Pearly Whites!

Two important things about me, which most of you probably already know (especially those of you who have lived with me):

1. I LOVE to brush my teeth....maybe even slightly obsessed.


2. When I see an opportunity where I can easily make a change, I am going to do it!

Well, I put those two together today. A couple weeks ago I bought an extra bottle of toothpaste at the store, because I noticed that while my girls take showers, they are also supposed to bring toothbrushes. Gloria, the lady that passes out the towels during that time, then would give them paste for their brushes. She always said she didn't have any, so I made it my job to give them the paste. Well, only half of them have brushes and the majority of those brushes were NASTY! Definitely not something I would put into my mouth ever!

I got fed up enough today that I walked the quick 10 minutes over to the mall to buy toothbrushes for the girls. I brought 6 brushes with covers from the US, but I have 10 girls in my group. I found some brushes with these silly little elephant covers, but I bought them. Then while in the toothbrush aisle, I saw a steal! Two toothbrushes in a pack for $0.77 - I am not even sure if that is good in the States, but whatever I was satisfied enough. I decided to buy toothbrushes for all of my students (except the high school girls) and I am going to make it part of my routine to brush our teeth at the beginning or end of every class. I started with my first grade boys in La Marin today and they loved it! They were pretty excited about their new, squeaky clean toothbrushes...and not to mention they all love the taste of toothpaste!

So, hopefully at least 30 kids at the Center will have some pearly whites now!

Okay, beyond just my toothbrushing obsession, things have been going well here. I am definitely starting to feel at home and a lot more comfortable. I feel that God has really been just putting people in my life recently to lift me up and give me that extra support here. I have recently connected with two of my Ecuadorian friends from study abroad, and I have been doing a "discussion group" (Bible Study basically) with 3 other volunteers. It is a definite answer to prayer to be feeling that truly there is no where else that I am supposed to be right now (even though I do miss you all at home). In saying this though, please keep praying for all of us here, because there are still some other volunteers here who have not come to that point yet, which makes this job a lot more draining and difficult.

Love you!

Taylor

P.S. I also splurged today and bought a new cell phone - one that actually works! So if you want, I know that Skype is pretty cheap to call Ecuador (well like 12 or 14 cents a minute) I'd love your calls, as often our internet goes out here, so I haven't been the best about calling very often. My number is 593 08 452 1057. I am available weekends, lunch time (11 or 12 until 1:45), and after 8pm CST.

“Baños…un pedazo del cielo”

Hola!

Just got back from a fun, refreshing weekend in Baños! I left Friday morning with Sarah, Kate, and Carl to head out of the city and into this beautiful town completely surrounded by mountains. The advertisement for the city is “Baños…un pedazo del cielo” (Baños – a piece of Heaven) and it surely is.

We got lunch on Friday and then took a little nap. Well everyone else took a 4 hour nap, but I definitely relax better getting outside and being active. So I met up with my friend Cesar, who I met during study abroad, and we hiked up to a big cross where you can see all of Baños and the other mountains. It was a gradual hike, but it had just rained and was very humid, so I was extremely sweaty! It was totally worth it though and helped me get my mind completely off of my work. Then I returned back to the hostel with my friends, and we played some cards and went out for dinner. We ended the night with some hot chocolate on a balcony for some great people watching….I know we’re pretty wild :).

Then Saturday, we got up pretty early to eat breakfast and rent bicycles for $5 for the day to bike through the mountains on “La ruta de las cascadas” (the route of the waterfalls). Wow! It was basically a purely downhill bike ride, so that was fun and absolutely amazing scenery. We walked down to 2 beautiful, huge waterfalls, El Pailón del Diablo and La Cascada de Machay. They were a workout, but amazing to see and explore. We then hopped in the back of a truck with our bikes to get back to Baños! We all took quick showers and then headed out for the Ecuador vs Uruguay World Cup Qualifying Game. Unfortunately, Ecuador lost in a last second penalty quick, but we’ve all still got a little hope alive here for the game on Wednesday versus Chile. Ecuador needs to win in order to straight out qualify or play a Central American team to qualify for next summer’s World Cup. Sí se puede, Ecuador!!

We slept in on Sunday, and then Sarah and Kate got massages while Carl and I did another hike up to a statue of El Virgen de Agua Santa. It’s another fun hike where you can see the entire city from the top and even the snow on the top of Tungurahua (the big volcano). After an afternoon of walking around we took a bus back to Quito, refreshed and ready to be back with the kids. I truly love and care about so many of the kids and families here at the Center, but weekends like this are what keep me going and ready to put 100% more of myself into what I am doing. Weekends away give me time to think and process while enjoying God’s glorious creation! No doubt I am meant for city life, but need my time to breathe in the fresh air every once in a while as well!

Much love!

Taylor

Hold on one second (or week)...

Well sorry it's been a while... sometimes God just says hold on one second and wants you to get your priorities in order I guess. Last week I had a tough week physically, but I think it got me more mentally prepared to be here.

I unfortunately broke my computer two Sundays ago, which was definitely a disappointment. It's been amazing the support and tireless work that Madre Cindy, Hugo, and German have put into getting me a new hard drive and trying to get everything all set up for me. There are just a couple more little things to get figured out and programs to download....and my computer is up and running better than before! What a great example to me of good Christian people that put their work and parts of their lives on hold to help me out without getting anything in return.

Also last week I had the pleasure of having bed bugs! All I ever had heard of beg bugs before last week was the saying my dad always told me before bed: Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! I have gotten rid of my comforter now though and doused my room with Raid and I've slept so much better. It definitely made last week more challenging without much sleep, but knowing the situation I recognized where I needed to be more conscious about my attitude and actions. Prayer definitely helped!

This week has just felt awesome with everything going smoothly. And to make it even better I got to see my first football game since I've been here! What a ridiculous game!?! I still can't figure out why the Pack didn't take Brett back ;) I'm a Packer fan all the way though, so that was a tough game to watch, but still watching football just made my week! Tomorrow is the end of our week as there is a holiday on Friday, so I will be leaving Quito for the long weekend for Banos. I am excited to get out and into the fresh air!

Drink some hot chocolate (with peppermint if you can) to stay warm in Wisconsin!
Much love, Taylor