Ibarra

On Wednesday, we hit the ground running!  There were lots of errands to be run and lots of things to prep and pack for the college ministry workshops we would be holding Thursday thru Saturday.  Traffic in Quito is kinda like traffic at Crossroads during the busiest parts of the day.  There was lots!  Also, malls are big around here.  They are everywhere.  Supermarkets are also big, but who needs a supermarket when you can get all your fresh fruits and veggies from people walking the street and selling their products as you drive by.  You can get a huge bag of oranges for $1, can't beat that!

Ecuador uses the US dollar everywhere so that has been a huge blessing that I don't have to exchange currency.  You can get a meal for around $5, at least so far I've been able to!  Also, it's rained every afternoon so far (aka 2 days).  Today, it was rainy all day as we traveled North through the mountains to get to Ibarra (pronounced E-bar-a with a rolling of the r).  We had to drive through Otavalo as we made our way to Ibarra.  Otavalo was one of my favorite places the first time I came to Ecuador so it was great to be able to drive through it again!

The countryside is beautiful with rolling mountains, lakes and streams.  It was just hard to see all the beauty with all the rain that was happening.  Here are a couple of pics from the drive up here while it wasn't raining as much:

 

And another...

See why I love Ecuador so much?!! :)

Tonight we had a three hour workshop with some local college students.  The Penley's want to build interest within local university students so that they will go back to their school and start up small groups of their own where others can be discipled.  Tomorrow night we will hold another workshop and then Saturday we will have several workshops and breakout sessions.  With all that being said, I'm definitely exhausted and ready for bed!  Hopefully I can get another update to you in the next day or two!  So far I've been impressed with the wireless Internet access here!  Thank you all for your continued support and prayers :)