Hitting the Ground Running

Good day everyone. We are starting to get settled down here in Quito. We have temporarily moved into a 2 BR apartment while we wait for something affordable to open up within walking distance of the school. Despite being on the equator, it is suprisingly cool at this elevation. Right now, its about 55 degrees outside (at 4:30 in the afternoon).

I have begun sitting in on my classes and have already had the opportunity to meet and begin developing relationships with the students. On the streets, I have been able to meet and talk with some of the local street/homeless folks who frequent the school area. All in all, we are off to a good start. I look forward to posting more photos and sharing more with you very soon!

In Country--First Pictures

Jonathan and I (Bryan) arrived safely with all of our luggage Thursday night and have been spending the first few nights in the local dorm while we process in and begin to learn our way around the area. My Spanish is better than expected, but there is still a long way for me to go! Today, Jonathan and I began gathering the basic necessities to get started. With the help of the kind folks here at the school, we have learned where the grocery stores and open markets are. It's really a lot of fun shopping at a store where everything is in a different language. It's also neat to see new kinds of fruits and veggies. This morning, I bought what I thought were some very nice blueberries, only to find out that they were chokecherries. What a bummer.

I can't wait for Heather, Rebecca and Will to arrive Tuesday. Please pray that I will find adequate living quarters between now and then. Our temporary housing that we were supposed to stay in until we can move into a permanent dwelling is not habitable. There is a chance that we could stay in the dorms on campus. It's not an ideal situation, but it would meet the basic needs. This would be a good option in that it would give us a better opportunity to begin building relationships with those around us. I'm going to attach some pictures that I took from the roof top of the dorm building. The mountain in one of the photos is actually an active volcano that mildly erupted just 9 years ago.

Ready to Go

Thank you all so much for your prayers over the past several weeks. They have been tremendously helpful. We have been able to wrap up most of the loose ends. Everything is on track. Jonathan and I (Bryan) are set to fly out this Thursday. This is our last Sunday in the USA for quite a while. I think that it is now just starting to set in. Heather, Rebecca and Will will leave on the 20th. We were very blessed to find tickets for them at a great price out of Orlando.

We already are missing you all so much and are looking forward to the time when we can see you again on a return visit. At the same time, we are excited that we will be able to start reporting on what's happening in Ecuador shortly.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, Heather and I were nearly killed or injured in two, separate near accidents. On the first one,  a huge 1/2 ton pickup truck driver wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him and missed hitting us (from behind) in our little car by inches when he swerved past us at 40 mph or so while we waited to turn right at a light after being cut off by an overly agressive driver trying to do the same. The second, more scary, incident occured on the way back to Heather's parent's house. We were about 50 yards behind a pickup church that was carrying a sofa and love seat. Now it is only carrying a sofa. The wind picked up the loveseat and deposited it on the interstate infront of us as we were approaching it at about 65-70 mph. Thankfully, we were able to swerve out of the way. From what I saw on the DOT page, there were no accident reports after our near miss.  We almost had a third (this time minor accident) going through a parking lot as someone backed out of their parking spot hitting our car in the process. At that point, we decided that it would be best if we just went back to the house. It sounds like the enemy was trying to take us out. This is a great example of how your prayers have helped protect us thus far.

Time to rest a bit before round 2...

Bryan