And we’re off!
My World Race journey has officially begun. After spending several days in Atlanta for more training, my squad arrived in Ecuador on Saturday afternoon, January 10th. We have one team at the Pacific coast, one team in the rainforest, one team traveling throughout the country meeting new contacts, and the rest of us are in the capital city of Quito for the month.
Fun fact about Quito: it’s the most elevated city along the entire equator. We’re in the Andes mountains about a mile and a half above sea level here. We’re also at the widest part of the earth, so we’re closer to the sun here than anywhere else. You feel the sun more intensely here, and a few of my squadmates have developed some vicious sunburns. Any UMW softball players reading this will be pleased to know that I’m still captaining Team Sunscreen and have been wearing SPF 55 every day.
The intensity of the sun makes it pretty warm here when the sky is clear. However, we’re also at a high elevation and can see several snow-capped peaks from where we are, which means we get very cool breezes throughout the day. It’s positively chilly when the sun is behind the clouds. I now expect that I will be both hot and cold daily, and at some point during the day will wish that I were wearing either more or less.
If you haven’t already guessed from the last paragraph, there are some amazing views here to accompany the temperature fluctuations. We’re surrounded by mountains, which are gorgeous, and the city lights along the mountainsides are beautiful at night. Being at the equator also means that things grow here year-round, so there are all kinds of plants and flowers.
So, what are we doing here, anyway? My team is serving with an organization called Inca Link, which encompasses various ministries in Ecuador and a few other South American countries. Specifically, we’re working with Casa Elizabeth and Casa Adalia. The former is a home for pregnant teenagers, and the latter works with women who have been trafficked.
Before we arrived, the only information we had about our ministry for the month was that we would be working with teenagers and women at risk from sexual abuse, violence, and prostitution. I didn’t really know what to expect from that. Three days in, here’s a short list of things my teammates and I have done so far:
- Manual labor (note to future World Racers: pack some work gloves – I wish I had!)
- Combing for lice
- Sanding and painting cabinets
- Holding babies
- Accompanying someone to a gynecologist appointment
- Weeding and leveling a plot of ground for a garden
- Cleaning floors and ceilings
- Sanding and varnishing church pews
- Pulling grass from between flagstones
- Watching a Korean soap opera dubbed into Spanish
The moral of the story so far is to show up ready for anything. I’m guessing that’s probably a good lesson to carry with me for the next eleven months, too.
