Well, the "crazy season" is over, and did it ever go fast! Can't believe Feb and March have come and gone already, with all that those months bring to us here. 2 weeks of camp for youth in February, and 2 more in March, for children ages 8 to 11, or so. Those weeks were wonderful too. The time with the children is so special, they are so much fun to spend a week with - so affectionate, love getting hugs (so do I!), and they have so much fun - singing their hearts out, playing, digging on the beach, jumping in the waves. And so good too to see the counsellors, our youth, talking to them about Jesus, and doing all they can to give those kids a good experience at camp. The first of those weeks was for the kids in the neighbourhood of our camp, and as happened last year, up until just before camp started there were only a handful of kids registered to come. But The Lord was faithful again and brought us 80 kids, some had been last year, but it was the first time for many. And on the last night we invited the parents to come for a snack (the empanadas) and a program, including a simple presentation of the gospel. Such an important outreach to that community.

Mid-week the first week I made the trip back into Guayaquil, to the airport again, this time to meet my sister, who came for a month. We headed straight back out to camp the next morning, after a rather short night, and Alison got to know our camp. She had planned on being in the kitchen helping with the making of meals, but for the second week our cook had sort of forgotten who she had invited to come and help, and kept on asking ladies, and by the time they all arrived on the Sunday nght before the second week of camp, there was quite a crowd of them! That didn't leave much room for 2 gringas, so we helped by keeping out of the way, although we did get pressed into service a couple of times to help with making many empanadas. Alison impressed the socks off all the ladies with her quick learning of the technique, and then doing it better than anyone else!

Most of my patients in those weeks were counsellors and visiting Canadians, with assorted ailments. But I did have a girl with a gash in the chin from encountering something big in the ocean, which in an ideal world would have been stitched. But I had remembered to take some wound glue with me, and this was the perfect time to use it. And if I say so myself, the end result is rather good - a nice neat little scar.

Then there was the little girl with a nasty "nacido" - an old fashioned boil, over her eyebrow. It opened and drained, and healed up, but in the meantime there was another huge one brewing on her collarbone. Again, in an ideal world, a doctor would have incised and drained it, but camp isn't the ideal world, and I'm no doctor and wasn't about to get into that! So I had to talk her into hot compresses, which didn't make me popular at all, and sure enough, in due course, it looked after itself. Very nasty, and I have yet to figure out why there are so many of these here, in small children. They're not at all uncommon.

And my favourite patient of that week, a little fellow with a cut on his toe, which I fixed up for him, and while I was doing it, he watched intently and then said quietly to a bystander in an approving voice - "She's a very good nurse". And he was my new best friend after that. I love those moments. On the last evening of camp he came to find me, all spiffed up, and took my hand and pressed a shell into it and folded my fingers over it, as though he was slipping me a $20. And that shell is worth way more to me that any number of $20's.

After camp was all done we had a week in Guayaquil to rest abit and catch up on things at home, and then we headed off to the mountains for a week. To Quito first to get a bus to Mindo, a cloudforest area 2 hours out of Quito. And there we spent 4 wonderful days, relaxing, resting, hiking, birdwatching, and - wait for it - ziplining!! Yes, we did, twice, and had a ball! It rained much of those days, but we learned that we had to just get out there and do things anyway, and don't worry about getting wet. And get wet we did, to the skin, but we did and saw lots, and had a great time. Our hotel was 5 km out of town, which made it harder for getting anywhere, but was also good in that it forced us into just taking it easy, and I sat and read, and had naps, and loved the absolute peace and quiet - nothing to hear but a rushing river and birds.

yes that's me cruising through the cloud forest!

Then to Quito for 2 days to get to know that city a bit, and it was beautiful weather there, sunny, 25 degrees, dry - absolute heaven after these months in the city I call home!

Now Alison has gone home, and the kids start back to school on Monday, and that school has been a flurry of activity all week, as the everyone prepares for the new school year. And I'm back to "normal" life, whatever that means here!! I've been back to hospital and doctor visits, some old problems, some new problems. Always problems. More on those next time.

So as I look back over the last 2 months, I give thanks for many blessings, so many gifts from God. 4 weeks of camp, supported by churches from North America, kids protected from serious illness or injury, times of spiritual growth for campers and counsellors. And family members here to spend time with me, and the chance to see another part of this beautiful little country, safety in all of our travels, and a good time spent together. So many blessings.