Our Day 5 started with having to say goodbye to the great hostel we had stayed at for the first 4 nights 😢. The building and scenery were wonderful, giving us views of the mountains, volcanoes, local flora, and North Quito. We did have some toilet issues the night before but that was completely on our (my) part. Did you know you can't flush toilet paper in Quito?
From there we returned to Reypin, the school for children with disabilities, for a day filled with fun, laughs, animals, new relationships, and new experiences. We board the bus with our buddies for the day and head to La Granja del Tio Mario. There we spend hours with the children learning to ride horses, milk cows, feed bunnies, and pet alpacas!
We had hot dogs for lunch and a dance party before heading to see the chickens and sheep!
After our fun-filled day with the children of Reypin and a hard goodbye, we ventured to one of the best-known attractions of Ecuador, the Equator of course! We learned of the history of the jungle trips and their traditions, saw some beautiful flora and dangerous fauna, a shrunken head, an original jungle village home, and visited a historic tomb from one of the ancient tribes.
A few of us got egg certified by balancing an egg on a nail at the Equator! A feat for the books and check on the resume’s 😂.
We then went to another section of the Equator where we bought llama sweaters, souvenirs, ice cream, our first actual cups of coffee since being in Ecuador ( peep Mika, E=H photographer, for coming in clutch with this information), and a spectacular view from the top of the tourist tower. The shops had various hand crafted and woven materials and you couldn’t beat the prices!
After a memorable time at Mitad Del Mundo (Center of the Earth) we headed back to Youth World headquarters (their office). There we had a deeper personal lesson on John 15 from Jorgito ( a G). We got to learn and reflect on how we currently do and would like to implement John 15 the best ways we can in our lives. This was really impactful and a good time to reflect with God!
I don't have any pictures of this so here is my egg certification certificate 😊.
Once leaving the Youth World office and taking with us what we learned about John 15, we made our way to the place we would be staying the last two days of our mission, El Refugio.
We sadly had to say bye to our main man on the road Paublo 😭. Paublo had made such an impact on us with his fierce driving, and humble attitude. We got to get a group picture with him before we departed and he said we were his favorite group he’s had! Such an honor!
El Refugio has a beautiful campus and wonderful retreat accommodations. You can truly see God’s artistic hand at work in the scenery with the mountains, water fixtures and llamas! There even was a full sized bed and guess who got to sleep there for the 2 nights. Yeah it was me haha.
We settled in and met some of the staff of El Refugio during an introduction meeting and then it was off to dinner.
We had an unforgettable dish that night since one of the main courses was GUINEA PIG! 🤮They even roast them like they do a pig which is so sad. Had me stressed. Simply put I was not having any of it and I think if El Hefa and Thomascitto could take back their pieces they would. But everyone else that ate the once adorable creature we call pets in the USA, seemed to like it and slept well at night so pop off I guess.
My eyes will never be able to unsee this 😞
I will never be able to unsee Callie eating her guinea pig leg with such joy and excitement. This is her serial killer trait. 🤢
If you thought the night was over, think again! After dinner and our moral compasses being compromised, we headed to the bonfire area of El Refugio to have an uplifting circle. This is where we would grab the giant talking stick and speak uplifting things over one another from the various aspects of the week so far. We also had s’mores!
John and Chevita (our guides) were not excused from this as they had made such an impact on our journey in Ecuador.
I had a great time speaking truth over my team and playing with the s'mores rod in the fire (I’m a bit of a pyromaniac).
After the uplifting circle a bunch of us stuck around and just talked for a while. Emi and Ned even jumped the fire!
After a day of jam packed excitement, we were bum tuckered out. We headed back to our rooms for some rest to prepare us for our last day in Ecuador. 🙁
God was in the midst of all of our adventures and his presence was felt and seen throughout our time in Ecuador. The relationships and memories we formed will be with us forever and is nothing short of God blessing us.
It has been great looking back at the pictures and remembering the wonderful time we had in Ecudor. Thanks for reading my post! Jazmine peaching out. ✌