Thanks to everyone who reads this…I have a few interesting things to comment on, although I have my first exam tomorrow, so I cannot write too long. I’ve done some cool things since my past post: took a cable car up the side of a mountain, went to the center of the earth, and survived over a month now of Ecuadorian life! 

One cool thing is that I have had the chance to witness to two different people this week. One of them was a man from Venezuela who struck up a conversation with me at the Center of the World. I was with a group of Americans who live here in association with HCJB, and he wanted to hitch a ride from us back to Quito. 

He made me a little nervous in the car because he kept talking about the dangers of living in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Robbers, knifings, murders, police extortion…his conversation was very morbid, but it was occasionally offset by these exclamations how “lindo, hermoso” Quito was and the beautiful flowers along the side of the road. That made me feel a little better—he was a regular go green nature lover. 

I mentioned that I had a friend who is from Venezuela and that she is a missionary and that sparked a conversation of the differences between Protestants and Catholics. He asked me straight up what Christians believed, and I was able to explain the Gospel. At the end of the conversation, he sort of admitted that he didn’t have all the answers—especially due to the diversity of religion and philosophy. I was able to reiterate the Gospel and the doctrine of the Bible, and who knows maybe God will use that for his good. He was a actually very sweet person, he introduced himself and shook all of our hands when we dropped him off at a bus stop. Before he left the car he bowed to us all. I don’t think I will forget Tomas Mathias—his friends call him Mati. 

Another thing that is stuck in my mind is something I saw yesterday while walking around Quito. It was on the road Amazonas (if that makes any difference to any of you) I saw two grubby kids playing on the side of the road. The one looked like he worked on the streets selling stuff. Despite all the noise from the traffic and people, I heard a baby wailing. I saw that it was a little boy sitting with the other kids on the side of the road. Even though it was getting towards dusk, I could see he was covered in dirt and eating a mangled cookie. I can still hear him crying in my mind. I told Heather that that baby must be really upset because the Ecuadorian kids never cry. They are strapped to their mommies with cloth and shawls—and never utter a peep. But this baby wasn’t with his mommie—he was all alone, looking around wildly at the crowd. Before I turned away, I saw the street vendor kid pat him on the head as he ran off down the street. 

One thing that is funny…I just have to tell you even though it doesn’t go with the tenor of this post. I had a dinner at this fancy restaurant—which by the way costs a fraction of the price here! I ordered this Lomo de San Telmo—a really nice steak. And I was trying to tell Heather that with steak, a good red wine helps the flavor, so I took it upon myself to ask for una copa de Merlot. And following my example, Heather said she wanted the same. 

WELL

Imagine my shock—when the waiter comes with two large glasses of frothy orange stuff. I was like…doing a double take! Foamy, orange, fragrant…juice??? I think I breathed ridiculously , “Is this the wine?” before I tasted it with the fancy straw. 

It was freshly squeezed cantaloupe juice. I couldn’t imagine how the waiter could have confused my intentions until I realized that in an imperfect world of Gringa meets Ecuador “Melón” and “Merlot” probably sounds an awful lot alike. I couldn’t help laughing throughout dinner….eating my purée de potatoes, mixed stir-fried vegetables, wheat bread, phenomenal steak…and cantaloupe shake!! 

~Kiki