pitter patter afternoon

Hola,

First of all, thanks for taking the time to read this blog entry. I've been here just over a week, and things are rolling. Our apartment is furnished with a table and chairs, some free, borrowed couches and end tables, and and my free bed and bedside table. As far as furniture goes, we have been blessed. We have a moldy fridge that we paid $50 for (SUCH a blessing!), that I think will do the job after we bleach it a few more times, and we bought an old stove as well. The only necessity that we are missing is a washing machine and dryer. This will be our biggest investment, and we may have to wait a few more weeks to get it.

But really, my life here is more exciting than furniture. We had 4 long days of orientation last week, and we have 3 days of work time this week before school starts on Thursday. Speaking of Thursday, last Thursday I went to a wedding for a friend that I had made when I was here student teaching. It was outdoors and rainy, but oh so lovely. It rains a lot here. It's raining now, and I like it.

I don't really have any exciting culture stories because so much of my time here has been work-focused so far. The Alliance community is a great one, filled with lots of beautiful people with wonderful talents, but it is a strange sub-culture of its own. One thing I am pretty excited about is that the English department (my department) this year is going to be great. We have all new people, but so many good ideas and good leadership. I have a feeling that it will be good. I will keep you posted.

Now for some interesting facts: Today I took a bus alone for my first time. Don't worry, mom. It was safe and during mid-day. I really like milk boxes. They are like juice boxes, but milk instead. Cheese empanadas are my favorite and I could drink jugo de mora (blackberry juice) every day of my life and never get tired of it. I'm glad a I brought a raincoat. I need to stop eating hamburgers here because they always make me sick. Rain and jugo de mora are comparable because I like having them both on a daily basis. I am excited for school to start.

I guess that's all for now. If anything exciting happens, I will be sure to share. You please do the same. Keep it real, spotted seals!

Hello friends,
I'm happy to let you all know that I arrived safely. I am currently sitting in my new bedroom, in my new apartment, on my new-to-me bed (which was given to me by a friend). The only furniture that my housemate, Jessica, and I own are our beds. Tomorrow we are headed out first thing to look for a refrigerator, a couch, a table and chairs, and a washer. We also are buying a stove from a friend. Please pray that we are able to find these items at an affordable price, as appliances tend to be extremely expensive here in Ecuador. Some friends of ours told us that the cheapest refrigerator they could find was over $500. I do believe that with patience and God's help we will be able to find what we need, and will hopefully be able to afford it.

So far my time here has consisted mostly of sleeping, eating, running errands, and meeting some of the other teachers. We've been eating out a lot because we don't have any way to store or prepare food (which will hopefully change soon), which has resulted in some interesting adventures for my stomach and some very happy taste buds :). Today we had Ecuadorian pizza and Chinese food. I've also been drinking lots of chocolate milk. Mmmm.

Today I went for my first run, and it wasn't pretty. But hey... 9,000 feet is a lot higher up than Fargo, ND. And I've got to start somewhere! It will be good for me to have running as a kind of outlet once school starts, as well. Speaking of school, we start orientation on Tuesday and classes start the 25th. We have a lot to do before then, but we will buckle down and do it. I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
Much Love from South America

ready, set... move to Ecuador

Hi friends! Here I sit in Fargo, ND, just a mere 2.5 days from my departure at 6 am on August 12. I can't believe the day is almost here, after such a long, full summer. My bags are pretty much packed, and I'm feeling pretty ready. I recently found out that my housing plans fell through, but I have also learned since then, that there are other options for housing. I am confident that it will work out fine - and it may even be more economical this way.

"They" say that missionaries should raise most, if not all, of their support before leaving on their mission. Although I have only raised 10% of my calculated needs ("calculated needs" is here referring to the part of my budget that my stipend will not cover -- approx $2300 for the year), I feel confident that in combination with a simple lifestyle and a God who provides, everything will work out fine. If you have more specific questions about how you can support me prayerfully or financially, please email me at burrows.kh@gmail.com.

Mostly I'm feeling a strong pull to get up and go and fly and explore and love and serve and share and learn and blossomflourishbreathesingdancespin. Of course saying goodbye will be hard, but onto the next adventure beneath the skies. I think of people as flowers. We bloom where we are planted, but we bloom differently in different kinds of soil. So I'm going to go be planted in some mountain soil in Quito, and bloom there. It's bound to be an adventure. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Let's go bloom.