Oh, Ecuador!

On the way to Cuenca

This country never ceases to amaze me!  Eduardo, Jeannette & Veronica Puente and I flew to Cuenca for three days over Carnival days.  This beautiful city was literally missing much of its population trading  the bone-chilling rain for a few days at the beach.  Nevertheless, we wandered the streets of historical Cuenca, so charming and inviting, even though all the tiendas were closed!

Riverside walkway

Colorful, charming dwellings overlook the river

One of the four rivers that flow through Cuenca

Catedral de Immaculada Concepcion

Carnival is a crazy festival in Ecuador.  "Carn-aval" means absence of meat, a celebration that precedes Lent.  People here anticipate this season like we do Christmas.  The crazy game they play is like snow fights, only with water--fun and annoying at the same time depending on which end you're on!  People of all ages are armed with spray foam, water balloons, water guns, hoses, and no one is exempt from being pelted.  My car window was down at just the right/wrong time to get doused good!

I couldn't quit taking photos of puertas y ventanas (doors & windows) in this city--art around every corner!  I need to figure out how to make a photo collage because I have quite the collection.  Posting only a few here~~

Cuenca is an amazing city to say the least.  Check out the website and get a quick overview of why it's the number one place to retire in the world.  

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-place-retire-overseas-budget-163750049.html

Lauren has joined us for a few months.  She has brought an 8-week art therapy project for the girls we see weekly.  We're three weeks in with one group and hope to start soon with the other. The purpose of the project in her words is to tell our stories through various forms of art, to learn more about ourselves, to recognize and develop a deeper understanding of our unique identities & create more vision for our futures.   Believing for freedom for each and every one!

A Few Food Shots!

Tilapia fresh from the Amazon river

Pork anyone?

Ecuador's specialty--cuy (guinea pig)  Yum!

Have been immersed in reading John lately, remembering especially chapter fifteen because it was my husband's favorite and his birthday is today...it's a great love letter fitting for this month.  The NIV version repeats the phrase Abide in Me.  The Message says Make yourselves at home in my love.  That's the perfect place to be all day, every day because A loveless world is a sightless world.  And there's so much and so many to love.

Do be mine, Valentine!

  

Huarani of the Amazon

What an amazing experience we had this week--three days in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the Huaorani  (Waorani) tribe in the pueblo of Gareno.  It was an 8 1/2 hour drive from Quito, with the last 4 hours on roads under construction.  We passed by simple wooden houses built on low stilts with glassless windows and thatch rooftops.  Wide-eyed children in dirty clothes or naked easily broke into smiles and waved back to me from the roadsides.  Surprisingly, large buses drove the crude roads and even a yellow taxi cruised by.  From time to time there was a sign pointing to a hotel swallowed up with jungle green.

The perfect outfit!

Gareno is a village of about 150 people...can't guess how many "families" there are since inter-family marriage is the norm and men have multiple wives.  Beautiful young women are plentiful and each has a baby wrapped in a bright scarf on their hips with several more children hanging on their legs.  The diet is yucca, plantains, cacao, chicken, fish, and abundant fruit with names I can never remember!

Mamas & babies & angels!

Ask for fruit?  They'll climb high to get it for you!

Typical jungle home

We trekked for three hours through the jungle in our rubber boots spending a good deal of time pulling our feet out of sucking mud. This excursion was led by a machete-wielding guy hacking the trail in front of us at times.  The selva is a holy place--a cathedral and a pharmacy as well.  The indigenous men informed us of a plethora of plant and flower power cure alls.  Lush forest vegetation and those "in-the-jungle" trills and whistles and hoots and hisses remind you of just where you are, the grandeur reminds you of Whose you are.  

We met up with our long, narrow dug-out canoe and all 10 of us nestled in for the motorized cruise back up the river from where we started.  We had hoped to encounter alligators, anacondas, exotic birds and such--unsuccessful, but the adventure itself was so enough!

 Drinking rainwater from a tree!

 Ready to cruise!

Amazing Amazonians

 Lunch on the riverbank.

The Waorani people formally welcomed us into the village by wearing their traditional "clothes" (or not), painting our faces with red paint,  dancing and monotone singing that we got caught up in ourselves!  A night I'll never forget--filled with love for a people who gave themselves to us and we got to love in return, even though our lives are worlds apart.  

 

A stop in Misahualli, famous for a cadre of monkeys adept at swiping sunglasses, hats and cameras from visitors or screaming in the faces of people who touch their tails, Ellie!  And our final adventure--Cuevas de Jumandi-- cave exploration, headlights piercing the darkness, sloshing through rivers and waterfalls, through narrow, winding rock formations, stalactite and stalacmite dodging, scrubbing the fine clay on our faces, then climbing up up--out of darkness into the light. Is this for real!?

Monos!

 Fresh talapia right out of the river never tasted so good.

 Not a parrot, but just as incredible a creation.

Thank You, Father, for sharing Your people, Your land and all the wealth of Your creation. 

 All of it shouts your glory!  I stand amazed, swelling with praise and thanksgiving. 

 You draw so close to us as we declare Your majesty, Your goodness, Your whispers of love. 

He makes all things new

Spanish School

It seems that I'm eating and sleeping and dreaming Spanish these days!  Mornings are filled with classes and afternoons with homework.  I'm understanding more and more reluctant to speak out because now I know how incorrectly I'm saying things!  Students from all over the world,  taking classes for all sorts of reasons come for a week and are gone or stay on because they're exchange students or vacationing...diversity is the name of the game!

After a week of cabbage soup cleanse!

We three challenged ourselves to do this crazy cleanse and survived!  It went well with the week of school pressure:  Day 1--fruit, Day 2--vegetables, Day 3--fruit & veggies & baked potatoe, Day 4--bananas & milk, Day 5--beef & tomatoes, Day 6--beef & veggies, Day 7--brown rice, fruit juice & veggies with every day eating as much of the cabbage (yuck!) soup concoction as we want (want?!) Day 8--wine & chocolate!!  Do I feel better?  Yes!  Now that it's done!  Love handles don't fill the hands as much either!

How we love Mela & Sabri & fresh juice!

Field trip to the President's house!

It's February--Valentine's month of love.  We're taking turns speaking at a youth group, and I got to go first--speaking on my favorite subject of identity--loving ourselves!  Had it all planned out, then during worship Holy Spirit ripped it up and gave me new direction.  This reluctant speaker was freedom-filled, the good news flowed and I even had fun!  It's amazing when you give up, He comes with such peace and power and such a better plan!

 God doesn't call the equipped; He equips the called!

Art cards + roses=Plaza Foch outreach preparation for Feb. 14

Doors have opened for us to spend Friday nights in Plaza Foch--a party area/red light district of the city.  Carly has been building relationships for months there.  Some more of us plan to be the area to pray, worship, prophecy, and walk through any doors that are open.

Often we are called to things that seem impossible.

In an area of feeling unqualified, willingness to obey is what God desires.

Emmanuel is with each of us, and immediately we are qualified.

All fear bows to His holy name as the God of always possible

shines gloriously through!

View out my kitchen window at our current home sweet home.

Living/dining room