My first week in Ecuador and how I locked myself in the bathroom.

Well I officially live in Ecuador now! On Monday it will be a full week that I have been living in Ecuador. It kind of still feels like a dream that I am here. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't always so sure I was actually going to make it here, some days it seemed like it would be impossible to raise all the money to get me here but I should have known that God would come through if I trusted him. If you are reading this and have supported me in any way then let me tell you how thankful I am for you. Even though I have only been here since Monday I can already tell you what an amazing experience these next 5 months will be. I will continue to try and keep you updated with everything we are learning and doing. Also if you want to hear about my bathroom mishap then you will have to get to the bottom of this post ;)

These are my roommates and teammates for the next 5 months of submerge! All these girls are so awesome and I'm excited to get to know them all more over the next 5 months.

The first couple of days here were a bit brutal for me only because one of my flights got delayed causing me to not arrive in Ecuador until Monday morning at 7am. I ended up traveling for a full 24 hours and then went straight into orientation Monday morning when I got back from the airport. I thought about writing a blog post ( actually I did write it) about my travels because it was quite the experience but after writing it realized it just sounded like a whole lot of complaining and no one wants to read that. Just know that it was a nightmare and one day I might find it funny....that day hasn't arrived quite yet.

Some of us really like red flannel...

So after the first couple days of orientation we did what they call 'Go Weekend' on Thursday and Friday. Basically we did a bunch of random activities which were all surprises to learn about our core values in the submerge program. Which are: Love, Authenticity, Creativity, Pro activity, Excellence, Fun and Vision. We first got to tour a little bit of Quito and had our own personal tour guide showing us around.

The first photo and this above photo is the 'Virgen De El Panecillo' which is a huge statue in the middle of the city of the virgin Mary, you can basically see the statue from anywhere. It's one of those places you have to see if you ever visit Quito.

At the top of the Virgen De El Panecillo

Then we went to the Basilica Del Volonacional which was built to look like Notre Dame. They are continuously building on to it because they believe that once it is completely finished that the World will end so they will never complete it. They have Gargoyles on the outside but instead of normal gargoyles they are animals that reside in the Galapagos islands.

After we finished touring the city a little bit we learned about our first core value which is LOVE. We were in a busy area and we split into teams and were each given $5 to go bless someone somehow. It happened to be a really hot day that day and over where we were there were these young boys who went around shining shoes for money. None of them go to school, they just go out there everyday and shine shoes to make money for their families. So we bought them all Popsicles and just sat and talked with them for about an hour, it was really fun, they wanted to learn English phrases like 'hello love' and 'you are beautiful' they were so funny.

I won't go into detail about what we did for each core value but each task we did was so awesome. Some of it was a little difficult because we had to break down some walls and talk about stuff in front of everyone that I wouldn't ever normally do but it was surprisingly enjoyable even if it was uncomfortable.  One of our tasks was also mentally and physically difficult, we had to spell excellence with dominoes and they all had to fall from beginning to end without leaving one domino up.

It ended up taking us 5 hours and we were up until almost 4am doing it. The satisfaction after finally finishing it was great. I think we all got to see how we act under pressure and being exhausted from a super long day and even though I think we all got very frustrated at some points I think we all handled it pretty well. I would be lying though If I said I wasn't going to cry if we hadn't have gotten it on that last try though lol.

Yesterday we learned about the core value 'FUN' and we did a scavenger hunt for different Ecuadorian fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market.

Then we went to the park and had a paddle boat competition. But before we started we had a bathroom break. Well I went into the bathroom and there were like 3 different locks on the door and I just picked the one that has the little bar that slides across and locked it. This also wasn't like a regular bathroom stall with the metal doors, it was a single toilet with a regular door. So then when I went to leave I couldn't get the door unlocked. Luckily some of the girls were still standing outside the door so I was able to yell for them and I had them pull from the outside and try to do it but It just wasn't budging. Then I looked up and saw a window that was just the right size for me to climb out of but it had the same type of lock on it and it wouldn't budge either! I was trying to stay calm but inside I was having a little bit of a panic attack. I do not like small spaces and a bathroom is the last place I want to get locked into. Finally we decided there was no way it was going to unlock so one of the guys had to kick the door down :/ We broke the whole door jam but I bet that place learned their lesson about putting locks like that on their bathroom doors.

We ended the day visiting Mitad Del Mundo which means the 'Middle of the World'

Ecuador sits right on the equator so I was able to stand on both sides of the equator at the same time.

At the end of the night we got to stand on a rooftop and see the city lights and talk about our last core value which was 'Vision'

I am so excited for what the next 5 months holds for me, please keep me in your prayers as I continue on this journey, I'm sure I will have some great stories to share with you as time goes on!

Chao! (goodbye in Spanish) I'm already pretty fluent in case you were wondering.
Not really though.

New Year's Resolutions and what not.

I've been thinking a lot about New years Resolutions lately, better late then never right? It's still January so I'm telling myself its ok. Besides when I gave up soda forever as a resolution a few years ago I haven't really done any. My little sister likes to make everyone around her feel bad about themselves (joking) because she always gives up some type of food or drink that actually challenges her, one year it was soda (she was my inspiration for my own soda detox) another it was candy, and this year?? Starbucks!! Like what do you even do with your life without Starbucks? Where do you meet with people? Where do you go to concentrate on work you cant get done at home because a loud Starbucks is always the best place for that. Luckily my sister lives in la which is saturated with uber cool places she can get coffee and instagram awesome photos of said places.
--- side note: anyone else now use instagram as a verb?? Just me?? ok cool.

Anyways, I remembered that last year I sort of had an unspoken resolution that I kept to myself. I remember chatting about it with one friend and then never really spoke to anyone about it again. I decided I was going to do more things, say yes to more things and try more things. Now usually I am not a fan of those types of vague resolutions like "I'm going to be a better person this year" or "I'm going to try and live a healthier lifestyle" blah, blah, blah, but are you actually going to take action and do things to try and live those out? Most of the time probably not. I'm not judging I just know if I make proclamations like that then that's usually where it ends, me proclaiming something but not actually ever doing anything about it. Last year was different for me though, without even realizing it I totally lived out my resolution.

First of all I went on a missions trip to another country with a bunch of strangers who are now great friends. That trip also led me to deciding to move to Ecuador for 5 months. I would say that those are new things for me that I decided to say yes to this past year. I was just much more open to doing and trying new things in 2014. I really want to continue this trend in my life this year, I don't want to come back from Ecuador in July and just go back to life as usual, I want to continue to try and do new things. I don't want life to happen to me, I want to make life happen.

I noticed a trend the last couple of years where people are picking a word to kind of stamp their year with, whether it was faith, or courage or whatever. So I decided I want my word for this year to be FEARLESS. When I chose to move to Ecuador it was a very daunting task, I had zero money to put towards it and needed to raise thousands of dollars within a few months to make it happen.  No matter how big of a task it seemed I had to choose to be fearless and step out in faith trusting that if this was for me then God would provide the way.
--spoiler alert! He totally did.
I want to continue this year being fearless, not allowing doubts and worry to make my decisions for me but letting trust and faith guide me.

If you had to pick a word to stamp your year with what would it be?? I would love to hear what words you would pick!

Ps. here's a fun game : count how many run-on sentences there are in this post!
Maybe improve my writing skills should be part of my new years resolution huh?? 
Eh, maybe next year ;)

Salvation mountain

I went and visited my sister in la this past weekend and we finally got to visit salvation mountain! We have been wanting to visit this place for years and finally had an entire day to drive the 3 1/2 hours there and back.

 

For those of you who dont know what salvation mountain is this is how the website describes it:

" Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knights tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Leonard's passion has lovingly created this brilliant "outsider art " masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord's Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner's Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. Salvation Mountain must be seen to be fully appreciated as those who have made the journey will attest. Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain." learn more at http://www.salvationmountain.us/

 Just like the website says it truly must be seen to be fully appreciated. We drove a total of about 7 hours that day to see this place and it was totally worth it. It's definitely not somewhere you might just pass by on your way to somewhere else, its way out in the middle of the desert.

We actually had to drive through a border patrol checkpoint on the way back to la because I guess we were pretty close to the Mexico border, who knew?!?

The whole place was a weird mix of dirt, clay and trees. It really looks like a Dr.Suess version the bible that came to life in the middle of the desert.

There were also all these random cars that were completely decked out with the theme of love all around the mountain.

We had a great time climbing and exploring the mountain, my only regret is that I wish I would have worn cooler clothes, Even though it was the end of November it was so hot in that desert. There is also this tiny little town that leads to salvation mountain, actually I don't know if it would even be considered a town it was so small. There was only one street called 'main street' go figure. It held a very interesting looking trailer park. Every business except for a liquor store was abandoned and partly destroyed. It was literally a one horse town. There was a guy who wore very little clothing and hung out doing push ups next to his horse, yep that's right, the one horse in the entire town.

If you have been thinking about visiting Salvation Mountain then I highly suggest you do, its one of those places you have to see to believe!
-Jamie

A name I never learned and a face I'll never forget.

I figured it was about time I started telling some stories about my trip to Ecuador. I thought I would start out sharing about when we went to an aids orphanage and spent the afternoon playing with the children there. When we first arrived I was handed a little girl who had been sleeping so I was able to just hold her and love on her while she slept.

You could tell from her physical appearance that she was much more sick then the other children. Once she finally woke up she wouldn't speak and showed absolutely no emotion. It wasn't until about 15 minutes before we left that she finally opened up to me and started laughing and playing with me, she still wouldn't speak and I never did learn her name.

 When it was finally time to go and my entire team had already left and got on the bus I had someone tell her that I had to leave now and tried saying goodbye, she instantly latched herself to me and wouldn't let go. My heart broke into a million pieces as I tried to sit her down and she started screaming and holding onto me tighter. I felt physically incapable of letting her go; I just couldn't do it by myself. Another girl had to help me put her down, the whole time she is still screaming and crying. I would have just taken her with me if I could have but I had to walk away with her crying and reaching for me, my heart hurt so bad as I walked back to the bus no longer being able to hold back my emotions. As I said before I never did learn her name and I may never know what happens to her but I'm so happy I was able to hold her and allow her to feel safe and love on her even if it was just for a little bit. She will now forever be my motivation and reminder about my dream to give a home to orphans one day.

I just spent 10 days in another country with a bunch of strangers.

The title of this post is sort of a lie. Yes, I did just go to another country for 10 days but the people I went with are no longer strangers to me. 

The picture above is just one day after this crazy group of people met each other and were already becoming fast friends.

So as some of you may or may not know when I signed up for this missions trip to Ecuador I did not know a single person going. It was so not like me to travel with such a large group of people who at the time were strangers, I sometimes still can't believe I went through with it but am SO glad that I did. I plan on writing more about my trip in future posts but I wanted to write just a little something before I go home to California (I'm still in Florida) about the people I went with. 

First of all God had is hand all up in this trip if you know what I mean, starting with the group of people he sent there. I didn't think it was possible for such a large group of people who had never met to mesh and get along so well. I'm the type of person who kind of sits back and observes things a lot and I would find myself just kind of watching everyone mingling, chatting, laughing and just thoroughly enjoying each other's company and think "Wow God, you are so good."  I've been on missions trips before but always with people I knew already and it never failed that people fought, feelings got hurt, and there was always drama. So people getting along for 10 days together kind of blew my mind. Personally I have a hard time making new friends, well that's what I thought before this trip. I don't know if it's because of all the awesome people that it made it easy for me to make friends or the fact the the Holy Spirit was sort of nudging me along the whole time to step out of my comfort zone a little bit but making friends on this trip was almost effortless. I've never gotten so close to people in such a short time before, after like day 3 we were all comfortable talking about our bowel movements with each other, I mean you can't get much closer then that lol. I believe I made a lot of forever friends on this trip. I can't wait to continue our friendships from here, hopefully getting to visit some people soon :) 

I will definitely be writing more posts about all the amazing things I experienced on this trip but I just kind of wanted to preface it with a little bit about all the people who I went on this trip with because honestly it wouldn't have been the same without them. I already feel like I'm having withdrawals from hanging out with them everyday. If you went on this trip with me and are reading this then let me tell you that I miss you already! 

Btw, #wheresmario 

-Jamie