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Around Shell

It's late, but I really want to get a bit in here. So I'll hurry. I was out on Saturday afternoon after a bike ride. Had my camera in my pocket, and grabbed a few photos. I rode up to watch Taylor in a karate class he was trying out. Ellyn has been going with him since she thought it would be a good way for her to excercise, and they both signed up on Saturday. I think it was their third class. But, by the end of that class, which was a bit harder than the others, Ellyn got her money back. They decided it was a bit too much, too intense. Plus, it seemed that the instructor was a bit drunk today. Very interesting, as at the end of the last class he gave the young men in the class a lecture about not drinking.

Meanwhile, Dustin had flatted his rear bicycle tire, and I followed him up to the local bike shop. He also needed a new tire, as the old one had been worn thorugh. The service was fast and the price reasonable. The quality of the tube and tire, however, were not of the highest standard.

Along the way, I saw this Oldsmobile, with the top cut off. You don't see many convertibles here, and certainly not painted like this!

Afterwards, Dustin and I ended up at the runway, watching the guys in the RC club fly their planes. We have been working on a powered glider for a year. It's Dustin's plane, but he needs my help to build it. Without him being excited about it, and pushing me to work with him, we haven't done much lately. After being at the runway, we came home last night and started covering the wing. Tonight we finished covering the bottom of the six foot long wing. So, maybe we'll get to fly it soon. If he joins the club, that will be good. I used to fly RC as a teenager, but that was looooong ago. He will need someone in the club to teach him to fly it.

Ellyn and Dolly

Here's something that Ellyn wrote a little while back.

Today I did something different. There is a gal in town who has taken in orphans that are special needs kinds of kids. Her name is Patti Sue. She has three kids right now, two of them are deaf with other problems, and one of them, a little girl named "Dolly", is a Shuar baby. She was born with a small head. They don't know yet if she is blind, or if her brain can't compute, but she can hear. Her little body curls up into a tiny ball, her fists are tight and close to her body. She is fifteen months old and is the size of an infant.

I never thought I would be able to look forward to exercise! I can't wait to take her out again.

Friday Already?

It hardly seems it can be Friday already. We had Monday and Tuesday off because of Carnival, so it's been a very short week. The day started off cool, cloudy, and rainy. Nobody did any flying 'til almost 11 AM. Now, the weather is great for aviators--high ceiling and great visibility. The one thing the guys are always watching out for though, is wet strips. You sit arond and wait for the weather to clear so you can fly. But then, you really need to wait a bit longer so strips in the jungle can dry a bit. Believe me, when you touch down on a narrow, short, wet, grassy strip at 35 knots, and start sliding around, there's a bit of pucker factor that comes into play! (For you pilot types, takeoff and landing speed on a Cessna 206 is more like 45 knots, but our planes are outfitted with STOL kits, and that brings the numbers down.)

I was just noticing that the air is really clean this afternoon, and the visibility is awesome. Dan just confirmed that by telling me he could see Shell when he was still 20 miles out. That's a huge contrast to the California-like smog we've had the past month or so.

Do-It-Yourself

My latest project.

Technology Time

Interesting day here in Shell. I have both ends of the technology spectrum in front of me. On one hand, I'm doing research on wireless security. Since I'm now using 802.11b wireless devices to create wireless bridge, I want to learn all I can about security. I seriously doubt there are any wardrivers in Shell, but one can never be too sure. So, it's been both challenging and very interesting reading up on the relevant security issues. Setting up a secure wireless network requires a lot more than just plugging a wireless access point into your network.

I'm also working on a circa 1996 Macintosh PowerBook 190cs for Dawn, an independant missionary here in Shell. She wants to use it for e-mail, so I gave her an old US Robotics external modem I had, and a Macintosh modem cable. (I have an old PowerBook 165 I'm not using.) Now I have to download some software and install it, then configure it to work with the modem. It's been a while since I've worked with the version of the Mac OS that she has on this computer. For those who might be interested, it's 7.5.2 and the computer has a 500MB hard disk, 8MB of RAM, and 33MHz processor. Not exactly state of the art, but it does work!

In a few minutes I'm going over to the Nate Saint School for the grade 5-8 elective hour. I'm teaching three of the kids to make web pages, and they'll also be putting together a yearbook CD as part of the class.

Water Fight!

Ellyn was walking this afternoon and came home a little wet. The boys participated in water games and had a water fight at school on Friday morning after recess. Monday and Tuesday are holidays for me and the boys. All this for Carnival - "the feast of water". Carnival is celebrated over three days, usually in February or March, to welcome the onset of Ecuador's rainy season. This is a prime example of a festival with indigenous roots that has been transformed somewhat by Catholic tradition. It has elements of Mardi Gras (parades, colorful clothing, dancing in the streets) mixed with something unique to Ecuadorian culture: the throwing of water! Pretty much wherever you are during this time, you are likely to get hit by water ballons. If you're lucky, that's all it will be. Eggs and flour are also used. In fact, today someone in a bus threw an egg at Ellyn. It glanced off her neck and broke on the street. If you don't want to get drenched during Carnival time, go to Ambato. Water ballons are outlawed - instead they have the Festival of Fruits and Flowers.

Freed 'Hostage'

MISSIONARY TEACHER AMONG 350 'HOSTAGES' RELEASED FROM QUITO JAIL

Ecuador's government declared a state of emergency in the prison system January 15 after a series of protests. Some 1,500 inmates in various prisons were released because they had been held for more than a year without trial. The move caused a public backlash after it became known that the freed prisoners included accused murderers, drug traffickers and rapists.

Ecuador Prisons

I read some news articles in the past week about hostages being taken by prisoners in a Quito prison. The prisoners were protesting the poor conditions they live in. By the end of the week, the hostages were released. Even before this past week's events, Ecuador had declared a state of emergency in the country's prisons. I learned today that a couple HCJB missionaries were among those being held prisoner, as they are involved in prison ministries. They have been released and were not harmed.

Adventure To Quito

I guess I've been putting off writing anything about last Tuesday's trip to Quito. Not sure why that is, but I'll tell you now what it was like.

Besides the paro, or strike, there was also road construction on the BaÒos road to think about. I consulted the bus schedules, as well as other gringos who had recently travelled the road, and decided we should take the 5 AM bus. Leaving at that time would mean that we'd have a minimal wait for the construction on the part of the BaÒos road where there was only one lane open at a time. We wanted to travel light, but I had Dustin put a change of clothes and his toothbrush in the small backpack. Only took my toothbrush and a book to read. I also took a small lunch and a liter of water. Dustin wanted to buy a bird cage in Quito, and by taking our lunch we could save time and money by not stopping at McDonalds.

The bus came by the driveway at 5:15 AM. We climbed up the steps and I asked the attendant if they were going to Quito. He said yes, but I remained skeptical. I had no idea if the road would be passable, and I doubted he did either. For many miles the driver seemed like he didn't really have his heart in it, and he drove more like my grandmother than a bona fide Ecuadorian suicide bus driver. Later, I woke up in Rio Verde, where we waited about 20 minutes for the road to open. I woke up again in BaÒos. Things proceeded normally, and we soon arrived in Ambato. Since we normally switch buses in Ambato, and this was a direct bus going all the way to Quito, we had a decision to make. Neither of us had to go to the bathroom, so we decided to just stay put, and ride the same bus all the way to Quito.

We had just reached the south end of Latacunga when things went downhill quickly. We were driving down a long straight that had a stop light and a left turn at the end. As we neared the light, a large group of men quickly moved onto the road, threw down several tires, and ignited them with gasoline. It was an instant road block, and the bus driver didn't waste any time pulling into the gas station on the right side of the road. He pulled around, and said that he wouldn't go any farther. I wasn't surprised, and I really didn't blame him, since there were only about ten people left on the bus. Any one with half a brain knew better than to try and travel to Quito that day. I had watched the news the night before, and was pretty much expecting anything, but also realized there was a slight chance we could make it to Quito. I was willing to try, since I really wanted to get Dustin's braces fixed.

As we got off the bus, the attendant refunded us some of our money, and we followed some of the others to the edge of the road. I figured our best bet was to follow the others who wanted to get to Quito, since they probably had a better idea what to do. A few minutes later we got on a local Latacunga bus, and they passed by the now non-existent road block to the right. As we drove by, I could see the road had been cleared by the military, and the men who had blocked it were walking down the road. It seemed to me the bus we had been on could have made it through, but I also wondered how bad it was up ahead. The bus we were on slowly made its way through Latacunga, and it was obvious the driver wasn't on his regular route. He stopped at several intersections, deciding which way was the best way to continue. Once or twice, the large bus just barely managed to make the turn on some of the narrow streets. After about fifteen minutes we found ourselves at the traffic light on the north end of Latacunga. We got off the bus and started walking up the road, looking for a pickup truck we could hitch a ride with.

A few minutes later we were riding in the back of a truck with about five others. I was hoping we could get far enough down the road to where we might get a bus going to Quito. As we drove down the road we passed a section with rocks and other debris on the road. The driver drove all over the road, dodging everything. I'm sure it had been impassable the day before. Before long, he stopped at the side of the road where there were another ten or so people who wanted to go to Quito. The driver offered to take us all to Quito for $5 each. We countered with $2, and he wouldn't go lower than $3. So we climbed out of the truck and waited for another one to come along.

I don't think we had waited even ten minutes when we got our next ride. I flagged down a truck, and as it came to a stop, I could see the back was packed with many indigenous, or Quichua, Ecuadorians. It didn't look like there was room for us, but we climbed in anyway. Dustin found a place to squat/sit in the middle, and I sat on the tailgate, one foot in, and the other foot on the bumber. It was a long way to Quito still, but this would at least get us closer to a bus. Or so I thought.

As we went down the road, people got in and out of the truck, and eventually we got better seats. Dustin was sitting on a bench seat right behind the cab. I managed to sit on the tailgate, with both feet in the bed, and holding onto the railing on the side. Soon there was an old Quechua woman sitting on the floor at Dustin's feet, and a younger one sitting right next to him. I had my camera with me, but couldn't bear to embarass Dustin or the proud Quechua people who don't like to have their photo taken. The Quechua ladies are quite striking, with their felt hats, colorful shawls, and abundant jewelry. As the driver realized he had enough people who wanted to go to Quito, he decided to take us all. It wasn't the most comfortable ride we've ever had to Quito, but we did end up in south Quito. From there a city bus took us to the Trolley, and we rode that to the end of the line. Finally, a short taxi ride brought us to the dentist.

About the time we arrived, John and Trudy headed down to Shell in their van. They were just returning from a short trip to the US. After talking to me on the cell phone, John decided to go for it. I told him he'd be able to get through, but that it might be slow going. Sure enough, it took him eight hours to drive what was normally a four and a half hour drive. At times he was escorted by the military, and once he followed several other cars on a two hour detour over cobbled roads to bypass the blocked roads in Salcedo.

After Dustin's appointment, we decided to just spend the night in Quito. The MAF apartment was available, and there was going to be a flight going to Shell in the morning. It was likely that they'd have room for us on the plane. It was too late in the day to try a trip back to Shell by road, but I knew if the plane couldn't take us, that we would be better off starting another road adventure first thing in the morning. We went to the apartment and took a nap. Later, we had dinner at McDonalds and saw the movie Cheaper By The Dozen. What a great movie! We both laughed and laughed.

Wednesday morning we found ourselves on the plane, flying back to Shell. As we flew over the Pan American Highway, I could see vehicles on it, but certainly fewer than usual. It sure is nice to work for an organization with planes that can fly us during such times as this. By the way, the story ends with bad news. The bracket that the orthodontist fixed that afternoon, broke by 10:30 PM that evening. Because of commitments in Shell, we couldn't wait on Wednesday morning to have it fixed, and returned home with Dustin still not able to wear his headgear. But, we did have a great adventure together, a Quarter Pounder, and saw a great movie, and brought home a bird cage!

Green Ecuador

Ecuador bets on green to attract visitors

High Numbers

HC-BLP (Alas de Socorro 08) passed 10,000 hours yesterday! The plane was brought to Ecuador in November, 1984. It was purchased in the US with and sent to Ecuador with 342 hours on the tachometer. HC-BLP has flown over 9,600 hours serving the people of Ecuador!

Home Again

I'm back in Shell again. We did manage to make it to Quito through the strikes. More on that later. Got the braces fixed. Bad news is that the braces broke again last night while we were still in Quito. Arrrghhh! We couldn't wait for a fix today, and flew home at 9 AM this morning on an MAF flight.

Failure To Deliver

Looks like this strike could last a while.
Story at FT.com.

Indigenous groups turn against Ecuador's president
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas
Published: February 16 2004 19:06 | Last Updated: February 16 2004 19:06

Ecuador's indigenous movement is virulently opposed to proposals to sign up to the US-backed Free Trade of the Americas programme, and to the adoption of International Monetary Fund-guided policies.

Getting To Quito

Sunday evening I was getting for our Monday trip to Quito. I had just finished putting a few things in a fanny pack (Dustin and I like to travel light) when Ellyn suddenly remembered some important news. One of the pilots in Quito had told her that Monday would be a bad day to travel, as the indian groups in the Andes would be holding a paro, which meant they'd be blocking the highways. Ellyn said she had seen the military and police along the road for mile after mile as they travelled home yesterday. Apparently they were preparing for the upcoming paro. A paro is a protest in which the roads are blocked in an effort to make a point. If the protesters can block enough roads, and especially the Pan Amercian highway, they manage to cause quite a disruption to the country. Roads are blocked with large rocks, burning tires, logs, and sometimes tacks and nails. I decided that I'd go ahead and get up early to see what was going on. If things didn't look too bad we'd head out and see what happens.

At 6:30 AM this morning I was up and walked over to the hangar. Maximo was here, and I asked him about the roads. He said that there was indeed a strike. Someone else drove up and I talked to them. They, too, said it wouldn't be worth it to travel, since the road was blocked in Latacunga. So, that settled it for me. I decided to stay in Shell, and reschedule the ortho appointment for another day. Later, once I got to work, I learned that there would likely be an emergency flight to Quito, so I let the flight scheduler know that I'd like to go on the flight if there was room. So now we wait and see.

Meanwhile the Internet connection was down. I wanted to post to this blog about midnight Sunday night, and wasn't able to. A quick check showed that we had last connected to Redlands for mail at 11:15 PM or so. When I got up this morning, still no Internet for HCJB and MAF in Shell. About 9 AM I learned that the problem was with all of HCJB's satellite bandwidth in and out of the country. Apparently it had all been hijacked. That means no Internet connection until the satellite service provider figured out how to take care of that.

Right now I'm posting this with a 'borrowed' connection to the internet. I'm also able to send MAFnet e-mail out of Shell this way, as well as bring in new mail. Under these conditions we will only send and receive mail two or three times a day.

We didn't end up going on the flight this afternoon. We're going to get up early and take the 5 AM bus to Quito. I hope we'll be able to make it for the 1 PM appointment. It looks like that should work, but we won't know until we try. Should be an adventure. I saw some of the photos on the news this evening. The indian groups had done a good job of blocking roads. Well, that's not really a good thing, but they sure put a lot of effort into it, moving big rocks and logs over long stretches of the road. Since we're travelling by bus, we'll be able to get off the bus, and walk past those spots, catching a bus on the other side. I'll post more tomorrow night.

Only In Ecuador

We went out to eat in Puyo last night with Ben and Krissy (Taylor's teacher). We went to the Chinese place. While we were eating, the owner walked through the restaurant holding a live chicken upside down by the feet. A few minutes later the cook carried the still live chicken back to the sidewalk out front and handed it to someone. Wonder if the owner wanted to buy it, but the cook decided it wasn't fat enough?! Then, when it was time to go, Taylor couldn't finish his soda. He couldn't take it with him either, as it was in a glass bottle. Those are returnable, and the restaurants keep them to return. But here in Ecuador, they'll put your soda in a plastic bag, stick a straw in the top, and tie it shut. Voila! Soda to go!

Around The House

It's Friday night, and we've all had the day off. The holiday is Dia del Oriente, or Day of the Oriente. The Oriente is the eastern part of Ecuador, which is largely rain forest. Speaking of rain, we've had some very dry weather lately. In fact, the sky has reminded me very much of the smog in the LA area. I think the combination of smoke in the air, and a stagnent weather system has brought about the situation. There have been times in the past week where the guys have had to fly instruments, and it's been because of the smog, not clouds.

Ron and Ben came over this morning to replace an old light fixture in our bedroom this morning. In it's place they'll put up a light/fan. So far the sheet of ceiling material has been replaced, and most of the painting is done. I'll finish with a final coat of paint in the morning, and then I hope to get the fan up by the end of the day. Right now our bedroom is empty, and everthing is crammed in the study. I think I'll be sleeping in the living room tonight. I'd like to get everything done and put back in place by the end of the day tomorrow. Ellyn is up in Quito, and she'll be home Sunday evening.

Later in the afternoon I was up in a ficus tree. Most of you think as a ficus as a small tree that you put in a pot in your house. We have four ficus tree around our house. The two largest are about 25' tall. They both need trimming, and I got quite a bit done on one of them today. I would have liked to finish, but I was getting a bit tired from climbing around and sawing, so decided to finish tomorrow. While I was up there, Lucy the Macaw saw where I was. She came down through the yard, climbed the fence, and worked her way up the tree to where I was. I think she was pleasantly surprised to find me on her turf. I found a spot to sit on a branch and we hung out for a while, as she climbed onto my lap.

Since I was already a sweaty and grimey mess, I decided to go ahead and mow the lawn while I was at it. Well, I'm off to bed. I've got the mattress in the middle of the living room. Taylor is in the family room with Luke, and Dustin is in his room with Matthew. We're having a double sleep over since mom is gone.

In The News

• US worried about arms trading on Colombia border
• Oil Companies Find Ecuador Frustrating - New York Times (registration required)
• Ecuador pulls Argentina ambassador over gaffe
• Seabird Pact Takes Wing

This and That

I really need to get out of here. I'm trying to leave closer to 5 PM. Usually it's more like 5:30 PM, except the two days a week that I ride after work with John. Anyway, if I don't do this now, it might not happen today. I've spent much of the day working on the wireless connection to the McCleery house. The antenna is up at my house, after Bruce made the extension cable for the antenna this morning just before lunch. In the end, the antenna worked, but I could never get the two wireless access points to work. I was able to plug a USB wireless transceiver into my laptop and verify that the antenna and WAP at my house functioned fine. By the end of the day I had both units back over on my desk, and finally got them configured. That's how I'm posting this now. So first thing tomorrow I'll be back in both attics to see if I can't get them going so that Dave will be able to access the LAN when he works at home.

Meanwhile Ellyn has been extremely busy helping Katie and Dale get their new place organized, decorated, and more. She's spent many hours making curtains and helping them design furniture. They went to the cabinet shop in Puyo to place their order, but he was too busy with a couple other missionary orders. Now a guy in Shell will be making the furniture. At any rate, Ellyn is really in her element now. I can tell this is a big boost for Katie, as with the help from Ellyn, they can settle in sooner, and get into a routine which will increase the effectiveness of their ministry here.

We've had two guys out flying today. Among other things, they took supplies to Makuma and brought in some medical emergency patients. Steve has gone up to CEMAC in Quito to get his medical and license extension. We'll see how much time they give him. That's something to keep in your prayers. Steve has slowly been flying more and more, and this would not be a good time for him to be grounded.

Well, gotta' run. Literally. I think I'll go and get a few miles in before dinner.

Chicken Foot

Ellyn had come home after 6 PM from helping the Shaylor family decorate and settle into their new home. She's been spending quite a bit of time that past few days with them, and she thrives on that. Dustin was going to the circus again, this time with Matt and his dad. Ellyn didn't feel like eating, so Taylor and I went out to eat at Select. He had his usual salchi papas and I had the merienda, or standard plate for the evening. They told me the soup was cheese soup at first, but then they came back and told me it was chicken soup. No problem, I said. I leaned over to Taylor and told him I bet there will be a chicken foot in my soup. Sure enough, when my soup arrived, I dug around in it a moment, and there was a foot! Taylor wasn't impressed. He told me that he hoped the chicken had stepped in poop! I told him I was sure it had, as that's what chickens do. Mmmmmmm. The soup tasted good. And, no, I didn't eat the foot!

Family Fun

We certainly have been enjoying the ping pong table I made. The boys hadn't ever played much, and now they are getting the chance to play regularly, and are getting much better. It's been a great thing to do, and we've even enjoyed playing doubles as a family. I need to paint lines on it, though, before we do that much more.

Lucy Bird

I was outside early this morning, and Lucy was still in bed. She sleeps on a railing in the carport. I had my camera with me, and she showed me her pretty pose. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but she doesn't do it for anyone else as far as I know. It's like she's showing off to me. They say that scarlet macaws bond with one person, and right now, that's me.

License Update

Our pilots continue to receive short extensions on their licenses. Darryl just got his extended earlier this week. It expires March 10. The Lord isn't letting us see very far ahead, but he is allowing the work to go on here. Here's a brief update from Dave, our program manager:

Thanks to so many people for praying for the Ecuador Program as we seek the Lord's direction with the license issue. We were not able to meet with the Director of Civil Aviation last week. The Director of DAC is under investigation for corruption and it is being reported in the press. This may have been the reason for postponing our first scheduled meeting and canceling the second. Please continue to pray for wisdom in all that we do and say and that our testimony will shine. Also for our staff for encouragement as the solution to this seems to always be "maÒana" (tomorrow), which isn't an uncommon occurrence here!

In The Rain

It's been quite dry here in the Oriente lately. The pilots have been telling me for the past week how dusty the airstrips are, and that the rivers are low. Dusty airstrips are not the norm here, and usually they are concerned with how much they will slip and slide in the mud and wet grass when they land. But, today was a typical Shell day--rainly and cloudy all day long. The guys did manage to fly though, as the weather out in the jungle was fine. Not sure if it was rainy or not out there. At any rate, here's a shot of Richard and Panchito fueling in the rain.

Blind Troubleshooting

We were without power for more than a couple hours this morning. That's always exciting. I had one UPS die, but I think I know why that happened. The user powered down initially when the city power went out, but then when we went onto generator power, he turned his computer back on again. Problem is, there was at times too much load on the generator, and the voltage would go low. At those times his computer ran off the UPS battery. After more than an hour like that, the UPS finally quit. I had a larger UPS, an inverter and a 12-volt battery, which I connected to his computer. Wouldn't you know it, but the city power came back on soon after that.

Meanwhile I spent some time on the radio talking to Jim out in Makuma. He's got a handful of problems out there that he's trying to deal with. In the end I couldn't help him very much over the radio (it's easier for me to troubleshoot when I can get my hands on something, rather than go by someone else's description), but I was able to send him the things he needed--computer power supply, new floppy disk drive, and Glen's mail on CD--on a flight with Dave. Hopefully he has those things now and is able to work on some of his problems, beginning with the file server that has a bad power supply. The file server also runs the HF e-mail program, and without that running, it means Glen isn't getting his e-mail. During times like this I can send the e-mail to him on floppy disk or CD.

By the end of the afternoon, I was back to working on my wireless connection between our house and the Program Manager's house. I now have a wireless bridge in our attic, connected to the hub. Next step is to mount the outdoor antenna on the side of the house, under the eave, so that we can go the distance to the other house.

Quito Trip

Ellyn and Dustin are off to Quito on the bus. Last night they knew there was an MAF shuttle flight going to Quito to pick up Andi's parents, so that meant the flight would be a 'sure thing'. Still, they decided they'd rather take the bus, as the last time they each flew in a small plane here, they felt quesy. This morning they changed their mind, deciding instead to fly, as that could save them over four hours of travel time. I walked over to the hangar at 7:30 AM, talked to the flight coordinator, and found there was room. Then I called each pilot (one training the other to fly the Quito route) to make sure they actually planned to leave by 9 AM. They did. Then I called the Program Manager to confirm a revised policy stating that MAF staff could fly standby for no charge on a shuttle flight that was scheduled with paying passengers. No problem there. So, they would fly on the shuttle, and it seemed to be a reasonably sure thing, even to the point of weather in Shell being no problem. Then, about 8:10 AM, one of the pilots called and said they would not be making the shuttle flight from Shell, as the plane scheduled had a mechanical problem that the two pilots didn't know about 'til this morning. Apparently the plane wasn't idling properly on startup. So Ellyn and Dustin quickly grabbed their bag, and walked out to the road. Sure enough, the 8 AM bus to Ambato came by after a couple minutes--the bus leaves Puyo at 8 AM, and by the time it gets to our driveway, it's ten or fifteen minutes after the hour. So they are on the bus to Quito instead of flying. Fortunately neither of them minds travelling on the bus. Ellyn sleeps and Dustin is content to watch the countryside go by. Besides, he get's to miss a day of school, which is fine by him. He has a 3 PM ortho appointment today, and then they'll get on the bus to come home. I imagine they'll arrive home about 10 PM tonight.

Oh, by the way. After the guys made other plans for the shuttle flight, deciding to fly it with a plane that is in Quito, the plane here that was scheduled but had idling problems, was taken out by the mechanics for a run-up. It ran with no problems at all. Go figure!

Super Bowl Party

Most of the MAF missionaries gathered at the home of Chat and Andi tonight to watch the Super Bowl on satellite TV. The bonus was that it was actually shown with commentary in English, even though it was on 'ESPN vivo' out of Mexico. No, we didn't get to see the cool US commercials, but that's OK. Those will get here tomorrow when a taped copy makes it to Shell from Quito. As far as I was able to tell, this was a historic night--the first time missionaries in Shell have watched the Super Bowl live in Shell. Unfortunately I left at half-time to bring the boys home. They have school tomorrow, and in addition Dustin was ready to go, as he's not a sports fan. I just looked up the final score on ESPN.com and it looks like it was a great game.