First Weeks

Today marks six weeks since our arrival in Ecuador. We are now living in the house that we found less than two weeks after getting here. I never expected that we would find a permanent home in six weeks, much less be settling into it! As our container has yet to leave the U.S., we are borrowing a few "basics" from the Bible college for the next few weeks (beds, a table, a stove, and a fridge) until our own things arrive. We did purchase a TV the other day -- it was the only major purchase we didn't make before leaving the States. And we signed up for Internet. So, you know, we have the essentials!

We lived at the Bible college for a little over a month. We started Spanish lessons at the Galapagos Spanish School, a few minutes' walk from our apartment. Rusty went in the morning, and I went in the afternoon. We like the school, but it is a pretty good jaunt from our new place, so we may start going to another school that's closer, or even look for a private tutor to come out to the house.

Here are a few pictures of our daily life the last few weeks:

How we watch DVD's without a TV or a DVD player

How we take a bath without a bathtub

How Benjamin eats without a high chair

Our Sawyer bag filter gives us clean water for drinking and cooking.

Clean water -- about a four-day supply

Since I was at home with the boys in the mornings while Rusty was in class, I started home-schooling. Most of our curriculum is still in the U.S., but I did bring the phonics and reading program in our luggage. We are about 3 weeks in, and Alex is reading simple words, and both of the boys are singing the little jingles that we learn for each letter and sound. It's pretty exciting.

Our first day of homeschool

We had our first visitor! Okay, technically, she didn't come to visit us -- Catera was in Ecuador for 3 weeks as part of her graduate program at George Fox University in Oregon. But she spent an evening with us and we enjoyed catching up with each other and telling stories about Japan (Catera was an English teacher with the same school district in Mito, although not at the same time).

Sharing an itty-bitty couch and a bowl of popcorn with Catera

We haven't done much in the way of "touristy" things yet, but we did visit the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) one Saturday afternoon, and took the obligatory photo on the Equator! It was a neat place, and it's not too far from our house, so I'm sure we'll visit it many times, especially when we have visitors (hint, hint).

Family photo straddling the Equator

For our anniversary this year, a wonderful couple who are supporters of the work in Ecuador offered to put us up in the Hilton for the night. We left the boys with Josh and Julie and enjoyed a night away in a 5-star hotel. Our room was on the 17th floor, with a gorgeous view of the city. The picture below isn't that clear (it was a rainy morning), but the hill in the center is called the Panacillo, and to the right of that, you can see the spires of the Basillica. Quito is really a very beautiful city. Parts of it remind me so much of Portugal (probably the European influence). And then other parts of it remind me of Africa!