Nearing the end...

First let me apologize for not blogging this past month. So much has happened, and then I get overwhelmed writing in my journal AND on here, so.. fail. Forgive me. Trips to Inca ruins, to waterfalls, to Baños, to the rainforest, conversations with my sisters, drivers ed classes with Lili, laughs with my papi, first time ever in a discotec, walking in the pouring rain with a huge Amazon leaf as an umbrella- all of that I will have to tell you in person when I get home.

It's raining outside... and guess what. Last night there was a huge beetle-like bug in my room. And I called in my brother to kill it... oh Ecuador. :)

I have 17 days left in Cuenca, and many thoughts are beginning to come with the pending departure. For one, I'm getting tired of not having any kind of fixed job or schedule- I'm truly on vacation here. No more English classes. No homework. No gym membership. No car to get places. Back to a place of dependence. Those things are tough. But I try to make the most of my free moments in the house, and looking forward to being in the Word more these last few days. Talking to my Dad and Jared the other day made me miss them a lot, and long for the familiar things that I've been lacking. However, I think of leaving my family here, and the Ortiz family (cousins and all) and my heart hurts. So so much. And I think about returning to my full full life back home, with all of its responsibilities, and that too makes me cringe. But I have to continue to grow up, move on, and advance in my studies and career and faith... just as I have grown in different ways being here this summer. More on that later.

I think I'll post one more time before I go... or at least I will try. Keep me in your prayers- I'm feeling spiritually dry and weak and lacking motivation to seek the Lord. But yet He is near. Pray also that I would not think about leaving, but concentrate on the present and on blessing everyone around me.

And so begins the second half...

Today is a clean-the-house-stay-in-pijamas-till-the-afternoon kind of day. Guido Adrian is outside sweeping the patios, Lili's playing with 1yr old Emily, the 3rd grandchild, Andrea is resting (suffering a brutal migrane), and Guido and Nancy mis papas are out shopping. I just finished washing all the dishes from desayuno by hand (there is a lavadora but it does not work...). Breakfast was fried eggs, coffee, and balls of squished plantains and butter.

This is the 2nd half of my stay in Cuenca, and things are going to look very different from here on out for several reasons. Last week I finished up with my students- one of them had his visa interview in Guayaquil last week and he passed it! It made me happy to know that he did well. Anyway, this means that I no longer have a set job to do here. So that means I've got to fill my time with something else. There are a few more museums left to see, and some more trips I want to plan to see more of Ecuador. I'm praying for more opps to serve ppl while I'm here- many are eager to master English. Yesterday I stayed in the house all day until about 5pm and could not bear it- I had nothing to do!

The house is more lively with Lili here, and I'm so glad she's here as well. She's still adjusting to the strangeness of coming home after being gone for 11 months, but, you'd be amazed at the difference it makes to have a girl close to my age in the house now. I'm excited to meet her friends as well.

Last night I hung out with a sweet sweet girl exactly my age that I met the first or second week here. She literally walked up to me in the park as I was reading and wanted to ask me questions in English for an English project in the U. By the time she left, we had exchanged numbers and last night we FINALLY got to hang out. We walked arm in arm around Cuenca, and stopped in Frutelados to have coffee and dessert. She comes from a conservative, Christian (not Catholic) family as well, and we have several things in common. What a blessing- a female friend! And I can't get over how welcoming people are here. She probably invited me to 3 different events while we were together. I hope to spend more time with her these last few weeks.

Now off to do... something! Sending my love. Chao.

Water Crisis Averted.

The title refers to the fact that we were without water for almost a week in the house. Basically it was even less luxurious than camping- we heated up big pots of water on the stove and bathed in such a fashion. It isn't all that bad though, really!

This past weekend I went to the beach with a lovely family that is hosting the other American boy who is here. It takes about 6-7 hours to get there. The single road to Guayaquil wound its way through fields of banana trees and rice fields. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant in Guayaquil. I see why they call it the Miami of South America. I've never been to Miami, but I definitely thought that it was the most American-city-like city I've seen yet, palm trees and all. The beach we arrived at, called Salinas, was not warm by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the beach. We stayed on a naval base which made it even better- very few people were around us. It was nice to get away. Pero que pena (what a shame) that I had to be in Ecuador for the coldest months... I'm kissing my summer tan goodbye as of this instant.

What else has happened... well, Luke and I took 2 mornings this week to do some museum-visiting in Cuenca. We went to the Modern Art Museum, which I definitely enjoyed. I miss making art... oh I wish I had my paint and markers here with me! I'll have to buy some... We also went to a mini-zoo and saw some turtles (shout out to the TERPS!), tiny little poison arrow frogs, and way-too-big snakes. *shiver* ...I really don't like snakes.

We visited this incredibly wild house that's a self-proclaimed museum of "extreme art." It basically consisted of many strange paintings and skulls and statues and gargoyles for decoration. There were arms and bodies of manikins hanging from the ceiling. Not quite my taste, but definitely piqued my interest, and was the last thing I would expect to find in Cuenca. The Cuencanos don't like it, because it's so counter-conservative. But my travel guide is written by Americans, thus... we checked it out.

The Hat Museum was my favorite of the week. Inside a man named Efriam took us around the factory and showed us how the Panama hat was born. AND I'll have you know that they are only called PANAMA hats because the workers on the canal used them as they were building the canal, since the hats were shipped to Panama from Cuenca and exported the rest of the world from there. They come from CUENCA. It could take 4 months for a chola cuencana to make one of these hats, woven from grass. There I am above hugging a lovely manikin wearing a dress made of Panama hat brims. Dad, I'm going to get you a hat, but I don't know your head size!??

Also, yesterday I had the privilege of meeting another gringita! She's from Colorado, and was studying in Peru for a year and now traveling throughout South America. She's traveling alone- HOW BRAVE. So she came to Cuenca yesterday and Julio and I picked her up and brought her out to lunch. Then she and I walked around the Centro as I tried my best to point out the colonial beauty that is Cuenca. How awesome it felt to walk around without a map in my hand! I know the streets now, without getting lost. Practically a native... aside from the hair and eyes. I got along very well with the girl (Brooke)- it was as if we had known each other for years- and very much wished I could travel with her, but she was leaving that very night. Sigh. But what a blessing to meet a friend from the US, and break some yuca bread and slurp some naranjilla-flavored yogurt with her. She has pictures of us on her camera, or else I would post one...

And today arrived the last Bustos daughter, Liliana. She lived in Wisconsin this past year to learn English, and she returned to Ecuador this afternoon. She is wonderful, sweet, and joyful and I'm so glad she's here! It's been fun to hear about what she thinks of our American customs and how she adjusted, especially concerning the bad food we eat over there... oh boy. :) This weekend is going to be a weekend of celebration of her arrival- on Sunday family and friends will flock to the house to welcome her home.

I'm still very much in love with Ecuador. The Lord is blessing my trip immensely. I feel like crying when I think of leaving it.