This is it.

This is it.

The next time you will talk to me I will be in the country of my citizenship.

Jungle was awesome...but I have to have SOMETHING to tell you about later...

Last night we had our final farewell-banquette with all the families, teachers, church staff, etc. It was a blast, but I also got a bit teary-eyed (there are some WONDERFUL people here!).

WE have one more physiology class to attend, a little more shopping to do, time to spend with our families and then we'll be heading out of Cuenca on Sunday. Our flight leaves Quayaquil at around midnight Monday morning, and we'll arrive in Indy probably like noon or so. Then I'll be headin' up to Taylor for a few days!!!!!!!!!


FYI as well, I'm planning on coming home (to MN) next Friday...Soooo, I will just see you all soon!

Much love,
Lindsay

I didn't want to write a lot...

I really don't want to write a lot, because I am leaving for the jungle in 2.5 hours! (and I want to get some sleep)

So, these last few weeks have been really busy. Two week-long medical brigades, 3 papers in spanish, 2 final exams (Spanish and culture), and 1 giant fruit salad later, I'm about ready for a little vacation! Haha, I really am extremely excited about going to the jungle, and it came at the perfect time. I think we're all getting a little bit (or a lot bit) anxious to come home, and it's been a challenge to keep our minds and hearts here for even the small amount of time we have left.


So anyway, I have a special thing to share with all of you. God obviously has a few more things he wants to teach me before I leave, so I better not be checking out quite yet. Ok, so...last week, I went to home-church bible study with my host brother Sebas. I frankly don't remember what the topic was that night, but that wasn't how God chose to speak to me. After the devotion, the bible-study leader said that he was going to lead us in prayer, and that he felt like God had some things to show us. So after his prayer he was going to wait, and we were supposed to let him know if any of us felt like God sent us a word or a vision or something...Now, honestly, I've struggled with the concepts of prophecy and such. Not that I don't believe God is capable of giving messages to people, but I'm just always weary of other people’s sincerity. In fact, there was a group from CA down here a few weeks ago on a mission’s trip doing “healing” ministries, which really stirred a lot in my brain about the Spirit of God and the power we draw from Him. Anyway, you can ask me about that later…So, we prayed as a group, and then sat in silence for no longer than a minute or so. During that time, I actually prayed for sincerity from the other people, and just gave God thanks for the evening. When we lifted our heads at least 3 people had something (a vision) they thought they received from God. All that was shared had a direct message to someone else present that night about something personal in their lives. And to my surprise and comfort, they were all very genuine. Genuinely spoken, and received by those whom they were about. The leader asked us to bow our heads again and ask for anything else that needed to be shared. This time, I asked God to give those in the room visions that he wanted to share, but again, that they would be genuine and sincere. Again, numerous people had something to share. And a third time, we prayed in silence. But this time, when I closed my eyes…I saw something.

It was a brilliant, vivid picture of a girl, a girl who attends that bible study, but with whom I have no relation. I don’t even know her name. I saw her face, vividly, staring at a cross that was illuminated with a radiant light.

--I know this sounds cheesy. But it’s the truth.

So with seeing this picture, clear as day, with my eyes closed, I told God. God, I do not want to misrepresent you in any way, shape, or form. If this is not of you, take it AWAY.

And it stayed. The same picture, or vision if you will, remained there. I don’t know where else to say that is way, except that it was “there.” It was in front of me, and I could see it and nothing else. We opened our eyes, and I asked God again, to let me know if he really wanted me to share this thing. And I kid you NOT, the moment that prayer escaped from me, God ANSWERED that question. My temperature instantly shot up, and I began to sweat like I had just finished a 4K race. My heart was pounding so hard and loud, I was afraid the neighbors would hear. And mostly obviously, I had a feeling, deep in my stomach that I had to do something (I was pretty sure I knew what it was…).

So, I waited.

There were actually, a few others who had something more to share. I wish I could explain it better without writing a novel, but everything that people saw had a specific message to someone else present that night. And even if the person who saw the vision didn’t know what it meant, either the person it was for or someone else felt like they knew. So, after they had all shared, and I was still sitting there, sweating and probably as red as a grape tomato, I decided to speak. I explained what I saw to the girl whose face it was, and someone felt like it meant she needed to keep looking toward Christ in every aspect of her life. And take it as God’s work or not, but the EXACT moment I was done sharing, my bodily functions returned to normal. I was no longer uncomfortable, my pulse was not racing, and I didn’t feel warm, let alone hot.

I don’t fully understand all the pieces of what happened that night, but I am sure of this:

What I saw was genuine.

I was supposed to share it with that girl.

And, it was of God.

As it did for me, I hope that in sharing this with you all, it sparks a curiosity within you, which draws you to seek and better understand the character of the Creator and Savior of the world. (Please don’t be shy about asking me questions about this. I know it can be hard to understand, and I don’t claim to know it all, but it is meant to give glory to God, and that’s what I want to do.)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

12 more days until I’m back in the States!

Ciao ciao,

Lindsay

Nunca en mi Vida!

Nunca en mi Vida!

Nunca en mi vida (never in my life)…
There are many many things that I have NEVER done, seen, or experienced in my life. But this past week I definitely made a dent in that list.

Nunca en mi vida had I participated in a medical missions brigade, but last week I did! The Fundacion Hogar del Ecaudor (the medical foundation run by the church here in Cuenca) hosts medical missions teams from the states several times a year. Most of the teams are made up of a number of doctors, nurses, and logistics personnel, and sometimes there is certain specialty represented. The team that was here last week was made up of about 4 ob/gyn docs, 2 family physicians, 4 nurses, 5 logistics workers, and one very lucky high school student who was chosen by his school to come along to observe the doctors. So everyday last week (except Wednesday because we had culture class) we went to the Foundation right after physiology class and hung around there until we had to go the Spanish class in the afternoon. I did different things every day, which was nice to switch it up. One day I spent with one of the ob/gyn’s in an examination room seeing patients. I didn’t see anything too stirring, if you will, mostly complaints of aches and pains and irregular menstrual cycles. One thing I appreciated was that, because it is a Christian institution, we were able to pray with every patient that came in. Actually, the way these medical brigades are set up are very “whole-person” focused. When patients come and check-in (they do not need prior appointments), they are taken to a waiting area where there is a pastor who offers prayer, worship music, and short devotionals. As earlier patients move through the triage area, more are brought up to see the nurses, get vitals taken, and explain their reasons for coming. During last week’s brigade, the team brought a ton of bead bracelets to give to every patient seen, prayer was offered, and (usually through interpreters) they let every patient know that we’re there to serve them. Those patients were then taken to see the doctors where, if needed, a diagnosis and the occasional prescription were given. To every patient, a complimentary supply of vitamins and calcium were given, and the other prescriptions were offered at an extremely affordable rate. And like I said, prayer was also always offered by the doctor.

Never in my life, did I really appreciate having even a general knowledge of medicine and such, but after a week of seeing so many Ecuadorian patients, native and not, who had such limited understanding of basic physiological functioning of their own bodies, I give thanks for what I know. I saw multiple middle aged women who complained of ordinary menopausal symptoms not knowing if there was something seriously wrong with them. I saw the grave seriousness taken with every instruction accompanying the small package of multivitamins given to each patient. I also saw eyes light up when the doctor prescribed medications such as Ibuprofen, as if they had been given a magical answer to all their life’s problems. How wonderful to provide for these people, even in the slightest of ways, but it saddens me to see them so earnestly seeking something bigger in such a small place.
I have had an affinity towards medicine way before I even understood what it entailed. Many of my motives behind that fascination have been reshaped and altered as I have grown, but one thing remains. I want to help people. Now, at 20 years old, in the middle of my college career, I know that I do want to help people and provide for their physical needs (whether in medicine as doctor, or a nurse, or not), but I also know that that desire comes from One much bigger than myself. In whatever manner I end up “helping people” it will not be the magical answer to anything, it will simply be an expression of the love I have built up inside of me for the people I’m serving from the Lord my God, who is LOVE in and of Himself. I don’t know how exactly to communicate that, but I don’t know that it is my responsibility either. God is the one who works through our actions, and we are but jars of clay that He uses for His purposes. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” I know that whatever service I will be able to provide after I’m through with my education, I will not be offering anything of significance unless I make clear the “treasure” that I have, which comes from a God of “all-surpassing power.” And honestly, that is not the challenge since I am but a “jar of clay,” nothing spectacular in appearance, nothing especially proficient, full of cracks and faults, but still useful to the skilled Creator and Lover of all of our hearts.
Medicine is not the answer to life’s problems. The vitamins can only do so much, and the pain killers will soon run out. The hormone replacement medications won’t solve every symptom, and surgeries can present more complications than bargained for. These are only manners of offering assistance towards something better. The answer is neither held by doctors, nurses, translators, pastors, or teachers. Whatever service had been offered to the people I saw this week, I hope that they see past the surface of what they received. With pills in hand, or despite the relief of any symptoms, it is my prayer that they take away something much bigger. LOVE.
I take back what I said earlier, about being sad that I saw people seeking answers in small places, such as a bottle of medication or a certain operation. Seeking is all they need to do, and God will meet them. I know for certain there were patients welcomed to the kingdom of God for the first time last week, and it came from them searching in places ever-so-small. The world of medicine has such big opportunities to share the love of Christ with people, and it is because medicine is not the answer. When we let God work through our services to people, he opens doors to THE answer (which is Himself) even when they do not realize it.
Never in my life could I have put those ideas to words before now…


Nunca en mi vida, had I seen a hysterectomy. Again, I won’t go into details, but it was pretty darn cool.
Nunca en mi vida, had I touched a human uterus. Maybe I’m biased, being female and all, but the uterus is quite an awesome organ. It’s too bad though that some get such giant tumors inside them…I touched that tooJ.
Nunca en mi vida had I seen a sling put under a bladder to prevent loss of urinary control. You’d be surprised how fast of a procedure that is. You’d also be surprised to see the kind of tools involved…think captain hook with a twist…
Nunca en mi vida, had I been so blatantly jealous of a 17 year old boy…That high schooler that got to come be part of the team, actually got to SCRUB IN TO ALL THE SURGERIES. Not only that, but he got to hold some tools and stick his hand in the incisions! And if that weren’t enough, on the last day, the one doctor let him SUTURE a real live person after a real live abdominal hysterectomy!!! Yeah, we were just the Taylor students…who wanted to watch…from the back of the O.R…. I still can’t believe it…

Nunca en mi vida had I been given the job of translator. I don’t want to build up my Spanish skills to something they’re not, because there were plenty of times I had to seek out fluent Spanish/English speakers for help. Nevertheless, I did spend a day in triage translating for a nurse, taking down main complaints of patients and such. Much of this was made easier with hand motions, and the fact that the most common complaint was pain in general areas which is like the one “medical term” I know.

Nunca en mi vida, had I heard such awful Spanish accents. Maybe that’s a little harsh, because I know they were trying. But a lot of the people on the medical team were from Oklahoma, and with their southern accents they just butcher the Spanish language. Speaking Spanish with a southern accent is now my new favorite hobby. Anyways, they were a great group of people, and it was quite fun to spend the week with them. I’m looking forward to this week, to do it again. A new team arrived Sunday, so we will be spending our days at the foundation again!


Nunca en mi vida had I been so uncomfortably cold and wet as I was this Saturday. Why you may ask? Well, we wanted to have a REAL adventure hiking in the Cajas Mountains, and when a couple of the host dads (including Morris) offered to take us we jumped for the opportunity. So, Saturday morning we saddled up with some sack lunches, sweatshirts, and minds set on having an adventure. Now, plenty of jokes were made (some half serious) about not getting lost and such, and I’m happy to say that we all made it back quite safely. However, we had an experience of a different kind…From the moment we stepped off the bus there was a nip in the air and rain pouring from the sky. There’s nothing unexpected about rain in Ecuador, because it’s unusual to go a day without it, but it IS uncommon to have it rain ALL DAY LONG. We hiked along for about an hour or so and stopped at a lagoon to fish, explore, and enjoy the scenery. After that stop, we hiked for another good chunk of time to a different lagoon. By they we had all developed our own “baditudes” about being out there shivering, freezing, and wet. I will be the first to admit, I was not happy about being there. After a while, one of the dads set up a little 1 person tent, and told us we should stay here for lunch.
Nunca en mi vida had I eaten lunch in a 1 person tent with 6 other people!! You may question our abilities to scrunch up and cuddle with each other, but man we are a tight-knit group of kids. So happily, we enjoyed our lunch still wet, but semi-warm, accompanied by many laughs. We also savored the last box of Girl Scout cookies brought to me my dearest mommy, which I had been saving for a special occasion such as that. After lunch, we all decided we just wanted to get to the end of the trail as soon as we could. Once we got moving again, I grew a little less uncomfortable, and sort of forgot how I could acutally feel my hands or feet. By then, I had also stopped paying attention to how muddy I was getting and blazed right through the trails no matter how deep in muck I was.
Nunca en mi vida had I slid so many times (on accident) through mud! The one dad with us told me I was the Mother of falling; I’ll just take that as a compliament...The last couple of hours (we hiked a pretty good amount after lunch to get to the end of the trail) were actually really fun. The rain died down a bit, and we forgot how cold we were. Even so, it was so wonderful to see the road below us getting closer and closer. At the very end of the trail there was a small river that we crossed, I actually waded through it to try and get some of the mud off, but it really didn’t matter. I was DIRTY to say the least.
There was also a restaurant at the end of the trail they we decided to go in to warm up and have something to eat.
Nunca en mi vida had I been told liquor helps one to warm up. Anyhow, the dads ordered this sugary shot drink and told us it was great for warming your body…So, we all passed around these hot little shots of liquor, sugar, and cinnamon. I don’t particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol, but I didn’t care because it was something warm.
As I continued to warm up, the fact that I really couldn’t move or feel my hands was becoming more and more obvious. The culmination of this was when I tried to use the restroom. It wasn’t an emergency or anything, but I really just wanted to pull my jean up a bit because they had been falling down inch by inch with all the weight of water and mud on them. Anyways, I closed the door, undid my belt (with a little difficulty), and proceeded to undo the button to my jeans. Nunca en mi vida, had I not been able to go to the bathroom because my hands were too cold! I tried and tried, winced and forced my fingers to grasp the fabric around my button, but I just could not find the strength to get it undone!
Upon arriving home, I was EXTREMLY (as you could imagine) EXTREMLY excited to get into a hot shower asap. Seeing that Maria’s car was gone, I got out my keys to the gate so we could get in. Once in the driveway, we realized that the door that I have keys to was locked from the inside and therefore, we could not get in. After trying BOTH of Maria’s cell phones, and getting no answer, we went for the extreme. Sebas ended up climbing up onto the roof, and opened Maria and Morris' bedroom window. So, eventually, we did get in, and eventually I did get a hot shower. But man, what an adventure.

That's all for now, I hope y'all have great week!
In Christ,
Lindsay

Quick Update

Just a quick update on life:

1) Last week I wrote my first substantial report, IN SPANISH. I don't know how well I did, my Maria and Morris told me it was good. Definitely a confidence booster. :)

2) Last weekend, I was with my family at our extended family's house. We were just sitting around the dinner table talking after we ate, and mid conversation I said (how terrible) "Que terrible!" But apparently I said with a "Cuencan" accent, because the entire table exploded into a roar of laughter! They then proceeded to grill me with questions trying to get me to say other things in that accent...It was pretty entertaining, but I will confess, I have picked up their pronounciation of the double "r." RRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

3) Last weekend Skip Trudeu and Chris Bennett (super important administration guys from Taylor) came down for a visit. We didn't see them much, but they did take us out to eat (guinea pig!). I like when people from Taylor come, they always buy us food and make us talk about how much fun were having!

4) This weekend I also worked hard core on my project for physiology. We all made big presentations on separte subjects (in English...). My topic was high altitude physiology. Pretty interesting...espeically since we're pretty high up here...

5) I'm pretty much done with all bid assignments for physiology!

6) I continue to have such wonderfully deep and uplifting conversations with my fellow students and host mom! I'm so thankful for these people...

7) The church's foundation is having a brigade this week with a medical team of people from all over the states. We've spent the mornings and afternoons before in between classes there helping translate and observing the doctors. Highlight so far: I saw a GIANT uterus in a bucket (after a hysterectomy was done)...it was pretty cool.

8) Ummm if there's more, I'll think of it later, but I'm getting really excited to see everyone and to come home for the summerrr!

9) I love you.

If you read any of this thing, READ the last paragraph.

Hey again…
Alright, I think this is going to be my last “catching up” blog. I’ve written enough to fill a few novels and I don’t even like writing that much.
So, we got back from the Galapagos. And I would just like to vent a little bit, because as much as I was so very glad to see my family again, having them tell me repeatedly that I SURELY forgot ALL my Spanish during the 6 whole days I was gone is not a very welcoming experience. There are primarily 3 reasons why this bothers me so much:
A) I spoke and listened to plenty of Spanish during that time. (I only speak Spanish with Maria, and most of our tour guides spoke Spanish.)
2) It’s no fun being told you’re not doing well at something, especially when you’re trying hard.
And D) I was dead tired after that quite adventureful week, and just because I said “what” one time after being thrown a boat load of questions doesn’t mean I forgot the language I have been studying day in and day out for the past 9 weeks.
Sigh…
I don’t think they meant to get me down…but I let it frustrate me for quite sometime. But that’s just plain silly.
So approximately 12 hours after we returned to Cuenca, my MOMMY arrived! Both of my host parents and I went to the airport to pick her up which was so exciting! Sometimes I forget how much we gringos really do just stand out here, but man I spotted my mom right away. (She being the only person over 5’3” and blond) I couldn’t believe she was actually here! Morris then drove us to her hotel and said we could have the morning to ourselves and then we could come home for lunch with the fam. It was so wonderful just to walk around the city and really talk with her! When lunch time came around, we jumped in a taxi and made our way to my Ecuadorian house. I love Ecuadorian food. It’s not that it’s all that different from food that we eat, but I think a lot of it is just fresher. I think my mom really enjoyed it too. We spent the rest of that day with my family, just visiting and such.
The whole week that my mom was here, I stayed in her hotel room with her. It was totally worth all the confusion it caused, including getting to school on Monday morning…I love my mom! Anyway, on Saturday morning, the other parents and the Moore’s arrived in Cuenca and shortly thereafter, we all took a trip up to a nearby city called Chordeleg. We stopped and had lunch and such, shopped, and mostly enjoyed eachother’s company.
I already wrote about Easter Sunday and the following day, so I’ll skip to the next part of her visit where we did more fun stuff. Tuesday, after physiology class in the morning we went to pick up the parents at the hotel, and then to meet with the Moore’s at the church. Dr. Moore wanted to take us downtown, and OF COURSE, treat us to ice cream at our favorite, Tutti Freddo. There was a new gringo hanging out at the church offices that morning also. His name is Jonathan. Apparently he’s a med-school student from New York, who came down to help out in the foundation for a few weeks. We invited him to come along on our ice cream trip as well. After that, Luke and his parents, and my mom and I hung out down town and had lunch together. The restaurant we chose was definitely the right choice. The food was just mouth-watering delicious, and the waiter made it all the better. He was hilarious! Among my favorite quotes of his are: “You like-a the shrimps? Well I have just-a the thing…”
“This is a steak for all of de times. I don’t-a know how to say in English but…es para la boda, su cumpleanos, el divorcio, cuando tiene una nota mala en la clase de ciencias…”
“May I suggest, you could share it with some nice potatos.”

Ok, so thennnn I had class and such. That night we went out to dinner again with everyone and then I just hung out with my mom. Wednesday, after physiology, we had our fist culture class! It was pretty fun because our teacher, Alba, catered it for our parents to come as well. We went to a giant fruit market, small museum and a restaurant to eat typical Ecuadorian food. Later, after Spanish class, EVERYONE went to the Palacios’ house (the family Luke is staying with) to have dinner (pizza, home-made by our very own, Dr. Moore). It was great fun to have a final get-together with everyone, since the Moore’s and other parents left that next day. Thursday, after class and everything, my mom and I just spent time together wandering around downtown, then we went home and hung out with my family. Friday, alas, we brought her to the airport…I stuck around and made sure she got checked in alright, and then I headed home for some much needed sleep….What a blessing though to share, ever-so brief as it was, just part of my Cuencan experience with my mom!
Another blessing I would like to mention is how awesome it was to get to know the other parents who came to visit as well. I know that my mom was so very thankful for them as well. I also know that the experience of waiting and praying for Luke while he was lost in Cajas was used, most visibly to me, by God to bring the group of visiting parents together. It was such a blessing to see how coming together before our Father in prayer so evidently built up their relationships despite knowing each other for merely a couple of days.


Oh my goodness! A big part that I skipped in that quick blurb of my week was our first practicum experience! Our practicum’s are going to be happening once every Friday, and some other sporadic times when we can go to the church’s foundation clinic. The six of us randomly spilt off into three groups of two. My practicum partner is Luke. That first Friday, we went to the hospital where Luke’s host dad, Marlo Palacios, works. Dr. Palacios took us around with him to see a few patients at first, nothing too intense. But then he brought us to the O.R. to see if anyone would mind if we watched a surgery. Lucky for us there was one about ready to start! We changed into our scrubs, and strolled into the O.R. like it was no big deal. The doctor introduced himself and explained what they would be doing that day. Well, it turned out that we were actually in the presence of a plastic surgeon who was about to be performing a breast reduction that morning. Luke and I glanced at each other, cracked a few smirks underneath our masks, and proceeded to watch the doctors preparing the equipment.

WARNING: I will try to censor my following experiences, leaving out as much blood and guts as possible. But know that I am a pre-med student and what may be “censored” to me, could be too much for some readers.

After a few minutes, they brought in the patient. She seemed calm. They asked her how she was doing and such, and if this was her first surgery. Nope. It was actually her 4th…no problem! The anesthesiologist did his thing, she was out, and they brought out the tools! After the patient was asleep, another doctor, the one who actually did most of the cutting, came in. This was a decently big guy, looked pretty tough. He was wearing scrubs, but instead of surgeons cap, he had on a Harley Davidson do-rag looking thing. He also had a Sony Boom Box under one arm and a big black case in the other, which we later realized was completely filled with music CD’s. During the procedure, he would frequently ask one of the nurses to change the music. He listened to a pretty wide variety of music, but let me just say, that at one point we were listening to the GREASE soundtrack. HAHAHa. Ok. After the assistants had sufficiently sterilized her, the surgeon started sculpting, if you will. There were purple marker lines drawn where the proper cuts should be made, and he used a special tool, resembling an everyday cookie cutter, to make precise cuts around the nipple. He also had a crazy tool that looked like the thing you use to play the game operation, but it made an even more awful sound. I was intrigued by the process, but will admit I did get a little warm and light-headed at times. During the procedure, Luke and I actually made a pact that 1) We would never be plastic surgeons, and 2) that we would never have plastic surgery done for cosmetic reasons. It’s an ugly process, but one that I actually think should be viewed if considering such an operation. One of the worst parts was watching them perform liposuction around the breasts and neck. It is such an incredibly harsh procedure; I don’t think I could ever purposely do something that abusive to someone’s body. I would much rather tell them to eat less and exercise. Anyway, the worst and actually funniest part of the whole thing was when the doctors began to stitch her up. They stitched up the bottom part of the breast, where they had cut the most tissue from, and then moved upwards. I actually like watching the stitching. It reminds me of my roommate-the sewer, and because of all my practice with her, I think I could do a good job. The bad part though, was when they took the remaining skin of the central parts of each breast and stitched OVER HER NIPPLES! The nipples weren’t included in the stitches, but they were definitely INSIDE her body. Luke leaned over to me at that point and said in a very stern and concerned tone of voice, “That’s not right.” I agreed, but couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He continued, “I’m sorry, but she should get to keep her nipples. Does she know they’re doing that!?” We stood in silence for awhile just watching the doctors stitch away. When I finally got up the courage, I stepped forward, not knowing the word for nipple in Spanish, pointed at the center of one of the woman’s now nipple-less breast, and asked, “Why did you put those things inside?” A small roar of laughter erupted from the surgeons standing around the operating table, but they then assured us that they would be taking them out soon. Sure enough, after determining the best new placement for the nipples, they made marks with the nipple-cookie-cutter-thing, sliced around the marks, and simply pulled the nipples out from under the skin and stitched them up. Good as new!
Not really. It was definitely a long (3 hours!) and gruesome ordeal, but I’m glad I saw it. What an awesome opportunity we have for our practicums. I can’t wait to see what else we learn!

Moving right along… (I’m switching to list form of interesting events, to conserve your time and mine.)

1) I tried CUY! For those of you who don’t habla espanol, cuy, is Spanish for, GUINEA PIG! Yes, guinea pig is a local delicacy. Quite good, most say, if you don’t see the head. I thought it was tasty myself, pretty salty though.
2) I also tried Helado de Paila. (Ice cream of the bowl). It’s actually not really ice cream. It’s made with fresh fruit, lots of sugar (and maybe some milk, but I don’t remember). DELICIOUS!
3) Since I didn’t have physiology last week, I made myself run because, well I haven’t been able to very much. It’s crazy how hard it is to run at this altitude. It’s also hard, because every direction from my house requires going up a substantial hill one way or the other. One day my host asked me to run with him, which was pretty fun, but it really made me miss running with other people…
4) My second practicum experience! I will spare details, but I watched a real live brain surgery! The process definitely interests me; it looks like so much fun. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the options that exist in the medical field. Every time I set foot in a hospital, I can’t help but envy a bit the work of the nurses who really get to tend to and care for the patients. Only God knows at this point, what He has in store for my future. I’m looking forward though, to learning more about all the options and more about myself, so that I am better able to follow the direction of God’s plan for my life.
5) Ok, 1 more thing, but it requires its own paragraph:

Well, this story starts a few weeks back, with a random conversation that I had with a few other of the Taylor students about the beliefs of Jehova’s Witnesses. I don’t remember exactly how it came up, but we just talked about all the differences between their beliefs and ours as Christians. Jumping forward…Last Tuesday night, I went to house church bible study with my host parents. That night, they had a question/answer type of session and someone asked about the beliefs of Mormons… Because of both of these encounters, I had very fresh in my brain, some key scriptures that make our 2 religions very different, and learned some other key differences that I hadn’t known about before. Then, 2 days later (Thursday), I was going to get up early and go to the church office with my host mom that morning. However, she came to my room as I was waking up to tell me that she had to go earlier than I thought, so I told her I would just take the bus. As I threw some of my things into a bag that morning, I made sure to bring my Bible, because the Taylor kids and I were planning on having our weekly Bible study that day, and I didn’t want to forget it. Sooo, I left the house that morning at approximately 9 AM, strolling along on my way to the bus stop, humming to myself the tune of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (One of my favorites…) when two women approached me…
In Spanish, “Excuse me ma’am, do you speak Spanish.” (yes) “Would you mind talking with us a bit this morning?” Without a thought, I replied that didn’t mind at all and began conversing with these two women. It was obvious to me that they’re goal was evangelizing, so I politely replied to their questions that I was a Christian. One of the women named Norma (the other, Rosita, was very old and didn’t say much at all), proceeded to ask me who I believed God was. I responded as best I could, by explaining that God was the Creator of all things, Lover of His Creation, and JESUS, WHO WALKS WITH US EVERYDAY. With my response, I then realized this woman didn’t agree with what I had told her. She was in fact, a Jehova’s Witness. All the preceding events that led to this instance culminated in my mind, and my heart was overwhelmed with the feeling of PURPOSE in being there at that moment. We continued to converse about our beliefs, for about the next hour or so. Because I so thankfully had my Bible with me that day, I was able to show her (by roughly translating my English Bible into Spanish) the differences between our scriptures. We spoke about the infamous passage, John 1:1, which has been changed in the Mormon Bible to say “In the beginning, the Word was with God. And the Word was A GOD…” Instead of, “The Word WAS God.” This ever so minor difference, gives rise to their belief that Jesus is NOT God. To them, he was a great man and prophet, but not God. At one point, Norma told me, “I believe Jesus is my Savior, but he is NOT God.” I then asked Norma, if she believed Jesus was her savior, then why was it that she believed she had to work for her salvation. It was interesting, but so difficult, because her justifications used most of the same scripture that I would use to defend my beliefs. She then brought me to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” She tried to tell me that the verse meant we had to believe and then ACT on our beliefs to be worthy of heaven. While I do believe having true faith in God and in what Jesus has done for us, SHOULD change us in such a way that we will THEN WANT to act on our faith and serve the Lord, but I also believe in GRACE. Grace is what saves us, and GRACE alone. It is by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ who took the punishment of death for all of our sins that we are allowed into His kingdom. And for that I want to serve Him for the rest of my life and eternity. But NEVER, never will I consider that my good actions towards Him are redeemable for my place in heaven. (I’m just plain, not that awesome.)
Not in so many words of course, but I tried as best I could to explain this to Norma. Towards the end of our conversation, I asked if it would be okay if I prayed with her. She politely denied my offer and we eventually parted ways. There was no marked fruit of my encounter with Norma (and Rosita, the silent elder woman), but the peace of fulfilling the will of God that day remains in me. It was so clear to me how each piece was so premeditated by God, and how intentional it was that I was there. Although God’s use of that experience is still not obvious to me, I have confidence that its purpose is that of something much bigger than me. I realized again, in a very real way that day, how GREAT our God is. We sang the song “How Great is our God,” at church the other week. It was so powerful to me in Spanish, because it carries the same truths, but in an entirely different language sung by such a vast and different part of God’s family.

Cuan grande es El.

I’m reading a book right now called The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. (Care of John Whittney’s parents, who sent him a box full of treats and great books the other week. Thanks!) There is a part where the authors describe the exactly this, the GREATNESS of God. And I quote, “My sense of security grew from an awareness that all this had been going on before me, that though I was part of it, I wasn’t responsible for it…It’s the assurance that there is something grand and good resting on your shoulders, something that doesn’t even culminate in you, but rather invites you up into it.”
I also read, in the last week, a devotional from a favorite of mine, My Utmost for His Highest, written by Oswald Chambers that discussed this as well. Chambers says, “[Salvation] means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.”

I am thrilled. I’m thrilled to be here in Cuenca, to be attending Taylor University, to be studying…something, to be a child of God, to be part of the kingdom of heaven, but more than ALL of that, I am THRILLED to worship a God INFINITLY GREATER than myself or anything he uses me for. Cuan grande es el. How great is our God.

Grace be with all of you,
Lindsay

Magical Adventures, Part II

Hola hola Coca-cola,

(That’s part of a rhyme I learned in my high school Spanish class—thanks Senor Giorgis! It goes:

*Hola hola coca-cola. (Hi coca-cola)

-Que pasa calabasa? (What’s up pumpkin?)

*Nada nada limonada. (Nothing nothing lemonade)

I taught it to my brother here, and he thought it was the funniest thing. Now we always say it to each other. J)

Ok, so where did I leave off? Oh right. The end of our first day in the Galapagos. Alright, so our second day was even better!! We got up semi-early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed, in a little bus, back across the island of Santa Cruz (where our hotel was) to the canal we first crossed. We started from a tropic port, aboard a tiny ship. We passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour…for a threeee hour tour…(I was trying to make a joke, but for some of you youngin’s, that was an illusion to the early sit-com, Gilligan’s Island.) But seriously, we did pile onto a charter boat with a number of other tourists for a short, day-tour of some nearby islands. Our first stop was at an island full of animal life. We saw all kinds of sea lions basking on the rocks near the shore, iguanas of several species, and the ever-fascinating Fraggot birds with their bright red breasts that they puff up when attracting mates or defending their nests. We hiked a couple of miles around the island and recoated ourselves with sunscreen several times during the tour. Sun rays at the middle of the earth are brutal! Anyways, it was awesome nonetheless. Once back on the boat, we were served a delicious lunch prepared by the boat staff, which included some very good mystery fish, rice, and vegetables. After that, I think just about every person on the boat (minus the captain, I hope!) conked out into deep sleeps until just before we arrived at out next stop. Did I mention the sun is brutal? It takes a lot out of you…When the boat stopped, we were about 200 meters away from the shore of our next island. They said we’d be walking a bit, but that we could swim if we wanted to. Well of course we wanted to swim! All of us, INCLUDING MARIA, jumped from the top level of the boat and swam to shore. If I’ve never told you I love to swim, and that I LOVE LOVE to swim in the ocean, well, I DO. And swimming in jello-colored water is even more of a bonus. I hope you all either have a facebook account or know someone who does, because I’m in the process of posting pictures…which describe it all much better than I could ever hope to. And thanks to my AWESOME camera (thanks DAD!) I’ve been named MVPT, “Most-valuable Picture-taker.” (Don’t tell anyone, but I really don’t know what I’m doing. I have a very smart camera, and I’ve just been seeing a lot of really pretty things lately…) Ok, so swimming was fabulous, and then we hiked a bit of that island. The highlight of that hike was seeing flamingos! Real live flamingos in their natural habitat! Awesome. (Alas, I didn’t have my camera that time because we swam from the boat. Oh well.) That ended the boat trip…or what was planned of the boat trip…This is where my illusion from earlier comes back into play. We were all sitting on the top deck of the boat taking in what an incredible day we had had, and then GRUMPIFT GRRREEIIICK! The motor of the boat made a noise of something awful, and then went caput. “WE’RE STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN!!” It was funny because we had been talking about having an ADVENTURE the entire duration of the trip, so having our boat break down was really, a dream come true…Actually, there was a small motored-raft that they use to get people to and from shore hanging off the back of the boat. It only held about 10 people so we let everyone else go first J. We stayed back and manned the ship until a private boat passing by stopped and rescued us. It felt pretty cool to have to be rescued from the middle of the ocean by a bunch of randoms. There were actually a number of gringos on the boat, all from the U.S., and one who actually grew up in Forte Wayne, IN! It was also no coincidence that this boat was named Magic...the whole day was magical!

After dinner, we “chicos” stopped by a convenience store to buy some cookies for dessert. Ecuador has these little wafer cookies called “Amor” that are pretty good. There are all sorts of flavors, and none of us had tried them all. A package is only about 50 cents, so we decided to buy one of each and share. My favorite, personally, is the lemon. But don’t be confused by the green on the packaging, most lemons in Ecuador are green. With stomachs full and empty cookie bags, we piled into one of our hotel rooms for our weekly Bible study. Together, we’ve been studying both the book of Daniel and Hebrews. They were sort of random choices, but I think we’re all enjoying them a lot. I love what each person brings to our Bible studies, and I love we can have genuine discussions like we do as an entire group. I would like to mention again what a blessing it has been to be part of this group of students, and how thankful I am for each person.

Moving right along…the first day in Galapagos, pretty fun. The second day, better. The third day, EVEN BETTER! That day, after breakfast, we met with the passionate tour guide from the first day, who took us on a hike to Tortuga (turtle) Bay. It was quite a hike, but totally worth it. When we finally got to the ocean, it just about took my breath away. I could stand on a beach, any beach, listening and watching in pure awe of the ocean for as long as it so faithfully sends each wave. There’s something so enthralling about the ocean, something so mysterious, so powerful that captures my attention and (literally) draws me in. Each wave breaks on cue as if part of an extravagant symphony. Unceasingly, the water rushes to the shore cleansing the vast areas of sand tainted with foot prints and remnants of sea life. The entirety of its depths are unfathomable and its peaceful waves are ever-flowing. Now that I think of it, I don’t believe the ocean is the only being to possess these traits. It is our Lord, the creator of the waters and all that they contain, who bears also these qualities and more. The ocean is awesome, but it is the persona, seen its complexities, that create for me a visual metaphor to the wondrous character of God.

Needless to say we much enjoyed our time in Tortuga Bay. We swam, frolicked, and even played a little ultimate Frisbee on the beach. And trust me, despite our many burns we lathered on the SPF as frequently as humanly possible. Eventually, I torn away from Tortuga Bay, in hope of setting eyes even more awesome beauty of the Galapagos.

We returned for lunch and rest before our next adventure which included another boat tour! Our tour guide for that trip was a card! He was only 14 (and looked about 10!) and really only wanted to make us laugh and to show off. We had fun with him. We snorkeled a bit, where—I must add, I SAW A SHARK! IT WAS HUGE! PROBABLY A GREAT WHITE OR SOMETHING. WHILE I WAS SWIMMING TO GET A CLOSER LOOK, I CUT MY LEG ON SOME CORAL AND THE SHARK CAME RUSHING TOWARD THE SMELL OF MY BLOOD. I BARELY ESCAPED, BUT MADE IT OUT ALIVE THANKS TO MY FIN-LIKE FEET AND INCREDIBLE SWIMMING CABABILITIES.

Ok, just kidding about that last part. Well, most of it actually. But I really did see a live shark, just hangin’ out with the rest of the fish. It was probably about 6 feet long, and it WAS white…It was funny because we continued to joke about our “adventures” and facing all this wild danger while we were there, so when we found out we’d be snorkeling, we asked the guide, “Is it dangerous!?!” “Ohhhh, noooo, its not dangerous don’t worry about it…” “Oh…I guess we don’t want to go anymore…” Hahaha… So yeah, I saw a shark. Umm, then we hiked around a couple of different islands and ended up at this magical lagoon where we hung out for a while and went swimming. Magical you may ask? Yes, it was absolutely gorgeous, more jello water. It was actually a mix of salt and fresh water, which made it even clearer. It was surrounded by tall rocks on either side, some of which we climbed and jumped from. Can the Galapagos get much more fun than this?!?

THE ANSWER IS YES. Our last day, was by FAR the coolest. We arose quite early and were picked up promptly at 4:45 AM! Yes, 4:45 AM, and it was worth every minute of sleep we lacked. We again traveled across Santa Cruz to board our charter boat from the other side of the island. It was still pretty dark when we got on the boat, but that only meant we got to see the sunrise! “Here comes the sun…do do dodo… Here comes the sun…” That song was running through my head the entire time, and has actually made its way back in there as I recall these memories. It’s a nice song, but unfortunately I don’t know any more words and the mere 5 repeating words become quite irritating.

When we arrived at our destination, we all jumped out of the boat to do more snorkeling! At first, I didn’t think the area looked like there would be much of a reef, and that there wasn’t going to be much to see that I hadn’t already seen before. I mean, I’d snorkeled in Mexico a few times, went SCUBA diving off the coast of the Florida Keys… so there couldn’t be much that would really impress me, right?? WRONG. I love being proven wrong, especially when it takes a toll on my pride and haughtiness. And was I EVER proven WRONG. I hate to use this word again, but it was MAGICAL. We used that word a lot over the whole week, because it just seemed so fitting. Just below the surface of the water, there’s an entire world you would never know about if you never stuck your face in it with a piece plastic over your eyes. Fish of every color, sea stars, coral and sea anemones that are, even as a bio-major, still hard to believe as true animals. On top of that, we saw sea lions! Tons of them! There were playing with each other, doing flips and turns, and out of their curiosity, circling around the strange creatures looking so awkward and out of place in the water, us. Even still, we saw a penguin! It was just a little guy, hanging out on the rocks. We asked him nicely to come and play with us in the water, but he just gave us the cold shoulder. Nevertheless, MAGICAL.

Afterwards, we were taken around the island we had just snorkeled near, to hike up and enjoy the view. My words are growing few, but trust me, it was breathtaking. I will also note again that these islands were all created by volcanoes and so the terrain was remarkably fascinating and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Please enjoy the pictures of this trip on facebook, but know that as awesome of a camera as I have, it could not capture ALL the beauty experienced there in real life.

That about sums up our Magical adventures to the Galapagos, as we made our way back to Cuenca the next day. It is my goal to get caught up on the rest of my blogging this week, because for whatever reason our physiology professors canceled class all week!

Con amor, y hasta luego!

Lindsay

Magical Adventures, Part I

Greetings Friends!

Wow, where do I start? Like I pointed out in my last post, this has been a wild last few weeks. What with our Galapagos trip, entertaining our visitors last week, and not to mention the stress and ruckus caused by the episode I described earlier, I was feeling pretty drained by the time Friday rolled around. I had a wonderful week with my mom, who left Cuenca Friday evening, and I will elaborate on last week eventually. However, I was a quite relieved to just rest this weekend. I feel very refreshed having gotten an adequate amount of sleep and to be back in my Ecuadorian home with my host family, all of which I had missed.

But for logic’s sake, let’s keep it all in chronological order. So, ya’ll wanna hear about my Galapagos adventures?!? Adventures they were. Ok. Before we actually went to the Galapagos, we spent two days in Ecuador’s capital, Quito.

We arrived in Quito on Friday morning, after a quite lovely 30 minute flight from Cuenca. Upon leaving the airport, we were greeted by very chipper woman who would be our tour guide for the next few days. Jenny was Ecuadorian, but spoke very clear English with a British accent. We eventually asked her to speak Spanish though, because its cooler and we want to learn. Anyways, our first tourist stop was none other than THE ECUADOR! We went to the big National Ecuador Park first. After walking around, and taking about a bagillion pictures, Jenny then informed us that the park had been built on that spot out of convenience because of mountains and rivers in the area. Apparently the actual Ecuador (Latitude 0’ 0” 0’”) was calculated to be elsewhere. There is now a smaller museum on that line, so we of course had to make a stop there as well. While on our tour there, the guide did various demonstrations which supposedly can only be done on THE Ecuador. Being in a group of 6 truth-seeking, semi-scientific brains, we were all quite skeptical. The first of the demonstrations involved balancing an egg on the head of a nail. I’ve heard eggs can be balanced in other places too, so I’m pretty sure that one was bogus. Nevertheless, we did all have to give it a try so we could say that we had balanced an egg on the Ecuador. There was another wacky demonstration where the guide asked John to put out his arms while he pressed down on them. Then they did it again while standing on the Ecuador. It was evidently supposed to be harder to keep your arms up while on the Ecuador, but that even sounds lame. The next thing he had us do was close our eyes and try to walk in a straight line alone the Ecuador. It was supposed to be hard to balance or something because of the force of both the magnetic poles pulling on you, but we didn’t buy it. The last demonstration was actually intriguing and seemed somewhat credible. The guide had a basin with a drain in the bottom which he filled with water. He then unplugged the drain and told us to watch as the water drained out. The first time he did this, the basin was on the Ecuador line, and the water emptied straight down. He then did it on either side of the Ecuador, and each those times the water emptied by spiraling downward in opposite directions. If anyone has further knowledge of this phenomenon please email me, Lindsay_bohl@taylor.edu, because we were all very intrigued.

Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering: contrary to many maps’ misrepresentations, the actual Ecuador has a RED line across it.

Alright, let’s speed this up. After our investigations of the middle of the world, we proceeded to have lunch and tour around the old part of Quito walking around the central square and such. The rest of that day was pretty relaxing; we eventually made it to our hotel which was very charming and quaint. For dinner we found a nice little restaurant that served some very typical Northern Ecuador dishes. I tried this chicken thing mixed with vegetables and wrapped in some sort of banana leaf. I wish I could remember the name but it is a Quichwe word, and therefore too complicated. It was delicious anyways.

The next day was quite adventurous. We took a little day trip to a village called Otivalo, about 2 hours away. On the way, we stopped at lovely bakery to try some biscotti-like bread which was definitely worth it. Once in Otivalo, we had some time to shop a bit at a very large market filled with handicrafts and such. Believe it or not, it was the first time I had bought any souvenirs for myself or anyone else since being here! I may or may not have over done it, but it was fun either way. On the way back we stopped at a few other touristy things. It was actually strange to feel so much like a tourist. I think we had all been priding ourselves in feeling like we actually BELONG in Ecuador (regardless of how much we stand out to the actual citizens). Hahaha. That evening, we ended up meeting with a couple who Luke had known when they lived in Upland and are now missionaries in Quito. What a small world.

The next morning, we were up and ready to go at about 5:30. The day we had been waiting for! Vamos a Galapagos! Checking in for our flights was only slightly stressful. All was going well, until Luke handed the woman behind the counter, his ticket and passport. She glanced at each, pressed a few buttons on her keyboard, and then took out a giant stamp slamming it down on his ticket which now said, in red letters, “CANCLED” with a giant X through it. She handed him back his things and then disappeared. All of us confused as to what had happened continued to stand there with sinking feelings in our stomachs. As we nervously joked about Luke not being able to come with us, he noticed that his flight ticket read LUKE HOLLINS, instead of Luke Collins. Assuming that this was the problem, we called over another worker to point out the error. The worker nodded in agreement and waved us all on. Sigh… All was well, and we were on our way to the islands!

We landed on the first island around 11 or so, and then continued our journey on land and water to the island where we’d be staying. Crossing the canal to the island Santa Cruz was our first real glimpse of the beauty held by the islands. The water, we joked, looked suspiciously like a mixture of lime and blue raspberry jello. It shone and sparkled with brilliance I doubt can be seen many other places. The land of Santa Cruz exuded with life and greenery, but at the same time the terrain made it very evident that these islands were in fact created by volcanoes. All of it was much unlike anything I had seen before. For awhile after lunch, we walked to a nearby harbor and just sat by the edge of the water admiring the beauty. That afternoon we went Charles Darwin Park, home of the giant tortoises, several distinctive species of iguanas, and very passionate tour guides. Our tour guide shared his knowledge about the islands and animal life fervently and with a twinkle in his eye as we listened with curiosity. He was probably our favorite tour guide of the trip. That night, after dinner, we ventured out to the hotel’s pool of which we were asked to leave shortly thereafter (apparently 8pm is too late for swimming).

Ok, keep your pants on everyone, that’s only the first day of Galapagos (which was the least awesome FYI). But I have to write a quick paper in spanish so I will continue to recount my adventures, hopefully tomorrow. I hope you all MAKE a great day.

Siempre,

Linds

By His Grace Alone

Since I last written we have all been through a whirlwind of experiences and a rollercoaster of emotions. I will start by saying that EVERYONE is now safe and that I am currently enjoying the company of and the opportunity to share my Cuencan life with MY mommy. Also, I probably won’t be able to write about the truly AMAZING time we had in the Galapagos until later, but know that it was more magical than I could have ever hoped for.

All that said, I thought it was imperative that I explain the events that have taken place here in the past few days, first. I know there are many of you who already know some, and some who don’t know at all of what happened, so I will give the basics first.

A boy from Taylor (not in our biology group) went missing on Sunday night while visiting a mountain park near Cuenca. He was found approximately 24 hours later and treated for only minor dehydration and hypothermia.

…Only by the grace of God…

Ok, now for more details. The Taylor bell choir group (Taylor Ringers) is visiting Ecuador for spring break, playing concerts in a few different cities and doing some mission work as well, this week. They arrived in Cuenca on Easter Sunday morning and met the rest of us Taylor students at the church for breakfast. What a treat it was to see some familiar faces! And of course it was fun to hear and see them play in our Ecuadorian church! Anyways, after church all Taylor people, including parents (like my mom!) who are also visiting this week, and various Ecuadorians went to lunch and then to visit the Cajas National Park (in the Andes Mountains) just north of Cuenca. We were all told to be back at the buses at 4:30. When one student from the Ringers, Luke (NOT our Luke), was the only one not to return at that time, other students and adults almost immediately began to look for him. At approximately 4:00, a number of Ringers students passed Luke on the path everyone had been on which was the only area we were allowed to be. It was presumed that he could not have gotten very far in that half hour because of the severely dangerous terrain and high altitude. One of the bus drivers also claimed that he was positive he had seen Luke going in a certain direction, in which we then drove the buses to a spot that would be more accessible to where he was supposedly last seen. A man with a similar colored shirt was then seen coming towards the path entrance we had just driven to, and Luke was nowhere to be seen. The authorities of the park were then contacted and searches of several paths that he was presumed to have taken began. Dark quickly fell upon the mountains and a heavy fog moved in before 7pm that night. Police and emergency vehicles were brought to the park, all the church members affiliated with Taylor were contacted and asked to come up, and countless, caring members of the church made their way to the site to serve their God and show their love by helping in anyway possible in the search for our lost brother. Around 8pm that night, the buses full of us students, headed back to Cuenca where we could all be home safe, and just pray.

Throughout the evening and the next day, was spent mostly in prayer and for our biology group, just being together for lack of knowing what to do. During that time, extensive searches were continued and furthered in areas surrounding and even areas far from where Luke had last been seen. The park authorities, Ecuadorian police, American Embassy, and many many church volunteers were all involved.

I received an initially scary call at around 10:30 PM Monday night, which ended up being THE answer to our prayers. Luke had been found at the park check point on the opposite side of Cajas where he had apparently walked to, not knowing the direction he was going. Like I said before, Luke was found to be free from injury and treated overnight for only minor dehydration and hypothermia.

It is a blessing that he was returned to us alive even, and it is ONLY by the grace of God he survived. The Ringers left Cuenca Tuesday morning to continue their ministry in Ecuador.

I will continue to fill you in on the effects of what happened in days to come as well as the other much more positive and exciting experiences had in the last couple of weeks. But now I have to go and enjoy the company of my dearly-loved mommy before she leaves on Friday!

By His Grace alone,

Lindsay

Excited about LIFE!

I am really excited about life right now! We're done with our physiology final (it was a beast, but its over), and we only have one spanish class (we have a test today) until we leave for the Galapagos! Actually, we're spending 2 days in Quito and then 4 days in Galapagos. I can't wait! Also, Maria (my host mom) and I have been having so many good conversations and "heart-to-heart" moments which is a HUGE answer to prayer, as I mentioned she was a little slow-warm-up at first. I am also feeling more at home with the rest of my family as well. I pumped now that I don't have to study like every night like a maniac (since we're done with the first part of physiology) and I can actually hang out with them more on a daily basis!
In other news, I am on track to getting healthy again! Maria took me to the doctor the other day and I guess I did in fact have a sinus infection. So I have antibiotics now and am feeling almost 100% today!
Another answer to prayer is the responses of several U.S. doctors about my host-sister's (Carolina's) small tumor. They all say that it is too small to operate on and that taking synthetic growth hormones could just do the trick. Yesterday, I had to help translate some emails from doctors so my family knew exactly what they were saying.
So, I think that is all before I'm off! Look forward to an exciting report of my upcoming travels! Vaya con Dios!
Linds

A lot of stuff

Good Morning and happy Monday!

We started our classes with the other Cuencan students this morning, how exciting! The class actually starts a half hour BEFORE our class started earlier, so I got up EXTRA early today. Anyway, it was quite a shock when we showed up and ALL the other students were already there. I was expecting a much smaller class size, as it is a Medical school, but it was by FAR the biggest class I’ve ever been in. I bet there’s about 50 students (for all you state-schoolers out there…its big for us J ) What made it even more shocking was the BLATENT stares from EVERY person in the room as we sheepishly walked towards the back of the room to the few empty desks. If it wasn’t obviously already that, yes, we are GRINGOS, as the professor took role and each student stood up as they’re names so smoothly rolled off his tongue, when he reached my name, it became ever more apparent that we were the odd ones out. Besides the fact that all Latinos have mile-long names (first name, middle name, other middle name, last name, other last name, etc.), my name sounded like marbles in the mouth of the professor. “BOL, LIN-SAY ANN!” I stood, with a self-conscious smirk and giggle of discomfort as EVERYONE turned to look at pale, blonde-haired girl in the back of the room. Yep. It was a funny experience. Walking down the street, and especially on the bus, we’ve had lots of stares, but today was the first time I’ve felt THAT singled out. Later, Dr. Toral explained that we were students studying abroad…yadda yadda.

Ok. What else. First of all, I felt like I should share something I learned at house church the other week. What is almost as cool as WHAT I learned is the fact that I actually LEARNED it. I really am learning Spanish! In no way am I even close to being an awesome speaker, (funny note- it’s always really evident when I’m tired because I forget words and other verb tenses, so I end up talking like I’m a 2-year-old) nor am I able to understand all people (some people just talk so FAST!), but I’m learning! So anyway, praise God that he spoke to me, EN ESPANOL, and that through that, I was given a little clearer picture of our Savior.

The message given at house church that week was centered around slavery. The leader read the verses in Exodus that describe the Israelites being led out of slavery by Moses and talked about what a big deal that was for them. They were ACTUALLY slaves. They were held captive, in Egypt, and were forced to work under less-than-humane conditions, and one day, God rose up Moses who he used to lead them out of that. How awesome! Then, he related that situation to our lives. We, humans, are enslaved by sin. Whether or not we are aware of the suffering we are experiencing, we are slaves to our actions and worldly desires. Then—this is what was enlightening to me—the picture that the leader drew for everyone was a garbage heap. Perhaps it hit home for me, because South America, despite its beauty, is a place with much garbage and pollution. Anyway, the leader described us all having “garbage heaps,” piles of ugliness in our lives. He said that everyday we just add to our pile of garbage, and that we carry that pile on our backs. BUT, Romans 6:6-7 says,

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

If we “die” to ourselves, by giving our lives to God, Jesus takes away our status as slaves; he lifts our piles of garbage off our backs and therefore freedom to live to Him. It was so vivid to me, picturing myself walking around with a mountainous heap of garbage and having Jesus, by His grace alone, lift that pile from my back. Just having that new picture, a garbage heap nonetheless, was a blessing and a new understanding of the God I know and love.

Speaking of garbage, fall semester (and unofficially last year as well…J) I resided in Trash Suite (the actual name of the suite in my dorm). I really love trash suite. The cell-phone reception is good, we can see the sunrise, the trash cans are near-by, what’s not to love? Not to mention, girls in trash suite are AWESOME (sorry to all the non-trash people out there, I love you too) At any rate, I would like to say that I would love to live in Trash again, but that next year will be a bit different. As many of you know already, I am going to be PA next year! Yeyyyyyy I’m so pumped! Hold on, don’t get your undies in a bundle. If you don’t speak Taylor, P.A. is actually the same thing as R.A. just with a cooler name (Personnel Assistant—not PERSONAL assistant…personnEL. Ok.) I just wanted to share with you the excitement and get my 3G-ers pumped for what will probably be the best year of their lives thus far—ok, not really. I mean, I hope it is, but it probably won’t be on my account. Haha. I really am very excited about though! Cool!

Ok. So remember when I told you I was sick? And that I was feeling better? I wasn’t lying when I said I was BETTER, because I really do feel better than I did last weekend, but I still don’t feel GOOD, as compared to feeling normal/best. I still have a wicked cough especially when I laugh (I sound like a smoker of 30+ years) and my nose runs like its being chased by rabid wildebeests. I have a lot of pressure in my nose that spreads up my head causing frequent headaches and dizziness. I talked to my mom yesterday who thinks I might have a sinus infection. I think I might go to the doctor today. Soooo…please keep my health in prayer because being sick is no fun. And who would want to be sick when they’re….

GOING TO THE GALAPAGOS!!! We’re leaving Friday morning!!!!!!!! I am so pumped for this week! We have our final for physiology on Wednesday. Remember, we had basically the whole course in English the first month, and now, the real university classes are starting, and we are taking essentially the same course, but in Spanish. This weekend, I ACTUALLY FINSIHED reading the text book! Seven hundred and twenty-one pages later I can actually say that it was a very well written book that I enjoyed reading it (most of the time). I can also say that the human body still AMAZES me. It’s so complex! I mean, I just read hundreds of pages and spent hours in lectures learning all about how our bodies function, and yet, honestly, I don’t understand the half of it. I know some names of hormones and enzymes, and I know that cells use sodium and potassium to create action potentials, but that’s a whole lot of hand waving and simplified explanations of things even some of the most intelligent scientists don’t completely understand. I think EVERYONE should take a course in physiology. It’s an eye-opening experience. (Ok, I know physiology isn’t for everyone, but seriously, if it doesn’t interest you a little bit, something is wrong with you….ok, just kidding again.)

Am I good at making rabbit trails, or what???

I was saying…that we’re taking our final on Wednesday, and then we also have our first Spanish test on Thursday, but then we’re off to visit Quito (the capital of Ecuador) and the Galapagos Islands! We’re flying to Quito and going to spend about 2 days there, and then we’ll fly from there to the Galapagos! I’m told there are some of the most beautiful reefs and animal life on and around the islands. I’m so excited! My camera is excited too. It can’t wait to capture some of the beauty we’ve been hearing about for so long.

Also, my host mom, Maria, is going with us! They can only send one person as a chaperon/guide with us because it’s pretty expensive, and this time, she was the one! I’m really excited though. She keeps saying how much fun she thinks our group is, which just makes it all the more fun. At first, I didn’t really understand her personality very well. She comes off a little feisty, but she’s really opening up to me, and she really is a lot of fun. So, I’m excited that she’s coming!

If that’s not exciting enough…when we return from our little spring break trip, the very next day Dr. and Mrs. Moore will be arriving, as well as, my MOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! My mommy’s coming!!!!!! YEYEYEYEYEYEYYYEYEYEYEYY!!! That’s all I have to say, AWESOME.

I did it again. I wrote about a bagillion words of nothing. Well, not nothing. I mean this is functioning as a journal for me, which is why I’m having so much fun writing it. Plus, some of you guys keep telling me how much you like reading it. So, I guess I will continue to write for both of our sakes.

I don’t know how much time I will have in the next few days to write before I’m off on some quality adventures. So, keep the emails coming! And until later, peace be with you.

~Lindsay

New pictures!

More pictures are up! And even MORE to come! Aghhhh!

(Sorry for the delay, I forgot that I had new pictures for awhile. Then, I couldn't for the life of me, remember to bring the cord for uploading them.)

Things worth mentioning.

Hey all,
I would like to ask you all to be in prayer for one of the other Taylor students here. Out of respect for them, I will remain vague, but I know that prayer, in whatever form, is the best and only thing we can do.


Other things worth mentioning:
1) I had Chineese food last week. YUM!
2) It was Hilary's birthday this weekend. We had a surprise party for her. She reeeeeally LOVES The Lord of the Rings, so needless to say we had a LOTR themed party. We made swords and watched the movie, and we also had a great array of delicious party food. It was a ton of fun, except:
3) I was sick all weekend. It was just a cold. Ache-y body, clogged sinuses, and terrible cough. However, my host dad is a representative for a pharmaceutical company and has about every drug EVER on hand. So, I ended up consuming a few pills that I don’t know exactly know what they were.

4) I feel better now.

5) I have a lot of Spanish homework to finish now.

Caiu!

Lindsay

A normal day in Cuenca.

First I wake up. My alarm goes off at about 5:50. I usually don’t get up then. Later, I get up, get ready, and mosey into the kitchen to gather some food that I can take to eat in the bus. I usually eat bread. But not just any bread, Cuencan bread. Cuenca is famous for their bread and bakeries; they’re everywhere. My family buys fresh bags of all different kinds of rolls and such almost everyday. Some bread is sweet, some is wheaty, some has cheese on the inside, and they are all delicious. The “bus” comes at around 6:30, which I am the first to get on. I used quotes, because it is actually just a large van, as most school buses are here. The bus rides are pretty fun. I’ve been taking advantage of being the first person on the bus to talk to our driver, Gabriella. It’s takes around 45 minutes to gather all the others and make our way over to the University.

Upon arriving at the University, we are consistently greeted by a man who is known to us, by request, as Janitor Man. He opens our classroom for us and usually tries to make conversation. He’s a genuinely kind man, but I have the hardest time understanding him because he has such a low, raspy voice. Dr. Toral, our professor, usually arrives precisely 20 minutes late. So, we have quite a bit of time before hand which we usually use irresponsibly for playing games and watching you-tube videos.

Class is pretty average. Dr. Toral lectures with power points and sometimes shows us these computer modules that are really slow, but kind of funny. We usually get pretty serious while he’s teaching, but every once and while we laugh about random stuff. I think Dr. Toral enjoys it; he likes to laugh along with us. He also likes to give us breaks. After about an hour of lecturing he’ll tell us we can have “about a 20 minute break.” We know now, that “20 minutes” actually means at least a half hour.

After class, I usually take bus 15 to go back to the church office to use the internet and do my Spanish homework. However, Mondays are our group bible study days and Fridays are ice cream days. Whatever the case, I usually return home for lunch with my host mom, Maria because she works at the church office (her job is actually organizing all the relations with Taylor J).

During the week, my family has a maid, Carmita, who comes in the mornings to do general house cleaning, laundry, and prepare the lunch meal since both my parents work. She is a very sweet young woman, probably not much older than me. I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know her though, because she leaves not to long after lunch. She makes a mean Ecuadorian meal though. Lunches ALWAYS start with soup. All different kinds of soup. Pea soup, ham soup, chicken, spinach, yucca, and many other delicious soups that I don’t even what to call them. After soup, in the main part of the meal. There is always some sort of meat. I am definitely not lacking in any protein here. Sometimes is beef, sometimes chicken, and lots of times pork. Pork (Chancho) is a big deal here. Good thing it’s pretty tasty! Along with the meat, there’s usually some vegetables. However, there’s never really any leafy, vitamin-filled greens, it’s always potatoes, or like one slice of tomato. I’m not complaining, but I would like to eat an entire spinach plant sometime soon. RICE. HOW COULD I FORGET TO MENTION THE RICE. Yes, we have rice everyday. That’s not an exaggeration. Sometimes, we eat it at every meal. Always, always with lunch though. I like rice. We also always have freshly made juice. It’s different all the time, but always delectable. Sometimes its pineapple, papaya, mango, tomato (from tress, not red tomatoes), or different kinds of berries. So good!!Lunch is usually ended with some sort of light dessert like fruit or pudding.

Meals are pretty family oriented, but since I have class after lunch, and my parents usually have to get back to work, we start eating before the kids get home from school. I really respect those kids, they make it through their whole day of school before they get home for lunch around 2. In high school, I could barely make it to our 11:30 lunch before I was losing concentration.

Like I mentioned before, I have really been enjoying walking to and from class. Our Spanish class is in a building right across from the church. The church is only about a 10 minute drive from my house, but when I walk/take the bus it takes about 45 minutes. It’s a nice time for me to think/pray/exercise.

I love Spanish class! We actually only have it Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which is nice to have the afternoons on Mondays and Fridays to do whatever. Anyways, in my Spanish class (the intermediate), there are 4 of us Taylor students and one REALLY intense, dramatic, funny, but lovable teacher. Loli is a teacher at the Verbo Church’s private school, and makes time, 6 hours a week, to teach US Spanish. We don’t really have a specific schedule and she is very flexible with answering our questions and catering to what we are struggling with or want to learn. She also speaks very little English. Many times we have to look up words because she doesn’t know how to explain them, but most of the time everything is explained entirely “en espanol.” I feel like I have learned so much from her already, and can honestly say that I am getting better every day.

Side note: My host dad told me the other day (the same one who scolded me before for speaking enlgish like the first week here…) and I quote, “Entiendas todo! You are a Spanish girl!” Translation: You understand everything! You are a Spanish girl! Hahaha. He likes to practice his English. The other day when I got home, he asked me how class was, and when I replied that it had been good, he said, “Ohhh congratulations!!” hahaha He’s a riot.

Evenings are different almost everyday. Mondays, when I do not have class, I have been studying. A LOT. I don’t remember if I explained this earlier, but we are essentially finishing our physiology class in about a week. Physiology is a pretty involved subject as it is. However, we are covering the entire human body (as in depth as possible) in one month, as opposed to 4 months like any normal class would. After wards, we’ll be attending a physiology class (in Spanish) with other Ecuadorian students at the University of Azuay. I am very excited to be able to relearn everything and gain even more understating in Spanish, but this first month is what counts for our grade.

Ok. Mondays, study, or whatever comes up. Dinner isn’t usually until after 8 and is usually pretty small. Either leftovers from lunch, or something like bread and cheese. With dinner, we usually drink something hot, like milk blended with fruit and sugar or hot chocolate. Tuesdays, dinner is a bit earlier because we have house church bible studies at 8. They are very similar to the kind of bible studies I went to in high school. There is usually some singing and prayer to begin, and then a different person shares a devotional each week. I have been going with my host-brother to his “house church” which is kind of funny, because it is like being in high school again. (I will share more about house church later, because I have to finish this up.) Ok, Wednesdays, usually dinner and studying. Thursdays are our evenings with Tami. And Fridays I usually spend with my family, either at home or at Grandma’s house.

Wew!! That is quite enough for today. Haha You’re in my prayers! Much love!

Linds

Hey all!

Man, it feels like forever since I last wrote to you. Maybe it’s just been a long past few days.

I’ll start by saying that last week was really good. Let’s see, on Wednesday after Spanish class we all went over to Hilary’s house (the designated party house since it is in a pretty central location and a block away from the church) to hang out and make cookies! It was quite the mission to find chocolate (for chocolate chip cookies, obviously) because they don’t really sell chocolate chips here. We asked a few people, stopped at some random little stores, and then found this amazing little “Mini Market” not to far from the church. We ended up just buying a bunch of chocolate bars and chopping them up for chocolate CHUNK cookies. It was also challenging to figure out the whole cooking-at-altitudes thing. They ended up being a bit puffy, but still good. Anyway, we all brought some home for our families, and they ALL thought these cookies were the best thing since cooked rice! John’s host-mom even asked him for the recipe.

Thursday was GREAT. We actually ended up not having Physiology OR Spanish class, for unrelated reasons, so I spent quite a bit of time at the church office doing homework and on the internet. I <3 st="on">Taylor) which was amazing! It crazy how wonderful it feels to simply hear the voices of people you love. J AND THEN…I also got to talk to my one and only roommate Sara Bailey on the phone! I think were both a little distracted (I was Hilary’s house where there was a bunch of commotion, and she was at the grocery store…) Still awesome though. Then, we all went to Tami’s house (remember, our emotional support lady…) for dinner and such. I think it was later that night that I ALSO got to talk to my fabulous friend from high school, Anne Kvinge. Although my phone card only lasted a few minutes, that day was such a blessing to be able to reconnect with so many friends from home.

Let’s see. Oh, Friday! Nothing really special…class, home for lunch, Spanish class (because we didn’t have it the day before), and then! After class, I walked home. My host family knew I had a lot of reading and studying to do (test on Monday) so they gave me keys to the house and said it was fine if I went home by myself while they were at their Grandma’s. This was exactly what I needed. It was a good week, but a long week, and it didn’t help that I hadn’t be able to exercise much that week. I’ve found that our schedules don’t really allow a good time to exercise, so I’ve been opting to take the bus home because it requires a bit of walking as well. ANYWAYS, since I knew there was no one at home waiting for my arrival, and I had the keys to let myself in whenever I got there, I decided to prolong my walk, explore a bit, and stop at a few stores. I hadn’t realized how much I had grown to love my walks home until that night. Navigating cities on foot is so much different than in any sort of vehicle. You somehow feel more part of the city, like you belong there (minus, of course, the frequent stares from people wondering what that blonde, sun-burned gringo is doing). It has been so cool to be able to get around the city myself (and with the other students), to able to go into stores and actually talk to people. There is something so satisfying about being self-sufficient. And plus, walking just FEELS GOOD!

Ok, so this weekend was less than exciting. It included a lot of catching up on physiology reading and studying, group studying, attending a school program for my host-brother and sister, eating my first Ecuadorian fast food (no different than U.S.), and of course church and meals with the extended family.

Yesterday- pretty stressful morning (physiology test-didn’t go very well), but later made up for it. After class, we all decided we wanted to hang out later, and maybe watch a movie. So, after lunch, naps, a little homework and such, we all gathered at Hilary’s house to have some fun. Can I just say, that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE OUR GROUP. I don’t think I’ve really talked much about the other Taylor students who are here with me. I think we have all agreed that it has been such an answer to prayer having each other. None of us knew each other very well at all prior to coming to Ecuador, yet I feel that we have all bonded in a special way.

There are six of us, John Whitteny, Luke Collins, Sarah Soden, Hilary Pederson, and Claire Marchello, and me! If personalities could be written in less than 2 sentences, this is my description of them:

John: Previous to this trip, I only knew John as a nice guy who was pretty reserved. John really is a very kind person, but I’ve learned that he when you get him talking, he’s a riot!

Luke: About 5 minutes after we arrived at the airport on our way here from Indianapolis, Luke announced that he was going to be the Patriarch of our group. We all complied, hahaha, he’s a great dad. He loves to initiate new ideas or adventures. He’s quite funny but also very genuine.

Sarah: Sarah has a very sweet and loving personality. We share a lot of desires in life and connect on many different levels.

Hilary: Hilary exudes joy every day. She always has a smile to give and laughs with her whole heart.

Claire: I had never met Claire before this, and it has been so cool to get to know her and her story this past month. She is a very intelligent and beautiful young woman, who strives to give God her best.

*I should also mention that I have been deemed the Mother-figure for the group. I’m finding this to be a reoccurring theme in my life. I do like to take care of people, so I guess it’s a compliment. But still, how funny is it to have a group of my peers calling me “Mama”?

Some things we share in common:

1) Each one of us has an obviously strong sense of humor; we are constantly laughing everywhere we go.

2) We are all wired the distinct love for learning about living organisms, and more specifically, humans. We also love to have fun with the things we are learning in class. For example, acting out the activities of certain cells and incorporating sound effects in our actions.

3) We love to be creative and witty. Today, we had to stop by the University of Azay to sign some papers. The woman helping us showed us into one of the lecture halls. We had to wait for a long time for her to come back. It wasn’t several minutes later, we began taking turns giving lectures (Mine was about the delicious treat of Wisconsin-made, squeaky cheese), reciting poems, and presenting questions to a panel consisting of John and Sarah (questions such as, “What do you think about the cost of Oreos in Cuenca, Ecuador?”). Perhaps these examples do not efficiently demonstrate how much fun we have, but we really do entertain ourselves quite well.

4) We all love peanut butter.

5) We like to try new things.

6) We’re adventurous.

7) We all share Jesus Christ as the center of our lives. (This is the one that really makes the difference J )

In short, they are each blessings to me and I love them. Praise God for such a wonderful group!

I really like to blog. Sometimes I forget that people are reading this. I just spew out my thoughts. Sklsdjfs;ldjfosfsndmvwer9usoif….

Next blog post, hopefully soon, you can look forward to (mostly for you, Mom and Dad)! I will be writing about a normal day for me, in Cuenca, Ecuador. There will also be pictures to complement, which I began taking today.

LOVE AND PEACE.

Linds