Today started off a little slower than normal! We didn't leave the hotel until about 9:00 this morning, but it was okay! We needed a little extra rest considering how much we have been doing the past few days.
Mrs. Witges noticed 2 bug bites on her legs the other night; they started getting worse, and we are almost thinking they could be from brown recluse spiders. She's going to keep an eye on them though. Hopefully it is nothing serious, because she would probably have to go all the way to Quito to receive good medical care.
At the orphanage, everyone split up again to do projects. My dad, Mr. Hart, and Jeremy worked on the drainage issue yet again today. I think they finally have a plan of what they are going to do to fix it! Almost everyone else went outside to help make concrete and lay it down. This was a VERY tedious project. At one point during the day, it sarted pouring down rain!! So they had no choice but to stop for awhile, because the concrete was too mushy to lay. Even by the end of the day, they were only able to get about 3/4 of the concrete laid. One thing that helped tremendously was that a man who Bless An Orphan (the organization we're working with) hired to do work around the orphanage helped us a ton with laying the concrete, because he had done it before! He stopped working on what he had to get done just so that we would have help!
Inside, Olivia and I washed dishes, swept, and mopped. Then we helped organize other things and helped Mrs. Dickinson take care of the youngest one at the orphanage. Around this time, a couple of the moms and Molly went to the grocery store to pick up some food for us to have for the next few days. When they returned, Olivia, Molly, and I helped make lunch.
After lunch, Olivia and I decided to tag along to pick the kids up from school! They kids are very fortunate to go to what is said to be the best school in Tena. Even being the best one, it doesn't compare to the schools in the US. School hours here are much different than ours. The kids go to school around 6 or 6:30 in the morning and get out of school at 1 in the afternoon. They also eat lunch at home. Most students seemed to wear uniforms. The uniforms seemed to be a little different from each other, depending on what grade the kids are in.
When we got home, we fed the kids lunch; even this is a task. For example, one of the orphans insisted on eating her lunch (pot roast with noodles) with her hands and without her fork. We told her over and over "no manos," but she was stubborn. ;) After lunch, we usually help the kids with their homework. This too is quite a challenge. The kids either get distracted or are perfectionists about their handwriting. If they don't have perfect letters, they erase and rewrite it until they like it. For example, it took Mrs. Witges 2 hours to get one of the little girls to fill up two small papers as she wrote 2 letters of the alphabet up and down the pages. Not only are we being physically challenged with the outdoor work, but we are also being emotionally challenged with the indoor work as well!
Around 4:45, we all cleaned up and left the orphanage to go get ready for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Cafe Tortuga! A couple people recommended this place to us. It was very interesting, because when we walked in, almost all of the people eating there were Caucasian. This is very different from almost all other restaurants and stores in town, so it was definitely weird that there were so many in one place! Our food was pretty good, but it wasn't the best we've had (although we've been pretty spoiled so far!). A few people were brave enough to eat the lettuce on their sandwiches. We have been warned that lettuce is the one thing to definitely not eat here, because it is usually rinsed in the unsanitary water. Jeremy even told us that he ate a sandwich from Cafe Tortuga back in October and was sick for 4 days afterwards. But the cafe did claim that they take all precautions when preparing their food, so hopefully everyone is okay!!
After dinner some of us walked back home while others took a taxi. Some people played cards again or did laundry or just relaxed. We are getting pretty worn out from these busy days, but it is definitely worth it! There have already been some very inspiring, eye-opening, and moving things we've seen and experienced in what little time we've been down here so far.
Tomorrow I think we will hopefully finish up the concrete slab and be able to start on a new project! But who knows what obstacles we may face! You never know here in Ecuador :)
¡Hasta mañana!
-Kaitlyn
P.s. I'm sorry I don't do these updates until so late! I usually don't have time to get around to posting earlier. I also like to be able to give a recap of the entire day. And I've been posting most of these from my phone, so that alone takes awhile to type out. The great news is that the wifi has been working all day, so pray that this continues!!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Pictures!
I will type out a post later, but here are some pictures from the last few days!
Daniel and Alex at the new Quito International Airport
Molly standing with a pile of some of our luggage
One of the views of the mountains during the ride from Quito to Tena
Some of us the morning we left Quito
Our (Molly's, Olivia's, and mine) hotel room here in Tena
Meeting the children on the first night
Mr. Hart facing his tarantula fear on the first day!!!!
Olivia and Jacob
All of our feet at the end of the first day
Me, Olivia, and Molly after hauling mud and sod (stacked behind us)
Daniel and Alex working hard to dig trenches!
Martin and Tito, one of the orphans
Daniel, Martin, and Alex wearing high socks to protect their legs from bug bites
Mr. Kuester working hard to lay concrete in the rain today
Tuesday
Like usual, today started out with breakfast and heading out around 8 am. We always have different foods at breakfast, and today we had a new, odd one to try.. It was called "grenadine" and resembled fish eggs, fish eyes, and crunchy snot (these are all ways it was described). It tasted sweet but had a very slimy texture.
At the orphanage, we continued working on the projects we started yesterday. For the concrete slab, we finished clearing out the sod and and mud and started filling the area in with large rocks. There are two wheelbarrows at the orphanage. One, however, has a broken tire. And the tire on the "good" wheelbarrow ended up getting a severe leak to the point where we weren't able to use it. Sooo, that meant we had to carry rocks from a large rock pile to the concrete slab area where Mr. Kuester was placing them (about 150 feet). At one point we had an assembly line, consisting of "throwers, loaders, and mules." It took all day, but we got all of the rocks laid into the 60x10 foot area for the concrete slab. At one point, the boys put boards on ladder and piled rocks on there. Rain also started pouring, but they worked through it for a couple hours! Luckily, we got a new wheelbarrow and new wheel around 2:00 in the afternoon, which helped a lot! Finally around 5:00 they had finished placing all of the rocks. Now we will be laying the concrete tomorrow!
Mr. Hart, my dad and Jeremy (one of the long-term volunteers) worked on the drainage system. They are still trying to figure out what would be the best thing to do to fix the problem.
The mothers did a lot of cleaning around the orphanage while the kids were at school. I went inside a little bit before lunch to help make lunch for the kids before they came home. Since I was already in the kitchen, I ended up helping make our lunch today as well. Karissa (one of the founders of Bless An Orphan) made us soup, and some of us had grilled cheese too.
After lunch, those who were working outside continued on with their projects. Inside, I helped the kids work on homework. Although the homework typically isn't too difficult (most of the kids are under 10 years old), but it is usually hard to keep the kids on task.
The boys were scheduled to teach the boys at the orphanage how to play soccer, but unfortunately the rain interfered with that. Instead, we decided to play "pato-pato-goose"! It was a little bit different than the traditional duck-duck-goose, but we made it work. : )
Later, our group ate a pot roast (that Karissa made) with the orphanage. It was delicious! So far, all of the food we've had down here is really good!! We stayed after to visit with the kids; we played around with them and sang a few church songs while Mrs. Lundy played her guitar. At around 8:00 we returned from dinner. Some of us kids went down to "Tienda Nacional" to buy ice cream. A few of us played cards, and then we had another prayer/reflection service.
Since we were able to use the internet tonight, some of us have been on our devices sending updates back home. According to one of the hotel owners, they will be working very hard to get the wifi to work. Say a prayer that we don't lose internet again tomorrow! :)
¡Ciao! (today we learned that that is the traditional way to say "bye" here!)
-Kaitlyn
At the orphanage, we continued working on the projects we started yesterday. For the concrete slab, we finished clearing out the sod and and mud and started filling the area in with large rocks. There are two wheelbarrows at the orphanage. One, however, has a broken tire. And the tire on the "good" wheelbarrow ended up getting a severe leak to the point where we weren't able to use it. Sooo, that meant we had to carry rocks from a large rock pile to the concrete slab area where Mr. Kuester was placing them (about 150 feet). At one point we had an assembly line, consisting of "throwers, loaders, and mules." It took all day, but we got all of the rocks laid into the 60x10 foot area for the concrete slab. At one point, the boys put boards on ladder and piled rocks on there. Rain also started pouring, but they worked through it for a couple hours! Luckily, we got a new wheelbarrow and new wheel around 2:00 in the afternoon, which helped a lot! Finally around 5:00 they had finished placing all of the rocks. Now we will be laying the concrete tomorrow!
Mr. Hart, my dad and Jeremy (one of the long-term volunteers) worked on the drainage system. They are still trying to figure out what would be the best thing to do to fix the problem.
The mothers did a lot of cleaning around the orphanage while the kids were at school. I went inside a little bit before lunch to help make lunch for the kids before they came home. Since I was already in the kitchen, I ended up helping make our lunch today as well. Karissa (one of the founders of Bless An Orphan) made us soup, and some of us had grilled cheese too.
After lunch, those who were working outside continued on with their projects. Inside, I helped the kids work on homework. Although the homework typically isn't too difficult (most of the kids are under 10 years old), but it is usually hard to keep the kids on task.
The boys were scheduled to teach the boys at the orphanage how to play soccer, but unfortunately the rain interfered with that. Instead, we decided to play "pato-pato-goose"! It was a little bit different than the traditional duck-duck-goose, but we made it work. : )
Later, our group ate a pot roast (that Karissa made) with the orphanage. It was delicious! So far, all of the food we've had down here is really good!! We stayed after to visit with the kids; we played around with them and sang a few church songs while Mrs. Lundy played her guitar. At around 8:00 we returned from dinner. Some of us kids went down to "Tienda Nacional" to buy ice cream. A few of us played cards, and then we had another prayer/reflection service.
Since we were able to use the internet tonight, some of us have been on our devices sending updates back home. According to one of the hotel owners, they will be working very hard to get the wifi to work. Say a prayer that we don't lose internet again tomorrow! :)
¡Ciao! (today we learned that that is the traditional way to say "bye" here!)
-Kaitlyn
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Ayer
Hi everyone!
We've been experiencing problems with the wifi in our hotel, so that is why I wasn't able to give an update yesterday! Sorry!! That's typical life here though.. you never know when something isn't going to just stop working : ) They are working on finding some consistency in it though.
Anyway, yesterday we started off by eating breakfast, then we headed out for a very busy day beginning at 8 am! We split off to do different activities around the orphanage. A few of the boys and adult males began working on fixing the drainage issue. They dug multiple holes and trenches by hand (in fact everything is done using hand tools basically!) in search of the pipe that's causing the problem. The drainage issue has also caused a lot of the grass around the orphanage to be very soft and mushy. Mr. Kuester, Martin, Jacob, and Olivia worked very hard to dig out sod and mud so that a concrete slab can be put in. Mrs. Lundy, Molly, and I sorted through clothes donations for awhile, and Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs. Witges helped out with other miscellaneous duties around the orphanage.
After a little bit, some of us switched places. Jacob headed inside and was able to paint an illustration on how to properly use the bathroom! Olivia traded places with Molly and I, so we came outside to help with removing sod and mud from the area where the concrete slab will go. Around 1:00 we took a break for lunch. We ordered food from a little roadside stand; it was a little sketchy but worth it! Our boxes contained rice, lots of chicken, lentils, and fried plantains. It was all very delicious!!
After lunch, we continued working on the projects. The moms left and helped with grocery shopping and picking up the orphans from school. We worked on the projects until around 4:00 by the time everyone got cleaned up.
After cleaning up, we headed to the orphanage and played with the kids a little more! Then we headed back to the hotel for homemade vegetable soup (compliments of Mr. Kuester!). After dinner we all played a game called Bowl! It was quite humorous, and we tried to get some video footage from it.
Finally we ended in a short prayer service and all settled into bed! Overall, we ended up getting a lot accomplished for the first working day!
¡Hasta luego!
-Kaitlyn
We've been experiencing problems with the wifi in our hotel, so that is why I wasn't able to give an update yesterday! Sorry!! That's typical life here though.. you never know when something isn't going to just stop working : ) They are working on finding some consistency in it though.
Anyway, yesterday we started off by eating breakfast, then we headed out for a very busy day beginning at 8 am! We split off to do different activities around the orphanage. A few of the boys and adult males began working on fixing the drainage issue. They dug multiple holes and trenches by hand (in fact everything is done using hand tools basically!) in search of the pipe that's causing the problem. The drainage issue has also caused a lot of the grass around the orphanage to be very soft and mushy. Mr. Kuester, Martin, Jacob, and Olivia worked very hard to dig out sod and mud so that a concrete slab can be put in. Mrs. Lundy, Molly, and I sorted through clothes donations for awhile, and Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs. Witges helped out with other miscellaneous duties around the orphanage.
After a little bit, some of us switched places. Jacob headed inside and was able to paint an illustration on how to properly use the bathroom! Olivia traded places with Molly and I, so we came outside to help with removing sod and mud from the area where the concrete slab will go. Around 1:00 we took a break for lunch. We ordered food from a little roadside stand; it was a little sketchy but worth it! Our boxes contained rice, lots of chicken, lentils, and fried plantains. It was all very delicious!!
After lunch, we continued working on the projects. The moms left and helped with grocery shopping and picking up the orphans from school. We worked on the projects until around 4:00 by the time everyone got cleaned up.
After cleaning up, we headed to the orphanage and played with the kids a little more! Then we headed back to the hotel for homemade vegetable soup (compliments of Mr. Kuester!). After dinner we all played a game called Bowl! It was quite humorous, and we tried to get some video footage from it.
Finally we ended in a short prayer service and all settled into bed! Overall, we ended up getting a lot accomplished for the first working day!
¡Hasta luego!
-Kaitlyn
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tena
We survived the long ride through the mountains! The roads were wet (in some areas), narrow, steep, and very curvy!! And the drivers were not afraid to drive fast..!
We got a little lost in Tena when trying to find our hotel.. We wound up on a gravel path that was definitely not the right place, to say the least! We made it out safely though!
After we got settled in our hotel, we walked around Tena a little bit with Kayla, the Volunteer coordinator. She showed us some places to eat and even an internet park which was really interesting! The city is very safe and even has a very peaceful vibe to it!
We ate a late lunch at a pizzeria (very Ecuadorian.. haha ;) ) which was very delicious!! Afterwards, we visited a fruit market! We found out we don't have to boil all of our fruits and vegetables! If it has a peel, we can eat it like normal. If it doesn't have one, we just have to soak it in a solution for a couple of minutes. The prices at the fruit market were great! We got 13 bananas for only $1!!!
We came back to the hotel and talked to Kayla about our projects for the rest of the week. Finally, we got to meet the children from Bless An Orphan!! We brought them a few small gifts, which actually turned out to be a great idea! They were a little shy at first, so the games/toys we brought helped to warm them up to us. They know a little bit of English, but for the most part we have been trying to talk to them in Spanish. They were all very sweet, and I have a feeling we're going to grow really close to them over the next two weeks!! :)
We finished the night with a small prayer and reflection service, and now we have some down time. I have a feeling most of us will be going to bed early tonight, since we didn't get much sleep last night and will be waking up early tomorrow!
We also found out it is winter here in Ecuador. And unfortunately the weather has been hotter lately than normal. Hopefully it cools down some while we're here! Our hotel does not have air conditioning, but it really isn't uncomfortable or anything, because there are fans in every room that help a lot! We also found out our hotel has a water filtration system, which is SOO convenient!!
Tomorrow we will be working on constructing a garden box, landscaping (we're going to be putting in a sandbox hopefully), laying a concrete slab for a storage shed we'll be building (and yes we will be mixing the concrete by hand (: ), and working to fix some drainage issues. It sounds like we will have a pretty full day ahead of us! :)
Here is a picture of us at the hotel in Quito before we left this morning!
We got a little lost in Tena when trying to find our hotel.. We wound up on a gravel path that was definitely not the right place, to say the least! We made it out safely though!
After we got settled in our hotel, we walked around Tena a little bit with Kayla, the Volunteer coordinator. She showed us some places to eat and even an internet park which was really interesting! The city is very safe and even has a very peaceful vibe to it!
We ate a late lunch at a pizzeria (very Ecuadorian.. haha ;) ) which was very delicious!! Afterwards, we visited a fruit market! We found out we don't have to boil all of our fruits and vegetables! If it has a peel, we can eat it like normal. If it doesn't have one, we just have to soak it in a solution for a couple of minutes. The prices at the fruit market were great! We got 13 bananas for only $1!!!
We came back to the hotel and talked to Kayla about our projects for the rest of the week. Finally, we got to meet the children from Bless An Orphan!! We brought them a few small gifts, which actually turned out to be a great idea! They were a little shy at first, so the games/toys we brought helped to warm them up to us. They know a little bit of English, but for the most part we have been trying to talk to them in Spanish. They were all very sweet, and I have a feeling we're going to grow really close to them over the next two weeks!! :)
We finished the night with a small prayer and reflection service, and now we have some down time. I have a feeling most of us will be going to bed early tonight, since we didn't get much sleep last night and will be waking up early tomorrow!
We also found out it is winter here in Ecuador. And unfortunately the weather has been hotter lately than normal. Hopefully it cools down some while we're here! Our hotel does not have air conditioning, but it really isn't uncomfortable or anything, because there are fans in every room that help a lot! We also found out our hotel has a water filtration system, which is SOO convenient!!
Tomorrow we will be working on constructing a garden box, landscaping (we're going to be putting in a sandbox hopefully), laying a concrete slab for a storage shed we'll be building (and yes we will be mixing the concrete by hand (: ), and working to fix some drainage issues. It sounds like we will have a pretty full day ahead of us! :)
Here is a picture of us at the hotel in Quito before we left this morning!
¡Hasta mañana!
-Kaitlyn
Just wanted to give everyone an update!
We have safely arrived in Quito. We got in a little later than expected due to a flight delay. It's about 2:40 am here, and we're in our hotel rooms. They are really nice!
We have had some difficulties with communication ;), but overall we have been managing!
Tomorrow we will be leaving Quito at 8 am and heading to Tena! It is about a four hour drive through the mountains, so hopefully no one gets sick!! The blog will probably be updated tomorrow if we can find some time to post again! :)
¡Buenos noches!
-Kaitlyn
We have safely arrived in Quito. We got in a little later than expected due to a flight delay. It's about 2:40 am here, and we're in our hotel rooms. They are really nice!
We have had some difficulties with communication ;), but overall we have been managing!
Tomorrow we will be leaving Quito at 8 am and heading to Tena! It is about a four hour drive through the mountains, so hopefully no one gets sick!! The blog will probably be updated tomorrow if we can find some time to post again! :)
¡Buenos noches!
-Kaitlyn
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Leaving...
Today we are finally leaving for Ecuador!!!
Our flight from St. Louis just stopped in Miami for a short layover. It's 81 degrees here! Then from here we fly to Quito, Ecuador. The flight from Miami to Quito is thankfully only about 4 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad.
We will try to update this blog as much as possible; it sounds like we should have internet access the majority of the time we're down there. We will also try to post pictures and possibly videos as much as possible!!
¡Adiós! ;)
-Kaitlyn
Here is a picture of us in the Miami Airport!
Our flight from St. Louis just stopped in Miami for a short layover. It's 81 degrees here! Then from here we fly to Quito, Ecuador. The flight from Miami to Quito is thankfully only about 4 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad.
We will try to update this blog as much as possible; it sounds like we should have internet access the majority of the time we're down there. We will also try to post pictures and possibly videos as much as possible!!
¡Adiós! ;)
-Kaitlyn
Here is a picture of us in the Miami Airport!
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