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Travel Journal: Cuenca, Day 10

     Such a long day. I'm wiped out. I didn't end up teaching tonight at youth group because we got back from the outreach so late (thought I'd get back between 4 and 5... it was after 8 pm). It worked out alright though, and we really did have a great day.

     Got up at 5:45 to be out the door by 6:30 to pack the cars and leave for Suscal at 7. We got to the town at about 9:15 and our caravan of vehicles stopped for a cafecito which included two giant portions of chibiles (corn meal and cheese wrapped in a husk). The coffee was great once we put sugar in it (almost everyone drinks it that way so I'm normal here, not a pansy) but I could barely eat the other thing. I could smell the cheese coming from a mile away and it made my stomach turn when I accidentally got a mouthful of it.

     Dairy products are the one thing I cannot do here (besides ice cream of course). They are made with a ton of preservatives - milk is sold in unrefrigerated cartons and will stay good for months. All kinds of milk and cheese have the same funky aftertaste to me. This week I found out that the funkiness is formaldehyde. Thus ended my attempted consumption of Ecuadorian dairy products. Of course, this meant that I got severely made fun of for hardly eating anything today at second breakfast, but what else is new?

The ride in to Suscal was absolutely incredible:

RAINBOW

CLOUDS

I REPEAT, WE WERE DRIVING THROUGH CLOUDS

Then the Christmas programs and gift giveaways:

Puppet show! Papa Noel shared with the kids that his friend Jesus is the one who brings joy and peace on Christmas.

Capturing every moment!

Apparently there is a Christmas song about a burrito that everyone knows...

These guys were troopers. They did their bit 4+ times today, twice in the rain.

Another one of my favorite photos. We crammed into all the trucks on our drives to the next community. And we feared for Isma's life while he was perching on the tailgate and taking selfies. 

Isma teaching Kasen to use a trompo, a traditional Ecuadorian toy. I was a natural - nailed it on the first try. A miracle, really.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I had another "is this really my life?" moment when I was eating chicken and rice, leaning on the tailgate of a truck, looking up at the mountains and being surrounded by cool misty air. I'm glad we got to participate in this kind of outreach, and I'm glad I got to do it with the friends I made over the summer! 

     Also, this trip has done wonders for my Spanish, praise God. Today I rattled off a question to Sabri and then Christian and Jenny (the clowns in the picture above) asked me if I spoke Spanish. I laughed and said "un poco." Then she laughed, and scoffed, and repeated what I had just said to Sabri, like, "Yeah sure, just un poco." It made me feel so good. I get made fun of because I don't talk much (though that's kind of true in either language), but I'm loads more confident about using what I do know and much less embarrassed to admit that I don't understand something. I was able to carry on a full conversation with one of the leaders from Suscal who accompanied us today, and I translated for Tiffany while we were in the truck. I'm so happy to be able to SEE improvement. (Two of my life goals: become fluent, and then teach my kids.)

     I catnapped all the way home, trying not to think about how long it had been since we stopped at a bathroom and when/if I was going to eat dinner. Tiffany and I got separated into different cars so I was dropped off at the curb at tv station and decided to wander over to church to see if there were still people there. It was another fleeting moment of slight panic, because I had zero way to get in contact with Tiffany, buses don't run that late, and I knew I couldn't give a taxi driver directions to the house. Thankfully, I caught the end of youth group and grabbed a ride home from Bobby and Lori. Thank you Leeks!

     There was so much "doing" today that there wasn't a whole lot of reflecting. Which is kind of nice. since I've been wallowing in my thoughts for a few days. It was starting to get suffocating. I'm planning on going to Miguel's church tomorrow and possibly going to El Cajas. We shall see. Nothing much has been going according to plan, but as long as I'm rested I'm 100% down for going with the flow. 

Final thoughts: 

1. Finishing the post an hour earlier than the usual cut off = celebration.
2. I'm very much looking forward to reuniting with my home church squad in a week.
3. "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Prayer request every day of my life. Today is no exception. 


Buenas noches, Dios te bendiga.
Mucho amor de Cuenca <3

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