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Published: June 16th 2006
Papayas
¡Deliciouso! A picture of a fruit I eat here daily. que rico. Yesterday (6-14)
After I woke and went to the school with the Loyolas, Señor Loyola and I went to the farm that he owns right outside of Guayaquil. It was beautiful! Simply breathtaking! I´ve never seen so many exotic plants and flowers at one time. The veggitation was incredible. There were so many fruits and veggies and we ate them there at the farm and more when we got home. Along with the plants, there were many amimales there as well. Cows, birds, chickens, dogs, cats, etc. No wonder my dad loved the finca so much! They call it La Finca Ormiga, and it is a wonderful sight.
Today I talked more with the children at the school when we returned from the farm. The kids here are so nice and caring! It´s great to be at place where I feel so welcomed. After I finished talking with the older children, I went to the kindegarten class where I help out there and "teach" the little ones. There are the sweetest bunch of kids ever. And so adorable too! All of them love me so much and always look at me with admiration. Whenever they see me they
Flower Power
One of the hundreds of flowers that are blooming so nicely at La Finca. all clap and cheer and call out my name, pronouncing it "Cherrlina", but I understand that my name is pretty difficult to pronouce is a spanish-speaking country. Then they all come running to me to give me a kiss on the cheek. It´s too cute for words.
When the bell ring to dismiss class for the day, we went back to La Colina de los Ceibos, where we live, eat lunch before having freetime. I slept the entire time! When I woke, I dressed quickly to go with Señora Loyola to the dentist again and after her visit there, we went shopping along Av. 9 de Octubre, a street filled with shops and stores and refelects a lot of importance of Guayaquil. Today I bought 3 pairs of earrings, 2 bracelets, 1 sweatband, and a flag. Getting prepared for the big game the next morning. ¡VAMOS ECUADOR!
The shopping centers here are very much like the shopping centers back home, so even though we go to many of them...it´s just to see, really. I prefer to buy my things from people selling in the steet or in markets where things are priced for little money, but the quality
Coconuts
Coconuts are very abundant in Ecuador and at La Finca you can see tree upon tree of them among many other different kinds. is either the same or is even better.
We left after it got dark to go back home. While we were eating our bread and sipping our coffee we talked and when we all finished we went upstairs to watch TV. But when Dora came home, I went to the office to talk to her and then we decided to go outside and sit on the roof and look at the beautiful city all lit up at night while we conversed. After about an hour flew on by we came back inside and I took a shower, wrote a little bit, and got ready for the whatever adventures were thrown my way for the next day.
Some places in Guayaquil are just so sad to witness. It´s hard to believe that people actually can live their lives the way they do in some conditions, but at the same time...they have all they really need: they have some kind of roof over their head, they are able to put some kind of food on the table daily, they have work, they have their families, and they have the same God we do. It´s frequently said, but we as
Me & Sra Loyola
Hangin out at La Escuela Semillita. This woman is simply amazing! americans take so many things for granted. I mean here there are young children begging for food on the streets, asking for money at gas stations. It is literally heart wrenching to see. Some houses are made from pieces of trash that are falling apart, rotting. I´m fortunate to live in a beautiful house, surronded by other big, beautiful houses, but everyday on the way to school I see heartbreaking sights and appreciate so much what I have and what I´ve been provided with.
At the quite luxorious house of the Loyolas, they have a living room, family room, dining room, kitchen, laundrey room, and the room for their maid all downstairs. When you go upstairs, there´s their bedroom, their daughter´s bedroom (Dora), my room, a den, another guest room, the office, and a "religious" room of sorts. Even further up you go outside, and the first, bottom floor outside is shelter by the floor above it and has a hammock and exercise equipment that I should be using, haha. Sometimes during my freetime, I´ll go to the very top, on the roof and lye out there and soak up the sun while I read and listen to music.
Andrea
Isn´t she soooo cute?! This is the Loyolas graddaughter and one my K-students. She´s the b-e-s-t!! It´s quite nice. The Loyolas have two dogs. A poddle named Peggy and a chiwawa named Chispa. They are so much fun and as Señora Loyola would say, they´re malcreadas.
Speaking of dogs, though, on a sad note, I see them everywhere I go. Starving, abused, abandoned, and are quickly turned into daily roadkill and disregarded as if they were equivilant to a squirrel or a rabbit back home. It´s so hard to believe and makes me cry every time.
Today (6-15)
¡¡¡ECUADOR GANA TRES A CERO!!! Como se dice en español "how do you like me now, Costa Rica?!?" What an amazing game! I was on the edge of my chair the entire time! I´m so glad that I got to be here in Ecuador during such an exciting time! Everyone is filled with pride for their country! I even bought an outfit to wear for the big game on twentieth. ¡¡VAMOS, EC-UA-DOR, VAMOS!! The streets were filled with people yelling and cheering, and everyone is getting prepared for next weeks game. It´s going to be an anxios wait.
I watched the game at the school with some other fellow teachers, and
Mi Clase
This is my K-class. They are so much fun to work with! I simply adore them all! after the game finished, I went online for a little bit before talking with the english teacher. Tomorrow I will offically begin teaching english to grades 4th and 5th. And when I finish there, I´ll go back to my kids in Kindegarten for the rest of the day. I´m super excited. It was kind of scary, though, today. In the street, right outside the school there was a robbery. Right when the bell was about to ring for the day, choas echoed through the streets. The children weren´t dissmissed until the police came and made sure it was safe for the kids to leave. It was crazy! The thief had a gun and everything and was threatening people around him before he took off running. I´ve never experienced anything like it.
When it was safe, we left and went home to eat lunch before we had more freetime. I went outside to lay on the hammock, but ended up coming back inside to sleep in my bed after about an hour. It felt good to sleep after waking up 5:30 everyday. When I woke, I got ready to do more shopping.
Today we went to the market. It
Iguana
Probably the biggest Iguana ever...and it touched me!...yicks! was awesome! Don´t worry, Mom, I´m using my money sparingly and when I do, it´s always for good reason. I even saved a few dollars too, by barganing with the sellers. This is NOT your average american shopper here...maybe I only negotiated the price down a dollar, but when you buy 10 things for 2 dollars instead of 3 you just saved 10 dollars and buy an extra 5 more items! (my math is getting better, eh Dad?) And after I spent all the money I brough, haha, we left to go on top of a huge hill where satellites and antennas reach sky high and where you can view all of Ecuador. It was precious! After taking my picture-taking crave was satisfied, we stopped for yogurt and headed back home for the night. I had just finished my cafe con pan when my loving boyfriend called...aww...haha. Well I don´t know how long we talked for, but I know now it´s really late and everyone´s in bed but me, and 5:30 comes rather quickly in the morning. I know that I need to get some rest soon before I fall asleep here at the computer.
So, in closing, I´m enjoying my stay here in Ecuador to it´s fullest and the past 4 days that I´ve been here have really flown by. I´m so grateful that this opportunity presented itself and I was able to visit this beautiful country and stay with such an admirable family like the Loyolas.
In case you haven´t noticed, I´m trying my best to write in my blog every other day, and upload my camera as well. In the past two days alone I took 217 pictures! It´s easiest for me to upload in doses like this, even though I´m able to take up to 1265. But now my bed is calling to me.
Until next time,
Shir
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Rev. Kozel
non-member comment
Reply from California
Shirlina, your blog is very interesting to read. Thank you for taking time to let us know how and what you are doing. The pictures are great. I expect that Mrs. Kozel and I will be travelling to Bolivia in the not-to-distant future to see Alex, Juliane, and Tatiana. When we do, it will be our first trip outside the USA except for Canada. Presently, we are visiting the Wallace family in San Jose, CA. You sound quite busy. Shopping is a woman's naturtal gift and it sounds like you are putting it to good use. Enjoy the sights but be careful. We are praying that God will not only watch over and protect you, but that He will enable you to be an effective witness for Him while in Equador. It sounds like your minisry to the children at the school is an important part of that witness. I look forward to more of your Equadorian experiences as you update your blog. In Christian love, Rev. Kozel Psalm 24