Day Trip

Since the kids had a little break from school, we decided that we wanted to get out of the city and check out this beautiful country.  So, yesterday we went on a little day trip with a few friends of ours.  First we stopped and bought some of these.  They are really good.  They are kinda like a pie pastry.  They are called Bizcochos.  Sorry the picture isn't very good, I took it through the window.

  

 

Then we were on our way to see a waterfall.  On the way there I saw some ladies doing their laundry. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the waterfall.  (Cascada Peguche)

You would not believe how many ladies I saw with high heels hiking up to this waterfall.  Those heels just looked so painful to me.  We had a really great day and saw so many pretty things that it was hard for me to pick out which pictures to put on here.  I'm only going to post a few and then maybe a few more tomorrow.  I think I took about 400 pictures.  I'm not kidding.  Here are a few more from our day. 

This is a roadside stand.

I know this looks fake, but it's real.  This is a hog.  These were all along the street in a small little town that we went to.  I think the name of the town was Cotocachi.  This little town is known for their leather.

We met this little lady begging on the street.  So sad. But check out that smile.  Why can't we all be this happy?  She has nothing but she is still smiling.

I saw these little girls at a lake that we went to.  They are all sisters.

This is a cemetery in a little town that we went through.  The cemeteries were crowed with people yesterday due to the holiday.  (day of the dead)  This picture was taken about six last night.  

Can't leave out our little gringo missionary kids.

On the way home we went by this little Assembly of God church and met the pastora.  Yes, a woman pastors this church.  I believe the name of this little town was Otavalo.

Sunday Oct. 31, 2010

We had the privilege to go to church with Phil and Deanna Barber yesterday in South Quito.  It was a  6 year anniversary service for a church that Phil helped start and build.  (The church was built by the Arkansas district.)  Phil preached and then there was some special singing.  One being a mariachi band.  I believe that the mariachi band is a mexico tradition but we have now seen them in Costa Rica and Ecuador.  I'm not real sure because I have not done that much research about it.  They only have these bands for special occasions, like birthdays or anniversaries.  Here are a few pics from the day and a video of the band.

This is Phil, Deanna, and Pastor Eric.

Sorry the video isn't the greatest.  It was taken with our little camera.  We forgot the Flip video.  

Thanks Phil and Deanna for the invite.  We had a great time.

We have been looking for some artwork for our walls.  We have came across many that we like but they were so expensive and we didn't want to pay that much for a painting.  Every time we would find something we would decide to just keep looking.  At a park here in Quito they set up artwork around the park and then there is a little Feria inside the park with crafts and such.  So, on the way home yesterday, we drove by they park and saw lots of beautiful artwork.  We decided to park and get out and look.  Look what we got for a really great price.  All we have to do is have it framed.  I love it!

Also, yesterday here in Ecuador, was the day of the dead.  If you want to read more about this tradition please read here.  On the day of the dead they eat bread dolls and drink some kinda mora juice.  No, we did not take part in this cultural experience.

A Rainbow of Colors

Megan got her permanent cast on yesterday and we found out that she only has to wear it for three weeks.  She was very happy about that because she is going on an overnight field trip.  She was afraid that she would still have her cast on and wouldn't have any fun.  But good news, she gets it off two days before they leave.  We actually had to see two doctors yesterday because of some mix up in the appointment.  The first doctor only spoke Spanish but he didn't have time to wait for the x- ray because he was going out of town.  So after the x-ray we had to see another doctor, who spoke English.  And he was a really nice doctor.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  They don't do colored cast here, or at least they didn't at this clinic.  We decided that we would go buy some colored Sharpies so Meg's friends could make her cast beautiful.

Before the Sharpies.

After the Sharpies.

My tutoring went really well yesterday and I'm so glad that I decided to take more Spanish lessons.  I am excited about learning and relearning Spanish.  It's amazing how much I had already forgotten.  I told Shannon that if he wasn't going to do any tutoring that I wanted to do it twice a week.  But I think he has decided that he wants to take some classes.

If you didn't know, Ecuador only has two seasons, wet and dry.  There is no Fall.  Fall is my favorite time of the year.  (I know I have already said this like a thousand times) I love the weather, the colors, and the decor.  They don't really have any fall decor here, so I decided that I would try and make my own.  I had to go to three different places to get all the things that I needed.  And I did this without any styrofoam or a hot glue gun.  All the flowers were the same length and I needed some taller so I duct taped some of them together.  I think it turned out ok for my first flower arrangement.  Shannon said, "I didn't know you could do that."  I told him that desperate times call for desperate measures.

My mom bought me the fall place mates right before we left and I'm so glad that she did.  It brings back memories of home.  I love it!  Oh and I even have candy corn.  It doesn't get any better than this.

Pico y Placa en Quito

We have a little thing here called pico y placa every week.  Pico meaning peak hours of traffic and placa meaning your license plate.  Here in the city there are restrictions on the days that you are allowed to drive in rush hour traffic.  Here is a picture of one of the many signs that you see all over the city.

Here is how it works.  The hours of restriction are 7:00a.m.-9:30a.m. and 4:00p.m.-7:30p.m.  How do you know which day is your restriction day?  Well if you notice in the picture it says:
LUN-(Monday) 1 and 2
MAR- (Tuesday) 3 and 4
and so on.  Every license plate number ends with the number 1through 0. So, for example, our license plate ends with a 4 so, we can't drive on Tuesday.  If your license plate number ends with a 0, you wouldn't be able to drive on Friday.  I think you get the point.

The Multas (fines) are as follows:
first time offense $80 and your auto impounded for 1 day.
second time offense $120 and your auto impounded for 3 days.
third time offense $240 and your auto impounded for 5 days.
(I have heard that the impoundment of your auto is more but this is what I found online.)

The traffic here is horrible and I can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't have the restrictions.  From what I have heard, not really sure, they have just started this this year.  I have also heard rumors of having the restriction all day.  We will see.

I just wanted to share a little about our lives here in Quito. And the cultural experiences that we face.

Oh before I forget here is another little "about our lives in Quito".  (this one is funny)
When you go to a public restroom here you have to get your toilet paper before you go in the stall.  They have toilet paper dispensers hanging on the wall right when you walk int he door.  Some of them are automatic, now that is fancy.  Sometimes they are outside and you have to pay for it.  And if you forget to get your TP before you use the restroom, you are just out of luck. Yes, this takes getting use to.

It just so happens that I have a picture of this.  This dispenser is outside and you have to pay for your TP. 

Well, there you have it folks.  All you wanted to know about Quito and more. 

Party and 10K

We got invited to a birthday party for one of Megan's friends from school.  It was a party for the whole family.  So, we met at the mall at 3:00 p.m. and went bowling.  This family is from Japan and it was so weird to speak Spanish to a Japanese family.   It was a really fun little party.  I'm glad that we were able to be part of celebrating Ayano's birthday.

Who's says that a girl with a broke arm can't bowl?

After the party Shannon headed out for his first 10k.  This is Shannon after the race.

There were about 35,000 people that ran in this race.  The streets were crazy.  We spent two hours driving trying to get to a place to see Shannon.  It's really hard to navigate in this city with all the one way streets and then some of the streets were closed for the race.  Needless to say, we didn't ever see him.  Megan said next time we are going to buy him a hot pink hat so he would stand out.  The race started at 7 and we finally picked him up at 8:30.  He really enjoyed the race and can't wait to do it again.

Shannon had the opportunity to preach today in a small church outside the city.  He said it went really well and three people got saved.  I didn't get to go.  (see prayer requests)

Prayer Requests:
*My grand daddy has had a stroke and is in the hospital in Hot Springs.  It's really hard being so far from home.  Please pray that he can regain his strength and will be able to live at home, not a nursing home.
      *I just received this picture from my cousin.  He looks like he is doing better.  PTL!

*We have some friends, not naming names, that are getting ready to make the transition into the country of their calling.  I'm not going to say where they are going because it's a sensitive country.  But the country is unstable and talks of a possible war.  I can't imagine what is going through their minds right now.  We did have the opportunity to talk to them and they just need peace.  Please pray for this family's  safety and that they will be able to do what God has called them to do.

*I have been having some back issues for almost two weeks now.  I have been taking all kinds of medicines and doing therapy.  After driving in all the traffic last night, my back has been really bad today.  I didn't realize that I would be stuck in traffic for two hours.  And the fact that we have a standard didn't help either.  Please pray that my back gets better soon.  I don't do so well having to stay down.

New to the prayer requests:
I just found out that a friend of ours that is a MA in El Salvador has lost her grandpa.  She isn't sure if she is going to be able to go home or not.  Please pray for her and the rest of the Carter family.

Couldn't leave Ethan out of this post.  So here is my only son enjoying himself bowling.  And of course, supporting the Razorbacks.

Broken Bone Take 2

We have another broken bone in the house and this time it's......Megan.

Tuesday 10/19/10 9:50 p.m.
Megan:  Dad can you come here, I need you.
Shannon:  What's the matter?
Megan:  (crying) I hurt my arm.
Shannon:  What did you do?
Megan:  I was doing flips and I heard it pop.

By this time I had walked into her room because I heard her crying.  Shannon and I looked at her arm and know that it's probably broke and that she needed to go to the hospital.  By this time it's 10:00.  It just so happens that we had bought a map of the city that day.  So we looked up the hospital that we needed to go to and we all went to the hospital.  When we arrived at the hospital they got us right in and I think we were home by 11:45.  Pretty good, huh?  And, yes, it was broke.  She is wearing a temporary cast and has another appointment on Monday at 6:30 to get a permanent cast.  6:30 is a crazy time for a Dr.'s appointment, huh?  I will let you know how it goes.

We've got gas!

We have 3 of these little blue guys.  They are our source of heat, our source for baking, and our source of drying our clothes.  This is how you buy propane gas in this country.  The cylinder costs about 50 bucks and then a truck comes around and sells refills.  Guess how much the refill costs?   $2.50 can you believe that?  We bought our first two tanks when we moved into our apartment about 6 weeks ago and they are still almost full.  We had a choice to either buy a gas dryer or an electric dryer.   We decided on  gas because it would be cheaper and I'm so glad that we did.  I love to save money!