The Last Month

Good day to everybody!
It´s actually a cool November day here in Ecuador, a definite change from yesterday as the temperatures have been rising steadily as the winter approaches (which means hot, humid, bugs and rain)...hasn´t hit yet though so I´m enjoying the gift of a nice cool breeze today.

As I said in my last update, my brother Jake came to Ecuador about three weeks ago and we had a grand ole time haning out in Guayaquil and then heading to Baños (yes, baths) for an awesome vacation time for the both of us.
Stayed in one of the best hotels in the city before we headed out on our adventure to Baños where we did everything from driving four wheelers up the base of a smoking volcano, (volcano tunguruhua, the one that fully erupted two months earlier and is currently on orange alert ready to go again, yes, that´s smoke coming out in the picture!) with no guide or anything, so everybody was warned to have masks and an escape route planned....started smoking even more the day before we left.
also did some canyoning where you propel yourself down waterfalls with a rope, up to 200 feet high! That´s me in the pic. Extremely strenuous workout and a little nerve-wracking but we pumped each other up enough to make it down.
Also experienced some hot, natural thermal baths, massage, great food, crazy bus drivers and an ecuadorian band who marched through the streets playing the same song everyday.
We both had a blast and I thank my brother cause I couldn´t have done all those things just on my volunteer budget if you know what I mean...
I included some pics. of our adventures.

Work is going well as me and a Canadian guy are starting up the Foreign Relations Deparment with a foundation so we have been busy researching and figuring out our goals and expecations. I´ll give the website once we have it in English.
I have been able to understand more people in Spanish as I work more with the kids around here with our after school program.

There have been some interesting challenges here with the community we live in, just trying to understand how people here cope with financial struggles and what not when there is no bank account, or no cash flow when things go bad.
Or telling people that I left town for vacation or holiday to a city in the mountains and they tell me that they have never been there before or have only seen it on TV and its only a bus ride away, a very different way of life.

All of us volunteers took a group trip to Cuenca, in the Southern Highlands area, beautiful city with amazing churches, river, buildings, parks and grass!
It was nice to have some grass.
Great hostel and fun to get to know a completely different culture of the mountain region with traditional clothes, dances, songs and much easier to understand in Spanish.

I´ve met some great people at my work and am hopeful for what is to come. Life is pretty slow here, but us volunteers always have things going on dring the week so its nice to have free weekends.

Prayers:
1. For energy for all of us to do our daily work and not feel worn down by scheduled activities...personally for energy to spend time with God in the mornings.

2. Community living that we will discover that balance that we need.

3. Problems of people in the Arbolito Community, they will discover the solution.

4. For my older sister Katie who will have my future nephew Zach soon, a safe process.

Praise for my Grandma Conway and her healed back!

Thank you for the prayers and the responses...it always brings me back and connected to hear about the happenings with you guys and how life is going.
Enjoy your November!
God´s blessings.
Sam