Guayaquil

Yesterday we flew to guayaquil to visit Sister Annie at Casa Damien. We hitched a ride with Vincente and the medical students on the center's bus at 7am. They dropped us off at the airport before heading to La Marín.
The airport was a bit stressful. When I went to check is in for our flights using the computer for self check in, we didn't have the right reservation number. So I went to the LAN desk and she gave it to me. Went back to the computer and all of us were there, except Jonah! I had paid for all the flights back hom, our reservation said that all of us were ticketed and confirmed so I'm not sure what happened. Anyways, after another trip to the desk, I was told that I'd have a purchase another ticket for Jonah. Luckily, we were able to get on the same flight! Once we got that figured out, we headed to the gate, it was supposed to be gate 5, but ended up being gate 1.
Got on the plane and the ride was totally uneventful!!!
Arrived in Guayaguil and Annie greeted us with pan de yucca and cold waters. They have gotten a new van since the last time we were here, so we were all able to ride together.
We picked up Pat and drive thought the "rich" part of the city, filled with gated communities and huge homes on the water. Then into Durán, the very poor part of town where the houses are made of sugar cane built up on stilts because of flooding. The weather is much hotter and humid on the coast.
We visited a day care center that Pat established - there were a set of guadruplets there and the children were learning body parts - eyes, hands, feet
and mouth, both in English and Spanish.
After that, we visited Nuevo Mundo school, also established by Pat and her business partner, Sonia. The rich children come in the morning and at tuition to the school and the poor children come in the afternoons for free. He school is totally state of the art and hs classes for preschool - high school aged children.
Next we went to the mall so that we could eat in the food court.


Maria, fr. Craig and I had Ecuadorian food, kids had a variety of pizza and Chinese food, I think. We had ice cream for dessert.
Next we headed to Casa Damien were we visited with the Hansen's Disease patients. They were so loving and generous, hugs and kisses all around. Many of the men just wanted to tell you their stories and even though their Spanish was really difficult to understand, we were all very polite and listened intently. The patients all make crafts, with wood, jewelry, etc so we were able to purchase items to help the residents.
Next we loaded back into the van and went downtown to the Iguana Park. There are iguanas in the trees, on the grass, everywhere. There was also a turtle area. We left there and headed to the artisan market. Fr. Craig had seen some wooden chalices in the chapel at Nuevo Mundo and wanted some for our parish - he found some at the market to bring home. They will be used for the first time at st. Matthias on the weekend of July 7/8.
Finally, we headed back to the airport for our flights home. Arrived back in Quito and got taxis with no problem. Got back to the house at 8:30pm! Maggie led our reflection and prayer.