fodder for revolution and un ladron

Hi everyone,

I can only write briefly tonight because I am preparing for my departure into the jungle. I will not have access to internet again for a week. This last week has been really good until this afternoon when I was robbed while walking from the Mennonite church here in Quito to a bus stop to head into the old town. I probably took too big a risk in walking to the stop (about a 15 minute walk) but I thought the early afternoon was pretty safe. Unfortunately, I had my camera on me so I´ve lost all of my photos thus far. So I cried for a little while this afternoon and now am working on moving on and being thankful that it was just my camera and I´m perfectly safe and good otherwise. I bought another camera this afternoon so I can capture my experience in the jungle.

But aside from being robbed, the week was really good and Friday I was feeling very good about my Spanish. My 11-year old sister, Maria Jose, and I had lunch alone on Friday and I managed quite well and she complimented my Spanish! Of course we were covering topics where I knew the vocabulary. But it felt good anyways.

Thursday was my first full day in the old town of Quito. My teacher and I went in the morning and toured a variety of churches as well as a museum. It was quite interesting and my favourite historical tidbit was learning about the Ecuadorian version of the Boston tea party. In the States (according to my limited knowledge of American history), the last straw for the revolution was taxes on tea...here in Ecuador, the issue was taxes on liquor! This helps me understand Ecuador that much more. After my teacher left to go back to the school I continued touring and got in on a Spanish tour of the presidential palace. And this is one serious tour, I got to see the room where the cabinet meets, the banquet hall, and at one point Correa, the president, left and was probably only 50 feet away from me! And they include a complimentary photo of me in front of one of their murals.

Finally, I spent Saturday at a hot springs in Papallacta. Thankfully it was a group of English speakers this time! It rained most of the day but we got a nice hike in along a river anyways, and of course the hot springs were lovely even with the rain.

I also attended Quito Mennonite Church this morning and got to see Daniel Moya (GC student) and meet his parents who are pastors of the church here. And somehow, I got roped into preaching in two weeks - although thankfully it´ll be in English!

More in a week....