Yes, I do work

So, some of you might think I just play all day long and never work. I do get plenty of playing in, but my accounting work started the middle of last week. No worries. So far they have me working on one account reconciliation. The account hasn't been reconciled for about six months because of an audit they have been having to work around, so there is plenty to be done. I can typically work on account reconciliations for about 4 or 5 hours a day. But working 8 hours a day on one reconciliation is a new challenge along with having the descriptions in Spanish and dates that are sometimes the way I'm used to and others the opposite way. By the end of the day my head is usually spinning and I am ready for a break. Every time I talk with the other accountants they are always so helpful when I have questions and grateful for my work. All their kindness and appreciation helps keep me going the extra hour or two every day on that account when my head is about to explode.

Most of the accountants in the area I am currently in speak mostly Spanish, so communication can be difficult. Smiling and gesturing goes a long way. :) There is another accountant that has been helping me that speaks very good English, which is a nice break from only being able to understand half of what is going on. They are all very patient with me and invite me to join them for their cafecito, or their morning coffee break. I don't think they understand why I usually drink water from my water bottle. They always offer me coffee or tea and usually more than once. This is probably mostly due to the culture, but I think it is also due to their disbelieve of my preference of room temperature water over a hot beverage. 

I hope this entry has settled some of your worries. Things are getting back into balance...one day at a time.

Markets & the Middle of the World!

This weekend was packed with fun. On Saturday we went to Otavalo and Cotacachi. Otavalo is a huge market that sells mostly textile merchandise and Cotacachi is known as the leather town. Otavalo was a little overwhelming at first because it was so big! I typically don't like bartering but my Dutch blood much have been extra thick that day because I got pretty into it.

One of my favorite times there was when I was looking at buying a pair of what were claimed to be silver or platinum earrings. The vendor wanted $12 for them. We bartered a little bit and he came down to $8. I said no, $7...no more. He was staying pretty stiff at $8 so I told him $7 or nothing and started walking away. I walked down about 6 vendors and started looking at some necklaces and started bartering with this vendor for the necklaces. All of a sudden I see a man running down the aisle with his hand up in the air. He came to me and said ok $7. Do you want them? I just smiled and said ok, being so pleased at the outcome. :)

This afternoon we went to Mitad del Mundo, which is the center of the world. There's a monument where the center was originally thought to be and then there is another area about 250 meters north of where it really is. We went to both. At the actual center of the world we took a tour and learned about the original people in Ecuador and various tricks and information about the equator.

One of the tricks was that is was supposed to be easier to balance an egg on the head of a nail. I wasn't able to defeat the egg during my turn, but Rachel did! 

When we were walking from our tour to the monument we were able to get another beautiful glimpse of Cotopaxi. 

At the monument there were a bunch of shops as well as a lively concert going on. There is also a church on the equator where you can get married while each person is standing on opposite hemispheres. What a way to start out your marriage!

The views were glorious and the clouds spectacular.  The sun was setting and it was right before a quick evening shower. Mom, this one is for you. :) Enjoy these clouds!

Ecuadorian Meal

Yesterday morning the interns cooked a traditional Ecuadorian meal with two Ecuadorian employees from HCJB. We started cooking at 9 and had lunch ready at 12:30. It took a while, but we did end up with over twice as much food as we could eat. So we now have an Ecuadorian meal saved for later. The ladies that taught us how to cook different dishes were so funny and patient. We had pork, tostado, fruit (some I knew, others I didn't), a tomato and onion based salad, fried plantains, fried potato and cheese cakes (they have a name, I just don't remember what it is), one or two other items, and tree tomato juice. DELICIOUS!!

Frying plantains! Once the plantains were done I would put them in another pan. Not haphazzardly of course, neat and organized, in nice straight lines. (as any good accountant would) One of the ladies noticed, started laughing, and showed the other lady. Everyone then looked over and started laughing. Then I told them, "Hey, they were cooking with an accountant. What did they expect?" :) That was just one of many laughs for the morning.

All of the food. We are missing a dish or two at this point...but it still didn't fit in one picture!

For His Children

For the last two mornings our group has gone out to For His Children, which is an orphanage in Quito. They are able to house 45 children at one time, but only have 30 right now because of some recent adoptions. They have infants, toddlers, and special needs children up to the age of 17. The facilities and grounds they have are beautiful and the kids are very well cared for. The first morning I was with the toddlers and this morning I was with the infants. The kids are so cute and some of them are such little peanuts!

TeleferiQo

Yesterday morning we went to TeleferiQo, which is a gondola lift in the northern part of Quito.

 

It is a beautiful, relaxing, and new way to see the city and the surrounding areas. You're eye to eye with the clouds, looking down on the city, and seeing many mountains all around you. Absolutely amazing! 

You can even watch the airplanes fly in and land on Quito's airstrip! Can you see the one landing below?

It's a little bit cooler up the mountain, but the sun occasionally poked out of the clouds to help warm us up.

Today we went to a Spanish speaking church in the morning and then to Ejido park in the afternoon. It was fun to see families playing soccer together and to stop at the various vendor's booths.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!! (and to all the other fathers)

Lirio San Jose

I'm back in Quito clean and warm! The water project trip was one that I will never forget. We were treated like celebrities by the people, challenged, and rewarded. (The extra batteries I brought for my camera were bad, so the pictures you see are thanks to my roommate.)

As soon as we arrived in the community Saturday afternoon many of the people were waiting for us in one of their buildings and excitedly greeted us as we entered and were taken to the front for our mini greeting service. For church on Sunday we were also asked to sit in the front as their guests. It was an honor but it made it hard to observe the others to make sure we were doing things the right way. A number of times I would glance behind me and realize that our group was still standing and everyone else was sitting down. Oops.

On Monday morning we started our real work. At 8 am we gathered with the other people in the community and started walking towards the area that needed a trench to be dug. The trench that you have to dig has to be just wide enough for a person to walk through and about 4 feet deep. (Everything is dug with picks, hoes, and shovels.) I thought it was a little ridiculous to dig a trench that deep for about a pipe 1 inch in diameter, but it has to be that deep in case of land slides and if/when the people want to plow that area. Some have not dug their trenches that deep and it has been a big problem!

One morning a group of us went up the mountain a few miles to see the springs. It was different than I expected. Instead of seeing a spring that looked like a river or a creek there were four different concrete "boxes". (for lack of a better word) These "boxes" were underground and collected the water and then that water traveled down the pipe they buried and went into their community. Here is a picture of one of the springs.

On the last work day our group helped start put concrete in the reservoir. There were a few hiccups that made the morning seem like it wasn't quite as productive as it could have been. One was that the power went out and the concrete mixer was electrically powered causing a delay.

The other issue was that the pile of rocks that was going to be used had weeds growing through it. In order to have the concrete set, there cannot be any organic material mixed in with the rocks. So a group of us had to slowly sift through the rocks and take out any of the weeds and grass.

 

During the three work days we were there about 1 mile of trench was dug as well as the reservoir. We did not finish the project, but they are getting close. I think they only have three or four more miles of trench to dig and the reservoir to finish. They had run out of funds to continue working so they had not worked on this project since a couple months before we got there. I though we were going to be the only ones working on the project, but it was such a blessing to work on the project with the rest of the community. The community has been working on this project off and on since last February! It was so rewarding to see the excitement, determination, and gratitude on the people's faces. 

In the afternoons we would spend some time with the kids. We would play games like soccer, duck duck goose, cat and mouse, and as many other games we could think of. When playing soccer I would typically play goalie so that I wouldn't have to run so much and feel like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. :) 

After we tired the kids out a little, or maybe the other way around, we would sing songs, have a bible story, and do a craft. Because the adults of the community work most of the day, the kids loved all of the attention. They were even patient enough with me to listen to, and usually understand, my Spanglish. They were all so cute and always excited to see us. 

 

 

It was typically windy and cloudy most of the days, but the community gave us a building, kitchen, and bathroom to use. The kitchen had a gas stove with two burners and when you had to use to the bathroom, you flushed the toilet by pouring water down the toilet. We put a tent in the building in attempts to stay warmer at night. That helped, but so did having seven girls in a five person tent. :) Not the kind of living we are used to, but quite luxurious for the area we were in...and the views around the community made up for a lot of it. Here is a picture of the building we stayed in.

Not only were the people generous with the living arrangements they were also generous with their food. We were given a hug pile of fava beans, cheese, and a hot milk/tea with barley when we arrived. Tripe soup Tuesday and lamb, potatoes, and corn on Wednesday. As a goodbye gift they gave us all a huge block of cheese. All were pretty good except for the soup. This tripe soup consisted of potatoes and sheep intestines. I learned that intestines are quite chewy and swallowing it is about the only way to get it down. One little piece was enough for me!! There's a summary of my last week. Thanks for all the prayers!

Upcoming Water Project

Today the female interns helped prepare some of the food for our water project trip. We leave tomorrow for an indigenous community who live over 12,000 feet. We will be helping them work on getting water into their community without having to walk many miles in order to get it. There are some rumors that we might be able to help them finish it. That would be really awesome to be able to see the community actually be able to use what we helped them with. We will work on the water project during the mornings and then do VBS with the kids in the afternoon when they come home from school.

There are many unknowns about this trip. It sounds like we will learn a lot from the experience and hopefully make a difference in their lives! I will not be able to update you until I get back either Thursday or Friday. If you could pray that we will be able to show the community God's love and that everyone will stay healthy, safe, and warm. :) Thanks!

Volcano sighting!

Yesterday morning, the sky was really clear and all three volcanoes could be seen at once. From our apartment rooftop, only one of the volcanoes could be seen. This snow-capped volcano is called Cotopaxi. At the very top it is one of the closest points you can be to the sun. 

 

We also had a tour of Hospital Vozandes - Quito, which is HCJB's hospital in Quito. The hospital has 76 inpatient beds and also has an outpatient and emergency center. On average 46 people come to know the Lord every month! What an awesome ministry!

Old Quito

Today the morning was pretty similar to yesterday morning with the cultural training. But in the afternoon we toured Old Quito. The way we got there was by taking the trole (or trolley). It costs about $0.25 per person to ride, so pretty cheap. Some may wonder how they can keep offering this service for so little money, but they definitely get their money's worth. They PACK people into the trole! There are some seats like a regular bus, but standing room is the norm. At one point during the ride I was getting pushed farther into the trole and I looked behind me and gave the older lady sitting down behind me a sympathetic look because I felt bad for practically sitting in her lap. She just looked up and smiled and patted her lap indicating I could just sit all the way down. I didn't of course, but it made for a good laugh. :)

During our tour of Old Quito we went to the Basilica and many other churches. At the Basilica we were able to climb up one of the clock towers and one of the other towers in the back of the church.  The view from up there was amazing and you could almost see the whole city of Quito!

This is the front of the Basilica. Well, the upper half of the front.

These are a couple of the other interns. The one on the left is my roommate and the one to the right is one of the interns that live one floor up in the apartment building.

There is also a church that has 70 ton of gold in it. We were not supposed to talk pictures, but I didn't know that until I took one. So, this is just one section of the church, there was much more gold to be seen!

Here is one more peek at the city from up in the Brasilica.

All that walking at over 9,000 feet is tiring! Buenas noches!!

Orientation week

This week is orientation. So this morning we learned about common myths in Quito and safety around the city. I haven't felt any sense of danger yet (which is good!) but we are still traveling in a group of at least seven or more. We also started to learn the difference between the North American and the Ecuadorian cultures. One of the big things in Ecuador is greeting each other with a hug and a kiss (on the cheek, don't worry) and ask about how they are, then talk about what you came for. This takes a little getting use to, but I typically remember to do that. The part that I continue to forget is to repeat the hug and kiss when you are saying goodbye. I am learning that the goodbye is just as important as the greeting!

I didn't have time to take pictures of the sites from the roof until afternoon and by that time many clouds had rolled in. I still took some pictures and it is still beautiful, but I do think that the sun and seeing more of the mountains makes it a little more spectacular.

HCJB is in the bottom left hand side of the picture, just across the street from the apartment.

I made it!

Well, I have made it and so has all my luggage! I slept pretty well my first night, but I will have to get use to new noises such as cars racing down the street and beeping their horns, various car alarms going off, and neighbors yelling their good mornings to each other.

I went to an English speaking church this morning with the group and then went out to lunch with them. Reading the menu in Spanish made for many questions. I haven't gotten to the restaurant section in my Spanish book yet, but I'm thinking that I should skip ahead! 

There are six interns with HCJB this summer. I am rooming with one of them, 3 of the girls live above us in the same apartment building with the main coordinator, and the only guy intern is living with a host family about a 10 minute walk away. The HCJB offices are right across the street... I knew they were going to be close, but I didn't realize this close! This will be my shortest commute to work or school since being home schooled. :)

My roommate and I discovered that the apartment building we are staying in has a rooftop patio and it gives us a pretty good view of this part of the city. From what I've seen so far, Quito is beautiful! I wanted to take some pictures and share them with you, but the thunderstorm this afternoon kept from doing that today. I'll try to get some pictures up soon so you can get a little taste of where I am and what my surroundings are like. Until then, Chao!