September 13, 2008
As I stepped off the plane, the airport workers welcomed me with "Buenas Noches" . I responded with "Buenas Noches" without even thinking and smiled brightly at being able to speak Spanish again. The anticipation ran high, we couldn't wait to see what Guayaquil was going to be like. From the plane as we landed and saw the cars all over the highways and the McDonalds, it looked like a nice big urban city. Not at all what I expected from a 3rd world country. We stood in line to show our passport and document our arrival, I spoke in Spanish with the official and it went well. We went through customs and then walked through the doors to walk past a long line of people waiting for family and friends. At the end of the line was a couple holding a paper with "BYU" typed across the top and then our names. I'm sure they could have picked us out without us even approaching them though. There we were, two American girls, poor Becky pulling her luggage with one arm in a sling and me with a big backpack on my back, my school bag on my front, and pulling 2 suitcases behind me, trying not to collapse under the weight of it all. Hermano y Hermana Morante welcomed us with hugs and immediately took over half of our luggage to make it more bearable. We stepped out the airport doors and were met with hot humid air. We might melt, as people have told us. We'll see what it's like in the day time. We then continued on to an old tiny red pick-up truck. Obispo Morante (he told us he is also Bishop), explained that he had called for help but his help canceled at the last moment so he borrowed his mother-in-law's truck and made due. Hermana Morante was a wonderful sport and crawled in the cab of the truck to sit with our luggage while Becky and I squished in the front seat. On our drive from the airport to our casa, which is only about 5 or 10 minutes away, he explained a lot of things to us. I followed the majority of it. He was quick to explain that the truck was his mother in law’s and pointed out the Virgin Mary sticker on the windshield. I couldn't locate a seatbelt and he told us not to worry about it. Even so, I couldn't help but notice the wide expanse of a glass windshield in front of my unsecured body, about to enter a South American roadway. I was praying that I wouldn't get thrown through the windshield once we entered traffic. The traffic didn't actually scare me that much, maybe because Spain scared the heck out of me and then I got used to it. Here, from the short ride to our house I noticed that lane markings are interpretive. People don't stay in them, they cut each other off, and sometimes drive right down the middle of the lines. They also have some weird intersections where it's apparent stop signs are more of a suggestion than the law because a car will honk as he approaches the intersection to warn other drivers he is coming through. As we drove it looked more like the South America I was expecting. Lots of palm trees, run down buildings, bars on all the windows and doors, old cars, and cats in the streets. One cat in particular was chasing something on the sidewalk that from my view in the truck looked like a cockroach. This made me very nervous and uneasy.
But, my fears were put aside as we arrived at our house. Obispo Morante explained that we are in the good part of town, and that it is a comfortable apartment and we should be very happy here. As he explained this, we passed a guard outside the complex with a large intimidating looking gun draped across his torso. I wish I knew what kind it was. I'll have to investigate online when I have time and internet access. We passed a hospital that Obispo Morante explained is for the poor, from what I understand, the poor can come and receive treatment without charge. Becky and I may visit that hospital sometime. Obispo Morante explained a bit about the work that we are going to be doing here and how there are two different categories of people here. Those that live in the mountains and those that live in the city. Apparently these two groups of people do not get along very well and there have been a lot of problems in the past bringing them together. Especially since 70% of the workshop participants in the past have bee non-members. He said the situation is improving but is still a work in progress. He also told a story about how recently a young man hit his car while he was in a movie on a Friday night. They called out his license plate number and he went outside and filled out all of the necessary paperwork, it was obviously the guy's fault for hitting a parked car. Well, apparently this young man was a nephew of the judge and by Monday, the judge had all of the paperwork changed and it was now legally Obispo Morante's fault. Oh my. Hello corruption.
Anyway, we get through a metal locked gate, up a narrow cement staircase, open another bolted gate that blocks the front door and then unlock 2 more bolts on the front door and are finally inside. I actually want to count how many locks we went through, it seemed like a lot. And many are seriously just metal bolts that you slide into the wall and I just don't see how anyone could get through all of the metal barriers on all of the doors and windows. I feel pretty secure. It probably helps being on the 2nd floor rather than ground level. Anyway, we walk inside and the apartment far exceeded my expectations. There is tile floor throughout, the entry way leads into the kitchen, and then the dining area and living room are on the right. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a washing machine, and a patio for hanging clothes up to dry outside of the bedroom I chose. The furniture is really nice, it's decorated simply but very nicely, we have a table cloth, bedding, towels, and a TV in each bedroom. The Morantes were so kind and purchased food for us including orange juice, milk, yogurt, cheddar cheese ( I can't imagine how much that costs down here), bottled water, tuna, bread, jam, soup, macaroni and cheese, frozen lasagna and frozen chicken tenders, popcorn, as well as toilet paper, and laundry detergent. They even bought a tube of toothpaste and shampoo in case our luggage didn't all make it here so we would have a way to brush our teeth and wash our hair. It was so much more than we could have ever asked for.
Becky and I chose rooms, mine has a full sized mattress and a very cute sheet set with matching pillowcases. I say sheet set because there isn't a blanket in the house. Apparently it's so warm around here that they are not needed. We are blessed to have an AC unit in the wall of each room. We do not have an internet connection yet, but the option is there. We are going to look into it, because it would be very convenient to have in the house rather than just at the center. Oh, we also have a microwave and a blender! Honestly, this is nicer than the apartments at BYU and it's huge! We are excited to make friends at Institute and have them over.
Obispo Morante explained that this past Monday he still had not been able to find a place for us to live. But he made some phone calls asking for any information, and he found an apartment above a less active lady who has just recently began to return to church. Her son served a mission in Texas and currently attends BYU Hawaii. Apparently the apartment above her was used by BYU nursing students who were here over the Summer, one of which I'm pretty confident was my old roommate who I remember saying she was going to Ecuador with the nursing program. I'm going to ask her about it, it will be kind of funny if she did in fact live here. Well anyway the Morantes went and picked up 2 sister missionaries who are around our mothers' ages and are from Venezuela. They are very nice and are going to be coming by for us at 8:30 in the morning to walk us to church. Everyone was so welcoming. I followed the Spanish most of the time, but I am kind of slow to think of how to respond. It will come though, I'm determined to learn and practice.
Everyone left after a short visit to allow us to settle in and go to sleep. I opened my baggage and found that the top of my big bottle of body wash had somehow come completely off and leaked all out. It could have been a lot worse, luckily I had put a plastic bag over top so the soap only covered other bottles with a small puddle in the bottom of the suitcase. Somehow it missed my clothes and books. So I spent awhile spooning the soap back in with my finger, salvaging as much as I could. I then sorted out clothes to wear in the morning and then brushed my teeth and washed my face finally. After 15 hours of traveling I was very grateful to be able to do this. Johnny told us about 7 times not to drink the tap water because it will make us sick. I think that may be important. So we can wash with the water but never drink it. So, I washed my face in the sink and then used the water from my water bottle to brush my teeth. I'll have to remind myself over and over again for awhile, I keep almost forgetting and have to consciously keep from running my toothbrush under the faucet.
Well, my feet are swollen from traveling, I haven't slept in a bed since 2 a.m. this morning, 21 hours ago, and I have to be up in 7 hours so I'm gonna call it a night. I'm sure I'll have much more to say tomorrow after attending church and seeing part of the city in daylight. I am very excited to be here though, this is going to be a wonderful semester!
Monday, September 15, 2008
"The Water Blends in With the Ocean"
September 13, 2008
These are the awe inspiring comments you say when you have the amount of sleep Becky and I had last night. This particular one came from Becky while flying from Dallas to Miami. My alarm went off at 2:20 a.m. this morning. That has made for a fun day. My eyes were burning and tired but I got up anyway and got ready, The airport shuttle picked us up at 3:45 a.m. and by then we were feeling relatively awake. I don't remember anything from the flight from SLC to Dallas. I slept the whole way. It was a sad moment at 8:30 a.m when I realized it had been 6 hours since I'd gotten out of bed. Once in Dallas I gratefully looked out at the flat green expanse of land, breathed in the thick humid air, and smiled with relief at being in my home state. Man do I miss Texas. Upon exiting the plane we first bought the exact same Texas souvenir t-shirt. It was $9.99 and we couldn't resist. Then we rounded the corner and ran into Dunkin Donuts. Hello breakfast, they definitely convinced us with their 99 cent donuts. In Dallas there was quite a bit of rain but it looked like Hurricane Ike wouldn't hit until a couple of hours after our flight left. We didn't have any problems as far as the weather goes. I called home to make sure my family was still out of harm's way in San Antonio, I'm curious to see how hard they got hit since afternoon flights to San Antonio and Austin were canceled.
We did end up being delayed for quite a while in Dallas as maintenance checked out a tire, I also don't remember much of this as I was sleeping. The whole day has been made up of waking up on a plane, looking out the window for a few minutes, stretching my poor neck, and falling back asleep. I've actually been awake for about 30 minutes now I think and it's the longest I've managed to stay conscious on the plane all day. We arrived very late to Miami, and we half ran to our connecting flight, we arrived 40 minutes after boarding had began. But we got on and I even had time to dig out my carrots and peanut butter which brightened my mood immensely.
Now we are on the plane flying from Miami to Guayaquil. We are flying over the Cayman islands and Panama. Unfortunately the sun went down so I don't see very much of anything. Earlier, I think we did fly over where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf though and that was pretty fun to see from the air. I'm extremely excited to arrive, meet our manager Johnny, and get to my apartment. When we e-mailed Johnny to confirm he would be at the airport to pick us up, he responded telling us they are very excited for our arrival, that our apartment is ready and they had bought us some food. That was very considerate of them to think of buying us food since we would be arriving on a Saturday night. Becky and I are both very excited for church tomorrow. We are slowly creating a list of all the things we want to do while we're in Ecuador. So far the list includes: go to institute, go horseback riding if possible, visit a banana plantation, learn to dance, visit the port and fishing docks, make lots of friends, and volunteer at an orphanage. Well, hopefully we'll land soon in Guayaquil. We've been traveling for 14 hours already and I'm ready to get there already.
These are the awe inspiring comments you say when you have the amount of sleep Becky and I had last night. This particular one came from Becky while flying from Dallas to Miami. My alarm went off at 2:20 a.m. this morning. That has made for a fun day. My eyes were burning and tired but I got up anyway and got ready, The airport shuttle picked us up at 3:45 a.m. and by then we were feeling relatively awake. I don't remember anything from the flight from SLC to Dallas. I slept the whole way. It was a sad moment at 8:30 a.m when I realized it had been 6 hours since I'd gotten out of bed. Once in Dallas I gratefully looked out at the flat green expanse of land, breathed in the thick humid air, and smiled with relief at being in my home state. Man do I miss Texas. Upon exiting the plane we first bought the exact same Texas souvenir t-shirt. It was $9.99 and we couldn't resist. Then we rounded the corner and ran into Dunkin Donuts. Hello breakfast, they definitely convinced us with their 99 cent donuts. In Dallas there was quite a bit of rain but it looked like Hurricane Ike wouldn't hit until a couple of hours after our flight left. We didn't have any problems as far as the weather goes. I called home to make sure my family was still out of harm's way in San Antonio, I'm curious to see how hard they got hit since afternoon flights to San Antonio and Austin were canceled.
We did end up being delayed for quite a while in Dallas as maintenance checked out a tire, I also don't remember much of this as I was sleeping. The whole day has been made up of waking up on a plane, looking out the window for a few minutes, stretching my poor neck, and falling back asleep. I've actually been awake for about 30 minutes now I think and it's the longest I've managed to stay conscious on the plane all day. We arrived very late to Miami, and we half ran to our connecting flight, we arrived 40 minutes after boarding had began. But we got on and I even had time to dig out my carrots and peanut butter which brightened my mood immensely.
Now we are on the plane flying from Miami to Guayaquil. We are flying over the Cayman islands and Panama. Unfortunately the sun went down so I don't see very much of anything. Earlier, I think we did fly over where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf though and that was pretty fun to see from the air. I'm extremely excited to arrive, meet our manager Johnny, and get to my apartment. When we e-mailed Johnny to confirm he would be at the airport to pick us up, he responded telling us they are very excited for our arrival, that our apartment is ready and they had bought us some food. That was very considerate of them to think of buying us food since we would be arriving on a Saturday night. Becky and I are both very excited for church tomorrow. We are slowly creating a list of all the things we want to do while we're in Ecuador. So far the list includes: go to institute, go horseback riding if possible, visit a banana plantation, learn to dance, visit the port and fishing docks, make lots of friends, and volunteer at an orphanage. Well, hopefully we'll land soon in Guayaquil. We've been traveling for 14 hours already and I'm ready to get there already.
Graduation Day Sept. 12, 2008
Today was our tour of welfare square. We were picked up at 7:45 a.m. and began with tours of the dairy, cannery, and DI. I was very impressed with the system the church uses, seeing the behind the scenes work was very humbling. One of the most impacting moments was when they showed us where the ATMIT is made. This is the nutritional supplement that is sent over to places such as Kenya to save children from starving. It's an amazing formula that starving bodies can actually keep down and the nutrients slowly nurse the body to proper health. I don't know how may of you have seen the picture of the 20 lb. 8 year old girl in Kenya and then the same girl 6 months later after eating ATMIT, I had before, but I heard part of the story I had never heard before. First, here is the picture: 
Now, apparently it only takes 10 lbs of ATMIT to feed a child for 6 months and it is produced at 50 cents a pound. For only $5 this little girl was fed for 6 months and developed muscles, grew hair on her head, and received light in her eyes. For only $5 she was saved from certain death. After hearing this, I felt a lot better about my meager fast offerings that have been given in the past. Who knew $5 could go so far.
I was very touched by stories such as these and by the time we got to the humanitarian center and watched a short 15 minute video on the humanitarian program of the church, I was crying within 2 minutes. I'm not usually a very emotional person, but this was such a humbling experience. To be reminded of how much the rest of the world needs our help. It's sad that we get caught up in work and school and buying the latest electronic toys and complaining about gas prices that we forget how very rich we are compared to the majority of the rest of the world. It makes me so sad to think of all those people who don't have access to clean water, warm blankets, immunizations, medical care, and a free public education. I really want to get involved in humanitarian organizations when I graduate from BYU and work to reduce poverty. It would be such a rewarding profession and I really want to utilize the skills that I have learned to help bless the lives of others. This opportunity to go to Ecuador and teach career workshops to help people learn how to find and keep better employment makes me so happy. We are teaching them necessary skills that they can use and teach others.
Well anyway, after our tours and a sampling of the dairy's chocolate milk and cheese, along with bakery bread and canned jam, we went on our way to our little graduation ceremony and luncheon. This was held in the conference center media room. So you open the blinds and there's the huge seating area. It was a pretty neat atmosphere and we couldn't help but feel a tiny bit important. So we received our little certificates saying we are now certified instructors of the employment workshops and then we ate a delicious catered lunch where I at the best fruit salad I've ever eaten in my life.
The other night, Becky and I were joking around in our hotel room about applying the concepts we are teaching to dating. We then went a little overboard and came up with an entire mock interview. We made the mistake of giving a little sample of it the other day during training and they insisted we perform in front of everyone at graduation. So, slightly impromptu we finalized ideas and sat down and went through an interview in front of everyone. Unfortunately, I haven't quite developed the talent of keeping a straight face so a few times I found it hard to speak while refraining from laughing. But we had fun with it. So, here's a video of my interview, which we acted out in front of about 20 people including all of our trainers from the church office building, current interns, and past interns.
After graduation we had Mimi take us by Wal-Mart for last minute purchases. First we were impressed by the fact that it had a parking garage. Then we found out it was 2 stories. Then we found out it had an escalator and then not only an escalator for people but an escalator for carts! A few in our group were surprised that we had never seen a Wal-Mart like this, but I've seen a lot of Wal-Marts in my day and none were anything like this one. :)
After Wal-Mart I'm not sure where the rest of my day went. I talked on the phone quite a bit with friends and family, went to dinner, packed a bit, tried to get things to work on my computer, and watched a lot of the weather channel, pretty convinced that we would end up stranded in the Dallas airport because of Hurricane Ike. I knew I had to wake up at around 2 in the morning but I found it hard to be tired as the night went on. I became anxious and excited and adrenaline kicked in from an exhausting week. I finished packing and got to sleep at around midnight.
I was very touched by stories such as these and by the time we got to the humanitarian center and watched a short 15 minute video on the humanitarian program of the church, I was crying within 2 minutes. I'm not usually a very emotional person, but this was such a humbling experience. To be reminded of how much the rest of the world needs our help. It's sad that we get caught up in work and school and buying the latest electronic toys and complaining about gas prices that we forget how very rich we are compared to the majority of the rest of the world. It makes me so sad to think of all those people who don't have access to clean water, warm blankets, immunizations, medical care, and a free public education. I really want to get involved in humanitarian organizations when I graduate from BYU and work to reduce poverty. It would be such a rewarding profession and I really want to utilize the skills that I have learned to help bless the lives of others. This opportunity to go to Ecuador and teach career workshops to help people learn how to find and keep better employment makes me so happy. We are teaching them necessary skills that they can use and teach others.
Well anyway, after our tours and a sampling of the dairy's chocolate milk and cheese, along with bakery bread and canned jam, we went on our way to our little graduation ceremony and luncheon. This was held in the conference center media room. So you open the blinds and there's the huge seating area. It was a pretty neat atmosphere and we couldn't help but feel a tiny bit important. So we received our little certificates saying we are now certified instructors of the employment workshops and then we ate a delicious catered lunch where I at the best fruit salad I've ever eaten in my life.
The other night, Becky and I were joking around in our hotel room about applying the concepts we are teaching to dating. We then went a little overboard and came up with an entire mock interview. We made the mistake of giving a little sample of it the other day during training and they insisted we perform in front of everyone at graduation. So, slightly impromptu we finalized ideas and sat down and went through an interview in front of everyone. Unfortunately, I haven't quite developed the talent of keeping a straight face so a few times I found it hard to speak while refraining from laughing. But we had fun with it. So, here's a video of my interview, which we acted out in front of about 20 people including all of our trainers from the church office building, current interns, and past interns.
After graduation we had Mimi take us by Wal-Mart for last minute purchases. First we were impressed by the fact that it had a parking garage. Then we found out it was 2 stories. Then we found out it had an escalator and then not only an escalator for people but an escalator for carts! A few in our group were surprised that we had never seen a Wal-Mart like this, but I've seen a lot of Wal-Marts in my day and none were anything like this one. :)
After Wal-Mart I'm not sure where the rest of my day went. I talked on the phone quite a bit with friends and family, went to dinner, packed a bit, tried to get things to work on my computer, and watched a lot of the weather channel, pretty convinced that we would end up stranded in the Dallas airport because of Hurricane Ike. I knew I had to wake up at around 2 in the morning but I found it hard to be tired as the night went on. I became anxious and excited and adrenaline kicked in from an exhausting week. I finished packing and got to sleep at around midnight.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
Okay, well I didn't actually see fire today. But I did see rain. Which turned into a sunny day that I thought would never end. And then it did.
I have a sudden desire to make this entire blog a coherent entry made up of purely song lyrics. Buts it's too late. To apologize. I mean it's almost 11 p.m. and I want to go to bed. You know, lock the door and turn the lights down low, turn some music on that's soft and slow because I aint got no place to go. I really have been thinking about this all day long.
I should stop quoting songs and really write so I can go to sleep for real. Today was significantly better. It felt like Fall. Which made me happy. And I got almost 8 hours of sleep last night even though I woke up at 6 a.m. And I had a really really good hair day. And training was pretty fun. And I got a hold of my professor and have a research topic and he is signing my course contract so I won't lose my scholarship. And I get to go to Provo tomorrow, to get books for the class and turn in my graduation application. Which means I get to see friends again. And go on a picnic. "Aint it good to know you've got a friend". That James Taylor song was playing just then and I thought it fit rather nicely.
I'll talk more about my research topic later. Now it's time to say goodnight. Sleep tight. Close your eyes and I'll close mine. Thank-you Beatles.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
I've seen better days.
I wasn't going to write today because I don't have much to say at all except for some complaints about things gone wrong. But, I also didn't feel like writing by hand in my journal and yet felt guilty for not writing a journal entry. So, I hope you don't feel obligated to read my day to day mundane entries, because this will be one. My companion was in Provo for the day getting her elbow checked out so I taught the first part of the workshop by myself. It wasn't quite as bad as I expected it to be, it will be a lot better though when I have a companion to help team teach and when I have more practice speaking. At least I'm communicating clearly.
I had the hardest time staying awake during training today. Although during break Andrew jokingly asked if we could get out 20 minutes early for lunch if he made a basket backwards. I immediately said, "oh, I'll do it too". And proceeded to the free throw line and made the shot backwards. Mike, one of our trainers said he hadn't made the deal with me but with Andrew, I said "fine but if I make it again the deal's with me". So I swished it backwards. And we got out early for lunch. Little did he know I had spent an entire Summer when I was 11 years old learning how to do that very thing. I love when random skills like that come in handy.
After training, the interns and trainers were taken out to dinner to an Italian restaurant in SLC called Buca de Beppo. Very expensive free food for us while sitting around a huge round table with a torso statue of the pope in a glass box as a centerpiece. It was the room of the pope and therefore had photos of popes throughout history, and it had a domed ceiling so the acoustics were a fun toy throughout the night. I ate far more than my share and came to really really like my fellow interns. Too bad we're not all serving together.
I woke up this morning and in the middle of saying my prayer I was struck with inspiration. I figured out a way to bypass this laptop not reading my camera. It involves using my companion's computer to copy the photos onto my jump drive but it will work out fine. So that stress is more or less resolved. But, I have recently been informed that I will lose my hefty non-BYU scholarship if I do not add another class to become a full time student. Not only will this make life extremely difficult in Ecuador because 9 credits along with the workshop teaching is already a very busy schedule, and now it will be 12 credits, but I also have to create an individual course contract with a professor, while I'm in SLC and he is in Provo. I have to determine a research topic and by some miracle obtain the books for it as well as approval all by Friday night. This is extremely stressful and annoying. But, I did play the piano today for the first time since I broke my finger and it went rather well. And I did eat a humongous dinner of pricey Italian food. And We did get home by 7:45 tonight which means I can go to bed by 10. And I can do hard things. So this will work out fine. I think.
I had the hardest time staying awake during training today. Although during break Andrew jokingly asked if we could get out 20 minutes early for lunch if he made a basket backwards. I immediately said, "oh, I'll do it too". And proceeded to the free throw line and made the shot backwards. Mike, one of our trainers said he hadn't made the deal with me but with Andrew, I said "fine but if I make it again the deal's with me". So I swished it backwards. And we got out early for lunch. Little did he know I had spent an entire Summer when I was 11 years old learning how to do that very thing. I love when random skills like that come in handy.
After training, the interns and trainers were taken out to dinner to an Italian restaurant in SLC called Buca de Beppo. Very expensive free food for us while sitting around a huge round table with a torso statue of the pope in a glass box as a centerpiece. It was the room of the pope and therefore had photos of popes throughout history, and it had a domed ceiling so the acoustics were a fun toy throughout the night. I ate far more than my share and came to really really like my fellow interns. Too bad we're not all serving together.
I woke up this morning and in the middle of saying my prayer I was struck with inspiration. I figured out a way to bypass this laptop not reading my camera. It involves using my companion's computer to copy the photos onto my jump drive but it will work out fine. So that stress is more or less resolved. But, I have recently been informed that I will lose my hefty non-BYU scholarship if I do not add another class to become a full time student. Not only will this make life extremely difficult in Ecuador because 9 credits along with the workshop teaching is already a very busy schedule, and now it will be 12 credits, but I also have to create an individual course contract with a professor, while I'm in SLC and he is in Provo. I have to determine a research topic and by some miracle obtain the books for it as well as approval all by Friday night. This is extremely stressful and annoying. But, I did play the piano today for the first time since I broke my finger and it went rather well. And I did eat a humongous dinner of pricey Italian food. And We did get home by 7:45 tonight which means I can go to bed by 10. And I can do hard things. So this will work out fine. I think.
Monday, September 8, 2008
El Primer Dia de Entrenamiento
Holy Moly. I am finally back at my hotel room after going for 14 hours straight off of 6 hours of sleep. We had training from 8-5 a.m. with a couple of 15 minute breaks and a nice lunch break. On our first break I won a game of knock-out and was the only girl playing. And I have a broken finger. :) Speaking of broken fingers, take a look at our group of interns: [Insert picture here] So, I am returning about an hour later, after trying to upload said picture and discovering that this little laptop is not reading my camera's USB cord. Ya'll know how important pictures are to me and so you understand that this discovery was of disastrous proportions. After trying everything I could think of, and voicing my frustrations to a patient friend, I gave up. And was too frustrated to continue writing, but I have since cooled off a little bit and am back to finish the race.
So the picture I was going to upload is a picture of me, Becky (my companion), and Jason. Me with a splinted broken finger, Jason on crutches with a messed up ankle, and Becky w/ her arm in a sling from a broken elbow. When we all gathered together today we had a good laugh about our group of cripples, 3/8 interns are broken. What a sight we make.
Well anyway, training got out a little after 5 p.m. and then we had an hour van ride in rush hour traffic, during which I got slightly car sick, to Sandy for dinner and FHE at a trainer's house, Brother Gustavo Estrada. He's actually the one who wrote these workshops for the church. We arrived and there was a beautiful long table set up with Fall decor and the food consisted of BBQ'd ribs, corn on the cob, broccoli salad, rolls, watermelon, and zuchinni chocolate cake. I can definitely get used to that treatment. After dinner we had FHE which was really more training which went longer than I expected. Then we drove back during which time I once again got slightly car sick and arrived at the hotel at around 9:30 p.m.
I haven't felt this exhausted in ages. I still have to plan for my lesson tomorrow, we have to teach the first portion of the workshop in Spanish to everyone tomorrow and I still need to translate some things and definitely practice it all. Becky and I were practicing in the van and my Spanish wasn't quite as rusty as I thought it would be, I feel a lot better about the upcoming teaching in Spanish experience in Ecuador, but not so confident about tomorrow. Becky is feeding me to the dogs, she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning for her broken elbow and so I will have to teach by myself. Eek. It's past 11 p.m and I will just wake up around 6:30 to go over the materials. If everyday is like this I am going to be a walking zombie by the time I get to Guayaquil. Speaking of which, I am more and more excited to get there with each passing hour.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Beginning of the End
Welp, here I am sitting on my full-sized bed in U of U guest housing. It was a hard week leading up to this moment. There were so many last minute shopping trips, phone calls to banks, credit card companies, scholarship offices, internship training, a 170 mile round trip to the hospital near Ogden where I could get my immunization for free on base, a visit to a different hospital to visit my grandmother, an yet another visit to a 3rd hospital to get my broken finger x-rayed again, lots of packing and sorting, applying for graduation, and spending time with friends, trying to say hi and good-bye all at once since everyone has just returned to Provo for a new school year, many of whom have recently returned from missions and I was seeing for the first time in 2 years. All of this combined for a busy week that culminated today into one big stress fest for me full of conflicting feelings.
Now that I have myself and my luggage sitting in my hotel room, with training beginning in the morning, I am feeling much better. It's done, I have left Provo. I am officially on my internship. I am still of course nervous and anxious, and at times question my sanity for leaving the country for the 2nd time this year, this time to live in a 3rd world country teaching workshops that people are depending on to help them change their lives for the better, in a language that I only started learning 18 months ago. A one word description of my feelings: Inadequate. But, I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I am going to try to increase my faith and dependence on the Savior, especially as it relates to Him helping my weaknesses become my strengths.
Now for tying in the title of this post. This really is the beginning of the end, I am in my 4th year at BYU. I will walk the stage and participate in graduation ceremonies in April, only 8 months from now, but will actually take my last 6 credits Spring term, officially ending my undergraduate career at the end of June. I'm very excited, especially to see where this internship and the things I learn on it will take me in life. I will have to begin applying for jobs in the real world, upon my return. This is an intimidating and yet exciting prospect. But, I promised myself I would take one thing at a time, so I will refrain from talking about post-graduation plans anymore. I'm just gonna focus on Ecuador right now and worry about the rest when I get back.
It's 11p.m. and I have to wake up at 6 a.m. so I should probably get going. Time flies, I'm gonna be in Guayaquil Saturday night before I know it.
Now that I have myself and my luggage sitting in my hotel room, with training beginning in the morning, I am feeling much better. It's done, I have left Provo. I am officially on my internship. I am still of course nervous and anxious, and at times question my sanity for leaving the country for the 2nd time this year, this time to live in a 3rd world country teaching workshops that people are depending on to help them change their lives for the better, in a language that I only started learning 18 months ago. A one word description of my feelings: Inadequate. But, I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I am going to try to increase my faith and dependence on the Savior, especially as it relates to Him helping my weaknesses become my strengths.
Now for tying in the title of this post. This really is the beginning of the end, I am in my 4th year at BYU. I will walk the stage and participate in graduation ceremonies in April, only 8 months from now, but will actually take my last 6 credits Spring term, officially ending my undergraduate career at the end of June. I'm very excited, especially to see where this internship and the things I learn on it will take me in life. I will have to begin applying for jobs in the real world, upon my return. This is an intimidating and yet exciting prospect. But, I promised myself I would take one thing at a time, so I will refrain from talking about post-graduation plans anymore. I'm just gonna focus on Ecuador right now and worry about the rest when I get back.
It's 11p.m. and I have to wake up at 6 a.m. so I should probably get going. Time flies, I'm gonna be in Guayaquil Saturday night before I know it.
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