Let the Race Begin

These last two weeks have been absolutely crazy, exhausting, terrifying, and exciting! On the monday we all got up early, packed a backpack with a few essential items, got in the van and headed North towards this camp high in the mountains, just outside of the town Calacali. When we got there we met Cuenca and his wife; they work at this camp hosting interns like us and short-term teams that come through Ecuador. We spent the day doing a bunch of team-building activities; basically this was just a lot of games. We played a name game, tag, and a lot more. One of the ones that I liked most (and one that really kinda showed who are the leaders in the group and who are the ones willing to sit back and let someone else take lead) was a game called 'the burning building'. About six of us were blind-folded and the rest of us could see. The object of the game was to get outside of this burning building from the second floor (originally it was suppose to be the third floor, but we took so long trying to figure the game out that Cuenca switched it to the second floor so that we would finish the game in time for lunch). Cuenca and another guy, Danny, we each holding the ends of a jump rope, which was our fire. Everytime the rope was up only a certain amount of people could go through 'the fire'; however, everytime the rope was down it didn't matter how many people crossed. On the second floor going down, only 19 people could cross ("No more, or no less" as Cuenca would say). So we all had to run through together; if one person got touched by the rope, or didn't go through with the rest of us we had to start again. The first floor was probably the hardest. Only four people could go through at a time, and we all had to go quickly through it otherwise we would have to start again (no more or no less everytime that the rope is up, remember). With 18 people (someone had left at this point) we had to figure out the best way to get us all through four at a time. We tried and failed many times, trying various ideas from a few people in the group, but eventually we got it. The plan worked, took a couple tries to get us all through, but in the end we got it. I think this entire game took us over an hour to complete, but it was a great way to work as a team and to really see who would step up and take charge in a situation like that. After lunch we hiked a little ways up the mountain and all crammed in this little space of the opposite side of a hanging tire from the pathway. The tire was probably only two ft in diameter and suspended about six ft off the ground. What we had to do was get all of us through the tire, we were not allowed to touch the cables holding it up) and on the otherside. We had to pretend that there was a wall there and the only way in or out was through the tire. Before we had begun, Quanca had used the tire to illustrate salvation and what it means to be born again in Chirst. Going through the tire was a way to signify being transformed and beginning a new life. You had to put your complete trust in your teammates to pick you up, get you through the tire and then not drop you on the other end. It was also significant because during our time here we have to learn how to completely, 100% rely on God to get us through some of the more difficult situations. And not only the difficult situations, but in every aspect of this trip. After that we climbed a fair bit higher to the zipline. Annie (another one of the interns) and I didn't climb with the rest of the group because we had to use the washroom and while we were gone we were left behind. We walked up with our leaders to the end of the zipline. Then when a few people came down we walked down this little path, through the trees, and up the far, and steep, side to the beginning of the zipline. There were a few people left still to go, I was the second last (Matt, another intern, was behind me). What you had to do after you were attached to the cable was run down the steep path until you could no longer run, pick your legs up and fly. I was joking with Matt and Annie that I would probably be the one and only person to trip as I was running. Sure enough, I tripped. Thankfully I still had enough momentum and didn't get stuck in the middle (was also joking about that, as that is something that would happen to me). After everyone had gone down the zipline we walked back down to the camp and had some safety training. For the first bit of it a guy came from the U.S. embassy to go over some safety tips with us... don't walk around  by yourself, don't wear jewelry, don't walk around at night alone, etc... I'm sure everything he said was very useful and helpful, but at that point I was so tired I was having a hard time trying to stay awake. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who kept dozing off... The second half of the training was probably the funniest, although I'm sure it wasn't meant to be. Cuenca was going over basic first aid, the ABC's (A - airway, B - breathing, C - circulation). In Ecuador if you try to help a person who has been in an accident and you are the last person to touch them if they die, you automatically go to jail; regardless if you were trying to help or not. So we were told to never touch anyone who has been hurt, just in case. To check someone's airway we were told to ask them, "Do you have gum?" It sounds really funny, and we joked about it a lot, but he was being serious (I think this is what made it so funny). For breathing we just had to watch and see if they're chest was moving, if  not than you really couldn't do anything until the paramedics arrived. And to check for circulation you have to pat them all over to see if there is any blood. Then we had to practice what we had just learned. We probably should have been a lot more serious about this, just we all kinda just took it as a joke. After that was supper and debrief. And you'll be shocked to know that I actually ate a hamburger. It was all that was available for supper and I didn't want to be rude, so I ate it. That makes it my second hamburger ever!! Shocking, I know, but get over it. Anyways, so that was day one, before the race had even begun!

The first day of the race started pretty early. We had to be packed up and ready to go for breakfast at 7:30, then the race began at 8:00. We were divided into five teams of three; My team consisted of Jereme, Vicky, and myself (I'm sorry, I wish I had pictures to show you! I actually didn't take any on the race, we were going to fast. Thankfully other people took pictures and will hopefully post them on facebook). The three of us are the only interns that are not from the States (Vicky lives in the States now, but is not from there). Jereme is from Ontario and Vicky is from Venezuela. We called ourselves the Internationals. Once we got into teams the first challenge began. The first challenge was a large grid in the middle of a soccer field. We had to make it through this grid like a maze. However, we had to guess which way to go; we would call out coordinates and either get a 'yes' or a 'no'. If we got a yes than we could continue forward until we either made it out, or until we got a no. Once you got a no you had to get out of the grid and let another team try. We were the fourth team to make it out of the grid. Once we finished, we got our next clue: "Make your way to the Plaza monument in the center of the town of Calacali. Once there each member of the team will be asked to recite the Lord's Prayer individually". Unlike the other teams we decided that we were not going to run anywhere and that we were going to enjoy our time on this race. It didn't matter if we came in first or last, we wanted to enjoy every minute of it and just have fun. So while the other teams started out running, we just walked from the camp to the monument in the middle of Calacali. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm, good day to start the race. We got to the monument, rambled through the Lord's Prayer (Jereme had some problems with it, but he got it in the end =)  ). From there we got into one of the Inca Link vehicles and travelled back to Quito for our next challenge. The drive to Quito took about a half hour, which was nice considering the amount of walking we had to do once you got there. We were dropped off in the middle of a busy intersection and we had to walk to Ganas house. Ganas house is a children's home for kids who have no where else to go. I wish I could give you more details about it, and I will, but for now this is all I can say. We had to paint two Ecuadorian symbols on the faces of two children; they told us what they wanted and we painted. Then the judges (Fabian and Mabe - our hostes here at Casa Blanca) decided whether or not the pictures were good. It's too bad we had to paint their faces and then leave; I wanted to stay and play with them for a bit; that was one of the problems with the race, it would have been nice to stay at these places and visit for a bit before we had to leave again. Oh well, I'll definitely be back there at some point this summer! Here was our next clue: "Make your way on foot to la Basilica (a large and famous church in downtown Quito). Once there climb the clock tower to find your next clue. Descending the tower make sure you ring the bell". The walk itself was not that long, it only felt like forever because it was all uphill. The hills here in Quito are nothing like they are back home, they are steep and really long! I'll have to take some pictures and show you; they are ridiculous! Needless to say, I'll be in shape by the time I get back! We didn't know which way to go so we asked this man who was waiting at the intersection for directions and he actually led us to the Basilica. It was so nice of him to do so, otherwise we would have been so lost from the directions we got previously. Once there we made the even longer trek up many, many stairs (too numerous to count!). We made it to this one landing were the gift shop  was and there was one of two ways to get to the top of the clock tower... or so we thought. We first chose to walk across this tiny boardwalk in the roof of the church and then go up the ladder from there. However, once we got there there were so many people coming down the ladder we decided to turn around and go up the stairs in the gift shop. In doing so we were the only team to have read the clue correctly and make it to the top of the correct tower the first time around. But I also missed the chance to see my mom again for the last time until August. I ran into one of the other interns, Luke, at the top of the clock tower where my aunt was giving out the next clues and he gave me a big hug saying that it was from my mom. It took a lot not to start crying then and there (the tears came later). I waved to her from the tower and then we headed out again. From the Basilica we had to find the Estatua de la Libertad (Statue of Liberty) in la Plaza Grande. Once there we have to choose one of two challenges: "1) Find the plaque that states when the Plaza Grande was founded. With the sheet of paper and pencil make an imprint of said plaque; or 2) On the banners surrounding the Plaza, find the name of the route taht joins PUELLARO and SAN JOSE. Write it on the piece of paper provided". We chose number 1) and thankfully found the plaque pretty quickly. Then the fun part came where we had to count all the names of the first Spanish residents of Quito; these names were found on the wall of the Cathedral. The number had to be right on, otherwise we wound not get our clue... we got it on our second try (one name was scratched out, so it was hard to know whether or not it should be counted). From there we got on a bus to Quitumbre, which was our pit stop for the day. We didn't stay there, just met up with Gustavo and got our bus tickets to Huaticocha. Huaticocha is a village/town in the jungle; it was an eight hour bus ride, but thankfully it was in the late afternoon/night so we could sleep on the bus. We got there somewhere between eight and nine, met up with Mark Shafers who is one of the missionaries working with Inca Link to reach all the tribes and villages deep within the jungle. We stayed at the pastor's house there (whose name I cannot remember), had supper and then had a small church service in the basement of his house. Supper was difficult, a few people started talking about how they met my mom at the basilica earlier in the day and that was hard to hear because I never got to see her. I can't remember what the service was about after that; I was having a hard time not crying. The one thing I do remember though was that all the team went up and we introduced ourselves and then the members of the congregation introduced themselves. I wish I was in a better frame of mind (and knew Spanish) and then I could have talked with some of the people afterwards. Hopefully I'll have another chance to go back there and serve; I heard that they're looking for someone to come and teach them how to play and instrument, so I might get to do that which would be sweet! There's a reason that I'm still taking a music degree; it may not be a career, but it's an excellent way to serve and it's a ministry that I can do now. I don't know for sure if this will happen or not, but I already have a lot of oppertunities to play my guitar and help lead worship which has just been a blessing to apart of a worship team again after a few years of being away. I'm getting off topic here, but I'll leave it at that. More later about the race!!