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.
