Day 7 (2019) - Sabbath Day

Today was a day dedicated to relaxing and seeing more of Ecuador. The day started out like any other day. I woke up after sleeping very well becuase of my sister's ear plugs that she gave me. I went to the bathroom and got dressed. Everyone was already eating so I just had cereal.

We left at 8:45 to go to Casa Gabriel. There we learned about the purpose of Casa G and Casa Adalia. We learned that Casa G is a home for street boys, or boys at risk for becoming street boys, and the ages they can apply to be a part of Casa G is ages 18-22. Casa G provides a home or space for boys to get shelter, food and healing. Casa G really focuses on all areas of healing and development. They also focus a lot on education for the boys so they can turn their life around.

Casa A is also very similar, they focus on healing and education. Except their girls are coming from a different situation, sex trafficking or prostitution or girls at risk for falling into the sex industry. Girls are brought into the house to escape their current situation and work for a better life. After we learned about all of that we got to buy jewlery made by the girls through art therapy. I bought a wrap bracelet/choker and a bead bracelet for a friend.

After that we set off for a 2 hour bus ride to Otavalo (yes, 2 hours). I just listened to music the whole time and looked outside at the beautiful scenery that was full of mountains that I never get to see becuse I live in Florida sadly.

We got the Otavalo and ate at a café. It was very good. We then embarked on our journey to the market which was across the street. We divided and conquered. There where so many things to buy, and I just wanted to give the elderly women all my money. We got to see women dressed in traditional clothing which was very cool. The market lowkey stressed me out though, because the people selling things are very good at talking you into buying things. But I am very happy with my haul. I was very interesting to see all the diffrent items that were hand made by the people. The prices where great and I didn't bother bargening because it stressed me out. I wanted to give all the elderly women hugs but I thought that would be weird so I held my self back. My sister and I got many things for my mom but we are not telling her what we got her because it is a suprise. After I was done buying things and spending all my money to the literal last coin, I sat in the café and waited for others to be done as well.

We then embarked on yet another journey to a waterfall which was very fun. There were many dogs and even though we are not supposed to touch them I still pet every dog I saw. I do not have any regrets. The walk/hike up to the water fall was only about 10 minutes and the scenery was full of greens. There were mountains everywhere. Once we arrived at the water fall we took many photos and some of us climed up the the waterfall a little ways. I didn't because I wasn't in the mood to fall to my death. Grace was wildin and I was very frightened for her but she did not tumble (thank goodness).

After some water fall shenanigans, we went back to the bus to go to a lake. The lake was in front of a volcano/mountain and it was so beautiful. We watched the sunset from there and it was definitely the highlight of my day. There was a swing that was over the water and I got to swing on it and it was gr8. We got on the bus for another 2 hours, and this time I slept the whole time and was not very happy when I had to wake up.

Once we arrived to the food-truck-trailer-restaurant-market-thing we seperated into groups and got well needed food. We then went back to the hostel and by that point we all wanted to die becuse of exaustion, but no lives where lost beside the life of my wallet. That is how our day went.

-Alexa Minton

Day 6 (2019) - Church and Workshops at Buen Pastor

This beautiful morning started out like any other here in Ecuador. An early wake up call followed by a yummy breakfast and loading the bus to head to our location. I managed to snag the very last banana, which was a positive start to my day!

Similar to a normal Sunday morning in Tallahassee, we all woke up, put on our church clothes, and headed to Buen Pastor for an incredible church service. Having been to Ecuador and El Buen Pastor the previous summer, I was especially excited to experience another heartwarming and special service. We arrived at the church and per usual, were greeted with warmth, love, and kisses on the cheek from our Ecuadorean friends and church members. The feeling of welcome and love at El Buen Pastor is seriously indescribable!

After greetings, everybody filed into the pews and the beautiful service began. The service consisted of joyous live music, singing, and worshipping God; as well as three raw and touching God stories shared by three courageous and special members of our St. John's team - Alexa, Mary, and MaryMac. Juan Carlos, the pastor at Buen Pastor, preached beautifully and touched my heart with his words throughout the entire service.

After the service, we all went upstairs in Juan Carlos and Wendy's house to change out of our church clothes for a day of fun. We headed to lunch, where a scrumptious meal of chicken, rice and potatoes were served. Following lunch, before we got down to business with workshops and child entertainment, Xebas/Seabass, Nahomi, and Jorge walked with us to a store just a block away from Buen Pastor. After weighing many options, we all had finally picked out some authentic Ecuadorean snacks and headed to the checkout line.

Once we got back to Buen Pastor, the adults and older members of the church headed to do four workshops, whereas the girls of St. John's went to entertain and play with the precious children while the workshops were in session. As a lover of kids, there was NOTHING I would have rather done! The games began in the living room of Juan Carlos and Wendy's house, where the children showed us all a game that honestly made no sense, but we gladly participated nonetheless.

Soon after the first game, we traveled out into the street by choo-choo train (really just all of the kids and us holding onto each other's backs and making train noises). It took a while to get there, as the train got lost and we rode all around the church. We finally made it outside, hopped off the train, and ran around for hours playing games such as musical chairs, red light green light, freeze dance, and more.

Very soon after we got outside and began playing games, one 4 year old little girl named Isabella got bored and decided to go off and do her own thing. Seeing this, Emma went to go watch and play with her and I later joined. Let me tell you. This is absolutely the most high-energy girl EVER. But her cuteness and sweetness made up for it! She was grabbing our hair, licking our faces, and even taking gum out of my mouth (ew). For over an hour, Emma and I ran around with her nonstop; carrying her on our shoulders, spinning her around, making animal noises and throwing around her new Hello Kitty toy, which was soon broken due to her kicking it to the ground. Emma and I began to converse with Isabella in Spanish, and told her "tu eres muy loco." She laughed.

It started to drizzle and all the kids went inside the dining room to decorate lanterns with Mrs. Schnittker. While all the kids were decorating their lanterns, with permanant marker may I add, Isabella (she finally calmed down) sat on my lap and colored and Zachary, the son of Juan Carlos and Wendy, sat next to us. I talked to the kids in simple Spanish while they colored, and it made for great bonding time. I even met Jorge's sister, who could speak a little English. After a while of drawing on their lanterns, the littler kids got bored and started coloring on themselves and me with the Sharpies. Zachary said to me "quieres un corazon en tu mano?" and proceeded to draw a lopsided heart on my hand before I could say yes. I have color all over my arms that won't be coming off anytime soon!

Once the lantern activity and workshops were done, everybody headed to the front of the church where crackers, coffee, and tea were set up. Everybody was talking, laughing, and smiling- until it was time to take a group photo and leave. We left Buen Pastor sad and not wanting to leave after the best day ever that had flown by so quickly.

We headed back to the hostal for a little under an hour for a little bit of rest before heading to dinner. At dinner, everybody got chicken and some people even tried some Ecuadorian soda, called "Inka Cola." Following dinner, we again went back to the hostal and had a great debrief to finish up the day.

I'm off to bed, but I cannot wait to have an amazing day tomorrow and an even more amazing day back at Buen Pastor on Tuesday!

Paz y amor,
Madeline Sgan

Day 5 (2019) - El Refugio Retreat Part 2

"Hola a todos! Estamos listos para despertarnos a las cuatro y media de la manana?"

 Did you understand that? Yeah, I didn't either. But apparently it means that we have to wake up at 4:30 A.M. to hike up a mountain. To say the least, some of us were not too thrilled. I, however, being the workout junkie I am, was absolutely estatic. So at approximately 4:29 A.M. I looked at my phone and watched as it ticked to 4:30. I tumbled outta bed, stumbled into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of ambition while yawnin' and stretchin' trying to come to life (Queen Dolly for you, everyone). At 5:00, everyone doing the hike joined together in the court yard to stretch so no would cramp up after one step. Already breathless after the 10 jumping jacks Fred made us do, I looked at my watch, and we took off at 5:10 A.M.

The first part of our early hike was not terrible. Our halfway mark was a giant cross staked in the ground with the city in the background. We took at little break and continued on. Oh, but what was that? Did you say it couldn't get worse? Oh, you silly, silly child! It only gets worse. The inclines got 10 times steeper and much more rocky. Everytime we would hit the top of an incline, I thought it was the top. After about 45 minutes of this we finally stopped again. This made me think it was the top so I got super excited. But oh no, just when you thought you were at the top, Fred went into sicko mode and kept on going. Another 20 minutes later, I truly thought I wouldn't make it, but I stopped and I took a minute to look around. I could see the mountains rolling over this gorgeous country. I could see the sun shining on the vibrant yellow and purple flowers covering the mountain side. And I could see Fred and the other girls already there at the top. They all stood there at the top smiling down, encouraging me to keep going. I felt the wind rustle through the beautiful flowers and move my hair and I knew it was God encouraging me to go on. My feet finally moved and before I knew it, I was at the top.

The view was breath taking (Quite literally. Altitude is no joke, my dudes. I could take ten steps and be outta breath). We stayed up there for about 15 minutes, admiring a view very few people get the privilege to see in their life time. After taking many pictures, we started back down feeling empowered and accomplished. But, it wasn't as smooth as we hoped. We soon embraced our inner Cool Runnings and sat down and slid down the mountain. We were quite good at it, if I do say so myself. But after an hour of us tumbling and sliding on our bottoms as if we just ran off a mountain screaming AAAASSSSSSS YYYOOOOUUUU WWWIIIIIISSSSHHHHH (Princess Bride ;) ) we finally reached the bottom. I shook as much dirt out of my pants and shoes as I could and sprinted to breakfast.

As I buttered my bread and devoured my banana slices, it finally hit me how tired I was. I wanted to take a nap so badly, but we had some team building excersises planned. My group started with the High Ropes. For those that have gone to Tree to Tree in Tallahassee, it was like that. For those that don't know what that is, we were about 25-30 feet in the air and attached to a thick wire. We were then told to do the obstical courses such as swinging from rope to rope or walking across wire and not being allowed to touch the rope. Now my socially awkward-and-antisocial-self decided to branch out and pair up with someone I didn't know. This happened to be an Ecuadorian girl around my age. She spoke only spanish and not one bit of english. Now at this point, you might be thinking, "Mary, are you dumb? You take Latin, which is literally a dead language. The only thing you know how to say in spanish is hello and dog. What makes you think you can talk to her?" Well I will let you in on a little secret. I don't think. It was the moment that we had already started that I realized I would not be able to communicate with the wonderful lady. But we made it and that was the biggest accomplishment of it all.

After completing the High Ropes, my group moved on to the rock wall. We all learned how to control the rope so the person wouldn't fall while climbing and we all had the opportunity to climb. It was so fun to watch as everyone gave it their all to get to the top. But what was even more worth it was the look of accomplishment you could see on everyones' faces. But just like always, My stomach barged through to door of the party and let out a gigantic roar, letting everyone know I was starving. And with that, we walked to the kitchen and ate a delicious lunch of chicken, rice, and salad.

Now, it was our time to shine. We had some really cool activities planned for the girls, such as making mandalas and having an epic photo shoot with music provided by the one and only DJ Sea Bass. Before the party could start, we all took about 15 minutes to journal and have some quite time. However, soon enough, the mandala making and picture taking got started. We all had a great time sitting on the ground and tearing up gardening magazines looking for quotes in the Diabetic medicine ads talking about how amazing we are.

But all to soon, it was our final activity. 2/3s of us sat in a circle and closed our eyes. The one and only Caroline Allen (we love you Caroline) read out some things, such as "tap a person that you think is talented" and then the other third would go tap the people they felt were talented. We all had the chance to tap the girls and make them feel valued and empowered before we had to say a final prayer and say our goodbyes to the El Refugio people. We packed up and headed out, waving to the llamas as we left (they didn't wave back :( ). We finally arrived back at the hostal around 7:00 P.M. I took a very nice shower, as I was still covered in dirt from the hike, while others took this time to chill out. After eating a filling dinner of buttered toast, we debriefed the retreat and talked about our favorite, least favorite, and God-filled moments of the retreat.

And now here I am, Saturday the 22nd, at 10:52 pm central time (don't tell my parents but it's WAY past my 9:00 eastern time bedtime ;) ) rambling on and on. Well, I'm done now. Thank you so so much if you even read this far. We are truely all having an amzing time. But I am tired and ready to go to bed. Peace and Blessings!

Tumbling out, Mary Shelton

 

Day 4 (2019) - El Refugio Retreat

As any good old fashioned day goes we woke up early, too early for my taste. I started my Ecuadorian day as any other. I tumbled out of bed. Then, I went to the bathroom and ate a banana while I caught up with tik tok. After, we loaded up on to the bus. It would be best to tell you what we were doing today, but you should have kept up with the St. John's Youth instagram. So as any great author, I shall build up to the day.

The bus was filled with some girls from Buen Pastor, Cristo Liberador, and Emaus, three Episcopal churches in Quito. Caroline told us, and I quote, "Go mingle with the ladies." I was disappointed about how she didn't say anything about the single ladies. I sat next to a girl name Danielle who was from Buen Pastor. She was a very nice person, but she forced me to play a phone game called "Heads Up". Was it fun you may ask? Yes, yes it was fun. Soon almost all of the girls on the bus had joined in, acting out things like "puerco espin" or porcupine. After an hour and a half ride we finally arrived to the promise land, El Refugio.

My dear reader, do you know what today was? We led a womens empowerment retreat. Even though there was one boy, "Sea Bass" he was our honorary girl. First, the staff had us play a get to know us game called Me Toca (My Turn). The objective of the game is to have one person in the middle of the circle doing an action, then someone has to come and PUSH them out of their turn, and then the new  person has to say, "Me Toca, Me Toca, Me Toca, Me Toca." and say their name. The new person then does a different action. This pattern continues until everyone has gone. The only problem is that we all were brand new to each other. No one wanted to be in the middle of the circle. I somehow had found myself in the middle. I'm disappoint to say I did the gangnam style dance as my action, but I would be more disappointed in myself if I had fornite danced.

After some greeting games, the staff TRICKED US! They told us to form groups of three with out best friends. THEN YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DO NEXT?! They mixed all the groups around. Those staffers played us dirty. I'm no longer mad about it, but still disappointed in them. I was in a group with some Buen Pastor girls, and Sibley, Mary Mac, Caroline, and Jhonathan. Jhonathan lead us in some trust excerises, very well if I might add.

Soon after a time of bonding it was time for lunch. Lunch, though some could say it is the second most important meal, for me is a great meal. Afterwards, we did our  proramming sessions: Relationship with God, and Relationship with Others. Our relationship with God session consisted of us jornaling and praying. We talked with the women about different ways we can connect with God.

Then came my favorite part of the retreat, solo time. We were told that there was 300 acres of land and we could wander where every we wanted. I, being the monkey I am, searched for the best place for solo time. I saw a llama and I just had to pet him. I did. I named him Agente. I stumbled upon an unkept path and hiked up. I don't think I was supposed to, but they did say we could go anywhere. The top was so beautiful. I even vlogged some of it. While up there I talked to God and he talked back through wind and I wrote a song. It was so amazing up there being by myself. Finally came the dreadful part, coming down. I stumbled, I fumbled, and then I took a tumble down the mountain. Was is a big tumble? No, but it was a tumble none the less.

The day was so amazing, especially the camp fire dinner. I tried to roast a Alexa's vegan hot dog. The only problem is that it kept falling off. I like to think that God didn't want those vegan hot dogs to be eaten. I don't blame him, really, anything vegan shouldn't be eaten.

I had a great time at the retreat. I got closer to God, the other girls, and myself. I'm glad that I tumbled into the day.

- Grace Tran

Day 3 (2019) - Buen Pastor

This morning we woke up at 9ish and Emi tried to make us French toast but the stove wouldn’t work (we figured out that we were using the wrong type of pan). So I made 2 pieces of toast and cereal. We left the hostel at 10 and had about an hour drive to Buen Pastor!! On the way, Emi gave the morning devotion :) 

      When we arrived, we were greeted by some of the members. I went on the mission last year, so it was so exciting to see all of the friends that I had made last summer. After we said hello, we heard a devotion from Michelle, a member at Buen Pastor. After her devotion we split into four groups to paint the church. One group painted murals in the Sunday school room, one group sanded in the back, one group sanded and painted a side wall, and my group (Grace, Caroline, and I) sanded the other side wall and painted a Bible verse on it. :) 

          We had lunch around one. We had FRIED CHICKEN & PAPAS FRITAS (French fries)!!!! AND we got COKE! After lunch we finished painting the murals and we played games with the kids outside. When I finished painting and went outside we played monkey in the middle, hide and seek, and tag. 

           For dinner we had a cook out at Juan Carlos’s house behind the church. Mary, Our team host Naomi, and I, went out back and helped flip the ribs on the grill. After a couple of minutes everyone came into the area where we were grilling and we had a dance party. A boy named Angel was playing the music, so he played some of their music for us, and then we played some of our music for them. (Everyone was a little confused when we all busted out singing "dancing queen"). For dinner we had chicken, ribs, sausage, and potato salad. It was so so so goood!! During dinner we shared English and Spanish tongue twisters, which was really funny! After dinner we had to leave, but on the ride home we sang abba songs from Mama Mia. :)

         Con mucho amor,
                 Marymac Krause 
  

Day 2 (2019) - Orientations!

Today was our first full day in Quito– and my first day in Ecuador! I think it was a good day, although it’s a different day from the rest of the week (at least from what I’ve been told.) As far as getting to know the city, our team, and the organizations we’ll be working with this week, I personally can say I feel very prepared for the days ahead!

We started the day bright and early with a “crisp” (a favorite word of our group) 2-4 hours of sleep by waking up, eating breakfast, and getting ready for a big day of learning about our mission (doesn’t that sound fancy?!) My roommates made fun of me for going through my skincare and hygiene routine when I just done it a few hours ago, but you can never be too clean, in my humble opinion. We became familiar with the hostel– the creaky and warm bunk beds with a beautiful view of the city (and a soundtrack of children singing at the daycare next door!), the tap water and its different uses from bottled water (a crucial part of the morning!) and the wide variety of Ecuadorian foods our hosts, Sebastian and Naomi, had bought for us. One favorite (that has somehow disappeared by the time I’m writing this) was the chocolate wafers, called Amors, in addition to Noggys (tiny delicious chocolate balls). If you’re a chocaholic like me, Ecuador will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth!

We also got used to the altitude this morning. Living at cruising altitude along with the delightful effects of a few hours of sleep takes some getting used to! We drank many bottles of water and are heading to bed at a good time tonight (in the words of Daniel Tiger, as quoted by Cameron, “rest is best!!”). 

When we were finally ready to go, we went downstairs and met with Cameron and her husband Roberto to learn about the organizations we’d be working with and about Ecuador as a whole. We learned about the history of Ecuador, the economy, population, language, and the regions of the country. Then we went around the circle and introduced ourselves in terms of age, grade/occupation, Spanish proficiency level, Ecuador experience (had we been here before?), pets, and favorite breakfast food! We got very well acquainted. And hungry for pancakes.

After that, we piled into cars and headed to the Education = Hope office. Cameron gave an excellent presentation about the different organizations and how they were started. They’ve come so far over the years and I’m really excited to be a part of the programs!

We took some pictures outside the office while we waited for the bus, and then we went to get empanadas for lunch. They were delicious, but also very easy to get on your clothes– especially if you’re wearing white pants or overalls like Kyndall and me. 

Cameron and Roberto’s adorable kids, Graham, Liam, and Francis flew us to China after lunch on their “plane” (chairs in rows) and it was the best plane flight I’ve had all week! No turning around and going to Panama = success.

Our batteries were all feeling a little drained, so we decided to move our visit to the Basilica (a very old church overlooking Quito) to Monday and head home for a nap.

We rested at home and then had dinner of rice, chicken, and avocado! We discussed the trip last year and the interesting participants. After dinner, we went downstairs and heard from Cameron about the five F’s of post-mission (Fun, Flee, Fight, Fit and most importantly Fruit!) and the four prejudices to avoid. Finally, we did the debrief I had heard so much about from last year’s team– it was a lively discussion of our expectations of the mission versus our reality. So far, it’s not as cold as we thought it would be – but definitely not humid – and the roads are not bad at all! I’m looking forward to forming a mutual, sharing relationship when the Ecuadorians we meet tomorrow at Buen Pastor as opposed to a solely giving, charitable role as I’d pictured before coming here.

We’re heading to bed now, but I can’t wait for the days to come and all the surprises and excitement they’ll bring!

With love, 

Abby Schnittker

Day 1 (2019) - Travel Day!

Yesterday morning, June 18th, our mission crew met at St. John's to offically head off on our journey to Ecuador. When we met at the church, Caroline had gotten us Krispy Kreme donuts that we quickly ate. After our quick breakfast, we split up into three different vans to head to the Atlanta airport. Mary, MaryMac, Madeline, Mrs. Shelton, and myself rode in a van. In my car, we all started off with a nice nap. After our naps, we got out of the car for a quick lunch break at Chick-Fil-A. When we had finished our lunch, we went back to the car and continued on to Atlanta. During our last couple of hours in the car, we almost got hit three times!! Which added an extra fun aspect to our journey.

Eventually, we made it to the airport where we took a shuttle to the international area. Once we had gotten there, we found our boarding passes and checked our bags so that we could head to the right gate. When we got to our gate, we had about 20 minutes where we were able to go get food. After we had gotten food (I got a cheese quesadilla, yum!), we went back to the gate to start boarding.

When we got on the plane we all found our seats and got ready for our five hour flight. When we were taking off and getting into the air, we hit a tad bit of turbulence; but when we hit cruising altitude, most of the rough air was over, or so I thought. As we continued to fly, we hit more turbulence, but overall it was ok. When we had been in the air for the five hours that it was supposed to take, we were told that there was volcanic ash cloud over Quito and that we would have to turn around and head to Panama because they couldn't land the plane safely. This added an extra 3 hours to our plane ride. As soon as we got into Panama, we sat and waited as our brutally honest pilot told us that he had no idea what was going to happen and that they were trying to find a plan.

After sitting in our plane in Panama for about 20 minutes, we were told that the plane was going to fueled up and then we would be on our way back to Ecudor. When we left Panama, we again experienced turbulence which got better when we hit cruising altitude. About an hour into our flight back to Ecuador, we hit even more turbulence which was quite bad. Then after a good 8 or 9 hours on our plane we finally landed in Quito.

As soon as we got off the plane, we headed to customs where we were asked questions upon arrival. After customs, we grabbed our bags and headed out to meet our hosts. When we got to our hosts, we waited another 10 minutes for our bus to arrive. When the bus arrived, we quickly put all of the luggage in compartments under the bus and piled into the bus for an hour drive to our hostel. We arrived at the hostel and went straight to sleep. We finished our first day of travel with 19 hours under the belt!

- Written by Sibley Shippen