-1 days before leaving...

you might question the title of this blog and ponder, "how can cody have negative time in ecuador." well, let me tell you.

tres meses antes ahora yo hacer mi visa para otro 90 dias mas. cuando gringitos hacer este visa es normal para ellos hacer un censo. pero la abogado dijo yo no necesita este. tranquillo. entonces yo no haciste. entonces ayer en la aeropuerto yo intento para entrar la avion, pero migracion no permisso a yo por que yo no tenea un censo. yo fue para la edificio de migracion en la ciudad de quito ayer a las 6 en da manana. yo haciste mi censo, regresa el areopuerto, pero falta 15 minutos por otro avion viaje al las miami. entonces yo espera para hoy. estoy listo. mi tiempo aqui eres buenisimo.

3 months ago i got my visa for another 90 dias to be here. when tourists extend their visa or change it from a tourist visa it's normal to get an ecuadorian id. however, the lawyer said that i didn't need one and not to worry about it. so then yesterday in the airport i was about to go through the last customs check before the the plane. but migration wouldn't let me through without my id. so at 6 in the morning i headed to the office of migration inside the city, got my id card and made it back to the airport only 15 minutes after i could have gotten on the last airplane for miami. so i had to wait for today, and i'm really ready. my time here has been awesome.

12 days left

hello my friends. i think my title says it all. how can time go this quickly????

21 days left

well... let's see. school is rapidly coming to a close and you can tell the kids are super ready for break. but their english is coming along very well. i'm working a lot with the fire fighters. i really like that. and tonight, i will be teaching a young class at church. completely in spanish. yeah, i'm a little nervous b/c i sound like an idiot when i speak spanish, but also really excited to start sharing stories and ideas that i have about god with other people in their own language. this group that meets on saturdays is like a 15-32 year old class for young people in our church. pray that god will give me the words to say, literally. :)

also next week i'll be teaching a youth class. a friend of mine, ivan, has started a youth program for high school kids. i've been helping him and next week is the fourth week. he can't be there so i will be teaching, again, only in spanish. thank god he has allowed me grasp the basic words of this language.

with that said, i am excited to visit and see everybody throughout july and august. but am more excited about returning for another year. please continue to pray and think about any support that you might be able to help me with as there are numerous costs for returning here, i.e. - airplane ticket, another visa, my glasses broke the other day so i have to buy new ones. all this stuff adds up and i and the people here in shell would really appreciate any help. thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers over the last 5 months.

31 days left

well, sunday morning was a very exciting morning to be a fire fighter. as my 24 hour shift was coming to a close and couldn't come more rapidly as i was at the station the entire time with zero action, zero calls and zero tv, we got a call just before it was time to change groups of bomberos (spanish for fire fighter). one drunk guy had driven a small 4 door truck into a concrete pillar of a house on one of the main roads here in town. by the time we got there, a small crowd of 50 people or so were standing around watching. it's typical work of a bombero to size up the scene as you pull up to an accident. the only sizing up that i was able to do was to decide which guy to take in the fight that was goin on in the middle of the street next to a messed vehicle. apparently, the drunk guy (boracho en espanol) was driving the his girlfriend's dad's truck. and when we arrived he (boracho) was fighting with said girlfriend's dad. so because of my size up, i took the dad out of the fight because he was bigger, i'm not real good at sizing up the scene yet. once we got them seperated and somewhat calmed down, we started trying to figure out what had happened and what we needed to do. there was blood in three different seats of the truck, but only one person was there, said boracho. the other three dissappeared before we got, which means, they can walk and run away, they don't need our help. but this boracho was a sight man. he was really drunk, and really crazy. he was mad, then he was sad, then he was mad, then he was crying...this happened for a few minutes. finally he started walking down the hill towards the dirty river (the river where all the sewage goes to from shell). it's probably 150-200 yards or so away. so we start talking with the police and yadda, yadda, yadda. i look down the hill and this boracho is standing on the rail, yes, the rail of the bridge like he is goin to jump off the bridge, fall 20-25 feet, and land in a gross 2-3 feet deep river that is full of turd and pee. my first thought was, "man, i don't want to have to go down in the river and clean this guy up." so i yelled at the other bombero to drive the ambulance down there and i took off running for the bridge. as i was running down there, another by-stander came up to the boracho and i assume started trying to ask him to come down and be careful and to not jump. whatever they talked about it allowed me to run right up behind him without him knowing i was there. my first instinct was not to grab him, but to just be there and be cautious of him. i didn't want to try and grab him and miss or scare and cause him to slip and fall and me be the reason for him goin down and possibly seriously injuring himself. so i'm just there, waiting for probably a long 4-5 seconds. he is on the rail looking down at the 20' fall, i'm inches behind him waiting and trying to think of what i should do. then out of nowhere, his legs bends, his shoulders cower, his arms come back with an erie confidence as if he is about to leap from airplane 20,000 feet from the ground with a parachute securly attached to his back. so i did what anybody else would do and quickly grabbed him around the waist and with every ounce of muscle that i have threw him back over the top of me into the street. once we hit the ground on the street i grabbed his arms, jumped on top of him putting my knees in his chest and waited for the other bomberos to arrive with the ambulance.

it was a pretty exciting morning. a good way to start the day off.

35 days left

well, almost to the one month marker. i can't believe that it has went by this fast. what an awesome place and experience. i don't have internet at my house anymore so the only time i use this is when i'm working at the fire station. oh yeah, i'm a fire fighter here in shell now. i've been doing this for about a month now and i love it. they don't really have fires here though. just medical emergencies. we get a lot of people that get flown in from the jungle that we help transport to different hospitals. it's a fun job and i get to drive the ambulance with lights and sirens, so that's always fun.

i just changed my flight from july 1, to june 20. for a couple of reasons, but mainly so i can go on a camping trip with joey, ryder and rick in minnesota. does anybody know about the boundary waters. i've heard they are awesome. that's where we are going anyways. but i'll fly into st. louis on saturday and we head out on sunday. and will be gone for a week. but i can't wait and look forward to visiting and seeing everyone when i get back....

59 days left

well, my time here is quickly winding down. and with that said, i still believe that more time here is necessary to finish whatever it is that god is doing in my life. he has allowed me to quickly learn a big chunk of the spanish language, and that is speaking volumes to the people of this little town. just the other day, i heard of a lady that i don't even talk to that much comment on how well my spanish was coming along. and here, when a 'gringo' can speak their language that says a lot to the people here and they respect and like you better. i have tons of friends and aquaintances here and these relationships continue to grow and grow each day. for my work, my students are learning and understanding and speaking perfectly what i have taught them. i know that another year hear would be a gianormous blessing for them and their families. also today i found out that the school is having a difficult time covering the bills and they have asked me to help out as a teacher for a summer program.

i know this post is short and sweet, but it's now time to start preparing for the up and coming months. if you have been a supporter for me while i've been here, i can't tell you how much you have blessed me and the people here in shell. with that said, to anyone who would like to talk with me more about supporting me here for another year, i would love to hear from you. send me an email and even your phone number and i can call you from here for $.02 per minute, talk to me on skype, talk to me on facebook. however we can communicate, i want to hear from you.

to my family at osage hills. me wanting to be here for another year has been a difficult decision to make. i've seriously gone back and forth as to what to do. you have no idea how much i have missed you all and long to speak, see, and eat some wobbly boot hot wings with you. students, i love you with all my heart. i know this is stinks that we have to put off hanging out for another year, but i'll be home to visit and this year will fly by. scott and tessa and all the rest of the leaders of youth will take good and solid care of you. they love you dearly. can't wait to see you in july

to my family. you guys are awesome. i've got a great family and i wouldn't have been able to come down if otherwise. i miss yall tons and can't wait to spend fourth of july with yall.

73 days left - and pictures!!!!

well, this morning i feel a lot better. that means the antibiotics are working. which also means that i don't have danga, which is a tropical fever, which sometimes hospitalizes people for weeks and even kills them. thank you for your prayers and thank you lord for listening. i go to the doctor tomorrow morning for a follow, i'll let you know what he says.

but for all of you who don't have a facebook account, here are some links to all the photos i've taken since i've been down here.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30765670&l=6be1ed47f3&id=177500663

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30775624&l=34b469ddd3&id=177500663

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30782296&l=95ce15451b&id=177500663

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025671&id=177500663&l=95b10585e7

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025821&id=177500663&l=612c467947

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025837&id=177500663&l=78771d9b32

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026051&id=177500663&l=c319d63a27

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026055&id=177500663&l=23e350d95d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026502&id=177500663&l=aa79a1860d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026507&id=177500663&l=d455ed060a

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026727&id=177500663&l=b48cb8febe

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026729&id=177500663&l=f53a5cdc8d

74 days left

i've got a lot to update everyone on right now... but at this point and time ecuador doesn't seem to like me very much. i've been sick since tuesday night. my head hurts, my muscles and bones hurt, and i've had fever off and on. i went to the doctor yesterday and they ran some tests. the good news, i don't have malaria. i might have a gastrointestinal infection and i'm taking antibiotics for it every 12 hours on the dot. i feel a little better today, but far from normal. please pray that this is just a short temporary sickness in my body and that i can heal up real fast. when i feel better, i'll tell yall all about my adventures that last couple of weeks. love yall and miss everyone very much.

day in the jungle

day 83

i hate to throw bad news up here, but we need to pray. now they're calling illian's cancer, skin cancer, and that is has in fact spread throughout parts of his body. tomorrow they are going to run some test on his vitals. the doctors said if the cancer is there, they won't treat anything b/c it's too late. so that is where we come in. we serve a god that walked the impossible, a god that knows the unknown and a god who many times said dead people were just tired and sleeping. it's nothin to pull out a virus for him. pray with faith. pray for peace and tranquility for this kid and his family.

day 82

today was my birthday and what a ride!!!!

i woke up around 3:30 with an intense pain in my eye. so i went to take out my contacts, b/c that normally helps. let me preface this story with another. just before i came down here i got contacts that you can leave in for 5-6 days at a time, even in the night. you are supposed to keep them for 3-4 weeks. the pair that i threw away this morning, in utter disgust and severe pain, was the same pair that i put in the night before i drove to wisconsin back in may. well, takin out my contacts didn't help, it actually worsened the situation. i had pain when my eye was open, and more pain when my eye was closed. i layed in bed thinking about all the possible explinations of what was goin on with mi ojo (my eye). finally, at 5:30 or so i couldn't take it anymore and got dressed and went to the hospital. i have/had a small infection in my eye and the eyedrops are working marvelously. although until about 11 a.m. it looked like i was crying...
after school today we had a meeting to talk about some thing coming up at the school, and first thing they announced that one of my 3 year old students was diagnosed with leukemia today. he had a biopsy done a couple of weeks ago and other than he has cancer of the blood, i don't know any more information at this point in time. i know he went to a cancer treatment center today in a city called cuenca. i'm pretty sure their a special hospital for children with cancer. his name is illian. he knows the colors: purple, red, orange, yellow, green and blue in english. he loves the hokey pokey and has on many occasions actually referred to me as Hokey Pokey as all the kids in his class think that is my name. now, some of the parents are even calling me hokey pokey. :) please pray for this little guy and his family to have the strength and faith necessary to endure this crooked road. the bible says that with a tiny piece of faith we can move a mountain. that means our god is super strong and awesome. so with a 1/16 tiny piece of faith illian and his family can make it through this.

other than that, i taught two extra english classes today after school, a friend bought me a plate full of ribs and yuca tonight (yuca is a potato like vegetable that is native to the jungle here, they fry it like french fries and it's almost like a mix of pancake batter, potatoes and funnel cake). he later invited me to his house and we just hung out. another group of friends called me at the guys house and invited me over to their house where the 12 year old boy was goin to make donuts, but he fell asleep by the time i got there. tomorrow i'm getting donuts...woohoo! and i came home to find my email full of birthday wishes. thank you all for your support and love, it stretches through the cables of this thing called the internet, and i really appreciate. continually pray for this boy. good night (i've almost been awake for 24 hours)

day 74 or 75

i just wanted to let everyone know that i went to the hospital today to hang out with gabriel, and he is doin awesome. he was wearing a batman costume and was walking around. he is eating like a horse, he doesn't have an iv in his arm, and he can laugh. that's right, we laughed and laughed and laughed today. it was really fun. he was crawling all over me like i was a ficus tree, and even though his mom and i were hesitant about it, he was having fun. i'm not completely sure, but he is was either goin home tonight or in the morning. he was having a little bit of leakage from the stiches that they were kind of worried about and might have to restitch it up. but either way he is doing incredible. thank you for your prayers and thoughts. i told his mom that there were lots of people in the united states prayin for him and she lit up like fire-cracker on the fourth of july when she heard this. she is very grateful. however, continue to pray for financial help to come in for the family as this is a significant burden on them.

other than that things are goin really well here. so far this week i am teaching 5 other small classes of english outside of the school. my afternoons and evenings are quickly filling up, but i like it. most of the people feed me afterwards, so obviously it's not a problem. i'm starting to see 'light at the end of the tunnel,' as i'm drawing near upon my halfway point with time here in ecuador. please continue to pray that god will show me direction for the next step.

day 73

ok peeps, i need some help. one of my students, 5 year old gabriel nayapi, fell down while holding a huge kitchen knife this week. the knife went about 4 inches in his stomach. he put 9 holes in his intestines and i think when he pulled the knife out, part of his intestines actually came out of his stomach. he had surgery and it went really well. he is no longer in intensive care, and is getting better. i went to the hospital today and spent several hours with him and his mom. his mom hasn't left the hospital since monday when the accident happened. be in prayer for this little guy. he is so cute and it breaks my heart that he can't laugh b/c the pain is so bad. i made him laugh today without realizing this and his smile quickly faded to small tears. he is super tough. he had three drainage tubes in his stomach and the doctor came in while i was there and cut the one stitch that was holding each one, and pulled them right out of his stomach. i could literally see every single muscle in his tiny body flex b/c the pain was so intense. he only cried for about 10 seconds. his mom is a single mom and is worried about the finances to cover the hospital bills. insurance is pretty non-existant here, so pray that god will be able to help find a way to cover the cost of gabriel's time in the hospital, which is only going to total to about $1,000 dollars.
on the bright side, he got to eat for the first time today since goin there on monday. the little dude scarfed a piece of bread like a dog does when you come home from vacation and you're not sure when he ran out of food, but it was obviously at least a couple of days ago.

thanks for all of your prayers and support while i've been down here. it is apparent that people back home are doin their jobs prayin for me and the people here, b/c only god could have made this experience so great and wonderful for me.

day 67

here are some pictures from our weekend trips to the river with some of my friends. we have a lot of fun when we are together...

day 64

the plane is finished!!!! in just four short months, galo and the guys have managed to take boxes of metal and turn it into a machine that can leave the earths ground. so awesome. yesterday they took it to the airport in three pieces, fusel loge (not real sure of that spelling) and wings. put it togther and started it up. the engine fired up and started perfectly on the first try. they do really great work down here. however, they did not get to fly it due to their main instrument breaking only after like 10 minutes of being on and running. so now they have to wait until somebody comes down here from the states to replace this panel instrument thing. appearently, whenever you ship stuff down here from the states, customs goes through all of it and takes whatever they like from inside. for example, i was talkin with jesse saint yesterday and when he waas living down here, his mother sent his family a christmas package. it had three of everything, and they were just little trinkets and decorating stuff. when he got at least one of everything was gone and some things were completely missing. so i wouldn't send anything down to ecuador if i were you. if you do, send two. one as a bribe for customs and one for the person you're sending stuff to.

school went really well again this week. yesterday we went to the other christian school here in shell and the lady teachers played basketball against their lady teachers and the men teachers played soccer against their men teachers. it was a beautiful sunny day outside and was a lot of fun. however, my face looks like a lobster :) but it doesn't hurt too bad. i also helped out at this english class that is held on thursday nights and the people that come there asked me if i would come back every week b/c they thought i was funny and liked talking to me. my business class that i'm teaching for this highschool girl is goin really well too. i think soon her dad is goin to take me up in a helicopter with him.

well, it's now the weekend so i'm goin to get out of bed and go find something fun to do. i love you all and miss you lots. please pray for me that god's direction for my life would be clear and evident...

yay, pictures!!!

i forgot to mention that another huge thing that people do during carnaval is spray each other with this foam stuff called carioca, not sure of that spelling. the trip up there was cold, the concert was cool and those two guys with me are, (obviously) gringo matt and ivan penafiel (he goes by ivan and pena)

day 59

man time is flying by...

last weekend was carnaval... which is an excuse to run around like a kid and throw buckets of water, water balloons, flour, eggs, the list goes on, with everyone. so me and gringo matt (a missionary kid) and my buddy pena hithchiked to the mountains and watched a concert...probably the jeremy camp of south america. it was a lot of fun. after the concert we played carnaval with the band members outside of the colluseum. i'm pretty much famous now.
b/c of the holiday i didn't have school on monday and tuesday. so i worked in the shop with the guys finishing up the airplane, i put together and refinished a crib for the pastor's new baby, and got a wicked sunburn cleaning off the roof of the house for 5 hours. also, we didn't have school on friday, well, i had to wear a tie and go to the colluseum with the kids for this program, but no classes. speaking of classes, they are goin great. i never thought i would say this, but i'm glad there is no holidays coming up so that we can get back in a grove in my classroom learning some more english...wow, i really can't believe i am thinking this. i'm so old.
this weekend, steve saint and his son jesse and his grandson jacob arrived for a two week stay. jesse is helping finish the instruments on the plane and steve is doin this training thing at this camp ground a few miles from shell with some indeginous people. dentisty, basic health care stuff, small engine repair and a few other things. jesse is a real cool guy. very down to earth.
well, here's to another week.

day 46 again

well, turns out i couldn't be a very good painter. b/c this morning around 9 o'clock i got a migrane headache and almost threw up over the balcony at the school. i can handle a lot of things, but when i get a headache and nausia i turn into the world's biggest baby. that was the longest walk home ever. but thankfully, god made me have an ability to fall asleep pretty easy, so i was able to come home from school right away and sleep that bad boy off. i have a new respect for my past teachers who would yell at us and tell us to be quiet b/c they had a migrane. i can't stand it and have to go somewhere and close my eyes.

i guess it was due to the paint fumes from last night. i've only had a migrane two other times in my life and man it sure is terrrible. anyways just thought i would let yall know. i still might go help the guy paint again today, b/c i kind of feel like a big sissy (scott, kevin, i know ya'll were already thinkin that so i just went ahead and said it)

day 46 or so

today was a long day.... worked from 7:20 am to 10 pm... school, another awesome day in shell. then i came home and helped the painter on the wings of the airplane. he is teaching me how to paint commercial items like planes and cars. i love it.

lots of sanding, breathing potent paint fumes, and funny astronaut suits, but the finished product is so beautiful.

valentines day here was really funny. the youth at church (anybody from 14-30) had a party at the hostal i stayed when i was here in november. some of the guys did a special rap, called reggeaton, a special dance like the nsync boys, the girls did this funny thing dance deal, not real sure what was goin on b/c it is difficult to understand them still, and we had an amazing dinner. looking forward to this weekend, b/c i'm goin to riobamba for a concert, alex campos. it's in the sierra, or mountains, i think.

i will add some pictures on here tomorrow...it's late and the picture uploader doodad isn't working, or i'm just muy tonto

my students

day 41

wow... i sincerely apologize to everyone who cares about this blog. it has been way too long since my last update. i have to stop playing on facebook so much. more blogging less facebook stalking...

ok, well not too much new is happening. i've gotten into a pretty smooth routine at school. still lovin it a lot. this last week a couple of fun things happened.

1. i got to watch my 1st graders and kindergarten kids play soccer and basketball in this gym across the street from my house. it was very cute and really entertaining. also on one of those nights i got to play soccer against the dads of my 1st grade class. we got beat really bad, but it was still a lot of fun. there was a lot of people there and i sweated a lot.

2. yesterday, i got to paint the washcoat and primer coat on the wings in the paintbooth. that was really cool to me. i feel like mikey (the dude with the long blonde hair) from orange county choppers when i help out in the shop. b/c i like to play and i don't really know much or understand much of what everyone else is doing. so getting to paint was really cool b/c i actually felt like i helped a little. monday i'm goin to be helping again.

also, today we didn't have school. they decided yesterday like 20 minutes before the end of the day that we weren't goin to have school today. although when i got up this morning galo told me that all the teachers had to go in b/c some director guy said they had to have school. the 23rd and 24th we don't have school either. i'm either goin to the mountains then or goin to the coast. we'll see.

and finally, it has been one month since starting the p90x things and healthier lifestyle. when i started i weighed around 270 lbs. as of yesterday afternoon i weighed 249 lbs. here's to another 15 lbs in the month of february!!!

day 31

listen to this....

we put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. rather, as servants of god we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, harrdships and distresses; in beating, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the holy spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of god; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

we have spoken freely to you, corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. we are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. as a fair exchange - i speak as to my children - open wide your hearts also.

man that's good. open your heart to commending yourself as a servant of god in every way listed above. remove your stumbling blocks. if these things listed above slow you down, your heart is not opened. light and darkness cannot coexist. if we have dark places in our heart, yet claim we are a christian, we are liars. jesus is light and light exposes what is hidden in the darkness. open your hearts, i need to open my heart, our so called great 'country' needs to open it heart, remove the impediments and run like forest gump did the first time his leg things broke off.

if you are wondering, this came from pauls second letter to the corinthian church. want to find it exactly...read the book :) night ya'll.

day 28

another week down. the students are making great progress. the words that i've been teaching them, i think they really know and understand what they mean. with that said, i'm glad the weekend is here. i look forward to sleeping tomorrow. it's raining right now and i pray that it is raining in the morning.

just so i can get an idea of how many people besides family, scott and alexis are reading this, would you mind leaving me a comment. just say hello. i want to get a judge of how many people are looking at this thing. thanks. i love yall and miss you.

the market

rabbits and guineas ready to cook

crazy fisherman

armadillo ready to cook

the cotton looking thing is called wava - you eat the cottony part around the seed (the thing that i took a big bite of b/c i had no idea you don't eat it gringo loco) it's real sweet, like sugar water and grows all of the place here

monkey skull

day 26

sorry, it's been a week and i haven't posted anything on here yet. my bad. nothin too much to report other than i'm starting to make friends with the teachers and more people around town. i met a girl the other day that is from here and lives and works in tulsa (which is 30 minutes from my home town) small world. p90x is very difficult to do...seems as though my 'i am goin to be discpilined speech wore off this last week as i only did them once, but played basketball and soccer in their place.) not to mention, went to a 7.5 hour long church service on friday night. they had this prayer service and no one told me it would last that long, so i'm sittin there thinkin to myself how tired and confused and wondering why they kept on talking and praying. next time i'll be ready.

oh, i had a cup of soup the other day that had a chicken foot in it...yes, chicken foot soup. it's goin to be campbell's new flavor. i think they even have a 30 second spot reserved during the superbowl to promote it...let me know how it turns out. here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

picture 1: obvious

picture 2: mi amigo - pena in the back of a taxi on the way to the la pasina (pool)

picture 3: getting ready to eat boca (beef intestines) after swimming pamella, me, deborah (she's 21 and looks 11) and pena

picture 4: grup

picture 5: little girl at the market eating said grub