After a Friday morning that found me waking up at five, then continued with an eight hour layover in Dallas, and concluded with a six hour plane ride that saw us arriving in Quito, Ecuador at two in the morning, Saturday was off to what one might call a shaky start. I can happily report however, that things only improved from there. Thankfully Caroline allowed us to sleep in, and enjoy a relaxed breakfast today. An event I may have slept through. We were then given free time in which some of us played of basketball while others simply took in the view of the city and relaxed. Next began a crash course orientation in Ecuadorian customs before we braved the city of Quito. We had a filling lunch of empanadas before heading to the Basilica. The Basilica offered sweeping views of a city that extended seemingly to the horizon. The climb up for the view was rather sketchy as it included a walk across a thin wood catwalk, and a climb up a metal latter that extended off the edge of the Basicila a considerable distance in the air. We then walked around the old Spanish city while recieving a brief history of The Republic of Ecuador. While downtown we also visited a church supposedly built by Lucifer which seems counter intuative to what one would imagine the devil's main objective. On a fun tangent, while there we bought a soccer ball that Tommy, during a game of keepie uppies, gracefully kicked into the head of a small Ecuadorian girl. We then traveled to Youth World Ministries to learn about the organization that sponsers all these missions, and what their objectives are. After that we returned to the hostel for a bit of free time during which Tripp kicked our only ball so hard it flew several houses over, which at the very least means that its child harming days have most likely come to a close. We then concluded the day with a discussion about what we hope to achieve with this mission, and a debrief of the day.
Neil out.
(written by Neil Strayer)
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