The awaited day

GUESTHOUSE After our morning power-washing (a.k.a. shower) we each drank a glass of mora-flavored yogurt--we're already hooked on the taste.  Then we were picked up by new friends who took us to their apartment a few minutes away for a play date.  They too have three boys and a girl which are each just a couple of years younger than ours.  Selah played dress-up, Sethy built with Legos, Jacobey and Darius enjoyed a game of Risk and jumping on the rooftop trampoline, and Doug and I had a cup of tea and a chat with Beth who along with Doug is from Minnesota.  Later we got a tour of their school campus, the Alliance Academy, which we had heard about for years as it's affiliated with our church denomination.  While there we met a number of people including a couple from Wisconsin and a friendly librarian who comes from Amarillo, Texas.

Once back at the guesthouse we finally soaked all of our fruits and veggies in a solution that is part bleach so that we could eat them later--there is so much in the US that we take for granted. 

The biggest news though is that today we officially became Ecuadorian approved missionary workers with completed paperwork and returned passports.  It was a day we've been waiting for.  All along we knew that August 15 would be a red-letter day--I had put that date on our passport forms back in April.  Today, it proved true.  So that means that we leave for Shell in the morning.

So, tomorrow we'll load up our ton of luggage, the new microwave we've been given because the one in our house is apparently only large enough to warm a plate of food, telephone equipment in hopes that our house phone problems can be solved, and several bags of groceries.  We'll be on the road at 10:00 and will travel for about three hours southward from Quito and then we'll head toward the east and the Amazonian jungle where we'll lose altitude and possibly our lunch if our Dramamine doesn't kick in.  That part of the drive will take two hours but it will eventually lead to Shell and our new home.  Hopefully we'll get internet service there so I can fill you in on our safe arrival.  Thanks for reading. Blessings, Kim

SELAH'S NEW BEST FRIEND, ZOE

 

OUR TRIP TO MITAD DEL MUNDO: THE EQUATOR MONUMENT

STRADDLING THE EQUATOR WITH A FOOT IN EACH HEMISPHERE