The Journey of a Friendly Giant

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” - Harvey Mackay When one of my mentors let me know that I was already at the halfway point, I thought I was having a mild stroke. I cannot believe how quickly time is slipping through my fingers! Time goes by so very quickly! Especially when you're having fun... and also when you have to build trust before any real progression occurs. I felt that gaining the trust of the community was truly the most difficult task of them all. I planned, and re-planned and am currently working on a new plan once again. Why do I keep re-planning? Without any trust, a plan is just a piece of paper in my hand. I needed people to listen to my plan, to trust me, and to let me in their homes, workplaces, and minds. The Puerto Hondo community have met many people, who gave them hope by beginning projects and initiatives, all to...

Being the largest and most populated city of Ecuador, Guayaquil is known as the city that “makes money”. With nearly 3.1 million people in the metropolitan area, Guayaquil is located on the western bank of the Guayas River which flows into the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Guayaquil. Its convenient location makes this developed city, the center of Ecuador´s business and manufacturing industries. The city of Guayaquil takes pride of being the economic centre point of Ecuador. However, the poor air quality, busy noisy streets, and loud city noises doesn’t necessarily make the city a tourism hotspot. In fact, many tourism websites and books describe Guayaquil as a great central location to travel from , and that is not recommended to “stay in”. “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can´t change it, change the way you think about it.” – Mary Engelbreit Other Ecuadorian cities are much greener and they take pride in their biodiversity and protect it with care. Guayaquil understand...

This passed week has been the week of connections and discoveries. When it comes to my plans for Puerto Hondo, the community I am working with, I’ve met many people that have inspired me to think BIGGER. It all began with an Ecuadorian friend of mine, Raquel, who owns a small NGO consulting organization here in Guayaquil. When she told me about her organization a few months ago, I instantly offered my help if she ever needed any volunteers. Her few months of silence led me to believe that help wasn’t something that she required. Nevertheless, to my surprise she called me one evening after work and asked for a strange favor. “Can Lindsay and you go to Bucay to do some food tasting please?” My love for food forced me to instantly agree with excitement. The conversation was very short because she had a meeting to attend; she thanked me for the favor and quickly hung up. After my happy dance was finished, I began to realize that I had absolutely no idea exactly what I was doing for her. ...

Everyone is their own toughest critic. As Derek mentioned in his blog, learning a new language is not an easy task to take on. Despite the amount of compliments I do get from my nice Ecuadorian friends, my never ending mistakes tell me that my Spanish needs great improvement. There must be nothing more embarrassing than a language error while speaking. Saying the wrong word can turn a very serious conversation, into an instant joke. Laughing is fantastic, however when people are laughing at you, the blushing ... oh the blushing. "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance." -Alan Watts  Not knowing much Spanish, has never stopped me from trying to speak. Though it has been a few years since my first spanish class, in the beginning, as horrible as I was, I attempted speak just as much as I do now. And through corrections, and constant reminders, I learned more and more. Being afraid to make a fool of myself had to be out o...