As you can see by my title, we have been in Ecuador for a month as of Friday, February 4th. I think since my last post the most exciting thing that happened was our trip to Ibarra. Ibarra is a little town about two hours from Tulcán and is also the closest town to Tulcán that has a big grocery store. Ashawnte and I decided to go there on Saturday the 5th because we wanted to get some food that we aren’t able to get here (ground meat, mac n cheese, cheddar cheese, etc.) So we went in service Saturday morning then came home and got ready to leave for Ibarra. We took a taxi to the bus terminal and were on the bus by 1:00. The bus was headed to Quito (the city we flew into) but you have to go through Ibarra to get to Quito.
We ended up going through three police checks, which is very common for buses because of all of the passengers and all of the luggage underneath. The first police check took about 10 minutes - not bad at all. Then we get to the second one. That one took about 45 minutes because the police checked the luggage and there were these huge boxes all taped up that they had to open up and see what was inside. Apparently they didn’t like what they saw, so they got on the bus, found the owner of the boxes, took him off of the bus and took him somewhere - no one knows where. Haha!! So we were off again. Then about 20 minutes later we hit another police check! This time the policeman got on the bus to check our I.Ds. There was a man sitting directly behind me and Ashawnte and yet again, the policeman must not have liked what he saw because he took this man off of the bus thinking he was Columbian and not Ecuadorian. So the bus pulls off, and we see the man they pulled off the bus running alongside the bus trying to get back on.
Finally we arrived in Ibarra. It was about 4:30 by the time we got there. So we went to grab a bite to eat at Tropi Burger (it’s like an Ecuadorian Burger King) and started shopping. Buy the time we got back on the bus to Tulcán it was right around 6:00. It gets dark here at 6:30, so we just made it on the bus in time so we didn’t have to stand in the dark to wait for another bus. But there was one problem; the bus was standing room only. So here we are, standing on the bus with these huge bags with all of our groceries in them, hitting people on both sides because the bus is driving so wildly through the mountains. Finally two seats together open up and me and Ashawnte get to sit down. About a half hour later the bus stops and just about everyone gets off the bus! There were only five people left on the bus. Me, Ashawnte, a man by himself, and a couple sitting behind us. It’s now dark and we are praying they don’t get off of the bus. 10 minutes goes by - the man by himself gets off. Then about 15 more minutes - the couple gets off. So It is now just me and Ashawnte by ourselves on this huge bus that is “supposed” to be heading to Tulcán. We ride that way for about a half hour, then finally two men get on the bus. Scary, but somewhat relieving knowing that we weren’t the only ones on the bus anymore. Then they get off. OK, back to panic mode! Haha!! Then finally people start getting on the bus and we start to see signs for San Miguel, Huaca, and Julio Andrade. Once we see those signs we started to calm down because we knew we were still on the right bus. By the time we got home it was about 9:30. Talk about crazy!!
Well, on the other side of things, service is great here. I keep getting placed with all of these young sisters, not understanding why. Not that I don’t like it, but I’m wondering when I’ll get to be with someone a little more my age or older. Haha! I just worked with Maria Laura the other day, she is 13 years old and she wants to start regular pioneering in April. She is trying really hard to prove she can do it now with her time because she is still in school. It’s amazing! I went on a study with her the other day too. For a 13 year old you would think she was 30 the way she conducted! We went on some more studies the other day too. We got to participate in that one, read scriptures, read paragraphs, and even ask the student some questions. Things are starting to improve! We are getting super excited!!!
Oh and for all of you brothers out there, Ashawnte and I played basketball the other day with some friends. You wouldn’t believe how good some of these sisters are! And they are only 10 and 15!!! Haha!! You should come take a trip down here to see everything! I know every single one of you would love it here. Well, I have to go for now. Hope to write again soon! Love and miss all of you!!
Te quiero mucho!
