The water bombers

Hello Again,
Well, let me give you an update on what has been happening here within the last few days. There is a celebration that many either love or hate. It`s called, Carnival. I, for one, do not like it one bit...besides the whole pagan thiny. Children seem to really enjoy this time. It starts some time late in February but for some reason, many kids have started throwing water balloons now. And guess what? Yup!.... you guessed it, we had some water balloons thrown at us (Alicia and I had just finished a study.) I actually water balloons thrown at me twice in the same day. I realize that self-control is an area of weakness for me. And, I seriously try and work on improving in this area. However, I failed the test yesterday. Yup, some kids with a water hose and balloons were geared up to drown us with water. We had no where to go but down the hill. No matter how close I tried to get to the curb, I just could not get farther away from them. So, I had water balloons thrown at me and also got sprayed with the water hose. I tried to keep my cool, but lost it. I picked up light weight piece of wood about 4¨ x 4¨and threw it at them. Of course, it came no where close to them, but in some small way, it helped to subside my frustration. Yeap. I felt guilty afterwards and had to ask Jehovah for help.... especially as we get closer to Carnival.

Jehovah heard my prayer for help.

Thanks to Jehovah, I have found a place to live. I have to move out quickly because the daughter of the family where I currently live is DF´d (explusada) and will be returning to the home to live. Guillermo and Cecilia have offered me an apartment they own downstairs from their home for $50 per month, utilities included. You may recall, my original agreement with the Valdivieso´s was for $100 per month to rent a bedroom with an attached bathroom insdie their home. Due to their kindness, for the past two months, they have returned part of the rent money to me to ensure that I had enough to live on...food, and other expenses. Well, Guillermo and Cecilia have the apartment furnished. I just have to buy cookware and dishes and odds and ends that I will need. Things can´t get any better than this! The room that I currently rent has no windows in the bedroom nor the bathroom. The apartment is nice, spacious and furnished .... all for only $50. Jehovah truly is a hearer and answerer of prayers!

dogs ...dogs... and more dogs...

I absolutely love dogs. We had dogs growing up and I would love to have a boxer, but my asthma won´t permit me to have any pets. My air passage begins to close up and I gasp for air... inhaler to the rescue. But here in Cuenca, there are tons of dogs. It breaks my heart to see them mistreated, practially bones and sickly. People give them poison, throw rocks at them and run them over with their cars. Well, the running them over part is the dogs fault because they chase after the cars. I know that in the new system, all animals will be treated much better.

Contamination in Cuenca

Hello agian friends.
Well, here is the lastest and the greatest. I don´t think that I will ever get use to the air contamination here because I am reminded on a daily basis that it is a huge problem here. My asthma bothers me practically everyday. But, thanks to modern technology and the advancement of medicine, I have my inhaler that does wonders. The only thing that my lips touch are the cute faces of the babies in the congregation and my inhaler. :-)
With the help of Nora, who moved from the states to serve here, I was able to get in contact with a sister who has an Ion Cleanser. What is this? you ask. Well, it´s a wonderful creation that helps to pull out the toxins from the body and it´s painless! In the states, I paid $50 per session. Sometimes, I was able to find it cheaper. However, here I only pay $10, which was discounted $5 because I am a regular pioneer. I could only afford one to two visits a month, but after talking to Sara Edith, the sister who owns the machine, she lowered the price even more for me. $5 bucks!! That´s all I pay for my treatments, $20 SMACKAROOS! This little machine does wonders for my lungs and I feel like a new person. What a tremendous blessing this has been from Jehovah!

My Health

How is my health? Is my body fully contaminated with little worms floating around in my tummy. I hope not! But, I am sure some are present. I try very hard to wash my fruits and vegitables in KILOL solution. (I think that is the correct spelling.) Besides that, I also have special natural medicine that works wonders. I try to take that once a month for four days, after each meal. May main concern is my asthma. I have had several attacks, all of which is controlled by an inhaler. Sometimes I feel as though my lips never leave the inhaler. I can get the inhalers here for about $10 but I like the ones that I get from the states because they give me quick relief. I miss being in the USA for the fact that there are many natural services available that have given me good results. One thing I used often in the states was the ION Cleanser. I was not really big on the whole natural health stuff.... especially, since my lips were and not as much now glued to a hamburger, french fries, a hotdog... or whatever else that is really bad for your health. Well, thanks to another sister from the states that is also serving in Cuenca, I was able to obtain the name and telephone number of someone that practices natural health/healing. Well, I did not hesitate to call the number, of which belongs to a sister. When I went for my appointment, I thanked her repeatedly because I was starting to feel better. I could breathe. I explained to Sara that I wanted to come more often but could not afford to do so. Due to her generosity, Sara had already lowered her normal price of $15 per treatment to $10 because I am a regular pioneer. As we continued to talk, she told me that I could come as often as I liked and she would only charge me $5/treatment. And what´s really spectualar, her husband makes and sells these ION cleaning machines which its main function is pull out the toxins that are in the body. I don´t have the money to buy one of these machines, but I am happy with the reduce cost which will allow me to come once every week. I still think that some natural stuff is full of hogwash; however, I am pleased with the stuff that works and I try to stick to it. So, now I am trying very very very hard to stay away from fast foods...of which is not a easily accessible here. I have my relapses, like today when I could not resist french fries.... the aroma taunts me on a daily basis at school.... they sell them Monday - Friday for 80 cents. I pray and pray and pray for self-control.... and pray and pray... ha ha ha.

Where will I go?

How much do you believe what 1Peter 5:7 says? I personally have come to really appreciate this scripture. There has been countless times over the years when Jehovah reminds me that he loves me and is profundly interested in me as an individual and as one of his servants. Let me briefly let you know what I mean. I have to move. Not right now, but within the next few months. Where will I go and will it be a safe place for me since I have no roommate? How and where will I get money for the deposit?
Jehovah´s blessing:
Yesterday, some friends in my congregation, who also live on my street, offered me a room to rent close the apartment that they own downstairs. Apparently, their daughter and her husband will be moving out of the apartment and into their new home. Since my arrival in Cuenca, I have been paying $100 in rent (utilities included), of which many of the friends tell me that it´s too much. (You may recall, my monthly salary is $200.) The remaining $100, I use to buy food, call home, use the internet, and for public transportation. Well, these friends offered me the room for $50 utilities included.
Since money is really tight for me, the family who I live with currently, returned part of my $100 rent payment and told me that they want to make sure that I have plenty to buy food. (I suspect that his wife was peaking in the refigerator...but I have not proof) I´m no chef when it comes to cooking and stick close to eating eggs and rice, soups, salad, fruit and chicken. mmmmm tasty! Nevertheless, I am greatful for their generosity. I paid $50 in rent last month and $60 in rent this month. Jehovah is wonderful indeed!

What´s new?

Hello Again,
What´s new? Well, upon walking into the kitchen this morning, I got an eye full. A scale with a black bag on top. What was inside? A dead chicken with it´s legs sticking out. What a sight.

Besides that, what´s been going on with my visa? Well, I got a contact that can translate my criminal history report into Spanish and get it notarized. Afterwards, I will need to have those documents sent to a friend in McDonough that can get it apostilled and have all the documents sent back to me certified mail. As far as the school providing me with the document from I.E.S.S., I am still waiting on it. We found out that there may be something else that immigration will accept besides the certificate stating that the school owes no money. (The school is in debt with I.E.S.S. which is why I was trying to find out what else the government would except.) So, those are the only documents I am waiting for. Hopefully, I will be able to submit everything before the end of the month.

My trip out of Cuenca

Let`s get outta town!!!! At least that was my feeling on talking a quick vacation away from Cuenca. A sister in my congregation invited me to go with her to visit her family in Quito which is up north about a 8 hr car ride. Well, we took a charter bus ride to Riobama first and it was great. We talked about everything under the sun for the majority of the ride there. When we arrived, we took a short cab ride to Cecilia`s house. We were received well. Cecilia introduced me to her sister and her family, all of whom were very nice. We were given a quick tour of the town since we were only going to be there overnight. When night came and it was time to go to sleep, I had problems. Hmmmm. what could it be. Well, my feet were ice cold and I could not warm them up by taking a nice hot shower, because there was no hot water. However, I was nicely tucked away in bed with my cold feet and inhaling ciggarette smoke. At least, it must have been the residual escaping from upstares. So, I was sucking on my inhaler for the majority of the night and sleep somewhat after my feel defrosted.
We left at 4:30am the next day to go to Quito. Cecilia`s newphew was kind enough to drive us there since he was heading in that direction. I was very greatful that he smoked outside of the vehicle instead of inside. We made it safely to Quito with no problems.
In Quito, I meet more of Cecilia´s family. Everyone was very kind and hospitable. No smoking there. Whewwwww.! But! There were tons of dogs outside and one slept inside the house. So, my lips never left my inhailer. Over the years, I have gotten really allergic to animals. My lungs feel as though they are closing in on me. But, thanks to modern medicine, I was able to breathe. We stayed in Quito overnight also and went on a quick tour of town. The next day we headded back for Riobama but stopped in Ambato, which has a beautiful park. We had a picnic there and after walking around the park, we headed back to Riobama and Sunday morning we left for home. We missed the first bus because there was a parade in the street and was blocking traffic. We were able to catch the next bus that left at 1pm. It was nice to be back in Cuenca and to be introduced to hot water again. I had no hot showers during my short vacation but beside the inconvenience of the cold water, my cold feet our last night in Riobama and no sleep, I had really a wonderful time. Although no one is a baptized witness in the families that I meet, several of them are studying and are progressing spiritually towards baptisma. I have pictures of the part and will put them on my blog page later.

What´s new

Hello Friends,
Today it is cold and rainy. But that is not different from any other day. So, what can I tell you that is new and different. I still don´t have all the documents that I need for my visa. However, I believe that sometime next week, the owner should have the final document that I need. My criminal history report, my sister Sophia is getting it for me. It is wonderful having family in great places....she works for the sheriff´s office. The only hang-up I can see regarding the criminal history report is having it translated(to Spanish) in GA, notarized and apostilled.
What else can I tell you.... I think my students officially hate me. Why might you ask, especially since I am a wonderful person. Well, I make them work and I give them tests. And, if they don´t turn in their homework when it is due, they get zero points. If they cheat on a test, they get zero points, if they are talking during a test, I take the test from them, give them zero points and I kick them out of class. So, I think that about covers it all. But, other than that, I am great with them... I laugh and joke with them when the timing is appropriate. I learned really qucik that I had to be really strict when it comes to tests and homework. For the most part, the students are lazy and are notorious for cheating. I call them professional cheaters.
Next month is Carnival. This is a time when it is a free for all and you get water balloons thrown at you. I am positive that all the students will be using me as their target practice. No worries, I will still give them zero on their homework when it´s not submitted on time and a zero if they are talking or cheating during their test. :-)