day one - first impressions

i am so dead tired so this is going to be quick. my flights went pretty well. i had a magnificent 8 hour layover in miami (seriously) and spent a few hours on south beach. it felt so surreal! white sandy beaches, ocean, sun...beautiful. unfortunately...i left my camera on the whole trip so i ran out of battery before i could take one photo. i took a few videos on my ipod but since i am technologically challenged i couldn't figure out how to upload it on this computer without erasing all their music. aaaand im too exhausted to try harder. i got back to MIA with a couple hours to spare, only to find out my flight had been delayed an hour and a half. and when we all finally boarded we sat on the tarmac for another hour and a half because our airplane was freaking leaking. i looked out my window and there was seriously water pouring out of the plane. "it's ok!" they reassured us..."there's no need to panic...yet".

anyways, i got to quito at 9:30 pm and went through customs, struggling to remember the only few phrases i learned in mexico. thankfully Ron and Glenda Allan were right there waiting for me so i didn't wander around like a poor lost soul. Bless those two for waiting around for me in the midst of a crazy busy schedule! since it was late we stayed in a missionary guest house for the night. my head touched the pillow and i was out cold until 5:30 the next morning when we left to beat traffic out of Quito. It was about 3 hours to Riobamba and it almost makes me homesick for Uganda. It's beautiful here. Rainy season. very green...but no red dirt roads, they're mostly paved. the smell...for all my omega leadershippers out there...is aaaaalmost the same as Uganda! that burning-wood-open-fire-it-just-rained smell. i want to bottle it up and take the smell with me.

the children's home is beautiful. i feel very safe here, almost safer than Kibaale. there's no security guards wandering around with guns bigger than me. i really wish i had taken the time to learn some spanish before i came so i could interact with the kids more.

im sharing a room with two other volunteers, american girls around my age which has already been a huge blessing. it's only my first day here but i'm already overwhelmed, tired, and not knowing quite what to expect.

i will be volunteering at least 40 hours a week which involves changing diapers, feeding, playing with kids, holding them (i've done all that already) plus probably lots of other things. tomorrow is their first day of march break and we're taking them to the zoo!

i took the bus into town with Jesslyn, which took about 10 minutes and only cost 18 cents haha. the currency here is american which i find kind of strange but thankful that it's easier to budget.

i dont know what else to say but i think i'm going to like it here but i feel i can't really organize my thoughts more than what i just wrote.

please pray that i will soon feel at home here and also that i will get enough sleep!
love you all, Danielle

it's real.

the reality has hit me. last night i looked at the date. Sunday, March 21. i leave in a week. For the longest time, Ecuador was just something i talked about. But now it's so real and all the normal emotions are flooding my mind. Excitement, anticipation, maybe a bit of fear. This is my first time flying alone internationally and while I'm confident there's also a bit of fear that comes with the unknown. There's definitely comfort in the fact that i'm never alone. I find it kind of funny that i've been buying new flip flops and shorts for my trip and today i looked at the weather in Ecuador. Rain, rain, rain. thunderstorms all week even! it will definitely be warmer than here but i don't think i'll be getting much of a tan. Two months isn't long but it is. In two months anything can happen. I am hoping to learn, to grow, to be stretched, and to further become the woman God has created me to be. I kind of hope this won't be easy for me, I kind of hope it will be a humbling experience but i have prayed those prayers before, unknowing how painful it can be. However. Definitely worth it.
Well...i'd better go find my rain jacket.

Ark Children's Home

The Ark Children's Homes Promotional Video from Silas Allan on Vimeo.