santa lucia, supermaxi y happy panda

i had a pretty fantastic saturday yesterday. i got home from night shift at like 7:15, and spent my morning sleeping and reading. betty made us the most delicious lunch of chicken and rice, obvi.

then abby, cassie and i were in charge of planning the activity for the casas we visited on our afternoon shift with amber. cassie's brilliant little mind came up with making hats out of construction paper, scissors, glue, stickers and markers. the kids absolutely loved it. after we visited the four casas, we got to play outside with the kids for half an hour or so. i love them.

when we got back from shift, five of us went to the movie stores. let me tell you about movie stores in ecuador. they have almost every movie on the planet, and they get new movies made like a day after they're released in theaters. it's so awesome. and the best part? one movie costs $1.50.

cassie, abby, keena and i wanted to go out for dinner, so we went to happy panda. first of all, we had a terribly difficult time getting to the place, even though i gave the taxi drive near perfect directions. there's something so weird about asians speaking spanish. i'm not sure how i feel about it.

we figured that since the place was called "happy panda" it would be commercialized and, well, american-ish. i can assure you it was not. the portions were so small. and we left less than satisfied. also, most chinese restaurants give you fortune cookies with your check. well in ecuador, they give you cough drops.

the end.

la mitad del mundo

soo today i went to the middle of the world

you know, the equator

and it was soo unbelievably fantastic

we also went to the artisian market

and bought lots of wonderful things

so far i've found things for conner and hadley

but i'm still looking for my mom, and maybe tom

here are some pictures from my day

one week down

a week ago tonight i was getting into ecuador. it feels like a lot longer than that. but i'm happy it's going by slowly. i already don't ever want to leave here. today was the first day i haven't had a morning shift. and though it was a nice break, i'm kinda missing the babies that i spend so much time with. in the little hallway between mine and ariels, and cassie and abbys room, is a stack of notebooks for each child we work with. and they are filled with letters from osso volunteers to the babies. i got through about 4 of them this morning and started bawling my eyes out so i had to stop. i can't believe how much i already love them. sometimes they will pee and poo on me, and sometimes they will throw a fit when they don't get their way, but they will always have my heart. i know that this is where i should be right now, and this is what i should be doing. being here, and working with little orphans all day every day also makes me realize how grateful and blessed i am to have grown up with parents and family that loves me and takes care of me and wants the best for me. but i want these babies to grow up knowing that they too had a family that loved them and took care of them. and i'm happy that we get to be that family for them. i love them. and they have completely stolen my heart.

16 years ago today

guys its my sisters birthday

my baby sister

shes 16 today

what the?

when did this happen?

im not okay with her growing up

i dont like it

she needs me less

and i miss her more

but heres to hoping she has the best day

la verdad

"there is no greater Christ-like act than holding a fatherless boy by the hand or looking a motherless girl in the eyes"

-president thomas s. monson

sometimes i have to remind myself of this when the work is hard or i feel like giving up, because it's not all fun and games. i'm here for the children. it's all for them. when i remember that, even the worst day will seem easier.

my corazon está en ecuador

i seeeriously love it here. i feel like i've said that at least 473824789 times, but i really really do. today i had the morning shift. so we left the house at 6:40 (well, we were supposed to, but angel was running late so we left at like 7) and went to SVP.

i worked with cassie and abby and ariel, my favorites. i was with the oldest kids today. they're so precious. and i'm surprised how smart some of them are. there's this little girl sara and we were playing with the binoculars. she was looking through them at me and i was like "donde estoy?" (meaning "where am i?") and she goes "allá allá!" (which means "there there!") and needless to say, i was impressed.

tonight, abby, cassie, ariel and i were in charge of making dinner for the house. we planned to make chicken and rice and vegetables, but after seeing the bloody raw chicken in the fridge, we decided to have breakfast for dinner, and instead had eggs, pancakes, french toast, and biscuits. it was delish.

also, i watched the holiday today. i would just like to say that i absolutely loooove that movie, i also am passionately in love with jude law. he's just so ridiculously good looking, i can't stand it. i cried though. embarrassing, i know, especially cause i've never ever cried during that movie. but i have found that ecuador makes me emotional. so i cried in the scene where arthur walks into the auditorium and sees all the people there to recognize him. sorry that i'm a baby.

that's all really. i just love this place. and i'm staying so busy. but i wouldn't have it any other way :)

good to know

so, here in ecuador, there are a few very important things you learn after only a few hours of being here... they are the following;

never, i repeat, never drink the tap water

ecuadorians do NOT believe that pedestrians have the rightaway

only flush number 1 and number 2, tp and other products go in the trash next to the toilet

don't eat anything that comes out of the ground unless washed/boiled

there are no speed limits

you will be woken up every morning at 6 by barking dogs

if you have light hair and light skin, you will stick out like a sore thumb

that's all i can think of right now... but i'm learning more every day. today was our first day at the orphanages. i'll go more into detail later. and here's a preview of our night last night :)