My Family in Quito

Even though I had a bad experience with my host family when I was with my study abroad program, I was fortunate enough to have amazing neighbors during this time. This family has taken me in like there own daughter/sister and has been so wonderful to me and such a source of joy during my time here. Even though I do not live right next door to them in Quito anymore, I visit them at least once a week to spend a night at their house and visit. The mom, Adriana, has the kindest heart of anyone I have met. She is like a mother/sister figure to me and is someone that I can talk to about everything. She is also a wonderful artist and makes the most amazing things out of recycled and organic material! It is amazing! I have gone with her a few times to sell her art in markets and it is always so much fun.

This family is so wonderful to me and I truly do not know how I will ever say goodbye when I leave Ecuador!

These two boys have my heart...Leito and Gabrielito. They are little balls of energy and are so precious!

Adriana is an artist and makes the most beautiful art! I go with her often to markets to sell her art.

Add caption

The family minus the dad

At a market selling Adri's art stuff

The boys ready for school

Jennifer the 13 year old sister

Leito and I sleep together when I spend the night on the sofa bed and he is so precious and attached to me

Maria Belen :)

Harsh Realities

This past week I have really been realizing the harsh realities of life for the kids and youth who live at the two orphanages where I volunteer (both in Quito and Cuenca). Most of the kids at both of these orphanages have been abandoned by their parents or have parents who just can’t care for them due to money or other issues. I have noticed that most of the older kids at these orphanages have issues with feeling unloved and unwanted. For most of the kids here, their parents don’t even make an effort to call them or ever see them. Because of this, of course they feel unloved and unwanted by their parents and it is almost impossible to feel loved when you live at an orphanage with 130 other kids. There is an older girl here at the orphanage in Quito who I have really been trying to pour into and spend a lot of time with because I noticed that she seems to feel depressed a lot of the time. One day in particular, she seemed really down and wouldn’t talk to anyone about what was wrong. She ended up writing me a letter that said this:

(the letter was obviously in Spanish but I will translate it into English)

“What is going on is that, well, it’s no important…I was thinking about me, or I mean why God has made me suffer so much. It all began when my mom and dad divorced and my mom left us and I had to move to the Foundation (the orphanage). I was really small and I didn’t know what was going on at the time but later it did harm to me and I felt like so much was missing. I wanted to come home from school and have somebody ask me “how was your day at school?” or something like that. I wanted that every night somebody would pray with me and tell me that they want me and that they love me and that I am a special person. And it’s sad because every time I see a family with a mom and dad together I feel jealous because I think of how my parents aren’t with me because they don’t love me or want me. Sometimes I want to die because I feel like nobody wants me or loves me and that I am not an important person for anyone. And even though I know that God loves me and all that, I still think that it is beautiful to receive a hug from a friend or your parents. I tell you this in a letter because I don’t like to cry in front of friends and also because I have never told this to anyone. You and god are the only ones who know.”

It breaks my heart so much because every child deserves to feel loved and wanted by their parents. The boys at the orphanage in Cuenca struggle with the same kind of feelings. I spent my weekend in Cuenca with the boys at the orphanage there and it was so good to see them and spend time with them. I adore them so much and they love it when I am there with them because they need the love and attention from a woman figure who cares for them. It was the birthday of one of the older boys at this orphanage. He turned 19. Will (my friend from Western who now lives in Cuenca) and I bought him and cake to have a little celebration at the orphanage. Later, the birthday boy told me that it was the first cake he had ever had a on a birthday. That was really hard for me to hear. I am so glad that I got to be there to celebrate with him and make his birthday at least a little bit special. He was sad on his birthday because neither his parents nor anyone else in his family tried to even call him or see him. He says that nobody loves him or cares about him.

I am trying to do all that I can to be somebody who is here for the boys at the orphanage in Cuenca and at the orphanage in Quito. Too be somebody who loves them and cares about them and shows interest in them because that is what they need and I truly do care about each one of them. My heart is so broken for each of them. I realize that there is only so much that I can do because I can’t replace their parents and I can’t erase all the pain they have felt in their lives. I also worry because I am only here for a temporary amount of time. Yes, I can be there for them now and make them feel loved and cared for now, but when I leave in a month, what is going to happen?

I know that I definitely have a heart that was made to love children like this and I want to do all that I can to help them. Here are some photos of my weekend in Cuenca at the orphanage:

Javier on his 19th birthday with his the first birthday cake he has ever had

The little celebration we had for Javier´s birthday

Hiking and Biking in Quito

This past weekend was a very active one. Most weekends I travel to other cities to spend time with friends that I have but for the first time in about a month, I stayed In Quito for the weekend because I wanted to spend some time with some friends here in Quito and I also wanted to do a bike ride around Quito that I have heard a lot about and have wanted to do for the past few months. On Friday, the kids from the orphanage and the kids from the school were able to take a day off school to hike to a cross that sits upon a hilltop. All of the kids in the high school were able to participate if they were behaving in school and getting their homework turned in on time. All of the teachers from the high school also came. I went along too and had a lot of fun. It took about two hours to hike to the top where the cross sits. The view was amazing and it was a blast to spend some time with the older kids from the orphanage. 

Cotopaxi valcanoe

One of the many beautiful lookout points along the hike

The ending point of the hike, where the cross is

After the hike getting ready to head back to the orphanage

The bike ride around Quito was even more fun and possibly the most fun day that I have ever had in Quito. Ever Sunday in Quito, they close down a main road that stretches from the north to the very south of Quito so that people can ride bicycles. I have wanted to do this for a few months now but like I said, I am rarely in Quito on the weekends so I have never had a chance yet! My roommate Amber came along with me and we had an amazing time riding our bike through Quito on a beautiful day full of sunshine and warmth. This bike ride is a great way to get a tour of most of the beautiful parks in Quito and just a great way to get a tour of Quito in general. Quito has really grown on me and I just adore this city so much so riding through it on a bicycle just made my heart so happy. After we rode bikes through Quito, we spent the day at my favorite park as the sun continued to shine. The park was busy with families and children playing, everybody enjoying the beautiful day.

Lately I have been having many moments of panic where I can’t believe that I will be leaving Ecuador in about a month and a half. I do not want to leave at all. I love Ecuador so much and my life is here now. I have so many amazing relationships with wonderful people here and this country is just so fabulous in so many ways. It is a small country that has such a diverse range of climates and so much nature and beauty. It has beaches, mountains, the desert, the rain forest, the jungle, the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands and so much more. And there are so many wonderful people that I have met here that have shared their culture, their family and their lives with me. I am so not ready to leave yet! Don’t worry though, I will for sure be coming back to the US on November 22^nd. I have to finish school and get my degree. I know that I will be back to Ecuador someday, hopefully in the near future to work and maybe live here :)

Me in my favorite park! This is the point where we started the bike ride.

On the bike ride stopping for a photo

One of the parks along the bike ride

In el centro historico

El Panecillo! This is the statue that Amber and I visited a few weeks ago!

My favorite park in Quito!

 

 

Recent events

Life at the orphanage is still wonderful and I love the children here more each day. They are so precious and I just adore them! Also, thankfully, the elementary school english teacher is no longer sick and is back at school teaching her classes. So now I don't have to teach her classes by myself! This week I have been helping a lot in the english classes at the high school. I am really enjoying it! Here are some recent pics of the kids at the orphanage:

 For my roommate's birthday, we went up to this huge statue of the virgin Mary. It over looks all of Quito to "watch over" the city. It was beautiful!

The beautiful view of Quito

El Panecillo in all her glory

After staring at her from a distance on the other side of Quito, I was amazed at how big she was in real life!

I also recently went to Guyaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) with my roommate to spend time with a family that she knows there. It was an amazing weekend! Guyaquil is on the coast so it is really hot and tropical there. Quite a change from being in the mountains in Quito! I really enjoyed hanging out and staying with this family and I will definitely go back with my roommate at least one more time to visit them in Guyaquil and stay the weekend with them.

Cynthia and I

A family we met after church

Manolo and I with a view of the city

Amber and I after Cynthia and I did our makeup one day...I thought I looked scary with all that eye makeup haha