-A couple weekends ago the volunteers piled into the back of a truck and rode out to Pondoa, a community living on the side of the volcano, to read books and do activities with the children living there. (We had to have a motorcycle police escort drive in front of us either so the community people wouldn’t think we were coming to traffic their children or so people wouldn’t think the driver was trafficking us…not sure which one though). About 20 kids turned out by bicycle, foot, and on horse to their very rural basketball court. The activities included making bracelets out of paper beads and presenting a puppet show about a dancing guinea pig. The kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy the visit.
-Remember the hot baths I mentioned in my last blog post? Well Richard and Carmen go the baths a few times every week and always invite us. Here are the details of the one and only time we’ve joined them. We arrived at the hot baths, paid the two dollar entrance fee per person, changed into what we were going to wear in the baths, went to turn in our baskets containing the clothes we came in and then proceed to the baths, and I was denied. Being from an island where I swam A LOT growing up, and many times unexpectedly (you’re out fishing, it’s hot, naturally you jump in the water…clothes and all), I planned on wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts in the hot baths because I did not bring a bathing suit. For Ecuadorians it’s a no-no to swim in clothes. It’s also a no-no to refund people who pay to use the hot baths and then don’t because you won’t let them. Instead, they responded “you should have rented a swimsuit for $1.” Neither CJ nor I knew enough Spanish to tell them how disgusting that is! Oh well, while I sat and watched everyone enjoy the healing powers of the hot baths two 17-year-old Ecuadorian girls came and sat with me and we attempted to converse…it was mostly giggles though as I don’t speak much Spanish and they spoke even less English.
-CJ taught me how to play chess and now I am constantly searching for opportunities to play. Sometimes I win.
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I have read OnlyConnect, which is about transforming the public school system in America; Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea, which changed my life drastically (more on that later); The Year of Living Biblically, which made me laugh out loud and taught me a considerable amount about the Bible; Conversations with God (highly recommend); Civil Disobedience; and War Inconsistent with the Religion of Jesus Christ (recommend). I am currently reading The Outliers, which discusses why certain people succeed in their chosen field based on opportunity, as well as The Kingdom of God Within You, which receives my highest recommendation. 
-We accepted an invitation to a home church meeting by an Ecuadorian woman, Yessi, who works at Arte del Mundo (where we volunteer). The small group meets four evenings a week. The Thursday evening we attended there were six Ecuadorians and the two of us. It was very similar to small group meetings CJ and I have experienced in America, in that we sang hymns, prayed communally, read scripture, and talked about scripture. It was a nice evening with kind people who love Jesus…and who I could only communicate with through my translators Yessi and CJ. I’m not certain of this but I believe CJ and I are the only two non-Ecuadorians who have ever joined them…which seemed to really thrill them. We are planning to join them again on a Saturday evening when the meetings are held around a campfire!
-Making dinner is nearly always a science experiment, which scares Richard and thrills us…especially when the meal tastes good (which thankfully it always does)! Our newest specialties include “Jungle Junk” and veggie lasagna (which still needs a fun name). Last night we made delicious homemade applesauce, Ecuadorian style.
-We have planted radishes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, and Swiss char. We’ve also weeded, weed wacked, sawed down trees, planted trees, re-planted trees, and uncovered trees from weeds. 
-Wedding plans – Nearly everything is planned except the two most important things…date and place! We may be having the most fun any two people have ever had planning their wedding. For instance, which sharing a plate of Ostrich at an Argentinean Restaurant, where the atmosphere made me feel like we were living in a tree house with the Lost Boys in Peter Pan, we thoroughly discussed “strongly encouraging” our wedding guests to wear tie-dye. There is only one ironic situation with the wedding. The United States Army, which CJ and I are both very much oppose to, is making it challenging to decide on a date and place. This is because one of my two extraordinary brothers, Kyle, was deployed to Afghanistan last week with a vague idea of when he will return. 
-Speaking of war, CJ and I are in the process of undertaking a challenging project…that of becoming nonviolence activists. After reading, thinking, and discussing a great deal about nonviolence we’ve made it a common life goal to educate people about nonviolence. We are researching and brainstorming a variety of opportunities, from teaching nonviolence classes at the University level to traveling around presenting nonviolence seminars to working for specific nonviolent campaigns. Be prepared for the future of my blog to discuss such ideas as our “voluntary” military being nothing more than a draft of the poor, violence only leading to more violence, human nature, why you can’t promote both Christ and a violent military, the history of violence, the history of nonviolence, and MUCH more. CJ will also be writing nonviolence posts and his writing is sure to be more witty and thought provoking than mine so check it out at http://www.cjdates.blogspot.com/!!
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