Ecuador Recap

Our month in Ecuador was incredible! I had a bunch of time to rest and recharge, and also go on some amazing adventures and meet freaking awesome people. Here’s a recap of Month 4:

We flew into Quito, the capital, after a very long bus ride through Colombia and met our host, Fabi. Fabi is one of the directors at IncaLink, which is an incredible Latin American organization that is all about reaching the least of these. He bused us to Casablanca, a mission house on the IncaLink campus, where our whole squad would be staying for the next three weeks. He then explained that even though this was an all-squad month, each team would be working with a different ministry. We got to decide which team worked with which opportunity: assisting CRU in the local high schools and universities, working at Camp Hope, a camp for disabled children, or going up to El Refugio, an adventure camp in the mountains. It was decided that the Squash Sisters would go up to El Refugio; we would stay up in the mountains during the week and bus back to Casablanca for the weekends.

El Refugio is a gorgeous adventure camp located near a tiny town called Calacali. It offers a place of rest and restoration for church groups, missionaries, pastors, and locals to connect with Jesus through nature. The 300 acres of property are littered with hiking trails, including one that leads up to a large wooden cross, as well as various cabins and campgrounds. There’s a rock wall and high ropes course, a dining hall with an enormous fireplace, and even a soccer field for guests to enjoy. You get to share the space with four llamas, two dogs, two bulls, and a very loud cat. The staff are absolutely incredible and reflect Jesus in all they do. It truly is a refuge for anyone seeking intimate time with the Lord.

I was absolutely crazy about all the flowers!

We fell in love with El Refugio the moment we got there and jumped into the construction and landscaping work with lots of joy and excitement. We rotated between working on a new cabin tucked away in the woods and cleaning up the grassy fields. Cabin work included painting the walls, sanding the wooden beams, installing doors, grouting the floors, and lots of things we still don’t quite understand. Here, we mainly worked with Jorge and Enrique, who would often bring his dog, Balto, to work.

We had lots of laughs with them; they thought it was especially hilarious when Claudia stood pigeon-toed.

Landscaping was usually just raking. Aurellio would cut the grass with the tractor, and we would rake it all up, pile it in the trailer, and take it to the dump site. Occasionally we would stack some wood or use the weed-wacker, but there was always plenty of raking to do. It was pretty easy to let the six hours of hard physical labor get to you but listening to music and podcasts made the time go by so much faster! It was also super helpful to be working alongside the rest of the team. We were able to lean on each other (sometimes literally) when we were drained or having a rough day.

Check out that wheelbarrow technique!

Look at how cute this cabin is!

One of the best parts of El Refugio was the people. Our hosts, Ryan and Britta, were so wonderfully kind and made sure that we were well taken care of. The kitchen staff always prepared meals for us and prepped for the weekends when they were off work. We spent lots of time with the four men working construction, so we got to know them pretty well despite the language barrier. We shared a bunch of jokes with them, and they even started calling us “jefacitas,” which means “little bosses.”

Enrique would always ride his bike to work.

Jorge was soooo proud of his fireplace!

Most importantly, we quickly became close friends with a group of interns, the Alturas. It was so good to find a group of people around our age who were in a very similar situation. After fundraising, the Alturas stay at El Refugio for three months. They receive all sorts of wilderness trainings and certifications while helping facilitate El Refugio groups and taking classes on spreading the gospel efficiently and truly living out what it means to be a Christian. We shared most of our meals with them, spent a whole day working construction together, and visited their house for a wild night of Twister.

We bought some super cute shirts to support the Alturas!

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving in Ecuador! On Thanksgiving Day, we had work like usual, but Britta brought us a pumpkin pie a lunch, which was so unbelievably kind! We then headed back to Casablanca on Friday afternoon to have a big Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the squad and Fabi. Unfortunately, I had the worst migraine I’ve ever had that night and had to sit out the festivities. Even more unfortunately, we found out a few days later that Fabi and his family tested positive for COVID. Ryan immediately asked us to self-quarantine and get tested in order to protect the staff and other guests at El Refugio. We spent a few days in limbo, praying that none of us had COVID, but the test results finally came back… and two of them were positive.

We packed everything up as quickly as possible and headed back to Casablanca to quarantine with the rest of the squad where another five girls had tested positive. It was honestly pretty devastating. We didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone at El Refugio and had absolutely no time to emotionally or mentally prepare to leave. It was especially challenging for me to go from my beautiful refuge with its endless amount of space, peace, and silence to a small, crowded house filled with 19 other women. We quarantined for our last week in Ecuador and also had to cancel the debrief we had planned with our coaches and mentor. This messed up the schedule for team changes and new roles. It was a week of chaos and uncertainty.

Before COVID hit us, however, we were able to go on some amazing adventures! Claudia and I spent our first weekend exploring the Old Town selection of Quito. We checked out a bunch of different churches, tried out some coffee shops and restaurants, and had a photoshoot (of course). The next weekend, the Squash Sisters took on the city of Banos. We went canyoning, which was beyond incredible, explored the local shops and market, visited the swings at the end of the world, and took a dip in the hot springs. Finally, on Thanksgiving weekend (before we knew about COVID), we stopped by the equator and enjoyed an afternoon being the center of everyone’s world.

We might not have looked cute, but canyoning sure was fun!

We took the equator by storm!

Thankfully, when it was time to leave Ecuador, every single one of us tested negative for COVID! God’s hand was so evident in this as it allowed the whole squad to travel to South Africa together. We flew out of Quito at midnight, stopped in Atlanta, Georgia, and then had an eight-hour layover in the JFK airport. My mom and sister were able to fly out to spend the day with me which was so amazing! We ate tacos, played card games, and just enjoyed each other’s presence as we told stories and caught up. I’m so grateful that I was able to see them face-to-face instead of on a phone screen. I’m also super grateful that I got to send all my journals home with them because that lightened my daypack a good deal.

Missed these two so much!

After New York, the squad stopped in Amsterdam for a few hours before finally flying to Cape Town. We spent two days there before taking an overnight bus to Jeffrey’s Bay where we were for the next two weeks. We definitely made the most of our short time in Cape Town and loved Jeffrey’s Bay! We also got our new teams and roles, which was quite bittersweet. Please be praying for us as we adjust to everything new and prepare our hearts for the next two countries we’ll be visiting in Africa: eSwatini and Rwanda!

I know it’s about a month late, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from L Squad!