My Journey to Ecuador

I'm sorry I have become quite lazy with posting on my blog. It's been a busy few weeks. I have been to Ecuador and back and have lived to tell about it! So that is what I will tell you about first. I took almost 600 pictures, so I will try to add a few to enhance my story. :) 

On February 27, we left the Atlanta airport on a direct flight to Quito, Ecuador.

The flight was fine... just a little bumpy in the air, but that was alright. We got to Quito to find this nice line to get through customs...

So we got through the line and headed off to find our luggage. All the luggage and medical supplies made it, and we finally got out of the airport. We took a short bus ride over to our hotel... Hotel Tambo Real!!

These are my wonderful roommates (Abbe and Katie) who took such great care of me that week- we'll get to that story later...

So we settled in our hotel and called it a night. Sunday, we got up and headed to the equator. Quito is right on the equator, so you can do all these fun tricks that don't work anywhere else except right on the equator. My favorite thing was standing an egg upright on the top of a nail.

How cool?! Here is a big nursing school group picture at the equator.

We went to another equator monument that gave a beautiful view of the mountains.

After the equator, we went to church at "Mama Yoly's House." The pastor preached in Spanish and we had a translator so we could understand. The children sang a song and danced which was so incredible to see. I love seeing our Lord worshiped in different languages... I can't really explain why, but there is just something so unique and special to see brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world. We took a tour of the daycare at the church and I made a friend... this is Monica!

She just walked up to me and gave me a hug and then just wanted to hold my hand and walk around with me. She was so precious!!

Then... it was time to start the women's clinic on Monday!! We ran a women's health clinic Monday-Friday from about 9-4. The women registered, went through triage (to get blood pressure, temperature, height, weight, etc.), sat through an education session, had a physical exam done, and got medications from the pharmacy. Needless to say, it was busy!! We were assigned to a different area each day to work in. We also did a VBS type thing with kids who came. We ran the clinic and the VBS at a local church. Here are a few pictures from throughout the week.

Teaching on Monday with the roommates!

With our fearless leader, KJ! :)

We were rewarded for our first day of work with these amazing suckers!! We were pumped! haha!

Tuesday... I unfortunately woke up in the middle of the night sick. Not fun at all, but I had 2 wonderful roommates who took great care of me... even at 2:00 AM. I will tell you this- the Sprite in Ecuador is not like the Sprite in America. And therefore, it does not settle your stomach. But thank you to the man at the front desk for delivering it at 3:00 AM! :) Just a warning for those who may one day go to Ecuador and get sick.

This is a re-enactment of Tuesday. I got a Phenergan (nausea medicine) shot and it made me verrry sleepy. So most of the day Tuesday, I was laying on this little pallet.

Wednesday was much better, and I was with the kids!! We actually had teenage girls, so we talked with them about abstinence and things like that. These are a few of the beautiful girls we talked to!

Thursday, I was with the nurse practitioner helping to do examinations on the women. This is Mrs. Penny, the NP I worked with. She was soooo wonderful and hilarious! I'm so thankful for the experience I had working with her. Thanks, Mrs. Penny!!
That night... Dr. Contreras (the doctor we worked with in Ecuador) took us all out to dinner at "The Windows." The whole restaurant has windows all around it with an amazing view of the city. After dinner, we got to go on the roof and take pictures and just enjoy the view.

I love these girls so much!! Nursing school would not have been the same with y'all!

After dinner at "The Windows," we got to go on a party bus!! haha! Here is a visual for you-

We got a little tour of the town with the band playing on top. I started out sitting on the back row of the bus, and then rode standing up on the back on the way back to the hotel. Needless to say, it was sooo much fun!! Thank you to Dr. Contreras for giving us such a fun gift!

On Friday, we had our last day at the clinic. It was so bittersweet leaving the last day... the people were so incredibly grateful and it was so wonderful to be able to minister to people in such great need. They said that we were an answer to their prayers... how humbling!! I was so moved that the Lord chose us to go and make a difference in their lives, when they really made a difference in our lives. The Lord never ceases to amaze me... how He chooses to mold and shape us into the men and women He wants us to be through experiences and situations He puts in our path. I am so thankful God allowed me to be a part of this trip. He opened my eyes to so many things that I could have never learned here at home in Auburn, Alabama. Oh, what a mighty God we serve! I pray the Lord will continue to give the women of Ecuador hope in Him.

Here are some memories from our last day...

Nanny, one of our amazing translators!

This is the pastor and his wife from the church where we ran the clinic

Maria Jose, Mary Jo, or MJ... love this girl!! She was another translator for us.

Friday night, we went to a restaurant called "The Magic Bean." It was so yummy!! I think we were all very sleep-deprived, so it made for a very entertaining and silly night!! :)

Me and Abbe at the Magic Bean

Here's just a little of the silliness that took place... (P.S. I hope you both see this blog and love me so much for putting this picture up!)

Saturday, we headed about 2 hours away from our hotel to the Cloud Forest to go on a zip line! Here are some great shots from the rain forest...

Me and Rachel all geared up and ready for our first line!

We had to hike a lot more than we thought... we were pretty exhausted by about the 2nd zip line (we did about 7 or 8).

This was the most terrifying platform we had to climb to get to the line. When you got to the top, the guide said, "Stand on this." He was pointing to a stump on the top level of this. I said, "Are you serious!?!?" He said "Yes"... so I did it! I'm lucky to be alive after this one! haha!

This is a view of one of the lines. It was sooo incredible! The shortest one was about 3 football fields long and the longest one was over 5 football fields long. We had such a wonderful time!! After the zip line, we took a nature hike through the forest and got to learn about all the cool trees and plants they have.

The whole trip was so incredible and I can't say enough how blessed I feel to have been a part of it. Our God is good. Our God is everywhere... even in the hurting hearts of the Ecuadorian women we ministered to. Our God can heal those hurting hearts. Our God did heal some hurting hearts. I pray He continues to move and work in the peoples' lives that He touched that week. Thank you for using us, Lord!