Juramento a la Bandera del Ecuador

We enjoyed our first Ecuadorian tradition this past Friday- the Juramento a la Bandera, or Pledge of Allegiance. It is a government mandated day in which every school had to participate as well as everyone in the school. Parents come to watch and parents and students dress in their best clothes. It is a time in which the senior class is honored and shows their respect for Ecuador and the flag.

It started with a processional of flags from all the countries represented in our school. This year it was about 25 but in the past it has been as many as 32.

Then came the honored Ecuadorian flag being carried by the highest ranked Ecuadorian in the school. This year's valedictorian is not Ecuadorian so she could not carry the Ecuadorian flag but carried the AAI flag. It is a very high honor to carry the Ecuadorian flag during this ceremony. It is something that students put on their resumes and can receive scholarships for. The flag is escorted by the other top ranked seniors. The rest of the senior class is divided on each side of the gym, boys on one side and girls on another. 

 There was a live band. When they played the national anthem of Ecuador, everyone stood and sang.

Even the kids who were watching via live stream from their classrooms since we didn't have enough room for everyone in the gym. These are Patrick's 3rd graders.

There was also some kind of national guard or service men, I'm not quite sure, who marched in with another flag as well. 

 The pledge then happened as each senior came to the flag and if they were Ecuadorian, they would bow and then kiss the flag. Students who were not Ecuadorian would bow and then place a rose in the vase. This particular senior is a student one of our dorm students from the Cufan tribe in the jungle.

The honored senior gave a speech as well as on of the board members. It was quite an interesting today to see how another culture honors their country. We will still be around when Zachary is a senior?? 

Ecuador vs. Korea

So many people have been asking us what are the differences and similarities between Korean and Ecuador so I thought that would make a good blog post.

There are of course the obvious differences- Spanish vs Korean, Asia vs South America, TCIS vs AAI. We still live in an apartment but it is a lot bigger than our one in Korea and way less expensive. There are a lot more opportunities for houses in Quito than there were in Daejeon. The apartment buildings are not nearly as tall as in Korea. Our building is only 5 floors. No staring up to the 25th floor! We actually have a balcony that is open not enclosed. It's great for welcoming visitors or try to open the garage door for someone. Shelby Grace of course thinks it is her stage and loves to sing out there.

To get into our apartment in Quito, we have quite a challenge. No more scanning a secom card and pressing a code on our door lock to get in. We are back to old technology, keys. But not just one key, we have 5 just to get in our building. We have a key for the padlock on the outside gate if we come back late at night. We have a key for a gate that slides in front of the glass door to the building at night. We have a key to the glass door to the building. We have a key to the gate that slides in front the door to our apartment. And then a key to our apartment door that also locks the door from the inside as well. No more bathroom emergencies for us. It takes way to long to get inside. Forgetting something in the morning is no longer a 2 minute, run inside and get it. So many keys and locks that have to be locked by the key when you leave as well.

All the keys for our building

 Our walk to school is different. Cars don't stop for you here. In Korea, we walked across the street with a little more order I guess. We weren't as nervous about crossing the street. Here it's every man for themselves. We've had quite a few 'close calls' trying to cross the street. The kids love the crosswalk sign. The little green man actually moves when it is safe to walk. But when it gets close to changing back to red, he starts to run. It's hard to see in this video. I need to take one a little bit closer but you get the idea. Walking up the hill to our home leaves us quite out of breath. Walking and exercising at 9,000 feet elevation is no joke! It's crazy how winded we get just walking up a flight of stairs due to the lower amount of oxygen.

Korea, I feel, is a little bit cleaner. There is graffiti on pretty much ever wall you see. You find lots of trash where we go. In O-Jung Dong we did have to weave through the vomit piles at times but here its dog poop or human urine puddles. Homeless or beggars were often found in certain areas of town in Korea but here in Quito, they are every where. At every stop light, someone is trying to sell something or is performing in order to receive tips. Below you can see two guys dressed up as ninjas putting on a show at an intersection for tips. You will see jugglers often juggling fire sticks, soccer stars, or someone to even wash your windows.

The level of poverty here is much greater than in Korea but the cost of living is quite lower. Minimum wage here is about $250 a month. I really wonder how people make it. We have been floored at the costs of food here though. Milk- in Korea about $5.00 for 1.5 liters; in Ecuador $1.00 per liter. Avocados- in Korea about $15.00 for 5; in Ecuador about $1.25 for 5. No more $3.00 apples or $15.00 for strawberries. We can get strawberries year round here but they still don't compare to Korean strawberries. Ecuador loves potatoes and bread. They do use rice here a lot but of course it's not sticky rice we are used to. I am enjoying potatoes in other places besides just my home. Bread here is fresh and delicious and eaten often. The big meal of the day in Ecuador is lunch. They usually eat a later meal about 1:00 or so and it always includes soup, rice, a veggie or salad and a meat. Dinner might usually be a glass of milk and some bread. Bread in Korea was considered more of a dessert. Korean's eat kimchi with every meal and here we have ahi- a mild kind of salsa that they use to spicen up meals. We have gone from spicy Korean food to very bland Ecuadorian food.

Delicious bread!

That's enough for now. I am sure there will a comparison part 2 soon!

Working through the grief

We made it to Ecuador! The past few months have been a whirlwind of emotions. Leaving Korea was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. I don't want people to think that we don't love the US and our friends and family there because we do. But something happened to us in Korea. I think picking up and moving our family all our own and having to establish ourselves brand new without our families to save us caused us to grow up and mature in ways I didn't think was possible. I went to Korea as a young mom and wife soaking in all advice and help possible and somehow during our 7 years there, I became the 'experienced' mom and helped others. I still have a long way to go as a parent and a wife and want to soak up all the advice possible but I've changed.

Korea changed me for the better. I became more independent. I couldn't rely on my parents anymore now that they were 9,000 miles away. I had to learn to reach out to others otherwise we would be loners in a a brand new country. I had to try to new things- shopping in new places, eating new foods, new job experiences. I have come a long way from eating just mustard sandwiches and french fries. I'm stronger. I think of the first time I went overseas by myself and what a wreck I was, throwing up in the airport and sobbing. I still get worried, I still get upset, but leaving is now a part of life. Korea taught me about a world outside of myself. I met people from Korea, India, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Nepal, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, the far away state of Idaho or Missouri or Minnesota who showed me life around the world was beautiful. My little North Carolina life was turned upside down. I met people from all denominations. Guess what! God uses people from outside of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. My mind was opened to new ways of thinking, new ways of teaching, new ways of eating, new ways of sharing love with others. I met some of the most amazing people who have impacted me for the rest of my life. And for that I am grateful. 

Living overseas changes you for the better. I see the world differently. What I hate about living overseas though is the good bye factor. Every year we said good bye to friends who were now family. When you live in a community of expats, the bond is so much greater than just your workplace in America. The people we worked with were the people we lived life with, we cried together, we celebrated together, we figured out where to find the American imported items togethers, we worshiped together, we looked to each other for advice, we cared for each other. To me- that's what a family is. It doesn't matter that we don't come from the same physical bloodline, we come from God's bloodline. He made us all and for a season he put us together in a place called Daejeon, South Korea. Saying goodbye stinks. I feel like a part of me was left in Korea. Of course, so many people from that "family" are now spread around the world as well. 

The last few months have not left us much time to process leaving Korea. We were so busy looking toward what we had to do next that everything has just been bottled up inside waiting to explode. Now that we are in Ecuador, our emotions are leaking out the top of the jar. We have had to fill ourselves with new experiences and friends and there just isn't room right now. The past couple weeks have been hard on our kids, all of us really. There have been many tears shed and lots of cries to 'go home.' I still find it strange that my US passport kids don't long from America (besides from grandparent's homes, Target, and Chickfila) but they long for Korea. We miss TCIS, we miss our family, we miss our apartment that holds all the memories bringing our kids home from the hospital and living life together. We miss our waffle fest friends. We miss Gongcha and the orange restaurant outside the back gate of the old campus. We miss old campus. We miss the safety we felt and the freedom to send the kids out to the kahghe outside our door. We miss the smiles and faces of the most kind and helpful school staff possible. I miss the ladies who so lovingly raised my kids with me in the ELC. We were so blessed with 7 year wonderful years in Korea. 

As hard as these months have been, God has been there with us helping us pack one more suitcase or saying one more good bye and preparing the way before us without us even knowing it. This summer now matter what church we were in, He had a message for us. This morning was the same. Even though it was hard to leave Korea, Ecuador has been a refreshing place. There is no doubt in my mind that Alliance Academy International is the place we are supposed to be right now, even though my heart still hurts like crazy. This morning at our new church we sang the song, Blessed be the name of the Lord. I have sung it hundreds of times before but today it took on new meaning. Here are the words.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful 
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out 
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering 
Though there's pain in the offering 
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out 
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

God is still good even though He took us away from what was comfortable. We have been through the pain and suffering this year, but He is still good. I have learned this year that I can't put my trust in organizations, churches, people, or places. They will all fail me at one time or the other. But my God WILL NOT fail me. He will not leave me. He never promised me that life would be easy or without pain. But He did promise me that he would not leave me to do it alone. It was the last part of that song that struck me the most. "You give and take away" God gave us Korea and TCIS at the time that was right for us. He also took it away at the time He felt was best. He has now given us a new home, a new focus, a new life here in Ecuador at AAI. As I work through the loss of Korea, I will still bless His name because He has provided me a wonderful place where I can serve him for this season of my life. It's a good place and good community and I know that we will soon have the same kind of Ecuadorian family here as we had with our Korean family. I am sure whenever we leave here, our hearts will hurt just as bad. I am thankful for the hurt because it means that I invested in our lives with the people in Korea and chose to make a difference there instead of just sitting back and watching time go by. Am I ready to do it again? Am I really ready to invest in this place and these people just to set up my heart for more hurt? To be honest, I'm not so sure but I want to be. I want to invest my life here so I can make a difference for God in this place. I want to love on kids. I want to share my life with my coworkers. I want to share God's love with those around me. Today is not the last day I will cry or be sad that we left Korea. But God is still good, He is still in control and He has a plan for me here and I am ready live out that plan. 

Ecuador, here we come!

   

As we prepare to depart for Ecuador during our last week in North Carolina, there are lots of emotions that are being felt in our family.  Saying goodbye is never easy, and although we have had to say our goodbyes to family at the end of every summer over the last seven years, we anticipate that saying goodbye will be more difficult this time around.
    There will always be a piece of South Korea in our hearts. We are thinking about friends who are returning to TCIS this week, and miss not having to hop on a plane to join that wonderful community again.
    As we look ahead to rebuilding our lives in a different location, culture, school, and community, we anticipate many challenges--language, safety, new curriculum, cultural norms, and much more.  But as we have already seen this summer, our God is bigger than those challenges.  He has already provided some comfort with another Raleigh native we met via email who will be joining us this year, not to mention one who has been there for two years already.  He also oversaw the processing of our visas, which was very difficult to get. Nothing like waiting til the day before we leave to receive them.
    Getting on that plane tomorrow will be bittersweet.  Korea's been our home for seven years. But as we were reminded on Sunday from the book of Genesis and the story of Noah and the flood, God is in the business of re-creating. He is "re-creating" our lives to serve HIM and HIS people again.  Ecuador needs us, just as we need it.  We are not sure how God will use our family in this wonderful place, but if it's anything like our experience in Korea, there is no doubt that his joy for us will overshadow any hesitancy, concern, or doubt we may be feeling right now.