stephaniebernotas

Quito Adventures

VIEW FROM OUR WINDOW IN QUITO.

I wish I had the words (and time) to describe to you exactly what this week has been like. I've realized just how insane my life has become... in a good way. (JB, LC)

We stayed in a few hostals in Quito, Ecuador for a few days for Launch Week. AIM staff was there to encourage us, pray with us, commission us, etc. It was great to be with ALL the Dub Squad before splitting up for... anywhere between one to three months. (When we separated, many tears were shed, trust me, this squad loves each other.) Anyway, so Quito is freezing cold and rainy most of the time. Quite a different climate from the Hawaii-New Jersey-Florida weather I've gotten used to this summer. But when the sun did shine, it was like a cool, crisp, autumn day - perfection :)

Ecuadorian food is awesome. We had so much good stuff, even on our super small budget - middle eastern food, burritos, and we even found an in-n-out burger - what?! three words for that. praise. the. Lord. ;)

We spent a lot of time in sessions, hearing the word preached and praising the Lord together. It was kind of a dark area of the city - intense partying every night, lots of people drunk and sleeping around, etc. We spent a lot of time praying over Quito and the country of Ecuador as a whole. Not only did we begin to feel peace in the area, but the sun began to shine and the weather warm up. God is good :)

Side note on the Quito experience: about five or six of my squadmates got robbed. A few of the girls had their bags slashed or stolen in the bus or mall, and a couple others got surrounded and had their stuff taken. Definitely pray for those guys and girls. Everyones totally safe now and everything, but it is kind of hard to lose your camera and computer and stuff just when the race begins. It's just a reminder I guess that we are putting ourselves in situations where the Lord is our strength and our provider, and He is all we need.

On a much lighter note, we had a few adventures while in the Quito area as well. These next three happened IN THE SAME DAY. (I have no idea how I'm going to be able to explain all this so pictures will have to do the trick!)

The Dub visited the Equator. It was awesome. Period. They sold guinea pig. To eat.

The Justice League at the Equator ... pretty good lookin' bunch, eh?

Afterwards, some of us decided to take a Gondola up the volcano to about... anywhere between 13,000-15,000 ft.... we're not exactly sure. The view was spectacular! The squad read Genesis aloud and prayed over the city. Pretty cool stuff. If you look at the following picture, however, and if you know me at ALL, you know i was terrified on that gondola. I believe a video is in the works as we speak. You'll probably laugh. (Teaser: as we're in this rickety metal square going up this giant volcano, lightning struck and the gondola stopped. Tears may or may not have been involved.) It WAS, however, one of the most fun times of my life, and I'm SO glad I went.