He told me? Never. "70 x 7, girl, and thats just a metaphor" He said.
And I said (then and again today), "but it HURTS!"
And He said to me today "Think about how much it kills me every time you miniatures choose not to love me." and He doesnt quit.
Loving unconditionally is so dang hard. SO HARD.

On New Year’s Eve I was standing alone, waiting for a bus after working a day shift. It was dark and the stars were bright, and cars were zooming past me on the highway as I listened to my music. Basically it was a classic scene from a movie where someone is reflecting on their life, and the events that have brought them to be where they are in that moment. So I did it. As I sat there I couldn’t help but think about all of the things that took place over the past 12 months- the people that I met, the places that I visited or lived, the stories that I heard and a few of the lessons that I learned- that placed me where I am today.
So many things happened, and my world was truly rocked a few different times, but I can honestly say that nothing in the past year (or actually past few years) came even close to teaching me so much and shaping me so dramatically to be the person that I am today as my few short months spent in Guayaquil, Ecuador this past spring. So many of you so faithfully prayed for me and supported me financially during the weeks and months that lead up to and during my time spent in Ecuador, both at camp and in my time working in the school. I have so many photos and stories to go along with each one of them. I wish that I could share them all with you.
(If you have internet please feel free to look at some pictures from camp and my time there last year. I will note the website address at the end of the letter!)
I cannot believe that it has been nearly a whole year since I left on that adventure. I’m excited to be able to tell you that I have been given the opportunity again to go back as a leader with the youth team from Fall River Chapel. Though this year the trip will be much shorter, I am SO excited to return and see old friends and help with the camp session again, and I just could not pass up that chance.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately why I so quickly jump into these trips- helping with the planning and the fundraising and even this year teaching Spanish- and the conclusion that I came to as to why I am so willing (at least in part), is because I can’t let the opportunity to be a part of something that is so much bigger than I am, slip by me.

In these weeks at camp so many people are blessed and given a much needed rest. There are so many kids that get to camp and are thrilled to pieces to have a soft mattress to sleep on, as opposed to cramming 4 or more bodies onto a thin mattress at home, to be able to play games until the sun goes down (and sometimes even later), to splash in the ocean where their biggest fear or worry is NOT whether they will have dinner that night or if it is safe to play outside, but instead whether or not they’ll step on a stingray or a dead fish (both of which happened last year- unfortunately, and to the same person), to be able to cuddle up in a hammock with their friends or cabin leaders and to be eating three FULL meals a day(sometimes they eat so much that they get a tummy ache). Most of the kids that come to camp come from a part of the city, Guayaquil, called Bastion Popular. None of them can afford the $75.00 that it costs per person each week. Bastion Popular is a slum that has over 1 million people. It is full of gangs, drugs and alcohol, violence, abuse and extreme poverty. Many of the leaders at camp are from Bastion, grew up coming to camp and now have stepped into the leadership positions both at camp and at home in their church communities. It’s really cool to see the impact that camp has had on so many lives over the years since it started.
Every year I reach a point where I wake up in the morning panicking because I don’t know how the funds for the trip are going to come in. Will we have enough? How will we get them? This is especially the case this year, as several different roadblocks have popped up- anything from events being snowed out to the event location canceling to there not being enough time or interest to do an event. But of course, you’ve guessed it, every single year the Lord provides us not only what we need, but abundantly more. One year those extra funds were used to buy a bus for the Esperanza de Bastion (Hope of Bastion) school. Other years they have been used to help fix up the school or prepare it for the upcoming school year. You would think that after several years of my foolishness that I would learn that He does and WILL provide.

One week and a bit until take off. I haven't even thought about packing other than to realize that I have only 1 pair of shorts. But I am so looking forward to our time there....

MORE ECUADOR

myself and the Horst boys :)

Jay and I went to the beach to spend some time together and visit the Horsts before I left for Canada.

<- This is us in our old bathing suits. We both forgot them in Baños.

As we walked there were little waves, lots of washed up fish and a couple of turtle shells too!

Super Selwin

We stopped at camp too so that
I could say goodbye to Lucho
(Pedro, Coco, and Luigi's dad).

parte 11b

On the way back to Baños, Tungurahua (the volcano) decided to take up smoking and was puffing smoke in everyones face. Kidding. It did start puffing out smoke though, so that was neato.... Still I didnt get to see it all at once, but it was cool to see it in action.. sort of.
Later that night Janna and I hopped onto a Chiva(a tour truck/van thing) and went up a hill to try to see the volcano. Sometimes at night you can see it glowing red. Unfortunately by the time that we ran back to the hostel to get warm clothes and a blanket the clouds had rolled in, so we didnt get to see anything. It was still fun to go up the hill... There were about 6 chivas that went up to the top and the people on ours were singing and dancing and yelling at other chivas as we passed them:). It was funny.
The rest of the trip consisted of eating at Rico Pan and Casa Hood (a really neat little place with incredible food and killer chocolate milkshakes), wandering around and doing some shopping, exploring, and people watching around town.
A treat that they make there is Marcotcha (NO idea how to spell that). Its a taffy and they pull it by hand from hooks on the walls of their shops. People do it all over the place and there are lots of different colors. Sometimes they gave us tastes. It was so yummy when it was still warm.
There was also lots of sugar cane and fresh fruit for sale around every corner

One afternoon Janna and I were sitting in our room at the hostel when all of a sudden there was this burst of hysterical laughter. It was so loud and so hysterical and carried on for so long (probably about 10 minutes) that we couldnt figure out what was going on! After a little bit more time it started to sound like a combination of laughter and a woman's shrieking. It was making me uncomfortable. After looking out the window and seeing noone I still couldnt figure out what was going on. Janna went out on the patio and the laughter stopped. The only living things outside were the 4 little green parrots that lived at the hostel. Janna finally decided that the laughter was the birds since every time that we opened the room door the laughter would stop. I didnt believe her, but the pattern of laughter and silence continued as we closed and opened the door. Finally I peered out the window from behind the curtain and saw one of the parrots making the noise... I still cant believe how much like a human being that thing sounded.

Other Highlights from our time there included:

• The CUTE little boy on the bus back to Guayaquil
  
  
  
  
  
• The guy yelling RIOBAMBA RIOBAMBA RIOBAMBA out the bus door as we zoomed through small towns
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The extreme beauty of the countryside as we drove through the mountains.

they eat roasted guinea pigs in the mountains**

We also passed some DOLE banana plantations on the way home.

parte once: part eleven- Baños (part 1)

So I'm starting to forget the order in which things happened, so here's a post about Baños.

Janna and I left Guayaquil at about 11.30 pm, headed for the mountains. Its a 6ish hour bus ride to Baños, so we decided to head out late, arriving in the morning. I popped a couple of gravol and slept through most of the night... until I woke up because I was FREEZING COLD!
It was so weird because cold is not something that one experiences often while living in the city of Guayaquil.
Finally we arrived in the town at about 7 in the morning. It was foggy and chiiiilllllyyy. Surrounded by mountains (and a volcano), Baños is beautiful. It is best known for its hot baths that come from springs in the mountains.
There are lots of "mountain people" who come into town every day with their goods strapped to their backs, dressed in bright beautiful colors and little hats. They sell everything from sweaters and blankets to herbs, breads, or paintings.

Janna and I decided to head over to the hot pools right away and then search for a hostel afterwards. (there are hostels every where you turn).
The baths were really neat. Its incredible that water THAT HOT can come out of a pile of compressed rocks, while more water, SO COLD that it makes you ache from the inside out as soon as it hits you, comes out of the same pile of compressed rocks.
After a delicious breakfast at Rico Pan(maker of the best "pan negro" that I ate in Ecuador... actually, best bread period that I ate during my whole time in Ecuador), Janna and I found ourselves voting to take a nap in at our home for the weekend... el hostel timara- a little hostel run by a man from England and his wife from Ecuador.

When we woke up it was a good 5 hours later, the sun was shining, and there was just over an hour till the sun set, so we decided to go hike up an incredibly steep hill to where a huge statue of Mary sits gazing over the town. (you can see the tincey little town at the behind us in the pic)
It was beautiful, and along the way Janna and I discovered that we're really out of shape and that our bodies don't work at ALL the same at high levels of altitude. On the way up, Tungurahua, the volcano decided to peek out at us from behind the clouds little by little. I did see the top, but not at the same time as the rest of it. It's an illusive volcano I tell you.
On the way down I was sure that my legs were going to give out, and my mom called me so I got to talk to her as I was hiking down a mountain in Ecuador. Cool, eh??!
The next day Jay and I rented bikes and rode a couple of hours to hike down to a waterfall called Pilon del Diablo.
There were waterfalls spouting out of the side of the hills as we peddled along, as well as tunnels pitch-black that we had to bike through. It was fun!When we got there our bums were splattered with mud and a local woman willingly took our picture (while laughing at us :)! ).
The waterfall was awesome. Theres so much water pounding over the edge constantly, its incredible that it never runs out.
After walking back and forth across a wobbly hanging bridge a couple times we walked up to see it closer, and we discovered that we could crawl through a little space and get behind it! It was worth it. And it proved to be a good thing that we had brought our raincoats since every other part of us was DRENCHED :).Once we hiked back up to the top where we'd locked our bikes we hopped in the back of a truck with a couple from Holland, a man from New Zealand, and a woman from somewhere in Europe. ** more to come about Baños...

Parte 8: Florida Food Market

Janna has been telling me about this big market a few kms away from our houses... So finally a

couple of weekends ago I decided to get up early enough to walk to the market with her.

There are a few stands outside of the really big section that have clothes and encebollados (fish soups) or juices or little snacks, and then inside it is full up with stands selling anything from fresh vegetables(of which there are about 20 stands all selling pretty much the exact same thing- I havent quite figured out how they make enough money to keep going) to fresh fish to disgusto meats (pork, chicken, beef, etc.). Things such as eggs and cheeses and sausages, dried goods, and other general items can be found there too.

The venders are really creative in displaying their produce, and I think that Heather, Janna, Myra (Janna's friend) and I all had a good time milling about, picking out things that we wanted or needed for our kitchens for the next week or so. Myra actually goes every other week and picks out vegetables, cheese, and eggs for the next 2 weeks.

By the end of the adventure we'd chosen enough stuff that we decided to take a camionetta(the back of a pick-up truck- the best way to travel) home instead of walking back or taking the bus.

parte 7: Girls just wanna have fun

One thing that is really different about life here is that the girls seems to have lots of responsibilities and things to do, while the guys dont.. so that means that its hard to really spend a lot of time with my amigAs, while there are always plenty of amigOs around. Sometimes I am in need of an girl fix in a big way.
One night last week I got JUST THAT! I had my first phone conversation in spanish :), which resulted in my going out with the girls for the evening.
It was really fun. We went to the mall because Maji was working (she works at a really great little crepe booth- Curry chicken and cheese is my favorite from there) and we wanted to visit her. It was really fun.. We voted no to a movie and yes to dinner. I really didnt care AT ALL what we ate, I am not picky, so the girls chose Pizza Hut. After they'd decided and ordered, Lili said "Girls, this for Julia is like if we went to Canada and they decided to give us rice to eat". They eat a lot of rice here. It made me smile... and then I reassured them that I like pizza and that no, I dont eat it as much as they eat rice here.
It turned out to be REALLY fun, and we laughed a lot. made a trip to the grocery store, pestered the security guard to take pictures for us, pestered him again after I got the batteries working in my camera, and generally had a super evening together. I think the plan is to go out together one more time before I leave.
Which is soon.

L-R: Johanna, Maji, Liliana, Carolina, Diana, Me (looking slightly crazed)
:)

parte 6: visitors and flea markets

Things here have been BUSY! I feel like time is going so quickly but so slowly at the same time.

It feels as though a lot of people have been coming and going in the past few weeks. I can only imagine what its like for Janna and Nikki during the rest of the year.
Nikki's friend Heather headed home after being here for 5ish weeks. She's from Ontario and is HALARIOUS. It was nice to have her around.

So the same day that Heather left, Nikki's mom came with Janet's sister. They were only here for a week, visiting people and taking a trip to Cuenca during that time. Last thursday night Janet and Myrna stayed in Heather(a different Heather who is here semi-permanently) and my home. it was like Christmas as they were trying to pack up the stuff that they bought while in Cuenca. Janet was organizing things tosend to her friends at home and Myrna was trying to fit it all in her two check through bags.

Apparently now there are two other Canadians here too, but I havent seen them. They just got here yesterday and I think they're doing their own thing for the most part and I'm not sure I'll even meet them.

FLEA MARKET

As Canadian teams have been coming down to help with different camps and building projects they've been bringing spare clothes, bedding items, shoes, and other things that one might find at a value village or frenchy's at home in Canada, to be distributed amongts the people here.
There was SO much stuff that we decided to doa flea market to get rid of it and to also help raise money to fix the room in the gym at the school.

It was laid out a lot like a frenchy's store at home would be, except that everything was way cheaper than at home. Most items were under $1.50, many of the clothes being new and donated by kind people at home.
When the doors opened at 9, only the parents of students in the school were allowed to come in. We wanted to give priority to them because we know so many of their stories and the needs that go along with their lives. After an hour anyone who wanted to come in was welcome!

A few hundred people, of all ages and interests, came through the gymnasium doors in the matter of four or five hours, resulting in great finds, and in the end a super final total to go towards the gym roof.
There were lots of different items to be founds, with a wide variety of colors, styles, and textures. Such as about 40 humongo scrubs-green buttom up bowling shirts what said something about a happy club. Or these orange jerseys that these "niños" found.

L-R: Grego, Nayber(? spelling), Raul, Juan Carlos, Reynaldo, Orlando, Manuel
Daniel and I chose outfits for oneanother while we were cleaning up. We're a great looking pair, no? All in all it was a really fun event, and people are already asking when the next one will happen!