Chi, chi, chi, Le, le, le. Vi-va Chi-le!

Muy Queridos Familia y Amigos,

It has been another amazing month … full of a lot of exciting new experiences. I went to Chile at the end of June for 10 days. I stayed with the sisters there and my friend Ale from Quito. It was great to see her and visit many of the people who had stayed with us in Ecuador in April. They were so generous and took us to see many of the sights and surrounding areas. We took several day trips around Santiago; the first was to the Pacific coast along the Isla Negra where we got to ditch our shoes and dip our toes in the sand. The water was HELADO, but totally worth it! How many times do you get to walk along the beach in Winter?! There seasons are opposite, so just as summer was starting here, winter was beginning. On the Isla Negra was one of the three houses of famous author/poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda. He had a very interesting collection of …. well everything you could imagine. From colored glasses that he believed made “water taste better” to seashells, to a huge wooden horse with three tails. He was quite an eccentric man, but his incredible originally designed house had amazing views overlooking the ocean from every window.

We also visited Neruda’s other two houses, one there in Santiago with a great view of the beautiful snow-capped Andes and the 3rd in Valparaiso with a serene view of the port. Our trip to Valparaiso was with my adopted Chilean parents Normita and Luchito and their sons. Luis is a professional tour guide, so we hit all the must-sees and learned a lot along the way. We stopped to see a few of the vineyards (there are miles and miles of them covering the countryside) and learned about the unique climate that makes Chile such an ideal place for producing wine. Because of their natural borders of the Atacama desert in the north, Ocean on the West, Andes Mountains on the East and freezing South they have been kept from any insect plagues and other plant diseases. They are very proud and protective of this, not allowing anyone to bring in plant matter of any kind. I was a little paranoid and declared my dried flowers in my journal, just to be safe! They deteremined these were not a risk and didn't fine me, thankfully! Valpo is a beautiful city full of cliffs (42 I think) that drop off right at the coast, unbelievable blue water and full of colorful houses. There isn’t a house in that place that is the same color. We swung by Viña del Mar on our way home to see the giant reloj de flores (flower clock) and a Moai, an ancient rock burial statue from the oldest inhabitants in the world, taken from Easter Island off the coast of Chile.

Another day we checked out the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral and a couple museums in the city. Santiago is a unique city with a lot of history. There were still many buildings being repaired and renovated from the February earthquake. I saw a few buildings with huge inhabitable signs because the structural damage and several antiquey, old buildings with fallen stones and broken windows. One thing that really impressed me was how the entire city of 6 million completely shut down for the World Cup games that Chile was playing. The 2nd game we were in the city and got caught in a crazy traffic jam as everyone left work at noon to make it home for the 2:30 start time. It felt like the 4th of July, there was such a swelling of national pride, flags everywhere, jerseys, hats everything in national colors: red, white and blue. The sisters there work with the community to assist with drug rehabilitation and alcoholism. It is a really tough neighborhood with drug deals happening in the parking lot adjacent to the house and several of the AA members gathering on the corner to drink. I can’t even imagine how difficult it is to work with these diseases and devastation. As a goodbye, we had a great picnic in the park after Mass and spent the day in a little touristy, artsy town.

Overall it was a great trip and I was sad to leave and have to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. I came home to Ecuador for a few days and enjoyed spending time with the kids and teachers before saying goodbye again. It was so hard to leave this community I had grown to love and really feel a part of. Although it was tough to go, I was looking forward to being back at home and catching up with everyone here. One thing I did realize during my traveling was that every place has incredible, unique, beautiful places, sights, and stories but more important than the glassy sea shore and towering blue mountain tops are the people. They are the ones who “make” these different places so beautiful and unforgettable. I have been truly blessed this year to meet so many diverse, unique and loving souls. I have changed so much because of all they have taught me. Their lives are so different and yet, we have so much in common.

It’s been weird to be back at home here in Kansas. I knew it would hit me hard. For me, reverse culture shock is way harder to deal with than culture shock. When you go to a new place, you sort of expect everything to be different, strange and its an exciting adventure. When you come home, you know things have changed, but at the same time it all seems exactly the same. It’s hard to adjust to the time you’ve “missed” in so many lives and catch up. I read a quote by Nelson Mandela I really could relate to and would like to leave you with this thought: Sometimes it takes coming back to a place that remains unchanged to see all the ways in which you yourself have altered. I know that is the biggest struggle for me, sort of finding out who I am again and how to be here. Praying that you all have a blessed week and are able to dive in to whatever it is God has in store for you. Please pray for me.

Dios te bendiga,

April

Queridos Familia y Amigos,
What a month it has been here in our barrio! We have had our share of exciting things happening right here in Oriente Quiteno! I will start from a few weeks back with the Guarderia. We had a few kids get sick (which happens pretty regularly) but they were really sick this time, so after they went to the doctor and came back to the Guarderia for classes for a few weeks, they let us know that they had Hepatitis. Now I think I’ve mentioned before about the sanitation at the Guarderia isn’t exactly up to our normal standards (I use my hand sanitizer quite frequently) but with this super communicable disease it didn’t take much time to spread from a couple kids to about 15. They asked all the parents to get their children tested and bring back a note from the medico before their kids continued attending classes. This worked out alright, but the damage had been done and the kids continued to ever so generously “share” their spoons, toothbrushes, suckers and Hepatitis when we (the profesoras) weren’t looking. So, we had a big cleaning with all the parents one Sunday morning and cloroxed everything – toys, tables, chairs, pencils … it was a relief to me, but they decided that the only way to stop the EPEDEMIC would be to vaccinate all the kids. Of course this vaccine is super expensive about $30 (which is like ¼ of a monthly salary for many of the families. So that is sort of unreasonable to ask of the parents. I took this opportunity to check my yellow card and was relieved to find out that I do have the Hepatitis vaccine but am due for a booster shot, which means I’m ok … for now! Speaking of salaries, we got into a really awkward conversation one day while drying the dishes after lunch and I was explaining my teaching job for next year to the other teachers. They asked about how much I would be paid and I was ashamed to tell them my salary, and felt especially guilty because we are always joking about how teacher’s are poorly paid in the US. At our school INFA (Instituto de Ninez y Familia) the govt. dept. pays our teachers $130 a month. One of the profesoras asked me, what are you going to do with all that money? So I feebly tried to explain about rent, bills, food, insurance and LOANS. I don’t think they were too convinced though, and it was quite a humbling experience to realize just how good we have it, even when we don’t realize it.
Another culture shock for me was the new law passed to help alleviate the traffic congestion during rush hours here in Quito. It’s called Pica y Placa (Pica signifying the peak hours and Placa signifying license plate). Here’s what I understand of how it works:
Each person who owns a private car has a 3 numbered license plate. Based on the last digit of your number you are prohibited from driving one day a week during “peak” hours: 7-9 a.m. 11-2 p.m. 4-8 p.m.or something like that. So, for example our buseta (van-like vehicle) ends in 8 and every Thursday we can’t drive it during those times or we are subject to a $80 fine. How crazy would it be if one week the govt. just up and decided you couldn’t drive your car one day a week. I just kept thinking, this would never happen at home, people would protest and there would be an outrage! Well, this wouldn’t be such a big deal for us here, except that we pick up about 1/3 of the kids that attend the guarderia everyday in our buseta. So … the solution that was found for this problem was that Don Gonzo, our driver, does the morning recorrido (route) in his own camioneta (sort of like a wheat truck). Yes, the kids are now riding around in the back of a large truck to get to school Thursday mornings, which can’t be that safe! In the afternoons we leave early to make it home before 4 and go flying around all the curves, its quite an adventure (to add to the excitement the children all scream whenever we speed over one of the “speed bumps”).
We’ve also been experiencing some weather phenomena. Nothing surprising there as tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and everything else seem to be more and more common lately. It doesn’t snow but hails (granizo) little hail stones. Usually they melt by the next day but last week we had quite the tormenta!!! The hail came so hard and fast that it came in along with the melting rain and flooded our house and the school. Luckily there wasn’t too much real damage, just a lot of shoveling (the granizo on the roof was coming in through our great ceiling window so we had to pitch it over the side of the roof!) and mopping! This combination also resulted in practically flooded streets in one part of the city and in our neighborhood, several buses and big trucks stuck in the snow/hail/slush. It was quite a mess as they are not used to dealing with this “winter weather” at all! The Senoras (and kids) at school enjoyed playing in it, as it is really unusual here and it has stayed around for a few days. It has been pretty chilly here after our summer like weather at the beginning of the week! Crazy KS like weather! This weekend I decided I was going to go to Banos a nearby town. But Mother Nature had other plans. Banos is in the valley below Volcano Tungurahua which decided to partially erupt yesterday covering Guayaquil and several other cities with volcanic ash. Luckily, I wasn’t there to witness that!
So instead I took a little day trip to San Rafael about 45 minutes out of the city to the house of Eduardo Kingman, another of Ecuador’s famous artists. I had a wonderful one on one tour guide and learned all about his life, family, paintings and house. His father was a Dr. from Kentucky and his mother Ecuadorian … I’m still not quite sure how his father got here. But nonetheless, he grew up here with his mother and brothers and sisters and after his father abandoned them and returned to the US, he started out as a woodworker making little wooden figures and painting them at the age of 8 to provide for his family. His house was Awesome (which he helped build part of)! It is built on the roots of 3 huge Eucalyptus trees and the floor of the house is always moving, there are many un-level floors to prove it! It overlooks the San Pedro River and his studios have huge windows open to the beautiful natural view. The original part of his house was an old bakery and you can still see the ovens and set up. He has some really incredible work and was a very socially realistic, humanistic painter. He was the teacher of Guayasamin another famous Ecuadorian artist, who Nicole and I are big fans of and it was neat to see his work and the influences and relation between the two.
My time here is winding down and I just try not to think about it. I love the people here so much and the culture and the lifestyle, its just really a different world. Sort of like going back in time, in reference to the mindset and traditions of the people. It’s beautiful to witness the simplicity and devotion of the daily life of our neighbors and the sisters. It is truly an unforgettable experience and I’m trying to really enjoy and not take for granted the time I have left. I have been reading the Seven Storey Mountain (autobiography of Thomas Merton) and it has been really moving to see his faith journey and walk along this path of self-discovery with him. Especially as through this experience I feel like I’m always learning more about myself and getting to know myself and God better. I spoke to the High School confirmation kids last week and they had a chance to ask me questions at the end. One young man asked me why I was Catholic. It was humbling and exciting to try to explain that to him – especially in Spanish! haha But made me glad that they were thinking about these things and willing to ask these questions and a good chance for me to reflect as well.
Praying for you all, that you may experience God in many little ways throughout your ordinary work and daily routines. He is always calling out to us and asking us to follow him in many simple little ways, how happy we are when we answer!
Amor a todos,
April

The Founding of the Assumption Sisters, Guayaquil and Mis Chilenos

La paz de nuestro Señor siempre esta con ustedes,
Wow … well it has been a great and crazy month. April is always wonderful! :) We had a lot to celebrate this April. First we went to a Mass at the Salesian sister’s house in the city in honor of St. Don Bosco. He is the patron of youth and worked to start schools for troubled and orphaned kids. He is one of the incorruptible saints which means, his body didn’t deteriorate after he died and is still perfectly preserved, SO … they have sent parts of him on “tour” around the world. And in Ecuador, we got his arm! haha It was in a glass case with a statue of his whole body … really crazy but cool. Next, we celebrated the founding of our Order the Religious of the Assumption by Saint Maria Eugenia April 30, 1839. We celebrated with the kids from school with a procession to the church followed by a play by the parents and a traditional dance by the teachers. Somehow I got included in both of those groups, but it was a fun time and the kids really enjoyed it. Sunday we celebrated an outdoor Mass at the school (all the kids running around outside was a bit distracting), then had a performance from a local dance group and a short program by the kids. They dressed up as people from all the different continents that the Assumption sisters are in the world, which was adorable! We celebrated my birthday at lunch with the teachers and a few of the parents and their children with ice cream and cake … delicious!
The next week was the conference for the Amigos de la Asuncion, the lay order. What that means is these people are married or single and make promises to live the charism of the Sisters of the Assumption in their daily lives and work. I went to Guayaquil (the biggest city) a couple days early and met up with the 11 from Chile to see the city! We had a fantastic time and enjoyed the sights: The market, Malecon - River walk, Cathedral, a look out over the city, and Park of the Iguanas (they just roam around all over and are covering the trees … insane! But you do have to watch out because they are frequently dropping little surprises from above!). One of my favorite tours was the Historical Park consisting of three parts: first you walk through a zoo-like area with typical coastal animals, then the “old town” where they’ve reconstructed buildings from the early 1900s and ending with the finca: casas de caña – houses made out of cane stalks, banana, platano, mandarine, cocoa and cane trees. That part was fun because they had actors acting like they lived in the houses and the one man tried to “buy” us in exchange for 4 hens. :) We also got to meet Mayi’s parents (She’s the sister in charge of the Ecuador – Chile Province) and have a delicious, practically Thanksgiving Dinner at their house. The food just kept coming.
The night of the 30th we had a beautiful Mass at the colegio (K-12 school) the sisters run and afterwards a big celebration complete with a Mariachi band, each group presenting a traditional dance (I danced with the Quito group! haha), the Chilenos dancing, singing and giving out samples of their wine, cheese, raisins, nuts and desserts and ending with a giant dance party. I went out that night with one of the girls who was a past volunteer here in Quito, the priest (a young Brasilian) and her friends. They kept joking about how NOW I could experience the night life of Ecuador as people in Quito don’t really go out at night. They say its because of the cold, which is Definitely Not a problem in Guayaquil. I felt like it was July in Kansas with even more humidity! But, it was a fantastic time! I attended parts of the conference the next two days and learned more about the projects each community runs. I’m not going to lie, I loved it when everyone thought I was Chilena and asked if one of the older couples from Chile were my parents. haha For once I fit in! I’ve decided I’m going to go visit these wonderful new friends before I leave. Not sure when, but it will happen! I just love them!
They came back with us on Sunday to see La Capital of Quito and stayed in our house this week. It’s a bit of a change from 5 of us to 16! haha but we enjoyed having a full house, praying together, and had a special Mass and supper one night at the house. I went with them Wednesday night to see the Traditional Ballet, because I had never gone yet! It was incredible; some of the dances were similar to ones I’d seen, but there were more of the indigenous dances including one with a deer hunt that was awesome, and way more dancers than I’d ever seen. This particular group presents year round every Wed. night, so they were really prepared and it was quite a show!
I can’t believe I only have 2 months left here. I’m looking forward to being home and seeing everyone, but I don’t even like to think about leaving. It’s just such a beautiful country, full of incredible people. I was stopped on my way back from school yesterday in the midst of my rushing home by the beautiful sight of the Andes Mountains surrounding me on all sides. I just love looking out the window and seeing that! God is good and has used this time with the Chilenos to help me re-adjust to life without Nicole and really become more comfortable. I’ve had to use so much more Spanish in the last few weeks, but it’s been really good. I also have been reflecting on how God has blessed me with so many amazing people in my life. My meditation yesterday was about friendship and I was thinking of all the new friends from here, and at home I’m so looking forward to seeing. What a beautiful thing it is to experience God’s love through those around us. I’m so thankful for each one of you and just praying for you a lot!
May you know God’s love for you,
April

Semana Santa y Riobamba

¡Hola mis amigos y familia!
Reciba un saludo cariñoso. I hope that you had a wonderful Holy Week and Easter Sunday and are enjoying this Easter Season. It is my favorite Holy Day of the year! We were able to participate in many of the Traditions here during this great time! We began with a Palm Sunday procession in our barrio to the church where we sand songs and everyone carried their palm BRANCHES (seriously they were almost a whole branch of the tree!) and flowers. With the children we also enjoyed eating the traditional dish of Fanesca, a twelve grain stew for the 12 apostles, explaining and reenacting the washing of the disciples feet on Holy Thursday, Holy Friday Processions with men carrying crosses, wearing crowns of thorns, and others dressed in the purple cone-shaped hats and robes and coloring Easter eggs! Mom sent me a package of Easter stuff and the kids loved coloring eggs and the bubbles! The evening of Good Friday we had the veneration of the cross and then afterwards we had the men of the church actually take the statue of Jesus down from the cross. It was really fascinating, and then we processed with the body in a sepulture through the streets of our neighborhood in silence with only our candles. It was such an incredible night, misty and cloudy and really helped me to reflect on what Mary and the faithful disciples might have been thinking and feeling as they took Jesus’ body to be buried. We were able to attend the Easter vigil Mass which began outside our church with a fire burning that Fr. blessed and then we lit our Easter candle and other candles that lit up the church for the first part of the Mass. It was beautiful sitting there in the candlelight and listening to the Easter Readings reflecting on the beginning of creation and how Jesus took on our human form and became the light for our world. When the 7th reading and responsorial psalm were finished, Father said something along the lines of and Jesus rose from the dead bringing the light back into the world and joy to our hearts and we flipped on the lights, decorated the altar with flowers, unrolled a huge banner that said “Jesus Resucito!” and sang a really joyful song! IT was my favorite part of the mass! How joyful and devoted the people are here. It was beautiful to celebrate with our community again on Easter Sunday morning with my favorite priest and lots of really joyful music! :) We had a feast for lunch with the sisters and enjoyed a relaxing Easter day at home. What a wonderful celebration, the biggest feast of the year in our faith, Jesus rising from the dead!
This past weekend we were able to FINALLY visit the sisters in Riobamba. We had met almost all of them before so it was really nice to see them and be able to make ourselves at home! They work mainly with the indigenous communities in projects in this very rural area. Saturday we got to see a bit of the town, visited the Religious Art museum where a huge, gold and jeweled monstrance was stolen in 2007 and did some shopping in the market before Mass. Sunday began very early with a ride in the back of a pickup into town to catch the train. We took the train through the beautiful countryside and saw the first church in Ecuador, a pretty little lake, tried Morocho for breakfast (a traditional milk and corn drink), and wonderful views of the indigenous farms and many shepherds tending their animals. It just amazed me how they farmed on the hillsides and in the mountains especially without a lot of the modern equipment we use! Monday was the best day! We were taken on a tour of the projects that the sisters work with in the surrounding area. Lucia, a little older Spanish sister, valiantly drove us around in her pickup, down the winding mud roads, through the probably foot deep puddles of water and up the mountain paths. It was quite an adventure! We just kept looking out the window like children and taking tons of pictures as we could see all the surrounding famous mountain peaks! The highest peak in Ecuador, Chimborazo was so clear and snowy … just gorgeous; Tungurahua is another tall peak that the indigenous say is the wife of Chimborazo, and they have a son another smaller peak. They say when Tungurahua erupted it was because she wanted to name their son after his father, but he wouldn’t allow it. She therefore got mad and erupted. Lucia was so great about explaining everything to us, we learned a lot in our quick trip! We first stopped at the Palacio Real – a llama factory where they process the wool into yarn and then make products from it. Next we stopped by a small town where they raise and sell chickens. We saw the jelly manufacturing plant where the indigenous women sell their fruits and vegetables and then process them into marmalada that is sold by the priests who run this project. The last stop was the Chorizo fabrica where they butcher, cure, and process sausage, ham and other cuts of meat from the pigs. It was so incredible to just see how they work with all these people and match the skills they have with a product market to help them live. Later that morning we ventured out to Guana a little town nearby where they are famous for their handmade rugs. We stopped by a house (recommended by some friendly local ladies) and were let in to see a man working on one. It was amazing how quickly he knotted the yarn, cut it and weaved the longer thread through to hold the design in place. We had a nice chat with him about the process and really enjoyed ourselves! It was I think my favorite trip so far! Just beautiful countryside and really loving people.
Other news … Last week I took a job for next year! I did a phone interview a few weeks ago and was hired to teach 4th grade at Magdalen Catholic School in Wichita. I’m very excited and look forward to teaching with my friend Molly who currently works there!
Know that you are in my prayers and I’m very excited to see you again in a few months!
Peace and JOY to you this season as we celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord,
April

Help, we´re trapped in the Museum (Do you remember those books?)

Queridos Amigos y familia,
The weeks are flying by here in Ecuador; I can’t believe March is almost over! We have had a good couple of low-key weeks here in the barrio. We enjoyed celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary of the grandparents of one of our kids from school complete with a Mariachi Band, an outdoor mass with all the local communities, a fiesta for the feast day of Maria Eugenia (the founder of the Religious of the Assumption) including a puppet show, snacks and of course - dancing, and wearing our new matching uniforms to school (yes, the teachers have uniforms too!)
This past weekend we went to Ibarra, a nearby city. It was a nice get-away and we were able to see many of the sites in one day. We went to several churches and decided to go to El Museo de Banco Central before it closed on Saturday afternoon. We got there around 1:30 p.m. and took in the museum learning about religious art, local artifacts, modern art and a brief history of the town. After exploring the entire museum (even the upstairs theatre and locked library) we made our way out only to discover the door was LOCKED! Trying not to panic we pushed and pulled for a while and realized there was no way we could move the padlocked door. We tried calling to people from the windows (before we realized they were tinted) to no avail. Next we found the phone and a list of emergency numbers, so we tried calling the local office but couldn’t dial out. Then we remembered there was another gate, still locked but with bars that were open to the street. So I flagged down an old man on a bike and explained our situation. He said he would go check around the building to see if he could find someone and never returned. Next, we scoped out a family walking down the street and asked them to stop across the street at the Tourism office to ask someone there for help. They sent over a young man who was tying not to laugh as he said, “I just don’t understand how this happened to you.” Oh dear! He told us we couldn’t call the police because they wouldn’t answer. Then he asked if we had turned all the lights on and we said no … So he decided that the guard had just left for lunch and would be returning and what we needed to do was just wait. After about 20 minutes or so, we heard a noise and rushed to the door. I told Nicole we were really going to freak out whoever was on the other side when they saw us! The guard’s eyes were really big as he opened the door to our anxious faces :) Then he asked us, “You were inside?” Yes … we replied and you locked us in! So we left and went to inform our new friend at the tourism office we had made it out! He just laughed and said we were good sports about the whole situation (he was probably thinking: Only Americans get themselves into these sort of predicaments!) But it made for a good story anyway!
We enjoyed the rest of our time there visiting other sites around town and on Sunday stopped by Otavalo and the large indigenous market there to do a little shopping.
All in all a good weekend! We are trying to make plans for next week. Normally the sisters/community do a Holy Week Mission and go serve the people in another area for a week and lead them in a retreat. I was really interested in this (it sounded a lot like Totus Tuus!) but haven’t heard too much more about it. We also thought about going to Riobamba to visit the sisters there (they keep giving us a hard time about leaving the country and still not even visiting them!) So we’ll see what happens!
Hope you are having a blessed Lent and able to reflect daily on how Jesus is calling you to make little sacrifices to grow closer to him and show others the way.
Love and peace to you,
April

To the North ... Colombia y Venezuela

¡Buenos días!
It has only been a couple of weeks, but a lot has happened! We decided since we had a couple days off for Carnaval, it would be a good time to take a trip and see some other countries. We asked our Provincial (the sister in charge here) if we could go for the whole week instead of just the two days and she suggested taking two weeks since we wanted to visit two countries. First we wanted to go to Peru and Bolivia, since they are close. Then they got hit by torrential floods. So we decided on Argentina and Uruguay, and then the prices on flights there doubled. We were a bit distressed but found a great deal on flights to Colombia and Venezuela (the two countries not even on our list to visit!) and ended up spending our vacation there.
In Colombia we stayed with the Hermanitas de la Asunción, the “cousins” to our sisters. They were fantastic, super helpful and generous. We so enjoyed our time there with the little sisters. The presence of the police in Bogotá was a bit overwhelming. There were officers on every street corner, in every park, plaza, outside every main building … pretty much everywhere. We enjoyed taking in the city from a look out point after taking the cable car up, learning about the ancient civilizations in the National Museum, appreciating Botero’s (a famous Colombian artist) plump figures in his many paintings and sculptures, entering the Supreme Court building and sitting in on a hearing, visiting many beautiful old churches in the historic center, touring the police museum and hearing all about the fight against the drug lords, attending Ash Wednesday Mass in the one and only Cathedral in an underground Salt Mine, walking through Simon Bolivar’s quinta (country house), witnessed a health care protest, watched a movie about the constellations and planets in the planetarium, an awesome Science museum with tons of hands on exhibits (we really liked the interactive museum after all the historic ones!), and were dazzled by the huge collection of intricate pieces in the Gold Museum. We were surprised by how similar the artesania (hand made jewelry, clothing etc) was to that of Ecuador. We soaked up the opportunity to drink Colombian coffee and I drank more than I have in probably my whole life! We also tried some of the typical food there: ajiaco, a soup with three types of potatoes, chicken, cheese and creamy sauce mmmmm, and arepas, corn pancakes with cheese. Colombia was very good to us!
Venezuela was sort of a culture shock for me. We arrived to the Hermanitas Marianitas house after a bit of a struggle but were very warmly welcomed. They were so hospitable and always trying to make our stay more comfortable. We also enjoyed the arepas every morning for breakfast and the fantastic view of the city from our rooftop. The first big change was the warm weather. It was super humid almost every day and felt like the beginning of a KS summer! I didn’t mind too much, although we did get a little heat exhaustion from walking everywhere. The highlights of our trip were: more historic sights of Bolivar (he was Venezuelan so they are Very Proud of the liberator!) including his house and Mausoleum, our third cable car ride to serene Avila National Park, the contemporary and fine art museums, the science museum (which included lots of real, mounted/stuffed exotic animals), a trip to the Beach of the Caribbean Sea, a daytrip to Colonia Tovar – a little German village, and getting our cameras “checked” by the guards outside the Presidential Palace (just so you know, you can Not take pictures, but you can pass by, on the other side of the street of course and without stopping … oh Chavez.) Speaking of the President, there was a picture of his face or Simon Bolivar on just about every street, sort of freaky, like he’s always watching you. Caracas is definitely a city in a developing country and we could just see the change almost immediately. On the way to our house, we passed over a bridge where down below was a compact neighborhood of houses in shambles, clothes being washed and trash being dumped into the very same river that wound through the barrio. There are having a water and energy crisis also and there is a lot of unrest that their country is aiding other countries, but can’t seem to solve their own issues (sounds sort of familiar …). It was a very eye-opening and unique experience and I’m glad we went!
On the other hand, I’m glad to be back home, in our routine and working with the kids. They are so curious, enthusiastic and ornery! The sisters are on a retreat for the next two weeks so things are a little quiet at our house. I pray that you all are doing well and taking the opportunity this season of Lent to reflect on the little ways He is calling you each day. There are so many things I need to work on, I’m trying to just focus on a small goal each day and add on little by little. This is the time to really re-form your conscience and make a daily struggle against our defects. May today you hear his voice and harden not your hearts.
Peace and courage to you,
April

Ambato, Latacunga y Carnaval!

!Hola a todos!
I hope you are doing well and enjoying all that snowy weather! It’s been quite sunny and nice here, although nearby cities and countries have been having torrential rains, volcanic eruptions and mudslides. There is quite a lot of crazy weather going on! First the drought in much of Ecuador and now terrible floods. You can’t win. The good thing about the rains though, we haven’t had the power turned off for the last several weeks, which has been nice!
We decided to take a trip for the weekend and went to Latacunga (about 2 hours away). We got there in the afternoon on Friday and by that night decided we needed to go somewhere the next day, because there sure wasn’t much to do in that town! We made the most of our trip – visited two museums, and got a good history lesson on the Mama Negra festival that is huge there. It is a tradition that started with a celebration honoring la Virgen de las Mercedes, the patron believed to protect the city from the nearby Volcano Cotopaxi’s eruptions. According to the legend a priest who was hosting the procession failed to provide enough food and was scolded by an apparition of a black woman. After this event she was added to the procession and now each year a new “Mama Negra” is chosen to ride in the parade. We also tried chugchucara a specialty of fritada (fried pork), hominy, fried platanos, tostado (fried corn kernels), cheese empanadas, and potatoes (it was a lot of fried food, and a lot of food period, but tasty!).
We then took the bus on to Ambato about 45 min. away. Here we visited a quinta (countryside home) of Juan Montalvo (a famous Ecuadorian writer). It was a simple house surrounded by a garden full of beautiful trees and flowers. We would have enjoyed it a bit more if there wasn’t such a constant rain. :) The next day we visited another quinta of a famous writer, Juan Leon Mera which was together with a botanical garden. Needless to say it was also gorgeous and we had a great tour learning all about the fruits, flowers and medicinal plants grown there. Many of them are used for the Fiesta de Frutas y Flores (Festival of Fruits and Flowers) that is taking place right now for Carnaval. We also visited the market which had everything from meat, fruits, flowers and candy. Upon the recommendation from our handy Lonely Planet Ecuador book we tried llapingachos (fried cheese and potato pancakes) and loved them! It was a very cultural food weekend!
We have been enjoying preparing and participating in Carnaval (the two days before Ash Wednesday is the actual dates but people here begin celebrating the beginning of February). At school the other day after lunch, we had a teacher water fight … that’s how they celebrate here. Water, water balloons, flour, eggs, carioca (silly string type spray), and face paint are all used. We have been seeing kids in the neighborhood with their balloons ready and waiting from rooftops, street corners, you name it … Mischief and Mayhem! We are celebrating with the kids at school on Friday. The last few times I’ve rode the bus into the city, our bus has been struck by water balloons! haha You’re not even safe inside the bus!
We are planning to take a trip for Carnaval. We bought tickets to Colombia and Venezuela and then received notice today that our flight was cancelled. So we’ll see what happens! Praying for you all as we start this season of Preparation and Sacrifice. May your Lent be blessed and filled with a deeper understanding of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection!
La paz de Dios guarda de todos los males,
April

P.S. We are going to Colombia y Venezuela for 2 weeks! Pray for us!