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