Wildlife

I realized after my last post that I forgot to tell you about some encounters with wildlife, though not upclose (thankfully)...As some of you know, I am deathly terrified of snakes....well, one night on the way home from church Rosaura, my host begins to tell me that someone had run over a snake on the highway and that her brother, who lives next door, just killed one of those same snakes on his patio that night! I asked if they were poisonous, and she assured me that they were deadly poisonous :) As we pulled in to the driveway, I had to get down out of the car in order for the son to climb out and open up the garage door...Right before I was going to climb down she told me to watch where I stepped...Well, of course it was really dark out since it was 10:00 at night, so I jokingly asked her how many minutes is was to the nearest hospital! Thankfully, there were no encounters for me that night...

In working with the women´s groups out in different communities we are often taking Rosaura´s jeep onto dirt roads for about thirty minutes through different palm plantations and vegetation in order to get to the communities. On these drives, I have now had the privilege to see two iguanas along the way. They will be in the middle of the dirt road, a bright green, and as we approach they begin to saunter off in that lizardly way....It is so fun to see these animals in the wild and not at a pet store somewhere! They are so full of life, not like the one we caught in Lima one time that slowly died because it wouldn´t eat the lettuce we gave it...

On the way back from a community called San Antonio, we passed this man who had a dead snake hanging from a tree. Rosaura stopped, and I saw that he had cut off the head of the snake and had it hanging from the tree. He was skinning it and told us that he was removing the fat to help with his lower back which was sore and his daughter who had a cold...then, the meat they would use to eat! I was just glad it was already dead...they call those snakes ¨horse killers¨ because they suffocate the horses and then eat them I suppose....

The last encounter occurred last night when I was at church. The place where we meet has a roof, but the sides are open to the outdoors....We were in the middle of a sermon, when this grasshopper the length of my entire hand comes flying in down the middle aisle, and then unexpectedly turns into this one aisle to land where two girls and their mother were sitting. It was so funny to watch these girls do everything in their power no to scream in the middle of the sermon. They were able to get the grasshopper to the end of the row, but the girls were to afraid to continue sitting in that row next to the grasshopper, so they discreetly got up and changed seats....

Those are my only encounters thus far, and thankfully they hav been at enough of a distance, for me to be able to enjoy them!

Second Week in Quinindé

I realize this post is a little late in coming, and I do apologize. It is difficult for me to access the internet whenever I want, as my days remain very full :)

I have been going in every morning to the Luke Society office to help with whatever needs to be done and talking with some of the staff. In the afternoons I have been going to the schools or to the communities to join the women´s groups. I arrive home around 5:00 or 6:00 pm every night and after dinner am crawling into bed around 8:00 :) I am also getting up around 6:45 every morning in order to be ready to go to the office by 8:00 or 8:30. I also have been eating breakfast, which is a new habit for me, as I am usually fine without food until 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning. Early to bed, early to rise!

I have experienced my first thunderstorm as well as the first blackout of my time here. It was so pretty to listen to the rain falling outside my window! The lightening fell, but it was a lot farther away than it is in Lookout Mountain GA. The sound of the rain reminded me of the white noise makers they make in the U.S. with the option of rain.

On Saturday I also joined a group of youth from my church that are learning to play different instruments and sing together in order to be able to lead worship in church. It was very refreshing to be with them and in the background be able to sing along to the songs I love so much but don´t usually get a chance to sing.

My host and I have chosen my research assignment, and I will be joining the groups of women to do a study on the import of the Luke Society´s work upon the lives of these women. I will be attending their different group meetings and conducting interviews and group discussions. Please continue to pray for wisdom for me, that I might know how to proceed in all the research process and that God would establish relationships for me with these women. That is what I will be devoting my time to along with continued help in the office for the next two months, and then at the end of July, the Luke Society has a medical group coming to have medical campaigns in the different communities. You can also be praying for the preparations and planning for the arrival of this team.

I will try to be taking more pictures and hopefully posting some up here soon! I am not very consistent in my picture taking, but I will do my best!

Thanks for all your prayers!

My First Week in Quinindé

My first week here has been a good whirlwind! I have already learned so many things and participated in so many events...

I arrived late Monday night to Quito, and by 10:00 am, we were on our way to Quinindé, which is about 4 hrs. away from Quito...Upon arrival we went straight out to one of the outlying agricultural communities to a women´s group that was meeting to celebrate Mother´s Day together! The next day I went to one of the elementary shools, where the Luke Society has a ministry of tutoring and teaching the children outside of their normal school hours in order to keep them in school in the future.

When all of us were in the classroom ready to go, the teacher asked me to introduce myself and lead us in prayer...so far so good....then she spoke some with the kids and they sang some songs, and then she began to tell them how blessed they were to have someone from the United States here with them and that God had provided them with an English teacher ;) So, I proceeded to give my first English class of my trip here to a group of fifth grade students....we did pronouns and animals and some introductory phrases...but next time, I will be better prepared!

The scenery is beautiful here in the area...there are lush green hills and lots of palm trees, banana trees, coca plants, and other vegetation. It seems that everyone grows some vegetables and everyone owns some animals...My first few days I woke up at 3:30 every morning to the sound of the neighborhood roosters!! They act somewhat like dogs, if one of them crows, the others have to start crowing!

I have also had good food since I have been here! They eat lots of bananas....I didn´t even know there were that many ways to cook them, and they are always so good! There is also all kinds of fruit...yesterday we went to the finca that my host owns...it is similar to a plantation or large farm in the states, I guess....she has an orchard area, and we went in to pick ochotillos (I have no clue what these are in English...I had never seen them before, but they are really good!!) and oranges...then we returned to this large wooden house and all sat in the open eating fruit, the juice running down our arms! It was very delightful...then we went down to the river for a swim...it´s dry season right now, though, so it feels more like a creek than a river...

Needless to say, it was a very relaxing and beautiful place! In the kitchen of this house at the finca, they have a bon-fire type pit in the middle for cooking over an open fire...they told me this was typical of the coastal peoples...Also, my host Rosaura showed me a large pot that belonged to the mother of the woman who lived in the house. She said is was around 40 years old, and that they boil water and put it in the pot and it makes it naturally cool...

God has been good so far, and it has been a great first week! I have several mosquito bites all on my legs, but that should pass in the next few weeks. As I learned last night, almost every house, including ours has house lizards that eat the bugs in the house! I had not seen one until last night, but that sounds like a great animal to have around!!

I will only have internet access once a week probably, so that should be the pattern of the blog!

Hope you all are well!
Elise

Getting Ready to Go

I leave tomorrow May 11 for Ecuador to work with Dra. Yeny Agila...Thanks so much for being willing to pray with and for me throughout this summer! Your friendships mean so much to me!

Please pray that I would learn to love God more through this experience. Please pray that God would faithfully prepare friendships and relationships for me during my time there and good research opportunities. Pray for safety during this trip, as there are many unknowns involved.
Pray that I would be bold in pursuing friendships as well as bold in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know him!

I am excited about this opportunity to learn both academically and spiritually as well as to be back in South America!

Also, just as an aside, I have always been a horrible "journaler" so this is an attempt to remedy that for at least the next 3 months :) Forgive me if I do not do this often enough or well enough...

Thanks again!
-Elise