Hello Everybody!
Ecua-facts-
1. I was really confused as to why so many men were getting nose jobs...not women. Turns out they have to because of all the bar fights they get into.
2. On New Years they burn dolls.
3. On New Years the men dress as women. Weird.
4. Only really, super weathy people have carpet
5. The stake center is about one third the size of ours in Utah.
6. Its guava season, completely different here. White and cottony and you suck it off big black seeds.
7. The bus costs .25 cents to ride. That is the most in all of Ecuador.
8. My hair cut cost 5.00, cheapest ever. I also was completely ripped off.
9. They do have Malls, but they are pretty insignificant compared to ours in the States. However, they are only frequented by the wealthy.
10. Canned peaches are a desert. They love them down here. That was our Christmas desert.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! My Ecua-Christmas was pretty dang great! Always fun to talk to my family and friends! We spent our Christmas with Digna (a member here) She even made turkey, which they don´t eat here ever. Then we had a nice ecua-salad consisting of cauliflower, peas, carrots, and potatoes covered in mayo. It was one of the better ones I’ve had.
For Christmas we wanted to do something, there are so many poor people here! So my companions and I decided to buy a bunch of happy meals and give them away to some of the homeless kids on the streets. McDonald’s wouldn’t sell us the happy meals, so we decided to go to Burger King and get Magic Boxes for them instead. Besides they came with a crown. It was really pretty sad. Some of those kids shine shoes on the streets for money. They were pretty dejected looking. We really do have so much in United States.
I’m now in a threesome, for the rest of the change (transfer). Sister Larsen is my new trainer. We are 3 of six gringas in the whole mission and come June, I might just be the only one left. She is tons of fun and a good worker. So far this threesome is awesome! Not at all like my MTC experience in a threesome…good.
My Spanish is coming along...slowly, but the members tell me that I’m doing okay and I understand a lot. I have to give a talk next Sunday, so I guess I’ll see then. Yikes.
I did take a nasty trip (twice) on the escalator, they don’t always work properly, and now I’m a little bruised. Darn my craving for American ice cream on Christmas! I’ve had to wear flip flops a couple of days because my foot is too swollen for my shoes! That´s really weird, going without my nylons!
The work has been a little slow here lately. Hopefully it will pick up again after New Years!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Oh, Yeah.
Don´t be mad Mom, but I chopped my hair again. I just like it short. It only cost me 5 bucks too, definitely my cheapest, fastest hair cut ever. I totally love it too. Nobody give me a hard time. I´m just a short hair gal, I think it gives me an edge.
Week 3
Ecua-facts.
1. The richest person I know in Ecuador pays $170 dollars in rent for an apartment bigger than mine at home, and I payed $300 and had to share it with 3 other people.
2. The only hot water is in the shower. Not in the faucets.
3. If any of you send me money don´t send anything bigger than a $20 dollar bill. That is hard enough to break. They didn´t believe my hundred dollar bill was real. Fives and Tens would be much appreciated.
4. I´m the best piano player in the Ward. Scary thought.
5. The cheese is super nasty. It´s soft, tangy, and that´s pretty much the only kind they´ve got. You can find swiss but it´s super expensive.
6.They use military time. That one is odd.
7.La Liga lost to Manchester United 1-0. Ecuador is still number 2 in the world!
8.For lunch I had a sandwhich, fresh pineapple juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit for $2.70. It was soooo good.
Well not a whole lot happened this week, I´ve been a little sick with the flu, no biggie. Not a parasite just a little asprin needed! I didn´t even throw up. Just a little achy and had a small fever. All of our appointments are falling through because it is right before Christmas. Monica didn´t end up getting baptized this week. She missed her mission president interview. So we are shooting for next week. December is a hard mission month because nobody wants to meet with us. Or we get stood up. We had one day when every appointment stood us up. We did a whole lot of walking that day. Boring!
I did have to play piano for sacrament meeting yesterday. That was horrible, they can´t read music so half notes became quarter notes and I had to play to keep up. They just sing it how they want to. Good news is that the piano kept them on tune more often. I hope this isn´t a weekly occurence. I think I picked the easiest hymns in the book, Silent Night, Come Follow Me, and Green Hill Far Away. Nice and simple.
We did get a new investigator who is pretty promising. Her name is Elena and one of her kids is already a member. She also completes all the committments we give her and always has a ton of questions for us. A very good sign. She also doesn´t try to feed us when we go over there, which is fabulous because everybody tries to feed us. The food is seriously nasty. I think I´m going to come home loving herbal tea. EWW. I also be able to make juice though and the juice is really good here. They have amazing fruit.
I also ate fish. I know, it´s a miracle. I actually liked it better than the chicken. Fish is a lot better down here, not so fishy. The bad news is that I had to eat it off the bone. They don´t de-bone the fish here. That was a little nasty. My pickyness will also probably disappear by the time I come home.
1. The richest person I know in Ecuador pays $170 dollars in rent for an apartment bigger than mine at home, and I payed $300 and had to share it with 3 other people.
2. The only hot water is in the shower. Not in the faucets.
3. If any of you send me money don´t send anything bigger than a $20 dollar bill. That is hard enough to break. They didn´t believe my hundred dollar bill was real. Fives and Tens would be much appreciated.
4. I´m the best piano player in the Ward. Scary thought.
5. The cheese is super nasty. It´s soft, tangy, and that´s pretty much the only kind they´ve got. You can find swiss but it´s super expensive.
6.They use military time. That one is odd.
7.La Liga lost to Manchester United 1-0. Ecuador is still number 2 in the world!
8.For lunch I had a sandwhich, fresh pineapple juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit for $2.70. It was soooo good.
Well not a whole lot happened this week, I´ve been a little sick with the flu, no biggie. Not a parasite just a little asprin needed! I didn´t even throw up. Just a little achy and had a small fever. All of our appointments are falling through because it is right before Christmas. Monica didn´t end up getting baptized this week. She missed her mission president interview. So we are shooting for next week. December is a hard mission month because nobody wants to meet with us. Or we get stood up. We had one day when every appointment stood us up. We did a whole lot of walking that day. Boring!
I did have to play piano for sacrament meeting yesterday. That was horrible, they can´t read music so half notes became quarter notes and I had to play to keep up. They just sing it how they want to. Good news is that the piano kept them on tune more often. I hope this isn´t a weekly occurence. I think I picked the easiest hymns in the book, Silent Night, Come Follow Me, and Green Hill Far Away. Nice and simple.
We did get a new investigator who is pretty promising. Her name is Elena and one of her kids is already a member. She also completes all the committments we give her and always has a ton of questions for us. A very good sign. She also doesn´t try to feed us when we go over there, which is fabulous because everybody tries to feed us. The food is seriously nasty. I think I´m going to come home loving herbal tea. EWW. I also be able to make juice though and the juice is really good here. They have amazing fruit.
I also ate fish. I know, it´s a miracle. I actually liked it better than the chicken. Fish is a lot better down here, not so fishy. The bad news is that I had to eat it off the bone. They don´t de-bone the fish here. That was a little nasty. My pickyness will also probably disappear by the time I come home.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Week 2
Okay some more Ecua-facts:
1. They are obsessed with Avon. Tres chic here in Ecuador.
2. New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas.
3. I ate mushrooms and almost threw up at the table. My companion had to start talking to cover up my gagging. I’m lame.
4. My apartment overlooks the Panacillo- massive angel on a hill.
5. They don’t refridgerate eggs and milk comes in a box.
6. Quito is not hot, it’s freezing. Send me chocolate. Hehe.
7. Electric Showers.
8. They hate spicy food. Hate.
9. Only poor people drink water, they always try to serve juice (way good) or pop. They have a lot of fruits here that aren’t available in the States
10. You can buy 2 dozen roses for a dollar fifty. Pretty much any kind of flower, actually.
11. You need a key to get in and out of your apartment.
Okay, can you believe that I ate mushrooms? Neither can I. You think I’d be able to just get over it considering some of the things I’ve had to eat lately. Nope. I think you would all be impressed by what I can stomach though! I think ginea pig might be coming up soon...hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Monica is getting baptized this Saturday. We are trying to find her a job so she can stop selling things on buses. She also works at the courts (volleyball) you have to put money on the games and they also charge you to use the bathroom. Not really a great enviornment. She has a really sad story, but every woman here does. Seriously fidelity is not on people’s list of important things. I don’t think I’ll come home with an Ecuadorian.
Intresting tidbit for you: Did you know that Ecuador’s soccer team pretty much rocks ? Go Liga! They won the championship last year. I’m bursting with Ecuadorian pride!
Nobody worry, my companion is pretty awesome. We get along really well, and she thinks I’m pretty funny, which is good because people ususally just look at me funny when I make a joke. I must have a strange sense of humor. One of the first things she said to me was: “Your so clean.” Yeah, she’s been here awhile. I also cleaned our apartment up it was pretty dirty and me being ocd just couldn’t handle it so I went to work. It’s now decent. She also has taught me to make Rapidito which is the latin version of Top Ramen. Only here you cover it in hot sauce because you miss spice and flavor. I feel like I’m eating more than I ever have but I am still dropping weight, I feel like I’m going to need some new clothes really soon. Fortunately my companion had a similar experience so I’ll probably just get some Mission hand me downs! Rad.
What more...oh yeah, Ecuador is cold! At least in my area. It rains every day. The great news is that you can all send me chocolate now, because American chocolate is really hard to find. Don’t worry you don’t really have to send me anything! Seriously I’m 9,000 feet up in the air and it is chilly. I already had to buy a sweatshirt!
Missions are awesome but definitely hard! I’d still recommend it!
Chow!
1. They are obsessed with Avon. Tres chic here in Ecuador.
2. New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas.
3. I ate mushrooms and almost threw up at the table. My companion had to start talking to cover up my gagging. I’m lame.
4. My apartment overlooks the Panacillo- massive angel on a hill.
5. They don’t refridgerate eggs and milk comes in a box.
6. Quito is not hot, it’s freezing. Send me chocolate. Hehe.
7. Electric Showers.
8. They hate spicy food. Hate.
9. Only poor people drink water, they always try to serve juice (way good) or pop. They have a lot of fruits here that aren’t available in the States
10. You can buy 2 dozen roses for a dollar fifty. Pretty much any kind of flower, actually.
11. You need a key to get in and out of your apartment.
Okay, can you believe that I ate mushrooms? Neither can I. You think I’d be able to just get over it considering some of the things I’ve had to eat lately. Nope. I think you would all be impressed by what I can stomach though! I think ginea pig might be coming up soon...hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Monica is getting baptized this Saturday. We are trying to find her a job so she can stop selling things on buses. She also works at the courts (volleyball) you have to put money on the games and they also charge you to use the bathroom. Not really a great enviornment. She has a really sad story, but every woman here does. Seriously fidelity is not on people’s list of important things. I don’t think I’ll come home with an Ecuadorian.
Intresting tidbit for you: Did you know that Ecuador’s soccer team pretty much rocks ? Go Liga! They won the championship last year. I’m bursting with Ecuadorian pride!
Nobody worry, my companion is pretty awesome. We get along really well, and she thinks I’m pretty funny, which is good because people ususally just look at me funny when I make a joke. I must have a strange sense of humor. One of the first things she said to me was: “Your so clean.” Yeah, she’s been here awhile. I also cleaned our apartment up it was pretty dirty and me being ocd just couldn’t handle it so I went to work. It’s now decent. She also has taught me to make Rapidito which is the latin version of Top Ramen. Only here you cover it in hot sauce because you miss spice and flavor. I feel like I’m eating more than I ever have but I am still dropping weight, I feel like I’m going to need some new clothes really soon. Fortunately my companion had a similar experience so I’ll probably just get some Mission hand me downs! Rad.
What more...oh yeah, Ecuador is cold! At least in my area. It rains every day. The great news is that you can all send me chocolate now, because American chocolate is really hard to find. Don’t worry you don’t really have to send me anything! Seriously I’m 9,000 feet up in the air and it is chilly. I already had to buy a sweatshirt!
Missions are awesome but definitely hard! I’d still recommend it!
Chow!
Week 1&2 Photos
My companion, Sister Sorenson, and I.
The Young Women and Young Men at a Ward activity. They put on a traditional Ecuadorian dance!
The Greenies with President Sloan and his wife!
My Desk Area, Kinda Scary!
My room.
Crazy Sorta Closet.
Kitchen. Also sorta.
View from the top of my building.
The Young Women and Young Men at a Ward activity. They put on a traditional Ecuadorian dance!
The Greenies with President Sloan and his wife!
My Desk Area, Kinda Scary!
My room.
Crazy Sorta Closet.
Kitchen. Also sorta.
View from the top of my building.
Week 1
Okay Ecuador is pretty cool, some interesting Ecua- facts:
I´m going to have to kill tarantula´s with a machete. Massive ones.
Ecuador uses scented toilet paper-wanna know why? Because you can´t flush it.
Jam, Ketchup, shampoo all come in bags.
They put glass on top of fences to keep theives out.
You have to use a key to get in and out of your house.
Ecuador is cold and I have to use an umbrella everyday.
You put your bag and backpacks in lockers at the grocery store to decrease theft.
Most people don´t have ovens so everything is fried.
McDonald´s is where the rich people eat.
They consider cough drops candy.
Bottled water is only a quarter.
I am one of 6 white sister missionaries, guess they thought I could tough it out. We get called barbie a lot and everybody and their dog flirts with us. It's kinda sad, they honk if they are alone or flash their lights if a girlfriend or wife and kids are with them. They aren't real big on fidelity.
Alright, so Ecuador is so cool. Sometimes when I can´t flush toilet paper I just remind myself that I wanted an adventure!
The first time I saw my apartment I thought wow- this is a third world country, but then I saw our investigator´s (Monica). She lives in a room, just a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed for her two children ages 14 and 8, and a tiny section seperated by sheets for a make-shift kitchen. NO BATHROOM. I´m just grateful for my blue toilet, blue sink, and blue shower at this point! Monica´s entire room is smaller than my room at home and looks quite a bit like uncle Craig´s storage unit. The richest people here could probably not even be considered middle class in the United States.
We have lunch appointments everyday with members. Wow the food is bad. It´s awesome! I´ve had a fried banana at every meal. I´ll have to make them for you some time. They aren´t that bad if you like banana´s, I almost cried at our Sunday appointment because they give you so much food and you have to finish it or else they are offended. I actually think I did cry... It´s a ton of food. Yesterday it consisted of a chicken wing and a dinner plate (like those massive white ones we have) full of rice, 4 tomato slices, with potatoe and squash soup. I was thrilled when I saw cauliflower. I took a huge heaping fork full and just as I put it in my mouth my companion said : It has lime juice! Turns out that they serve it cold with lime juice squeezed on top. Just about the nastiest thing ever! I´m sure I gagged a few times, but I finished everything but the rice. People feed you everywhere here. It´s ususally an aguita and bread. An aguita is like herbal tea- water, cinnamon, and sugar. Not to brillant but edible. The bread is pretty good. Sometimes they have empanada´s! The milk here is way good too, I don´t know what people are talking about, they even have caramel milk.
Okay so my area or sector as they call it here! I´m in Santa Anna, that is in South of Quito. Quito is massive way bigger than you think! It takes about 3 hours. Massive. We take the bus most of the time but we also take an occasional taxi. Travel takes a lot of time! My companion is Sister Sorensen from Arizona. She is really cool. Her favorite companion was her last companion so I face some tough competition. She has been out for 13 months. We have a lot of fun and success together though. We will have 3 baptisms this month! Cool!
Monica- the one who lives in one room with her two children, Irene, prounounced ear-n-yay and edgar who looks like a latin Harry Potter. Irene has a friend, Nellie, who will also be baptized this month. The last one doesn't really cound because the Bishop just wanted higher numbers so he "forgot" to baptize this kid when he was 8. Now that he is 9 we have to teach him a couple times and he's in. Weird.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I will either be the Ward Pianist or direct the music. Yikes. I decided to practice since it looked inevitable, and all the sudden I was swarmed by little kids. One woman even asked me to teach her children. Another thing that surprised me is that they cannot sing. The Latin people here are like 80 percent tone deaf. It's so depressing when you sing hymns.
My first week was kinda weird. It's been Quito Days all week long, kinda like the fourth of July but they do it by city here. It's basically one big drinking festival. There are people passed out on the street drunk everywhere! My companion and I have had to be in at 7:30 every night, but our norm is 8:00 or 8:30 so it wasn't too much earlier.
I love it though. Ecuador is awesome. If you come to pick me up you have to stay at the Marriott because that is the only place that will let you flush the toilet paper. Seriously.
Love ya,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
I´m going to have to kill tarantula´s with a machete. Massive ones.
Ecuador uses scented toilet paper-wanna know why? Because you can´t flush it.
Jam, Ketchup, shampoo all come in bags.
They put glass on top of fences to keep theives out.
You have to use a key to get in and out of your house.
Ecuador is cold and I have to use an umbrella everyday.
You put your bag and backpacks in lockers at the grocery store to decrease theft.
Most people don´t have ovens so everything is fried.
McDonald´s is where the rich people eat.
They consider cough drops candy.
Bottled water is only a quarter.
I am one of 6 white sister missionaries, guess they thought I could tough it out. We get called barbie a lot and everybody and their dog flirts with us. It's kinda sad, they honk if they are alone or flash their lights if a girlfriend or wife and kids are with them. They aren't real big on fidelity.
Alright, so Ecuador is so cool. Sometimes when I can´t flush toilet paper I just remind myself that I wanted an adventure!
The first time I saw my apartment I thought wow- this is a third world country, but then I saw our investigator´s (Monica). She lives in a room, just a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed for her two children ages 14 and 8, and a tiny section seperated by sheets for a make-shift kitchen. NO BATHROOM. I´m just grateful for my blue toilet, blue sink, and blue shower at this point! Monica´s entire room is smaller than my room at home and looks quite a bit like uncle Craig´s storage unit. The richest people here could probably not even be considered middle class in the United States.
We have lunch appointments everyday with members. Wow the food is bad. It´s awesome! I´ve had a fried banana at every meal. I´ll have to make them for you some time. They aren´t that bad if you like banana´s, I almost cried at our Sunday appointment because they give you so much food and you have to finish it or else they are offended. I actually think I did cry... It´s a ton of food. Yesterday it consisted of a chicken wing and a dinner plate (like those massive white ones we have) full of rice, 4 tomato slices, with potatoe and squash soup. I was thrilled when I saw cauliflower. I took a huge heaping fork full and just as I put it in my mouth my companion said : It has lime juice! Turns out that they serve it cold with lime juice squeezed on top. Just about the nastiest thing ever! I´m sure I gagged a few times, but I finished everything but the rice. People feed you everywhere here. It´s ususally an aguita and bread. An aguita is like herbal tea- water, cinnamon, and sugar. Not to brillant but edible. The bread is pretty good. Sometimes they have empanada´s! The milk here is way good too, I don´t know what people are talking about, they even have caramel milk.
Okay so my area or sector as they call it here! I´m in Santa Anna, that is in South of Quito. Quito is massive way bigger than you think! It takes about 3 hours. Massive. We take the bus most of the time but we also take an occasional taxi. Travel takes a lot of time! My companion is Sister Sorensen from Arizona. She is really cool. Her favorite companion was her last companion so I face some tough competition. She has been out for 13 months. We have a lot of fun and success together though. We will have 3 baptisms this month! Cool!
Monica- the one who lives in one room with her two children, Irene, prounounced ear-n-yay and edgar who looks like a latin Harry Potter. Irene has a friend, Nellie, who will also be baptized this month. The last one doesn't really cound because the Bishop just wanted higher numbers so he "forgot" to baptize this kid when he was 8. Now that he is 9 we have to teach him a couple times and he's in. Weird.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I will either be the Ward Pianist or direct the music. Yikes. I decided to practice since it looked inevitable, and all the sudden I was swarmed by little kids. One woman even asked me to teach her children. Another thing that surprised me is that they cannot sing. The Latin people here are like 80 percent tone deaf. It's so depressing when you sing hymns.
My first week was kinda weird. It's been Quito Days all week long, kinda like the fourth of July but they do it by city here. It's basically one big drinking festival. There are people passed out on the street drunk everywhere! My companion and I have had to be in at 7:30 every night, but our norm is 8:00 or 8:30 so it wasn't too much earlier.
I love it though. Ecuador is awesome. If you come to pick me up you have to stay at the Marriott because that is the only place that will let you flush the toilet paper. Seriously.
Love ya,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
Thursday, December 4, 2008
I'm in Ecuador!
Family! I got into Ecuador last night about 11:19pm, so about 9:19pm your time. It was pouring! You should see it here it is so beautiful, it is a lot like Bermuda only not quite as tropical. I also gave somebody a Book of Mormon we met at the airport. It was pretty awesome! My spanish seemed okay and she spoke English so when I was completely unintelligible she could understand me still! We were loaded off the plane outside and when we entered the Airport we looked up and saw our Mission President and his wife and a couple of Elders! It was all very cool! Customs didn't even check our bags, so we got through pretty quickly!
We dropped off the Elders (don't know what I'll do with out my Elders!) at their apartment. It did look a little third world...but clean. I stayed at the Mission President's apartment with his family. It looks nothing like the Elders apartment. They live in the same building as the Vice President of Ecuador. I'll send you some pictures soon! My room has a massive window about 20X7 and it opens like a screen door. This morning I opened it and took a ton of pictures! So pretty. It's chilly here but nothing like Utah! I love the humidity, I don't know why people dislike it!
My mission Presdent seems very nice as does his wife. He told me a little about the Mission (btw-haven't met my companion yet!) It sounds like he is very aware of the Sisters mom, so don't worry. I'm convinced I won't be going to all those scary places I wanted to go...sad. But you should be happy. The good news is that I may still get to the Amazons!!! President Sloan let us sleep in, but I was too excited and got up at 6:00, or 4:00am your time! The toilets do in fact flush the opposite way. Weird.
I really don't know very much yet, we haven't even had an official meeting. We have one in about 20 minutes. I just wanted you to know that I made it saftely and I love it. It's pretty amazing that I am finally here!
It was a long ride and they asked us to not watch in flight movies, which was particularly hard because they had those personal screens where you can choose! They had The Dark Knight! I obstained and played a trivia game for about 4 hours of the flight! I now had the high record on the plane until Elder Cloud finally beat me! Anyway, this is not interesting in the least, I'm sure, so I'll let you go now! I miss you and love you all!
Be happy, I'm happy,
Whitney
Hermana Whitney Tanner
We dropped off the Elders (don't know what I'll do with out my Elders!) at their apartment. It did look a little third world...but clean. I stayed at the Mission President's apartment with his family. It looks nothing like the Elders apartment. They live in the same building as the Vice President of Ecuador. I'll send you some pictures soon! My room has a massive window about 20X7 and it opens like a screen door. This morning I opened it and took a ton of pictures! So pretty. It's chilly here but nothing like Utah! I love the humidity, I don't know why people dislike it!
My mission Presdent seems very nice as does his wife. He told me a little about the Mission (btw-haven't met my companion yet!) It sounds like he is very aware of the Sisters mom, so don't worry. I'm convinced I won't be going to all those scary places I wanted to go...sad. But you should be happy. The good news is that I may still get to the Amazons!!! President Sloan let us sleep in, but I was too excited and got up at 6:00, or 4:00am your time! The toilets do in fact flush the opposite way. Weird.
I really don't know very much yet, we haven't even had an official meeting. We have one in about 20 minutes. I just wanted you to know that I made it saftely and I love it. It's pretty amazing that I am finally here!
It was a long ride and they asked us to not watch in flight movies, which was particularly hard because they had those personal screens where you can choose! They had The Dark Knight! I obstained and played a trivia game for about 4 hours of the flight! I now had the high record on the plane until Elder Cloud finally beat me! Anyway, this is not interesting in the least, I'm sure, so I'll let you go now! I miss you and love you all!
Be happy, I'm happy,
Whitney
Hermana Whitney Tanner
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