Drive to Yungilla

Added a new page to the right about with tips on leaving to live in another country.

 May 13 *** 

This morning it is Mother's Day! 

Happy Mother's Day!

A view from my window this morning.

We are going to a resturant called Pronto Tacos today for Mother's Day.  They PROMISE  to have REAL Mexican food and Mariachi's. I'm looking forward to it.  

The only thing missing is my kids and my parents! 

I love You.

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If you can remember, I mentioned at the very beginning of my blog our friend Angel from the airport.  Finally here is a picture of him.  He gave us a little treat yesterday by bringing out an instrument.  He called it by a different name but I looked it up and it is called a Concertina.  It was developed in the 1800's in different versions by England and Germany.  He says it is difficult to play and  it took him quite a long while to find one.

This past week we traveled to Guayaquil to stock up on church supplies and buy a few things and visit the Pastor and family in the church there.  It was so hot, in the 100's. 

The population is over 4 million and so crazy, but I kinda like it there except for the heat. 

Still, I was glad to be getting back home to Cuenca. 

Entering Guayaquil

THE DRIVE

The drive reminds me of the trip from Las Vegas NM to Albuquerque, except the mountains are so much bigger and the highway a little difficult to navigate with rock slides and poor visibility because of the clouds.

In the picture  below you can see the line right above the guardrail.  That's a view of the highway.  At this point I'm just holding my arm up and out the window and just snapping pictures to see what comes out.  I really don't like looking down.  It is a very long, long, long way down. 

See that little horizontal line halfway down on the left, that's the road from the previous picture.  You can see about a third of the way down.

These big guys are everywhere.  This one was trying to cross the freeway and I mean was trying.

This picture is near and dear to me.  The flag in front of the US Consulate.  I'm only showing the flag because I got in trouble taking a picture of the building from down the street.  I can understand the reasoning and I must of left my brains at home.

It was good to see our friends from the church in Guayaquil, Pastor Anibal and his family.  His daughter Priscilla taught me a great worship song to take back and I taught them

'Father in Heaven' in Spanish.

 Pastor Anibal praying for the sick.

My hubby ministering in Spanish.  It is finally coming along, but we both have a long way to go to feel comfortable with our Spanish.

Trivia:  This blog has views so far, from the United States, Russia, Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Solomon Islands, Armenia, Germany, Australia and the Phillippines.

Hi All! 
I just fixed up a pot of extra hot red chili and some beans for dinner. Yum.  As I took my first bite, I had this strange sensation. 
I thought that I would fall off my chair and the table seemed to be moving.  WOW - - that is some chili!!! But wait, the flowers in my little potted mini garden are waving at me! WHAT!

I was so relieved to realize that I wasn't having some strange medical emergency, because my husband was experiencing the same thing.  Everything really was moving.  Sure enough we looked up the earthquake recording center and there was a 4.7 magnitude quake between here and Guayaquil.

Most people probably didn't even notice it.

Now, I promised you some picts from the town of Yunquilla.  
It's less than an hour from Cuenca.  Earlier this month our landlord very graciously offered to take us there.  She also offered us a room at her home for the night.  Since we are not familiar with all the little towns that surround us we took her up on it. 

I am so glad that we have a truck because

the roads can be a little rough. 

 Here we go.....

On the highway, uh..., pick just one lane please.

Yunqilla, the town

Turn down this little road

Surely it must be just around the corner....

Not quite there, but just look at the mountains.  It's like living in the clouds.

Finally we have arrived.  It took a little bit of manuevering to get up here,

but I'll spare you all that

.

What a view.

As evening came there was a power outage.  The town was in darkness for more than four hours.  Now how in the world will we amuse ourselves. 

Here is the solution.

CANDLE MEETS IPAD

For a competitive game of checkers.

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In the morning the landscape takes on an otherworldy appearance when the clouds drift in and around the lush green mountains.

God's creation is truly beautiful.

The pictures don't even do it justice, but it will have to do.

To my family and friends:

I miss you and love you and wish you could be here with me or me there with you.

I keep you always in my thoughts and in prayer.

We've run into some obstacles when trying to obtain a building for

the church, so if you could keep that in mind and pray for us,

I'd really appreciate it.

The llamas

Quote for the Day:

"Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get!"

.

Coming up soon ,.....Yungilla.

If you are driving around in Ecuador, it won't be a 'watch for deer' sign you'll see.  If you see any sign it would have to be a 'watch for llama' sign.  Of course, you should always watch for cattle.

Or a horse.  Some might find the wooden saddle interesting.

Food and Festival

Just a little more food here.  Chancho (pig) is served everywhere in little eateries alongside the roads.  This one is on the autopista across the way to Turi.  It's not uncommon see a line of cars along the highway as people pick up some food or sit inside the little makeshift resturant.  When the Chancho is gone, everything gets packed up and it is all gone.  No sign that it ever existed.  This tastes so much better than fast food.

But I have to admit, I was a little excited to see this! Subway is coming to town.

TRIVIA: 
The country of Ecuador is slightly larger than the state of Colorado.

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April 13

A big Thank You goes to Mrs Keith's Sunday School class!  They were studying about missionaries and sent us some cards and drawings. 
 It took awhile to get to us.  It also got caught up in customs about a month.

Hey kids:  We are still meeting with people in our home, praying for the sick, praying for people in thier homes, talking to people about Jesus in the streets and searching for a building for the church.  
Buildings are hard to find, so keep praying for us please.
Thank you, we appreciate it very much.

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This week in April is another holiday week, so lots of places are closed and the city is geared up for fiesta.
 
We had just finished up a time of Carnival in February.   Some other cities and countries have very elaborate celebrations.  Here in Cuenca it is smaller.  If you venture out into the streets you will most likely get caught and drenched with water or attacked with water balloons.

April 13 - -Today we had old fashion enchiladas. No pictures, we ate them too fast.  Corn tortillas, fried eggs, cheese, onions, smothered in red chili and topped with lettuce and tomato. We were craving real red chili. 
From NM, my mother-in-law over-nighted two pounds of red chili to Illinois.  We browsed Walmart online and had one of  our sons pick up a couple of things for us in Albuquerque.  
This went to Illinois also.   From Illinois it was picked up by a woman visiting her sister.  She stuffed it into a bulging suitcase and brought it here. 
WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY!
Some chili that was mailed to us got caught up in customs and has been there a couple of months.  It might be sent back, but we are filing more paperwork.




The pictures of this market  and the Guinea Pig are in the city of Gualeceo a short distance from Cuenca. 
A day or so after our visit they were hit hard with much rainfall and flooding.
Travel is often hindered between cities by the heavy rainfall which creates mudslides and rockslides throughout the mountain roads.

The ladies with the hats and braids are referred to as Cholas.


I think we've kinda of drifted into food now. 

Pictured here is Cuy, the traditional Andean entree. 

We know him as Guinea Pig.

We have not had any yet.  Our friend Sonja's mother-in-law raises them and as soon as the little fellas grow a bit more,  

she will cook us up some. 

I can hardly wait?

Here's a little closer view.  Boy, these guys are big and quite a lot of work for these ladies.

Now all we need is some fry bread and green chili and it will be perfect!

Easter Meal & New Years

 April 6

Sharing a traditional meal with friends. 

The soup called Fanesca is prepared once a year during Easter week.  Pictured below: fried Covina (Bass), and rice with onion and tomato salad.

Check out Doors and Flor ...to the right...under Pages...new pics.

New Years

It's celebrated by burning effigies.  They are sold on almost every corner and can range from a simple headless stuffed form, to all kinds of fancy images.

 Getting ready to light some fires.

The whole city shuts down and fires are burning in the streets.  If you are driving around though, you might get stopped  by some strangely dressed guys and have to pay some change to go on by.