Center of the World!

Day 6: Our Last Day in Quito

For those who think that the world does not revolve around Jenny and I, well…..today it did! Hahaha This morning we loaded a bus and went to the center of the world…we were able to stand on both sides of the equator and they had this challenge where you had to balance an egg on a nail…and if you did, you got a certificate….well, Jenny did it first and then I of course HAD to do it too…we got certificates and got our passports stamped that we had been to the center of the world.



There were some huts there that were examples of how the indigenous people lived and they reminded me a lot of the Hopi and Navajo huts that you see at the Heard Museum. After that we went back to the center for Mass. This mass was much more lively and fun! We left the center and Jenny and I went with Madre Cindy to the airport to get our tickets to Guayaquil tomorrow. When we got back we went on 3 home visits of the families in the center. This was really eye opening…it is incredible to see how these poor people live and yet, they are so proud and happy to be part of the center because it’s giving them hope for a better life.



I fell in love with a little 11 month old at the one house named Christopher. He was so cute and snuggly. I could definitely bring him home….he had the sweetest little face and the biggest eyes you have ever seen. After the home visits we went to Calderone which is a little town that sells bread dough figurines. Apparently it used to be the tradition that when someone died they would make these bread babies to go in their coffins so that they would have food in case they got hungry on their journey to the after life, and the city of Calderone decided to turn it into a tourist attraction by making smaller figurines for people to buy. After that we went back to the center for our closing group. This was very emotional as everyone was sharing their experiences on the journey. Yes, I cried. (SHOCKING!) I felt really sad to say goodbye to Father Hallighan, Madre Miguel, Madre Cindy, and Pat and Jim Parks. They feel so much like family and I was just really sad to say goodbye to them. Jenny and I came back to the hotel and started to begin the process of packing our suitcases. That was definitely a process. We are having dinner in a few minutes and then getting to bed. We have an 845 am flight to Guayaquil in the morning. The flight is only 30 minutes and then we will spend the next two days with Sister Annie at the Damien House. By the way, Jenny got a crazy sunburn today at the equator! Her poor little nose is red like Rudolph and her arms are really red too…poor girl!

Garden Party

Today we didn’t get picked up from the bus until 11:30. I slept in and Kristin woke up early and went to do some more shopping at a market near our hotel. Kristin purchased a lot of things and is glad to have items for the people on her list.

Once the bus picked us up, we went to Padre Juan’s Indian Parish in Guangopolo to celebrate Mass. Let me say, this was a very interesting experience. First of all, the drive to the Indian Parish was amazing. There is so much green and it was so just to pretty. Once we got to the parish, Kristin and I took the stairs to the top of the building, outside of the bell tower to take some pictures of the city. This view was also amazing. We then celebrated Mass with a full house. There were many people standing. My favorite part of Mass, was the fact that when the people came into the church for Mass, dogs from outside would follow them in. There were about three dogs walking around the church during mass. The people were very welcoming of us.

After Mass, we loaded back up on the bus and headed to Sir Peter and Maruja’s country home for a garden party. This garden was beautiful. There were lemon trees, avocado trees, and a lot of gorgeous flowers! We had a wonderful lunch full with h’ordeves, main course, a delicious dessert, and wine. Peter Maynard has been one of the major donors of the Center and has a great relationship with Padre Juan and Madre Miguel and was so gracious to host us. Kristin says that Peter had something for me, as every time he would come to our table, he would put his arm around me and when we took a big group picture I was standing next to him and he had his one arm around his wife and then wrapped his other arm around me and Kristin said he was looking at me while the pictures were getting taken! HA!

We came back to the hotel and took a much needed siesta and now we’re about to eat dinner. We’re looking forward to eating at the Center Restaurant tomorrow and seeing the Center store!

Crater Lakes and Shopping

Day 4:

We had an all day outing. The bus picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we headed out of Quito. It was raining, which is the weather we expected, but ironically even though the weather channel said that we had a 60 percent chance of rain the entire trip, this was their first day of rain in seven months.

On our way out of town, we stopped to have bizcocho and cheese. The bizcocho was like a weird type of shortbread cookie with a distinct taste and the cheese was similar to a mozzarella.

Our first stop was Cotochachi, which was a crater lake. Because of the rain, only me, Kristin and two others decided to take the boat ride out to see the sulfer bubbles from the crater. It was cool to see the lava rock along the way and it was very cold out on the boat. When we returned to the dock, we each were given a warm cup of lemon juice, and then the woman passing them out, poured some alcohol into it. The warm spiked juice mix was a nice treat, especially since it was so cold out.

After loading back in the bus, we headed to a leather town and had the chance to shop for leather goods. Neither Kristin nor I purchased anything in this town.

Then we headed to Otavalo and shopped at the Indian Market. This was so much fun. We were able to purchase items for ourselves, as well as our family and friends back home! We were able to barter with the people to get crazy low prices on things.

When we got back to the volunteer house at Center #2, we watched a slide show of pictures from the history of the Working Boys Center. It was amazing to see how the center has grown over the years.

We then had a taco dinner, which was one of the volunteer’s favorite meals. I’d have to agree, it was my favorite meal here so far! We came back to the hotel early and Kristin tried to resolve some issues with Verizon and let me say, she is not very happy with Verizon at all!!

Bees and Flowers in Ecuador

Day 3: Today our alarm didn’t go off AGAIN but we woke up just in time to get ready quickly and grab some frosted flakes in the hotel restaurant. We loaded on the bus and were taken down to the Society of Jesus Church which is where the first Working Boys Center was run out of the church attic.



The church is absolutely breathtaking…the entire inside is covered in gold. It took over 160 years to complete and is in the baroque style. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but bought some postcards, which really still don’t do it justice. Just imagine walking into a church about 3 times the size of St.Mary’s Basilica where every wall and the ceiling is covered in GOLD!!! It was beautiful. It was also the place where 15 children saw the picture of Our Lady of Sorrows blink and cry…the original picture is now located in a Jesuit high school in Quito, but they have another picture in the chapel and on the main altar. It was very cute hearing Padre Juan and Madre Miguel talk about their original days there. Padre says that the first few years he “lived the good life” until he got the wise idea to go to America and ask the BVMs to send him some help and they sent him Madre. She said she didn’t understand why when she first go there the Jesuits didn’t like her and Padre immediately said, “Has that changed?” They have a very cute dynamic and you can tell that God brought them together to do great things and that they recognize that in each other. Madre told us some fun stories about having to carry bins of water up 3 flights of stairs for water until they realized that between 4 am and 8 am they had water in the building and then they just filled bins and kept them up there. She said that this worked out great until one boy decided that he knew how to take a little power nap while the bin filled, but one morning overslept and flooded one of the Jesuits rooms downstairs. She said most of the priests were not to happy about having all these grubby little kids running around, and it wasn’t just a few either. Father said they started with a couple dozen children which quickly grew to nearly 250 “shoeshine boys” Ironically, as we were leaving two little shoeshine boys were in the street. One was 7 and one was 5. They were not members of the center and Madre Cindy said she could tell they were indigenous people from the mountains because of their accents. The little boy told Madre that he makes $12 a day to give to his mother which isn’t too shabby when you think that each shoeshine is only a quarter. Madre wouldn’t let me give him a quarter because I was wearing sneakers and he couldn’t shine my shoes so Padre told the little boy to give me a 25 cent smile  I think Padre had my number. We went back to the school for mass which was just as cute as yesterday and after mass the little children put on a show for us…our little ones, the 3 and 4 year olds were dressed as flowers and bees and did a little dance. It was darling. Not surprisingly- little Mauricio was SURE that I got a picture with him as a flower! I then was attacked by a group of bees who also wanted their picture! Very cute! We had lunch and then were taken back to the hotel for a much needed nap. You would think that we wouldn’t be that tired, but you really do get really tired. I think Jenny and I were only back in our rooms about 2 minutes before we fell asleep. We both slept for about 4 hours. The bus picked us up at 6:30 and we went back to the Center to have a wine and cheese party with the volunteers. That was very fun and it was great to hear how the volunteers all got here and how much they love being part of the ministry. We came back to the hotel and it was raining….which was really nice. We have a big trip tomorrow out about 2 hours on the bus to go to the big market which is apparently world famous for their goods and carvings so we are making our list and checking it twice for people to get goodies for. It was a very wonderful day again in Quito.

The Spiritual Journey Begins....

Day two started with no wake-up call, even though one was requested. Luckily Kristin’s cell phone went off and we were both able to wake up on time. We enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast in Spice, the hotel restaurant, which had some interesting food choices. I kept it safe with cereal, milk and OJ. After breakfast, the center bus picked us up to take us to Gota de Leche and the downtown center for a tour. The Gota de Leche is a place that assists parents with getting milk and healthcare, as long as they attend parenting classes. Father John gave us a history of the program and all the challenges they have encountered with the government and the UN, and how their program looks at poverty as a spiritual problem rather than an economic problem, and that is why they focus on ten values and don’t just give hand outs, because handouts doesn’t help improve people’s situations. During our tour of the downtown center, we saw dental, medical, classrooms, industrial shop where they teach working skills.

We celebrated mass with the children at noon; the children took ownership in the mass which was very cool to see. Two girls ran up to the closet to get the alter-girl outfits so they were sure that they were able to serve with Father. There was also a group of kids of ran up to be in the choir. This was all preceded by one girl running up to the altar and getting the bell from Madre Cindy and ringing the bell signaling for everyone to come to mass. This was followed by a rush of children running up the stairs, excited for mass. Kristin and I sat in the front row and the kids were surrounding us, and asking us to take their pictures, immediately followed by having to show them how the picture turned out. We met three girls who sat behind us, one who’s name is Jenny and she thought it was so cool that I had the same name. One of the girls asked how old we were, and when Kristin revealed that she is 33, the girl looked shocked. There was group of three young boys, who are 3 years old who were yelling the songs during mass and one boy Mericio was Kristin’s favorite. The kids were all so welcoming of us, even though we didn’t speak very much Spanish. I had a little girl sitting next to me in mass and she was trying to hold my hand and my arm during mass, while starring at me the whole time. Even though mass was celebrated in Spanish, it was equally as powerful to see the faith that everyone in the room had. After mass all the children went up and were blessed by Madre Miguel. It was clear to see the respect that the children have for the Madres and Padre.





Then we had lunch downstairs in the library. After lunch we came back to the hotel for a much needed nap, as we were exhausted from the altitude. The center bus picked us up at 4:30 p.m. and took us to Center #2, which is huge compared to the downtown center. We toured the center and saw the daycare, classrooms, dental and medical, huge soccer field outside, the skill center classrooms where the kids are taught things like sewing, woodcraft, auto mechanics, and other skills. We walked through the cafeteria during dinner, and there were a ton of families having a soup and bread dinner. They all looked us in the eye while we walked through, they all appeared to be very proud to be a member of the center and all said hello to us. When we walked in one classroom and the boys saw the Madres, they immediately stood up, as a sign of respect and reverence for the Madres and what they do for the center.

We had a break in the living room of the living quarters of the volunteers and employees before dinner. When dinner was ready they rang the dinner bell, similar to the dinner bell the Xavier Nuns ring at the Convent. I miss hearing that bell when our offices were in the Convent and I was working late. Kristin and I sat with some younger volunteers and ironically, the guy I sat next to went to LMU with Jimmy and knew who Jimmy was. It was interesting for Kristin and I to hear their stories and how the ended up at the center and doing such incredible work. After a long bus ride back to our hotel, we’re getting ready for bed and looking forward to what tomorrow has in store for us.

We’re having a great time so far and the people we have met here are incredible and the kids at the center are amazing. We are so grateful for this opportunity and wish we could have brought you all along!!

Until tomorrow,
Jenny and Kristin

Day 1: The 90 Degree Adventure!

Welcome to our blog of our trip to Ecuador!


We are calling this trip the “90 degrees from Phoenix” because we went straight from Phoenix to Miami and then Quito is a direct line south of Miami on the map! Our plane had a cool little graphic that was kind of fun to watch as we flew!



Jenny and I started our adventure last night with a fun pre-trip dinner at Macayos. I then had the great pleasure of staying at Motel de Merritt, which Jenny had made so cute for me with the futon all pulled out…the TV remote ready to go…and a late night “acrobatics show” put on by her cats which was AWESOME!

Per Jennifer’s suggestion, we made copies of our passports and left one copy with Rico, Jenn’s husband and then when I asked Jenny where we should put the other one- she said, “How about our purses?” Ummm, that’s where our passports are so that kind of defeats the purpose…I will be teasing her about this for the rest of the trip.

We had a very sweet early morning chauffeur to the airport…her brother Jimmy woke up at 6:00 am to take us! Thanks Jimmy! What a good brother!

Our first hurdle was that I had made the suggestion to Jenny that we try to take all of our stuff in carry on bags…so we both stuffed our bags so full that when we got to the check in- they said they were too wide to fit in the overhead bin. Despite our military packing skills, we had to check them anyway. Note to Jenny: First rule of traveling with Kristin….don’t take any of her crazy suggestions.

Our first flight was about 4 hours and was to Miami. There was hardly anyone on the plane. Jenny took a nap and I listened to music because I could not settle down because I was too excited! Once in Miami, we had to go to a different concourse which felt like it was a million miles away and we were very happy we didn’t have our bags to drag along. We had a very strange tasting cheeseburger in an airport restaurant, but we were both so hungry we didn’t care. We boarded flight 2 which involved taking an escalator down which was very interesting.

Miami to Quito flight was about 3:45 minutes. This flight went a little faster because the in flight movie was FAME! which Jenny and I had both been wanting to see. We had a nice dinner on the plane, I was actually really surprised that it was so good.

We arrived in Quito, had to take stairs down off the plane, then take a bus shuttle to the terminal, then wait to have our passports stamped. We found our bags (yay! they made it safely) and then went to where Pat Parks, Madre Miguel, BVM, Father John Halligan, SJ , and Sister Cindy Sullivan, BVM greeted us at the airport with a Working Boys Center Spiritual Journey sign. Ironically, the gentleman who had been on the plane right next to me ended up being Bernie, from Milwaukee, WI who is also on the Spiritual Journey.



Father John and Madre Miguel drove us to our hotel which is called the Mercure. Madre Miguel is very cute and was telling us that she and her sister Pat Parks and Sister Joan all grew up together in Boone, Iowa. We are hopeful to hear some fun stories about their adventures as young girls. Madre Miguel and Father John have both been in Quito for over 40 years…when Madre started to give Father John a hard time he gave her some sass right back which was very cute! I’d say after 40 years of working together you would be like brother and sister! Madre was telling us that it hasn’t rained here in a very long time and the city is hydropowered so last week they didn’t have lights or power because there wasn’t enough water.

Our hotel is very pretty and has a fun little night club and a casino. I think Madre Miguel could see that Jenny and I were excited about that especially because it was playing some very fun music (that sounded very Ecuadorian) She winked and smiled and reminded us to get some sleep because we are at over 9000 feet in elevation. We ordered some aspirin to take because that will help prevent altitude sickness. We also decided that icecream would probably help prevent it too! We have pictures of that too, but will have to add those when we get back because Jenny's card doesn't fit my adapter.

So now it’s almost midnight here and we are just relaxing in our room and watching TV with Spanish subtitles. Tomorrow there is complimentary breakfast downstairs in the hotel and then they are coming to get us in the Working Boys Center Bus at 9:30 am.

I have already told Jenny about 50 times that I really hope we get to play recess with the kids in the school because “playing is the international language and I am fluent in the language of charades!” This was before we even got off the plane to which she commented, “Put on the brakes Kristin!” Do I even have brakes???

So it’s off to bed and our morning routine is probably going to involve in some way the use of the BOOM BOX in our hotel room. Hahaha Poor Jenny….

We are already having so much fun! And I think it is going to be an amazing time. I haven’t started to take any video yet because I was too scared to be video taping in the airport etc. But tomorrow…..let the Ecuador documentary begin!


Much love to all and we wish you were here!

Love- Kristin and Jenny