Month 5 started as we came back from Dunamis, where we were working in the mountains during Christmas and New Years. We came back on a Wednesday, and spent Thursday & Friday at team Rooted’s ministry- “Pan De Vida”. Morgan, Arielle and I cleaned a lot of their space as they had just hosted a big outreach program for Christmas. We also helped them post photos from the Christmas event onto their social media’s. That Friday, we sat in their attic and made their January bulletin boards. The next day, my team took a little day trip to Otavalo, which is the largest artisan market in South America. We woke up super early and walked down to the bus station to catch a public bus that drove us 2 hours away from Quito. The drive was so beautiful because we were surrounded by mountains all the way there. The market was huge! We got lost wandering through a maze of vendors selling all sorts of Ecuadorian things. I spent some Christmas money on pants, headbands, a T-shirt, and some handmade jewelry. We had so much fun. The next day was spent at the mall, getting WiFi and discovering the BEST burger place I’ve eaten at on the race! Shoutout to RockMe Burgers at Condado mall!!!
So Monday, it was back to our normal ministry at our high school that we teach at. It has definitely been difficult due to lack of communication between the teachers and us. I’m not gonna lie, it really hasn’t been our favorite ministry so far, but we are pushing through. We spent that week at that school, it’s called Jess Christian Academy. After that week, we left Quito again for our mid-point debrief, which is our halfway mark! We spent the week in Banõs, Ecuador, which was a 4 hour drive away. This place was so beautiful, it’s right underneath a volcano, and had waterfalls surrounding the town. Our squad mentor and coaches flew out from Georgia to come be with us. We did a lot of sessions and we were processing the first half of the Race. We talked about what was hard, what was easy, what was fun, etc. The entire week was really relaxing. Honestly, I felt like I was on a much needed vacation where I didn’t have to think about anything. While we were there, some of us went Canyoning, which was like repelling down waterfalls. It was hard and scary and I think that I realized then that I had a fear of heights! But overall it was a really cool experience… but the water was freezing!! We also had a squad fun night. All of us dressed up and had a tacky “Prom night”. We even got a party bus and danced while it drove us around town. Like I said, debrief was really fun and a nice get away. When we returned to Quito, my team found out that we would now be going to another school as an addition to Jess. The new school is called ISM, and we love it! It is a really nice private school where the students and teachers are all really welcoming and excited for us to be there. We are really working on building relationships with the students while helping them with their English, as well as helping the teachers out in any way that we can. So Monday, Wednesday & Friday, we were at Jess, and on Tuesday and Thursday we were now at ISM. It was weird, going back and forth everyday and experiencing such a drastic change in our school environment with the two campuses.
So that week, we did something really fun on Friday. We always have our “fun Friday” team times, where we are supposed to do something fun together as a team. Most of the time, we are really tired at the end of the week and just end up watching a movie. But, this week we went to this really fun place called “Mr Joy”. It’s basically a children’s play place with jungle gyms, bumper cars, ice skating , slides, and a big ball pit! We had an absolute blast for 2 HOURS! I’ve also had a sushi addiction this month, like.. I can’t stop eating it. Also, I’ve been making popcorn non stop- I’ve found it to be the perfect after ministry snack. Anyway, Monday February 3rd, was our last day at Jess School. They are starting exams and won’t be needing us for the next few weeks. So, the rest of our time in Ecuador will he spent at ISM. My team is so excited to finish out our ministry here.
I guess that sums up month 5! I’m
Now officially in month 6 of my race and I’m more than halfway done. My parents come out to see my this month. I’m so ready to hug
them! February is my last month in Ecuador before my squad goes to Asia. Stay tuned for more blogs & thank yo for checking in!
Sam
