Un Buen Comienzo

Going into today, I was nervous. Last night, as we were praying together in our campus groups, I crunched some numbers. UG has well over 100,000 students. There are four of us plus a couple of staff. I decided to tell God that around a 6:100,000 ratio is a bit ridiculous. It doesn’t make sense. He proceeded to tell me that He is actually better at math than me. I concurred, and felt a bit better.

Today, I woke up far too early in relation to when I went to bed. I was sitting on my bed, and commented on the oddness of its shaking. Turns out I FELT AN EARTHQUAKE. Not only did I feel an earthquake, but I felt an earthquake IN ECUADOR. So, in conclusion, today was worth waking up for.

Actually, there is more to today. We set off as a whole team on foot. When we got to the monument circle which we affectionately and appropriately refer to as “Butt Cheek Park” due to some giant, immodest statues, we saw the woman who we helped when we worked with IJM! It was such a surprise, as she lives quite a ways out of the city, but it was so good to see and hug her.

After Butt Cheek Park, we parted ways to go to the different universities. I paired up with Enrique to share. We were a stellar team. My height and light hair and eyes attracted attention while Enrique shared fluently. We talked to two different people and went all the way through the Four Spiritual Laws books. They both seemed a bit disinterested, but we got them information to connect them to Vida Estudiantil, if they ever want to go. I am so excited to hear more about some of the conversations that my teammates had. A couple of people came to the Lord today! Can we please just take a minute to shout out praises with the angels over the growth of our family!?  Is there anything more beautiful than lives being reconciled to their Creator?

Enrique and I met up with the rest of the team, and I ended up talking to our friend Oliver with CJ. We talked about who Jesus is, differences between Catholicism and the Evangelical Church, and other things that make me excited!  CJ did most of the talking, as they are best buddies, and as Oliver says he cannot understand me. I am working on that, in English and Spanish. For English, since I have already achieved fluency, I am trying to be more conscientious and enunciate and talk slowly. For Spanish, I am really just trying to be better. 

I allowed CJ to continue the conversation on his own, and went off with Ann, Enrique, and my new pal Kenya. Kenya is just a ball of fun and cute. Before I had known her for two minutes, she brought me a frozen chocolate covered banana with SPRINKLES on it. I was absolutely horrified to find that no one knew what sprinkles are called in Spanish.

Speaking of things that are ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING, Kenya decided to take us to see cadavers. Like people, only DEAD. We just waltzed on in there, banana pops in hand and walked right up to those deceased, shriveled bodies. There have to be some grave sanitation catastrophe that happened there. I am half blogging, half sitting here waiting to die.

On the plus side, I actually used Spanish today.

Excited about what God has in store at UG,

Jenna Breanne

Dia del Padre

This morning, we strolled past UG (Universidad de Guayaquil), all dressed up and ready for church. I sat near the front, in the group of people who chose to go interpreter-less. This seemed like a great choice for far longer than it actually was a great choice. It may have been an actual good choice during the songs, when I understood nearly everything, but once it got into the sermon I had a serious zoning problem, due to how much concentration it took to understand anything.

After church, we went to the mall to eat. THIS IS THE MOST BORING BLOG POST EVER. Sorry, inside thoughts. I got a yogurt for lunch. It was delicious. Then, I rose to go to the bathroom and the BEST THING EVER happened. In the hall leading up to the bathroom, it smelled EXACTLY like Fruit Stripe gum. You know, the gum with the zebra wrappers that doubled as tattoos that you apply by tongue? EXACT match. My nostrils promptly sent a message to my brain declaring all that is wonderful about the world.

I came back to my table where Courtney, Chris, and Andrea sat, clueless to the journey I just experienced, and said, "YOU GUYS. I just had the most JOYFUL experience and I need to share it with you." It occurred to me that this may be an odd thing to emphatically present to a group of people after returning from the bathroom, especially when it would be in your favor for these people to love you. That's alright. Loving me is a dangerous thing.

After lunch, my team went to the grocery store for the noble task of procuring peanut butter. I have learned that peanut butter is not the staple here that it is at home. Here is a brief overview of how I view peanut butter: In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the bread of life. Personally, I refer to Him, if only in my head, as the peanut butter of life. Peanut butter is a snack, a meal, a comfort in hard times, a joy in good times. On a sandwich or on a spoon, peanut butter makes life more substantial. I know others on my team feel the same way. However, I was the only one who brought my own peanut butter, at the suggestion of my exceedingly wise and beautiful mother. So all my teammates were able to get their own today, even though I offered to share.

We returned to the hotel to nap, shower, listen to music, journal, and swap life stories. My room voted to fulfill our womanly duties and make dinner for ourselves. Peanut butter and jelly. Independence in sandwich form.

The night continued with a wonderful time of prayer and praise for the whole team. We got assigned our campuses for the rest of the trip:

      UG:

        -Ann

        -Me

        -CJ

        -Courtney

     ESPOL:

        -Hannah

        -Jeremy

        -Megan

        -Helen

        -Ashley

The staff (Linsey, Chris, Andrea, Jess, and Jason) will be floating between the campuses. Just a little info to pray over.

Also, you will be pleased to know that I got to share the Four Constipated Men of the Bible song to still more blessed ears (for the record, that was a two syllable "blessed"). I feel a specific calling to spread that song to as many ears as will hear. I am so grateful for a team that has so whole-heartedly embraced it.

That brings you to right about to now, blogging here on my blogging couch. That's right couch, you aren't the floor couch anymore, you are MY blogging couch. Feel honored.

Sorry this post has been so...dreadful...detailed...difficult. Also, Father's Day shout out to my wonderful dad. Thank you for giving me experiences that have fostered in me a love of travel and culture that has made my time in Ecuador so beautiful.

Much love,
Jenna

En la Selva

Today, I slept in, and GOOD THING too, because I blogged last night into the wee hours of the morning. Blogging is great, but it is deathly addictive and time consuming. As today is a free day for the team, I awoke today at 9:45 and did a whole lot of nothing, or, as the more spiritual than I call it, “resting.”

At 12:30, we headed down to the boardwalk that runs along the river. After eating everyone’s new favorite food, shawarma, the majority of us proceeded to the selva or “jungle” for some quiet time with everyone on the team’s best friend, Jesus.  

We wound through park areas of tropical trees and beautiful flowers in all shades of red, and orange, and fire. We decided to park ourselves in a little area that curved around a pond and had benches. We settled in, reading quietly, talking to each other about the greatness of our God, or praying together.

The police patrolling the park take their jobs VERY seriously. First, they walked on a bridge across from us and told rebel child Jason to SIT UP. Nothing good happens when lying down in a park, I suppose. Later, a policeman strolled by and told me and Jeremy to GET OFF THE ROCKS. Later still, one told CJ to STOP RECLINING. Finally, the police told us to PUT OUR SHOES ON.

Here’s what I think: We were all breaking all of these rules the FIRST time he walked by. I think he went back and wrote new rules between each visit, and then returned to us to enforce them.

The police were not the only ones who stopped on the bridge. So did Ecuadorians, occasionally even snapping a photograph. Here is your part, dear reader: I want to know what YOU would do with photographs of white college kids reading their Bibles if you were an Ecuadorian. Would you hang them on your refrigerator? Would you make a white college kids reading their Bibles calendar? Would you post them on your Facebook entitled “A day at the zoo”? Or something else altogether. I want to know.

Photo credit to Megan :)

Abrazos y besos,

Jenna

Las Aventuras Pequeñas

I am a lover of details that make my day. Other than that, I am a lover of very few other details. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the details that have made my time in Ecuador what it is.

1.     Roosters. I am currently sitting on a couch in the largest city in the entire country. And still, in the morning, I hear ROOSTERS crowing. All of those children's books that tell you roosters are farm animals who live just to charmingly awaken their hardworking farmer owners each morning? Totally romanticized. Roosters are city folk. Loud, rude, city folk.

2.     Disney Princesses. Tonight, our whole team told each other which Disney Princess we would be and why. I, along with some of the guys, would (obviously) be Rapunzel. I think that it is pretty clear that her character was based off of me. Generally, these types of questions are used for icebreakers. However, my team has assembled to address such serious issues, though it is long after the ice has been shattered and then torched into a melted mess. (Por ejemplo:  Would you rather have hot dog or scissor fingers? What is your favorite form of transportation? What is the weirdest face you can make?)

3.     Garbage Trucks. We have noticed vehicles on the streets at night, blaring music that sounds like it comes from the Island of Misfit Toys in the Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas special. What a terrifying ice cream truck, we all thought, some of us consciously, and some of us subconsciously. Turns out, it is not the ice cream truck, but rather the GARAGE truck. So, a bit of heart-to-heart advice, don’t approach the music with a mile wide grin and a dollar in hand.

4.     Nice Cream. Find a cuter name for an ice cream place and tell me. I triple dog dare you.

5.     Elevators.  For one, there are the aforementioned dancing Indian amigos. You may not know this, but elevator shafts are actually the best way for sound to travel. As I blog, music from floors below and above screams at me. Recently, I sat down in the elevator and traveled to both floors. I experienced first an awkward encounter with staring at cakes, and then with staring at an awkwardly small number of people dancing. I'm sure the cakes and dancers wondered what this gringo was doing, sitting on the elevator floor, wearing crimson and red and holding a laptop.

That’s what I’ve got for now. Stay tuned for more nuances of Ecuador.

XOXO,

Jenna

Paz y Esperanza

"He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness, 

and to walk humbly with your God?" 

Micah 6:8

This morning, our team walked to Paz y Esperanza, an organization here in Guayaquil that is all about this verse. I love passion. I am passionate about passion. One thing I absolutely adore about my God is that He is a passionate God. He cares for His people, He remembers His people, He upholds His people. He is passionate about His people. He, the Creator, is passionate about His created. Us. He is passionate about justice, about those who are overlooked, mistreated, and cast out. The passion that I have is a small glimmer of a reflection of the passion of my Creator.

Paz y Esperanza is a group that is passionate about the justice that our God desires. They work to bring justice to children and women who are victims of sexual abuse and who have been enslaved. Over 20% of children here have been sexually abused. That is over 1 in every 5 faces that should be laughing, shining, an embodiment of the childlike faith that Jesus encourages. Many victims do not have the resources to bring justice to the situation, and this is where Paz y Esperanza, with the International Justice Mission, comes in.

My half of the team went into a different area to help a family build a restroom of sorts. In this, I mostly weeded, shoveled, and stomped upon dirt. Manual labor lies way closer to the center of my comfort zone than sharing the Gospel with strangers or trying to speak Spanish. It was nice to serve in a comfortable way before I will go and get stretched past whatever limits I imagine on myself.

We also got to play with the puppy and kids there, giving piggy back rides, eating crackers, and lifting little girls into a truck "otra vez!" (and again and again).

It blows my mind that we get a command as big as "do justice," and sometimes, all that means is "Jenna, I want you to shovel some dirt. Smile at the little Ecuadorian girl who won't smile back. Pull weeds." I can do that.

Humbled,
Jenna B.

Esta Noche

HOLD ON because this is going to be a bumpy ride, and the road may be long, and risks high, but the adventure you are about to go on is totally worth it.

Necessary background information:
FOMO (n): 1. the Fear Of Missing Out. 2. a common disorder among college students, especially those of Ecuador Summer Project 2012. (examples: 1. Because of her severe FOMO, she simply had to stay up with her friends all night, though she'd not slept in weeks or completed a smidgen of homework. 2. Not even my FOMO can keep me from staying in this room, be it alone or not, until I finish this post.)

After we rested from our day at the universities, our team went out to eat. I sided with the exotic and ordered a hamburger. Then, we almost got hit by a bus and ate McFlurries at a two story McDonald's. When we returned to the hotel, the night was young, as were we. A game of French charades was in order.

For those of you who do not know what this "French charades" is, I shall hit the pause button and explain. You know how French toast is kind of like normal toast except way less healthy and way more fun? French toast is to normal toast as French charades is to normal charades. Quick breakdown:

• Split into two, equally sized teams. 
• Send the uglier team in the hall (note: This is optional, but one team really does have to go in the hall.)
• Collaborate, and come up with three words for the other team to act out.
• Bring in Hall Team player #1 and tell them the words.
• Bring in Hall Team player #2 and have #1 act out said words.
• Continue in a train until the last player comes in.
• The last player guesses the words and people die in laughter as the original meaning is distorted into nothingness (or worse).
• Switch team roles and repeat.

Got it? Good.

So we had all (menos CJ) gathered in Linsey's room and divided up teams when RING! the telephone rudely interrupted. Andrea picked up the phone. After a concerned look, a "Who is this?" in her hispanic accented English, and a giggle, she told us CJ was prank calling, saying he was part of a group of Indians (with a hispanic accent) who wanted to go dancing. CJ or Indians, the other party was invited to the room we were in to play French charades.

In an act of minor revenge, Andrea prank called CJ. "Hola...Vamos a mi casa...Vamos a mi casa AHORA...si...Vamos a mi casa...Adios." Poor CJ, who was simply trying to Skype his "family," was a recipient of yet another call asking when he would be down, to which he responded a half hour and to go on without him.

So, following the instruction of the great Carlos Juan, we began the game. My team (being crazy rule benders and definitely NOT the uglier team) went into the hall first, when LO AND BEHOLD the gates of the great elevator split and unto us appeared what but FOUR young Ecuadorian men.

Quite soon, it became clear that THEY, not CJ, were the dancing Indians! We burst forth into Linsey's room, the Ecuadorians following hesitantly behind us. After a chaotic five minutes of laughing, awkward, and Andrea being close to tears, we split the Ecuadorians between the teams. They had heard us say the room number earlier and been encouraged by Jeremy's over-zealous "ADIOS AMIGOS!" that may or may not have been proclaimed in an elevator. One of the men was a new Christian, and was such an encouragement to us, as I hope we were to him!

Team 1 took up post in the hallway, and I decided that I should go get CJ, for fear that missing an event like this could leave him with a severe case of post traumatic FOMO. I ran up the stairs to room eight-bro-one(uno), and KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCKed on the door. CJ came to the door and greeted me nicely, while I tried to explain the situation downstairs. That lasted about 2.008 seconds before I absolutely cracked up. I walked into the room and collapsed on the floor crying from laughing too hard, until by some miracle, CJ understood that there were Ecuadorians playing with us and he should come downstairs ASAP, if not sooner.

Our words to guess were "greased pig," "discovering the Titanic," and "something else that Jenna doesn't remember." Needless to say (but say I shall), we did not guess them correctly. And by "we," I mean Jeremy. 

Our team chose, in retaliation, to make our oppressors guess "making fire in an igloo," "sphinx," and "hot dog fingers." Hot dog fingers went through a long phase of being an obvious toothbrush, but pulled out some clarity in the end, and was guessed correctly. I was laughing so hard I was crying. My teammates were showing genuine concern for my state of being. We followed by one round of Disney movie French charades: "Tangled," "The Aristocats," and "Jungle Book," which ended up being easier to guess.

And thus it came into being that four Ecuadorians spent their last night of vacation in Guayaquil not dancing, but playing charades with really loud white people. 

Loving it all,

Jenna B.

Los Dos Universidades

You can CALM DOWN, everyone telling me that I'm funny, because your hope are too high. Thank you. Now that we have that out of the way:

Today we checked out the two university campuses that we will be going to for the next month. The first one, University of Guayaquil, was within walking distance of our hotel, and walk we did. I love to walk. Walking is my thing. I could walk all day. Standing, on the other hand, tires me out near immediately. For example, by the end of standing for worship songs in church, I am near death, and plop down before the worship leader can even get out, "You can take a seat." So, clearly, I am very lucky that we didn't stand all the way there. Besides, standing is an inefficient means of travel.

The university was hopping with students, again, figuratively. We split off to explore and talk to people. TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS! (note: I am so sorry that I have been absolutely loving so many things recently here on this blog. If you don't know me [or if you do] I am probably coming across as an obnoxiously flaky individual.) 

I walked around with Chris. I definitely felt like I had an advantage since Chris has been here before. Also because we started out with 30 cent orange juice. However, I soon ran into everyone else on the team, and they also had orange juice. I even saw people drinking orange juice AND already sharing with people. There went the advantage I thought I had.

We wandered and wandered and made it from the medical department to the language department and began to talk to two students. I tried to talk to them in Spanish, but after seeing my struggle, they quickly redirected the conversation into English. While communication is easy, I'm worried that I am not going to learn any Spanish here. 

Afterwards, we took a bus to ESPOL, the second university. I loves buses. (Here I go again, loving things. Sorry.) This bus ride was especially wonderful, as I got to sit in the back (the BUMPIEST), see gorgeous scenery, and swap Jesus stories with Jess and Hannah. I spent most of the time at ESPOL talking to the lovely Ecuadorian students who were with us. ESPOL is in the highlands, which is totally different and totally greener than being in the city.

We will be split into two groups. One will go to the first university and the other to the second. I am thinking these groups will be chosen strategically, in accordance with Spanish speaking ability and with attention to having a safe guy to girl ratio. However, I hope that we can pick teams, make jerseys, and have some sort of scoring system. Something in the back of my head is telling me that wouldn't be very Christian.

Excited for what's coming,

Jenna B.