Año Viejo

This is my first Holiday season here in Ecuador. I learned about how Ecuadorians celebrate New Year's. They celebrate the old year more than the new year. We went out walking around last night and everyone was out on the street. They make papier mache dolls (life-size) and they say that they have put everything bad that happened in the old year in the doll. They set these dolls up in scenes with notes and sayings. Then at midnight, they burn them in the middle of the street. Then they have a big dinner and stay up partying until about 5 am. And today (New Year's day) they sleep all day.

Here are some photos of the dolls before being burned, and then while being burned.

Permission to leave

This week, I had the experience of the immigration office. I am here in Ecuador on a volunteer VISA. Because of the type of VISA I have, I had to go to Immigration and fill out some papers to comply with some laws.

First, I had to obtain a Censo. The government maintains a census of Extranjeros (foreigners) in the country. The Censo is proof that I have been counted. It is an ID card of sorts. It also is my proof that I am now an official resident of Ecuador. To obtain my Censo, I had to sign the card before it was laminated (like how old drivers licenses used to be). When I signed it, I signed it like I sign my name now. The immigration officer yelled at me because my signature did not look like my signature in my passport (which I signed 8 years ago, before I was a doctor). He made me sign another paper, with a signature that matched my passport, to prove that I was me. I guess signatures are very important here. But on my Censo is the sloppy signature. This card also contains a photo. He took a digital photo that he then printed on my Censo. Well, I am not sure what kind of software they are using, but the computer elongated my face. So on top of it being a bad photo, my face is very long, so now it is a really bad photo.

Next, I had to obtain a Salida. Now that I am a resident of Ecuador, I have to get the government's permission to leave the country. I am planning on going back to the US for Christmas, so I need a Salida. When I went to that part of the office, I said I needed a Salida. The immigration officer asked me in a very gruff voice where I was going and when. I was thinking to myself, 'this is ridiculous that I have to tell him anything, I am an American citizen and I can go to the US whenever I want to.' Of course, I did not say anything even close to that to him, because I knew I needed his permission to go. So I just answered his questions and he gave me a paper to fill out. I then had to leave my passport, my Censo, and that paper with them and return the next day to get it back. I returned the next day and retrieved my passport, my Censo, and my Salida. No problems. I now have the government's permission to leave the country.

I still am having a hard time processing all of this. I am now a resident of Ecuador, I am now under the laws of the government of Ecuador. Of course, I am a US citizen first, and I am and always will be protected by the US government. But it is weird to imagine that I had to get permission from Ecuador to go back to my home country. The reality is, I could have left here without permission, but then they would not have to let me back in when I return in January. This is all definitely new for me and, as with all new experiences, it takes a while to get used to how things work.

My purpose for being here is to serve God and I have to jump through all these hoops first before I can do that. I will do whatever it takes to follow God's will, and right now, I believe this is all a necessary part of that. I do not want the government to kick me out, then I can be of no help to anyone.

Ready to leave

This is my first Blog post, so please be patient with me. This is a learning process for me.

I will be leaving for Ecuador in one day. I have to say that so far the hardest thing for me has been giving my 2 bearded dragons away. I know the friends that have them are going to take good care of them and keep me posted on how they are doing. But it was still hard. Many people probably do not understand this. Just think about your animals, whether it be dogs or cats, birds, small mammals, or whatever you have, think about having to give them away. It is the same thing.

So right now, I do not think the reality of moving overseas for 2 years has hit me. I will be coming home in 2 months for about 2 weeks. So right now this is just like a 2 month mission trip, no big deal, right? In January when I leave for the remainder of the 2 years is when I think it is going to hit me.

Well, Please keep in touch and send me comments or e-mails.