los fotos

this is a good picture of judy (maria's mom), me, and maria at the airport in Manta, on my way to go back to Quito...I had such a nice time at their house..it was a really great Thanksgiving break...even without the traditional feast :)
In Portoviejo, the town where Maria and her family live, (about 30 minutes from the Pacific), there is a large market, called Chile...where there are tons of vendors, and people selling anything from belts to chickens for $1.25 :) this picture is taken at Chile...and i wanted to take my picture with these boys becuase they were selling the drinks...and you could just buy a little poured in a plastic cup for 10 cents...i guess its nice if you dont want to spend a dollar on a bottle :) the boys were wondering what i was going to do with their picture :)
above is a picture of me and denise...a girl who I met at church...this night we were riding in the back of a truck with rachel and elizabeth ..and rodrigo and dan on our way to Puyo for some dinner...it was really fun :)

well...only 9 more days until I am home...crazy to think about! i am excited to just relax and enjoy the states and all its conveniences..unlike ecuador at times :) also while i am home, i will need to make a decision of whether or not i am going to stay and teach for another year....so well see!! walk with faith.............

domingo loco

well, tomorrow starts another school week, only 2 more school weeks left!!! i am really excited...but much work has to be done before then!

today was a fun and busy day...a lot of cooking for different things here..i may have mentioned before, but every sunday night, all of us singles here get together and fix a big meal for our ecuadorian friends who we know from church and work...all togheter, there are about 17 of us each week..its fun...but a lot of planning and cooking each week..tonight we fixed: hamburgers, homemade mac and cheese, carrots, fruit salad, baked fries, and a dessert..it was a lot of work...but fun! its all worth it in the end...plus people usually switch off sundays..and split up the dishes between all of us..it will be interesting to see what happens when a lot of the american singles leave! i guess well see when the time comes...

try not to get too stressed over the holidays! give it all to the lord, who provides it all

ecudorian problems...

well, to leave the country..i must have a salida, which is a little peice of paper that says i can leave the country...so, i went with a few ladies yesterday to get it...easy, right? wrong. another document a foreigner needs is a censo..which is an ecuadorian ID card...but no one from HCJB, my mission, ever told me I needed one! and if they did, they were really laid back about it...saying i could just get one whenever i had time...so I too had that attidude..
well, when i was giving the police guy my passport..he was looking at my visa and asking when i got into the country....and i told him july..etc, etc...so then he had a problem because he said i should have gotten my censo a long time ago...and i will have to pay a fine of 200 DOLLARS! mind you, this is only a 30 day old rule..which says you have to get a censo within the first 30 days that you are in the country....so i should be under the old rules, right? the old fine was only 40 cents! now, they are jacking everything up...so today, i am going back with a friend to 1st...maybe try to see if theres any other way around it...2nd to pay the fine, get my salida and censo so i can get out of here for christmas!! :)

on another note...right now in shell, there are tons of activities going on...im not sure exactly for what..but there are 33 activities occuring in 3 days...there was this parade in town that was really neat...the ecuadorians really put a lot of work into their dances and costumes!
last night, me, rachel, elizabeth, dan, rodrigo, and denisse went to puyo to get some dinner...to go..which consists of putting your food in a really small plastic bag! you dont get a large styrofoam container with everything separated...the chicken, fries, lettuce, sauce, and miniature fork goes all into it :) an experience...we also rode to puyo in rodrigo's truck...which was fun becuase us girls rode in the back of the truck..i felt like i was on a motorcycle..it was fun!
well, i am looking forward to going home..whitney davis( one of my best friends from high school/growing up) set her wedding date with jon macafee for september 1, 2006! crazy...maybe the 1st from NEWD to get married...really crazy to think about :) but its exciting too!

have to go to school and prepare for the next couple of weeks...trying to get on top of things so when i get back from break...wont have too much to worry about :) all of the teachers can understand...

hope all of you are well! its weird being in the christmas season here..because it is hot...no feeling of the season really..but it will hit me when i get in to chicago!