Monday Xmas Adventure

When I got up this morning I never dreamed I would have a night of thrills and chills.
The daytime hours were calm and production. Spent most of the time on the computer catching up on correspondence.

Diego came home and said that this evening would be spent with his relatives, we would visit, have a typical Ecuadorian dinner and play cards until the wee hours.

Well it started out at least walking out the door was normal. It was when we got to the car that the adventure began. I met Diego’s brother, wife, youngest daughter and a nephew that lives here in the family complex. It is Geovanna’s sister’s son.

Well imagine my surprise when all of us (11) were loaded into Diego’s Jeep Landrover. I knew that the Ecuadorian people didn’t have any conception of space between people, but this was going a little beyond that.
We drove into town and, goodness we stopped for another daughter of Diego’s brother. So our total was now 12. Needless to say we got to know each other quickly and well. Actually we had so much fun, laughing and signing and of course I was the only one who wasn’t fluent in Spanish. So as usual it was a game we play ½ English and ½ Spanish. I have so much fun plus I am learning more Spanish than I thought I would.

The next step in our adventure turned out to be a tour of the city. We saw the worst parts, where crime is very high, we went past the jail, and then down to the better side and where the government Offices were and took a walking tour of that area. At night it is gorgeous with all the lights. There are so many churches it is unreal.

We poured ourselves back in the car and Diego said we were going to hike up this mountain and see the nativity scene that was made up of lights. Of course I was the first to let him know I would look at them from the bottom. Diego cracked up as he was kidding about hiking. So we started up this narrow, bumpy road to the top.

After regaining some composure I opened my eyes and saw the most meaningful display of lights I have ever seen. It was worth every moment of terror getting up to the top. There were vendors and displays so we walked around, took pictures and just took in the view from the top. As I stood there I truly felt God’s presence. It was a very special moment in my life.

Heading back didn’t seem so bad as going up. Plus it didn’t seem to take forever either. By then we were starving, and headed for the restaurant. We got to the place we were going and of course by then it was closed. So we took another ½ hour to find a place. We found this place and ended up having a typical “American Hamburger”, go figure. It was good and after that we headed home, dropping off the family at their home.

Needless to say all the excitement of the evening kept playing in my brain for hours making sleep impossible and before I knew it, it was morning. Oh well tomorrow has another night I keep telling myself, I will catch up then.
Stay tuned friends it gets even better.
Chao