We're here and the adventure begins!

I was so blessed to be able to volunteer with the UBECI street children program in Ecuador for a month last summer. I cannot describe the way it felt to work with the little angels, except that I felt my heart smile every time they smiled. I had no idea what to expect, and how amazing it was! The people of Ecuador will have a part of my heart forever. These little ones usually work 10-12 hour days, many of them exposed to poverty, aggression, discrimination, lack of education, machismo, and other problems that hinder healthy growth and development. The street children program gives them a break from work to be kids; it gives them opportunities to have fun and grow and develop so that they are ready for school and to communicate and be productive citizens; most-importantly, it gives them self-confidence and shows them that they're loved and important.

So now the opportunity to volunteer has come about again, and for a longer time, as you probably know! This time my husband Mike and I will be volunteering together in the street children program in Ecuador for about 5 months, then we will head to Cuzco, Perú to volunteer in construction and renovation for 2 months. We have been praying for direction and clarity for this trip; ever since I left Ecuador I felt a calling to return, and most everyone knows that I have not stopped talking about it! This is a big step for us, but we know that this is meant to be. I took a leave of absence from teaching for a year, and Mike took a big leap of faith and left his wonderful job.

So we've been in Quito for 24 hours now! We ended up arriving a day later, since our flight was cancelled out of Chicago on the 26th. So we landed around 11pm last night, and took a taxi to our homestay. Picture this: Mike singing Antonio Banderas "Mariachi me acompaña cuando canto mi canción...ayayayay..." and Enrique Iglesias "Te quiero...mi amor" to the drivers! Too funny! The drivers said that they know songs in English and don't know what they mean too, but decided they weren't going to sing them for us, since we might try to run out of the car.

Tomorrow we start working with the kids in the market! Mike has Spanish class in the morning, and he'll meet up with us in the market in the afternoon. The Spanish classes are 1:1, so he'll learn quickly at his own pace! Today we just had orientation at 2:30 in the afternoon, and in the morning we learned how to get to places nearby. Mike has been catching on really well to Spanish already! I really can't believe it's only been a day. We love our host family already! Our host mom, Mayra, is studying to be a chef and so far we have had some delicious food! We had fresh watermelon juice with our dinner tonight. Yum! Mayra lives with her husband, Wilson, and their two kids, Alison (10) and Josué (4). Their two dogs live on the rooftop! Check out the video of the rooftop view...