Here is a pic of the team in Manglaralto.  Jaime is my direct supervisor from The Nature Conservancy, but I will mainly be working with Kennedy who is from CIIFEN (International Center for Investigation of the El Niño Phenomenon).  Everyone is super nice and very relaxed... a wonderful combination!

Leidy (secretary), me, Jaime (TNC), and Kennedy (CIIFEN)

 

Iguana Park, aptly named.

Who's that on the church roof?

Yet another childhood experience that American kids will never enjoy, sigh.

A lily among thorns.

This town is sponsored by Lily Pulitzer.

Well, we arrived safe and sound in Guayaquil!  The plane got in at midnight, and we were tucked in bed at our hostel by 1:30am.  Trinity and I spent most of today walking along the riverfront of the Guayas River, which reminded us both of the boardwalk at Myrtle Beach.  Two small hills in the distance are covered with multi-colored houses, reminiscent of some small coastal village in Italy.  The water would have been a delicious chocolate brown except for the masses of tree limbs and coconuts floating downstream.  We definitely stand out here; so far only one boy has shrunk back in terror at seeing us, and an older gentleman pointed and laughed at Marshall, saying "Oiiii! Que alto!" (wow, this guy's tall!).  Trinity learned to haggle with old taxi drivers over whether to pay $2.50 or $2 for a cab ride.  Tomorrow, we meet Trinity's supervisor, Jaime (pronounced "High-May") at 7am, who will take us to Manglaralto, to our new abode.  Overall, we like Guayaquil, but we're more excited about getting to the beach.
Our cellphone numbers are: 09-186-6416 (Marshall) and 08-885-1706 (Trinity).
We hope all is well and will post more pictures of Manglaralto!

This is my (Trinity's) first post, and I must let you all know that I am not nearly as well-written and creative as my dear husband.  But I'll do my best....

Marshall and I are making final preparations for Ecuador, and I get a new email everyday from my supervisors Jaime and Silvia.  So far, here's the news...
1. Apparently my name is strange and the people I work with will have a hard time saying it.  Having spent 2 years in Colombia (Ecuador's northern neighbor), I'm surprised that my name (pronounced TREE-NEE-TEE) is so hard to say in Ecuador since Colombians had no trouble with it.  So, I'm thinking of changing my name to Trilili to make it a bit easier...
2. Since I will be interning with The Nature Conservancy, my supervisor Jaime sent me a plan of work which says....

-          Support the development of a climate change adaptation strategy with local communities in the dry forests

-          Support in the organization and development of workshops with local communities in the dry forests

-          Support the implementation of climate change adaptation activities with local communities in the dry forests

-          Support in compilation and systematization of relevant information regarding climate change adaptation

I don't really understand what this means, but apparently I'll be doing a lot of supporting which I think I'm pretty good at...
3.  We get to Guayaquil on a holiday, so we'll be heading to a nice hotel for two days to rest and gear up for our move to Manglaralto.  It's only two days, and I don't know about Marshall, but I'm going to treat it as a second honeymoon :)

So, that's about all the news I have for today.  Four days to go until Ecuador!

Un abrazote,
Trilili

Here are some helpful tidbits as we get to know this wonderful country of Ecuador.

• Population as of 2010: 12,646,068 (who were those 68 people?)
• Capital: Quito (1.6 million)
• People group breakdown: Spanish-speaking (59%), Quichua (39%), Lowland tribes (1%), Other (1%)
• Main exports: oil, flowers, shrimp, bananas (the world's largest exporter; good thing I like bananas!)
• 82% Catholic, 5% Protestant, 8% Unaffiliated, 5% Other
• Amazon jungle in the east, high Andean Sierra in center, coastal plain on Pacific Coast, Galapagos Islands 1,000 km off the coast.
• Information taken from Operation World

I found this photo online; apparently it was taken in Ecuador.  Have you ever seen this many bananas?!

Manglaralto, here we come

April 13, 2012

Trinity and I are preparing for our trip to Ecuador this summer: 3 months in Manglaralto, a tiny coastal town of 2,000 (or 20,000) people about 2.5 hours from Guayaquil (pronounced "gwhy-a-keel"). It's apparently mosquito central there and the little critters apparently harbor dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever. Unfortunately, one side effect of malarial pills is "night terrors," so I suppose you have to pick your poison. I'm trusting that bed nets, long clothes, and bug spray will keep my virgin blood pure, for the Red Cross's sake, at least.

I'm trying to learn Spanish before we go, but it can be quite disconcerting when I tune in to the Spanish radio in Atlanta and cannot distinguish one single word. I'm praying for some kind souls to take me under their wing and help me get adjusted to the culture and language. Trinity will be at work all day, and I'll have some work to do for my tutoring company, but the rest of the time I hope to wander the streets, visit farmer's markets, take up surfing, and practice my Spanish.

Nevertheless, I can't focus all of my attention on Ecuador. Three seminary papers beckon, students demand tutoring, house demands cleaning, and my taxes are due in a couple of days. Life is crazy, but I'm trusting that the Lord is working His will. I was encouraged by a Phil Johnson sermon in which he reminded me that God never withholds His mercy from those who trust Him. He was preaching on Acts 27 and the shipwreck that Paul experienced on his way to Rome. I'd never read that passage with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility in mind before. We're called to trust and obey the Lord, yet we can have absolute confidence in His power to work all things for good.

So the lesson is: trust the Lord and as you trust, He will not withhold His mercy and grace and loving-kindness.