Serving in Cuenca, Ecuador

Friday, November 25, 2011

New Update on Boxes!


Well it's been awhile since we got back from Quito in attempt to get our boxes out of the customs in Quito and got a lawyer to start the process again with the hopes of better news. Since then the kids have started school, we continue to get busier with the work here, we bought fish, Ceara had her fifth birthday, Cuenca days went by, we bought a dog and so much more. During all of this time we have been waiting as patiently as possible on news of our boxes. After a long time we finally heard back from the lawyer. First of all, he was not able to get our boxes but he did discover that the boxes in question actually were not located in the post office that we had been to when we went to Quito. In fact, they had never even made it out of the airport customs so that was one of the major reasons we did not get our boxes when we went to Quito. Why they couldn't tell us that when we were there is a question I don't think we will ever know the answer to.
However, since the boxes never left the actual customs at the airport, this lawyer was not able to get the boxes out as he has only ever worked with the post office customs. So we have been told to hire a customs officer to get our boxes out. This means again we have to return to Quito. With the kids in school now, it makes it more difficult to get us all there so Travis is giving up his time to make the trip to Quito. He will leave on Monday morning and arrive to Quito that same morning and deliver all the paperwork to this customs officer and hopefully we will have some sort of confirmation to whether or not we can get our boxes. Travis will stay until Wednesday night just in case it takes longer to get them.
During the time that he waits, he will also attempt to get his cedula, which is our equivalent to a social security number. We all need to get this done so he will forge the way and then whenever our whole family can return to Quito then we will already know what is needed for us all to get our cedulas too.
Today, I spent the morning getting a notarized document giving Travis the rights to get our boxes, as they have my name on them and I won't be going so that the kids can continue to go to school without more interruption and to take care of them as they have both been sick. Hopefully, this document is just a formality and won't really be needed but I figure better safe then sorry. I wouldn't want him getting there and the customs saying he can't get them out as it's my name on the boxes.
Please be in prayer as he travels and talks to the people there. That God will touch the hearts of those working and that they will see that we just are looking to get our personal belongings and nothing more. We hope this will be the end of our long saga of the boxes! Please just be in prayer that we can get them and not have to continue to worry about how to get them. And pray for the safe travel of Travis while he is away from us!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Things You Hope Never To See!

Tarantula,_Attacking_Position,_Photo_by_Sascha_Grabow.jpg (760×760)
One of the things that I never really wanted to see in my life was a tarantula! But not that long ago Travis called me to the bottom floor of our house and told me that Nuvia had caught a weird bug. When I got to the bottom floor I found a dead tarantula on the floor which Nuvia had caught hiding in a corner of the room under my sewing machine. I couldn't believe that I had seen one and that it was caught in my house. Of course the next few days I was paranoid in finding another and moved the sewing machine so there was no place to hide but if one came in then maybe there would be more. We live next to a house that has a overgrown yard so Nuvia told us it probably came from there. A few days later, Calen came running into the house saying he saw a spider. Not thinking I ran outside expecting a little one on the ground and there along the far wall was another tarantula. Travis took a video of me killing the spider with raid and a broom. Hopefully, we won't have to do that again! Fortunately our neighbors finally cut down all the crazy overgrown plants and we haven't seen any for awhile now so hopefully their hiding places are now gone and they will look for a different overgrown area to live. But definitely not a thing that I wished to see in my life time. But don't worry for those who hope to visit we are prepared to kill all spiders and won't make you live on the bottom floor of our place. Haha! Just beware of overgrown plants!

School Play Day


PA290054, originally uploaded by A Family On A Mission.

At almost every school in Ecuador, they start the year off by having a play day where everyone including the parents go to watch the kids do a little program at their school. Ceara's school held one of these days which was an experience for us. Each class made a special shirt and paraded around the school. They voted on a princess and prince for their class and they wore their most formal clothes and were cheered on as they tried to decide the king and queen of the school. They all won in the end but was fun to see them all dressed up nice. The parents had to sell food one the day and I got to serve desserts for about 30 minutes during that time. It was good to meet some of the other parents and to help in some way at her school. As well, a few classes choreographed a danced and performed for the parents. Ceara's class did a little performance and it was lots of fun watching Ceara as she loves to dance. If you want to see the video check it out on our flickr site. It was definitely a cultural experience for us and fun to see Ceara interacting with her friends at school.

A Date With The Pitufos/Smurfs

On November 3rd, Cuenca celebrates their independence from Spain. The week is called Cuenca days and they celebrate with parades, fairs and circuses. Everyone gets the week off of school and jobs (as long as you work for the government). We decided to take in some of these days by going downtown to see many street vendors, many parades, lots of entertainment and cultural activities. One day we took Nuvia and her kids to a small fair and enjoyed seeing the kids go on a few rides and try some Colombian foods (which technically Nuvia's parents are Colombian) that were being sold at the fair. Another day we went as a family to another fair which hosted a circus and the smurfs or pitufos as they are called here. We decided to take in the circus and enjoyed watching a few trapeze artists, some clowns and a contortionist. At the very end the Smurfs came out, danced and got pictures taken with the kids. We had bought a little package with candies and happened to win a free photo with the Smurfs. Calen was a little afraid of them but Ceara was glad to be near Smurfette. Then of course we let the kids experience a few of the rides including a kid sized ferris wheel.Overall, Cuenca days was a great way to learn a bit more about the culture of the country but more of the city and the things that the people enjoy here.

Ceara Turns Five!


PA220026, originally uploaded by A Family On A Mission.

It's hard to believe that five years ago, Ceara came into the world and changed everything. I definitely wouldn't change that day for anything and we celebrated with her five years of life. So much has changed having Ceara and she is such a joy in our lives. Ceara loves going to school, loves her friends and meeting new people. She can be stubborn and really likes things her way but in the end knows that we are the parents. She loves all things pink, purple and anything sparkly. If she could decided what to wear every day she would choose a dress or skirt and never wants to wear shoes or socks. She loves my little ponies, littlest pet shops and any sort of Barbie. She loves to draw or do crafts and never stops moving or talking. She is so much like her parents, although I'll let you decide in what ways. We love our little girl and all the ways that life has changed since she was born. Happy 5th Birthday Ceara!
We were able to celebrate her birthday here by having a party and inviting the girls from her school class and people from church or people we have met. We had a my little pony theme which she loved and enjoyed showing everyone a little bit of our Brazilian girl by having some hot dogs, Brazilian style. We played games like hot potato, pin the unicorn on the pony, pop the balloons, and find the ponies, topping it all off with a pinata! It was great to meet some of the kids from Ceara's school and to see other friends meet each other for the first time. Ceara loved every minute of the party and didn't want it to end.

Preaching in Spanish


P9250012, originally uploaded by A Family On A Mission.

When we lived in Brazil, Travis became the permanent preacher for our church with the occasional help from our team mates and the nationals. He hasn't been preaching for awhile now since going back to Canada and now here in Ecuador. In September he was finally asked to preach here at the church. He did a great job and even did well not confusing his Spanish with Portuguese. Luckily, there are quite a few nationals here that do the preaching so we know that Travis won't be doing that as much as as he did in Brazil. This will allow him more time to focus on Evangelism rather then preparing for sermons. Although I am sure that the Ecuadorians will enjoy his sermons when he's asked to do one again.

Nuvia, Hannah, Seth and Dottie


IMG_2344, originally uploaded by A Family On A Mission.

When Travis lived in Cuenca the first time about 15 years ago he knew a young girl named Nuvia who had just moved to the city as well. Travis and his team mates became really good friends with her as they were all new to the city. 15 years later we are here in Cuenca and Nuvia has returned with her three kids not that long before we got here. It is funny how God works through years and can make a connection with people from the past again.
Nuvia comes from a family of 13 kids on the coast of Ecuador in a city called Esmeraldas. When she was 16 her family asked a missionary in Cuenca to bring her to the city so that she could work and go to school, as with 13 kids they were struggling to make end meat. Nuvia finished her schooling in Cuenca and worked in the city for many years. She met her husband about nine years ago who is in the military and moved a bit throughout the country, her last home being in a place called Machala. She recently moved back to Cuenca and had been searching for steady work that allowed her to spend as much time with her kids as possible. Her two oldest are nine year old twins, Hannah and Seth. Hannah was named after one of Travis' team mates and Seth was originally named after Travis but when she went to register his name, it was too foreign of a name so they would not allow her to name him that. No matter what though, Travis was very honored to have been thought of. They are very smart, polite and never leave each other. Obviously they have a very special bond as twins. Dottie is 7 and very much an outgoing and extroverted child, so different from her siblings. Ceara and Dottie love being together and have very similar personalities that make it fun to watch them play together. Nuvia has been helping us around our house which gives me more free time to work on other stuff as well as gives her some money and the time she needs with her kids as well. Nuvia has become a great friend to me, helping me, correcting my Spanish and giving us insights on the culture and the city. Our kids love Nuvia's kids and we all spend lots of time together especially since they don't live very far away from us. It is pretty amazing that God would place her and us in the same place after so many years. And that our kids would be near the same ages and get along so well. Please pray for Nuvia and her kids as they still struggle to get by daily on Nuvia's wage and as they also adjust to being here in Cuenca.