Catching Up!

I know I have been falling down in on my posting but life has been a big blur as our time in Ecuador winds down. Having made the decision that we really want to make Cuenca our home we have been trying to find someplace to live when we return as we will return with our dog, Iggy.

We connected with Bill McDonald the director of Unsion, a Christian TV station in Cuenca. We toured the studio and had lunch with Bill and part of his staff. What a blessing! They have a wonderful ministry in Ecuador which also includes a counseling service. Bill invited us to church on Sunday the 22nd. We visited a wonderful fellowship and as Bill was the guest speaker at both services we spent the morning with them. What a blessing and so much love . I was asked to share my testimony and Bill translated.

Two fellows from Georgia were here in Cuenca helping at the station to install new software and other equipment. We all went to church and then out to a fabulous lunch. The platters on the table are full of various cuts of beef, pork, sausage, and chicken.


Monday was house hunting day again. We did not find anything but that night back at the hotel we celebrated Jim and Carolyn's move out of Casa Ordonez into their new condo with a dinner of double cheeseburger! What a group!

Alberto told us he had a lead on a house for us so we had an appointment with Luis to see it on Tuesday. We were reminded by some new friends in North Carolina that God is always on time.




Tuesday morning Alberto took us to see the house. What a great house! It is 5 bedrooms ,2 1/2 baths, a huge living room, huge dining room, huge kitchen, and yes Iggy will have a yard!









Papers were signed and the house will be painted and cleaned while we head for Oregon to pack! Had a little time on my hands to went and got my hair cut for $4




It was our turn to celebrate so off to a special dinner with the gang from Casa Ordonez at Tiestos. What a dinner there were platters of swordfish and seafood and beef tenderloin. What a great last night in Cuenca!!!!











Wednesday was travel to Guayaquil. Since we had flown to Cuenca at the beginning of our trip we decided to hire a van to take us to Guayaquil. After a round of hugs and Ecuadorian style kisses we loaded into the van. What a trip! The road is about three lanes wide with no lines and goes through Cajas National Park which is part of the Andes and amazing. These picture can not capture the size of this place!!! Drivers in Ecuador are something else, they pass on blind curves and don't know the meaning of yield.












The trip took about 3.5 hours and we arrived at Guayaquil in time for a wonderful lunch at the Unipark Hotel followed by a walk in the Central Park across the street to visit the Iguanas. Yes, in the middle of the largest city in Ecuador (over 2 million people) there are iguanas wandering in the park. There are turtles too!



















Today we flew to Miami, this is Guayaquil from the air.

We will spend two nights in Miami as I was not paying attention to the itinerary when I selected it and thus the two nights here before heading to Portland via Dallas on Saturday.

I have so many thoughts about all this it is hard to put into words. Cuenca, Ecuador is a wonderful place, with a great climate, beautiful people, healthy food, and a pace of life that we need and want. There is a wonderful opportunity for ministry and we are so excited.

What is funny being back in the States is being able to flush toilet paper, speaking English to taxi drivers, watching TV in English (it has not gotten any better while we were gone), not walking to the little tienda for crackers and cheese, and missing new friends. We are anxious to see old friends and family Sunday and not looking forward to Hasta Luego when we get it all together and return to Cuenca, hopefully in November.

We will keep the post up with the adventure of getting it all together with paperwork for visas and all the rest....stay tuned the adventure continues!