Ecuador: Becoming Part of the Fam(ilia)

So I'd thought I'd start out with a little narrative to snag the attention of my readers:

Once upon a time, there was a girl who thought she could speak Spanish pretty well.

Then she went to Ecuador.

The End.

I compare my knowledge of Spanish to a typical Tabloid-reading female's knowledge of celebrities. I KNOW all about it; I know the particulars, the dirty details. I've stared at it for years. But, since I've never actually spent quality time with it, sat down, had coffee with it, I really don't know a darn thing about it. These people talk fast. And they tend to be totally fine with letting the ends of words disappear like salsa de tomate in a house full of kids.

We've been living with out host families in Cuenca for three days now. Our first two days were spent touring Quito, visiting el Mitad del Mundo and experiencing a very interesting cultural dance performance, with special guest, deer/man-in-loincloth. (warning: not appropriate for children under the LTC). The landscape is beautiful here. It's easy to forget how big mountains really are until you're standing at the bottom of one. The weather is mild. Not too hot, not too cold, not too rainy. It's like living in one of those greenhouses at the local gardening center. Please look at the pictures posted on Facebook for a wow.

The last three days have been a rush off new people, new places, and mucho embarrassments. I have already accidentally told my host family that:

1. I have a boy living in my dorm room at Taylor.

2. I would like to wait in the face.

3. My host father is a woman.

4. Something incorrect about a shower. And since the word for shower is "ducha," I would really prefer never to find out why my seventeen-year-old host sisters were laughing at me.

Not to mention I set the house alarm off one night...

There's nothing quite like sitting at the table with extended family and having no clue what they're saying. That plus the face-reddening mistakes above makes for a very humbling experience.

In all honesty, I have been very frustrated with myself in the past few days, so if ya'll could pray for me, that would be better than best. I know it's only been three days, but I feel so stupid sometimes. Questions need to be repeated and rephrased for me. I can't tell if people are insulting me or complementing me. I'm  taller than everyone. EVERYONE. I add to conversations whenever I can, but most of the time I just can't. They might as well be speaking Arabic when they talk to each other. No lo comprendo.

As a result though, I have been praying and reading my Bible on my own more often. I'm a bit scared now when I think about being here well into May. I have definitely stepped outside my comfort zone. I miss the comfort of being able to control the details of my life and to share them with the people I live with. Everything has changed.

Almost everything...

My God is the same. He was with me in the States, He came with me on the planes, and He was waiting for me in Ecuador. Dios me ama.

Only when we step off our familiar foundations and become drifters do we learn what it really means to make God our permanent Rock. A Foundation not bound to a place, person, or group. I'll go for that.

Hasta luego!!!

Libby