South of Centre - Again

Well here we are on another rainy Sunday afternoon…feels like a good time to bring everyone “up to speed” after a rather long break from the blog. 

We arrived back in Ecuador last Sunday (January 1) after an extended Christmas holiday in Manitoba.  Our trip was rather uneventful until reaching Quito and we went looking for our luggage.  The two bags we had checked had not arrived with us and the baggage claim people had no record or any way to track them.  We left the address of our guesthouse and were assured they would deliver the bags when they arrived on the next plane.  The bags were eventually delivered; however by that time we were already back in Shell.  We expect to see the luggage mid week when a missionary couple will bring them back from Quito.

First order of business when returning to our apartment was a thorough cleaning.  Although we had scrubbed and cleaned everything before we left, the spiders and termites had continued with their life.  A 6-week accumulation of termite wings and droppings make you wonder when the structure around you will collapse…I guess the spider webs are holding it together!

Valerie is in a new classroom with a different assignment, she will now be the Kindergarten teacher.  A change in the missionary family population has shown a need for a K class, so Garth helped Valerie clean out the unused classroom and moved furniture and supplies to make an inviting kindergarten classroom.  The students will begin classes soon.

Garth will return to the hospital next week where there is apparently a  “list” of repairs to the staff housing.  There will also be another Canadian volunteer worker coming soon and together we have been                   assigned a renovation that will include bashing out a concrete wall for a window installation!  I hope he knows what he is doing!

The town square is open!  For most of our time before Christmas, the square had been boarded off for renovations.  It apparently opened for “Shell Days”, and is really very well done! There are some new statues, fixtures and plants and a new play center on artificial grass!  We were enjoying the park on Friday, until chased home by rain.

It is good to be back, and we are excitedly looking forward to what God has in store for us in the coming months!