A Week of Learning

Well, I gave in to the blogging pressure. I mean, I guess no one really told me to, but my thought process is that if I have a public following--as in, my mom and possibly select other faithful friends--that I need to report to at least every other day, then I would be more reflective about my time here. I have a hard time realizing how God is working in my life until after the fact, so maybe this will help realize my immediate potential through the grace of God.

I have been in Guayaquil--the biggest city in Ecuador--since Tuesday with a team of eight other college students, two student-staff, and three Cru staff. These past few days have mostly involved exploration and time spent getting to know the team better. It's kind of loco how well we all get along. The past week has included hilarious games of French charades involving acting out everything from giving birth to hot dog fingers, a museum visit reminiscent of reading a history textbook (not the kind with fun pictures), a walk in the park with iguanas, and many stumbling conversations with Ecuadorians in Spanish. In order to quickly represent this week, I've compiled a list of things one should know about Ecuador:

1. Don't throw toilet paper in the toilet: the pipes can't handle that kind of pressure.
2. It is, in fact, in the southern hemisphere. You'd never know, though, because it's always too cloudy to see the stars and the toilets flush the normal way. 
3. DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER. That includes firmly holding your mouth shut in the shower and using bottled water for teeth brushing. 
4. Five liters of water costs less than $2 (U.S. moolah), so long hair don't care to #3!
5. Running into the street with a Sacagawea $1 coin expecting an ice cream truck to accompany the creepy clown-like music around 8-9pm will leave one much disappointed. It's actually garbage trucks doing their nightly rounds blasting the same song. 
6. Ecuadorians will stare at you if you're in a big group of white people...and sometimes shamelessly take pictures. 
7. Upon seeing other white people, you will stare even more intensely than the Ecuadorians.
8. There aren't any tourists in Guayaquil, as indicated by #6 & #7
9. There are no street lanes or rules. It's every car/truck/bus for itself. May the odds be ever in your favor. 
10. Rice and beans: all day e'ryday.
11. The sidewalks look very nice tiled, but are quite slippery. Jeremy's back can relate.

Tomorrow we start our first full week on the campuses (ESPOL and Universidad de Guayaquil) reaching out to students. I'll be at ESPOL along with four other students and a varying number of staff/student-staff. Tonight my prayers are for opportunity and courage to approach and engage students  in spiritual conversations. 

Chao for tonight! 

Ashley