Hello again.

Interesting enough, I forgot I had this blog.  It happens a lot - me forgetting things.  This week Eli was working on his computer class and the assignment was creating a blog.  I casually mentioned how mine was set up and BAM!  I remembered I had a space for writing.  I couldn't resist a return.

So here we are in the middle of 2020; what a nightmare year for so many reasons.  The first two months seemed fairly calm, all things considered.  The kids were doing well for the most part, school was moving along, we were looking forward to my parent's visit in March for Eli's birthday and Easter.  We are still struggling with homesickness so this was a big thing.  COVID-19 was on the scene, but mostly in China and it seemed like something that wasn't really going to affect us very much. My parent's were scheduled to arrive on March 26th.  The first case of COVID here in Ecuador was confirmed in late February, I believe, and by the time the 26th of March rolled around the borders had all been closed and everyone was in mandatory quarantine in their homes indefinitely.  Days of crying and depression set in.  My son printed photos of my parents and slept with them for a week straight. I panicked because - well, because that is what I do.  But also, my curriculum for next year and many things I thought I needed were packed in those suitcases still sitting in Mom and Dad's house.

It seems like every day more restrictions were placed on us, and the toll it took on our family's mental health, emotional health, and personal relationships was nightmarish.  Here is a partial list of the laws/restrictions we either remain under or were under at the height of COVID here:

• only one person is allowed off the property at any time, and only for buying food, medicines, or other necessities
• children and people over 60 are NEVER allowed away from home
• no public transportation 
• if you have a valid reason for being out (you are a doctor, you are going to the doctor, work at an essential services store, etc) you must have a signed document from the government giving you special permission
• if you have a car, you can only drive it two days a week depending on your license plate number
• masks are required if you are outside
• parks, riverwalks, and any store/business not deemed essential is off-limits
• restaurants are only open for delivery and carry out
• to get into a store, you have to have your shoes disinfected, temperature verified, gloves/masks required, and sometimes even walk through a disinfection tunnel where you are sprayed with a chemical before entering
• breaking these rules results in fines of $100 for 1st offense, $400 for 2nd offense, if you get caught again you can go to jail for up to three years
• if you are caught in your car on a day you are not allowed, you are ticketed and your car is impounded

Today is June 5, and we have only been allowed (if you are submitting to the law) outside the property for about a week.  To take a walk around the neighborhood, with masks, seems like such a luxury now.  70 days of mandatory isolation to help stem the tide of COVID.  It was necessary, because in the entire country there are only a few hundred ICU beds.  The health care system is not robust, to say the least, and the fears of being woefully unprepared were many.  I am sure you can Google the experience of COVID in Ecuador, but let's just say it was horrible.  I pray we are past the worst of it now.  Like most other places, it was around before we were even aware it was among us.  Being behind the 8-ball with regards to a fast-moving, highly contagious illness is never good.  And due to social disparity here, there are SO MANY people who just cannot afford to stay home without work.  Here, especially for the indigenous peoples, what you earn every day feeds you for that day and no more.  The government has done the best they can with social programs and reducing expenses to shift funds for the fight against COVID and hunger, but there just isn't enough.  This means people every day were/are breaking quarantine to work - selling homemade masks, fruits and veggies, whatever they can sell on the sidewalk to make a few bucks.  Things have loosened in the last week just a bit, mostly due to political pressure and not so much from a belief that we have "won".  I am watching to see what happens to the numbers, but even that is not very reliable because there are very few tests here and very few people to submit to them anyway.  We continue to pray for an answer.

If all that was not enough, the US is now embroiled in massive protests and very dangerous riots pretty much everywhere due to race relations.  There have been about three different situations in probably the last 3 months and it has all come to a head.  I am so thankful that Tom is no longer working and I am praying for all those in the US.  There is so much hate and hurt and misunderstanding and miscommunication - it's almost too much to bear.  I see this all as an issue of the heart - the sin that is human nature - and it makes me so sad.  We have drifted so very far from where God wanted and intended us to be when he created us, ALL OF US.  I know that only He can reconcile this, and that is what He wants - reconciliation for all of us.  It just feels like we have lost our way and can't figure out how to love each other the way Jesus loves us.  Jews AND Gentiles, remember? That's the answer.  I feel powerless here and I hate that.  The only thing I know to do is to teach my children to love and to model that love to others so that they know how to do it well.  I pray that God enables me to do that correctly and well, for the betterment of everyone on this planet.