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