Trip to Guayaquil...

Day off, whoo!! And I’m at the temple! Ha! There is a man at the visitor’s center who just asked if I was a mother and if I was married. Great! We left at 5:30am from Cuenca and drove a very winding road to Guayaquil. Our driver is Edgar but goes by Negro. We stopped at the top of this winding hill to see nothing but clouds below. It was so cool! I literally felt like I was on top of the world. Then down the hill we went, below the clouds. The road was winding all the way down until we hit Guayaquil. Now I’m just waiting for the girls to be done, with this man trying to talk to me in Spanish. Hope they hurry up!

  

 

 

  

 

After the temple we went to an iguana park and lighthouse. The iguana park was gross! There’s just a bunch of iguana’s walking around, in the tops of trees, and then there were tons of birds. It was cool enough for a picture but that’s about it. The lighthouse was awesome! Walked about 500 stairs to get there but we made it. Guayaquil is huge. I t was so beautiful with the many colored houses and shops. Crazy to think it’s so beautiful but in reality it’s a dump. Everything is run down. There’s no sense of up keep or renovations. There’s garbage on the rooftops, on the streets, but yet, it’s still so beautiful. You have to look at the bigger picture to see its real beauty.

 

 

 

 

  

   

 

   

 

   

 

We headed back home after the light house and ended up getting pulled over at a police stop. Vanessa, Mekai, Cara, and Ashley didn’t have their passports with them. What?! Who travels around in another country without their passports?! Negro had to pay the police man $20 to let us go. What an experience that was!

 

  

 

 

 The "Oh, Shit!" Bar

It was good to travel to another city and check out the sights…even if it was to the temple! Successful day off!

**We later found out there was a stand-off at the lighthouse just after we had left. Negro knew about it and was very sneaky about taking us a certain route so we wouldn’t be involved. Apparently, there was a man at the top by the lighthouse who had another person at gun point. As we were leaving we saw 2 police men running up the 500 stairs and wondered what was going on. Also, how long it would take to run up 500 stairs! Come to find out… a man with a gun was about 10 minutes behind us! Thank goodness! After knowing this, no group is allowed in Guayaquil anymore!

What de Heck...

Morning Shift – Casa Esperanza

Tias are Clara and Jenny. Some routine but we’re getting faster. One child after the next. It’s like an assembly line. I did an activity today which was making pizzas. After we helped the children make them, we taped them to their wheelchairs. They looked so cute! I taped big Bryan’s to his bib, Maria Jose’s to her pillow, Roman’s to his belt, and the rest on their wheelchairs. So fun! This morning Nancy was teaching me La Cucaracha. She would laugh every time I messed up. She always says, “Holy Cow! What de Heck! It’s so cute!” It’s so funny! She learned them all from volunteers! Laura and I were going back and forth making sounds to another. It’s so cute when she says, “WOW!” Laura is motherly. She likes to care for her baby and make sure everyone is okay. She wanted to take little Bryan for a walk yesterday. She held him as I pushed her wheelchair. It’s great to see her care for others. All the children in Casa E are great. I love all of them! It is fun to see their quirks now that I’ve been here a week.

Afternoon Shift – Casa Milagros

Nothing too exciting happened. I hung out with Sinai (his nickname is Sinacho) and then did lots of walks for everyone. Laura was being cute with big Bryan. She was whispering to him and he would smile his big smile. She was telling him I was loco but she says it “coco”. He would laugh and smile. They were buddies this afternoon. Martin Chavez wanted to make friendship bracelets but Mekai and I couldn’t make out what he was saying. He gets so frustrated when we don’t understand him. Finally, Cara came and figured out how to make it for him. Roman was stubborn eating his soup for dinner. You can’t even force feed the kid. He’s so stubborn and takes forever! Dinner for me was eggs and toast. I don’t even know what to make. They’re food is much different than back home so it’s hard to tell what the ingredients are. We cleaned house and then I talked to Steph and Zach. Tomorrow is day off, yay!!

Nueva Cathedral...

 My favorite in all of Cuenca... The Blue Domes

 

 

Gwena * Kirstin * Cara * Jenn * Vanessa * Mekai * Ashley

But first, let me take a selfie!

It was the perfect day to walk the stairs up to the top of Nueva Cathedral!

Teletubbies...

Morning Shift - Casa Alegria

The tia is Teri. She is strict but nice. Breakfast was done and half the children were changed. Bryan and Dayana needed to be changed still. Manuel, Cristian, and Jhon were getting ready for church. I helped Teri with Cecilia. 8:30am we go to an LDS church with some of the children; Manuel, Cristian, Jhon, Laura, Nancy, Christian, and Martin Chavez goes with the Bishop’s family. We only stay for sacrament. Jhon sat on my lap and I showed him the hand game that my dad did to me during church. Afterwards, we went back to OSSO and got the children out of their church clothes. Gwena had an activity so we stayed inside for that. The children made cute glasses out of pipe cleaners. We had a mirror so the children could see themselves. Jhon loved that! He loved the mirror and looking at himself. The children had lunch and just played amongst themselves. We got done at 11:45am which was a record! Teri kicks butt at getting things done!

Afternoon Shift – Cunas at Tadeo Torres

Cunas is next door at Tadeo Torres. We take 6 toddlers to La Sala which is the play room for the afternoon. Toddlers are Andy, Pedro, Ishmael, Wilson, Abigail, Neythan, and Khaytting. Neythan and Khaytting are siblings. We played with blocks, books, put them in jumpers, and watched Teletubbies in Spanish. Wilson loves watching Teletubbies! At 5pm we take them to the kitchen to feed them, a big bowl of soup with rice and chicken. Pedro kept choking because the chicken pieces were so big and there was so much to eat. No matter what the age, everyone gets the same size servings and it’s all served with an adult table spoon. No baby spoons here! After eating soup and their drink, we get them ready for bed; brush teeth, change diapers, put on pajamas, and put them into bed. Cunas uses bug nets over their beds. The tias here put so much clothing on these little ones, it is insane! Diapers (some wear 2), tights/stockings, onesie (they call them bodies), shirt, footed pajamas, and a sweater. I’d be sweating!! We got done early at Cunas so we went to Casas to help them. Casas is another house at Tadeo. They have young children, 4 years old and older. Casas is crazy! There are so many children with little supervision. We attempted to help brush teeth and put on pajamas but it was too crazy. Once it turned 6pm we were out of there! Katie made us dinner, some sort of chili stew with homemade rolls. It was delish! Tomorrow I work morning shift and then have the afternoon shift off. I think we’re going to the zoo! Here’s to having a shift off!

The Routine...

Morning Shift - Casa Esperanza

The tias are Corina and Clara. I helped the children in the bathroom so the tia could bathe them. I helped put clothes on the children and apply deodorant and lotion. I helped put them in their chairs, buckle them in, put on shoes, put on sunscreen, do the girls hair, and brush their teeth. Outside we went for walks and played musical chairs. Papilla (a snack) was green jello with banana. I fed Roman, who takes forever to eat! Lunch was at 11:30am. I helped with taking shoes off, put on bibs, and wash hands. I fed Martin Brito. After feeding we brush teeth and put them to bed (Edison, Martin, Vanesa, and Lucy goes on the mat).

Afternoon Shift - Casa Milagros

The tia is Sylvia. She is the sweetest lady. I love her! I put on shoes and sunscreen and went outside. We all just chilled this afternoon. I helped Roman score some goals playing soccer. I did lots of walks with the children. Christian was into using the sidewalk chalk. Jorge and Luis stayed on the tire swings pretty much the whole time. I held baby Antony for part of the afternoon. I love that boy to pieces! He totally has my heart! At 4:30pm the children come in for dinner. I helped carry the boys to the bathroom to change into pajamas. I bib the boys and help feed Roman and Cosme. Then, brush teeth and get ready for bed. These boys stay up later because they’re older, so you play with them until 6pm when it’s time to go.

Six of us went to Monay Shopping for some pizza. I got Hawaiian which was delicious! $6.30 for personal pizza at La Fornace. I got a scoop of Mango gelato for $1! I came home, showered, did chores, and now in bed. It was a good day! I was tired but still was a good day. Here’s to learning more Spanish and remembering routines! Buenos Noches!

 

 Ashley was excited for her KFC chicken

 

The sunset as we were getting home