Wonderful Visit to Guayaquil

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, I got to take off for a couple days and head south to the coastal, port city of Guayaquil. We left on Sunday morning and had a VERY eventful trip to the south. So for those of you who envision paved, closed access roads like the Interstate system....think again. The roads are maintained by private companies who make money off toll boothes along the way. Therefore, some of the roads are TERRIBLE because no business can make a profit off of it. Also, the road do not always bypass the cities as the interstates do. Instead, you get lost for hours in a city trying to find your way around. So in all we got lost in Latacunga, Ambato, and Guayaquil at least once during this trip, as well as one long mistake where we missed a turn and starte going to Cuenca on accident. One huge problem is lack of road signs. You come to a traffic circle that says right to Ambato...which then leads to another circle with no such instructions. 33% chance of being right isn't really the best odds.

But anyway, we finally made it to Guayaquil on Monday morning, (we spent the night as planned at and OMS Camp in a small village called Pallatanga.) This is the day I was really looking forward to because it was the day I was going to get to see Bekah. Well, we had to follow a taxi to our said destination for BJ's meeting and once we got there we bartered with him for a price to take me to Malecón (a large park like area on the river in Guayaquil) where I was going to meet Bekah. On the way I was talking with the taxi driver and was so happy, I could understand a lot of what he was saying and communicate fairly well with him. I was thinking to myself, "man, if this is the coastal spanish everyone is afraid of then I am doing pretty good!" Well my hopes were shattered when I asked the the guy if he lived in Guayaquil all his life. "No, soy de Riobomba" (No I am from Riobomba) That would be a town in the sierra...where I am. So, he spoke slowly like everyone from there. So I wasn't as well off as I thought. Anyway he was apparently a Christian because when I mentioned I was a missionary he said, "oh, un hermanito", or oh a brother. But the form hermanito in this sense doesn't necessarily mean little brother but just a more affectionate term for brother. So that was pretty cool. But he asked me how long I would be there, where I would be living, and what I would be doing. So it was really cool to get to talk to them. I love when that happens, I wish I could just make myself do it more often.

After this he delivered me to the Malecón where I waited for a few minutes on Bekah. It was great to see her and to just get to walk around the area and look at stuff together. It was SO hot though. Together we went through 5 bottles of water during this day and then chugged more when we got to the Hickey's house. At the Malecón there is a beautiful garden filled with native plants and all. We wondered around it for a while and long story short, we left the garden engaged. (Sorry, not many detail from me). So then we went and had some lunch at a food court type thing and headed up the Santa Anna hill. Which was quite steep. It rivalled anything I've climed so far in Quito (even though that will probably change when I head to Pichincha). We then went to the crafts market and wandered around there for a while.

After all of this we went back to the garden and just sat there for a while then Pastor Curtis came and picked us up and took us back to their house for dinner. While we were waitng for dinner we took a walk around the area, it was so nice. Then we had dinner. It was amazing. I had missed mashed potatoes and salad with ranch dressing SO much you can't even start to imagine. After this we spent some more time together and then I had to go. They took me into the city to try to get a cab to Casa Alianza where I would be staying the night. We found a guy but it was a pirate cab so Curtis told us not to so we went over to a hotel and one of their cabbies took me. He knew the community but not the place so I had to tell him I had no idea where he was going. It was during this trip that I realized that I did not understand coastal spanish. :-( Oh well. Maybe next time. Eventually he found it and we had agreed on 7 dollars but all I had was a ten. When I handed it to him he just said Gracias (thanks) and looked away. I figured he did have to ask for directions 3 or 4 times on the street so I guess he deserved it (or at least that was my excuse for not argueing over it, I know I got took but oh well. I didn't want to argue).

Long story short, we left, got lost in Guayaquil once, then made it back safe and sound but a little late on Tuesday. So that's may story. I went, I'm now engaged!!!!!!!!!, and now I'm back to the routine.