In my previous blog (on July 31) I said I would post next from Ecuador. As ESPN's Lee Corso might say, not so fast my friend. It's a month and a half later and I'm sitting in our house in Lancaster. Here's how we explained our situation in our August newsletter.
"As many of you know, our family spent this summer preparing to return to Shell, Ecuador for the upcoming school year. We were excited about teaching, reuniting with friends, and not having any snow over the winter months. It was a refreshing summer and we were grateful for the opportunity to visit with many of you while we were home.
We also took time this summer to pursue an evaluation for one of our children for some concerns that arose during this past year. Shortly before we were to return to Ecuador, we received treatment recommendations of things not available in Shell. After much prayer and counsel, Jodie and I both felt that it would be the right decision for our family to remain in Lancaster and not return to Shell for the upcoming school year. We will have access here in Lancaster to needed resources for our family. MAF was understanding of this decision and showed great support for the well being of our family.
Jodie and I were able to return to Shell earlier this month to pack up our belongings, say goodbye to our missionary and Ecuadorian friends, and bring closure to our year. Our family will now settle in Lancaster and begin looking for jobs, starting school, and moving back into our home.
Although Jodie and I both feel that the decision we made is the right one, the last few weeks have been very emotional. Not only have we been dealing with the shock of our plans for the next year being uprooted, but also with deciding how to best care for our family’s needs. Despite these storms, God has proved faithful. We’ve been buoyed by the knowledge that God is directing our steps and pray that He will be honored both in our family’s lives and in the lives of those in Shell, Ecuador. Dozens of people have offered their prayers, encouragement and practical help during this time. Jodie and I don’t know what lies next for our family, but we know that God does.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support over the past year. It’s been such a privilege to partner with you in serving those in Shell. Please don’t forget to keep us in your prayers as we enter this next stage of life. Please keep praying, as well, for the people who live, work, and worship in Shell and the rest of eastern Ecuador."
Well, we're back in our house now and getting settled in. There's still some stuff unpacked on our living room floor. We've had some job interviews. The kids are enjoying school. We've enjoyed getting involved at church. Life is good. It's not what he had expected for right now, but it's good. We're so thankful for our time in Ecuador and are looking forward to what is in store for us in this next chapter in our life.
This will be the end of Shell Shocked. Please e-mail us or check out my Facebook page for updated news from the Richardson family. Blessings!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
July Recap
One week from now, the six of us will be en-route to Quito. Wow, the summer's flown by!! Here's a brief update on our July adventures.
- We visited my parents in Syracuse for a week. Some highlights of our time there are picnicing with extended family, golfing, fireworks, Rudy's, Olive Garden, Chuckie Cheese, road trip to Rochester, smores, recycling bottles and cans (really, that's a highlight- ask if you want to know more), and of course SWIMMING. We spent a lot of time in Mom and Dad's pool. All four kids loved it and were in the pool as much as possible. Shea and Jads stayed a few extra days and went to VBS at Mom and Dad's church.
-Jod and I took a Spanish class at the community college in Lancaster. It was a very informal non-credit class with lots of conversation. It was great to be able to learn and practice more. I learned a lot of things I'd been saying wrong for the last year, too;-).
-Alex, Di, Keeton, CeCe,and Ansley (Jodie's brother and family) moved back from Turkey on July 15. It's been great to spend a few weeks with them before we head back to Shell. One of our highlights together was the camping and boating trip for the 13 of us at Raystown Lake. Tubing, water skiing, swimming, campfires, bugs, went tents- all sorts of fun things.
-The kids have been busy. Shea and Micah went to soccer camp at a local church and Jadyn attended a 2 day butterfly themed camp at a different church. The last 2 weeks the 3 older kids have been taking swimming lessons at the county pool. Luke's been a good sport about tagging along everywhere. The kids have also been busy at home biking, swinging, reading, and playing PlayStation.
-We've had opportunities to share with a few churches and many individuals this month about what we're up to in Shell. One of the cool things about that is also being able to share what many of the other missionaries in Shell are involved in. From aviation to translation, discipleship to medicine- it's been a blessing to report on how God is meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the people in Ecuador.
The next week should be pretty stressful for our family with to-do lists and goodbyes. We're so thankful for the opportunity to spend this summer with our family and friends and are praying for a smooth transition back to our "home away from home" in Shell. Next post will be from south of the equator!
- We visited my parents in Syracuse for a week. Some highlights of our time there are picnicing with extended family, golfing, fireworks, Rudy's, Olive Garden, Chuckie Cheese, road trip to Rochester, smores, recycling bottles and cans (really, that's a highlight- ask if you want to know more), and of course SWIMMING. We spent a lot of time in Mom and Dad's pool. All four kids loved it and were in the pool as much as possible. Shea and Jads stayed a few extra days and went to VBS at Mom and Dad's church.
-Jod and I took a Spanish class at the community college in Lancaster. It was a very informal non-credit class with lots of conversation. It was great to be able to learn and practice more. I learned a lot of things I'd been saying wrong for the last year, too;-).
-Alex, Di, Keeton, CeCe,and Ansley (Jodie's brother and family) moved back from Turkey on July 15. It's been great to spend a few weeks with them before we head back to Shell. One of our highlights together was the camping and boating trip for the 13 of us at Raystown Lake. Tubing, water skiing, swimming, campfires, bugs, went tents- all sorts of fun things.
-The kids have been busy. Shea and Micah went to soccer camp at a local church and Jadyn attended a 2 day butterfly themed camp at a different church. The last 2 weeks the 3 older kids have been taking swimming lessons at the county pool. Luke's been a good sport about tagging along everywhere. The kids have also been busy at home biking, swinging, reading, and playing PlayStation.
-We've had opportunities to share with a few churches and many individuals this month about what we're up to in Shell. One of the cool things about that is also being able to share what many of the other missionaries in Shell are involved in. From aviation to translation, discipleship to medicine- it's been a blessing to report on how God is meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the people in Ecuador.
The next week should be pretty stressful for our family with to-do lists and goodbyes. We're so thankful for the opportunity to spend this summer with our family and friends and are praying for a smooth transition back to our "home away from home" in Shell. Next post will be from south of the equator!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Coming to America
In honor of the 20th anniversary of this comedy classic, I'll give you the lowdown on our last 3 weeks back in America.
the trip home: Things went pretty well, considering all 6 of us were traveling for several hours. Waiting in line at the counter in Quito, it looked like it could be a real long day(s?) when it showed the flight to Panama was delayed. But after some brief and heartfelt prayers, the board showed the flight was back on time. We still had to hurry through the airport in Panama (Panama now joins Taiwan as countries I've been in, but only in the airport) to catch our next flight to Washington. We arrived in Washington about on time at 1 a.m. and got throught immigration and customs without to much trouble. Our conversation at customs actually went like this.
Customs agent: "Do you have any food?"
Us: "No"
Customs agent: "O.K., have a nice night"
How excited we all were to see Jod's Mom and Dad waiting for us when we walked through the doors a couple moments later!!
culture shock about coming back to the US:
-Strangers talk English
-It's still light out past 6:30. One of the first nights Luke said "It's not bedtime, it's still light out"
-$1.50 for a a 20 oz. soda
-Restaurants have lots of items on the menu. We sort of miss almuerzos being the only option
our week in Massachusetts:
We had a great time hanging out with our friends and without our combined 13 kids. It's so cool to have such great friends. We had a fun week filled with hikes, rafting trip, mini-golf, tennis, Wii, cards, foosball, and lots of sleeping in. A highlight of the week was on Thursday night when we prayed together for each of all of our children.
back in Lancaster:
It's been pretty busy with appointments, meeting w/ friends, Spanish class, phone calls and other stuff. Worshipping again at our home church has been very refreshing! The kids are keeping busy and having fun (for the most part). They've been enjoying spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and seeing some of their friends. Tomorrow we leave for Syracuse to spend a week with my family.
Hope you're all enjoying your summer!
the trip home: Things went pretty well, considering all 6 of us were traveling for several hours. Waiting in line at the counter in Quito, it looked like it could be a real long day(s?) when it showed the flight to Panama was delayed. But after some brief and heartfelt prayers, the board showed the flight was back on time. We still had to hurry through the airport in Panama (Panama now joins Taiwan as countries I've been in, but only in the airport) to catch our next flight to Washington. We arrived in Washington about on time at 1 a.m. and got throught immigration and customs without to much trouble. Our conversation at customs actually went like this.
Customs agent: "Do you have any food?"
Us: "No"
Customs agent: "O.K., have a nice night"
How excited we all were to see Jod's Mom and Dad waiting for us when we walked through the doors a couple moments later!!
culture shock about coming back to the US:
-Strangers talk English
-It's still light out past 6:30. One of the first nights Luke said "It's not bedtime, it's still light out"
-$1.50 for a a 20 oz. soda
-Restaurants have lots of items on the menu. We sort of miss almuerzos being the only option
our week in Massachusetts:
We had a great time hanging out with our friends and without our combined 13 kids. It's so cool to have such great friends. We had a fun week filled with hikes, rafting trip, mini-golf, tennis, Wii, cards, foosball, and lots of sleeping in. A highlight of the week was on Thursday night when we prayed together for each of all of our children.
back in Lancaster:
It's been pretty busy with appointments, meeting w/ friends, Spanish class, phone calls and other stuff. Worshipping again at our home church has been very refreshing! The kids are keeping busy and having fun (for the most part). They've been enjoying spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and seeing some of their friends. Tomorrow we leave for Syracuse to spend a week with my family.
Hope you're all enjoying your summer!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Last post from Ecuador . . . until August
We've gone from counting down the weeks to the days and now to the hours until we arrive back home. We leave Shell in only about 39 hours and our plane leaves Quito in about 67. We arrive at Dulles at 1 AM Friday morning. I'm sure all 6 of us will be feeling our most happiest pleasant as we go through immigration and customs. Things have been very busy here the last couple of weeks. Here are some highlights since the last post.
-Jadyn graduated from Shell Christian Preschool on May 29. She's had a great year and has had a wonderful teacher- Miss Sharon (Sharon LaBouef). I was able to be a n assistant every couple weeks and enjoyed getting to spend time with her and her friends at school. At their graduation ceremony, Jadyn was singing very loudly with the songs. This was the first time we'd ever heard one of our children's voices in a preschool group choir, as Shea and Micah were always silent or barely whispering.
-Shea and I took the bus to Ambato last Sunday (June 1) to attend our first professional Ecuadorian football match. We watched city rivals Macara and Tecnico play in the "Classico de Ambato". It was a lot of fun. South American soccer is quite a spectacle- the colors, the chants, the songs, the policemen with masks and shields. Here's highlights of the match
-Tomorrow is the last day of school of the 07-08 year at Nate Saint. It's been a busy last few weeks with physical fitness tests, graduation service, school Olympics, and all of the end of the year grading, cleaning, and organizing. Jodie's also been trying to a little macro-planning for her K-1 class next year. It's been an honor and a lot of fun to be involved in the ministry of Nate Saint Memorial School this year to the students and families. We're excited about the opportunity to be back again next year. The school will look a lot different as enrollment will be only about 18 or 20 (down from 31 this year) and the oldest student will be in 5th grade.
We're so excited to be able to see most of you blog readers this summer!!! But we know there are a few of you we won't get to see while we're back in the U.S. So I'll still plan on updating a few times to let you know how our summers going. Next post will be from Pennsylvania.
-Jadyn graduated from Shell Christian Preschool on May 29. She's had a great year and has had a wonderful teacher- Miss Sharon (Sharon LaBouef). I was able to be a n assistant every couple weeks and enjoyed getting to spend time with her and her friends at school. At their graduation ceremony, Jadyn was singing very loudly with the songs. This was the first time we'd ever heard one of our children's voices in a preschool group choir, as Shea and Micah were always silent or barely whispering.
-Shea and I took the bus to Ambato last Sunday (June 1) to attend our first professional Ecuadorian football match. We watched city rivals Macara and Tecnico play in the "Classico de Ambato". It was a lot of fun. South American soccer is quite a spectacle- the colors, the chants, the songs, the policemen with masks and shields. Here's highlights of the match
-Tomorrow is the last day of school of the 07-08 year at Nate Saint. It's been a busy last few weeks with physical fitness tests, graduation service, school Olympics, and all of the end of the year grading, cleaning, and organizing. Jodie's also been trying to a little macro-planning for her K-1 class next year. It's been an honor and a lot of fun to be involved in the ministry of Nate Saint Memorial School this year to the students and families. We're excited about the opportunity to be back again next year. The school will look a lot different as enrollment will be only about 18 or 20 (down from 31 this year) and the oldest student will be in 5th grade.
We're so excited to be able to see most of you blog readers this summer!!! But we know there are a few of you we won't get to see while we're back in the U.S. So I'll still plan on updating a few times to let you know how our summers going. Next post will be from Pennsylvania.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Trip to the Big City
The six of us took a trip to Quito from Wednesday to Sunday. Micah had some appointments scheduled there, so we tried to make an adventure of it. And an adventure it was. There's a reason why we've spent much of our lives in places like Groton, NY, Willow Street, PA, and Shell, Ecuador.
Here are some highlights and lowlights of our trip.
There's a family that lives outside Quito (the Camdens- from Australia and Illinois by way of Houston) that has 4 kids between 11 and 5. We'd only met Leith and their two oldest boys before in Shell. But he told us to let them know if we were ever in Quito. So we did and hung out with them at their house a couple times, including celebrating Leith's birthday on Saturday. It's always fun to meet new friends, and we had a great time getting to know Leith, Amy, Levi, Nathan, Andrew, and Jane. (HIGHLIGHT)
On the way back from the Camdens on Saturday, Luke got sick in the van and threw up over himself and Jodie. (LOWLIGHT)
We got to go to McDonalds for only the 2nd time since we left the U.S. (HIGHLIGHT). Before we left for lunch at Mickey D's Jodie reminded me that someone told us only to take our credit cards with us if we were going to use them. So I left them at the apartment. I also didn't have my drivers license or Ecuadorian ID card (censo) in my wallet (retrospective HIGHLIGHT, because...). While walking from McDonalds to the street to get a taxi, I was approached by some very aggressive 8 year old girls trying to sell me some candy. They also stole my wallet/blood tester. (LOWLIGHT)
It was cold and dreary in Quito (LOWLIGHT), but at least I didn't sweat on my pillow during the night (HIGHLIGHT).
We visited English Fellowship Church on Sunday morning. This was our first Sunday Morning Service in English since last July. (HIGHLIGHT) However, it was at the end of a long and tiring weekend for the kids and they weren't in the mood for sitting quietly to sing and listen to the sermon. (LOWLIGHT).
We got home earlier than expected Sunday afternoon thanks to good weather and traffic . (HIGHLIGHT) After unpacking and putting groceries away, we went to check e-mail and our computer wouldn't come on. We're still not sure what the problem is and I'm at a school computer now. (LOWLIGHT)
Some other Quito HIGHLIGHTS:
-The kids did great on the van rides up and back from Quito.
-We hired a driver to take us up and back. Vicente and his son Oswaldo (who drove us back on Sunday) were wonderful. Vicente even took us around Quito to various appointments, markets, stores, and houses on Saturday.
-The six of us went bowling on Friday. It was a lot of fun and the kids did great. Luke tried to kick the bowling ball like a soccer ball a few times and had to be told that he probably didn't want to do that. ;-)
-We also got to eat out at Pizza Hut and Crepes & Waffles.
Other News:
Two weeks from today is the last day of school. To give some perspective on how long ago the beginning of the year was- I shared a little bit with Jodie's class about New York State when they were studying the Northeast region in the fall. While talking about past U.S. presidents who were from New York, I mentioned that it was likely that the next U.S. president would be from New York. Hillary vs. Rudy seems like a long time ago.
Today's a big soccer day in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian national team lost a friendly match to France this afternoon in a warmup for World Cup qualifying next month. And LDU Quito (referred to simply as Liga in Ecuador) plays tonight in a Copa Libertadores Semifinal match. The Copa Lib is the top club tournament for teams in South America and Mexico.
Here are some highlights and lowlights of our trip.
There's a family that lives outside Quito (the Camdens- from Australia and Illinois by way of Houston) that has 4 kids between 11 and 5. We'd only met Leith and their two oldest boys before in Shell. But he told us to let them know if we were ever in Quito. So we did and hung out with them at their house a couple times, including celebrating Leith's birthday on Saturday. It's always fun to meet new friends, and we had a great time getting to know Leith, Amy, Levi, Nathan, Andrew, and Jane. (HIGHLIGHT)
On the way back from the Camdens on Saturday, Luke got sick in the van and threw up over himself and Jodie. (LOWLIGHT)
We got to go to McDonalds for only the 2nd time since we left the U.S. (HIGHLIGHT). Before we left for lunch at Mickey D's Jodie reminded me that someone told us only to take our credit cards with us if we were going to use them. So I left them at the apartment. I also didn't have my drivers license or Ecuadorian ID card (censo) in my wallet (retrospective HIGHLIGHT, because...). While walking from McDonalds to the street to get a taxi, I was approached by some very aggressive 8 year old girls trying to sell me some candy. They also stole my wallet/blood tester. (LOWLIGHT)
It was cold and dreary in Quito (LOWLIGHT), but at least I didn't sweat on my pillow during the night (HIGHLIGHT).
We visited English Fellowship Church on Sunday morning. This was our first Sunday Morning Service in English since last July. (HIGHLIGHT) However, it was at the end of a long and tiring weekend for the kids and they weren't in the mood for sitting quietly to sing and listen to the sermon. (LOWLIGHT).
We got home earlier than expected Sunday afternoon thanks to good weather and traffic . (HIGHLIGHT) After unpacking and putting groceries away, we went to check e-mail and our computer wouldn't come on. We're still not sure what the problem is and I'm at a school computer now. (LOWLIGHT)
Some other Quito HIGHLIGHTS:
-The kids did great on the van rides up and back from Quito.
-We hired a driver to take us up and back. Vicente and his son Oswaldo (who drove us back on Sunday) were wonderful. Vicente even took us around Quito to various appointments, markets, stores, and houses on Saturday.
-The six of us went bowling on Friday. It was a lot of fun and the kids did great. Luke tried to kick the bowling ball like a soccer ball a few times and had to be told that he probably didn't want to do that. ;-)
-We also got to eat out at Pizza Hut and Crepes & Waffles.
Other News:
Two weeks from today is the last day of school. To give some perspective on how long ago the beginning of the year was- I shared a little bit with Jodie's class about New York State when they were studying the Northeast region in the fall. While talking about past U.S. presidents who were from New York, I mentioned that it was likely that the next U.S. president would be from New York. Hillary vs. Rudy seems like a long time ago.
Today's a big soccer day in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian national team lost a friendly match to France this afternoon in a warmup for World Cup qualifying next month. And LDU Quito (referred to simply as Liga in Ecuador) plays tonight in a Copa Libertadores Semifinal match. The Copa Lib is the top club tournament for teams in South America and Mexico.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The weather feels right
When people ask what the weather is like here, I often say it's May the whole year. So this month feels right with my New York/Pennsylvania weather-calendar cycle. Some rain, some hot afternoons, cool evenings. I'm just waiting to see all the dandelions and maple tree "helicopters" and then it will seem perfect. We've been busy with stuff since the last post, here are a few highlights.
-Micah had a sleepover party on the Friday after his birthday. The two other first grade boys, Jonny and Josiah, stayed over after we had dinner with both of their families. Everyone fell asleep earlier than at Shea's party in December.
-There was no school on Friday, May 2 to celebrate Dia de Trabajo (Ecuador's Labor Day)*. We went to the "fair" in Puyo with our friend Elsa and her grandson Stevie. There were booths from different groups from Ecuador's Oriente/Amazonia region (the jungle area of Eastern Ecuador) and local merchants, as well as food, animals, and a bouncy ride for the kids. It made us a little nostalgic for the Solanco and Lampeter fairs in September that we're missing out on. After the fair, we went to a local pool to meet some other friends. We spent the afternoon swimming, talking, eating, and most of us getting sunburns.
-Last Saturday, I helped some local kids with their high school English class project. Leo, a kid I know from Spotlight on Thursday nights, asked if I would answer some questions for his group's project. So we did a little English Q&A on videotape. I may be the source of a few jokes now at Colegio Militar in Mera.
-The students and teachers at Nate Saint had a pizza party on Friday for reaching their April Read-a-Thon goal of 100,000 pages. They read over 120,000 pages combined during the month of April. Jacob, one of Jodie's 3rd graders, was the top individual reader with 11,000 plus pages!
-Friday night was the school's Cultural Fair. Each of the classes presented for the community some of the things they've been learning about in Social Studies this year. Shea & Micah's class did projects on different holiday celebrations from around the world. The two boys were partners and had a booth about Quebec's Winter Carnival. They worked hard and did a great job at their booth, and even had yummy pancakes and hot chocolate! Jodie's class did a "living map" of the U.S. complete with mountians, the Mississippi River, and Statue of Liberty. Each student (and Jodie) prepared some information about their "home" state. New York, Pennsylvania, Illionis, Minnesota, Texas, and California were represented.
-Last night we had a despedida (going-away party) for the 6 missionary families that are leaving Shell in the next few months. We've gotten to know some of them well over the past year, and it will sad to see them go, but in the Father's hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
-We celebrated Mother's Day today with a trip to the pool/water park in Puyo. We played in a wave pool, a water playground, and some amusement park height water slides. Then we went out for pizza and bought some fruit at the market before heading back home on the bus. Our kids were so excited to give Mom gifts and confirm that she officially is the Best Mother in the World! Jod's final Mother's Day gift just left- a group of 6 serenaded her with 2 songs and roses. Our friend Isaac's church youth group was selling those and I couldn't resist this one of a kind gift.
Our camera's broken at the moment, so pictures may be a little more sparse the next several weeks.
*Dia de Trabajo is actually on May 1, but when it falls on a Thursday the president often declares both Thursday and Friday a holiday. Since NSMS only could have 1 day off, we changed our day off from Thursday to Friday. Glad I could straighten that out for you.
-Micah had a sleepover party on the Friday after his birthday. The two other first grade boys, Jonny and Josiah, stayed over after we had dinner with both of their families. Everyone fell asleep earlier than at Shea's party in December.
-There was no school on Friday, May 2 to celebrate Dia de Trabajo (Ecuador's Labor Day)*. We went to the "fair" in Puyo with our friend Elsa and her grandson Stevie. There were booths from different groups from Ecuador's Oriente/Amazonia region (the jungle area of Eastern Ecuador) and local merchants, as well as food, animals, and a bouncy ride for the kids. It made us a little nostalgic for the Solanco and Lampeter fairs in September that we're missing out on. After the fair, we went to a local pool to meet some other friends. We spent the afternoon swimming, talking, eating, and most of us getting sunburns.
-Last Saturday, I helped some local kids with their high school English class project. Leo, a kid I know from Spotlight on Thursday nights, asked if I would answer some questions for his group's project. So we did a little English Q&A on videotape. I may be the source of a few jokes now at Colegio Militar in Mera.
-The students and teachers at Nate Saint had a pizza party on Friday for reaching their April Read-a-Thon goal of 100,000 pages. They read over 120,000 pages combined during the month of April. Jacob, one of Jodie's 3rd graders, was the top individual reader with 11,000 plus pages!
-Friday night was the school's Cultural Fair. Each of the classes presented for the community some of the things they've been learning about in Social Studies this year. Shea & Micah's class did projects on different holiday celebrations from around the world. The two boys were partners and had a booth about Quebec's Winter Carnival. They worked hard and did a great job at their booth, and even had yummy pancakes and hot chocolate! Jodie's class did a "living map" of the U.S. complete with mountians, the Mississippi River, and Statue of Liberty. Each student (and Jodie) prepared some information about their "home" state. New York, Pennsylvania, Illionis, Minnesota, Texas, and California were represented.
-Last night we had a despedida (going-away party) for the 6 missionary families that are leaving Shell in the next few months. We've gotten to know some of them well over the past year, and it will sad to see them go, but in the Father's hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
-We celebrated Mother's Day today with a trip to the pool/water park in Puyo. We played in a wave pool, a water playground, and some amusement park height water slides. Then we went out for pizza and bought some fruit at the market before heading back home on the bus. Our kids were so excited to give Mom gifts and confirm that she officially is the Best Mother in the World! Jod's final Mother's Day gift just left- a group of 6 serenaded her with 2 songs and roses. Our friend Isaac's church youth group was selling those and I couldn't resist this one of a kind gift.
Our camera's broken at the moment, so pictures may be a little more sparse the next several weeks.
*Dia de Trabajo is actually on May 1, but when it falls on a Thursday the president often declares both Thursday and Friday a holiday. Since NSMS only could have 1 day off, we changed our day off from Thursday to Friday. Glad I could straighten that out for you.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Our Big Backyard (and other various thoughts and pictures)
One of the best parts of living here in Shell is the close proximity of our house to God's creation- from the volcano visible from our driveway on clear days to the sights and sounds of the jungle. The kids love exploring outside. The latest craze in our outdoor experiences is the tadpole population living in the old hot tub here on the MAF base. All of the kids in the neighborhood are often found catching and examining these little creatures. Here are some pics from a couple Sundays ago of the boys playing out back.
Here's a picture of Jadyn lounging poolside a few weeks ago when our family went to a pool in Puyo for the afternoon.
Do you remember December 15, 1999? Ron Dayne had just won the Heisman Trophy, gas cost about $1.30 a gallon, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was the most watched telvision show in the U.S., everyone was stocking up their pantries with hamburger helper for the end of the world that was just 17 days away, and nobody in our family had a diaper that needed changed. For the next 8 years and 4 months, that didn't happen again. Until last week. Luke is diaper free during the days now and even has had a couple of dry nights. He is still learning some proper etiquette boundaries, though. Like . . . peeing outside by a tree is often alright, but pooping on the sidewalk by the carport- not so much.
In the 11+ years I lived in Lancaster, I rode the bus a total of 0 times. (In fact, aside from trips to the dentist as a kid in Rochester, I don't think I've ever rode the city bus). But here in Shell, we ride the bus often. Not all the time, but more frequently lately. And it's so easy here- no need to look for a schedule of stops and times. We can just walk out to end of our driveway and within 5 minutes there's a bus that will stop and take us to Shell or Puyo.
The kids are taking SAT's this week at school. No, not those SAT's. Their Standard Achievement Tests for each grade level. The one positive of this is that Jodie has had to spend a lot less time on lesson plans. A big negative is that Micah has to take these tests on his birthday.
That's right, our Micah bear is 7 today!! We're so proud of our special guy and we love him so much. Happy Birthday Micah!!
Here's a picture of Jadyn lounging poolside a few weeks ago when our family went to a pool in Puyo for the afternoon.
Do you remember December 15, 1999? Ron Dayne had just won the Heisman Trophy, gas cost about $1.30 a gallon, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was the most watched telvision show in the U.S., everyone was stocking up their pantries with hamburger helper for the end of the world that was just 17 days away, and nobody in our family had a diaper that needed changed. For the next 8 years and 4 months, that didn't happen again. Until last week. Luke is diaper free during the days now and even has had a couple of dry nights. He is still learning some proper etiquette boundaries, though. Like . . . peeing outside by a tree is often alright, but pooping on the sidewalk by the carport- not so much.
In the 11+ years I lived in Lancaster, I rode the bus a total of 0 times. (In fact, aside from trips to the dentist as a kid in Rochester, I don't think I've ever rode the city bus). But here in Shell, we ride the bus often. Not all the time, but more frequently lately. And it's so easy here- no need to look for a schedule of stops and times. We can just walk out to end of our driveway and within 5 minutes there's a bus that will stop and take us to Shell or Puyo.
The kids are taking SAT's this week at school. No, not those SAT's. Their Standard Achievement Tests for each grade level. The one positive of this is that Jodie has had to spend a lot less time on lesson plans. A big negative is that Micah has to take these tests on his birthday.
That's right, our Micah bear is 7 today!! We're so proud of our special guy and we love him so much. Happy Birthday Micah!!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A year ago today...
When I woke up on April 13th, 2007, I probably couldn't have located Ecuador on a map. Also, my spanish vocabulary consisted of "no" and "piso mojado", I didn't know much about Nate Saint other than there was a movie about him, and I hadn't spent much time thinking about the possibilities of moving our family to another country to be involved in MK education. When I got home from work that day, Jodie asked "What would you think about being a missionary teacher with MAF?" and as they (I'm not really sure who "they" are, but I digress) say, "The rest is history." Wow, what a year it's been! I think our family has experienced just about every emotion possible over the past 12 months. We've been stretched in ways I couldn't have dreamed of last April 12. But it's been so humbling to see how God has guided us and comforted us and allowed us to be used to serve the missionary families and local -Shellers? Shellians? Shellites?-. The whole process has been such a God thing- amazingly so. I can only imagine what our lives might look like on April 13, 2009.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Taco A Mockingbird
April is Read-A-Thon month at NSMS. The students and teachers are attempting to read 100,000 pages collectively. Jodie had her class over for a reading and taco eating party (the kids voted on the menu. Normally you don't think of curling up with a good book and a taco- but hey). Although nobody in her class is reading Harper Lee's classic about Atticus and Scout Finch, there were appearances made by Encyclopedia Brown, Frank & Joe Hardy, the very hungry caterpillar (in Spanish), and others. Here are some pictures.
Shea and Micah are also reading lots of books this month. Shea has been re-reading many Magic Tree House books along with C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle. Micah's interests have leaned more toward non-fiction including books about storms and Ben Franklin. Not to be outdone, Jadyn and Luke are also reading lots this month. The other four of us have all taken turns reading to them. Some of their favorites are The Bearenstein Bears and Lily the mouse (Jadyn) and books about airplanes (Luke).
Shea and Micah are also reading lots of books this month. Shea has been re-reading many Magic Tree House books along with C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle. Micah's interests have leaned more toward non-fiction including books about storms and Ben Franklin. Not to be outdone, Jadyn and Luke are also reading lots this month. The other four of us have all taken turns reading to them. Some of their favorites are The Bearenstein Bears and Lily the mouse (Jadyn) and books about airplanes (Luke).
Sunday, April 6, 2008
3 down, 1 to go
Today was the last day of the 3rd quarter at school for Jodie, Shea, and Micah. Today is also our 8 month anniversary in Ecuador.
Here's are some highlights and pictures from recent weeks.
Celebrating our first Easter in Ecuador was a blend of old and new. In Ecuador (and probably all of South America), Easter and holy week do not have any of the Spring-themed "fluff" that we associate with the season in the U.S. There's no Easter bunny, plastic eggs, or those little Peeps marshmallows. So we imported some of that with us. Our family painted Easter rocks and eggs and on Easter morning the MAF missionary families had a brunch and egg hunt. Our church had just one service on Easter Sunday, and it was at 5 a.m. So, I was the only one to attend church on Easter Sunday. Here's some pictures of the kids decorating their rocks.
These are Jod's students at Prairie Days- a class project where the kids each researched and led an activity for the other school students about life on the 19th century U.S. prairie.
Edgar and his daughter Sharly are friends of ours that we met at Edgar's bakery. Unfortunately, the bakery closed down last month, but they live in Shell and we're still able to see them from time to time.
I've been helping out at "Spotlight" most weeks. This is a club to help people learn English. Beth, the boy's teacher, usually leads but wasn't able to be there a couple weeks in a row. I was the only native English speaker last week and we had 13 Spanish speakers- more than the normal turnout and more than half were young children. It actually went alright, but I was glad to have some "help" this past Thursday.
I'm really enjoying teaching Phys Ed at NSMS this year. It's a neat way to keep in touch with the school and gives me a little outlet away from home. The kids (3 classes of 1st thru 8th graders) are a lot of fun and I've enjoyed getting to know each of them and their personalities. I'm still getting used to being called Mr. Richardson, though.
Look for our April newsletter in your mailboxes (the ones on your front porch or by the street) this month.
Here's are some highlights and pictures from recent weeks.
Celebrating our first Easter in Ecuador was a blend of old and new. In Ecuador (and probably all of South America), Easter and holy week do not have any of the Spring-themed "fluff" that we associate with the season in the U.S. There's no Easter bunny, plastic eggs, or those little Peeps marshmallows. So we imported some of that with us. Our family painted Easter rocks and eggs and on Easter morning the MAF missionary families had a brunch and egg hunt. Our church had just one service on Easter Sunday, and it was at 5 a.m. So, I was the only one to attend church on Easter Sunday. Here's some pictures of the kids decorating their rocks.
These are Jod's students at Prairie Days- a class project where the kids each researched and led an activity for the other school students about life on the 19th century U.S. prairie.
Edgar and his daughter Sharly are friends of ours that we met at Edgar's bakery. Unfortunately, the bakery closed down last month, but they live in Shell and we're still able to see them from time to time.
I've been helping out at "Spotlight" most weeks. This is a club to help people learn English. Beth, the boy's teacher, usually leads but wasn't able to be there a couple weeks in a row. I was the only native English speaker last week and we had 13 Spanish speakers- more than the normal turnout and more than half were young children. It actually went alright, but I was glad to have some "help" this past Thursday.
I'm really enjoying teaching Phys Ed at NSMS this year. It's a neat way to keep in touch with the school and gives me a little outlet away from home. The kids (3 classes of 1st thru 8th graders) are a lot of fun and I've enjoyed getting to know each of them and their personalities. I'm still getting used to being called Mr. Richardson, though.
Look for our April newsletter in your mailboxes (the ones on your front porch or by the street) this month.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
I'll be home for ... flag day
We'll be heading back to the U.S. in just 88 days. Last week the plane tickets were purchased. We come home for the summer on Thursday, June 12 and return here to Ecuador on Thursday, August 7. There's so many people we want to see when we're back home that 8 weeks just doesn't seem like enough time (the person Jodie's most excited to see is the clerk at Turkey Hill who gives her the first ice tea and ice cream she's had in 11 months. Next on her list is the waiter or waitress at Olive Garden).
Brief updates and anecdotes from life in Shell.
-it's been storming a lot more here lately. There's always a lot of rain, but it seems like there's been more thunder and lightning with the rain recently. That's not always real good news for our electric and internet connection. In addition, our Vonage phone only seems to work for about an hour a week- so if you get a frantic call from us some time, it's because we want to talk quick before Vonage stops working.
-Jodie's class is "traveling" in the Midwest now. This Thursday they have "Prarie Days": a classroom fair where the students will share and we'll all get to have some food. Look for pictures in an upcoming post.
-I played in a 5 game basketball league here in Shell over the past few weeks. Our team came in 3rd place (out of 6 teams) with a 3-2 record. In one game we played against a team with the pastor of our church on it. For those of you who know Pastor Clovis, you may cringe for me when you read this next part. We were both going for a loose ball. We collided. He didn't budge. I went horizontal and landed on the cement floor. Fortunately, I didn't land on my head.
-One of our fellow MAF families is leaving Shell tomorrow and moving to Oaxaca, Mexico. Sean and Rebecca Cannon and their daughters, Brooklyn and Madison, will be working with Alas de Socorro in Oaxaca where Sean will be a pilot. Thankfully, they are faithful bloggers so we'll be able to see and hear how they're doing. It's exciting to see how God is leading them and how they'll be able to shine for Him in their new home.
-Last night at about 3 a.m we awoke to a loud crying/moaning sound and rattling in our kitchen cupboards. We could tell it wasn't one of our kids, but it didn't sound like a cat's meow. It sounded like a baby crying. I opened the cupboard door and saw the front half of Georgia poking out from the 1/2 inch space between the back corner post of the cupboard and the wall. She was stuck.* And she wasn't to happy. And probably not able to breathe. Jod helped yank her out from the front, while I went down to our back porch, reached up into the floor boards and pipes above our hot water heater and tried to shove her legs up. After several minutes (almost a half-hour) of screeching, howling, and other very non cat-like sounds, we were able to get her unstuck.
- Luke has been taking a renewed interest in using the potty. He's been in underwear for most of his daytime hours the last few days. His technique for "liquid waste" is to stand up on the toilet seat and let it go into the waiting pool under his feet. I guess he's trying to practice for public bathrooms with the urinals that go down to the floor.
*Georgia had been easily climbing up through a large hole in the back of our cupboard by climbing up through the space above the hot water heater. But I taped that shut last night which led her to a more desperate and dangerous attempt at breaking into our house in the middle of the night.
Brief updates and anecdotes from life in Shell.
-it's been storming a lot more here lately. There's always a lot of rain, but it seems like there's been more thunder and lightning with the rain recently. That's not always real good news for our electric and internet connection. In addition, our Vonage phone only seems to work for about an hour a week- so if you get a frantic call from us some time, it's because we want to talk quick before Vonage stops working.
-Jodie's class is "traveling" in the Midwest now. This Thursday they have "Prarie Days": a classroom fair where the students will share and we'll all get to have some food. Look for pictures in an upcoming post.
-I played in a 5 game basketball league here in Shell over the past few weeks. Our team came in 3rd place (out of 6 teams) with a 3-2 record. In one game we played against a team with the pastor of our church on it. For those of you who know Pastor Clovis, you may cringe for me when you read this next part. We were both going for a loose ball. We collided. He didn't budge. I went horizontal and landed on the cement floor. Fortunately, I didn't land on my head.
-One of our fellow MAF families is leaving Shell tomorrow and moving to Oaxaca, Mexico. Sean and Rebecca Cannon and their daughters, Brooklyn and Madison, will be working with Alas de Socorro in Oaxaca where Sean will be a pilot. Thankfully, they are faithful bloggers so we'll be able to see and hear how they're doing. It's exciting to see how God is leading them and how they'll be able to shine for Him in their new home.
-Last night at about 3 a.m we awoke to a loud crying/moaning sound and rattling in our kitchen cupboards. We could tell it wasn't one of our kids, but it didn't sound like a cat's meow. It sounded like a baby crying. I opened the cupboard door and saw the front half of Georgia poking out from the 1/2 inch space between the back corner post of the cupboard and the wall. She was stuck.* And she wasn't to happy. And probably not able to breathe. Jod helped yank her out from the front, while I went down to our back porch, reached up into the floor boards and pipes above our hot water heater and tried to shove her legs up. After several minutes (almost a half-hour) of screeching, howling, and other very non cat-like sounds, we were able to get her unstuck.
- Luke has been taking a renewed interest in using the potty. He's been in underwear for most of his daytime hours the last few days. His technique for "liquid waste" is to stand up on the toilet seat and let it go into the waiting pool under his feet. I guess he's trying to practice for public bathrooms with the urinals that go down to the floor.
*Georgia had been easily climbing up through a large hole in the back of our cupboard by climbing up through the space above the hot water heater. But I taped that shut last night which led her to a more desperate and dangerous attempt at breaking into our house in the middle of the night.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Signs of the Times
The big news in Shell is new road signs (yes it's a small town). There's a new sign welcoming drivers to Shell (or at least announcing that Shell's here) right by the entrance to the school.
This next picture is of the new sign at the end of the hangar heading toward Puyo. Note that it takes about 4 hours to go the 137 kilometers (approx 82 miles) to Macas. Needless to say, the road to Macas is unlike I-95.
The 1/2 & 3/4 classes celebrated Dr. Seuss's 104th birthday (although if the person's dead, is it just the anniversary of their birth?) on Friday. Many of the kids dressed up as characters from a Dr. Seuss book. Shea was Sam I Am and Micah was the Grinch.
"It's not Turkey Hill, but I won't complain."
This next picture is of the new sign at the end of the hangar heading toward Puyo. Note that it takes about 4 hours to go the 137 kilometers (approx 82 miles) to Macas. Needless to say, the road to Macas is unlike I-95.
The 1/2 & 3/4 classes celebrated Dr. Seuss's 104th birthday (although if the person's dead, is it just the anniversary of their birth?) on Friday. Many of the kids dressed up as characters from a Dr. Seuss book. Shea was Sam I Am and Micah was the Grinch.
"It's not Turkey Hill, but I won't complain."
Sunday, February 24, 2008
100 days of school
Friday the 15th was the 100th day of school at Nate Saint. The 1st and 2nd classes had a day long centenial celebration. As part of day, each student built or made an object with 100 items. There were buildings made out of 100 straws and 100 popsicle sticks, 100 lego vehicles, and 100 small paper hearts glued onto a big paper heart. Shea set up a tower of 100 paper cups at school (see picture) and Micah made a paper chain with 100 links. Micah's highlight of the first 100 days was the class reading 100 books together. Shea's highlight was the Christmas musical (Meet Me at the Manger) that the school did in December and the hike to Hola Vida waterfall this month.
Jodie's class was a little more low key in recognizing 100 days. It was hard for Jodie to pin down one highlight The 3rd and 4th graders have been busy in February as their "travels" across the U.S. have had them in the Southeast. They've read Mildred Taylor's Mississippi Bridge, listened to music from the region, studied and discussed slavery and racism, and had a special visit from kindergarten teacher Mrs. Blackburn to talk about her home state of Alabama*. This week the class heads up to the Midwest. They'll start writing some tall tales this week.
Jodie celebrated her birthday on the 13th. Some of the missionary ladies had a special party for her with lots of flowers, then she got a lot of love from her students and their parents at school with more flowers and cake at school. We celebrated at home with a cake. Then this past week the two of us went out on a date to El Jardin in Puyo while Beth Patton (Jod's fellow teacher) watched the kids. That was a special treat!!
My parents were here for a week and left on Tuesday the 12th. Dad got to speak at Chapel at Nate Saint and shared about being leaders. The kids even got to play follow the leader. The week went by too fast with them.
Jadyn, Luke, and I attended our first Ecuadorian birthday party last week, also. Our friend Jhonatan (son of Isaac & Aide) turned two. There were about a dozen kids and a few parents at the party and we had fun (well Luke didn't have so much fun) playing games and singing. Then we had some very yummy cake and jello punch and Luke really enjoyed that. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with Jhonatan and the rest of his family!
*Speaking of Southern states, our cat Georgia (as well as Princeton) will never give us kitty grand-babies. They had surgery at the vet's and are now recovering nicely. They've also moved out of the house to their new "home" on the back porch.
Jodie's class was a little more low key in recognizing 100 days. It was hard for Jodie to pin down one highlight The 3rd and 4th graders have been busy in February as their "travels" across the U.S. have had them in the Southeast. They've read Mildred Taylor's Mississippi Bridge, listened to music from the region, studied and discussed slavery and racism, and had a special visit from kindergarten teacher Mrs. Blackburn to talk about her home state of Alabama*. This week the class heads up to the Midwest. They'll start writing some tall tales this week.
Jodie celebrated her birthday on the 13th. Some of the missionary ladies had a special party for her with lots of flowers, then she got a lot of love from her students and their parents at school with more flowers and cake at school. We celebrated at home with a cake. Then this past week the two of us went out on a date to El Jardin in Puyo while Beth Patton (Jod's fellow teacher) watched the kids. That was a special treat!!
My parents were here for a week and left on Tuesday the 12th. Dad got to speak at Chapel at Nate Saint and shared about being leaders. The kids even got to play follow the leader. The week went by too fast with them.
Jadyn, Luke, and I attended our first Ecuadorian birthday party last week, also. Our friend Jhonatan (son of Isaac & Aide) turned two. There were about a dozen kids and a few parents at the party and we had fun (well Luke didn't have so much fun) playing games and singing. Then we had some very yummy cake and jello punch and Luke really enjoyed that. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with Jhonatan and the rest of his family!
*Speaking of Southern states, our cat Georgia (as well as Princeton) will never give us kitty grand-babies. They had surgery at the vet's and are now recovering nicely. They've also moved out of the house to their new "home" on the back porch.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
water fights and waterfall
The kids at Nate Saint school are working hard! But between all the math problems, spelling lists, reading contracts, and science lessons there's still time for some fun. There were a couple special days in the last 2 weeks for Jodie's and Shea & Micah's classes. The first was a special carnival celebration. Carnival is the South American equivalent of Mardi Gras. And water balloons are to Shell what beads are to New Orleans and fasnachts are to Lancaster County. On Friday the 1st, the whole school had a half day and the last two hours were spent on water games. I "substituted" for Jodie and was one of the faculty team captains. Everyone had a lot of fun and got pretty wet. We also said goodbye that day to Miss Halcyon who taught phys ed classes for the month of January. She had to return to her college in South Dakota.
Shea enjoyed this opportunity to dump a pitcher of water over my head
Luke and his friend Katie also wanted to get in on the water action
after the games ended, we just had a great big water fight
This past Thursday the 1st/2nd grade and 3rd/4th grade classes went on a field trip to a bird zoo in Puyo and Hola Vida waterfall (see our earlier blog about our family's trip there). Unfortunately, Jodie was a little under the weather so I got to be her substitute again (fotunately for me, though). There were 13 kids and 7 adults* that hiked out to the waterfall and back. The weather was great and we all seemed to have a lot of fun (except for the one really muddy spot). Many of the kids even braved the really cold water for a quick swim.
Grandpa, Shea, & Micah check out the ostrich
did I mention that it was muddy?
the kids in front of the waterfall
*two of those adults were my mom and dad who are down here visiting for a week. We've had a lot of fun reading, wrestling, playing soccer/basketball/chess, and talking with Mom/Grandma & Dad/Grandpa. Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye on Tuesday morning.
Shea enjoyed this opportunity to dump a pitcher of water over my head
Luke and his friend Katie also wanted to get in on the water action
after the games ended, we just had a great big water fight
This past Thursday the 1st/2nd grade and 3rd/4th grade classes went on a field trip to a bird zoo in Puyo and Hola Vida waterfall (see our earlier blog about our family's trip there). Unfortunately, Jodie was a little under the weather so I got to be her substitute again (fotunately for me, though). There were 13 kids and 7 adults* that hiked out to the waterfall and back. The weather was great and we all seemed to have a lot of fun (except for the one really muddy spot). Many of the kids even braved the really cold water for a quick swim.
Grandpa, Shea, & Micah check out the ostrich
did I mention that it was muddy?
the kids in front of the waterfall
*two of those adults were my mom and dad who are down here visiting for a week. We've had a lot of fun reading, wrestling, playing soccer/basketball/chess, and talking with Mom/Grandma & Dad/Grandpa. Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
a whole lotta pictures
Here are some pictures that I promised in the last blog. I've categorized them w/ the number from the previous post.
9.
Micah greeting Grandma & Grandpa at the airport in Quito
Eating pizza on the floor- Christmas Eve
7.
Praying with Dewey in Tiwaeno
I joined in on the traditional dancing line in Tiwaeno
6.
Setting the "old man" on fire on New Years Eve
5.
Jodie, Shea, Micah, & Jadyn at the Palon de Diablo waterfall
The tarabita ride high above the Pastaza River
4.
The 10 of us in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere(and Luke in both)
Jodie and Jadyn high above Quito after riding up on the telefariqo
3.
Jadyn, Abby & Alex Derrico, walk across the footbridge into Shell
Luke gets a good view of the snake Micah's holding at Fatima "Zoo"
2.
Shea setting up his derby car on the track
Micah awaiting his derby car at the end of the track
9.
Micah greeting Grandma & Grandpa at the airport in Quito
Eating pizza on the floor- Christmas Eve
7.
Praying with Dewey in Tiwaeno
I joined in on the traditional dancing line in Tiwaeno
6.
Setting the "old man" on fire on New Years Eve
5.
Jodie, Shea, Micah, & Jadyn at the Palon de Diablo waterfall
The tarabita ride high above the Pastaza River
4.
The 10 of us in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere(and Luke in both)
Jodie and Jadyn high above Quito after riding up on the telefariqo
3.
Jadyn, Abby & Alex Derrico, walk across the footbridge into Shell
Luke gets a good view of the snake Micah's holding at Fatima "Zoo"
2.
Shea setting up his derby car on the track
Micah awaiting his derby car at the end of the track
Monday, January 28, 2008
a lot of catching up to do
Well I'm back from my 6 week blogging hiatus (no, I wasn't serving a performance enhancing drug suspension or showing solidarity with the striking tv writers- I just haven't gotten "around to it" until now).
Here's a quick Top 10 list of highlights of the past 6 weeks in a roughly chronological order.
10. We took the cats to the veterinarian the first week of Christmas vacation. Based on the vet's examination, Princess and George have had their names changed to Princeton and Georgia*. They're both growing big (Princeton more so) and keeping our house lively. Just this weekend, Georgia displayed her new skill of scaling the screen in the dining room window.
9. Jodie, Shea, & Micah traveled to Quito to meet Jod's mom & dad at the airport and they all returned to our house on Christmas Eve. It was so great to have our family here for Christmas. It was rainy and cool on Christmas morning which made it feel a little bit more wintry- but just a little bit.
8.5 (I just remembered I didn't put this in). I got to go with an MAF radio tech (Rob) and pilot (Steve) to the village of Bufeo to help install a radio. It was a neat experience to work together with Rob, Steve, and the people of the village to help take down their old radio pole, install the new one, and get everything hooked up and working. MAF is providing and/or upgrading radios to dozens of villages in the Oriente region of Ecuador. These radios allow for efficient communication in the event of medical emergencies or other important contacts.
8. I traveled to Quito to meet my sisters at the airport and we all returned to Shell on December 29. We were so lucky to have 4 family members all here at the same time. My sisters showed off their basketball skills in our weekly pickup game and had Jadyn over for a "girls only makeup party sleepover".
7. On New Years Eve, the ten of us hopped into two MAF airplanes for a trip to the Waorani village of Tiwaeno. This village often hosts visitors and provided us with a look at some of the traditions and customs of this people. It was a fun visit complete with traditional dancing and having our faces painted (not counting the mud painting Luke got on his face when he fell). A highlight of the trip happened as soon as we got off the plane. An older man named Dewey (sp?) came over and prayed with us in Waorani. Dewey was one of the men who were part of the group that killed the 5 missionaries in 1956. What a beautiful image of reconciliation, redemption, and grace
6. The New Years Eve tradition in Ecuador is to burn an "old man". People stuff and dress up these mannequin/scarecrow type men and often will make them look like a politician or celebrity. Then they set them on fire at midnight. Our neighborhood had a New Years Eve party with games, devotions, and the burning of the old man. We did ours a little early so some of us could head into town at midnight to see the local festivities in Shell. That was a fun experience complete with fireworks.
5. Later that week we (the 10 of us plus Ron- our chauffeur/tour guide/travel agent extraordinaire) traveled to Banos and got to do a number of cool things. We hiked down to a waterfall, rode a cable car (tarabita) across (and high above) the river- well not everyone chose to do this one, went to the zoo, and saw the Tungurahua volcano. This volcano has gotten some international press for its increased activity recently but it's not considered imminently dangerous.
4. On Friday the 4th all 10 of us (and Ron) headed back up to Quito. This was our first extended stay in Quito and we did lots of fun things. We went to an Equator monument and got to see some cool experiments (like water draining straight down the sink without swirling), rode the telefarico high above Quito, shopped and ... (drum roll please) ... ate at McDonalds. Our first trip to the golden arches in over 5 months. Sadly though, we had to say goodbye as Dee, Beth, Mom, and Dad all had to return home.
3.5 (another something I forgot) School started again on the 7th. Jodie's class has a new 4th grade student-David. David and his family returned to Shell this month after being home in Minnesota for furlough. It's been fun for the kids to welcome David back to their class.
3. Our friends Jack and Anne Derrico, and Abby, Alex, and Rosie, came to visit us from January 14-21. We had a great time with them here. Not only did Jack help me with my Spanish a lot, but we got to do a lot of fun things and just hang out. Some of our highlights with the Derricos were going on a different tarabita ride across the river, visiting Fatima zoo again (see pics from October), and eating out a few times. The Derricos also went to Tiwaeno (without us) and Anne even saw a patient or two at the hospital.
2. Friday the 18th was the Pinewood Derby at school. It was a lot of fun to see the creativity and craftsmanship of the students (and parents). Among the contestant cars were a hot dog, ice cream sandwich, 2 Lightning McQueens and a Mader, block of Swiss Cheese, toothbrush, and lots of other really cool-looking cars. Shea and Micah worked on their cars with Grandpa and Grandma when they were down and had a lot of fun at the Derby. One of Jodie's students, Tim Edwards was the champion.
1. The school year's half over. This past Friday was the last day of the 2nd quarter. It was a sad day for Jodie's class as they said goodbye to Lydia who's returning to the U.S. with her family for furlough. She'll (and the rest of her family: Dan-MAF's program director- and Tracey Whitehead & brothers) be missed, but we're excited the Whiteheads will be back in Shell in August. And so will our family. We've decided to stay here in Shell for next school year. Despite the cultural and domestic adjustments we've had to make (and there have been some "fun" days), we've really enjoyed our first 5 months here and are excited about returning to Nate Saint School and Shell. We'll be coming home for about 2 months this summer from June through August and then heading back down here to Shell. Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for us, written to us, called us, and financially supported us!!!!!!! It's been exciting to see what God's been doing to us and through us during our time here.
For those of you wondering "where are some pictures?" They're coming and it won't be six more weeks, I promise.
*For those of you wondering "have the Princeton Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs ever met on the football field?" The answer is no. But the mens' basketball teams had one meeting in December 1988 that Georgia won 58-54. Now you'll be able to sleep easier tonight knowing that. You're welcome.
Here's a quick Top 10 list of highlights of the past 6 weeks in a roughly chronological order.
10. We took the cats to the veterinarian the first week of Christmas vacation. Based on the vet's examination, Princess and George have had their names changed to Princeton and Georgia*. They're both growing big (Princeton more so) and keeping our house lively. Just this weekend, Georgia displayed her new skill of scaling the screen in the dining room window.
9. Jodie, Shea, & Micah traveled to Quito to meet Jod's mom & dad at the airport and they all returned to our house on Christmas Eve. It was so great to have our family here for Christmas. It was rainy and cool on Christmas morning which made it feel a little bit more wintry- but just a little bit.
8.5 (I just remembered I didn't put this in). I got to go with an MAF radio tech (Rob) and pilot (Steve) to the village of Bufeo to help install a radio. It was a neat experience to work together with Rob, Steve, and the people of the village to help take down their old radio pole, install the new one, and get everything hooked up and working. MAF is providing and/or upgrading radios to dozens of villages in the Oriente region of Ecuador. These radios allow for efficient communication in the event of medical emergencies or other important contacts.
8. I traveled to Quito to meet my sisters at the airport and we all returned to Shell on December 29. We were so lucky to have 4 family members all here at the same time. My sisters showed off their basketball skills in our weekly pickup game and had Jadyn over for a "girls only makeup party sleepover".
7. On New Years Eve, the ten of us hopped into two MAF airplanes for a trip to the Waorani village of Tiwaeno. This village often hosts visitors and provided us with a look at some of the traditions and customs of this people. It was a fun visit complete with traditional dancing and having our faces painted (not counting the mud painting Luke got on his face when he fell). A highlight of the trip happened as soon as we got off the plane. An older man named Dewey (sp?) came over and prayed with us in Waorani. Dewey was one of the men who were part of the group that killed the 5 missionaries in 1956. What a beautiful image of reconciliation, redemption, and grace
6. The New Years Eve tradition in Ecuador is to burn an "old man". People stuff and dress up these mannequin/scarecrow type men and often will make them look like a politician or celebrity. Then they set them on fire at midnight. Our neighborhood had a New Years Eve party with games, devotions, and the burning of the old man. We did ours a little early so some of us could head into town at midnight to see the local festivities in Shell. That was a fun experience complete with fireworks.
5. Later that week we (the 10 of us plus Ron- our chauffeur/tour guide/travel agent extraordinaire) traveled to Banos and got to do a number of cool things. We hiked down to a waterfall, rode a cable car (tarabita) across (and high above) the river- well not everyone chose to do this one, went to the zoo, and saw the Tungurahua volcano. This volcano has gotten some international press for its increased activity recently but it's not considered imminently dangerous.
4. On Friday the 4th all 10 of us (and Ron) headed back up to Quito. This was our first extended stay in Quito and we did lots of fun things. We went to an Equator monument and got to see some cool experiments (like water draining straight down the sink without swirling), rode the telefarico high above Quito, shopped and ... (drum roll please) ... ate at McDonalds. Our first trip to the golden arches in over 5 months. Sadly though, we had to say goodbye as Dee, Beth, Mom, and Dad all had to return home.
3.5 (another something I forgot) School started again on the 7th. Jodie's class has a new 4th grade student-David. David and his family returned to Shell this month after being home in Minnesota for furlough. It's been fun for the kids to welcome David back to their class.
3. Our friends Jack and Anne Derrico, and Abby, Alex, and Rosie, came to visit us from January 14-21. We had a great time with them here. Not only did Jack help me with my Spanish a lot, but we got to do a lot of fun things and just hang out. Some of our highlights with the Derricos were going on a different tarabita ride across the river, visiting Fatima zoo again (see pics from October), and eating out a few times. The Derricos also went to Tiwaeno (without us) and Anne even saw a patient or two at the hospital.
2. Friday the 18th was the Pinewood Derby at school. It was a lot of fun to see the creativity and craftsmanship of the students (and parents). Among the contestant cars were a hot dog, ice cream sandwich, 2 Lightning McQueens and a Mader, block of Swiss Cheese, toothbrush, and lots of other really cool-looking cars. Shea and Micah worked on their cars with Grandpa and Grandma when they were down and had a lot of fun at the Derby. One of Jodie's students, Tim Edwards was the champion.
1. The school year's half over. This past Friday was the last day of the 2nd quarter. It was a sad day for Jodie's class as they said goodbye to Lydia who's returning to the U.S. with her family for furlough. She'll (and the rest of her family: Dan-MAF's program director- and Tracey Whitehead & brothers) be missed, but we're excited the Whiteheads will be back in Shell in August. And so will our family. We've decided to stay here in Shell for next school year. Despite the cultural and domestic adjustments we've had to make (and there have been some "fun" days), we've really enjoyed our first 5 months here and are excited about returning to Nate Saint School and Shell. We'll be coming home for about 2 months this summer from June through August and then heading back down here to Shell. Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for us, written to us, called us, and financially supported us!!!!!!! It's been exciting to see what God's been doing to us and through us during our time here.
For those of you wondering "where are some pictures?" They're coming and it won't be six more weeks, I promise.
*For those of you wondering "have the Princeton Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs ever met on the football field?" The answer is no. But the mens' basketball teams had one meeting in December 1988 that Georgia won 58-54. Now you'll be able to sleep easier tonight knowing that. You're welcome.
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