Quick Clarification!!!!

Apparently I need to put this out there for many to read, for the first time or as a reminder...

International Postage is 98 cents

(3 stamps or go to the post office!)

Also, here is my address-

Madison Skogsberg o Megan Radek
Rostro de Cristo
Casilla 09-01-1024
Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America

Hope that clears up any confusion!! :)

Poco a Poco

I´m having a hard time knowing what exactly to write on here, so please bear with me! (And if you have a request/idea of what people would like, let me know!)

We´ve officially been in-country a month and on our own for over half of that. I think everyone is really starting to get the hang of our schedules and getting an idea of how our Ecua-lives are going to be :) A few general observations:
--Thank the Lord I am a deep sleeper. Nights are filled with confused roosters, guard whistles, water truck horns and dogs barking with blaring music from our neighbors starting around 6am.
--A new cuisine. Fresh fruits and veggies abound with freshly baked bread from panaderias. Rice and lentils are staples with eggs occasionally. We buy our food daily and typically spend 5-7 dollars for the six of us.
--Watch the road! Driving on the same side is about where the similarities seem to end. There often are not marked lanes, buses drive like compact cars and it isn´t irregular to make a left turn from the right lane or visa versa. Basically, driving is always an adventure!

A little more specific:
Community life is under way and I am loving it! We cook dinners in pairs, which has been a fun learning experience. We´ve had everything from the typical rice and beans to pesto veggie pizza bread, all made from scratch :) Our dinner conversations range from the pillars of Rostro to our days, serious to crying from laughter. Our house is full of characters! We have daily prayer (a reflection on that to come) and awesome Community and Spirituality nights. We´ve played UNO, written bucket lists, reflected on where our walks with God have been and where He was with us that day. We have house jobs (I´m the CFO, wahoo! Haha) and a chore wheel to keep the house livable :) We are all starting to learn how each other works and realizing we still have a lot more to figure out! As long as we stay centered on Christ, we´ll get there poco a poco. After one of our conversations on community, my devotional included this verse, which I think provides a good perspective:
"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others." Philippians 2:1-4

Casa Don Bosco, the focus of half my days and even more of my heart <3 I take a 45 minute to 1 hour bus ride to Parque California and the Via Daule, a major highway, then hike my way up a really fun hill. (Please note the sarcasm here. Haha) Sometimes I am lucky though and get to walk with some of my kids. Atop this hill lies Casa Don Bosco, the central location of the Salesian Project whose goal/mission is to keep children off the streets (living or working). It is a multi-faceted program that includes shelters, schools, vocational training, refuerzo (reinforcement) and more. I am working at the Refuerzo Escolar. This is part of the prevention aspect of the program and a majority of these kids still live at home but come from rough backgrounds, are behind in school and/or their moms attend the vocation workshops (cosmetology, first aid, sewing, etc). We feed them lunch - a soup, plate of rice and some side with juice - then work on deberes (homework) - assigning work when they do not have any - and finally recreo, a safe space and time for them to play and just be kids before we send them home with a small snack.



Our ¨Homework Room¨

The Cancha :)

It has been quite the ride, learning how the flow works (that sometimes there isn´t one), trying to explain long division in a way I didn´t learn it (they do it differently here) and in a language I don´t have a handle on yet. Luckily, the kids are very forgiving and there is just a lot of laughter and them teaching me :) They have no problem offering word suggestions or correcting me when I´m wrong. So I am trying not to stress about it, focus on just being there and being a loving presence. This is a pretty easy task most of the time as they are really wonderful kids. They range from 4 to 15 years old...I just want to take the little ones home with me and the older ones are my saviors! They basically run the program (under Jefferson, my 21 year old boss) and take over when I am completely lost :) They are also the first to laugh at me, but it is friendly and I laugh along. Once I get a hang of the language, I know I´ll be giving them a hard time right back! I am truly enjoying every day and learning all the while. Like which kids need you to sit with them through the entire assignment, what fighting is real and needs broken up and what will dissipate in 30 seconds, not to sing under your breath or you will end up singing The Star Spangled Banner 3 times for the whole room, and that all of them, even the ´tough guys´, just want you to love them. Poco a poco, I will figure it out.

Showin´ some attitude...with my shades. Haha

Spanish is getting easier. I am typically able to get the "gist" of conversations, pulling out words and phrases I know and piecing things together. My vocab/recall definitely needs some work and it is coming through interactions and occasionally study at home. I´m usually able to get my point across, even if it is really rough. Next step: verb tenses! Little by little (poco a poco), I am learning.

Thank you to everyone who is reading, for your patience, your interest and your willingness to put up with me! I am in the Honeymoon Phase and enjoying it while it lasts!!!

Please feel free to send letters, it is often the highlight of my week. They don´t have to be long or fancy, I just want to hear about your life too...and I promise I´ll write back <3

Your prayers have been much appreciated! It warms our hearts and calms our minds to know people at home have us in their prayers. If I could, I´d like to request prayers for strength and stamina through our exhausting days and good health as our bodies adjust! (Half of my house is already sick, including me!)

You are all in my prayers as well! I am thinking of you Yotes as you start the new year, go C of I! Shout out to the SALTines: you guys are seriously going to blow this year out of the water. I am so excited to hear how God uses each and every one of you on our campus <3

The title of this entry is truly how I am trying to live out this year, reminding myself that little by little my Spanish will improve, I´ll get used to the heat, I´ll make lasting friendships, cooking will become more natural, I´ll grow closer to God, time will go on.

Poco a poco, I am living. Love and miss you all!

Marisol

Remember that one time I went to live in Ecuador for a year?

So much to cover! About a month to be exact...here we go! :)

Arrived in Ecuador safe and sound. Despite having to run to to grab our connection in Miami, we made it! Our luggage on the other hand, did not. Luckily we have an awesome crew and everyone was really great about living out of our carry-ons for a bit :)

We were welcomed by the fabulous ´10-´11 volunteers and Megan, our In-Country Director. We took a silent van ride from the airport, just taking in our surroundings and the country we´ll be living in for the next yera. Driving through Guayaquil, a large, bustling, metropolitan city, held many similarities to home and yet was distinctly different. I couldn´t tell you how, it is just something you have to experience to know.
Starting our 2-week in-country orientation, we headed to our respective homes. Monte Sinai, the area I will be living in, is a more rural-feeling invasion community outside of Guayaquil and the newest Rostro site. Unlike Guayaquil, it bears little resemblance to the United States. We have gorgeous sunsets, hills/mountains and one main newly paved road amongst and around mostly cane houses with interspersed concrete homes. Born and raised in Idaho, I am loving feeling like I don´t live in a city.



Our puppies! Wookie and Clubber

Our orientation included getting introduced to neighbors, visiting potential worksites, learning the ´Ecua´ ways and picking the old volunteers´brains for practical ways to apply everything we learned in Boston. It was an encouraging time and a true blessing to witness the relationship and presence that were developed here in the last year as the old volunteers greeted neighbors, led music in mass and everyone knew their names. It fostered a hope and excitement for what this year will come to be for me and my communitymates. I am looking forward to learning everyone´s stories, getting cooking lessons, playing with and loving on the kids and just truly becoming a part of this neighborhood.

*Quick shout-out to Mt. Sinai - Aaron, Becky, Jeff, Jenn and Marita - for making our transition such a warm, loving and easy one. We were all completely aware you were in your own transition and you welcomed us into your lives and home with open arms. Thank you! I was hard to say goodbye...you guys are awesome :) I am so thankful we are here to create our own year and not replace you because it would be impossible. Miss you already!*

Another blessing in Mt. Sinai is the thriving parish, Bautismo de Jesús. There are 3 churches: Corpus Cristi, Santa Teresa and San Felipe. Between youth groups, music ministry, rosary, catechism and more, there are so many fun and life-giving ways to get involved. All 3 churches have a bit of their own identity but are connected through the parish. There is an Irish priest, Father John, who actually just returned from a trip home! I am looking forward to getting to know him and learning his visions for Mt. Sinaí. Being a non-Catholic, I am encountering a lot of new things in my structured faith experiences and I am excited to see what God does with that!  I had just gotten the hang of Mass when we left Boston and now I´m trying to catch on in Spanish :)

So while Arbolito and AJS (the other two Rostro houses) have a lot of crossover between worksites due to proximity, Mt. Sinaí has our own set. There is a wonderful organization, Hogar de Cristo, which has 3 different positions for RdC vols: one in Pastoral Ministry (establishing women´s groups in the area), Proyecto Mision (community organizing) and Salud (healthcare). Additionally, a teaching postition at San Felipe - an elementary school a few blocks from our house - and two placements with the Salesians in afterschool prorgrams at Bastion Popular and Casa Don Bosco. Touring them, meeting with potential co-workers and getting a feel of the programs, I had a problem: I liked so many of them! From the atmosphere to the missions to the people, I felt like I couldn´t go wrong!! Some would say that is good, but we have a discernment process were we decided, as a community, where everyone will be for the year and I felt I wasn´t going to be able to contribute. I spent a lot of time in prayer and talking things through iwht the old volunteers who had so much wisdom to impart! I was torn between finding the right balance of following my heart and passion, getting a challenge and God´s plan for the year. After much tribulation, we all figured it our and - this may be a surprise to those who know me well - I am not working in a medical placement. (Insert shock here! Haha) I have felt God pressing on my heart since I was accepted to Rostro that this year was going to hold something big and different for me and what better way to do that than pull me out of the thing that has governed my life and especially my last four years? I could not deny the joy I felt in my heart (and huge smile on my face) when I was surrounded by the kids at Casa Don Bosco, so that´s where I´m working! (More on the awesome-ness this entails in my next post). My community fit so wonderfully in the other positions: Mandi teaching at San Felipe, Bernadette in Pastoral, Katie in Proyecto Mision, Patrick in Salud and Matt at Bastion working in a similar program to mine.

Orientation wrapped up with us visiting Las Playas (the beach!) to the old vols a chance to say goodbyes and then cleaning each others´ houses so that the first time we came home it would be clean and beautiful and we could focus on settling in. It is a very cool process to be dirty and tired, feeling gross, cleaning a house that isn´t yours but knowing someone is doing the same thing for you. Some photos at the end of our awesome house!


The short walk to the beach!



It is starting to feel like home as we get in the swing of things. Keep us in your prayers, you are all in ours!

Just a little something to share that was really reassuring to me as I thought about my purpose here, trying to be the Face of Christ to others and to see His Face in them, and how daunting it is, especially with the language barrier:
¨When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn´t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God´s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness – timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.¨ - Paul (1 Corinthians 2:1-4, NLT)

Fe, Esperanza y Amor <3
Marisol

Oh! P.S. I am going by Marisol here. It is a lot easier for the Ecuadorians to understand and pretty much sounds just like Madison spoken with a Spanish accent anyway! (Mahr-ee-sole vs. Mahd-ee-sohn) I even have some people who call me Mari like Maddie :)

´Togetherness Room´

Dining/Kitchen area

Our AWESOME Library :)



My room...yes those are Sesame Street sheets that I am using for a curtain :D



My closet...with my suitcases as drawers. Haha