Well, after months of anticipation and worry and prayer and all sorts of details, we finally arrived into Quito. Our travel had taken about 10 hours from Houston and included two flights, 13 suitcases, 12 carry-ons, 4 children, 12 hamburgers from the Atlanta airport McDonalds, an hour delay onboard, several very nice flight attendants, three porters helping us through Customs after an hour in Immigration, a thirty minute wait while they cleared debris off the road into Quito due to an earlier landslide, and then an hour long ride into town. At 2:30 we entered our room in the guesthouse and by 3:00 all six heads rested. Whew!
After about five hours of sleep we awoke to barking dogs, car alarms, and a day of further duties. The paperwork needed attention and further sleep would have to wait. HCJB headquarters topped the list with a trip to the Department of the Interior (I think) a quick second. When we arrived there, the lines were very long and the chairs were few. After a while we secured some seats close to one another and struck up a conversation with two local women, Mirian & Teresa, who were sewing while they waited. Their Spanish challenged me but I forged ahead anyway eager to try out mine. They crafted some cute dog-shaped containers--we purchased one of course--and by the end of our chat, I'd prayed with them and shared the call letters and address of the local Christian radio station with which we're affiliated.
Thankfully the rest of our day included being treated to Subway for lunch and Dominos for dinner, an afternoon nap for Selah, lots of help from our new friends here, and some of the best ice-cream we've ever had. Mora, a cross between blueberry and blackberry, gives Texas' own Southern Blackberry Cobbler BlueBell a run for its money. It's that good!
By ten we piled into bed and I slept relatively well until the dogs began howling--a quick prayer stopped them--and I resumed sleeping. God is so good! Today we prepped a quick breakfast of brown eggs and toast; water is the beverage of choice for every meal since milk here comes in boxes that sit in the kitchen cabinet. Our friends here took us in two taxis to the SuperMaxi where we encountered the Ecuadorian equivalent to HEB. Their selection of shampoo alone overwhelmed us, much less that of toothpaste, rice, toilet paper, and central American veggies. We spent 2 hours and $230 buying everything we thought we might not be able to easily get in Shell when we finally make our move there.
After a quick lunch of salad and cold pizza (the microwave here is broken) we met with some new friends who were kind enough to guide our way to the monument erected on the Equator. For less than $2 the eight of us took the trolley (very large, overcrowded yellow bus) to the stop where we could then hop on a blue bus. After about an hour in transit, we arrived at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) where we could straddle the Equator with a foot in each hemisphere. Now that's something you don't get to do every day. We then walked around to little shops specializing in trinkets and Ecuadorian fare. The kids loved trying on knitted hats (we found a Cars one our cousin Kolton would love), brandishing spears, and Selah bought a purse for a buck and a half. Darius got a noise-making toy and Sethy picked up a friendship bracelet which says "Ecaudor" to mail to his friend Cannon back home. Cannon's birthday is coming up, ya know.
All in all, a very good experience thus far. We've had the Lord answer a large number of prayers: from "no turbulence onboard" in spite of the terrible weather we would encounter going over Central America, to the "quieting of dogs" during the night. We have been shown much favor in many places and have become acutely aware already of how rich we are in the US. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. I hope to remain faithful. Blessings!! Kim
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