Every day when Ceara comes home our door gets knocked on and we are asked if Ceara and Calen are home so that they can play. Our neighbor kids always want to come play at our house or outside. The kid in the middle named Adriano recently got three new puppies after the mother dog past away. So every day now the kids want to go see the dogs. One day, after Travis had come home after running, he laid on the ground to do sit ups when the kids came by with the puppies. Of course the puppies thought it would be fun to get Travis and jumped all over him and licked his yummy salt from his sweaty body. The kids laughed hysterically at this and then proceeded to allow the dogs to do the same to them. Here is a picture of them all laying on the ground being attacked by the dogs or waiting for them to get them. As you can see, our house is never a dull place! It's full of lots of laughter and noise.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Banos
After leaving Quito we headed three hours away to a town called Banos, which Ceara kept saying,"It's funny that they called the city bathroom"! This town is right near an active volcano that steams and has lava that still comes out of it everyday. It exploded enough in 2006 that everyone in the city was evacuated and not allowed to return for quite awhile. Here is a picture of Travis and Ceara at one of the lookouts of the whole city of Banos. You supposedly can see the top of the volcano from there as well but it ended up being very cloudy that night so we couldn't see anything but the lights of the city. It was so cloudy that night that by the time the bus left to take us back down, we were actually in the clouds. That is a strange feeling being so high that you are in the clouds. During the Easter holiday that we were in Banos, a group of over 30,000 people walked from another town called Ambato to Banos as a procession for Easter. There were so many people that they closed the highway so that the people could walk overnight to the city and then have a special ceremony at the catholic church. We did see more people the next day but by the time we headed out to look around, most of them had left or gone to their hotels to sleep.
We also enjoyed going to a little fair, go-carting around the city and watching some crazy people bungy jump from the city bridge and enjoying some thermal pools that are heated by the volcano. It was a great little holiday for our family! Then we took a taxi truck from Banos back to Cuenca which took us 5 hours. We even took the back roads from Banos to Riobamba that had been washed out by the lava from the volcano explosion in 2006. It was crazy to see how much the volcano destroyed the country side, from houses, to trees to roads and even the river. Almost like I imagine it looks like on the moon. We did get to see a little video at the top of the lookout of the devastation right after it actually exploded. At least now the vegetation was growing back and houses were being cleaned up and the road was being reused. The only part about the trip is that it is very curvy roads going straight down that Ceara had some trouble keeping her breakfast down and by the time we got home, I was still feeling like I was moving back and forth.
Visit in Quito
While we were in Quito we were able to spend an afternoon with Nuvia and her kids. They had also taken a vacation to Quito to visit their family, aunts, uncles and cousins. So we took a day to meet at an amusement park where the kids got to go on a few rides and play a few games. Here is a picture of Hanna who won a toy puppy after getting the most ducks out of the pool. We weren't able to play long as it rained most of the time and some of the rides were closed but I think they all had a great time. You almost would have thought that they hadn't seen each other in months they way that yelled and screamed when they saw each other in Quito. Afterwards we went to the mall and treated them to McDonald's which they had never tried before and they also got to play in the playground too which they loved. It was fun to see them in a different place and see the joy they had at the amusement park as well as at McDonald's.
Another Trip to The Capital
Yes, we took another trip to Quito at the beginning of April. This time we went to be able to get our national id's (cedulas) which is like our version of a social security number. Unfortunately, when we got there we discovered that between the time Travis was there in December and April the laws changed again and the requirements also changed. There is not a formal way to get information like this through internet or other ways so we ended up going on a trip that didn't get us any closer to getting our cedulas.
Unfortunately, to get your cedula you have to have a residence visa and not just any visa. We have a missionary visa right now so we are not able to apply to get a cedula until we change to the residence visa. So we got to enjoy a few more days looking around Quito instead. When we got back to Cuenca we were able to hook up with a lawyer who is a cousin of friends of ours who is going to be helping us get this residence visas It may be a little difficult to get as we have to get a police check from both Canada and Brazil to show the last five years where we have lived. Hopefully, we can just do the Canadian part and not have to try to get stuff from Brazil as that will be quite a bit of work. So please be in prayer for this to happen easy and quickly. One other thing is that we have to renew Ceara's passport before we can do the visas so pray we can get this done quickly as well.
Baby Shower
When we first got to Ecuador we got to go to Chicho (Jaun Diego) and Anshy's (Andrea) wedding. Anshy is the oldest daughter of Bolo and Jenny. It was a great time of course until the end when Calen ended up in emergency after falling off a tractor and opening up a gash in his head. However, it was great to be a part of their family moment. On my birthday this year I was also able to be a part of another family moment as we celebrated the baby shower of Anshy. Yup, an unplanned honeymoon pregnancy and we will be welcoming their little girl, Maria Alejandra to their new family at the end of this month or the beginning of May. They of course wanted to wait a few year before having kids but sometimes other plans end up happening. They are very excited now to be adding to their family as are we to get to enjoy a baby around. Bolo and Jenny are of course ecstatic to have their first grandchild and even more so that she is a she. I was able to bless her and the baby shower by decorating the cake with little booties, flowers and hearts. As well, I made a little diaper cake that she enjoyed! Can't be a bad thing to get a bunch of diapers as gifts, since they can be quite expensive. Looking forward to Maria Alejandra's arrival and as soon as I can get a picture I'll be able to introduce her to you all. So please be praying for Chicho and Anshy in this new phase of life, that they will have a smooth birth and transition from a family of two to three in such a short time.
Carinval
Carnival here in Ecuador is much different then in Brazil. It's funny that in a country that is not really hot would be the country that celebrates the holiday with water. Yes, water! That means about two weeks before the actually holiday you need to be careful while walking around your neighborhood. As any moment you might get bombed by a water balloons from anywhere, cars, apartments or buses. It's crazy how much water gets used during this holiday. Our neighbors brought a whole bunch of kids over one day and spent the cold afternoon soaking each other. They use water guns, hoses, water balloons and buckets. As well as this specially made soap sprays in various colors. This picture is our neighbor driving by as the kids try to get their friend wet and he tries to get them wet.
At first our kids just cried when people would throw water on them or put the soap spray in their hair as they didn't understand what was happening. We bought them a kiddie pool and filled it with warm water so that they could actually enjoy the party. After a few days of repetitive getting soaked, they finally got the hang of it and in the end were enjoying the holiday. We even went to our neighbors for supper one night and we were doused in cornstarch after being wet. Makes for a long shower that night trying to get out the powder but fun none the less. So be prepared that if you chose to come visit in the month of February then be prepared for some wet days!
Manicures and Pedicures
One of the fun things about living in a third world country is that things here sometimes can be much cheaper. One of those things is a manicure and pedicure. Across the street from my house is a little salon. While Carol and Leah were here we treated ourselves to a girls day out where we all got our hands and feet done. To get your hands done it costs $3 and for feet it costs $5. Not bad when you consider back home and the prices there. Even Ceara came to get her feet done too which she loved. Of course I really haven't been there often as it's pretty busy since the prices even for the Ecuadorians is cheap. But it is nice to know that if I wanted to treat myself then I just need to pop across the street. I also got my hair done and for a cut and highlights it only cost $27. The question that I have is why is it so much cheaper to get your hands, feet and hair done in countries like Brazil and Ecuador but it costs so much more in Canada or the States? Travis can get his hair cut there for $3 and the lady does a great job. Also it had been a good way to reach out in the community as while we were there, we found out that the lady has a son the same age as Calen and her daughter who is 10 has been taking English so we have invited them to participate in our English classes. So even while taking time out for myself, God still shows us ways to reach out to the people in our community. Maybe I should head out right now to get my nails done? Well, maybe not right this moment. I'll try to get some more blogs posted instead!
Women's Conference
Every year Cuenca hosts a women's conference in January. This year the theme of the conference was 'Living Life Without Conflict' I of course got thrown into doing something for the conference which I willingly said yes to. That was to prepare the gifts for the ladies that come to the conference. I planned on making a few candle luminaries. However, I didn't realize that it was for more then 150 people, but with help from others in the church we were able to complete them and the women were delighted to take one home with them. As well, I got asked to prepare one of the classes for the conference. Little did I know I wouldn't receive the stuff I would need to prepare the class with less then two weeks to do it. However, with some help from Travis in translating and Nuvia to help correct it, I was able to give my first Spanish lesson to a group of more then 150. Leah was also asked to give a devotional one morning that was translated. It was a great experience and even better to meet so many new women from around the country of Ecuador. Hopefully, next year will be just as great!
Bus Tour
One of the fun things that we got to do while Len, Carol, Craig, Leah and Lena were here was take the bus tour of the city. We had been wanting to do that for awhile but had never gotten around to doing it. It is a double decker bus that takes a tour around the downtown area as well as near our neighborhood and a look from Turi which has a views of the whole city. The great thing about this tour is that you get a great view of the architectural buildings around the city as you get to sit on the top of the bus. It's a great view as you get to be right up close to the buildings. When your walking you get a bit of the view but it doesn't compare with almost being able to touch the carvings, feel the mosaic tiles and see the tops of the roofs. And then to top it all off, you get to take a break at the top of Turi and view the entire city from just one spot. It's pretty amazing and I would go everytime that someone comes to visit. Anyone planning a visit anytime soon? Hope so! And don't forget to bring a good camera so you can get all the beautiful shots of the buildings in Cuenca, but be careful not to get caught by the many wires that cross the path of the road or get smacked by the tree branches as we go by! Those are the only down sides of the bus tour. But let me tell you it's a great thing to look forward to when you come for a visit. Can't wait to go again!