¡Estoy Aquí!

First off, ¿cómo estas? You like the accent marks? Courtesy of a Spanish keyboard. I am having trouble finding the question mark? haha

Welp, I am officially in Ecuador! The flights were awesome, I did not have an ounce of fear or worry the entire time, even when our flight was delayed in Quito for five hours. God answers sincere prayers. :) I flew from Salt Lake (meeting a dad and his son at the airport at 4:20 am) to Dallas to Miami to Quito! Mi favorita was the sunrise on the Salt Lake flight - have you ever been above the clouds, looking at them turn gold and pink with the sunrise? EXquisite! My other favorite was landing in Quito. It was late at night and so all the street lights were lit up and I could see that they were rising with the hills of Quito! So cool. Once we landed in Quito we went through customs where I got to wrangle my three heavy "suitcase children" (as I call them) through security. haha. For the record, I feel like most of that poundage was from peanut butter and cheddar cheese. They don´t have it here and it was pretty much the first thing on the packing list. haha. Oh, and also books. I brought like fifteen. They are my solace! That night we stayed in Quito and it was grate(d cheese). I loved the first bus ride; everything was so new and exciting! And it probably should had been scary, but I am naïve. And I feel like since God called me here He will look out for me. :) The next morning...turned afternoon...we got on a plane to Cuenca! We met our people there and got taken to the house in Cuenca where the other volunteers pretty much thronged us and took our bags! And stole our passports and dentures! haha. Just kidding. It was great. We got shown around the house (actually two connected five-story houses) and met our awesome new surrogate parents, a cute Ecuadorian couple! They are so cool! I got settled in to my room and met my roommates, unpacked, and wrote in my journal a few goals I have while I´m here. One being waking up every morning to do a little devotional (a spiritual vitamin for the day, if you will) before I go to work with los niños. Ay, ¡los niños! Qué preciosos. Me encantan los already. Today (my second morning on a completely different continent, mind you) was my first day working con los niños! I work two shifts a day. The one in the morning goes from 7 til 12, then we have a 2-hour break to come home and eat, and then we go back out from 2 until 6! The spirit in the orphanages is awesome. Which is to be expected when you are surrounded by the best spirits on Earth. They are so loving! The place where I worked this morning has my favorite kids already, I´m convinced. One part of the shift we got to out with them and just play for about an hour, and while we were out there I caught a glimpse of myself in the window holding one of los niños. If it´s true that the Spirit makes us beautiful, then that´s what I saw. I was taken back a bit to see the spirit that shone through my face. Definitely the light of Christ. I looked so happy with a little niño on my hip, and it seriously would have been one of my most treasured pictures of my life. These kids are so willing to love, and so am I. Who couldn´t? I am so happy just being able to have little baby on my hip or feed sopa to a little kid or kiss a toddler on the head. (All of which I have done here already! What a privilege!) I have never seen this side of myself, because I have never really had a chance to! This is seriously life-changing already, to see that I do have the ability to nurture, and that I LOVE doing it. And it is grate(d cheese) to be able to share it with fifteen other volunteers. I hope I get to know them better and become really good friends with them. :)

I feel like I have had more life experience in these last 48 hours than in many years of my life. haha. It is incredible how quickly life can change. :)

P.S. I changed the first diaper of my life today! Alright! :D

I Love Babies!

Can I just say that there are not many things better than getting a group hug from the coolest little kids this world has seen?

This song totally describes this fast-approaching trip. It's called "While We're Young" and it makes Mama and me cry. :)

I haven't had a lot of experience with little kids, but I still love them! They are all precious, and I see such potential in all of them! They are the greatest examples of Christlike love that we have in this world. No wonder Christ told the children to come unto Him; they are so alike. In fact, I could sure learn a lot faster how to be Christlike if I just walked into primary! haha

I hope to be called childlike someday, because they are the greatest. No contest. :)

I am so lucky! :D

Dos Semanas

Can I say that I can't feel my feet? The blood stopped flowing to them when I looked over my itinerary! This is so crazy! I'm actually doing this!

The scary part: I am flying from Salt Lake to Dallas and from Dallas to Miami by myself. I'm a pilot's daughter! I can do this! haha. Maybe Dad can pretend to fly for American Airlines for a day...haha

The good news! I'm flying with three other OSSO girls from Miami to Quito, and the flight is only four hours long! Woot!

Ahh, the details make this so real. I am grateful that OSSO is SO incredibly organized. :) On the itinerary they have listed pretty much anything that could go wrong and what to do if it happens, along with several numbers of calm adults. :)

The other good news! Tonight at a Personal Progress recognition dinner, I met a family whose daughter worked in Cuenca with OSSO! And they said that the phone lines are open every night. Which I will definitely be needing the first week I'm here. haha

Phew. I needed to type out those thoughts. Does anyone have suggestions on what to do when stress builds up in your life? I'm sure it will, and since there are no private places to scream out the frustration, something else will have to do. haha. Exercise has worked for me at college; hopefully I will have the energy and running buddies to make it happen! :D

Hasta luego!

palabra del día: fe (faith) What I will be practicing very soon, if not starting now. :)

Tres Semanas

Donations are still coming in! Thank you everyone!

You are still very welcome to donate to OSSO as the children are in the need of specific supplies! I will have a hand in getting those supplies when I get there - cool, huh? Information for making donations can be found at http://www.orphanagesupport.org/donors.html.

Other updates: I have been sent an OSSO sweatshirt, which means I am official! haha. Other good news! I learned how to make an authentic Ecuadorian soup called locro. It is super good, like creamy potato soup - and easy too! Here's the recipe:

4 Tbsp butter
1 tsp sweet paprika
4 cups water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated
salt

Heat the butter in a large pot and then add the paprika whilst stirring. Saute the onion the butter. Add water, boil. Put the potatoes in (the smaller they are, the quicker they will cook) and reduce heat, allowing the potatoes to simmer uncovered, stirring every now and then. (At this point I use a "potato masha" to break up the potatoes more.) Just before the potatoes are cooked through, add the milk and cream, stirring occasionally until the potatoes start to break up. Add the cheese and salt to taste, stir it up, and enjoy!

My philosophy is that if something doesn't taste good it just needs more butter, sugar, or salt. Luckily locro is delicious already. haha

Also, I have been learning Spanish. Although I've taken five years of Spanish classes, I am sure that I am still considered a gringa language-wise. But! I do know how to say slobber: las babas. That will be very helpful. :) And I bought un Libro de Mormón! Exciting. :)

Ecuador is coming up quick! I'm so excited!

Palabra del día: la tiza (chalk)