A Busy Fall

The rains have come to Quito and the cold has set in . The heater at my feet is a welcome companion. The school year has gone well. I enjoy my classes. The kids are enthusiastic learners. I have four equipped kitchen plus a large sewing and scrapbooking lab. My seventh grade cooking classes and eighth grade sewing classes have turned out to be a lot of fun. The seventh graders amuse me with their enthusiasm about the mysteries of cooking. The boys try to out macho each other with hot sauce in their spaghetti sauce. (It didn't last long) :) We had a week where we went around campus sharing our goodies to bless others. I want them to see cooking as a way to show kindness to others.

It was such a blessing to be able to fly up to North Carolina for my daughter Tammy's wedding. She had asked me to arrange the beautiful Ecuadorian roses she had ordered as well as other lavender and purple flowers. The few short days were a flurry of delightful activities as friends and family helped celebrated Bryan and Tammy's marriage. All five nieces were dressed like princesses and stood up front just like they were supposed to. It was a lovely, lovely time.

I'm back in full swing in Quito. The ACSI office is almost finished. I have already been working on organizing materials and planning a spring conference. The English classes after school are fun great. How do you explain to a confused language learner why THAT and WHAT don't rhyme??? The church plant I'm involved in is looking for a permanent location. Our legal papers have been turned into the government. October 24th I joined the "third age" as they call it here. Some may call it old turning 65 but I call it blessed! Hope your fall is also going well.

Summer's Over-School Starts Tomorrow

What a great summer! I had good visits with my kids, and fun times with grandkids as well as siblings, and friends. Sorry the US was so hot. I glowed quite copiously among my compatriots. Life in the Us may be a lot more orderly than Quito but the weather here has you beat hands down. It was wonderful to have Judy and John and the girls with me in Kansas spending time with Mom. We crowded into her room at Kidron Village and livened up the place immensely. Great grandmothers are fascinating to little folks. Brooke told me after her visit to Kansas that she was going to get old and walk with a stick too!

The trip back was long and luggage scrambling but finally all of us reached our destination with a sigh of relief. It's so good to be back. Places look familiar and inviting. I don't shake at the thought of getting lost or forgetting how to tell the taxi driver where I live. Friendly smiles and warm hugs welcomed me home. The little church plant where I attend received me with open arms. Pastor's detached retina is much improved. It was good to have him in the service.

This year I'll be back in the class room. I'll teach Home Ec and scrapbooking part time and the rest of the time work on opening an office for ACSI Latinamerica in Quito. They have also asked me to serve as interim department head for the Fine and Manual Arts Department.

Soon after returning I had the fun of doing the flowers for a young missionary couple's wedding. With roses cheap in Ecuador, we had flowers and petals everywhere. We even showered the couple with armloads of rose petals as they left for their honeymoon.

Tammy and Bryan had Chip, Beth, Brooke and I over for the 4th of July. We were working on their wedding plans for November 5th in Greenville, NC. All. five nieces look forward to being in Aunt Tammy's wedding. I will be doing flowers again, but not with so many roses to throw around with abandon. Some how the price of roses rises sharply when it leaves Ecuador.

Hope your summer was as refreshing and that your battery is as recharged as is mine for a new year of ministry.

The end of the school year

The sun has set on the 2010-2011 school year at Alliance Academy. The tassels have been turned, the hats thrown in the air, the tearful good-byes have been said and the gowns are once again in the school closet awaiting another group of eager seniors. It was a lovely graduation with flags paraded through the gym representing the many nations at our international school. A tall German marched next to a petite Russian behind a delicate Chinese and a handsome Ecuadorian. Missionary's children marched next to students who had never heard the Gospel until they stepped into the halls of AAI. All 39 represent many hours of investment and much prayer as we take them through their last year of high school and begin the rigors of college selection. Part of my job has been to send out their transcripts, hoping that God would show each one which is the college he has planned for them. They will be scattered across the globe by the fall pursuing their dreams and draining dad's pocket. :) How do you explain to a B average student that perhaps Harvard isn't her best choice. Some will pursue medicine, others ministry, engineering or a military career. The variety is great. Some haven't decided and are taking a year to work. How do you measure the value of an investment in a student's life? When it is your own child, it is priceless to you when others mentor your teen through the adolescent struggles. The look of gratitude in the eyes of parents whose children have struggled and finished are supreme payment to those of us who have had to hand out detentions, send out reminders, write up demerit slips, skip part of our lunch to monitor their in-school suspension and generally put up with their general immaturity. For some it finally clicks. There is a new look in the eye, less non-sense, an obedience attitude and life begins to fall in place.

Patty and I now work in a quiet office. I miss stepping out into the hall where a science class is doing some kind of measurement calculation or students are joking at their lockers before dashing to the next class. The lockers are empty and only an occasional face peeks in the office
to see if reports cards are ready. It has been a good year. Secretarial work is not my best suit but it has been good to be a part of the team.

Next fall I will be back in the classroom part time and working in
the Association of Christian Schools International office as it is
organized in Ecuador. I look forward to new challenges
and opportunities to invest in the lives of young people.
There is much to do here. It has been calculated that there may
be as many as 500 Christian schools across the country.

July 2 I fly home for some R&R with family and friends.
I'm anxious to see my granddaughters and especially spend time with Mom. Dad passed away in August so it has been a year
of adjustments for her.

Hope your summer is refreshing too!

A visit to Cuenca

It all started out with a set of dishes I've been collecting. Each week as the budget permitted I'd go by the Artesa Shop and buy another piece of these hand painted dishes. Having heard that they were made in the city of Cuenca, it became my quest to some day visit this delightful place and find some wonderful factory direct prices. One thing lead to another and before I knew it I was part of a caravan of folks headed for Cuenca and some serious shopping. The scenery along the road is always breath taking in Ecuador. Huge mountains and volcanoes sweep up either side of valley where a patch work of plowed fields, forests and interesting homes delight the eye. After a refreshing stop in Riobamba for an overnighter with friends, the nine of us piled into the two vehicles and set off for Cuenca.
The trip went without a hitch and we drove into what felt like a piece of Europe. A winding river ran across the valley, gorgeous homes lined the steep bank and elaborate balconies hung over the streets creating a charming vacation spot. The clean streets, the old cut stone sidewalks and the red tiled roofs completed the picture.








The hotel was the old Spanish style with balconies inside surrounding an open court. Being Ecuador there were plenty of fresh roses and a variety of art and decorations to catch the eye




We went to a lookout on the side of the valley where a gallery had outstanding hand painted pottery by a well known artist. We also were able to visit a town where almost every store had handmade jewelry in local silver and gold. It's interesting how towns have their specialties. One is all leather products, another is mostly colorful woven or knitted souvenirs and another is wood carvings. Quito's specialty is cute little yellow taxis, dodging trolleys and double buses.. :)

Wish you could have come with us. We had such a good time even if the pottery factory was closed for Easter vacation...maybe next time.

Decorating in Quito

It started with an orange sofa and chairs. Mind you orange, isn't exactly my favorite color, but when Patty said a friend had a set she was storing at her house and was willing to let me use, I accepted it gratefully. I had a bed, a desk and a sewing table with which to decorate two bedrooms, a study, dining room and sitting room. I couldn't be fussy about orange. Since I get a kick out of decorating, it became a project to see what kind of combination I could come up with that blended with ORANGE!!! I don't really like fall colors so I thought I'd try crossing the color chart and see what I could do with orange and blue. I did have a blue table cloth I could use... Patty also loaned me a table, frig, stove and bed table and my campus sister got in on the project and started looking for items I could use she might have stored away. Soon she found just the right blue drapes that I mended and hung. My neighbor Lois also loves to decorate and we began foraging local shops for items in my blue and orange. We threw in some green and yellow for accents and had so much fun! You would be surprised how often the Indian artists use orange and blue. I found carved birds, dried flowers, macrame, burlap, paintings, pottery, a rug, inexpensive plants and little by little made the apartment home. My little lady on the corner often has orange or yellow flowers that I put here and there as a final touch.

I've learned that when God puts "an orange sofa" or any other thing in your life that isn't what you would have chosen, you have two choices; you can belly ache all the time which, of course, brings no beauty into anyone's life, or you can see what compliments and brings out the beauty in what you used to find plain or ugly.

Here at the academy we are in a huge change in student demographics. Some of the issues we deal with are not of our "choice" and at time are not very pretty. My prayer is that not only will I be creative in my apartment, but I will be able to bring harmony and beauty among those who would normally clash.

Just add the warmth of the fire place, fill the chairs with people to love and you have changed a sofa you really didn't like into a ministry tool and a fun place to restore your soul.

If you can't find something to
beautify your ugly piece of furniture, come to Ecuador. You'll be amazed at what you find.

The Conference

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It was a quick flicker of the laundry room lights and every thing stopped in our kitchen. None of the breakers had flipped so I was afraid that all our appliances were headed for the junk yard or at least some serious repairs. With the conference breathing down our necks, Jilly and I didn't have time to do much about it. I said a prayer and rushed off to my duties at the conference. There was current in the back of the house so finally I plugged in a crock pot to save the chicken that was defrosting in the freezer and used a flimsy burner to heat water for coffee. After a few days a coworker at the academy who is an electrician came to take a look. He ran an extension cord so the frig would work, flipped some things around and got the washer to work and I heaved a sigh of relief it all was wasn't burned out. Of course fixing these things took out the hot water. Juan was perplexed about the stove and dryer. The apartment owners' repairman finally came and my friend joined him to solve the electrical mystery. Somehow half of the 220 went out taking lots of stuff with it. Nothing was damaged permanently! I'm not a tree hugger or anything but I was ready to kiss some humming appliances. We even found the source of the terrible smell that about drove us out of apartment. I thought we had fried a mouse when the appliances all went out but it turned out to be a drip in the back of the defrosted freeze.

The staff at Alliance Academy as well as a national committee had worked for over a year on this huge conference. From the lovely welcome reception at the Sheraton Hotel for international educators from across Latin America to the last plenary in Spanish for Ecuadorian educators, the conference was a smashing success. About 300 came to the English portion where the Association of Christian Schools International brought in a wonderful group of conference speakers. Even during the English portion some sessions were included in Spanish for those who are not totally comfortable in English. On Saturday the entire conference switched to Spanish for Ecuadorian educators. About 460 showed up for a day of special speakers and seminars. My role in the flurry of activities was as head of the facilities committee. My committee put up signs so people could find their way around, set up the speakers lounge and central office, made sure each room was in good order, speakers had all they needed, made sure coffee pots weren't flipping circuits :) and I also was available to help at the ACSI materials table and registration desk.


At the last plenary Stuart Salazar, the ACSI Latin America director, announced that I would be the ACSI rep for Ecuador next year. I've told AAI that I will teach half time and then the rest of the time I'll work with ACSI. For those of you who don't know, that is what I did in Venezuela. It is so good to be getting back into this ministry. I organized the first conference Stuart came to as a rookie director twenty years ago so it was like a trip down memory lane for us to work together on this conference. There is much to be done in Ecuador for Christian schools. I've been told there may be as many 500 Christian schools. Looks like there will be enough to keep me busy!


One of the perks of living in Ecuador are the flowers. A family from school who has a flower farm donated hundreds of beautiful roses to decorate the conference. I buy roses every week from a little lady who sells on the corner near my house. They run about 5 for a dollar. They are long stemmed and last for days. This week I have orange in the living room and white in my bedroom. Last week it was yellow... I buy them as much for the little lady and her daughter as for myself. They supports themselves standing on the corner all day helping car get in and out of parking places for pennies, she crochets and knits as she waits and some days sells roses. You can only buy so many scarves...I think this week I'll buy a doily she made instead. This Christmas since I couldn't send a Samaritan's Purse shoe box, I had the fun of making a box for her little girl. Wow! a person could fall in love with a place like this. Especially when the refrigerator is humming a happy tune.

Off to work

Would you like to walk to work with me this morning? As I step
out the front door, I am met by the sound of traffic, the chirp
of birds and the beauty of the flowers that drape over our chain
link fence. Workmen are stirring across the street as they start
their day making a new medical building. The electric door
clanks behind me and I greet the watchman who usually stands
on the corner.

I cross the street and the keys that hang around my neck clank like a little lost sheep. (If you hang your keys around your neck you don't lock yourself out of any place, but you sure can't sneak up on anybody.) I cast a quick look up at the Volcano Pichincha. The sky has been gorgeous behind her for the last few days and the weather balmy. One of my many keys gets me onto the school property. To the left is the soccer field and to the right is a small Bible Institute that is also a Quichua Church on Sunday. I open another gate and cross to the school entrance.

Easy commute! I greet the Quichua man setting out his wares for the day, wish the school guard a good day and head off to my office. Hope you have a good day too.

Pichincha

Quito sits in the lap of a volcano named Pichincha. I think she's a woman because one moment she'll cloud over in a scowl while shortly before she was bathed in sunshine and warmth. They tell me her crater is on the back side so if she has a temper fit the ash will go in the other direction. I've also heard tell that she can send it in our direction too if she really wants.

Like a child who peeks in the kitchen in the morning to see mom at the sink, I often look up at her to see what kind of mood she's in and to enjoy her beauty. She doesn't have snow like some of our volcanoes but she's my favorite just the same.

If you come visit, we can go up a cable car and get close and friendly with her. I hear some folks climb her on foot or ride dirt bikes in down hill races. I'd rather sit in awe and admiration and keep my bones in some sort of useful condition.

If you like mountains, Quito is the place to be. I feel very blessed to be here in the shadow of the lovely Pichincha and resting in the hollow of her Creator's hand. He keeps her temper in check.