A few more pretty pictures

Getting dark:


Overlooking Cuenca:

An iguana taking a break:

Grandpa and the kids taking a break:

More walking around town:

The markets. Flower market, fruit, fish, herbs, etc.





"Hoofin'" it back to the meat market (heh, heh):


Cool hillside scene:

Soon I will tell you the saga of us trying to get home. On stand-by. During Spring Break.

Ecuador installment three

The highlight of this trip, for me at least, was spending a day helping out in an orphanage.

My cousin has been in Ecuador for three months with a volunteer program OSSO. They service several orphanages in Ecuador. On a rotating basis, they go into the orphanages and wash and feed babies, help with physical therapy, and just love on the kids. It is an amazing program!

The center we went into was a day care center of sorts. Some of these kids had one or more parents that either worked all day, or otherwise couldn't take care of the kids.

These kids live in the Andes mountains. The facility was up in the mountains where it was relatively cold and rainy. It was very green and lush, but overgrown and dense.

I helped the kids wash their hands and faces, and brush their teeth. The kids do not live in homes that have running water, and they would stay at the sink (cold water) for as long as they could...until they got shoved out of their spot by another kid. The only time they got to brush their teeth was once a week, when the OSSO girls came in. They all had various progression of tooth decay.

"Dientes!" (teeth) I would say, and they would smile so big, and show me their freshly brushed teeth.

I was amazed at my Shianne. She dug right in and helped out too. Despite the language barrier, she had quite the fan club. There were a few of the little Ecuadorian girls who took to her, and "pestered" her all afternoon. She was so cute with them.



The OSSO girls came in bringing Fruit Loops and yarn for the kids to make necklaces. Most of the kids ate more than they got strung, and I am sure that these kids are no strangers to hunger. A few of the kids stuffed fruit loops into their pockets, and made extra necklaces to take home.


My mom was amazing. She is always good with kids.

A true grandma, she constantly had a child curled up on her lap, and while she was helping them string their colored fruit loops, she would practice colors with them. In Spanish!
"Azul, verde, amarillo..." and we learned that regionally Ecuadorians do not use the word "naranja" for orange, they use "tomate." (Tomato!) We verified this later with a street vendor who was selling an orange poncho.
"Que color es?" (What color is this?)
"Tomate." (Tomato.)

Mmmm, okay.

One of the boys made a long, long string of Fruit Loops. I was joking around with him and asked him in Spanish if the necklace was for me. He looked so crushed, and said yes, and reluctantly started to give it to me. I gave it quickly back, and told him I was only teasing him. I felt like such a jerk. His eyes lit up again, and he hurried and stuffed it into his green hat.

The OSSO girls also brought some rolls and some fruit for the kids to eat. Most of them scarfed the food down so fast...

But a few of them kept them, and slipped them into a pocket or box, I am sure to save for later. Who knows if they had anything at home to eat? Maybe that roll would be dinner, or would be shared with a hungry parent or older sibling. Sometimes I wondered what they were thinking, and then in the same breath I was glad to *not* know. It was heartbreaking enough to imagine.

When it was time for the kids to go, there was a mad scramble for the extra rolls and fruit. Scraps from the floor were going into pockets.

It was then, my little green hat friend timidly tugged on my leg. He had made me a fruit loop bracelet.
"Para ti!" (For YOU!) he said, and excitedly pointed to his own bracelet.

I held it together until then. I could not help it when the dam burst. I am sure he was pretty confuzzled as to why I broke down bawling when he gave me a bracelet. Strange gringo...

I wish I had something to give. It was such a helpless feeling, to watch those kids leave the safety of that building.

Siblings took care of siblings. This was an eight year old girl, who wrapped her baby sister into a shawl and flung her onto her own back to carry home. The weight of the world on her little shoulders, going "home" no doubt to more worries. A lot of the shacks in the area were wiped out this season due to massive mud slides.

One by one, or little family group, by group they disappeared into the jungle.


And I cried.
I cried for myself.
For what a jerk I am. For how much I take for granted. And for how insignificant and silly my problems are compared to what these kids face every day of their lives.

I cried for them.
For toothaches, for head lice, for fleas.
For not having water.
For being cold.
For knowing hunger.

I cried for the unfairness of life.
For believing that God loves these kids every bit as much as he loves me, and yet, why am I given so much? And these kids have so little.

And then Sam had to remind me, that in spite of it all--they are happy. They don't know any different. Life is simple. And they are happy.

I have to believe that, or I don't sleep at night.

Ecuador Trip Highlights Version Dos

A few things in Ecuador got lost in the translation. Like the one night we went to the ice cream shop and the kids ordered "Buble GUN" cones, containing blue goo and chunks of chicle shrapnel.

Or some of the tee shirts (click on image for larger size)(Melissa, this one's for you):

I am not sure what an Ecuadorian Electrical Pageant is, but I am considering coming back on June 9th to see it.

And you need to click on this one to appreciate it.

And the logic of this sign which roughly translates to:
Normal Price: 10 cents
Children, Disabled and third age: 5 cents.
I am not sure why peeing as a normal person costs more than the latter, but this was posted on the entrance of the public bathrooms.

Then there was the Ecuadorian street mall with this store (Peg, this one's for you):

That missing “O” seems to be pretty vital. Changes the whole meaning, doesn’t it?

The bottled water you can purchase in Ecuador boasts this label:

Apparently the bottled water is so good you can just hand it over to the pale skinned, blue-eyed visiting American babies and let them chug it down. While laying down. And where are the native babies, you ask? Oh, yeah...they breast-feed until they are like nine. I saw that here too.

I have a morbid fascination with cemeteries. Ecuador did not disappoint. The cemetery in Guayaquil was humongous! And cool. There were the crypts, family mausoleums and then on the fringes of the cemetery there were random markers going up the hill into the jungle, where it was overgrown.





And here is a cemetery we passed in the bus on the way to Cuenca. You need to click on it, and imagine it late at night. <<<shiver>>> And maybe some vampires, but not hot vampires like the Cullens.<<<(good)shiver>>>

There were a whole lot of really, really cool Cathedrals in Ecuador too. Here are a few favorites:




And of course, the LDS temple in Guayaquil. We finally found a taxi driver who knew where the temple was. Typically Mormon temples are built on hillsides, and are easily visible from the surrounding area. It was so awesome to be driving along the cobblestone streets and see the temple pop up almost out of nowhere.



Whew, another picture heavy post!
I leave you with some more meat market goodness:

More tomorrow!

Ecuador Trip Highlights Version Uno

Flying stand-by is a whole lot like childbirth.
You think it is going to be a good idea, or even better than the last time, and yet, when it comes down to that final stretch--you find yourself remembering why you swore you would "never do this again."

And then, a couple days removed from the trauma, when you are looking at the photos of the trip (or into the sweet face of that innocent newborn) you realize it was all worth it.

Ecuador was beautiful.
(Please excuse the photos that are crappy)

It is more off the beaten path than Mexico, but a lot about it reminded me of Mexico. The street vendors (although, they were not the in-your-face vendors like Mexico, and I was intrigued by the traditional Ecuadorian clothing:

the food (jumbo shrimp, anyone?)-

Tripe? <---and yes, I tried it. It tasted just like the poop it was stuffed with. Vomitrocious.

the typical tourist trinkets. (Shayne is going through a little bit of a cheesy/nerd stage)

But it was cleaner. And the people seemed friendlier. My blond-haired, blue-eyed kids sure stood out! There were several times that I watched Ecuadorians take photos of my girls with their camera phones. And there was this time:

When Jayden got stopped on the street, to hold this baby so the Mom could take a picture of the baby in the arms of a REAL! GRINGO!!

Other highlights included:
The market, especially the MEAT! MARKET! Where the kids were sufficiently grossed out, and I am sure will appreciate the agony of shopping at our air-conditioned grocery store.


We stopped one evening and got all the kids (and Dad) a haircut at an Ecuadorian hair shack. It was fifteen bucks for four heads. We didn't even dicker. We probably could have gotten her down even lower. But really, fifteen bucks? Suck on that Supercuts! The place was supervised by cockroaches, but hey, the haircuts weren't too bad! You can see Jayden is thrilled. He has wanted to grow his hair out ala Zach Efron for a while. Mom still has the power to say H to the ell "NO" to that idea.

Then there was Iguana Park.
I am not sure if that was the official name, it is a plaza in the center of town in Guayaquil. If you click on this photo (a must, you won't believe it), you can see it bigger, but all the trees were literally covered in iguanas. The would drop out of the tree, and scoot across the pavement on the ground. The kids were in heaven, Mikayla was a little freaked out at first. She got over it.



And wow.
This is a pretty long, and photo heavy post.
I will continue the saga hopefully tomorrow.

Sorry about that pigs head.