This past week has been very intense for both of us!  It was report card time and parent teacher interviews at Nate Saint School… always a little stressful from everyone’s perspective.  However, all went well and Valerie had energy left over to enjoy Friday’s Harvest Festival, dedicated to the amazing apple.  Valerie even learned some fascinating facts during the 

Apple Trivia game.

  

Garth put in longer hours than usual as he and Ron Grant raced the clock to get the apartment finished for moving day, TODAY.  The place looks great and the teachers moving in are excited with their new accommodations.  Friday night we were invited over to the Grant’s home for pizza and a movie to celebrate completion of the apartment project. 

Today we strolled over to the school to see what bargains could be had at the grade 7/8 garage sale.  People enjoy a good sale in any country and business was brisk.  Surprisingly the sun shone the whole time!  We are pretty sure enough money was made to get the students to Quito for their field trip in November.  Buy the way; we did acquire some great English reading material for a grand total of 50 cents.

On the way back from the market this afternoon, we met a family from Missouri, an elderly woman, her son and her grand daughter.  They were taking it 

VERY SLOW

 across the swinging bridge and we had to wait for them to cross in order to not get the bridge bouncing wildly.  We were impressed with the spunk of the elderly woman who was excited to explore the town, which holds such rich missionary history.  We are also amazed at the number of visitors from other countries who cross our path.  On Wednesday we met another Johnson family, direct from Sweden.  It was fun to listen to them talk.  Needless to say there is never a dull moment around here. 

We have not had time to take many pictures this week so we are including some earlier pictures of interesting flowers, leaves, a cute frog and an interesting stick bug that Garth captured with the camera, then seconds later accidentally stepped on!!

One more week at the “Old Hanger Apartment” and then it is moving day for the girls.  Two teachers, one from Nate Saint School and one from Casa de Fe Orphanage, have been waiting for this date for some time.  The renovations will not be completely done, but the remainder is mostly exterior work. 

It seems like the overhaul of this building has taken a lot of time, however, in this land there are many reasons for delays.  Going to the building supply store is not like browsing at Home Depot.  First you must know what you need, go to the counter to ask for it, describe it if they have another name for it, wait until they can locate the item and sometimes you will leave with exactly what you wanted.  Often though, you will accept a substitute and rework that which you have already done to complete the job.  That is in regard to plumbing and electrical parts.   Lumber and millwork are another story! 

Example of termite damage
from one of several walls replaced
a few weeks ago

The renovation to this building was due to insect damage; so all the materials used in the repairs have been naturally insect resistant. The wood is so hard that often you must drill before you nail and it must be custom milled to fit.  Over the last several days we have been making window and baseboard trim.  Prior to that, the doors all had to be framed and installed.  Although this type of work has taken more time, it has been very enjoyable.  As you can see in the pictures, MAF has a well equipped shop for this work.

Step 2- Get a flat, square edge

Step 1- Select termite resistant wood

Step 3- Run it thru' the saw

Step 4- Plane it to a uniform size

Step 5-Push it thru' the shopmade shaper

Step 6- Apply finish

This will be my last week with MAF.  In the new month I will walk the opposite direction every morning and begin      working with HCJB in the hospital.  This promises to be a new challenge in that the entire maintenance crew speaks Spanish.

Thanksgiving

Albert and Clara Johnson
65 years

Visiting via Skype

 We have so much to be thankful for.  As well as family, friends, beauty and bounty, we would like to add technology.  Because of today's technology, we are able to be a continent away and yet still share in celebrations!  Saturday, we attended Mom and Dad Johnson's 65th wedding anniversary celebration...virtually, via Skype.  My sister Ruth carried us from table to table so we could visit during the meal and also set us up to view the program that was prepared for the handsome couple!  It was almost like being there, except for the smell and taste of the Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie!   

Monday evening, here in Shell, about 45 people gathered at the Nate Saint House to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving - potluck style!  The evening began with singing the Doxology as the blessing (three part harmony!) then two of Valerie's students read their own psalm of thanksgiving.  Everyone enjoyed a traditional yet varied Thanksgiving meal.  Traditional with turkey, potatoes, corn and salads and varied with refried beans, chilli and several unidentified vegetables.  Valerie and I (as the Canadians) supplied the turkey, cornmeal buns and scalloped corn.  Thanks to Barb for the recipe on short notice! 

At the end of the evening while cleaning up, the town of Shell went black.  It is the beginning of severe electrical storm season.  For the next two months we are to expect intense lightning storms.  The locals tell us the storms will mostly occur at night.  We received almost 2 inches of rain that night, and yesterday it rained all day, but today was clear and cooler with a view of the mountains and snow capped volcanoes!

One of the many things to be thankful for!

As we write this it is raining.  Since we arrived 6 weeks ago, the rain guage has measured over 24 inches.  Today looks like there will be another 1/2 inch.

This past Friday, Valerie and Beth (another teacher), combined classes and came to visit the renovation worksite.  This is an environmental class and they've been discussing the differences in new construction and renovations, as well as looking at the materials used in the different styles of construction and how this impacts the environment.  There is a new concrete house (Ecuadorian style) being built that they will visit next week.

 
The renovation is to the point that you cannot see into any open walls, so we let the kids into a crawl space to check out the plumbing and electrical that is hidden within the walls.  This apartment also required a fire escape route and all the kids had to test that out!  This was the highlight of the visit.  They seemed to have fun and hopefully learned something.  When they returned to school, the rest of the afternoon was spent with the Casa de Fe (orphanage) children that had come over for games and an art activity.

The jungle called to Garth again this weekend.  He felt it would be the last opportunity to see the location of the water wheel that Nate Saint had built to generate power for his home/hospital in the early 50's.  The scrap iron collectors had discovered it, along with the old dump site, and were hauling out all sorts of stuff.  Mostly old rusty barrels, pipes and other scrap steel, but also parts of a wrecked airplane including sheet metal from the fuselage and wings.  They were working on the wheel late Friday so Garth trekked out on Saturday to take a look...alas, already gone!  All that remained was a portion of the concrete aqua-duct that lead the water to the turbine.

Warehouse (note tree across trail)

Main House

Also while trekking, Garth came upon an abandoned tea plantation.  Although the property has been seized by the bank, it is likely that it is not vacant as squatters usually take over quickly.  For this reason the main house was viewed from a distance.  A second building, a distance from the hacienda, looked to be a warehouse but inside were many rooms filled with bunk beds.  I guess it was a warehouse, for labor.  It won't be long before the jungle reclaims this building and the others around it!

Each room contained 4-6 beds

Tree across the trail

Check out this jungle spike belt!  I saw other palm-like trees still standing with these spines, but have no idea what they are trying to protect.