This weekend was a 10

Pic 1: Pam, Samantha and I at a fútbol game
Pic 2: Stopped to take a quick pic on our drive from Puyo back to Baños
Pic 3: At the monkey reserve in Puyo
Pic 4: That's me, repelling down the waterfall. Called Canyoning here.

A lot has happened since my last blog.

Last Sunday (and this morning) I went to an English speaking church. It was exactly what I needed, some good solid fellowship, amazing worship songs, and a great sermon. After church, Pam, Eric and I went to La Mitad del Mundo AKA the equator. It is about a 45-minute bus ride from Quito. It is a cute touristy area, but the ironic thing is, is that the line and monument are in the wrong spot! A guy named Charles found the middle of the earth in 1736. However, with better technology, we now know that good ole’ Charles was about 240 meters off. So, of course, I had to go visit both places, the more touristy equator, and then a short walk to the real deal. It is a much smaller ‘attraction.’ Being at the real equator, they demonstrate a few different things, including, a small tub of water that they drain in each hemisphere (so, about 10 feet apart) and the water changes directions that it swirls when you open the drain. My guidebook says that experiment is a crock, but I was convinced. You can also balance an egg on the head of a nail. I didn’t get the egg to stay balanced, but I blame it on being rushed. I only had about a minute to try, and then we were off to the next thing. All in all, the trip to the equator was really fun, and it felt pretty cool to have one foot in each hemisphere!

This past weekend, I went to Baños (for the second time) with Pam. It was a perfect weekend from start to finish. We got to Baños around noon, and our adventure started right away. We rented a little jeep so that we could drive to a monkey reserve in Puyo, 60 kilometers away. Of course this jeep was a manual, so I was very glad to have my experience with the Party Jeep at Archer with Paul… came in very handy. I had to do a little test drive with a guy to be sure that I knew how to drive it okay. I was kind of nervous about this, since the last time I staled out on the Party Jeep 3X in a row. Somehow, I didn’t stale out with the guy in the car, so we were on our way…. I saved staling out for a more perfect time, in front of a crowd of people in this tiny pueblo on our way to Puyo. A group of people were playing volleyball in the middle of the street, and I had to slow down and wait until they made room for us to drive through. Of course, that's right when I staled out. One woman laughed so hard, I thought she was going to fall out of her chair. Good job, Em.

Despite the drizzly rain on our drive to Puyo, we had an awesome time! It felt so good to be exploring Ecuador on our own. On our way to Puyo, we had to stop and ask directions a few times. I stayed in the jeep, while Pam went to ask directions, and it just hit me at how amazing this was. When Pam got back into the jeep, I said, “Doesn’t this feel like the Amazing Race, but more authentic?” To which she replied, “Yeeaaah, this is more authentic, this is actually our lives!” I mean, c’mon, how awesome to be gallivanting around Ecuador. Well, we finally reached the monkey reserve and….. “vale la pena” … it was worth the long trek there. These monkeys were crazy and super friendly! They jumped all over us. One would jump from my head to Pam’s head, and back. It was out of this world.

On our ride back, the jeep’s battery died…… twice. We found help, and were on our way pretty quickly both times. The entire day was hilarious. Definitely a 10!

The following day was equally as fun. Went canyoning, which is basically repelling down waterfalls. It was this weekend that my homesickness finally subsided. There was something about this weekend that was so much fun, and I really felt like I am right where I should be. The bus ride back was gorgeous (of course), and allowed for plenty of thinking, reflecting, and praying time.

Living in Ecuador has opened my eyes to so many things. For example, the inequality of the distribution of wealth in the world is a little scary, to say the least. Changing gears a little, I’m taking a relatively difficult anthropology course that tends to be pretty thought provoking. We discuss the origins of ethnicity (whether it is socially contructed or not) and why it exists. We read a rather provocative article about the idea that race doesn’t exist. Genetically the color of your skin is as insignificant as whether or not you carry the sickle cell gene… don’t worry, this article caused great debate.

Being away from everyone and everything you know (including your culture), really strips you down to the core of who you are and forces you to open your mind and look at things in a new way. For the first time, I am actually nervous about ‘reverse’ culture shock, as they say.

Below are a few lyrics that I was listening to on my way home from Baños and really stick out to me (holy cow, after re-reading this, I just noticed I referred to Quito as home!):

“This’ll Be a Memory” Zane Lewis
“But I, I could never follow… I’ve been a long time gone now…. Taking the long way around.” Dixie Chicks
“A woman needs to believe she can take the road she’s never known.” (check!) Jessica Harp
“In the roar of Your WATERFALL, in the storm of You, may You find me holding on, may You find me true. And I put my hope, and I put my trust, and I put myself in You.” David Crowder Band
“Joy unspeakable that won’t go away…. my faith is on solid rock, I’m counting on God.” Hillsong United
“It was the perfect day. What I’d give if I could find a way to stay lost in this moment now. Ain’t worried about tomorrow, when you’re busy livin’ in a perfect day.” Lady Antebellum
“Letting go and holding close to all the things that mean the most. And it feels so good coming home to all the things that mean the most.” Gloriana

I don’t really know what to call it, but I feel different…. the happiest I have been in a long time. How ‘bout … I hit my stride. That’s what it feels like.