community dinner.

I thought the adventure in today was going to be my first day of Spanish class.  I thought wrong. Instead of being overwhelmed by the intense newness of Spanish…I was overwhelmed by the intense newness of cooking. 

Community Dinner. 

Maybe when we discussed the idea and responsibility behind community dinners [cooking with a partner for all 11 girls, happening twice a week], I happened to fall into my overconfident, “I can conquer the world” personality…

Holy G Force Batman!  Cooking is A LOT of work.  [props to you momma!] Michaella & I were in charge of whipping up the first family dinner for our entire house tonight.  Thank goodness she is a cooking goddess & had some great ideas.  We snapped our fingers and produced a table full of chicken tacos with a vegetable stir fry, white rice, and fried cinnamon apples for dessert. 

Folks at home...be impressed.  I'll prove my newfound cooking skills when I return.  

I love family dinner because we are ALL TOGETHER [it also slightly reminds me of floor dinner which makes my heart happy].  I live with some pretty amazing people and it was such a blessing to share yet another meal with them.  Friends and food…a combination with which you can almost never go wrong. 

And random but hilarious moment of the day: 

Apparently when you’ve been immersed in South American culture for a while you don’t always hear about the latest and greatest slang.  I said “NBD” in a conversation with Kim & Jenna [my RC & RA] and Kim commented, “What is that….uhhh… nothing bothers…dad?” ha! [Big Mike…thought you’d get a kick out of that one!]

trin love.

I LOVE Sundays. 

All we did today was walk to church and make a trip to the grocery store before having the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted.  I spent the afternoon/evening hanging out with some housemates and SKYPING!  I finally got to see some of the beautiful faces I’ve been missing…even teared up a bit when the internet caught up and I got to hear the voices of my loves.  [big surprise there... ha]

[roomie love]

[miss those laughs in person <3]

tourism & mountain adventures.

Oh yeah adventure day yeahhhhh. 

This morning we traveled to THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD.  That’s right, people, I spent time in both hemispheres at once this AM.  Tourism at its best. 

[my beautiful RA, Jenna, & I]

Then, after a couple hours smashed between some of my roomies in the back of a sun colored van-bus, we arrived at Mindo to spend the afternoon flying through the wildlife of the mountains of Quito on 13 zip lines in the rain.  IT WAS SO FUN.  [Muy divertido!] I’ve been zip lining before, but words cannot even express how incredible this was.  On one of the longer zip lines, I got the chance to go “Mariposa” or butterfly.  I went upside down with the guide behind me holding my legs up in the air.  [sounds weird…but trust me, it wasn’t].  I SCREAMED SO LOUD. 

 [Jenna, Bonnie, me, & Kayla]

 [out the window on the bus ride home]

As we do crazy funtivities, I can’t help but think, “Holy crap.  I live here.”  Not only did I get to spend this week with some pretty wonderful people doing crazy awesome things… I get to stay.  

 [dusk on the roof of our apartment]

the hunt.

Today was NUTS.  First of all, I can't even believe how warm people dress here.  I mean...I'm over here sweating in my skinny jeans, tank top, hair up in a mess, etc. and I look across the street and see a woman wearing a turtle neck and Ughs.  whaaaaaat?!

Now that I got that off my chest...Today was NUTS.  We went on a scavenger hunt all over Quito to get to know the city.  Zach brought us to "La Y" for our first Trolley ride.  I could not BELIEVE how packed it was!  I didn't even have to hold on.  The people around me were great support.  After Zach walked us past our Spanish school [which starts Mondayyyy!], he split us into groups of 3, prayed for us, and left us in the dust.

We walked all over creation for 7 hours...soaking up Ecuadorian wonderfulness, getting on the wrong Trolley, leaving Ben behind on accident, meeting people in the park, attempting to speak in Spanish, dodging killer elevator doors, walking up way to many flights of stairs and HUGE hills, trying to find bathrooms you don't have to pay to use [fail.  I don't think they exist here], feeling like we were going to die climbing the janky stairs up the Bisilica towers, buying $9 worth of roast beef because we don't know Spanish deli talk, grocery shopping as a small family, and SO MUCH MORE.

To say the very least...today was an adventure.  And now my legs are going to fall off.  [but it was worth it.]

[riding the "Trole" = loco.]

 [Indiana Jones moment at the Bisilica]

 [i may or may not have thought i was going to die...]

 [a view from the Bisilica tower]

[family grocery shopping]

[aaaand finished with a movie night!]

BYOTP.

Ecuadorian life lesson #1:  BYOTP.  [Bring Your Own Toilet Paper].  That awkward moment when you're at the mall, need to pee, walk into a nice clean public bathroom, and realize that they don't always provide the TP.  ooooops.  

Orientation Day 1:  I was pleasantly surprised when 1. I woke up and there was still water in our apartment! (They told us last night that the city was turning it off for 2 days) and 2. When I got in line for breakfast at Christy's (the Dean of Students) house and saw a huge bowl of fruit and GIANT cinnamon rolls.  YEAH BABY.  

Besides the food, what I have loved most about today has been the company.  Maybe it's the RA deep down inside of me...but I LOVE figuring people out and hearing their stories.  I love listening to different perspectives and trying to answer hard questions together.  We talked this morning about Hebrews 11 and Phil (the program director) read this passage for us:  

8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

Being able to spend the day walking around Quito [trying to learn where the crap I’m going] and talking with my wonderful new friends about how and why God sent them here has made my heart so warm.  I found out that my internship is purely volunteer work at an orphanage which has made my heart so warm.  I get to spend this evening eating pizza, getting way too competitive playing group games, and vegging out college style while watching a movie with some pretty cool people.  I’m pretty sure my heart will stay warm.  Maybe some of this warmth will make its way to the Midwest where I’m sure my friends and family are planning an igloo construction project?!  (66°  and sunny here folks!)  On a scale of 1 to 10 [1 being “I want to curl up into a ball and sleep my life away”..10 being “Holy G Force Batman this day rocked my world and I want to repeat this day every day for the rest of my life”] I’d say today was probably about a 7.65.  

[breaking from orientation to play some games]