6:30am
Our team’s alone this month working at a ministry that serves as a center for children. Our British and Ecuadorian host and hostess live on this property. It’s also got a small classroom, kitchen and mega dining room for our use, computer lab, and huge room to hold 50-100 kids.
7:30am
Leave for school. In the mornings we’re split into two groups to teach English at two local schools. This means we show up in the classroom and are handed a textbook and told to teach—on the good days. Most days the teacher tells us to do whatever we want, whatever we have prepared (nothing), or whatever we feel like. Limited planning time and constant new directions make it really hard to prepare, so we teach on-the-spot lessons to students anywhere from barely walking to 7th grade. There are a lot of vocabulary pronunciation practices, singing “Jesus Loves Me,” comparing the cultures of our two countries, and playing Hang Man.
8:30am
On Mondays we don’t go to the schools. We teach English to some students who come to the ministry. Then we spend the day doing manual labor (painting, grounds work, etc) around the compound.
9:30am
Monday is also our one laundry day a week. Our host has a washing machine but forget everything you know about washing machines. You put in the clothes, soap, and water and set the dial for twelve minutes. Then you have to drain the tub, put the clothes in the centrifuge and dry them, then refill the washing machine and put the clothes in for 9 minutes. After it runs for nine minutes, you empty it, centrifuge the clothes, and reset it for 6 minutes. It’s impossible to accomplish anything else while doing laundry.
10:30am
The weather here is usually nice and sunny in the morning and then raining in the afternoon. Weather can change in an instant too. Transportation is really inconvenient in the rain because we have to ride in the back of our host’s pick up truck.
11:30am
Sundays are our one day off per week. One Sunday we celebrated Mother’s Day with our host’s family (he’s British; she’s Ecuadorian). Another Sunday we were blessed by some missionary friends of Jaide’s family who took us to our first English church services in five months, the equator, and fed us hamburgers. Our third Sunday we’re hiking another volcano.
12:30pm
At noon we head home for our lunch break. One school is a ten-minute walk from our ministry compound so that group stops to pick up bread and water from the local bakery on the way home. The other group requires a bus ride back and they don’t usually get home until 12:45.
1:30pm
Lunch and our daily meeting with our host to go over the plan for the afternoon. We’re cooking for ourselves this month so lunch is leftovers, sandwiches, or other easy meals. In terms of weird local food, we’ve had cow stomach, guinea pig, a sea-urchin-like fruit, and hot chocolate with mozzarella cheese.
2:30pm
The doors open for VBS. We start the afternoon with basketball and soccer until everyone shows up. We usually have between 25 and 40 kids from the community.
3:30pm
Kayla and I co-teach computer class. Sometimes Kay, Brie, or Karen join us. A lot of what we’re teaching is how to use the right keys, how to write in English, and other similar ideas. It’s hard because even within the age groups the kids are at extremely different levels.
4:30pm
A Bible study lesson led by our host. We’ve been studying Moses and acting things out on the spot. Our host sometimes asks them questions. If they get it right, they get to throw water at the America tied to a chair.
5:30pm
We line up outside the door for a hug from each child before he or she leaves. This is the highlight of my day, of course. Some of them are really good huggers… some of them not so much. Mostly they stand in front of us and we have to wrap our arms around them. Two really short kids walked right up to me once and leaned forward so their foreheads were on my thighs… Well, I guess that’s kind of like a hug.
6:30pm
Half of the group works on dinner and the other half teaches yet another English class. Our host is British so it’s good for the students to hear another accent.
7:30pm
On Saturdays the youth from the community come over from 6:30-9pm for youth group—more basketball and soccer, a testimony, and some board games.
8:30pm
Dinner and team time. On Mondays and Thursdays we’re doing Bible studies as a group.
9:30pm
Our team (Abundant Joy aka AJ) is working together for the first time. This means there’s a lot of getting-to-know-you conversations and endless storytelling and question asking as we build relationships together.
10:30pm
Bed time. The beds here are only covered with a comforter, no sheets or blankets. It’s kind of weird but we got used to it. After a few nights of not being able to get my temperature right, I pulled out my sleeping bag liner and added it as the sheet. I sleep over Brie in a really unstable bunk bed. Any time either of us move, the other feels an earthquake. My bed is not touching the wall on any side. I feel like I’m on an island and falling out is a very legitimate fear. There’s a nice indent in the middle of the bed where I sleep every single night.
(PS: Yes, this post is late. I’m currently in Panama but since this never got posted, I wanted to give you an idea of what our time in Ecuador looked like. Panama’s a lot more relaxed but that’s another post for another day).
