June 10th
Patate, Ecuador
After completing almost all of our preparation work for the M-Fuge camps that are coming in the next two weeks, the camp interns (that includes me) had an off day. Therefore, I caught up on my writing and bloging in the morning before enjoying the afternoon outside. After being so active for the first few days in Ecuador, I found myself feeling half-way sick with a mildly sore throat and no energy. Taking it easy today helped me to soon get over those sick feelings as we played futbol with the camp construction staff after lunch.
I realized something very quickly when playing this game with the camp staff. It’s not as easy as it looks. In fact, at times, it just seems like a lot of running for nothing. Anyways, it was good to get some exercise outside and play South America’s game in the valley with imposing mountains on both sides. Speaking of futbol, everyone down here is talking about the big game Saturday. No, not the Celtics and Lakers, but Ecuador versus Argentina. The country follows their team so much so that the President called for everyone to stop two years ago when Ecuador was playing in the World Cup and watch the game on television. That meant no school, no government meetings, and lots of closed businesses, just to watch a game on the tube. And I thought we in the United States were crazy about sports.
Following dinner, our group of interns watched the movie Bajo La Misma Luna, an Ecuadorian film about immigration with a well played out plot. It was all in Spanish, but I’m actually starting to pick up the language much better than I thought I would. Add body language and the context of the situation, and you have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on.
Since today wasn’t especially eventful, I’ll share a little about the staff that I’m rooming with this summer. The guys that I work with are all about my age and are all from Ecuador or have ties with Ecuador. But I’m okay with being the only gringo of the bunch. Esteban and David probably have the most experience here at the camp. Esteban comes to camp from Ambato, a city about 45 minutes away, and has worked at the camp as a translator for about five years now. David heads up the construction crew and has been here for several years now. We communicate in Span-lish, so I continue to learn about him more day by day. Freddy came to Camp Chacauco from Peru last year and is a multi-talented musician. Finally, two of the guys that are helping me most with learning my Spanish are Dennis and Roberto, both here for the summer. Dennis is a soccer player/student at Union University in Tennessee and has Ecuadorian parents who were missionaries here for two years. Roberto hails from Ecuador, but picked up English quickly when working in Alaska for the last two summers.
It’s a blessing to work with such talented staff with such different backgrounds. I learn much more than just Spanish from them in our everyday conversations and feel that God has allowed me to work with each of them this summer for a variety of reasons.
Patate, Ecuador
After completing almost all of our preparation work for the M-Fuge camps that are coming in the next two weeks, the camp interns (that includes me) had an off day. Therefore, I caught up on my writing and bloging in the morning before enjoying the afternoon outside. After being so active for the first few days in Ecuador, I found myself feeling half-way sick with a mildly sore throat and no energy. Taking it easy today helped me to soon get over those sick feelings as we played futbol with the camp construction staff after lunch.
I realized something very quickly when playing this game with the camp staff. It’s not as easy as it looks. In fact, at times, it just seems like a lot of running for nothing. Anyways, it was good to get some exercise outside and play South America’s game in the valley with imposing mountains on both sides. Speaking of futbol, everyone down here is talking about the big game Saturday. No, not the Celtics and Lakers, but Ecuador versus Argentina. The country follows their team so much so that the President called for everyone to stop two years ago when Ecuador was playing in the World Cup and watch the game on television. That meant no school, no government meetings, and lots of closed businesses, just to watch a game on the tube. And I thought we in the United States were crazy about sports.
Following dinner, our group of interns watched the movie Bajo La Misma Luna, an Ecuadorian film about immigration with a well played out plot. It was all in Spanish, but I’m actually starting to pick up the language much better than I thought I would. Add body language and the context of the situation, and you have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on.
Since today wasn’t especially eventful, I’ll share a little about the staff that I’m rooming with this summer. The guys that I work with are all about my age and are all from Ecuador or have ties with Ecuador. But I’m okay with being the only gringo of the bunch. Esteban and David probably have the most experience here at the camp. Esteban comes to camp from Ambato, a city about 45 minutes away, and has worked at the camp as a translator for about five years now. David heads up the construction crew and has been here for several years now. We communicate in Span-lish, so I continue to learn about him more day by day. Freddy came to Camp Chacauco from Peru last year and is a multi-talented musician. Finally, two of the guys that are helping me most with learning my Spanish are Dennis and Roberto, both here for the summer. Dennis is a soccer player/student at Union University in Tennessee and has Ecuadorian parents who were missionaries here for two years. Roberto hails from Ecuador, but picked up English quickly when working in Alaska for the last two summers.
It’s a blessing to work with such talented staff with such different backgrounds. I learn much more than just Spanish from them in our everyday conversations and feel that God has allowed me to work with each of them this summer for a variety of reasons.
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