Well…I cannot BELIEVE that is already February 12! I have been doing very well since my last post—Adjusting. Learning the ropes. Assimilating. Coping. Learning.

Thank you all very much for your prayers for me and for my family as my mom is in Arizona for my great-grandfather’s funeral. My grandpa was very special. I can remember him and granny coming to our house in NH when Josh was born. They gave me purple panda pajamas. Also, I remember the yearly box of Christmas goodies…doll houses, jax, candy, hand-made ornaments, puzzles, and books. My great grandpa tried to teach me how to sketch with perspective…he told me stories about WWII and didn’t like it when we played “war” with a deck of cards. He told me that war was an ugly thing. He loved my granny a lot, and he liked to read. He loved going to museums with us, like the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA. I am really glad my mom can be there in AZ, but I wish I could be there too. I already miss them both a lot. It is a hard thing to lose a person who has been there for you your whole life.

I am delighted to announce that I have not gotten sick again! Heather and I have a really full month ahead of us…On Friday our families are having another HUGE party (hopefully not serving shrimp) for Andres’ graduation from college. Then, early Saturday morning we are going to Otavalo, which is a large Quechua market. Then, next weekend on the 20th we are going to Manta which is on the coast. It will probably take us 10 hours to get their by bus. We have Carnaval vacation so we are going to stay until Tuesday. Then, two days later, on the 27th our class is going to the jungle…to visit the territory where Nate Saint and Jim Elliot went. It is called the Huarni territory---and it will probably be like living in hammocks and huts! Lord willing, that summarizes our plans for the month of February.

I thought I would tell you about some of the people we have met.

Mareya

I met her first while working at the soup kitchen with Pan de Vida. She is remarkably sweet and friendly and has a passion to learn English. She is pretty young, in her 20s. Heather and I felt an instant connection. So, we invited her to English Listeners Club, where we teach classes. To our delight, she came to the meeting and we got to know her a little better. She lives in La Mariscal, which is to the south of where we live, and tomorrow we going to met up with her and have a coffee or something. We hope to have some oppertunity to speak to her about Jesus.

Antonio

What can I say about Antonio? Cool chap. Wears suspenders and a woolen hat. Studies American lit and Spanish. Knows the poets from the 1940’s inside and out…probably because he wishes he was a contemporary of Ezra Pound. We have talked for a few hours at a time—mostly because we were either stuck in the same corner waiting for something or because the Ecuadorian sun is nice in the afternoons. He wants to travel the world before going to grad school. (a pretty common wish) but of course, since he is a waiter at Ruby Tuesday’s, that just might not happen. In any case, Antonio is agreeable and funny. He wrote down a list of must-read authors for me on an old receipt.

Zareena

Heather and I were sitting by our FAVORITE ice cream shop, Helados Amazonas. Well, while we were sitting there, an elderly, regal lady showed up out of nowhere and started talking to us. She instantly told us that she was born in India, but she was British. Her name is Zereena—I think it’s Indian. Our friend, Nashaun, repeated, “Oh, Areena?” and the lady responded, “No! That means ‘bloody sand’!” She sounded quite scandalized.

Anyway, she was dropping her beloved dog off at the vet’s because he had a cough, but she gave us her number so that we could learn how to cook some Indian food. She told us “how delightful it was to hear someone speaking English.” She only speaks 7—SEVEN—languages! (5 different dialects of Indian, Spanish, and English) Apparently her son is a pilot instructor who teaches in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We were delighted to meet her, although her demeanor is very formal.

Jorge

He likes to be called George, and he has a weak desire to learn English and a stronger desire to pick up Angloparlantes using that famous pick-up-line, “You caneh teach me inglishe?” Well, within five minutes of meeting Jorge, he was like, “When are we going to see each other again? Can I have your number?” And—I don’t mean to be mean—but we have had some various and sundry issues with the whole telephone thing…So, I just said, “No.” He was shocked. “But how can I see you again? When will I get to see you?”

I was like, “Well, I really don’t know. Somewhere! Maybe around campus….chao!”
Today, he saw me again. “KIKI!” This time he knew better than ask for my number again. This time he got smart. “Kiki, where do you normally pass by so that I can see you again?”
….
So what do you do with that one!?

Alejandra

I had initially met her at the university clinic when I was sick about a month ago. She wrote down her number for me, and even though I didn’t talk much to her, she was very nice. I had no idea why she actually wanted me to contact her! She invited me to come to her house and mentioned that she was glad because she had wanted to invite me to live at her house. I thought that was a nice gesture, and Heather and I set up an appointment for today at 1pm. I had arranged to meet, and she kept asking if we wanted to get to know the house. We were like...sure?

We went to her house which was gorgeous, sprawling mansion in the countryside about 10 minutes from the university. Huge windows, hard wood floors, flying stairs…stainless steel kitchen…the whole bit. Well, to my surprise, instead of offering us a meal or anything, she gave us a tour of the house, and kept saying this room is free. I thought to myself, “OH no!” Well, folks, as it turned out, this was not a “social” event. I thought she just wanted to be nice to some foreigners! Alejandra actually wanted to rent a room to an American girl…and she asked me straight out if I liked the house and if I wanted to live there. Just imagine how uncomfortable this was! I managed to get out of it by sort of saying how hard it would be move to a new house…how beautiful this one was…but how I didn’t see how it could work! I was thinking, “Help! This lady is trying to make a real estate sale! AAA!”

Fernando

I met Fernando two weeks ago at the English Listeners Club. Didn’t talk to him much, but he was in my class and seemed quite nice and educated. This week he greeted me, “Hello, Teacher!” which was kind of funny. After class, he told me all about his mom from Colombia and how he wants to learn French. We talked about learning other languages, Salsa dancing, his catering job, and my brief knowledge of one chanson by Pink Martini. While we were sitting there, I was thinking, “okay…he is nice enough…but please! Don’t turn creepy!” He asked me if I was going to the Valentines Banquet at the church, EFC. And I took the opportunity. (You may debate whether that was a good idea or not…but I did it!)

I told him straight up that Heather and I didn’t feel comfortable going to a Valentine’s day banquet because we had already encountered plenty of issues without it being Valentine’s day! He was really good about it. Understanding. He made some weird muffled sounds, but that was all. Tried hard to be sympathetic. Hopefully, he wasn’t recalling the last time he had called a young lady 3 times a day. In any case, I was happy to have avoided the whole what-is-your-number issue, and I still have a friend for next time!