missions & boys.

From Humans of New York:

"When I was 19, my girlfriend and I were going to study in Paris. Our boyfriends came to the docks to see us off. Right as we were getting on the ship, my friend’s boyfriend said to her: ‘If you go, I won’t wait for you.’ So she turned around and decided to stay. My fiance saw this and told me: ‘I won’t wait for you either.’

I said: ‘Don’t!’”

This just makes me laugh, and maybe it's the answer for some of us missionaries and maybe it's not.

let's share some prince royce love

You're welcome.

a family celebration.

Sunday, May 11th means a happy Mother's Day to my lovely Mami

&

a happy birthday to my cool brother, Quinn!

Eleanor love.

Too much Eleanor love.

The stars of the party.

#adorbz

Can you tell he loved his b-day present?

..and that Jed loves his mother?

The cute sister.

The cute sister in her natural habitat.

My family is my favorite.

ER Stories 8: Burnt Skin

[Entry from my journal on Wednesday, February 6, 2013]

[Only the first picture is mine. All other pictures included in this post are ones I found on the internet from patients with similar cases.]

Patronato was really busy in the morning. I did a lot! Lots of patients, a few shots and a really interesting emergency:

Denise (coworker) and Chanmi (Global Citizen Year 2014) in the office/waiting room of Patronato

Denise and I exchanged a funny look when we heard odd squealing from outside. We thought it may have been an injured dog. A few seconds later, a very frantic set of parents rushed into the clinic, carrying the source of the squealing -- a little boy.

ER Stories 6: Before and After - Amputated Toe

Another ER Story from Ecuador:

Short Background Story to these photos: On my first week working in the clinic, I met a woman who recently had a good section of her middle toe/foot removed as an eventual result to her diabetes. I cleaned her foot every day and after a few months her wounds heal. 

Long & More Interesting Background Story: http://everydayambassador.org/2013/01/07/looking-up-from-sympathy-to-respect/

I am humbled to see the drastic before and after. Our bodies are miraculous.

Before:

march 21st: World Down Syndrome Day

 

http://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/

ecuador archives: un poco del fútbol

place: Puerto Quito, Ecuador
              my front yard

who: my [host] cousin

selfie sunday.

more ecuaphotos!

Honey, I'm hoome!

And tired.

Pase un lindo, bonito y chevere tiempo en mi quierido Ecuador. MUCHISIMOS GRACIAS a todos que abrieron sus casas para mi.

Aquí estan algunas de los fotos:

Not Waving but Drowning

Not Waving but Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning. 

Stevie Smith

Ashton (Photography)

getting political.

It’s political season here in Ecuador!

..which is why the outside of our house is painted with a mural in support of my host-parents’ candidate. Who needs yard signs when you can paint the outside of your home? 

Many days, the streets are filled with “parades”. These ones aren’t as fun as the parade of horses we had in September. In these “parades”, pick-up trucks decorated with the face of the candidate they are supporting drive around the streets waving flags out the side of the vehicle and honking. Each of them honks to whatever beat they choose and when 10 trucks are honking to their own rhythm, the result is a clash of ugly noise-makers that is sure to get your attention. 

¡Vota todo!

a taxi driver.

Since getting robbed in Quito, I find myself a very paranoid person.

So, when my friend and I took a taxi together and, because it logistically worked better, dropped her off first, I was very proud of myself just for allowing myself to be alone in a taxi.

Very proud.

So, for me to, on top of just sitting in the car, to ask the cab driver: " ¿Usted le gusta vivir en Quito?" was a big deal [for me].

Because my spanish abilities are lacking I tend to (possibly foolishly) avoid talking with strangers.

From the first "Do you like living in Quito" -- probably in bad spanish grammar -- I talked with the cab driver the whole fifteen minutes from my friend's house to mine.

That was probably the first real, natural spanish conversation I have had since I've been here.

When I left the taxi, the driver told me "mucho gusto," which means "nice to meet you" and, uncharacteristically of taxi drivers in Quito, he waited for me to get inside my gate before driving away.

My spanish is coming along, slowly but surely. I can talk to more and more people without nerves and talk about more things. (My spanish is getting to a point where I still don't know a lot of words, but I know enough to talk around the word until the person I'm talk to can figure out what I'm talking about.. eventually..)