Ecuador

Our Ecuador trip was only two months ago, but for some reason it feels like a lifetime ago. I can't believe it was my third trip to Ecuador! They were all amazing but this one was by far the most challenging.

There was a group of 12 of us and out of the whole group I think I was the one who knew the most Spanish--which isn't saying a whole lot but I could get by when I needed to. On the first two trips I was able to rely on my dad since he speaks Spanish fluently. Plus our English-speaking group was always together. And we went to our location each day and then back to our [air conditioned] hotel. On this trip we were each in a cabin of only Spanish speakers for the entire week sleeping on bunk beds in a [non-air conditioned] cabin under bug nets.

The heat didn't really bother me while sleeping but because we had the windows open there were a lot of noises outside that kept waking me up. The first night I woke up to what sounded like 10 dogs barking, a cat that sounded like it was being murdered and tons of [gross] bats that were squeaking all simultaneously. In the mornings we were awoken by a friendly rooster and the neighbor's parrot that sounded like it was someone screaming "Breakfast!" in a really high-pitched voice.

We started out out the week getting a tour of the school, church and neighborhood in Bastion, located in Guayaquil. We broke up into groups and had lunch at some of the families' houses and got a real taste of Ecuador. It definitely made for some interesting and awkward moments.

Then we took a two hour bus ride down to the camp at Playas where we were able to enjoy the camp and bond with the staff before all the campers arrived for part of Saturday and all day Sunday. We also got to go out and experience the town of Playas as well.

The campers arrived on Monday. I was in a cabin with two counselors, Kenia and Jessenia. Dan was in a cabin with Kenia's husband Olmedo which was cool. The week was full of all kinds of games and activities. We brought supplies for a few crafts and our own games which were interesting to try to explain in Spanish. It was a non-stop week that was exhausting but a ton of fun.

After the teens left on Saturday morning we headed back to Guayaquil to have a tourist day. It was a lot of fun to experience the city for a second time. The first time I was there [7 years ago] Dan and I were dating and this time I got to be there with him as my husband which was pretty neat.

While we were there we had no internet access at all. That was also different from my other trips because the other two times we could come back to the hotel and use the business center. This time we had no phones or computers but it was actually something that I didn't miss at all. It was such a weird feeling to use my phone again once we got to the airport for our return flight home.

It was so refreshing to not think about anything we left behind. I was so focused on the people and the work we were doing there that everything else seemed insignificant. I wish I could force myself to do that more often. It is so easy to get caught up in Facebook and comparing your life to what everyone else posts about their lives. It is such a good lesson that I need to be reminded of constantly: When we focus on the things of Christ and other people instead of ourselves we will be much more joyful. It is impossible to focus on yourself when you are focused on others.

Here is a video I made of our trip.