Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Still here!

Ok, so it's been a few weeks since I've posted anything new. Sorry, but we have been super busy since getting back to Cuenca. Carnival was last week here in Cuenca, along with the rest of Latin America. It basically went from Saturday thru Tuesday. Most of the celebrating consisted of people throwing water and squirting you with foam from a can. If you are a "Gringo" you make yourself a big target. So the congregations here wisely tell the friends to refrain from going out in the ministry for those 3 days. With that being said, we spent as much before and after carnival in the ministry to make sure we were able to make the most use of our time. The city actually ended up being very quiet during Carnival. Half of the city heads to the coast for the really big parties and the city buses don't run for 2 days. We took the time to hang out with the friends, rest and just recharge our batteries. Cleo and I got wet a few times. She got soaked one day in the ministry(some people start celebrating a little early) by a passing bus, when a passenger hung out the window with a big water gun. I narrowly missed a water balloon, but got hit with a few squirts from a kid's water gun. No worse for wear!
We have had some great experiences in the ministry. Last week another sister and I talked with a young Ecuadorian man who spoke very good English. His name is Alex. He said he didn't have a religion and he would like to practice his English. We invited him to the meeting and guess what, he came. He agreed to study the bible with David, but we haven't been able to get together with him yet for that. We'll keep you posted. I am studying with an Ecuadorian woman named Patricia. I found her a month ago in the door to door work. She speaks very good English and has two small children. After the 3rd study she came to the meeting on Sunday. She and her 7 yr old daughter, Diana, walked 20 minutes to get to the hall, pushing her 2yr old son in a stroller. Before leaving to go home she thanked me for inviting her and said she wants to keep coming! The blessings we get are overwhelming sometimes. I am so thankful that I have this opportunity to share the Good News with such a humble and appreciative person. When I first started study with her she was dating a man from Kentucky that now lives in Ecuador. She told me that I didn't sound the same and wondered if I was really from KY. She said his strong accent has made it hard for her to practice her English. I told her that he could sit in on the study too so that he could learn to speak English! She thought that was funny and would pass the invitation along. Interestingly, most people we meet here tell us we don't sound like we are from Kentucky. "Oh, that's because we are from Northern Ky," we say, "You have to go a little farther south before you start sounding authentic."
The last few days have been colder and rainy. We all finished getting our time in for the month today, with a day to spare too. So tomorrow a brother who is a tour guide is taking us to a zipline. As long as the weather holds out we should be zipping through the jungle tomorrow! Pictures will follow.
We have exactly a month left. We can't believe it' more than half over. Before long we will back with our Gringo friends.
 The King reigns in Ecuador, not too many clowns named Ronald here.

 One of the best $2 lunches we've had so far.

Taking a picture break in the ministry.
 One of the favorite family activities during Carnival, roasting a few guinea pigs! Yum!

 Parties in Ecuador are the same as back home; everyone wants to be in the kitchen!

 Some of the friends we had over for a little pictionary and a great game of Mafia.

A chocolate "leaf" I bought at the market. We made the most amazing chocolate mousse out of this!