Offer to buy someone an ice cream and you may end up in a swimming pool in the middle of a lightning storm!

Week 24

13th- 19th Feb 2012

This has been another week of farewell's for us as we said goodbye to all the children and workers at the compassion project and to Victoria a CMS missionary who worked in Santo Domingo. Whilst it has been sad to say goodbye it has also been a lot of fun with two special 'treat' days for the children.

Wednesday and Saturday where the two final days for the younger and older children at the project as it shuts for the school holidays. The younger children had a clown/ magician come and entertain them followed by a delicious paraillada (very meaty bbq) for lunch whereas the older children had a trip to a swimming pool complex complete with volley ball court and football pitch.

Friday was the start of a 3 day carnival in Ecuador. A crazy time when people can squirt foam or throw buckets of water at random strangers! If you are particularly unfortunate you can also get eggs, flour, and blue dye thrown at you aswell! So far Ceasar and his family have only succeeded in soaking us in water and foam but you never know who might be lurking waiting to get you. Ceasar took great delight in hiding up on the roof and pouring a bucket of water over an unsuspecting me who was in the courtyard below!

The weather here in Santo has changed slightly. Before the general rule was that if it was hot one day it would rain the next and vice versa but now it is boiling hot during the day and in the afternoon/ evening there is monsoon rains and thunder and lightening storms! Just 30seconds standing outside in the rain will soak you completely.  So if you don't get soaked by crazy Ecuadorian's throwing water at you, you will get soaked by the rain!

On tuesday, a particularly hot day, Robin and I went out to buy some ice creams. When we spotted Carlos and Ceasar's family we enquired as to whether they wanted one to. After coming back from the cornershop with our ice creams Cesar suddenly anounced we where going to the swimming pool so we bundled into the car. The time was roughly 4pm so the big black rain clouds where making there way into santo domingo as we raced to the pool. We had a great time flying down the flume with Katherine and trying to stop Ainoah from drowning herself (an ambitious 3yr old swimmer). When the storm erupted above us and we swam about watching the lightning and hearing the thunder! Luckily we didn't get zapped!

On monday the 20th to Fri 24 th we are off for a few days at the beach to bronze and drink delicious fruit milkshakes before heading back to Quito on tuesday the 28th Feb for the last few days before our flight back to the UK on the 2nd March.

Please pray for our safety and health as Robin has currently got a cold. Please also pray for the children at the compassion project that they have a fun holiday and stay out of trouble and that the workers get some much needed respite. Also for our return to England that the transition is smooth and that we can both find the right jobs and settle into life back in the UK.

Much love from Ecuador xxx

Check out this weeks pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Other moments that have made us chuckle this week:
- Andres ( a 12 yr old boy) doing a dance off against a 3 yr old child!
- Robin getting dragged to the front of the stage to help the clown perform a trick.
- Using sugar as an exfoliant in the steam room at the swimming room, putting us in the uncomfortable position of wanting to lick our own sweat!
- Jenny and Christian buying a tiny little terrier puppy, now to see how Peter the rochweiler gets on with her!

Jungle time!!

Week 23

5th - 12th Feb 2012

It took 24hrs, three buses and one canoe ride but we eventually made it to the jungle!! We had an absolutly fantastic time. I dont think I realised quite what i'd let myself in for. Note to self the rainforest is called the rainforest for a reason (it rains alot)! And when going to live in the rainforest dont think that the animals, creepy crawlies and scary snakes are not going to be in your room........... our guide informed us that one chap was going to bed when he suddenly spotted a bush master in his room (which can kill 12 horses with one bite)! Thankfully we did not have snakes or tarantula's in our room but we did have a rat eating our soap and a massive grass hopper which sounded like a rattle snake and was as big as my face, right by our bed!

Here is a rough itinery of what we did and saw on our trip:

Day 1
A 2 and a half hour canoe ride to get to the jungle lodge. Here is a sample of some of the things we saw:
A Osprey fishing eagle

Fishing bats

 







Blue and yellow macaws

Greater Ani

Snake Bird

White throated toucan

Oropendola

 Grey and pink river dolphins

In the evening we went for a night walk into the rainforest to see all the delightful insects, spiders, bats and snakes! We saw: tarantuals, jumping spiders, leaf shaped cricket, fruit bats, a toad that can make you blind by it's wee, frogs, stick insects, a crab and a golden web spider.

Day 2
Whilst eating breakfast we saw lots of hoatzin (stinky turkey) a prehistoric bird with 7 stomach's!

After breakfast we went for a trek in the jungle from the lodge! We saw fire ants, bullet ants, great hunting ants, surgeon ants (the guide attached it to his finger and we had to try and pull it off..... no one could), orchid bee (the world's biggest bee), turtles sunbathing, black mantled tamarins, social spiders, eagles, vultures, cooking birds, wild pig foot prints. We even had a go at communicating the old fashioned indian way by hitting a bamba tree and found shade in the roots of the tallest capoc tree!
Orchid bee

Black mantled tamarin

We went for a swim in the rio with potential caimans, electic eels, piranha's and fresh water sting rays lurking in the murky water! Our guide said it was about 80% safe. Whilst chilling out in the hammocks we spotted an anaconda hunting in the river

 

and some dusky titi monkeys in a nearby tree!

 

We then went out in a paddle acnoe and saw a caracara, chestnut coloured macaws, turtles, yellow headed vultures and a giant wasps nest!

chestnut macaws








Under one of the houses there was a clay lick which was frequented by a group of parakeets. In the late afternoon we headed out on the motorized canoe and got completely drenched as we sat watching dolphins in the middle of a thunder and lightining storm! We also saw a ringed kingfisher

We watched the sunset a beautiful yellow, golden red with a rainbow shining through. After dinner we spotted a tarantula in the rafters and a tree frog landed on our guides head.

Day 3
We canoed down the river to a different part of the rainforest where we went for a walk in the jungle. On the way we saw: squirrel monkeys, white winged swallows, amazon kingifishers, tropical king bird, red throated cara cara's, scarlet macaws, yellow rumped cacique, drunken butterfly, a red flat head snake and capachin monkeys!
Squirrel monkeys

Scarlet macaws

yellow rumped cacique

blue morpheus 'drunken butterfly'

Capuchin monkeys

Whilst walking in the jungle we ate lemon ants from a tree like monkeys and Robin enjoyed swinging on the huge vines! After lunch back at the lodge a tarantula jumped onto the top of our guides head and Robin held it.... I stayed a safe distance away but feared spiders dropping on my own head! Later that evening we had a go at piranha fishing unfortunatly we where unsuccesful but Robin did managed to catch a stick and our guide caught a cat fish!

Day 4
Today was a bit different as we went to visit the indigenous Quichua community who live in the jungle. One of the families hosted us in their house and taught us how to make yuka bread and how to cook fish in the traditional jungle way wrapped in banana leaves. On our way to the community we stopped of for another chance of catching a piranha. This time it was me who caught a stick! But a man called Jim in our group managed to catch a piranha which the guide killed for us to eat later! On our way we saw: squirrel monkeys playing in the trees, yellow rumped cacique's, laughing falcons, scarlet macaws, capuchin monkeys and heard lots of yellow hand  titi monkeys, grey dolphins and a red crested woodpecker. At the indigenouse families home they cooked the piranha Jim had caught. The family had two pet parakeets one of which sat on my shoulder and proceeded to poo down my top! The food was delicious. Robin nearly fell in the river on our way back as the ground he was standing on eroded from underneath him whilst trying to get on the boat.

It was a scorching hot day so we risked another dip in the rio before heading out to the bird watching tower ( a very rickety 30m high construction). From the top we watched another beautiful sunset and heard howler monkeys. Whilst on the way to the bird tower we went past a bush which was the hive for marching wasps, it was amazing if you shouted they would begin to flap there wings up in down in unison creating a marching sound as a defence mechanism.
Sunset

After dinner the guide spotted a caiman hunting in the rio just outside the lodge! We saw him via torch light as he skulked around the water searching for food.
Caiman

Day 5
On our final day we woke early at 5:30am to paddle down the rivers watching the sunrise and listening to the sounds of the rainforest. It was magical as we saw the moon and stars fade away to reveal another glorious day in the jungle. We also managed to see some more: white throated toucans, scarlet macaws, pink and grey river dolphins (Robin jumped into the river to swim with them, I stayed on the boat as the guide said that this area is where an anaconda lives), more stinky turkeys, yellow rumped caciques and osprey.

Exhausted and covered in strange bites we returned back home to Santo Domingo. An absoloutly amazing 5 days!

Check out our photos by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our health and safety for these last few weeks in Ecuador. Please also pray that the whole experience ends well and that we return back safely to the UK and of course find some jobs!! We are missing everyone back home and we are eager to return but also feel sad to be saying goodbye to so many lovely people and such a beautiful country.

Much love to all from Ecuador! xxx

Bog roll fights, visiting the tsachilas and a rare cheese and wine party!

Week 22

30th Jan- 4th Feb 2012

I am writing this weeks blog in advance as we are off to the amazonian jungle on sunday!  As we are only on thursday I am going to make the presumption that nothing substantial is going to happen on fri & sat. This week we have enjoyed a loo roll fight with 3 year old Ainoah in yet another 'Mathambero' game, where i played the role of Mathambero the robber and Robin and Ainoah the scared citizens! Lots of screaming ensued and it is pretty safe to say both Robin and I where shattered after just 20 minutes whilst Ainoah always abounding in energy wanted to play for longer! Ainoah is like a whirlwind and you can never take your eyes of her for one moment or else she will be covering herself in after-sun cream, calling people on your phone or going through your drawers!

On Sunday Robin and I attended Claire's leaving do (another Latin Link missionary out here). Claire is getting married to Edwin (an Ecuadorian) on friday and will be leaving Ecuador to work in Panama! The party was great and was enhanced by two very rare substances in Ecuador: wine and actual cheese!! After 5 months of no wine and only a wierd rubbery bland form of cheese these two treats where consumed with much vigour and enjoyment by all!

On Wednesday the compassion project opened again so we went along for the morning. To our surprise there where not that many children there. But this was a hidden blessing as we got to spend more time talking and playing with each child. One girl in particular called Estelle had brought in her english book from school to show us and then proceeded to sing all of the songs from it.

Today (being thursay) we had a great experience visiting the local indigenous tribe of Santo Domingo the tsachilas with Amy and Victoria! They showed us some of the medicinal plants, how they created sauna's, the spiritual house used for healing, how they captured snakes to create medicine and even gave us a tribal dance complete with their own hand made xylophone! Best of all was the tribal wear and body paintings that both the men and women wore. The leader and shaman of the tsachilas showed us around he described how the red crest that the men wear on their heads is made out of crushed red seeds and is placed in the hair like dye. He also demonstrated how it is both waterproof and long lasting (up to 10 days). 

Check out our pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our safety and health as we venture into the amazonian jungle for the next week! Please also continue to pray for Robin and I about potential jobs upon our return. Please pray for the children at the compassion project that during school holidays they will stay safe and out of trouble. Finally please pray for Pati, Katherine and Ainoah as Cesar has flown back to spain.

Mucho amor de Ecuador xxx

p.s On our way back from visiting the tsachilas we saw a massive iguana run across the road! Just look at the spikes on his back............ I would not like to be walking round bare footed like the tsachilas do!

Tagwa jewellery, mortar boards and skinny jeans....

Week 21

23rd- 29th January 2012

This week has been rather a quiet one without any small children to keep us occupied as both the school and compassion project are shut! I have managed to make myself ill again probably due to my own cooking capabilities and then had an allergic reaction to an unknown substance! As you can probably guess the first half of the week was spent indoors re-cooperating. But on thursday we managed to escape out of the confines of our room to go visit a lady who creates tagwa jewellery. Gladys is a friend of Jill's and has had a hard life as one of her sons was kidnapped. This was because Gladys and her family used to live in the oriente near the columbian border where there are lots of gangs and kidnappings occur there . But with the help of Lara Flores, a charity set up by Jill to help abused women and to equip them with skills to be able to work for themselves, Gladys now has her own tagwa jewellery business. Her products are very beautiful and we bought a few items to bring back home as gifts. Jill is desperate for someone to sell the products in the UK as it would be a gauranteed income for not only Gladys but other ladies as well. Tagwa jewellery is very beautiful and would deffinitly sell extremely well in the UK. If anyones is interested in me getting you some please do let me know!

On Friday was the schools prize giving ceremony! It was great to see all the children' s faces again even though it had only been a week since we last saw them. The ceremony was held in the church and all the children had been scrubbed and polished with new hair cuts and wearing their smartest school uniforms to collect their certificates and get their photo taken. It was great to see the children with their parents and people who love them. We both felt so proud of them all! All of the pre-school years, 1 & 2nd Inicial and 1 Basica 'graduated' from their classes and even got to wear a cloak and mortar board!!

Amazingly on saturday I managed to buy some jeans. You may well think, what is so amazing about that? But the culture in Ecuador when it comes to selling things is not the same as Britain. There is no variation. If you want to buy a pineapple you may well get 10 stalls selling them but they will all be roughly the same and for roughly the same price. This also applies to Ecuadorian fashion. There isn't much in the way of variation and 'jeans' only come in one style and that is ultra skinny. Now being not particularly blessed in the long legs department or in the svelt, toned, not an ounce of fat on me deparrtment either, purchasing 'skinny' jeans was not a task I looked forward to. But little did I realise that the worst was yet to come! I had to get undressed in the middle of a bustling market and wrestle my way into a pair of skinny jeans on a quite balmy day with the material clinging to my legs (for those of you who have ever gone swimming and then tried to put on tights afterwards you will know what I mean) whilst trying to balance precariously behind a not so stable curtain rail which was all that hung between me and hundreds of people seeing me in my pants!

All in all it has not been a very energising week but it has had it's funny moments. Please check out the pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our continued health and safety (boring yet effective)! Please also pray that the children will all have a great holiday and be safe. Also I have applied for one or two teaching jobs please could you pray that the right doors open and that both Robin and I would find the right jobs upon our return.

Mucho amor de Ecuador xxx

Farewell Assemblies de Dios Escuela

Week 20

16th- 22nd January 2012

This week was our final week working at the school. Although it was sad to be leaving the children and teachers whom we had gotten to know it was also a happy time with lots of birthday fiestas! Not only was this the last week of term for the children but it was also the dreaded 'exam' week. We still went into the different classes and 'helped' (the children trying to get us to answer the questions for them)! During break times we made the most of being able to spend time with these delightful bundles of fun and energy. On monday Damaris in 2nd Basica had a surprise birthday party with piñatas, birthday cake and balloons. All of the children where delighted that they didn't have to do anymore exams for the day.

On friday the last day at school all the pre-school classes 1st and 2nd incial and 1st Basica had a party where al the children who had birthdays that term where celebrated. Lots of little children wearing birthday hats getting very excited and giggling at the clown that came in to entertain them! It was with heavy hearts that we left the school already missing all the smiley faces of the children and their funny habits. Such as Dominic with his tiny little legs constantly running everywhere, Justin making beep beep noises and pretending to be a car, David coming over to sit on Robin's lap and babble away to him, Joel's incredibly cheeky smile and sticky fingers, Jonathon's love of climbing through your legs, Valeria's steely grip ensuring I sit next to her in class, Junior's love of hanging upside down, the girls playing horses and chase, Derlis pretending to be a lobo (wolf) and chasing others around the play area, Melanie's incredible strength, 3rd Basica's ability to play nicely and include the girls in football games, Ariel's hyperactiveness, Andres's laid back approach to learning and so much more. They all are such wonderful children and we both feel that getting to know them has been such a priviledge and joy.

Check out this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK.

However we looked forward to the next two weeks working at the compassion project where we might stumble across one or two of the children from the school. It came as a surprise to realise that the compassion project was going to be shut for the next week and half but would re-open from the 1st to the 18th Feb! Whilst we where working there on saturday we realised that there was a serious lack of any sort of games equipment (only 1 basketball)! We discovered this when we went with a group of 20 to 30 odd teenagers to the park which has a football pitch and basketball pitch only to discover that nobody had a ball which lead to 15 mins of hanging around until everyone headed back to the compassion project base. An unsuccesful trip! Although the compassion project has over 300 children coming through it's door's the resources they have are extremely limited with the majority of money spent on feeding the children.

As our plans have slightly changed please pray that we may use this free time wisely. Please also pray for the Vallejo family that our good relationship with them stays strong as we haven't seen that much of the extended family recently. Please also pray for all the children in the school and compassion project that God would protect them and that they would enjoy their vacation. As always please pray for our saftey and good health!

Other highlights this week:
-Going swimming at the gym Robin attends which is full of posters of horribly overly muscular men for inspiration check out the pictures to see some!
-Peter the rochweiler has a not one but two girlfriends!! Someone brought their female rochweiler over hoping for peter to help produce pups............. unfortunatly Peter did not like either lady and now Carlos is worried about his manliness!
-Junior during lunch break running around with a broom between his legs as a hobby horse. Very cute.

How time has flown!!

Week 19

9th- 15th Jan 2012

This week was our last 'normal' week at the school as next week the children have exams. It has been a fun week with the children at the school and at the compassion project. Yet again we are slowly realising what life is like for the average Ecuadorian person. I was suprised to find out that Elizabeth the English teacher at the school only earns $250 a month she informed me that her rent is $100 a month. Leaving her and her son $150 to live of for the entire month!! In sterling that is 100 pounds. Perhaps then it is not so surprising that so many of the teachers don't indulge in christmas presents as they don't have enough money. Culturally Ecuadorians dont tend to practice saving as the majority of people don't go away on lavish holidays and houses are more reasonably priced instead the general trend is that people spend everything they earn each month on living and getting by.

In school we played a lot of hangman this week with 4th and 5th Basica and enjoyed helping the younger children with their writing. During break time Robin had fun playing football and  Basketball with all the small children. They in turn had lots of fun climbing all over us, sitting on our laps pretending to ride a horse and requesting to be dangled upside down! Two little girls in particular enjoyed standing on the bench behind Robin and flicking his ears!  

We where working with the teenagers at the compassion project who rather unsprisingly acted like teenagers. Blowing up a condom like a balloon whilst one of the leaders chased him round the court trying to get it off him! They are a very friendly bunch of teenagers and invite us to play football or hang out and listen to their music with them.

On thursday we took the school assembly which is a devotional time. We where up the front singing songs with actions and Robin read out his testimony. One of the teachers then read out the father's love letter (a collection of verses from the bible) to the children and we where amazed to see that the children actually stopped chattering away and listened to what was being said. For those of you who may not know 'The Fathers Love Letter' here it is:

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

We are both really enjoying our time out here and love spending time with this children so it is sad to think that next week will be our last at the school! How time has flown.

Please pray for our continued health and safety and for the lives of the children at the school and compassion project. As our return to England grows more imminent please pray that we will find the return jobs upon our return. Please also pray for Carlos as his son plans to leave soon taking his family with him to Belgium, please pray he wont be to lonely without them.

Take a look at this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK.

Other highlights this week:
-Joel a 4yr old with a serious case of sticky hands syndrome. Always picking up anything he can get his hands on and claiming it as his own! I found him using the teachers stanley knife to try and sharpen a pencil!
-The class getting locked out of the classroom as the headmaster took the wrong set of keys.
- Sat on the floor with the class watching the Barbie movie. I had a little girl on my lap called Valeria who farted on my leg and stunk both Robin and I out!
-Going to the cinema to watch the new Sherlock Holmes film in English!!
-Realising just how long it takes to feed small children. Robin was trying to feed Junior and Caleb  who barely finished their food before the end of break!

Enjoying the smiles of the little children....

Week 18

2nd - 8th January 2012

A rather quiet week this week as Robin is recovering from his illness but he is now completely better praise the Lord! PLEASE no more ilnesses!! School has been fun and the children have been very playful with Junior and the boys climbing all over Robin and the girls running around screaming. We have also been to the Compassion project which had changed a little bit. Usually on saturdays they have both the teenagers and young children at the project which can mean 300 children squished into a very small space. But the structure has changed so that the younger children come on mon- wed and older students come thurs-sat.

It is strange to think that we only have 2 weeks left at the school before it breaks for holidays until April. Reminding us that our time in Ecuador is slowly coming to an end. Having spent the last 3 - 4 months helping, playing and getting to know all the different little characters in the school it makes me feel sad to know that we wont get to see there smiley faces anymore. I wonder if they will be alright. What their lives hold in store for them and what they will grow up to be. At times like this you feel bad for leaving them but whilst we where sat watching them play at lunch break taking tumbles on concrete floors and just getting straight back up again and brushing themsemves off I knew that they would be alright becuase there are people here like the teachers in the school who will love them and look after them.

Please pray for our safety and continued good health. Also for the children in the school and compassion project to grow up knowing that there are people who love them and care about their futures. We would also like to thank God for the fantastic welcome and brilliant experience it has been and continues to be working at the school and compassion project. Finally please also pray about the right jobs becoming available for both Robin and I upon our return.

Take a look at this week's photos by clicking on this LINK.

Much love from Ecuador xxx

Other highlights this week:
-5 year old Valeria grabbing my hand as soon as I entered the classroom directing me to sit next to her.
-Valeria's very cute and slightly gross 3 year old sister who is always covered in dirt picking up an exceptionally dirty crisp from a extremely dirty floor and eating it.
-Ainoah playing with Peter the rochweiler sitting on him like a horse and trying to put his hair in bunches!
-One of the 3 year old boys in PE whilst trying to hola hoop exercises pretending to be a car and when people came to close started going 'beep beep'.
-Torrential rain all day and all night. There was so much water it was like a monsoon!

New Photos!

I have now managed to upload all the photos for week 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 please take a look at that by following the links on the blogs! Enjoy!

Cultural differences...

Week 17

27th December- 1st January 2012

Hola! This has been a bit of a mixed week as Robin has been poorly with a strange fever that wiped him out for a few days.  This has meant that we have both been stuck in our room going slightly crazy with cabin fever! But we did manage to go into school for a few days where we were greeted by a smiley happy child called Junior who wanted a hug. School this week has been interesting as we have both discovered that most of the children did not recieve christmas gifts. After asking a few children what they had got at christmas and recieving shrugs of the shoulders and shaking heads in the way of a reply we quickly learnt that quite a few of them had not recieved anything. Even when we asked the teachers if they had bought all their christmas presents yet for their children they replied they had not and would not be buying them anything as they can not afford christmas. Christmas in Ecuador is celebrated but it is not as big as the New Years Eve fiesta. Unlike New Years when the 1st and 2nd of January is a national holiday, christmas has no national holiday. The majority of people where working on christmas eve and on christmas day. The shops stayed open and even the fruit and veg market on our street didn't shut. Perhaps it is a mixture of poverty and christmas being less important than it is for us Brits that meant that the children did not recieve gifts. One little boy in particular (David 4/5 yrs old) made our hearts melt as he climbed up onto Robin's lap and started saying that Robin was Papa Noel (Santa Clause) as Robin had dressed up as him for the School Christmas fiesta. He sat there pulling at Robin's facial hair chatting away confused as to why his beard was so short now as last time he saw him it had been much bigger and white! David then asked Papa Noel (Robin) to please get him a medium sized red car as he had not recieved any gifts for christmas and then gave Robin a hug.

On saturday night we attended Carlos's family New Year celebrations. Robin and I had helped create some of the munyeka's (guys) for the midnight bonfire. The munyeka's where all supposed to be different members of the family and even Robin had one! Apparently the tradition is to set fire to the munyeka's at midnight as a symbol of getting rid of all the garbage in your life from last year and wiping the slate clean for the new year. We went to Sandra and Carlos Jnr house for a roast turkey and rice dinner before heading back to our house for a street party. It seemed everyone was out on the streets and there where tons of fireworks and explosions going off all the time!  Some of the munyeka's where very life like so when you saw them strapped to the bonnet of  cars it looked like somebody had just had a horrific accident. We mostly sat around and chatted and did a little bit of dancing until midnight when the munyeka's where set alight. Then came lots of hugging and kissing and the crazyness began as people began jumping over the burning munyeka's only just making it across, often landing with sparks of fire on their shoes! Even the local firefighter was joining in dragging his young son and daughter over the fire.

Check out the photos by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for the end of sicknesses!! We are both bored of being ill. Please continue to pray for our safety, this week another person got robbed on our street and it is difficult always having to be alert in case of robbers. We only have a few more weeks working at the school before they shut for holidays so please pray that we can make good use of the time and bless them in anyway possible. Again please pray for jobs upon our return home.

Lots of love from Ecuador
xxxx

Other things that have amused us this week:
-Finding out that Peter the rockwheiler loves to eat ice.
-Having to stop the children fighting over being able to sharpen their own pencils after an outbreak of pencils needing sharpening!
-Trying to feed two 3 yr old girls. One of whom unfortunatly had chickens feet with rice. The other girl refused to eat hers and I only managed to get 4 spoon fulls in as the majority of the rice went on the floor!
-Singing 'row row row your boat' with 2nd Basica who loved the actions!
-Playing the 'Mathambero' game with Enoah.

Feliz Año! Happy New Year!

Week 16

20th- 26th December 2011

 This week has been full of Christmas fiesta´s and celebrations! The school had its christmas show complete with the selection of the school princess and prince and Carlos´s family partied through the night until 5:30am to loud music to celebrate christmas and ate the pig that we helped select (whilst still alive)! We even managed to have a english christmas dinner on christmas day with Katy, Gill, Victoria and Amy some other missionaries in Santo Domingo.

We where kindly invited along to the staff christmas meal at a parillada restaurant (mixed grill) where they served loads of meat including heart, kidneys and cows udder! Nothing goes to waste out here and whilst we grimace at the thought of eating a cows eye the other teachers on the table raved about how delicious it is and their particular favourite is ´patas´ feet!

Robin perfomed his role well at the school christmas show dressed up as Papa Noel (santa clause) with only one small incident when the teacher managed to glue gun the beard to his scalp! The children all got very excited to see Papa Noel and wanted to sit on his knee and get a sweet off him. The parents were equally delighted as they swrmed round the children like paparazzi blocking the stage off from view as their child came up to perform. Our performance with 5th Basica the oldest students in the school (aged 10-11yrs) singing Jingle Bells and We wish you a merry christmas went very well! All the children rememebered the words and sang loudly. The best bit was that Robin was handed a microphone so everyone could hear his beautiful singing voice. Each class performed a different song or dance and one class even did the nativity play it was chaos but absoloutly fantastic. Best of all where all the amazing and very cute costumes, christmas elves, mini mary´s and shepherds, angels, Bells and presents!

Check out the pictures by clicking on this LINK for our friends photos or this LINK for our photos. 

From each class there was one young boy and girl selected to take part in the schools selection of the princess and prince. It was very cute and slightly strange to watch a pair of 3 yr old´s dressed in big puffy dresses and suites try to strut down the aisle and pose, blowing little kisses to the crowd! But the selection thankfully wasnt by popular vote but by selecting a star of the christmas tree and when they opened it up it said whether they where the princess or not. As it happened Damarsis from 2nd Basica (very intelligent young girl) was eleted princess and Aerial from 5th Basica the prince.

Carlos´s family celebrated Christmas on christmas eve by cooking a big meal for everyone of roast pork and tortilla´s and then spent the rest of the evening dancing, drinking and playing cards. Ceasar had a particular fondness of the microphone and spent most of the evening talking or singing into it! At near midnight all the children bundled into the front room in order to open their christmas presents. Unlike England where adults get presents as well as children in Ecuador it is solely children who get presents and once they hit 15yrs old and are officially an adult they dont get anymore. Also unlike England not that many families can afford to buy christmas gifts for their children including some of the children at the school. But Enoah was absoloutly delighted at her presents and pranced around in her princess tiarra and fluffy shoes jabering away into her fake pink mobile! We received a lovely gift of a traditional idigenous indian wooden mini xylopohone.

Robin is slowly recovering from an overly acidic stomach and possibly amoebic dysantry as well so please continue to pray for his health and mine. Every day people tell us new things that could have caused us to get ill and there is no way of knowing what was the original cause so please pray for our safety whilst eating and drinking. Please also pray we dont get malaria as we have had to stop taking the tablets due to bad reactions to the pills. As we enter this new year please pray for the lives of all the children at the compassion project and school that they wont end up getting into drugs or becoming robbers but that they would be encouraged by the staff and volunteers to achieve the best they can and live God filled lives. Finally as 2012 comes creeping around the corner and our minds drift towards home and our return to old blighty please pray that God will help us find the right jobs upon our return.

Finally a Happy New Year to you all! Lots of love from Ecuador xxx

Other things that have amused us this week:
-  It doesnt sound right but I have to say avocado milkshakes are delicious! We shared one with Freddie this week.
- Eating cows udder and heart at the staff christmas meal. One was very hard and the other very soft!
- Robin pretending to be a ´lobo´ (werewolf) and roaring at the children as all the children from the entire school hid under the stage and screamed everytime he roared.
- Pastor Anibel, Carlos and Reuben barging into our bedroom on christmas eve to pray over Robin´s bad stomach.
- Enoah lying curled up in Robin´s lap sweetly, in her pyjamas until she kicked him in the face!
-Santa Clause coming to visit us all the way out here in Ecuador with some lovely gifts.

Feliz Navidad!! Merry Christmas!!

Week 15

12th -19th December 2011

To all back home in England we love and miss you lots and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As I write this, Christmas is only 2 days away and looking out the window, sadly there is no snow instead its quite humid at about 25 degrees! This week has not been the greatest as I have been poorly with amoebic dysantry and high stomach acidity due to a reaction of the anti-malarial drug Ive been taking but thankfully it all cleared up by the weekend so that I could enjoy the Latin Link missionaries English Christmas dinner!

The meal was highly scrumptious complete with turkey and Danish pears. Robin and I contributed to desserts by creating some eton mess (hand whisking two bowls full of cream is no mean feat)! Much merryment was had with christmas games and carol singing in both English and Spanish (in particular a fantastic round of ´the 12 days of Christmas´ with indiviual solos). Robin donned a santa suite and gave out the secret santa presents much to the delight of 4 year old Philipe. Great practice for friday when he has to be santa for the school.

I didn´t spend that much time in school this week but we both enjoyed one of the little boys (David) singing to us a song which all students sing at the beginning of an English lesson. I have a video of it but the connection is very slow out here so I cant upload it, hopefully i´ll get to soon. Another highlight was helping to teach the 2nd inicial class 4-5 year olds how to count to 4 in English.

By thursday I accompanied Robin and Ceasar on a road trip to visit a local tennis club. Robin even got to hit some balls about! Ceasar also had the task of going to a pig farm and selecting a live pig to be roasted for the family christmas meal on the 24th. In Ecuador people celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and stay up till midnight to exchange gifts and eat a big meal. Thankfully I didn´t choose the pig and instead enjoyed looking at the newly born piglets instead.

On friday we travelled up to Quito for the Christmas meal on saturday. Whilst in Quito we managed to go to the artisiannia market full of beautiful Ecuadorian goods and book ourselves into a jungle trip for the 6th Feb! Very exciting. We have also recieved some post from Ros, Emma Scott, Graham Herbert, Grannibel and Ann Farmer which has been fantastic to read and the chocolate was very much enjoyed!

Please pray for our continuing health (as Robin has now got the stomach acidity reaction as well) and safety. Also please pray for all the children at the compassion project and school who this christmas may not be recieving gifts due to poverty within their families please pray that they will get something to eat and be able to enjoy the day.

Check out the photos by clicking this LINK.

Much festive love to all from Ecuador xxx

Things that have made us chuckle this week:
- Me having to do a poo sample to be tested by a laboratory!
- The joys of living in Ecuador, nits, mosquito bites and intestinal amoebas!
- Robin qualifying from beginner to intermediate level in Spanish.
-Robin attempting to order pizza over the phone in Quito which took 5 attempts as the man on the phone couldn´t get our mobile number right or the cost of the pizza!

An Ecuadorian Wedding!

Week 14

5th- 11th December 2011

This week school has been a mixed bag I managed to make a child cry and we where mauled by thirty children who where extremely over excited to have stylophome in their hands. They mobbed us and took great delight in rubbing our heads with it. On monday I was both greeted and farewelled by one boy´s burps, which was delightful! We are pleased that we are getting to know more of the children´s attitudes and nature´s, they are really quite hardy and often fall over on the concrete floor and pick themselves up and carry on as if nothing happened. Observing PE lessons have often proved hilarious and this week was no exception as the small ones where trying to learn how to do a roley poley through a hoop and all ended up landing on each other and kicking each other!

Robin bumped into an old friend called Freddie this week who use to play football with him and helped construct the Rosa de Sharon Church with the Step team in 2006. Freddie owns a shoes stall at the market and also sells christmas trees (which we where lured in by) he very kindly gave us a christmas tree for the price of a hug such was his delight in seeing Robin!

On thursday I had a very festive day going christmas shopping with Jenny (Carlos´s son Christian´s girlfriend) who helped me haggle and pay the correct prices for things rather than Gringo prices. In the evening I met up with Amy, Victoria and Claire (other missionaries) and we listened to christmas carols, drunk mulled wine and decorated christmas cookies!

We where both very excited about the marriage of Monica and Ricardo on Saturday. It was amazing complete with a Mariachi band and police escort for the bridal party! There were lots of beautiful ´mini bride´ flower girls and Monica´s sisters all looked stunning as well as herself of course! Being an Ecuadorian wedding everyone was crying and very emotional. The bride and grooms first dance turned into a dance remix, there were games involving Ricardo taking a garter off of Monica´s leg and giving it to another single man who had to put it on another single girls leg as the crowd shouted higher higher! But by far the best moment of the evening (other than seeing Monica and Ricardo so happy) was Crazy hour! Crazy hour consists of insane dancing led by a group of scantily clad 15 year olds dragging people up to the floor! No one escaped including Robin and I who deftly tried to follow the dance and ended up bumping into people and facing the wrong way quite alot of the time.

On Sunday we went for another trip to the rio with Carlos´s family but this time we had rubber rings to go down the rapids. Needless to say some of us came home with quite a few bumps and bruises from the pretuding rocks on the rio. Robin enjoyed playing with Enoah in the Rio and we all watched as she fell in head first off of his back! Outside Sandra and Carlos´s house the road was blocked off as the locals where sat out on the street playing street Bingo.

A very fun and eventful week!

Please continue to pray for our health and safety as I am currently unwell with numerous stomach issues and would like to enjoy the Latin Link christmas dinner in Quito on Saturday.

Check out the photos for this week by clicking on this LINK and LINK 2.

Lots of love from Ecuador xxx

Other moments which have made us laugh this week:
-Robin throwing Aerial in the Rio for splashing me and then realising he can´t swim.
- Watching Robin help out with a PE lesson as the children raced in pairs and got upsetwhen they lost.
-Carlos Jnr´s car getting written off as he fell asleep and somehow collided with a horse. (Apologise all animal lovers)

Christmas carols, fiesta´s and food!

Week 13

28th November- 4th December 2011

Please forgive the delayed blogs. I have been unwell with intestinal amoebas and I had a reaction to the doxcyclin anti-malarial I am taking causing my stomach to become mega acidic and rendering me unable to eat. Other than that we are all fine! As I write this on the 15th December we are excited about christmas coming in less than 2 weeks and wish everyone back home a very merry christmass!

At the beginning of this week I was recoverinng from a cold (more illness)! School has been very fun this week as we have been trying to teach a class how to sing ´we wish you a merry christmas´ for the school christmas show on the 23rd of December. Those of you who have had the priviledge of hearing Robin sing may be interested to know that he to will be honing his beautiful singing skills for this event as well! The school is in full christmas swing with tinsel and mini christmas trees decorating the rooms. Unlike England the majority of people in Ecuador celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th December and unlike british schools the schools in Santo Domingo will not have any vacations.

We cooked for all of Carlos´s family on thurs 1st December, other than buying way to much pasta, meat, bread and sauce than was needed it went well. After the meal came the usual game of pulling numbers out of the hat to try and get the men to do the washing up unfortunatly it was another blow for the ladies who ended up washing all the plates and utensils outside. Carlos´s family have been and continue to be incredibly generous to us so on sunday we helped Carlos´s son (Ceasar, who lives next door) with some ´Minga´(community work party). We helped clear Ceasar´s garden, essentially mowing/ removing the lawn but using machetes instead of a lawn mower. It was a hot day so afterwards the whole family went on a much needed trip to the rio. Carlos´s family seem to have taken a liking to joking about Mathambero one of the robbers, here is a sample of them:
- Ceasar showing us a picture of all the men of the family with mud on their faces and asking which one is mathambero
-Enoah saying that her sister is a robber and has gone to join Mathambero
- Pati telling Enoah to shut the door not to let Mathambero in. Which sends her flying to the door to slam it shut.

Check out this week´s pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our ongoing health and safety this week.

Love from Ecuador xxx

Other moments that have made us laugh this week:
-  Robin dragging two children down the hall as they refused to let go of his leg.
-Robin stripping to his boxers in the middle of a busy market to try on some trousers.
- Rather hilariously we have discovered that Ecuadorians have a deep love of Mr. Bean! This was discovered after Carlos´s family spent most of the day laughing about there favourite bits and watching them on you tube in the evening.

Saca mi punto por favor!

Week 12

21^st- 27^th November 2011

Another busy week! We have traveled to Quito and back for the monthly latin link prayer meeting, worked in the school and gone for a dip in yet another rio! The children have been learning fruit and veg in English and are getting very excited about Christmass as their classroom’s are getting covered in tinsel and decorations. We have officially become the saca mi punto team (pencil sharpener team) amongst the smaller children and the creater of ‘fun’ but educational games for the older children in English lessons. Robin’s favourite is to play a version of splat but using English words.

As usual the children were delightful if a little naughty at times. In p.e this week all the children were learning things about balance by trying to swing a hoop round their bodies or pushing it along the ground. Junior was running wild loving throwing his hoop, in particular at the poor man trying to deliver the clean water bottles to the school.  I have discovered that there is nothing the 3 year olds like better then getting tickled so most of the lunch breaks are spent tickling. Although these children are an absoloute delight they are also the givers of great gifts one of which I have managed to receive ……………….. nits. 

It was great to meet up with everyone in Quito and see how they are all doing.  Unfortunatly I had a stinking cold (along with an itchy head) so we didn’t stay in Quito a long time. 

Sunday our day of rest was interrupted by a trip to a local Rio with Carlos’s family who also brought things for cooking. The rio was fast flowing with rapids and plenty of places to jump in which delighted Robin and terrified me.  Enoah was as keen as always to get into the river and is getting stronger at swimming ……..with her arm bands on. Ceasar, Pati and Christian made a fire and with a huge pan cooked chicken and paticones (fried green bananas) my new Ecuadorian favourite. It was another fantastic day even though the mosquitos took a particular fondness to me!  

Check out our pictures of this week by clicking on this LINK.

This week please pray for our health and safety (boring but essential). Also please pray for continued good relations with Carlos’s family and the teachers and children at the school and compassion project. Finally for lower crime rates in Santo Domingo especially in the barrio’s. 

Mucho Amor de Ecuador xxx

A funny moment this week:

-        -  Ordering  ‘pasta’ with pork for lunch and getting  ‘pata’ a big pig trotter complete with nails intact on my plate. (Pata means foot)

-          -Spending 3 hours in the bathroom removing the nits from my hair!

We have a postal address if anyone wants to send us anything it’s:

Casilla 17-24-351,

Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas,

Ecuador

Always be prepared for your plans to change......

Week 11

14th-20th November 2011

Well this week has certainly been one full of surprises some good and some not so good ! The one thing I will take away from our time in Ecuador is that you never know where a day can take you.  From the pits of despair about having all our photos robbed from us to pure delight swimming in a Rio. This week Carlos’s family have really been a fantastic help to us from cooking us dinner and breakfast to taking us to the supermarket so we can buy some food of our own. 

But let’s step back a second. Before my rather energetic last post just after being mugged we had actually done a few things. On Monday the 14^th we were in school, our first lesson of the day is with 1^st Basica this class is full of lively little characters one of which struggles to sit down for longer than two seconds. I was really proud of robin as he specifically focused his time on this little chap who instead of getting no work done and distracting the whole class, actually managed to  copy the sentence from the board in joined up writing (no mean task when you are 5 years old).  Sometimes it can be a little dis-heartening being a missionary you never feel like you are doing enough or doing something so massively life changing that you know that you have transformed someone’s life forever. But I find that it is in these little helpfull moments when you know that flying half way round the world and taking 6 months out of normal life is worth it. Seeing a child who struggled all morning to write the letter E finally get it, or who can’t understand what a subtraction symbol means compared to addition and finally the light bulb goes on or hearing a three year old master the English word for 1. In previous posts I have been somewhat frustrated at the school and the poverty of the children’s families which has meant they haven’t been pushed or achieved as much as a student in England might have. But it is clear that without this school pupils like Melanie (a little girl who lives in the barrio) would never have attended school and would still be trapped in the cycle of poverty with no basic education. 

I for one am greatful for all the wonderful happy smiling faces of the children this week. If you ever need a cure for getting over the shock of being mugged these little chaps will do it. We went into school the day after being mugged (Wednesday 16^th ) we where greeted by Junior who came bounding up to us to give us a hug and get picked up. That morning we had witnessed a 16 year old boy being taken off by the police, he had been carrying a big knife and was one of the robbers from our attack. It was sad to think that these little children could ever end up in the same situation. 

On Saturday we had a great time at the compassion project helping give out food and hanging out with the older teenagers. The girls kindly took me under their wing and taught me some card games whilst robin played football with the boys.  The children who attend the project all come from the surrounding barrio’s.  The younger boys asked if Robin knew how to fight with a knife, or knew how to fire a gun and where surprised that he didn’t know how to. Violence and crime are so normal to these kids and it was clear to see by looking at the faces of some of the children that they could very easily follow in the footsteps of the robbers and get involved in crime. In that Saturday alone Robin had to break up 3 fights.     

But all is not doom and gloom! We have also had lots of fun this week with an impromptu trip to the rio (river) for a swim with Carlos’s family. Little Enoah (Caesar and Pati’s 2 year old daughter) nearly drowned herself in her eagerness to get into the rio she flung herself in even though she can’t swim. We have also got taken later that day to Katherine and Jonathon’s college fiesta where there was bands playing, dance groups, fireworks and the selection of the school queen (which involved many scantily clad 15 year olds strutting their stuff). On Sunday we got a late night surprise visit by Monica, Ricardo and Priscilla who took us out for an ice cream and to the cinema to see the new twilight film.

Check out our pictures of this week by clicking on this LINK and LINK 2.

Please pray this week for our safety and protection out here and for the children growing up in the barrio’s that they would be able to break out of the cycle of poverty and crime.

Love from Ecuador xxx

Other things that made us chuckle this week:

-        -  Robin going into a pharmacist and being told he has herpes (he doesn’t it was just a cut from a football smacking him in the mouth).

-         - Eating in a restaurant called ‘willys’ ………. Childish I know!

-          -Due to Monica and Ricardo’s impromptu visit I ended up going out wearing my pyjamas to an ice cream parlour and the cinema.

-          -Ceasar, Carlos and Christian’s rigged a number game so that the men could get out of doing the washing up.

A totally crap day!

We got mugged at gun point yesterday.  

We had just finished having lunch at a restaurant literally opposite Carlos and Caesar´s house. In the restaurant was a police man which turned out to be incredibly useful. Across the road is the Church we attend Assemblies de Dios and the area surrounding that side of the road is a Barrio where a few of the poor kids who attend the school live. We finished our meal and started to walk in to the town center ( a way we have walked everyday many many times) we had literally just crossed the road from the restaurant and were about to go round the corner when we got mugged. It all happened very quickly. Firstly I thought someone was pushing past us in a rush but when I turned my head to look there was suddenly a tall black man with a gun pointed at Robin´s head. I let out a involuntary scream of terror! Which I think scared them a bit as they backed off into the road. The gun was still pointed at Robin who was patting down his shorts and showing the robber that he didn´t have a mobile phone on him (which is what the robber was asking for). I turned round and had a small younger chap facing me who just yanked my bag of my shoulder and then they both ran off round the corner. Thankfully a friend of Caesar´s family Kevin who we both know was standing not to far away and saw the whole thing and very kindly took us both back to the restaurant and told the police man everything that had happened and got Caesar and Carlos. Kevin also recognised one of the robbers which is a useful lead. Caesar is good friends with the chief of police for Santo Domingo so they had quite a few police on the case and even a helicopter pretty quickly. But both the black guy and the young chap escaped on a motorbike. We were woken this morning by some police men who had caught the younger chap. It was really quite sad to be honest, he was only 16, his clothes were torn and he looked poor he was sat on the police motorbike in handcuffs. The police had just caught him in the Barrio with a massive knife on his person which just goes to show you never know what these people carry. Now the police have caught him and know who the other black guy is there may be some hope in recovering the usb although not much.

Caesar´s family have been very kind to us and last night took us for something to eat and even got us to drive their new car (I think they wanted to take our minds off of the mugging) and this morning they cooked us a breakfast and invited us over. They are also taking us to the supermarket later on which is where we were heading before the mugging.  We are both fine and neither of us are hurt which is the main thing, we have been told we are very fortunate that they did not hurt us as they could of.

The photos from the week 10 blog will be somewhat reduced as my usb got stolen which had all of the photos on of our time in Ecuador we now only have the ones left on the camera. So there are none of the school or the compassion project or sadly my chickens feet soup!

There is no need to worry, Carlos´s family are being very supportive and we are recovering well from the shock. I have to admit I feel much more wary about just walking down the road but Robin and I are enjoying our time out here and this one blip is not going to stop us from carrying on enjoying our time out here. We love the school, the compassion project, the kids. We are determined to carry on and everyone has supported us really well.

A bit of a low time at the moment but im sure spendng some time with the children at the school will cheer us both up.

If you could please pray for our safety and protection whilst we are out here that would be much appreciated!

Lots of love from both Robin and I
xxx

Back to school!

Week 10

6th- 13th November 2011

A fun packed week of excitable children, english lessons, fat lips and attending two fiesta´s in one day...again!We have more of a structured timetable at school now and help out in most english lessons and pe lessons as well as acting as a general teaching assistant which has helped us in preparing games/ songs/ worksheets for lessons. It has been interesting to see how the children build on the little english learnt aged 2-3 years (currently they are learning the numbers 6 & 7) to the standard of 11year olds (who are learning the names of the planets in the solar system). The folder our dear friend Holly gave us and other resources such as posters and cds have come in vbery useful in the lessons.We are enjoying being of use in the school and becoming better friends with Elizabeth the English teacher who is currently studying at university alongside working at the school. We have tried to help her with her English University work on linguistics but it has flummuxed both Robin and I.

We are also discovering more problems with the children advancing in their educations. The simple lack of a pencil or even pencil sharpener can leave a child sat twiddling their thumbs doing nothing for an entire lesson as they lack the basic equipment to write in their exercise books. The school does not provide pencils, pencil sharpeners or rubbers to the students if they have forgotten theirs or if their parents haven´t bought them any (which apparently is more likely). This has been highly frustrating for both Robin and I to see the children who are capable of working sat doing nothing so we have purchased some much needed items of equipment which we carry at all times in the school. A pencil, pencil sharpener and rubber which gaurantees that the few students who dont have the correct equipment in the lessons we attend can now participate.

On saturday we went to the Compassion project which had 200-300 children attending. They were incredibly friendly and Robin and I spent our time getting mobbed by young children asking us our names and endless questions as we got pulled this and way that. It was great fun as we played versions of football, volley ball and dodgeball in which I got a ball to the face! Bindi also acquired an injury when playing football with the older teenagers as he headed the ball and smacked his face into the back of one of the boys givign himself a fat lip! The children arrive at the compassion project at 8:15 in the morning and recieve breakfast and leave after lunch at rounghly 1pm. It was great to get stuck in and help in handing out the food and both Robin and I left totally exhausted but happy. The most amazing people at the Compassion project are the volunteers some of whom have been working their for the past 10 years giving their time freely to cook and wash up for 300 children every thurs, fri and saturday. No mean feat!

On Sunday we somehow found ourselves attending two fiestas. Carlos´s family where having a bbq complete with dance music and badminton. We were invited to come and it was great to feel part of their family. Carlos´s family have been very welcoming and kind to us here. Pati and Cesar have allowed us to borrow their camera until ours is fixed which has been fantastic as I can finally take some pictures of where we work and what we get up to. Later in the evening we went to Barrio de Naranjos where Robin and the step team had helped build the church. The church held a special service in honour of the step team and Robin returning to see them. It was great to meet Gabriel, Louis and their families. The ladies got rather excited by the fact that Robin has a wife so got me to dress up in the clothes of Quichuan women and declared that I was now a Ecuadorian woman. In the service we met two little girls who where named after Bethany and Kristen from the step team they were very cute! Robin gave a sermon in the church in spanish and got to meet Marianno and the two Pedro´s. We even visited the house the step team stayed in when they were here.

It has been a great week and we are really enjoying our time here in Ecuador. Please pray for inspiration for creating fun and useful games to help the children learn english and for good relationships with the teachers, students and children at the compassion project. Also please pray for our health and safety out here.

Check out pictures of Santo Domingo and the school by clicking on this LINK. (coming soon)
Check out pictures of the Compassion project by clicking on this LINK. (coming soon)
Check out pictures of Carlos´s family fiesta and the fiesta at Barrio de Naranjos by clicking on this LINK.

Lots of love from Ecuador xxx


Other things that brought us laughter this week:
- Never trust chicken soup you never know what part of the chiken you will get! To my delight this week I managed to get chickens feet in my soup complete with nails attached! Needless to say i did not take a nibble on it.
- The lovely children aged 3-4 years who thoroughly enjoyed our pencil sharpeners so much so that as soon as we sharpened them they snapped the nib off so we could sharpen it again!
-Bindi causing two Ecuadorian women to burst into laughter by nearly walking into a young boy who was weeing in the middle of the busy street.
- One of the children asking if I was Robin´s mum!! How old do I look??
- Eating bright blue bubblegum flavoured ice cream which tasted just as nutritious as it looked.
- Getting dressed up a Quichua woman. See pictures of Barrio de Naranjos.