Greetings form Ecuador

Hola, Mis Amgos!

Here it Monday, and I am getting my first chance to give an official update from Guayaquil, Ecuador. We have finished our breakfast here at Casa Alianza, and we are trying to put our photos onto the computer (well, I am, anyway.. Mimi and Lilly are trying to unfreeze Lilly´s new iTouch... Mimi is having some difficulty accepting directions from the girls, who are having equal difficulty watching her do it her own way) (tee hee). I´ll keep out of it, and just sit over here journaling and getting in my required thirty minutes of journaling time for today.

Since I didn´t start the journal at the beginning, I will just start from here and work my way back, and then I will try to keep up with it henceforth.

Yesterday we traveled by car (six people in a sub-compact car, seatbelts optional), about 120 km to the beach at Salinas. It was a good time, though the ride was long and cramped (though we had fewer people than they would have normally taken for such a trip, I believe). The coast was cooler than here, and the sun didn´t show its face at all. The locals were very cold, and most of them wished they had brought long pants. I still managed to get some color on my face while I was swimming (I didn´t want to swim, but did it anyway... thanks to some urging from Alex [Emily´s fiance] and Oscar [a friend... more about him later].

Everywhere we go, people try to sell stuff to us... when we got to the tollbooth on the highway, hawkers were everywhere... oranges, water, limes, beach toys... on and on. At the beach was no exception... clothing, jewelry, baskets, wooden folding seats, doodads, ice cream, cooked goods, coconuts, hair braiding (Kate got her whole head braided for five dollars). They are all so friendly and kind, not pushy or rude. Of course, there was some haggling to be done, and in the end, we probably did not get the best price, but still a good price for us.

Saturday, we went into the city for breakfast with Emily, Alex, Luis and Gretchen. I´ll have to find out the name of the food we had, but it was like a corn mush, formed around some sort of cheese, wrapped in corn husks. I know it sounds muy delicioso when I describe it that way, but it actually is quite sweet and good. Filling, too.

After that, we rode through the city to get to a tourist destination (the name of which I will have to get later) which was five hundred steps (each one numbered) winding through rows of houses (and businesses) to the top of a small mountain (a hill by Maine standards) (and maybe by Ecuadorian standards, I´m not sure). At the top was an old fort (or maybe a replica), and at a lookout where you could see the whole city of Guayaquil. Very touristy, but really quite nice... a great way to see the city.

On our way home from there, we bought KFC (at the drive-through, no less), and ate our dinner poolside at Casa. The heat has not been oppressive, but it definitely is hot and humid, and by the time we get to bed, we are so tired we fall right to sleep. I have been sleeping very well, with the exception of last night, when I neglected to take any Tylenol before bed.... the ride in the car took a toll on my back, and now I´m a little stiff this morning.

OK, in keeping with the almost complete lack of organization in this post, on to the story of our arrival....

Upon arrival in Guayaquil, we discovered our luggage was all buy missing. One bag alone made the entire journey with us... and that one, my own clothing bag. Mind you, we had packed extra bags for Emily and Gretchen, in addition to Lilly and Katey´s bag, and Mimi´s bag... for a total of seven bags we had checked in, only one made it through. There is only one flight from MIA to GYE on this airline, and that comes in around 8:30 each night, so we could only wait until that flight came in to go back to the airport and see if they had arrived. Ultimately, they were the last bags off the flight (they had probably been the first ones loaded in MIA), so I for the second night in a row, I was the last person in line to go through customs, only this time I had two carts full of six large bags, and no one to help me push it all through. The Customs agent ended up helping me load them onto the belt, unload them back onto the cart, and push them to the exit. See what I mean about the nice people here?

We really all wanted a hot shower once we got to our room, but there was no hot water in the shower... and none in the sink either. This is a problem we didn´t really voice our opinion about until we returned from the beach yesterday. Hay no agua caliente... I think is what I learned last night. Furthermore, no es posible to fix it... until manana... which is today. I really need a hot shower... the coolish ones are not doing it for me. We will see how this progresses.

On Friday, we followed Emily around Guayaquil, walking through a park called Malecon. It was nice enough, but extremely hot that day... we were still tired from the flight, and overwhelmed by the total immersion into a culture we did not understand at all. I think we couldn´t fully appreciate the place. It got to be a bit of a crazy, exhausted day for us. We probably should have stayed at Casa and taken naps and lounged in the pool all day before venturing out. We know now!

As for today, we will probably go to the church where Emily works, and have lunch there with them. We have yet to meet any of the children she works with. Neither have we met Pastor Dario (sp?) with whom she is starting up this foundation. I have a bag FULL of candy to deliver, and hope to do some of that today, as well. Oh, and toothbrushes, of course. =)

I am going to try to get some photos onto the computer so you can see some of what it´s like here. When using a public computer, one realizes how quickly time flies... it feels rude to be on here an hour, even... say nothing of the three or so hours I spend online at home when I´m checking email and FB and trying to blog all at the same time.

More to follow, though not as in-depth, I think (though hopefully more organized... this writing is close to embarrassing).

July - August Update... The Sun is Shining!

Just a quick update to let you know what I've been up to over the past month.

I emptied out the office completely, closet and all, and began sorting and filing. I have begun the process of returning items to their rightful place in the office, and am left with a smallish pile in the corner of the living room. Wahoo! But, I am not about to go through it this week, because...

Now that the Abbott Family Reunion is out of the way (it was a success), and the BHS 20th Class Reunion is done (another success), I am visiting with my friend Erika until Tuesday. On Tuesday I have a meeting with other 4-H leaders. On Wednesday we celebrate Molly's 7th birthday with a friends party in the afternoon, and a family party in the evening. On Thursday, Lilly, Kate, Mum and I head off for Ecuador for Emily's wedding.

I am all of a sudden quite occupied with activity (sounds better than just saying how busy I am), making progress in the organization department, nonetheless, and am not in the least discouraged. I have been spending much less time on the computer, and more time with my kids. I got an obscene sunburn floating around on the pool, fast asleep (sweet respite, albeit high price). I plan to harvest my first tomato today. Sometime soon I will be packing one suitcase for the girls and me, and four suitcases (of clothing, necessities and treats) for the "street kids" in Ecuador.

It has been a good summer, despite the rain, and I am not that mother who can't wait for school to start (although I think at least two of the kids will be happy to be back into that routine).