Friday, April 11, 2008
I forgot to post this yesterday so you two days worth today. I don’t know what kind of internet access we will have in Puerto Lopez so you may not hear from us again until Monday or Tuesday
Wednesday:
We had a typical day of Spanish classes so I won’t bore you with those details. In the afternoon we went to Casa Gabriel which is a home for former street boys. It is run by Phil Douce from Columbia, MO. We connected with him through Dr. Ellis Ingram, the head of the pathology dept at University Hospital. My mother-in-law Kathy works with him. I did not know he was from Columbia until we met today and we knew some of the same people. Many of you reading this contributed items for us to take to the school. We were able to fill 4 large duffel bags and a big suitcase with stuff and it was all greatly appreciated.
The home was a great place to see. The boys range in age from 10 to 16 and all have committed to changing their lives for the better. They all have specific jobs, they are tutored in the morning and then go to school in the afternoon. Phil gave us a tour and talked about what some of the boys have been through. I think it was a real eye opener for Tate and Cora and for Steve and me as well. We took a lot of pictures and when we have a faster internet connection I will post them online (as well as other pictures from our travels) so you all can see what a neat place it is. Thank you to everyone who contributed stuff and allowed us to have this great afternoon.
I don’t have any more time to write now because I have to study. The work is getting more difficult and Steve and I both really have to cram a lot of knowledge in now.
Thursday:
Classes were tough again, but since we are winding down our time here in Quito the teachers have been doing little review tests with us and we are starting to see how we have progressed. That has been uplifting.
For lunch today we went to a posh Americanized restaurant and spent $18 on lunch. It is amazing how your perspective changes because we felt bad that we spent so much on one meal! Puerto Lopez is very small so we figured it was our last splurge until we get home to the US. There is only so much rice you can eat.
After lunch we took the kids to the park and did some souvenir shopping. We then stopped at a small museum dedicated to the jungle cultures of Ecuador. The best part of that was seeing a real stuffed condor (it was huge) and seeing real shrunken heads.
Now we are in for the night and have just finished writing thank you notes to our teachers and the other people who have helped us in Quito. We had to get some help from Paul and his son Jamie for that. Our Spanish is still to rudimentary.
Tomorrow is our last day in Quito and our last day at school. It will be sad to leave it. We are ready for some warm weather and sun but will really miss the people and relationships we have developed here.8am Saturday morning we fly to Manta. We are being picked up by Freddy and driven to the coastal town of Puerto Lopez. While there we will be staying in bungalows at the school. I am looking forward to that because we will not have to do so much moving back and forth. I am getting tired of carrying all of our daily needs with us every morning. Puerto Lopez should be more laid back too. It is a fishing village with only 15,000 people compared to the 2 million in Quito. Have a good weekend.
I forgot to post this yesterday so you two days worth today. I don’t know what kind of internet access we will have in Puerto Lopez so you may not hear from us again until Monday or Tuesday
Wednesday:
We had a typical day of Spanish classes so I won’t bore you with those details. In the afternoon we went to Casa Gabriel which is a home for former street boys. It is run by Phil Douce from Columbia, MO. We connected with him through Dr. Ellis Ingram, the head of the pathology dept at University Hospital. My mother-in-law Kathy works with him. I did not know he was from Columbia until we met today and we knew some of the same people. Many of you reading this contributed items for us to take to the school. We were able to fill 4 large duffel bags and a big suitcase with stuff and it was all greatly appreciated.
The home was a great place to see. The boys range in age from 10 to 16 and all have committed to changing their lives for the better. They all have specific jobs, they are tutored in the morning and then go to school in the afternoon. Phil gave us a tour and talked about what some of the boys have been through. I think it was a real eye opener for Tate and Cora and for Steve and me as well. We took a lot of pictures and when we have a faster internet connection I will post them online (as well as other pictures from our travels) so you all can see what a neat place it is. Thank you to everyone who contributed stuff and allowed us to have this great afternoon.
I don’t have any more time to write now because I have to study. The work is getting more difficult and Steve and I both really have to cram a lot of knowledge in now.
Thursday:
Classes were tough again, but since we are winding down our time here in Quito the teachers have been doing little review tests with us and we are starting to see how we have progressed. That has been uplifting.
For lunch today we went to a posh Americanized restaurant and spent $18 on lunch. It is amazing how your perspective changes because we felt bad that we spent so much on one meal! Puerto Lopez is very small so we figured it was our last splurge until we get home to the US. There is only so much rice you can eat.
After lunch we took the kids to the park and did some souvenir shopping. We then stopped at a small museum dedicated to the jungle cultures of Ecuador. The best part of that was seeing a real stuffed condor (it was huge) and seeing real shrunken heads.
Now we are in for the night and have just finished writing thank you notes to our teachers and the other people who have helped us in Quito. We had to get some help from Paul and his son Jamie for that. Our Spanish is still to rudimentary.
Tomorrow is our last day in Quito and our last day at school. It will be sad to leave it. We are ready for some warm weather and sun but will really miss the people and relationships we have developed here.8am Saturday morning we fly to Manta. We are being picked up by Freddy and driven to the coastal town of Puerto Lopez. While there we will be staying in bungalows at the school. I am looking forward to that because we will not have to do so much moving back and forth. I am getting tired of carrying all of our daily needs with us every morning. Puerto Lopez should be more laid back too. It is a fishing village with only 15,000 people compared to the 2 million in Quito. Have a good weekend.
Comments
Hope you got some pics of those shrunken heads for me!
Tell the kids I have some news regarding ghost hunting in Columbia.
Love to all! G