It´s been an interesting couple of days for me. Yesterday I went out for dinner at someones house. For the first time Ceci has finally let me take the bus alone. This was a BIG moment. I walked to the bus stop (uphill hike but simple enough) then came the fun bit of deciding which bus was the right one! This meant actually having to put my glasses on to see what was written on the buses as they zoomed past. I managed to get the right bus (quite an achievement) and get off at the right stop! The next part of the "plan" was to meet another girl, Amy, outside the supermarket. I had a worrying moment whhen I couldn´t see the supermarket but all was well and I stood in the right spot and waited...and waited....and waited.... I tried to call Amy but I´d run out of credit aah that´s my safety blanket gone. I went to the closest shop but I didn´t have enough cash to buy a top up card. Shouldn´t the phone tell you when you´re running out? I tried to comfort myself with the thought that even if I managed to call the police/ambulance in an emergency my Spanish probably wouldn´t stand up to explaining where I was-strangely enough this thought didn´t end up comforting me!
So now I was getting worried; all alone, couldn´t call for help and was begining to doubt I was in the right place. Had I confused the super-maxi with mega-maxi? Wrong meeting point, being late and no phone is annoying at the best of times but when you´re alone, abroad and you aren´t fluent in the language it´s a tad concerning! Learn from my mistakes please-don´t ever let yourself get stuck at a bus stop alone in a Latin American country. The stares, whistles, shouts and cars beeping was most uncomfortable! (of course if you´re a bulky 6ft man you may get away with it but I still wouldn´t bother if I was you!)
Amy finally turned up (I was at the right place yay) full of apologies. She´d been hugely held up. The positive outcome was we became friends whilst moaning about the traffic jams and useless phones :)
Today I wanted to send a parcel and of course I needed to buy a phone top up card, all boring everyday stuff but I´m feeling quite pleased with myself none the less. I managed to send off my parcel but for that I needed to spell my name, give my adress and phone number all in Spanish which I managed without a hitch. I then managed to buy a phone card and more importantly...read (and understand) the instructions in Spanish and get the credit put on my phone ! I stood in the street working it out and glowing with pride. Nobody else noticed but I was thrilled! I finished off by getting a set of keys for the house copied so I can go out and about now all alone. Gosh, I feel quite grown up now :)
Thursday 24 February 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
tourism can be brutal
This week Ben, one of the American students from last week, came back and stayed with us. It's been fun to have someone else stay with us. Yesterday, Friday, we went into Quito to do tourist stuff.
Our first stop was the basilica. It's a weird building because it's a cathedral but it was built for tourists! It isn't actually used as a place of worship at all which is totally bizarre.
For the princely sum of $2 you can go up the tower and clock tower. This is where I made the HUGE mistake of agreeing to go up! I am scared of heights (evil vertigo) and I am not that energetic to be honest whereas Ben is a professional climber and ENTHUSIASTIC!! The stairs alone nearly killed me, it wasn't until halfway up that I realised there was a lift but Ben refused because that was "boring" (I nearly killed him at that point.) Once you get high enough the stairs run out and you are faced with a walk across the roof then up ladders!! I was not about to let the brave Brits down so I gritted my teeth, smiled for the camera and climbed up. A truly hideous experience that wasn't helped by Ben showing off and jumping off ladders etc! Between fear and exhaustion my legs didn't stop shaking for the rest of the day. I confess that my leg muscles are in serious pain today :(
We also visited a lovely local park, saw the presidents palace and visited a photo exhibition. I had an interesting moment when walking down the street I heard the sound of a zip go, perhaps from my bagpack? I turned around to find a woman had unzipped my bag and actually had her hand in my bag robbing me! She simply turned around and walked calmly off, cheek! Mind you, she picked the wrong pocket so all she would have got was my mascara.
After a busy day of walking up hills (I swear Ben did it on purpose) and enjoying myself being a tourist I had the Latin Link meeting on the evening. This is where all the missionaries get together. We are all from different organisations and doing various work but they come together to chat, pray and support each other which is a lovely idea. We had a huge meal, a devotional and then a time of sharing and praying. I would like to ask for prayers for a little girl who was mentioned. One of the ladies, Marie Augusta, runs a school for street children. Last week a little girl J ran away. She has no family or friends to go to. She is alone and only 10, please pray she stays safe and returns.
Our first stop was the basilica. It's a weird building because it's a cathedral but it was built for tourists! It isn't actually used as a place of worship at all which is totally bizarre.
For the princely sum of $2 you can go up the tower and clock tower. This is where I made the HUGE mistake of agreeing to go up! I am scared of heights (evil vertigo) and I am not that energetic to be honest whereas Ben is a professional climber and ENTHUSIASTIC!! The stairs alone nearly killed me, it wasn't until halfway up that I realised there was a lift but Ben refused because that was "boring" (I nearly killed him at that point.) Once you get high enough the stairs run out and you are faced with a walk across the roof then up ladders!! I was not about to let the brave Brits down so I gritted my teeth, smiled for the camera and climbed up. A truly hideous experience that wasn't helped by Ben showing off and jumping off ladders etc! Between fear and exhaustion my legs didn't stop shaking for the rest of the day. I confess that my leg muscles are in serious pain today :(
We also visited a lovely local park, saw the presidents palace and visited a photo exhibition. I had an interesting moment when walking down the street I heard the sound of a zip go, perhaps from my bagpack? I turned around to find a woman had unzipped my bag and actually had her hand in my bag robbing me! She simply turned around and walked calmly off, cheek! Mind you, she picked the wrong pocket so all she would have got was my mascara.
After a busy day of walking up hills (I swear Ben did it on purpose) and enjoying myself being a tourist I had the Latin Link meeting on the evening. This is where all the missionaries get together. We are all from different organisations and doing various work but they come together to chat, pray and support each other which is a lovely idea. We had a huge meal, a devotional and then a time of sharing and praying. I would like to ask for prayers for a little girl who was mentioned. One of the ladies, Marie Augusta, runs a school for street children. Last week a little girl J ran away. She has no family or friends to go to. She is alone and only 10, please pray she stays safe and returns.
Monday 14 February 2011
a quick recap so far
On Saturday I will have been here a month. I´ve been thinking that I haven´t done much in that time but I´m not sure. During the last few weeks I have : been to the market twice
attended a leaving party
been to 3 birthdy parties
been legalised
visited Quito twice
been to church 4 times plus a revival meeting
participated in a church bbq
joined a cell group and a ladies group
done a lot of baby-sitting
seen a smoking volcano (was quite a concerning moment)
visited a native Indian craft market and toured a volcanic lake.
oh yeah also been learning Spanish too.
Considering I´m not busy I don´t think that´s too bad so far do you? I can´t believe I´m actually living here and doing all this stuff. I am soo lucky!
attended a leaving party
been to 3 birthdy parties
been legalised
visited Quito twice
been to church 4 times plus a revival meeting
participated in a church bbq
joined a cell group and a ladies group
done a lot of baby-sitting
seen a smoking volcano (was quite a concerning moment)
visited a native Indian craft market and toured a volcanic lake.
oh yeah also been learning Spanish too.
Considering I´m not busy I don´t think that´s too bad so far do you? I can´t believe I´m actually living here and doing all this stuff. I am soo lucky!
Thursday 10 February 2011
meat market
We had a practical Spanish class today and went to Sangolqui market. Getting the bus in Ecuador is always an experience. Once again the bus failed to actually stop so we just had to run and jump. I banged my arm when I nearly fell back out again but I just tell myself that it´s all part of living life to the full.
Sangolqui was so busy and loud it was quite over-whelming. The pavements were packed with hundreds of stalls, even the road was used up. The lack of any free space didn´t seem to stop drivers though which made it interesting!
I´m afraid my bartering skills are pretty much none existant so I didn´t even try to negotiate which is fairly pathetic of me I know but I´ll get there...hopefully..one day...maybe.
In the meantime I still enjoyed myself buying some lovely sunflowers and treating myself to a local biscuit/cake thing called a Melba. Then we walked around a corner and hit the live animal meat market.
I think it would have taken anyone by surprise but since I´m a vegetarian I think it was an even nastier shock for me. There were hundreds of baby chicks in cages, huge hens tied up in bags and guinea-pigs being roughly passed around. I know the animals are going to be slaughtered and eaten so kindness seems pointless but even so; I found it horrible to see live hens all tied up already, chicks and ducklings squashed in cages and guinea-pigs being badly handled and squeaking madly. I don´t think I can have been the only one who was shaken because after that the other students stopped teasing me about being a veggie or about eating guinea-pigs. Good and bad, being here is certainly an experience!
Sangolqui was so busy and loud it was quite over-whelming. The pavements were packed with hundreds of stalls, even the road was used up. The lack of any free space didn´t seem to stop drivers though which made it interesting!
I´m afraid my bartering skills are pretty much none existant so I didn´t even try to negotiate which is fairly pathetic of me I know but I´ll get there...hopefully..one day...maybe.
In the meantime I still enjoyed myself buying some lovely sunflowers and treating myself to a local biscuit/cake thing called a Melba. Then we walked around a corner and hit the live animal meat market.
I think it would have taken anyone by surprise but since I´m a vegetarian I think it was an even nastier shock for me. There were hundreds of baby chicks in cages, huge hens tied up in bags and guinea-pigs being roughly passed around. I know the animals are going to be slaughtered and eaten so kindness seems pointless but even so; I found it horrible to see live hens all tied up already, chicks and ducklings squashed in cages and guinea-pigs being badly handled and squeaking madly. I don´t think I can have been the only one who was shaken because after that the other students stopped teasing me about being a veggie or about eating guinea-pigs. Good and bad, being here is certainly an experience!
ups&downs
What a week! Nothing much has happened but it´s been a bit difficult for me even so. This week I´ve had 4 young American students join me in my classes which is fun. I´m getting a lot more practise at Speaking Spanish which is great but we get homework which is not so great!
I have discovered a mean streak me and I´m shocked. One of the students has no Spanish at all which in comparison makes me look good. I know it´s horrible of me but I love the fact that he´s no good-it´s such an ego boost for me! How awful am I?! On The bright side though it does show me that I have actually picked up something during the last few weeks which has thoroughly cheered me and my teacher up :)
Earlier on in the week I had an evening on my own in the house which I usually love but this week it was different. I hate to adit it since everyone is so kind to me but I ended up feeling lonely and a little homesick. I hadn´t expected to feel homesick yet so it was a rather nasty shock. When I´d left my sister had smuggled a letter into my suitcase and this week I finally read it to cheer me up. It was lovely and it said it excatly what I needed to hear. "Whatever ups and downs you experience God is with you....keep trusting because He knows what He is doing!" God is so good. That letter was wonderful, it cheered me and made me happy again, it showed me my amazing familys love for me and it reminded me of Gods plans for me. I know there´ll be other times when I´m down (not too many I hope) but I know God will be with me.
I have discovered a mean streak me and I´m shocked. One of the students has no Spanish at all which in comparison makes me look good. I know it´s horrible of me but I love the fact that he´s no good-it´s such an ego boost for me! How awful am I?! On The bright side though it does show me that I have actually picked up something during the last few weeks which has thoroughly cheered me and my teacher up :)
Earlier on in the week I had an evening on my own in the house which I usually love but this week it was different. I hate to adit it since everyone is so kind to me but I ended up feeling lonely and a little homesick. I hadn´t expected to feel homesick yet so it was a rather nasty shock. When I´d left my sister had smuggled a letter into my suitcase and this week I finally read it to cheer me up. It was lovely and it said it excatly what I needed to hear. "Whatever ups and downs you experience God is with you....keep trusting because He knows what He is doing!" God is so good. That letter was wonderful, it cheered me and made me happy again, it showed me my amazing familys love for me and it reminded me of Gods plans for me. I know there´ll be other times when I´m down (not too many I hope) but I know God will be with me.
Saturday 5 February 2011
Got to be a tourist this week which was fun! On Tuesday we went to Otavalo market. First all to get there we had a beautiful drive through the mountains. Up here we are in the middle of the Andes and they are breathtaking!
Otavalo is a market run by some of the local indian tribes and it´s amazing!!! One of the Americans with us said Otavalo is in a book called "1,000 things to do before you die" and I can well believe it. The sellers are all in their traditional clothes which is lovely and everything they sell is hand-made. The colours are just fantastic-all the goods are rainbow coloured. The colours were so bright they seemed to glow. Not a big surprise but I ended up spending all my money including my money to pay for lunch! I am no good at bartering so I clung unto Ceci and dragged her round with me. I must have looked like such a tourist as I "ooohed" and "Aaahed" at everything and took pictures of all the pretty things ;)
After Otavalo we went to lake Cuicocha which apperently means "Guineapig cove". I got hugely excited but sadly there were not hundreds of guinea-pigs having a swim in the lake as I´d hoped! (bitter dissappointment.) The lake is in a volcanoe crater. I´m told the lake is so deep that scientist haven´t yet found the bottom! After Cuicocha we went to Cotacahi which is a leather town. There they only sell leather. The shops were amazing; they had everything imaginable in leather-saddles, coats, boots, handbags, cigarette lighters, chairs and even books. I´m not a fan of leather but those gorgeous handbags were VERY tempting (it´s a good job I´d spent all my money.)
Today I went to the local food market which was interesting. I did have a nasty experience though when we went to the chicken lady. I´d secretly been hoping that the meat would be already prepared and wrapped up but no such luck of course. She dragged a dead chicken out and chopped off it´s head. And when I say "chopped" I actually mean she sawed at it with a blunt knife. Then she broke the spine and ripped in half and pulled out the guts! By this time I was standing as far back as I politely could. I must have looked horriffied though because the women all looked at my face and laughed!
The fruit&vegetable market was good though. They have so many fruit here! I haven´t even seen most of them and the dictionary doesn´t have a name for most of them. All I can say is they look weird but usually taste great:)
Otavalo is a market run by some of the local indian tribes and it´s amazing!!! One of the Americans with us said Otavalo is in a book called "1,000 things to do before you die" and I can well believe it. The sellers are all in their traditional clothes which is lovely and everything they sell is hand-made. The colours are just fantastic-all the goods are rainbow coloured. The colours were so bright they seemed to glow. Not a big surprise but I ended up spending all my money including my money to pay for lunch! I am no good at bartering so I clung unto Ceci and dragged her round with me. I must have looked like such a tourist as I "ooohed" and "Aaahed" at everything and took pictures of all the pretty things ;)
After Otavalo we went to lake Cuicocha which apperently means "Guineapig cove". I got hugely excited but sadly there were not hundreds of guinea-pigs having a swim in the lake as I´d hoped! (bitter dissappointment.) The lake is in a volcanoe crater. I´m told the lake is so deep that scientist haven´t yet found the bottom! After Cuicocha we went to Cotacahi which is a leather town. There they only sell leather. The shops were amazing; they had everything imaginable in leather-saddles, coats, boots, handbags, cigarette lighters, chairs and even books. I´m not a fan of leather but those gorgeous handbags were VERY tempting (it´s a good job I´d spent all my money.)
Today I went to the local food market which was interesting. I did have a nasty experience though when we went to the chicken lady. I´d secretly been hoping that the meat would be already prepared and wrapped up but no such luck of course. She dragged a dead chicken out and chopped off it´s head. And when I say "chopped" I actually mean she sawed at it with a blunt knife. Then she broke the spine and ripped in half and pulled out the guts! By this time I was standing as far back as I politely could. I must have looked horriffied though because the women all looked at my face and laughed!
The fruit&vegetable market was good though. They have so many fruit here! I haven´t even seen most of them and the dictionary doesn´t have a name for most of them. All I can say is they look weird but usually taste great:)
hello,
I have so much to write about I honestly don´t know where to start! I had hoped that once I got out here I would suddenly become mature and organised but that clearly isn´t happening.
Last night I went out to Pizza Hut with the visiting missionaries. I ate far too much which isn´t good. There was one lovely moment though when somebody asked me what work I´d be doing once I went up to S Domingo. I started to tell the guy about our hopes to get a womens refuge up and running. He asked me what I´d do and what we hoped to achieve. As you all know I am not a nurse, lawyer or trained counsellor; my ability to help those poor abused women is limited. Talking about it rekindled my passion- I want to tell those women how amazingly special and unique they are. I want them to know how much God loves them and how He has great plans for them! They need to know this so they can realise how valuabale they are.
As I was talking I suddenly realised that everyone else was listening in. maybe I´d got a bit carried away in what I was saying? I don´t know. What I do know is that this work is fantstic and I´m so happy and priviledged to be here!
I have so much to write about I honestly don´t know where to start! I had hoped that once I got out here I would suddenly become mature and organised but that clearly isn´t happening.
Last night I went out to Pizza Hut with the visiting missionaries. I ate far too much which isn´t good. There was one lovely moment though when somebody asked me what work I´d be doing once I went up to S Domingo. I started to tell the guy about our hopes to get a womens refuge up and running. He asked me what I´d do and what we hoped to achieve. As you all know I am not a nurse, lawyer or trained counsellor; my ability to help those poor abused women is limited. Talking about it rekindled my passion- I want to tell those women how amazingly special and unique they are. I want them to know how much God loves them and how He has great plans for them! They need to know this so they can realise how valuabale they are.
As I was talking I suddenly realised that everyone else was listening in. maybe I´d got a bit carried away in what I was saying? I don´t know. What I do know is that this work is fantstic and I´m so happy and priviledged to be here!
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