walking around san jose in those last weeks, i found myself looking at rental and for sale properties, imagining life there long term. i did this also in glasgow at the end, i realize. maybe this is part of my process of leaving, purposely saying goodbye to what could be. as we packed, we juggled the desires to visit with friends for the last times, the increasingly erratic behavior of the children (they knew change was coming), selling, giving things away, thinking over what to keep and how to pack months of life into a handful of suitcases. it was hard to leave costa rica, the places and the friends, and all will be missed. and in a flurry of emotional activity we left behind yet another season in another country, entering immediately into the dull drudgery of airplane travel, the conduit of a new existence.
and so life in ecuador begins. the crisp mountain air and the dry season dust the background to our settling. we spent our first days staying in a cabin on the el refugio grounds, planning for our life in our future home, just down the road from the camp, then under some needed repairs, or, let’s say, improvements (new paint, replacing aged carpet with wood floors, etc.), and needing to be fully stocked with appliances, furniture, and all the little things. i think fondly of the frying pans and other kitchen implements we acquired in costa rica that we managed to tuck away into our suitcases; a few less things to buy now. we alternated days at the camp, talking logistics and playing with the girls, and days in quito (a forty or so minute drive through beautiful mountain valleys) placing orders with furniture makers and price comparing washing machines. yay. and from time to time we had long conversations with our friends and co-workers, about the intricacies of life here, sharing stories and histories, each question or thought leading to more. within our first week we attended the team’s first in-person meeting (with masks and distancing) since the start of the quarantine, which formally brought us into the team and in which we used our fumbling but knowledgeable spanish to introduce ourselves (though we knew most everybody already).
the general policy in joining the team here is a month (give or take) for getting settled. and with an empty house to furnish and a car to find and visas to apply for, that makes sense. but others on the team have been asking when i may be ready to talk about my eventual work. and i, as we inch through the list of necessities, am ready, and that process is beginning. for the last year and a half i have been busy with support raising and learning spanish but overall my schedule has been fairly lax. which has given me a gracious amount of time with family. but as we are here now, and i feel ready to begin.
and so i am processing the work that is so close now, not a theoretical future away, but tangible weeks. i am thus recognizing the need for extended learning and time to grow into the ecuadorian context, to see my eventual role in a new light, a clearer, contextual light. and, in a very necessary way, to remember the reasons for which we have come here. for though i have been hired to do specific tasks, fill specific roles, i do not seek to simply overtly apply years of study and experience into a new context. so, really, i suppose i am not ready so much to begin such tasks as i am ready to begin to learn how to do such tasks — as we continue to grow our knowledge of the language, to grow our knowledge of the people, and may all the ideas i have continuously swirling around in my head be used and applied only through deep understanding and communication. i pray for the wisdom to, in all i do here and beyond, be a true servant.
and with that thought, here are some pictures.
and everywhere i go i see You.. 