Alas, I blog again!

It's been well over two years since I last wrote to you, my adoring fans. Once again I find myself in the Spanish speaking world, this time in Spain rather than Latin America. Many of you have requested that I correspond more to keep you abreast of my adventures so as to live vicariously through me; or simply because I am witty and entertaining. For you, my friends, I shall comply.

We left the USofA Tuesday evening and arrived in Rota, Spain early Wednesday morning...or mid-morning depending on whose time zone we are using. In the past 72 hours Jeremy has done nearly all of his in-processing, we obtained our ID cards so as not get deported and have had our US driver's license translated to temporary European licenses until we take our test next week and obtain real ones. On Monday we begin a week long class on societal norms in Spain which includes a few field trips into the city to get acquainted. Wednesday afternoon we will go on a house hunting trip to find the new "Casa de Kern". I do plan to continue my work as an international hostess, but to do this I need your help. You must come visit. All of you, though not all at once. This afternoon we are going to go drive a car we found for sale on base and barring any major mechanical issues, we will likely add said car to our family.

Finally, for those of you concerned with my need for designer coffee, there is a cafe on base that "proudly serves Starbucks coffee". This is loosely translated as: We have Starbucks ingredients but it may not all get put in a cup they way you are used to. Oh well, its espresso and its better than nothing.

Buckle up, hold on, and keep checking back for more adventures of the Wandering Gypsy!

My heart is breaking

So, I know I continually write about all the fun I have and how exciting Ecuador is, but today my heart breaks for the families that work with us. I spend a great deal of time talking with our director of operations about the families that work for us here at El Refugio. There are 5 families that are employed by the camp and they are the main ministry of the Director and his wife. Yes, we host Ecuadorean church groups and give them training and rest and recreation. And yes, we host North American groups who come to work on the facilities of the camp. But, day in and day out we have the workers who live in Calacali in total poverty that will likely never find a way out.

Holger (pronounced Ol-hair) and his wife Anjelica are two of these workers. Holger works with the Director of Operations maintaining thing around the camp. He helps the work teams when they come to work on projects and let's face it, he's fixed almost everything I have managed to break in my casita. Anjelica, his wife is the head Chef here at camp. She speaks little English and I speak little Spanish, but somehow she manages to communicate to me what needs to be done to fill our guests bellies. She is amazingly patient and extremely kind. They have twin 9 year old boys who want to come to the States some day and an 18 month old little girl. About a year ago, they started building a house down the street from the camp. It is not completed, but they couldn't keep paying rent for the house they were living in, so they moved into the house as it was. They have no back door and no windows. The windows are covered by sheets of plastic. I am not sure what else needs to be done on the house, but the cost to finish it is about $1000. To North Americans, this may seem like a lot but not an unattainable amount, but when you consider that the family makes around $300-$400 a month, $1000 is pretty much unfathomable. I literally sat and wept as I heard this today.

How Much Do You Spend at Starbucks a Month?

Someone asked me this question the other day and the answer has changed the way I view my life and priorities. The reality is that at $5 a day for an average drink at Starbucks, I spend more money on coffee than the contracted cooks make in a month working at Hacienda El Refugio. Minimum wage in Ecuador is $1 an hour… that’s US dollars folks. At 40 hour a week, that means $2080 a year. Most of us make that in a month; some of us make that in a week. Granted our cooks make more than the minimum wage, but at 80 hours a month (their contracted hours), I still spend more on coffee than they take home. So, I guess my question is: is my coffee worth more than a family consisting of a mom and dad, twin 9 year-old boys and an adorable 16 month-old little girl? I find it hard to believe that I can go back to the states, go to Starbucks everyday and not think of what that $5 a day can do for them.

First Week with Groups

A youth group from Geneva,IL arrived late last Saturday night for 13 days of intense work and fun. This particular group has been coming to El Refugio since it's conception 11 years ago. One of the founders of El Refugio, Rick Borman, is from this church originally. When the Youth first started coming down, they were working on just getting the camp functional. When we are not hosting North American teams here, we serve as a retreat and conference center for many Ecuadorian church groups. Because we make no profit from these groups, the projects on property are usually sponsored by North Americans and completed by Geneva and other N.A. work teams. Geneva also hosts a VBS for the kids in Calacali, the town next to us. It's population is about 2,000 and we get about 100 kids for VBS. This year, Geneva's projects included: a climbing wall made from old HCJB radio antenna, clearing brush for hiking trails and pouring the foundation for an amphitheater in the hills. While there is much work to do, we do have fun as well. The first day Geneva was here, we took them to church in Quito and had lunch after. Then we went to the basilica for a tour. It's pretty high up and not quite complete, resulting in me staying on the third level drinking a cafe mocha. We also went to Mitad del Mundo (the center of the Earth) and posed for pics on the equator. Otavalo was another fun day. We drove 2.5 hours to take them shopping at the largest outdoor market in South America. Tomorrow morning we leave at 0400 to go to the jungle for two days. The camp ran out of water today and the girls were complaining that they needed to shave. We informed them that they would fit in quite nicely in the jungle if they didn't.

Learning to appreciate things

I never thought that I would be so appreciative of things like: a real bed frame, hot water heaters and sheet rock and insulation. But, like most things in North American life, I realize I have taken these things for granted. Mi casita (my little house) is made of adobe. It is the only housing unit on property that has not been remodeled. Usually the female interns live in the "dorm" next to Casita Juanita and the male interns live in the "dorm" next to the guard house at the front of the property. however, since I am the only female intern and we need more room for North American work teams, the boys are in the former female dorm and I am in Casita Juanita. So begins my journey of learning to appreciate things. We don't have central air or heating and my room isn't insulated so I have this portable heater that runs on propane and I have to light it just like you would your barbecue grill. Well, apparently the little ignition button doesn't like to work all the time and I spent one very cold night in mi casita. The operations director (Howie) showed me how to light it with a match the next day. Then the next day my dehumidifier wasn't working. Since the building is adobe, if it gets moist, it starts to smell funky... so once again I had to cal Howie who explained how to empty the dehumidifier and hookup the hose to it so it just drains outside the casita and doesn't fill up. So, I thought I was in the clear... and then I tried to flush. The chain on the flap in the toilet had broken and I had to take the lid off and flush manually. Howie was off property for the weekend so I had to just wait until he got back. Two days of having to manually flush a toilet is not fun. So, I knew Howie would be back this morning to fix my flapper so I got up and went to take a shower, only to find that I had no hot water. Not like the water was not hot but tolerable... no,no the water is ice cold when it comes out of the tap. So, I went traipsing out of mi casita in my pajamas to find Howie. You see, the hot water heaters are instant. You don't have a tank. There is a propane tank outside the house that attaches to a heater. You turn the water on and the pressure triggers the heater and it instantly heats your water. But, if there is too much water flowing through, it doesn't get very hot, so you have to turn down the water once it starts getting warm. BUT, if you turn it down too low and there is not enough pressure, the heater will shut off. My problem was that my gas tank was empty. So, I found Howie, got a new tank and was finally able to take a hot shower. Oh, and Howie also fixed the chain on the flap on the toilet. Needless to say, I very much appreciate my insulated house, central heating and functional toilets back in the states.

A week (and a half) in review

Sorry I haven't kept you all up to date on my exciting adventures in Ecuador. I'll try to sum it as quickly as possible while still entertaining you all.

My first day (Thursday June 2) we had a Youth World meeting in Quito. I met the other interns for El Refugio as well as the interns for other Youth World ministries and most of the Youth World Staff. WE went grocery shopping and then headed out to El Refugio. It took about 45 minutes to get here and we crossed the equator four times. We're just outside a town called Calicali which is seated on the equator.

Friday morning I helped Anjelica clean the kitchen to prepare for our busy summer retreats. It's kinda interesting having someone order you around in a language you don't speak. But, we managed. I was even able to tel her about my family and job in the states. :) That afternoon, we left to go help with a mountain bike race in Zuleta. We had to take three buses which took almost four hours and then we had to ride in the back of a pickup truck that smelled like horses for another half hour and finally arrived at Zuleta. We set up our tents and went to sleep... or tried to. I was the only chica there so they gave me my own tent... a one person tent that was too small to even sit up in. I was also given a "mummy bag" to sleep in. Well, I found out the hard way that I'm claustrophobic. I couldn't zip up the sleeping bag because I felt suffocated and with it unzipped, I was freezing. I woke up Dani who was in charge of the event and told him I needed to go home that I was claustrophobic and having a panic attack... Well, needless to say, going home wasn't an option. After about two hours of trying to figure out what to do, I slept in the car. you know, a Chevy Aveo is much roomier than one would think. The next day we worked at the race recording times that bikers came in. It was tons of fun, but I was not thrilled about the prospects of sleeping in the car again and though there was a hostel about a half hour away, Dani had scared me with his comments about how the innkeeper would want more money from me because I am North American. So, we called the intern director (Paul) and met him half way between Zuleta and Quito.

Sunday I went to church with Paul and Beth... in Spanish. I figured out that he was talking about the friends we keep and gossip (chismoso) and premarital sex. But that was really all I got out of it.

Monday we met with the director of operations (Howie) and the director of guest services (Howie's wife, Mary-my boss). We toured the property and were orientated. We also crossed the equator to eat lunch. Meals here are typically soup followed by rice and some sort of meat. In this case,the meat was liver. It wasn't horrible and I would have finished it, had Howie not told me what it actually was. After that, there was no getting the liver into my mouth.

Tuesday we toured camp again and went on most of the ropes course. We also went on the zipline and my brake person conveniently stopped me too soon sending me back to th middle of the zipline necessitating a rescue. Good times. I almost peed myself on the high ropes but managed to survive. But now at least I know how to handle said crises when the inevitably arrive when we have campers.

Wednesday was my "solo day". We get one day month that we are supposed to go and commune with God and nature. It was a little awkward because I have been "solo" for most of the time I've been out here. The only people on property when we don't have teams is the director and his family and the office guy, the security guard and the other two interns. But, I went for a hike on the mountain and read and prayed. I forgot to ask for a key to the tree house ladder so I just sat on my jacket next to the tree house, wishing I could go in.

Thursday we took a bus into Quito for our last weekly YW meeting. We don't meet when summer programming is under way. I also had my first Spanish lesson where I learned that I know virtually nothing. Awesome times. Our classes are all in Spanish so my brain felt like mush after two hours. Then we went to Paul and Beth's house and had Pinchincos which is pretty much meat kabobs and potatoes with this delicious cheesy garlic sauce. I watched their boy, Jack (20 mos)drink the sauce rather than dip his potatoes in it.

Friday morning I got my first experience in the kitchen. We made lunch for a group that was coming to the property just for the day. We had llapengachos- potato cheese pancakes.. super yummy. After lunch I took the bus into Quito with another intern and did some grocery shopping. On the way back, we got on the wrong bus and had to get off. Then we got on another bus, which was also not going to Calacali and had to change buses again until we finally got on one that took us home.

Saturday and Sunday I spent in the kitchen cooking for a small church group. My Spanish is improving and I only ask "que" every other time Anjelica asks me something. :)

Better Late than Never

I said my goodbyes, cleared security and boarded my plane Tuesday morning; and before we had even taxied out I had fallen asleep…. Twenty minutes late I was awakened by the voice of the captain explaining that during the engine firing sequence, the left engine had failed to start properly. After returning to the gate and determining that we would need another plane, deboarding, walking to new gate and standing in line for forty minutes, it was determined that I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta. I decided to stay in Minneapolis and try again tomorrow.

Wednesday morning I boarded the plane for Atlanta, fingers crossed that the plane was functional. Flights went according to schedule and I left for Quito at a little after 7 on Wednesday night. I arrived in Quito around 2300 and after clearing customs, I headed over to the baggage area to get my things.After about an hour of watching them unload everyone's bags but mine, I started to get worried. My bags had gone to Atlanta without me on Tuesday and I was told that they were waiting there for me to board a flight to Quito and they would be on that same flight. So, you can imagine my shock and panic when I couldn't find them and didn't speak enough Spanish to communicate that to the people in the baggage claim area. However, I simply showed my claim ticket to a couple of the ladies working and they pointed me in the direction of my bags which had been pulled off the conveyor and put in a corner. Paul, the intern director was waiting for me outside and we quickly headed to his and his wife's house for the evening.