#ecuadoring4

 7AM - Mackenzie and I went and fed the babies, but when we walked in we could not see any of the Tia's (aunts/nanny's of the orphanage). There was only a man standing right infant of the main entrance, so we said hello and were on our way, we walked to four different rooms, no Tia's in sight, so we walked back to the entrance and the man said goodbye and left.
So there we were.
Mackenzie and I with three wee-ones in their high chairs, all under 1year old; giggling and throwing bread. A Tia finally came out and greeted us and sat Mackenzie down with a baby that was still in their high chair, with a big bowl of baby mush. Then the Tia disappeared. She eventually returned with a baby in one arm and a bottle in the other arm and handed both to me; his name was Andy. We then proceeded to feed 3 babies each, no Spanish needed! The Tia's knew exactly why we were there and put us straight to work. (this was Mackenzie's second time ever holding a baby! and she was very its-bitsy, 1 1/2 months old!) 

After Mackenzie and I left the orphanage, we headed back home and relaxed on the couches. Kenz looked up the whitecaps highlights from Saturday's game and we watched them together. I eventually got up to make myself some breakfast. PB on toast with sliced banana and a tall glass of coke! (What?! everyone else had a cup or three of coffee - they both have caffeine!) Funny enough, after that, I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up, everyone was sitting at the couches and praying for the day - wheups. 

Then we did our regular practice with the puppets for Kids Club, then we were off!!

WHITECAPS WEDNESDAY

We got outside, and to our surprise, an even smaller bus! (1st day; 50 seats, 2nd day; 30 seats, today; 16!!) and its very crammed and bumpy! This is a perfect example of, 'be careful what you ask for' There is even two seats at the very front where you can sit at the very front with the driver (one behind the other). And were off!! Mackenzie made a very good observation of how here in Quito they just have painted advertisements right on the building and rocks. No one sends them a sign to put up on their building. And when we were in Panama, they just had giant boulders that were painted on the side of the streets, reading, "BALBOA Beer! Delicious!" As we look out the window on our way to the kids club, there are teensy-tiny police officers racing and weaving in and out of traffic on these bikes with engines - almost like vespas. I wonder how fast they can go. OH and there are always two policemen to a bike. 2 fully grown men, cuddled in close, with uniforms and guns. They are everywhere though, there are people pulled over at every stop, even from police on public transit. lots. Although. we did just pass a police station and they were all outside playing soccer. aha.

Our bus driver today is a lot less daring, thank goodness. He doesn't have all the extra spice of sudden stops and U-turns like the fine gentlemen we had yesterday.

I forgot to write about yesterday, but when we were at a stop light yesterday, the truck beside us, in the back seat, there were two little girls (one old enough to sit in the seat and the other looked about 2) She was sitting on a giant pile of pillows in her frilly little dress sucking on her soother! with a bottle in hand, there were no parents or adults in the back and she was on all fours, looking out the window and crawling around, this wasn't even a side street, it was the main strip!

There are dogs everywhere ! I don't know where they came from or how they got everywhere, but Ive seen so many different types, I don't think Ive seen any the same in the same lot. Sheep dog, rotweiler, golden retriever, weiner, dalmation. It's crazy.

- great were lost. I pray we don't get robbed -

The bus driver asked Robbie, "Now where do we go?"
Robbie, "I don't know! We usually just follow the bus route."

-ayiyi-

it's crazy how there is no really 'main street' in South Quito, every single road, deserted or not, is in this order:
house
store
store
house
garden
house
empty lot
corn field
store etc. 
In a row_______________________on the street.

- we just saw a fully done up clown waiting for the bus. -

also, we just saw a semi truck driver on the highway with no top or outer layer to the front of the truck, just some guy sitting at the top like it was the front of a tractor and he was mowin' the fields. crazy!! also, what was he carrying you may be wondering? 3 layers high of solid brick, with a small piece of twine on the top holding it down, on the highway!

- K - I - D - S - C - L - U - B -

Today for snack we had fruit kabobs, the kids LOVED them. (I think Robbie may be a bit bitter because I feel after our team leaves, they'll still want these snacks haha! Sorry! RRRRRROBBIE!) But Robbie decided to play a joke on the kids and told them that half of the snack was raw celery (the kids HATE raw celery - its like eating corn on the cob but not cooked - bleh.) considering how much they 'loved' it when we did it with the peanut butter yesterday haha. Robbie said he was just kidding and one boy shouted, "But I loved It!!!" and he was serious. so funny.

Today the club was more enjoyable because I wasn't the only one running around and taking pictures, Mackenzie and Keith helped out! It was lovely. Now there will be more pictures where I am not posing for them haha.

The children really listened today during the bible story, apparently there eyes were 'glued' to the puppets and they were silent. Afterwards, Kelvin asked them some questions and Robbie said that if they wanted, they could stay behind and talk to Steve and himself. There was 5 who stayed and one girl prayed and accepted Jesus into her life, Praise God! Hallelujah! 

There was a lot of police out tonight, we've been driving for about 15 minutes and we've already been through 2 road checks. Well as soon as we got home, we started to make our 'Breakfast' dinner and realized that we did not have enough pancake batter, so Robbie left to go to the store on the corner. They didn't have any. SO Robbie came back with a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs = french toast! WOO. I made three apple pancakes and shared one with Steve We also made 3 packs of bacon, 20 scrambled eggs, and about 24 slices of french toast. We also put out Nutella - yum! Steve and Mackenzie loved it!

After dinner, we dove into our devotional time. We discussed obstacles, confusions, etc. Kelvin shared an example on how it affects our time with God when we do everything else in the day before spending time with God. Imagine you have an empty jar and each thing you do in the day (work, laundry, TV, etc) is another layer of sand (the amount of sand you put in is the amount of time it takes up in your day). At the end of the day, try to put in a golf ball. You can't. Now start your day off with the gold ball as the first thing you put in. Now add all the sand. Your day should be focused around God.

"The more you know God and spend time with him, you will know his voice." - Steve 

.L'AMOUR.

111days2go

an accurate description of the past few months.

shake me//

a shelter like no other,

i come to wash my heart;

to cleanse.

to rinse. 

renewed and strengthened to complete your will,

worthy is the lamb. 

fallen like ashes,

from dusk to fire.

engulfed with waves,

of mercy; flow.

clinging to your word; daily i come.

blinded by thy enemy,

stumbling blocks; they build. 

towers of despair and pain,

i come to you once again.

bring me from this heartache.

light this heart ablaze. 

raise me up and lift me high,

above my sorrows and delights of the world. 

mold me to thy being,

shake me from myself. 

break the ties, that blind my eyes. 

burn the bridges that lead me to hurt.

powerless in the light; are the ways of the fallen.

many prayers i've prayed,

thrown out; but never to return.

empty words built up,

hollow, and broken down. 

gracious in the trials

when i cannot see the end. 

triumphant in your heart

to purify my soul.

holding on to let go.

fighting to stand a chance.

create in me a new heart,

to bare the crown of thorns.

wrapped in clothes of righteousness,

a life thats been reborn.

at the foot of the cross, i bow.

i lay and faint for you. 

#ecuadoring3

Slept in until 830.
I needed to catch up - already.
but now I feel energized and awake so hopefully I will be feeding the babies for the rest of the week! 

So we had to get more groceries this morning - ALREADY! almost the same amount that we got the other day. I guess thats what you get when you have 6 grown men in the house! Haha.

Today we are leaving a little bit later for the Kids Club because we were two hours early yesterday - I guess we over anticipated how long it would take us to get there. We passed a man on the street who had all these clear bags of fruit and when we stopped he came on our bus and walked up and down the aisles shouting repeatedly, 'ONE BAG FOR ONE DOLLAR, ONE BAG FOR ONE DOLLAR!' (6 in each - Mandarines, Pears, Apples and Lemons) 

all of the corner stores were barred shut at all times in protection from theft.

 check out all those taxi's!!! 

the school where some of the children attended  

1130 - Kids Club! 

'Olà! Mi nombré es Cassandra, Tengo vienté tres añios!'

When we got to the kids club this afternoon, each of the children stood up and said their name and how old the were. (actually I think that was the first day, I wish I had filmed it, it was so precious, they all worked so hard to say that sentence in english for us! It was so sweet when they would fumble a few words and Robbie helped them out!)

Kenz teaching one of the boys how to say 'Can I borrow a pencil please' in English!

Steve teaching the children how to speak English I believe? 

All the children LOVED Robbie's beard and would not stop touching it! so funny! haha 

At one point we were talking about how much a taxi would cost for a ride from the orphanage to the kids club (1 hour) … $35!!! 

White American - Gringo
Asian - Chinnoh

A little boy showed up today with a crab inside a plastic bag, he bought it on the street for 20 cents on his way to the club. (This crab was not a big one, it was a small one you would find underneath a small rock on the beach)
Pet Crabs 

 his name is Daniel (the boy)

Another boy showed up to club with a baby chicken - but he gave it to Robbie to hold on to throughout club because he was too embarrassed! So Robbie put it in a woven basket in the kitchen. But don't worry the chick made an appearance during arts&crafts. The boy that brought the chicken had bought it from his school for $1.00. 

While the children were doing their homework, I went to prepare the snack and I had 3 girls following me around, so I brought them with me and had them help me to prepare snack. I had to mime what I wanted them to do and then pointed to them then pointed to the food. It was great! I spread the peanut butter on the celery and the girls helped with putting the raisins on the log. Ants on a Log! - delicious & nutritious! 

So snack time came around, and as we handed them out and all of a sudden the kids were asking Robbie all these questions and motioning towards the snack and Robbie BURST out in laughter! what the heck man?! He said that all the children did not know what celery was or if they were supposed to eat it, apparently they never eat vegetables raw! They were all so unsure of it, most were scooping off the peanut butter and raisins and eating that! Then little by little they all started to come back and ask for seconds. Then child by child, they started to venture out and take a bite of the ants on the log, even though they thought it was the grossest thing ever! Their faces were so disgusted and disappointed as they slowly chewed. But then Mackenzie made up a second batch and it all went within 30 seconds! and they were all thanking him. It was great! 

…Later on we discovered all of these pieces of celery with small bits of peanut butter and raisins on them. Hid around the stumps and walls and some children even threw pieces outside the wall of the club.

After snack we got to listen to them sing their national anthem! So Cool! 

Next, we did our bible lessons and painted some rocks for our arts and craft time! So many children knew their memory verses from the day before! We didn't have as many children as yesterday, but we still had a lot! (25). 

Don't worry the chick made an appearance! The baby chick would not stop chirping though and Robbie was getting very annoyed! So he took it in his hands and wrapped it up with his shirt; it was not cold. Robbie & Kelvin broke up some doritos and tried to feed it; it wasn't hungry. It just kept chirping. 
Then the kids tried toPAINT it. 

While the rest of the kids were painting rocks, the rest of the children were outside playing 'What Time is it Mr.Wolf', then as others joined in, we played a GIANT game of 'Octopus.' They loved it! 

I absolutely ADORE this picture! (So does Nanny!) 

At the end of the day the children came around to say goodbye with a hug and a kiss and Robbie gave out their memory verses for tomorrow.  

I also put up my hand washing posters I had made back in Canada today! Right outside of the kitchen.

When we arrived home, we had some grilled cheese, Tomato soup, Coke and Tortilla chips? Kind of weird, but oh well! it's 2 hours later now and I am so hungry full. 

This really needs to be a COKE advertisement! 

Later that evening we went swimming in a pool across the street, it was really fun! We played a lot of rubber ducky games (Throwing, diving and counting them) and some pool noodle games (Mostly using them as weapons, both swords and water guns). We had a whirlpool and tied noodles around our legs so we could float! At the very end Mackenzie and Robbie were putting the pool cover over and Robbie threw a rubber ducky really hard at Mackenzie's chest! So Mackenzie goth he ducky and wound up to throw and Robbie got so scared he turned to run away! BUT he turned too quickly and slipped! His feet flew from right underneath him and he whacked his elbow and smacked his head! I rushed over to see if he was okay and he was just laying there, laughing historically. Haha! And in the midst of it all, the rubber ducky had ended up hitting him smack-dab in the thigh and there was a huge mark. It's still really red (few hours later when I was writing this entry) Robbie is so lucky he didn't fall in the hole by the pool decks. (Yes, if you remember those big gaping holes I posted pictures of on

the first day we arrived in Quito, they do not stop on the streets. There was one in the pool hall - we don't know where it led or what it was used for, but it was weird. 

After that we just went back to our house and rested and basically all went to bed! 

Goodnight Quito!