Saturday, August 16, 2008

Thoughts from Ecuador #3

So this boy came by to visit me a couple days ago. Well, maybe I shouldn't call him a boy anymore. He's 19 now, but still quite the loud-and-in-your-face clown most of the time. At one point he got all quiet and looked at me with complete seriousness. He said, "Angela, can I tell you something?".
"Of course", I responded.
"Well, you know how I'm kinda annoying and just joke around all the time?
(How could anyone NOT notice, I thought to myself :P – but I nodded at him in reciprocal seriousness).
"Well, I want you to know that when I get a girlfriend I will change. I will take life more seriously and try harder at things. I will".

It seemed so funny to me that he would tell me this, not to mention his logic. I mean, why not change NOW so that you can actually get a nice girlfriend? :P. Why wait?

Then it struck me that we are all so much like this fellow sometimes - we are always waiting on something, and THEN we will change whatever it is we know we need to change. After Christmas I will quit smoking, in the spring I will start jogging, when I'm not so busy I will start going to church, after exams are over I will start having quiet times with God, when I have enough money I will stop working all this overtime and spend time with my family, when I'm done university then I will make more mature choices.....

I wonder if the "something"s we wait on ever end. I wonder if our logic is really as funny as my a little Ecuadorian friend's. I wonder what we are really waiting on?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thoughts from Ecuador #2

Thought it time for a funny story :)

So this past weekend my friend, Luke, and I took a trip to Cuenca in the mountains to visit our friend Daniel. It was SO great just being able to share time together - in laughter and in seriousness. But that's not the funny story.

The funny story begins on the bus, on the way back to Guayaquil. A man got on the bus to sell stuff, which is completely normal for Ecuador. He started out talking about God, and then seemingly randomly announced that he has been drinking his urine for 11 years now. Yes, that's right, his pee. Luke and I both looked at each other thinking that in our tired state we must have completely misunderstood him, but no. He continued his shpeel explaining to us that if WE were to drink our own pee, we would be cured of cancer, indigestion, heart problems, osteoperosis, arthritis, even Alzheimers and bad breath! Annnnnd if we were to BATHE in it, we would never go bald! Amazing! Oh, and did you know that if you are fat and drink your pee you will loose weight too? (maybe 'cause you would completely loose your appetite! ugh). He even had articles from sketchy newpapers and magazines to prove his points. The strange man ended by trying to get us to buy ginsing and viagara pills. Totally didn't catch the connection to the 40 min rant about pee drinking, but it was definitely a good laugh afterwards. The scary part was that a lot of the poor little uneducated Ecuadorians were asking him questions about the pee drinking!! - Should I drink it in the morning or in the evening? How much should I drink? "Oh you start at 1/4 cup a day and work up to drinking everything that comes out". Agh. Oh, and be warned, you shouldn't drink alcohol if you are going to drink your pee. BUT, if you DO, then you should mix your pee with orange juice! :D

Hahaha. Oh funny memories.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Thoughts from Ecuador #1

One thing being here in Ecuador has reminded me of is the lack of permanence in this world. So much has changed - circumstances, neighbourhoods, politics, the church, buses, plans, people, relationships, some things I never thought would change. It´s been hard at times. I guess because I´m just generally not a big fan of change, and I feel like a lot of little perfect memory bubbles I have clung to are deflated now. I tend to hang onto things too tightly. Through all this though, I am reminded again that Jesus is the only permanent, unchangine, unfailing thing that we will ever have in our lives; the ony one whom we can build our life´s foundation on.

I needed the reminding.