I was unable to blog the last few days in Guayaquil due to a lack of internet, so I wrote in my journal and will produce those entries here. I'm dating them as if I wrote them last week just for my own sanity.
The last day on campus was a huge blessing. Hannah and I were sharing together, but it seemed as if everyone at ESPOL lost the ability to speak English that day. Despite not being able to find anyone to share with, we prayed for the campus and spent some time getting to know each other better. I'm going to miss those random conversations with team members about the awesome things God has done in our lives.
At 11:30, we met everyone for the Vida Estudiantil bible study. The highlight of that had to be meeting Ecuadorian Bruno Mars. He doesn't know the real Bruno Mars, which only slightly detracted from my excitement about his doppelganger qualities. We did a study about fellowship vs. relationship with God that was quite interesting before departing for the last time. Our friends Daniel, Carlita, and "Bruno" (Kevin) hung out with us for awhile back home.
We headed to the art market and Tia (grocery store) for last minute purchases. I'm actually really going to miss that place. There's some exhilaration associated with knowing that what you pay for an item is based purely on its worth and your ability to convince the sellers that it's not worth what they're asking. Plus, everything is really bright colored which makes looking around really exciting and sometimes sensorily overwhelming. There's so much stuff packed into that place that every time I looked around there was always some new trinket to find.
The staff surprised us with dinner at LaFondue--a nice Swiss restaurant in Hotel Oro Verde. It was super fancy and delicious with a dessert of chocolate fondu with various fruits.
Back at the hotel some of us played a round of French charades which, as Jenna pointed out, included topics only the Ecuador team would understand ("Vamos a la playa", llama farm, and Jason, to name a few). We were exhausted so our night ended early.
Friday morning we awoke to begin packing and saying final good-byes to Guayaquil. I actually had extra space in my suitcase. Go me. We started our adios-es with Jose, our favorite waiter who serves us breakfast everyday in the hotel, and moved on to 3P, one of our favorite eating establishments. The workers even let our guys hold the shawarma machete. Our last stop was the beloved iguana park. I'm pretty sure I saw one of the iguanas crying.
Alas, 3:30 arrived quickly and we had to depart. Our final Ecuadorian destination was Finca la Gloria (eng: Glory Farm) for de-briefing. That makes it sound like a military mission, but really it's just a time to reflect on all of summer project and look to re-entry into "normal" life. Anyway, the farm had lots of animals, including cats, dogs, horses, chickens, cockroaches, frogs, dragonflies, iguanas, and even a unicorn. Ecuador's a magical place. There was also a pool and lots of land available to explore.
After a classic Ecuadorian dinner of chicken, rice, beans, and jugo, some of us went for a night swim before heading to bed. I stayed in cabin 704 with Jess, Ann, and Megan. It's merely two beds, a TV that was never used, and a tiny bathroom. I'm incredibly grateful that we had that time to reflect on the ways the Lord used us this summer and then look to our future lives with more mature kingdom perspectives.
Ashley
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