Crossing the Line (0˚ Latitude that is!)

An epic adventure is not complete without the main character overcoming some sort of obstacle at the last minute… and at the last second, when it seems like all is lost coming out triumphant.

Our last day in Quito we spent packing, doing a few last minute interviews, and saying our goodbyes. We had dinner with the Douces and then went to the Casa to record a rap that we had all been working on with the boys… by the time we got back to the guest house it was 1:30 am. So most of us stayed up the rest of the night packing or working on random things until Phil came to pick us up at 4:30am-ish. Because the black market for passports is such big business in Ecuador, several of us had given Phil our passports for safe keeping during our time there- so we had to stop by the Casa on our way to the Airport to pick them up. (They were in a locked safe there.) All of our luggage took up the back half of the car, so we were squished together waiting for Phil when he emerged from the Casa with only 2 of the 3 passports that we needed. (Not everyone had given him their passport) And, if you hadn’t guessed- it was mine that was MIA. Thinking it might be at his house, not the Casa, we raced back to Phil’s place to look for it. As we waited again in the dark of the morning Phil emerged this time with nothing… still unable to locate my passport.

Because our flights were scheduled to leave at 6:30am, we didn’t have anymore time to look… we had to head to the airport so that at least the others could make their planes. We prayed for my passport on the way, although I must admit I wasn’t too pleased with God at this point. I was trying really hard to trust in Him… but I’m human, and I wasn’t too amused at the prospect of being stuck in a third world country over Easter.

As we dropped the group off you would have thought they were taking the last rescue helicopter off of a sinking island- I made sure Dave had my mom’s phone number ‘just case I didn’t make it.’ And Johnny refused to say goodbye because ‘we’re gonna see you on the plane!’ I at this point was crying (if you know me this comes as no surprise) and I got back in the SUV with Phil and my luggage as we headed back to his house to look for the elusive little book that would be my ticket home.

Sitting on Phil’s couch I felt helpless. Steph had told me to keep praying and I was trying- but the minutes kept ticking by and no passport was anywhere to be found. Phil decided to go back over to the Casa and check one more time for it and Debbie kept searching their house. Finally, the phone rang and Phil had found it in the downstairs office at the Casa! I have no idea how or why it was there… but at this point I really didn’t care. We raced to the airport and I’m pretty sure we ran every red light on the way… but we made it.

It was 5:30am.

Checking in the attendants told me to go straight to immigration after I paid my airport tax (they charge you $40 just to leave the airport) because the lines would be long. For some reason the airline Steph was flying took a lot longer to check her in so she stood with me in the line for immigration. As the minutes ticked down I wondered how we were ever going to make it… it seemed like the switch backing line of crying children, weary backpackers, businessmen, and camera clutching tourists went on for miles… all trying to get through immigration and all moving at the speed of molasses.

So, I prayed for an angel.

With 40 minutes till our plane took off I approached one of the men working at the airport and overseeing the line that stood between me and my plane. Upon explaining my plight and pointing to my ticket to make up for my lack of Spanish skills, he told me in broken English that there was nothing he could do (a lie I’m sure) and that I might miss the plane. So we continued to wait.

15 minutes till takeoff.

We had started to accept the fact that we may not make it… but at least Steph and I would have each other, right? And then I saw him. My Angel…. I knew it was him because he was wearing a jacket that said Continental and carrying a walky-talky. (So maybe this wouldn’t scream celestial being to some, but if there was anyone who could part the masses to get us through- it was this guy.) By this point we were probably 15 people from the front of the line… but with takeoff quickly approaching we might as well have been at the back of the line. So, waiving my ticket in the air to catch his eye my Continental angel subtly motioned for us to bypass the rest of the line and come over to the immigration agent he was standing with. As we got our passports stamped he radioed our names to the gate to let them know we were coming. So shouting ‘Gracias, Gracias’ to Continental guy, I left Steph (she was on a different airline) and ran to catch my plane.

The gate agents searched my bag and then told me to hurry since they were basically closing the gates asap! I ran down the tarmac to my plane, (for some reason it wasn’t right in front of the gate.) I had made it.

I was the last one on the plane… and Dave stood up clapping as he came to hug me, and I once again started to cry. The guys had no idea if I’d make it on the plane and weren’t allowed to go back to immigration to look for me in the line. I sat by Johnny on the way to Houston… and I guess he made good on his promise that he would see me on the plane. (With a little help from above!)

And so I’m home. Enjoying the AZ sun and grateful for the wonderful adventure that was Ecuador… 14 Days in Middle Earth!

I’m sitting outside right now enjoying a slight breeze at my favorite coffee shop and nursing a blended chai latte that is arguably the best in town. It took a bit more than simply clicking my heels three times to get here, (I’ll explain later) but I am finally back in the land of AZ. And while my journey to middle earth may be over… the last few days in Ecuador were certainly memorable.

On our final Tuesday we decided to take a trip back to El Refugio. (For those of you who are paying attention… I did skip Monday. I spent the whole day in bed basically feeling like I was seasick- and suffering the side effects, if you get my drift. Not a fun feeling!) Anyway, back to Tuesday. At El Refugio we did a few interviews with the staff there- and were able to see a few parts of the camp we hadn’t seen on our first visit. This included the ‘treehouse’ which was straight out of the movie Swiss Family Robinson! While unlike the movie, there was no retractable roof. Nonetheless, the two large platforms connected by a rope bridge and supported by several ancient Eucalyptus made for an idyllic spot to spend part of our afternoon. From there we headed down back towards the main camp to the cuy ‘habitat’ I guess you could say.

Cuy, just so you know, is a delicacy in Ecuador- and because they ‘farm’ their own at the camp, they often serve them to guests. I was definitely having a tough time thinking of these little guys as dinner… especially because my sister had one as a pet when we were in grade school. She only kept it for a few months or so before it got donated to the school and became the class pet (I think that’s what happened to it? Now that I think about it, I really don’t remember… but I know we didn’t eat it!) Phil assured me that the cuy (or guinea pig, as they’re known here in the states) that they farmed were bigger and not the same as the ones we had as pets- but upon entering the cuy pen I came to the realization that these little guys were exactly the same as the class pet! I certaintly wasn’t going to eat one.

But just because I was perfectly content with not indulging in a tasty bit of guinea pig delight, didn’t mean I wasn’t up for cheering on the rest of our team who had a hankering for it! While the camp didn’t have any prepared, lucky for us on our way back we passed a small restaurant that specialized in it- I think. I’m not sure if ‘specialized’ would really be the correct word… but they did have a picture of one on the sign. And while the one on the sign was cartoonishly cute- the one that we ordered was anything but. Cooked over an open flame, the naked rodent was skewered and twirled to a goldenish crispy brown. As they presented it to us on a plate garnished with lettuce… it was hard to ignore the stray hairs, teeth, and small claws that remained on our crunchy critter. I never even for a second considered sampling the little guy, but Steph tasted it and Dave and Brad definitely got the full experience- brains and all!

From Lunch (if you can call it that) we went to the equatorial monument so Steph could see it. Although, still the equator, this was different than the equator we had already seen (this was the original version… the second one was built after GPS placed the equator in a slightly different location.) And, after snapping a few photos and doing more than enough shopping we were on our way once again!

That evening we went out with Phil and the boys. Cameras in tow we wanted to get some interviews and footage of kids who were still on the street. While we were hoping for more hardcore stuff like kids doing drugs or drinking alcohol… the streets were surprisingly void of street kids that evening. Even still we sauntered through some of the most dangerous parts of Quito in search of our subject… and surprisingly I never once felt in danger. This could be because we were being accompanied by the boys from the Casa. Former street kids themselves, they are acutely aware of everything that goes on around them and took on the role of our body guards that evening. I’m sure we stood out- being that you don’t often see groups of extremely white North Americans hanging out with slightly rough looking Ecuadorian teenagers. One woman even shouted at Steph to “be careful!” which at first I didn’t understand, until I realized what a sight we were. And, although we didn’t get the footage we set out for, we all enjoyed each others company that evening- because to us, friendship had transcended what the outside world may have viewed us as. It had transcended the barriers of race, class, language, age, culture and background- and we were all simply just friends.

Our days have slowed a bit in terms of “touristy” stuff… which might explain my lack of blogging! (So I apologize to those of you who thought I had been abducted into the Amazon by some local tribe… although I’m not sure they would want me. I’m a lot of work!)

While we lost Brian- Steph arrived last Friday. After a slight scare (we thought she was stuck in Colombia!) she got here safe and sound. Most of our time these days has been spent with the boys or working on various projects. One of my favorite days so far though, might have to be this past Sunday…

I often wonder sometimes what heaven would look like… I’m sure my dogs will be there and most days they’ll serve either macaroni and cheese, my moms spaghetti, or biscuits and gravy. But more than that, I’m quite sure it will look something like the top of Mt. Pichincha.

On Sunday we took a tram up to the top of Mt.Pichincha, a volcano that has been fairly quiet in recent years- but in 1999 erupted, covering the city of Quito in ash. I don’t think we were really close to the part of the volcano that actually erupts, but we were still pretty high up there. (Although, the only real picture I have of what a volcano should look like comes from science projects and the movie Joe and the Volcano… where the Volcano proceeds to spit Tom Hanks out after the local tribe sacrifices him into the boiling pit of molten lava- or something like that. So with this background in mind… I didn’t actually see any lava pit.) Anyway, from the peak where stood you could see the entire city of Quito- which was more vast than I had previously thought.

It is interesting how the Lord has been setting up our shots for this documentary. The sun we had hoped for was not as easy to find as we had expected. Low lying clouds drifted through the peaks and over the city in every which way, providing an ambiance unlike anything we could have set up. With the occasional sunbeams reflecting off of the clouds, surely there must be a part of heaven that was like this. At times the fog was so thick it might seem like we were all alone, while ten minutes later the sun would peak through and show us once again vast beauty that surrounds the city of Quito.

We spent several hours on the top of the world, the Andes of Ecuador- taking it all in with our cameras and souls. By the time we left night had covered the city and glow of the moon was accented only by the sparkling lights illuminating the city. We ate dinner that night at a restaurant situated on the side of one of the hills surrounding the city, giving us an equally brilliant view of our home for the last week.

Today was Brian’s last day with us… which was sad, but we tried to fit in as much as we could before we left. To begin we started off by taking a short trip out to El Refugio- the retreat center owned an operated by youth world. About 30 minutes outside of Quito, the center offers a beautiful backdrop for short term teams who come to Ecuador to do missions work. While there they can experience any number of things the facility offers- from a zip line to a rappelling wall. (I think I’ve found the next Poiema outside trip!) They even farm their own cuy (also known as guinea pig) to eat… apparently it is a delicacy here. While I am trying to be open minded, I won’t be trying that one! (My sister used to have a pet guinea pig… there’s just something fundamentally wrong about eating an animal that you’ve always known as a pet!) Our time at El Refugio was short, but I think we’ll be going back there sometime this week to do a little filming- today was just quick stop.

From El Refugio we decided to stop at the Equator. There are actually two different museums/ tourist stops that claim to be on the actual equator. The one we went to was the newer of the two (I think) and claims that their version of the Equator was calculated by GPS- so is the most accurate. So having now been at the equator, I feel there are a few things I am obligated to share with you all:

1.) Water does go straight down the drain. We didn’t actually flush a toilet, but they had a little sink set up that we poured water down. Interestingly enough, when we moved the sink just 10ish feet to either side (It was just basically a bowl with a drain and a bucket underneath… so it was easy to move) the water would swirl either clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which side of the equator we were on!

2.) You can balance an egg on a nail. It takes a little skill, but it is possible. Brad did it and they gave him a certificate that looks a bit like a lotto scratcher card.

3.) You are weaker on the equator… This was the weirdest thing! Our guide had us clasp our hands over our heads and try to pull each others arms down and it was significantly harder to keep your arms up over the equator. Just a few feet to either side and you are noticeably stronger. Weird, but true… I’m guessing this has something to do with gravity.

We also learned about some of the indigenous tribes and local flora and fauna. It was definitely an interesting place, and even more interesting to think about the science behind it all… and again, how precise the Lord is with his creation.

After the Equator we were headed off to the weekly Youth World staff meeting- Phil had arranged for Brian to lead worship (which was absolutely incredible!) and Dave was able to film some interview material for the doc. The team at Youth World is amazing. I had always had an idea in my head of what a missionary should look like, but the missionaries here completely shattered these stereotypes. They are just normal people who want to spread the light- they are married and single, some staying indefinitely and others just for a year… but all have a passion for the Lord. It really made me think. Could I die to myself enough to move away from everything I knew and follow the Lord’s calling like they were? I don’t know if I could. There are some leaps of faith that just seem to wide- but maybe that’s why they take Faith. If we knew we could jump it by ourselves what’s the point of Faith?

We did several interviews with the boys in the afternoon and then went to a place Phil knew about called Opcion de Vida. Partially funded by the government and run by a local church Opcion is unique in the fact that it offers a place for at-risk kids to go after school and provides them a meal in the evening. Many of the street kids go there and Phil met several of the boys that now live at the Casa through Opcion.

While the guys filmed interviews with some of the street kids that were there that evening (the roughest of the rough… kids that were robbing and stealing on a daily basis, some that were still high on who knows what, and all of them searching for something,) I decided to go outside to take some pictures of the little kids that were jumping rope. Dressed in dingy school uniforms (from several different schools) they were probably all between the ages of 5 and 11…mostly girls, but a fair amount of little boys too. I never even had the chance to get my camera out before 5 or 6 of them ran up to me and started chattering in Spanish and hugging me. Although I didn’t understand what they were saying entirely, I caught the occasional word or two- first I just thought they wanted gum, but they were also fascinated by my hair and skin telling me I was a beautiful “gringa”. Overwhelmed by their fascination with me I slowly made my way back inside with children clinging to every limb of my body. They just wanted to be by me… to be touching me. Which was odd to me, because I have never really been drawn to small children- but these girls were so interested in me I couldn’t help be fascinated by them! One of them asked for my scarf, a $4 piece of fabric from Old Navy. I would have given it to her… but what could I give to the others? So I tried to convince her that I needed it because I was so cold. My heart goes out to them because I wonder what chance they really have? Who is encouraging them to follow their passion… and would they ever have the opportunity to rise above their circumstances? We will go back and visit Opcion next week- I am hoping to bring some art projects for them to have fun with. I don’t have enough green scarves to give out, but maybe I can leave them with a little bit of hope by just being with them.

We ended the evening by having dinner at the Douces… which was absolutely wonderful. We have all really enjoyed getting to spend time with their family- and this evening we got to meet Tami Douce. Tami is afraid of the dark so we hadn’t been able to see her on any of our previous visits. Oh, and Tami is a Monkey. She looks very similar to a miniature gorilla and is pretty much the coolest monkey I have ever met. So, I haven’t met a lot of monkeys- but it was definitely something you don’t see much in the states!

The day was long… but I wouldn’t trade the experiences we’ve been having here for anything! I know we will all be changed forever

It is a beautiful thing to feel pain in another’s suffering.

We all want to be superheroes… solving the world’s problems in an hour minus a few commercial breaks. Problems we will never fully understand cemented into our society by sin and hidden from sight by the intentional ignorance of the masses.

It is easier to not care if you don’t know…

…and even easier not to know if you don’t look.
We are struggling with the things we’ve seen this week.

Overpowered with emotion from the stories we’ve heard… stories of kids living on the streets doing anything and everything just to survive. Hope is nonexistent and tomorrow is something you don’t speak of. Kid’s who’ve seen more tragedy and strife than any adult I know and still manage to rise above their circumstances and find a Faith that chains them securely to their Lord.

We struggle because we feel guilty. Why should we be born into such privilege and opportunity while most of these street kids don’t have a chance- The streets are not a friendly place to call home and most of them die young of any number of things. And, while I complain about my sister using all of the hot water, street kids worry about if they will be able to find a warm enough place to sleep for the night. It doesn’t seem fair… and maybe it isn’t.

But the problems of the world will never be able to be solved in a matter of days, weeks, or months let alone an hour minus commercial breaks. But lucky for us, that’s not what Jesus wanted us to do… Jesus called us merely to serve (He would be the ultimate ‘Solver.’)

And so we are trying to serve the best we can… and trying even harder not to close our eyes when it hurts.

But it still doesn’t seem like enough…
… and that’s where we begin to see the beauty of Grace.

Truly living means occasionally living life on the edge….

One of the things that has impressed me about the boys at the Casa is their sense of selflessness in every aspect of life. Today we ventured out of the comforts of Quito into the jungle where the rain hit very hard this year. With Phil at the wheel of the “Beast” (basically the oldest surburban I’ve ever seen) Marcelo, Gustavo, Daniel, the rest of the film guys and I set out for the Jungle. We were going to see if we could help a family Phil knew of whose home was damaged by the torrential rain they had been experiencing.

The drive was absolutely beautiful- it is hard to describe but I felt like we were in a scene right out of Jurassic Park. Ecuador has more types of plants and fruit than I have ever seen… the Lord is truly a very creative Artist!

The house was hardly a house by North American standards… A small structure held together with rusty nails standing on rotting planks, it would hardly be suitable to store junk… let alone be called a home and provide shelter for a family. But, again, my North American definition of a home may be skewed all together. The mother was at work when we arrived and the father had been in jail for the past 3 years, accused of murdering the mayor… and with no money to buy food, let alone hire a lawyer they had little to hope for in terms of his freedom. Because both parents were gone this day, the three children were being cared for by Juan Luis and Carmen… their Aunt and Uncle. (Juan Luis parks cars in Quito, which is how he met Phil and how Phil learned of the family’s need.) While our original mission was to capture the boys serving others- as this is a very important part of their “training” if you will, the situation also provided an excellent example of why kids are on the street in the first place. Because basic needs become so hard for a family to meet in conditions like this, children often leave the home in favor of the streets. In this case, the family’s eldest son had left the home and was now a “street kid.”

While we weren’t equipped to do any real work structurally on the house, we did get to spend some time just being with the family. Timid at first, the two little girls, Shirley and Michelle, warmed up to us quickly. I tried to teach them how to use my camera, but like any little kids they couldn’t quite grasp the concept of not putting their fingers over the lens. But I’m quite sure they had never seen a digital camera before, and just seeing the their faces light up as they snapped a gazillion photos of the dog was such a gift. My Spanish skills, like I’ve mentioned, are quite limited… but this didn’t seem to bother the girls. To them I wasn’t out of place, they wanted to be with me just because I wanted to be with them! In the communication realm, actual words make up the smallest amount of our day to day communication- so in that respect we all do have a universal language.

Despite the fact we couldn’t work on the house, we were able to buy the family some chickens and help them set up a pen so that they could start to raise them, in the hopes of selling them for an additional source of revenue. I love this idea of not just giving them what they need, but helping them to achieve it themselves. I feel like this feeds not only their physical bodies, but also feeds their souls… it is a wonderful feeling to know that you’ve been able to accomplish something on your own.

It was sad to leave the family, but I am glad we were able to spend a little time with them. As we left the girls kept shouting “Ciao professora!” which translates into “bye, teacher!” which was so sweet, but slightly ironic at the same time. While I maybe taught them to use a camera, they taught me a little about living in love and joy no matter the circumstances.

Since we were already a long ways from Quito, we decided to travel to a waterfall nearby that Phil knew of: So we all piled into “the beast” and headed for adventure. While several U-turns proved that we didn’t really know exactly where the falls were… we found another place that we could hike to a waterfall and swim. (For $1 of course… you can get pretty much anything here for a $1) I was totally up for hiking to the falls, but since I didn’t have a bathing suit I was a little unsure if I would be able to swim. But after 20ish minutes of hiking (and a whole bottle of bug spray- I’m pretty sure if it was possible I would have overdosed on DEET) we reached our destination and the falls were glorious! I was totally going in… bathing suit or not. So while a sports bra and cargo shorts aren’t as cute as my bathing suit- We were in Ecuador and I wasn’t going to miss a second of anything!! We jumped off the waterfall and swam till it started getting dark, and then started out on the hike back.

We probably started the hike back a little later than we should have, but we made it back to the Suburban just as the sun was setting. The boys were so sweet- Daniel (who is probably about 14… they don’t know his real birthday) stayed right with me the whole time to make sure I didn’t fall or trip on anything. He calls me Cortina… which means “curtain” as a means of teasing me I think, because he knows my name. He also calls Brian “Flaco Blanco” which means basically skinny white guy… Daniel is definitely a joker, but I think it is how he shows endearment! (Daniel slept the whole way home on Brian's shoulder- it is amazing how much these kids respond to positive male role models.)

The Lord works in Mysterious ways… some are easier to see than others, and the drive home the Lord was blatantly working to keep us safe! I’m not sure how much upkeep the "beast” has had lately, but on the way home it was obvious that it needed a check-up. The windey roads through the jungle are one lane each direction with no dividers and often no guardrails lining the steep drop that would await an unlucky vehicle. Driving here too is quite different… cars pass whenever they feel like and there was more than a few times I thought I was going to witness a head on collision between an impatient vehicle and the unlucky car coming the other direction. At one point we stalled in the center of both lanes (our lane and oncoming traffic) and miraculously, Phil was able to start the engine abnormally fast to get us back into our lane. Leaky exhaust and sketchy breaks didn’t help the situation… but the Lord was looking out for us. The fog that normally plagues the roads during the evening hours was absent this night and we had no trouble getting back to the Casa. I know we weren’t alone.

I am in awe today of God… His Creation, His People, His Grace, and His Power.

The alarm went off at 8:00 this morning… I hit snooze a couple of times. I had slept well, except for being a little cold, I can’t really complain. Although, the cold here is slightly different than the cold at home- it is a humid cold. This wouldn’t be too bad except for the fact that no one has heaters, so often it seems like it is colder inside than outside!

Breakfast was good, they served rolls that tasted like my Grandma’s. I even ate the scrambled eggs because I thought that I would have a hard time finding stuff I liked to eat (which makes no sense at all now that I think about it because I hate eggs… maybe the altitude was messing with my common sense a little.) This turned out not to be the case! While they do eat a lot of meat here they also eat a lot of rice and fruit- which I totally do rice and fruit. And, when I say fruit I’m not just talking apples and oranges… they have all kinds of fruit we don’t have in the U.S. (and all of it is bigger here too- we saw grapes yesterday that were the size of ping pong balls!) Phil had us try this fruit- I can’t remember the real name, but it’s often referred to as snot fruit or frog eggs… you get the picture. If you don’t look at it while you’re eating it, it was actually quite good. For dinner we went to a “fruteria” which is something I think they should have in the U.S… it’s basically like a little restaurant and they primarily serve are these amazing fresh fruit dishes! Other than good fruit though, you can still get many of the same things here that you can at home. We went to McDonalds this morning to get coffee and there was a mall food court where you could get pretty much anything where we ate lunch.

So far, the people here have seemed to be cordial but not overly friendly. And, while we do stick out slightly with our pale skin and light eyes, it’s not as obvious as I would have expected. At the mall where we got coffee this morning there is a Cinemark (yep, the same kind we have in the states) and there was a whole line of little kids and their parents waiting to see Horton Hears a Who. The kids were all wearing cute little paper elephant ears and just looking at the line, you would never think you weren’t in the U.S. Although, this population sample might be slightly deceiving because Phil told us that you have to be upper-middle class (at least) to even get in the mall… the boys would never be allowed in without Phil. There was a guard at the door to make sure that ‘the wrong people’ didn’t try to get in.

I haven’t had the chance to meet all of the boys, we will do that tomorrow, but today we got to hang out with Mike. Mike has been at the Casa since its inception and is now preparing to go to college in the states next year. (Bethel for all you alums at Poiema!) I have only heard bits and pieces of his story, but he is living proof that the Lord can help us overcome. As a street kid he did various odd jobs to make ends meet, which included blowing fire on the street! (and FYI, you use diesel not gas because diesel doesn’t hurt your throat as much.) I am excited to get to know him more and hear his story- he seems like an amazing kid!

Later in the day we took a tour of Colonial Quito and the Basilica… which proved to be absolutely breathtaking. They let you climb all the way to the top of the Basilica. And I really mean top… up to the top of the bell tower. This consists of crossing a shaky plank scaffolding and ascending several rickety old ladders- but the view from the top is more than worth it! (I’ll attach pictures… there is no way I can describe the beauty of the city with merely words, and I suppose even the pictures fall short- you just have to feel it!)

Oh, and it is a holiday: The International Day of the Woman. A holiday many Ecuadorians take very seriously! (One of the Phil’s friends, and Ecuadorian named Edison, accompanied us on much of our tour of Colonial Quito. And, before we ate dinner he arrived with flowers for me, Phil’s daughter, and her friend. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten flowers for Valentines… so I think I like this el Dia Internacional de la Mujer!)

We ended the day debriefing at the Douce’s house… I am so excited as to see where the documentary is going. Things have been coming together as only the Lord could orchestrate! Tomorrow we get to go to church and hang out with all of the boys, and from what I hear, they are as excited to meet us as we are them!

The beginning of a Journey…

I do suppose that before I jump into too much detail, I should tell you all why I am on my way to Ecuador…

Over the past 6 months an interesting set of occurrences led me to start attending a little church in downtown Phoenix called Poiema. (I won’t go into these occurrences, but I will say that the Lord works in mysterious ways- pointing us in directions we would have never gone on our own! But, for the first time in a very long time, I knew that I had found a place were I belonged.) Anyway, through Poiema I became involved with another organization called Phoenix and Arts, not affiliated with the church per-se, but almost everyone involved in the project is part of the Poiema community. Likewise, the team involved in the film side of the organization recently got an invitation to travel to Ecuador and film one of the local missions there to create awareness surrounding the “Street Kid” epidemic that silently rages on within the city of Quito- more specifically by documenting the stories of a group of boys living at a faith-based group home called Casa Gabriel. Luckily, the week they were planning on going I had spring break… so, I volunteered and the rest is history!

So, now to the Adventure!

Our flight over was pretty uneventful… besides having to run through Houston Hobby to catch our connecting flight to Quito I can’t say there is anything to interesting to report here. We watched Martian Child and Enchanted on the plane, tried to ignore the occasional bout of turbulence, and dined on prepackaged chicken wraps… which tasted downright, well… prepackaged. Phil (the missionary who runs Casa Gabriel… he and his wife Debbie are absolutely amazing people with such a heart for the ministry!) picked us up at the airport and both he and Debbie quickly gave us the rundown on a few essentials before we hit the sack at the Hostel. Subsequently, here are a few things you need to know when traveling in Quito:

1. Don’t drink the water… apparently there are things that live in it that you just don’t want swimming around in your stomach.

2. Don’t walk out at night alone… and there are certain areas you don’t want to walk in general. (These are places we will probably go with the boys… they are very street savvy and know how to spot “shady business” better than us gringos! (And all white people are the same to the locals here, by the way. You’ve seen one white person- you’ve seen’em all!)

3. Don’t get close to strangers. They have some sort of dust they can blow on you and it causes you to pass out so they can take all your stuff! (This is what scared me the most… but we probably don’t have to worry too much about this because we will be with Phil or the boys the whole time… but it’s always good to be aware that such things can happen, I guess.)

4. Drink lots of water. The air is thin here (which I could feel just walking up the few stairs to the hostel!) we’re at close to 9,500 feet… so oxygen is a little more scarce and for some reason the water helps your body to acclimate.

While these things sound a little scary, I think for the most part Phil just wanted us to be aware that the rules are slightly different here. I am excited for out journey ahead… Even just driving through Quito on our way to the Hostel from the airport, the lights glittering in the dark, the city looks beautiful and I’m sure will prove a great adventure in the days ahead!