The day the president died...well almost

So today was a very interesting day indeed. it started out very normally, just like every other day in ecuador... get up at 5:30 get dressed and take a bus to the hardest school ever.well let me start by saying that last night my family and i went to downtown quito, and visited a bunch of old churches, building, and the then finally the presidents house. all of this is about 20 minutes or so away from my house. so anyways... today i went to school. and did some homework, and ate some peach yogurt with cornflakes in it, and then some bread that had a flavor but idk what it was... so we did that and then it was about 11am and my ecuadorian mother came into the courtyard of the school and called me over to her. it took me a while to get what she was trying to tell me but i knew it was something about police and problems and the government... well, heres the story... so today the president of ecuador passed a bill that lowered the pay of the police force and declined bonuses to them. heres the thing... ecuador has one police force in the entire country,  the ecuadorian national police. well it might not be a good idea to lower the pay of every police officer in the country at one time, but thats beside the point. also the president is not a very popular guy to begin with. so the police everywhere totally shut down and the police in quito blocked off the downtown, shutdown traffic, and attacked the president. and what do rebellious people do when their are no police, they riot and steal things. so the president who was already injured from a surgery last week, apparently got in the way of a gas bomb that was thrown during the battle between the police and the military. when confronted he ripped off his tie and shouted, if you want to kill me, kill me. so he was taken to the hospital. a few hours a go we got to watch a major battle go down when the police and rioters bombed the hospital and raided it in an attempt to assasinate the president. they failed and the military managed to resue the president and take him back to the palace. where he stood in front of thousands of flag waving people and gave a speech on the importance of democracy. all of this went down about 20-30 or so minutes away from where we are. so yeah, that was my day. i watched the entire layout of a possible overthrow of the government of the country of ecuador. this is only a fraction of the events and things i saw today, but the rest will just ahve to go down in the story books. but we are all safe and everything is relatively under control. theres most likely no school tomorrow because well people tried to kill the president today. everything is still in pretty much chaos because this was less than a good experience. thepresident is currently being interviewed and talking and shaking his fist. so who knows what will happen in the future. but all of us are safe and sound and unharmed, but we definitely have a story to tell. on the good side, i got a 19 out of 20 on my first mathematic analysis test... you know... 

Hi everybody!!!!

Hey everyone!!! i love and miss you all!!!! but this weekend was very fun!!! on friday we went to the city market that had clothes, food, and all kinds of other things. on saturday we all cleaned, and later we got to go to the park!!! that was very cool!!! we rode through something like a river with boats that you had to pedal like a bike and let me tell you that was some very good excercise!!! after that, we all went to check out the styles of dresses for michelle's wedding then later we had discipleship which God really showed up at and after that we went to a "Pijamada" (pajama party) but unfortunately, i was so tired that i slept through the whole thing!! and today, papi spoke in church about the book of 1 Samuel and it was a very special message. tomorrow he is leaving for another trip to another city to minister to the less fortunate :) i have quite a bit of math homework which is not exactly what i would call "easy" but nontheless, God is with me yet and guiding me all the way!!! i love and miss you all and hope that things are going well with all of you!!

~Word of Wisdom~ be willing to try new things, daring to do the impossible, and love others as if Jesus were right beside you the whole day!!

God Bless,

Hannah

P.S. mommy and daddy i hope you get all your "house" jobs done and please don't worry tooooooooooooooooooooooo much about me because i love my family and am very content here.

I love and miss you all!!!!!

hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!! just wanted to let you all know that i am having a wonderful time here and everything is awesome!! school is much different, especially when it comes to homework, but its good to experience different things... it is how we learn. the church is amazing too and i already have become a part of the family there as well. i am taking the school bus every morning and evening now, and its very nice because in the mornings, my mom accompanies me and in the afternoon, i ride alone with the other kids on the bus. i am so grateful to be here and i don't want ANY of you to worry about anything because God is providing everything that we all need.

~Word of Wisdom~ look up to the hills and seek the face of the Lord, because he always listens even when you think he can't hear you, and he will fill the desires of your heart. amen.

P.S. i miss and love you mommy daddy steve jenn logan and grandma!!!!! and of course everyone else :)

Deep fried plantains are chévere

Ah Ecuador, land of mountains, jungles, beaches, and so much more.... not to mention amazingly chévere(awesome for you back in the home land) deep fried sweet bananas. i didnt realize how much i missed fried food until i took my first bite of said deliciousity. i miss a lot of things and a lot of people, but every morning on my way to school when i get to see cotopaxi, the amazing snow covered volcano, i remember why i am here and thank God so much for the opportunity. oh jim irwin, you are an interesting place for sure... with your air raid siren for a bell and random rooms fit into every place that a wall could be constructed. but besides your faults i must admit you are a pretty good place. especially considering your teachers great students with the national hand shake slash fist bump which the entire country of Ecuador seems to know. whereas i am learning chemistry entirely in spanish, i think i like it, and can actually understand what is going on. like kellie said, we do get stared at a lot... like all the time. i mean i do stand out considering i am the tall pasty white kid with blond hair, although i must say i am working on darkening up a bit... which is not hard to do here. but so far everything is going well and i have learned so much spanish already its amazing. school here is literaly 30 times harder than what i am used to, and i think  to myself constantly how in the world does anybody stand to work this hard every year for their entire school career. and then i realize that the reason math and science here are so important is because in order to make something of yourself you kinda need to be good in one of those areas, and let me tell you that even the lesser of people here are amazing in those areas. it makes me realize how priviledged i am to live in the US, and i wish everybody there understood how lucky they are to be able to learn so many different things in school and be able to do so much, rather than complain all the time. the people here dont complain very much and are extremely nice... a lesson i think we all need to learn. i mean even if you get cut off in traffic here, which happens every 30 seconds you are in a car, people dont get angry, they just keep on going. and i am still eating more than should ever be consumed by a person in one day... meal after meal after meal, and then fruit between meals, and bread between meals, and so many other things.... not that the food is bad, but man there sure is a lot of it... ah, i almost forgot... this past weekend we all went to mindo which is a  city in ecuador, where we did 12 ziplines through the jungle... im not going to lie when i say that it was amazing, because well it was pretty fantastic. althougbn i almost hit aa tree and the line that bounces does less than honorable things to men, i enjoyed the whole experience emensely... then afterword we went white water tubing in the rockiest coldest water i have ever been in, but it was pretty amazing too. i also seem to have fallen in love with this beverage that appears to be a mix between rice pudding and egg nog... idk but its pretty tasty. well, thats all for now, but please keep reading. until next time, goodbye and farewell.... oh, and if you are ever in ecuador, get on the bus quickly, because if you dont, you might be in trouble... the bus waits for no one

Thank you Kique!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately...we have all been pretty busy, and stressed. Plus, Nathan only has internet when Freddy's neighbors are home hahaha and Lauren is having computer problems. But as all of you probably know Kique and Sierra left Sunday morning...yeah, there was a lot of tears. All of us miss him terribly, he was our comfort zone and like a dad to us all. I think when he left, it hit us how real this whole thing is. Kique, thank you so much for everything you did to get us here. Seriously, the only reason we are here is because of you. I dont know how we can ever repay you! You have done so much for us and not having you here has sucked, but we know it will be for the best...we need to grow up ;) We love you!!!

Alright, so as for what has been going on these few silent days. School has been really confusing and we have all been extremely overwhelmed. Time and organiztion really doesnt mean much here and us FCA kids arent really used to that. The first week we were all put in classes that werent what we needed, this REALLY stressed us out. Actually, Hannah has been fine this whole time, she has been in the classes she needs. As for Nathan, Lauren and I this past week we havent had classes, which has been amazing! haha. Dr.Torress and Kique needed this week to sort out what classes we needed, so the four of us have been staying in the teachers lounge and learning spanish all day. I have learned more spanish the past three days then I have in my entire life. Each day is getting better. School starting kinda stunned us all and set us back a bit, but we are starting to get back on track. We all knew this would be hard. At Jim Irwin its like we are famous. We get followed, stared at and talked to every second lol. The teachers are awesome! They are SO helpful and make us feel welcome. Dr.Torress is also amazing, but that is just a given lol. This country is an incredible place! The cuture and people are so great. Its just school and the language barrier that is presenting a challenge. But for me personally, I have grown so much already. My relationship with God is insanly strong, stronger than ever before. Also, my independence continues to grow but at the same time Nathan, Lauren, Hannah and I are SO close now...we're like siblings lol.

I miss my school and my class A LOT though. I realized I seriously have the best class in the world at home. I miss my family and bestfriends too. Its hard to vent to people who dont speak your language...so Im in desparate need of that. But that is what God is for, so its all good :) I also realized how incredibly fourtunate I am to live in the U.S. and speak english. It was weird on September 11th here, not a single word was said about it and no one here really gets it. But overall, I am really happy. I think the stress and confusion is just something that will go away with time...I mean it has only been 2 weeks haha. God has crazy awesome plans for all four of us here and I just get wait to fulfill them! I love and miss you all and hopefully I'll be able to write again soon.

So, Ecuador is awesome... no AMAZING!!!

Hi everybody!! So today was great because it was the second day of classes and I had my 2 favorites today: Biology and Anatomy... both for 2 hours each!!! Lets just say that I was basically in heaven. haha. Also today we went to a place where we could get some very important papers for Michelle. And you all will never guess what was on TV--- America's Funniest Home Videos (which might I add were HILARIOUS) and it reminded me of my family and friends which sort of made me sad... But after this, we all went to a Science Museum for free because one of Michelle's friends works there and gave us an awesome tour!!!! we got to see many interesting things, and once i figure out just how to send pictures i definitely WILL!!! Ohhhhhhh!!!!!!!! I forgot to mention that my mom here in Ecuador totally braided my hair... beautifully!! I just love this place, the school and am eternally grateful for this AMAZING opportunity to come here!! And Mommy, please dont worry because I promise every night we do our devo's and we pray. I also get to be involved in like 3 worship bands which is quite chevre (or cool in English) and actually that is exactly where I'm going very soon. So, never forget how much I love you all and miss you alot. Oh, and a word of wisdom for the day:

Remember that you are blessed to live in America and consider it a privelege. Don't forget to laugh often love much and LIVE WELL

I miss and love you all but I can say with a peace very deep down in my heart that you don't have to worry because I am VERY content here and I do believe that someday if it is the Lord's will I am definitely coming back here. This place is so beautiful and sooooo nice that I'm pretty sure that I will have quite a hard time leaving this gorgeous country.

P.S.

the culture is sooooooo different here and I think that the USA should take after the hospitality, love, and respect that Ecuador has. Seriously.

School is Hard.....

That is my post, enough said  

Immigration, mathematics and cuchuchos... oh my!

Hello again! Nathan finally showed me how to create my own entries without bugging him for his password. First a cell-phone, now I'm blogging... who knows, maybe next I'll try SKYPE... wait... I've done that to! This trip has been very educational for me so far:) This morning I spent hours with some of the maestros at the colegio and we discussed scheduling and class placement. The educational system is much different, which makes it complicated, but every day I feel like I'm making progress. Today I picked up the passports from immigration and our next step is to register with the census bureau so each student will receive a cédula. (An international student id). Most of the students have uniforms and things seem to be falling into place. The students took a placement exam today to find out what information they needed to review before tackling their courses. Until today, I never knew how awesome Mr. Garrett was. Numerous times throughout the exam there were requests for his presence. Kellie even saved a seat for him just in case he decided to catch a flight. Thanks Mr. Garrett for all you do with these kids! There hasn't been much down time for any of us. It's been exciting, but also tiring. Sierra started school yesterday and she is about a foot taller than everyone in her class. She has been having a blast playing with dogs, cats, monkeys, cuchuchos, rabbits and any other kind of animal she can find. By the way, a cuchucho is some kind of wild animal with a long striped tail (maybe a lemur). It was running around in the woods when we were at the zoo. When it approached Sierra she bent down to pet it and it rolled over for a belly rub. After that, it followed her the entire time. Oh, and Sierra bought a llama the other day... not a big deal! Have a great day!

Kique

oh dinner was so delicious... what? its snack time... im pretty sure we just ate

Dont get me wrong, the food here is impressively delicious, and extremely healthy, we even have real chocolate... but with all good things, there is usually a downside... and that would be that we seriously eat all the time....all the time... all the time. i really dont know how they do it, but if you have an ecuadorian student in your house right now... you seriously need to give them food all the time... like for reals, because they are probably super hungry. so give them food, they will be very happy. the food is a little different but its still good... my body is not sure what to do about all the fresh food, but i love fruit, so its all good. lol. but enough about food,.. i have previously mentioned a little bit about the driving... ah, the driving... ill give ecuador credit because i have not seen a single accident and they are very good at driving... but it is not normal for somoeone from ohio... you see, those lines in the road, the single, double, and dotted lines, they mean absolutely nothing... nothing at all. and people dont get angry either... they just honk their horn and drive on by, no screaming, no flying fingers, no nothing... its all done with style. its not unusual to see cars four wide driving down a two lane highway, in fact if you dont see that, consider it a rarity. in fact, the middle line is a road of its own, but i would try it in the us, you will get arrested and probably wreck... but if you plan on every driving in ecuador.. id suggest entering yourself in a demolition derby for practice, if you get hit... you might want to stick to a taxi. .... enough about driving... quito is an amazing city... especially at night, considering the city has 3 million people...  you can imagine the lights that stretch for miles, sorry, kilometers in each direction through the shadows of the mountais and volcanos.. yeah, the volcanos are pretty amazing here, im not gonna lie... i have gotten to see several of them throughout the country, and each one of them is more beautiful than the next. in fact, all of the mountains here are super magnificant. i have taken so many pictures, and you cant take a bad one, it is not possibly with Gods amazing craftsmanship... but with all of these things i miss home too, my family friends, and everyone... and even the food... today while we were waiting to get our visas approved by the ministry of imigration, the four of us bought pringles, oreos, and candy bars... all legitimate... i didnt realize how much i loved pringles and oreos... but apparently i love them a lot, lol... well, thats all for now... so until next time, goodbye and farewell.... oh, and if you ever come to ecuador, the coffee here is amazing... and i hate coffee

Amazing, amazing, amazing!

Once again I find myself in one of the most beautiful countries I{ve ever visited.  The people here continue to amaze me, which you may have guessed by the title of this blog.  I am staying with Freddys family and Sierra and I have our own 2 bedroom apartment.  As we were moving in our things, I realized that Freddys sister and son moved out of the apartment and in with the grandparents just so we would have a place to stay while we are here!  We have spent an average of over 10 hours a day travelling and the sights have been amazing.  One of the highlights was eating the worms.  For those of you who think, hey, no big deal, I{ve eaten worms before when I was a kid, please watch the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to get a good picture of what these beasts actually look like.  Youll find them in the part of the movie where Willy Wonka is eating with the oompaloompa chief.  Anyway, I{ve gained 5 pounds since I arrived and its time to eat, so I better go.  Nathan, Kellie, Lauren and Hannah are having a blast and are truly enjoying this country and are representing FCA very well.  Nathan looks very sharp, get it, in his nice red sweater vest uniform!  I{ll be back in a week but I must say that I could easily stay here the entire 4 and a half months with the kids.... If only Katie and my other munchkins were here!  Hasta pronto!


Señor Wentz, or Kique as Im known to the natives!

¡Hace frio!

Well I just got done typing out this nice, long blog post and then Daysi's computer decided to shut off...awesome. Haha so now I'm just gonna type a shorter less imformative one :). So far my Ecuador experience has been all that I hoped it would be, I absolutly love it here! The people are insanly nice, I like their culture better than mine lol. One thing though is it is suprising cold here, like freezing actually lol. I have had to wear long sleaves and a sweat shirt everyday, haha. Daysi and I are becoming best of friends and I love it! And same goes for Nathan, Lauren and Hannah...all our families are treating us as part of the family, for real! I look forward to eating here lol the food is delicious, even though we eat like 5 meals a day. Nathan doesn't agree with me about the food though, but that is only because he has been so lucky as to try all the "native" food hehe, what I eat is normal and really really fresh! I have gotten to go a lot of places already like; the ecuator (which is at a place called Mitad del Mundo), a volcano that I forget the name of, a church monument so high up I got light headed, the mountains and downtown Quito. Each place was incredible! So far it has seemed like a vacation and it's been smooth-sailin', but school starts Wednesday and I know that is going to change everything. I'm excited for school though and eager eager eager to learn as much spanish as possible! Tonight all us U.S. kids and Kique are having dinner with the families of the Ecuador kids in Lancaster right now, so I'm excited for that too :). Mk well I'm going to go hang with Daysi. I miss and love all you guys! Adios.

Ecuador cant handle my shoe size

well today i got my uniform for school... its pretty amazing, considering i love sweater vests... but it seems not too many Equadorians are 6 ft tall and have size 47.5 shoes...13 for those of you who still use the US shoe measuring scale... so that was an adventure trying to find one that fit, luckily i brought black pants and shoes because we would have had to scavange the entire country for those, haha... but anyways, i am having an amazing time, and so are kellie, hannah, and lauren, although they dont seem to want to post anything, lol... pretty much Ecuador is amazing and the people are the nicest of anywhere i have ever been. youd think i was an actual member of every family here... you cant beat that. well, thats all i have time for for now... so until next time, goodbye and farewell... oh, and if you are ever in Ecuador, dont be afriad to drink the orange juice... it is quite amazing

1 meal, 2 meals, 3 meals, 4... oh, and dont throw rocks at the crocodile

Ah, another day in ecuador. again you are going to have to forgive me but i cant type very well and still use this spanish keyboard that was sold in canada made from parts manufactured in china... so anyways.. the title of this post says a lot. because you see, since ive been here i have eaten enough food to hold me over until june. dont believe me, well its true. we eat a lot over here. and to explain that statement, two nights ago, or should i say yesterday morning i ate dinner at twelve thirty in the am... ah, the stomach pain, lol. and i have just been informed that we are about to eat dinner. if my memory serves me correct i just ate about 2 hours ago... ayayay... anyways.. so we left quito tuesday afternoon like i said and since then i have seen many amazing things. the mountains are fantastic and until you have seen them you cant quite realize how amazing they are. yesterday we went to the top of some mountain to view a snow tipped volcano, which was pretty cool. today i saw a triple waterfall, oh and i ate some slug like worms... not gonna recommend those to you, they were less than delicious and chewy to say the least. just a few hours ago we swam in some pools of naturally heated water, which felt very good considering it was about 40 degress or less in the mountains. and then we ate which was pretty good actually, but thinking of that makes me realize that i am going to be eating again here soon. well, i have to go eat, so i will talk to you all later.  feel free to pass the blog along, and until until next, goodbye and farewell.... oh and if you are ever in ecuador, visit latacunga, you cant walk 10 steps in that town without finding an ice cream shop... in my 16 years of life i have not seen a third of the number of ice cream shops that i saw in 15 minutes, it was pretty astounding