Day 65 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… of Horrors!

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the deathtrap at all times"

First day of the Memorial Invitation Campaign: Awake by 7am, out the door by 8:05. Arrive in Namirez at 8:20. On bus to territory for 8:30 departure to Nambija Alto (Upper Nambija-pronounced Nom bee ha), which is a gold mining town. It takes about an hour or so to reach in a Ranchera (a combination bus, carnival ride).

Nice handrail

This is one of the rivers we crossed - no bridge

Getting there was pretty wild-at times a river about 15-20 ft across is flowing over the top of the road. But, there was really no danger.  It is at about 5,500 feet and I’m not sure if the sun ever shines there. Not to mention, really cold at the top which they forgot to tell us.

This is one of the "new" bridges they are building.
You can imagine what we crossed on.

It was rainy and overcast on the way. This is the path
ahead as we start climbing. No guardrails

We got there around 10am (the bus stops along the way)
This is our meeting for field service just outside town.
There were 16 of us.

Walking to town from the bus stop

First view (obstructed by clouds) of town.

Apparently, several decades ago it was a booming town. It is still very busy and there are a good number of people still living there.
We will try to give you an idea of the nature of it with pix and video, but you know how that goes.  Leah came up with the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory comparison…and I added the Horror part. If you could see and hear this place you would understand. It is very loud with the sounds of machinery and the rivers and waterfalls, which are all part of the gold processing, are so muddy, well, it looks like a scene from inside Charlie’s chocolate factory. It is like the whole town is part of one big out door factory.

Those flat looking "boards" are really conveyors with "carpet"
to catch/wash the gold and the muddy water flows over them.

Going up a handful of the 500 slippery steps.

The town is built on the side of the mountain and is a maze of ups and downs, weaving through houses and factories.  It had a ton of character but very little beauty, except, of course, the natural beauty around it. Leah went up about 500 steps and then steep inclines with her group of sisters to start at the top and work their way back down to our 2 groups. (I don’t think she was cold anymore).

This is a view from about halfway up - If you look closely you can see 2 little flecks in the middle of the pic.
It's Erik and Hermano Flores.

The workers transporting mud (potentially with gold) to be sifted.
They use the carts that they used in coal mines.



What goes up must come down-
not sure what's harder?

It's impossible to stay clean. Between the rain &
the river it feels like the town is dripping.

We spent the whole morning distributing invitations to the Memorial and Special Talk. We managed to get to every home and store in the town, we think.

Fortunately, there's a hotel for any of you who might be tempted to visit

How cute is this?

This bus was a little leaky. Hey, what do you want for a $1.50?

Back on the bus by 12:50. Everyone was a little hungry. Adrian managed to find chicken-we had just brought crackers and a piece of fruit. Diana told us not to eat anything here that wasn’t packaged because of the contamination – but that chicken smelled and looked delicious!

We got home at about 2:30, really muddy and really tired. We finished preparing for the meeting, had a snack and we were off to the KH.

Brother Ortiz from Loja Norte had the talk. It was very good: “Challenges and Rewards of Child-Rearing”. He had 3 children and you could just see his passion for having children. It made the talk that much better. The Watchtower Study was awesome, huh? What is the quality of our sacrifices to Jehovah? What is our attitude when making them? I will try to have a better attitude about getting up and getting out the door. It really is a privilege to serve Jehovah.

Who says rat hunting is not a contact sport?

We cleaned the KH and then headed home. Popcorn, ham sandwich, toast and a movie and then, off to bed. Almost as soon as the light went off (11:30pm) we heard Ryan’s concerned voice from the kitchen, “Shawn, wake up!..Shawn…Shawn…SHAWN!”  - Yep, another rat in the house. Shawn put on his hunting apparel and headed out to the kitchen. Then, a noise we are now all too familiar with-wooden brooms being swung like swords of medieval knights. Their valor was legendary, there aim-horrendous. Ryan smashed the stove and the rodent made its escape.

As we laid in bed, listening to them analyzing what had gone wrong we heard Ryan say “Shawn, it’s on your door!” And so the encore performance of thrashing and thumping began again. It was not the same rat. This one was big. As the mighty warriors stood there and reveled in the conquest over their furry foe, we could only sit and wonder…where’d the other one go?

Day 64 – A rainy walk home from Cumbaratza

I had several studies lined up for the morning (for whatever that’s worth). So after a hearty breakfast of potatoes and eggs we were off. Everyone else goes out in the afternoon. Our first stop, Flor, had gone to her mother-in-law’s to do laundry because she had no water. But undeterred, we headed for Cumbaratza. I was just happy that it wasn’t pouring this week and I wouldn’t be soaked by the time we got to the next study. We took our time in hopes we wouldn’t get as sweaty. The last part of the trip is a steady, steep climb. We were a little early, so we decided to rest before her house as we were sweaty. As were standing there, we see her coming down the hill with her sister and daughters. She told us she had something at school they got invited to but she’d be there next week. I had been carrying around the great teacher bk for her daughter, Damaris, so I at least gave it to her. She was super excited. Down the hill we go, stopping at Marisol’s, but she wasn’t home.

Into town we go, and it was dead quiet. You’d think everyone would be at home with the drizzly, overcast weather, but such was not the case. We tried 3 return visits with no success so we talked to a few people walking by. Then Erik placed mags with 2 guys sitting at the busstop.

As we hit the edge of town to walk back it started raining….hard. My umbrella is only so big and my backside is SO big, well, between trying to keep my backpack dry, my back side was completely soaked. My brown skirt changed color. Erik’s pants were wet up to his knees. We tried my study Merci-no one was home. Then Nancy, Hilario & Erlinda. Thank goodness someone is always home there. We talked to Nancy about the meeting and invited her back Saturday for the public talk and WT.

When we got home Veronica and Zully were cooking up a storm. They made a tasty (& healthy) soup with lots of veggies, sausage with onions/peppers, rice, plantains.

The other four went out in service in the afternoon, but we held down the fort. A little laundry, WT preparation, exercise, ping pong & March Madness. Unfortunately, poor Erik can’t get a good feed on the games and the paid one isn’t available in Ecuador. But he’s making due, he sat and read a play by play on the Norfolk State and Missouri game. But it's not the same! Pobrecito, his favorite time of year.

Shawn was kind enough to bring us home some empanadas de verde from Cumbaratza. Yummy!

We have an early/long first day of the campaign tomorrow. We are going to Nambija in the “Ranchera” (the little buses with no windows or doors) tomorrow to get to the territory. It’s about an hour or so ride, so off to bed and a movie.

By the way, my nasty rash finally went away and I didn’t have to make a trip to the clinic.

Day 63 - Nancy's first meeting!

Up and at ‘em (Thanks, Wes)! Leah made ham and cheese omelets and we were out the door and heading to Santa Rosa. Alexandra was home and we finished the chapter “What Happens When We Die?” with her. Her daughter is still in the hospital in Loja (hit by a car). It seems like she will never fully recover. Besides her, we really couldn’t find any of our studies/rv’s so we headed up the mountain to Tunanza Alto. And it really is “alto”.

The cows here have amazing abilitiy to navigate on steep
hills/mountains. We've even seen them running.

The natural beauty is inspiring. So many varieties of plants, trees, orchids and a beautiful fast-flowing stream, slowed a little by large boulders, cuts through the town and heads for the main river passing through Timbara.

This is a pretty typical house here in the territory.

Shawn had a very nice conversation with an elderly woman but Leah and I kind of struck out. Oh well, next time we will catch everyone at home. We did enjoy the surroundings and were able to get some pictures.

This is my favorite. It looks like I softened the
top edge but it's the clouds.

These horses wandered down the road/path by themselves.

There were all kinds of animals wandering down the road

The mountains here have a lot of clay in them so when there's
a landslide it reveals pretty layers of different colors.



Look what was open on our way home!

We got home and made pasta with onions, garlic and olive oil for lunch. We finished preparing for the meeting and then went to do Nancy’s study at 4:30. We had a really good study, her mom and dad listened in and some random guy from the neighborhood who happened to be there. After the study she went and changed and she came to the meeting! That was her first time at the Kingdom Hall. She was very apprehensive but we told her she could leave whenever she wanted to.  She knew a lot of the friends because they r her neighbors and the Quebrada is a small place. She left at the start of the service meeting because she had left the baby home with her mom. But she seemed happy she had come, even though there was a lot she didn’t really understand.

We got home from the meeting, starved as usual. We chatted in the kitchen while snacking on smoked provolone cheese, crackers & popcorn.

Day 62 – Sun in Namirez, rain in Santa Rosa…listening ears all over.

We met for service at Hermana Cajas’ house. There were too many to fit in the car so Erik, Zully and I walked down to Namirez. Other than the cars whizzing by at warp speed it’s a beautiful way to start the morning.

We crossed the bridge and Zully & I did our “manzana” (block) and had some success. She started with the corner where they are always out cooking/selling chancho. She shared 2 scriptures with the woman while she was stirring the huge pot filled with pig parts. They call it frittata, which to me always was eggs fried up with a bunch of stuff with them (onions, peppers, potatoes, sausage). This smells good but I have no desire to try it. Plus some people use the same place they cut the raw pig to cut the cooked stuff-a stump of wood. You can’t exactly sterilize it.

My first house was a younger woman (20?) where I knew Diana had a study but it must have been maybe the sister. She was very nice, invited us in, picked the question about the dead from the truth tract and went to get her Bible. Almost everyone here has one and they read it regularly. We looked up all the scriptures (and a few more) and discussed them. Although some of what she read was new to her she was very humble and open-minded. I’m going back next week to do the question on the resurrection.

Then Zully had a store owner who was a bit “gruff” at the beginning and said she only went by the Christian Greek Scriptures. Zully asked her about the creation account for instance. She didn’t really have an answer other than well yeah that happened, but… Zully asked her to get her Bible, the woman said it wasn’t close. Zully then asked her to read 2 Tim 3:16, 17 from ours, but the woman said she didn’t have her glasses so Zully read it. After hearing the text, her Bible and glasses suddenly appeared from under the counter and she was diligently looking up the scripture in her own Bible. She seemed to soften somewhat and by the time we left she accepted the March mags and was asking me for ideas on names for her grandson (3 months old) that was there with her daughter.

At one of the last doors there were 2 guys that, when Zully asked them how they were, said they could be better-if they had some women. Zully smiled and said hopefully some would come along soon and then continued with her presentation as if nothing. She did well considering that one is not in the reasoning book.

I (Erik) worked with Shawn. Yeah, we had a really nice morning, as well. After being threatened by a couple of white geese, we went down to the river (like the apostle Paul) but did not find a group of women praying. Instead, we ran into two young guys (fleshly brothers) with machetes heading out to, well, machete stuff. Shawn began a conversation with them and after a couple of minutes I realized I had met them before. The younger one is a return visit of Victor Vivanco. I asked if they had any questions and they said yes. Question 1: Will God forgive” ladrones” (robbers or stealers)? We read Psalm 103:8-14 and Isaiah 1:18. Then, question 2: Is it wrong to have sex before marriage? We read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. They really appreciated the clarity and directness of the bible. I encouraged them to continue listening to Victor and invited them to the Memorial. They must’ve been somewhat content because they never threatened to use their machetes.

Shawn wanted to get the horse in the pic...thanks!

After we finished our block we met up and did some calls. The last one was a younger guy that Erik only spoke with once and has not been home since, but as we were walking back by to leave we noticed that his door was now open. His name is Jose and I (Erik) had left the tract “Would you like to know the truth?”. We picked up where we left off and discussed one of the topics with him. When I asked if he thought mankind’s purpose was to live a few decades on earth, enjoy life, suffer at times, and then die, he said, “Yes, I think it is”. We offered to come back and discuss that subject and he said that would be good.

Zully even got to speak a little Quechua to a man. Unfortunately, although he said he spoke the language, when she started asking him questions in Quechua he said he really didn’t. Mmmmm, we’ve heard that before.

We stopped at my two studies that weren’t home yesterday and set Flor up for Friday morning.

Stopped home for a quick lunch and Ryan, Veronica, Zully & I went back out to start before meeting up at the 3pm group in Santa Rosa.  Erik stayed home to work on the special talk & memorial. He also has 3 parts on the meeting tomorrow.

We had a nice afternoon in Santa Rosa. I worked with Diana. We found JoMyra home and went over the information in the truth tract about prayer, next week “Does God Care?”. I really like her because she is a thinker. While we were finishing up on Diana’s study, it started to pour. Of course, it’s Santa Rosa. The 3 others were waiting for me in the car and we went into Zamora to eat at Hermano Corrozo’s restaurant. He actually has a street cart with a tarp and tables. He makes (his wife actually) delicious food and drinks. It was pouring which was good for us because we could actually get a seat. We haven’t been there since our first night here and ironically, it was raining then too. I had the chicken in the coconut sauce again with rice and beans. To drink, I had mixto, which was a mixture of tomate de agua (doesn’t really taste anything like a tomato-I think they add sugar) mixed with with coconut juice – how could it be bad right? I brought some home to Erik, so he wouldn’t cry.

I thought for sure we’d come home to find Erik mopping up the BR but shockingly, only a little had come in. But I was completely “mojada” (drenched) so while there was water, decided to take a hot shower. Unfortunately, we had an uninvited visitor in our shower. No…not the spider…nor the rat. It was a new friend….

Much less intimidating-Erik even took his shower with him running around in there. But I insisted he take him outside before mine. It’s actually surprising that we don’t have more critters in our shower as you could see the pipes just go outside and there’s no trap in the drains.

 We skyped Cory & Emily in Morelia, MX before bed. They seem like they’re doing well and enjoying the food. We’re planning on visiting with them when we go the end of April.

Day 61 – The boys made dinner

Pretty Iris in Aura's front yard

 
We went in service this morning in the Quebrada. I worked with Rosa Benitez and we did her study Aura. It’s about a 15 minute walk each way, so thankfully she was home. We finished chapter 10 on spirit creatures. My two studies weren’t there but there’s always tomorrow. Erik went with Shawn and Ryan and did a study most of the morning. Veronica went with her sister, Zully. We all met up in the territory around 10:45 and Erik & I went to do a call and then stopped by Sabina (our neighbor that’s been gone to the finca for 4 weeks). She was in the middle of making almuerzo but said for us to come back at 2pm.

We got home around 12:45pm and mom had already called us because Leticia was with her in her hotel room in California.  We skyped back and finally got to meet her face to face and her daughter, Abigail. Mom and dad’s room was filled: Bill & Nancy Schmidt, Marge & Ernie Packard, Danielle & Eric Zielinski. Leticia was very touched by the love of the friends and it seem like it reinforced the beauty of being part of Jehovah’s organization. She’s only been in the truth since 2010, but she told us how much learning the truth had helped her husband and changed their family for the better.  Her husband had wanted to come too and bring the baby but, unfortunately, they were having unusually windy/rainy weather.  It really shows how awesome it is to be part of this worldwide brotherhood.

Zully and Veronica made lunch which was supposed to be a cheesy potato soup. Veronica may have put in a few too many noodles so it became cheesy pasta with chunks of potato and rice on the side. It was a true Ecuadorian carb fest but very tasty anyways.

Tuesday afternoon: Erik left to do shepherding with Ryan so Zully went with me on Sabina’s study. We did a brief review of the beginning of chapter 2 which she did remarkably well with and then I noticed she was totally prepared with everything underlined. Her little boy was not feeling well so it made it a bit challenging as he was crying but I was determined to finish the chapter because she hasn’t studied in a month. He finally fell asleep and we took advantage to start chapter 3.

By the way, everyone here has benches outside their homes where you can sit and chat with visitors, but they are all very low to the ground, definitely not made for tall people. Erik usually asks for a chair as he can’t get down very easily and up is even worse. But apparently, when he went with Ryan it wasn’t just a height problem but also a weight problem. As the two sat on their shepherding call, the leg of the bench busted through the floor board and dropped them 3 inches.

At 4, we walked down to do Nancy’s study. The family is always very welcoming and her dad, Hilario, invited us to sit down as we waited for her to come out. They also always have people coming and going and today, it was a young guy who, as he stood 2 inches from Erik’s face, Erik could feel his blood alcohol level rising. But he sat for a bit and listened so we’re gonna try to visit him this Saturday when we go to his town for the campaign. Nancy wasn’t feeling well so we rescheduled for Thursday before our meeting and invited her to come with us. She said yes so we’ll see. It would be the first time.

Shawn and Erik made dinner while I skyped Lynnie. If you have any idea how long Lynnie and I can talk, you have an idea how long it took them to make it. But I can’t complain. They made patty melts with red cabbage. It was quite scrumptious. They had music and then Robin on the computer in the kitchen while they cooked.

In the evening Erik called me into the living room to see what is the biggest spider we have seen as of yet. And man was it fast and it could jump. The boys trapped it and then took it outside, where of course, it got away while they were trying to snap pics.

Update from Day 53 regarding Lays potato chip flavors offered in China (direct from the desk of Wes Jones):

 - Cheese Lobster Flavor
- Italian Red Meat Flavor
- French Chicken Flavor
- Fried Prawn Flavor

There are others; these are just the ones he has tried.

Day 60 – We can’t believe it’s been 2 months!

After the first 2 weeks, the time here truly has flown by. We got so used to telling people we had 3 months and now it’s less than a month here in Cumbaratza. But we have enjoyed our time here so far and looking forward to starting the campaign for the Memorial and being here with the friends for that and the special talk. Looks like we may have the visit of the CO that week too – that will be busy. Especially, because Erik has to give both talks here in Cumbaratza and in Zamora. The next day, Sunday we have to leave for the coast to catch our flight out early Tues morning from Guyaquil. We will be in Mexico for 3 weeks, coming home to NY May 1^st. We plan to be in the D.F. (Mexico City) for 2 weeks visiting Elsa and her family and Leo and his family. Then, the last week in Morelia with the Villas. We would like to visit with Cory and Emily while we are there, as well.

We have definitely settled into the rainy season here in the rainforest but we’re getting used to it and I’m complaining less. We did manage a long walk in between the raindrops and a workout. But the majority of the day was spent inside studying, reading, cleaning, paying bills, blogging.

This picture is of the “interesting” plumbing they have here in Ecuador and we thought maybe Mickey McCarthy would appreciate it.

Can you guess where the bathrooms are?

Ryan made dough again this afternoon, so we had delicious pizza.

A shower, family worship and picture organizing and it was time for bed.

All and all, it was another pretty chilled day. Well, except for the free concert performed by Veronica & Zully that went on for hours. It was private, I wasn’t invited but I went to make tea and couldn’t resist.

By the way, the update on that conversation with the brother from Florida is that they wrote to the society asking for congregations where they could move to where there is a need. They gave them the choice of 6 and they chose Albion. They will be there around May 1^st also. He is an elder and they both are regular pioneers. Very exciting!

Day 59 - Dia especial de asamblea

View of Hall from the parking lot.

Very small section of auditorium. It fits about 1,000.

We had to be up by 5am to leave by 6 but I figured I’d rely on the chancho and not set the alarm. At 4:55 Ryan knocked on our door to let us know there was no water and they were going to the Vivancos to shower (by the way, they don’t have hot water). Fortunately, we took our showers the night before. One thing we’ve learned: shower (brush teeth, wash dishes, clothes, etc.) when there’s water, even if you don’t want to, because the water turns off a lot and there’s no rhyme nor reason to when it goes back on. But we were thankful for the wake-up call as I thought my “chancho alarm” had failed me. But no, at 5:05 it went off – I would definitely not have slept through that! The water came back on at 5:15 so we took another shower to wake up (see, that’s what I mean). We were on the road by 6:20. Ryan had to be there by 8-he had platform duty (but fortunately they had it cleaned up before the program started, hehehehe-for those of you who know I hate that word). It was an overcast and drizzly trip but the sun peaked out just before we got to Loja and we arrived with 5 minutes to spare.
The place they rent is really nice with good sound. Unfortunately, no one warned me how cold it was in there (until the afternoon and all the body heat warmed it up). Even Erik was cold. There were 939 in attendance w/tons of “extranjeros” (foreigners). I may have spoken more English than Spanish – oops!

Brandy and her husband Heath are from Alaska and planning
on moving to Vilcabamba this year (she's due in July)

The program was good: “Efectúese la voluntad de Dios”-Mt. 6:10. The friends in Rochester Spanish will have it April 22nd and I think most of English had it in the fall. Lots of nice interviews and experiences. One sister who says she used to be a hippie is having a lot of success preaching to all the expats (hippies) that have settled in a town called Vilcabamba (look it up on the internet and you’ll see why). She said, in imitation of Paul, to the hippies I have become a hippie that I might gain hippies. It was awesome.

The Trents live in Loja (we met them before when he gavea talk at our hall and then Erik at theirs).
He's originally from Italy and she is from South Dakota.

Samuel Romero (he goes to our hall)

They also interviewed an older couple who’ve been serving all over Ecuador for the past 20 years and 8 years before that in Belize (6 years in the circuit work there). They raised their 5 kids while living in Central and South America (they are in an article 10/15/99-Albert Hilbig). 4 Years ago, their second oldest son died, he was 37, and they shared how hard that was but how supportive the friends were. The husband did the baptism talk and was in charge of attendance and put Erik to work as soon as we got there. The visiting speaker was Hermano Mieles, from Bethel here in Guyaquil, Ecuador. He was a very good speaker.

There were 10 that got baptized including the sister from our hall, Rosa (thank goodness they finished the questions). This is Rosa with her son Josue ("Pepito"). Unfortunately, the rest of
her family couldn't make it. Her older son was in a bad car accident the night before and was in the hospital. Her husband works in New Jersey and is also studying and doing well.

This is the baptism pool outside. I don't think it was heated
but at least there were no bugs!

Veronica & Zully

We met a brother from Oregon who has been there for close to 15 years I think, married to an Ecuadorian sister for the past 10 and they’ve lived in quite a few places around the country. He gave an excellent talk for young people and the importance of making the truth your own. They work as English teachers and told us about an online teaching job that sounds like it might have potential. Ryan had an elders meeting after so we stayed and got to talk to a lot of the friends.

Pretty flowers on the building outside

View from the hall

Oh yeah…one side note: we felt right at home at the assembly here. Paper towels. As we have probably shared with some of you over the years, paper towels are always in short supply at Spanish assemblies. Signs in the bathrooms and announcements from the platform to please limit yourself to 1 piece of paper towel (please don’t over wet your hands). Well, Ecuador went one step further-they had brothers and sisters posted outside the bathroom handing out said valuable commodity-one paper towel. "Um, may I have, um 2 paper towels please? NO PAPER TOWEL FOR YOU!!! Some of you Spanish friends probably don't get our fascination with the 1 paper towel thing...but you have to remember, we came from a land flowing with paper towels and liquid soap. But seriously, we wouldn't change a thing.

We stopped at Supermaxi (of course-we’re in Loja) to grab a few things and got home around 8. Tired, hungry but spiritually satisfied.