What Makes Ecuador an Adventure:

There are many differences here that are hard to explane if you have not experienced them yourself. I try to explane as best I can over a blog, but it´s hard. I am a much better story teller than writer. But after church yesterday, I decided I´d like to try to share some of the little diferences with you.  Church here in Ecuador is great. It´s got the same spirit, but every note, key, and rhythm on each hymn is different. That´s one thing I actually really like, well for now atleast. Right now it just makes me laugh. Another difference is the climate. It is not warm and sunny like it had just started being in utah. It is cold, and rainy. It´s winter here in Cuenca, Ecuador and the coldest month is believed to be July. But it´s kept me from a sun burn... or any tan at all. Next up is the shopping experience. Not only can you not leave the OSSO house without atleast one other person during the day and 3 others at night, but I´m not sure you could classify these places as shops. They are markets mostly with an overwhelming amount of....for lack of a better word, junk. And not just any junk, they all pretty much have the same junk for different prices. The food here is not as different as I thought it would be. Lunch is the main meal here and always includes rice. Nothing is really spicy here, but it´s not very sweet eather. They also have the best bread. I´m almost always drawn strait to the bread containers while lounging around the kitchen.  The absolute best thing though is Tutte Freddo´s. This great ice cream shop that has Limon (lemon) ice cream that I can´t seem to pass up. Last time Shannon and I went shopping, we went there twice. The biggest difference is the language. I came here with almost no spanish experience or study and now I am catching on out of necessity. It no longer sounds like a long stream of gibberish. It just sounds like alot of words I don´t know and maybe one word that I do. Here there is so much structure, there is alot of time. And most the that time is spent focusing on the things that really matter like service, scripture reading, prayer, and personal growth.

There are also alot of similarities here. There are still many who care. There are still those who swear beneath their breath alot. There are still those who burp without saying excuse me. There are still the very select few that smack you on the butt. The previous four traits can be found in one of the workers at Osso's neighbor orphanage, named Betty.  Although she can be strict and somewhat hard to work with at times, she love the kids and shows it through her actions and devotion to them. There are still those who laugh at nothing. Ricardo, one of the little babies wouldn´t drink his bottle last night because any time I looked at him he´d start laughing. Apparently my face was funny, cause I honestly wasn´t even doing anything.  There are still friends who care about you, so much so they become almost a part of your family. There are still those great examples all around. There is still and always will be the love of Christ for each and every individual.

There are many similarities mixed in with many differences, but that is what makes this an adventure in my Big Wonderful Life.

*note names of children &/or orphanages have been changed to protect the privacy of the children.

My Contrast

Tuesday I worked at my off site (an orphanage we visit once or twice a week for one shift). My site was Azogues. This site is very different than the usual orphanages we work in. It was what I call the contrast. The orphanages we mainly work in are OSSO`s orphanage and OSSO's neighbor (an orphanage worked by kind Catholic Nuns).  These orphanages have many children but are split into different houses that have around 5 to 8 kids each.  They are clean, organized, fairly consistant and stable (as much as an orphanage can be), and have lots of love to share.  Azogues is a completely different experience.  When we arrived I was honestly shocked. I didn`t know what to expect, but I did not expect what I came to.  There were 27 kids and 2 workers. One worker did school classes while the other kept the other children alive. We came in to what seemed a little bit like chaos.  But without Azogues, these kids wouldn´t have a place to go.  As I swept up, paint from the wall crumbled onto the floor. The dishes were piled far too high. No one had any personal space.  The only part that was at all similar to our regular orphanages was the resiliance and the love that the children had.  They were so accepting and excited to have us there.  I couldn`t help but love them.  It was emotionally draining though.  I wanted to do more. I wanted to be able to help them. I could hardly believe the conditions they were in.  All I could do was love them and do my best to let them know that there are soooo many that care for them. The hardest part was that we could either clean one thing very well, or everything okay.  And even after we cleaned, it didn`t take long for it to seem like we had done nothing. But I knew that we had, and the workers and the kids were better off than without us.  I have tried to say that this experience was not hard. But if it wasn`t hard I wouldn`t have anything that I learned much from. I can definitely say that this experience is hard, but I am so happy that it is because I am learning sooooooo much from it.  Around the osso house there are quotes every where that mostly talk about how children are a way  we see heaven on earth and that we are God`s hands that can help show his love for all his children.  That is so true.  These children, although they may misbehave sometimes, they simply want to know they are loved.  We have so much to give, and although donations and things are nice, there is nothing better than time and love.  These kids have quickly become my life.  I love them so much and all I want to do is help them as much as possible in the 3 weeks I have left.  There is nothing better than a child sharing their love through their smile.

*note names of children &/or orphanages have been changed to protect the privacy of the children.

Keep Smiling

Have you ever just decided to begin smiling for a minute? Did you then forget that you were only smiling for a minute and continued smiling? I have.  Here in Cuenca, it is the smiles that make the difference.  The children I see everyday are so amazing. Many have been through countless trials, yet, all continue smiling.  They don´t act as if their life is hard. They don´t complain that their cell phones are too old or too slow, because they don´t even have much of a chance of owning one.  They have been through hard times that I cannot even imagine, yet they continue to love through their smiles.  There is no better sight than that of a beaming smile.  They teach me everyday to keep smiling no matter my circumstance.  On my hardest day I cannot know what these children have experienced, I can only try my best to give them all that I have each day, and learn as much as I can from them.

And so It Begins...

Today was my second day on the job. Things here are so different here.  I am in Cuenca, Ecuador serving in orphanages through OSSO (www.orphanagesupport.org).  The internet usually works but is slow and the wifi can cut out alot so I hope to blog as often as possible, but they will probably be full of mistakes and errors due to time and conditions. Life is definitely simpler and different here, but it´s a good change and experience in my life.  The work in the orphanages is definitely hard but worth it.  The little kids warm up to you so fast.  For my first shift I went to the orphanage OSSO Alegria. This orphanage mostly has toddlers with disabilities.  One of the girls came up to me and started sayin "I love you, I love you" in her oh so cute spanish accent. I hadn´t even played with her or helped her do anything yet. The little english she knew was "I love you" and "Oh my gosh!" haha. Even though I am in a new place with new and different ways of life, this little girl showed me what OSSO is really about.  We give them love and as much as it doesn´t always seem that we are doing alot, it makes all the difference in their lives.

*note, that names of the children have been changed in posts in order to respect rules and policies and keep the privacy of the children.

Welcome to my Big Wonderful Life

This is the first of many posts to come about my big wonderful life. Instead of deleting the previous posts from years ago, I decided to add on to them and simply change the blog to fit my purposes.  This blog is titled "Welcome to my Big Wonderful Life" because of a talk I had months ago with my step-mom Kim.  While sitting in church (obviously not paying as much attention as we should have) we passed a sheet of paper back and forth and had a quiet conversation on it.  This conversation most likely took place in February.  We mostly talked about the trip to Ecuador that I would be taking that summer.  As we talked she told me about the Bot Fly, and many unpleasant things that I just might encounter in Ecuador.  She then proceeded to say "welcome to your big wonderful life."  Although in the sequence of the conversation that phrase was a bit ironic, we both knew it was true.  So when choosing what to call this new chapter in my life, I could think of nothing better than to use that simple phrase.  As I travel to Ecuador on my first adventure after graduating high school, I am sure to encounter all sorts of new things. I may like some of them and others not so much. But I am sure to find that my life is big and wonderful.