A Little Adventure Part 4- "Meeting Daniel"

The last stop on our travel agenda was Machala, Ecuador to visit Daniel, the boy that we sponsor through Compassion International. Here we are going through customs at the Peru/Ecuador border. Notice how much taller Levi is than everyone else in the room!



Compassion had generously arranged an individual visit for us based on our time schedule and it turned out to be a wonderful, meaningful experience for everyone involved. First, we met our chaperon/interpreter, Juan, and then he and the hired van driver took us to meet Daniel and his Mother at the local mall.



then Juan let Daniel pick the activity for the day.......he chose a visit to the arcade. He'd never been there before nor had he ever played any of the games.



This is where Levi and his charisma and excellent Spanish speaking skills were invaluable.....he really bridged the gap that separated a middle aged American white woman and a shy 15 year old Ecuadorian boy.



Next we visited the project that supports Daniel and his family, and the church that supports the project. And they had a surprise for us. In one of my previous letters to Daniel I had written out the words to the old Sunday School song, "I have decided to follow Jesus", to encourage him because his parents were not super supportive of his conversion to Christianity. Well, the women of the church learned that song and sang it for us in Spanish and again in Quechuan.



I was stunned....it just took me by complete surprise....that my letters were really being read and that it mattered what I wrote. That people were reading them and that they really made a difference. I tell you, I was so moved that I simply could not stop crying! And then they collectively thanked us for sponsoring one of their students and wanted me to say something  to the crowd, but I was so choked up I could barely manage it. And then, of course it was time for pictures.....everyone wants to get in on the pictures!



Many of the young workers in the project were once sponsored students too and they were so overwhelmed to meet us and just wanted to thank us over and over.



After touring the church and the project facilities we got a tour of Daniel's home. It was humble and sparse, but very organized and tidy. Their home is situated behind this house that is on the street.....



.....through the alley.



They had put up balloons to welcome us!



And everyone was excited to show us around and have us take photos.



Mom and Dad's bedroom....



The cooking area....



Upstairs where the kids sleep.....

And here is the view from the second story window....



We presented a few gifts to the family.....one of which was the all-important soccer ball...and of course this demanded a trip to the local soccer court for a rousing game of soccer.



And everyone was invited!!!! They chose up teams and then went nuts running around like crazy for a couple of hours until everyone was quite sweaty and exhausted.



I watched from the sidelines. It was quite a day.....quite a day.

The next day we headed South again and ultimately ended up in Lima where we caught our flight toward home. It was a great vacation! Peru is so economical for a vacation. We figured we each spent about $2600 and I think it was worth every single penny.

A Little Adventure Part 3 - " 'Take The Bus', they said, 'It Will Be Fun!', they said.

Our next stop was Southern Ecuador, which was very far away from where we were in Southern Peru. Even though we had a long way to travel, we decided we wanted to take the bus for the rest of our adventure because we wanted to see more of the countryside than we could from an airplane. Bus stations are interesting places.

In this one I made a new friend.

 Those bus rides were brutal. 19-20 hours long. The seats recline quite a bit, but the leg rests don't come all the way up, so it was very uncomfortable to try to sleep.

The bathroom in the bus starts out relatively clean, but by the end of the ride it's pretty bad. Oh, and did I mention that there is no pooping or toilet paper allowed in the bus toilet?  ......But the view from the bus is great.

Cuzco, Peru

mototaxis in Lima, Peru

back street in Moncora, Peru

 one of the endless banana fields in Southern Ecuador

Especially when you are lucky enough to get the front seats in the upper level of the bus!

Sitting up there was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating....sort of like a Disneyland ride set to loud American movies dubbed in Spanish with English subtitles which are played incessantly. 

I loved it! 

We'd go days without seeing any other tourists, and there were fabulous sights to see on the way.

In Lima we visited the most fabulous open market. So much to see!

In Moncora we walked the beach and ate delicious ceviche.

 In Nuro we swam in the ocean with the giant sea turtles.  (I stole the turtle photos from the internet because we didn't have our cameras with us.)



 

In Organos we ate more delicious ceviche.

 And everywhere we went, people marveled over Levi's toe shoes.

 They caused quite a sensation.

A Little Adventure Part 2- "That Which Goes Up, Must Come Down"

After soaking up the spectacular view for an hour or so, it was time to head back down.

 It looks a little bit like Levi's stepping off the edge of the world here....

I must say, going down was a lot more difficult than going up.

Somehow,  there were  lot more steps on the way down than there were on the way up!

Here's a helpful tip: clip your toenails in the morning before you hike downhill.

At the base of the mountain we paused and marveled at the beautiful ruins.

And then we headed down to spend some time exploring....

Incredible.

We didn't have a tour guide.....I think we should have hired one....it would have enhanced the experience. But it was very cool.

Some reconstruction is still going on.

 The stonework defies comprehension.

This happened.

I hate to think what all happened on this stone down through the years....

 These guys were roaming around unconcerned....

Are they Llamas or Alpacas?

By now we were totally exhausted, so we made our way through the mind bogglingly long queue for the bus and headed back to Aguas Calientes.

There we found a nice little place for dinner....

guacamole and home made tortilla chips

 llama tenderloin and the ubiquitous rice and potatoes

 chicken

 .....and then we collapsed in bed!!!