Un viaje en el bosque

GRACIAS DIOS! With lots of water and lots of sleep I was able to overcome my altitude sickness for the weekend! I´m still feeling a little of the headache today, now that I´m back in Quito- but I am much better than I was!

I took a trip this weekend to Mindo with 6 other girls from MSU. It was a 2.5 hour bus ride further north ( and down the mountain!)which cost $2.50. We arrived in this tiny little town with dirt roads and a handful of stores. Like Williamston, in the Rain forest! lol. We were greeted right away by an english speaking woman, Claudia, who took us to her Hostel in the middle of the forest. She gave us the entire top floor of the bungalow and charged us each $7 per night with breakfast. She hooked us up with all the tickets for the activities and free rides and such.

We went right to the ZIP LINE through the canopy.It was a series of 13 different lines which took an hour and a half or so to do. We did a few tricks the superman ( where you fly on your stomach- head first) and the mariposa ( butterfly- where you go upside down- feet in the air!). It was crazy but the coolest experience ever! I´ve never seen the Rain Forest from the sky like that!I have some better pictures of myself I will get tomorrow from my friends.This is Karin-->

We had dinner on a little porch restaurant run by an older American woman who had moved there with her family. She made the best brownies!!! They even called in their local friends to give us salsa dancing lessons that evening!! We were all horrible- except my Puerta Rican friend Aubrey who started teaching too!

The next morning we got up and hitched a ride in the back of a pick up with the workers and went to the top of the mountain to las cascadas (waterfalls).We crammed in a little box type crate and rode across a cable to the other side of the valley!! yikes I know!We all about had a heart attack.

We hiked to 5 different waterfalls and got to swim in the last one!

It was so awesome! The air was fresh and clean and I was able to use my body and not feel faint and tired like in Quito. I love hiking. It was just us and the nature. No cars, no people. It was safe to walk through town at night. It was such a different adventure than we have had in the city. We took a long nap Saturday afternoon on our deck,in the hammocks during a rain storm. It was peaceful; tranquil. I think it was exactally what we all expected South America to be like, what we all had been longing to see and be a part of.

At night we had to walk down this dirt road to our hostel in the pitch black. We all kinda crammed together and held our breath with no flashlight! We had been told it was safe but coming from Quito where nothing is safe, we pictured the worst. I sang hymns and other people told stories and some just rambled about how scared they were. We made it safe.

Saturday, I read this passage from a book I have on Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller:
" We live a most uncertain life. Any hour can bring disaster, danger, and distress from unknown quarters. Life is full of hazards. No one can tell what a day will produce in new trouble. We live either in a sense of anxiety, fear, and foreboding, or in a sense of quiet rest. Which is it? Generally it is the "unknown", the "unexpected", that produces the greatest panic. It is in the grip`of fear that most of us are unable to cope with the cruel circumstances and harsh complexities of life.Often our first impulse is simply to get up and run from them. Then in the midst of our misfortunes there suddenly comes the awareness that He, the Christ, the Good Shepherd, is there. It makes all the difference. His presence in the picture throws a different light on the whole scene. Suddenly things are not half so black nor nearly so terrifying. The outlook changes and there is hope. I find myself delivered from fear.Rest returns and I can relax."

Sorry, that was long. But, it´s so true for me. I was afraid to go to Mindo because I had to go somewhere unknown, again! But once I went, I received all the blessings of South America I had been desiring to have.God was there, he protected me. And just like that small trip down that dark road, the scene looked totally different once I saw that Christ was there, walking with me in Mindo,Ecuador.

I slept all day yesterday and attempted to get in some solid reading of the spanish economics book. Today has been wonderful.I feel healthy and encouraged and loved. It´s my mom´s birthday and I get to talk to her for the first time tonight!!
I see God showing me so many things and growing me in so many ways. I have no idea what I am gonna do what I get back or for the rest of my life, but in so many ways I see God confirming in my heart who I am supposed to do all of it with.

It continues to be hard and I still suffer from confusion every day, but the one thing I have not to be confused about is that God has a lot to teach me and I am open to learning it! Thank you for reminding me everyday how loved I am.