Last days

July 20, 2008

It has just stopped raining after another 12 hour stretch. The rain forest is not short on rain.

Had pinchos last night, a local Friday night delicacy. Basically a type of shish kabab marinated meat on a stick complete with greasy fries and seasoned Choclo. Choclo is a type of pale yellow latin corn that has bigger, softer kernels than American corn and is quite tasty. After that headed to Becky’s for movie night from her arsenal of literally 200 movie DVD’s. Not much else to do in Shell on a Friday night.

So it stands that I am down to my last week in this strange rain forest land. Home to the biggest and strangest insects I have ever seen. I have seen spiders the size of my hand, fluffy tarantulas that are actually quite cute, and a odd sort of flat spider that inhabited the corner of my door. Rhinocerous beetles with pokey black horns who always seem to be belly up clawing the air with their insect feet, florescent green bees, walking sticks of various hues, grass-hoppers in the shape of large green leafs, and butterflies in brilliant blues or painted with huge owl eyes.

Some places you are drawn to and they call you back with an almost tangible force. For me these are the mountains and high places of the world. This rain forest holds mystery and intrigue and curiosities of every sort, but it is not where I am drawn, but where I have labored for a while.

So many lives have been touched by this small service I have offered, and in return my heart has been molded as well. Esteban learned to walk in Makuma and Angelita sat up for the first time in months. Juan Eras travels two hours once a week for therapy on his knee and Zoila Herminia Perez wet my arms with her tears when I left. Daniela, our new therapist now has a job in the town of her family, where no work existed before. The hospital now has a physical therapy department and new clinic, a service they had been waiting over eight years to put in place. The lives of certain disabled orphans at the Casa de Fe, “House of Faith”, have also been touched through the work of Dr. Sue Curfman, my previous anatomy professor who felt led to come to Ecuador for a week to provide physical therapy.

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” 2 Corinthians 3:5
It has started to rain again.