I’ve officially been in Ecuador for a week now and in Conocoto for 3 days. The area is still technically Quito, but we’re staying on the outskirts of town surrounded by open land filled with cows, and towered over by huge mountains. It’s idillic.
This month we’re living in a church. They’ve cordoned off half of the building with a huge black tarp and set up three queen mattresses for us inside. It barely fits our bags but we aren’t complaining considering it’s only month one and these are probably some of the best
living conditions well get on the race. We even have a hot shower! Yes it is in an outhouse, but a hot shower!
The climate is also incredible. The weather is a lot less wet than Quito. It’s sunny during the day, but with a breeze and always cold at night, but not utterly unbearably so.
Our ministry this month is spilt between building the new church and childrens ministry. So far we’re still getting into a groove but we’re getting the hang of it, so I thought I’d share with you what a day in our life looks like.
6:30-7 am : Wake up, hate that I have to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag but do so anyway
7-8 am: Devotions, exercise, etc.8-9 am: Breakfast with coffee or hot chocolate. We’re usually confused by what is placed on the table and how they go together but we eat it anyway, usually to Vanessa, the sweet woman who cooks for us’ giggles.
9-12: Work on the new church down the street, laying cinderblocks or digging the sptic hole. Usually wonder if Salvador is mad or just kidding overtime we try a new task. Fail miserably at Spanish and do things like mistake a woman for being pregnant, she wasn’t by the
way.
12-3 pm: Lunch then siesta time. Drink coke, blog, sleep, journal, Yedida will probably be playing Mary had a little lamb on the piano over and over again. It’s like naptime in kindergarten all over again except this time I enjoy it!
3-6 pm: Split up half of us work with the children, who typically stare at us with blank faces and the other half go back to work on the
church again.
6-7 pm: Dinner
8-11 pm: Team time, Cathy Time (feedback), bed. These happen at least somewhere in this time frame. Usually it starts later because
Pastor Rafael is praying for us or Milton and his buddies are showing us some weird cow and hippo video online.
11 pm: Fall into bed, pray no-one try to break in in case our security system, a rock in front of an unlocked door, fails.
Stayed tuned for more to come on our time here in Ecuador!
