Day 8-Trip to Cumbaratza

8:10am – After a delicious b’fast of empanadas de verde y huevos (empanadas made with green plantains stuffed w/veggies y chicken, with egg on top) we left Milagro for our 8 hour trip across the country to our final destination in the rain forest.  After enjoying our week of traveling, exploring & eating we were looking forward to getting settled in Cumbaratza, what would be our home for the next 11 weeks. What we weren’t expecting was the beauty along the way. Ecuador is divided into 4 sections: the Galapagos, the coast (where we had been staying), the sierra (which we would drive through), y el Oriente (or the East, which is where we are staying for the remainder of our time here). At 11:00 a.m. we stopped at a town (pueblo) called Pesca de Altura and we ate a restaurant called Reina de Cigne. We were a tad bit early but they went ahead and prepared us a meal anyway.

Agua de tomate y de naranjilla

For $10 we got 3 bowls of chicken soup, 3 plates of food, 3 glasses of fresh-squeezed juice and 2 coffees. I think she overcharged us cuz we’re gringos. We’re going back on the way through and getting overcharged again, you’d better believe!

So, the drive there was pretty treacherous. We went up mountains over 10,000’ tall, which of course means we went down mountains over 10,000’ tall. We went from sun to rain, to fog to clouds, to rain to sun…you get the picture.

Sometimes we saw this:

And sometimes we saw this:

And sometimes you came out of that to this:

Right after this:

We saw these:

Our first joyful experience was having to squeeze through the oncoming lane because a rock-slide was covering most of the street. Mind you, these are streets with a mountain on one side and 1,000 drop-off on the other side-very similar to Rt 1 in California but no ocean at the bottom.  The boulders would have sent the car over the edge-they were really big. Then it was the landslides. Because it is the rainy season, there were lots of landslides. One time we had to really give it the gas to get through about 6” of mud covering the opposite lane, which was way smarter than going through the 12” of mud covering our lane-so we thought. The car struggled, started to fishtail and a pickup truck coming the other way almost T-boned us. Later on we saw a man standing on the side of the road looking up at the mountain-he seemed to be frantically waving us through, what you wonder? So did we until we saw pebbles rolling across the road and quickly realized what was happening. We didn’t even stop to look up, Shawn gunned it again, another narrow escape. Shawn did a great job of driving and has been a tremendous help to us in transportation, letting us know how to act, what to eat (which is easy cuz he says just eat everything) and where to go. Thanks Jim and Robin! You have great kids.

We passed through Cuenca, the 3^rd largest city in Ecuador, very pretty with lots of expatriots moving there and building pretty impressive houses. While we were at the gas station a woman came by selling bags of mandarinas(clementines), little tiny plums, nectarines & pears.

We also passed through Loja (about 1.5 hours from Cumbaratza) which is apparently the only place in Ecuador that has real, delicious coffee (so everyone says). We’ll find out later when we come back to buy groceries.

At 3:50pm it was raining pretty hard and we passed by 5 guys in yellow slickers. 1 by the side of the road and 4 in the middle looking down at something. - You know the old adage about NYS road workers-it takes five guys to fix a pothole-4 standing around and one actually working? Well in this case the 4 were working  but what we witnessed was the very definition of inefficiency and possibly one of the funniest things we’ve ever seen. Did u guess what they were standing around? That’s right – a line painting machine. It took a minute to register what we were actually seeing (did I mention it was pouring? And we r in the mountains?) so we forgot to get a picture. But as we kept driving we saw every bit of the “lines” they had painted being washing down to the town and the bottom of the hill.  Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hail can stop the US Postal Service(see Shawn & Wayne we do respect the PO) and apparently a monsoon doesn’t stop Ecuadorian road workers from painting the streets (and the town below). We r still laughing as we r writing this.

The adventure was great and every thorn is beautified by a rose. The roses were the waterfalls. Spectacular waterfalls.

Home Sweet Home

At 5:30ish we finally arrived in Cumbaratza

Ryan and Veronica  stopped home between studies and we went into the nearby town of Zamora for some food  (I know what you’re thinking) An elder from the zamora congregation has a street cart with with delicious food. We ate pollo encocado (chicken slow cooked in a delicious coconut sauce with rice and beans). Shawn and Ryan had pork and tongue. – 5 plates of food, 4 drinks (delicious fresh juices) - $13. You gotta love it here. We thought we’d sleep like babies, BUT….

Day 6 (&7) - La Ruta del Sol

We finally slept in & as bad as yesterday started, today was good. Slept 8 hours! Woke up to sunny skies, not a cloud visible. After stopping for some pan dulce & a bad cup of café (I haven’t found a Starbucks yet) we were off to Playa Olon, 76 Km north of Salinas along the “Route of the Sun” 

We got to Playa Olon at 12:30 and enjoyed a near perfect day on the beach.  This beach was much quieter than Salinas with a lot more natural beauty. The water was so warm and there were a lot more waves. For $8 you can rent a big “carpa”(which is like a canvas cabana with no walls) and 6 really comfy beach chairs. 

We got fresh “mojitos”-probably the best ever with lots of “muddled mint” – Delicious! The beach here is really clean and you can see the mountains in the background.

When you get hungry u just walk back to these little bamboo huts where they serve fresh ceviche and fish. We ate pescado apanado (breaded fish with rice and patacones) and shrimp ceviche with tons of lime and cilantro.

Wow! Really fresh and delicious!

We took a long walk at the end of the day and noticed all these round marks in the sand where the water had receded.  They were sand dollars, thousands of them just under the surface of the sand.

We saw our first sunset here in Ecuador and it was beautiful!

Aaron decided to use the 4WD on his truck to pick us up on the beach – the novelty quickly fled as he realized he couldn’t disengage it.  (I was gonna take a pic of that but I figured he was still licking his wounds from “boogie board gate”) They tried everything. Leah made the “ridiculous”  suggestion that the spare tire on the front right side may be causing the problem but like the macho men that we are we decided it was smarter to drive the 1.5 hours back to Salinas in 4WD-stressing and analyzing the problem along the way.  When we got back, Aaron jacked up the car and “voila” – just as all of us guys suspected it was because the spare tire had a smaller diameter than the others. “Someone” felt vindicated. I haven’t felt so stupid since owning my first car, a Plymouth Soporro.  For 3 days I tried in vain to get it started.  My mom asked me if there was gas in it. I looked at her like we looked at Leah.  After I put gas in it and it started immediately she looked at me like Leah looked at us. We ended this eventful day by hitting our new favorite BBQ restaurant before crashing for the night.

Day 7 – Back to Milagro

We said goodbye to Nicole (We really enjoyed spending time with Ani Tindal's family here in Ecuador-they were very hospitable to us!) and headed back to Milagro. Erik got his $2 hair cut & we went to the meeting in Milagro with Keila y Aaron at 7:30pm.

Keila, her grandma Violetta, sister Viole & mom Fabiola

After the meeting the friends stack up the chairs ( all the halls here so far use those plastic patio chairs) sweep the entire floor, mop and then put all the chairs back. They r like a well-oiled machine.

After all that work we were starving so we went to get a “snack” (or three).  First stop: street cart selling “morocho” which is warm drink that tastes like rice pudding.  We didn’t even get out of the car for that one. Next stop: BBQ Borrego con arroz, menestra, papa y ensalada (Grilled lamb with rice, beans, potato and salad)

Last stop: Sorbete (yes, again and we still haven’t tried all the flavors)

So our last night in Milagro ended like our trip began – FOOD FRENZY!  - We definitely haven’t lost any weight this first week, but we truly enjoyed expanding our horizons and our waistline (but we also haven't gotten sick yet, believe it or not).  Not to mention enjoyed our time with Keila y Aaron and Keila’s family – very hospitable!

Tomorrow off to Cumbaratza.

(We're back) Day 5 - Salinas (the beach)

Actually began at 2:30 AM, yes I said 2:30. Rise but no shine. Rain such as has not been seen since the clouds burst forth, the earth emptied its springs and a grand arc made of resinous wood lifted slowly from its resting place.  For those who haven’t gotten to Genesis yet, I am speaking of…What I mean to say is a river of street juice filled our shoes and muddied our pants. There was a river of water 10 ft wide between the sidewalk and the car. A makeshift plywood bridge constructed from good intentions but doing little to keep us dry.  The good news is we got Wesley Jones to the airport on time, the bad news is he had to throw out his shoes.  More good news: I’m writing you from a beautiful beach in Salinas, sampling delightful beach fare and waiting for my disinfected sneakers to dry-Good as new baby, good as new.
Today’s Spanish lesson- “mandarina”:a man who is “whipped” o sea su esposa dicta lo que hace. Note the following experience if you need clarification:  Let me set this up for you – the car was completely filled with 6 people and all their stuff, it’s 3 AM and did I mention it’s pouring? Then the following dialogue:
Keila: We have to bring the boogie boards

Aaron: No, there is no room

Keila: If the boards aren’t going, then I’m not going.

Aaron: You can either leave the boogie boards or not go at all.

Keila crumpled into a sea of disappointment.  Silent. Broken-hearted.  Aaron had taken his stand, exercised his authority.  Which brings us to the word of the day –

A picture truly is worth a thousand words. Shawn rode 1.5 hours with 2 boogie boards on his head.  Aaron will not be sleeping on the couch tonight.  Pobre  “mandarina”

Memo to all: this part of the blog was pre-approved by the mandarina is su esposa, both good sports.  And they have been awesome hosts for our first week in Ecuador.

We arrived at the beach around 7am, met up with Ani Tindal’s other sister Andrea the other twin and her daughter Nicole, got the keys to the apt, got some bfast, beer & a cooler and we were off to the beach.  The day was a little overcast, but plenty hot.  We slathered on 45SPF, sat under a 10x10 ft cabana all day long with a shirt on. Erik couldn’t remember if he put on bug repellent or sunblock but his arms r bright red and he doesn’t have any bug bites.  No need to bring food as vendors walk up and down all day long with delicious local fare.

yes, that is watermelon wedges in that glass box

What we did eat: Bollos con arroz y aji (our favorite, like a tamale made with green plantains and fish), pappas rellenas, maduros, coco helado (who knew there was so much milk in those things and then after you drink it u bring it back and they cut out all the “meat”, empenadas de pollo. What we didn’t eat: candy apples, cotton candy, icecream, watermelon, choclo con queso, humitas (corn tamales).  – No, we have not lost any weight yet!?!.

4:15 took a boat ride around the coast, $20 for 45 minutes for the 5 of us. The best part was stopping about a mile off the coast, which was the 2^nd most western point in South America. We swam in the ocean and dove of the boat (sometimes the roof). The water was awesome, warm like bath water, thankfully no sharks. Aaron supplied us with the entertainment when he tried to dive but mistepped and did a huge belly flop. Yours truly missed it but everyone else was choking on ocean water. 

We found out that the captain, Enrique, is studying the Bible teach book and his wife is a baptized witness. 

After returning to the condo we napped (rough day, I know you all feel bad for us) and at 9:30 Andrea & Nicole came over and we walked down to the Malecon(boardwalk).

Keila, Andrea, Nicole

We ate at this awesome outdoor bbq type restaurant called “Roca Parrilla”.  For $6 total Leah & I ate:

(2) Grilled platanos maduros con queso & salsa de queso – Grilled sweet plantains stuffed with cheese covered with a cheese sauce

(2) Grilled choclos con salsa de queso – Grilled ears of corn but different than the sweet corn we eat in NY but super yummy!

(2) Tortillas – una de papas y el otro de verde (green plantains) – they r called tortillas but they look more like huge hockey pucks filled with veggies, meat or cheese and then covered in cheese sauce – por supuesto!

Believe it or not we slept like babies. I just don't understand why we aren't losing weight?

We are still alive!

Don't worry. Not that you don't have lives and important things to do. But  those of you that follow this blog faithfully, sorry for the lack of updates. we went to the coast for a few days and had no internet, but we had lots of fun, took pics, ate tons and got a little burned so we will update soon.  We got back into Milagro this afternoon and have meeting tonight.
thanks for all your emails and encouraging comments.
we love you all

Ya existe un paraíso en Betel

¡Hola queridos amigos y hermanos! Hoy tuvimos el privilegio de viajar a Betel. Hay 140 betelitas y muchos hermanos que hacen trabajo en el césped como voluntarios temporales. En la propiedad hay 2 salones del reino, un salon de asambleas, hospedaje para los trabajadores y para los hermanos que asisten la escuela de hermanos solteros. Tuvimos otro privilegio...de almorzar con Hermanos Paco y Analia Delgado y despues de comer nos invitaron a su cuarto para un cafe. Analia es la hermana carnal de Ani Tindal, hermana que asiste la congregacion Riverview, Rochester. Que bonito apartamento tienen. ¿Les gustaría ver una foto de ellos?

Paco y Analia Delgado

recepcion

Cada vez que  uno tiene el privilegio de visitar uno de las sucursales queda impresionado de que ya existe un paraíso, de que el reino de Dios ya se manifiesta a una escala limitada. Todos tienen lo necesario y más en cuanto a sus necesidades físicas; tienen trabajo satisfaciente; viven en un ambiente de paz y tranquilidad y todo es limpio, bien arreglado y en buen estado. 

Y imagínese…todo funciona aunque no pagamos impuestos obligatorios, sino más bien, hacemos contribuciones voluntarias. Que privilegio ser parte de esta organización mundial, un previsto de lo que se realizará en toda la tierra dentro de muy poco. ¿No es cierto que ya exista un paraíso?

piscina de bautismo en el salon de asamblea

Aaron, una precursora que es voluntario y Wes Jones

una hermana trabajando en el cesped con el salon de asambleas atras

El reservoir, piscinas, escuela de hermanos solteros y sus cuartos

Este buen hermano bajaba mangos para nosotros en la propiedad del sucursal

casador de mangos

!Por supuesto comimos mas mangos!

Mira con quien encontramos? Lianne Kelly de Waterloo.
Ha estado viviendo en Ecuador en una congregacion de Quechua
y estaba visitando Betel y parte de nuestra gira.
Ella estaba con 2 hermanas de su congregacion
y un amigo visitando de Connecticut.  !Que coincidencia!

una hermana de la congregacion de Lianne
con una orquídea

!Hasta luego!

Mañana vamos a Salinas que esta en la costa… pero… lo malo es tenemos que salir a las 3 por la mañana porque vamos a dejar hermano Wes Jones en el aeropuerto…pero lo bueno es llegaremos temprano a la playa. !Buenas  noches!

(Sorry to everyone reading in English-ran out of time to translate, maybe tomorrow?)

Day 3 (Dia 3)-Asamblea de paraguas

As many of you know, the word paraguas means "umbrella" in Spanish. So, you may be wondering why today's title is what it is...or you may have almost no interest. But, please keep that to yourself and don't burst my egotistical bubble. Anyway, today we had the privilege of attending the zone meeting in Guayaquil. There were 21,500 in attendance...of course I'm referring to the number of paraguas.  Seated below this sea of colors there were actually over 31,000 brothers and sisters, as well as interested ones and bible students. And as the day warmed the umbrellas started sprouting like spring flowers and with each new "bloom" our view of the stage became more and more obscured.

hey, where did the stage go?

this red one might not seem that spectacular but that sister was the definition of a multi-tasker - holding the umbrella over her son who was sleeping on her lap, fanning him with her watchtower and taking notes.

But the real highlights were:

They announced that they will be holding their first class for christian couples in Ecuador at the end of 2012.

There was a record peak of  75,987 publishers in November.  During April, 1 in 2 publishers in Ecuador were either regular or aux. pioneering.

There are groups or congregations in 11 different languages here.

The meeting was definitely geared towards motivating the friends to learn a foreign language if possible in order to take care of the growing need.  Anyone out there that would like to learn Quechua or Shuar?

The point was driven home with the talk by a brother from the branch committee interviewing missionaries serving in various parts of Ecuador.  First, was Peter & Karen Verde from Holland, serving the past 21 years in Ecuador and currently have the assignment of preaching the islands off the coast. They have a sign on their boat that says "Testigos de Jehova" which serves a dual purpose in the territory - giving a testimony to the people and keeping the pirates away, yes pirates!  In addition to preaching "de isla en isla", they preach "de buque en buque" (cargo ship to cargo ship). Brother Verde is in his element because he was a sailor when he was 16, received one of our books before he left his parents/home and learned the truth.

Second was Juana & Roberto Vasquez, originally from Puerto Rico, have served here 13 years and their circuit is practically the whole country because their circuit is all the language groups. but don't worry, before you get too stressed it only includes the easy ones like Russian, Haitian Creole, Chinese, Shuar, etc. This sister's experience was a bit scary for us. She's deathly afraid of insects but of course her assignment includes the parts of Ecuador with the biggest, scariest insects-as her husband mentioned this includes spiders the size of his hand, making going to the bathroom a terrifying experience. Apparently the spider Ryan saw (where we are going) a few weeks ago has a family. One time she got bitten on her legs, but stopped counting the bites when she got to 90 and had to start counting the other leg. Finally they interviewd brother Scott Ness from the US serving in the Shuar language. He talked about his territory, driving 30 miles, then walking 6 hours through mud, spending the night, waking up and walking another 8 hours( - please consult your OM book and let us know when you start your time) He also shared the experience of having 21 interested people gathered around an IPOD watching the Noah video in their language.

All in all it was a great day, with more than 48,000 in attendance in all of Ecuador. we are thankful that it didn't rain, we brought tp, it was mostly cloudy and only 80 something degrees. But erik is not so thankful he didn't put sunblock on his wrists and hands (apparently you can burn on a cloudy day this close to the equator)

 the stadium









Keila and her Bible student with her daughter and 2 granddaughters



These are friends from Keila & Aarons congregation - seriously the whole congregation is inside there! All you can see is the coordinator and 2 other brothers with the "good" seats. But don't worry, it was only an hour back home. (Matt. 20:26,27).

If you read yesterday (and your still here) you may recognize this bowl - we don't know how he stays so thin.

Tonight they took us to try Sorbet, which is like a fruit smoothie made with milk-no ice (so they told us, we'll let u know tomorrow - ice is made with tap water - tap water causes diar....let's not go there).  We tried 6 different kinds (maybe 6 more tomorrow) - all were delicious! The friends here have been wonderful.  In fact, Keila's aunt prepared Ecuadorian tamales last night (after the sorbets) when we got home - no, in case your wondering we r not losing weight!

Well tomorrow we are off to Bethel and then off to the beach for a few days before heading to our final destination in Cumbaratza.

Keep in touch and thanks for your encouraging comments. We love you and miss you.(Los queremos mucho y los echamos de menos)

PS Papito - we'll post the pics of Candy and Bridgette tomorrow.



Day 2 continued

Hey, everyone! It was a day filled with activity. Candy & Bridget and their husbands came to the house last night, along with Jairo’s (Bridget’s hubby) bible student, Orlando. He is in chapter 12 of the Teach book and speaks Cechua (sp?). We didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. but that didn’t stop us from being up and at the Kingdom Hall at 7:45 this morning to preach in a more isolated area called Lorenzo. A group of brothers and sisters supports a meeting every Saturday for the Public Talk and Watchtower. About 30 people attend which, of course, reminds us of the Albion group. I had the privilege of preaching with a young sister named Cinthia and going on her bible study with a 16 year-old girl named Nichole. We had a lot of conversations with people in town. About 11:30 we went to the KH to rest and ate tons of fresh fruit: mangos, maracuya (sour passion fruit) and granadilla (sweet passion fruit). The granadilla was the most delicious thing ever…okay the mangos were the most delicious ever but the granadilla was soooo awesome!

We enjoyed preaching, eating, cleaning the KH, eating some more…and then we returned at 4:30 for the meeting. Of course, at 4:20 they asked me to give the public talk (no time for nerves). It was fun and really hot. I didn’t wear a jacket but fortunately one of the brothers was almost my size. Not fortunate for him because I am pretty sure I sweated right through it.

Fat Guy in a Little Coat

After the meeting it was time to continue our feeding frenzy and so we stopped and got a whole roasted chicken and some plantain chips, Keila made a delicious salad of carrots, onions, lime juice, tomatoes and olive oil, white rice and choclate cake. Yes, life is tough down here but we will manage. Gotta go for now but we will catch up later. Tomorrow we are going to the Zone meeting and Monday we are touring Bethel and having lunch with the family. We love y'all.

We're gonna need a bigger bowl