Viva Mexico! ORALE!

Wow, unfortunately such a short time, but I love Southern Mexico! We ended not being able to leave Guatemala for one more day (until Tuesday) as there was another big protest closing down the highways. We did eventually get to leave though and made it to San Cristobal de las Casas (Chiapas) Mexico on Tuesday evening. We found a nice, safe hostel and then went out for delicious tacos! We knew what we wanted: a hole in the wall with Mexicans inside and cheap food...just like in the States, that of course means they are the best! We found just that at a place called Tacos and Beer and even got our ears chatted off by our friendly waiter, Brian. We even spoiled ourselves to dessert afterwards (an ice cream bar for me) as we barely ate the whole day. Then we had all Wednesday to walk around San Cristobal, eat more good food, get caught in the rain, and just enjoy the nice colonial town.

Our time in Chiapas was short though as Wednesday we took a 12 hour bus ride to Oaxaca. Yikes! We got into the bus terminal in Oaxaca around 7am, but waited around until 8am to get a taxi to a hostel. We found a place, got free breakfast, and then took a 2 hour nap. We probably could have slept longer, but we had to relish every moment. We walked all around town, found more tacos, ate Hawaiian Shaved Ice in the central plaza (zocalo), and even got a bit l0st. We needed another nap after all of that though, but went out again around 8pm for amazing sandwiches and walked around town. There was so much action all around the central plaza and great people watching! We especially loved watching this clown show in a plaza area, but had to get back to the hostel before 10pm in order to get hot showers! We made it just in time, 9:45pm, to get great (and much needed) showers in!

Then we were on the road again, at 8am on Friday morning we left Oaxaca for a 6.5 hour bus ride to Mexico City. We came in starving and a little nervous about the big city, but we easily found the subway and even a McDonald's ice cream sundae in the subway area to give us the energy to make it to the hostel! We are now at Hostel Amigo and love it. They have free breakfast and free dinner, so it definitely promotes community. Well, so much 'community' that Jen and I gave into peer pressure....

We attended a LUCHA LIBRE show last night. Wow. What an experience. For those who don't know, it's basically like WWE but they wear these masks and very tight pants. I actually enjoyed more than I thought. (I thought it was real fighting..eek) It was really just funny, kind of ridiculous and definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

Today, we had so much fun just exploring this great city! It's like New York City or Chicago or whatever...big, lots of people, but also lots to do! We got a tour from this very passionate man, Arturo, who taught us so much about Diego Rivera and his paintings. They are really interesting and include so much historical and political commentary. Then we got amazing Mexican Tortas al Pastor....great sandwiches that I think are shredded pork with some kind of flavoring, cheese, and avacado! And all topped off with a gigantic Papaya Licuado (Batido)! Aka a great day!

All that we have left to do tonight is go out for margaritas for our last night in Mexico! Then tomorrow we fly to Tijuana and meet Aunt Kitty and Uncle Scott in San Diego.

After 14 months, it doesn't feel real that I will be back on American soil so soon. And at this point, I don't really know how I feel about everything except that I am so excited to see my family and friends! I love you guys and miss you! God has blessed me and protected me this past year, and I thank you all so much for your prayers! I will try to add a couple photos and maybe one more blog update, but truly at this point I can only ask for your continued prayers. Prayers for all of these people that I have met along the way, my great big CMT family in Ecuador (and all over the US again), and for me as I readjust to life in the US working world. I don't know where I will be yet, but I am open and willing. Although I'm a bit anxious, I also know that God does have a plan for me and things will fall into place as they should be.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Adios America Latina!
Abrazos gigantes!
Love,
Taylor

Guate Guate Guate

Oh Guatemala...

It has sure been an experience here - absolutely gorgeous, from incredible landscapes to all the lovely very colorful indigenous dress, but also a challenge to get some to talk straight to and lots of 'gringo' prices.

After the beautiful Tikal experience, we took a shuttle bus to get to Semuc Champe. Well, almost anyway, we got to a town called Coban instead because there was an indigenous protest over a dam being put in the river, so we couldn't make it to our final destination. (Really reminded me of Ecuador) By 5 am the next morning the road was cleared, however, so we were woken up at this time and left within 10 minutes to Lanquin (Semuc Champe). We got there around 7:30am and arrived at by far our best lodge yet, El Retiro. We got a loft room (and Jen, scared of heights, was such a trooper about getting on the latter up to it...I just had to carry her bag up ;) ). We were able to get breakfast right at the lodge and then headed out on the tour to Semuc Champe at 9am. Semuc Champe is a beautiful place, but half of the experience is the ride out there. We were all exhausted from holding on so tight in the back of the truck through the unpaved, very rocky and windy road. First we went though these awesome caves. We literally used little candles and had to swim though many part of the caves, climb latters, and go through waterfalls. Our guide, Elvis, was great though and did a good job managing our big group! Then we went swing jumping into the river, tubing in the rapids, got lunch, and went to Semuc Champe. Semuc Champe is hard to explain, but it is limestone bridge of pools that goes over the river. We first hiked up to see it all from above and then we got time to be in these natural pools. It was absolutely gorgeous. That night we had family style dinner at the lodge and hung out for a while with Elvis and some of our new friends, mainly from Israel. It was interesting as our group was 16 Israelis, 4 Americans, and 2 British girls... a fun group though and they were really nice and mainly tried to speak English with us!

After Semuc we went to Antigua. Antigua is a clean, cobble stone colonial town in the highlands of Guatemala. We enjoyed exploring the town and hanging out in the Parque Central for a while. We even made a little friend there, Dulce Maria. She was selling bracelets, which of course we first said no, but then she was just sweet and asking Jen about her bracelets. Then we got to talking about dogs and pets and I told her about my dog, Duke, and showed her a picture on my camera. She proceeded to go though almost all my photos and ask me about them. She was so sweet and of course in the end we bought her bracelets!

From Antigua, we went to Panajachel and onto San Pedro. They are both towns around Lake Atitlan which is large, emerald lake surrounded by mountains and many indigenous villages. It was a beautiful place, but we mainly just walked around a bit and relaxed here.

After San Pedro we packed on a Chicken Bus (old school bus) to Chichicastenango for the Sunday market. We showed up late Saturday afternoon and walked around town a bit to see everything being set up. Then we got dinner and hung out to get ready for the big market the next day. Today was the big, colorful market. There were some tourists of course, but it isn't really season anymore, so it seemed there were just a lot of indigenous people in their beautiful outfits. You definitely stand out more in white than a bright colored shirt! We shopped until we couldn't handle it anymore and got on an even more packed bus out of town. We are now in Quetzaltenango (Xela) where we have walked around town and then tonight got to see some football at the hostel! The highlights of Xela tonight though have definitely been the big sundaes we both got and the delicious nachos that we really didn't even have room for!

Basically Guatemala has been a lot of travel, but also amazing to see so much of this awesome country! It has been exhausting (and maybe taken a bit of a toll on my body), but worth it! Tomorrow we are leaving Central America and heading into Mexico. One week from today I will be back on American soil!

See you (or at least some of you) soon!
Love,
Taylor

Darling it's better down where it's wetter take it from me!

Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we're devoting full time to floating
Under the sea

Wow, it really is pretty sweet under the sea! And now I am a certified Open Water Scuba diver to experience all that other life 60 feet below sea level! Cool!

Last week, Jen and I were in Utila, Honduras all week doing a Scuba class and then dives. We arrived on the island late Sunday morning after taking a ferry from the mainland. Then we went with Nixon to Deep Blue Divers - they seemed nice, calmer/smaller than some of the others, and the lodging and fun dives were all included in the price. So we signed up for the class, got out homework of 3 chapters of a text book (boo) and then got a delicious lunch at Bundu - chicken taco salad with a frozen lemonade! Later we did our homwork and hung out on pier before going out for pizza for dinner and watching The Karate Kid. (cute!)

Monday we started class (only us two with our instructors, Luke and Pablo). Monday was kind of boring as it was just lots of videos and book work and quizzes. BUT getting to see part of the MNF VA Tech v Boise St game made my day!

Tuesday we put all we learned into practice. 1st in shallow water just off the dock and then in the afternoon in the coral reefs with the boat - wow! So much to see down there and by the end of Tuesday we were exhausted!

Wednesday we got back on the boat 7:30am to go on 2 more dives. So cool. We saw fish of every bright, beautiful color, sea turtles, lobsters, a manaray, baracuda, eels... Then in the afternoon we took our final exam and we both passed! Yay! Now we're real Scuba divers! Thursday we got to do two more fun dives and they were the best ones. So great! We had to leave on the 2pm fery that afternoon though, but it was a lovely place and I left only a light pink ;)

Now we have moved onto Guatemala. We started in Rio Dulce at a little jungle lodge...open room in a thunderstorm! It was cool and tranquil though, which was good after a little bit of a crazy time over the border. With all the rains, there was a bridge out so we had to take two minibuses and a little boat to cross over, but other than that things seem to be okay here. Now we are in Flores, which is a cool little town in the middle of a lake. We didn't even know anything about it other than it was how we could get to Tikal, but we really like it. We went to Tikal today and saw the huge Mayan ruins. Quite amazing really! And there were more monkeys!!!

A week more in Guatemala then a week in Mexico and then the USA!!

La voz de los sin voz

After the coffee/chocolate town in Nicaragua, we went down to Managua in order to catch a 5AM bus to San Salvador the next day. It was actually a pretty nice bus though, just 11 hours is long which included 2 border crossings (Nicaragua-Honduras and then Honduras-El Salvador). We lived in luxury in San Salvador...in an actual hotel. It was called Hotel Tazumel and we had free internet, air conditioning, cable tv, and even free (good) breakfast in the morning.

In San Salvador, we went to the UCA, a Jesuit university in San Salvador, that was the sight of the assassination of 6 Jesuit priests, their maid, and her daughter in 1989 by government soldiers. It also had a museum that paid tribute to Archbishop Romero. Monseñor Romero was a Salvadoran priest who spoke out against the injustices and massacres occuring in El Salvador in the 1970s. He was then assassinated while giving mass in 1979. It was really moving to see all of this, especially since Kristin and the CMT got me more interested in the subject. It is said that 16 of the soldiers who commited the killing of the Jesuits were trained at the School of the Americas in Georgia. Every year there are protests to close this military school and this past year in Ecuador we held a prayer vigil for those going to the protest and the lives lost. Also, my good friend Kristin (my coworker from Youthworks in San Fran) went to a federal prison last Spring for crossing onto federal property while protesting 2 years ago.

Well, other than that, we are doing really well and are now in Honduras. Tomorrow we are going to Utila, one of the Bay Islands, to do a Scuba certification class! Should be pretty cool.

Love you all.
Paz,
Taylor

Lovely Nicaragua

Nicaragua is amazing!

The last 5 days in Nicaragua have been great. Okay, the border was a little crazy, but I like that these Nicas have a little more spark than the Ticos (Costa Ricans). The border was just chaotic with people even going as far as trying to sell us the customs form for $1. Of course we aren't going to fall for those traps though, and we got without problems.

Then we went to Isla Ometepe. It was actually very big (we only got to see half) and it gets it's name for an indigenous word that means two mountains. It is gorgeous as it is surrounded by Lake Nicaragua and has two large volcanoes on the two parts. We enjoyed walking around and also going to these natural spring pools. We even hitch hiked a ride part way back to our hostel by the 'milk men.' Kind of funny. We also met a really nice couple from Canada and England who had an adorable coffee shop with delicious breakfast food. Dad, I thought of you as you would have loved these great entrepreneurs!

After the two days on the island, we took a ferry back and went to Granada. Awesome!! We got there, explored the very loud and colorful food (and other goods) market right by our hostel and then also into the town and the lake front. At night we went out dancing with this crazy (but fun) 43 year old woman named Kimberely. She's from Florida but lives in Costa Rica now (she had to come up for visa reasons). She definitely out partied us, but she was sweet too. Granada was a great place for people watching, walking around (in the sun and heat!), great food, and some pampering. We both got pedicures and I got my first massage ever today too. Kind of painful, but also felt good. I definitely hope to get back here some day!

Now Jen and I are in Matagalpa and we are going to do a coffee tour tomorrow morning and a chocolate tour in the afternoon. Yummmm.

Abrazos from Nicaragua,

Taylor

Rafting, Turtles, Monkeys

This is so difficult....I can't even try to keep up with all that I have been doing. Between the limited internet access and all the fun we do in a couple days, unfortunately this blog just doesn't do this experience justice. I'll try a quick overview though...

RAFTING!!

Amazing! Literally the best rafting experience of my life. It was just so exciting the whole time with lots of huge rapids. We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, but Turrialba doesn't mess around. Rio Pacuare is the 5th best river in the world for rafting! Sweet. Our guide was so-so, at first he kind of yelled at us, but I guess he was just intense. Jen and I were on a boat with 3 Spaniards and they were good rowers. Thank goodness because there were some tight squeezes. I actually fell out twice...and one of those time the whole raft tipped over. Our guide (from Patagonia) told us that was the first time he had flipped this season, but it always has to happen to someone and it actually was fun! I got a couple new bruises, but it was seriously amazing and beautiful! The Spaniards were cool too, and we actually we went out for dinner with them that night too....good to practice some Spanish and hear the 'vosotros' :)

Then to Tortuguero...

We had to take 3 buses and then a boat to get to this remote 'island' part on the Caribbean coast called Tortuguero. It is a little jungle spot (no cars allowed) and when we got there we got right into a tour for the night to see big sea turtles laying eggs. It was so cool. It just happened to be this time of year, and it is quite the process. We went out with a guide at 10pm to see these turtle come out and then dig huge holes to lay about 150 eggs in, which will hatch in 60 days. It was of course a slow process, but it was cool to see it. Then the next morning at 6am we had a jungle canoe tour. We went around for 3 hours on this little canoe and got to see 3 species of monkeys, sloths, caymen, and many types of birds. I loved the monkeys, of course! It was fun too as we met these fun British friends (Max and Sophie) and a sweet Dutch couple. They really helped make our experience in Tortuguero great.

Now we are in one last Costa Rican beach: Playas de Coco. Then we will head across the border to Nicaragua. I will try to avoid the sun at all cost (aka more spf 50)...I am still peeling like crazy!!

Moving on up to the USA!
Love you all!
Taylor

Panama and Costa Rica

Internet has been more limited recently, so sorry for not updating very well.

Boquete was a nice, cooler town. We rented a moped for the morning, and Jen put her life in my hands to take us around all day. We went though the outskirts of town seeing many indigenous people out in their cute, colorful dresses (I wanted to buy one actually, but the tourist price was SO expensive!). We also passed by the coffee plntations and all the lovely lush vegetation. We also did the "Quetzal Trail" along the river deadending at a waterfall.

Then onto crossing the Costa Rica border - literally we walked across a rickety old wooden bridge with plenty of gaps to fall through! We crossed with this crazy Dutch guy and 2 Swiss guys who were on our bus. It was simple enough just kind of old and scary. We also gained an hour crossing that crazy bridge! So we got to Puerto Viejo (the beach) by 5:30pm, got a hostel and dinner. Everyone here has long dreaded hair and it feels like everyone is a tourist. I think a lot of gringos live here now. It has a very strong rastafarian vibe!

Yesterday, we went on a 13km bike ride (well 26 km in total roundtrip) from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo. It is a beautiful rainforest/beach path. We saw a big iguana, a monkey, and a sloth all in the day! Awesome! The beaches are amazing here in Costa Rica. This morning I woke up early to see the sunrise, but it was too cloudy, and then went running along this path again. I almost felt like a real runner....the things they say about the altitude is true. I could run so better at sea level now! I was drenched in sweat, but it was great and fun. Then we were on buses all day and are now in Turrialba. Rafting tomorrow!!

Let me out!

So I made it out of Colombia! - finally. It really is a beautiful place and I wish I could write better things about my experience there, but it was just an exhausting couple days. I got to the airport Thursday morning 5 hours early and made it to my gate 10 minutes before heading out. They wouldn't let me leave! I literally had to buy a flight back to Cali to leave Cali - they say for Panama immigration reasons, but I had NO questions/problems in Panama. err. The important thing is I did finally make it out and was so happy to be reunited with Jen in Panama City!

Panama, on the other hand, has been great! No problems. Panama City looks like a big US city with huge sky scrapers and lots of US restaurants. We stayed on the other side of town though, Casco Viejo. It is more normal like other parts of Latin America. We got a hostel, took a nap (10 hours sleep in 3 days...I was exhausted!), and then got up to get some cookies and water from a local store. Then some guys from the hostel, Mark from Santa Barbara, CA and Valerio from Rome, Italy, came in our room to hang out for a while. It felt like a college dorm scene actually.

Friday we explored the city a bit - going through the pirated goods market and then to the Panama Canal causeway. We rented bikes, got delicious frozen lemonades, and walked around. It was lovely and fun, although we were VERY sweaty! We made it back to shower and relax before going to dinner and out on the town for the night. We went to a classy bar with a live salsa band on the waterfront. Jen and I went with Mark and Valerio and Valerio's Panamanian friend. One daiquiri was all I could afford, but it was still fun and great people watching!

Saturday we took a ferry boat off the canal to Isla Taboga. It was a nice little getaway from the city. We just stayed on the beach all day and walked around a bit to get DELICIOUS batidos..papaya. My favorite! When we got back to the mainland we got dinner...camarones al ajillo (garlic shrimp)! Then we got our stuff from a hostel, realized how bad we actually got burned ;), and left to the bus terminal. The bus wasn't until 10:45pm, however, so we first had to kill a little time at the mall next door seeing the movie Despicable Me....a cute, animated movie. It was a great way to pass the time though in the AC before getting on the bus to David. A double decker! And we were on the top level, front row...kind of scary at first, but then it was great for leg room and comfort. A smooth bus ride later, we made it to David and took a school bus here to Boquete.

Today we have just napped and hung out for most of the day - enjoying lots of band practice. Someone needs to teach these kids how to drum and play a trumpet! Tomorrow we are going to explore around here more and rent scooters! Should be fun.

2 days until Costa Rica.....aka MONKEYS!!!

Love you all!
Taylor

CALI!

Hey Y'all.

haha That's what I get for traveling with a Southerner ;)

Just a quick update as it's been pretty crazy recently.

The last couple days in Cali have been quite the adventure. We arrived and loved it! Finally to a place we enjoy. There is tons of action, lots to do, and beautiful, hot, sunny weather. On Monday, we got here, walked around, had a delicious lunch, and took a nap. Then later we went out for dinner and ice cream and ended up going out dancing with some other people from our hostel for awhile. It was fun...athough unfortunately these gringo boys (from England, France, Utah, and a girl from Chile) couldn't really dance. But whatever, if you're at the Salsa capital, you've got to at least try!!

Then yesterday, we went to San Cipriano to go on these train carts with motorcycles (I'll have to add pictures!) to get to a river to swim, tube, and cliff jump! Cool. The ride there wasn't too bad and 5 other foreigners ended up joining us on our bus...a couple from Australia (James and Jackie), a Peruvian guy (Herbert), a German girl (Eva), and an Austrian guy (Chris). We joined in with them as a group for the day. We got on these crazy carts for the ride down, swam in the river (it was so hot and humid!), and even cliff jumped into the river with some of the local kids and teenagers. Then we got a big lunch and decided to head back - you have to get back onto the carts back about 30-40 minutes to the freeway.

Well, that's where the 'crazy' part of Cali comes in...we were in a bit of a choque on the tracks...a motor train cart accident if you will. It honestly all happened so fast that all we know is that we didn't stop enough and ran into another cart head on. After that, we all basically remember waiting in a rain storm and pulling out whatever tissue, towels, neosporene, bandaids, etc we had. We had to get back on another cart then again and eventually get to the main road area where we got on a bus to Cali - which yikes there was a lot traffic, so we didn't get back until 9:30pm. We got back to the hostel and the lady working took us immediately to the ER as Lauren's foot was quite inflammed. Just like any ER in the word - it took forever!!! We were there from 10pm until 3:30am only to return again this morning at 8am to see the specialist. Lauren broke her foot in two places and twisted her ankle pretty bad. What this sadly means is that she will be heading back home to the US tomorrow :( The good news is that she is in a cast, it is only a broken foot (versus head, spine, etc), and she at this point doesn't need surgery. I also luckily walked off with only some minor cuts and bruises.

Needless to say, we haven't slept much in last 2 days, we have eaten 1.5 meals (we shared one today) in days, and we are to sad to be saying our goodbyes. It is really not clear yet God's will in all this, but we are trying our best to keep our spirits up. We are so thankful that there were no very serious injuries and that we had these other (now) friends with us that were so supportive. God is good and clearly His plans are much greater than ours!

Please pray for Lauren as she heads home tomorrow: for her to be out of pain, have a community to love her at home, and a safe, smooth flight. I will miss this girl terribly!! In the last week and a half we have laughed and smiled so much, and she has been so great at just taking everything as it comes. Maybe she'll be back for San Diego!! In addition, please keep Jen and me in your prayers. I am still going to be meeting Jen in Panama City tomorrow to continue our travels. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Lauren won't be there anymore, but I am excited to keep going on this amazing adventure!

Love you all!
Taylor

Starting Out....Traveling!

Yes, I will be traveling a lot in the next couple months, and I have definitely started out that way! Yesterday (Friday) I spent most of the day on bus going from Quito to Tulcan and then crossing the border into Ipiales, Colombia. The border was a breeze and quite a bit more relaxed than the Juarez-El Paso border. Good thing I've had lots of practice at border crossing ;) There wasn't really that much to do in Ipiales, so we just got dinner, found an internet cafe, and was back in the room by 7:45pm. I know, we're crazy party animals!

Today (Saturday) we got up and walked to the bus terminal to catch a bus to Popayán. It was a nice, little (18 passenger) bus, but still it was a long ride. We left at 9am and arrived in Popayán at 4:30pm without stopping at all for any kind of food and only one little 5 minute break 2 hours into the ride. Oh, and one little pause to get passport checked. Of course we were the only gringas on the bus and 3 officers had to come on to check us out, and as we were pulling away make comments. I will miss being so famous and beautiful down here! Only some people came on selling sugar cane and fruit, but nothing else. We were starving when we got here so we went right across the street to an "almuerzo" spot. It was a great huge meal, including soup, juice, spaghetti, rice, beef, and a little salad for 3800 pesos ....wow so expensive! haha It really was like $2. It's funny how everything is in thousands, because it makes everything seem so expensive.

Well, we are going to stay here in this tiny little locker (aka room) tonight and explore around here tomorrow. We need a break from all the bus time! It's exciting to be out on the road and starting the adventure though. Next update: CALI!

Abrazos, Taylor

Transitioning

Well, it's been an awesome year!

And my time here in Quito is now actually coming to an end. It still feels surreal, and I cannot believe how quickly a year can past, but really I cannot complain. I have been so incredibly blessed this year with God working in the most amazing and often unexpected situations. I know now that God put me here to grow. I have made amazing relationships, but also relationships that might be difficult to maintain even though they have made such an impact on my life. I've learned a lot about myself, relating to other people, and accepting another culture. Not everything was easy this year, but I can say that I have been genuinely happy. One of the greatest examples of this to me was Christmas. Wow, so far away from home and my family, but also I can honestly say it was one of the best Christmas times of my life. It was very different and I was sad at first, but God brought our community together that week to create a family - playing games together, going ice skating, watching Christmas Classics, etc. I'm definitely going to need time to process more, but I want to tell you all thank you for the prayers and continuous support. I am blessed!

Moving on...

This Friday "la aventura" continues for me as I leave for Colombia. For the next 2 months, I will be backpacking home through Central America. My friend Lauren has already made it here to Ecuador safely, and we are about to begin this journey, meeting our friend Jen in Panama City on August 12th. We are doing it 'no reservations' style...aka we have no real plans made, but we do have a tentative schedule and a couple hot spots. We are going to see a couple cities in all 7 Central American countries, as well spend time in Colombia and Mexico. In the beginning of October, we will be ending in San Diego, California visiting my Aunt Kitty and Uncle Scott! I cannot wait to start and see where this new adventure takes me.

I ask again for your prayers! Beyond my excitement, I am nervous and asking for prayers for an open mind. I pray for good fellowship with Lauren and Jen as we embark on this journey together. I also pray that I can live in the moment and be excited and ready for each new day and place. Finally, I pray for safety. I have confidence that God is good and will protect me as His child these next couple months and beyond.

Thank you in advance!
Much love,
Taylor

PS I will be trying to update this blog every couple days as we begin traveling. I don't know how available internet and computer access will be all the way through, but I promise that I will try to do my best!

Saying Goodbye....to Liga!

Last night I bid farewell to my soccer team that I have enjoyed so much as a fill for my "sports void." Former roomates, family: you guys know how I usually spend my Saturdays and Sundays from September until April - watching football or basketball constantly! This year I saw about 4 football games TOTAL and maybe 3 NBA games and some of March Madness. ESPN.com just didn't cut it for me after a while, so I started following pretty regularly the Ecuadorian soccer league, and more specifically LIGA DEPORTIVA UNIVERSITARIA!

I originally picked Liga as my team because that was the team that my host father from 2008, Estaurdo, supported. I went to about 7 or 8 games back then as well, but then this year I live literally a 5 minute walk from the Liga Stadium, La Casa Blanca! Needless to say I can hear all the emotion of these big games right from my house, which of course always gets me in the mood to go. I have gone to games with all different people, including one game alone! (It was the semi-finals of the South American Cup :) ) The Director of Education, Marco Polo, even gave me the Copa Sudamericana FINALS ticket (which were so hard to get) because he knew how much I loved the team. I've traveled a bit with the team...going to Guayaquil and going to games in Athaulpa, the other Quito teams' stadium. I've taken Center families, my own parents, friends and just about every volunteer! Everyone always knew they could count on me to go. Honestly after this year, I cannot tell you how many games I've been to, but probably around 20 or so...basically more than most Ecuadorians, even the big fans!
Well last night was my last game (or at least for a while) and it was a great way to end! It was a big game: Liga v Barcelona. The stadium was packed and the fans (La Muerte Blanca) came strong and with energy. I went with Audrey, and we, of course, went to Sur Baja to be with the best, craziest fans. And beyond that, Liga went out strong with a 2-1 win!

I'll miss the atmosphere and crazy soccer culture, but I cannot wait to get back just in time for football season! Wow, what a great year it would be if I could come home and get to go to a Rose Bowl!!! And hopefully it's an equally good year at Lambeau! Can't wait to bundle up for Camp Randall and the Frozen Tundra and to sit in front of the TV all Saturday and Sunday again.

Saying to goodbye to Liga was probably the lighter note of the past couple weeks...I've also been saying goodbye to almost all of my fellow volunteers and friends. It's been hard, but I've already been keeping in touch and it seems people are doing well. Please keep praying
for all of our transitions!

Much love,
LA LIGUISTA

Slumdog Millionaire Bathroom

This past weekend, I went to La Costa (the coast) with the Lorr family....and with this broken toe. There were 13 of us that traveled from Quito to El Carmen on Friday: Cinthya, Adam, and I, Luz and Fabiola, and 8 of their kids. I love these kids and moms so it was fun to get spend a lot of time with them and get to know their family and where they come from. We got to El Carmen around 4:00pm and found some delicious street food as we were starving from not eating all day. Then we waited to go in the back of a truck into the area where the family lived. They lived down this unpaved, muddy road about an hour outside of town. Finally we got to a point where we couldn't drive anymore and had to walk up a VERY muddy road to get to the house. We all were just laughing so hard and the people in front (Cinthya, Luz, Bryan, Santiago...) all got very muddy and fell a couple times. I went so slow and it was so hard as I was sinking, but the crutches were very helpful and we made it to the house with smiles on our faces! We had a delicious meal, played cards, and then made room for 31 people to sleep...in 5 beds. A lot of people were on the ply wood floor or about 5 or 6 in each bed. Cinthya and I were alone just us in a bed, but in the bed that touched us were 6 people, 2 adults and 4 kids, in a twin size bed.

On Saturday we got up and I helped make a huge breakfast...which was really like a lunch: rice, fish, salad, and juice. It was a very 'rustic' outdoor kitchen, but it was also cool and all the fruit was so fresh and delicious. Then we got ready and trekked down to the river. I walked about the first half of the way down the path (just as the doctor ordered, right :)), but then they put me on the back of a mule because I was going so slow! Wow! I am not a huge fan of horse back riding normally, much less with a homemade saddle and on extremely muddy, steep inclines. It ended up being a sweet experience though and I even crossed over the river with the mule to the other side! Then all the kids, Luz, Fabiola, and Cinthya all got in the water and splashed around for about an hour. I've got to tell you, even only being able to watch from the side of the river was awesome - naked babies are just so darn cute!! Then I rode on the mule with Santiago all the way (about an hour) back to the house - he's Fabiola's 15 year old son and made me feel safe and was so nice. When we made it back, we ate again - the fish the other men caught in the river that morning! Then we packed up and got back into the back of the truck to head into town to get a bus to go to the beach for a day.

Okay, so you might be wondering what's with the blog title.... Slumdog Millionaire Bathroom?? Well, that's what Cinthya, Adam, and I thought the bathroom looked like at the house. You know the bathroom in the beginning of the movie that the little boy falls through to go meet the famous actor. The bathroom was on the second story and you had to cross wood slabs in order to get to this bathroom that was a big hole that dropped down. It was kind of gross, but also pretty humorous. I finally had to cave into to go around 11:30pm on Friday night, and Fabiola and Cinthya had to help me across the slabs as they were slippery from the rain and I wasn't walking very well. I wasn't even embarrassed as it was just a hilarious situation though!

Hope you also have an opportunity to laugh at something so genuinely ridiculous too!
Abrazos,
Taylor

La Despedida

The farewells have begun.

This past weekend was the big ‘despedida’ (farewell event) that we all have been anxiously anticipating. July 3rd really never felt close to me, and really even in the last week of classes I couldn’t believe that it was really coming to an end. I think that most of the volunteers actually felt this way as well, but we all also made the best of it and spent a lot of time together throughout the weekend.


Friday morning, the boys (Joe and Carl and the Germans) got up early and made us all eggs, potatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice, and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast! Aren’t they so darn cute? Then in Special Ed, we made frames to put a picture of all of us in and I said goodbye to David (except I still do see him down in the bakery!) For girls’ program, Adam and I decided to make a special little event for the girls instead of working on the last day. We bought them gifts from all the other girls’ program groups and, of course, included some underwear and toothbrushes too ;) In addition, we decided to make them an “All-American” breakfast. We made them eggs with cheddar cheese, bacon, sausages, and juice for their last morning. They all loved it as most of them had never tried bacon or “yellow cheese” before in their lives…adorable little girls! Then we gave them their gifts and paid them for all their work this semester. I won’t miss burning millions of rosary necklaces and bracelets, but I will miss working with these girls and having them as part of my team.


Saturday morning we all got up for the 9AM soccer match-up of the year: women volunteers versus Ecuadorian moms and staff. It really is all just in good fun, but we decided to get really into it and Friday afternoon made USA tank tops that we wore for the game. We sewed on American flags on the front and then put nicknames and numbers on the back. My name was “La Liguista” because of my slight obsession with Liga, the Quito soccer team! Some of the girls are really good at soccer, so we pretty much dominated and won like 7-4 or something like that, but I’m not positive as the referee was a little biased as he is a Center dad and kept jokingly calling penalties and taking away goals to try to help the moms. It didn’t really matter though and we all had fun playing! Then after we finished, the guys took the field for a bit more intense match up with the dads. There are only 4 guy volunteers, so 2 girls, Jess and Audrey, also played with them until the German guys came back from watching their World Cup game. The boys didn’t do quite as well, but still had fun and stayed in good spirits.

After the soccer games was Mass, in which each of us volunteers were mentioned and then communally prayed for, and then lunch. I decided to stay down in the cafeteria for lunch with the families and hang out until the actual Despedida presentation at 3pm.

The Despedida was actually quite sweet. The preschoolers came up with a little poem, then the elementary school girls did a dance, and the high school girls did a little skit poking fun at some of the volunteers. Then the funniest was some of the adults dressing up like really old people with canes and doing a silly dance. Then all the other volunteers got up and danced with them too. It was really cute. Marco Polo, the education director, said a couple words and then the kids handed us out little presents (a t-shirt and picture frame from Madre Miguel). After we got our gifts it was crazy! We were all swarmed with all kinds of kids and adults coming up for hugs and crying, but it was sweet. One of my students, Maria Jose, was sobbing and sobbing even though I tried to explain to her that I would still be here for another month. She really wanted me to be coming back next year. She’s sweet and so are so many others of these kids and parents that I have become so close to and embraced as my family away from home this year. It was an exhausting day, but also just fun and great to be with so many of these families that I’ve spent so much time with in the last ten and a half months.

And besides all these memories that I have from this day, I also right now get to have a physical reminder of the soccer match… Near the end of the first half of the game, I was going to kick the ball hard to try to make a goal. Our field is not so good here at the Center and so instead of kicking the ball, I kicked this big rock that was sticking out of the field. It was a bit painful so I stopped playing and my big toe just became huge and all black and blue. There was no ice, so I bought lots of Bon Ice (Mr. Freeze Pops) to keep it cold and try to numb it…and keep lots of kids sugar high as I would buy them one too if they went to get me one! Well, as it turns out I spent my 4th of July at the ER and from X-rays found out I did fracture my big toe. : ( So it is in a metal splint now for the next 2 weeks…and after 5 days I am already going crazy! I stumble along so slow and that is if I am being bad and not using the crutches, which are just killer. I tell you this Lord I love is pretty crazy sometimes. I really want to be out there running around with the kids and traveling with the other volunteers, but I guess it is time for me to slow down a bit, recover, and just take it all in from the side lines. (Yikes, which most of you know is NOT at all me, but I guess this whole year is about growing – even until the very end!)

Despite this annoying little toe thing though, it was a great weekend and time with the volunteers and Center families! Really it hasn’t totally sunk in yet, but I actually already had to say goodbye to 2 volunteers yesterday so it’s starting. Just trying to live each day though and love it while I’m still here.

Please pray for me to have patience and to be a good patient ;) Also, pray for Lauren and Joe who are already home and those leaving soon in their adjustment time back in the US.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Putting things in perspective...

Yesterday was the 6th grade (grade school) graduation in La Marin and of course they are a pretty big deal, like anywhere. As I was watching all the kids get their diplomas though, I started thinking a little more. My middle school graduation was a huge deal, but honestly there was no question that I would be passing 8th grade and even high school. Both of my parents are college educated and so therefore even the idea of going to college or not never even crossed my mind. Here though, the other volunteers and I teach adult classes - which are literacy classes for those adults that do not even have a primary school education. When I saw 3 of my adult students' children receive awards for being first in their respective grades and then the 25 6th graders graduating, it put it in perspective for me that this really is a big deal! Finishing elementary school already puts most of them way ahead of their parents and on track to get out of poverty. Just a little thought....

Bittersweet (but it will be fun) weekend ahead!

LA PLAYA!

The end is coming so close now. I really cannot believe it actually. Well, it is kind of a fake end for me actually, but still it's the end of classes and starting early next week people are leaving.

In order to get our one last time all together in, all of us volunteers planned a trip together to the beach. We ended having an awesome turnout where in the end only 3 volunteers didn't come and 12 of us were there, including the two German boys. It was such a fun time and we really just got to spend a lot of time hanging out and talking. We, of course, watched lots of soccer (sad about the USA) and we were definitely a sight to see in little Same (the beach) as we were the only Gringos and very excited about our soccer games. We also played lots of volleyball on the beach and although my arms are very bruised, I loved every minute of it. We also played cards, took long walks on the beach....oh so romantic ;) And swam around a lot in the ocean.
The only little issue we had was getting home...there was a big indigenous protest that closed down the road from Atacames (the coast) to Quito. We ended up not leaving the coast until 2AM and got back to Quito (for one dollar more) at 11AM. Basically, 12 hours of traveling from the beach in Same to the house here in Quito...yikes! It was worth it though and I am glad I got that time with the volunteers. It's definitely been a growing experience with all of them, but I am really going to miss them and we have experienced a lot together this year!

Graduations and parties this week!! Yay!

Love you guys!!
Taylor

Ultimas Noticias 15K

June 13^th 2010…I completed a 15K race! Considering since grade school I was never even able to run the mile, I would never have guessed that I would be participating in a running race voluntarily. But I did it and it was awesome! Cinthya was the best partner to do it with, and we came in to the event with great attitudes. We together decided that we were going to walk it and just enjoy participating and stick together. We did walk a majority of it, but we pushed each other and we ran at least part of every kilometer and every downhill section. And we even made our goal which was to finish J and to try to finish in 2 hours! And what was our time…exactly 2:00! Wow! It was so much fun, and being a blonde in this lovely country, I, of course, received quite a bit of encouragement from both people watching on the sidelines and other participants. It is awesome how encouraging everyone is in a race and it makes you want to keep going and give it everything you’ve got. We started in the way south of Quito, went through the historical downtown, and ended up in Athaulpa Olympic Stadium – running half a lap inside with the stadium packed with people. About 15,000 officially ran the race, and then with others as well, the newspapers said 20,000 people participated! I would highly recommend doing a race like this sometime in your life…such an amazing and positive high!

After the race we decided to walk about 3 more miles (yikes!) to the Mariscal bar district to meet up with our German friends for the Germany-Australia game. Another very fun experience! These Germans are crazy for their soccer! They all had flags and painted their faces and were crazy about their cheers. I couldn’t help but get really into it with them. Deutchland…Deutchland…Deutchland! After the game we also had a cook out at the house, so it was an overall exhausting but wonderful Sunday!

I do have World Cup fever! Extremely disappointed by the RIDICULOUS call against the US on Friday, but it’s okay, we just need to win Wednesday! USA! USA! Any time I have I am catching parts of the games and even during class sometimes. It’s so cool how all the world gets into it.

Happy Father’s Day Dad and Grandpa Jay! Love you guys and miss you!

A Family Weekend...

A Family Weekend…

I did it! And what an experience it was… I finally stayed over at a Center family’s home on Saturday night. It was three of the kids from this family First Communion on Saturday, so after mass (and then a field trip with my first graders), Cinthya, Adam, and I went over to Luz and Francisco’s house. They live a little over an hour south of the downtown Center, but we really didn’t have any trouble getting there. When we arrived, Diana (the oldest daughter) came running up to us too and took us to the house. It was really fun to hang out with the family and especially all the adorable little kids. It is two families and between the two there are 7 kids under the age of 10. We danced a bit, ate food and jello, played cards, and finally went to bed around 1:30am – exhausted! I slept with Cinthya and Belen (5 year old) and then Adam and Bryan (9 year old) were in our room too. It ended up being about 17 people between the 3 rooms and 4 beds total, but they definitely know how to make it work. On Sunday, we woke up first and went and bought bread, ham, and cheese to make some sandwiches for breakfast. After breakfast we hung out for a while and then went to the park with everyone. I really love this family and it is a lot of fun to hang out with them…and another plus, I didn’t get lice, which was one of my biggest fears of this weekend!

Beyond the Family time, I also went on field trips with my first graders in Cotocolloa and La Marin the last two weekends…one group to go paddle boating in Parque Carolina and the other group bowling. We also went to KFC with both of them, which was a HUGE hit! I love how the simplest things are so exciting and fun with these little guys. They’re a bit crazy, but irresistibly cute!

Also one more thing, I learned how to play Risk last week and it is so fun! I won twice in a row on Friday night (one by Adam’s vendetta for Niko, but the other I WON!). It is a fun way to bond with some of the other volunteers. We also all went out dancing on Thursday night for Jessica’s birthday and it was a lot of fun. It’s awesome when everyone does stuff together!

Life is good. It is busy and full of visitors and lots of emotions around here, but still good. I ask you all for prayers for our volunteer group. Pray that we can be there for each other and that we all may see how the Lord has been using us and teaching us this year.

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve on another with whatever gift each of you has received.” 1 Peter 4:10

Crazy Times in GUAYAQUIL

I warned you in advance to look out for this blog, because I was hoping Guayaquil would be a fun adventure…and was I right! Going from the highlands to the humid, boisterous, and downright fun coast was amazing. On Friday, Cinthya and I played hooky from work and caught the 8am flight for Guayaquil. It was a bit delayed, but we still got there by late morning and one of our friend Jackie’s friends, Jorge, picked us up and we headed straight to the beach. We didn’t really plan for that, so we the night before we made a cheesecake (shout out to Adam for the great recipe!) to bring to Jackie’s family for letting us stay with them. Well instead we drove the hour to Playas, the closest beach, and we had delicious shrimp for lunch and then between the 3 of us downed the cheesecake! Or at least almost all of it, we had about a quarter left over and so I thought it might be a good idea to just give it to one of the many beggars that kept coming up to us, but Jorge wanted to keep it. I said it would melt and all, but he insisted we didn’t give it away and instead that we would eat it after the beach. We spent the next 4 hours hanging out, playing cards, and taking a nap on the beach…and it was perfect for me as the sun wasn’t out so we didn’t get sunburned. I was the only gringa at this beach (or at least within sight) so a tv anchor came up to talk to us and tape us. I refused to be interviewed, so Cinthya did the talking and then just zoomed in on me afterwards to encourage tourisms! Oh Ecuador, how I will miss being so special. Around 5pm we decided to head back to the city, but before doing so we bought some water at the store and finished our semi-melted cheesecake J Jorge was in heaven! Friday night we went to Jackie’s house, the friend we met in Cuenca, and spent some time at her aunt’s house and then had some delicious beef (made on a grill with a hairdryer!) and rice at her cousin’s little restaurant. Then we went out to Las Peñas, which are these steps that are lined with bars and restaurants. It was so cool and beautiful. I was absolutely exhausted though, so we walked around for a while and then went dancing for about an hour before calling it a day around 12:30am.

Saturday was spent with Jackie’s family and preparing for her nine year old cousin’s birthday party. We got up and made patacones, AMAZING ‘fried’ plantains! Besides batidos (fresh fruit smoothies), patacones are the best thing about the coast! Then we walked to the supermarket and on the way stopped by the guys’ house of who went with Ja

ckie to Cuenca. One of the guys, Paul, ended up coming with us to the store, but we separated as we shopped. Then he came back to find us and gave me flowers! Oh wow, I was so shocked that I think I had a pretty bad reaction, but the girls at least thought I was pretty funny. These Ecua boys aren’t afraid to take risks. Thank goodness we didn’t meet up with him anymore during the weekend. Well after the store, we went home and cooked in the deadly hot little kitchen all afternoon for the party - little appetizers. Then we went to the party for a while and came ho

me to change to go out for the night. We went to a place called “La Terraza,” the terrace where there were bands playing live music, like oldies (but in Spanish, so I didn’t know them). It reminded in a lot of ways of the terrace at the Union in Madison…oh I miss it! I am sure it is gorgeous and so fun now at this time of year! We stayed out until 3:30am and again I was exhausted, which definitely helped in sleeping the 3 of us girls in a double bed in a room without windows and just one fan trying to create some airflow!

Sunday was Game Day! The main purpose of the trip was to go to the ‘dangerous,’ high energy and emotional Liga (Quito) versus Barcelona (Guayaquil) game. We went around noon to the stadium to see if we could get tickets from scalpers. We saw some guys a little ways away, so we asked our taxi driver to stop to talk to them. There were actually two guys so that helped us in bartering them down. We got the tickets to this huge game for only one dollar more than ticket price – thanks to Jackie! $11 for the game…what a steal. We were planning on spending about $20 or so to go. It was so easy that we just stuck with the same taxi driver, that Jackie even made friends with and was changing his radio! He took us to the mall, the pride and joy of Guayaquil, where we got ice cream sundaes and walked around for a bit. Then we went home and took a nap and waited for Jorge to come over to go to the stadium. He finally game around 4pm and we went about 1.5 hours early to the stadium, which was already pretty packed by the time we got there. Jackie really wanted to sit so we kept walking to look for space and we ended in the Liga fans area. Jackie and Jorge couldn’t believe they were actually going to sit with Liga fans, but we did. Now let me explain, people are pretty brutal when it comes to these soccer games and they will even fight, so to sit in the little area designated for Liga fans definitely put us even more at risk, but it was so worth it! There was so much energy from all the people who came, even without any goals; the game ended in a 0-0 tie. The only part that was really dangerous was during half time and after the game, Barcelona fans threw plastic bottles down into the Liga area. We had some guys help protect us though! Cinthya did get hit in the shoulder though and Jorge got a bit wet on his legs, but nothing big. Then we had to wait about an hour after the game was over to leave the stadium, so that people would disperse outside the stadium and not cause riots. Thank God we were safe and it was just a really fun event. Also funny thing was just outside the stadium is not a very good area so it is not safe to walk too far, but also there were no taxis. We decided to just try to flag down any truck to see if we could get in the trailer and get out of the area to get a taxi. We weren’t having very good luck, but eventually two recently off duty cops let us get in the back of their truck and we got to an area where we could get a taxi! We didn’t get home until about 10:30pm, but it was so much fun and definitely a crazy adventure.

Monday morning we just got up, packed, and went to a local restaurant where we ate a HUGE breakfast. Then we got on our flight and we were back in Quito by about noon. Guayaquil was a bit risky, a bit crazy, very humid, and I only understood about half of what was being said, but it was also was amazing and fun! Muchas Gracias Jackie y la familia Barrios para toda su muy buena hospitalidad!

Ice Skating and Tie Dying

Does that title make it sound like I'm actually still living in the US? Or maybe just sharing some of our culture with my friends down here in Ecuador! Last Saturday, Adam and I took four of our high school boys that we hang out with at night to go ice skating. Four boys, Manuel, David, Angel, and Ronnie, showed up and we had a blast! Being that boys work and all, they have a lot less volunteer interaction and subsequently get fewer opportunities to go on field trips like this one. They were so sweet and it was cute to see them out of their element. To start they were gripping the wall and barely moving. Then Medina (David) finally was the first to branch off, and did great! The others I had to take around the rink a couple times, holding them up. They got braver and braver and although falling multiple times, after the hour they were all attempting to skate on their own and experiencing success too. After skating, we all went to get hamburgers and french fries. I love teenage boys! They are so 'tough,' but also can be so soft and fun!

Then yesterday, Wednesday, I made tie dye shirts with Lauren and Sarah and all the tercer curso girls. It was definitely a first time experience for everyone and a bit unorganized, but still fun. From the Boys and Girls Club bake sales ("Project Ecuador") I went with kids to buy supplies and gifts for the kids here. Well after doing a little tie dye project for the Boys and Girls Club in the spring, I started thinking it would be fun to do here as well. So I let the kids pick out tie dye colors during our shopping trip at the end of the summer...well to my surprise just this week, the kids picked out all very similar colors: red, pink, light blue, and dark blue. AKA all of the girls' shirts are just going to be purple! I haven't untied them yet, but I am sure they will be great anyway!

Look for the next update next week sometime about GUAYAQUIL! Big LIGA game Sunday!

Yo te dare, te dare LIGA hermosa, te dare una cosa, una cosa que empieza con L...con I...con G...con A...LIGA CAMPEON! Yo te dare, te dare LIGA hermosa, te dare una cosa, una cosa que empieza con C...CAMPEON!

MiNdO

Two weekends ago I had my final high school girls’ field trip…although I switched it up a little: going to Mindo instead of Baños. Five girls came this time: Luisa, Monica, Karla, Jessica, and Paulina. Thank goodness it wasn’t quite as early this time, and we were able to leave from the bus station within walking distance. We got to Mindo late morning and immediately looked for a zipline tour and a truck to take us up to the ziplines. Watching the other people come in on the cable, the girls were a bit nervous but also excited.

The tour was a lot of fun. The girls loved the canopy and the thrill of doing the tricks – going upside down (‘the butterfly’) or in the ‘superman’ position! Also we were with three European women and it was hilarious as they kept calling them “voluntarios” - as basically all the ‘gringos’ they know/have ever met are all the volunteers at the Center. Also we were with this other fun couple, an Ecuadorian guy and an Italian girl, who were so talkative and cute. When we were eating lunch later in the little plaza, they came by to talk to us and even said they would have given us a ride home if they had room for all of us. It was really a great day with everyone! All bus tickets were sold out to get home to Quito, so we ended up buying tickets to sit in the very front of the bus on the “Tortuga” (engine area)…and this mother that got on for a while asked me to hold her adorable little baby for about 15 minutes, so she didn’t drop him. He ended up falling asleep in my arms J What a cutie! We got home relatively early and overall it was another success!

Funny Mother’s Day Story Addition: On Sunday morning, I went to the park to do aerobics, which I had been doing regularly, but have missed recently due to all my traveling. Well just before the second session started, a man came up to me and said something to me with a couple flowers in his hand. I was confused at what he was saying and just said “what,” in which he responded “te regalo flores” (I’m giving you flowers). All I could say was “gracias” and laugh. This guy (kind of old) and his friend ended up doing the work out class right next to my friends and me, but we didn’t speak anymore after that. My theory is that this guy wasn’t able to find his ‘madrecita’ (mother) so instead he just gave his flowers to a ‘mamacita’ (‘hot momma’)! haha I really don’t know what this man was thinking, but hey maybe God just works through people in mysterious ways to brighten our days! (Also the picture is of these two adorable 2 year olds (Samantha and Dennis) who were on a “date” in the office one night and I happened to have my camera)

May God do something awesome/semi-ridiculous in your day too!!

Love,
Taylor

A Baños, a Baños, a Baños

Where have I spent my last couple weekends?

Maybe you guessed Baños from the title and you would be right. I have written about Baños a couple times as it is an absolutely gorgeous place, relatively close to Quito, and has a ton of fun, outdoor activities to do in the majestic green mountains.

I love going to Baños, and I also wanted to share this beautiful place with my girls, my crazy, sometimes frustrating, but overall amazing high school students. So on April 18th and April 25th, I took two different group of girls for (a very long) day trip to experience a taste of Baños. What amazing, adventurous, and genuinely fun days!

April 18th at 6am (well I guess 5:15am my alarm went off) the first paseo (trip) to Baños began with Ximena, Tania, Katty, Gladys, and Mariana - my costura (sewing) ladies! Before the sun was even peeping out, I walked over to the Ofelia bus station and met my girls down in La Marin (the downtown center). When I got down there at 6:55am, 4 of the 5 girls were already there waiting....very UN Ecuadorian, but I guess they are getting the hang of us Americans ;) We met the last girl at her house and then headed down to Quitumbre, the bus station to get to Baños. Without problems we got on the bus and all my girls packed into the back 4 seats, sharing seats and just giggling away. So cute! They bought ice cream at 9am (and even one for me!) and just enjoyed singing along to my iPod. We finally arrived in Baños, in 3 hours exactly, and the first thing we do is run to the baños (bathrooms)! Of course my teenage girls thought this was SO hilarious, but hey anything to make them smile and laugh means my goals are being accomplished.

With the sun shining and breathing in the fresh air, we walked around town a bit, took some pictures and ate the picnic lunch I brought. The girls were beyond grateful and respectful...they didn't ask for anything and everything I offered to buy them they wanted to share! So we just ate the turkey and tuna fish sandwiches and everyone shared a liter sprite bottle, but we were all full and with energy for canyoning. Going to a tour agency for this 'extreme sport' was such an exciting experience for them, and I could tell they were nervous because as soon as we entered the agency they were silent and super shy. They got on their wetsuits (of course embarrassed to come out) and we headed out to the waterfall. All the girls were such troopers and extremely encouraging of their classmates. One of the highlights for me was hearing my shyest girl, Gladys Chaluisa, scream and laugh as she slid down the biggest waterfall! I've barely seen this girl smile much less ever heard her scream for joy. What a great moment!

Our tour ended up taking longer than expected, as we got to go to the bigger, more intense waterfall, so we changed quickly, ate a sandwich and headed on the last bus back to Quito. Getting back to Quito at night is a little 'adventuresome,' but praise God for keeping us safe, for these beautiful, caring girls, and for parents who were flexible and supportive!

April 25th - doing the same, but of course VERY different! I met again at the crack of dawn downtown with Blanca, Martha, and Gladys. We got on the bus, again had delicious ice cream at 8:30am, but unfortunately this time it was rainy and cloudy the entire bus ride. Oh no, what were we going to do in Baños before we would go to the waterfalls? Well, when we arrived, we went to the bathrooms first again, and then had a little team meeting to discuss what we could do in the rain. GRACIAS A DIOS! (Praise God) Honestly as we were discussing going out to lunch or something, the sun started peeking out a bit and it stopped raining! And the entire rest of the day, the sun was out (albeit a little cloudy) and it didn't rain one more drop! What a blessing.

These three are all 15 so a little less mature, but still so sweet and had so much fun running around and laughing. We had a picnic lunch again before beginning our canyoning trip. So I'm sure I've written about how Ecuadorians in general are smaller people, but Blanca, Martha, and Gladys are especially tiny! The guide had to search for children’s wetsuits as XS were too big for them! We then headed out to the Chamana waterfall, which is smaller and less intense with more open air. It was perfect! I enjoyed it a lot and was happy to do this one that took less time and also got to feel the warmth of the sun a bit! (Rio Blanco is sooo cold) Edison, our guide for the past 3 weeks, was so nice and helpful and it's great to see someone who truly just loves his job. A million pictures, a sandwich, and some sugar cane taffy for the road later, another successful day in Baños was complete. It was still after dark when we arrived back to Quito, but it was a much calmer ride home in which everyone got to their homes with their parents!

My Sundays in April were wonderful days with my girls, and I was so proud of them and the way they acted! I feel my goals were accomplished: they felt important, had great time to bond with their girlfriends, and they each got to experience something beyond their imaginations! I would do it all again in a heartbeat…..which is good because I've got one final trip left this Sunday. I am going to Mindo this time though and we are going to do the canopy (ziplines). The girls are excited, but of course nervous as well! I can't wait! Pray for safety, sun, and more ‘good girl bonding’ time!

Also please pray for Mom and Dad who are traveling Egypt and Israel right now, may they also be having a trip of a lifetime!

Love you all! Keep smiling and laughing!

Taylor