Thank You Ecuador

So this is it.  We have made it through 5 months and learned so much.  I want to write a sort of thank you note for this time.

People of Ecuador,
    Thank you so much for this amazing experience.  We have had a wonderful time and met some wonderful people.  Ecuador is beautiful in every sense of the word.  The waterfalls blow me away as do the mountains that dot the horizon no matter where you go.  I am thankful for the views I had everyday going to and from work and on all of our vacations.  Thank you for the countless number of parks we have visited that all have something different to offer and never left us without things to do.  We thank you for all the arts and crafts you sell at a very fair price without being pushy.  In general thank you for teaching us so much about being good, patient parents, hard workers, friendly and welcoming and helping us to slow down and enjoy one another.  Thank you for giving up your seat on the bus for me every time I got on with Melayna and Lucas.  Thank you to the man that held Lucas one day on the bus since I had too much on my lap and to the lady and man that helped carry my luggage onto and off of the bus on my way to Quito to meet people going to Baños.  Thank you to Llorena for seeking us out after church to see if we wanted to do something with her and her son and then treating up to pizza at Western.  Thank you to Matt and I's co-workers who have shown us so much support and have looked out for us while we were here.  Thank you to Diego who always went out of his way to talk to me slowly and get me to understand things and to always make me feel welcome. Thank you to the nice carpenter that greets me with a hug whenever he sees me and to the nice store owner that talked to me while I walked to work one day and now says hello and asks how I am every time he sees me.  Thank you to the teachers at the daycare that so graciously accepted my children and tried to make them feel welcome.  Thank you to the people that were willing to slow down when they talked to help us understand more of what they were saying and for the people that were patient with our Spanish speaking.  A huge thank you to the Oviedo family that helped us, especially Matt in so many ways and took him to Bible studies and taught him Spanish.  Thank you to the Oviedo family for finding us a place to stay in Otovalo.  A special thank you to Eduardo and Alexandra for being our tour guides and showing us such amazing hospitality.  A big thank you to Audrey for sending and bringing donations for us and candy for our kids.  Thank you to UK for letting us be a part of the Medical Brigade and all the people on the brigade that made the experience so wonderful and excepting our children so willingly.  We have truly enjoyed our stay and we will be coming back.

To Everyone Else,
A huge thank you to the family and friends that read this blog, FaceTimed us, emailed us, sent us mail, prayed for us, supported us financially and will be welcoming us home in the next few days.  We could not have made it through this experience without each of you.  The biggest thanks to our parents for instilling in us the desire to serve others and step outside of our comfort zones, and to my parents for the care package for my kids and cookies for me.  Another huge thank you to my brother and dad for coming to visit us and bringing goodies.  We are forever grateful for everyone's support.

In addition to Bethany's Thank Yous

A special thanks to Bethany's parents for running errands and making extra phone calls for us while we were gone and taking care of my car.
Thank you to Mercedes at Centro Medico for driving me home everyday from work at Centro Medico and for putting up with my Spanglish.
Thank you to Marcella Oviedo for her Spanish lessons and good company on Wednesday and Thursday evenings .
Thanks to Maggie Moore for your help and good friendship in Santo Domingo.
Thanks to Jared Benton for sharing his perspectives and new ideas for patient care.
Thanks to Dr./Deacon Nick for his insightful views both before and at the end of our trip. You truely
brought a new perspective to the last week of our trip.

We are sad to say goodbye, but we are ready to see everyone in the US.  We have learned so many life lessons that we will never forget.

Things I Learned in Ecuador - Matteo

1. Stop trying to control everything and let God do the work, dummy!
2. Our cultures are more alike than you think.
3. Children are more adaptable than adults.
4. Brigades and mission trips are really about showing people you care and not always about getting people physically better.
5. Ecuadorian people are tough, but some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
6. As cliche as it might sound, time away from the States makes you appreciate what you have.
7. When your family is placed in less than ideal situations, it is a great opportunity to grow stronger.
8. Ecuadorian bread and instant coffee is pretty good, go figure.
9. Learning another language is like beating your head against the wall.
10. Quito is a unique and beautiful city.
11. Take enough food and water for the day when traveling on a public bus.
12. If you really want to help someone, give them your time.
13. Sustainability is very important for any service/mission work, but do you know how difficult that is?
14. This trip would not be possible without the love, support, and prayers of our family and friends, thank you!
15. We plan to do something like this again.

Santo Domingo

We had a wonderful time on the University of Kentucky Brigade.  We were able to hang out with some really great people and helped a lot of people in the communities.  The first day we all went together to Plan de Vivienda.  We started the day going to church with Dr. Nick and then got into treating patients.  We had a lot of back and neck pain patients due to the kind of manual labor the men and women do daily.  Being there really makes you think about what we have and the privileges we have.  Many women had trouble with their back due to the way they hand wash their clothes on a cement walled structure that promotes horrible body posture.  Many men had pain from lifting large bags of sugar and rice all day long.  It is so amazing how different life is for these people.  The second day we went to two different communities.  One was Lara Flores which was built on a landfill and the other was 12 de Octubre.  My group went to Lara Flores.  We were in a community center with one large room  for registration, nursing, pharmacy and PT and then a small room divided into 12 "rooms" by sheets for the doctors to use for treatment.  We had a toilet in a cement walled area with a potato sac for a door that you "flushed" by putting water from a bucket into the toilet.  That was interesting with Melayna all day just holding her over the toilet so she did not have to sit on the seat.  Both days the kids were amazing and just jumped right in and played with the Ecuadorian children.  Lucas even got to play soccer for about two and a half hours which he loved.  Lucas also met a little girl that played with him all day at Lara Flores and gave him a frozen yogurt pop and a lollipop.  She followed him around all day and would come to me and ask we to interpret when Lucas did not understand her.  Melayna liked to help in the nursing station and played all day with the nursing students.  Many people, especially the Ecuadorians, wanted to take her picture with them since she is "muy linda" (very pretty).  Everyone was so helpful with the kids and helped keep them busy all day.  Lucas met a doctor named Lucas that he really clicked with too and the Dr. played police and Power Rangers with him all three nights, which was priceless to watch.  Lucas kept calling him his friend and wanted to sit by him at meals.  It was really sweet.  I also met some really awesome people especially the interpreters.  I clicked really well with an interpreter named Mateo who is planning to visit the US with his family this summer and may come to AL for a visit.  I could not have asked for a better experience.  I was sad to leave all the people and the experience, but we are ready to pack up and head home.  This was the perfect ending to our Ecuador Adventures.

On the way there

Having a snack with daddy

Lucas playing soccer with friends

Having fun still

Hot, tried, sticky and ready to go home

She loved Paige

Paige, Tyler and Mateo

Interpreters Pedro and Mateo

My little nurse

Cloe and Melayna

The PT crew(Austin, Paige, Katelyn, Tyler, Matt, Me, Justin, Audrey and Melayna)

Mateo, Audrey and me

Meeting Up With Friends

The kids and I went to Quito today and spent the day with my friend Audrey who is on the brigade and Kim a doctor on the brigade.  We toured Old Town and walked around a little in New Town too.  Lucas was like a little tour guide telling us where things were and places he liked.  Of course he pointed out all the ice cream places we have eaten in also.  He was the most excited to show them the Basilica.  We also went to his and Melayna's favorite Quito park Ejido and he met a friend and played for about an hour.  It was a very pleasant day.  We also walked up to a little cafe on the hill that had a beautiful view of the city.  It was recommended by a guy on the plane with Audrey yesterday.  It was quite a hike up the hill to get there and of course Lucas had no problem while the rest of us huffed and puffed all the way up.  It was worth the walk.  It was called Cafe Mosaic.  Both kids were troupers today, but they were tired when we got home.  Looking forward to a good weekend.

UK Medical Brigade

Matt and I are so blessed to be a part of the University of Kentucky's medical brigade next week.  I am excited to get to work side by side with Matt and to be a part of this awesome organization that has helped so many people over the years.  The medical field is such an awesome avenue to help others in under served areas.  I am also beyond excited to visit with my friend Audrey whom I met because of last year's brigade.  She is arriving tonight and we will be exploring the city.  It will be her first time seeing it in the day time.  The kids are excited to be tour guides too.  I am looking forward to heading to Santo Domingo also for a a few days.  We will be going to a few different villages too which will be exciting.  There will be doctors, dentistry, pharmacy, PTs, OTs, and Speech therapists.  There will also be students from the different professions.  It such a learning experience for everyone no matter your age, profession or whether or not you have done it before.  So yet again feeling blessed.  I will try to post from where are staying to keep you up to date on our activities.  It is sure to be another adventure.

Going out to Dinner

This post is going to be short because we are going out to eat with the people from the special needs school.  I guess they could not bear to see me go (or really they saw that I was sad to go and felt bad for me). They called and asked us to meet them in Quito for dinner.  I am excited to see them one more time outside of work to say goodbye.  Last night we also went out to eat with our friends Eduardo and Alexandra.  It was so good to see them again and talk Spanish the whole time.  I guess we have come further than we knew, but we still have a lot of learning to do.  Looking forward to another good dinner.

Saying Goodbye

Today was my last day at the special needs school.  Three new volunteers started today, a young girl just starting speech therapy in Pennsylvania, her dad and her grandfather.  They were so overwhelmed by the center and the day and it reminded me of my first few days there.  It is hard to believe I have been there for almost five months.  It was nice though to be able to teach them what I learned during my time there and everyone looked to me to translate for the new volunteers.  It was a little sad to say goodbye to all the kids and the other therapists and workers.  It is amazing how quickly you get attached to people.  I received hug after hug and even some kisses from a few kids.  I will miss those people a lot and hope to keep in touch.  This is just the first of all the goodbyes.