Ecuador {Day 2}

Since we didn't arrive in Shell until 4:30 am, we got to sleep in a bit - 9 am! The place we stayed at was very nice, definitely one of the nicest places in Shell.  The only bummer is...you can't flush your tp! Which I'm not gonna lie I might have forgotten a couple times but I don't think we messed any plumbing up too much (ick I know!) I say we got to sleep in until 9 am, HOWEVER. As you will see as the rest of the trip progresses there is a massive amount of stray dogs in Shell.  So around 5 ish the dogs started barking and a rooster started crowing...but we got a few more hours of sleep despite that!

We had breakfast cooked for us each morning - eggs, fruit and a roll with homemade marmalade (my fave!)

After breakfast Dwight and Tandy (the missionaries that are serving at Casa De Fe - the orphanage we were helping at) picked us up in a 15 passenger van and we were off for the day! We headed straight to the orphanage to meet the Maestros (construction Masters if you will), get a tour of the orphanage itself, and the worksite we would be at.  Last year the team started construction on a school building, and so we continued with that this year.  The building they have now is currently housing 56 children.  It is where they eat, play, sleep and learn.  It is SUCH an incredible place with awesome people running it. After the school is finished, they hope to build some houses that will hold 4-6 children each with a  house mom, so that the children can learn what it is like to sit around a dinner table, do homework, and just be a family in general.  Like I said this place is amazing!

We wrapped up the tour and headed to lunch. After lunch we walked around and explored the town a bit.  I, of course forgot my swimsuit so was on a mission to find one (there was a pool at our hotel!) It took lots of looking but finally found a dark tiny shop that had a few.  In broken English the sweet lady that owned the shop was trying to show me a place that I could try it on.  I stepped back into the "room" she was referring to to see that it was an old shower stall that may or may not have had mold on  it... I opted not to try it on and told the lady in my broken English that I would take it.  8 bucks for a swimsuit I wore once...ANYWAY! We had a good time exploring the town - very different from America - lots of children, families and stray dogs roaming in the street.  Very poverty stricken, yet everyone was so  happy and friendly. We stopped to get ice cream and then headed back to our hotel.  I put my cheap swimsuit to good use when we all jumped in a freezing cold pool that felt great after not showering for approximately 48 hours, and then walking around in the heat all day. So glad I spent the $8!

Later that night we had a group meeting that filled us in on what we would be doing for the rest of the week. We also did a little party planning for a birthday party that we had later in the week. I went to bed that night with lots of anticipation about getting my arms wrapped around some sweet babies the next day!

Low: Realizing I left my swimsuit at home and having to shop for one - ICK.

High: Getting to see Casa de Fe and meet Dwight and Tandy.