Day 52 in Ecuador

Today was another early morning, having to wake up at 6:00 again for breakfast. We helped out and hung out for what felt like a long time in the morning. After all the teams had eaten, Dale and I made some pancakes for Mabe, Fabi, Gustavo, Jake and ourselves to eat. We didn't end up leaving the kitchen until around 10:30, so it was a long morning, but it was definitely fun to get to hang out and help out a lot.

Once we were done in the kitchen, Dale and I took some time to rest and digest the delicious pancakes we just ate. At around 11:30, we made our way to Carolina park to go for a run. I was, once again, struggling with some homesickness this morning and just struggling with checking out already even though we still have 3 more days. I was praying about it a lot and trying to change my attitude but nothing really was changing. What was really nice was that Dale and I had an awesome talk on the bus on the way to Carolina. It was nice to just get how I was feeling off my chest and to have someone to be vulnerable with. I am so thankful to God for having Dale throughout this trip, it would have been very hard to do it without him.

We got to the park and went for about a little over a 3 mile run. Both Dale and I felt good and had a fun time running throughout the park. After we worked hard, we had to treat ourselves to some Shwarma and some more delicious gelato. We then made our way to the market for a final time to make sure we had gotten everything we wanted before leaving. At the market we got to talk with this lady that Dale was buying some stuff from. She wanted to learn English and I told her how La Luz offers English lessons for free on Thursdays. Hopefully she will consider going and maybe even get connected to the church! Anyway she was really sweet and awesome to talk too. That has been something that I have loved about Ecuador. The "gente", or people, are so welcoming and friendly and really easy to talk to.

After buying all of the stuff we wanted, we then made our way to a mall close by where I was able to get a really cheap haircut, only for 4 bucks. The lady was really nice and did a great job. We then made our way back to la Casablanca via bus and had some more good talks just getting to know each other more.

The rest of the night was spent just relaxing, playing some Euchre, and eating some dinner. Dinner tonight was made by one of the short term teams down here who are all Mong. They made some of the most delicious egg rolls I have ever had. They also cleaned up everything also. It was really nice of them and something that Mabe and Fabi needed because they were dealing with a lack of sleep. God is so good in providing rest when needed!

I had a blast with Dale today. Praise God for the amazing friendships He gives us that help build us up in our faith! You can keep praying that for these last 3 days, I would remain checked in and not make my focus on getting to see my family and friends again. I will definitely
need those prayers!

Dios Bendiga,
Nico