¿Como se llama el llama?

Taken while climbing "Naked Face" Mountain

This past Friday, our team was all set out to leave for Cuenca at 8am sharp, only to find out that our ride had broke down.  Unfortunately this bit of info wasn't shared with us immediately, but after 2 hours of waiting, we set out for Cuenca.  The delay actually worked out to our advantage.  Instead of cramming 14 of us and our backpacks into a 14 passenger van, we each got our own seats in two 8 passenger minivans (with plenty of leg room and comfy seats).  Even though there was a 4 hour car ride ahead of us, I wasn't planning on sleeping because of what would lay ahead....the Andes Mountains.

Above the clouds!

We reached the base of the mountains, catching only a glimpse of what was to come as we began our ascend.  On our way up we hit a really bad "fog" but our driver still insisted on speeding around corners and passing cars.  After a while, we emerged from the "fog" only to realize that we had been driving through clouds.  We were now driving above the clouds!  It was literally a sea of clouds as far as your eye could see.  Our jaws remained dropped for the remainder of the car ride as we weaved and climbed through the Andes Mountains on our way to Cuenca.  Pictures can't accurately display the beauty of God's creation.  On a side note: We passed through a national park and were able to see wild llamas!

We arrived at our hostel in Cuenca, with high expectations after our experience in Puerto Lopez.  While I don't know if the expectations ever got met, it was definitely an experience.  The hostel had a central cafe area with a courtyard that branched off the back.  The rooms were scattered between the cafe and the courtyard.  Room 2 gave us a lot of problems.  It started off as one of the girls' rooms.  They walked in to find a guy sleeping on one of the beds.  After that got taken care of (he happened to be from Oregon, was hungover, and gladly switched rooms as long as he could sleep some more), the guys took over the room due to the lack of a shower.  The room was a cave with no outside windows but we could make do.  A little while after, we get informed of the hostel's evening activity, an electronic light show techno party.  "Cool," we thought. I like light shows.  I like dancing.  and I like parties.  Until they started setting up the stage a mere 3 feet from our room's door.  We were able to get switched out to a room in the court yard, but I had to settle for a mattress on the floor.  We took room 8 which helped keep the 8-Bro-Uno theme alive.

We set out for the town market to do some souvenir shopping, with one item particularly in mind....LLAMA SWEATERS.  See the process for choosing a llama sweater is harder than it would seem.  One does not simply choose a llama sweater, it chooses you....kind of like Pokemon (yes I did just fit Pokemon into my blog post).  Side note: Alpaca sweater is the correct term but they have pictures of llamas on them.

I think I was in the bathroom...

On the first day, 12 out of the 14 of us found their llama sweater matches.  Don't worry, the story did end happily for the other 2, just not until Saturday.  Provided with a large array of llama apparel and random knick knacks, my family will be quite pleased with their souvenirs, as am I.

After an enjoyable dinner including mac'n'cheese, we headed back to the hostel, where our night was just beginning.  During the night we experienced and learned a variety of different things.  I will begin the listing... Dancing to techno music is frowned upon, as a slow side to side swaying motion is preferred (in order to enjoy the music...).  The hostel doubles as a bar at night so we experienced our fair share of drunk Ecuadorians in which drugs may or may not have been involved.  The phrase "Guests and Authorized Personnel Only" actually means "all are welcome", as our private courtyard filled with the party.  It is hard to fall asleep on a brick mattress to the booming sound of a techno song on repeat.  Cuenca gets really cold at night, and a lack of blankets will keep you up.  Parties in Cuenca last until the wee hours of the night.  Summing everything up, it was a great night in which everyone was able to get a full night's sleep, including myself.

After having not actually been able to count the full number of hours of sleep, I filled my stomach with delicious french toast on Saturday morning.  Saturday was low key, as was the whole trip since there was no planned agenda.  The highlight from Saturday was definitely hiking the Andes Mountains.  A little after lunch time, about half the team set out to hike to the peak of "Naked Face" Mountain.  Unfortunately our hostel was in the middle of the city so we had to walk quite a bit to the base of the mountain, but we did encounter a whole pig roasting over a fire during our stroll.  The thrill factor definitely increased as our climb began by sneaking through a barbed wire fence.  The view just kept getting better and better as we climbed higher.  The town proved to be quite larger than I thought, as it spread the entire width of the valley.  Clouds covered the mountains across from us as we saw rain pour down.  We stopped at the "Naked Face" (a giant cliff near the top of the mountain) to take pictures before climbing to the peak.  We made it to the peak, a proud accomplishment, as we stood over looking the entire city.  I later found out we only hiked a vertical height of about 525 ft (thanks to Courtney) which doesn't seem like much until I thought of it as 52 stories which made me feel a little better.  We also discovered a graveyard atop the mountain in which a few off the graves appeared to have been robbed.  I like to think it was actually zombies but we can just go with the more realistic approach.  Besides the creepiness of the cemetery, the mountain was beautiful.  We all agreed to retire to Cuenca and start our own village in the mountains but to have elevators for easier transportation, logical right?

Saturday's dinner included an amazing Italian meal consisting of pizza.  This however sparked a much heated debate of how to eat pizza.  Being from Chicago, it definitely makes sense to eat pizza with a knife and fork but when it's thin crust, is folding allowed?  Or is it a sin to Chicago and pizza lovers of the world?  I ended up having almost a whole pizza in which I cut a slice, folded a slice, rolled a slice and ate a slice with my hands.  While the "pizza roll" was quite tasty, I think I have to settle with cutting deep dish with a knife and fork while eating thin crust by the hand (un-folded) as the most effective ways of eating a pizza.

Saturday night was much better for sleeping, as there was a live acoustic set, but that didn't stop the party from raging until 3 in the morning.  I did however enjoy some good conversation with tourists from Scotland, Germany and Switzerland prior to going to bed.  The Loch Ness monster really does exist for all of you wondering.

Cuenca is my kind of town and the team debate of beach or mountains has me settled on the mountains side.  I'd take the views and brisk mountain air any day.  Now we're back to the high heat humidity in Guayaquil, with one week of campus sharing left.

Please pray for students' eagerness to get connected to the movements on the campuses as we continue to disciple this week.  Pray especially for wisdom and guidance in my talking with a group of atheists tomorrow (Tuesday).  Not for an argument of religion, but just for open ears and open hearts to hear the Gospel, then God will do the rest of the work.

Sleeping in tomorrow, 

Jeremias

Crunch Time

Tomorrow morning we leave for Cuenca!! This past week has flown by as I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday.  This whole trip has flown by as next week is our last week here in Guayaquil :(

It is getting down to crunch time with the mission here in Guayaquil and I know I am definitely feeling stressed.  We set a goal to share the Gospel with 555 students between the 14 of us during our 5 weeks on campus (closer to 4 weeks).  Our midway point was last weekend as the tallies so far were added up.

We have shared the Gospel with about 140 students on campus in which 60 of them prayed to receive Christ!  Almost half of the students we talk to pray to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, that's a phenomenal statistic! We have shared the Gospel with 280 people if you count the 140 we talked to during our church outreach at the children's hospital.  It is also safe to assume more than 280 people heard the Gospel in the first half of the trip because they probably showed the booklets to their friends and families, as did my friend Franco with his sister.  So I guess in terms of where we are at with our goal, we are on track, but that is from a big boost due to the church outreach which helped double our numbers.

At this point in the trip though, it is past the numbers.  The goal we set out was for motivation to start the movement on campus.  The movement has already been started.  We have all become incredibly invested in the mission here that we don't need goals to spur us onward.  The 555 student goal may not get reached but an impact has definitely been made on the campuses.

With less and less sharing opportunities, comes more and more follow ups and discipleship appointments.  The staff leaders of our team have spent time pouring into the student leaders on campus as we have spent time in follow ups helping to strengthen the spiritual relationships of the new believers.  There are multiple parts of the mission here in Guayaquil.  To help bring people to a spiritual relationship with God, spend time strengthening their relationship during follow ups, and then connecting them to the spiritual movement on campus.

In the past week, I have been able to be a part of all the different facets of our mission.  I have spent time sharing the Gospel with my teammates in which we brought students to Christ.  I had two follow up appointments today (and hopefully even more next week) in which we discussed the security of our relationship with God which is very important to understand as a new believer.  I have also had the opportunity to speak with many already Christians on campus (God has been putting so many in our path at Espol) about the mission of Campus Crusade for Christ (Vida Estudiantil) and invite them to take part.  It was awesome to see our new Christian friends, Carlos Luis and Alex, go sharing with Megan and I last week.

God is doing great things on both of the campuses here in Guayaquil!  It is just stressful knowing we have just one week left to leave a lasting impact until the next team comes to pick up where we left off which may not be until the winter.  It is important to get enough students involved so that the movement can stay alive once we leave.  We have all been trying to get a lot of contacts from the students as well so we can keep in touch for encouragement after we leave.  Pray that God will really help us to leave a lasting impact on the campus.  We are just planting the seeds while He will do the watering but just pray that we carry out God's plan to fullness.

Excited for llama sweaters,
Jeremy

4th of July in Ecuador

Waking up on the 4th of July in a foreign country is kind of upsetting because no one walks with the same beat in their step.  We tried expressing to multiple Ecuadorians throughout the day that it was the 4th of July but they just looked at us like "and your point is..."  The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I love the idea of unity and everyone coming together to have a good time.  The food is good, the music is good, the games are good.  The 4th of July is America.  While I forgot, it helped that half our team remembered to wear red, white and blue, so that help set the mood for the day.  As we stood in the lobby, I mulled over ways that I could celebrate here in Ecuador, and then it hit me.  What better way to celebrate being an American than doing American things in a foreign country?  So that is what I set out to do for the day...on the bus ride to campus, I compiled a list of stereotypical "American" things that could be accomplished today...


Things Americans do (things that are at least tangible in Ecuador):

• talk about politics
• brag about superiority
• watch fireworks
• play baseball
• eat barbecue food
• eat bacon
• flush toilet paper
• drink from the faucet, tap water
• wear shorts when above 70 degrees
• speak English/Spanglish
• go swimming
• drink "limonada" that consists of lemons
• listen to country music
• start a U-S-A chant
• Sing the National Anthem, God Bless America and recite the Pledge of Allegiance
• be a missionary in a foreign country
• pay with a $20
• be a hardcore tourist
• watch an American movie
• wear red, white and blue
• use smart phones
• play cornhole/ultimate frisbee

As it is now July 5th, I can proudly state that nearly all of the items on the list were accomplished today in some form or another.  For example, while baseball was not played, I did hit a pitched stuffed animal with a flip flop.  I had a bacon cheeseburger to knock out both barbecue food and bacon.  Even though limonada was on the menu and in Spanish class we learned it to be lemonade, the Ecuadorians confuse their fruits and make limeade instead, which is just not the same.  I swam this past weekend so I will count that as accomplished.  While I didn't watch a full length movie, we watched a clip from the Sandlot and I think that is definitely an American movie.  I briefly mentioned my dislike for politics which is enough political conversation for me.  I flushed toilet paper down the toilet even though it's frowned upon but I did not drink from the sink because I don't want to get sick, but that is one of the first things that I am doing when I return home.  I attended campus in a polo and jeans but quickly switched out into my EMELEC jersey (red, white, and blue despite being an Ecuador futbol team) and shorts. 

We were asked to promptly report to room 704 at 9pm for a surprise in which we had no idea about.  My fingers were crossed hoping that we were going to go to the roof and light off fireworks but I would end up being just as satisfied.  We opened up the door to room 704 to find a firework display being played from YouTube on one of the staff's computers.  We sat down to watch as a team, participating in "oooohs and ahhhhs" as well as singing the National Anthem and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and concluding with a U-S-A chant.  Afterwards we were surprised with a cake...yummm.  The sugar high launched us into a dance party sing-a-long with a playlist including country music, Journey, and other home town classics.  Somehow a video of native bird calls snuck in there but now we know that the sound of freedom (a.k.a. the caw of a Bald Eagle) lacks in comparison to our strong military force.  The night concluded with some of us playing Nertz (competitive solitaire) as it capped off a great celebratory 4th of July in Ecuador.

Happy 5th of July everyone! Goodnight from Ecuador :)

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

Alright so maybe the title is a little in accurate because the cheeseburgers were lacking but the paradise was definitely present.

On Friday, the 14 of us squeezed into a van that would probably sit 12 people comfortably.  Needless to say it was a little uncomfortable but we managed as the van weaved through the mountains on its way to the beach.  Arriving upon our hostel in Puerto Lopez, we were all in awe.  The staff team purposely withheld the information on where we were staying just for the shock factor.  Our hostel grounds basically consisted of cabins (some elevated) spread out through a jungle.  All of the flowers were exotic, there were hammocks on every porch and we were within walking distance from the beach....yea I think paradise would be a good word to sum it up.


Hannah: "If this is what Heaven looks like, then.."
Megan (jumping into the room): "THEN I AM GOING!"


We spent the first hour or so acquainting ourselves with our rooms as the surprises just kept getting better and better.  It was fair to say that most of us felt like kids on Christmas morning as we explored the cabins.  All the girls loved the provided mosquito nets over the beds because it made them feel like princesses while all the guys loved the idea of sleeping in the hammocks outside (which unfortunately never happened).

We rendezvoused at the lodge for lunch in which we were all served sandwiches the size of our faces.  It was also at lunch on Friday where "awesome sauce" was discovered and thus used with pretty much every meal following.  Afterwards, we all headed to the beach, some staying back to lay out and the others jumping in to the water.  It was my first time swimming in the Pacific Ocean.  The waves were not of surfing height as I had hoped but were still big enough to splash around in.  Everyone was doing fine until one by one, tragedy stuck...

Members of our team started complaining of stinging/tingling sensations in their legs until lo and behold, someone spotted a floating jellyfish!  We brushed it of as no big deal until one by one, the rest of the team fell to the fate of the jellyfish's sting until only a few remained sting-less.  I was fortunately one of the few not to get stung but in a weird way, I kind of hoped I had just for the fact I could say I've been stung by a jellyfish and knew what it felt like.  As we all got out of the water, those who had gotten stung started to see bubbly rashes forming, but no one got peed on as they all just sucked it up (the rashes go away with time).

About half the team decided to embark towards the cliffs which was a good 2 mile walk away, if I had to estimate.  After finding a walking stick made of bamboo, it quickly got decorated with a vines and a jawbone of what we assumed to be a cow....needless to say, I was rocking the Moses/Samson look.  Half of those walking decided to turn back around the halfway point which left Ashley, Courtney, Jenna and I pressing on towards what became named "Misty Point."  Upon arrival, we went out onto a rock and climbed up to find it full of science! Crabs, barnacles, anemones, sea urchins and many more inhabited the small environment.

Friday night served us a fish fry with more food than my stomach could hold.  We met up as a team afterwards for worship and a checkpoint on the team norms.  It is hard to believe that the trip is halfway over!

Saturday morning came early as my body has grown accustomed to waking up at 6:45 everyday to run so I was rudely awakened at 7.  I think I could get used to eating at the lodge for every meal as my breakfast consisted of eggs, bread and jam, fruit salad, coffee, and jugo.  Each of us spent some time to sit down for quiet reflection on how the first half of the trip has gone.  We had a nice worksheet to help us get our brains flowing.  It was really nice to step back and do a personal evaluation when the trip has been going by so quickly.

BEACH TIME! After hours of teamwork, we came together to create the coolest sand castle I have ever been a part of making. Correction: sand KINGDOM.  Let me take you through the progression.  I find Courtney digging a moat in which I offer to help.  Andrea joins us with the idea of a castle.  Jenna finds us and joins in with the moat digging as the castle idea turns into a citadel and a mountain begins to form around it.  During this time, the tide was coming in pretty high so the main priority was an irrigation system to protect the fortress.  More and more joined as moats, tunnels and holes were dug to fight off the tide.  With the battle won, the creativity really kicked in.  We all did our part in contributing to the kingdom.  The irrigation system was added to and perfected.  A village was constructed with cobblestone roads made out of seashells, a futbol stadium, church, and park.  A vineyard was constructed that had a nearby goat pen.  There was an indigenous tribe that inhabited the mountains.  The castle was beautifully decorated with various objects found on the beach.  Tunnels, stairs and bridges connected everything together to would be named Kingdom.  This was a really good unplanned team bonding experience that really demonstrated the body of Christ as someone pointed out.

Later on in the day, a team went to go do further exploring at "Misty Point."  We climbed along the base of the cliffs to do further exploration in which we came across a deserted beach that was enclosed by cliffs on both sides.  Rock climbing along rocky shores is not encouraged for the faint of heart as many of us walked away with scrapes and bruises.  We hurried back to the beach for team pictures in which we all were obligated to dress up nicely.  Dinner brought us fried calamari alongside many other dishes as I couldn't even finish the meal...my stomach can't hold the amount of food they provided us.  A worship session followed but by that point I was so gassed from the day that I quickly fell asleep in a hammock until I was later woken up to go back to the room.

Sunday morning helped me realize how much I enjoy running on beaches.  The tide was low enough that we could run on the harder sand without tiring out quickly.  We ran towards "Misty Point" with bathing suits on in hopes of further exploration.  Ready to push our boundaries, we pressed on further to discover mini caves on the other side of the deserted beach.  The tide was coming in high so it had us at a dead end but I guess it's a good thing because it's never a good combo when the rocks are getting less safe to climb on and you become more comfortable with pushing the limits.  We will never know what lays beyond the furthest tip of "Misty Point."  BUT I DID GET STUNG BY A JELLYFISH! Right on the foot, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

We unfortunately had to head back early on Sunday as our driver arrived to bring us back home to Guayaquil.  It was a much needed fun filled and relaxing weekend but I am excited to have returned back to the mission on the campuses and see the friendly faces we have come to know the last couple weeks.  I will post an update from this week probably on Thursday before we embark to Cuenca, a city in the Andes Mountains!!  We are all sooo excited for llama sweaters....no joke.

Keep the mission in your prayers this week as we continue to share the Gospel with new faces and meet for follow ups with our new friends.

Chao!